“Inheritance Talents are so fascinating to me. The inheritors benefit from so much due to the history they’re connected to. Take, for instance, the Supreme Lord of Cardona. Half of his Talents at any given time are -type.”

* Oreanen Vainen, the Emerald Sage

Zara leapt to her feet in an instant. She was in a small guest bedroom in a bed just big enough to fit her. She was in night clothes, with no armor on. She cursed the unlucky timing, but of course the murderer would strike at night; it was the perfect time for a unseen slaughter.

She felt for her blade, grabbed it, and went to the door, assuming a defensive stance. She then carefully opened the door and kicked it open. It revealed a plain stone manor hallway, dimly lit by moonlight coming from alternating windows and sparsely spaced torches. She crept forward slowly, then went to the room immediately next to her own.

She barreled in, blade at the ready, then relaxed slightly, as all she found was a sleeping Bim. She woke him hurriedly, and whispered to him with clear directions. “Get everyone you can up; you and Coll coordinate people. Travel in pairs at a minimum; and be constantly wary. I think the murderer is attacking tonight.”

Zara raced off after that. Her only problem: she was built for endurance fighting, for mighty blows, not for moving quickly. She needed someone-- Helena or Greg. Both were fast on their feet, but she only had time for-- Helena, she decided in a snap instant. She rushed over, banged on the door, and the door swung open, Helena fully dressed with weapons in hand and quiver slung over her shoulder.

The two of them ran as swiftly as they could. Helena noticed Zara trailing back, and cracked her knuckles. “.” Zara felt herself speed up, though Helena was still ahead, the gap had closed some.

They didn’t know the layout of the manor well, but stopped for a moment, closed her eyes, and muttered. “” She promptly sprinted off through the hallways with direction and purpose, seeming to instinctively know what path to take. Zara followed as best she could.

They arrived at a wide door to find a soldier to either side of it slumped against the wall, their necks slit open and numerous stab wounds littering their bodies. One gasped out a ragged, bloody breath before life left him. Helena kicked in the door, drawing her favorite blade, scanning the room attentively.

She immediately saw a slavering Jules Gailen, eyes manic, face, hands and front soaked in blood, moving like lightning, trying to stab at the old woman almost three times his age and being beaten off every time. She seemed to be able to anticipate and parry his every move.

Helena wanted to move in to strike, but the fight was too fast. She waited for an opening as Zara sprinted into the room, taking stock of the bizarre situation herself.

“. . . . . .” Helena had heard of it before, but she’d never seen such a pristine example-- Talent stacking. Over enough time, a set of complimentary Talents that interlocked like puzzle pieces, reinforcing and enhancing one another, could be developed. Despite the vast age difference and Gailen’s fervent onslaught, the ninety-one-year-old and former combined Talent after Talent, each one sliding into the next in a cascading synergy of power and experience.

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“You think I could be gutted in the night like some soft buearacrat?” Walsh spat. “! I got that one after the twelfth assassination attempt fifty years ago! You could send three of you against me, and I would not budge! ! !”

Finally, Helena drew her bow, took aim, stepped back a few paces out through the door, and murmured. “.” A waste of the Talent’s range capabilities, but Helena needed its perfect precision at the moment. She targeted the man’s torso, and fired.

Jules Gailen howled some kind of unearthly sound when the arrow stabbed into his chest, traveling right through his heart and out the other side of his body, such was the force and momentum of the shot.

The would-be murderer stumbled back, then turned and hurled himself through the glass of the balcony window. He tumbled out onto the balcony, dragged himself up, and threw himself off, where he tumbled four stories down, crunching as he landed, limbs splayed, unmoving.

Panting, Chief Administrator Walsh stumbled back, sat down hard, and said, smiling with a corner of her mouth at Helena, “I almost had him, you know.”

Below, a mangled and bleeding Jules Gailen whined in pain, ribs tracked, heart with a hole torn through it, gasping on the cold stone. Still, he heard the intoxicating noise.

Level 20!

Class Advancement granted!

🠊 Level 21!

Talent —

From above, Helena put an arrow through his skull, then one through his body, through his legs, one each for his arms; by the time she was done, he was a pincushion. “, you bastard.” Helena said under her breath, before turning from the balcony and walking back to a shaking Walsh.

“Sorry, ma’am, just had to make sure that bastard didn’t escape again.” Helena said. Thanks, Zara, by the way. For getting me up and helping me with that Talent. Without you, the Chief Administrator’d probably be dead.”

Bim, Coll, Greg, and more guards all approached. Bim immediately went to check if Zara or Helena was hurt, and Coll went to his mother. “Are you okay, mom? Please tell me you’re okay.”

She laughed, patting at her head with an offered towel. “Not a scratch on me, but I’m damn near about to collapse. Haven’t had to work this old body that hard in decades.”

“She was amazing,” Helena threw in, gazing at Walsh with awe and respect. “Your mother must’ve been the greatest on this half of the continent.”

“I was, actually, all through my thirties and early forties, before I slipped up and got old.” She said, a fierce, proud smile on her face. Turning to Coll, she said firmly. “Thank you for coming here as quickly as possible tonight. I’ve been thinking it over, and I don’t believe I’m suited for my position any longer.”

Coll’s eyes widened. “Mom, what are you saying? Don’t be too hasty; you’re still pumped up on adrenaline.”

She shook her head. “No, no, son, I know what I’m doing. I hereby to Collin Mel Walsh, my son and only heir. You may do with that what you will, but you are, as of this moment the moment, of Lakeside. I have a feeling I’ll be passing on in the next few years, and I at least want you to feel out the position, know if it’s truly not for you. And I want to have you hear to hold my hand when I go.”

Coll shook his head thoughtfully, then turned to the team. “I’m sorry, guys, but she’s right. I want to be here to help her, to help Lakeside. Fifteen years ago, this didn’t feel like my future, but things have changed a lot. I think this could be my calling. I’m getting off the adventure here, though. For now, let’s throw a party.” He smiled. “I have new Talents to test run.”

In Coll’s head, notifications rang like merry bells.

Class unlocked!

Level 1!

All Talents gained.