Once the final cultist lay dead and dying on the floor, we paired off into groups to search the compound for any survivors. David, Bea, and Morgan would start with the brick house, while Zach and I would look through the church.
As we stepped through the destroyed yard, I started to smell the sickly sweet stench of decay. Bracing myself at the door, I pushed my way into the building. As the doors swung open, I was greeted by a wall of flies, their buzzing filling the church with a deafening hum.
They crawled over the bodies of dogs, cats, birds, and deer pinned to the wall with long wooden stakes. The pews had been chopped into pieces for firewood and piled on either side of the room, leaving ample space in the center. At the church's pulpit was a giant wooden effigy made from scraps of wood into the symbol of Gors.
The air in the church was filthy. Though I didn’t sweat anymore, I felt sticky and gross just being inside the building. Weirdly, the sensation started becoming more intense as I got further inside. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the nasty feeling was coming from the altar to Gors in the back of the building. Almost against my will, I moved further into the church.
As I examined the symbol closer, I began to feel deeply uncomfortable, like someone was watching me. The symbol seemed overlaid with a foggy film in my eyes and started glowing with glowing veins of power. Unconsciously I took another step forward.
I just needed to touch it.
Zach appeared by the effigy in a flash of shadow, kicking the structure over. The red energy dissipated into the atmosphere as the wood shattered against the floor as if it was never there.
The difference I felt was immediate, my mind leaving the fog that once covered it. Even the air in the church started to clear, and the incessant buzzing of the flies reduced in volume until it was barely noticeable.
I swallowed with a dry throat, turning to Zach.
“Thanks for that. Just FYI, don’t stare at the symbols of the evil god.”
His only response was a quick nod as he adjusted the mask covering the bottom half of his face.
The rest of the building was unremarkable; the rooms were used as storage spaces for the unreasonable amount of garbage the cultists had accrued in the past few days. Though we thoroughly searched each room for signs of any prisoners the cultists might have kept; we found nothing.
Returning outside, we met with the others, explaining what we found inside the church. Unwilling to give up, we searched the rest of the buildings in this small cluster. There were only ten, including the two we had been through already, so it wasn’t difficult.
After the next four houses, though, our pace slowed as we lost hope. The sky was darkening as the day grew older, and dark clouds were blowing in from the east, ushering the sun away. As we finished fruitlessly searching the last house, we heard the first crack of thunder echoing through the air and the first scattering of raindrops falling against the ground.
We met up under the awning of the final house to discuss our next steps. The party's mood was grim; we had eliminated the cultists but seen no sign of those we came to find. It was a hollow vengeance.
Addressing the group, David called all of our attention back together.
“Alright, people. We did good work today, ending a threat to Bridge before it could grow even worse. Finding the trail where they took our people will be nigh impossible with the rain. Let’s clean up here, then make our way back to Bridge. I don’t want any cultists returning here to have a place to stay.”
With a direction set, the group moved back to the church. I was curious what they intended to do to keep anyone from returning here, but not for long.
With a cry filled with the day's frustration, Morgan summoned a massive wave of flame before sending it billowing through the front doors of the desecrated church. The fire spread quickly, igniting all of the wood and trash piled inside, and the building was ablaze in only a few moments. Even the rain, which had started pouring, didn’t stop the blaze. It simply contained it within the walls of the building.
Morgan moved to each of the buildings one by one, setting them alight. We watched the fires burn for a while before David beckoned the group to follow him back to Bridge. As they started moving, though, I stopped him.
“Sorry, David. I’m going to head home now.”
He nodded gently, holding out his hand for me to shake.
“Thanks for the help, Vic. I’m sad to see you go so soon, but I get it.”
I grasped his hand in a firm grip.
“We’ll meet again. I'll let you know if I find any information on the cultists. I could probably use the help.”
I bid farewell to each of the Crimson Falcons in turn before rising up into the air.
When I was only a few feet off the ground, though, I stopped. There was still a question floating around in my mind I wanted an answer to.
“David! One more thing before you go.”
Turning back, he looked up at me.
“What is it, Vic?” he shouted through cupped hands, trying to speak over the sound of the wind and the rain.
“Why did you act so strange when we first met? I can see that this is the way you normally are, but before, you acted so….”
“Silly? Weird?”
“Exactly! Why?”
Laughing, he placed both fists agast his hips, posing like a hero in a comic book. As soon as he did, the tension in the air vanished, filled instead with something else. Something more wholesome and fun that shined through, despite the mental burden of the day. Was he using a skill?
“My archetype is ‘bombastic hero’, like in the old stories. You’ve gotta play your archetype! You have to dress the part! When you do, the world starts to move around you like never before.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“What do you mean? How does the world move around you?”
He just smiled again. Though I could see the day's strain hidden behind his eyes, his actions and expression didn’t betray anything.
“You’ll have to find out for yourself. It’s not something I can explain so easily. I’ll see you around, Vic!”
As one, the Crimson Falcons turned, heading back to Bridge.
Similarly, I rose into the sky and sped off toward home. Some sleep sounded nice after such a long day. All the while, though, I mulled through his parting comments, wondering what they meant.
+++++
Flying through the stormy skies was a magical experience. My skin crackled with lightning and power. I felt stronger, faster, and surer with every move. This was my Stormborn racial skill, fully activating for the first time.
*ding*
Race Skills:
Stormborn: 4->5!
Archetype Skills:
Born to Roam: 15->20!
Current Stats:
Luck: 11->12!
