Aster Fall, Ch 29: Ice Sylphs (Patreon)

“Hold still, son,” Jeric’s voice rumbled as he loomed in Sam’s vision. “You’re a bit of a mess, but you’ll be fine.”

Sam and Jeric's view of wounds had changed a bit over the last year, since they had more access to magical healing than they'd ever had before.

As soon as Jeric saw that Sam was still breathing, he relaxed.

The rest was fixable.

He felt his father pulling at his limbs to straighten them. The energy of a healing scroll flooded across his chest.

His meridians were itching with a sizzling pain, but the increased durability was enough that it was only annoying.

He sat up slowly. Broken ribs cracked as he moved, sliding back into place as his Constitution and the healing scroll worked.

The blessing from Siwaha was there as well, adding a layer of cool, icy energy that sped things along.

Killing the Icebloods hadn’t come without a cost.

His right arm and right leg were both broken, sending jagged points of pain up his nerves, and a deep, curving wound pierced through his abdomen low on the left side.

He also had wounds slicing across his right arm, right side, and hip, cutting two to three inches deep. Most of them had hit the bone, where they’d rebounded after taking out a chip or breaking it.

There were other, smaller wounds and cuts. Bruises covered most of his body, but those weren’t important.

He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a few more healing scrolls, activating it as the first one faded. He pressed it on top of the wound on his abdomen.

If his Constitution were lower, it would have been worse. He had enough in that attribute to endure the wounds.

It would take him a little while to get fixed up, but he wasn’t going to die.

The major problem was the hole from the warrior’s scimitar and the deeper slashes that tore through his muscles and right lung.

He blocked out the sensations of healing as he looked around, examining the aftermath.

His father was in front of him, holding another healing scroll as he looked for larger wounds. Beside him, Krana, Lesat, and Lenei were just running up.

Echoes of the last few moments came to him as he examined his memory.

At the same time as he’d killed the last Iceblood Warrior, the sylphs and his family had brought down the wyvern and the last couple of serpents and trolls.

In the village a couple of hundred yards away, his mother and sister started to run toward him now that it was safer, but Siwaha held them back with a patient hand.

She shook her head, and he saw her tell them something.

He wasn't sure what she said, but they relaxed and waited near her.

Lenei’s hands gleamed white with healing light as she laid them on his shoulders.

“Healing Touch,” she said quietly, as he felt the energy pouring in, adding to what was already there. “My main healing ability.”

For a moment, he’d forgotten she was both a Paladin and a Healer.

Lenei ignored the crowd as she continued pouring her mana into healing spells. From the look of it, he was the only one of their group who needed much healing.

The Ice Sylphs’ defensive tactics had kept everyone in good shape, even against the wyvern’s speed and the serpents’ acidic venom.

The arctic trolls had been the easiest to kill, despite their strength and dense hides. They were not very bright.

“Nice kick,” Lesat said as he looked at Sam. A slight grin lurked at the edges of his mouth. “I’ve never seen an Outsider explode quite like that before.”

Past Lenei, the Ice Sylphs who’d defended the village were gathering, forming a loose circle as they studied the newcomers.

Especially him.

Their eyes were intense, piercing blue like glacial ice. Their gazes never left his face.

Right then, he realized that his hood had fallen off during the battle.

He felt a bolt of panic that almost made him jump.

His illusion amulet had run out of charges. The Icebloods and even the villagers must have been looking at him constantly while he was fighting.

The crowd gathered closer, peering inquisitively at him.

“You have helped us,” one of the Ice Sylphs said as he examined Sam. He had a stoic expression that hid his thoughts, but his tone was kind. “And Elder Siwaha has blessed you, marking you as a defender of the valley.”

He turned slightly toward the other sylphs, making it clear that his words were a speech to those around him as much as they were addressed to Sam.

He examined Sam from head to toe, nodding slowly in time with his words.

“Therefore, you are not an evil Outsider, and not a demon,” he concluded, passing judgment on Sam's appearance. "You are a civilized race, one who is blessed by the World Law and who was summoned to aid us in battle."

