Charomera
The 24th of Elaphebolion
The Year 4631 in the Era of Mortals
Two feelings gripped Arche as the beastmar horde drew nearer: pain and fear. Pain in his leg, which hadn’t fully healed and cost him Health with every step, and fear of the sort that every hunted prey knows. Lyssa carried him under the shoulder but they were far too slow to get away.
The air crackled as Abraxios discharged more lightning. Odelia, the smallest and slowest of them, clutched to Tess with a white-knuckled grip as the golden-haired Rogue ran ahead, trying to find some refuge or, barring that, a place to make their stand.
“This way!” Tess called out, her voice loud and desperate.
Arche cursed his Mana Burnout condition and hobbled on as fast as he could, every step sending shooting pains up his thigh and into his groin. Lyssa practically dragged him along but doing so left Abraxios as the only one capable of slowing down the enemies behind them.
The tengu let out a fierce, avian shriek that reverberated off the walls and down the passageway, louder than what seemed possible. Arche and the others cried out in pain, the noise impacting them like a physical force despite the tengu facing away from them. Tess disappeared into a side room, hauling Odelia along with her. Lyssa dragged Arche into it and set him down against a wall. Abraxios slammed the door behind them.
Arche wheezed, trying to catch his breath. His Stamina was down to twenty percent.
“What’s wrong with him?” Tess demanded.
“Mana Burnout,” Odelia replied before Lyssa could say anything.
The halfling woman hurried over to Arche and placed the back of her hand against his head. Arche, for his part, was doing everything he could to keep from dry heaving. His head felt as though he were beating it against a wall and his stomach had settled somewhere near his throat, which was bobbing dangerously as he struggled to keep his gorge down.
They had landed in a room full of rotten wooden boxes that looked like it had been ignored for the better half of a century. The smell of mold was strong, but with any luck it would mask their scent.
“I don’t understand, though,” Odelia continued. “I never saw him cast any magic. How could he have burned through his Mana?”
“Later.” Lyssa cut in. “Can you fix him?”
“The leg? Yes, with time. The head, already done. The burnout? That’s well beyond me. How is he using Mana without having formed the proper channels for it? Doesn’t he know it could kill him?”
“I’m right here,” Arche groaned, his voice gruff and hoarse.
He held the Tridory in a vice with both hands and used it to get his feet under him. Lyssa grabbed his arm and helped him into a standing position.
“Who taught you magic?” Odelia demanded. “Whoever it was should be Honor-Broken. How could they not have taught you how to channel your Mana?”
“I wasn’t…taught,” Arche managed, his breath coming heavily.
“What?” This time it was Abraxios who demonstrated his disbelief. “A spell is not merely a gesture or a word that you can will into existence through effort alone. It takes years of study and practice to learn the arcane theory that goes into spellwork. Trying to use magic without understanding it…why, you’d be lucky if anything happened at all and anything could happen.”
“I clearly don’t understand,” Arche grunted. “So if we could skip the part where you two explain how much of a dumbass I’ve been and tell me how to fix what I’ve been doing wrong, I’d appreciate it, because it doesn’t sound like we have a lot of time.”
“What spell have you been casting that’s bottoming out your Mana?” Odelia asked.
“It’s not a spell, really,” Arche hesitated, then grunted as his leg sent a wave of fresh pain upward. “It’s a skill I learned by accident. I was up against an enemy I couldn’t beat. A force took over me and burnt off all my Mana almost immediately, but with it I managed to fend off a revenant long enough for us to get away.”
“That’s, erm, a lot to unpack,” Abraxios said, cocking his head to the side. “What skill is it that you are using?”
Arche hesitated, glancing between them. Tess threw her hands up in frustration.
“Malaka! We can’t help if we don’t know.”
“Fine. It’s a skill called Divine Body.”
The others blinked and looked at each other, each wearing the same blank face. With the exception of Lyssa, the consensus was clear: none of them had heard of it before.
