I awoke to find Autumn waiting for me and together we exited the tent into the crisp night air. Earth and Raid gave us a nod as we passed only for us to stop at the sight of Wind staring at us with his arms crossed upon his chest. I gave him a cheeky nod.
“If Wind has the energy to be worried about us then he and the others probably didn’t find anything too important.” I told Autumn.
When we rejoined the others, my sister pelted me with a dozen questions despite Earth’s warnings of confidentiality. Neither Autumn nor I responded with anything more than ‘you’ll see soon.’ Not that I wasn’t planning on telling anyone at all. There was one person here I trusted with my life.
Later, when Autumn and I cuddled in the relative warmth of our raggedy tent with the sound ward activated, I told her the tale of my own pathing. I could see as much as feel Autumn’s emotions through our bond as I spoke of the cave, Trickster, and the path options I saw in those pools.
“Do you think I made the right choice?” I asked her when I finished.
“Yes.” She told me. “I’m glad things worked out as you hoped.”
“Better than I hoped.” I murmured.
“Yes, although I’m not sure how I feel about this ‘Trickster.’ god.” She sighed. “We will have to be careful.”
“And you? What did you see?”
“A great forest and the most beautiful feline creature I’d ever seen.” Autumn began, whispering to me of her meeting with the great goddess Celestial and her path options hidden between the trees. “I took Celestial’s Ranger path at her suggestion and a professional one that synergized with it.” Autumn told me.
“Why do the gods choose mortals like us?” I wondered. “Did Celestial explain?”
“She said nothing more than Trickster told you. She told me that the gods are oath-bound to follow the rules.”
“I wonder how many others there are. We can’t be the only ones chosen, and somehow I doubt the gods will only have a single chosen as their champion.” I shook my head and decided to change topics. “So you got a ranger path, huh.”
“I did. Celestial said I should be able to show you through the soulbond.” Autumn said and after a moment, a notification appeared in the bottom of my vision.
Your soulbond would like to share part of her status with you. Accept?
“Are you sure?” I asked in surprise. It was one thing telling someone about your status, but quite another to see it. When Autumn nodded I accepted the message and her status sheet appeared before my eyes.
Name:
Autumn Snow
Species:
Sek’heli (Shadowclaw) Level: 10
Age:
18
Mana:
100/100
Stamina:
118/160
Total attributes:
106
Primary Path:
Celestial Ranger, Level 0 (Divine)
Secondary Path:
Celestial Grovekeeper, Level 0 (Divine)
General Abilities:
5
Total Attributes:
106
Strength:
19
Dexterity:
24
Constitution:
19
Perception:
20
Willpower:
7
Intelligence:
7
Spirit:
10
Free:
0
Celestial Ranger
Abilities:
Affinities: Light, Fire
Presence of the Celestial:
Class: Aura
Effect: Increase the physical attributes of (Level/5) target individuals by 5% of your spirit. Minimum of 1.
Cost: Higher of 100 mana (scaling) or 50% of mana pool.
Spirit of the Celestial
Class: Passive
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Effect: Auras have triple effect on you
Cost: None
Celestial Grovekeeper
Abilities:
Affinities: Life, Light
Detect Vitality:
Class: Active
Effect: Detect and life force of living things. Modified by Perception.
Cost: 1 mana/s
No wonder she beat me handily when we sparred.
“Two divine paths” I hummed. “And a fire affinity. Did Celestial reveal another mark to you?”
“Mark of the Phoenix. Celestial warned me not to talk about it. In fact, she seemed angry when she mentioned it.”
I nodded, my eyes strayed to her Spirit of the Celestial and her Presence of the Celestial abilities. “That aura ability isn’t affected by the level of the recipient is it?” I asked. It seemed extraordinarily strong if Autumn invested heavily into Spirit as she leveled.
“No, and I don’t see much of a reason not to keep it running all the time on you and me. Especially with your pathetic physical attributes.”
“They’re not that bad.” I protested, but from Autumn’s lack of response I knew I was going to have to prove it. With a thought and a push along our bond, my status page appeared for Autumn.
Name:
Dancing River
Species:
Vul’heli (Shadowclaw) Level: 10
Age:
18
Mana:
90/90
Stamina:
21/50
Total attributes:
81
Primary Path:
Shadowflame Trickster, Level 0 (Divine)
Secondary Path:
Arcane Initiate, Level 0 (Legendary)
General Abilities:
4
Total Attributes:
81
Strength:
4
Dexterity:
24
Constitution:
5
Perception:
11
Willpower:
6
Intelligence:
22
Spirit:
9
Free:
0
Shadowflame Trickster
Abilities:
Affinities: Shadow, Fire
Cunning Trickster:
Class: Passive
Effect: Increase your dexterity and perception by 15% of your intellect.
Cost: None
Shadow Manipulation:
Class: Active
Effect: Manipulate shadow you can see. Maximum range and effect increased by Intelligence and Willpower.
Cost: Variable
Flame Manipulation:
Class: Active
Effect: Manipulate flame you can see. Maximum range and effect increased by Intelligence and Willpower.
