Early in the morning, I ride on a wagon, being pulled by a duo of horses. Sitting comfortably beside Dakota, who is our fifth to join us on this never-before-seen trip to the Underworld. I couldn't bring myself to leave him behind, and the little guy wanted to join as well by following me everywhere. Currently, though, we are en route to Highstone. To meet a man who is called the Undead Surgeon. Seems quite ominous, but we are quite a ways away from them. Which means I have plenty of time to rest and recuperate on the road.
My left hand rests on soft Dakota's head as I watch the scenery pass. Highstone is up north toward Starkbluffs, right on the edge of the Bonedunes. That means I get to see more than just sand soon. More enormous rocks slowly start to replace the infinitesimally small grains of sand that litter the Bonedunes.
Across the wagon, I hear Blake turn a page on a book, breaking my focus on the environment. My eyes go over to her, and the second they do, she kind of shrinks to get away from my sight.
What an odd girl.
But at least she is on to something. Better to read a bit than just stare at rocks. I reach into my bag and pull out the First's book. I turn it to the third page, expecting something new. As always, his words seem too large and powerful for me to fully understand at first. I only make it through one sentence before an idea comes to my mind. I should look for something about the Underworld. Or the Gate of Death. Or the Crossroads. Anything about those would be helpful.
And so, I flip through the pages and skim for anything about them. I find something about halfway through the book, and an hour of looking.
Diane asked me once what is left after our souls leave our bodies. I wanted to tell her that we go to heaven, but that is not true. The truth is far grimmer. Sadly, I couldn't tell her. Nor can I tell you. If you wish to know, then make the journey. That is all I can say.
Dying, however, is not the only way to see the final journey of the fallen. Sextons are capable of bringing up recently deceased souls, and those dead speak of a possible route down for the living. One that makes use of the Crossroads, a rare environmental mishap caused by a vast gathering of natural Ether, to reach the Gate Of Death. These Crossroads merge nearby realms together and are the best place for necromantic or soul strengthening. They are also highly dangerous.
One must be willing to brave not just the unknown of where they seek to head when they enter the Crossroads, whether it's Hell, Ecantmas, Weirwind, or the fabled Bridge Of The Gods, they must also be prepared for the other creatures lurking near the rifts. I've been to a Crossroad myself, a long… long time ago.
There, I saw so many sights in the swirling chaos that is a Crossroads. Many that reminded me of legends like Ecantmas, the enchanted mesa of plenty, Weirwind, the origin of all weather, and even the Bridge Of The Gods, where the first deities were born long ago, although I only got a peek of that one and it left me comatose. I think it is possible to reach anywhere in the world should you enter one of the locations at the right time, as their destinations are ever-shifting.
I agree with those departed spirits and figure that if one ever wanted to go to the Underworld, the Crossroads would be the best bet. Only one warning from my own experience. Do not use even a lick of Ether while in the maelstrom. Should you, those that watch uninterested will grow interested. After all, we are the only creature that doesn't expel Ether unless we use it.
I finish reading the short page with both rapt interest and wonder. His warnings don't matter too much to me, as everything I've ever done since I got a Sigil has been highly dangerous. This is only another notch on my belt. But I've never even heard of some of the locations he speaks of.
Ecantmass, Weirwind, and the Bridge Of The Gods are entirely new legends for me and places that I dearly want to see. They sound like beautiful places to visit, even if the last one hurt the First. I figure legendary locations such as these have to be incredible if even the First speaks of them with wonder, right?
I also wonder what he meant by he went to a Crossroads before. Where did he go through it? He didn't say where… He just never elaborated on Hell. Is that because we all know it? Or because of something else… I'm just reading into it too much, I'm sure.
At least I know what a Crossroad is, though. That way, I don't have to ask Johnny it like a dumbass. So, we're looking for a place that is a host of a maelstrom of Ether so powerful that it cracks reality? That sounds… fucking awesome.
I start to get too excited to sit and read from the man's long written words as I look around for anything to do. And as I see Otto seated at the end of the wagon just behind Johnny, who is sitting at the front driving. An idea comes to mind, something that will both get rid of this energy and satisfy my curiosity.
"Hey, Otto."
The redheaded man, absolutely decked out in weapons all over, looks over at me with very little interest in me.
