I woke up with the sun smiling on my skin.
I couldn't help but remain immobile; my thoughts and worries drifting with the gentle wind that caressed my skin, I realized that I felt rather cold.
I knew then that I wasn't entirely awake. I was still halfway in the world of peaceful slumber, yet the bright rays of light promised me the wonderful day that lay ahead.
Sneezing woke me up thoroughly, and I realized that I hurt all over. My muscles were screaming at me, the places where the projectiles had grazed me burned, and they were swollen, crusted blood covered it, but thankfully it was just that, flesh wounds or I would have died on the way back.
I looked down where on a lower branch, Roana and the lion cub were still resting.
She was still recovering from the day we passed, running away from the Avian Commander.
The repercussion of what I had done the previous night… killing innocent people to prevent getting likely taken by the Sunguard and executed for having led a horde of monsters to the ground where Sundoor's "allies" and the Church of the Sun were trying to place some sort of treaty, would have been death, at least.
They, the Sunguards, Sundoor, wouldn't even conduct an investigation before choosing to have us executed.
No, I shook my head; it had to be done.
The tail of my eye picked up movement; the cub had heard my sneezing, he was waking up, or from the way he looked, it was more like he didn't know if he wanted to wake up or not.
I chuckled at his lazy face.
It did not look at all like a newborn cub; he was likely entirely functioning, but so small... it would take him weeks before I could properly train him.
Roana was about to wake up as well; I could hear her grunt and shift her position, hoping she wouldn't fall.
I noticed the whispers that tried to get my attention then; I had been ignoring them all night. I was too tired to focus on anything else while returning here the night before. So, I let them in before she could wake up; it was unlikely I could explain to her all that had happened; I needed to give her all my attention; if I could, given how weird I felt.
You've earned 8785 + 10524 + 12587 + 29874 + 630.200 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter level: 300.000/300.000
Class TechnoHunter has leveled up to 31. You have gained 1 Attribute point. Where will you invest it?
You've earned 593.231 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter level: 310.000/310.000
Class TechnoHunter has leveled up to 32. You have gained 1 Attribute point. Where will you invest it?
You've earned 283.231 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter level: 283.231/320.000
You've earned 134 + 82 + 221 + 19 + 4211 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next Tamer level: 7396/27000
Skill points for Trick Shot Promotion:
- Trick Shot Major Perk: 1221/2000
- Trick Shot Minor Perk: 637/1000
Skill points for Trace II Promotion:
- Trace II Major Perk: 5659/20000
- Trace II Minor Perk: 2689/10000
- Trace II Passive Perk: 2161/5000
Those were a lot of Soul fractions, likely belonging to the huge amount of damage I had delivered to the Titan with the ship exploding in its face.
Now where to place my Attribute points?
I knew my Tracing by memory; of course, if I could use a clock-Tracer, it would be better. In the meanwhile, I'd keep them to memory. They were my numbers; after all, they were not hard at all to memorize. Still, it was likely that promoting Trace would allow me to stare at people's numbers.
All points were important; even these two that I would have to place might make a world of difference.
There were a few things to take into consideration before making any decisions.
First of all, was which Advanced Sub-Class I'd get.
If I went to the Blue Tamer route, I could borrow one of my pet's Skills.
According to momma Jane, Blue Tamer gave a Class Perk, something unique that allowed me to borrow an ability.
However, there were not only Blue Tamers; there were many types of Sub-Classes of the Tamer kind.
I hadn't met many, most of them were from the villagers, but they were all dead. Tamers were not blessed with the best Constitution; that much was clear by my personal experience.
So, my Constitution was fine now, my Agility was good, although what made it shine was my Skill, and it would shine even more once I evolved Trick Shot once more with the Shiny Stones we still had access to. However, I would probably store one for Nova, if she ever needed it.
That left me with Strength, Focus, and Perception.
I had a considerable boost to Strength given my clock-arm, but I was forced to hold my bow with that hand, and not only because I was right-handed, but also because if I pulled the string with my much stronger clock-arm, my right hand would not be enough to sustain the pressure.
So, Strength could be put aside for the moment.
Focus, now, that depended on the Blue Tamer question, I could still have time to go that route once I evolved my Sub-Class, which meant that I could stop focusing on it for now.
Choosing between Strength and Perception was the classical doubt that disrupted every archer's peaceful sleep.
Stronger throws and increased survivability in melee fights, or more accurate throws and senses?
I had my clock-arm as an incentive to choose Perception, but at the same time, the soon evolving Trace ability would boost my Perception again, which played in favor of choosing Strength.
Restless, I was about to shuffle my short hair with my broken clock-arm.
My gaze fell on it then.
If it were to break-down, it would be changed, my senses were instead always in play, always active.
Yeah, that was the route I had to take for now.
I put my two newly-received points into Perception, bringing it to 19.
I could feel the range of my senses expand that very moment; everything became slightly clearer and better defined.
A burst of Synesthesia made me see my morning breath as dry mucus and puke.
I was probably coming up with a fever. Also, my muscles were killing me.
"Loke!" I heard Roana call, "You're here! Thank the Sun! What happened yesterday!?"
