Damien wasn’t sure why they were allowed to go into the forest without a quest in order to hunt monstrous wolves, but Leon had explained that the Adventurer’s Guild allowed it to happen mainly because it was a lot easier to control a monster’s population if you let people kill them without restricting them. Given how fast monsters could respawn, this kept their population down to a manageable level most of the time. It was rare that lower-level monsters got to such a high population that a Monster Raid was called, but it could happen.
“What’s a Monster Raid?” Damien asked as they left the city gates of Lamora, showing the guards some papers that showed they were residents of the city. The road ahead of them was well-traveled, with people walking on it even this early in the morning. Fields of grassland surrounded the city for roughly a quarter mile before the forest began, its tall oak trees shading the interior from the golden rays of the sun.
“How do you not know what a Monster Raid is?” Leon asked, looking slightly astonished.
“I, uh… wasn’t exactly given the broadest education.” This technically wasn’t a lie since most things he knew about Xaunis were self-taught or told to him secondhand. Again, one of the inherent disadvantages of being a Traveler.
“Well… a Monster Raid is what happens when a lower level monster population gets too prevalent. The lower a monster’s level is, the higher its spawn rate. If enough of them gather, they can form a massive horde of monsters called a Monster Raid, and if they're left alone for long enough, they can even spawn something called a Monster Lord.”
“That sounds… ominous.”
“It does, but there hasn’t been a successful Monster Lord spawning in almost three centuries, and whatever Monster Raids do manage to gather usually get taken down pretty quickly. We’ve gotten pretty good at this.”
“I suppose so.”
The two talked about various other things over their walk to the forest, which resulted in Leon congratulating Damien on getting his Profession, though he had no idea what Runesmith was. The mention of the Profession got him thinking about the two Skills he had earned the day before his spar against Dove. Regina had been surprised, excited, and immensely proud of him for getting the Skills so soon, though his own proficiency with the Skills wasn’t nearly as great as his teacher’s.
Engraving was exactly what one would think it was: Engraving Runes into various implements, allowing for the enhancement of various pieces of equipment and unique implements. Runic Script was what he actually engraved into those pieces, and although Regina had yet to show him how to imbue his Runes with Mana or Stamina, she also assured him that he was already progressing fast enough.
Soon enough, the two young men were at the edge of the forest, the green canopy shading their destination in slightly viridescent light, giving it a slightly mystical air. They then got out of their own heads for a few moments and checked over their equipment. Damien wore his dark apprentice clothing under new armor, which Corbyn said he had more than earned after going above and beyond in the sewer dungeon. It was dark but tough leather, and though it wasn’t as flexible or expensive as his mentor’s, it covered his whole body, from the chest piece to the boots, and would likely take some punishment before he’d have to repair it. Again, not great, but much better than nothing. They also didn’t have any stats, since it was made out of normal materials, and Identify didn’t bring up anything when he used it. It was just normal leather armor of average quality. That was about it.
He also had his jian at his left hip, as always, along with a small bag of potions meant for today. They were surprisingly cheap, only costing about ten Camori a pop. He’d bought ten. Leon’s getup was the same as when they had gone into the sewers, though now his dark vision goggles were around his neck instead of on his head, and his staff was slightly new, made of a darker wood.
“Upgrade?” Damien asked as he eyed his friend’s new weapon.
“Something like that,” Leon said, taking the staff from his back. “It’s a bit heavier than the last one, so it’ll give my hits come more stopping power. Anyway, you ready to start killing some wolves?”
Damien pulled his sword from its sheath, a slight smile on his face. “You bet your ass I am. Let’s go kill some stuff.”
The first several minutes of their walk through the forest were relatively peaceful, with only the buzzing of insects and the occasional call of birds to keep them company. The forest was a surprisingly tranquil place, with the mighty trunks of the oak trees spread throughout the forest almost everywhere they could see. Still, they kept on their guard. There was a reason they’d kept their weapons drawn, even as peaceful as this scene was.
Eventually, the two came to an outcropping of stone, its face spotted by moss. Damien and Leon crouched to a nearby tree, its trunk wide enough to shield the two of them from anything that may have decided to take the stone face as some kind of territory. As could be noted by the slight growls coming from it, they had been wise to wait.
