Every breath brought the sensation of jabbing needles back to his throat and lungs. The last twenty castings or so had been true agony, each empowered exhalation accompanied by an unconscious deep groan of pain. Through the agony and the gasping breaths of his short periods of recovery, Tilly numbly repeated his mantra, "One more... one more, and I'll stop."
The Priestess had long since passed out, and they had found another exhausted member of the temple to replace her, but apparently, they could no longer do anything about his damaged mana channels. Instead, they stood by to support the guards and serve as a second line of defense against the manifestations.
Even Amelia had collapsed at some point, not sleeping for days and her constant magical brewing had caught up to her. At first, she had pulled a bench over to continue brewing while seated, and then a little while later, the sound of soft snoring emerged from her corner of the room as she sat slumped over her temporary work table covered with beakers, cauldrons, and burners.
Tilly's world had narrowed to one gasping breath after another, after a blank few minutes, he realized it had been a while since the last person had come in. He had signaled for a break to regain some Mana and had lost track of time. Through the fog of pain and fatigue, he looked up at his Mana bar, which was blinking for some reason, but showed 12%. Enough for one more...
“Ulnas. Bring in the next.” Tilly croaked allowing his head to loll to the side and catch sight of the guard who was leaning heavily on his weapon. He just nodded tiredly in response and moved through the door, before coming right back through, bristling with a sudden energy as a surprised smile lit his face.
“You are one stubborn Aurochs, human!" He shouted, the exhaustion disappearing from his form like fog before a rising sun.
"That's all of them. The Mother Superior started casting in another room hours ago, and together, you have managed to get through every petitioner. That is it, you have done it!”
The gears in Tilly’s mind slowly ground together, trying to process those words.
“Done?” He said, too tired to hold back the tears of relief pooling at the corners of his eyes.
Even through his fog, he felt the burden lift from his shoulders. He had given his best… There were no others who would die because of his lack of will. He let out a half chuckle, half sob as his shoulders slumped in relief and his body sagged much deeper into the bench against the wall. He saw several Debuffs active on his status and each came with a timer.
Minor Exhaustion: 6 hours remaining
Potion Toxicity: 10 hours remaining
Mana Exhaustion: ({Partially Resisted}, {Localized}) 14 hours remaining
None of them gave him a good notion of how long he had spent in the temple, he only knew that they had arrived sometime in the early evening. “How long till morning?” He croaked out again, as the other guard rushed over to bring him some water.
Tilly pulled some into his mouth and swished it around trying to wash away the feeling of sandpaper scratching down his throat.
“It is several hours yet until dawn. We have orders to guard you as you sleep, and we will wake you in the morning.” Ulnas stated solemnly, his pride in the work they had done evident on his face.
At that Tilly let out a groan of relief and stretched out on the bench. Improved Endurance or not, he was utterly spent. In fact, he was past spent, having long since entered the fugue state he had sometimes found at the fire station on a double shift with no sleep. For decades he had operated at a functional level well past the limits of exhaustion and it was good to see those years still meant something here.
He decided to look up at his notifications through slow heavy blinks, wondering if there was anything he needed to know before he slipped away to unconsciousness. The screen came up and he mentally filtered out all the healing, debuff, and cleansing notifications. The mental filters resolved into five distinct announcements from the system, and they danced before his bleary eyes, refusing to resolve into legible lines. He screwed his eyes shut to try and clear the bleariness and once closed, began to forget what his goal had been in closing them. The blanket of darkness was deeply soothing to his perception and he gave up struggling, allowing his consciousness to slip away.
The newly filtered notification screen remained obediently visible before Tilly’s closed eyes, happy to stay as long as it was needed.
Congratulations! You have unlocked a latent aspect of your class Son of Flame. Unlike other classes with stricter Ability pathways, your class harkens from the First Epoch. The numerics assigned by the system are more flexible for you and can be bent and at times broken depending on your need and force of Will. Minimums and Maximums as estimated by the system cannot fully define your abilities.