The instant I felt the notification, I felt yet another increase in strength. Pulling up my skill description, I looked for any changes now that the skill had reached level 5.
Stormborn
5/30
Increases the effectiveness of strength, constitution, and wisdom when in stormy conditions (+12%). Grants enhanced regeneration when touching water (+70%). Gain mana from enemy storm attacks. (+24% mana steal)
Impressively, the bonuses to my mana steal and stat improvement doubled, and the speed of my regeneration increased by another 10%.
The increase in my archetype skill was unexpected but welcome, as well as the improvement to my luck. Seeing the growth in my archetype and the increase in luck, I thought back to what David had mentioned before I left. That the world started to move around you, when you played into your archtype. Taking a look at my stats, I reread the effect that the luck stat had.
General Stats:
Current
Maximum
Effect
Strength
17
17
Physical strength; pushing, pulling, lifting.
Agility
17
17
Physical speed; running speed, acrobatic ability, inertial control.
Dexterity
12
12
Ability to move with finesse and skill and to move the body as the mind wills.
Constitution
18
22
The sturdiness of the body; ability to resist damage, poison, and magic.
Intelligence
7
10
Your capacity to learn and remember. Magical strength and capacity.
Wisdom
7
15
Your ability to reason out the best choice. Magical recovery and momentum.
Charisma
12
12
Your likability; affects attractiveness
Luck
12
15
Effects drop rates and personal narrative
Was this ‘personal narrative’ what made the world ‘move around you’ as David had claimed? Looking back on my actions of the day, I ran into some strangers, followed them back to their burgeoning town, and helped them solve a problem before leaving without much of a word. It was, essentially, the plot of an old Western movie.
All day I had unintentionally been playing right into my archetype, and I was reaping the benefits. Each increase in the Born to Roam skill gave me another 1% increase in skill growth while I was performing the actions associated with my archetype, which was a massive advantage. Cultivating my archetype was something I needed to put some serious thought towards.
As I crested the treeline near the camp, I found the place almost empty save a few guards stationed atop covered watchtowers, everyone likely having fled into the hotel and store as the rain started worsening.
Entering the hotel, I stumbled over my feet as the bonus strength granted by stormborn vanished. The entryway was filled with people sheltering from the rain, and the dining area in the back was loud with voices as people enjoyed a late dinner.
Though my stomach ached at the thought of a meal, I wanted to meet with Cindy and pass off all of the new intel I had gained. I found her, as always, in her office as she worked through a stack of documents. Seeing me enter, she paused, setting her work aside.
“Vic! I’m glad you’re back. How was training today?”
“Fruitful and surprisingly eventful. I have a lot of new information to share.”
First, I passed her my new maps. Immediately, she handed my journal off to a dark-skinned elf I had never seen before. He vanished into another room, taking my things with him.
“Who was that?”
“My new permanent assistant, Joseph. His archetype is ‘butler’, and he wanted the best place to fulfill that task. One of his skills allows him to copy information on paper extremely quickly. He was found wandering the woods to the west by a hunting party and was invited into the camp after an interview.”
“We’re interviewing people now? Looking for cultists in disguise, I guess. That’s wise.”
She simply nodded in agreement while I continued. I explained my success in training my physical stats up first. When I got to my encounter with the Crimson Falcons, though, she stopped me with a slight raise of her hand before quietly calling for Joseph in the other room. Though she had barely said his name in more than a whisper, it seemed to be enough.
He appeared in a rush before handing me my journal with a flourish. Taking a seat at a smaller desk against the side of the room, he prepared a pad of paper, ready to take notes.
I continued my story up to meeting the village elder of the town of Bridge before I was interrupted again. Cindy had me pause my account while she turned to her assistant.
“Joseph, please take note that we need to send an envoy to Bridge quickly to open up the possibility of future trade. We also need to find and promote someone in the camp to a leadership position so that we can start to use those leadership skills. They sound invaluable.”
With a gesture, she ushered me on. I explained my encounter with the cult, the quick fight against them, the finally, the search. When I got to the end of my story and explained what David said about his archetype, I expected her to comment, but instead, she just nodded along.
Curious, I asked, “Cindy, have you learned more about archetypes since we last talked?”
We hadn’t seen much of each other in the past few days, and with the integration of the system and the addition of magic, it felt like the world was changing faster than I could keep up.
“Yes,” she stated calmly, “we’ve documented that dressing the part of your archetype improves its speed of improvement greatly, and we’ve known that acting as your archetype would improve its growth for a long time. The effect on the world around you, this ‘personal narrative’, is something that we’ve theorized is tied to the system intimately, but it’s harder to prove. Some recent developments, including my class selection, have led us to believe that there is more to it than we originally expected.”
“That’s good to know, I suppose. I probably need to find a change of clothes. And also, who is this ‘we’ you keep mentioning.”
“Finding some clothes to suit your archetype would be a good idea, yes. And by ‘we’, I mean the team dedicated to documenting and researching the system.”
She let out a slight chuckle before pointing to the door Joseph had walked in from.
“They’re right next door to my office, Vic; I’m surprised you didn’t know about it.”
I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
“I knew you were collecting information; I just didn’t realize it was so formal. Also, you got your class! Congratulations! After hearing about the village elder class in Bridge, I half expected you to get the same choice. What did you take?”
“Village elder was one of my options, but I decided to take something else I believe has much more promise.”
Spreading her arms wide in a dramatic pose, Cindy answered calmly, with a smile.
“I am the first official guild leader of the new Texas Adventuer’s Guild.”