The Traveler gestured for Leon to stay back, the human nodding to his back, Primeval Awareness making him aware of the gesture even though he didn’t see it. He had gotten used to the sensation of the ability as time went on, though he often kept it inactive when he didn’t feel like he was in danger. It was a bit annoying having to process all of that information at once, but he was learning to live with it. He’d also been getting used to falling asleep with it on, and while it had forced him to wake up a few times, he had quickly learned to filter out what he didn’t need. He wouldn’t be taken by surprise in his sleep, that was for certain.
Damien’s steps were light and soft, a product of his Stealth Skill and the training that Corbyn had been putting him through. The foliage of the forest wasn’t a terrain he was entirely familiar with, but he avoided twigs and dry leaves, shifting his weight between his legs so that one foot was never fully carrying it. Eventually, he managed to get all the way to the side of the rock, turning slowly to see what awaited them.
A large wolf with sable fur and large canines lounged on the rock, basking in the glow of the sun as it licked itself clean of the blood speckling its snout and forelegs. Clearly, it had killed recently. Damien used a hasty Identify on the creature to gauge its relative strength.
[Forest Wolf]
Level: 5
Affinity: Lignum
Given the relative appearance of the monster, everything checked out. It would be a bit of a challenge, given the fact that Leon was Level three, but with the two of them together, they should be more than enough to take the beast down. Then there was the monster’s affinity: Lignum. While neither Ventus nor Umbra had any particular interactions with the affinity, it was one of the only ones with a natural synergy with healing magic, alongside Aqua, making it sought after by many who wished to become healers.
Damien signaled to his friend that it was about to begin, and prepped a Shadowbolt in his off-hand, aiming it at the back of the wolf’s head. Without a sound, he fired. The Spell, minor though it was, still dealt damage to the monster, causing a small gash to form in the tufts of its fur, a trickle of blood dampening the thing’s fur, it turned to him with what he could swear was an annoyed look on its face, shaking its head as it began to stand up on all four legs.
That was when Leon came in like a missile, cracking the beast across the snout with his new staff. It s head jerked to the side with the motion, clearly taking it by surprise and causing it to stumble. Then Damien got in close, swiping at its back left leg with his jian and cutting deep along its thigh as he activated Shade Strike, splitting tendons and muscle in a spray of blood that arced just above his head. Before the monster could so much as snap at him in annoyance, Leon came at it again with his staff, this time jabbing it straight in the eye, badly damaging its orbital bone with a loud snap and forcing the beast to howl in pain.
Eventually, Damien saw an opportunity to end the fight, reversing his grip on his sword as he brought it up, took a quick breath, and brought his blade sundering down into the beast’s back. His blade parted flesh, tore through bone, punctured organs, and unleashed yet another geyser of blood as his sword penetrated the other side of the monster. The wolf was dead before it could so much as slide off of the Traveler’s sword.
You have slain [Forest Wolf]
+250 XP
Would you like to Loot [Forest Wolf]
Yes | No
Damien selected yes, and a selection of new items was now available to them. Most specifically, a wolf’s pelt and a pair of wolf’s teeth which had a set of glowing, jade green veins within them, which he would only assume was Lignum attuned Mana.
You have Looted [Forest Wolf Pelt] x1 and [Lignum Fang] x2
“So… you want the fur or the fangs?” Damien asked.
“Should I be asking you that? You’re the one who killed the thing,” Leon objected, looking a bit disappointed that he hadn’t gotten the killing blow on this beast.
“Sure, but you helped a lot. Smacking that thing in the face gave me a chance to stab it through the heart.”
“Fair, but it’s also your kill. Wouldn’t feel right.”
Damien wanted to object further, but saw that he would get nowhere fast if he kept pushing that line of question. He wasn’t sure why Leon was so insistent that he not take anything he didn’t feel he earned, but Damien could respect it. He gathered everything from the Loot drop, placing everything alongside the potions that still sat undisturbed in his bag.
“If that’s how you want to do it, I won’t stop you. But I’m taking point next time, alright? Gotta let you get some actual kills in if we want to make this trip here completely worth it.”
