Sivelle Tarragon
Sivelle waited in the stone cage, locked within the Blizzard Bandit's cave. They had left around twenty minutes ago, the Ranger's tripwire went off, so they knew that someone had come within their strike zone. Sivelle just hoped that whoever this was, they didn't put up a fight.
Thats when the inky blackness of the cave was suddenly lit by a cool blue light. Stood, with a bare blue flame hovering above his gauntleted hand, was the man from her visions.
"Are you okay?" The man asked, as he walked sheepishly towards her.
Sivelle knew it was the man, just as she knew that this wasn't a mere man, but a caster of great power. This was evident in his clothes, an outfit designed to ensure that it looked, at first glance, like a set. But on closer inspection, Sivelle could see the Artifacts strewn about his person, the Gauntlet that the flame flickered just above, the cloak about his shoulders, the rings on his right hand and the amulets about his neck.
"Hey, you okay?" He repeated, almost to her cage now. Sivelle could see his features flickering in the blue light now, they were immaculate, like a being carved from stone by the very best Builders.
She just about managed a nod, and could feel her face flushing under the blue light.
No, she reminded herself, she wouldn't be awestruck in this man's presence, he should be awestruck by her afterall.
"I see someone was finally sent to rescue me," She said, standing up within her cage. She patted the dust off of her white robes, though they were now irrevocably grey.
The man stood now too, standing from the crouched position he had stooped to when she had been silent.
"Oh, I wasn't sent to save you, I was just passing through." The man shrugged.
"Well, what of the Blizzard Bandits? Where are they?"
"Outside, paralysed, probably for the next few hours, though if they're called that, then I think they should be fine out in the cold." The white haired man stepped forwards and placed a hand on the glassy bars of her cage, they were enchanted of course. So he wouldn't be able to open it without the key.
The cage crumbled to dust, and once again, Sivelle was left dumbfounded by the man before her. But she quickly pulled herself together.
"What is your name?" She asked, stepping from the cage and grasping the man's hand. Even if he didn't mean to help her out with it, she took the hand and made it so.
"Um," he stumbled over his words, "Yolen, Yolen Arcanum."
"A pleasure, Yolen." Sivelle stepped back from him and curtsied. "I am Sivelle Tarragon, though you may know me better as the Oracle of the North."
The man, Yolen, appeared more confused by her introduction than illuminated. But then his eyes widened with intrigue.
"You're a Demigod?" The question came, unprompted.
"I see you've heard of me," Sivelle was pleased, this man had heard of her afterall, not many she'd met hadn't. "Yes, I am the daughter of Dewior, a divine gift to the kingdom of Garland."
"How come you're here then?" Yolen asked, as Sivelle moved away from him, she'd spotted her staff in the corner of the room.
"Here? Captured by bandits?" She laughed, "I'm being held for ransom of course."
There it was, her only Artifact. She reached within one of the chests and fetched out a tiara, it was fashioned from gold, and bejeweled with rubies and emeralds.
She picked it up and placed it on her head, with the boost in status, she also saw the dust on her clothes puff away as they were returned to their rightful colour. Even the scrapes and tears on the fabric re-knit themselves so that her appearance was completely untouched by wear.
She turned back around to Yolen, who was inspecting a map that he seemed to have found in another one of the bandit's chests. The blue flame hovered in the centre of the cave as a ball of fire.
"I expect that you will want a reward for my rescue?" Sivelle suggested, standing tall and puffing out her chest, she needed Yolen to look upon her as an equal.
He turned around, dropping the large map into a pitch black disk, were it vanished. His gaze seemed to be fixated on something far away, but then he focused on her and grinned.
"A reward? Sure, I'll have a reward."
Sivelle smiled inwardly, "Well I'm afraid I've no wealth to offer or Artifacts to give."
"That's fine." Yolen shrugged.
"But," She said, regaining her momentum after he interrupted, "I am able to offer my services as a Cleric and the Oracle."
"For how long?" Came the immediate reply, Yolen's eyes were yellow, Sivelle noticed. Somehow, in the exclusively blue light of the cave, his eyes still glistened burnished gold.
"For as long as it is beneficial for us both," She said, just managing to keep herself from breaking eye contact with the man.
Yolen nodded at this, then smiled, it wasn't a sinister smile, but boyish and excited. Still though, there was something in Sivelle that withered at that smile, even though she had seen their path together already.
--
Yolen Arcanum
The girl seemed to think highly of herself, as I discovered soon after I brought her from the cave. When she saw the paralysed but clearly conscious bandits on the ground, she ran over to one of them and repeatedly stomped on their face. The bandits constitution was so high that it didn't do much, but either way it looked painful.
Once she was done, she stepped back from them and started down the path.
"Come on then," She said, flicking her hair over her shoulder in annoyance.
