Soul of Blades- Chapter 21: A Peculiar Party (Patreon)

Day turned into night and back into day again. Alex continued on his path undeterred. He slept in the forest, hunting small and occasionally large creatures, and some strange variations of boar, and elk. All the while wondering why he hadn't encountered anything significantly larger. Where were all the monsters? He wondered, a question often repeated. His status hadn't changed at all, the small creatures only giving him negligible gains. Alex enjoyed the serenity of the forest, coming from a big city, he had always relished the trips he'd taken with his family into nature. Camping was one of his favorite pastimes. And although he hadn't enjoyed it as much in the dungeons jungle, Staring into a breathtaking alien night sky filled with nebula in unseen colors had left him breathless. The air was always cool, carrying the scent of pine and earth, and its winds blended the subtle sounds of distant animals with the rustle of leaves. He loved it. But despite this, he still found himself itching for growth, and for a challenge, and anticipating his arrival to the settlement.

One afternoon, during his long trek to civilisation, the rustle of leaves broke the monotonous rhythm of his footsteps, and he stilled. From the forest emerged a group of individuals, decked in various armours and weapons. Their faces watched Alex with curiosity tinged with frustration and exhaustion.

They were human, or at least, appeared so. Alex should have been cautious, wary. But after a week of fighting and scavenging, he only felt relieved. And elated.

"Who're you, stranger?" The woman leading the group questioned, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. She was tall and fierce, and well muscled, as if she could spring to action at a moment's notice. Her bright and piercing green eyes glaring at him with a challenging gaze.

"Alex," he answered, raising his hands in a non-threatening gesture. Or what he hoped was a non-threatening gesture. Now that he thought about it, with the system and all of the magical skills it brought into play, raising your hands could probably be interpreted as a threatening gesture.

He really hoped they wouldn’t try to kill him.

"I mean no harm." he called out, meeting her gaze.

"Alex," She began after a while, curiosity piquing her features. "What town, or city are you from?"

Alex felt a twinge of something at the question. Remorse? Longing? He couldn't say. This wasn't his world, and he had no idea how they would react to that information. He had to think of something, and fast. "I... I don't remember," he lied. He saw the surprise, then suspicion in their eyes. He hurriedly came up with an explanation, a half-truth. "I was hit by a memory wipe skill in a dungeon. I only just escaped alive."

"Dungeon?" The older man’s eyes sparkled with a mix of excitement and dread. "There are still dungeons? Thank the gods."

Alex nodded, rubbing his temples, relieved. "Yes, it was deep in the forest. It took me many days to get out. But the forest is pretty dense, and the path isn't clear. I'm afraid I can't find it again."

"Many... Days?..." The party shared a look amongst them, and an awkward silence briefly engulfed them. Then, one of them shrugged. "We'll find it, or another one. We'll manage." The larger man carrying a staff said, cracking his knuckles with a determined look in his eyes. "We always have."

Did I say something wrong? When did they leave the tutorial? If it was recent, it could explain why the forest has been so empty... Realising his mistake, Alex hastily added "The time spent recovering from the memory wipe is a bit of a haze, I was just attacking everything in sight until I recovered. Its... I think its how I survived." Alex hated having to lie like this, as they seemed like good people. But until he understood more about this world, he wouldn't risk information that could threaten his life.

The group eyed him warily but didn't attack. The woman exhaled and seemed to relax a little. "I'm Lyra," she said, breaking the tension, then gestured to the rest of the group. "This is Finn, Keir, and Ayla. We are... were, an adventuring party."

"Were?" Alex questioned.

Lyra sighed. "Ever since this new 'system' came into place, things have changed."

Keir, a tall man with grizzled hair, grunted in agreement. "I used to be known in this region as the Archmage of Waves. My command over mana and its influence on water was unparalleled. I could move oceans. But now, I am a level 26... what was it? Ah, yes, ‘Aquathaumaturge’. Hmph."