He was shaping the narrative, his voice rising so that all of the villagers could hear him.

“And so, our hearts are ease. But for our curiosity...could you tell us about yourself? Where did you come from?”

As soon as he spoke, more of the Ice Sylphs jumped in, asking questions of their own.

“You fought with brilliant savagery,” one of the younger Ice Sylphs added with a positive uptilt in his words that made it into a compliment. “You have a natural gift for killing.”

“That’s not a bad thing,” the first Ice Sylph added as he glanced at his companion and back to Sam. “I understand other races may think of things different, but here, we are more in tune with nature.”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked as his forehead furrowed. He had been worried that they would find his appearance and tactics to be demonic.

He’d ripped the shaman and warrior apart with his bare hands.

Instead of being disgusted, they...seemed to like it?

“Your violence was worthy of a true warrior,” another sylph spoke up, adding his opinion with a nod. “I’d just like to know why you look like a demon. Your Race is an Outsider as well, but you’re from Aster Fall?”

More voices joined in, a chorus of questions and compliments that became overwhelming in an instant.

"An excellent end to those enemies of nature."

"How satisfying to see them ripped to shreds."

He wasn’t sure how to respond. For the last half year, he’d mostly been alone except for his family. Even before that, he’d only had a couple of close friends.

He wasn’t used to so much attention.

All around the buzz of Ice Sylphs asking question after question resonated in Sam’s ears, surrounding him in a peaceful buzz of vibrant village life.

Not a single one of them mentioned the battle in a negative light.

Fortunately, Krana came to his rescue.

“Before we answer that, let’s gather up everything and loot the monsters,” she advised. “It looks like we’re going to need everything we can gain from here.

"These definitely weren't working alone. There has to be a lot more where they came from. That Flaw is strange, and from what I've heard of such things...this looks like a Grand Flaw network."

"A Grand Flaw?" he asked, turning toward her. The Guardian Star had mentioned the same thing.

"It's a type of bigger Flaw that can develop if a Flaw is left alone for a while." Krana nodded. "It can create copies of itself, which the Outsiders start to use as portals around the local area."

"A Grand Flaw is one of the signs that there's a major problem in the area," Lenei added. "We need to alert the authorities again and then try to find the origin point.

"You can see the difference in the Flaw here. It's less vibrant than a main one."

Her hands were still glowing with healing magic as she poured the remainder of her mana into Healing Touch.

"If we don't find it and seal it, we might have an even bigger problem on our hands soon. The entire valley could be lost, becoming a hub for a terrible invasion."

By the time she was done, his major wounds had finished sealed over and he could feel threads of mana reinforcing his cracked bones, holding them in place.

Tentatively, he got to his feet, wincing slightly as he felt things shifting. Cracks of flaring pain ran along his bones where they’d been broken.

There was a splintering stab from the wound in his abdomen.

The damage was sealed over, but it would take a day or so to be fully healed, even with more magic.

Even if it were complete now, he’d still feel it for a while. Magical healing could fix you up, but it was difficult to remove the echo of the damage.

That took a little while to fade.

“Alright, let’s gather up what’s here,” he said as he pressed his left hand to his side.

His dad gave him a long look and nodded. Then they all turned toward the remains of the monsters.

It took a little while to clean up the battlefield, but between their group and the Ice Sylphs, it was efficient.

For the second time in his life, the silver shimmer of experience built up around Sam’s skin as they looted the corpses.

Slowly, the rainbow gash of the Flaw where the Icebloods had been standing grew smaller, as the flow of energy in the world moved towards it.

It was different from the last Flaw he’d faced, and he studied it as he thought about Krana and Lenei's words.

In some strange way, he could feel that it wasn’t as complex and it didn’t extend as far.

The Flaw that had led toward the Hell Spiders had been raw, with a sort of primal energy flowing through it that attracted him.

This one had some of that energy, but not as much. He was able to look at it without feeling much interest.

Part of the experience that was gained from the Outsiders was diverted to closing it, and eventually the Flaw sealed shut as the elemental energies and auras of the world flowed over it.

