A fireball engulfed a monkey faced dog like creature and two more raced around it with incredible agility into an arrow between the eyes. Howls from above were answered with more arrows, each taking a life. Yen’s eyes darted around, her expression tense and fierce. She raised a hand and Shin’s arrow claimed the creature first yet again. Two more twangs of a bow put an end to the shug pack.
Shin hopped between each off the fallen creatures slowly turning into wisps of mana, absorbing something from them into the shape of a serene ghostly ball and placing them inside of himself. A jaded acceptance started to replace the usual repulsion and disbelief on the Yen’s face as Shin finished up his harvest and turned to her.
“Keep up.”
“I am a mage!” Yen’s eyebrow twitched. “A glass cannon dps, understand? This is why we need a balanced party, the melee’s clear the mobs and I one shot the boss and I don’t have to be looking over my fucking shoulder all the time!” She glanced at a dead shug with a frustrated sigh.
[Shug (rare) - Lesser Lord]
Strength - 204
Agility - 268
Constitution - 199
Vitality - 237
Dexterity - 261
Perception - 212
Force - 168
Spirit - 173
Control - 140
Willpower - 132
“...everything is too fast, I’m gonna get fucking ganked…”
“I can see them coming.”
“Yes, you told me about your magic eyes already, I feel super safe.”
Yen glanced to the side and a welcome sight entered her eyes. A white robed beauty and a towering man, armored head to toe in shining steel.
“Finally.” She walked towards them without hesitation, a big smile on her face. “Hey, let’s team up!”
The two players waved back with welcoming smiles and Shin put an arrow in their heads. The image of players dissolved into the air leaving behind creepy emaciated gray humanoids with round mouths lined fully with sharp fangs.
[Creeper (rare) - Lesser Lord]
Yen came to a sudden stop, her expression falling as if coming out of a daze and quickly turning into fury. “Piece of shit deathtrap stages, this whole fucking game is made for psychos!” She kicked a tree beside her to vent her frustration.
Shin looked at her for a moment.
“Maybe you should train in town for a while.”
“You think?!”
Before she could lay on more, Shin scooped her up and sped off again, racing towards town.
---
Yen tapped Shin’s shoulder with urgency and he let her down, just in time for her to stagger off and hurl. He handed her a water pouch which she snatched and poured into her mouth from a distance and spat it back out, repeating the action once more.
“You need more Vitality.”
“Not the priority right now…”
Shin thought for a moment. “What are your rare skills?”
Greater Mana Bolt, Greater Fireball, and Ignite.” Yen answered plainly, realizing she never had before.
“You should upgrade Mana Wall and train it like me.”
“Like I taught you.” She reminded. “That was always my plan, just didn’t have the money for it.”
“I’ll pay for it.”
“Yeah… Thanks.” Yen said genuinely. “I’ll pay you back when-”
“Oi…” The two turned their attention to the unarmed red headed warrior standing over a ledge on the other side, Yen’s surprise and annoyance contrasting Shin. Gone was the careless arrogance in his gray eyes, replaced by a confident resting hunger. “Can I follow you now?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh?” The derision and mockery loaded in Yen's face deflated with her utter confusion. “Why?!”
Donny jumped down and walked over to them. “Alright. What’s the plan?”
“Training.”
“Yeah, needed more of that.”
The trio stood in silence, two of them on the same page, the other still trying to figure out what was going on.
---
Clanging metal and cutting air rang out in the dusk lit open plot of land the growing party had all but claimed as their own. Weapons swapped in Shin’s hands randomly and often as he pressed Donny as much as he could go with the aim to level up his two combat skills as fast as possible. Yen levitated off to the side, focusing on staying as still and steady in the air as possible.
“Not upgrading your shield?” Shin asked, the flow of his fighting not missing a beat.
“Picking up the points in front of me, if that’s okay.” Yen’s sarcastic response had limited effect, given the target.
“Spirit.” He reminded.
“Yes, Fuhrer.”
Sweat drained down the squire’s face as he pushed himself to keep the pace Shin force, until a leg gave out under him. “Time…” Shin stored his weapons as Donny let himself collapse on the ground, hands on his forehead in rest.
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“Levels?”
“...2 and 3…” He answered between labored breaths.
