Screams and fearful war cries flooded the half broken fortress. Soldiers making desperate charges and deserters who lost their will to fight died in equal droves. The black wolf burst around, invisible to the eyes of most, leaving mangled and torn scraps in its wake. A bearded squire among the first residents fell back as his legs gave out under the sight of the carnage. The black wolf appeared in front and waited, slowly opening its mouth. The trembling man scrambled to his feet pathetically and ran for a few steps before the wolf snapped his body in half, armor and all.
Ulverk raised his head with a sneer, blood draining down its mouth, and took in the terror, relishing it. He tilted his head away from an arrow and a weak human sped off, sprinting as fast as he could, heading for a trench carved out in the open bailey, and was mauled to shreds. A piercing shrill enveloped Ulverk and the little rats he smelled long before peeked out of their holes, flinging their petty arrows and spells.
Ulverk vanished, the pitiful bardic noise having no effect on him, and tore and gnawed away at the attacks in their holes one by one. He blurred and appeared next in front of the bard woman only once she had bore witness to the massacre of her people. He raised a paw at the helpless human, tormenting her with the slow stay of death, and froze. Ulverk’s head snapped to the distance and he raced over the fortress walls and into the forest in an instant, his smile more elated than ever.
---
Shin stood atop the short plateau overlooking the forest, the wisping mana of meditation swirling around him as he kept watch on all sides with prismatic eyes. Inari stood near, swords drawn, vigilance coiled for a fight at any moment. Shin’s eyes locked front and Inari took the vanguard in an instant. The worg darted through the trees crossing miles in moments and stepped into the rocky surface.
“I was beginning to think you’d never leave your hole. That would have been… wiser.” Ulverk seemed to notice something as he eyed his prey. “So that’s it. You gain a little power and think the world is yours.”
Ulverk laughed calmly. “Or maybe your minds are clouded. Thoughts of revenge?”
Inari burst forward as a gnarled bow appeared in Shin’s hands. Ulverk raised his neck away from a slash, and Inari hastily shielded her left with both swords against a heavy swipe, sending her crashing away.
The worg blurred and snapped at Shin, swallowing his afterimage whole. Shock found its face as the boy dodged his lunge clean and aimed his bow. Ulverk turned to face the arrow and a sword slashed deep into his side.
Inari leapt back before claws could find their revenge, positioning herself between the black wolf and Shin before charging again. Swords and claws cut only air, Inari sticking close. Ulverk’s jaws snapped shut, just barely missing her, and tilted away as an arrow sailed by, a sword grazing his neck in the opening. The white fox pressed her attack as another arrow came to her aid. But the arrow found its target as Ulverk struck at her again.
Shin nocked a third. If he strained his body past its limits with his current strength he could draw deep enough to shoot, but not fully and not quickly. The arrow in the wolf’s shoulder barely sinking to the shaft. Shin took note as that arrow pushed out of the worg’s flesh and the bleeding from his sword wound already ending. He noticed, and let loose arrows as Inari battled its claws and fangs, the wolf now utterly ignoring them in pursuit of the stronger target.
Shin nocked another, this time pouring mana into the bow. Sharp wind emanated from the head of the arrow and cut through the air, this time striking deep into the worg’s side. Ulverk grimaced, caught off guard by the wounds inflicted by the human he had written off. He let out a roar, bringing an instinctive fear into all around him. His body melted into shadows and swam towards the boy.
Shin dashed away, arrow at the ready, and the shadow sank into the ground, Ulverk’s jaw surfacing from the shadows behind Shin, lines of white fangs bearing down. And snapped shut on air, as Shin blitzed away, faster than he had dodged before. A glare of frustration crept on the worg’s face and Inari slashed deep from his side again, as his focus strayed.
Ulverk mauled Inari away and glowered menacingly at Shin. His speed frustrated him but more so the absence of any trace of fear. The boy had frozen at the dungeon entrance before and he could not have acquired such resistance since in that paltry den. He had come here for slaughter, not true combat from such inferiors.
