Chapter 17 - Gathering The Party (Patreon)

The guard captain, Jarn, came to collect us from the training arena just as the first scraps of light were leaking over the treetops on the hill beyond Riverwell’s walls. He paused when he saw me, clad in my helmet and the robe he’d given me yesterday, which was now burnt, frozen, torn, and stained black with wriggling shadows in areas. My skin was also run through with prominent purple veins that bulged and pulsed like worms, thanks to Circa’s lifeweaver magic.

He looked me up and down, eyebrows furrowed.

“Just some light training,” Circa said. “He’s ready to join you. One request, though, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Jarn noticed Circa, eyes landing on her silver badge and widening. He stood a little straighter. “A request?” he asked. He sounded caught off guard, as though even an unaffiliated silver might carry some authority over him.

Circa stepped in front of me and Lyria, facing Jarn. “You wanted Brynn to help you clean up after you cleared the infestation, correct?”

Jarn inclined his head. 

“How large of a party were you planning to bring?”

“A few of my guards and a couple hired hands from the adventurer’s guild.”

“I’d like you to send me, Lyria, and Brynn,” Circa said. “The rest of you can remain in town today. We’ll handle it.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Our scribes have assessed the threat level at tier two, My Lady. I would advise—”

“We’ll handle it,” she repeated.

Jarn swallowed with a hard click, took one step away, and then paused with his back to us. He lifted a hand as if he was about to say something, dropped it, and then stalked off. 

Lyria looked a little pale.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I’m trying to figure out why she wants to get us killed.”

“Do you have so little faith in my ability to protect you two?” Circa asked. “Come. I’d like to reach our destination within the hour. I already saw the posting at the guild. It’s not far from here.” 

I had to jog to catch up with Circa. Lyria fell in beside me. For once, she looked like she’d forgotten how much she enjoyed antagonizing me.

“What does a level two threat mean?” I asked.

“Usually, a scribe specialist will assign difficulty ratings,” Circa said. “They use a form of magic that fuels things like the device in the guild that reads your core stone. It can be a rather precise practice if the scribe is skilled enough.”

“So it can be precise,” I said slowly. “But it can also be wrong?”

“Some powerful entities and individuals can mask their power. If the scribe misses the signs, then yes. They can be wrong.”

Lyria chimed in. “Which is why the common practice is to assume any threat level is one tier too low. Woods usually only go into threat level zero. Irons for threat level one. Silvers for Threat level two, and so on. And they do it with a full party of equally skilled people.”

I missed a step. “Wait. He said threat level two, right? Circa, should we reconsider?”

“No.” The stern woman finally stopped, turning to face me. “Every level of experience is not created equally. You asked me to train you as well as I could. Training is the forging of a blade, as I’ve said. I know Seraphel didn’t reach the heights of godhood by carefully tiptoeing his way toward power. He faced impossible odds at every opportunity. He built the strongest possible foundation from the earliest stages.”

“You know this, or you assume this?” I asked carefully.

Circa’s lips twitched. “It is a safe assumption.”

I let out a breath. I knew I could command her to do almost anything, and she’d probably comply. I could tell her this sounded like a suicidal risk. She met my eyes. I could tell she was waiting to see what I’d do—to see if I would call this whole thing off.

“Lyria?” I asked. “Is there truth in what she’s saying? About bigger risks making people stronger? Because if it’s not true, I’d rather climb in power carefully and safely.”

Lyria’s jaw ticked as she glared at Circa. Finally, she gave the slightest nod. “What she says is true. But it only matters to insane people. Most people never leave Wood, let alone past Iron and beyond. And getting to Iron is enough to set you up for a comfortable, happy life with more money than you’d need.”

I considered it for a long time. Did I have to climb to the peaks of power? I didn’t even know why Seraphel would have done something like resetting his power and memories. For all I knew, he was simply power-hungry and wanted to do whatever he could to get stronger for strength’s sake.

Then I remembered that Seraphel was just me. I wouldn’t have done something like this for no reason. I would’ve had a purpose. Something that mattered. And I wouldn’t have sent myself back to the bottom if I hadn’t needed every last scrap of power I could muster.

“Alright,” I said. “Lyria, you can stay behind if you want. I won’t ask you to take a risk like this with us. But I’ll go.”

Circa relaxed and gave the slightest bow of acknowledgment. She thought I’d made the right choice. Let’s hope I have.

“Damn it,” Lyria said. She looked in the direction Jarn had gone, bounced on her toes, then clutched the sword's pommel at her hip. “Jarn told me to keep you out of trouble. I’m going, but only because it’s following orders.”

“I’m pretty sure your orders are—” I start, but Lyria raises a palm to stop me.

