“Alas, I believe that it is high time for me to return to the capital,” Little Crow said as his now empty teacup was put in its place on the low table with decorum perfect enough to make auntie Crow swoon, had she been present. “This has been a nice little outing though, dear adopted brother. While rural, there is definitely a charm in moving around these parts of the country, especially as one is suddenly at the top of the food-chain as a humble silver.”
The pair were alone in the chambers Kite had claimed for himself during his prolonged stay in Convergence, sunlight illuminating the hints of early autumn seen through the generously sized windows.
“Your presence will be sorely missed,” Kite replied, not surprised at the celestine’s departure given that the term of their contract had run out. “And both the guild and I will be forever grateful for your assistance. Your warnings helped us realize that there was more going on than just the sects acting out, and we contributed a lot of clues for the adventure society to follow up on in the further search for certain hidden clergy and whatever they have planned.”
“Which will in turn probably lead to me being quite busy once I return. Alas, no rest for the virtuous,” Little Crow lamented. “Still, I would once more urge some caution, Kite. Because it does look like you, personally, are on the blacklist of the local clergy of at least one less reputable deity. And while things have remained calm since our little strikes against the sects, that doesn’t mean that it will remain as such forever. If things get more heated, do not hesitate to call on the clan or to come to us for sanctuary.”
“Thank you, Little Crow. The offer remains very generous, even though I hope that I don’t need to take you up on it. Still, going back to the capital for a visit is part of my plans for the future, even if me and Dragonfly will spend a good chunk of time helping the guild settle here in Convergence now that the current flavor of troubles have blown over. It will be nice to focus on some more honest and simple adventuring, even though I also suspect that Gauntlet will come calling too. As I suspect that she will be joining me on the trip to the capital as well, I will make sure to bring her for a visit once we’re there. Assuming that she would be welcome, of course,” Kite finished, adding the last bit as he remembered his own first attempted visit to the Tengu’s clan.
“Of course, of course. Dragonfly is a treat, and I can vouch for her thoroughly enough. The doors of the clan will be open to the both of you! Still, I will ask for your reason for the eventual trip? Things did get rather heated during your last stay.”
“Well, I do have some purchases I would like to make for the guild, my aunties and myself, as well as trading some essences and awakening stones. Spending much time in these parts tends to leave me with a lot of plant and tree, and while they are ever useful, some variety is in order as well now that the guild’s presence and purpose seems to be expanding. I wouldn’t have imagined that so many outcasts would start coming out of the woodworks to join us after us making our stand against the sect, but I will not complain in the slightest. But that means that the guild’s vault of things to exchange for contribution will have to expand accordingly. Thank Fortune for equipment-creating looting powers and an enthusiastic crafter with an odd path,” Kite said, taking a long final sip of his own cup of tea before it too joined its sibling on the table.
“But there is another purpose as well. The Silent Horizons sect did give me a most generous standing invitation for some training and touring their compound, and I must admit that while I have no intentions of joining, Chime of Morrow’s Bounty did make a good impression. Maybe having positive ties to at least one sect might help somewhere down the line?”
“That gold-scaled draconian? I will make sure to see what the clan knows of her upon my return, but if you have to pick one sect, Silent Horizons would be the one to go. They’re at least as removed as a sect can be from most of the more nasty politicking,” Little Crow said with an approving nod. “Still, maybe try and enter the city as inconspicuous as you can though? Senior brother - the gold-ranker who helped out when you were ambushed - will get grouchy if he has to run off and save us juniors too often.”
“Advice I will take to heart,” Kite replied earnestly.
Sensing that the time had come, both men rose and left for the compound’s exit. The guildhall was rather busy these days, but the normal, iron and bronze-rankers around did make sure to give the pair of silvers their space.
“I will miss you, Little Crow,” Kite said, giving his best formal bow of farewell once they had reached the guildhall’s main gates. “Know that there will always be a place for you here as well, whatever the reason.”
