Path of Stars, Ch 20: Sleset's Ultimatum (Patreon)

Sam had to work to keep his eyebrow from rising as he kept his attention on the bandits’ reaction. He’d been expecting Sleset to go off into another dramatic speech, but at least his ultimatum was short and effective. Hope and fury, frustration and desire warred on the Curved Blades’ features as they took in the challenge.

The twenty-nine nagas were the most shocked of all, since they understood the history of what Sleset was saying. They towered over the rest of the bandits, their heights ranging from 18-20 feet. The seven Stone Devils were only half as tall at 10 feet, and the Kajoa Walkers and the Sirens were even shorter. It made for a strange contrast in the bandit group, but perhaps not one that was too strange in the wider galaxy.

It was clear some of the Emerald Nagas weren’t going to be convinced that easily, even with Sleset’s changed appearance. It had been thousands of generations since their race had served the Great Coiling Serpents. Oathlords were only legends to them.

“Sleset,” one of the nagas hissed. He looked older than the others and there was a small group of other nagas behind him. “What have you done to your scales and where is Asek-su, your elder brother and the leader of your nest? How dare you come here without him! And where is Naota, your nest mate who is the spatial mage? He is far more important than you!”

Other small groups of nagas with a leader and subordinates were also evident throughout the room. It reminded Sam of how Sleset had come with the other two, Asek and Naota. They’d all been part of the same clutch and the nagas’ tradition dictated that the firstborn led them for the rest of their lives. That was how Sleset had been dragged into exile.

Now that Sleset was following him, it no longer mattered if that story was true. Instead, he waited to let the Silver Naga deal with the accusation. Rather than becoming embarrassed, Sleset hissed proudly and stood straighter.

“Torel-su, of course it would be you who asks,” he replied harshly. “You always wished to serve these sirens like a good lapdog, content with the scraps they throw your way while they spend the lives of our kin. Where is your blood? Where are your scales?” His words were mocking.

“Asek-kar and Naota were my nest mates, but they dared to challenge the Oathlord and sought his wealth,” he added. “By all the traditions of our people, they deserved their deaths and worse. An Oathlord can only be challenged by one of a similar rank. Now you see that same Oathlord before you. I have recognized him and chosen to follow him! Look at my scales, see my honor crown, and know your place, Oathless!”

“You dare to insult me, you scaleless worm?” Torel raged as he slithered forward, clearly ignoring the changes to Sleset’s features. “What gives you the right to question me, your elder?! The sirens give us these lodgings, this armor that protects us from the chaos winds!”

“You spineless earthworm,” Sleset hissed back at him with bared fangs. “Your greed and stupidity blind our people, even with the truth before you! You do not care about the sirens, you only care about the easy life they give you. When was the last time you fought? The last time you left this nest?” His voice rose to a louder, booming hiss.

“You misuse the traditions of our people, hiding behind your status as eldest-born to keep yourself comfortable and fat. Meanwhile, you let these Sirens use our people as slaves and fodder. But no more! I challenge you, Torel-su, to prove you are worthy of your scales! Come and die!”

“You challenge me to the Rite of Blood?” Torel shouted in return as he drew two blades from his harness. They were longer than the ones Sleset was using and closer to greatswords in length. His free hands gathered into fists as a shimmer of green light floated across his knuckles. He was powerful, stronger than most of the nagas in the room, but only by a few levels. “You wish to lead here?! I will carve your scales into a dinner mat!”

“No, Torel,” Sleset hissed, leaving off the honorific this time, which seemed to be related to the other naga’s position as eldest. “Not the Rite of Blood. You could surrender from that. I challenge you to the Rite of Venom. One of us will die here.”

Sleset turned his blades inward and bared his fangs, which dripped with a clear, silver-green venom. Slowly, he drew each blade along them, coating the edges until they shone with an iridescent shimmer.

Torel froze, his eyes flickering as he looked at Sleset and perhaps for the first time really saw his new height and the silver patterns on his scales. Then he snarled and bared his fangs, coating his own blades in venom as well.