“What does it do?” Odelia asked.
Arche shrugged.
“Makes me strong and fast. Replenishes my Health and Stamina.”
“Hmph, that explains the mantikhoras,” Tess muttered.
“Sounds like an incredibly powerful skill,” Abraxios said slowly. “However, if you are letting it use all of your Mana at once, you are searing it throughout your body’s natural Mana paths. Mana must be channeled in a very careful manner, a manner that normally takes weeks, if not months, to cultivate. Your skill seems to do some of that work for you, which can be the only explanation for why you have not killed yourself with it, but it isn’t doing everything for you. You must learn to control it, rather than have it control you.”
“That sounds great and everything, but you’ve yet to get to the ‘how’ portion.”
“Practice,” Odelia said, something akin to regret in her voice. “There is nothing else for it. If we survive today, I’m sure Abraxios and I can teach you the basics of how to unlock the Mana Manipulation skill, but I’m only in the Student ranks so my instruction won’t be of much benefit other than how to get started.”
“Enough talk,” Lyssa interjected before Arche could ask another question. “They are coming. Not as many of them as before, but more than a dozen. Arche, are you able to fight?”
Arche peeked at his vitals. His Stamina had nearly bottomed out and his Mana Burnout timer still had over five minutes left. His Health had also dropped to sixty percent.
“No,” he gasped. “But I’ll give it what I’ve got.”
“That’s sweet, Greenstick, but stay behind me and try not to get yourself killed.”
“Fine. They’re weak to fire. Their fur and skin burns quickly.”
Lyssa nocked an arrow to her bow and turned toward the rest of them.
“Abraxios, find a vantage point from which you can shoot lightning. Odelia, take this camp oil and pour it near the door. Make sure you spread it over a wide area, then get back and ready whatever healing spells you have left. Tess, be ready to engage with any who break through. Be ready for things to go awry.”
The others scrambled to obey Lyssa’s orders while Arche sagged against the far wall behind her, impressed at how effortlessly she had taken command and formed a strategy. Odelia had barely finished emptying her third flask when the door flexed inward. The halfling woman jumped back as the door flew open and beastmar began to tumble into the room.
Lyssa’s first arrow ripped through the leading beastmar’s head, killing it instantly, and wounded the one behind it. The beastmar’s corpse collapsed in the doorway, slowing down the ones clambering in behind it. Abraxios fired a bolt of lightning at the ground, igniting the oil and creating a thick, dark smoke that billowed up, filling the narrow confines of the room. Howls of pain, fear, and fury echoed off the stone walls as the beastmar caught fire. Arche gritted his teeth, barely able to stay on his feet.
Tess launched herself in and out of the fray with the grace of a dancer. One moment, she was lunging forward to deal a devastating blow to an exposed side or throat, the next she was twirling and dancing backward out of danger, the swiping claws and thrusting weapons of the beastmar catching only air. The fluidity of her movements reminded Arche of Lyssa’s flowing style, but there was something brutal in Tess’s strikes. Stab, step, twist, spin, stab. Each attack was designed to disable or to cause pain, only a few lucky blows to a neck or a heart actually killed. Arche’s brow furrowed as he watched her, then he clutched at the wall as a sudden gust of wind nearly blew him over.
Abraxios swept his wings, funneling air into the fire, which roared up with sudden life. Burning oil splattered against beastmar crammed into the passageway outside, their shrieking howls dominating the sounds of battle within.
Good luck did not last forever, as Tess was the first to learn. One beastmar surged from behind its companions, knocking them aside to bear down on the Rogue. She sidestepped to avoid bisection via enormous axe, but failed to avoid the kick that launched her across the room. She landed near Arche, limbs akimbo, eyes wild and unfocused. A pained croak gurgled from her as she struggled to breathe. Arche fell to his knees next to her, the Tridory clattering against the stones as he fought against his own weakened body to get Tess back on her feet.
