Adya…

  The monsters were still acting strangely. Only a few hundred yards away was a sizeable group of interspersed Skreels, Scroungers, and that one Driftclaw they’d seen wandering around.

  It was twice the size of those she’d fought within the Rings, with oddly luminescent green streaks patterned across its skin. And it was constantly looking around as if trying to find something to eat.

  Just looking at it gave her the shivers.

  She glanced at Jamie, who gave her a shrug in response as they continued to lie on the hill above. Though Jamie was only Tier 2, he had a wealth of knowledge about the Calling that Adya had only touched on. There were good reasons Cass had assigned him as the current Scout leader instead of herself.

  Twice since they’d been beyond the walls together, he’d saved her life. Once, when stopping her from entering a simple switch trap that she somehow hadn’t seen. And again, when a small group of Scroungers had fallen upon them from the trees. She’d long ago forgiven the fact that he was a Silver.

  But earlier that day, her group had received Quests that moved several of the Scouts to different locations outside Liora. Now, the North was covered only by Jamie and herself.

  The Scout leader leaned toward her, “Do you see any reason why they’re so placid?”

  “No,” Adya whispered back. One of the first things he’d taught her had been about sound directionality. “But if my ability is right, there’s a lot more of them now than we’ve seen in the last two days.”

  “Profile?”

  “Profile,” She confirmed. It was truly a blessing, as while she had all the Observational capabilities of her Calling, her ability to recall things had never been the best.

  The first Quest Cass had given her, to travel a distance and create a report from memory, had about broken her mind. She only hoped he got enough out of their linked path as she did.

  “What about-” Jamie cut off mid-sentence as new movement was seen down below.

  Adya’s vision easily cleared the distance, and she sucked in a breath. A large man in armor, a sword held before him, walked casually behind a woman and child. The hostages looked back at him, then at the monsters several times, but they continued to move, as each time they slowed, he stepped forward aggressively.

  Are they hostages?

  The state of their clothes suggested as much. There was a smattering of blood on the woman’s chest, and tears spread throughout their attire. Her vision keyed in even further on the woman’s face, pulling in extra details like a camera lens snapping into resolution as Observation went to work.

  Tired…no, make-up. Blood on clothing, old. Too old. Stain patterns don’t fit either. Staged. The ability moved over to the little girl holding her hand. Tears in the clothing were created by a combination of pulling and sharp metal objects. Introduced haphazardly, however, a pattern can be seen. Just enough in each location to create a visual effect. Facial expressions don’t match either. It isn’t fear, but anxiety.

  She snapped out of it, then leaned toward Jamie, “What is this?”

  “I don’t know,” He said with a grimace as he blinked away his own ability. “It’s like they’re acting for a show. But why would they do that?”

  Further movement had her head swinging back. The man stood before the woman and child, holding something between them, but she couldn’t see what it was. A moment later, something strange happened.

  The woman glowed as if she’d taken on a Quest. Only, it wasn’t the gold she was used to, or even the silver Cass showed when first drafting a Quest.

  It was a red dark enough to make her think of blood.

  A quiet settled over the area, with even the wind seeming to come to a stop. All at once, the monsters behind them perked up the exact moment the glow faded. With a frighteningly coordinated movement, each and every one of them slowly turned their heads until they were pointed unerringly at the woman.

  “What-” Jamie began, but he didn’t have time to say anything else.

  The woman in the distance nodded once at the man, who lifted the child and leaped high, then she began to run. And she ran fast.

  Right toward them, and the city unknowingly waiting behind them.

  Cassio…

  Cass went deep into the Survivor path.

  He didn’t know when he would have this many Survivor Marks again, and waiting on what could be a life-saving passive ability was just…not smart planning. He had some time, so he didn’t want to rush through his choice.

  Not that Stalwart had been the wrong decision. Other, so-called wiser heads, may think it was a mistake. But time and again, the passive ability had kept him alive. In a world of danger, who wouldn’t want something that could accelerate your healing?

  He wished it had also gotten rid of the brazen collection of scars he’d accrued, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  Cass hadn’t looked at the options for some time, so he pulled them up. It was nice to see the Ways lit up and waiting for him to choose. Like Christmas, even though it was only early fall. But first, he needed to consider all of the choices.

  Way of the Cinder would improve his stamina passively and had Quests that focused on recovery and tolerance. What those would look like, he had no idea. Any thought he had on the matter would simply be guesswork.

  Temperature control, maybe? That was how it felt to him.

  Then again, the last time he thought he knew what the System wanted had turned out to be rather wrong. Feelings wouldn’t help him here.

  Way of the Tempered was the one he was most tempted to take at that moment. It focused on dexterity, body control, and evasion, with a passive ability related to reflexes. His first go-around with picking a Way had almost led him to take this choice. Stalwart had just barely won out in the moment.

  With how much combat he’d seen in the last two months, Tempered would be the likely way to go if he wanted to work on not getting stabbed again. He mentally marked that before moving on to the next.

