"That bone, set that bone; keep it firm," said a tired voice.
"Is it alright like this?" Said an even more tired voice; this one felt younger, almost like that of a child, a growing child.
"Yes, just like that. If one of my courses hadn't been anatomy, we would not have been able to do much, especially with that weak healing of yours."
"I'm sorry…"
"No need to be sorry, just keep the Flow steady and concentrate on it, as I taught you. If you disperse it, we're going to have to break his bones again."
I grunted. Something was, putting a lot of pressure on my broken leg…
"He's awake again. Aisha, send him back to sleep, please..."
Aisha, was there? Where?
Aisha or somebody else got close to my ear; I could feel her soft breath; I could also smell her body, although the smell of iron in the air was much too strong and almost covered it up completely.
"Go to sleep, Loke. You need it. Haven't you done so much for us already? You deserve to rest. You have to take time for your much-needed rest…. You managed to save us; now let us handle all the rest, sweet friend. We are here, by your side and will not leave you, we promise-"
The voice kept whispering sweet words to me; I could feel the pressure of her Willpower nudging my conscience; she wished for me to stay asleep, to rest. Why would I have to resist it? I needed the sleep.
"Thank you…" I managed to say before letting her whispers cradle me to sleep.
----------------------------------------
When next I opened my eyes, it was to the profound darkness of a cave. But I couldn’t feel any Shade whatsoever in my vicinity. My Night Sight would not work. However, there was a distant light somewhere.
Also, the warmth of other people and the heat from Loki's body were nearby. I could feel them. Yet I could not move; I felt so weak. Much too weak for that.
Loke Nightfold, TechnoHunter Level 40 (265,508/400,000), Red Tamer Level 34 (106,937/340,000)
Health: 90%
Stamina: 92%
I was fine, yet I wasn't.
And I was hungry and thirsty.
My eyes slowly adapted to the darkness, and I started taking in the cave's features.
I was into a regular grotto, remains of animal meals lay nearby, but I stood on clean ground.
It was smooth, so smooth that it couldn't be natural.
Then I looked behind me.
Loki slept beside me, at my right, protecting me with his body; Nova slept to my left; she was covered in blood.
I panicked for a moment, but then I looked at the state of my body.
I was covered into one huge scab, or at least my arm and legs were, well, what was left of my left leg at least...
If that wasn't all, I was livid and full of bruises.
Each movement was agony.
I would be able to speed up the healing by sacrificing my left arm, but now that I had only one leg to walk upon, I needed two arms more than anything.
Still, there was only an explanation if I was still alive: Nova and Aisha had found me, and they had helped me.
I couldn't be prouder of my little sister.
And there she was, sleeping like an angel.
I Traced her to see what Class she had chosen.
> Nova Nightfold, Flow Battle-Mage Level 33 (117,468/330,00), Healer Level 41 (228,176/400,000)
>
> Health: 200%
>
> Stamina: 28%
>
>
>
> Agility: 18
>
> Constitution: 18
>
> Strength: 20
>
> Focus: 22
>
> Perception: 10
>
> Willpower: 23
>
>
>
> Strengths: Solar Blades, Flow Shield, Healing Spring, Willpower, Loke Nightfold
>
> Weaknesses: Loke Nightfold
>
>
>
> Class Skills: Escapist (Agility), Solar Blades (Focus), Flow Control (Willpower), Lucky Strike (Fortune)
>
> Sub-Class Skills: Solar Breathing (Constitution), Share your Pain (Focus), Flow Shield (Willpower), Healing Spring (Fortune)
>
>
>
> Race: Human
>
> Sex: Female
>
> Height: 166 cm
>
> Weight: 49 kg
>
> Age: 13
>
> Origins: Unknown, Murkstall
>
> Family: Eleanor Goldspark-Nightfold, Faris Nightfold, Loke Nightfold
>
>
Incredible. She had indeed become a mage.
Maybe not a Champion like she had said, but a mage.
She had gained Flow Control as a Skill and had already evolved her blades to another level. That Solar Blade nomenclature couldn't but hide another level increase. It was right.
I tried Tracing her Skills, but it did not work for others; I already knew that. I would have to evolve it yet again for it to work like that, or so I hoped.
Suddenly, a shadow blocked my vision then, the figure of a person barring the light from coming into the cavern.
"You're awake," Aisha said.
I turned toward her.