“And I you, adopted brother,” Little Crow said in return, mirroring the bow before he straightened and unfolded his colorful parasol. “You have brought some interesting times to me and mine.”
“Not too much trouble, I hope?”
“Kite, we’re assassins and mercenaries. Troubled times are where we thrive and opportunities abound,” the man answered with a laugh, waving farewell over his shoulder as he started walking down the path towards the exit in the low wall surrounding the guildhall. “At least that is what the Tengu himself likes to claim. And by his wisdom, we have lived and thrived in turn. As, I believe, will you and yours.”
----------------------------------------
“And… you would all like to join?” Walker asked, his respectful voice warring with the sense of slight disbelief.
“That is correct, guildmaster,” said the young man clad in light armor made of some kind of monster scales.
His name was Shine Like Copper. Like the rest of the six present, he was an early iron-ranker. And like the rest of them, he was also an acolyte of one of the gods. They each presented it in different ways though. The man armored in scales had only the pendant of Knowledge to show his allegiance, while one of the elf women proudly wore the ceremonial robes of Guardian. Only one of them wore no obvious symbols of allegiance, but the leonid was decked out in enough different kinds of knives and blades for Walker not even having to brush up against his aura in order to sense the divine touch of Warrior.
“Far be it from me to question the gods, but I would still like to ask in order to make sure; are you here on our doorstep because you were ordered to by your clergy? While we will not turn you away, I would still be more comfortable in knowing,” Walker said, wanting to at least give voice to his concern. His guild had been through a lot, after all, and six different young adventuring priests and priestesses showing up at the guild’s door at once was quite the coincidence.
“No, guildmaster. I assure you that we are all here to further our own path and cause,” Copper, the young priest of Knowledge, said.
Even though Walker outranked the man in both years and progression on his path, he still got that annoying sense that the youngling knew so much more than he let on. Which, given his deity, was probably the case. What the man didn’t give off, however, was the sense that he was lying or subverting the truth as he continued.
“But when I heard of your guild and the good work it has done so far, as well as its earlier plight, I was inspired. As someone who has grown up in these northern regions, both me and my goddess can truly appreciate your work in connecting not only the cities, but the smaller settlements and villages as well. Thinking that there might be other kindred spirits like me, I instead took the time to declare my intent to seek you out among other acolytes of my station. And thus, our little band is gathered.”
“Your cause must be protected,” the priestess of Guardian added with clear fervor. “By doing so, we safeguard not only ourselves but the most vulnerable of our people scattered among the hills, plains, forests and mountains in their drive to find their own way through life.”
“And besides, the blessed of Warrior stands among you. A chance to learn from the receiving end of her path is an opportunity I cannot pass up on,” the priest of Warrior added, seeming as single-minded as the celestine he was speaking of.
“Well, that settles it then. I will gladly welcome each and every one of you to the guild. There is an application process to go through, as we do want to get to know prospective members and see that they are a good fit. I do hope that you will understand that we make no exceptions,” Walker said, and did his very best to hide the sour hint in his smile at the response.
“Of course, guildmaster. My goddess had already informed me. Please, lead the way. We do look forward to sharing your cause and finding opportunity together.”
----------------------------------------
“I’m ready!” Dragonfly called, armor and axe alight with roaring flames that fueled her self-serving cycle of life broken down and born anew through fire.
“This young mistress is as well!” Glint called from where she floated above, a swirl of conjured water carrying her draconian form aloft high above the battlefield. Part of this outing was for the familiar to get more practice with fighting in her humanoid form, which was more nimble than the larger serpentine one at the cost of mass. And more precisely, to practice further in utilizing equipment.
“Then, little beauty, if you please!” Kite called from the middle of the pack of six blight basilisks that were currently circling him with quick, nimble motions as they ran across the tepid waters of the marshland where the group’s contract had taken them.
The silver-ranked monsters were long lizards reaching the height of Kite’s thighs at the shoulder, with webbed feet and gray-green scales that made them very hard to spot when moving both through and across the swampy terrain. Manifesting in packs made them individually less dangerous, but their nimble movement, decaying affliction of their bites along with a self-healing ability that gradually decayed everything living around them made them great attrition-based hunters.