“Footwork?” The skill Shin had recommended for the recently opened slot, with Donny’s recent fusion. The movement skill he had before was Dart, upgraded from the Sidestep he learned naturally. It was faster than Quickstep but far more limited, only allowed for a short burst of movement in a straight line.
“4.”
“Slow.”
“Fucking slavedriver, mate…”
Shin looked at the squire he accepted. A whole half day they had trained, with the minimum amount of breaks in between. Donny’s exhaustion was real and his effort and potential were there. Shin didn’t understand why he progressed so slowly. Yen dropped down amidst their conversation, a satisfied look on her face as she briefly glanced at the air in front of her before walking over.
“Control is probably the problem. What’s it at?”
“18.”
“Eight… How did you even make it this far?” Yen balked in disbelief. “Did you even read the descriptions. You need it to use and change your skills properly, it’s literally control.”
“Been fine up till now.”
Yen placed a hand on her hip. “Get it to 50 at least. More is better.”
“Sure.”
Yen glanced at Shin, preparing herself slightly. “What’s your Control?”
“108.”
“At least something about you is normal…”
Shin drew an uncommon tier spare shield and rest it upright on the ground in front of her. “Can you hold this up?”
Yen paused for a moment then gave it a try, but struggled to even budge it. She dropped it flat with a groan, but before she could even ask what the point of it was, Shin hopped 20 yards away.
“Hit me with a mana bolt.”
“You starting to lose it?”
“Anywhere on the torso.”
After another pause, she tentatively held out her hand and a bolt of mana rocketed out, hitting Shin square in the chest. The greater buffer around him shattered, the impact knocking him twice the distance away. A fractured ribcage his prize even with him standing limp to soften the blow. The mage would fare much worse with her lower Constitution against even half the force. He hopped back over, using Restore to heal himself.
“Too dangerous for you to take hits unguarded.”
“Could have told you that. Why don’t you just stand in front with the shield?”
“I’ll knock into you.”
“Right…” Yen realized.
“What’s your Vitality?” Donny interjected, his breathing growing steadier already.
“30. Why?”
“That’s well over world class. Normal training’ll be easy for you.”
“Like gym training? I’ll pass.”
“You should do it.” Shin encouraged. “Healing doesn’t overwrite training.”
“Sorted, then. What’s your strength now?”
“Three…”
“You can get it to 5 before tomorrow.”
“I need to sleep unlike you smash and bash fucks.”
“Need to get Vitality up a bit. 50’s good.”
“Ha.”
Shin rose to his feet, healed enough to finish the rest while travelling. “Inari’s complaining. I’m going out for a couple hours.” Before they could respond, Shin vanished over the town walls.
“Inari?” Donny asked.
“No idea.”
“Well…” Donny got to his feet too. “On your back, then.”
“Excuse me?”
Donny took out a shield of his own. “Got a few hours of sets till he gets back.”
---
Shin and Inari fought through the wild in the dark, the white fox taking care to shoot him passive aggressive looks as often as possible, though the passive part was largely irrelevant when he could feel her emotions. Shin burst forward and playfully stole a kill from her with a calm smile, and ran off towards the next one.
Inari chased after him, being the slower of the two now, and resorted to blocking off their path with trickfire, running up the air over it to get the creature first. They continued their macabre dance into the night, Inari’s mood quickly improving with the fun, only coming to a stop when both felt the limit drawing near.
“I have to spend mana on other skills but I’ll summon you more soon.”
Inari smiled as she disappeared into his soul. Shin sped off back towards town but a quick glance to the side had him veer off to a detour. He came across the scene in moments, a large bird with the head of an ugly woman. Unkempt feathers matched her disheveled hair and her eyes glowed a monotone blue as she wreaked havoc on the crumpling party of players from above. A concussive scream blew apart the ground and trees along with the last of the members.
[Siren Scornwreaker (uncommon) - Lesser Lord]
Shin stepped out into the open, making no effort to be silent. The siren jolted in his direction and let out a piercing screech that caught him off guard. It was different from fear inducing skill of the troll and worg. The screech penetrating into his mind, dealing damage directing.
Shin dove to the side as another concussive sonic scream blasted the area he had just stood, a small line of blood draining from his nose. He sped around her, baiting more and more easily dodged screams. The siren’s expression worsened and she let out a terrible wail, a high pitched shriek that pierced into his body. Shin felt his organs tremble and his bones start to creak, and loosed four arrows in rapid succession, two striking her wings each.
