Host: Dark Raven [LVL 15]
Stats:
HP: 90/90
MP: 0
WILL: 10/10
STR: 10
PER: 20
SPD: 55
CHA: 5
[Skills known]
Wing Buffet (Grade F),
Peck (Grade F)
Dive (Grade E)
[Skill Steal]
Roar (Grade E)
Hide (Grade D)
Current Spirit Cores: 50
With the wind at his back, Ethan soared through the skies above Argwyll’s Ashfall mountain range, swooping down with a combination of [Hide] and [Dive] to slay most of the inhabitants of the mountain’s crags and peaks with a single strike.
Most of these foes were simple mountain wolves and rugged boars – creature’s he wouldn’t bother possessing. What need did he have of those shlubs when he had a literal feathered dive-bomber at his beck and call?
You gotta admit this is fun, Sys. Come on.
The only thing I will admit is how this ‘grinding’ as you call it has proven surprisingly…effective for your progression.
Ethan took the compliment as he speared his beak into an unsuspecting mountain goat, ending its life before it even knew what hit its horned head. As he waited for his new companions to catch him up, he then decided to take a quick break to nip at some ticks in his wings and check his most recent upgrades:
Hide: Grade E -> D
Upgrade complete!
Hide now allows you to attempt to conceal yourself during the day, at disadvantage vs enemy PERS
Spirit Cores required to upgrade further: 80
Dive: Grade F -> E
Upgrade complete!
Dive DMG increased by 40
Spirit Cores Required to upgrade further: 120
He already knew that [Dive] was a skill he’d be transferring to his next host – whoever that may be. He’d managed to slaughter every creature he’d come across by exploiting the damage bonus from his successful sneak attacks. After all, he was coming at most of these poor mountain dwellers from the air itself – normally with a scream of ‘Death from Above’ on his beak as he swooped in to end each critter’s life. This mountain range was practically a Spirit Core haven – even if each boar and wolf gave him little more than a paltry 30/40 Cores a piece.
He’d set to increasing his core stats next – raising his health and speed which seemed to complement the ‘build’ he was going for here. [Wing Buffet] provided some extra crowd control and, with the troll’s [Roar] ability as a backup, he’d pretty much invented his own assassin class at this point.
I gotta give the class a name though, Sys, he said, starting to ponder. ‘Archon’ just sounds too edgy. Maybe: ‘The Grimclaw’ or ‘Black-Talon’.
…You think those titles are less edgy?
Just spitballin. We’ll workshop it.
He heard the rushed steps of his companions following his trail of destruction, each of them whistling to themselves as they saw just how powerful their Archon was.
“I…must admit,” Klax sniggered. “Even I didn’t think this one would be so bold and so…intent on his purpose.”
“That’s me in a nutshell,” Ethan replied, puffing out his jet-black chest. “I’m a hat of purpose.”
“And power,” Fauna gasped as she inspected the fallen monsters of the mountain. “You – th – that is…you have taken to your powers remarkably well…Archon Ethan.”
“Just Ethan is fine, Faun,” he replied as they grouped up again and continued on their way.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“E-Ethan, then,” the shy Hopla smiled – trying to conceal her blush at being given a nickname.
I think I’m going to be sick…wake me up when the circlejerking is over.
Ethan had already learned much of his companions as dawn broke over the Ashfalls and they continued their trek towards this ‘Sanctum’ – which was apparently a place of refuge for these hybrids and others like them.
“A place where we can be free of hunters,” Klax explained.
“Or just any damn humans,” Tara put in, twirling her short blades in her hands. “See, ever since the first Lightborn, humans ain’t wanted us in this world.”
“They burn our burrows,” Fauna whispered, her face contorted in pain. “They kill the young, or enslave the strong among us. We…we are little more than…”
“Monsters,” Tara finished, angrily slamming her blade into a scampering mountain salamander that then died instantly. “Humans don’t know the difference between a hybrid and a real, ugly ass monster. The don’t know – and don’t wanna know.”
Ethan bristled at this.
“Don’t get me wrong – I know how dumb humans can be – but why? Can’t they tell you guys are at least half human? Hell, you’re the only ones in this whole world who haven’t tried to off me as soon as I met you. That must count for something.”
Klax gave a hearty chuckle. “In your world, would the humans not see us as mere beasts to be slain or enslaved on sight?”
“Depends on the human, I guess. But I know for a fact that there’s entire communities online that would love you guys…maybe a little too much.”
“Online?” Tara asked.
“Eh, it’s an earth thing.”
“To be loved for what I am sounds…that sounds wonderful.”
The group stopped as Fauna said these words, her eyes closed over and body shivering as dawn broke over the mountain path.
“Faun?”
“I – I’m sorry,” the Hopla said with a wiggle of her elongated ears. “It’s just that it has been so long since there was any hope at all. Now that you’re here, it…it all just seems unreal.”
Ethan looked as the other two comforted their friend, each one’s face a solemn display of grief mixed with cautious optimism.
