Advent of Eternity - Chapter 79 (Patreon)

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Name: Knell Coda [Age: 0]

Path: Scion [Rank Zero]

Level: 18

Attunement A: Foresight of the Vulture

Attunement B: Empty

Attunement C: Empty

Attunement D: Empty

Attunement E: Empty

Foresight of the Vulture [Legendary] – Peer a short distance into the future, seeing the most likely outcome of actions taken in your immediate surroundings.

Bloodline: Eternal Body [Epic]– Time magic bends around you, modifying your lifespan and granting you resistance to spatial magics.

Abilities:

Tax the Living – Death magic erupts from a wound you have inflicted on a target, inflicting the same damage once more.

He’d managed to squeeze another level out of his meditation, but there were still no new abilities from the Scion path. That didn’t particularly surprise him. In the end, Scion was a Path under Mordrigal’s control, and she had a vested interest in making sure he never succeeded too much.

As annoying as it was, Knell wasn’t troubled by the setback. Epoch had more than enough power in it, and he had no plans of keeping Scion forever. If he was to purge Mordrigal, it would be stupid to try and fight her while using her own strength.

Knell opened his eyes and stood. Through the window, he could see a large landmass in the distance. It stretched along the horizon before them and, by his guess, was less than an hour or two away.

The Withered Rose was headed directly toward a port town. It was larger than Silver Ridge, with dozens of ships in its docks. Several were galleons, while the rest were sloops and skippers.

Two large ballistae were positioned on hills at either side of the town, pointed toward the dock. Not enough to ward off a serious attack, but petty pirates and fools seeking easy prey were likely to be dissuaded by the defenses.

Knell scanned the rooftops of the town. A blue flag depicting a pair of crossed golden swords fluttered from several of them in the morning breeze. He pursed his lips in annoyance. The guild was here. It was inevitable to run into them eventually, but he’d hoped it would be a little longer.

Pushing the door open, Knell headed out onto the deck. The other three were already out. Stix and Maya sat on the stairs, while Cyll stood behind the wheel and was bringing them in toward port.

“You’re all finished?” Knell asked Stix.

“Yeah,” Stix replied with a grin. “I’m an Artillerist now.”

“Artillerist?” Cyll asked, raising an eyebrow. “Starts with an A, but I don’t think that’s how you pronounce assassin. What does that even have to do with Shadow Stalker?”

“It’s a branch,” Stix replied. “And I spoke with Knell. I’m not cut out to be an assassin. I want to use a bow.”

“Shadow Stalker sounds like it would use bows more than an Artillerist would,” Cyll laughed. “What kind of bow are you using?”

“A really big one,” Stix replied, rubbing the back of her head. “I think. I can get away with any bow, but I’ve got abilities that work best with bigger weapons.”

“We’ll get something made when we’re in town,” Knell said. “Do we know anything about the port we’re headed into?”

“It’s on the map,” Cyll replied. “And it’s called Melwood. That’s about it.”

“Guild territory,” Maya provided, not looking back at them.

Cyll raised an eyebrow and glanced at Knell, who shrugged.

“We shouldn’t have trouble with them as long as they don’t catch us starting anything,” Knell said. “Considering the ballista aren’t firing on us already, I would assume pirates are allowed in this port.”

The dock grew closer and Cyll started to raise the sails, decreasing their speed so they didn’t run aground.

“What’s the plan here?” Stix asked. “If there is one, that is.”

“We’ve started to make a name for ourselves, but we need to be in a position to take advantage of that when the time comes,” Knell replied. “That begins with being recognizable. The Withered Rose is a good start, but we need more. A flag, for starters. Then some equipment for all of us. I don’t imagine it’ll be long before Cyll bashes his new axe to pieces.”

“Hey, I’ve taken great care of it so far,” Cyll defended.

“How many fights have you used it in?”

“…One, if you count the minotaur.”

“Then why do I see half a dozen dents in it?”

“The minotaur put those there. Not me.”

“You need a weapon that will actually withstand your fighting style,” Knell said, shaking his head. “Not to mention you need to actually learn a fighting style. You’re improving, but it’s not enough yet.”

He glanced at Maya, who was trying very hard to pretend as if she weren’t paying attention, but Knell could tell she was listening to every word they said. He’d have to be careful with what they spoke about while she was around. For now, at least.

The Withered Rose drew up alongside the dock, and two men waiting there helped them moor it. After it had been tied down, the four of them stepped out onto the land.

“What’s your business here?” one of them asked, keeping his hand on a sword at his waist.

“Just passing through. Getting some supplies and weapons,” Knell said. “And yes, we see that this is guild territory. Is that going to be a problem?”

