“Holy smokes…” Rosa whispered.
To Finn’s eyes, at least, that wasn’t too far off from what he was seeing before him.
They had traveled through the night as the fires of the downed airship raged behind them, and other zephyr airships had raced to the downed vessel. Finn’s group had run when they could, walked when they were tired, and jogged with stitches piercing their sides. Finn had been tending a wild hope that perhaps he had managed to divert the main attack against Malvas, perhaps bought them enough time to warn the city…
I failed, he thought as he looked out over the churned-up fields and high, stone-wrought walls of Malvas as the city was attacked by yet more airships. There was also a sea of burly bodies near the base of the walls. The tattered flags Finn guessed were Durzog’s forces.
“There has to be thousands of them there!” Tobias said in alarm, and Finn could only agree.
The thing that Finn had come to realize about the trollish races was that they were very good at war. It appeared to be their entire society’s purpose, sending out war-bands to other zones to conquer, take slaves, and gain experience. They were savage, and they had the numbers.
Finn could see lines of trolls weaving their way to the front of the force, as well as the lumbering step of the ‘ogre caravans’ as they appeared to form shock troops. There were even large acres of tents and landing areas already being assembled, with several more of the zephyr airships moored on the ground.
“They’re not attacking with their full force yet,” Finn murmured. They only had three airships near the walls, moving slow enough to fire volleys of their guns—actual cannons!—that bellowed with thunderous smoke.
“Why are they holding back?” Tobias asked.
Rosa answered, “They’re still assembling. There is another handful, maybe ten or more, airships behind us. These ships are just testing the forces, seeing if the city will be easy to take…”
She’s right, Finn thought miserably.
The worst of it was that, apart from the occasional gleam of magic from the city walls and the short flocks of arrows fired at the airships, he couldn’t make out just how the city of Malvas would repel the air fleet when it finally did attack in full.
“But the walls are strong,” Finn muttered, trying his best to bolster his friends’ courage, but he was sure everyone could hear his doubt. The walls weren’t tall enough to keep airships out.
Even so, the walls of Blackwood’s sister city were strong. Finn had never seen the like of them, except on history shows back on Old Earth. The walls were some twenty or thirty meters high, thick as houses at the base, and reinforced in some sections. Malvas would not fall easily—at least, he hoped he was right about that assessment. He also just had to hope they’d taken his advice to create and keep up with the training of their soldiers so they could protect it now.
“Well, I guess we don’t have to warn them now, do we?” Rosa grumbled.
Finn was trying to think it all through pragmatically. There was no way they were going to make it through the main gates. There were other gates into the city—from the north and from the sea—but it would take a while to work their way around. Especially if they had to avoid enemy scouts.
They needed to get in quicker than that, and then he realized the answer.
“The tunnels. You remember Malvas’s old tunnels?” He pointed to where the river came rushing into the near side of the city, where there was a spread of smaller buildings—the ruins of some older suburb that the city didn’t have the resources to restore. “Didn’t the Council Chairwoman, Diane, say that the old tunnels extend all the way to there?”
“You want us to sneak into Malvas like rats. I remember the tunnels being full of ghouls.” Rosa made a face.
“Ghouls! Gah!” Sister Alharrow spat on the ground. “I hate the dead. We Lycans have always hated the dead.”
Finn didn’t think that the strange, mutant, hairless predatory creatures essentially counted as ‘the dead,’ but he let it slide. He was several more levels above them now.
“They won’t pose a problem,” he said as he nodded in the direction of the ruined suburb. “We make for the tunnels and use them to get into the city. From there, I guess we come up with a plan to search the libraries as well as save Malvas.”
“All in a day’s work, right?” Tobias murmured.
Finn shot the Verdainian a look but saw that he wasn’t being ironic. Verdainians are always so damn optimistic, Finn thought as he led them forward.
* * *
They marched the short distance down the slopes, keeping to the farthest edges of the ruined meadowlands and out of sight of Durzog’s forces. A dusty, smokey pall was rising in the air above the assembled forces, and Finn could hear the distant low murmur of noise as feet tramped and thousands of guttural voices shouted at each other.
But for all the threat around them, Finn felt energized by his new levels.
I’m going to need the upgrades, he thought as he opened his personal stats and reviewed the level up notifications.
