Kya closed the door behind her as she exited Archie's shop. They had talked for a while longer after he finished his story, but it had been clear to both of them that he was at the limit of what he was willing to share for the time being.
After making a promise to return within the next few days to tell him a story of her past, as well as for some potentially higher rarity potions depending on the yield of his small garden, Kya bid the wizened alchemist a fond farewell and left with her purchases safely stored away.
She started walking towards the center of the city and, with a flick of her hand, Kya seemingly pulled from thin air a small, yellowed piece of parchment on which was scribbled the skeleton recipe for a basic health potion.
From her understanding after reading the scribbled notes, was that the overall recipe was rather forgiving on the ingredients, not needing any specific items but more specific effects from the ingredients she chose. The absolute most basic, easy to produce version Archie had given her was simply a few common plants she could find on a stroll through most gardens or growing naturally in the woods. Even if she collected these plants, however, and successfully made them into a potion, the common mundane ingredients would produce a laughably ineffective potion, likely not even at the 1-Star level. If she wanted to craft potions with a better effect than the ones she could already loot from the average monster, she would need to find higher rarity ingredients with more potent effects.
Still, the concepts remained the same. Kya decided that she would spend each evening from then on trying to craft just a simple basic health potion until she was able to do it well enough. Though it didn’t go into detail, the potion recipe did mention that she would have to imbue the concoction with a “stabilizing mana stream” in order to change it from an herbal vegetable soup to an actual health potion. Kya had no real idea what mana was, or how to use it as an exterior force, unless it just meant her aura?
She’d play around with it later, she decided. Then, putting the recipe away with the same nonchalant movements, Kya continued down the road.
Although Archie’s story had done much to illuminate the reasons for the animosity certain groups had towards her, she still wanted to revisit the libraries to get a more objective view on the war and history of her people. She partially admonished herself for not doing it right away, but hey, when given the choice between reading books in a library and playing with newfound magic powers, it wasn’t exactly a hard choice in her mind.
“Although I do like reading about the magic as well” Kya mused as she walked, actually taking a minute to consider. On the one hand, the feeling of her abilities growing more powerful after a fight was almost euphoric, rivaling a few recreational activities she could think of from back on earth. She could easily see it becoming less of a want and more of a need for some people if they grew addicted to that feeling. But more than that, much more than that, she felt an internal drive to grow stronger. She wanted more than anything else to become and remain as self-sufficient as possible. She wasn’t an idiot and knew full well that she couldn’t do absolutely everything on her own, but like with potions, she wanted to reach a point where no matter what happened, and no matter what circumstances she was forced into, she’d be able to thrive all on her own. Actually, scratch that. She wanted to reach a point where she wasn’t able to be forced into anything. Full stop.
All that being said, she also knew that knowledge was as real a power as the daggers in her hands. Sometimes even more so. She was finally starting to see the logic in the Army, always running them through drill after drill. Making each of them sit in classrooms and actually study skills like map reading for navigation and basic first aid. It wasn’t ever just “go to that field and run around” but endless briefings on the plans and practice drills ad nauseam.
Kya nodded to herself, having successfully reaffirmed her desire to actually sit and read some more on not only her class and its history, but well, everything she could. She’d have to start with the basics like she did on that first night, but it would probably also be a good idea to get some more foundational knowledge before heading to the academy. She felt like it would be pretty bad if she showed up for the first day of class and-
Stopping abruptly just before getting to one of the many bridges in the city, Kya stared across at the other side where a man stood in a void black robe, with the hood drawn up and an ominous pressure billowing out like heat waves over an asphalt road in July. She couldn’t see his face, just the shadows in the setting suns that almost seemed to cling to him.
Kya had been lost in thought, at least that was the excuse she told herself for not really noticing that the otherwise relatively bustling streets had become notably more deserted to the point that there was only a single elderly woman hobbling off the bridge towards Kya. She looked over her shoulder at the man, and sped up her shuffling slightly, making an effort to leave the situation altogether.
They stared at each other for a moment, the only sounds the water below, the wind above, and the shuffling of the woman, punctuated with an occasional clacking sound as her cane hit the black stones of the road.
