Chapter 14 (Patreon)

An invisible force pulled Flint out of his slumber. He was pleased to find Bjorn curled up next to Maya by his feet. The snowdog raised his head to look at him for a moment before tucking his nose back into his tail and closing his eyes. Unwilling to disturb the two, he eased himself out of the bedroll, picked up his trousers, coat, and boots before exiting the stone shelter.

The sun hadn’t appeared over the Verdant Plains, but its first rays still coloured the sky pink and orange. Flint took a moment to admire the beauty before turning his attention to the invisible pull. It didn’t take him long to see a light pulsing among the buildings below him. He identified the rainbow colours as the Heartstone straight away.

Flint relieved himself and washed up before getting clothed. He made a point of burying his waist with dust before heading downhill. After completing his work on the outer wall, Flint planned on investigating the fort’s sewage system. A settlement of its magnitude was bound to have something of the kind. As far as he knew, humankind had discovered the importance of sanitation centuries before the last war. Improper hygiene attracted vermin and disease, after all. They didn’t want to give the fae more weapons to cull their numbers.

The stone monolith hummed as Flint approached it. He wasn’t sure why it was summoning him. He hadn’t yet completed either objective. The quest didn’t ask him to raise the walls. It only required him to restore them and add deterrents. Flint believed his plans for the ramparts were sufficient. That only left one another possibility. So, he excitedly pressed his hands against the ancient stone and communed with the Heartstone.

A golden glimmer surrounded the pedestal and the ancient tome above it. In the Heartstone’s endless whiteness, it reminded him of the Church of Iron’s depictions of God: A grey-haired smith. All the art depicted him surrounded by a burning forge’s glow as he stood over an anvil, forging a disk much like the one they lived on.

Ink seeped through the open page as Flint approached it and words formed soon after.

[Class Quest]

You have completed the first objective.

A new light blossomed on Node Compass’s surface between [Kennel Master] and [Pack Leader]. When Flint focused on the [Aura Node], words appeared on the pages to enlighten him.

[Pack Leader]

-[Aura of Entangling Fur] > [Aura of Entangling Fur I]

-[Soul Link] > [Soul Link I]

-[Guide Growth]

It was a pleasant surprise when the Heartstone gave him more information.

[Guide Growth]

While a [Kennel Master] grows in power, his hounds need to as well. Guiding their development is an essential tool in his arsenal. Commune with your hounds like you would a Heartstone and mould their compass in whatever manner you desire.

The description didn’t tell him a lot, but it was better than nothing. Helping Maya and eventually, Bjorn become more powerful would improve his odds when facing the Wyld’s forces.

When the [Power Node] glowed, he scanned it too.

[Defensive Construction V]

-[Builder’s Brawn V]

-[Shape III] > [Shape+ III – Compression and Extraction specialisation]

-[Reinforce IV]

-[Architecture II]

-[Bind II] > [Bind III]

-[Totem of Nurture]

-[Totem of Healing] > [Totem of Healing I]

The growths were a welcome surprise. While [Shape] hadn’t gained a rank in several years due to his sparing use of the ability, the specialisation was a welcome change. A handful of veteran builders boasted unique improvements to their [Reinforce] ability, but he had never seen specialisations for any other [Building] active abilities. Flint assumed the upgrade to [Defensive Construction] had something to do with the change. It was most likely all the digging and creating blocks out of the rubble that had done it.

Flint had picked [Bind] on upgrading [Building] to the fifth rank. His superiors had told him it was a stupid pick. Its use was much too situational, and there were better options for one of Iron Army’s builders. Flint had justified to himself that he didn’t intend to spend his life working for them. He hadn’t had the opportunity to train the ability until he started his life quest and it finally gaining a rank pleased him. [Totem of Healing]’s swift growth put a smile on his face too. Flint hoped the other active abilities would gain specialisations too to make his life easier.