"Yeah."
I ignore his disinterest and try to create a conversation.
"You know a lot of general skills?"
Otto nods slowly and opens up a little.
"Yeah, why. I'm not as versatile as Marion, but he's taught me much of what he knows. Or… knew.."
At the mention of Marion, he flinches and trails off. I attempt to distract him from the loss; it worked for me anytime I lost someone, at least.
"Could you teach me some on our way to Highstone?"
Otto squints an eye at me and refuses.
"No, why would I? What's in it for me? I waste some of my time for you to fail?"
He shuts me down but doesn't seem to leave the door fully closed. I take a second to think and remember that Virgil taught me a rare skill, Whetting. I offer a trade.
"You want to try and swap general skills? I teach you one, and you teach me one."
His eyes turn to me askance as if he doubts I know anything he doesn't.
"I doubt you know somethin' I don't, Wyatt."
I give him a little smirk as I show him Whetting. I pull out one of my daggers and coat it in spiraling braided Ether, giving it a bit more resilience and sharpness.
"Wouldn't be too sure about that, Otto."
Otto's eyes squint as he looks closer at what I'm doing. Even Blake's attention moves from her book to the dagger in my hand.
"You learn that on your own, kid?"
I shake my head.
"No, Virgil taught me it."
He leans back in understanding.
"Ahh… I see. He's got some tricks up his sleeve, eh? Yeah, I'll take the deal. What do you want to learn?"
He stumps me with his question. Awkwardly I give him a laugh.
"Uhmm… I'm not sure. You got any suggestions?"
A small smile tugs his lips as he sees me clueless.
"Phew… you are helpless. Tell me what you've learned so far."
I start counting my general skills with my left hand, one by one, on my fingers.
"Uhh… Sneak, no, Stealth, Adrenaline Surge and Physical Strengthening, Whetting, Listen, and an elementary skill where I shoot air out of my mouth, haven't used that in a long time."
I see Otto actually laugh at me, his head going up the way back as he looks up to the roof of the wagon.
"Hahaaaaa… Y… Haha… You… You only know four separate skills? That's… depressing, Wyatt."
I look a bit down as his words hurt. I've tried my best to learn; I just haven't had the time. It seems as though he notices the effect he had on me, though.
"Ah… I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean it like that. Uh… Here, I'll teach you two, how about that? One of which will be vital for the Underworld, Nightvision, which does as it sounds. And the second, I'll let you choose as I'm not sure which will be most helpful."
Otto starts counting on his fingers, jumping from one, and as he goes through the skills, he does a quick demonstration.
"The first is Fasthands. Again, does just about what it sounds. Increases the speed of your hands. Johnny has probably the most enhanced version of the skill in the world with how fast he shoots, but that's not all it's for. Card games, sleight of hand, knife fights, really anything that requires, well, fast hands. It's not that hard to learn; it should only take a few hours if you got the knack for it. A few days otherwise. His hands move in a flurry, not entirely impossible to see but damn near it.
The second that might be of use is Brace. It helps one endure physical trauma quite a bit and mental minorly. It is tricky to learn as it works a bit, unlike most other skills. You need to flow Ether to the point and curve it back toward you. Creates a type of brace on the point of focus, allowing it to cushion some force. He puts the wide bit of his forearm toward me, and I can see some brief ripple of Ether under the skin.
Third is one of my favorites, Reach. Marion and I came up with this one on our own when we were in a fight against each other. We have the exact same reach, so any little extra could help. Anyway… It ended up with both of us thinking of the skill simultaneously, and we spent months perfecting it on our own before coming back to a rematch and surprising each other with the same thing. It's… hard to learn, even harder to master, but a beaut nonetheless."
He reaches upward as he uses Reach. His arm seems to stretch just a few inches, not too much, but enough to land a blow that otherwise shouldn't have hit. I take just a moment to think before deciding, and the decision becomes a bit difficult.
I have no use for Fasthands. That one is instantly discarded. I strike with power and speed, not tricks, and rarely use a pistol.
Brace is the complete opposite, though. It would lean into my strengths even further, allowing my body to take even more punishment. I don't know if I like the sound of that, though. While it's good to be tough, I think it's better to diversify my skill set. And Reach would do just that. I can already imagine striking from just a bit too far away, and the person wouldn't expect the strike. But then, just an instant later, they are eating a metallic knuckle to the jaw.
