First he confirms for me what I already suspect, that some of my new abilities are a type of Body Enhancement magic. I guess it’s pretty rare. The rest rely on my ability to sense Spirit Energy, as I already knew. After discussing that, he proceeds to outline his training plan.
The first week will be all about balance. From there we will go on to sensing obstacles and some sparring if we have time. Since neither one of us really knows how much time we have to work with, things are left a bit open. It's implied that there will be a lot of falling down, along with bruises and perhaps some bleeding. Oh joy!
The rest of that day is me assuming various stances and being pushed/pulled in unexpected ways and unexpected directions. Needless to say, I fall down a lot. Implication confirmed! Thankfully, Keldon teaches me a few ways to fall more gracefully. i.e. less painfully.
Our session only lasts an hour, but by the end I'm sweaty and exhausted. And bruised. And grumpy. Keldon has forbidden me to heal myself for a full hour after training. He grumbled something about pain being an excellent teaching aid. I make my way back to our room. I really want a cup of tea.
I never imagined I would be such a tea drinker. Maybe it has something to do with the tea being served by a maid who smells nice? Today it's Jane, smelling like linen and bay leaves. I find Jane to be very soothing. Usually I have to be around someone a lot longer before I'm not afraid they’ll do something unexpected to me.
Too bad she doesn't have any aspirin. I decide a nap is in order. And healing magic after that. I’m so glad I have healing magic.
“So Demons don’t really belong here on Emulgren?” I ask Master as I wipe my face off with a towel.
“Nope. They have a portal or something back to their home world. That’s the only reason they can live here.”
“What? A portal?” I ask, confused.
“Yeah. That’s how the Demonic Energy gets here. Without it they die. That’s also why they don’t usually leave the Demon Lands.”
“They need the energy. Interesting. So how can the Demon Lord attack us, then.”
“They’ve got some way to carry the Energy with them. Not too far or too long, but it works in the short term.”
I stand still thinking about it for a moment. That answered a few of my Addie-assigned questions.
Then I get kicked in the gut and roll across the training ground. “What’re ya staring off into space for?” Shouts Master. “You’ve got a lotta work to do before you’ll be havin’ time for that nonsense. You’re weak and it’s time to beat the weakness outta ya.”
I smile as I get to my feet and launch into an attack. He’s right! Enough with thinking! “Not today old man!” I shout.
It’s time to brawl!
Pillow talk is a wonderful thing. Or closet talk, anyway. Jane knows who contacted us through Nix. Apparently a number of countries sent special ambassadors to Grado when they heard there was a Hero Summoning planned. Faiella is the ambassador from Ronsun. And Keldon is one of her escorts. I find it odd that they sought us out, though.
And Jane passed on a troubling rumor. The explosions on the first day resulted from summoning Cursed Heroes.
Breakfast again. Another meeting to pick up the thread from yesterday. I start by having Kari give a concise summary of the vampire book. Then I have Nix and Rio tell us what they know about the book and the people it came from.
I take the bull by the horns, "After reading this book, it's my belief that I’m a vampire. It's not just a type of affinity. A vampire is a type of being with certain affinity-based powers."
Silence for a moment, then a deluge of questions. "Can you turn into a bat?" "If you turn into a bat, how big will you be? Maybe I can ride on you..." "That's so cool, can you turn me into a vampire too?" “Will you start saying ‘Bleah, bleah-bleah’ all the time?” "If I give you a list of people I don't like, can you, you know, take care of them?
My friends. I was worried they would be scared of me. Turns out they’re too stupid. Buncha dumb bunnies…
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“All right, that’s enough for today.” I drop to the ground heaving for breath as Keldon finally gives me the okay to relax. It’s been a rough session, although it’s probably a bit redundant to say that. I’m pretty sure rough is included in the definition for his sessions. “Don’t get used to finishing this early, though,” he adds.
My body involuntarily gives out some kind of cross between a scream and a sob. “Why …
“The Princess is coming back to the Palace this morning. I have to leave early to help Faiella prepare to greet her.”
“There’s a Princess?!?” I squeak out. “Where? When? I wanna see!”
“You don’t wanna meet this Princess, kid. She’s a stone-cold bitch.”
“Really? I guess there’s only two options: stone-cold bitch or kind-hearted, sheltered, Princess-with-a-heart-of-gold type. Figures we’d get stuck with the first option. Is she beautiful at least?”