Sam had never heard of the rites they were using for this duel before, but he knew enough to follow the gist. True Naga venom was a deadly substance and not something that they used often, since even they weren’t immune to it. It was vastly more dangerous than the magical venom they used in their spells. They might be able to resist a strike or two, but this duel was one that could easily end with both of them dead.

Nonetheless, Sam only sent a glance at Torel to analyze him again.

Torel. Emerald Naga. Scaled Brawler-Dualblade Striker. Level 329. Naga Elder. Exile.

He had about fifteen levels on Sleset, since the naga had gained a few over the last months too, but with Sleset’s evolution, it shouldn’t make much difference.

“This giant is not a Great Coiling Serpent!” Torel shouted as he waved his blades at Sam for the first time, but he was shouting at the nagas behind him, trying to convince them. “How could he be an Oathlord?! They left us long ago and will never come again!” He turned again to point his blades at Sleset.

“Now this whelp dares to claim otherwise, trampling on the honor and history of our people! He dares to challenge me, but he must plan to cheat. Let us join together and kill him for this sacrilege!”

“Cowardly insect,” Sleset hissed from across the room. “You are too frightened to face me in an honor duel, so you try to stir up others to do the job for you, as always. But there is no escaping this. Either face me or just die.”

Sleset raised his blades and a series of jagged sigils glowed in the air, forming into a silver-green spear with a dangerous-looking point. Moment by moment, more mana flowed into it, until it shone like a brilliant fang in the air, its tipped glistening.

“Enough.” Tivasi, the Level 359 Siren who was the bandit leader finally stepped forward, her hand rising into the air. A shimmer of water surrounded her movements and there was mana in her voice that rippled coldly through the air.

The bandits shivered in response, all of them stepping back except for Torel. The naga was still holding his blades as he turned back to look at Sleset.

Curiously, Tivasi didn’t seem to be too angry by any of this. She only looked at Sam and Sleset and then to Torel.

“You have been challenged, Torel,” the bandit leader said. “One of your people has called a duel and ignoring it would cause trouble in the ranks. You must answer and kill him. However, the circumstances are certainly more interesting than anything I’ve seen in a long time. It appears we have a guest.”

It seemed as if Sleset and the duel was beneath her notice as she looked at Sam. The rippling waves of Water mana around her grew denser and her voice rose to a mellifluous pitch.

“Friend, why don’t you come over here and make my acquaintance? I could use someone like you on my side. Whatever you want, coin or even me, your desires will be fulfilled.”

Her voice merged into the wave of mana as it reached out to Sam, flooding around him like the air had turned to a river of music.

Sam raised an eyebrow. After struggling for so long to balance his essence, not only was his mind as steady as the Void, but his Charisma was far too high for him to be affected by the Siren’s call. He also had several Traits that guarded his mind, from Dauntless to Terror’s Bane and Battalion of One. Most of them were designed to oppose fear effects and steady him in battle, but they worked well enough against other persuasion spells.

The description of Battalion of One came to his mind: You radiate a natural aura of war, intimidating enemies who think to oppose you. Challengers will think twice before engaging with you and intimidation abilities have a reduced effect on you.

Instead of answering, he let the effect from that trait have full rein as he raised a hand. His aura shifted, becoming sharp and threatening as he seized the ripple of mana in the air. Then he casually crushed it.

The broken spell whipped back through the air and slammed into Tivasi, sending her staggering back a couple of steps as her face paled and she nearly doubled over.

Shatter Aura hadn’t been easy on her. Besides that, Sam didn’t make any other moves. He just folded his arms again.

As soon as they saw their sister‘s reaction, however, the other three Sirens became furious and reached for their weapons. One of the spatial mage sisters pulled a shell-adorned bracelet from her arm and hurled it into the air.

“How dare you harm Tivasi! I’ll have your eyes for that!” Her voice was a snarl of anger and pride, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened.

The shell bracelet flew toward Sam as a crashing sound of ocean waves rang out through the air and a sense of pressure fell upon the room. It felt like the weight of the ocean was crushing down on everyone present with thousands of pounds of force, and it was most intense around Sam.

