41 - Tulisuda (Patreon)

Today was turning out to be the kind of day that started on a high note only to swiftly plummet downhill for Paul Wayland. Having Phoenix accept his offer of adoption and then having her walk behind him and not be ashamed was the peak of his day so far. He had expected the anxiety and trepidation his Protégé had just beneath the surface but he felt a surge of pride when she took her place in the center of the procession of Crystal Caste parties and showed everyone the strength of her limit breaking aura.

“Such a dad already,” Orebela remarked at his stray thought.

“Weren’t you the one insisting I become one?”

“And it turns out This One was right again,” the monotone voice somehow managed to say smugly.

The paladin mentally rolled his eyes and refocused his attention on Director Agatha as she went over the approach the strike team he would be leading was going to take in their attack on the Stronghold. The location was a veritable fortress within the fortress city that guarded the Reality Rift which was the lifeblood of this city; which was currently being choked off.

Paul didn’t normally do “leading” in general but, as he was the only Emerald with a combat focus, he didn’t get much of a choice in the matter. He wouldn’t be very hands-on with his leading anyway though, as his main objective was to take down Lady Ruwena and get to Tulisuda before the enemy could do any more damage. The secondary objective he had was to not accidentally throw a Flame Javelin into the wrong pipe and collapse a tunnel or building on top of them all.

His powerset was designed around a very singular goal: hit it hard and hit it fast. Even the Spirit Gems he had chosen over the years were in support of that focus and only very rarely did he find himself regretting that role. He had been a Midshift Striker for so long that he couldn’t even imagine doing things any other way.

He was distracted from his thoughts when a man he hadn’t expected to arrive there stood up next to the Direct to add his own endorsement, “Remember, while we would still prefer capturing any enemy target you have the opportunity to, do not take any extraneous risks in doing so. Our goal is reclaiming Tulisuda and restoring the ley lines that the city depends on, anyone who stands in the way of that goal is a traitor of Tulim,” Duke Victor Tul said to the gathered Sapphire Casters and the one Emerald Healer they had managed to rally on such short notice.

Everin Starlark was another voxen that had migrated from Epa Toivo and had cultivated his Caste to the Emerald tier just that month. As a Spirit Advocate, the man's Class specialized in boosts and regenerative Boons that healed slowly over time but were cheaper and more sustainable for long battles. The playful man was also a Cleric of the Rebel and Paul wasn’t entirely convinced that the Healer’s sudden immigration wasn’t related to the presence of his Protégé.

He had only had a brief interaction with the Cleric after the man joined up with his group returning from Epa Toivo when he had first stumbled upon the Dewsong twins and offered the pair an escort to the city that might be a better fit for the orphaned pair. Everin had said he was already making his way there for the blood moon as it offered less dangers and greater protection but the timing made Paul suspicious.

The voxen hadn’t come sniffing around, however, mostly staying at the temple while assisting the AOA with healing up their wounded during the months since Krafti had turned crimson. The thing that Paul had noticed most was that the Cleric was always quick to smile and find humor in any situation and the man had made their interactions seem like a test of wills on whether the voxen could make him laugh or if he could manage to maintain his stoic mask. So far, Paul had won every challenge.

He was glad for the Healer’s presence today, however. With unknown enemies potentially waiting in the wings and the fate of a city resting on his shoulders, Paul needed as much help as he could get. An Emerald Healer, even a freshly cultivated one, was nothing short of a boon for him.

As the AOA director made the commands for them to start heading for the frontlines of the Stronghold, he found himself walking next to the Cleric who gave him a fanged grin, “Greetings, Lord Paladin,” Everin said casually, “I must say, I do love the new look. Though, I’m sure my goddess would have been more than willing to welcome you to our own clergy if we had known you were seeking rededication.”

“I’m not sure Rebel would have been able to offer what I sought, Cleric Starlark,” he stated with a flat look, “I wasn’t seeking to take down a kingdom.”

The voxen’s grin widened as his pleasant tenor dripped with sarcasm, “No, you just sought to take down a noble house that has accumulated far too much power to benefit the people they were meant to serve. How silly of me to think Rebel might be interested in such a goal.”

“My goal was not that grand,” he pointed out.

“And yet here we are,” the man replied, his slitted sapphire eyes dancing with mirth, “Leading an assault on a Stronghold claimed by noble greed.”

“With the backing of the Duke. I’m fairly certain we’re the ones stamping out the attempted rebellion,” Paul argued as the devil’s advocate.