"Bless you, Ro. Did the sound of the battle get all the way here?"
"I kept waking up, although I couldn't help but fall asleep again, I'm sorry; if I hadn't been so utterly exhausted, I would have come with you..."
"Don't worry about it, Ro. I managed to get rid of that guy. And the Titan was felled by a coalition of flying folks and Sunguards. That peaceful ecosystem has surely gotten destroyed, though."
She nodded, "I just hope they don't get too close to the treehouse when coming to check on the appearance of that Titan."
When we got down from the trees, I sneezed again, and she gave me a good look.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"For the Sun… what happened to you? Look at you; you're a mess, Loke. What did you really do?"
It was likely that tired as she was, she barely remembered that her words of help had been crucial for me. Maybe it was better like that.
"I had to hunt him down, Ro. I could not lead him to the treehouse, so I did what I had to do," my gaze was unwavering, and although she was definitely a strong girl, she shied away from that look.
I didn't like that. We were finally restoring our relationship, but she had seen something in me, in my look that made her shy away; that wasn't because she was shy; that was something else.
What had she seen in me?
"Ro? I didn't mean to make you worry or scare you. Don't be afraid of me, please."
She seemed surprised, "What are you talking about? I'm not afraid of you, stupid. Let's go back, and… you know you can tell me anything, right?"
"Oh, I know. I do."
But I wouldn't.
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We took our time getting back. We were both tired, and there were more than eight hours to go before we reached the treehouse.
I wanted to eat; she wanted to eat; the cub wanted to eat. So, we took our time.
We hunt- well, she hunted down a couple of squirrels and cooked them for us. The cub was already capable of moving around and trying to play with us, but although I caressed him a bit and let him gently bite my fingers, I was tired.
I felt too tired to do anything else.
The cold that didn't want to leave me, was making my teeth chatter.
"After all that we went through yesterday, the sky still rewarded us with a beautiful day, didn't it?" Said Roana.
I tried to smile at her, but I did not know what came out; I was really starting to waver.
I had no idea if she realized it or not, but she did seem distressed too.
At some point, I dropped down on my knees. I had no idea what was happening, but I was tired, oh so tired, and cold. I just wanted to close my eyes and rest.
"Loke? Loke? What's happening? How do you feel?"
She placed a hand on my forehead and another on my chest.
"Oh, Loke, you're burning up!"
Roana looked worried.
I was so silly, she was worried, wasn't she?
I smiled at her, "I feel funny."
Indeed, I was not making much sense.
I remember she made me sit down, leaning with my back on some tree, then I saw sporadic images and sounds, but nothing concrete. I could not and probably would not remember them.
I just remembered a phrase very well.
Something she had said, "Live."
Nothing else.
As if the world had started slowing down for my sake, I saw the Sun shift in the sky, it went through many phases; it felt like it moved erratically, illuminating one part of the canopy, then the next.
Maybe time was passing by really fast, and I hadn't noticed?
The last thing I recalled was a young man; he was handsome, as much as the one I had killed only the day before, a Flow-blessed.
I might have told him to stay away from my sister and received a gentle laugh as an answer, but I couldn't remember much after that.
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When I woke up, it was night. I was entirely naked and covered in animal pelts and fur.
Nova was sleeping by my side, in another pelt, and M.J. and Roana were in that same room.
Momma Jane was awake; she was carving something, some small wood sculpture; it was night, but our eyes met, and she smiled.
"You keep making us worry, Loke," she said, resting the carving knife and the statuette on the cabinet nearby, then she came toward me and placed her callous but warm hand on my forehead.
"Although you are fine now, what do you say about sleeping a bit more? Or are you hungry?"
"Thirsty."
Jane nodded and brought me a wooden glass.
"Thank you," I think I replied before going back to sleep.
"Sleep tight, and May the Moon bless you."
It was an Elven saying. Unlike us, they worshiped the Moon; that was why the war started, or at least that was what the power had us believe.
But I was too tired to think about things, I wanted to sleep, just a little more...
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When my eyes opened up again, I found out that I had been snoring together with Nova; she had her mouth wide open like me.
To the ears of the listener, we might have felt like two Wildhogs.
I was the first to get up, and when I did, I noticed that the stump of my clock-arm had been covered with a cloth of leather and fur, probably to protect me from hurting myself or others during the night.
The sharp edges of the broken metal could really hurt.
I changed into a spare change of clothes I had brought with me for the training. Nothing fancy, just the regular stuff.
Then I stretched my still sore muscles. Yeah, that felt right.
"Hey, sleepyhead," I said, caressing Nova's head, "Aren't you hungry?"
She had likely healed me up before going to sleep; in fact, I didn't even feel the least cold.
My wounds had healed up good, there was already scab on them, and it would quickly fall away.
I wondered how good she would become at healing once she used the Dark Crystals to increase that healing Skill of hers. Although, the only Skill she could Promote right now was her Breathing Pattern.
The cub’s low growls stole my attention, he entered the room with Roana in tow.
When he saw me, he jerked to a stop, taken aback, then he ran toward me and started attacking my feet, jokingly.
I picked him up and brought it near my face.