Still, Kite wasn’t so modest as to not give himself some credit in regards to lasting during a fight, and so it had become his role to trigger the pack’s ambush and make them commit to engaging. All six arms of his mantle worked in a steady concert with his barriers to defend himself and counterattack where he could, and all of the basilisks sported at least some manner of hard-to-heal wounds from Void-Sunders-Firmament. But as his companions were now in position, it was time to change things up.
Sensing a discharge of mana from Glint, Kite blocked a single lunging strike from one of the monsters by batting it aside with his staff before he sprang upward, pushing off from the pane of force upon which he had been standing in an empowered leap. At the same time, each and every one of the six monsters suddenly found the water betraying them, their usual habitat and hunting ground now under the control of someone else. It shifted and shot upward enveloping them each in a small sphere that hovered in the air. But where the spheres would previously be nothing but restraints, Peony’s most recent crafting project added something a bit less pleasant into the mix, as said spheres rippled and shifted into circles of teeth-like spikes that bit inwards. Blood flowed freely from the wounds, but instead of mixing with the water it instead seemed to vaporize and be drawn toward Glint in thin streams of reddish life essence. Or more specifically, towards the maw of the chakram in her hands.
WWJS:
Dominion of the Lamprey Queen
Chakram
Silver rank - epic
[Effect] Water-based spells, conjurations and attacks made by the wielder may now be modified to deal physical damage, with the damage being either instant or over time depending on the ability in question. If the ability in question could already do so, its damage is instead increased.
[Effect] Any damaging water-based spells, conjurations or attacks made by the wielder will restore a small portion of the damage dealt as health.
The chakram in question was constructed around the circular jaws of the grand lamprey, ruler of the lake domain in Kite’s latest trip into the Jade-Sky gate. Said circle of bone and teeth formed the inner circle of the artifact, with an outer layer of silvery metal forming wave-like blades along the outside with gaps added here and there to provide more ways to grasp it. And as it had been made with Glint in mind, it was also heavily decorated with a variety of quintessence gems from the concepts of water, teeth and hunger. The end result was more ritualistic than practical, but as it was mainly enchanted to supplement Glint’s casting and working with the lamprey-jaws as a base, Kite had to give Peony credit that she had done very well. While the craftswoman did grumble quite a bit over how difficult it had been to find the right materials to combine into the end result, the beaming pride in her aura had taken the edge off any faux-disatisfaction.
And thus, the basilisks found themselves not only restrained but fed upon by watery teeth, and each of the monsters renewed their already frantic attempts to escape. But while Glint could now sport at least a bit of damage with her conjurations, she would still be mainly supportive in most fights. The liquid fangs did provide the added distraction needed though as the actual trap sprung into place, the armored form of Kite leaping out being replaced by an incoming meteor of flaming, Dragonfly-shaped death.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Wall!”
Having carefully waited for the appropriate moment, Kite had timed his spell for the force-walls to appear just as Dragonfly was among the struggling monsters. The barriers of Leyline Warding appeared as a cube around the levitated monsters and incandescently flaming woman, forming the casket of their demise as Dragonfly initiated her spinning special attack. To his chagrin, Kite had to strain to keep the walls of said cage intact for more than a few seconds as her flames carried the added touch of disruptive force, but as Dragonfly’s relatively new armor had helped her charge up a bit even before battle had been properly joined, a few seconds were all that was needed.
The first barrier panes breaking was soon followed by pieces of smoldering monsters being strewn around the marshlands, with Glint raising watery spikes from beneath to shove any more-or-less intact escapee back into the flaming grinder. The floor of the cage soon started giving out as well, and it was only Dragonfly’s increased speed on top of her own silver-ranked reflexes that let her notice and move to avoid being dumped down into the now chum-filled waters of the marsh.