She looked tired, soiled, covered in dry blood.
I did not have enough voice to answer her, not right now.
So I slightly nodded.
She came forward, sitting in front of me; she was more than tired; she almost looked defeated.
"We've been doing nothing but heal you for the past three days, Loke. It's but a marvel that you are still alive."
Her hands were shaking, her eyes were half-closed.
Before I could try to say anything, she nudged Loki, waking him up.
Loki got up, sleepy dangling a bit, and headed out; he didn't even turn back to look at me, maybe expecting me to still be asleep.
Aisha took his place, sprawling near me.
"It's his turn to guard the place. There are a lot of creatures around here, at least they are not as tough as the monsters in the Tower, but they constantly come to attack us," she explained.
"Can you speak?"
I croaked a Ye-s."
"Good," she said, lying in front of me, face to face.
"You're sister, Loke. She's a marvel…”
“I've never met someone with so much potential. Her new Class has given her a Flow Star. She can raise her Skills to level 5 as an Advanced Class holder, Loke... I had never heard something like that, not from a commoner at least. Some of the Emperor's children, the Princes and Princesses, were blessed as your sister, but none of them had such potential. Your sister could become a Titan Class holder, like Lester Teriman, like few people I know of. The most powerful men and women in the world are Titan Class holders, Loke. She has to come to the City; she has to,” she said it all in one breath.
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I did not know what she was talking about. A Titan Class holder? And why did her Fortune Stars matter?
I shook my head.
"You don't know about it?" She smiled, "It doesn't matter now, rest. When she wakes up, she's going to heal you as much as possible, but now rest; I fear that tomorrow is going to be catastrophic. The Inquisition has reached the nomads and found nobody… but Loke; if those people assault Sundoor, there will be much bloodshed, and it will sign the end of the free lifestyle for the villages and nomads Sundoor has allowed until now."
What would happen to Murkstall? What would happen to Harlow and Logan, to momma Jane?
After sayings so, she lulled me to sleep with her voice. Yet in my head and in my dreams, people fought, villages were razed to the ground, Harlow died, and everyone… everyone turned into an undead.
----------------------------------------
When I woke up next, I was alone in the cavern. Nova, Aisha, Loki, they were all out, and it was dark outside, a darkness that soon cleared up; I activated Night Sight, I wanted to see clearly.
My scabbed wounds were dry; they were about to fall off; I sped up that process by sacrificing my right ring and pinky fingers, then my left clock-hand ring finger with part of my left hand and forearm.
I had three fingers per hand now, and my clock-arm was much thinner than my other regular forearm. Still, all of the scabs fell out and fresh, and although still red, perfect skin appeared in its stead.
I slowly got up, and there I saw my bow and quiver lying by the wall.
Although I could stabilize myself with my hands, hugging the wall, moving about with only one leg was not easy.
More work for Harlow, I chuckled to myself in defeat.
But I smelled of nastiness; I just wanted to wash, and then relieve myself, and eat and drink. Yet, most importantly, I wanted to move.
I placed my quiver on my back, and I used the bow as a cane, heading out.
I was soon welcomed with an unfamiliar scene.
Nova and Aisha stood nearby while Loki sat a few dozen meters around the cavern, guarding it.
My sister and Aisha were training.
I believe the halfling was teaching Nova how to use Flow Control.
And judging by the way her swords kept changing size and shapes, she had been learning really fast.
We were somewhere on the Wide Peaks' western side, in a cavern we had likely overlooked the first time we had come here.
In front of us was the jungle, boundless jungle everywhere my eyes lay upon.
The girls were clean, cleaner than the first time I saw them; maybe they had water somewhere.
"There he is, "I heard Aisha say, "he woke up."
Hearing that, Nova instantaneously turned around and ran toward me. Then she literally threw herself at me, crying as if there would not be a tomorrow.
Of course, she brought me to the ground.
"You saved my life again, little monkey," I said, caressing her head.
She did not answer, too intent on crying.
But when she did, she raised her puffy eyes to mine.
"You smell too bad, Loke."
I don't recall ever laughing so hard in my life as I did at that moment.
----------------------------------------
It was the heart of the night, yet it was warmer here in the jungle.
They showed me a puddle of water that had filled itself during the previous nights' rain; I went there to wash.
I called for a rather embarrassed Aisha to help me do it.