Congratulations! You have reforged the mana path along which Fire’s Renewal flows. It is now defined as Fire Renewal+ They have been broken and remade in the heat of a purifying flame and once they fully recover from this trauma, they will be 100% more effective, allowing you to cast the same Ability for half the mana cost, or empower it to twice as effective at full cost.
Congratulations! You have emptied and filled your mana well over 24 times in 24 hours! By this action, you have forcibly expanded your well and your ability to fill it. Wisdom + 3 and Intelligence + 5.
Warning! Due to recent gains, you have lost the Title: [Resolute]
Congratulations! You have pushed far past your limits for the sake of others without a promised Quest Reward or Experience. You have done so motivated by deep pain and longing. This has been noted by the system and you have been awarded the Title: [Scarred Heart]
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
[Scarred Heart]: Any goal you pursue motivated by the depths of your soul will be met with an unparalleled opportunity by the System. Even a broken heart can produce unimaginable strength.
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Jonathan Tillman 6 hours later
Tilly was awoken by the sound of the door shutting harshly and urgent whispers coming from the front of the room. His head felt like it was stuffed with wool and his mouth was unbelievably dry. He licked the roof of his mouth trying to produce a drop of saliva to no avail, and cracked his bleary eyes open to try and find some water. The blue glow of a screen was shining in his face and he tiredly dismissed it to get a better look around him.
The backup Priestess was gone, and Amelia was still slumped over her temporary work table snoring. The guards were both by the door, sharing an intense conversation with the Steward.
Tilly groped around until he found the water pouch before sitting up with a groan and pulling the canteen to his lips, taking deep thirsty swallows as the lukewarm liquid slid in between his teeth and cooled the harsh gritty sensation covering the interior of his airway.
“Mr. Tillman, we had hoped to let you rest for a while longer, but the situation in the city is… ah… deteriorating rapidly.” The steward said as he saw Tilly sit up. He was wringing his hands nervously.
“What’s happening? How long have I been asleep?” Tilly mumbled, the fuzziness in his mind clarifying to a throbbing headache as he came fully to consciousness.
“The sun rose a few hours ago, and the grand Caravan left sometime in the night. It was thought that the Cult’s forces would still be hours away, but it looks like our reports were wrong. They have been spotted from the walls. How our diviners missed this, I do not know but the city has almost devolved into a riot…”
Tilly’s headache throbbed deeply as if to emphasize how truly shitty today was going to be. As far as he knew, everything people would need to leave wouldn't be ready until this evening, and that was a hell of a lot of time to hang around with an army at your door.
“How many are there, and what is the state of our defense?” Amelia’s tired voice groaned from the other side of the room. Tilly looked over, noticing her mussed hair and a drool stain on the collar of her shirt. Her eyes however contrasted completely with those signs of recent sleep. They showed brightly with an almost manic determination.
“The home Phalanx and two auxiliary Phalanxes are positioned to intercept. The walls are manned by a mixture of the city guard and the private guards of the noble houses. The Emperor’s Bastions have been seen moving through the city, but no one knows how many there are or what they are doing. As for the enemy…” At this, Mateus’ formal-sounding report devolved into a choking sob.
“There are reported to be ten thousand Naga warriors of various levels, with accompanying elites… and they are driving a force of fifty thousand before them. Made up completely of irregulars-”
“What sort of irregulars have they been able to get in those numbers? Are they mercenaries?” Amelia asked, shocked.
“It is reported that they are employing some method of converting conquered citizens into war slaves. I can only imagine that these forces are a result of the sacking of our last remaining satellite city. They will be used as fodder to throw against the Home Guard and exhaust its resources.”
“Let me guess” Tilly cut in, a hollow tone of despair filling his voice,
“These 'war slaves' have black eyes and display berserker levels of aggression.”