I get a good smile at that thought and give him my answer.
"I'd like to learn Reach."
Otto smiles at me back before he starts to explain Nightvision and Reach to me, helping me learn it.
"Flow Ether into the center of your pupils and have it spread out to the rest of your eye like an inkblot. Then try to dye the inner of your eye with the Ether. The more veins and capillaries you get, the better. Nightvision is simple, but it does have some downsides. If you have it activated and a bright light is shined into your eyes, you will be temporarily, if not permanently, blinded, so you got to be careful. With enough practice, you can learn Darksight, which is a version of Nightvision without the downside and that can see in complete darkness."
Otto takes a break in explaining it as Blake, beside us, speaks up.
"Uhm... Could I join?"
Otto gives her a side-eye.
"Sure. You got any skills to trade?"
Blake nods awkwardly up and down with extreme stiffness, and with that nod, she gets a bit too enthusiastic and yells. Then she starts to go on a long-winded explanation that neither Otto nor I want to hear.
"Yes! Oh, uh, sorry. Yes. I learned a very unique skill myself. You see, I used to work for the Dragoons, a powerful Hunter group. There were about a hundred of us in all, and the leader, we all had to call him Dragoon, taught anyone who reached 3rd Sigil a skill that he developed himself. It's what made him famous in Sinscreak, after all, so I was excited to learn about it. But sadly, it's not too useful for me; I just didn't want to let him down, so I learned it. It was complicated and took me a while, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process, as I do with all skills that I learn. It was long nights and exhausting days and–"
Eventually, Otto grows annoyed and cuts her off with a growl.
"Just tell us the skill or shut up."
Blake's face turns bright red as she immediately looks straight down at the floor of the wagon. A meek response comes from her as all her confidence in speaking that she gathered was cut down with one sentence from Otto.
"Sorry…"
She just stares down at the ground without finishing, which only makes Otto more annoyed. He raises his hand to yell at her, but I push it down.
"Hey, Blake, it's fine. What's the skill called? I'm sure it's good if only a 3rd Sigil can learn it."
She looks up slowly like a puppy, her eyes going wide at seeing me defend her, even if it's just as simple as not being annoyed. She takes a few moments looking at me and then back to Otto, who I glare at to not be rude. The girl might be weird, but that doesn't mean we should be mean. Treat others as they treat you and all that, right?
"It's called Indefatigable. It allows you to force out reserves of energy hidden in your body to give you a type of second wind. I only ever use it to pull all-nighter reading or studying as I have better alternatives from my Abbott."
At the actual explanation of the skill, Otto seems to be a bit impressed, but he presses for a bit more detail.
"A recovery skill?"
Blake shakes her head as she tries to meekly explain the skill.
"No… not exactly. It burns fat, muscle, and sometimes even organs if it's pushed too far. All skills have their bad parts, though… Dragoon was pretty famous for it in Sinscreak and his ability to always have energy. The Indefatigable Dragoons was the full title of our platoon, and all the other higher-ups copied his traits."
I nod along with her explanation and background on the skill. Sounds quite useful. Blake then offers to trade the skill for Whetting, and I agree. From then on, we have a type of triangle where we teach each other and then learn independently for a bit.
I start with learning Nightvision after I explain Whetting to them.
Otto wasn't lying when he said the skill was simple. I learn it in just an hour or so of practice. Daydream's flow of Ether is quite similar, but instead of spreading out into the eye, it just pools in the pupil. That makes it relatively easy for me to get into the groove of spreading out the Ether and dying my eyeball with the Ether. I look at myself through the reflection on my pocket watch and see that my eyes are tinted a dark red, the veins sticking out quite a bit from the skill.
The next I try to learn is Indefatigable as I feel that is something I'm most likely to have an aptitude for. It is endurance, after all, and the Bloody Palm has eaten enough of my fat, muscles, and tendons to heal myself before. Surely this won't be too different.
I follow Blake's instructions, which are pretty detailed. First, I move small bits of Ether spread out along my body; the more, the better. And when they are evenly spaced out, I push the Ether into the muscle, fat, or whatever and then immediately pull it out. Sadly, I'm not fully recovered, so much of what I do is painful, and it takes me quite a while to make progress.