I had no intention or need to be helped; it was a ploy to speak with her alone.
The argument she had spoken to me about during the previous night had gotten stuck in my mind.
"Stay there; I just called you over because I needed to speak with you in private," I said as I removed my pants and fur coat. I had no trousers left to use; they had removed them to work on my legs.
"You remember."
"Yes," I said.
The small mirror of water reflected my image. It showed a much more emaciated boy than the good physique I had built during our time training at Jane.
I had likely used a good deal of my reserves for the healing. Still, I looked healthy, although with fewer legs now. If there was something I was thankful for, the leg I had lost was the same one that was already damaged.
The knee implant was still there, although shredded. It needed to be replaced.
"What you told me about Nova," I started, "it is dangerous."
"I know," she answered, as I started washing the filth away, "but if we play our cards right, if we get close to the right people... she might become..."
"What?"
"Big… oh, so big. You have no idea how much they value that kind of talent, predisposition, call it however you want, in Sundoor."
"I have a rough idea," I said, chuckling.
"I met some dangerous men a couple of weeks ago. Men from the City.”
"What men?"
"One of them was called Christopher Ronen, the other Gustav Hernàndez. I need to know if the danger you are talking about is tied to having to deal with men such as those."
"I… I'm sorry, but I don't know the people you speak of; who were they?"
"Members of Sundoor's underworld Logan says. Dangerous people, guiding Sundoor's nastiest business from the inside."
"I shall have to check then; I'm afraid I'm more exposed to… surface realities than the one you are talking about. But I can tell that the danger I was speaking about has to do with people high, very high in Sundoor's power ladder. Having the favor of someone with such talent, someone that could become a Champion..." I turned toward her at that mention, "people would go to great lengths for those types of connections. However, some others could act differently… some could stop at nothing to nullify such a threat. So, there’s that as well to consider. We would have to play our card right."
She continued, "But we are not going to play our cards wrong, Loke. If we manage to get my father's help, we might be able to guide Sundoor to a path that it has never walked upon, a better path, for us, for them, for everybody."
What she said was exactly what I wanted to hear; she was convinced now.
But what was this story about Champions?
"Aisha, what is a Champion? What is a Titan Class? And the Stars, why are those important?"
"A Champion is what we call people who have reached the Titan Class. Champions of a cause, the System defines them as such. But one has to have six Stars and all their Skills maxed to become a Champion. Of course, Fortune doesn’t matter; that cannot be upgraded. Anyway, if an Advanced Class needs an Evercrystal or Everstone to evolve into Ultimate Class, to become a Titan Class holder, one needs to absorb an Eternal Dark Crystal or Eternal Shiny Stone. However…"
I didn’t know Fortune Skills could not be Promoted, but I was much too focused on what she was trying to say next.
"However?"
"However, the process kills ninety-five percent of the ones who try it."
"Ninety-five... percent?" I was incredulous.
"Yes…"
I sighed. I would not allow that process to ever occur; I couldn't lead Nova into the City to have her waste her life away like that. But I did not need to say that; I just needed to convince Aisha to help us in; that was all I needed.
"Lester Teriman is a Champion, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is."
I sighed, "Then maybe there's a trick to it, maybe he knows the way… but why don't we start with something simpler than planning to turn her into a Champion? Something like joining the City? We'll think about the rest later."
"Yeah, I think so too," she said.
A few long seconds of silence followed.
"Loke. I'm happy you didn't die."
"I'm happy I didn't. Thank you, Aisha."
"Say, would you be willing to dry my clothes, or what's left of them?" I said, pointing at the clothes I had finished washing.
She chuckled, "Give it here and prepare yourself. We need to leave."
----------------------------------------
When we returned to the cave, I saw Nova and Loki eating from what they had prepared. I believe it was wolf's meat.
One ate what one would find.
We ate then and drank clean water. But we would have to go soon. We had to intercept Sundoor's Sand-Crawler somehow.
I climbed on top of Loki; it was easier than having to keep their pace with a cane.
"So, you checked on the Flow-cart; it was still in the village?" I asked.
"Yeah, yesterday. If you hadn't woken up, we would have taken you there. Nova even saw the Inquisition's Sand-Crawler check for the nomads; they weren't there. None of them was," Aisha answered.
"Maybe they left; maybe they thought we had convinced them to leave," Nova continued.
"I doubt it. I believe they left in fear of ambushes," I added.