“Bah, that's not so bad, you're just being negative.” Finn, the youngest among them, joined the conversation with a dismissive wave. "But I will admit that it's not ideal. The wild magic most once had mastery over has been shackled by these... 'Skills.'"

"Indeed," Lyra said, giving Alex a tight smile. "Well, since you're also an unwilling participant in this system, you're welcome to join us. We can help each other. Teach you the ropes, so to speak."

The offer was kind, and Alex felt a wave of gratitude wash over him. He nodded, accepting the offer. "Thank you. I would appreciate that."

The group welcomed him, and together they made their way through the forest.

As they walked, Alex tilted his head slightly, trying to keep a casual tone in his voice as he queried a point that had been on his mind ever since he'd met the group. “So, about the tutorial. I can't remember much of it. Any of it, really. Have I lost anything important?”

At his question, Ayla, draped in leather armour embroidered with vines and flora, let out a light giggle. “Anything important, he says.” She slowed down, a lightness in her step as she moved to walk beside him and continued. “It was mostly rules. Lots of rules. And quests… Gods, I hated those quests.”

Keir snorted, “If I see another quest, it'll be too soon. There wasn't a single one where people didn't die. Although equipment rewards were fascinating, they were never worth the lives they cost. We lost too many for too little; hundreds died in our cluster for mere relics. E grade, and F grade, they called it.” He paused, an air of frustration taking over him. “Although, how the materials were made from nothing by the ‘system’ was fascinating, like perfect transmutation. But hardly the work of masters, and hardly worth lives. Perhaps the winners and top performers received better rewards, D ranked or even higher.” He slammed his staff into the earth and huffed, causing the ground around the point of impact to sink slightly.

Alex tilted his head slightly, the casual tone in his voice long forgotten, replaced with sheer curiosity. “D ranked equipment? How high does the ranking even go?”

Keir, running his fingers through his beard, looked thoughtful. His eyes, normally calm and contained, now sparkled with the excitement of sharing knowledge. "It's quite the system. These ranks, they're all about the density of mana and energies in the materials. It's fascinating, really."

He tapped his staff on the ground, and water spiraled around the wood briefly before settling. The staff glowed subtly, the air around it bursting with a fine mist.

Alex watched, his eyes widening slightly as he observed the phenomenon. The staff and even the very air around the mage lit up in Alex’s senses, a soft pulsing of energy trailing and surging through the air moments before it manifested into water. So that's what someone else magic feels like, that must be water mana he just used, and Outer focus allowed me to sense it before the skills effects manifested, Alex realised.

Keir, oblivious to Alex's internal musings, continued enthusiastically. "These grades, they start at F and go up. To S, and all the way to L- legendary, and M- mythical. They apply to everything here - skills, equipment, even the worlds themselves."

He gestured broadly with his staff, encompassing their surroundings.

A leaf, caught in a gentle breeze, fluttered by, drawing Alex's attention momentarily. "And this affects how strong or effective something is?" he questioned, his gaze returning to Keir.

Keir's eyes gleamed with the passion of a teacher. "Precisely. A twig from a high-ranked world could surpass metal from a much lower one. It's all about the underlying energies infused into the materials." He plucked a leaf from a nearby bush, holding it up. "This might look ordinary, but in a world of a much higher rank, even this could hold immense power."

As they advanced through the forest and searched for hours, Alex, keenly observant, listened intently to their explanations. They all sought to help him ‘recover what he had lost’. They seemed like good people, and were starting to grow on him. As they walked, Lyra spoke next, commenting on her experience with the systems tutorial realm. "It taught us that experience isn't just about fighting,for some classes, although we all had to battle in the end." she said, her voice low to avoid startling the wildlife. "Different classes gained from different activities. As a warrior, I thrive in battle, but for others, it could be crafting or exploration. They were said to receive bonuses to mastery, experience, and strength for allowing their actions to follow their path."

Alex, his hand on the hilt of his sword, nodded thoughtfully. “That’s quite different from what I’m used to. In the dungeon, it was mostly about fighting.”

