{AN: Made a discord server with the help of my friend, here is the link:
https://discord.gg/ZCX5F5cfKq
Don't worry I will also post the link in the comments session.}
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"Politics. As a king I had to deal with a bunch of these kinds of things, I absolutely hated it. Liking it or not we are more of a fighter than politicians, I could easily lead a battalion of mean spearheading the charge against the enemy army, but I will never understand the vanity or arrogance of a fat ass noble."~Alt Jin Book: Politics are a waste of time~
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Everyone quickly tried to put on the full plate armor left by the Patchwork zombies' death. Even Elii and Aahin who don't usually like to use full plate armor decided to prioritize their safety right now. Somethin ic an understand perfectly, I prefer to use my fists and body for combat, but right now using Sabvers and Sword is safer and enables me to deal more damage.
Turalion was able to easily adorn the armor, and with practiced ease, he was already with the heavy armor on and proceeded on helping Altair and the others put on theirs. Soon enough everyone was already with the armor on, Elii and Aahin had quite some problem due to their tails but nothing a good old [Gungnir] couldn't fix, opening a hole in full plate armor is pretty easy to this overpowered skill. But considering the huge hole Alt Jin was able to make, even in his precarious condition, I am nowhere near close to showing the true potential of [Gungnir].
"Is everyone ready?"(Jin).
""Ready""(Elii/Aahin/Altair/Turalion).
"Good, be wary tho, there is definitely more undead in this corridor. I wouldn't be surprised if we found some groups until we reach the end."(Jin)
Everyone nodded and we continue walking forward, Elii and Aahin somehow seem to be very concentrated on improving their [Ripple], Turalion's talent with the skill may have sparked their competitive side. Altair seems to be getting used to Heavy armor while trying to maintain his [Ripple]. Looking at him I ask.
"Never used Heavy armor?"(Jin).
"Rarely. Sometimes I would use greaves or vambraces, maybe gauntlets too. But never a complete set."(Altair).
"Don't worry, I don't know much about heavy armor either, what I am using right now is a half plate, a medium armor if you will. I am using greaves, vambraces, and gauntlets in full plate tho."(Jin).
"A good combination, it gives you good protection on your most used limbs while also not hindering your mobility and flexibility too much. And by what I saw when you fought those undeads... Damn boy, you destroyed them."(Altair).
"Tell me about it. You moved like an expert who has been fighting undead his whole life. It was quite impressive. You must have a lot of experience fighting the undead."(Elii).
"*Sigh* Unfortunately this is literally the first time even encountered undead in my life, outside of books of course."(Jin).
"B-But the way you fought... It was too..."(Elii).
"Let's just say that I learn things pretty fast when I properly observe them."(Jin).
"Khajiit also thinks purple man fought very well. Khajiit only saw those kinds of techniques on the warriors of Elseweyr."(Aahin).
"Guess that is not surprising considering Jin here is a [Ki] user."(Turalion).
"Indeed. I am a cultivator, but unfortunately, I am still a novice at it."(Jin).
"A novice he says. So what are we?"(Elii).
"A bunch of normal people who ended up in a very unfortunate situation."(Jin).
"Understatement of the era."(Elii).
"Do any of you know how much time you all have been under captivity?"(Jin).
"Hmmm... I am not certain, I remember that I went out in the desert to practice my magic for a bit when I was attacked by a group of necromancers and subsequently captured. My sister is probably worried sick about me, or raging around everywhere searching for my whereabouts. But seeing as we're the latest batch of prisoners we weren't here for too much time, maybe a day or two could be more, it is quite difficult to tell the time underground."(Turalion).
"Khajiit agrees with the fire elf. Khajiit may have spent all the time sleeping, but Khajiit reckons that no more than three days passed."(Aahin).
"Good to know. and seeing by your conditions the necromancers at least fed all of you somewhat, right?"(Jin).
"Khajiit reckons they feed us three times before disappearing for a very long time. Probably to do this strange ritual of theirs."(Aahin).
"Hmm. I am quite curious, Turalion was captured when he went to practice some magic in the desert but what of the rest of you?"(Jin).
"I was acting as a guard to a desert caravan when we were ambushed. I may not be very strong, but I tend to sell my services as a sell sword to get by. As you may already be able to tell the ambush was successful and I was captured, at the time I was happy for being so weak that they could easily subdue me without killing me, but I guess I was looking at this in the wrong way... If I was strong enough, I wouldn't have to pass through that."(Altair)
Altair seems very frustrated with himself. I can understand the sentiment, being too weak to do anything to change the fate of yourself and those you care about.
