Author nodded and fell in behind me. I took the lead and began navigating toward Soteria's location. The clanking of the guards' armor can be heard converging on the center to cull the Kaosi, and the corpses of Bound who were discovered on the way littered the labyrinthian pathways of the Heap. We shouldn't encounter any trouble with the guards on the way.
Ş̷̡̈́̐͊̏h̷̛̠̗̮̤̑͘r̷̺͒̂ȇ̴͚͝ȅ̵̢̠̠̌̀̋ͅe̶̠̲̍e̴͔̝͋ḛ̶̮̌̇͘͜e̶̮̦͒̆e̴̺͠k̸̭͆!̷͔͚̭̾
The dissonant shriek echoed down the pathways nearby. I remembered the tales the guards would tell about the nightmares that came from the Void, the creatures that were beyond understanding, the Kaosi. They told us that we owed them for protecting us from that threat, but it looks as though that debt has been paid by their failure. We prepared for an ambush while continuing to the garden. Author summoned a strange pen, with various protrusions along the bottom. I hadn't known he was a Bearer. The crunching of wood could be heard to our left before we could see its cause.
A maw appeared only a few feet away from me before I intercepted with my spear, as the figure impaled itself upon it. I flung its corpse to the ground before facing its origin. Five similar figures launched themselves from the tops of the boxes, a pack of Kaosi. They were the size and shape of the basketballs that were found in the Heap occasionally. Inky tendrils protruded from their heads, their teeth comprised the majority of their body mass, and they had two forelegs with claws extending from them. Author began writing in the air as one began to fall towards him. I dashed past him and the Kaos, grabbing it by the tendrils. I swung its body into the one behind it, knocking them down out of the air before I skewered them both. I flung their bodies towards the third and fourth, blocking their advance, while the fifth barreled into me.
S̴̛̟̹c̴͈̯̾̂ȓ̶͔̪e̸̺͛̐e̶̯̚ě̴͚̭c̷͕̮͐͋h̶̤̽
Its shriek resounded in my head, a discordant sound both whisper and scream. Its teeth threatened to find purchase in my head but found it in my spear instead. The teeth dug into the middle of the shaft, between my hands. I lifted the spear and grabbed the butt of it before I swung it in a circle to my side to gather momentum before slamming the Kaos into the ground. As the three remaining Kaosi remained momentarily stunned, Author had finished writing. The word "bind" had been drawn in the air and emitted a flash of light that entered the ground. Earthen tendrils sprouted up and wrapped around the Kaosi, keeping them in place. My spear thrust out three times in rapid succession, their blood trailing behind each one.
"Nil?"
"Yes?"
"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen you do."
"Thank you."
Author held out his hand again and I took it. I pulled up my status as we started moving again, limiting it to only my level and notifications.
2x Lvl 5 ??? slain
40 exp gained
Level up! Lvl.4
4x Lvl 5 ??? slain
60 exp gained
Level up! Lvl.5
Level: 5
EXP: (5/76)
Class Perk gained! Awaiting selection.
I dismissed the screens and take my hand back again, deciding to select the perk when I have time. Entering the lead, we neared the Soteria's grove. After rounding the corner, I saw a familiar broad and bare back standing in the middle of the grove. Wearing only the lower half of his imperial armor, a wall of meat, muscle, and mass, is Carnis, and at his feet lies the battered body of Soteria. Blood stained not only her hair, but her fists. Carnis looked at us over his shoulder and spots us, a grin spread across his face.
"Well, if it isn't little Nil." he said, "I should have killed you when we found you, you know." He looks down at Soteria and kicks her across the ground. I charge at him while he remains impassive. Author begins writing his magic as I plant my spear into Carnis' chest. My momentum is halted immediately when I pierce him, his chest holds the head in place and glances back at Soteria.
"But," he continues, "this old hag begged for your life to be spared. She'd done enough for the Empire before her betrayal for her to still hold some sway, even after being Bound." Flames blasted across his face as Author fired his magic. After the fire died, his flesh was charred yet undamaged, perhaps even strengthened. He maintained eye contact with me as he reared his head back and brought it down into mine. The next I knew was that I had flown into Author, both of us sent crashing into the wall of boxes encircling the grove. Equipment spilled out of the boxes onto the ground, one of which was a shield. I laid my hand upon the shield, causing a System message to appear.
Would you like to set your Subclass to Shield Bearer (Common)?
Yes
I held the spear and shield aloft, ready to reenter the fold. Author pulled out a stack of small papers stuck to each other at the top. He pulled 4 papers off and handed them to me. "I made these notes earlier, just stick em' on yourself and they'll give you a buff." He explained, "I'm going to go do something stupid, just hold on until I get back, alright?"
I nod and stand. Author places 2 notes on himself that briefly enveloped him in light, before running off towards the center both less injured and faster than before. I placed the notes he gave me onto myself and received several System messages.
