Without the [High Priestess] to maintain the [Avatar of Purity] things swiftly went progressively in our favor, starting with most [Priests] losing the possession-like status/buff on their own after said [Avatar] got successfully wrestled to the ground by the shiny teddy-octopus; so, I could earnestly say that things were looking good.
What didn’t look good was that the semi-biblically accurate mannequin was now tracking me with its entire head, and since I had to help a group behind it, I had to suffer to the image of such a large humanoid body having its head turned 180 degrees the wrong way, while it tried to flail its arms at the other latexy creature as if they were whips, revealing its disturbing lack of bones.
But it’s not like Merga’s massive [familiar] was just going to stand there and take it: The tentacles on the front of its head pulled up, revealing a circular hole with three rows of teeth within it, with a black light starting to build-up on the back of its-
*SHOOAM*
A black laser, so dark that it looked like it was eating the light around it, went by so fast that I could only catch it as an after-effect imprinted into my retinas, and the next thing I knew was that white giant was now missing most of its chest, and flaking away at its edges.
A cry of despair rose from the few still conscious [Priests], while most of their other associates decided that this was a good time to start throwing their weapons to the ground. I say ‘most’ because some [Hunters], since they belonged to a criminal organization, decided to pull one last attempt at escape, but unfortunately for them, they had already been encircled by a tight formation of [Knights] without any of them being none the wiser.
Finally, with a shiver down my spine, I felt some of the tension that had been building up leaving my shoulders, and a shivering sigh escaped my unclenching teeth.
I looked at my hands, still a bit scarred from stopping a [Demi-God]’s attack but not unrepairably so, and finally noticed that Merga’s glove had been destroyed back then, leaving my [Status] no longer [Obfuscated].
A bit of the tension from before came back with a vengeance, and with all haste, I pulled a couple of pieces of metal out from the [spatial pouch] tied to my belt, namely a piece of mithril and two of steel, and started kneading the more mundane material into a braid-link, while the more magical one was shaped into a closed eye, and then [Enchanted] with my spin of the ‘[Status] hiding properties’ that I needed.
Terrible idea on a battlefield, but both Sheeno and Undine had been hovering around me the entire time, so once they saw what I was doing they shielded me only after a token attempt at reprimand for my recklessness.
The symbolism of the closed eye thankfully helped shape my Intent, and only a few minutes later I had an [Epic] grade [Anti-scrying Pendant] that I immediately donned, satisfied with how I had both recreated the [Enchantment] from the glove, thankful of the fact that I had been interested enough in it to study it in depth after managing to push past the [Obfuscation] effect that prevented me from getting a clear look at the [Enchantment] way back then, and how the [Rune of Change] had blended my work into a better cohesive whole.
“I had my doubts, but now I’m sure that [Change] is my favorite [Rune].”
“How are you doing?” Undine asked once she felt me stopping my [Mana-weaving].
“Surprisingly well, to the point that I’m not sure if I’m too stressed to think about the implication of having helped in killing a person, or if her being such a terrible one just made it alright in my book. I didn’t even know it was possible for me to be this confused with all the [Stats] invested in my [Mind]”, I explained, gripping one side of my head in frustration.
“I’m of the opinion that you shouldn’t feel bad for killing a waste of life that would have wrought untold suffering if left to her own devices, but I’m still ready and willing to help you get through this in any way I can.”
“Thanks, Sheeno”, I said earnestly, earning an affectionate squeeze of my shoulder in return.
“Besides my personal dilemma, how are we doing?” I finally had to ask.
I have seen death today, and suffering, but I knew that it wouldn’t be enough to stop me from lending a hand where I could, especially now that I didn’t have to worry about a [Demi-God] purposely stomping me like a bug if I were to get distracted.
“All things considered? Surprisingly well: We certainly didn’t expect multiple [High Priests], something that I yet have a hard time believing if I hadn’t fought them myself, but they didn’t expect a [Depth Witch], and between us, I think a Merga is a much bigger variable than some lousy pricks”, Dory stepped out of a nearby shadow dressed in what I could only call a traditional ninja outfit, but the exaggerated kind that you’d find in a children shows, with long flowing scarf and demonic mask.
And, as expected, her entire outfit was practically manta black, probably aided by- no, definitely [Enchanted] with a ludicrous amount of [Dark Mana].
“Hey, Dory! I saw you lopping off a few heads with disturbing ease. I wouldn’t be surprised if your enemies that survive have often nightmares about you”, I cheerily waved at the definitely-not-scary tiny woman.
