With the shadows eliminated, and some peace and quiet at last, it took only thirty minutes of the team poring over Witchfinder Colonel Hara’s notebook to work out where they kept the witchfinder’s clasp. After all that had happened, I’d almost forgotten what we’d been looking for, and if I was honest, I was very thankful to put this all behind us.
I wasn’t as thankful as Val, however, who I’d never seen so cheery as when we finally began trudging down the road that would put the village behind us. She’d unlocked a new ability, too—one which she simply would not shut up about, not that I’d have ever asked her to. This ability was available to her only because shutting down the devices had been considered her defeating a lightning-wielding enemy, which met a hidden condition for her Witchcraft skill tree. All in all, this meant that Val was now the proud owner of an ability that allowed her to temporarily imbue objects with lightning effects. It wasn’t the classic lightning ball ability that a Sorcerer might have, but it definitely made Val more useful in a fight.
And then there had been my ability selection, too—one that I’d discussed in great detail with Val in between her picking up sticks and making them crackle with lightning.
Ability selection unlocked
Select an ability from the list below:
Option 1: Soften Dirt II (Worldbending) — Your magicks alter the form of earth, making it soft, pliable and significantly more vulnerable to digging.
Both Val and I had ruled this one out very early on—that is, without even seeing the rest of the choices—for the same reason: that it was boring. Arzak, who overheard, was not particularly impressed with this, telling us that ‘Boring is good sometime. Should think about boring,’ but already both of us were over this choice.
Option 2: Ash Husk II (Worldbending) — Upgrade to Ash Husk. Convert your flesh to ash, strengthening it against flame for ten minutes. Gain 60% resistance to fire attacks, and deal fire damage whenever you are hit while this ability is active.
This was an update to an ability that I really didn’t make enough use of, mostly because it had only really been useful when we were fighting down the Player. Come to think of it, we hadn’t so much as met a fire-magick-wielder since. But with this upgrade, the ability would have a broader appeal—dealing damage to anyone who attacked me. Though Val had sort of shrugged this one off, I was more keen, and kept it in my back pocket going into the last two choices.
Hidden condition met! Alternative ability choice unlocked.
Option 3: Tamed Portals (Worldbending) [Requires: Stealth level 5] — Passive. Increased efficiency of portal magicks means that your portal glow is reduced by 50%, making them less likely to be detected by enemies.
This was another good one. If I was really going to continue rebuilding my Stealth skill tree—and I really was intending to, even though opportunities to level it up had been fairly few and far between—then this offered great…
I’d failed to find the word, and described it to Val.
‘Synergy,’ she’d told me.
This was one of those ability choices that could become one core to my build, if indeed “stealth portaller” was the way that I wanted to go. Synergy.
But there was one more choice, for a massive total of four choices this time around.
Hidden condition met! Alternative ability choice unlocked.
Option 4: Saved Portal (Worldbending) [Requires: Local Portal] — 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. Uses significant mana to save new location.
This final choice was very tempting, particularly if I wanted to create a home somewhere. It would mean I’d be able to return home in the blink of an eye, without all the days—or weeks, or months—of travel in between.
But the combat application was somewhat lacking, not just because I couldn’t figure out a good use for it, but also because of the “significant mana” required to save the location. Even though I was dumping most free stats into Intelligence—because my Warped Shield helped prevent damage using mana rather than losing health, and because Mana-Fuelled let me use mana instead of stamina to melee attack—I still couldn’t go around draining my whole mana reserves for things like this.
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But then, if the team were all going to use Lore’s farm as a base, then this would have a positive impact for all of them, not just me. After much discussion with Val, we decided that the selfless thing to do would be to pick Saved Portal, even though it wasn’t quite as fun.
Ability unlocked — Tamed Portals
Tamed Portals (Worldbending) — Passive. Increased efficiency of portal magicks means that your portal glow is reduced by 50%, making them less likely to be detected by enemies.
Sometimes you’ve got to be a little selfish, though. As a treat.
Looking at my profile, my list of abilities was getting to be pretty hefty, and it was no wonder that I didn’t always think to use them all in the heat of battle. I’d have to spend some time meditating on them, I figured—so I would know better whilst in the middle of a fight what to do next.
As we continued down the path back to the main traveller’s road, the witchfinders’ village not far behind us, Lore—occasionally the most philosophical of the lot of us, surprisingly—piped up with a thought that I think the rest of us had been repressing. ‘Why’d they give you the book, then?’
I came to a halt.
‘The notebook, I mean. If it was going to tell you how to shut down those devices, and trap them between worlds, why did they give it to you?’
‘Because we were their only chance for salvation,’ Val replied. ‘I think the witchfinders thought we might use the knowledge to get them back.’
‘May I ask,’ Corminar said, ‘might that have been possible.’
There was a moment of hesitation before Val responded. ‘No. No, I don’t think so.’ My thoughts dwelled more on the hesitation than the words—was Val the kind to convict the witchfinders to being trapped for, potentially, eternity, as punishment for their crimes? For all the fellow witches they would have tortured, and killed? I in the end decided I was better off not knowing, and didn’t ask the question.
‘This why they attack us,’ Arzak said. ‘On way out, not attack, just try give notebook. When we go back in…’
‘Their efforts were certainly doubled,’ Corminar continued for her. ‘Perhaps because they knew what we were planning.’
‘Mm.’
‘Do you think we’ll ever wholly understand what happened there?’ I asked the group. From the silence that followed, the answer was clear.
As we finally reached the main road, the muddy overgrown path giving way to well-worn hard-packed earth, a figure approached from the other side. Aiwin’s eyes remained fixed on Val, not Corminar, as they drew near. I drew my hand towards my blade, anticipating trouble—Aiwin had seemed the sort to see that Val got the justice they deemed was necessary.
But what they said was nothing of the sort. ‘I won’t tell anyone what you are.’
Val remained quiet for a second before replying, ‘How can I trust you?’
Only at this did Aiwin’s gaze blink, just for a second, in Corminar’s direction. ‘Because Corminar does not speak any idle threats. I have seen first-hand just what that man is capable of. I served with him, remember. One day, you will have to ask him what he did in the Honey Wars. You’ll have to ask him why he can never go home. Then you’ll understand.’
Aiwin’s eyes remained on Val a moment longer, before finally—and seemingly with great effort—turning to Corminar. ‘Perhaps this will placate you. A peace offering, of sorts, a piece of information that I know you value greatly. The identity of the woman in charge, the great monster hunter? The one that was reassigned?’
‘Tell me,’ Corminar said, his voice quiet.
‘She was a Player.’ With that, Aiwin turned, and walked back into the shadows of the trees.
"Styk"
Level 12 Bladespinner
Base Stats:
Vitality — 28
Intelligence — 124
Dexterity — 50
Strength — 54
Wisdom — 32
Charisma — 19
Skills:
Worldbending — Level 30
Knifework — Level 23
Identification — Level 10
Stealth — Level 9
Needlework — Level 8
Abilities:
Slice — Slice the enemy for physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].
Stab II — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR], increased by an additional 20%.
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.
Execution II — Attack a target while undetected for +200% damage.
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.
Stealth Attack — Passive. 50% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.
Stitch — Create a basic stitch in common fabrics. Ability scales on [CHA].
Basic Cloth Armour — Craft basic cloth armour, quality dependent on materials, time and skill level.
Active Effects:
Legacy of Sisyphus:
XP gain increased by +900%