A wrathful snarl took hold on its face in the lull in combat, no trace of the derision and mockery of before. His body shook and began to grow larger in erratic pulses until he neared the size of a giant direwolf. The enlarged worg bounded towards Shin, the ground breaking beneath his feet.
Shin stowed his bow and sped away from the worg’s rampage. Closer and closer the giant worg’s claws tore as he pushed his body as fast as it could go. The beast’s true speed had not increased but the distance he could move in the same amount of time had, by virtue of its size.
Inari lagged behind, her occasional slashes when Shin was able to draw the worg nearing evaded and ignored. Her attacks failing, she stayed her hand and lunged to cut them off, spitting a mass of grayish blue fire. Shin darted towards it and the worg followed as the fire sailed between them, suddenly veering towards the worg and reached for it. Ulverk jumped away, his eyes turning to the ball of talismans hurled through the air by his face, as they burst into a giant ball of flames, covering the worg in fire.
The flames coated its face and neck, but the worg sped around and shook them off in the wind, his fur only slightly singed. But no sooner did he shake off the flames, did Inari appear in front and spit again. The worg leapt to the side of the blue fire stretch out on both sides, the mass just barely grazing its fur and like adhesive it stuck, pulling the rest of its mass straight into the worg.
Ulverk roared, trickfire burning far more intensely than the common flames of the talismans. He thrashed at the white fox who had gotten too close, shattering a transparent sheen around her as she crashed along the ground. But the fox warrior spun to her feet and charged again as another light gleaned around her.
Shin fired aircutter arrows at the flailing worg as Inari took to the air around it, keeping it at bay with more fire. A wave of fear was met with another arrow and a glare to counter, which paused the worg for an instant, nearly enough to be caught by the second trickfire as it fizzled out.
The worg thrashed and darted away, until the trickfire finally died down. Patches of burnt fur and charred flesh marred the body of the once seemingly infallible beast and blood spilled from its wounds. But quickly, it healed. Gashes closed, charred flesh returned to its color and fur regrew.
The giant worg looked down at its enemies, all its laidback arrogance lost, replaced with only wrath and hatred. The red markings on its body shone and a feral fierceness spread across the worg’s face. Shin dove away as the worg barrelled through, tearing across the ground as it turned to face him again, mouth pouring with drool and eyes devoid of reason.
Shin blitzed into the forest, a second lunge crashing through trees and dirt just barely missing him. Shin fled as fast as he could, weaving through trees as the giant raging wolf barrelled and thrashed through them, the barest resistance of such obstacles the only thing slowly the great beast down enough for Shin to keep away as he twisted and turned.
Shin stopped feinting or laying traps, the mindless wolf immune to such tricks with him in his sights. But in that mindlessness, it became predictable. A tree shattered in his place. The wind from its claws cut into his skin. A dive away just barely kept him from a lunge of its jaw. Shin’s body ached and strained as his mind raced to stay a half step ahead of certain death, yet still he continued this deadly game of tag through the woods.
Mana and aura depleted as rapidly as the forest demolished behind him. As he took another step, a sickening snap came from his leg. His speed faltered for an instant but it was an instant too much. Shin dove forward, just barely twisting his body away from the worg’s fangs but a mere bump on the barrelling beast’s shoulder, sent him crashing out, the protection surrounding him shattered.
Shin took to his feet without rest, forcing his bones together and suppressing the pain as the worg slammed into a cluster of trees and burst forward again. A wall of gray blue fire bloomed between them and the worg recklessly charged through, the pain only enraging it further. The barest trace of intelligence flashed in its eyes and it turned towards the firebreather that inflicted such pain.
Shin pivoted and sped in the same direction, towards Inari. “Sky.” Shin spoke as he shot arrow after arrow to steal the worg’s attention, to no avail.
But the kitsune guardian kept to the ground, keeping the worg’s attention focused solely on her. Shin’s urgency heightened as he swerved closer to the rampaging worg, drawing two red daggers.
