I apologize for not providing complete detail of the second attack, for I cannot ensure the security of this letter not reaching the wrong hands. Neither do I know the full details of what happened outside of the church during the attack. My hope is that I have provided enough detail to allow you to peruse the church’s secure records and find the answers that I cannot pen to this letter.
I will remain in Aelder Creek, awaiting my impending questioning from the inquisitors, and whatever punishment is deemed necessary.
Your inattentive servant,
Father Viburnum
---
Arc
I struggled to keep my vision extended for as long as possible, but my mana pulsed too fast and for far too long for me to keep control. So as soon as I was able to confirm and communicate non-verbally that the coast was clear, I released all of the spells so that my mana could finally begin the process of discharging.
Thankful to whatever god that trapped me here for once, because there was no way that a body made of flesh could have endured the high charge that I put my mana through. Afterall, I had just used every mana type that I had stored in my body to its fullest and possibly beyond what I should.
The final defense had me creating a swirling aura of Water and Air to keep Travis and the guards cool, Earth manipulation used to create unsteady footing and to prevent a full-on rush, and finally, the fusing of Fire Mana to create a higher tier of double-moted mana that I call Light Mana. While not as useful combat wise, it made for great support, first by making Sun Tsu proud by blinding my foes and then splitting into small light formations to help highlight the enemies.
I gave out a mental sigh…, I’m sure no one noticed the fancy light show…, or are curious as to how Travis knew of the attack…, or how he knew they’d receive help after making it to my tree.
I wish I could see him, I’m not even entirely sure if he’s ok. His mana was pulsing quite fiercely, well past what we’d allow during training. Plus, the last time I was forced to go quiet, he seemed extra stressed before I could start casting [Message] again.
Lacking something to do, now that my vision was completely gone, I took the time to inspect my soul again. It’s gotten a bit bigger… and the patch has also… but I’m definitely fine with that since it’s been allowing me to feel more human again.
I am angry at myself though since I haven’t learned how to discharge all of this pulsing. You’d think after seven years of mana manipulation, one would be able to replicate a feat that even a meathead was able to do, but I’ve still not found a way.
I pointlessly replayed the memory, but as usual, I failed to see anything to hint at what I’m doing wrong. The only possibility I can think of is that there’s something lower in the trunk that allowed for the transfer, which could explain why the trunk is quite dense with mana, almost to the point of looking completely solid with my mana sight.
Argh, I wish I could talk to Travis. We’ve gone for long periods with not speaking to each other before, but not being able to is agonizing to me. Has he been forced to out me? Is he in danger? Does he still plan to leave? Has he… left?
That last one terrifies me the most. I was close to madness before I first spoke to him over seven years ago. Will I get one more chance?
Just breathe… in, and out… in, and out… your vision is already beginning to come back bit by tiny bit… in, and out…
---
Travis
Despite feeling the urge to nap and wait for my arms and legs that felt like over-stuffed sausages to deflate, I shoveled the last bits of my bowl of food down and my stomach finally gave me some relief. Note to self, don’t amp up your internal mana so high right away, the extended combat and increased pulse rate after every mana infused strike pushed me far beyond what was comfortable.
I saw a full bowl moved into my periphery, but before I could reach for it, Mildred pulled it just out of reach and gave me a serious look. “Since I’ve caught you between meals, perhaps now would be a good time to speak. I believe there is something you need to tell me?”
My tunnel-vision finally ended, leaving me able to finally take notice that I was in the dining room of my house. Where was Mom and Dad?
“Umm, tell you what?” I spoke just to break the silence; my brain wasn’t feeling the sharpest at the moment.
“Travis, I know everything that goes on in this town…” Mildred’s words were interrupted by a snickering Pippen, entering with a man I didn’t recognize wearing a wide brimmed hat and leather trench coat. She twisted her head to give him a stare-down, “Is something funny Pippen?”