“Perfect timing!” she called happily from where she had landed at one of the patches of dry land, her flames unable to do more damage to the surrounding terrain already ravaged by the decaying auras of the previously alive monsters. “And good job, Glint!”
“Well, this young mistress will not be seen while unable to properly contribute,” the familiar responded, head held high in pride. “And while I thought this implement on the brink of being too unseemly at first, it does have its uses,” she finished, regarding the chakram where the final dregs of stolen life force were still being pulled into its maw-like center.
“I am glad you found it to your liking,” Kite noted, ignoring the familiar’s growing pickiness. “And we will have more time to practice, I believe. The contract did report what they believed to be two more packs.”
“Or maybe it was just the same one seen by multiple people? You know how this kind of information is,” Dragonfly noted, before quickly adding. “Not that I’m complaining! Honestly, it's a bit weird that being out here among monsters that definitely want to eat us feels a lot better than fighting duels where one’s life is rarely on the line, but somehow carries a whole different level of consequences?”
“I believe that the simplicity of person versus monster is what you are looking for, my ardent Dragonfly,” Kite said, still keeping his distance as the flames of her armor were calming down. “And I do agree. This summer was simply devoured by troubles more complicated, so I suggest that we take our time to enjoy these simpler times while they last.”
“You say that as if you know that they won’t,” Dragonfly retorted unhappily.
“Well, we are part of an investigation going after the machinations of a clergy devoted to strife and the sundering of harmony, so I would say that it is a rather safe guess,” Kite helpfully replied. “Even so, I would say that we have done well in creating what little pocket of peace and unity for ourselves. Now we just have to help shore it up so that it may last. Oh, and speaking of-” Kite said, mentally giving his assent for Something from Nothing to activate.
One swirl of rainbows later left him with a pair of high boots made from gray-green scales, and Kite took some time to run his senses through them while trying to get a feel for their enchantments.
“Oh, I see. Water walking and the ability to spread decay through water and nearby life. Maybe something for you, little beau-”
“This young mistress would not be caught dead wearing something like that,” came the swift reply, the draconian looking down her nose at the boots which - admittedly - would clash with the rest of her pristine appearance. “Just because you are content with looking like a walking mess, my bond, doesn’t mean that I have to.”
Kite was about to protest, but after a glance down his own rather shiny armor, odd fungal cloak, the hat uncle walker gave him and assorted other pouches and knicknacks, he decided that some battles one would only win by not actually fighting.
“Then I suppose it is one more thing for Peony. Or maybe the contribution vault of the guild,” Kite noted, stashing the boots away. “Besides, we might need to be more discerning in what pieces of equipment we decide to tailor for you, Glint. From the sound of it, adjusting them so that your kind can wear them is apparently quite the process. So we’ll not be decking you out in too much either way.”
“Well, at least tell the mistress craftswoman to make something in either white, pink, silver or gold next time then,” Glint noted as she started floating along Kite and Dragonfly as they went deeper into the marshlands in search of more monsters. “Because blue really isn’t my color.”
----------------------------------------
“Honored priest.”
“Blessed one. Warrior is proud of what you have created here,” Orichalcum Fist said, gesturing to the arena around them as Soul approached him at the slightly raised platform for the officiator of any duel fought within.
It was a simple affair of slate-gray stone made out of simple magically shaped tall blocks forming a spacious confines over what had previously been a very simple residential area, each of the previous occupants having been paid well enough to easily afford new accommodations of a substantially higher standard. The arena had no stands or seating arrangements, the officiator’s platform being the only thing standing out. This left any bystanders to find their own place to spectate, mostly done from atop the wall formed by said stone blocks that made up the place. Only the protective arrays, now worked into the stones themselves to protect both the simple structure and its surroundings from stray attacks, was the feature that - truthfully - looked to be most expensive.
“I needed a place to hone my path. And as Warrior was the one who blessed my path, I am glad it has found his approval,” Soul replied, once more bowing respectfully.
