The monster lunged.

With my right hand, still pointing to the ground, I activated a portal, and I slipped through just in time to avoid the creature’s swiping hand. As I stumbled out at Raelas’s side, I breathed a sigh of relief.

At least, until the tiefling stared up at my head with wide, terrified eyes.

‘What?’ I asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

Without replying, Raelas suddenly leaped for my sheath, yanking the knife free. I thought for a moment that she was about to stab me with it, but instead she whipped it fast over the top of my head. Locks of my long hair fell to the ground at my side, and looking down upon them I saw the corruption just starting to take hold.

Raelas had just saved my life.

‘Thanks,’ I offered her.

‘Is that all I’m getting? Not even a kiss.’

‘Now’s not the time.’

‘A kiss later, then. Got it.’

Ignoring her, I turned my attention to the corrupted locks of hair, and portalled them to Lore’s side. He knew exactly what to do, bending over with his torch to burn the hair from existence.

The creature still had its eyes trained squarely on me—something had focused it away from the flames and instead on the one guy who’d tried to save it. Him? It? I wasn’t sure.

‘I was trying to help you,’ I told the creature.

It responded by charging across the courtyard towards me, arms flailing wildly. I opened a portal behind me with plenty of time to spare for Raelas and I to step through.

‘There is no reasoning with this creature,’ Corminar said as he loosed another flaming arrow. ‘We must eliminate it.’

The corrupted man shrieked again as the fire hit its grimy flesh, but still this wasn’t enough to distract it from me. As it charged again, I shifted to the left to keep Raelas well out of harm’s way and I stepped through another portal.

‘It really doesn’t like you,’ Raelas said.

Ama followed that up with something under her breath, and I was pretty sure I could work out what it was. But now wasn’t the time to get into an argument.

‘Remember Westbara?’ I shouted to Raelas, who was now the other side of the courtyard from me.

The tiefling nodded. ‘We bring the house down on it.’

I opened a portal at Lore’s side and he stepped through to the other end—into the building that the traders had been using as their headquarters. The clay building. You know, a material that famously didn’t burn.

‘Err, Lore?’

The big guy poked his head back out of the door. ‘Yeah?’

‘Is there enough wood in there?’

‘...Not much!’

The monster charged at me again, and once more I shifted out of the way using a portal. This was good—the longer I could keep it occupied with its anger towards me, the longer we could figure out how to kill it.

‘Any bright ideas?’ Raelas asked. ‘Anywhere we can get something to burn, and fast?’

As everyone looked around, I kept my eyes on the charging monster, making absolutely sure I didn’t let it get close—either to me or to anyone else. As I opened the latest portal, something occurred to me. I’d seen plenty of wood lately, and it was just the other side of my Saved Portal. But those in orange robes were not going to like it.

‘I’m about to open a portal!’ I shouted to the team. ‘There’s plenty of wood just a Portal Slice away, but we’re going to need to move fast. Raelas, can you be ready with the portals? And Carle, Corminar, you’ll throw the wood in.’

‘Yeah,’ Raelas said. ‘Of course, but where are you—’

I opened the Saved Portal in the middle of the courtyard, revealing the stairs overlooking Coldharbour’s central plaza—and the Player’s wooden stage thereon.

‘Ah,’ the tiefling said. ‘Got it.’

I shoved my head through the portal and activated Portal Slice after Portal Slice, cutting through the foundations of the non-enchanted wood. Lillya, who was on stage amongst a number of other cultists, looked on with wide eyes as the floor beneath them began to shake, and then, quickly, collapsed.

As Carle, Corminar and Raelas leaped through the portal, I retreated, leading the enemy away from our source of wood. The monster began to charge once more, and then, mid-charge, slowed to a halt. It turned gradually towards the saved portal, where plank after plank after plank of wood was soaring out after being catapulted through by Raelas’s portals.

‘Oh no you don’t!’ I shouted, waving my hands to get its attention. ‘Over here! It’s me you want.’

But still the corrupted tiefling was turning, apparently working out what we meant to do next.