This lull before was almost worse than- No it was worse than actual combat. Kya wasn’t necessarily an anxious person by any means, but she was absolutely hyperactive, as was her imagination. She could imagine seventeen different scenarios before as many heartbeats had gone by, and most of them led her down less than happy trains of thought. She would much rather just start fighting if it was going to come to it.
To that end, she called out to the man in a voice that seemed shockingly loud against the eerie quiet. “I’m not sure of the cultural parallels here, but I think we can all agree it’s rude to scare an old lady out for a walk. What do you want?”
The man, for though he was completely obscured by his cloak and the shadows around him, his build was still unmistakably that of a man, called back in a nasally voice as though he had a cold “Are you the spatial user Kya?” This all but confirmed what was coming in her mind, but even if Kya still had some doubts, they were dispelled the moment he parted his cloak to reveal a long bow almost as tall as he was, “If so, I’ve been looking for you.”
The odd pangs of anxiety and tightness in her stomach relaxed into an almost serene calm as she grinned back at the man, her own cloak appearing on her shoulders. “Well then, what are we waiting for?”
Pulling the string taught on his bow, an arrow of absolute darkness manifested itself and even from thirty meters away on the other side of the river, Kya could feel the power growing with each moment he held it.
Knowing that time was of the essence, and distance wouldn’t be her friend for what was clearly a ranged attacker, Kya activated her slow fall ability and took an enhanced leap forwards before hitting the thick stone railing of the bridge and bouncing suddenly to the side just as the man shot his midnight arrow.
Kya felt she should be in the clear, having dodged at the last minute. But the arrow was flying at her fast and the aim was remarkably good, wanting to ensure she was in the clear, Kya reached out to push on the arrow and… nothing. It was like there wasn’t anything there, even though she could feel it with her aura, it was like it was intangible, or…
Letting out a groan of annoyance, Kya contorted her body in mid-air, and though the dark bolt missed her flesh, it still pulled at her cloak as it passed by, leaving a large trail of black shadow where it touched.
It took her a moment to notice, but that part of her cloak suddenly felt… heavy. Not incredibly so, but she could definitely tell it was pulling down on her body more than it should have.
Canceling her slow fall ability, Kya fell swiftly to the bridge. She noted with distaste that the heaviness of the mark had only increased now that it was fully affected by gravity once again and looked up just in time to see the dark archer charging up yet another shadow arrow.
Without a second to lose, she charged forwards, summoning her dagg- they were being upgraded at the smithy right now she realized, leaving her stunned into inaction for a moment. “Shit” she snarled in her mind, the moments confusion and faltering costing her as the archer released and though she once more jumped with the aid of her slow fall, she was a second too late as the arrow seemingly bent the air around it and approached her like an inexorable force.
Striking her right shin, Kya braced herself for the explosive pain and shattered bone but… there wasn’t anything, no pain or injury at all, just weight. Her leg suddenly felt like it had been transmuted to lead as she fell back to the ground in a sudden rush. She still had her slow fall activated, but even so felt dragged down from her leg.
Looking down she saw that again, her clothes and boots were completely undamaged, but it was as though someone had thrown a bucket of black paint on her leg or like she’d stepped knee deep in a vat of oil.
She dared not deactivate her skill again, because although she couldn’t be sure, she had a strong suspicion based on the mark of her cloak that she wouldn’t be able to move her leg at all if she did.
Throwing caution to the wind, as she saw the archer charge a third dark arrow, she reached out to him directly and pulled.
She felt him with her aura as much as watched him stumble forwards, letting out a yelp in surprise, before falling face first into the paving stones and skidding forwards another few feet before Kya let go, all the while she’d been running forwards.
Even though her leg felt like stone, her enhanced speed from gaining a class meant it only took her a matter of seconds to reach the man, not nearly long enough for him to fully recover. She was upon him just as he climbed back to his feet.
Getting a sudden burst of inspiration, Kya jabbed her fist out while simultaneously pulling the man towards her, giving the resulting gut punch twice the power it would have had before. She grinned in satisfaction as she felt her fist sink in, but something felt off.
He didn’t grunt in pain, or double over as she had expected, and it was only too clear why.
While he had been caught off guard by the attack being suddenly landed in his stomach, the man was unfortunately wearing light but high-quality leather armor, so what should have been a debilitating attack, was downgraded to an uncomfortable but bearable pain.