Leon just smirked. “Stay alive, alright? We both know you can’t exactly take a lot of large hits.”
“Shut up.”
The two bantered back and forth as they continued their way into the forest, their conversation buffeted on all sides by the comforting sounds of nature.
----------------------------------------
It had been a few hours since they had first entered the forest, and all in all, things were looking up. All of the enemies they’d come across had been at Level five, which wasn’t surprising given the fact that they were still on the outskirts of the forest. They had killed everything from wolves to oversized rabbits with a taste for flesh. The latter had been especially aggressive, and were the only enemies that had forced Damien to use some of his health potions, leaving him with a total of seven. Still, it was completely worth the trouble of coming here once he saw that blessed notification.
You have slain [Youngling Rabbit]
+250 XP
LEVEL UP!
You are now Level 5!
Stats Successfully Distributed.
You have [14] Stat Points remaining.
Damien hurriedly checked out his Stat Screen, just as Leon had a few fights ago when he’d Leveled Up to four.
[Status]
Name: Damien Sinclair
Race: Traveler of Umbra (Male)
Age: 18
Class: Shade Hunter
Level: 5
XP: 0/5,000
Profession: Runesmith
Affinity: Umbra
Stats:
Strength: 21
Dexterity: 60
Intelligence: 60
Constitution: 27
Endurance: 27
Wisdom: 37
Vitality: 40
Vigor: 34
Willpower: 37
Reaction: 81
Stat Points: 14 (71:59:47)
[Spells]
| Shadowbolt (Common) | Invocation (Epic) | Shadow of the Night Wolf (Ancient) | Chains of Tartarus (Unique)
[Abilities]
| Shade Sense (Uncommon) | Shade Strike (Uncommon) | Bloodcasting (Epic)
[Skills]
| Identify (Common) | Adept Swordsmanship (Uncommon) | Adept Unarmed Combat (Uncommon) | Mediation (Uncommon) | Acrobatics (Uncommon) | Thrown Weapons (Uncommon) | Stealth (Uncommon) | Mana Control (Rare) | Engraving (Rare) | Runic Script (Rare)
Damien quickly began allocating his free points, rounding up Constitution, Endurance, Wisdom, and Willpower all by three points each, leaving him with two more points to spend how he wished. He quickly funneled them both into Strength. While it wasn’t his Stat of choice, it was still important that it didn’t fall too far behind his other Stats. It would be embarrassing otherwise.
“You all done over there?’ Leon asked. His outfit was a bit scuffed, and his goggles were slightly askew around his neck, but he looked no worse for wear. Damien was much the same, with little more than superficial damage to his armor and what little nicks had been in his jian had automatically repaired themselves thanks to the minor enchantment, so he was good to go.
“Yeah. you ready to call it a day?”
“I am. Lets-”
Leon’s words were cut off but the sound of distant but distinctly haughty laughter. The human tensed at the foreign noise, as did Damien. Laughter was not a common sound in the forest, especially if you were alone and didn’t want to make noise, That left two distinct options for its source. A mad ghost… or rich kids. At this point, Damien would honestly prefer to take his chances with the ghost.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“So.. how much do you wanna bet they attract the attention of something they can’t handle?” Leon asked, still cautious.
“All the Camori in the world,” Damien replied, his own grip around his jian relaxing slightly.
“Should we go over and check?”
“Probably not.”
“… we’re going to check on them anyway, aren’t we?”
“Yeah.”
No matter how entitled someone might be due to status, that was no reason to write them off as not worth saving. He might regret this later, but that would be better than leaving someone to die because of the mere possibility that they were a dick.
Damien and Leon walked through the woods like ghosts, and though the human did not yet have the Stealth Skill, he was incredibly light on his feet, even if Damien did have to direct him not to step on obvious noise-makers like fallen branches and dead leaves.
Eventually, the two came to the clearing that all the noise had been coming from, and found exactly what they’d expected to find. A group of about five rich kids, three of which had weapons out while the other two looked either bored or fascinated. Damien could tell their level of wealth from the sheer gaudiness of their outfits, with many embroidered patterns and designs glittering in the sunlight that found its way through the canopy of the trees. The Traveler thought that they were practically begging monsters to come and fight them and satisfy their egos by falling upon their weapons.
