While Liam had unofficially signaled a truce between the two parties with his slight show of deference, Samantha didn’t relax. Although killing a cultivator was one of the most harshly punished crimes in Yivesh–with those found guilty usually being immediately sentenced to ascension–that fact was of little comfort to her while outside the walls of the city. If she didn’t return home she’d just be considered another foolhardy youth lost to the quest that had already taken countless lives, not a cultivator murdered by her peers. She needed to make these men believe that fighting her was more trouble than it was worth.
“Off on the wrong foot? That’s a bit of an understatement, don’t you think?” she quipped, lifting a brow. “It looked to me as though you were ready to team up to attack me until I released my killing intent. Perhaps cultivators are not quite as honorable as I originally imagined them before I began my quest.”
The scholarly man cleared his throat nervously as if her words had embarrassed him, “An unfortunate misunderstanding! Let’s start anew from the beginning? We three are part of House Braxand... surely, you know of our family?”
Samantha’s heart dropped at this new information. Not wanting to reveal a weakness, however, she kept her tone even and maintained her neutral expression. “I do.”
The Braxands were one of the most prominent families in Yivesh. They were one of the major contributors to the ranks of Enforcers, Hunters, and also sold a wide variety of spirit beasts to cultivators for bonding.
Now that they had declared their noble family affiliations she had to interact with them a bit more cautiously. She opted not to offer her own surname on the increasingly likely chance that things went poorly. Big, influential families like the Braxands had a reputation for being petty and retaliatory, and she wanted to spare her family from backlash from whatever came next. Unfortunately, this meant that they would assume she was an insignificant nobody with no backing, which would in turn shift the power dynamics of their conversation.
“I’m pleased to hear you know of us.” he said, nodding his head amicably. “As you have aptly observed, my brothers and I are mere Low Coppers. Since we lack the reputation of talented fighters and we also are not particularly gifted at mercantile affairs, we've been tasked with acquiring new spirit beasts for our family to investigate.”
She let out an almost-sympathetic hum, “That’s a tough position to be in, but that doesn’t really explain why you’ve stayed this close to Yivesh. You’d need to travel quite far away to even have a chance at success, I would think.”
He let out a slightly bitter laugh but avoided answering her question directly, “You can understand now why we were initially so reluctant to give up the Lunar Hare. That’s a species we don’t yet sell or know the bonding requirements for.”
With [Prey’s Perception], Samantha could see the scarred man beginning to subtly inch towards where her blind spot would have been if she lacked extended senses. She didn’t like where this was going. Not wanting to be caught in the center of a triangle of enemies, she walked over to a large tree a short distance away and leaned against it. She hoped the action looked more leisurely than wary.
The scholarly man continued speaking, “When you appeared from the brush and freed the hare, we believed you were a thief who came to steal away our prize. Alas, once you declared yourself a fellow cultivator and said that the beast was your bond we realized the error we made.”
Wanting to deescalate the situation if she could, she tried to offer up a compromise, “I see now how frustrating this situation is for you. How about this… I’m more than happy to share information with your family about where I found the Lunar Hare and how I bonded with him. I can come by the Braxand estate in a week's time to discuss the details with you three and the appropriate members of your family?”
A week would give her enough time to get presentable and consult someone about how to navigate this issue. Most importantly, it would get her out of immediate danger.
The scarred man looked towards Liam hopefully, but Liam shook his head.
That’s not good.
The scholarly man’s eyebrows turned upward as he let out a sad sigh, “I’m afraid that won’t work. There are many ways to bond with a spirit beast. The problem is that since so many factors can influence what is required for a bond to be offered, how you bonded with yours will not work for most people. If we can’t perform extensive testing we won’t be able to find a reliable and repeatable bonding ritual that works for everyone.”
Something about the way he said ‘extensive testing’ made Samantha’s stomach churn.
“Squeamish to the idea of having the Lunar Hare experimented on?” Liam cut in. She must’ve shown a crack in her own facade and revealed her disgust. “Understandable. I can assure you the procedures are minimally invasive, though. If it died from the research it’d be difficult to use it to find more of its kind, and that would be counterproductive.”
“What are you suggesting, then?” she asked, trying to sound genuinely curious rather than concerned.
