image [https://imgur.com/vKUrahR.png]

Tenton walked down the riverbank slowly. He had seen the planks and debris further down river and he was curious what kind of boat had met its end. He held a perfect thin yet strong stick, letting it swish back and forth, idly chopping the tops off of tall weeds and flowers. As the son of the Innkeeper he spent almost every hour of his day cleaning up after the regulars, cleaning out the stables, or running errands. Getting a chance to sneak off and do nothing was deeply appreciated.

He was currently trying to imagine being a Chosen. To gain stat points at double the rate of anyone born to this world. To easily acquire powerful skills, not just helpful ones. He had heard of high level Chosen Heroes that were like an army, undefeatable by any lesser power. He whipped his “sword” and almost managed to clip a wasp. He knew it wasn’t all fun though. Like his dad said, Heroes rose quickly and fell quickly. The stronger they were the deadlier the challenges they were put against. The only real way for them to escape that cycle was to Ascend, and Tenton barely even understood what that entailed. Being thanked by the Gods? Going to a new world? Getting to relax forever? His dad didn’t know and other villagers told him to stop bothering them when he asked.

He was getting lost in his thoughts when he felt a shivering prickle down his back. He had gotten [Danger Sense] a few years ago, and he had learned to trust it. He quickly dropped down among the tall grasses. Peering ahead he waited, sweat gathering then slowly dripping down under his suddenly itchy shirt. A tiny bug landed on his face and then buzzed away. And then he saw it rise. A slick mud covered back emerged from the river first, followed by black beady eyes on a huge head filled with large twisted teeth. A carrion beast. Squat, large, and powerful. It was sniffing the air, more of the body emerging from the mud and water, huge thick legs sinking down even as it rose up.

Tenton shivered, but did not panic. He had no open wounds, and if he ran right now it was unlikely to pursue. Carrion beasts sought the wounded, and would drag them back into the river, down into the dens they created. But why was this one out? The boat. Tenton’s eyes widened.

Scanning down the riverbank he saw two figures. One of them, a large man, was hauling the other out of the water. Blood smeared the smooth rocks beneath them. Neither one was armed, and the Carrion beast was moving closer. Tenton’s heart thudded painfully, but he didn’t know what to do. If he ran back to town it would be several minutes before anyone came, at the very best. He saw the prone man cough out blood, turning over. The carrion beast huffed. The tall man rose, looking at the carrion beast with a blank expression. He had no weapon! And even if he had a weapon, the beast would not be easy to take down. Tenton did not want to watch someone die, but couldn’t look away.

The carrion beast suddenly bellowed and rushed at the standing man, either to attack him or to drive him off. The man raised a hand. “[CONDEMN]”. Just as the carrion beast reached him, the man slammed his hand down on its head. As if a massive stone had dropped, the head was driven down into the mud. The hind legs kicked, and the carrion beast struggled as if it would rise, and the man’s hand rose again. “[CONDEMN]”. Once again he brought his hand down, the beast’s head cracking open under it. Gore sprayed both men as Tenton watched, mouth open.

Heroes. They must be Chosen Heroes. Tenton shot to his feet, and his eyes locked with the tall man. Another, even stronger shivering prickle ran down his back, and Tenton found that he had broken out in a cold sweat. He could not move. The man on the ground groaned and the large scary man looked down. He slowly bent and picked up his wounded companion, carrying him in both arms like a child. He walked towards Tenton, slowly, but with such presence it felt like he was growing with every step he took. “H… h….” Tenton was trying to greet them, to be polite, but he could not find the words. He started to back away, and the man followed. Tenton began to slowly walk back towards the village, not exactly running, but also trying very hard to not get too close to this strange man. He followed behind, inexorable.

The tall stone walls of the village rose again, and a sleepy guard nodded down to Tenton. “Tenton, your dad has been asking where you were. Find anything-” He cut off as he saw the men following behind. “Hey! HALT! YOU THERE, STOP!” The guards atop the wall moved quickly to angle the massive siege crossbows towards the two men. The crossbows themselves were powerful, additionally any guard manning them had skills that could augment the fired bolts. The nearby monsters had long ago learned to avoid the walls of this town.

The man stopped. He held up the bleeding man in his arms. “Dying.”. The guards looked at each other, and then the first one, Vern, looked down at Tenton. “Who are those men? Why are they following you?” Tenton quickly summarized what he had seen. The guards milled about, and then one of them called for the healer. A middle aged woman in banded armor quickly hurried out from behind the walls of the town. “Okay. Set the man down and back away please.” The tall man did so, setting his companion down on the ground. She approached carefully, her hands outspread, a bluish glow rising from them. The glow encompassed the wounded figure, and he let out a coughing breath, turning on his side and hacking until chunks of red spattered the ground. He began to breathe more easily then, the glow still gently suffusing him. The woman smiled and backed off. “He should be fine now, with some rest.” The man sat down. One of the guards on the walls cursed and then shouted down. “Where are you from? Do you need a place to rest?” The standing man looked up at the guard. “The Hero.” He pointed at the man on the ground. “Hero.” A few of the guards nodded at that. Chosen heroes were known for being eccentric and unpredictable. A guard walked down to them, and offered some bread and salted meat. The second man was beginning to rouse at this point and slowly sat up, and the two men ate slowly.