[Class Quest]

Upgrade your hounds to the next stage of their existence.

Reward: A choice of three skill stones and instinctual knowledge of its use to its user.

The reward made Flint’s heart skip a beat. He had heard that life quests and classes were a vital source of rare skill stones. Most people relied on inheritance, beasts in the deep wilds, or the monsters residing in the tunnels and bridges between disks to find them. War were brilliant sources of them too. However, there was no guarantee that a killed soldier or civilian would drop their skill stones at death. Scholars believed there was a matter of will involved, and the Iron Church regulated research on such subjects.  He hoped the Heartstone would give him something worthy of his one empty node. Otherwise, he’d trade it with the residents of Lea’s Slumber for resources.

Flint sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening after releasing the Heartstone. The Iron Church’s blacksmith had always felt like a silly deity, but he didn’t dare think about it while in the army. When he first enlisted, one of the older builders had been told him to watch his thoughts. There was no telling who was listening in on them. Flint wasn’t sure whether the man was joking or there genuinely were skill users with such abilities. Getting punished for blasphemy would result in a whipping, so he tried his best to hide his doubts. Now, he wasn’t sure anymore. The only godly figure he knew that had any positive influence on his life was the Heartstone. So, he thanked it before returning to his camp.

The dogs were drinking out of the stream when he got back. Maya came running to him with her tongue out and tail wagging. Flint dropped to his knees and embraced his beloved friend before channelling [Guide Growth]. He felt the same sucking feeling as with the Heartstones. Instead of an endless sea of white, he found himself standing atop a grass-covered hill. A pedestal stood in front of him with a large disk atop it.

Upon closer inspection, Flint realised that it was another node compass. However, there were no holes. [Power], [Control], [Mind], and [Aura] sat in their usual positions. Meanwhile, lines connecting the halfway point between each node to the compass’s centre forming a cross. It divided the shape into four wedges, and tinted sand sat in each division. They mostly gathered around the centre and splayed out towards the nodes.

Flint didn’t quite understand the structure’s purpose and reached for a pinch of green sand in [Control]’s wedge. His fingers went through the substance, and he only felt the cold stone underneath. As he ran his fingers along the surface, he felt deep grooves forming circles at regular intervals heading away from the centre.

It took Flint a moment to hypothesise what everything meant. The unequal quantities of sand likely signified Maya’s prowess in each category. Meanwhile, the grooves represented her ‘stage of existence’. The sand in [Control] and [Mind] sections were almost at the first groove while [Power] and [Aura] were far behind.

As understanding took its roots, a hand-sized pitcher appeared in the circle’s centre. Flint wasn’t surprised when he found white sand within it. Curious to discover what would happen when the sand reached one of the grooves, he trickled the vessel’s contents into the [Control] section. The tinted sand grew in volume but didn’t move towards the line straight away. He only saw a hair of movement at the halfway point.

Before dumping everything in the section, Flint stopped himself. The Heartstone wanted him to learn through experimentation, but he refused to toy with Maya’s existence. She was precious to him. There was no telling what would happen if he dedicated everything to one section. Flint thought of the overly muscled men with limited mobility. They were strong warriors but moved slowly and often died early due to heart complications. The speedy ones were another extreme and were as fragile as they came. So, he divided the rest of the sand between [Power] and [Mind]. The former didn’t display any change, but the latter moved a touch more than [Control] even though it got less.

“It’s because you’re a clever girl, isn’t it, Maya?” He smiled to himself, putting the pitcher down. It disappeared, and the white sand glowed for a second before adopting the surrounding grain’s colours. When nothing else happened, Flint let go and returned to reality. Maya licked his face as he let go.

Flint whistled and waved at Bjorn to come closer. The wolfdog stared at him, his tail swishing from side to side slowly. Then he turned away and walked off towards the firepit’s remains. Flint refused to force his affections on the dog and left him alone. The sun was up, and he had a lot to do.