“This is… sad,” Leon said with a disappointed shake of his head. “You sure we shouldn’t let them get knocked around a bit by whatever comes their way?”
“… I’m honestly considering that possibility.”
Not all that seriously, of course, but he did let himself think about it. Still, as they continued to observe the group of rich kids, it didn’t seem like anything was coming for them. It made Damien consider the rather amusing possibility that they were being so goddamn annoying that even the monsters in this very forest wanted nothing to do with them.
Honestly, he should’ve noticed the silence sooner than he had. It was unnatural, like the quiet left in the wake of a predator. Something had just come into range, and Damien couldn’t tell what. Leon seemed to notice something wrong as well, the Traveler nodding to him in acknowledgment of the hidden threat. Leon’s grip on his staff tightened just a fraction, and Ash silently slipped out of his shadow in reaction to his summoner’s sense of danger.
Then, before anyone could fully react, the wolf struck.
Not Ash, but a brown wolf with gleaming fangs veined with emerald green. A Forest Wolf, likely attuned to Lignum, maw wide open as it leapt from the surrounding shrubbery towards the nearest of the rich kids. Damien and the Shadow Wolf reacted far faster than any of them could process, the latter latching onto the thing’s neck with his own fangs while Damien sank his jian into the beast’s center, impaling it through to his sword’s hilt. It died almost instantly.
You have slain [Forest Wolf] x1
+500 XP
Would you like to Loot [Forest Wolf]?
Yes | No
Damien accepted the prompt without thinking, the wolf’s body dissolving into even more Loot that he was barely able to fit into the bag alongside his potions and everything else. He hit the ground with a light thud, sheathing his blade at his side while Ash lightly stepped next to him, his fangs entirely bereft of blood. He didn’t speak for some reason, but Damien wasn’t about to ask him why. They had an audience, after all.
“Hey! What in all the world do you think you are doing?”
The pitch and cadence of his voice were enough to make Damien immediately contemplate drawing in another monster just to shut this guy up. He was snooty and loud and so holier than thou arrogant that it grated on his nerves with just a single sentence. The Traveler drew himself up to his full height, and turned an exasperated stare towards the pompous ass.
The guy had blonde, swept-back hair and was unnaturally pale, with red eyes the color of blood. The universal sign of a vampire. He was a tad shorter than Damien, a fact that he immediately tried to compensate for by puffing out his chest. His clothing was brightly colored and well-tailored, with a fashionable long coat over a button-up shirt with a ruffled collar and sleeves flaring at the ends. A sword was belted to his side; a rapier, straight, thin, and clearly meant for thrusting, the basket hilt encrusted with enough gems to make it seem slightly unwieldy.
“Saving your dumb ass.”
Damien probably could’ve said that in a less blunt way, but this group’s sheer stupidity was enough for him to drop any pretenses of politeness. The vampire flinched back in what looked like genuine shock, as though he was baffled that a piece of furniture had grown proper legs and had begun to walk. Still, he managed to regain his composure relatively quickly, somehow drawing himself up even straighter as he addressed the Traveler with nothing less than absolute contempt. “I am Willan Denari and I shall command your respect.”
“No,” Damien said, again blunt as Leon came out of the shrubbery into the clearing proper. “You don’t command my respect, you demand my attention. You’re not in danger anymore, and I suggest you and your friends leave before one of you actually gets hurt. I’m not going to be around to bail you out next time.”
“… guess we’ll be regretting sticking around after all,” Leon said with a sigh.
The group behind Willan was silent, the other two men looking conflicted about whether they should stand with their friend or stand aside on the basis of common sense. The non-combatant male was looking suddenly interested, like a drama queen hearing a juicy piece of gossip, while the only woman in the group seemed like she would fall over herself at the tension in the air. Either she was quite naive and inexperienced or she was quite the actress. Damien honestly couldn’t tell which.
Willan, however, was not silent, his face growing red despite his race’s apparent lack of natural blood, and spoke with a fervor to his tone that brooked no argument. Well, he tried, but he sounded like a spoiled brat who hadn’t gotten the toy they wanted and threw a temper tantrum because of it. “I demand your name, knave! I will know the one who has insulted me this day!”
