Aster Fall, Ch 7: The Taste of Ashes (Patreon)

The Barbarian stared at Jeric as the threat to twist his head back on straight registered. Then he barked out a rough laugh. Unfortunately for him, Jeric’s anger wasn’t dissipating, and he took a step back as he assessed the situation.

“For thieves, you have balls.” He looked around, taking in Sam and Lesat. His gaze slid away and he frowned as he tried to look at Sam again.

It happened again and he forced it back, trying to focus on him. It was like staring through a hailstorm. His eyes wanted to close and look somewhere else. His gaze drifted away before he could stop it.

It gave him an unsettling feeling to not be able to tell who the caster was.

From the giant spell barrier across the road, it was obvious the caster wasn’t a pushover. It was a huge barrier and it was crackling with ice and lightning, which meant the caster was strong and specialized in either double elements or a merged one. That was rare.

The guard in full plate was a bit intimidating, since he reminded him of town guards. He couldn’t tell his exact class, but it had to be something like that. It was also clear that his armor was heavily enchanted, which wasn’t good news. It meant wealth or strong connections. Things that could cause him trouble.

The guard was nowhere near as powerful-looking as the Barbarian-type in front of him though. He didn’t know what to make of the angry, bearded man who was standing in his way.

He finally saw the women behind them as he kept looking. His eyes skipped over Krana and settled on Aemilia and Altey, who were clearly being protected, his expression turning to one of disbelief. He shook his head, looking back toward Jeric.

“Who are you people and what the hell are you doing bringing a weak woman and a girl to the Storm Plains? Are you an escort team? What company are you with?”

He looked at the monster corpses and at the wounds they had, frowning as he realized that none of those wounds looked like they’d been delivered by his party.

He’d rushed after the monsters to try and get them while they were distracted. His casters had been attacking and he’d thought they’d gotten lucky in killing the Storm Striders when the cloud broke up.

He’d expected to find the devils still alive, only to see these people instead. He wasn’t one to admit that he was wrong though, even when he saw the truth of it.

Instead, he blustered ahead as he focused on Jeric’s words.

“You want to play with me? Alright, you and me, we’ll see who’s the real man. Let’s settle this. Winner takes all of the corpses and the cores.”

Sam shook his head as he analyzed the man.

Human. Warrior-Barbarian. Level 43.

It was clear that he had no idea what he was facing.

Jeric walked forward, golden energy radiating from him. He was about to take the adventurer up on his offer and show him why he should have looked before attacking.

If that happened, Sam had no doubt his father would win, but he didn’t trust the adventurers enough to let it happen. They would try something.

“Leave now. The corpses are not yours,” Sam interrupted coldly, his voice through the air. His tone held a growl. “All that is yours is the blame for this. You sent a wave of monsters at us and then attacked.”

There was a desire for battle singing between the essence stars in his blood that made him want to leap forward and rip the adventurers to pieces with his talons. He pushed the feeling down.

Perhaps it would be better for the world if these adventurers were buried here, but the fact that they were human and that it might have been an accident was keeping him from attacking them.

His amulet pinged as the Barbarian looked toward him and then away again.

He’d combusted five auras now, which was getting close to what he could handle without damaging his meridians. One more would be his limit for the next couple of hours. If he hadn’t used so many, this would have gone in an entirely different direction.

The wild attacks from these adventurers had come straight for them, as if they didn’t care about attacking other people at all. He wasn’t planning to drop his shield until he was sure his mother and sister were safe.

Unfortunately, the Barbarian had to push his luck.

“Who the hell are you to talk to me like that?” His skin turned red as a mist started to form around him again, and he glared toward Sam. His vision kept sliding away, and Sam’s amulet pinged with the departing charges each time.

“He’s my son,” Jeric growled, as he looked back to Sam and then Aemilia and Altey. He nodded as he let out a breath. Then he pulled himself back together, firming his stance but not going any farther forward. “You’re lucky your attacks didn’t harm my wife or daughter. Now get out of here.”

“You think you can kill my monsters and take what’s mine?” The Barbarian growled as he raised his axe into the air. “I don’t care if you’re the Onyx Hand itself.”

As he spoke, the rest of the Barbarian’s team moved up behind their leader, presenting a more threatening front as they stared at Sam’s group.

Of the six, there were two women, the Archer-Scout and the Wizard/Mage, but they glared at Sam along with the rest.

The exchange was interrupted a moment later by the Visionary who was bringing up the rear. He rode up on one of the horses, leading the rest of them behind him.

When he saw what was going on, his eyes skipped over their party. His eyes widened as he caught sight of them, and his attention settled especially on Sam. He jumped off his horse next to the Barbarian and leaned over to whisper something in his ear, unaware that his voice carried to Sam's ears.

“Jaser, slow down,” the man hissed. “That caster has double unique classes and is an Outsider. I don’t know why he’s working with humans, but don't push him. You know what they're like. He’ll use your skull as a wine cup.