I had been surprised when I saw her in the cage, she was beautiful, and it was clear that she took stock in her own appearance, that tiara on her head saw to it that she looked as immaculate as possible afterall. It didn't hurt that the Artifact also gave her immunity to environmental hazards and a decent boost to her faith.
When she had claimed to be an oracle, I'd been sceptical at first, but after looking at her stats and seeing her individual skill and race, I no longer doubted her. One thing checking out her status told me though, was that she needed some more levelling, or at least some higher stats, so, we could either go into a dungeon and do that as a duo like Fulcrum and I uses to. Or, I could give this random lady I just met a temporary boost that could be removed.
So, as we waded through the knee-high snow, or at least as she did, I pulled one of my many unopened loot boxes from my Storage. At this point, I'd accumulated around twenty, with near that number of Artifacts that I'd just tucked away without checking.
I did really need to sort that out at some point, the number of Artifacts I had was getting out of hand, and there was no way to wear them all at once. Through that line of thought, and idea sparked in my head, though I pushed it back for now, maybe I would try it when I had more free time, and not the threat of Mana Sickness looming over me.
So, in my hand was a small box made from what looked like mossy stone, wrapped in a bow of water, fire and mist. I pulled the bow apart and the whole box swirled to a vortex of elements until it coalesced into a bracelet. It looked to be made from a mossy stone and had a larger section, almost like a watch face, in the shape of a miniature kite shield.
AZURE BOUNDRY
THIS BRACELET, WHEN WORN, CAN PULL TOGETHER THE MOISTURE IN THE AIR INTO A SHIELD THAT PROVIDES IMMUNITY TO ANY WATER, OR ICE MAGIC, AS WELL AS THE TYPICAL PROTECTION OF A MAGICAL SHIELD AGAINST PHYSICAL ATTACKS. IT IS VULNERABLE TO FIRE BASED MAGIC.
+100 CONSTITUTION
+100 STRENGTH
MANA STORED 0/630,000
Sivelle turned around, and stopped wading through the snow, she looked down at my feet - which were dry and stood on gravel rather than submerged in snow - and she waded out and over to within my cloak's range.
"That's better." She grinned, looking up at me almost defiantly, as if she thought that I was letting her wade through the snow on purpose. Of course, that's exactly what I had been doing. Even if she was a Demigod, being half human and a non-ascended, meant that she would live a minute fraction of my lifespan. That wouldn't have been a problem in my previous world, but here, where I was a Fallen, it was a problem. My time with this woman as my companion would pass in the blink of an eye to my memories in a thousand, or two thousand years. I had somehow defaulted to creating a distance between the two of us, something I had not done with Fulcrum or prettymuch anyone yet.
"What is that?" She asked, pointing to the bracelet that I held up in my left hand.
"Something the make sure that you don't die immediately," I replied. As we walked, I was funnelling mana into the bracelet until it reached its maximum threshold. As usual, the stats on the bracelet doubled and the effects of its main use were upgraded.
AZURE BOUNDRY
THIS BRACELET, WHEN WORN, CAN PULL TOGETHER THE MOISTURE IN THE AIR TO REFLECT ALL ICE AND WATER MAGIC BACK AT ITS CASTER, AND HEAL THE USER AS THIS TYPE OF DAMAGE COMES AGAINST THE SHIELD. OTHERWISE, IT OPERATES AS A NORMAL SHIELD.
+200 CONSTITUTION
+200 STRENGTH
MANA STORED 630,000/630,000
It definitely was an item fit for a party's tank now, but it would be going to Sivelle, as she most certainly needed it.
"Here." I handed the bracelet to her and saw her eyes widen as she placed it on. What little muscle mass that she had before increased visably as she secured the bracelet on her left arm.
"Y- You just had this kept away?" She stammered, staring at something just in front of her that I couldn't see. I assumed it was her status screen, as the boost in her numbers would be significant, her strength and constitution weren't even above fifty yet. Well, at least they hadn't been above fifty before.
"I've better Artifacts to use," I shrugged, "it's probably best that you have that one, at least until you've got a few of your own."
"I suppose." She murmered, fiddling about with the bracelet until she was happy with its placement.
I directed my view towards the road ahead. Since the snowstorm was over, I had a pretty clear view of how the path wound through the valley. The steep slopes of the mountains either side of the trail blocked off the path ahead from view, but as we continued forwards, what was hidden behind the stone behemoths was revealed.
About a hundred metres past the turn, a village wall, constructed in stone battlements topped with snow and guards, rose in front of the path that led to its gate. The tops of thatched and tiled roofs could be seen just cresting the stone wall behind the guards that looked towards mine and Sivelle's approach.
We'd reached our first stop on the way to find the Governor, the town of Enmiota.