“Oh, it is not only the arena that has won his liking, even though he is most pleased with the pure dedication to his art shown in its construction. There is no showmanship or gaudy details, only purpose,” Orichalcum Fist began. “But there is more here that you, Soul, have wrought,” the priest finished, gesturing to the pair of bronze-rankers fighting in the arena beneath.
Both were fully armed and armored, but where one proudly displayed the colors of the Mirrored Mountain sect on various pieces of decorative cloth and tassels adorning his equipment, the other only had a small pendant with a leaf wrought from some metal shifting with all the colors of autumn. The sect warrior was currently trying, and failing, to pressure the greatsword-wielding woman of the guild through different kinds of jabs and feints with his spear, only to be forced on the defensive once more as the woman from the guild struck with simple yet effective swings that were a lot faster than any slashes from her curved, long blade had the right to be.
One particular engagement had the spearman seemingly score a hit, only for the woman’s heavier armor to flash brightly for a brief instant to turn the blow aside. This was quickly followed by a vicious, blurring counterattack that forced the spearman to either let go of his weapon or lose at least one arm, and he wisely chose the former as he leapt back even though this still left a shallow cut which bit through one of his armguards.
“Roseate Sunset,” Soul noted, following the priest’s gaze as he regarded the guild member. “She came here as an out of balance mess, overly trusting in her swift essence while not using the powers of her armor essence enough. It might be weaving a crutch into your spirit, but she still needs to own up to her choice and make the path her own. Turning that blow and closing the trap at least shows improvement, but that counter should have come a hair quicker. She will have to do better if she wants to stand before Warrior with nothing but pride in her path.”
“And yet she fights with determination and directness. One can feel it in her aura even from here. There is a confidence there, blessed one, and it is a confidence which I believe comes from your tutelage.”
“Bah, I only gave her a few pointers. My path leaves no time for students. Only in perfection of myself will I be able to walk in Warrior’s footsteps.”
“Of course, of course,” Orichalcum Fist noted, his amused tone ignored by or simply not registered by his companion. “Pray tell though, have the others made any progress then? She seems to have quite the line of companions over there, what I assume to be brothers and sisters in arms from the sound of their encouragement.”
“They have, but much like Roseate Sunset they still have far to go. Steel’s stance still needs work, and Jade still lacks confidence to shift her stance and go on the offensive quickly enough once her water double manages to confound her foe,” Soul began, absently counting off a number of perceived flaws among the gathered iron and bronze-rankers.
“And still, for each pointer you give them, they all become a little bit closer to Warrior. He will ever smile upon those who help further his kind in this world. Maybe you will even find some inspiration of your own in their growth?”
“In them? No. That will not happen,” Soul said, although Orichalcum Fist did note that the answer came just a bit too quickly. He turned back to the fight in order to hide the smile tugging at the corner of his lips before continuing.
“Well, who am I to question the blessed seeker of perfection? Still, I believe I will soon be calling this bout of tempering to a close. In around five more exchanges, I believe.”
“Four, if she manages to remember what we practiced last,” Soul said, once more a bit absently as she seemed to be keenly analyzing the fight, giving it a lot more of her attention that her previous words might indicate.
“Then we shall see whose blade Warrior decides to favor,” the priest agreed, his next words echoing only in the confines of his own mind. “Or maybe his favor will fall the most with the smith behind said blades?”
----------------------------------------
“No new developments, little Kite?” Dove asked from where she sat at the low table of their living room, deftly sorting piles of pills of every kind into various small bottles, packages or paper envelopes for when a courier would come and pick them up.
“None today, even though I still feel that there has been clear progress since I became silver rank. My whole mana pool a few times each day I am around might be but a bucket thrown into the lake, but at least it is better than the mere cup it was before,” Kite replied, brushing some snow from his wide hat before he entered their main house.
“That seed in the astral space sure is a glutton, but believe me when I say that it is better to let such things take their time. Plants need not only nourishment, but also the proper time to grow,” Dove professed most sagely.