>
>
> You have reached Level 25.
>
> You have reached Level 26.
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>
>
> As a Defender, you receive +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, +5 Free characteristic points every level.
>
> Your Stamina advances 10 per level + current Vitality.
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> Your Mana advances 10 per level + current Intelligence.
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> Your Health advances 10 per level + current Durability.
>
>
Finn nodded in satisfaction. This was going to be a sizeable increase. His Strength had already jumped up to 57 before any of his item modifiers, and his Intelligence was at 46.
That gives me some impressive Mana upgrades, he thought. He now had 800 Mana points, both personally and in the Hearthstone, but he still had to refill the Hearthstone. It had been regenerating its Mana at its slowest rate because he was outside of Blackwood.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
>
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> Mana: 800 / 800
>
>
>
> Realm: Blackwood (Level 26)
>
> Hearthstone: 100 / 800
>
> Patron: Sesuuk of the Lamakai Third Trine
Finn frowned at that, but he guessed Blackwood would just have to make do for now. He still had the amulet of communication that allowed him to talk to Sesuuk, but neither of them had used it yet.
Just look after them, keep them safe, he mentally asked his patron. Sesuuk came across as pragmatic, if not flat out ruthless, but Finn reassured himself that the snake-man knew which side his jam was spread. The prophet would look after Blackwood because that meant he would continue to get experience and the other advantages for being its patron. There was no reason for the snake-man to want Blackwood to fail, and every reason for him to want the town to succeed.
Heaven alone knew what level Sesuuk was up to now. Finn shook his head, nowhere near naive enough to believe that the prophet didn’t have something up his sleeve related to his personal ascension.
Anyway… Finn still had his own ascension to worry about. He had ten free characteristic points to spend, and so far, his statistics were looking pretty good.
Well, apart from his Charisma—but who cared about Charisma anyway? He wasn’t a bard. He did know that if he was going into battle again a war band with airships, he was going to need to be tougher. It was a familiar feeling. He needed to be the biggest, baddest, and toughest he could be to stand against what was coming for his realm down the line.
This Durzog is just the start, Finn thought. The older realms would continue to test their strength against his, so he needed strength, speed, and magic.
He started with +5 Agility, because he hadn’t liked how quick the zephyrs had been.
Then he added another +2 Strength and +2 Durability, because the battle would require it, and then, because his Vitality was still a lowly 22, he used the last of his points to add one.
>
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> Agility: 40 + 5 = 45
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> Charisma: 19
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> Durability: 40 (+5 Part-Plate of Azor) +2 = 47
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> Intelligence: 46
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> Strength: 57 (+2 for Gauntlets of Strength) (+5 for Phyrric Blade) + 2 = 66
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> Vitality: 22 + 1 = 23
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> Wisdom: 27
>
>
“Okay, maybe a little lopsided!” His Wisdom, Vitality, and Charisma were definitely lagging—why do I need to charm people? I’m a Defender!—but he had to prioritize his current situation when assigning points. Finn had a teasing feeling that he might need to at least up his Wisdom if he is going to regularly be dealing with the Elder Realms. The things that Sesuuk knew and was magically capable of were unbelievable.
But that wasn’t all, apparently. There was a purple light flashing over his realm information.
>
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> Congratulations. As you passed Level 25, you have achieved Realm Holder status.
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>
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> Realm Holder
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> This is an advanced enough soul who has now progressed to near legendary status within their own zone or realm. They are expected to maintain their provinces from harm and create zones that can carry forward their legacy.
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> * All Realm Holders must have previously been Realm Founders.
> * All Ream Holders must be in possession of a Hearthstone.
> * +4 Statistic Upgrades.
> * +1 Ascension Path.
>
>
What? Finn saw that the small replica of the Hearthstone in his inventory had increased in size and complexity, now sparkling with flashes of gold light.
“Of course I’m going to try and keep Blackwood safe!” Finn muttered a little angrily, but then he instantly felt bad because he wasn’t there now… and he had also threatened to leave, but he’d just been upset.
He guessed that he should at least put something into his Charisma and grudgingly added one point, turning a 19 into a 20. He sunk the other three points into his Wisdom and turned to the most intriguing reward, the apparent ability to add a new Ascension Path.