The Rogue’s absence from the front line let several beastmar push their way forward, past the inferno. Lyssa drew forth two kopides and leaped into the fray. While Tess struck like a viper, leaping forward and backward with her strikes, Lyssa moved in circles like a great storm. She used the weight of the swords as ballasts to swing her body around first one way, then the other, often amputating limbs as she danced along their line.
The press of the beastmar was greatly slowed by her efforts, but too many had already forced their way past the still-burning door and into the room. Odelia fell to her knees, trembling as emerald light flowed down her arms and into the ground. Thick vines shot out of the floor around the doorway and started whipping about wildly, throwing beastmar aside. Tess used the opportunity to jump back into the fray, dragging her knives across the throats of the fallen beastmar while Lyssa pressed the others back against the thrashing vines. The few beastmar that had yet to run into the room were hacking wildly at the vines while trying to avoid the fire. For the first time, it looked like they might actually win.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Then the wall exploded.
Large chunks of stone blasted into the room, several of which hit Arche and sent him flying. He hit the opposite wall and pain descended on him again. A roar—louder than battle, louder than thought—filled the room. Heat flooded the space, sucking the breath from Arche’s lungs and replacing it with scorched wind. Arche dragged his arms over his head as the wall crumbled around him. Once the stone settled, he could hear the yipping and barking of beastmar retreating into the distance.
Not without great effort, Arche picked himself up out of the rubble, noticing with a spike of excitement that his Mana Burnout debuff was gone. His excitement was immediately replaced by a wave of pain and exhaustion as he noticed his Health hovering at twenty percent. His arms and legs were a mess of bloody scrapes, embedded with bits of stone. A brief glance around the room told him the rest of the group wasn’t fairing much better. They were scattered about the room, either laying unmoving or slowly rising to their feet.
Lyssa was the first to recover. She placed herself between the rest of them and the new threat. Arche’s gaze moved from his Companion to the monster itself. Amid the settling stone dust stood an enormous lion, easily twice as large as it should be. Its size was hardly the strangest part, however. What really made Arche’s blood run cold was the goat head that grew alongside the lion, splitting its neck into two. The monstrous beast padded into the room, tail whipping about almost lazily, green and scaled, with the tip culminating in a serpent head with fangs the size of Arche’s hands.
The creature leveled its gaze onto Arche, a glint of intelligence in each set of eyes. The lion head opened its jaws impossibly wide, an amber glow building in the back of its throat.
“Aw, fuck.”
Instinct took over and Arche threw himself to the side as a spout of flame shot forth from the monster’s maw. It bathed the rubble where he had been standing, turning the rocks a glowing, cherry red. He landed heavily, bruising himself on the pointy rocks. His breath was ragged, not quite recovered from the aftereffects of Mana Burnout and his injury.
An angry, feline hiss echoed throughout the room as he picked himself up. Lyssa had engaged the beast, spinning with her kopides as the creature swiped massive paws through the air or lunged with one of its three heads. A gust of wind signaled that Abraxios had rejoined the fray. The tengu whipped his wings about in some martial form and, despite the fact that the tengu was across the room from the monster, slices opened up over the creature’s body with every deft movement.
Arche wanted to help but the Tridory was no longer with him. He must have dropped it when he was sent flying. Arche twisted his head around, searching around for it frantically, but it was nowhere to be found. Likely it was buried beneath the rubble when the creature crashed through the wall. Arche moaned inwardly, hoping that his paltry amount of Mana would be enough.
Taking a steadying breath, Arche held out his hand and concentrated. His head throbbed as eight Mana drained almost instantly, but the rubble across the room shifted and the spear shot out toward him. He caught it, immediately gritting his teeth against the renewed headache as he braced himself to get involved.