“… did you seriously just say that with a straight face?”
The vampire did not dignify Damien’s question with a response, which meant that the Traveler had likely struck some kind of nerve.
“Alright, alright, if it’s that important to your ego.” Damien scratched at the back of his head, annoyed at the entire situation. “I’m Damien Sinclair. It’s been unpleasant meeting you.”
The pompous brat drew his rapier from his side and leveled it at Damien with what he likely thought was some kind of threatening stance. He then said something that the Traveler was suddenly unable to avoid. “Damien Sinclair, you have sullied my honor and I demand satisfaction!”
… what?
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“I do not jest! I have formally challenged you to a duel!”
Damien damn near slapped his forehead at the stupidity of it all. He should’ve expected it. Hell, he had been told to avoid it by Corbyn himself! But he hadn’t expected to stay this long, and now the situation was starting to devolve rapidly.
“Is this necessary?” Damien said. “I don’t think I’ve done a whole lot to besmirch any sense of honor you might have. And if you think that I’m anything close to the worst of the world, then you have some sincere growing up to do.”
“Do you accept the challenge or not?!”
“Are you going to keep pestering me until I accept it?”
Silence answered Damien’s question as a vein appeared over Willan’s eye. Damien leaned over to Leon, who had stayed relatively silent for the whole conversation, whispering to him. “How far do you think that stick has been lodged up his ass?”
“Pretty fucking far. Are you sure about this, Damien? No matter how this ends, it’ll probably spell trouble down the line. I don’t want you to get jumped.”
“I don’t want to get jumped either. But it seems like this guy isn’t going to leave it alone. Besides, if I don’t knock some sense into him, Ash is probably going to tear the guy’s throat out.”
“I’ll fucking do it,” the wolf said telepathically. “Just give me the signal and blood will fly everywhere.”
“Alright,” Leon acquiesced. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“So do I,” Damien muttered to himself, stepping towards Willan with a hand resting on his sword’s pommel. He glared distastefully at the rapier in the other man’s hand. Especially at the basket hilt that was apparently encrusted in jewels. Too many jewels, in his opinion. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that the blade of the sword was entirely free of such obstructions, and actually seemed to be of high-quality steel, he’d have called it downright decorative. As it stood, he still thought it would look better in some collection than somewhere in an actual battle.
“What are the rules of engagement?” Damien asked, drawing his jian casually. He didn’t even take a stance. While Willan’s form was impeccable, it was also stiff, like he had gained most of his experience in swordplay against dummies and instructors who had been strictly told not to harm him.
“The first to ten strikes,” Willan said, shifting his stance slightly, bending his knees and tensing up his forward arm, clearly preparing for a fast thrust. His little group looked on encouragingly, with the boys giving some degree of enthusiastic cheers while the young woman seemed a little nervous for him.
It seemed that the latter was the only member of their group that had any real sense. Because while Damien was far from a master of the sword, he knew for a fact that he was more skilled than his opponent.
That was promptly demonstrated by Willan’s opening move. It had been telegraphed from the very start: a powerful, straightforward thrust meant to strike at the center of his chest. While the vampire was fast, closing the five-and-a-half-meter distance between them in half a second, Damien had several factors that made this point moot. First was his Instincts of the Night Wolf Trait, with the Danger Sense alerting him to the actual attack and the Primeval Awareness informing him of every movement that Willan made. Second was his own Reaction Stat of eighty-one. Although he had yet to add any further points to it, he doubted that the vampire’s Reaction Stat was a priority for him, considering just how fast he was going.
And last but not least… he’d literally fought someone far, far faster than this just yesterday. Comparing Willan’s speed to Dove’s was like comparing a sports car to a military-grade fighter jet. Sure, they were both technically fast, but one was clearly much, much faster than the other. And he had still managed to get a hit in on her! But only the one.
Damien lazily swept his blade up, a light ringing of steel on steel sounding out at their swords met. Willan was clearly caught off-guard by the impact, his sword arm thrown wide as his face went slack with shock. The Traveler took advantage of this with a gentle downward swing that the vampire couldn’t block, striking him lightly on the left shoulder.