The notification came in a shimmer of silver chimes and a cascading border with flaring, nine-pointed stars at the corners.

You have used your Class abilities to defend Aster Fall from an Outsider Threat.

You are Acknowledged, Battlefield Reclaimer.

You need to assist in the sealing of three more Flaws to remove Defiant.

As a reward for your efforts, the remaining experience after sealing the Flaw is diverted to you and your allies.

Experience is allocated according to your contribution in the battle. The World Core will assist you with absorbing it.

You gain 2,340,000 experience.

Congratulations. You have gained seven Class Levels. You are now a Level 56 Battlefield Reclaimer.

Class Experience: 6,621,940 / 6,770,000.

You have gained seven Levels. You are now General Level 56.

Total Experience: 6,645,470 / 6,770,000.

You gain +7 Intelligence, +7 Aura, and have 21 free attribute points to distribute.

The silver bubble of experience began to pour into him, rushing through his veins in dancing explosions of starry light that was streaked in a thousand rainbow hues.

It was the first time in a while that he’d had such a large boost of strength.

He felt the World Core keeping control of the energy as it flowed into his veins, but the massive amount of experience didn’t overwhelm him in the same way it had before in the tunnels.

Perhaps it was because he was a higher level, or maybe his higher attributes were moderating the impact.

All around him, he could see the others covered in the same light, absorbing their share of the experience.

He felt his mind expanding and becoming sharper as his Intelligence rose to 107, and then his Aura followed as the strength of his spirit grew stronger.

One of his main deficits was still essence, so without thinking about it any longer, he added ten each of the free points to Intelligence and Aura, bringing them both to 117.

His mind sharpened, but it wasn't as dramatic a change as it had been when he'd been a much lower level.

Instead of completely remodeling his awareness, it felt like it was enhancing the vibrancy of his memory recall and increasing the number of things he could focus on at once.

As for the one free point, he added it to Wisdom.

It would do more good there than in other places, especially if he needed to reclaim new auras.

After a few minutes, the flow of energy stabilized and he turned his attention to the rest of the loot, going around the battlefield to search all of the enemies.

He needed to restore some of the auras he’d used and there were 36 monsters and Outsiders here.

The extra point of Wisdom didn’t change his 35% chance to identify or 85% chance to reclaim a Basic aura, but he was looking toward the future.

Once he was able to work with Advanced auras, it would be important.

It took him two or three lost auras to identify each type, but by the time he was done, he had several new gains in his storage.

It was good progress, even with a few of the corpses that he wasn’t able to reach, since they’d died before he arrived.

If the idea of the Grand Flaw was true, then he was going to need all of them.

There were eight Auras of Dark Acid from the Greenscale Abyssal Serpents, which tasted like ashen stone that was eroded by venom, dripping from holes in endless caves.

Four Auras of Enduring Stone from the Arctic Cave Trolls.

Those were like silent cliffs, high in the mountains, where the wind constantly howled and the ice built up over long years, layer after timeless layer, until from deep within its heart, glacial elementals were born with slow, rippling thoughts.

Five Auras of Desolate Life from the Icesoul Wraiths.

Those were the taste of death fleeting in the air after battle, the tinge of blood on the wind, and the feeling of endless grass blowing away across a field.

Of all of the auras he’d ever gathered, those were the ones that troubled him the most.

Auras came from Aster Fall, which meant that these were part of the world.

They reminded him of the desire for blood that he’d felt during the battle, and the way that he’d ripped the Icebloods apart.

Nature was not always peaceful.

He was content with that idea in his heart, but it still troubled him in his mind. He'd been raised to be kind and civilized.

He pushed the thought away as he turned toward the Icebloods, looking down at the remains of their corpses.

He hadn’t been able to gather the auras from them, but he had identified what the aura was, and it was both troubling and fascinating.

The Aura of Blood Winter.

It was the sudden edge of a wintry gale, its winds so sharp that they cut exposed skin like a knife, drawing blood that froze before it reached the open air.

It was a cold that sank into the bones, freezing the veins and vessels before it eroded the nerves and shattered the marrow.