The siren faltered in the air as she tried to remain in flight, only serving to worsen the fall as she plummeted into the ground. One of her wings snapped in the crash but still she thrashed about and resumed the high pitched wailing. Shin darted back out until he was out of her range and waited. Soon the thrashing turned to distressed wreathing and the wailing ceased, leaving only common bitter yells.
Shin burst in front and she turned to him with anger and pain. “Bond with me.”
“No!” Her fury worsened. “You’ll leave me! Die! I’ll kill you!”
“I won’t.”
“Liars! Abandon me! All liars!”
The siren screamed the same words over and over in a mad fit. Talking didn’t seem like it would be enough. Shin channelled Befriend Spirit and laid his intentions and mind bare.
“Not abandon…” The siren started to calm, her expression shifting between desperate hope and mistrust.
“I won’t.”
The siren went quiet as tentative hope gained control and the root of a bond formed within Shin.
“I’ll call you later, so just heal in my soul for now.” The siren’s body turned into light and vanished, leaving behind the arrows within her, the root becoming a full beating soul.
[Siren Scornwreaker (uncommon) - Lesser Lord]
Strength - 85
Agility - 138
Constitution - 76
Vitality - 99
Dexterity - 107
Perception - 136
Force - 282
Spirit - 232
Control - 183
Willpower - 171
Skills:
Sonic Scream lvl. 8, High Pitch lvl. 6, Luring Song lvl. 9, Screech lvl. 10, Charm lvl. 7,
Traits:
Lesser Sound Amplification (rare), Nightvision (rare), Lesser Disease Resistance (rare), Minor Poison Resistance (uncommon), Minor Curse Resistance (uncommon), Minor Charming Resistance (uncommon),
Only an uncommon tier but her Force was nearly as high as Inari’s, her magical oriented stats quite good in general, the product of a specialized build. Her skills were good, two direct offensive attacks and three unorthodox ones that not many people or monsters likely had counters for. But most importantly of all, she felt right. He resumed his journey back to town, one spirit gained and another round of complaints from one whose mood had worsened again.
---
Shin sped through the gates and stopped before his planned destination, finding Donny and Yen standing outside the Inscription store.
“She won’t let us in without you.” Yen answered his inquiring look. “All these NPCs act weird.”
“They’re not NPCs.” Shin replied oddly direct as he cast Cure Wounds on her.
“Ah, okay…” Caught a little off guard by his reaction, Yen backed down and agreed, though a twinge of awkwardness spurned her to speak up more. “Since it’s like this, we should just go to the inn. I want an actual bed and bath again.”
“Sounds good.”
“‘Kay.” Shin had no particular qualms with changing where they stayed. He raised Control but still had the bulk of his quota to fill. He had the tools and materials to work on talismans through the night wherever he was. The trio headed off to inn, Shin continuing healing the mage along the way.
Donny opened the doors into a tavern area. It was larger than Shin expected, the half filled tavern with enough tables and seats for a few hundred and the area large enough for the two stories above to hold a few dozen rooms of reasonable size. He followed the squire who knew how things worked straight to the tavernkeep waiting patiently behind a counter.
“Three. Just one room.”
“One?”
“You can sleep unguarded by yourself if you want.”
Yen sulked in response.
“Silver a night each person.” The Innkeeper said, rather monotone.
Shin dropped three silver and the Innkeeper handed Donny a key with a numbered wooden block attached. Shin followed them up the stairs, ignoring the stares of many in the tavern following him, among them an armored man with brown hair and a scar across his face, his drunken scowl worsening.
The trio entered the room and Yen glanced around, unhappy. “There’s no bath.”
A talisman glowed in response and a light washed away the sweat and dirt of the day, leaving her clean as the name would suggest.
“Good enough…” Yen let herself fall on the bed without another word.
Shin did the same for Donny then found a spot on the wall, talking out his inscription tools. Donny found a seat on the opposite side taking note of his position to the door.
“Taking shifts?”
“I’ll stay up.”
“No complaints here.” Donny rested against the wall and closed his eyes.
Shin held up his brush.
“Bed her.” An alluring if scornful voice called from inside. “You want to. Know it. All the same.”
Shin ignored the insincere urgings from the new spirit within and sank into meditation.