“That’s one,” Damien said, lightly flicking his sword as though to clean it of blood, despite the fact that it was as pristine as it had been when he’d drawn it. A few seconds went by as Willan processed exactly what Damien had just done, and his expression slowly turned from confusion to horror to absolute rage. The Traveler wasn’t exactly sure why the fact that the guy had gotten tagged was so surprising, but again, he could probably lay that down on various factors that he didn’t know everything about. Those aforementioned instructors, for example.
The vampire shook his head, a strand of his blond hair falling into his face the only sign of his dishevelment. He took a similar stance, though this one was a bit more reserved, as though he were waiting for Damien to make the first move. The Traveler obliged, making a slow, testing strike at Willan’s guard. The vampire flicked his blade outward for a parry, but Damien endured the hit and turned it into a clash, a single hand on his jian’s hilt as he began to press into the meeting of blades. It seemed that this was not how the vampire had planned for this to go, trying to find a way out of the clash in order to better counterattack.
Damien didn’t give him a chance. Instead, he did the most obvious thing that he could. He formed his free left hand into a fist and punched him in the face. A light punch, to be sure, but a punch nonetheless.
Willan stumbled back, clutching at his nose as he disengaged from the clash. It was probably more from the shock of the strike than any pain it caused, and Damien had held back, but his opponent was clearly someone who had never been injured very often, if ever.
“What in all the hells was that?!” Willan yelled, his tone angry and his face turning red. “This is not a common bar brawl! This is a duel!”
His mob appeared to agree with him, shouting their support for his opinion. Even the rather silent young woman managed to give some encouragement, which seemed to make Willan preen like a peacock. All it did was make Damien sigh in annoyance, and Leon gave the group an unmistakable ‘are you fucking serious’ look. Ash just glared at them all, as usual.
“You said the first to ten strikes,” Damien said with a shrug, balancing the flat of his sword’s blade against his shoulder. “You never said it had to be with a sword.”
This only seemed to cause the brat further annoyance. “I didn’t think it necessary to explain the etiquette of a duel, you cretin! When in a duel, you exchange blows with blades until one surrenders or the strike amount is met! It is one of the simplest things in the world!”
“Etiquette? In a fight? That’s gotta be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard come out of someone’s mouth - including my own.”
It was too late to take back the words that had just been said, but even if Damien could, he probably wouldn’t. It wasn’t like it was a lie. The concept was fucking ridiculous to the point of hilarity. Willan, however, did not seem to see it that way, and looked like he was about to explode in anger. And then he did, if only metaphorically.
“You insolent imbecile! You mock the very thing that separates us from beasts?!”
“No, I mock a concept that would get you killed in an actual fight,” Damien explained, pulling out a Lignum Fang from his satchel. He hadn’t bothered to take the thing off, since Willan had yet to show himself to be any actual threat. And he was seriously getting sick of this group’s whole deal. “Did you think that wolf was going to give you time to banter and bandy about while you prepared to strike at it with the perfect thrust? That it would let you go after a couple of scrapes and bruises, say ‘better luck next time’ and trot off into the forest?
“Well, whatever answer you’ve got in that head of yours, the correct one is ‘fuck no.’ It would kill and eat you as fast as it could, because it’s a monster and that is quite literally what monsters do. Yes, you’re not alone, but how many of you would’ve gotten injured by taking the thing down? Did you even consider the possibility that you would be injured? Did even one of you bring a fucking health potion?”
Several seconds of shocked silence passed before the sole woman of the group slowly raised her hand, her palm slightly shaking as though she were afraid that he would yell at her for some reason. Instead, Damien was immensely relieved.
“At least one of you has some common sense.”
That was when Willan decided to strike. While his opponent was distracted by praising the efforts of one of his group members, the vampire rocketed forward with a sudden burst of speed from what could only be some kind of Ability, a collection of some grey energy gathering at the tip of his rapier. Damien’s Danger Sense alerted him to the attack and allowed him to shift his body away from it, the almost painful feeling in his head practically forcing the movement. Then, all of his attention was on the vampire once again.