"You are too damn cute, you know?"
"I'm sorry if I got your father-mother killed, but he was going to be troublesome; it had to be done."
We were close now, and I could feel his emotions; he was halfway between confused and amused, it was too soon for him to understand me completely, or to the best of his abilities.
He had to grow and spend time with me to better interpret what I meant, and the same could be said about my previous pet, Ronda.
After a year of bonding, I had yet to understand the difference she wanted to communicate to me that intercurred between smelling something dangerous and hearing it.
"Loke, that pet is too cute for you," said Nova getting up and rubbing her eyes, "give it to me," she added, reaching out with her arms.
"You want it? Then you'll have to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for me for the rest of your life."
"You know what? I don't really like lion cubs; they grow too big," she backed away under her bedsheets.
"Yeah, sure. Don't you know that he'll become all fluffy and comfy? You could sleep on him once he grows bigger, you could use him as your mount, and he would defend you from all harms."
"I still won't cook for you for the rest of my life. Besides, that would mean that you had to come live with me and Far- I mean, my future husband…"
I laughed sincerely, and a flash of memory made me realize that Faruq had brought me back to safety.
Roana, in the meanwhile, was waiting on the nonexistent door's frame.
"You gave me a scare, you know?" she said as I gave my attention to her.
"I did? Then you must surely care for me."
"Of course I do, dumbass. I'm sorry if I gave you a hard time… but since you are awake, come because something happened in the morning, and Mom has to speak to us."
"In the morning? What time is it?"
"It's fourth bell in the evening, come on," she said, turning around and preceding us.
"Damn, I overslept."
"Well, at least you were not off as badly as you were the last time I had to heal you. You're getting better at not dying,” she answered.
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They were all waiting for us by a table that Jane had built and placed on the forest floor. There were two benches at its long sides for us all to take a seat.
"The Night Hunter's awake!" said Alistar sarcastically.
I could not believe it; the damn name had reached the treehouse already, just, how?
I shielded my eyes, embarrassed.
"I'm going to have to wear a hood for the rest of my life, won't I?" I was just half-joking.
"Yeah, man, you should really hide that ugly mug of yours," Alistar answered.
"It is kind of a serious deal," said M.J. before I could answer with a rather bad reply.
She did, indeed, look tense.
"The Inquisition came to ask questions."
Shit…
“But wait, how am I alive then?"
"That is for Faruq to explain."
"Then Faruq explains," I said, shrugging; it wasn't that I was mistreating him; he had got me all the way back to the treehouse if he had had bad intentions; why would he have done so?
But there was still something that smelled wrong about the son of a mayor of a village whose entire family was Flow-born, but that did not go to the city.
"Faruq shall explain then," he replied; however, unlike me, he was smiling.
He always did.
"I convinced the Inquisitor to leave," he began, "I told him we were training under the Woman of the Forest; that's how we call Lady Jane in Veinforge."
"That's too easy; it can't be all there is to it."
"Well, I might have said that you were all my future… ahem, slaves, and needed training to better protect me… my future bride and my future children."
I noticed the direction in which his eyes went when he said the word bride. I did not like it one bit.
"Of course, I was just playing the part. I would never try anything so shady, captain. I'm a man of honor."
"Who else could be his future wife if not another Flow-blessed," said Alistar nodding convinced.
"Yeah, he had to say that," M.J. nodded too.
"It does fit," added Roana.
I couldn't take that for much longer, "Hey! What kind of conspiracy is this! Don't put weird ideas in my sister's head! Look at how red she's got! She might think she's married already!"
"Am I!?" Nova brows perked up. "I mean, I would not be against it…" her voice became whispers.
"This is the worst wake-up of my life," I admitted to myself.
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We had eaten and deepened the topic.
Then M.J. started by asking us what had really happened.
I explained it while petting the cub; he was peacefully sleeping on my legs.
"So, that's pretty much it," I said as I wrapped the story up.
"To recap... you found a Titan egg and a bunch of Dark Crystals and Shiny Stones, you more than likely erased a Gnoll's encampment from the map, then knocked-up- I mean, knocked out a Monk Nun, sunk an Avian ship, and gave the killing blow on a Titan," Alistar repeated, he didn't seem really convinced about it.
I took a sip of water, nodding, "Yeah, I believe that should be the correct order."
"I know, I know," I added to the silent faces around the tables, all looking at me, "If I had killed the Nun, I wouldn't have my description spread over to the entire Wastelands, but I just could not bring myself to kill Vinny's sister. I owed her at least that," then I looked over to Roana which was the only one that had a resemblance of normalcy on her face at that moment.
"Was I forgetting something, Ro?"
She took her time but then shrugged, "Nope."
So I nodded, content with my explanation.
"Have you got any… questions before it's momma Jane's turn to speak?"
Jane seemed… calm, “So, you are saying that I sent you to get a fantastic pet, and what you do is, steal a Titan cub, unleash a Titan in the forest, and naturally destroy that fantastical Netherbeast environment?”
“Yeah, that’s… pretty much it."
Then the table exploded in a chorus of questions, people telling me I was crazy and someone probably saying that I had to be exorcised, whatever that was.