Strange vibrations of sound in low and high pitches crashed against his ears, trying to disorient him as the pressure increased, but it wasn’t significant compared to the pressure of the Void and the chaos winds.

Sam shook his head as he reached out again and grabbed the bracelet. Shatter Aura flared around his hand with a brilliant silver light as he crushed the enchantments and the bracelet into tiny fragments. Dust from the shells fell away between his fingers as the mangled bit of metal also disintegrated. Without an aura to hold its nature together, it had no ability to maintain its form.

The Sirens let out a shocked breath, but they’d already attacked.

“He can’t keep that up for long! Attack again! We can’t let him take over!” The spatial mage shouted as she grabbed a conch horn from her belt and raised it to her mouth.

A long, rolling blast of sound rolled through the cavern, firing up the bandits’ spirits as a dull red light flashed in their eyes. It seemed to be some type of widespread rage spell. The two other Sirens grabbed their own weapons and then all three of them leapt forward.

Unfortunately for them, Sam was running out of patience. He hadn’t come here to play with these Sirens, nor did he feel like wasting any more time. His cloak billowed around him as a field of freezing blue-white winds swept forward.

A moment later, the cavern was covered in sheets of thick ice. The nagas and other bandits were spared, but the four Sirens were frozen statues at the center. Their bodies were still and their eyes glimmered like frozen sapphires, but they didn’t betray a trace of life. Flickering motes of ice mana swirled around them, creating a small snowstorm that coated the cave floor. They had been completely frozen in an instant.

All of the remaining bandits in the cavern drew in a sharp breath as terror flashed through their eyes. The nagas began to back away slowly until Torel shouted at them to hold.

The Stone Devils and Kajoa Walkers were less wise. Both of those groups leapt forward, apparently thinking it would be better to fight than to flee.

The Stone Devils blurred as they lunged forward, hurling themselves across the floor on their long arms. Their claws left gouges in the stone.

The Kajoa Walkers drew bone axes and spears from their backs and charged forward. The red horn on their heads glowed like a raging fire, releasing flames that fused into their weapons.

This time, Sam disappeared in a swirl of Crystal Passage, teleporting here and there across the cavern. Each time he reappeared, it was next to a target and he slammed them down to the ground with an essence-infused punch or a kick. He hadn’t used his Battle Aura in a while, and this was as good an opportunity as any. Weapons fell apart as he slashed through them with a swipe of his talons, followed by a head or limbs.

After the first half of the bandits were dead, his body blurred and turned to crystal flame. His fists landed like fireballs exploding and flames followed in his wake like an inferno had come to life. He didn’t conserve essence as he pushed himself to go faster. He wondered what the bandits would think if they knew he was only using them to train abilities.

A minute or so later, all of the bandits that had attacked were dead, leaving only the nagas in the cave. Sam shook his head as he reformed his body and folded his arms over his chest, once again standing in the same place. He didn’t have any interest in the bandits and their crimes were too long to list, so once they’d attacked, their fates were sealed.

“Continue,” he said. His voice was filled with astral energy as he nodded at Sleset. He could see that the opinion of the nagas had just changed toward him, but it remained to be seen if Sleset could convince them the blood oath was real. He would have to prove it, which meant the duel was necessary.

These nagas were still holding on to their familiar worldviews and the idea of Oathlords was too distant from them. Sleset must have been something of a dreamer to have thought of it so quickly when he asked him to spare his life. Or perhaps he had just been desperate and grasping at straws.

“Torel, you spineless, craven insect!” Sleset shouted. He had been watching Sam deal with the bandits, but now that it was done, he immediately shifted back to his ultimatum to the other naga. “Get over here and show that you have fangs!”

Sleset coiled over to the middle of the cavern and raised his venom-covered blades higher. Now that the nagas were the only bandits left in the cavern, the mood had shifted. His voice filled the air and their attention was locked on him.

“There will be no more interruptions to this moment in our race’s history,” Sleset declared in a commanding voice. “We duel before an Oathlord for our honor, as we once did. You, Torel, must kill me or die. The rest may choose to bow their heads and swear the blood oath. If they do not, they will live or die at my lord’s mercy, which looks to be thin today.”

