After his fit of laughter was over, Jhiah searched for a settlement within the area in and around the field. Fortunately not encontering any problems along the way, he found a small town near the edge of a dense forest of evergreens. Approaching what appeared to be the main entrance, he was quickly seen by a guard that appeared to be patrolling the edge of the town. Surprised that a town this small even had a professionally trained one, he identified the sentry.
--Narln Tu'k - Human - Imperial Knight - 57--
Narln's eyes widened, likely having seen Jhiah's indentification, and abruptly spoke:
"What are you doing here?"
Jhiah responded immediately. "Is there anything wrong with my presence?"
The Imperial Knight paled. "N-no, I was just wondering why someone of your power-"
"Honestly, I don't know myself. Mind explaining where exactly here is?"
"This is the Lighden Village." Then, apparently as an afterthought: "My lord."
Jhiah thought for a moment, then responded: "Never heard of it. Mind explaining why someplace so remote even has a guard? I haven't seen any powerful monsters nearby, so I can't think of anything."
"i'm a mercenary. Lighden hired me because one of the shades besieging Lyrandar strayed a bit too close. I can't even blame 'em for trying this first - those things are terrifying."
Jhiah raised an eyebrow. "Lyrandar is under siege?" Jhiah knew the names and relative locations of every major city in the Empire, and Lyrandar was the central hub of trade throughout the entiresouthern quarter of Volceln.
"Yeah. It's been going on for months now. Surprised you hadn't heard." Narln had grown significantly friendlier.
"I might head that way, then, but first, may I enter?"
"Yeah, come on in. couldn't really stop you if i tried, could I?"
With that, Jhiah entered. All he had to his name at the moment were his clothes, a staff, and half a loaf of bread. Oh, and his spatial anklet, a very nice commodity that gave him an inventory, but other than that, he had nothing.
Approaching a stall that had very nice fruit, Jhiah walked away when he realised he lacked money. This time headed to a weapons vendor, he held up his quarterstaff and asked: "How much will you take this for?"
After much scrutinization, the man said, "Can't do better than a silver, unfortunately." He seemed worried, as if Jhiah would be offended. He probably would if he cared.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
"Sounds good." Jhiah exchanged the staff for the coin, and the man visibly relaxed.
Returning to the fruit stall, he exchanged the silver for a small bounty of fruits, and placed them safely in his inventory.
He then left Lighden and, after a brief exchange with Narln, departe southeast for Lyrandar.
----------------------------------------
After nearly a day of travel and a surprising lack of eating, Jhiah arrived at a monster formed of darkness.
--Shadowborn Stalker - 32--
With a Radiant Blast, it was gone.
--Wow, you killed something. Nothing has been gained.--
"Oh, come on!"
Further along, he encountered more things to kill.
--Shadowborn Assassin - 137--
--Lightless Doom - 241--
--Shade Mimic - 166--
With a Holy Purge and Holy Smite, they were gone.
-You killed things and gained levels. You are now level 269.-
"Nice."
Continuing onward, Jhiah finally saw waht he was here for. Thousands of Shades surrounded the walls of Lyrandar, held off just barely by a veritable army of Promancers and Pyroids, as darkness was vulnerable to flame.
Suddenly, a notification appeared.
-You got lucky and killed nearly a hundred Voidrians! This is stupid. You gained 23 levels and are now level 292.-
"Huh?"
Ignoring the message, Jhiah rand forward and cast Radiant Call. If they could tell he was an Ancient from identifying him, it didn't matter what powers he used.
His Avatars of Light began slaughtering the Shades and being slaughtered in return. He cast Dissolve on the most powerful one he could see, and it soon fell. Warping into the city, he looked around before being approached by a woman:
--Nirlara - Human - Priestess of Flame - 163--
"Thanks for the help. Didn't expect to see such a powerful Sage of Radiance here, but I won't complain. Can you do that again?"
Sage of Radiance? It ocurred to Jhiah that his true class and possibly species were hidden from others. "In about five hours, maybe."
"Huh. Short cooldown. Well, thanks again." She left.
-Congratulations! For killing many things of varying level, you gained nine levels yourself and are now level 301! You have gained two Ancient Capabilities: Spear of Light and Ancient Authority (Radiance)!-
I wonder what these do?
Spear of Light:
-Allows you to summon the Spear of Light, your Ancient Weapon. It is powerful. Use it.-
Ah, yes. The world itself thinks it's powerful.
Ancient Authority (Radiance):
-You now have authority. You may change your identification to whatever you wish, and can grant powerful blessings to any entity with a Radiant-type class. You may also promote any Priest of Light to a High Priest of Light, so long as a High Priest is not currently alive.-
Yay.
And with that, Jhiah waited five hours for Radiant Call to come off cooldown.