We left the library, spilling back out into the town of Fallenstone, and I couldn’t help but be happy that we’d parted ways with the Estat Order on better terms this time. We’d damaged far fewer books, hadn’t smashed in a window to escape, and in general there wasn’t going to be as much of a clean-up job. That didn’t stop the members of the Trio grumbling about it, however, each of whom thought libraries really shouldn’t operate like that.

The six of us sat down on the side of the road, enjoying the shade of an old palm tree, as we took a quick breather. I’ll admit that I was the one who suggested doing so, and I’d suggested it purely because I had a Stealth ability to select.

Ability selection unlocked

Select an ability from the list below:

Option 1: Danger-Sense III (Stealth) — Passive. Your senses grow keener; you notice all but the most elaborate traps and ambushes.

I’d been offered a Danger-Sense ability twice before, since having to start my progression from scratch. And both times, I’d opted for something else instead. This wasn’t to say I didn’t think these abilities were valuable—back in my thievery days, I’d relied on this ability for almost every job—but were they as valuable as other options? Very possibly not, especially now that “item relocation” wasn’t my day-to-day employment. I kept an open mind on this ability choice anyway, before shifting to the next one.

Option 2: Gentle Step (Stealth) — Passive. Your footsteps are dampened on even the hardest of surfaces. Reduce noise of movement by 80%.

My initial reaction was that this option was a bit more useful. I had both Stealth Attack and Execution which massively improved my damage when I was unnoticed, and if I could disguise my presence further with an ability like this, that would make those other abilities even more viable.

I already had Silence, a Worldbending ability which completely eradicated sound within a bubble that I summoned, however there were few things in life more alarming than a spell bubble suddenly forming around you. This meant that the Silence ability was useful when I was trying to avoid combat, but less so when I was trying to sneak up on someone.

Taking Gentle Step would fix that, so it was top of my list so far, but there was still one ability choice left…

Option 3: Rogue’s Instinct (Stealth) — Passive. You have a 50% greater chance of noticing others who are using Stealth abilities.

This, my third and final option, was almost the inverse of Gentle Step. Instead of making it harder for others to notice me, it would make it easier for me to notice others. And that was tempting! With my health points being fairly limited as I hadn’t invested much in Vitality, I was weak to a sudden, high-damage attack like an assassin might hit me with. I had Warped Shield which occasionally helped with that kind of thing, but it was far from enough.

And yet…

What was more likely? A scenario where I was sneaking up on someone else, or a scenario where someone else was sneaking up on me? Considering I was usually surrounded by at least two other members of the team, there was a clear answer.

Ability unlocked — Gentle Step

Gentle Step (Stealth) — Passive. Your footsteps are dampened on even the hardest of surfaces. Reduce noise of movement by 80%.

As soon as it was done, I slapped my thighs and stood up. ‘Well?’ I asked the others. ‘Ready to move?’

Corminar groaned. Yes, groaned. How far he’d fallen that he would make noises like that. ‘It is a long journey,’ he said. ‘And the sun is still high in the sky. Might we not rest for a moment longer?’

‘It would be, but—’ I started.

‘I could go for a snack,’ Raelas volunteered raising her hands. ‘Fighting is hungry work.’

Lore nodded his agreement, as he always did when someone suggested eating.

‘It’s not a—’ I tried again to explain myself, trying to reveal the trick I had up my sleeve to surprise them all with.

‘Do you think they would serve grilled vegetable skewers?’ Carle asked Lore. ‘I have a craving.’

‘He’s on a low-fat diet,’ Ama explained.

‘I’m trying to tell you that…’ I tried for the third and final time, but this time I trailed off on my own, without anyone interrupting me. The reason? I’d glimpsed movement on the road at the edge of town—hundreds of people walking into Fallenstone, all wearing the same pale orange robes, and all the robes sporting the same emblem: a golden sun with a line through it.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The Cult of Ascendancy.

I took an unconscious step backwards; never before had I seen so many in one place. These were dangerous people, people who believed in serving the Players above all else, who believed that if the world worshipped them enough, the Players might bring us with them to Olympus, the Ascended World, the land of the gods. This, of course, was the exact opposite of the Slayers’ own cause, which wasn’t so much about worshipping Players as it was about killing them.