  Next was the Way of the Wild. Everything within it spoke of surviving in a world that man hadn’t touched. It was the lowest on his list because, well, he was a QuestWright. He would always be surrounded by stone and flesh, rather than nature.

  He could certainly see some value in it if he were ever stranded somewhere, but the odds of that were relatively low.

  And the final Way on the list was Last Light. Just like when he’d first looked at it, it was alone and independently held on the far side from the others. While the passive boost to clarity sounded amazing, the Quests involved were not something he really wanted to deal with while his city was under attack.

  He knew it wouldn’t last forever, but even with his thoughts on what the Dark Guild’s next moves would be, he couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t be trapped within Liora for the foreseeable future.

  Quests will improve mental endurance, fear resistance, and willpower. So it’s going to screw with me until I develop some kind of mental tolerance. That…doesn’t sound great at the moment. Nothing like having an insane Guild Master during a major crisis.

  “No, can’t do that one right now.” He said to himself quietly.

  He’d made his first choice based on fear and hospital bed imprisonment. For his second choice, Cass understood he needed to make it through thoughtful planning.

  Tempered made the most sense. Cinder, with its stamina boost, was a close second. But the idea of unnaturally increasing his reflexes and stacking that with his enhanced senses from his bond with Adya really took the cake.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Bit the cake? Sometimes his dad’s quotes were confusing. Cass looked at the prompt that had appeared when first pulling up the Survivor path.

  CHOOSE YOUR WAY

  CASSIO VALE

  But he only had eyes for two.

  Way of the Cinder

  Your flame burns slowly, but never out.

  The QuestWright can assign one Quest per day to themself.

  Quests will increase stamina efficiency, recovery rhythm, and physical tolerance.

  Passively improves Cassio Vale’s stamina.

  Way of the Tempered

  You weren’t forged for battle, you were shaped by it.

  The QuestWright can assign one Quest per day to themself.

  Quests will improve dexterity, bodily control, and combat instincts.

  Passively improves Cassio Vale’s reflexes.

  Stamina would help, no doubt about that, but what he needed right now and in the future was to be able to fight at a higher level. Changelings had come for him in the past; monsters, for all he knew, might be coming for Liora right now. This was the right choice. He was sure of it.

  Cass selected Tempered and finalized his choice. The path lit up, a single step forming as his screen shook.

  [WAY OF THE TEMPERED INTEGRATING]

  Cass mentally braced himself for pain, but that wasn’t what happened.

  It was velocity.

  A current of power rippled through his body, not unlike when he’d first been tested after Master Chask’s changeling had been outed. Feeling his limbs and joints lock in place, a staccato rhythm beat from the neck down as everything inside him seemingly woke up.

  Muscles fired and released in micro-spasms, fingers and toes twitched, and he even heard a dim outside voice ask if he was okay. But nothing mattered to him in that moment except the screen and the strangely present now.

  It felt like every nerve in his body was finally awake after being long dormant. He felt, for lack of a better word, more alive than he’d ever felt before.

  [SURVIVOR PATH: WAY OF THE TEMPERED- INTEGRATION COMPLETE]

  First node unlocked: Foundational Control.

  First Quest Automatically Assigned

  Questor: Cassio Vale

  Calling: QuestWright

  Objective: Complete a controlled movement cycle without loss of balance or form:

  Hold a stable low stance for 3 minutes

  Perform 20 slow, controlled steps across a narrow surface

  Evade 10 thrown objects without blocking or striking back (another may assist)

  Timeframe: One Day

  Questor Reward: +6xp, 1 Tempered Token, 1 Survivor Token

  Bonus experience granted for unlocking your second Way

  +500 xp

  WayWalker Achievement progress 3/10

  He took a deep breath. Well, the multiplier bonus is confirmed. Holy shit!

  Now he was sure that there was enough reserved experience to get Adya all the way up to Level 8. Maybe even enough to get them both up to Level 9 and beyond it. Tactician didn’t seem quite so far away now.

  Out of curiosity, he backed out of the Tempered screen to look at the last three Ways waiting for him. Each showed the same thing.

  [2 OF 5 WAYS UNLOCKED]

  Cost to unlock next Way: 250 Survivor Tokens, 250 Stalwart Tokens, 250 Tempered Tokens

  So that scales too. Figures. Then again, if I could unlock all five early on, there’d be no challenge to it. And if there’s one thing I know about Survivor, it’s a challenge.

  He stepped back into Tempered and looked at the first step after Foundational. It was shaped like a coin, with big bold writing above it.

  [Targeted Dexterity]

  -Function Unlock-

  You can now pick one of several dexterity-based routines each day.

  Cost to Unlock: 10 Tempered Tokens

  Just like when I first unlocked Stalwart. Cass smiled as the screen closed down, and he finally felt the sun touch him. Then he frowned.

  “Jimmy, what’s wrong?”