At the same time, the dark arrow he’d been channeling into his bow hadn’t vanished as she’d expected it to but had stayed in the archer's hand after he’d fallen. The same arrow that was now poking through her left arm and into her rib cage after a swift retaliatory jab from the archer.
Like a syrup slowly pouring over her body, she felt the weight come on gradually, but without seeming to end. Her leg, even with the slow fall activated, was already a burden just to shift around, but now her arm and torso were being affected as well.
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Sensing she needed to finish this altercation as soon as possible, the thought of fleeing not even entering her mind, Kya decided to gamble on something she’d been wondering about for some time.
Kya pulled out one of the many glowstones she’d looted from her trek into Arthur’s house and chambers, this one slightly smaller than the palm of her hand.
Though it’s size limited the brightness, in the rapidly growing darkness from the setting suns, it was still enough to at least make the archer pause in whatever he was about to do, which gave her just the opening she’d been wanting.
Aiming directly at the ground and pushing with every fiber of strength she could muster, Kya launched the glowstone like an intercontinental ballistic missile strike.
In theory, what should have happened was the stone shattering on impact and releasing a blinding light to stun her opponent, giving her the perfect opening to take control in the fight, rather than remain on the backfoot as she had been. If the stone had shattered, it would have worked like a charm. If the stone released all of its light in one go, that too would have been profoundly effective. If.
What happened instead was the stone shot out of her hands and landed with thud into the stones creating a tiny impact crater and otherwise giving off its ordinary glow with a determined lack of reaction to her slamming it down like a Superbowl winning touchdown.
Both Kya and the archer stared at the inert glowing rock sitting on the stones between them, then looked up and met one another's gaze. She could see for the first time the pitch-black eyes of the man, accented with streaks of luminous pink.
“That uh, didn’t really work how you wanted it to, I’m guessing.” He said, with the nerve to sound amused. Though most of his face was still obscured in shadow, she got the absolutely unambiguous impression that he was smiling at her.
Sighing with a mix of exasperation and slight embarrassment, Kya said back “Yeah, I… yeah.”
Then, with an almost casual movement that made it seem slower than the whiplash speed it actually was, the archer plunged one final arrow of darkness directly into her sternum. It was smaller than the others, she assumed due to the lack of build up time, but nevertheless made her feel like she was sinking into solid rock, or buried alive in quicksand.
Refusing to simply give up the fight, she tried for one final trick. Focusing all her will on the man, she blasted him back and away with a concentrated projection of her will. Rocketing backwards, he collided with one of the riverside buildings, and slumped forwards with an audible groan. Armor or no, Kya knew he felt that one.
Taking out one of the temple stones she’d used from way back before she’d even gotten her first dagger, she took aim, intending to launch it at him and try to, if nothing else, incapacitate the man. She didn’t want to kill him as she had too many questions about what was happening and not nearly enough answers.
But yet again, she was forced to confront the fact that she didn’t know enough about not just this world, but her opponent and the abilities that others had. Though the fight had only spanned maybe two or three minutes at this point, and she should have a lot more in her, the stone she shot forwards went only a couple of feet before falling harmlessly to the stones below. Her vision started to dim slightly around the edges, and with reluctance, she finally canceled out her slow fall. She recognized the feeling as when she had used too much of herself, even if it confused her as to why it had come so soon. She knew the arrows themselves had to be the culprit, but not how or why.
The moment her ability to alter the gravity around her came to an end, so too did the fight. She immediately fell to the ground, her leg, chest, and even her cloak orders of magnitude heavier than they had any right to be.
Laying there on her back, looking up at the first stars that were peeking through the twilight, she felt a raw, pure, and scorching hot fury. Although she partially felt it towards the archer, she honestly didn’t hold it against him. She respected the way he’d handled himself, and the abilities he’d shown. Anyone who could so thoroughly counter her, especially while on the same level as another 1-Star, deserved their win.
No, she felt furious with herself. Stumbling over herself just because she didn’t have her daggers, trying out a completely untested and unproven strategy that backfired in her face, punching in the gut where any competent person would have some sort of protection rather than simply going for the head, she had made error after error in this fight. She did well against beasts, and she had startled and gotten the better of the earth user in the ritual chamber on luck more than anything else. But against an equally matched and prepared fighter? She had been proud of how well she’d been doing and perhaps grown a bit overconfident in herself. But she had to remember one of her favorite quotes from one of her favorite characters in one of her favorite shows. Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. And boy did she feel ashamed.