“Shut up, Brynn. I’m following orders, and that’s the end of it.”

“If everyone is done,” Circa said, turning and walking again without waiting. “I need to pick up one more person before we continue. After all, I don’t intend for any of us to die out there.”

#

Circa had us wait outside the adventurer’s guild for a while before she emerged with a grizzled-looking tomte. I took an involuntary step back when I saw the creature. The last time I saw these things, they’d either tried to kill me, steal my helmet, or collect my “goo.”

I inspected him as he spoke softly with Circa by the door.

[Tomte, Level 44 (Iron)] “Tomte originated from an isolated cave system for most of their history. The discovery of their race is a relatively recent development. The races who discovered tomte found them as trusting as children and often took advantage. After the Slave Wars, tomte resorted to using cursed tomte as advisors to protect themselves from mistreatment at the hands of outsiders. 

Hi, Seraphel. I just wanted to say I agree with you. Soul was really the way to go. These are the kind of good choices that got you to the top, aren’t they? It feels like I’m getting to watch history repeat itself. The path of a fresh young man on his ascension to godhood. How exciting!”

I really wanted to know who my secret messenger was, but I supposed it didn’t matter for now. At least they were weirdly supportive.

The tomte and Circa approached us. Circa gestured to the little man, who was roughly three feet tall and as slim as a child. “This is Rock. He’ll be our Shield for this operation.”

He had a gray, tangled beard and wore a brown robe with a hood. Plates of metal were sewn into the robe at various points. A plated headband held back more wild silver hair beneath the hood. There was a metal-reinforced quarterstaff on his back. 

“Hi, Rock,” I said, holding out a hand.

Rock eyed my hand from beneath a bushy gray eyebrow, then stepped back, thumbs hooked in the metal plates around his belly. He spit on the ground and started walking toward the town’s exit.

I awkwardly lowered my hand, pretending not to notice Lyria snickering at me.

“He’s charming,” Lyria said once we were moving again.

“My helmet said they’re supposed to be trusting to a fault,” I said, keeping my voice low so he wouldn’t overhear me. From the back, he looked like an armored child walking beside Circa. “It didn’t look like he trusted me.”

“Your helmet told you about tomte?” Lyria asked. She gave a low whistle. “That thing is probably worth a fortune. Forget reaching for Iron rank and a cushy job. I bet you could sell your helmet and buy yourself a mansion full of servants.”

I smiled, even though she couldn’t see it. “Is that what you’d do?”

I expected her to answer lightly, but she looked suddenly serious. “Nah,” she admitted. We passed through the front gates of town then, stepping over some of the ongoing construction to repair whatever had broken the portion of wall I’d seen when I first arrived. There was already a flurry of activity as townspeople hammered and delivered supplies.

“Are you hoping to be a guard captain?” I asked once it was clear she didn’t plan to elaborate.

“Maybe you should just worry about yourself, hm?” Lyria picked up her pace and followed more closely behind Rock and Circa. 

I let her go and decided the travel time would be my only calm opportunity to figure out my abilities. From what Circa said, we’d be at our destination soon. I didn’t want to arrive without any ability to fight beyond chucking potions or slapping things with my leather whip.

Thankfully, my veins were still bulging with Circa’s protective magic. If nothing else, I felt a little more secure because of that.

We headed across the grassy plains away from the trees and deeper into the foothills. Tall mountains stood in the distance, with one peak dwarfing the rest. It was capped with snow and rose so high it disappeared behind the clouds. I was no expert, but it had to be bigger than anything back on Earth by a long stretch.

I was tempted to ask about it, but Circa seemed to be keeping her distance once I told her to stop treating me like her master. Rock would probably spit on me if I asked him about it. Lyria was probably the most likely to answer, which wasn’t saying much. 

I swallowed up my curiosity, which was no small feat. Instead, I focused on trying to use “Elemental Projection.” With my Alchemist’s Kit full of poison in hand, I ran back through the things I already tried in the arena. Without Lyria about to crush me, my thoughts felt more clear. I methodically went through idea after idea. It more or less felt about as fruitful as trying to use magic on Earth would’ve felt. There was no tingle of getting closer. There was no sense of power. There was nothing. 

Eventually, I thought back on what I could recall of Circa and Lyria’s descriptions of mana. They made it sound like it existed in my body and the air. I shifted my focus to searching for some kind of connection or feeling while picturing mana all around me. I nearly tripped on rocks embedded in the grass a few times because I was so inwardly focused. Lyria gave me a few disdainful looks over her shoulder, but I didn’t let it bother me. I reminded myself that I’d figured this out before and likely become extremely proficient with the ability. Thanks to my prestige path, I even supposedly had a small fragment of my original power in manipulating mana. 

I could do this…