Buffs Received:
Minor Strength
Minor Haste
Minor Durability
Minor Recovery
Lights of varying shades scintillated over me as the buffs took effect. Next, I quickly looked over my perks list before choosing the one most useful for both this situation and the future.
Perk Chosen: Schrodinger's Box
Your Subclasses can be freely summoned and dismissed into your hands and onto your body with but a thought, as you are both holding them while also holding Nothing!
I dismissed my items, watching them disappear and then summoned them into the opposite hand and back to their original positions. Carnis hasn't moved an inch, standing in the same spot. The char on his face had broken off, revealing him to be truly untouched by Author's fire magic. Soteria remained unmoving on the ground by his feet. Carnis spoke,
"Your little friend ran off, smart of him to. Always thought he was a coward, hiding behind a freak like you."
I charged him, staying behind my shield. I thrust my spear at his side, grazing him, but my spear remained free. He stood there with his arms crossed as I continued grazing his sides. He spoke again,
"Born without a mother and father, you were. Everyone else thought of you as free labor. They were idiots not to question why a baby would be found in the center of the Heap, the only one since this place was created."
I halted my assault of his sides and struck at his eye. He caught my spear with his hand, gripping it tightly within his fist. His free hand was made into a fist and swung at me. I raised my shield and took the blow, getting sent to the side before I dismissed my spear from his grasp and summoned it to slow my speed.
"Some of the Bound thought you a messiah, the one who lead them to freedom and slay their oppressors." He chuckled.
I angled the spear up and threw it towards the sky. As it soared through the air, I entered a sprint towards Carnis with my shield forward. As my shield met his flesh, the strength from Author allowed me to push him back. His feet dug through the dirt as he slid. My spear began to fall onto his head, but Carnis raised his hand to swat it. When he did, I dismissed it and his hand swiped empty air. The spear reappeared in my hand and soon pierced his chest, this time through his heart. He raised his meaty hand to grab it again, but I dismissed it and pushed off his body to gain distance. He held the wound I granted him, and blood seeped from it. However, despite it all, he still seemed fine. His eyes looked deep into mine.
"But when those Bound looked into your eyes, they saw the same thing I did. Nothing. A being devoid of soul and emotions; a freak and a monster. And an idiot who doesn't seem to understand that little spear isn't going to kill me."
I reply, "I'm know it's not going to kill you. I was only told to 'hold on'." The ground shook underneath us. Growing more frequent rapidly as something approached.
R̴̗̝͌͘ͅO̷̤͙̒̊̉ͅA̶̢̭̒̒R̴̢̛͈̰̮̿́͝R̴̪̺̭̅̈́͒R̵̛̲͚͙̞͑͝R̸̜̋͌̽̕
A note flew over the box wall the encircled the grove, emitting a high-pitched tone. Then, a large figure burst through the wall, a lycanthropic Kaos that stood taller than the wall. Author peeked out behind the destroyed wall, appearing exhausted and throws his thumb up. The Kaos jerks its head around for the source of the noise it's been following. Inky tendrils covered its frame and darted around as if they were searching as well.
Carnis took a step back and is suddenly stoped as he is pushed forward. I peered behind Carnis to see Soteria, bloody and beaten with her hands raised in front of her face. Upon her knuckles appear her Subclass item she often said one of the fighting styles she taught me was designed for. She called it 'boxing' and that her Subclass was Brass Knuckle Bearer. She took a step forward and shifted her foot. Her body twisted and her fist extended, slamming into Carnis' chest and sending him flying. Carnis was launched into the side of the Kaos, pushing it down to the ground as he was buried in its side. The Kaos' attention is then centered onto Carnis as it bites into him and slams him into the ground. While they're distracted, I hurry to Soteria's side as she begins to fall back down. Her hair was matted with blood and her wrinkles more prominent now more than ever. She smiled at me and said,
"That was pretty cool of me, huh kiddo?"
"Yes. Very cool."
"Bah! I know you don't mean it." She crossed her arms and turned away.
"It was." I said, "I swear." She quickly turned back and looked into my eyes. She searches them for a while and her eyes widen.
"You swear?!" She gasped "You never say 'I swear' unless you mean it. I knew you'd come around to realizing how cool lil' ol' me is." Her frail hands clasped around mine, her smile widened, and her dimples grew deeper. "Can you swear me a couple more things, Nilhil?"
"I swear."
"I didn't even say them yet, kiddo."
"I don't care. I swear."
She sighed and continued, "First, I want you to find your dream, a goal, anything like that. Just something that you want to work towards in your life. I know anything you pick will change the world as we know it."
"I swear."
"Secondly, I want you to always be yourself, to never let anyone tell you try to change you to fit their image. Be weird because you are one weird kiddo, alright?"
"I swear."
"Third, if that Carnis survives that big Kaos, I want you to hit him where it hurts, not where it kills like I thought you." She slipped off her brass knuckles and placed them next to my knees. "Use these to pound him up nice and tender. And this as well." She takes my hand and places a kiss on it.