Looking over, she saw the archer dust himself off and walk slowly towards her. Despite all of the thoughts running through her head, she still felt a bitter satisfaction at the limp in his walk, though it went away a moment later when he downed the telltale red liquid of a health potion.
He stopped a foot away from her, and crouched down onto his haunches. then said a single word in a low, satisfied, albeit congested voice that Kya knew she could never, and would never forget...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Carcelo hadn’t taken more than thirty minutes to gather his things. He had been expecting something like this ever since he’d heard that his father would be deploying out, and that Lord Cain was coming to the city.
He didn’t know all the details, alright, he didn’t know most of the details. He was still just a 1-Star, even with a relatively well connected father, it didn’t change that. So while he was privy to slightly more than most, it still wasn’t much.
He knew that there had been the reappearance of spatial users, with a handful cropping up across the world. But the first one the world had been made aware of was right in the Loterran Empires backyard, the small coastal city of Lyra. Carcelo knew that it had been his own father who’d found the spatial user, and that it had resulted in an… incident. He knew his father, and could quite easily hazard a guess as to what actually happened, but most people didn’t know this side of his father, or at least weren’t willing to discuss it openly.
But all this to say, Carcelo had anticipated for some time now being sent, if not to Lyra, then at least to somewhere. This meant that he’d long since made the preparations with a packed bag and orders for the house staff on what to do when he inevitably was sent out.
It was happening sooner than expected, but the staff were efficient and professional, and in no time at all, Carcello had retrieved his belongings, all packed neatly and stowed into the spatial bracer he wore on his right arm.
Though he’d never once voiced the observation to his parents, he’d always found it dreadfully ironic that they’d been so violently, harshly, and vocally opposed to spatial users and their legacy, yet kept around spatial storage items for their sheer convenience. His mother refused to store certain things in them, like her instruments or sentimental items, but would nevertheless use them for everything else.
Being the youngest, and being the least powerful of the lot, he wasn’t given the higher valued spatial ring or necklace of his older siblings, but rather an old dull metal arm brace. Though he took pristine care of it, oiling it and cleaning it nearly every night along with his war hammer and both sets of armor, it remained an obstinate and inert dull gray. Still, even though he’d been raised in their house, he still somewhat rebelliously liked the soft, intricate lines of pink quartz that wove their way up and around the otherwise bland surface.
In a less ornate uniform than his fathers, Carcello nevertheless looked professional and distinguished as he stepped out onto the front porch and bid goodbye to the keeper of the house. He wasn’t as high ranking as a master servant, with only a gray sash over his yellow clothes instead of the tell tale white, but he still held an important position in the house staff.
“Well, Bynes, look after the place. Don’t throw any crazy parties, and no friends over after-” he cut off at the desert dry look Bynes gave, the elf's silver hair and overgrown eyebrows gave him a unique ability to throw such gazes around.
“Sir,” he said in his aged and regal voice, “I have never once held a crazy party, even if my book club tea sessions sometimes get quite heated with our discussions of the-”
“Bynes, I think I’m going to miss you most of all.”
His face remaining stoic as ever, Carcello couldn’t miss the twinkle that leapt into his eye as he tipped his head slightly and said “And I you, sir. Be safe on your journey and write often. I will arrange a link chamber as soon as I can, and expect you to update me at least once a week. That’s nonnegotiable sir.”
Grinning, and then letting the grin grow a bit sad, Carcello said “Seriously, Bynes… take care.”
Bynes, still no emotion visible on his face, grabbed and pulled him into a quick hug.
“Go, sir, and don’t be late.” and without another word, let go, walked inside, and gently closed the door.
Fifteen minutes later, Carcello arrived at the grand docks of Loterre. As he walked down, he remembered times in his childhood when he would play in the hundreds of waterfalls flowing both to and from the dozens and dozens of layers in the city. He would giggle and laugh as the water took him up a level, then scream at the top of his lungs as he jumped down and landed back in the pool below.
Walking past them now, he couldn’t help the ghost of a smile pulling at his lips. He put out a hand as he passed by one pouring down just off the pathway, the smile he’d threatened broadening into a full grin as the bubbles and water droplets all jumped and floated away into the air.