Relentlessly he slashed at the worg’s leg in the instances it stayed on the ground, the might of its strides far too much to strike directly against. But the worg took no notice. More and more, Shin sliced as fast as he could on the same shallow cuts, again and again, until blood started to splash and pour in droves dousing Shin along with the forest, until finally it struck deep and the worg’s head flinched and turned down.
In a flash Shin leapt back and claws tore through his chestpiece and into his torso. Inari lunged with frantic wrath through the air and slashed through the eyes of the distracted worg, pouncing from the air over to Shin. His torso and the ground below him painted red before he could stop the bleeding by force, the claws had sunk deep, even with avoiding the worst of it. He could keep his body together, keep everything in place and force it to operate normally, but he could not fix the chestpiece, the active skill of which vanished with the change in description adding the word ‘damaged’.
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Inari appeared by his side, half worried half angry. Shin drank a red potion but he could feel her urging to do more, yet he couldn’t spare the mana, not now.
“Burn it more. Don’t get close.”
Inari lingered in protest but gave in to the look in Shin’s eyes and sped off. Shin drew his bow and fired arrow after arrow at the thrashing worg. There was only one way they could win now. Inari darted around and spit fire at it, the blind mindless worg unable to avoid these. Blood lined Shin’s fingers as he continued to shoot arrows. A breath from Inari fizzled out before it formed and a blind maul sent her crashing through trees. She stumbled to her feet and sprinted back over to Shin, one arm hanging limp, the other drawn towards the worg.
They waited and watched as the giant worg slammed against the trees and howled, flames stuck firmly to it, burning away. But soon the flames died down, the smoke that blocked its nose gone and it turned its head towards them, a single eye healing. It took a step, and faltered. Its body trembled and rapidly shrank back down to its normal size, its charred flesh and severed eye remaining.
Without pause the worg burst forward. Shin jumped back and Inari met the beast head on. She blocked the a paw that sent her sliding back and kept between it and Shin as best she could, but even without the strengthened mauls, she was forced on the backfoot, unable to counter.
Ulverk glanced at Shin, doing little more than loosing useless arrows, and moving slowly. A malicious sneer returned to his face. With a lunge, he crossed Inari, ignoring the slash against its side. A talisman sailed in the air between them and the worg’s smile reached elation, a single useless ember all that remained between him and the kill.
Shin triggered the talisman as the worg tensed its legs for the final lunge, and a blinding light consumed the world. Ulverk’s mind raced rapidly. They was no injury, he could not see from the blinding flash but that was all. His sense of smell still worked, his legs coiled to the brink. He could still sense the prey, slowly stepping to cover behind a large tree.
Ulverk lunged and threw all his might behind a swipe, aiming to destroy tree and human both. His mighty paw struck the tree, and a veil of protection shattered. The tree cracked and half uprooted, but stood firm. A slash halfway through its hind legs woke him from his blank shock. He turned to swipe at the fox but his rear legs gave him no strength and buckled slightly, and the fox slashed deep into his neck.
Ulverk balked, another swipe swatted away and a second slash dug into his neck. An unfamiliar emotion crept into the back of his mind as he lashed out, receiving slash after slash. A feeling he had given many before. Inari raised her sword, and he fled. Blood drained down his wounds and spluttered as he pushed his body forward, the perk of regeneration gone with his depleted mana.
The wounds worsened with every step, and his vision started to turn hazy, but still he ran. He could hear two sets of footsteps in pursuit. Further and further, blindly he ran through the forest. The stage would soon end. If he could just make it that far, he thought, he only needed to make it that far. His pace slowed, his stride uneven. Breathe wouldn’t take in his body. Still, he stumbled, slower and slower, and finally he collapsed. He urged his limbs but they would not listen, his vision gone too. The heat from his body slipped away, and he heard something land lightly in front of his head, with the smell of man.
“Fortunate… boy…” He taunted. It was all he knew how. “A spirit… like me… before you… now… you… will have… true power… I will… accept… a bon-”
A scythe whipped through the ground, its edge glowing, and the worg’s head rolled across the ground. Shin watched the worg break away into mana and fade into the air. He laid the scythe on the bloodied ground and stared at it in silence, ignoring the notification of achievement. Inari stood at a slight distance, feeling unable to walk near, but gathered her resolve and stepped in front of him and held his cheek as her body turned to light, returning to Shin’s soul. Shin’s eyes softened, but still he waited in silence.