“The others…the leader is a rare melee and unique subclass, although it’s just a Merchant one. The guard is nothing special, but the two women in the back are Seers. That’s too much to handle.”

The Barbarian paused as he listened. A trace of nervousness flashed through Jaser's expression, but it wasn’t the terror Sam would have expected the name Outsider to create. The red mist around him fluctuated and then died down as he turned back to them, staring at them silently.

His gaze moved across each of them as his frown deepened, but he focused mostly on Sam. The amulet pinged again several times.

The two groups stared at one another across the distance. The corpses of the Storm Striders and the Flamecaller Devils were scattered across the ground and Sam’s Essence Shield crackled with lightning, adding an implicit threat.

“Fine.” Jaser pulled himself back together and glared at them, but he lowered his axe. “We’re not ones to cause trouble, but we have you outnumbered here, two to one with real fighters. Hand over the cores and you can keep the rest.”

“No,” Sam spoke before anyone else could say anything. His voice resonated with contained anger.

To the adventurers, he was an enigma. The only sign of his power was the giant barrier across the road, which crackled threateningly with his words.

“You will leave.”

Jaser tried to stare at Sam again. Then he gave the Visionary a glare as if it were his fault. His hands clenched as he tightened them around his axe, the knuckles whitening.

“Fine,” he snarled after a moment. “We’ll keep you in mind in the future.”

He turned to the others, waving his hand as he yanked the reins of his horse away from the Visionary.

“Let’s go.”

The party slowly rode away, growing more distant as Sam watched. His frown deepened as he watched them go, a flare of crystal flame surging around him.

Jesar’s reaction to him being an Outsider was less than he’d expected.

That was strange.

He wasn’t sure what the result of this encounter would be, but it wasn’t good news. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything about them knowing.

Not unless he wanted to kill them all. The thought crossed his mind, but it wasn’t who he was.

There was the taste of ashes in his mouth.

A lot depended on what they did with the information, and if anyone was able to find him and his family and act on it.

The information was going to get out eventually anyway, as soon as a Seer saw him, but he’d have to hope the Guardian Star kept the bigger players from acting.

No one else had heard what the Visionary had said, not unless Krana or his mother had somehow, but he’d have to tell them in a minute. He pushed the thought aside as he focused on what was more immediate.

He looked back at his mother and Altey again. Aemilia looked angry as she stared after the adventurers. His sister just looked confused. Her wand was still gripped tightly in her hand. Both of them were fine.

His father’s injuries were minor and would fade shortly, since his Constitution was over 80 now. That was also why the devils hadn't been able to really harm him. He would be fine.

Lesat was a bit more banged up. His left arm was torn up, with scorched blood and mangled steel wrapped around it, and his armor had seen better days. The devils had broken through the enchanted barrier and torn gouges in it, destroying sections of the metal.

His shield was barely recognizable. The once smooth edges of the kite shield had bites taken out of it and there were large chunks missing. It was covered in scorch marks and acid-etched trails from the devils’ saliva.

The repair enchantments might be able to handle it, but it would take a week or so. The guard would have to add some new metal and keep infusing the repair enchantment with mana.

Despite that, their hasty defense had worked. Partly because he’d used up so many auras. Lesat’s arm was the only thing that needed real attention.

Sam shook his head as he reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a healing scroll, passing it to Lesat. The guard had his own, but Sam had more of them.

Lesat nodded his thanks and unfurled the scroll in his hands, activating it. A moment later, a surging aura of white light rose out of the scroll, flowing around his body as his wounds began to heal.

“Let’s collect the experience,” Sam said finally, his mood improving as he looked toward the corpses. He’d used up more auras than he’d wanted to, but at least everyone was fine.

He leaned over and touched a devil corpse that was near him, searching for the aura in it. He’d seen it while he was fighting, a bright orange-red energy that ran through their bodies. It didn’t take long.

A sense of liquid flame filled his mind, with a flavor like a volcano mixed with tar. It was magma mixed with pockets of dark oil compressed beneath the earth. An explosive pressure accompanied it, waiting for a breeze to ignite it into an inferno.

You have encountered an unknown aura.

Do you wish to Reclaim it (35% chance) or to Identify it?

His Wisdom was up to 46 now, and 52 with the Staff of Withering Stasis, but the chance to reclaim an unknown aura had maxed at 35%. The increased Wisdom did make it easier to identify things, however.

The aura burned away in his grasp, consuming itself in a self-contained explosion that left behind the taste of scorched earth and boiling coal.

The aura has been consumed.

Your Fire Affinity has boosted your chance to Identify this aura (10%).

You have Identified the aura.

Aura of Compressed Flame.

The aura dissipated, turning to strands of energy as the remaining part of it flowed away into the world.

A moment later, a new notification appeared, one that he wasn’t expecting. It was accompanied by silver chimes that resonated with joyous abandon in his mind.

Congratulations, Battlefield Reclaimer.