One of Everin’s five tails wrapped around to cover the bottom half of his face, like he had seen others in Blomstra do with a hand fan to seem mysterious, as the voxen said with a wink, “I think you’re beginning to understand how many things are all about perspective, Paladin of Avenger.”

“You say that like I’m not at least a decade older than you,” he griped as they began descending into the lower levels and their speed picked up as they wanted to take the enemy by surprise without leaving the Sapphires too far behind.

“Age has little bearing on wisdom or experience,” the Cleric shot back, lifting up a wand to begin channeling spells through, “From what I’ve heard you were one of those enemies until very recently. Let the long path be free of burdens.”

Paul felt the Boon settle on him and another scrap of paper helped spell out the effects for him though he could intuitively sense the general idea.

Class Ability: Light Spirited

Type: Boon (magical, light)

Cost: Low mana.

Cooldown: 1 minute.

Current Caste: Emerald 1 (2%)

Crystal Effect: Cast on an ally to reduce the stamina cost of their abilities for a moderate duration.

Sapphire Effect: Can cast this Boon on many allies at once for a cumulative mana cost. Additionally increases Agility by a low amount.

Emerald Effect: Additionally increases the effects of Movement abilities and reduces the cost of Boons by a moderate amount.

After taking in the information, the Wrath Blade finally smiled as he said, “I guess you’ll get to see what I do to my enemies and be thankful we’re allies now, as we assist your goddess in freeing their souls from their mortal containers.”

Everin’s tail dropped to reveal an excited vulpine grin as he said, “Now you’re really getting the perspective of how I fight for freedom.”

“Another Sapphire at ten o’clock. Forward Defender that needs execution,” Orebela reported as he finished pulling his sword from the body of a Sapphire Striker he had just dispatched.

Paul glanced in the direction his Familiar had indicated where a woman in heavy armor was attempting to stumble away behind the safety of the last set of walls keeping them back from the Reality Rift. He scowled as he asked, “Aren’t we supposed to try capturing some of them? This was the tenth Sapphire we’ve taken out so far.”

“Capture is an extraneous risk,” she retorted quickly.

“That woman is barely standing and nobody else is left in this area,” Paul argued.

“All capture attempts are riskier than execution, Wayland,” the alien mind logically stated.

He was about to protest again when another Sapphire Caste aura came into range nearer to the enemy Defender and he recognized the runeforged with brunette hair in tightly braided rows along the scalp and bright blue markings as his own nephew coming into range to engage the woman who turned out not to be so injured that she couldn’t fight back.

Orebela didn’t need to say anything more as he triggered [Meteor Strike] and rocketed forward towards the enemy and combined it with his execution ability as he incanted, “The judgment of the righteous has deemed you guilty.”

Class Ability: Meteor Strike

Type: Special Attack (combination, movement, elemental, fire)

Cost: High stamina and mana.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Current Caste: Emerald 10

Crystal Effect: Accelerate through the air towards a target. When used with other combination attacks, any physical and Fire damage is increased during the combination.

Sapphire Effect: An explosion is produced from the impact point, inflicting Fire damage and [Burning] on any enemies in the area.

Emerald Effect: Any enemies in the area are also knocked back from the impact point and inflicted with [Condemnation].

- Burning (bane, elemental, fire): Inflicts ongoing Fire damage.

- Condemnation (bane, divine, radiant, stacking): Decreased Fire, Light, and Radiant resistance.

Class Ability: Judgment of the Zealous

Type: Execute (combination, purge, divine, radiant)

Cost: High mana.

Cooldown: 1 minute.

Current Caste: Emerald 9 (99%)

Crystal Effect: Enchants your weapon so that its next attack inflicts additional Radiant damage on impact. Damage is scaled based on the amount of health missing from the target.

Sapphire Effect: Deal increased damage to enemies with Dark, Death, or Void attunements, or have the [Corrupted] status and purge a random Boon on impact.

Emerald Effect: If used at the end of a combination attack, the weapon is automatically enchanted again at no additional cost and slightly enhanced effect.

Paul didn’t need that second execute effect as the enemy crumpled against his sword and the wall indented with the force of the combined blow. He only took a moment to brush a finger against the woman to loot her body and begin her decomposition into blue ash. Then he turned to his nephew with a stern look.

“Ah, there you are Uncle Paul,” Patric said with an amused glint in his brilliant blue eyes, “We missed you at our potion crafting party yesterday.”

He gave the runeforged man a flat look and said dryly, “I’ll have to raincheck for next time. Perhaps, you can explain to me why you’re this far behind enemy lines?”