Pippen began leaking small chuckles before replying, “Just remembering last time you said those words…” he starts to lose control, “right before the Fall Festival…” Pippen gives up on trying to constrain himself and begins to bend over in laughter.
My stomach grumbled, turning Mildred’s attention back to me. Well…, time to come clean, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, it just happened, and before I knew it…” Mildred’s mood softened and set the bowl down before putting a hand on my forearm. “I was carrying Pig-man into the town circle and…” I looked down at the table near the fresh bowl of stew, “I’m so sorry, I’ll do my best to fix all of the doors and gates before I leave, and if have to, I’ll even pay out of my traveling allowance.”
Mildred didn’t say anything, likely trying to determine if my self-assigned punishment would be enough. I felt another protest come from my stomach, so I began to slowly resume eating. Pippen’s laughter began to resurge and when I looked up, I saw that Mildred must have been truly angry about me possibly causing more damage to the town than the attackers since she was now red in the face.
The trench coat wearing man, cleared his throat before approaching Mildred, “Ma’am, there’s something you need to know.” He pulled out a small red gem that visibly glowed brightly and pulsed quickly even without me needing to activate my mana sight.
Mildred looked at the gem, “Full of cysts? Then… these were necromancers?”
The man shook his head in a no, “Mana cysts, have a soft coating and growth that needs to be cut by a jeweler. These were found already cut, so…”
“Someone implanted those inside their bodies…” Mildred stated with a horrified expression.
“This needs to be reported to the capital as soon as possible. They might not be the same mad cultists that the dwarves and elves helped us humans eliminate, but it would be best to treat them as such.” The gruff voiced man replied.
“Are… the horror stories I was told as a kid true? Can they…?” Mildred asked, now trembling slightly.
The man adjusted his wide brim hat, “Aye, they’re essentially monsters, able to sense high concentrations of mana. I suggest you give these to Lancel and have him take ‘em to the capital. He and those gems are essentially juicy steaks before a starved dog.”
He handed Mildred a small sack before starting to make his way towards the door, “I’m gonnna head back out and join the others patrolling outside for stragglers. I’ll send a sensor in a few days to check for any items or people that might attract a second wave.”
Mildred, looking exhausted, sat down with me, “This village has always been abnormally quiet. Did you know the last time a monster attacked was before you were even born?”
I finished my bowl, exchanging it for a fresh one from Pippen that he handed to me when he joined as well. After a long pause, I decided to break table manners, “My dad was hurt in that attack, right? I’ve seen the scar on his chest, but he never talks about what happened.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Pippen set a hand on my shoulder, “I don’t blame the man, he came real close. The wound wasn’t deep enough to damage organs, but the infection he got afterwards…”
Mildred picked up the story, “Luckily the monster hunters we summoned from Lakewell Fortress had a Paladin with them. He was able to help heal your father.”
I finished my bowl, finally feeling satiated, but started feeling drowsy and had to catch my head from nodding.
“You look properly tuckered out kid,” Pippen said as he patted me, “Why don’t you go take a nap, you’ve already done enough for the village today.” He then helped me up and led me to my bed so that I could finally rest.
Pippen shut the door to Travis’ room and walked back to a disappointed Mildred. “I was hoping to get an explanation from him, Lancel refuses to speak and ordered the guards to keep silent as well.”
Pippen began to chuckle again, “What’s there to explain? Holly told everyone what she saw when she scaled up the belltower to see what was happening.”
Mildred gestured for the two to leave, only to encounter Travis’ parents waiting outside. “Are you done interrogating our son?” an angry Margret barked.
“He’s been fed and tucked into bed, though I do apologize for not giving him a bath first. The little tyke could barely keep his eyes open.” teased Pippen in a poor attempt to ease her worries.
---
I awoke sometime later, feeling gross from not having washed, but much better internally despite being sore all over. I sat up, hearing voices coming from inside of the house. Finally finding myself alone I whispered, “Arc, are you there?”.
Dread tried to fill my stomach, but I was able to pacify myself by reminding myself that Arc likely used too much mana when he helped us, making him unable to cast a spell to speak to me.
