We put the Great Golden Canal Project behind us—after some fumbling with a new technology called locks, which split the sea level—and set sail across the wholly new horizons of The Sea Of Roots. So far away from land, there was nothing to differentiate the old elven sea from the sea I’d stared out across for so many years of my youth, but still something had changed about the feel of the water.
Though, maybe that was because we were now so close to battle.
Other Red Thorn ships had joined us, as Elandor had promised, and we now numbered twelve—though some of the vessels carried more soldiers than the others. I could only hope that we were enough to make a difference to the outcome of this war, but when I’d asked Corminar for his thoughts on the matter, he hadn’t committed either way. This didn’t give me much hope.
But I couldn’t control that. In fact, the only thing I could control as we sailed—the only thing that might have made the slightest difference to the battle ahead—was my ability selection. I brought up the notifications once more, but kept one eye on the horizon for signs of trouble.
Ability selection unlocked
Select an ability from the list below:
Hidden condition met! Alternative ability choice unlocked.
Option 1: Ripple Husk (Worldbending) [Requires: Any ‘Husk’ Worldbending ability] — Replaces ‘Ash Husk’. Dynamically warp the fabric of your skin into materials best able to repel oncoming attacks for ten minutes. Gain 30% resistance to all attacks while active.
It was a strong start. A very strong start, in fact, though it being a hidden alternative choice usually had a lot to do with that. If I picked this, I would lose my Ash Husk ability, yes, but I barely used it anyway. And this? This was a lot more useful, being that it seemed to work against all types of attacks. The only downside was that it offered 30% resistance to these attacks, whereas my original Ash Husk offered 50%—if only against fire attacks, admittedly.
This basically worked as an extra 30% health, as far as I could see. I needed that. But did I need it more than the other options, considering I had Warped Shield doing a similar-ish thing already? Admittedly, that currently only worked against low-level melee weapons. I put a bin in this choice and turned to the other options.
Hidden condition met! Alternative ability choice unlocked.
Option 2: Silence III (Worldbending) [Requires: Stealth level 15] — Create a bubble of 20 yard radius in which sound is eradicated. Uses mana to cast, zero mana to maintain. You may only have one bubble active at any one time.
Here it was: an improved version to the ability I’d regretted passing over many times before. I’d told myself that next time this came up, I’d select it, because it was so useful when combined with my Stealth abilities. And yet, again, it was up against some very serious competition already.
I cast my eyes over the description again, to look for what had changed. It had been a 20 yard radius for the rank II version, if I remembered correctly. But what had changed was the mana cost. If I selected this, I wouldn’t need to use mana to maintain the silent bubble, only to cast it, which was a very compelling new addition. Of course, there was still a restriction in that I could only have one bubble active at once—I couldn’t just travel the world slowly eliminating any sound, as much as the idea amused me.
‘What are you grinning about?’ Val asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
‘Nothing!’ I said.
‘Better be.’ She turned her attention back to the horizon.
With two very compelling options presented to me already—and whatever of those I didn’t pick this time, I was definitely going to give real thought to when they came back around—I focused on the third and last ability.
Hidden condition met! Alternative ability choice unlocked.
Option 3: Ultra Tamed Portals (Worldbending) [Requires: ‘Tamed Portals’] — Replaces ‘Tamed Portals’. Focusing large volumes of mana allows you to reduce portal glow by 99%, for near-invisible portals at the cost of significant mana/second.
It was yet another hidden option—my build was apparently so effective that the stronger alternative ability choices had replaced every single standard option. I was clearly doing something right.
This one was an interesting one, as it replaced a passive ability with an active one. This wasn’t necessarily an issue—it just meant I’d actually have to think about using it—and for what it afforded me in nearly invisible portals, that might just be worth it. I thought about the applications: sneaking into places more easily, maybe creating portals in front of someone and stabbing them through it.
But were these applications as good as those for the first two? The only problem with this great selection of abilities was that… I could only choose one.
I read through the three again, looking for which of the three I could eliminate first, before finally settling on removing Ripple Husk from the running. It was a good ability, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that it seemed to have fewer useful applications than the other two.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
And as for the other two… There really was no obvious answer. I could reasonably pick either of these two and that not be an incorrect choice. But considering I needed to make this selection now and not, you know, in the midst of a war, I stared at them both a while longer, before, finally, I picked…
Ability unlocked — Silence III
Silence III (Worldbending) — Create a bubble of 20 yard radius in which sound is eradicated. Uses mana to cast, zero mana to maintain. You may only have one bubble active at any one time.
I closed my eyes and sat with this decision for a moment, searching for a deep-rooted feeling that I’d chosen the wrong one. But none came. It really was a hard choice, and having this Silence ability meant that I could make more use out of my Stealth Attack and Execution abilities, both of which boosted damage as long as I was undetected.
It was, I decided, as good a choice as any.
* * *
Corminar spotted the distant, hazy shoreline first.
Of course it was him; he’d been the one standing without moving at the prow of the ship, his eyes fixed on the horizon ahead of us. And he had the elven eyesight to see what Val, Arzak, Lore and I couldn’t.