“What about…” the scarred man began, “you sell us your bond? We’ll escort you back to the estate, get that binding thread of yours severed, and you will be richly compensated in return. Sure, you’ll lose cultivation progress, but you’ll be given more than enough spirit pearls and gold to recoup the loss! I bet my family would even be willing to give you a replacement beast to bond with–one better suited for fighting. Everyone comes out happy.”
“It sounds like a generous offer, but I’ll have to decline. I’m quite attached to this Lunar Hare, you see.” she stated firmly, shifting her stance and sending a mental message to Silas to prepare for an attack. She flexed her foot to check the state of her ankle and was happy that no pain remained from earlier. At least a full minute must have passed for [Flawless Regeneration] to finish its work.
The three men placed their hands on the hilts of their straight swords.
Her heart raced and her palms began to sweat. As confident as she tried to appear, she knew that this would be nothing like the sparring matches she was familiar with. There were no third parties to referee–no one to call out a winner before permanent harm was done. She needed to be willing to maim or kill, and to expect the same level of viciousness from her opponents. She took a deep breath and did her best to settle her doubts and fears.
They unsheathed their weapons and took a step towards her. She swept her spear out in front of her and pointed it at the eldest in response.
I don’t want to kill them… but I will if I must. I will not soften my blows. I will not avoid making lethal strikes. I will not...
She slowly let out the breath as she repeated the mantra in her mind and hardened her heart, “Are you sure of your choice?”
Liam shrugged and barked out a laugh, “Such is the way of cultivators.”
Samantha had held off on using [Inspect] thus far because it was considered rude to do so. She didn’t want to risk giving them an excuse to start a fight if she was caught, but now it didn’t matter. Though it was not the most efficient use of the ability, she spent 1 qi point on each person to get an idea for what their favored attributes were. This would leave her with only 12/18 qi points remaining in her pool, but she felt the information she would gain would be worth the cost.
Liam Braxand - Low Copper
Highest Attribute: Strength (9)
Lowest Attribute: Agility (5)
Natural qi defenses lowered due to permanent damage to cultivation base.
Humans are one of the most adaptable and versatile species. Neutrally attuned beings at a baseline, they are able to convert any type of qi into usable energy. Unlike spirit beasts this stored energy does not coagulate into a core at the time of death, but is released into the surrounding area.
She scanned Liam first and was surprised to see how much was included in the message. It probably was due to his lowered qi defenses, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. It was concerning to see that his Strength was nearly double her own, but as long as she could leverage her higher Agility to stay out of grappling range she could likely wear him down with her weapon’s superior reach.
??? Braxand - Low Copper
Highest Attribute: Endurance (???)
Lowest Attribute: Resilience (???)
???
She scanned the scholarly brother next and was glad to see that he wasn’t a heavy hitter like Liam. While it was possible that he could outlast her in a battle of attrition, she could probably take him out the quickest due to his low Resilience. Unfortunately, he was already migrating towards the back of the group, meaning she’d need to get past the other men first before being able to strike him down.
??? Braxand - Low Copper
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Highest Stat: Resilience (???)
Lowest Stat: ??? (???)
???
She checked the brawler last, and noted that Resilience was predictably his highest stat. By the awkward way he gripped the straight sword’s hilt and his imbalanced stance she could tell that he was the least comfortable with the sword. Despite his intimidating appearance, she found him the least threatening of the three and would deal with him last if she could.
In a worst case scenario she could likely flee, but she would need to leave behind all of her gear. It was also wholly possible that one of the brothers had an Agility that rivaled hers or some combat art that would allow them to keep up, even if she did try to run. She formed a loose plan in her mind and communicated it to Silas at the speed of thought. She felt his agreement, and knew that he would follow her lead.
This entire time she had been steadily backing up further into the forest and letting the brothers slowly close in on her. Silas, on the other hand, had split off in another direction to wait for an appropriate opening to attack. All three enemies discounted his departure and kept their focus firmly on her movements.
Upon reaching a particularly dense section of underbrush, Samantha darted to the right–towards the brawler. Immediately the group erupted into motion, the three doing their best to maintain their triangular formation through the tangled greenery. To her relief, they didn’t seem particularly adept at moving as a cohesive unit.