“Yes, everyone had to fight constantly, regardless of their class or level. Daily. The tutorial was unforgiving. I imagine your cluster would've been the same, if you could remember it.”

Alex considered her words.

Their stories and insights into ‘the new system’ was illuminating. There were things he hadn't known about its effects on the world, things he hadn't considered. The group, despite their own struggles, were more versed in the workings of this system, their time spent in the 'tutorial' realm giving more clarity and safety than Alex’s hellish crash course in jungle warfare.

As they conversed, he continued to ask questions, discovering the party members' classes in the process before sharing his own, in a way. Ayla's class was "Wild Guardian," a class closely connected to the forces of nature, a specialized form of druid, Alex guessed. Finn revealed himself as an "Umbral Phantom," a class adept in manipulating shadows and darkness, infusing it into himself and objects. Lyra's class, "Stone Warden," specialized her already deadly sword skills with the ability to control earth and stone. And Keir, the "Aquathautmaturge," class made him adept at working miracles with all things water.

Alex had told them that he was a spellsword in response, deciding that admitting the true nature of his class would be an astoundingly terrible idea; not only did he not want to paint a target on his back in Pyra, he did not want to paint one for the Imperials either, at least not until he was strong enough to withstand anything they threw at him. He'd forgotten most of the Dao vision, but the images of destruction caused by the Imperial would be forever seared into his mind; he needed power like that of his own.

He briefly demonstrated his mana blade skill before deactivating it to solidify the lie. His Mana Blade had lit up with mana, blazing in his new vision more than anything he'd ever seen before, and yet strangely, he didn't find it blinding. He hated lying, but this was essentially life and death.

Lyra, Kier, Finn, and Ayla had been in the tutorial realm for over a week, and had not too long ago been returned back to their world en masse. In the tutorial realm, they had been tasked with quests to learn the intricacies of the system and test their skills and classes in 'safer' environments. Although from the stories they told, what constituted 'safe' to the system, was relative.

Ayla, who had been quietly observing, spoke. Her voice was like a soft melody, calming yet sad. "I believe the system is a shackle. I cannot commune with my great mother. My skill will not allow it.” She pointed towards the ground at what Alex presumed to be a representation of some earthen dirty, or Pyra’s version of Gaia as Ayla continued. “Our abilities, our magic,” she said, emotion seeping into her voice, “our mastery, and everything we worked for, it's all been reduced to numbers and levels. Most of them were completely removed.”

"And we're not the only ones," Lyra added. "It seems everyone from our world, every last one of us, was forced into that strange tutorial realm. To learn to grow powerful in this new system. I'm glad we are back home, my sword skills remain, but my mana is gone. We have been set back to day one. Like pups, or babies."

Keir, the grizzled mage, had initially struggled with the system. As an ex-Archmage the sophisticated, vast, and free-form magic he once commanded was now trapped in the rigid 'class' and 'level' structure. His magic, once as wild and untamed as the seas, now seemed tame, like a river flowing within its prescribed banks.

"But there's a unique challenge here," Keir mused one evening, as they all huddled around a campfire. He held up a small blue stone glowing with intricate runic patterns. It was a mana crystal, one of the few good things the system had introduced. "I have already successfully battled the system's impulses, and altered my skills. It takes constant focus, meditation, and countless failures. But you only need to succeed once. I can no longer sense pure mana, my skills forbid it. But  I can sense the mana in water, and water is everywhere. The magic hasn't disappeared, it's merely... changed. It's a riddle, one that I intend to solve.”

Lyra had her own trials. She had always been a warrior, relying on her brute strength, experience and battle-worn wisdom to best her opponents. But now, every 'Level' she climbed, every 'Feat' she gained, brought her new techniques, new tactics to master. She reminisced about the vast battles and skirmishes that took place before their world- one with thousands of years of mastery over wild mana, had been introduced to the system. Although she had to admit, the mock wars of the tutorial taught her more about strategy and leadership than she'd ever thought possible. A war where every single soldier had competent magic was... interesting. Still, there had been exceptions. Those powerhouses of the tutorial that had taken to the system like fish to water.