“I shouldn’t be surprised that you were able to see me, but I still am. And speaking of nightmares, are you doing ok? I saw the state you were in before Merga stepped in to help”, she delicately asked, while removing her mask and showing genuine concern on her face.
“Can’t say it didn’t shake me, but I’m doing surprisingly well; thanks for asking”, I gave her a nod with a not-so-convincing smile etched on my face.
“Why am I alright?”
“I guess I’ll have to believe you for now. If you don’t have more pressing matter, we could use you and your blue friend in the medic tent, while her highness could help corralling the last few fugitives with her ice.”
“That’s just about what I was thinking of doing: My [Repair], if anything, could help stabilize even the worst injured, as long as I have enough [MPs]. But what about you guys?” I answered what I thought was obvious, but I wasn’t certainly making decisions without consulting with my [Party] first.
“I agree that assisting with healing might be the best use of my capabilities, now that the fight has mostly finished”, Undine agreed without even having to think about it: As a [High Priestess] I doubt there was anyone better trained to help with this… Except maybe Ripp the Goblin, if he was around.
“If you can assure me that the medic tent will be secure, I guess I could run around and freeze some strugglers”, Sheeno ignored the ‘highness’ comment and replied more diplomatically than either of us, showing once again that she was the only one that had actually been trained in the logistics of large-scale combat.
“I knew you would all be reasonable. Rubicon’s opinion of you all must have been tainted by his own stubbornness”, she happily stated, before stepping back into the shadows and teleporting away.
“…Did she just leave us with the impression that her boss thinks poorly of us just before disappearing?” I asked after a brief lull from everybody being stunned by her words.
“I can understand why the [Guild Master] would have a poor impression of you, but what did I do wrong?”
“Hey…” I looked at Undine, kind of offended by her utter dismissal of the certainty of my perceived impression.
“It’s not your fault: He seems to have something in general against [Demi-Gods]. And while I agree that he might have a poor impression of Darwin, I personally thought he liked the grit I showed him after my first impression”, and Sheeno just beat me while I was already down.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Hey! What is this: Destroy Darwin Day!? If you really want to know we seem like we bicker constantly, but that’s only how we interact; in reality, we get perfectly along!” I felt the need to explain the situation, but I could tell that I wasn’t being as effective as I’d hoped.
“I find that last part somehow hard to believe”, Sheeno immediately replied, two hands resting on her cocked hips and one eyebrow raised.
“Agreed. Also, speaking about the first part: Do I need to remind you that we’ve had almost a literal army on our doorstep try and kill you, while aided by a [Demi-God]?” Undine followed with some cold hard truth that hit right where it mattered.
“Touché, but that doesn’t explain why you are both so sure of my unlikability”, I knew that I was being slightly petulant, but-
“Because we know you.”
“And have first-hand experience in what it means putting up with you.”
And of course, they had a ready answer for that too.
“Ouch. Your honesty wounds me”, I gripped my chest in mock pain, their word constantly digging deeper into my insecurities.
If I couldn’t feel the sisterly affection from Undine and the lover’s passion from Sheeno I would have taken it a lot harder, but it was hard to when you knew that they were saying it while loving you.
“Then maybe you look where the problem lies and do something to fix it”, our [High Priestess] proposed and my mate nodded her assent.
“Hey! I’m trying, ok? I can’t simply fix this” I waved my hand up and down my torso “in the span of a couple of months: It’s a process and I’m still in the middle of it”.
Before we could keep indulging in further banter, we were interrupted by familiar and recent voice.
“While I think your comradery is sweet and some healthy discussion goes a long way for the growth of one’s character, when I said that we could use your help I meant now”, Dory said in a cordial enough voice, with only a veiled hint of acid a treat in her tone to warn us that she wasn’t as amused by our antics as she appeared to be.
“Sorry”, we responded in chorus, before heading our different ways.
Sheeno was the first that got to work: being close to the epicenter of the fight meant that she didn’t have much trouble in finding some strugglers that she could help apprehend.
Meanwhile, me and Undine had a long way to go, and fortunately, she seemed to know where to go.
“How can you be so sure that it’s this way?” I eventually ended up asking.