She thrust her spear forward in an exploratory attack towards the brawler and he whipped his sword up clumsily to deflect the strike. She continued circling towards his right in an attempt to find an open path to the scholarly brother. Liam, seeing this, rushed over to cut off her movement and prevent her from slipping around the brawler. The scholar, noting her attempt to reach him, cautiously backed further away from the group.
The brawler began his own series of sword strikes towards her, but Samantha easily back stepped away out of his range and pierced forward with her spear in reply. She kept the brawler between herself and Liam, scoring several shallow cuts against his arms and torso as he struggled to block her incoming attacks.
“Out of the way!” Liam shouted irritatedly, “She’s using you as a shield, idiot!”
Samantha ducked behind a tree as the brawler suddenly charged her, swinging his sword wildly. She quickly retreated several steps to regain a safe distance and kept both attacking brothers in her sight.
“Go left! NO–your left! Keep her between us!” Liam commanded. The brawler snarled in frustration, but obeyed to the best of his abilities.
Before they could solidify the new formation, she put on a burst of speed to test if either of them could keep up. Putting a point into [Swift], she near-instantly shifted directions and reached her top speed. Darting under a sword strike and around the brawler, she left the two enemies behind as she rushed the scholarly brother. Seeing her approach, he shifted his stance to a defensive one and calmly engaged her as he waited for his allies to arrive.
His swordwork was near-perfect, with textbook accurate execution of forms. Though his movements lacked overpowering force or speed, he was able to effectively block or deflect all of her attacks. All the same, she couldn’t help the smirk of grim satisfaction that stole across her features. Silas was finally in position.
A comet of green and brown fur shot upwards towards the scholar’s head and slammed into his jaw. A shockwave of force rippled through his face, blood spraying liberally from busted lips and a partially severed tongue.
“No!” the brawler cried out, but they were still too far away to intervene.
Taking advantage of the momentarily stunned opponent, she put another point into [Swift] and attacked with a savage horizontal slice. The tip of the boar’s tusk glided effortlessly across the scholar’s stomach as she eviscerated him and he was flung backwards from the force of the blow. He landed on his back a few feet away, silent and unmoving. She didn’t know if he was dead or unconscious, but he was definitely out of the fight.
A scream of murderous rage erupted from behind her as the brawler threw his straight sword at her with shocking speed. She was still slightly off balance from her swing, and was only able to partially avoid the sword as it blurred past and disappeared into the underbrush.
Laceration has activated [As One]. Moderate damage to torso (Samantha) has been transformed into minor damage for Silas and Samantha.
The cut to her side wasn’t too deep due to splitting the damage with Silas, but it would affect her movements going forwards if she didn’t address it. She put a qi point into [Flawless Regeneration] and then checked her qi pool–9 qi points remained.
The brawler rushed her like a rabid dog, his temper getting the best of him as he forsook the efficiency of maintaining a proper martial arts form for blind rage. A red haze started coming off of his body and his speed sharply increased. When she dodged a punch and it subsequently shattered a large chunk of tree bark behind her, she knew his speed wasn’t the only thing affected by the mystery art. He had suddenly become much more dangerous.
The two brothers had used her time fighting the scholar to close the gap between them, and Samantha struggled to regain that distance as the brawler’s speed now rivaled her own. It was all she could do to activate [Swift] during the most dangerous moments to turn fight-ending blows into merely damaging ones. And, thanks to [As One], though the mounting injuries were painful and slowed her down nothing was broken or truly crippling.
The only upside to this situation was that the brawler’s enraged state was almost as dangerous to Liam as it was to her. Liam stayed at a distance to avoid his brother’s wild kicks and punches while Samantha put as many obstacles between her and the brothers as she could. The only thing that kept her from emptying her qi pool into [Swift] to escape was the fact that she wasn’t confident she could outrun the brawler while his art remained active.
After what seemed like an eternity–but was probably only a few seconds of frenzied activity–the red haze blessedly faded away from the raging berserker. He notably slowed and his breathing became ragged, his punches and kicks losing nearly all the force behind them. It seemed his art gave him an incredible boost for a short period, then left him utterly exhausted. She was also feeling a touch winded from her frantic retreat, but her relatively high Endurance kept her in the fight.