“I’m not really behind the line,” the younger Adventurer said, as he patted a palm against the half-crumbled wall, “This is the line currently. They’ve all retreated behind the inner bulwark,” the Sapphire Striker explained with a cheeky grin and Paul found himself wondering if his nephew had been hanging out with that foxy Cleric when he hadn’t been paying attention.

“Are we regrouping at–”

The paladin’s words halted as a voice he really hadn’t hoped to hear during this battle spoke over their temporary mental link, “Lord Wayland?”

“What is it, kid?” he asked Dazien through the voice chat, then added with a sinking feeling, “Is she dead?”

“Not quite but she came pretty close,” the gemite admitted, “She stacked Recoil abilities with one of the Boosters that we made yesterday which also had a recoil effect.”

“Hold on a second, kid,” Paul said quickly then glared at his nephew to ask, “Did you give Phoenix recoil potions and not warn her about stacking those effects with her recoil abilities?”

Patric’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped as the young man repeated his question in horror, “Is she dead?”

“So that’s a yes. We’ll talk about that later,” then he focused back on questioning Dazien, “Where are you now?”

“I’m carrying her back to one of the healing checkpoints. She can’t fight anymore after taking on that Sapphire.”

He couldn’t help himself as the odd sense of pride surged up as he clarified, “Your party took out a Sapphire?”

“Mostly Phoenix, but she paid the price for it,” the Defender admitted, “I’m sorry I failed to keep her safe again, sir.”

“We can talk about that later,” he muttered, then glared at the wall between him and the remaining enemy forces, the wall that was between him finishing this mission and getting back to his family, “Get her to the healers and I’ll meet up with you soon.”

“Uncle, we still need to regroup at the gate to–”

Paul raised his greatsword, the normally golden runes still glowing brightly with Radiant energy along the onyx blade that looked cut from jet black crystal with the light coming from the runes, and he brought it down on the wall itself, blasting a hole right through the defensive structure.

“Or we could just go through this convenient backdoor that so suddenly appeared,” Patric said, then added after noticing his glare, “I’ll just go get the others to meet you here.”

“So how long till we get inside?” Paul asked with a huff of annoyance.

“I’m not a magical lockpick, Wayland,” retorted Ethan Teras who was currently waving a wand at the rift that was dangerously crackling with lightning chains around it, “Reality Rifts are not my specialty, that’s your cousin’s domain.”

“Where’s Camilla then?” he asked, going over to look at the tome the Magi had been referencing earlier, “Don’t you usually keep her on hand?”

The cinderen paused to glance at him, “Would you really want me to bring her to an active combat zone, even as a supporting ritualist on the backlines?”

“Not when you say it like that,” he grumbled at the man who he had rekindled friendship with over the last couple of months since his return and working together to protect the city and his Protégé.

“Patience, Paul,” the man said, refocusing back on the Rift that had been sealed in a rush, “Camilla’s on her way now but I’m hoping to crack it myself before she arrives. Lady Ruwena might be the Chancellor of the OOM but this was a sloppy job done out of desperation. We’ll get in soon enough. Why don’t you just go check in on that girl of yours?”

He nodded absently then paused and decided to let his friend know, “It’s not quite official yet but she agreed to let me adopt her.”

Ethan’s head snapped to look at him with surprise before he broke into a smile, “That’s wonderful, Paul. Congratulations on gaining a scion. I can say from experience that it can be a wonderful blessing.”

“Thanks, Ethan. How are Polissa and Simmon anyway? We don’t really talk about them much,” he added a bit awkwardly.

The Magi laughed, returning to the task at hand while speaking, “They’re here helping in the battle actually. I’m proud of how far they’ve come already but I’ll admit it made me feel old when they became Crystal Casters. Polissa’s twenty already and Simmon just turned sixteen shortly before you arrived back here.”

The Rift turned a warm orange color then, the blue lightning seeming to lessen slightly, and Ethan noted, “Well that’s a good sign,” before glancing at Paul once more and admitting, “Honestly, I haven’t talked about them much because I didn’t think family life appealed to you.”

“I’m a Wayland,” Paul said with a roll of his eyes, “We’re all about family. Pati’s a great example.”

The cinderen nodded and said hesitantly, “She is, but you’ve always kind of been the black sheep of the family, no offense intended. You left them behind, Paul.”

“Not because I wanted to,” he grumbled, “I’m still surprised my father kept me as heir after our last argument that made me leave the city. He made it clear I wasn’t welcome.”

“So why did you come back? You could have petitioned the summons,” Ethan pointed out as the Magi moved to his side to reference the book once more.

Paul gave his friend a crooked smile, “Because my family asked me to.”

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