“How could an Oathlord appear again?” Torel muttered. He looked over to where the Sirens had been turned into ice sculptures, his scales turning pale. “Impossible! Even if he is stronger than those four, it cannot be by much!”

“You deny the evidence in front of you?” Sleset hissed as he pointed at his scales again. “You are a fool. What else besides a blood oath could change my scales like this? My honor crown?”

“Fine!” Torel shouted as he surged forward, his muscular arms raising his greatswords high. “I will show you the real truth! My age is greater than yours, my level higher. I will no longer allow you to follow me according to the traditions of our people! No! Today, you die!”

He lunged toward Sleset like a green arrow, blurring across the distance. His primary class as a Brawler made him very fast and his second set of hands crackled with bright green mana.

“Finally,” Sleset hissed in return as he shot toward him. “It is time to end your insect ways. We are nagas, not carrion beetles!”

Torel’s swords sliced through the air where Sleset had been, but the Silver Naga was already gone. Four blades arced around Torel’s side, plunging toward his scales. Two of them were blocked by the brawler’s fists as he tried to turn, but the other two sliced a deep furrow across his ribs, leaving a trail of green blood and iridescent venom behind.

Torel roared in pain, his swords rising to protect himself as he spun toward Sleset, but the naga was no longer there. Instead, a wave of jagged green symbols covered Torel in a net, sizzling as they bit into his hide. A wave of ice began to creep across his body, slowing his movements even more.

The older naga struggled, but he couldn’t spin in time to deflect to Sleset’s next attack as the Deep Hunter lunged in again, his blades slicing across each of Torel’s arms. Sleset moved like a whip, striking and withdrawing again, and then he stopped in front of Torel, his daggers covered in blood.

“Let me show you the power of my Oathlord,” he growled as a wave of yellow Earth magic poured out of him. He waved his hand as green sigils and mana flowed into the stones at their feet.

The floor of the cavern rose in coiling bands like striking serpents that shot across Torel’s body, looping around his tail, waist, and arms. Only his head was left free.

“What is this?” Torel roared as he tried to break free from the stone, his muscles bulging, but the Coils of the Earth held him tight.

“The power of Earth, where all nagas are born,” Sleset hissed in return. “I could leave you there until the venom seeps into your heart and you die in agony, but I will show you more mercy than you showed all of our people that you sacrificed for greed.”

His blades crossed in a flash in front of Torel’s eyes, leaving only a thin streak of green blood in the air. For a moment it looked like nothing had happened, but then Torel’s eyes darkened as his head slowly toppled to the side.

Behind him, the ranks of nagas let out a series of slow hisses, some deep and others high, as they watched, but none of them moved to interfere. Only when the last of Torel’s blood had seeped into the stones did a handful of them come forward. It was the leaders of the individual nests, the other ones in charge.

“Torel-su has earned his death,” one of them spoke. His voice was low and firm. “The Rite of Venom is witnessed by me, Ajoa. His blood feeds the earth.”

“He has earned his death,” another agreed. “The Rite of Venom is witnessed by me, Hasuk.”

“It is witnessed,” a third one agreed. “I, Juai, acknowledge his death as earned and fair. He lost the Rite of Venom and his blood feeds the earth.”

“Then listen to my words now,” Sleset said as he cleaned his daggers and sheathed them. He moved forward, his hands rising to the side. “Our people have a chance for greatness again. See my honor crown, study my scales, and know the truth.”

The three nagas studied him, their arms folded. Then Ajoa nodded and moved forward, his head tilted as he looked up at Sleset, who was several feet taller than him. A moment later, the other two followed, coiling around to the sides to examine Sleset’s scales and the silver patterns on them.

Sleset held still, only tilting from side to side to give them a better view. He lowered his head so they could see his honor mark and then demonstrated the Coils of the Earth again. His voice was low and reverent as he continued to explain. Eventually, the three nagas nodded and moved back to their position and then turned toward their people.