Liam had fallen behind during the exchange, and a slow, high kick from the brawler presented an opportunity to take him out of the fight Samantha couldn’t resist. Due to his high Resilience, he had remained relatively undamaged up until this point. She knew that to significantly hinder him she’d need to aim for a weak point. Catching his kick on her left shoulder, she began pulling him backwards to put him off balance which forced him to hop towards her or fall. Shifting her grip closer to the spearhead, she buried the tip into the back of his knee and sliced. Blood sprayed from the injury as the brawler screamed a curse and fell to the ground clutching his leg.
Quickly checking Liam’s position, he was still nearly 20 feet away. It would be a close call, but she believed she could manage one more solid blow to the brawler before he reached her.
Lifting her spear in preparation for a downwards stab, Liam took a deep breath and the air around him seemed to still. Samantha’s hair stood on end as her instincts warned her an attack was incoming.
“ENOUGH!” he screamed, and a shockwave of air blasted into her.
Samantha was blown backwards into a tree trunk and was rendered effectively deaf–unable to hear anything but a high-pitched ringing in both ears. Simultaneously she was overcome with nauseating vertigo, the world seeming to spin around her as she planted the butt of her spear into the ground for some sense of stability. She had never regretted a maximized [Prey’s Perception] more than this moment.
Ruptured eardrums have activated [As One]. Serious damage to inner ears (Samantha) have been transformed into moderate damage for Silas and Samantha.
Samantha immediately redirected the remaining healing energies from [Flawless Regeneration] towards her ears, praying it’d heal quickly.
Liam didn’t give her the opportunity to recover.
Attacking with brutal strength and efficiency, Liam lashed out with his blade. He, like his scholarly brother, had impeccable form with the sword. Unfortunately for her, he had the strength and speed that his brother had lacked. Though she was above average in skill with the spear, fighting in close quarters with a swordsman put her at a terrible disadvantage, and it was obvious that Liam had spent a good portion of his life mastering his weapon. Samantha stumbled as she was repeatedly cut deep, unable to fully fight him off with her impaired balance and lesser fighting experience.
Laceration has activated [As One]. Moderate damage to left arm (Samantha) has been transformed into minor damage for Silas and Samantha.
Laceration has activated [As One]. Serious damage to right shoulder (Samantha) has been transformed into moderate damage for Silas and Samantha.
Laceration has activated [As One]. Moderate damage to…
As the notifications continued to pile up, she started to panic. She would die at this rate. She desperately needed space, but didn’t trust that she could use [Swift] without running into the ground or a tree which would make this situation even worse. If Silas could use [Thump] again that might just save her, but she knew that there was still around 10 seconds left on his cooldown.
She didn’t think she could survive 10 more seconds of this beating.
Samantha’s hearing came back and her balance stabilized, but the damage had been done. Liam had inflicted sufficient injury that she couldn’t move her spear well enough to properly defend herself anymore. Another loud bang and a snap caused her ears to twinge with pain, and she feared that Liam had launched another sonic attack towards her. However, Liam screamed in pain and lurched towards the side instead.
A [Translucent] lump fell to the ground, and Samantha registered with some shock that it was Silas. He had certainly just used [Thump], but she didn’t understand how it was possible. And she also didn’t understand why he wasn’t darting off to safety like he normally did–he was just… lying there breathing raggedly.
Not wanting to draw attention to Silas’s form she turned to fully face Liam, but he was already retreating back towards where she had struck down the scholarly brother. He was favoring his left leg and had a bad limp, but was still moving faster than she would have expected.
Worried that he might be going back for healing items or some other aid to give him the boost he needed to finish the fight, she picked up Silas and followed after Liam. Not long after, Liam caught up to the brawler–who had apparently also been making his way back to the fallen brother–and they supported each other until reaching their destination. Upon the three brothers reuniting, Liam pulled something out of his cultivator’s robes and crushed it in his hand. A light began to shine out from his closed fist, and Samantha sped up.
The light in Liam’s hand increased in intensity until a white pillar of light stretched up into the sky, then grew in diameter to encompass the three men. Fearing what the effect of the pillar would be, she put all but 1 qi point into [Swift] in a bid to rush the trio and incapacitate Liam before he could complete the activation of the talisman or art. Before she reached him, however, a flash as bright as the sun lit up the forest and blinded her.
As the spots in her vision vanished, she noticed that all three of the brothers had also disappeared. There was no trace of them, other than a dark, muddy pool of blood where the scholar had lain.