“Says my dear auntie with the plant essence, whose mere touch can have her garden in full bloom in the earliest days of spring?” Kite asked with an arched eyebrow as he sat down, pouring himself some tea.
“Oh hush you,” Dove grumbled. “I remember that a certain young boy loved following me around during the spring blooming. Raven does too, so apparently she’s taking after you in that regard.”
“Which only serves to prove that the children you raise will turn into utter delights,” Kite said happily, smiling as he gazed outside. “But I suppose that most children will enjoy the magic of… well, magic. It is quite amazing. Still, we might be trounced by dear Glint. With the cold start of this winter, she seems to have mastered the art of making just enough water at just the right height for it to turn into snow.”
True to his words, a very happy Raven - now just having turned two years old - was frolicking outside in the very localized heavy snowfall, enjoying just plopping down in different places or plowing through the small drifts that formed here and there.
“Well, she has missed you three terribly during your outings. Be they days or weeks, everything feels like forever to the young,” Dove said with a fond smile as Dragonfly entered the snowy fray outside, using her enhanced strength to scatter snowdrifts far and wide, much to Raven’s delight. “Me and Crow missed you too, of course, but we also know and understand the adventuring life and you flitting about. We’re just blessed that you are so far content with staying in the country most of the time, rather than going on long trips around the world.”
“While that surely would have been nice, the investigation will definitely have me stick around for quite some time, contracts with Gauntlet notwithstanding. But they at least provide the portals,” Kite noted. “Still, traveling the world in search of contracts while finding one’s path alongside friends and loved ones… That does have a certain ring to it. Maybe in the future, Fortune be willing. But for the near future, we did promise Jarvan and Dobrazza to make a trip down the coast and follow up on some clues which Wander and Braid have found, taking what contracts we can on the way. Apparently the sects down south are preparing for their annual local inter-sect tournament, which leaves a lot of contracts to be completed.”
“And then you’re off to the capital again? Given what happened last time, I’m still a bit bothered by that thought. Those sects better not cause trouble… Honestly, the place sounds rather terrifying,” Dove said with a dark look, before noting Kite’s carefully schooled expression.
“What?”
“Hmm?”
“Kite, what was that just now?”
“What do you mean, dear auntie?”
“That look.”
“I assure you, just weariness after my session in the astral space.”
“Kite, you’re a silver-ranker. You wouldn’t be tired if you flipped each and every stone in that astral space.”
“Well-”
“Kite Flown in on Winds of Fortune. You’ve occasionally had that look on your face while growing up. And each and every time, there has been some kind of secret causing it. Something which you’re keeping for someone else, or if you’re unsure if you should mention something or not. So you might as well tell me, young man. You might have progressed further than me along the path towards the heavens, but gods help me if I’m still not your mother. You’ll have to work way harder than that to keep such a thing from me.”
Seeing that the jig was up, Kite’s shoulders slumped slightly while he was frantically trying to think of what had given him away, as he had felt that both his aura and expression were as placid as could be.
“Well, auntie, it’s just that I was unsure whether auntie Crow had told you yet.”
“Told me what?”
“It’s probably better for you to ask her directly. She’s probably in her worksho-”
“Told me what, dear Kite?”
Dove’s words were soft. Too soft. A tone which Kite knew held promises of a world of trouble, inciting that primal fear inside every child that came with the distinct feeling of being caught and cornered.
“That… you, Raven and her… were coming with us. To the capital. But surely she has told you? But then, given how you talked about us going, not mentioning yourselves…” he said, letting his words trail off as auntie Dove’s features morphed to a certain expression - a simple, ostensibly placid smile that was anything but - as she slowly rose to her feet.
“I see. Thank you, Kite. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe that it has been some time since I visited my dear wife in her workshop.”
With those words, she strode off, pace measured in a way more ominous than serene.
“I’m sorry, auntie Crow,” Kite thought, sending the onyx-haired celestine a silent prayer. “I sure hope that your spiritual senses remain keen enough to sense what calamity is coming your way.”