“Yeah. Like a viper is beautiful.”
“Oooooo. That’s sounding better. The last … er … snake-adjacent creature I kissed was quite a sweetheart,” I say, thinking of Sintana.
“Don’t be thinkin’ that kind of stuff. Start up with that and I’ll have to beat the stupid out of you. Then I’ll be late which will require I beat you even more.”
“Sorry Keldon,” I apologized. “Given that there’s a Princess, then what else is there? I know nothing about this country.”
“Well, there’s a King and a Queen. Mostly they let their Royal Council handle the work, though. I gotta go now.”
“See you tomorrow!” I say with enthusiasm. Now I’m looking forward to getting beat up and worn out. After all, if I’m going to rescue a Princess and win her heart, I gotta be on point with this fighting stuff.
Blood magic requires blood. Nix gave me a cup of blood. So very nice of him. With his healing magic he can heal the cut and replace the blood almost instantly.
With my vampire book propped up in front of me, I reread the section I'm working on. Twice.
I reach out and take the cup in my long slender fingers. Caressing it.
Okay, that was just weird. With a grimace I raise it to my lips. Just a sip at first - that's my plan. Ration it out. Make the most of it.
I gulp it all down. Then start cackling maniacally!
SSooooooo gooooooooddd!!!!
Tastes better than ice cream and low-carb too!
It makes no sense, really. We were just finishing up a morning of small team tactical training when Ettiene lost his temper. That’s nothing new. What was nonsensical was his determination to take it out on me. He challenged me to a duel.
Duels here are a contest between two parties. It can be one vs one, two vs two, or up to any combination you can realistically think of. From there the terms are pretty much anything goes. In this case, the battle was me versus him on the training ground.
I’m a ranged specialist and he’s a mid-range attack specialist. My sigil is Fire Support, which allows me to imbue my arrows with fire and/or extra kinetic force. I can also boost the magic imbued by holding my draw longer. The only thing odd about my Sigil - and this is what makes it a Sigil suitable for a Great Saint - is a Rapid Movement Skill. Immediately after I fire, I can move fast as lightning for about two seconds.
Ettiene, on the other hand, has a water magic Sigil. He can Imbue water magic into his sword for his strikes, sling balls of water around, and even do something like a fire hose. That last is pretty mana intensive. He also has a Command Skill which grants him some sort of increased attack for the first few seconds of a battle.
When fighting, we all have an amount of energy that is innate to us. That is what we draw on for our spells and skills. My energy pool is bigger than Ettiene’s. I can last a lot longer because of that; plus his spells and skills use more mana on average than mine do. So my strategy is to outlast him: get past his increased attack at the beginning, then take him out from range.
Which is pretty much what I do. The Commander referees our match on the training field. He gives us the signal and I shoot an arrow immediately. Don’t even aim because I just need to activate my movement skill. Within a second, I’m as far away from Ettiene as I can be, drawing an arrow back and holding it for a second shot - a real one this time.
Ettiene is racing toward me, charging up a water ball over his head. I let fly and see him smirk as he brings his water ball down to trap my arrow before it hits him.
I’m already moving, so he doesn’t see my return smirk. This is the debut of my new technique. The fire arrow trapped in the water ball doesn’t fizzle out as it normally would. Instead it explodes, blowing water and fire back into his face. By then, I already have another arrow in the air.
I keep him on the back foot like this for a long time. He finally loses his patience and lets go with his fire hose spell. I fire an arrow at the same time and sprint to keep ahead of it. As the spray goes limp, I set my feet and draw again, holding it this time to give it a heavy charge of kinetic energy.
Ettiene’s out of mana. He screams in frustration as he blocks my shot with his sword. It hits hard and throws his arm way out of line. Just perfect for the follow-on arrow which catches him square in the chest, throwing him back into the wall.
He hangs there for a minute before his eyes roll up in his head and he flops forward onto his face. A mighty roar goes up from those who’re watching. I lift my hood up onto my head with a smirk and stalk away.
Acolyte of Manalea, Lady of Order
Blessing: Great Saint
Magic Energy Type: Mana
Affinities: Fire, Kinetic, Body Enhancement (Strength, Constitution)
Skill Sets: Archer (Legacy), Fire Support (Sigil)
Role: Fire Support Commander (Acolyte Boon)