Minutes passed by and finally the world around him froze. A screen appeared before him with a numbered list of names in ascending order and his at the top. Shin paused for a moment before looking through it.
1. Shin
2. Leon Moore
3. Sereth Narmer
4. …
“Someone did better than Sereth…” Shin was somewhat surprised but his attention moved on quickly. He scoured down the list, noting the placement of a Genjiro Igarashi at 29 before finding what he was looking for.
87. Yuna Igarashi.
Lower than what he expected, but he guessed she was being cautious. Shin dispelled the ranking. He had no doubt in his heart of the survival of those two, merely wanting to check how they were doing. He turned his attention to the notification he ignored before.
[Achievement: Boss Slayer I. 100 Attribute Points rewarded.]
100 gold coins entered his spatial bag to his knowledge of that fact by mysterious means, but his attention was firmly on the black elastic long sleeve silk shirt appeared in his hands.
[Semi-divine Training Shirt - Legendary]
‘Doubles recovery rate of mana and aura. Compounds with other recovery abilities.’
Another notification popped up, granting an option for a legendary tier ability along with an additional skill slot, his stage reward as the top ranked initiate. He searched for a specific ability and chose it without hesitation.
[Acquired legendary tier trait Spiritkeeper.]
‘Store the root of a bonded spirit’s soul. Limit: 3.’
No sooner had he made his choice was he bombarded with hundreds and hundreds of notifications, all invitations from gods. Shin dismissed all but those with messages, which still left dozens. They bore the standard promises of power, status, glory, even marriage proposals, but none appealed to him save for one.
[The Master of the Great Land invites you.]
‘Talk to me if you’re fond of spirits.’
Shin accepted it and once again found himself in a dark space devoid of naught but himself and a young man who looked to be not much older than himself. His face an exceeding handsome beauty with emerald green hair, loose and mid length, he wore a loose silk tunic generously stitched in finery tied at the waist in a cloth belt and baggy farmer’s pants that stopped rolled up halfway down his shins. Barefoot he stood, balancing one foot on his lower leg as he leaned casually to the side.
“Yo.” He held out a hand in a laidback greeting. “I’m Onamuji.”
“Shin.”
“Hmm…” Onamuji crossed his arms and tilted his head as he slowly floated around Shin, wholly unhurried unlike the first god. “It is hard to read you… But you did save that little pixie with no expectations. Wouldn’t’ve gotten the circle if you were. That doesn’t happen that often… And fusing the holy and the ethereal’s ‘sposed to be a lot harder than you made it seem. Guess anything goes with the ethereal.”
“Can spirits do anything?” Shin interrupted him abruptly, a trace of deepness in his eyes.
Onamuji floated in silence for a moment. “Yes and no. Can’t go into detail here but if something can’t be done with the ethereal it can’t be done at all.”
“Can it bring someone back?”
“...the little sickle weasel’s gone. I’m sorry.”
Shin lowered his gaze for a moment, then brought it back. “Can it find a soul outside the tower?”
“Don’t know enough about outside the tower to know. But the Spirit Realm is connected to more than just what’s in these walls.”
“Okay. I choose you.”
“Great, of course it’ll be a greater-”
“True.”
“...true blessings are serious, y’know.” The god looked at Shin’s uncompromising casual smile and sighed. “Burden’s always on me…”
A notification appeared in front of Shin and he accepted.
[Received a True Blessing.]
‘Your fate and existence has been tied your patron god’s. 30% increase to all attributes.’
“Alright, we don’t have a lot of time. That Ethereal Soul trait is more incredible than you know. For now, use it to store the souls of spirits.”
“How?”