But after the rest of the night and the following day of practicing, I succeed as I am entirely focused on this and nothing else. I feel a pop in my arm, then my legs, then my chest, then my head, as I feel a rush of energy. Not a powerful energy, but one that keeps me awake like a shot of coffee straight to the brain in the early morning. I could see how this is useful, mainly because I just learned it. I bet I can get better at it and make it more potent.
Learning new skills that involve Ether is nowhere near as draining mentally as reading, despite the pain. I think it's because I feel the actual improvement.
The next thing I try to do is learn Reach, but first, I go to bed. I use one of the sleep aids Heath gave me because I don't feel tired, but I know I should. It puts me to sleep without any issues and feels lovely as I wake up. And when I do so, I have a short conversation with Otto about why people don't just learn hundreds of skills because, frankly, they aren't that hard to understand. And while his answer was illuminating yet sad, he didn't forget to laugh at my naivete.
"There may be that many skills to learn, but few share what they know, nor do they go around asking like a dumbass. That'll get you shot. The fewer others know, the greater your advantage. So it ends up with skills either being costly, requiring a trade, or not being learned at all. That's not to mention some simply take years or far too much effort to learn. Only elementary skills like Nightvision, Physical Strengthening, and Sneak are well known. The rest varies on the person. I know about twenty-ish myself, and Marrion knew almost forty."
After hearing that from him, I return to learning Reach with renewed resolve as I ignore the sights passing by us. The more skills I have, the more I can trade with to learn. That means I'll grow even stronger, right? That sounds right to me.
So, I spend the rest of the day and the several next few days on the road learning Reach. Of course, I do other stuff like playing with Dakota, but I focus on the skill and improving myself.
The skill is incredibly intricate, involving the expansion and stretching of muscles, tendons, and bones simply using Ether. Small bundles of Ether are detonated while they are deposited in between bones and within muscles in such a way that stretches the tissue, bone, and muscle by creating a vacuum of air with said Ether detonation. The effect is only temporary, however, as the void slowly disappears, leaving only a bit of soreness and flexibility issues afterward. Unfortunately for me, however, I do not learn it by the time we arrive at Highstone, which we do so at almost midnight on probably the twelfth or so day on the road. The period of peace is terrific, and I take full advantage to relax and unwind with Dakota and learn.
We took a direct path to Highstone, so it didn't take as long as it would have had we gone around the dangerous areas; Johnny killed any monsters that came up to us on our way. Not to mention that we were pulled by fast horses bred for speed and endurance. And so, at the height of midnight, Johnny pulls the wagon over at the entrance of the town.
I hop out of the wagon from my trance and look around at this new town. The entire place is quite remarkable. Giant spears of stone come from the ground and surround the town, big enough for a small house to be placed inside. Watch towers are at the top of a few more vertical and non-slanted spires. This town seems to be quite a bit more well-defended than Rustbank. Although, that might be because they are expecting rebels… Who knows.
While I stand gawking, though, Otto walks over and puts a dark cloak over me, whispering angrily.
"Get a move on, dumbass! We aren't even fully in Starkbluffs, you dumbass. We don't want to be seen! In and out, remember?"
I nod and follow him to our destination, a mausoleum that is just outside the town's graveyard. That's where the Undead Surgeon lives.
I use Indefatigable alongside Stealth as I feel my stomach gurgle angrily in hunger. I'll feed you later! Then, I follow Otto as he moves through the town behind Johnny, who is also covered in a thick coat. Blake tries to follow me, but she keeps stumbling, and I must help her creep. Apparently, she doesn't know Stealth. Dakota trails a bit behind us in case he hears or sees anything.
After several stressful moments in alleys and quick bursts across the midnight streets, we reach the mausoleum. A large stone structure sits across from a graveyard blocked by a locked iron gate. I look to Johnny for what to do as we are all just standing in the open, and he nods at Otto. The final string in this line seems to use Fasthands as his hands move, well, really fast, and he picks the lock in less than five seconds.
Otto pushes open the gate with a creak as we enter a graveyard of the dead just in front of the mausoleum.