"Yes. There are scryers capable of feeling people's location and powers even when they are not present. They might have gone to catch them; maybe they even already know about the nomads' rebellion and of what they are capable of. Still, no one would believe or defend against a Sand-Wyrm, just as much as one can't defend against a Dragon coming from above," Aisha added.
“About that Dragon we saw…” I started, “I believe we shouldn’t speak about it; to no one. Really.”
Nova nodded, and so did Aisha, but I would have to really make sure she didn’t speak. It was enough for Sundoor to have its might; adding to that thing inside the Primal corpse was not the best of ideas.
“Alright, let's hurry to your Flow-cart then," I concurred.
However, during the trip, I was silent. We did not meet many attacking creatures, and dealing with them was a joke for us, but I had other things to think about.
My deeper knowledge about my Tracing Skill, for example, was one of them.
I used it to Trace itself first.
Trace III (Skill)
* Major Perks: ★, ☆ Feel the whispers of the Soul (allows you to coherently understand the nature and communication between everything that has a Soul or has been affected by it)
* Sight: See the whispers of the Soul (allows you to coherently see other than hear the whispers of the Soul).
* Deeper Sight: See deeper into the whispers of the Soul.
* Minor Perks: ★, ☆ Track a target and feel his Soul presence and location (range 1200 Km);
* Future sight: Gauge your target's next possible movements;
* Untraceable Tracking: The target of your tracking doesn't know when they are being tracked.
* Passive Perks: Perception + 12;
* Sixth Sense: Develop a proper sense for feeling incoming danger;
* Synaesthesia: ★, ☆ Your senses' Perception may be contaminated by other senses.
It was useful, yeah, and although it did not say much to me, one thing was certain: Tracker was dangerous, 1200 kilometers was a damn lot; there was no escape from that. I did indeed have to find myself something to hide from Tracing, which generated it. —A Perk maybe, or anything that would do the trick.
Next in business was my second signature Skill.
Trick Shot III (Skill)
* Major Perks: ★ A projectile made of Shade is formed on the tail of an object you've shot or thrown with enough speed (Agility dependant).
* Shadow Shot: Produce a Shade object in your hand to use for Trick Shot (it must be an object of adequate mass to be thrown or shot, Focus dependant);
* Trick Boom: Your Trick Shot explodes if impacting with an object of adequate mass (the explosion's power depends on the copied object).
* Minor Perks: ★ Transfer to your Trick Shot's location through your connection with the Shade you are feeding to it (Focus increases range and window of transfer)
* Nasty Trick: Double your Strength for the next attack following a transfer.
* Shadow Slip: Transferring frees yourself of every binding that impedes your freedom (Generates a powerful wave of canceling Shade to free you from anything blocking your freedom, Focus dependant).
* Passive Perks: Agility + 12;
* Fortified Stamina: Your Stamina doubles;
* Shadow Vigour: ★ At night or in places dense with Shade, your natural Stamina recovery is enhanced.
Finally, the last thing I needed to check was my signature Attribute, although not my highest.
Perception (Attribute)
* Perception (Basic): Measure of the individual's connection with his own senses. The catalyst for harnessing Strength and proper abilities.
* Perception is counted toward Physical Power and Dexterity. The higher the Perception, the better the individual can harness Strength to its maximum amount; the higher the Perception, the better the individual ability to explicate abilities of physical and mental nature.
* Perception (Bonus): Skill-derived Perception. It acts as a multiplicative factor for incrementing Basic Perception. If not diversely specified, it does not stack with other sources of Perception.
* Perception (Class Bonus): Hybrid Perception. It acts as Skill-derived Focus until Class absorption, then it becomes Basic Perception.
* Perception (Augment): Equipment-derived Perception. It works exactly as Basic Perception.
* Perception (Borrowed): Class Perk derived Perception. It counts as Skill-derived Focus, but it can only get as high as the current maximum Class or Sub-Class level; if higher, only the maximum Class or Sub-Class level will count toward Attribute borrowing.
I laughed if something like Dexterity was boosted by Perception, then I was really, really crap at Combat Forms; I would have to shape up.
Aside from that, I realized how really vast the world in which we lived was. I had just started to scratch the surface of the knowledge that waited for me, and I had found myself with so many things to understand that I almost felt suffocated by it. There was indeed a long road ahead of me.