“If you think about there really aren’t many places where it could be: First of all, from your house to the main street is a definite ‘no’, simply because they knew there would be active fighting there; by that same logic the opposite end of their forces would be prone to ambushes from eventual reinforcements, so that’s another possibility out; then, if you start taking into accounts vantage point, visibility and defensibility, the only viable options start being secondary streets that tend to turn towards the [Guild] while remaining off to the side without being too far back, so to quickly rescue personnel in need of aid”, surprisingly she started checking things off with her fingers, clearly showing that she was going through a pretty clear mental picture that she intimately familiar with.
“That was very… thorough. Is this part of that fancy [Priest]ly training you sometimes speak of?”
“Exactly: Even though we have generally versatile [Classes] and [Sub-Classes], our [Jobs] better harmonize with those that are at least partially focused on providing aid, physically, emotionally or both”, she said while turning and flashing me a content smile.
I could only agree with her statement because it both matched what I already knew and reflected what conjecture I made with what I had observed. More specifically I had a [Necromancer] that was a [Priest], and the fact that the [System] decided to translate it into my mind like that must be because it must be the most correct term in both nuances and active significance.
Long story short: Being a [Priest] is a [Job] foremost, but being devoted to the image of the role had its benefits.
“That does make me wonder if being a [True Adventurer] is truly my calling. After all, I decided to become an [Adventurer] because I thought it sounded cool and very game-like, but if I had to be honest with myself, I’ve been having more fun challenging my powers by seeing what I could craft with them. Also, I don’t like pain, and I’ve constantly gotten grievously injured when things got though.”
I would like to point out that you have gotten seriously hurt even when you did not go out to look for a fight.
Like just before, when the fight came looking for you.
“True, so being both a [Fulcrum] and [Aberrant] won’t probably help in reaching the idyllic peaceful life that I aspire to achieve; but still, I man should be allowed to dream!”
You can dream about your future after you have made sure to survive the present, or at least until I figure out what happens to me when you kick the bucket.
“That is honestly a good question: How are our lives linked? For starters, what happens normally to a [System Instance] when their user dies?”
The thought was depressing, and I kind of didn’t want to think about it, but after recent events, it became a constant thought that kept on bothering me: If I die, will I bring down [Buddy] with me?
I have spoken to a couple of [Gods] about it, and even they are not sure.
Their best guess is that since I have a separate soul, count towards your [Bonded familiars], and am intrinsically linked to the [System] of this [Nexus], I will either become one with the [System] and elevate us to something greater, or I will be sent to a pseudo-realm specifically made to host my [Soul] and enabling me to be summoned by someone else in the future.
“So… you either lose your sense of self and stop being who you are now, or get stuck in a limbo until some sucker accidentally forms a link with you? I must say, neither of those options sounds particularly appealing.”
I agree, and that is one of the reasons why I keep on trying to keep you alive.
“One of?” I found myself absentmindedly asking while keeping pace with Undine.
I am still partially a copy of your mind, so I have a vested interest in seeing another me, although inferior, thrive and generally have a good life.
I had to think this time before giving a proper answer while ignoring that ‘inferior’ part, but I kept on drawing a blank so I just went ahead and asked.
“What does it say about me, mentally, that I can get along with ‘technically-myself’, without being destructive?”
Well, we did not have the best relationship starting out, and we both acknowledged that; the fact that our relationship kept on improving I believe shows an improvement in our mental maturity and health.
“Our? Don’t you always go on about how you’re the perfected version of my mind because you’re unhindered by my fleshy bits?”
I was the better version of you back then. As time passed, we diverged in our separate growths and became different.
I am still very clearly a version of you unhindered by your chemistry and biology, but we are different enough that I cannot describe myself as “perfect” compared to the current you.
“Hey, that’s kind of flattering!”
If you think that is flattering, it means that your self-esteem is still too low to be considered normal.
I wanted to rebuke his last statement but Undine had just reached the medical tent, a pallid blue tent that could have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for its massive size and the clearly [Enchanted] material it was made of. But what stopped me wasn’t the tent itself, because I had noticed it before being right in front of it, instead it was what I saw once she pulled one side of the door aside to let me in.
Whatever kind of levity I had been building up until that point completely evaporated once I saw the number of injured people inside and the level of their injury.
War, it seemed, was even more gruesome than I was led to believe.
[Knights] having pieces regrown where they had been blasted or cut off, [Handlers] that gritted their teeth, or the relevant equivalent, while having foreign stuff removed from their wounds before they could be healed, and more was immediately obvious to see as soon as you stepped inside.
Seeing this I couldn’t even begin to picture how the [Human Army] was doing against the [Demons].