It was skeletons drifting on the snow, their skulls rolling over like foam on a wave as they flowed down from the peaks to a village below.

He shook himself, shaking free from the feeling as he felt the last of the Icebloods’ aura crumble away in his hand.

Then he turned to the battlefield, spreading out his aura as he called to the essence stars that were scattered everywhere here.

With a slash of his talons, he tore them free from the corpses.

Some of the enemies were little more than discolored smears on the snow, but the stars rose from that all the same.

There were twelve Outsider corpses left, including the three Icebloods. This time, even the ones the Ice Sylphs had killed counted.

Dozens of essence stars ripped free, flying toward him in a river of energy that resembled a sparkling galaxy spinning on end in the night.

Images from his dreams came to him as he saw it, an echo of the distant stars in the void.

The essence stars changed from their original shade to a bright sapphire crystal, scintillating as they sank into his veins.

290 new stars joined the ones already present, adding to the growing constellation like new leaves on a branch.

Racial Essence: 637 / 1,000.

A pulse of increased strength ran through him as he felt his attributes rising. The echo of the same archaic notification sounded in his mind.

Attribute Gain Quantified by Aster Fall Standard.

Strength increased by 2.

Constitution increased by 4.

Agility increased by 1.

Intelligence increased by 4.

Aura increased by 4.

The Iceblood Shaman had more essence stars than the others, probably due to his level, around thirty instead of twenty.

STR: 25

CON: 57 (59 with belt)

AGI: 23

WIS: 47  (53 with staff)

INT: 121 (127 with bracer, +133 with bracer and staff)

AUR: 121 (127 with bracer)

CHA: 30

He felt the attributes strengthening him as he examined the essence web in his blood.

It was starting to form a diagram, but it wasn’t clear what the full version would be yet.

Each star was a node, connected to the others by a strand of essence that was similar to a meridian.

Whatever it was creating, when it reached 1,000 stars, something was going to happen.

It resembled a formation, but it was too complex for him to fully understand, especially when it wasn’t complete.

All around, the others were finishing up their own experience gains and harvesting the corpses. The Ice Sylphs, in particular, were stripping the enemies of anything valuable.

Troll skin, bones, the serpents’ scales, fangs, and organs, the wyvern’s blood and scales.... Everything was being collected.

Without needing to ask, he joined in, helping to strip the skin from the serpents and the wings, blood, and scales from the wyvern.

His crystal flame was useful in breaking through the wyvern's bones, although the Ice Sylphs were also able to form sharp daggers from ice that did the job.

It didn’t take too long for the village to gather everything of use.

They also weren’t stingy with their new allies, pushing many of the gains toward them.

They were very appreciative of them coming to their aid.

Sam ended up with another wing from the wyvern, some serpent skins, and other items that would be useful for spell scrolls.

He also got all the items that were on the Iceblood trio, although they didn’t have much.

There was a bone amulet and bone dagger from the shaman, a few pieces of clothing made from a strange hide, and, most importantly, a couple of dimensional bags.

Inside the bags, there was a strange collection of objects, mostly herbs and bone shards covered in swirling runes, a few mana crystals, and several of the white essence pills.

It wasn’t clear if the bone shards were some type of talisman or perhaps coins, but there was a trace of essence swirling through them.

When they were done, the Ice Sylphs gathered around again, asking him the same questions as before about his appearance and origin.

This time, Siwaha came to find him, thankfully interrupting all of it.

“Shoo...shoo.... Leave the young man alone,” she grumbled, waving off the other Ice Sylphs as she walked through the crowd.

She didn’t have a cane, but it felt like her glance was as strong as one. She prodded people away with a look and a tilt of her head.

When she arrived, she looked down at him and gave him a single, serene nod.

Beside her, his mother and sister were following.

His mother looked worried. If Siwaha hadn’t stopped her, she would have run up to him before.

The old Ice Sylph had assured her that he was fine.

“Come along, young man,” Siwaha said peacefully as she examined his wounds. Then she nodded and turned around. “We need to talk.”

She began to walk back toward the village, without looking behind her.

“Follow me to my house.”