>
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> Ascension Paths
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> All souls migrate through the games of Celestial Ascension under the care of an Ascension Path, whose power ultimately reaches their pinnacle in the forms of the Asai.
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>
Finn knew that much already. Below it was a section on each of the available paths: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
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> Earth
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> This path is dedicated to the Asai of Earth and covers all growing and healing things. It is rooted in strength, durability, stamina, and allows its followers to use the natural world to their advantage.
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>
He flickered his eyes into the Earth powers and saw many of the abilities that he had noticed Tobias using, from increasing his strength and creating armor out of natural rock to creating magical shields or throwing green forcefields. There were also more interesting abilities.
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> Earthspeak
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> Communicate with any non-intelligent animal.
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>
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> Camouflage
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> The practitioner can draw on moss, rocks, vines, trees, or any other natural form to hide their presence.
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>
Wow, cool! That would have really helped them sneak into the city. “But I have to think as a party,” he mumbled to himself. Tobias was already on the Earth Path, and Rosa was on Air. He wasn’t sure what Sister Alharrow was on, but he guessed it was something earth-like.
So, I guess that means…Water?
A wave of nausea instantly rolled through him at the mere thought of it, and when he selected the option, it was grayed-out.
>
>
> You have already chosen the Fire Path. This is incompatible with Water.
Finn sighed. Water was out of the question, as were Earth and Air for the sake of balance, but there were more options at the bottom of the list.
>
>
> Shadow
>
> Prosperity
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> Feasts
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> Combat
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> Wu
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>
There were some more grayed-out options underneath those too, but they were so hazy that he couldn’t read them. He blinked when he saw Shadow as a path, as it had been the Acolyte Lord See who had used Malvas as a giant battery to suck up experience, allowing him to ascend to become the Asai of Shadow.
There was a certain poetry to that, but Finn remembered how the Asai of Shadow had reformed himself. By melding with the First Vampire.
Nah, that can’t be a good thing, can it? He grimaced, seeing that Prosperity was, quite obviously, all about generating wealth and reinforcing your Realm, while Feasts appeared to be all Charisma based, with the ability to charm, seduce, befuddle, and generally throw outrageous parties.
Fun, but perhaps not the time. Finn turned to the last two.
>
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> Wu
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> The Path of Wu is dedicated to the principles of non-violence and the flow of creation. Those who study it strive to do no harm and ascend in a way that preserves all life.
>
>
“How is that supposed to work with these games of ascension…” Finn shook his head.
Something primitive in him, that part which was fiery and hot-blooded and devoted to the Path of Fire, recoiled at the mere idea. Maybe it would be something for Rosa, who had that Shaolin thing going on.
>
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> Combat
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> The Path of Combat enhances all forms of physical challenge and conflict. From increasing damage to increased resistance, the Path of Combat leads you to your ascension through physical struggle.
>
>
“Now that is more like it!” It sounded like what he needed and a natural complement to his Fire Path. He selected it and instantly, a new set of powers updated in his inventory.
>
>
> Speed of the Warrior
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> Costs 150 Mana. When activated, the next strike receives Surprise bonus resulting in a +50% damage increase.
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>
>
> Enhanced Block
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> Costs 100 Mana. When activated, you are impossible to hit by any physical weapon during the next attack.
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>
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> Morale
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> Costs 75 Mana. For the duration of current battle, you can raise the morale of any who fight alongside you, removing Fear and/or Terror conditions.
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>
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> Sword-Ally
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> Costs 75 Mana. When activated, a designated ally receives half of your available Strength, Agility, and Durability in their next move, whether attacking or defending.
>
>
There appeared to be more powers below that, but they were grayed out and probably required a higher level. He was happy enough with what he had just gotten for now.
“Finn, you done?” Rosa asked, standing beside the ruined buildings at the edge of the old suburb. “You’ve been lighting up like a damn Christmas tree. Can’t you do your ascending with any decency?” Then she nodded to where the nearest alley was half filled with rubble and trash before opening into a wider road. “The entrance to the tunnels, if I’m right, is that way.”
“I can’t help it,” Finn protested, though he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
Rosa and the others were already turning.
It didn’t matter. He was pleased with his progress, and was now a Level 26 Defender, and they would need that for what came next.