Tess was off to the side, launching knives at vulnerable points along the beast’s side, but whether it was the sheer size of the creature or an abnormally thick hide, the blades weren’t penetrating deep enough to do much damage. The creature spun, its snake-tail whipping outward faster than Lyssa could dodge. She caught the fangs against her blades, but the force of its strike knocked her off her feet and sent her flying toward Arche.
He was moving before he knew what had happened, closing the distance across the uneven terrain. He caught her, remembering to drop the Tridory just in time, and her momentum knocked him off his feet. They tumbled to the ground, a tangle of body parts. Arche grunted as Lyssa landed on top of him, sucking air between clenched teeth as she pressed down on his bruised ribs and wounded leg. Lyssa groaned and stirred, stunned from the impact. Arche carefully rolled to the side and laid her down beside him. Pain flared in a dozen new places, but looking at Lyssa’s dazed, slackened face, a new feeling took hold of him.
Rage.
Arche snatched up the spear and turned toward the beast, which had brought the weight of its attention onto Tess. The Rogue was doing her best to keep her distance, her eyes darting back and forth as she looked for a way out, but the monster had cornered her. Lightning coursed through the air as Abraxios tried desperately to distract the creature, but the electricity washed harmlessly over the creature, barely fazing it. Odelia crawled to Lyssa’s side. The halfling’s left foot was bent at a bad angle but she gritted her teeth through the pain and conjured a spell. Lyssa’s naturally reddish-brown skin glowed with a soft, viridescent hue as open wounds sewed themselves shut.
The creature’s lion-head opened its mouth wide—too wide, like an unhinged jaw—and Arche knew he wouldn’t be able to close the distance in time. It seemed to have grown tired of Tess’s stabbing knives and decided to eat her whole. Tess shrank back into the corner and covered her face with her arms. The monster stood above her, poised to strike at any moment as its mouth opened larger and larger.
Arche hoisted the Tridory into an overhand grip and launched it forward with all the strength he could muster. The effort brought him to his knees. The monster roared in pain as the spear sank into the creature’s flank. Tess used the distraction to leave her corner. She rolled out of the way of a late swipe and came up near Abraxios. The creature’s attention affixed on Arche, who staggered to his feet.
“Easy.” He plastered a smile on his face as his stomach nestled somewhere near his feet. “Good kitty.”
The furious growl emanating from the monstrous creature promised a slow and painful death.
“Fuck you, too.”
Arche rolled to the side as a massive paw slammed into the ground where he’d been standing. He popped back up and immediately fell backwards with a cry to avoid the snapping maw of the goat head as it bit at him. He landed on his back, cracking his head painfully against the debris. Bright spots flooded his vision.
The creature spun and the snake tail lunged for him, fangs gaping, too fast for him to move out of the way. Arche clenched his teeth and waited for the pain to come, but the strike never landed. One of Tess’s daggers sailed neatly through the air and stuck the snake head clean through. The whole tail went limp.
The creature howled from its goat head as its lion mouth gaped again to spew forth fire. Arche stumbled to his feet, blinking furiously to clear the spots from his vision. Between his Mana headache and his multitude of injuries, he was lucky to be standing. That said, his luck was fading quickly.
It hadn’t quite run out, however, as he was on the same side of the creature as his spear, which still protruded from the beast’s flank. Arche dove for the weapon, grabbing hold of the shaft just as the goat head clamped down around his torso, lifting him into the air. Arche gasped for breath as the tremendous force of the bite drove the wind from his lungs. The goat head’s teeth weren’t sharp enough to break through his armor—which kept the creature from tearing a chunk out of his side—but the sheer, crushing force snapped several of Arche’s ribs with loud cracks.
In a panic, Arche ripped the Tridory out and stabbed at the monster again and again, opening up a half dozen wounds in the creature’s side, though none were particularly deep nor dangerous. The goat-head shook him like an alligator, sending the Tridory flying. Arche could do nothing but hope his armor would hold and his limbs wouldn’t mangle. Just as he was sure the creature would shake the last bit of life from him, the goat-head went suddenly limp and he fell to the ground. The world swirled and darkness crept around the edges of his vision. A trio of arrows protruded from the limp goat head, each deep enough to pierce its brain.