“Not if you don’t start anything,” the other pirate said, relaxing when he realized that only four people were coming off the boat. “Just register with the dockmaster as you leave. There’s no fee for keeping your ship here if you spend coin in the city, but your craft will be confiscated if you are arrested for causing trouble in the city.”

“Fair enough,” Knell said. “We’ll be going then.”

He limped past the guards and the others followed. It was a quick matter to register their ship with the old woman who oversaw the dock, which Knell was pleased with. There was always the possibility the city would get in his way or cause problems since they were pirates, but it didn’t look like Melwood would be doing that.

After getting everything straightened out, they headed off the docks and into the city itself. It wasn’t a particularly remarkable town. The houses didn’t have any real pattern to where they’d been built and the streets wound and wove between each other.

If more people had lived here, it would have led to serious congestion. Instead, it just made navigation a pain. It took them a few minutes to find the main road, but once they did, locating the center of the city was considerably easier.

Most of the buildings they passed were only a single story, and the larger ones were either warehouses, big stores, or in the case of two of them, inns.

“Just how much money do we have to spend?” Cyll asked conspiratorially. “There are a few things we want, no?”

“Not enough,” Knell replied as they passed a sign that marked the street they were on as Market Way. “We’ll have to earn some shortly, but we should have enough to get Stix something to work with. Maybe not the big bow she wants, but anything is better than nothing.”

He came to a stop before a shoddy apothecary’s shack. Unlike the other brick buildings, this one was made from wood and smelled of a distinct mixture of fresh grass and decomposing material.

“Are you trying to buy drugs?” Cyll asked.

Knell ignored him and walked up to the door, opening it carefully as to avoid ripping the old, creaky piece of wood from its hinges. It grumbled in protest but slowly swung in, allowing Knell entrance.

The inside of the shop looked exactly how he had expected it to. Misaligned shelves filled the small room, full of vials, crystals, and a myriad of strange ingredients. The floor was covered with so many stains that it was impossible to tell what color it originally had been, and a short man sat behind a desk, a tall green hat perched upon his head.

Two wide goggles were strapped to his face and a sheet of leather connected to them covered the rest of his face. Vials and beakers covered the desk before the man. Several of them were suspended over small flames, gas rising up from the colored liquids within and traveling up tubes to mix in a large glass sphere at the top.

“Can I help you?” the man asked, his voice muffled by his makeshift mask. His eyes flicked up, catching on Knell’s face for an instant before he lost interest. “I’m in the middle of something.”

“I’m looking to get some materials identified,” Knell replied. “I had no luck in the last town I was in, so I wanted to see if you might know what they were. I figured an apothecary was the best place to start my search.”

The man grunted. He snapped his fingers and the flames beneath his vials flickered out. The gas settled down in the spherical chamber and he hopped down from his chair, waddling out from behind the desk.

Even with the added height of his hat, the man only stood up to Knell’s chest. “I’m Coriander, and if you want something identified, you’ve come to the right place. What is it?”

Knell dug one of the magic crystals out of his bag and handed it to him. The apothecary studied the crystal for a moment, and a flicker of interest passed through his eyes.

“How many of these do you have?”

“A fair number,” Knell replied. “And no, I’m not interested in selling them. I want to know what they are. If I feel like you’ve dealt with me fairly, I will consider letting you have some.”

“Fair enough,” Coriander said with a harrumph. “I’ll be real, I have no clue what these diddly dang things are. But I can find out. Maybe not the name, but whatever they do, I can sus that out. It won’t be free, though.”

“I’m not in the mood to bargain,” Knell said. “You get one of the rocks to keep for yourself. Discover something interesting, and I’ll give you more.”

“That’s not very much,” Coriander hedged. He caught the look in Knell’s eye and cleared his throat. “Perhaps you’ll be more amiable to discussion if I figure out exactly what these can do.”

“Perhaps,” Knell allowed. “Will one be enough to test?”

“Quite. Just leave it with me and come back in a day or two. I’ve got some other projects on my plate, and I’m not dropping them for no reason.”

Knell shrugged. “That works with me. We will return tomorrow.”

Coriander headed back to his desk and pulled himself onto the chair while Knell and his crew headed out.

“Bow time?” Stix asked eagerly.

Knell laughed. “You’re going to need to get some money of your own. I’m not made of it, you know. But yes, we do need to get you some sort of bow.”

“What about me? I want my goodies too,” Cyll complained. “How come she gets hers first?”

“Are you a child?”

Cyll sighed. “No. But it’s fun to pretend sometimes, isn’t it?”

“I’ll let you know if I ever try.”

It didn’t take them too long to find an armory. The building had an open front, making it easy to spot from all the weapons hanging from its walls, and was positioned directly next to the blacksmith.