For Identifying an Aura in a single attempt, your Identify Aura ability has reached the Advanced Tier.

Advanced: You gain a +10% chance to Identify new auras in a single attempt.

Sam glanced at the notification before nodding in appreciation. He’d been wondering what it took to get that ability, and his others, to Advanced.

It looked like the Advanced tier added a 10% chance to instantly Identify an aura. It should also improve his ability to Identify higher-level auras, although he hadn’t seen anything except a Basic one so far. He needed to get Reclaim Aura up first.

There were nine more of the devils, and he went around to each of them, reaching down to collect their auras.

Reclaiming Basic auras that he’d identified was easier than it had been in the past. His success had maximized at an 85% chance once he hit 45 Wisdom. With his Fire Affinity adding another 10% on these, it was almost guaranteed.

In short order, he’d collected the remaining nine auras. He felt a bit better about his expenditures as they all flowed into his storage.

Then he turned to the Storm Striders, leaning down over their corpses. As he did, he couldn’t help studying their strange bodies and the mottled grey patterns on their pale skin.

They were strange things. What had created monsters like this?

He touched the corpse of one, searching for the thread of aura, and it came to him in a whirlwind of clashing elements filled with streaks of shattered light and shadow.

Lightning, wind, earth, ice, fire, and wood swirled through the world, colliding and separating in a hurricane force as they were all pulled around a dark center. It was a void that reached out to consume the elements, pulling them toward itself.

Do you wish to Reclaim this aura (35% chance) or to Identify it?

It was tempting to try and reclaim it, but he chose to identify it. There would probably be more Storm Striders in the future.

The whirlwind swirled through his mind. He could sense the different elements swirling around the darkness at the center, each of them held apart and made to cooperate under its influence.

The energy at the center dwarfed everything around it, easily ten times stronger than any element by itself. Then it was gone, as the aura burned itself away to nothing in his grasp.

Identification is 60% complete.

Your chance to reclaim this aura has risen to 55%.

Sam frowned as he reached down and touched the other Storm Strider, or what was left of it. His spells had ripped this one apart more than the other and it was in several pieces. Fortunately, that didn’t affect the aura or experience it had.

The whirlwind filled his mind again and his impression of the mixed elements became even stronger, and for just a moment he had a flash of understanding for how they could all cooperate, their principles balanced in cooperation.

Before he could remember it, it was gone, the aura dissipating in his hands.

You have Identified an aura.

Aura of Elemental Void (Basic).

Your chance to reclaim this aura has risen to 85% percent.

He frowned as he looked down at the Storm Strider and shook his head. He needed to get Reclaim Aura to Advanced, and then maybe he could get an Advanced aura out of monsters.

After that, he went around collecting experience from the corpses, joining everyone else.

Threads of bubbling energy flowed into his body, sparkling like effervescent stars of merriment. It helped him to relax a bit, as the energy boosted his mood and filled his spirit.

All around, everyone was doing the same thing, touching each corpse as they walked past it.

One thing he’d come to understand more about over the past few months was how party experience worked. There was a part of his status sheet where he could request that the World Law divide experience equally with his party. Ever since he’d found it, it had been set that way. He just needed to go around and collect his part from each monster. That was what everyone else was doing at the moment.

Before long, more threads of bubbling energy were soaring through his blood, which made him feel a bit more cheerful.

You have used your Class abilities to slay your enemies.

You gain 210,500 Class experience.

Total Class Experience: 3,355,040 / 3,437,500

It wasn’t enough to raise his level, but it did put him with less than 100,000 to go until Level 46. It was getting close.

There was no notification about reaching the experience maximum. That had increased significantly after passing Level 40, and it continued to go up with each level. It would take a larger fight than this to hit it.

Experience was an extremely potent energy, and his body could only handle so much of it at once.

He shook his head as he started to search for the cores in the Storm Striders. The two he’d used for his sister’s wand and amulet had been the last ones he had.

These and the Flamecaller Devils should both have decent cores, which meant that he could get started on some of the other projects he had in mind.

His thoughts were focused on the future as he tried to put the adventurers out of his mind, debating how to tell his family that the news was out.

---

Unnoticed, a hawk floated in the sky above them. It was more than a mile away and its eyes were fixed on remains of the battle below. The Beastcaller behind it felt a sense of astonishment after what had just happened and he shook his head.

He was Level 40, but he would not have wanted to be in front of that horde of monsters. He was impressed, and also happy that Nijama, the head bandit, had decided not to attack them. Watching them had proved it wouldn’t be an easy fight.

If they’d shown everything they could do, he had confidence that the Silver Vipers could win, but they might have to call out the totem to deal with that strange caster. The thought made him shiver.

The Silver Viper required a large price to make an appearance, one that was paid in blood and mana. It wasn’t something to do lightly.

He ordered the hawk to continue to follow them, but he planned to keep as far away as possible. He just needed to see which way they were going.