Arche was tired. More tired than he had ever felt. A great weight had settled into his arms and legs, and his eyes wanted nothing more than to shut and rest for a few hours. Lights flashed toward the bottom of his vision, the only thing he could see in the darkness. Flashing Health, flashing Stamina, flashing Mana. All three bars were nearly empty, some scant points in each, but Arche was past the point of really caring. A chill filled him and the floor seemed suddenly the most comfortable place in the world. If he could just keep lying there for another five minutes or so, he was sure he’d be able to finish killing the monster.
Just five minutes of rest.
A hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling at his armor. It felt distant, numb, but it was enough to keep him from falling asleep. Arche’s head lolled and his eyes opened. Odelia looked down at him, tears streaked across her cheeks as she pulled desperately at him, trying to get him away from the fight. It was a vain effort, Arche was far too heavy for the halfling woman to budge. She balled up one fist, muttering something. A moment later, she uncurled her fist to reveal a yellow light. She pressed the light against Arche’s chest and great, racking coughs forced their way out of his lungs.
His Health, Stamina, and Mana all rose by fifty-six points. Instead of a pleasant experience, Arche’s bones popped painfully back into place. He would have screamed if he’d had the breath to do so but his lungs were too busy reinflating, repairing the holes his broken ribs had torn. A few seconds later, he was able to breathe, if painfully. His body felt like it was covered in biting insects trying to burrow into the marrow of his bones to unleash their venom, but he was no longer tired beyond care. The healing magic had brought feeling and awareness back to him, but at great cost.
Odelia collapsed next to him, breath shallow and drenched in sweat. Arche had no idea how to help her. Helpless anger flooded him. Anger at the creature and at himself, his own uselessness.
Arche snatched the Tridory off the ground and looked for the beast. It was not hard to find, but the sight of it made his blood run cold once more. It had cornered Abraxios, Tess, and Lyssa and kept them in place by spewing a gout of flame. Abraxios had taken point and was diverting the flames to either side with a powerful gust of wind, but the sheer heat was cooking the trio. Abraxios was the picture of concentration, a single errant ember would ignite his feathers into a conflagration of doom.
Crouching low to the ground, spear brandished, Arche activated Divine Body and lunged forward, crossing the entire width of the room in a single bound before plunging the Tridory into the monster’s neck. He deactivated the skill as the flames, which had poured relentlessly only moments before, sputtered and died. Without removing the spear, Arche pressed the third button on the shaft and the head of the spear, now firmly embedded, broke apart into three prongs, slicing open flesh into a gaping hole. Arche wrenched the spear out and activated Divine Body once more, leaping high into the air. He spun, flattening himself horizontally as the creature recoiled.
Arche landed on the cross-section where the lion and goat heads diverged and drove the head of the trident deep into the back of the lion’s skull. The bone gave way with an awful crunch as the great beast shuddered once and fell to the floor, dead. Arche ripped the trident out and deactivated Divine Body. As soon as the skill’s empowerment left him, he collapsed.
Everything seemed far away, everything but pain. Slowly, Arche became aware of someone holding him and wiping something across his face. When consciousness fully returned, he almost wished it hadn’t. He was sitting at a quarter of his maximum Health and could feel the full extent of every point he had lost. A notification caught his attention and he opened it.
You have slain a Level 36 Chímaira.
You gain 1,800 experience.
Slayer of the Mighty activated!
You gain 2,100 bonus experience.
Experience is held until a Profession is chosen.
Choose a Profession?
Yes
Yes
Still dazed, Arche stared uncomprehendingly at the notification. Without waiting for his answer, the prompt closed itself and a new one appeared.
Initializing…
Ready for transport.
3…
2…
1…
Welcome to the Professing.