Finally, he made it to the large carved walls of the military-owned docks, seeing at least a dozen platoons, and more than a hundred soldiers already forming up and beginning to board ships. Stopping in line, he patiently waited his turn until finally he stood at attention and gave his orders and name to the 2-Star attendant on duty.
“Excellent, cutting it a little close, but better than others.” The pale skinny man's voice was slightly condescending as his eyes looked past Carcello to those still running up to get in line. “You’ll be with delta company, second platoon under Captain Jeerin. Report to there for more specific instructions.”
“Thank you, sir” and took back his orders. Before he could take a single step, however, the entire marshaling ground was brought to a screeching halt and absolute silence reigned as an overwhelming pressure overtook them all. Moments later, directly in the center of the yard, there was an explosion of dust and earth with the tremors knocking many of the already stunned soldiers to their knees.
Carcello had no idea what was happening, he managed to stay on his feet, but this feeling, this pressure, his body seemed twice as heavy as normal. Still, he knew something was wrong, that much was clear. Had an upper portion of the city collapsed down? That almost never happened with the enchanted stones and expert crafting, but still, what else could have just…
A deep, bellowing laughter echoed out across the yard, the only sound aside from the crumbling stones. Climbing from the newly made crater was a man in a robe tied over one shoulder, leaving the left side of his chest bare and exposed. Despite the fact that he’d clearly just fallen and landed from who knows where, he had only minor scrapes and the tiniest trickle of scarlet blood on his face. With a voice like a beating drum, the man called out like he was trying to tell the whole capital city, the sheer force of his voice blasting back the cloud of dust “You were right Orrin! That wasn’t bad, not bad at all. But I hope you’re ready for mine!”
Then he crouched down and Carcello honestly thought the world broke for a moment. One minute he saw the massive man crouching there, then the man was simply gone, and finally the ground around where he’d just been cracked anew with the air catching aflame for a fraction of a moment in a pillar going almost straight up before dissipating, the only remnants the afterglow lingering in Carcello’s eyes as he blinked rapidly trying to dispel it.
“What… who… what just happened?” He said while rubbing his eyes and finally feeling like he could once again freely draw breath.
“That” said the 2-Star attendant, likewise rubbing at his eyes “was Lord Cain. And you’re traveling with him so… have fun with that”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Wade and Alder climbed off the silver tram, having just returned from the outer farmlands. They weren’t doing a leisurely pace, but instead moved with at least a mild sense of haste as they made their way through the city.
“Which one did you want to take?” asked Alder, walking backwards with his hands behind his head. Despite her desire to move a little faster, he silently insisted on moving a little slower. “And can we stop for snacks?”
Wade didn’t look over, didn’t even respond to the second part. Internally, she really wouldn’t have minded a snack, but her desire to make progress was stronger. “I want the one with the Fell Serpent. My new aura should counter its venom at least partially, and with you to get it out of the water and ground, it should be doable.”
Alder whistled and cracked a smile “Fells aren’t simple Wade. I’m not unwilling but that’s a lot of work for no pay.”
Wade pursed her lips slightly, having honestly forgotten about the fact they still wouldn’t get paid for contracts from the bullshit punishment detail.
“I won’t lie, that is some shit” she said, “but I still want to try it.”
Turning around to walk forwards with a shrug, Alder said “Alright, let’s do it. Could be a long contract though, we’ll need to pick up… some… holy shit, is that Kya?”
Wade had stopped and looked at him as he trailed off, then whipped her head back to look where he was staring and saw the sweaty, dirt stained Kya walking slowly through the city, her eyes staring downwards seemingly at nothing.
“Kya!” Alder called out, as they both made a beeline for her.
Looking up and waving back with a sigh, she said “Oh, hey guys, how are you doing?”
“We’re doing fine, doing fine. Well, I’m a little hungry to be honest, but-”
“Kya, what happened, you look like you lost a fight?” Wade cut in, before Alder could get too far off track.
Her face souring, Kya looked down again and let out a deep sigh. “Yeah… I didn’t really…” She looked up at Alder then, notably not meeting Wade’s eyes and said with… was that embarrassment? “I er uh… got tagged.”