At least, not at first. But soon it came into view: not the city, but the fleet of Goldmarch ships beginning their attack. Each of them bore those familiar golden sails, making no attempt to hide where they’d come from. It didn’t matter now, of course; the trap had snapped shut, and all the elves could do was defend their capital.
Next, the trees came into sight through the mist. Of course, trees were the buildings, in a way—every house, tavern, palace was built into or around one of the trees this part of the world was famous for. I was taken aback; I knew logically that the Dawnwoods were tall, being so ancient, but I hadn’t been prepared for quite how tall these trees were. Even the shortest of them would have towered over the Golden Palace in Tarenthe—the building which had given me vertigo just looking up at. I made a mental note not to look up when we got closer, as vertigo was the last thing I needed in the middle of a battle.
And then I started to make out the lights in the buildings, twinkling in the low evening sun. Corminar hadn’t spoken about Sunalor much, but from what little he’d said, I’d known it was a beautiful city, full of—
A huge explosion erupted in the bay, powerful enough to blow one of the Goldmarch ships to one side. The sound made ripples across the surface of the sea as it travelled, and I had to put one foot back to stable myself from the blast. There were mines in the water, but—looking at the ship that had sailed into it—they weren’t powerful enough to blow holes in the enchanted hulls of the Goldmarch ships. At least, one wasn’t powerful enough. Multiple might yet do some damage, if the elves had planted that many of them.
Another explosion, then another, and another, immediately answered my question—the bay was filled with them. They might take down a Goldmarch ship or two yet.
‘This poses a problem,’ Elandor said, still occupying our commandeered ship.
I turned to him. ‘Your hulls aren’t magically reinforced.’
‘Indeed, they are not.’
I turned back to the scene of the erupting battle, making out clouds of arrows raining down both upon Goldmarch ships and on the distant harbour walls. The war had well and truly started.
‘Then I think—’ I started, but Corminar, his brow intensely furrowed, stepped forward.
‘We head east,’ he instructed. ‘Around the minefield. We disembark on the eastern coast, and from there, we march to Sunalor’s aid.’
Elandor nodded and turned to the nearest Red Thorn ship, bellowing the orders and demanding they be passed along.
Meanwhile, I saw Corminar grasp his bow so tightly that his fingers turned white. While the rest of the Slayers adjusted course, I stood by his side, my hand resting upon the pommel of my dagger. I watched as the land of the Dawnwoods grew closer, the sound of explosion and shouting and screaming growing louder, the deep sounds of the war drums echoing through my heart. As we neared the coastline, I caught glimpses of elves running from the city they called home, dragging crying children and crates of precious belongings, some abandoning the latter as they realised they would need to move faster to outrun the grasping hand of the new Golden Empire.
I’d seen fighting before. The Architects knew I’d seen fighting. But I’d never seen a battle like this.
‘So it is, then,’ the ranger said. ‘The battle for Sunalor has begun.’
"Styk"
Level 16 Bladespinner
Base Stats:
Vitality — 44
Intelligence — 158
Dexterity — 101
Strength — 73
Wisdom — 57
Charisma — 33
Skills:
Worldbending — Level 45
Knifework — Level 36
Stealth — Level 19
Needlework — Level 12
Identification — Level 11
Abilities:
Stab III — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR], increased by an additional 50%.
Execution II — Attack a target while undetected for +200% damage.
Closed Reach — Bend reality to narrow the gap between blade and target by up to 8 inches. Uses mana.
Mana-Fuelled — Passive. Optionally, use mana in place of stamina to activate Knifework abilities.
Knifestorm — Lash out at all surrounding enemies in a tornado of blades, using either one or two daggers. All enemies with arm’s reach receive physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].
Local Portal II — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight or within a ten yard radius. Uses mana/second.
Portal Slice — Passive. Portals can now be spawned within non-sentient objects. Doing so slices through all objects that are not reinforced by magic.
Tamed Portals — Passive. Increased efficiency of portal magicks means that your portal glow is reduced by 50%, making them less likely to be detected by enemies.
Ash Husk — Convert your flesh to ash, strengthening it against flame for ten minutes. Gain 50% resistance to fire attacks.
Shrill Perimeter — Create a perimeter wall of 20 foot radius, invisible to all but those adept in magicks. If an enemy crosses this perimeter, this spell releases the shriek of a banshee.
Warped Shield — Passive. If an enemy strikes you with a low-level melee weapon, Warp Shield automatically activates to open a portal that deflects this attack. You must not have any portals currently active. Uses mana on activation.
Pocket Worlds — Open and access pocket dimensions. Storage capacity of summoned pocket worlds scales with [INT] of creator.
Silence III — Create a bubble of 20 yard radius in which sound is eradicated. Uses mana to cast, zero mana to maintain. You may only have one bubble active at any one time.
Stealth Attack II — Passive. 80% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.
In Plain Sight — When activated, you have a heightened abilitiy to hide in plain sight, and are able to spot opportunities to break from combat at a higher rate. Scales on [WIS].
Stitch — Create a basic stitch in common fabrics. Ability scales on [CHA].
Cloth Armour — Craft a cloth armour of higher quality, dependent on materials, time and skill level.
Active Effects:
Legacy of Sisyphus:
XP gain increased by +900%