"I and Aahin are orphans and friends since childhood. We grew up together in a Mara orphanage but ended up getting kicked out rather early due to us being beast races. We took care of ourselves and ended up entering one of the thief guilds of the city the [Silver Ring], we were just small thieves tho. In one of our Jobs in the more unsavory part of the town, we ended up captured by the necromancers."(Elii).
"Hajiit won't judge if any of you rest us different for that information. Khajiit just asks that you all wait for the current crises to pass."(Aahin).
Fortunately, no one seems to care about the fact that they are thieves or members of beast races. Yeah, this world has three main types of races from what I remember; Beast races like Khajiits and Argonians, etc. Races of Mer are the elves; Dunmer, Altmer, Falmer, etc. and the races of Man, Nords, Imperials, Redguards, etc. Of course, there is a bunch more, but those are the ones I can remember right now.
Elii looked very surprised that none of us showed any reaction to that information, I bet she was expecting some slanders or some form of outburst from one of us. Heh, we are literally a ragtag group of people, I sincerely doubt anyone here would care.
"Don't worry Elii, thieving is quite tame compared to a lot of things I did. I am a sellsword remember? I killed people and monsters alike, all of that just for some coin."(Altair).
"Heh, I can't say I am innocent either. My sister and I killed quite a lot of people too, and for even pettier reasons than you could ever imagine. You don't know how savage magicians can get when a good grimoire is involved."(Turalion).
Elii seems a little speechless with those responses, even the more stoic Aahin showed outward reactions to their responses. They didn't know this group would accept them so easily, normally people already have a natural dislike for them and when they discover they are thieves they receive a beating at the least.
"Well, I am no saint either. I killed people, a lot of people. I committed massacres of my own volition in fits of pure and unadulterated rage, I have a literal mountain of bodies in my back."(Jin).
There was a very awkward silence for some minutes, the only thing I could hear was the clang of the metal greaves hitting the ground and the rhythmic breath of my teammates practicing [Ripple]. Altair seems to get out of the stupor faster than the others.
"Do you..."(Altair).
"Feel guilty? At the start, most certainly. I had recurring nightmares and I would often have some flashbacks during the day. But as time passed and I was able to solidify my resolve and kill without faltering."(Jin).
Turalion seems to adorn a serious face for a moment. And I swear I thought he would sprout the hero hypocrisy to taint my ears. But it seems I was severely mistaken.
"It's good that you have solidified your resolve. The world is a very cruel place, and more often than not the gentle souls incapable of killing suffer the most on it. If you were incapable of killing in a situation like this, you would've long since been dead, so I am quite grateful your resolve is already solid enough. The resolve to get your hands dirty is not only necessary but essential in the world we live in."(Turalion).
"And I would never follow some weak pussy that can't even get his hands dirty."(Altair).
"You were serious about that? "(Jin).
"I gave my word no? Of course I am serious about that."(Altair).
"Heh, If I had a coin for every time someone called me a pussy, I would have 2 coins, which is not much, but it is still weird that it happened twice."(Jin).
"Who called you that?"(Altair).
"My own reflex in the mirror."(Jin).
"What does that even mean-"(Altair).
"Ever since I killed for the first time I was afraid of it, it was something new and something I wasn't exactly prepared for, so I feared for myself, and for those around me. It took a lot of thinking and time for myself, but I was eventually able to 'get over it', but that isn't exactly a thing you can exactly get over it. Thankfully due to some terrorist attack, I was finally able to solidify my resolve and do it, by my own volition, by my own choice. But I won't lie saying I didn't enjoy it, the moment I was able to kill the man responsible for my pain and suffering was one of the most satisfying moments in my life. Whatever says that vengeance isn't worth it, is full of shit."(Jin).
"Well, that is-"(Altair).
"I completely agree with you, vengeance is totally worth it."(Turalion).
Behind Turalion helmet I was able to meet his red eyes, and I understood. This man had passed for something similar, this man had hunted and killed the source of his suffering, and this man understood. At that moment we acquired an understanding of each other that no mere words could provide, it that strange feeling of "someone finally gets it". Poor Altair continues to be ignored tho.