This is more than just some lame prophecy, Ethan thought then. These guys don’t just want me to help them out, they need me to even just exist in this world…I’m gonna be real, that sounds like a lot of hassle…
This thought occupied Ethan’s mind as the group finally reached their destination – a series of ruins off the edge of the mountain pass, in the middle of a dark crater that looked more like a giant hoof torn into the earth than a natural formation.
“Woah…” Ethan whistled. “That’s your home?”
“Not quite,” Klax replied, ushering the others down as he scanned the surrounding area for any instance of human activity.
“Sanctum had ta be hidden good and proper,” Tara said as she began skidding down the face of their overlook towards the crater’s depths. “It was built on the site of the last Archon’s lair!”
Lair…Ethan thought. Like a Raid Boss. I need me one of those…
The four of them descended to the ruins, a strange wind picking up as they got to the base of the crater. The place was deserted – little more than a series of moss-covered columns and patchwork walls. Here and there were a series of broken statues depicting various types of monsters, each one eviscerated beyond recognition. The vibe of the place was almost holy, and as Ethan watched the hybrids faces as they walked towards the ruins’ central pillar, they all shared the same look of veneration for the place – even the plucky Minxit.
“So…you said this was the last Archon’s lair?” Ethan asked, mainly to kill the weird silence that had set in.
“It was,” Klax sighed as his eyes traced each individual statue, drawing his paw across a few of them with sorrow. “Before she was destroyed.”
The silence then returned, this time, all too deep.
“Let me guess – this Lightborn guy killed her?”
“Mhm,” Fauna replied. “It’s been the law of this world ever since the beginning. An Archon rises alongside a Lightborn – and the Lightborn always triumphs…”
“But not this time,” Tara said without looking back at her friend. “Not this one. This time, we’re gonna win. We’re gonna put an end to this fucking cycle once and for-“
Klax’s eyes shot towards his companion.
“Not now,” he said. “Let Ethan see Sanctum, and then let him hear what we desire from him.”
The Minxit looked sheepishly at Ethan before obeying the Lycae’s command. Ethan had already got the impression the big guy was the leader of the pack. It made sense, even if he was a little on the older side, with a mane that looked just a little bit mangy…
Though that didn’t matter at all when the old warrior stopped before the pristine white pillar at the center of the ruin, collapsed his hands together as though in prayer, and spoke just a few short lines:
"In darkness, may we seek our light
In vengeance, may we find our goal
In death, may we gain our hope."
It sounded more like a grim mantra than a prayer, but Ethan knew just as any gamer would that these words weren’t just spoken by a priest intoning a hymn for the good of his God – these words had power. And such power began to twist the pillar above them all and shrink it into the ground, revealing a spiral staircase leading into the depths of the earth.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Tara nudged Ethan’s wing. “Most humans think this place is bad luck, considering what it used ta be. We get the odd tourist every now and then but, eh, they don’t go running off to tell nobody about our little secret lair.”
Tara indicated some piles of bones stacked in a little pyramid at the edge of the ruins, and as Ethan followed the Hybrids down the stairway to the abyss, he couldn’t help but think that, yes, he’d found his people in this world.
For a while, he saw nothing at all – only inky, all-consuming blackness, even with the aid of his raven-host’s sharp eyesight.
Then, all at once, the world of the underground exploded before him.
At the bottom of the stairs a stone door opened, revealing an underground city filled with hybrids. Ethan saw about every mix of creature-humanoid that his mind could conjure, mulling about a vast cavernous expanse of houses hewn into boulders and carved out of the walls of caverns themselves. Tunnels dotted the walls of the cavern, stretching on apparently to more and more residential areas. The high ceiling of the cavern twinkled with stalactites of silver, emerald, ruby, and sapphire – creating the impression of a multicolored, star-speckled sky looming over the inhabitants.
And as soon as Ethan and his companions entered through the great stone doors, all activity in the city seemed to grind to an abrupt halt.
Klax stepped forward in the face of Ethan’s pure astonishment, flanked by his Hopla and Minxit posse.
“What you see before you is no lie!” he called out to the hybrid-filled cavern – in a voice powerful enough to echo through the whole place and every tunnel system, so that more and more hybrids started popping their heads into the central cavern, crowding round eachother to see what they’d been waiting for.
“Hybrids of Sanctum, I give you your Archon!”
Ethan was then immediately overwhelmed by the cheers and cries of joy that leaped from the lips of every lizardman, rabbitgirl, catfolk or Lycae – and the countless other variations he saw. Truthfully, what he was looking on was an entire world down here, gazing up at him with hope-filled eyes.
“They’ve been waiting for you, Ethan,” Klax said beside him. “We’ve been waiting for the one to bring us out of the dirt. And its you – no matter where you came from before – it’s you. Of that there is no doubt.”
Ethan’s dead-eyed bird form gazed over the baying crowd with no expression whatsoever, but he was giddy with excitement. He stretched out his wings and took flight – giving the people a show to remember.
Do you know what this means, Sys?
Oh, please do tell. I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your heroic cliffhanger.
We’ve just found our Main Quest, Ethan giggled in his mindscape. And that means our adventures in Argwyll are only just beginning.