I decided to head towards the voices, not having anything better to do and entered the living room where Lancel was sitting with my mom and dad.
Mom looked up with worry in her eyes, “Travis, are you feeling ok?”
I nodded my head in a yes, and walked forward to give her a hug, “I’m ok, Lancel kept me safe last night.”
My dad who came to join in on the hug began to chuckle, “According to him, you’re the one who kept everyone safe.”
I joined in on the merriment but stopped when I gazed over at Lancel. He looked injury free, but looked to be in shock, trembling occasionally and with a wide-eyed look when we made eye contact. “Are you ok Lancel?” He looked so different from his usual confident self that was only cranked up to 13 when he returned.
“I’ll be fine, just a little shaken. Happens to even the best of us when things calm down after being so dire.” He stood up from his chair and muscled his way through my hugging parents to grab my shoulder and look me in the eye, “I should be the one asking you that though, are you ok? Bloodening your hands is one thing, but…”
I took in his words, and tried to assess myself, “I think it hasn’t sunk in yet, I get that those were people, but…”
Lancel interrupted me, “Those weren’t people, not anymore. It’s a good thing if you feel guilty, makes you human. Only monsters kill without remorse.”
I nodded my head and felt a strange dark chuckle come over me, “I think I know why you prefer the spear so much; I threw up after I dismembered the two that tried to attack the church.” My chuckle turned into a laugh, causing Mom and Dad to let go of me in fright.
Lancel turned to soothe them, “It’s ok, happens to soldiers all the time, helps with the trauma according to the church.”
My fit of laughter subsided and Lancel turned back to me, “I’m leaving for Lakewell, need to be out of the town before night. If you want, I can ask for Mildred to write up a special travel visa so you can accompany me. That way you wouldn’t have to travel alone to the capital once the travel ban ends, assuming you still wish to do so.”
Remembering the conversation I heard earlier between Mildred and the monster hunter, I turned towards my parents. They approached to give me one more hug, giving me their blessing.
“I’ll just need a couple of hours to say goodbye to everyone.”
---
There was only one person left that I had to say goodbye to, and to my surprise, he was all alone. No one, despite what happened, was nearby.
I approached and began to give him a firm pat just like my dad taught me to do to the cattle to relax them, “I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, thank you Arc. Not just for helping last night, but for everything. I owe you so much for teaching me…” I began to tear up and sniffle, “I wish I could bring you with me.”
“Travis! Oh, thank the gods and God! Are you ok? Are the others? What’s going on in the town? I can’t see very far yet and can just barely make you out.”
Wiping my nose and eyes, I gave Arc another pat, “I’m ok, and so is Lancel and the guards. No one died or got hurt by the… attackers. They didn’t even start any fires.” I began to laugh at how I made everyone grab buckets of water for no reason, but then quieted down when I prepared to give Arc the bad news, “I’m not sure what’s going to happen to you, Holly saw the lights you made from the church.”
I took a big breath, not wanting to pile on to his troubles, “I need to leave the village, according to the monster hunter, those… things are attracted to strong sources of mana. Lancel is leaving the village before tonight. I’m… going to go with him.”
I waited for Arc’s response, hoping that he’d understand and not be mad at me.
“That’s perfect! You said that there’s no one nearby?”
My hand slipped in shock from his response, “Umm,” I swiveled my head to scan the area, “yeah, there’s no one here.”
“Excellent, now quickly climb up, I’m on the fifth main branch up, directly above you.”
Confused, but finding myself performing blasphemy climbed the Aelder tree. I made my way up, squeezing between the multiple branches. “Little higher… to your left more… no, too high… that branch!”
My hand landed on a branch, and I followed its route from the trunk, spotting a sword of all things embedded in it. “Why is there a sword up here?”
“Good question. I honestly have no idea how I ended up here.”
“Wait…, are you… the sword?” My confusion somehow reached a new height.
“Umm, yeah…, what did you think I was?”