Buff Gained:
Mater Ex Machina
I felt a seed of power plant itself inside me.
"I swear."
"Finally, if you can, I'd like to be buried at that tree over on that hill" She pointed to a distant hill with a tree sitting on top of it. "It reminded me a lot of you, kiddo. The leaves are as white and pale as every part of you. It's like the world forgot to give it color, just like you. I started this grove just to grow one just like it here." Her finger drifted over to a small tree at the center of the grove, broken and dead. "It was supposed to be a surprise, but I guess it's not a good one anymore."
I looked into the eyes of the woman who raised me and saw a change in her eyes, they contrasted the rest of the world as they became something… different. Her eyes widened as she looked at me in this moment, as something I couldn't recognize changed in me as well.
"And don't be so blue, kiddo." She added.
"I swear, Soteria." She laid her hand on her stomach and continued smiling at me, without saying a word. I gently placed her onto the ground, picked up her brass knuckles and rose to my feet.
Brass Knuckles claimed by another Bearer. Unable to create Subclass.
I looked up to see that the sky had changed just like Soteria's eyes, while the clouds looked the same as they always had. Soteria's last words echoed in my mind, and don't be so blue, and saw that the change in the sky had disappeared. Wasn't blue one of the colors those two often mentioned? I remember Author had mentioned once that it could also be a synonym for being sad, and that being sad is something called an emotion. It's not the time to think of this, I'll have to ask Author about this later.
I turned to where the Kaos and Carnis had occupied to find an earthen wall had been erected around them, with no sound heard within. Author sat against the wall, drained and breathing heavily. He raised his thumb up at me again.
"I trapped em." He said, gesturing back to the wall with his raised thumb.
"Good job."
I threw his arm around my shoulder and helped him walk over to a section of the box wall that hadn't been broken by the Kaos. As I set him on the ground, he took out his pen and wrote in the air again. As he finished the spell, it flowed into him, and his breathing returned to normal
"I'll just need a sec to recover."
"Can you let me into the wall?"
"Sure thing, Nil. Send im to the Void."
"Yes."
The section of the wall in front of me slowly lowered and raised back up after I entered, revealing Carnis covered in bites and cuts, standing above the corpse of the Kaos. As he turned and saw my approach; a grin grew on his face. He raised his arms aloft and blabbered yet again. I did not pay attention to his words as I continued my approach, slipping on Soteria's brass knuckles.
Item now available! Would you like to set your Subclass you Brass Knuckle Bearer (Rare)?
Absolutely Yes
Hidden Buff Activated: A Mother's Last Will and Testament.
I stood in front of Carnis as he continued to speak, and I continued to ignore whatever nonsense he spoke. I raised my fists to my face and copied Soteria's stance, integrating her teachings into this moment. Carnis' eyes changed just as Soteria's did but in a different way. The blood that ran down changed as well, matching his eyes. The seed of power inside me expanded as I felt my feet dig into the ground beneath me. Carnis finally noticed me in front of him as his monologue came to a stop.
"What are you doing, frea…" He started, "Y-your ey.."
My fist interrupted him as it slammed into the bruise Soteria had left him. The seed of power exploded within me as the ground beneath my feet cracked as my fist connected with Carnis. The strange blood poured from his mouth and splattered across the ground. He was launched into the wall surrounding us and fell to his knees. He struggled to get up to his feet and I did not allow him. I dashed forward, the distance between us vanished in an instant, and then I continued my assault. Soteria's teachings occupied my mind as I jabbed twice, launched a straight, repeated and then threw a hook whenever Carnis got too close to being on his feet. My attack pressed him back into the wall and every strike ensured he could not escape. He was durable as always; he would not die from this. However, this time it wouldn't work in his favor. He woulk feel every single moment, every strike I threw at him.
His blood eventually covered my hands and arms as they became affected by this change in Carnis. My assault continued as I changed pace and strikes so he couldn't predict the next attack. A right jab at his face, then a left. I repeat, I reverse it, jab twice, throw a straight or two. Right. Left. Left. Right. Right. I keep my eyes locked onto to his as his changed eyes have the same look as I have seen many Bound tortured by him have had. I believe it was called fear. Good, he deserves it. I struck his bruise yet again and he dropped back down to his knees, a pained groan leaving him.
Left, right, jab, straight. Right, right, jab, jab. Bruise, jab, bruise, straight. Left, right, left, right. Right left right left. Rightright left jab. Rightright right. Rightrightrightrightrightrightright! He needs to feel what we all felt. RightBruiseRightBruiseRightRightRight, He needs to feel what she felt. "Nil." RightRight He needs to feel what I felt! "Nil!" RightRightBruiseRightBruiseBruiseBruiseBruiseBruise, He needs to feel my WRATH! "Nilhil!"