"Khajiit feels happy you are all sharing memories. But Khajiit thinks this is not the time to become sentimental and share life stories. Khajiit thinks this is a very dumb choice for the situation right now. Khajiit is looking at you Elii, you could've simply waited and we wouldn't have started going down memory lane."(Aahin).
"Sorry. I just thought it was fair for them to know. And before any of you ask me and Aahin aren't saints either, the slums aren't exactly a safe place so killing someone is not that uncommon. But somehow people are more concerned about thieves than killers."(Elii).
"That is fairly normal. Everyone grew up hearing the stories of heroes and conquerors, so people have a broader view of the 'killing' topic, and almost everyone had to do it once in their lives. But thievery is way more dangerous to their pockets."(Turalion).
"Indeed. I've seen people kill for less than a gold coin so the pockets are heavier than the blade."(Altair).
"That was inexplicable deep coming from you Altair."(Turalion).
"Indeed. Wait, what do you mean-"(Altair).
"UNDEAD!!"(Turalion).
Sadly Altair was cut once more due to some undead arrivals. Much to the charging of the poor Redguard, at the least he has a place where he could discharge his growing frustrations.
"Same configurations as before. 10 Skeletons, and 5 Patchwork Zombies."(Turalion).
"Good. We are going with the same strategy as before. I will deal with the Patchwork Zombies and you all deal with the skeletons. When you all get more sued to using and channeling [ripple] we can see about changing the strategy."(Jin)
I received some affirmative nods in response. We soon sprung to action, and a situation much like before happened yet again. I dispatched the Patchwork zombies as easily as the last time. But this time due to the previous battle experience Turalion was able to truly shine, transforming at least three skeletons into ashes. Altair showed some signs of also being able to channel [Ripple] but there is still something missing. Aahin and Elii were also showing some improvement in the combat aspect, but it could simply be that they are getting used to their heavy armor.
Soon enough every zombie and skeleton were taken care of. And after a brief pause, we continued walking forwards, sometimes making small talk between ourselves, we particularly avoided entering deep philosophical discussion like previously, now is simply not the time.
Soon enough another group of undead appeared, a simple copy-paste of the previous one, 10 skeletons, and five patchwork zombies. Much like previously I jumped forward with [Avance Step] and proceed to eliminate the patchwork zombies.
This time it was even easier as Elii apparently was able to also channel [Ripple] into her weapon, albeit rather roughly. She sliced through skeletons like a hot knife through butter. I am quite impressed with these four talents, they manage to improve so much in so little time, but I guess the situation calls for it, either they swim or they sink.
We continued walking and soon enough we found another ground of undead, the same configuration as before. Immediately jumping towards the Patchwork Zombies I left my teammates to fight with the skeletons. And as a pleasant surprise, Aahin managed to channel [Ripple] through her sword this time learning her two piles of ashes as a trophy. Right now Altair is the only one still not able to do it, but I think he is rather close, so no problems there.
And I was proven right after the next encounter Altair was indeed able to channel [Ripple] through his blade earning himself two piles of ashes. After that fight we all decided to take a short break to conserve our fighter stamina, liking it or not dying in the middle of combat because of a lack of stamina would suck. A lot.
"Good. I have some food and water if any of you are particularly hungry or thirsty, so don't be afraid to ask. I also have some [Healing Potions], [Stamina Potions], and [Fatigue Potions]. So if you need one of those, also, don't be afraid to ask."(Jin).
"I am okay here, no worries."(Turalion).
"I am fairly used to the dry desert so I don't need anything right now."(Altair).
"I am a little bit thirty, so I would appreciate water."(Elii).
"Khajiit is good for now. But Kahjiit will accept any [Moon Sugar] you have."(Aahin).
I just tossed my water lather sack towards Elii, the lizard girl quickly opened the lid and drunk some gulps. After that, she tossed it back, and I put it back on my backpack.
"Unfortunately I didn't pick any [Magica Potions] or [Moon Sugar], so try to use magic sparsely."(Jin).
"I understand. I will save my spells for the more dangerous situations."(Turalion).
"Good. Now that every one of you can channel [Ripple] through your weapons I would like for you all to fight against the Patchwork Zombies."(Jin).
"Don't worry we will rotate between ourselves, and you newbies will only fight against one zombie at a time. I want you all to gain experience not kill you."(Jin).
"A sound decision."(Turalion).
"Agreed."(Altair/Elii/Aahin).
"Good. Turalion is first, followed by Elii, and then Aahin, and for last Altair."(Jin).