“This naga is Oathbound,” Juai said simply. “His honor crown is bright. His scales are strong. His patterns are fierce. He will henceforth be known as Sleset-akan. Sleset the Oathbound. I recognize his new status and I celebrate the appearance of an Oathlord.” His words ended with that resonant declaration and a series of formal hisses to punctuate his meaning.

Similar confirmations rang out from the other two nagas, giving rise to a wave of astonished hisses. The rest of the nagas surged forward then, surrounding Sleset as they examined him, hissing intently as they studied his scales. Sleset seemed to be pleased by the attention, but before long, he called an end to it and turned to bow toward Sam.

“My lord offers you a chance to serve him as well,” he declared as he turned back to face them. “Do you wish to be more than you were before? Or do you want to remain as bandits and exiles scattered across the wastes of the galaxy, your lives spent at the whim of anyone stronger than you?” His voice rose to a commanding pitch as he continued.

“Or do you wish to return home one day in honor? To see our homeland rise again as a land of power and duty? To bask in the adoration of the nests? If so, your future awaits you.” He turned and moved across the cavern until he was coiled beside Sam, his arms folded over his chest. “My lord offers his holy blood to any who will serve him faithfully and well. Come forward if you desire a greater future!”

Sam looked down at Sleset and gave him a nod, and then he studied the nagas in front of him.

“Come forward if you wish to serve me.” he said, “but do it with honor and true intent. If you betray me, I will erase your memory beneath the stars and your name will be forever unknown.”

As was clear in Sleset’s speech, nagas were a race that treasured honor and fame. A desire for status was as much a part of their nature as their scales. More than most races, they were also bound by their pledges and their rank, both born and earned, which was why he didn’t have much concern for allowing these bandits to serve him. Once they did, they would become his followers.

The blood oath only made that more permanent. It would also make them stronger. More than that, he would treat them well, so they had no reason to complain. Their lives following him would be far better than their lives as bandits. For some, fighting on his side would have been a burden, but the nagas would be only too pleased, especially in the context of a blood oath. For them, it was the same as living a fulfilling life.

It didn’t take long for the three leading nagas to move forward and stand in front of Sam. All together, they bowed to him. It looked like they were volunteering to be the first. There was still a trace of doubt in their bearing, but he didn’t pay any attention to it. They would have proof soon enough.

“Oathlord,” Ajoa said as he kept his head lowered so his honor mark was clear, “we ask you to grant your holy blood, that all may see your might. Allow us to be your first followers after Sleset-akan. We will bear your blood with honor.”

Sam held out his right hand and used a talon to cut a gash on his finger. Without saying anything more, he flicked his hand three times. Three drops of silver blood shone in the air as they landed on the nagas’ honor marks and sank in.

A moment later, all three nagas were shuddering and coiling around in agony as their bodies transformed. Silver patterns wove across their scales as their emerald color brightened, becoming more intense. Their muscles grew denser, their scales harder, and arcs of mana flared around them as their bodies’ latent potential was activated.

A little while later, the rest of the nagas followed, and eventually a small army of Sleset and 28 Silver Nagas under his command stood in the former bandit cavern. Where they’d had emerald green scales in various light and dark shades, they were now all a bright and sparkling green interwoven with complex silver patterns like runes. Some of their classes had changed, and all of them had silver half-crown honor marks on their heads.

Similar to Sleset, they had also all gained the Bloodline Regeneration and Enduring Scales abilities to heal themselves and increase their elemental resistance, but their third abilities varied. Each of those was unique to the individual naga, although they were all elemental manipulation of some form.

They ranged in level from 280-320, but with the addition of their new elemental resistance, the ones who were not at the Third Evolution yet should find it easier to survive in the chaos winds.

Sam nodded as he gave them all a smile, and then he turned to Sleset and issued a few other instructions. He didn’t want to spend much longer here. He had a lot to do before they visited Alora’s home world. Fortunately, this batch of Silver Nagas would make things a lot easier.

“Was that all of the bandits?” he asked as he turned to Sleset. Another thought also occurred to him regarding an item Sleset had once mentioned. “And where is that transfer point you mentioned?”