“That skill you just got with the Shaman class. Harvest strong spirits and store them inside yours. It’ll matter later. Also, and this is important, don’t go over 2000 total stat points in the next trial. Maybe one or two hundred if you need to, but no more. Keep as many free skill slot space as you can, but that isn't as important.” Onamuji’s expression turned a tad more serious. “Try not to get too reckless. You might rank first now but you’re not the most gifted even from your world. Some peerless talent’s got the whole Tower riled up.”
“Leon Moore?” Shin thought.
“Can’t tell you. But it’ll be obvious. Anyway, you can’t beat them right now. Not a chance, so don’t fight them if you meet.” Onamuji stared at Shin’s indifferent expression. “I’m serious, don’t do it.”
Seeing no change in his new apostle’s face, he sighed again. “Well, what’s done is done. Won’t be able to talk to you again for a while… so just keeping doing all you can, I guess.”
The space ended with the god’s words and Shin found himself back in the tutorial stage frozen in time. The goddess from the start stepped into existence in the sky, far away yet close at the same time.
“Hail all thee who hath found the dawn of thy destiny.” A divine voice, distant and near, rang throughout the stage. “From this stage, thou shall step into thy world made anew, a branch of the Tower. Find solace in this blessed tree amidst the World of Darkness. Find hope. Find thy path of fate.”
A light consumed the world and when Shin opened his eyes, he found himself in a rolling meadow stretching on and on, grand mountains far in the distance. His injuries healed and energy restored to full. Shin let his eyes relax into prismatic splendor and entered the world of colors more fully than before. Clear and calm, he let his mind drift in the sea of wonder. Black filled his eye and crept through another, stalling, straining, before suppressed back to where it came.
“You will never take me.”
Words spoken to something and nothing. Shin looked out on the new world and saw no path but the one he chose.
---
A wiry old man with a long thin white beard stood in a barren wasteland of dead orcs, a larger fiercer one dress in wolf fur and partial armor dead with them. Several players healed their wounds behind him as he looked over the list of ranks in a calm pose, a new intricately crafted glaive resting against his shoulder.
Quite a large number of Igarashi had made in on the list of a thousand, nearly a fifth in fact, and three of them had entered the top 100 as he. Though he recognized quite a few other surnames as well, the vast majority of the list, but that was to be expected. He stroked his beard as his attention returned to the top. The system acknowledged the preferred name of his leper grandson, not the name he was born with, as was the case with all others he knew.
He had thought this world one of simple myth and fantasy, but this was different. There was something more to this. A crazed grin spread across Genjiro’s face, one he had retired long ago. This world could be conquered.
A man of perfect chiseled physique with long red hair and dauntless golden eyes strangled a fearsome lion in his hands. A smiling man with deep blue hair and cloth tied around his eyes walked through a sea of poisoned bodies. An enchanting woman with light brown skin, silky purple hair braided in fine shoulder length strands, and piercing amber, sat with a smile, surrounded by mindless loyal pawns.
A crazed man, eyes blackened and skin reddened, laughed drenched in the blood of monsters and players. A light brown skinned man with a light beard and flowing black hair and a white lotus tattooed on his forehead stood at the helm of nine others, eyes full of purpose and confidence. A silky orange haired woman with blue eyes, panted heavily, injured and disheveled, staring at the charred trollskinned creature she had just killed.
A young boy with long black hair played with magic, ignoring the world around him. A brown skinned woman with flowing black hair and cold golden lotus eyes stood alone amongst the vines. A woman with black hair tied in a ponytail casually walked away from a ruptured and dented creature.
A dark skinned man of towering powerful build, hair cut low and clean shaven with eyes glowing pure white stood tall like a divine warrior. A blonde haired fair damsel of unrivaled beauty with golden eyes stood back as nine others fought for her with all their might. A stoic crimson eyed woman patiently waited in front of a headless centaur. A blond man with casual pink eyes and slight smile that held not a shred of doubt walked away from an ogre severed in two, the light from his sword fading away.
And far away, a jester bound wholly in red and black watched everything unfold from behind a white smiling mask. “Can you feel it, o Lord?” He looked to the sky from his crouch. “The third rebellion.”