Getting angry suddenly, “I don’t know, maybe the giant tree that the church and stories say is capable of warding away monsters!”
I glared at the sword, but then another realization hit me. “Oh no… I’m in so much trouble… I chopped off a limb from the Aelder Tree! Father Viburnum is going to be furious!” I start to hyperventilate, terror taking hold of me.
“Calm down, you didn’t cut off the limb, I did. Now, hurry up! I’ve been stuck here for maybe centuries, and do not want to be here when whatever the church’s equivalent of law enforcement shows up.”
I somehow found the fortitude to move again and tried to pull him out. “Try jiggling it a bit… no, all directions… ok, think worthy thoughts and give me a tug now.” I did as directed, but the sword came out suddenly and I lost balance and fell to the ground.
“Ok, now make sure that you wrap me up. I’m pretty sure that it’s super illegal for you to openly carry me. Also…, you’re going to want to hide the branches that you knocked down.”
---
Aelder Creek Church
Father Viburnum observed Lancel as he sat before the altar to Apheros, deep in prayer. He could easily tell that the man was troubled after the events of last night and wanted to be available.
The image was certainly strange to him, he knew that although Lancel would attend services when not on duty, he mostly did it out of respect rather than a true belief.
Not that he minded, Lancel with his blonde hair and reflective tan skin was clearly from the southern plains, were they mostly worshiped Torbolt.
His musings were interrupted by a strange sight, which were it not for the possible miracle last night that he witnessed, would certainly put him into shock.
Issac, husband of Mildred, woodworker of the town, and fervorous follower of Ignitious, entered the church. The man looked quite shaken, likely having his own beliefs questioned that morning. “Father Viburnum, do you have a moment to talk in private?”
Father Viburnum nodded and invited a trembling Issac to his study. After taking a moment to pour out a stiff drink for each of them, he gestured for them to sit. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Issac took a sip, paused, and then downed the whole drink before speaking, “There’s something I need to tell you… and… I…” he stopped and searched the room as if expecting assailants, “Think it relates to what happened last night.”
He took some deep long breaths, trying to steady himself. Father Viburnum, seeing that the man may need something to help, reached into his robes for his personal flask and handed it to Issac.
He nodded in thanks, took a swing, and then resumed, “It happened the night after the Fall Festival.” He took another swing, “I woke up in the middle of the night, hearing a noise. I thought it was nothing at first, but it persisted, and Mildred didn’t seem to hear it despite how loud it was.”
His hands fidgeted with the flask, “So I went to investigate, and when I looked outside…, Travis was there… holding a tree branch, looking terrified. He kept muttering to himself, but when he saw me, he immediately approached and pleaded for my help.”
Issac took another swing from the flask, “I took him into the shop, and I tried to make him sit down and explain what was wrong, but he kept fidgeting with the branch in his hands.” Issac made eye contact with Father Viburnum, “That’s when I finally noticed what he was holding…, a branch from the Aelder tree.”
“I tried to console him, telling him that he was young and that accidents happen, but he grabbed my arm, looked me right in the eyes and asked me to keep a secret…” Issac stopped, realizing that he was about to break that promise and began to weep.
Not wanting him to potentially make a decision lightly, Father Viburnum interrupted, “Wait, before you do, take a moment to be sure. I’m willing to forget that you ever came here if that makes you more comfortable, I don’t want you to live with regret.”
Issac nodded his head in thanks, “Thank you, but this needs to be said. He said… that the tree gave its branch to him…, so that he could make something from it…”
“That poleaxe!” Father Viburnum interrupted unprofessionally.
Issac nodded, “We kept it hidden in the shop. It took weeks for him to whittle it down, and I couldn’t even scratch the thing.” Issac passed the flask back, “Father, I don’t know what’s going on, I thought the boy was just lying to me…”
Father Viburnum took a swing from his flask, trying to shake himself from his shock. Eventually after some time sitting there with Issac he finally spoke, “I’ve failed in my duties…”