That transfer point was apparently a type of portal the Sirens constructed to make it easier to travel between this system and the closest border region, the Emerald Sea. Naturally, he wanted to see it.

“There is one more patrol out in the Borderlands currently, my lord,” Sleset said respectfully as he bowed to Sam. “The other patrol just returned, so they were here. We might be able to encounter them later, but their spatial mage will try to return them through the transfer point.”

“Good,” Sam said with a nod. “Once we’re done here, I’ll take a look at it. For now, have your people gather up everything useful. We’ll be leaving shortly.”

“Yes, my lord,” Sleset replied. “I will have them gather the stockpiles of essence stones as well. There was a large amount waiting to be sold, at least ten thousand of varying sizes.” He’d already spoken with the other nagas and was up to date on the most recent changes with the bandits.

“They’ll be helpful,” Sam agreed with a nod. “Go ahead.”

Sleset acknowledged his orders with a bow and then turned and began to direct the nagas. Their speed was as quick as lightning as silver-green streaks shot from one side of the cavern to the other, and then down the tunnels, quickly gathering everything useful.

For his part, Sam turned to the four Siren statues at the center of the room, as well as the other bandits he’d slain. He shook his head, but he didn’t have any pity for them. They’d caused too much terror in their time. Then he reached out. A pulse of ice flared from his hand and shattered them all to dust, leaving behind only their spatial artifacts and other items.

At the same time, a wave of experience flowed toward him. He ignored the notifications as he looked at the total gains. Altogether, the bandits had given him seven new levels. There were three from the mix of lower bandits and then the Sirens had been worth one each, roughly. It brought him to Level 237. The voice of the Path echoed through the Titan Stars as it announced his attribute increase.

You gain 35 Strength, 35 Constitution, 35 Wisdom, 70 Intelligence, 70 Aura, and have 84 free attributes points to assign.

He rubbed his chin as he looked at the free points. It was the first time in a while he had to decide what to do with them. His lowest attributes at the moment were Agility at 653, Wisdom at 635, and Charisma at 825.

The Sirens had reminded him that Charisma wasn’t a useless attribute, so he was rather pleased to have it at a decent level, but he wasn’t sure if it was worthwhile to continue advancing it. Perhaps he should get it to a thousand, since it did have a small impact on his aura and it certainly helped to focus his emotions and social abilities.

As for Agility, it was a key attribute, but it was routinely boosted by his Battle Aura. It received 25% of his essence attributes, which was worth almost an extra thousand points now. That left Wisdom, which was the governing attribute for many mental defenses as well as the limits for some of his aura abilities, from his success in reclaiming auras to how much he could intensify them.

He was at the maximum chance for reclaiming auras, but more Wisdom would help to refine his abilities in several areas, so this time, he placed all of the free points into the attribute, boosting it to 719. He felt the energy swirl through his mind, sharpening his perception of nature.

When it was finished, he turned his attention to the spatial items. There were quite a few good things in there, including some rare raw materials that he could use for crafting. The bandits must have stolen quite a few shipments from merchants in the Borderlands.

He tapped his finger on the outside of the bandit leader’s spatial bracelet, which was fashioned to look like a string of shells, and he pulled out a dozen pieces of rare ores. Some of them glimmered like translucent crystal and others like gemstones. There was one piece of ore that was a deep green with swirling clouds inside, similar to some of the great gaseous worlds he’d seen, and another that was a dark black speckled with blue and red flecks.

A smile tweaked at his lips as he studied the ore, and then he reached into his cloak and pulled out a chunk of green ore that he tossed into the air, letting it float next to them. It was a piece of Virescent Aurora Ore that he’d taken from a golem’s mangled shield. Alora had been fine with it, since the golem was damaged beyond repair.

He hadn’t got the ore from the Green Aurora system in the way he’d intended, but he’d ended up with a piece of it after all.

“That should work for one bracer,” he said thoughtfully as he studied the ores. “The Lunar Bracer needs different types, and these will match the auras of the moons that are in it. As for the other one....” The memory of that chunk of fiery ore near the Firesail Void Lizard came back to his mind.

He knew just where to find it.