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Tenton looked on with fascination. So this was what Chosen Heroes looked like. He had never gotten a chance to see them so close before. Powerful. Intimidating. Impressive. Even without armor, or weapons, he felt their potential. The town mage emerged on the wall, and held his fingers up before his eye, looking through it at them. “Hm. The tall one is definitely Dark aligned. The other is… both? How strange. Maybe a convert?” A guard nodded. “Yeah that can happen. You switch sides and it takes a bit for Detection skills to re-adjust.” “Well, let them in. According to the boy they are Heroes, it seems like they got in over their heads. Possible trauma response. We will have a talk in the morning.”

Tenton walked with them to the inn, marveling at how they were treated. Men and women smiled at the two heroes, and the rooms were offered to them for free. He quietly swept and cleaned, noticing the flow of people coming and going specifically to see the visitors. The one eyed man had recovered, but still seemed pale. He seemed troubled, and ate little. The tall one with the dark aura ate steadily, sawing off large chunks of meat and then chewing on them methodically. The two of them seemed simultaneously so damaged and so dangerous. The one eyed man asked quietly if they could have a room to sleep in, and they were led upstairs. Tenton scraped the food off their plates into the compost bin. He felt conflicted. They clearly had power, and got attention, and would grow even stronger… but the feeling he got around them was unpleasant. He felt sad for them. If he was a Hero he wouldn’t act like that. He would act friendly, and noble, and make people feel at ease. His stomach felt tight and uncomfortable, and he headed to bed.

His eyes flew open, the room entirely dark. His whole body was shaking and his head was pounding. His [Danger Sense] was making his whole body shiver up and down, churning his stomach. He clutched at his head and looked around desperately. It was still the middle of the night, but he heard others running, and the sound of something large breaking. And then a roaring sound, like a scream but so deep and so loud. Tenton pulled the thin wool blanket up higher, as if it could protect him. But he didn’t need a blanket to protect him, the town was full of capable fighters as well as a mage and a healer. Whatever creature had broken in would be dispatched. The whole inn shook, plaster cracking above him and dust floating down. Tenton slipped out of his bed and grabbed a broken broom he had been meaning to fix. The wood had splintered into a spike. He was still shivering, but he could no longer tell if it was from his [Danger Sense]. A loud clash of metal resounded down the hallway, and then one of the guards went flying through the wooden door. His neck was bent completely wrong. It was Nenro. Tenton didn’t like Nenro, he had never cleaned up after himself. He laughed too loudly. His neck was bent all wrong. Tenton felt like he was in a waking dream. He moved so he could see through the broken door. Smoke was filling the hallway, thick and acrid. The two men were there. A fire was growing behind them, making them stand out like living shadows. They both had weapons. The one eyed man was screaming something, something about a brother, about a friend. He lashed out and golden light cut down a guard who was running towards him. The town wizard, Oolander, appeared at the end of the hallway, his hands outstretched. Dark flames were gathering and billowed between them. “[DARK FLAME WA-”. The skill was cut off as the taller of the two men whipped around and hurled a greatsword. The greatsword did not hit blade first, but it didn’t matter. The pommel struck Oolander with such force that he went flying back, crumpling against a wall and collapsing. The tall man approached the Wizard, and then stomped on him. It was done so carelessly that Tenton didn’t quite understand what he had just seen. Less like stomping a bug, and more like stomping the mud off your boot.

The man slowly turned, until he was looking directly into Tenton’s eyes. The fire behind the man was growing, and he was a wall of darkness. Tenton realized he was holding the broken broom in front of him like a spear. But he wasn’t trying to fight the heroes. He admired them! He had helped them! The town had helped them.

The man’s hand raised and Tenton felt his stomach turn cold. “[CONSUME]”. The corpses in the hallway suddenly collapsed into red vapor, and the tendrils of vapor swirled around and entered into the man’s body. He grimaced as his muscles swelled and bulged. The man’s eyes closed as if he was battling some great pain. This was Tenton’s chance. Perhaps the only chance for his whole town. He strode forward, using his only other skill. “[Quick Stride]!”. He was in front of the man before his eyes opened, and he drove the broken shaft of the broom into the man’s belly. It slid in, to Tenton’s complete shock. The man’s eyes slowly opened. There was a look there that Tenton couldn’t understand. As if the man had expected this. As if a spike of wood being driven into his stomach was just a normal thing to him. Tenton stumbled back, and the man casually reached up and gripped the broom, pulling it out slowly and then discarding it to the ground. The front of his shirt ripped open, revealing the gaping bleeding wound. Tenton had done it. A wound like that would be fatal to any man, any Hero. Even a Chosen hero. He was slowly pushing himself away with his feet, his vision swimming, feeling like he would throw up at any second. And then he saw the wound closing. The blood slowed to a trickle, and the skin was sealing up at the edges. Tenton shook his head slowly. He WAS in a nightmare. He almost laughed. Thank the Lord, thank the Gods. The man walked forward, his hand raised… and then a gout of flame exploded from a side room, cutting between them. The whole inn was groaning and shaking now. The man’s companion joined him, tugging at his robe and manically yelling something. Something about others getting away. The tall man looked into Tenton’s eyes, and he smiled, and gave him a nod. Then they turned, disappearing behind the smoke and flames.

Chaos swirled around Tenton, the heat increasing by the moment. He crawled into a side room, but the overwhelming smoke was in here as well. A tub, set for a guest. He pulled himself over the edge and dropped into deep lukewarm water. He was still shivering all over. But he was smiling. He would wake from this, and then things would be better. He would clean the inn and he would be so happy. He would… he would clean…

[Darkness skill-Reality Correction]

Passive skill

The world around you is not correct. It cannot be correct.

In a 250 cubit radius around you, all is as it should be.

This skill cannot be negated.