‘Guys…’ I said, and everyone followed my line of sight. Both Corminar and Lore—knowing what this meant—stood, just in case we had a fight on our hands. Not that we’d be able to fight off hundreds.

We watched this group stroll into town, none of them slowing even for a moment, and this crowd of hundreds streamed through Fallenstone without thinking of rest.

I reached out and touched one of the cultist gently on the arm to get their attention; I couldn’t help myself, I had to know.

‘What is this?’ I asked the stranger. ‘Where are you going?’

The cultist blinked down at my hand, and then looked me in the eyes. From the expression, I could tell he thought this was a ridiculous question. ‘It is Yusef,’ he said. ‘The Seer. He heads to Coldharbour; we pilgrimage to have our destinies read.’

The man moved away, and I let my hand fall.

‘What did he just say?’ Lore asked. ‘Destinies read? Do you think he…’

‘Has the powers of Divination,’ Corminar finished for him.

‘You think that’s why you’ve seen yourself asking him about your visions?’ I asked Lore, forgetting about the presence of the Trio for a moment.

‘His what?’ Ama asked, but the three of us ignored her.

‘Forget Lore’s visions,’ Corminar said. ‘If this Yusef has the gift of foresight, then there are broader complications.’

I nodded. ‘Maybe he sees us coming. And then what hope do we have of killing him?’

‘Wait, you want us to kill someone who can see the future?’ Raelas asked, standing and arriving at my side. ‘We didn’t sign up for this. No reward is worth dying for.’

‘Depends on the reward,’ I replied, unconsciously touching the Sisyphus Artifact in my pocket. I’d died for that, and I’d do it again, given the choice; it had got me out of plenty of trouble already, and even better: it still had a charge in it. I could die again.

‘No,’ Ama said, she too standing. ‘No, we’re out. We’ll help you stop the malae trade, sure, for the right money, but we won’t go up against a diviner.’

Corminar shook his head. ‘There is no stopping the trade without killing him. He is a Player, a Council member, a man with near unlimited resources at his disposal. If he remains alive, then anything of the trade we undo, he will build back. We must kill him.’

‘He’s right,’ I said, finally tearing my eyes away from Yusef’s pilgrims and facing down the Trio. ‘We have to kill him. If you want to run, fine. Run. But we will succeed. This is what we do, we find Players, we find ways of killing them, and you know what we do next?’

‘We actually kill them,’ Lore said.

I pointed to him to signify that this was the correct answer. ‘Yusef is heading to Coldharbour, they said. He’s not there yet. We have a headstart—we can return and we can prepare a trap.’

‘While I do agree with this course of action,’ Corminar said, ‘I must stress that we are the best part of a days’ journey from Coldharbour; he may beat us there.’

And then, I smiled. ‘You know, back when we were fighting the malae traders, I got a new Worldbending skill. A really, really handy one. One called Saved Portals, which allows me to specify a certain location where I can always open a portal, from any distance.’

I flicked my wrist, and a portal appeared in front of us.

‘Before we left, I made sure to do so.’

With that, I stepped through the portal, and emerged half a world away. One by one, the team followed me, appearing at my side on the grand staircase that led up to Coldharbour’s house of government, that overlooked the city’s central square. Hundreds of people looked on, curious, as we appeared amongst the crowds, but none were so interested that they gave us more than a second look.

‘Now,’ I said, ‘shall we get to work?’

"Styk"

Level 19 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 50

Intelligence — 204

Dexterity — 122

Strength — 77

Wisdom — 74

Charisma — 49

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 55

Knifework — Level 40

Stealth — Level 25

Identification — Level 18

Needlework — Level 18

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 III — Attack a target while undetected for +300% 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].

Enhanced Portals — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight or within a thirty yard radius. Support up to two pairs of portals at once. Uses mana to open portals only.

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.

Saved Portals II — Select a location to “save” for future portals. Until your save point is moved, you may always open a portal here, even if it is beyond your current Local Portal range. Mana is used only upon opening the portal.

Stealth Attack III — Passive. 200% 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].

Gentle Step — Passive. Your footsteps are dampened on even the hardest of surfaces. Reduce noise of movement by 80%.

Stitch — Create a basic stitch in common fabrics. Ability scales on [CHA].

Improved Cloth Armour — Craft a cloth armour of significantly higher quality, dependent on materials, time and skill level.

Active Effects:

Legacy of Sisyphus:

XP gain increased by +1,400%