First, Damien kicked at the hand holding the rapier that had just tried to stab him. It was a light kick, but it was enough for Willan to lose his grip on the hilt, the sword flying up a few inches and allowing the Traveler to snatch it at just the right moment. That was when he brought his jian up to bare and crossed the blades, holding both the edges a scant fraction of inches away from the young vampire’s throat. He gave the guy a surprised but nonetheless pleased smile.
“Good instinct,” he complimented. “Taking advantage of distraction is one of the first things you should do in a fight. It’ll end it quickly, if you time it right.”
“W-what?” Willan said, surprised to see his own sword pointed back at him. “What did you just…”
“Oh, sorry,” Damien replied, pulling the blades away from the vampire’s neck and extending the hilt to the young man. “Here.”
Willan dumbly took his sword back from Damien, confusion still clear on his face. Damien took some satisfaction in that, but only a bit. As the duel had gone on, it was clear that this kid was certainly arrogant and definitely needed to get taken down a few pegs, but that was no reason to become a bully himself. It almost seemed like the kid had been coddled for much of his teenage years, never exposed to real danger until just today. That was no excuse for him to be a dickhead, but it was some kind of explanation for it at least.
“But… why… how strong are you?” Willan was clearly still in the midst of his confusion, and the rest of his group was as well. The duel seemed to have been entirely forgotten.
Damien looked back to Leon and Ash, the former of whom just shrugged while the latter gave a toothy, eager smile. Still fantasizing about bringing people to justice, it seemed. The Traveler sighed and looked back at Willan, a look of pity on his face. “Dude, I’m not even in the double digits yet. I’m probably not that much more powerful than you are right now.”
“Then... then how…”
“I can’t say,” Damien admitted. “I’m not that powerful, and I’m not even that good with a sword yet. I’m decent, but I’m no master. Not even close. It also doesn’t help that you basically tried using the same move twice with only slight variations.”
“Then how could I lose to an honorless knave?!” It seemed that Willan was fully in the realm of denial, and the rest of his group could clearly see that fact. Damien just sighed. Denial was one hell of a drug, and it seemed that the young rich kid was not immune to it.
“Who’s to say, really?” Damien said. “I guess I know when to trust my instincts instead of my head. But if hear anything else I tell you today, at least listen to me on this…
“Tone down on that attitude of yours, or it’ll eventually get you killed. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday… it will.”
Then, he started walking back to Leon and Ash, eager to leave the forest for the day. This would probably come back to bite him in the ass, but he would have to deal with it as it came. Maybe he and Corbyn would find a way to at least delay interacting with the vampire again for the foreseeable future. After he got appropriately chewed out by the guy, of course.
Still, there was something about the energy in the guy’s last attack that felt… wrong. It felt much different from the Lignum Affinity that he had gotten used to the whole day. It was like looking in a mirror for the concept of natural growth, yet an intrinsic part of it all the same. Like rot and decay. He could swear that he could think of it - the answer was practically right on the tip of his tongue… but nothing came to him. While he could remember the broad strokes of the Umbra and Lux Affinities rather easily, as well as the more basic elemental Affinities, he still couldn’t recall this one in particular.
“Hey, Leon? Did you recognize what kind of Affinity he was using on that last attack?”
They were away from the group now, and Damien had turned off Primeval Awareness as they started to reach the edge of the forest. He doubted that they would be sticking around for much longer. His human friend gave him an odd look, but sighed as he remembered the explanation of Damien’s piecemeal education. “I’m not really sure myself. I know most of them, but I didn’t even know that Lignum was a thing until today. And the few healers I’ve seen have an Aqua Affinity anyway.”
Then, rather surprisingly, Ash chimed up with the most serious tone that Damien had ever heard from him as he explained the Affinity that they had seen.“That… was Pravum. It’s essentially the complete opposite of Lignum in every way. And while it’s still part of the natural world, most mortal beings fear it, and with good reason. No one likes death and decay, but they are a natural part of it. Your concept of life wouldn’t be what it is if it didn’t have an end, y’know?”
With that said, the two exited the forest, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up with them, all while Damien hoped that no more surprises awaited them.