Cost: Variable
Arcane Initiate:
Abilities:
Affinities: Arcane
Mana Perception:
Class: Active
Effect: Grants the ability to see mana. Perception counts as 20% higher when examining raw etheric mana, and 40% higher when examining etheric mana of one of your affinities.
Cost: 1 mana/s
“How is four strength at level 10 not pathetic?” Autumn laughed. “My level zero skill will give you a 25% strength increase. Watch.”
You are now being affected by Presence of the Celestial.
I felt a warmth and strength settling down over my shoulders and watched my status as all my physical attributes ticked up by one.
“If you keep this going at all times, maybe I won’t have to invest in strength or constitution after all.” I said with a grin.
“River, don’t be an idiot.” Autumn sighed.
“It was just a joke.” I protested.
“Fine, and what about your shadow and flame manipulation? Have you tried it yet?”
I shook my head. I'll try them tomorrow and maybe talk with Wind. I have a few ideas.
**********
The next morning after a brief meeting with Earth and Rain about our chosen paths, Autumn and I found ourselves in the forest of the plateau under Wind’s instruction. With my choice of path, little would change with my mentors. Every other day would be spent with Wind, and the rest in the inscriptionist’s tent. We only remained in the forest until midday where we ate lunch with the others atop the old wall. For the first time in many days I sent my gaze to the distant wall of mountains to our north. Whatever smoke I’d seen up there weeks before seemed to have only grown despite the cold and intermittent autumn snow. Black smoke now rose from a second valley and swept down almost to the edge of the foothills before the wind carried it north and east away from the ruins.
“Do you really think there is an entire orc clan up there in the mountains?” I asked Autumn who shrugged.
“Probably. And if there is an entire clan, I wonder if there are people like us from earth there.”
I shuddered at the thought. Being stuck in the expedition was one thing, but being dropped in the center of a war was another. If that war was to come here then we needed to be strong enough not to die when that happened.
“What do you think this wardstone looks like?” My sister asked, changing the subject. I glanced down into the ruins where the expedition toiled away. The hole had only grown, but now I saw a polished stone floor glinting out from the center. At this rate the entire plateau ruin would be cleared within a few weeks.
“It’s probably anticlimactic like a lump of stone or some such.” I said, dragging my eyes away from the ruins. Something about the polished sheen of stone drew my eyes more than it should There was magic there. Strong magic. I toggled my new ability Arcane Perception for the first time.
The color of the world faded into shades of sepia. In the expedition’s camp below me, the sepia merged and shimmered with a myriad of colored spots. Red shown from the forge, a subtle green from the alchemist’s tent, and a dozen others speckled about. Many of the tribe members also held an aura of color about them. I saw reds or blacks around the vul’heli and greens, blues or yellows from the sek’heli. I glanced down at my own black-furred hands to see a faint miasma of red, black, and purple emanating from my fingertips and merging with the sepia.
“Brother, your eyes are glowing.”
Not just sepia, I realized, but a pervasive mix of earth and life mana infusing the Heartwood around me. It flowed through everything, unmolded and oblivious to the physical world. Looking up, I saw red mana, fire mana, flare up far to the north beneath the haze of smoke. The sepia rippled in response, growing into a distorted wave pushed along by the ball of them flame.
“River, are you alright?”
“Yeah.” I said, watching the wave of mana break across an invisible barrier of arcane mana several kilometers from where we sat. The wardstone, I realized, my eyes following a strand of purple from the invisible barrier to the center of the plateau where the expedition labored in their efforts. There, on the glinted surface of polished stone, arcane mana swirled into an intricate purple fractal that defied my comprehension. I needed to take a closer look. I needed to see it. I needed to understand.
“Where are you going?” Someone asked as my paws began to descend the steps and cross the camp towards the excavation. I began to run even as I heard steps hurrying along behind me. I tore across the grass before leaping onto the rubble and jumping from stone block to stone block past the curious glances of the expedition members only to stop at the rim of the growing pit. A twisting spire of arcane mana rose before me, twisting and curving in upon itself like a living thing.
I took another step forward and a strong hand gripped my arm.
I blinked, the arcane perception fading from my eyes. Rain stood by my side with his hand on my arm. Autumn, Brook, and Karl stood some distance behind. I staggered then, a wave of dizziness and nausea falling over me. I felt strangely dazed.
Mana: 8/90
“River.” Rain said, giving me a concerned look.
“Sorry.” I mumbled. “I was using a new skill and…” My voice trailed off as I glanced down into the excavation. Gone were the swirls of arcane mana, but there inlaid upon the polished stone floor was a complex curving design of gold wire almost entirely obscured by the rubble.
“...and?” Rain prompted.
“What was this place?” I asked.
“The council chamber of the tribes.” Rain explained, not letting go of my arm. “Don’t evade my question River. What did you find with your skill?”
“That gold there. The stuff exposed on the floor. It’s part of an inscription. An active inscription. It’s… powerful. Unbelievably powerful.”