  The big man kicked at the dirt, “I sent someone to look, then did it myself when they came up almost empty, but we can’t find any Vellums anywhere.”

  “Did you check the Registry?”

  “Yah-huh,” He nodded, “The Foundry’s been busy with the war efforts, and after I went and spoke with them, they said no Palehides had been harvested lately. We’re out. Well, almost.” He reached into a bag by his feet and pulled out a very small stack. “Here’s five, it’s all I could find.”

  Cass put his own bag down and looked through it. There were only about ten left, including the blood-covered one. Fourteen Quests. He shook his head at the situation, then walked over to the Foundry and stared at the wall as the map came up.

  For what they were now doing, there were more than enough Quests out there. He hadn’t been counting, but in the last two days, he was sure he’d written several hundred. But they all had longer timers than usual, as he didn’t want the Quests to randomly fail because one house was being obstinate and refused to collapse.

  Sighing, he pulled out the fourteen and concentrated on building Quests that would last a long time, like taking away wounded in recovery Quests as well as a new set of observe Quests for the Shattermarks who’d accompanied him. That should complete their escort Quest as they took on something new.

  He handed them to Jimmy, giving him brief instructions to send the recovery Quests to the Maestro for handling, then sat down for the first time in a while. Maybe I should’ve taken Cinder afterall, he joked with himself.

  Laying his head down on the grass, he stared up at the sky.

  That’s when someone layed down next to him. He looked over and met his sister’s eyes, “Hey Janine.”

  She threw a sly smile at him, “Hey, yourself, Guild Master. You know I’ll probably never top what you’re doing here, right? A prodigy like me, getting shown up by my little brother only two months after he got his Calling? A shame on my house.”

  “Then you should move out.” Cass quipped, then he noticed how she was lying with some alarm. He sat up, but she put a hand in the air to calm him as she did the same.

  Her right arm was missing.

  “It’s not that bad,” She protested, right before he could speak. “I lost my arm to the mutated Driftclaw out there. It was part of a horde trying to cut off our supply route, and I fell behind the group. I’m mostly all healed up now.”

  “Not that bad! Your fuckin arm is gone, Janine! How are you going to live? Or do your job?” Cass tried to control his breathing. “What are you even doing here? The Foundry is the target!”

  “Then I’ll FIGHT!” She yelled back. “I’m the IronMonger, Cassio. Do you think I can’t fight just because I’m missing an arm? Please!” She pulled something out of her pocket and stuck it in her mouth. Cass heard the oddest sounds coming from her before a thin blade of metal extended from where her arm used to be.

  “See!” She waved it up and down, which in any other moment would’ve been comical. “A sword directly attached to my body. Or a spike. It depends on how you want to define it.”

  “Janine, please go home.” Cass said after a long breath. “I’ll see us through this.”

  “Well, nobody’s at home, so that’s a moot point.” The metal spike pulled back until it covered the stump of her arm in a smooth block. “Dad’s out by the west gate right now, helping in the war efforts.”

  “Dad’s a chef, what the hell is he doing!”

  “Trying to help,” She said with a bland smile, “Just like the rest of us.”

  Cass rubbed his hand through his hair furiously when a message hit his screen.

  >Vex: Message to the Guild Master and anyone else listening, there’s a lot of movement beyond the south walls. Our mobile posts say they’ve spotted hundreds of Monsters from multiple directions.

  >Pellin: I haven’t had a chance to get more Commanders on the Whisprnet, but I’m in the Stream right now and hearing the same thing. There are hundreds of them out there, and the tower is saying that they’re all coming at the gates right now.

  >Vex: So it’s a coordinated all-points attack. Guild Master, what do you want us to do? Give me the order, and I’ll send runners to the other locations.

  Cass thought about it. It was as he expected. Small attacks would only empower the Lioran side of the conflict. If they wanted to win, they needed to hit them all at once. This wasn’t a war of attrition; it was a stomping.

  >Cassio: I’m sending out a Region Announcement right now. Pull back. Pull everyone back. Abandon the gates.

  >Vex: Are you sure?

  >Pellin: He doesn’t really have a choice.

  >Vex: Shut up, Cray!

  >Cassio: Do as I ask, please. Move quickly and get as many people out as you can.

  Cass looked at Janine and, in a too-calm voice, said, “Go find more iron.”

  Link

  [Special Edition Reader Quest]

  Assignment: Throw It Out

  Choose one object in your space that represents a habit, pattern, or version of yourself that no longer applies. Then get rid of it. Fully. Trash, donate, or burn. It leaves the building.

  Do not make it symbolic. Make it real.

  Clothing, tools, notebooks, devices, keepsakes, receipts, rituals.

  Pick the one that keeps pulling you back.

  Completion Condition:Item identified and removed. Memory acknowledged. Cycle ended.

  Timeframe: January

  Reward: 10 XP

  System reset confirmed.

  —

  J D Mullenary Sr

  The Original QuestWright