“Yes… The cult employs blood magic that can be powerful and compulsive at times, but we have never seen anything like this. It's worse than the rituals of undeath some of our demonic enemies use. At least those conversions result in a loss of levels and must be accompanied by a controller of some kind. Is this related to the curse-empowered sicknesses we have been combating in the city?”
The color had long since drained from Tilly’s face as he considered what the people of the city were about to face, “Yes, it's all connected. Those people have been Corrupted. Once it progresses that far, I don't think there is any sapience left in them. They will do everything possible to spread the infection. They will devour and kill, while any who remain relatively intact will be added to their number. At least that is how it happened with the forest creatures surrounding the Lapin outpost.”
At his words, Mateus’ frown deepened and Amelia shot up from her seat and started grasping her equipment and shoving it into various pockets, “I have got to find Heras and the children. If we are to fight, I would do so protecting them.” She said as urgency sped her movements.
Tilly got up and began to remove the cowl of the Forsaken, “Hopefully they have already met up with the Lapin contingent, and if so, that means I’m going with you. We will help anyone else we can along the way."
“Wait! Please. We can protect you here in the Temple!” Mateus said desperately as the two made preparations to leave. Amelia totally ignored him while Tilly threw the balled-up uniform to one of the guards.
“Sorry Mateus, I don't think that is an option for either of us,” Tilly said shortly as he grabbed some of the bread and hurriedly shoved it in his mouth, chewing as fast as possible. He had learned long ago, that you always ate and drank what you could, when you could, before going out on an unknown engagement.
“The gift you have cannot end here in this fight! We have received word to recruit you if possible and send you through our network to the Shining Isle.” Alarm bells went off in Tilly’s mind at the desperation creeping into the Steward's tone. His hands drifted to his hatchets, as he turned to give Mateus a hard look.
“Whatever your orders are, we are leaving. We have promises to keep.” At his words, Amelia looked up, reaching into her pockets threateningly, prepared to back up Tilly, no matter what happened with the church. That was the second time Tilly had seen her reach into her pockets like that, and he couldn't help but wonder what exactly she would pull out of there if threatened.
Mateus raised his hand in a conciliatory manner, “No. Despite what you may think, no one here will force you. But many across the Plane need your abilities, Mr. Tillman. This is not an isolated incident, and the Church is struggling with her allies to contain it. With our backing, you could truly skyrocket in power and help countless others while doing it.” The Steward pleaded, his eyes emploring Tilly to see reason.
Tilly allowed his words to sink in and thought through the possibility of his death in the coming fight. Was he being selfish? The church of the Lady Light seemed like the real deal good guys. Who was he to say no to helping all those people? These thoughts and more swirled through his head and seemed to reverberate through his body in time with the throbbing of his headache. Doubt crept in, and his normally decisive manner was once again struggling to find a way through the confusing morality of this conflict.
But in the end, he reluctantly shook his head. To say yes to Mateus' offer, would mean having to change who he was on a fundamental level. He had made promises, and he couldn't break them and be the kind of man he wanted to be. Maybe that was wrong, but he thought again of the little girl lying in the shop, and her small courageous smile.
If doing the right thing meant abandoning her… His heart firmed and a note of clarity resolved through the cacophony of contrasting desires.
As if in response to this revelation he felt a deep echoing thud in his chest, and he started, before realizing it had been a single beat of his heart echoing through his whole body. It pushed back the throbbing of his head, suppressing the ever-present invasive sensation of the Seed, and even enveloped the burning heat in his chest. All of these dissonant forces combined to form something solid and sure under the power of its influence.
Something in the Steward's eyes changed, and he relented before a voice sounded from the hallway past the open door. “Very well. If you must go, you will do so with our blessing.” The Mother Superior came into view from the hall, looking as tired as Tilly felt. Identify finally pinging as she entered.
Level 62 Elder Priestess of the Lady Light.
“I have a blessing I can give both of you that might just help you survive the day. I can only cast it once a week, but this feels like the right time to use it, don’t you think Mateus?” She said, looking over at him with a small smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.