‘What was it I said before? Something made you really hate me. Was it saying I’d help you? Was it saying—’

The creature charged, grimy arms flailing once more, but this time it headed for the portal. ‘Cor, Rae, I—’ I started, but realised any warning would be too late. Instead, I snapped the Saved Portal closed for a moment, stranding the others in the courtyard, but causing the monster to charge through that spot without interfering.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

As I opened the portal once more, next to me, a piece of wood soared out and knocked me in the side. ‘Ouch?’ I said.

Any more complaints I had were quickly silenced by Corminar, Raelas and Carle leaping through the portal, a hundred cultists in orange robes charging after them.

‘They weren’t happy,’ Carle explained.

‘No, I bet.’

Ama moved away from the exit to the courtyard, but I held out a hand to stop her.

‘No! Stay there. We have to keep him here, at all costs.’

The metal mage nodded her agreement.

‘The rest of you, well…’ I opened a portal beneath the pile of wood, throwing it inside the building.

‘I’m still in here!’ Lore shouted to remind me, popping out the building amidst a rush of debris.

‘Sorry!’

The barbarian lit the pile of wood, and the flames lit fast. Now, all there was to do, was—

Raelas opened a portal, the flaming interior of the trader headquarters visible on the other side. ‘Push it through!’ she roared.

—well, that.

The monster croaked something I chose not to understand, before Corminar loosed a flaming arrow and Carle threw a nearby rock into its chest. The corrupted man stumbled backwards, but it wasn’t enough. Ama, pressing the attack, yanked four metal-headed arrows from Corminar’s quiver with her magicks, and threw them at once into the creature. It stumbled back, into the portal, the flames licking at its back, and it grabbed at the edges of the portal.

It howled.

And then it ran.

Ama’s eyes widened as the creature charged her—or not her, really, but the single exit to the courtyard.

I opened a portal in front of the monster, but it was smart enough to avoid it, twisting to one side to move around it. I opened another portal, and again the creature anticipated it, this time sliding across the ground underneath the very faintly purple magicks.

But there was another option.

‘I can’t believe I’m doing this again,’ I grumbled as I activated my Pocket World ability. Dozens of scraps of cloth rained down upon the creature, knocking it to the ground at Ama’s feet. It dragged itself forward, both towards Ama and the exit, but Corminar was ready.

‘Lore!’ he shouted across the courtyard.

The barbarian was ready. He raised his torch into the air, eyes glowing yellow once more. And Corminar shot. The cloth-bound arrow passed through the flames, lighting instantly—an ability afforded by Corminar’s potions—and landed squarely in the pile of cloth.

My Needlework supplies, and the enemy, went up in flames.

The corrupted tiefling staggered, trying to stand even when sapped by fire—the malae’s only weakness. Corminar and I arrived at its side just in time for the ranger to release another flaming arrow into it, knocking it to the ground once more.

‘Kill… creator…’ it said.

Level ? corruption defeated!

Worldbending — +5,200xp

Worldbending increased to level 59!

Base Points gained — +2 INT, +2 Free Points (INT/WIS/CHA)

Corminar and I stood at the corrupted man’s side, and the ranger loose another shot, even though we had the notification to confirm that we’d defeated it. It was better safe than sorry with this kind of danger, after all.

As Ama scooted backwards, away from the dead creature, I put my hands on my sides and sighed. ‘You know, at some point, I’m actually going to do some Needlework with these supplies,’ I said as I watched the cloth burn.

‘I shall believe it when I see it,’ Corminar replied. ‘How much did this cost you?’

‘I don’t wanna talk about it.’

‘I… Err…’ Ama started, as Lore, Raelas and Carle appeared at our sides.

‘Yes, you’ll be paid for this,’ I said. ‘I’ll add it to the bill.’

‘That’s great, but—’

‘We can talk amounts later. Any idea what that meant, about killing the—’

Ama said nothing, but she raised her foot. The skin around her ankle was… paling. It was grey. The corruption had taken hold. And, unlike my locks of hair, there was no simply cutting it off.

‘Ah,’ I said.

"Styk"

Level 20 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 50

Intelligence — 220

Dexterity — 130

Strength — 79

Wisdom — 76

Charisma — 49

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 59

Knifework — Level 42

Stealth — Level 26

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%