She wondered how they would fare against the old legends of this world.

Ayla, who had the quiet grace of the wilderness in her every movement, thanks to her new class. She had found herself becoming one with Pyra more and more each day. The tutorial realm had initially removed her unique bond with nature, the ability to read the beasts and the environment. It had been a connection so profound, it had made her part of the world of Pyra itself.

With her new class, she had begun to re-establish and attempt to regain her connection to the world.

"Every creature, every tree, they're all part of a larger tapestry," she explained one starlit night. "The system, these words. It’s only made me see it more clearly. I don't know how long it will take, but I will regain- No, I will surpass my old limits."

"It wasn't so bad," Finn said one evening, his voice low as he tinkered with a contraption he'd found on their path. "There was this trap so bloody complicated I thought I was done for. But when I managed to disarm it, I found out I’d gained a skill – 'Master of Mechanisms.' Seems like a fancy name for something I've always been good at, but it's made it easier. It's made everything easier.”

"These traps, they're child's play," he'd mutter, dismantling another poorly concealed snare. "Back in the tutorial realm, the traps were like puzzles - intricate, deadly puzzles. And I beat 'em all." His words were full of scorn, Finn wasn't the type to grin or cheer. He was more likely to scowl than anything, but there was a certain pride in his eyes when he spoke about his triumphs.

Keir kept to himself, mostly. Still, there were moments when the old mage would look up from his studies, a spark in his weary eyes. "This system, it's like a dam holding back a river. Like a block in my mind, hindering me everytime I try to tap into the mana all around us. A week ago, I could use the that flows around us to summon a storm from the moisture in the air.” He waved his hand in a grand gesture and looked hopeful, as if expecting something to happen. Nothing did. Keir sighed and continued. “The system has disconnected us from the mana of the world. Forcing us to use it as a proxy. It's restrictive, frustrating... but it also stores potential. I used to command the oceans, now I am limited to puddles. But even a puddle can hold a storm. It may have weakened us, but I suspect these ‘levels’ will make it easier to surpass our old limits. Maybe even rival the gods." he'd say, his hands gesturing as though he could almost touch the raw, unshaped magic. "There's something more, beyond the numbers and levels. I can feel it."

A slight crease formed between his brows as he studied a skill crystal in his hand "one cannot just mourn the loss of the old," he reflected. The crystal pulsated softly, its light was almost soothing. "We need to understand this system, comprehend its limits... and then perhaps, we can learn to break them."

The ex-archmage's words were not hollow. Alex saw how diligent he was in his efforts to decode the system's logic, often using his limited mana to experiment with various spells. Kiers curiosity had taken a hold of him, a spark in his eyes that refused to diminish. There was a sense of challenge in his voice, a keen determination to reclaim his control over the boundless, wild force of mana.

"It's the same energy," he continued, his gaze far-off and thoughtful. "It is still mana, but now it is bound by new rules. To regain our mastery, we must understand these rules, perhaps even bend them to our will. Break them. Rediscover the edges of magic and shatter our skills, limitations and influence.”

Such reflections were common among them. They wondered about the world they knew, how it had changed, and how those changes had affected others. Alex joined them in their musings as they pondered on how the old entities – beings who had been close to gods in their power and wisdom – were managing in the new system.

"Those beings... They could shape reality with a mere thought," Lyra murmured once, her eyes distant as they watched the moonlit landscape. "Did they too have to endure a tutorial realm? Are they also confined to these... 'levels' now?"

Her words hung like a weight around them, reflecting their collective anxieties and uncertainties. It was a world that was familiar, yet so foreign. A place where they belonged, and yet, felt utterly lost.

And the monsters, and mythical beasts of the world, were they still as powerful as before the tutorial? Or even worse… Had they been empowered by the system? While the rest of them were weakened?

Only time would tell.