Advent of Eternity - Chapter 83 (Patreon)

“You missed,” Cyll said with a burst of laughter. “I thought you were supposed to be some crack shot? That thing’s eye was the size of a dinner plate.”

“I haven’t used a bow in years,” Stix called, her cheeks red in shame. “I’m a little out of practice. I’ll get back into it. Do you see my other arrow?”

“Yeah,” Cyll said, pacing off into the farmland. “It hit the ground somewhere over here.”

“That went… a lot better than I thought it would,” Maya said, joining them. She kept a healthy distance between herself and the Clawraptor. “I kind of expected to get stabbed.”

“Never too late for that,” Cyll said cheerfully, spotting Stix’s arrow in the grass and picking it up. “I can help there.”

“I’ll pass,” Maya said.

“Why would you be surprised?” Knell asked. “It was a stupid monster, and not a very strong one at that.”

“I guess it was,” Maya agreed. “Do we drag this thing back to town and get the money for it, then?”

“That would be preferrable to leaving it here and earning nothing for our efforts,” Knell said dryly. “Just hold on one second.”

“What? Why–”

Maya vanished, reappearing at the top of the hill, where Knell had originally cast Anchor on her. She staggered, nearly falling as she realized her position had changed.

“What in the Sixteen Seas?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Knell said. “Cyll, could you grab that thing?”

“Wait, you can’t just brush that off,” Maya made her way back down the hill carefully. “I just teleported out of nowhere!”

“Indeed. Are you going to help Cyll carry the oversized chicken?”

Maya opened her mouth, than shut it with a snap. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Nope.”

She sighed. Then she grabbed one of the Clawraptor’s legs. Cyll took the other one, and the four of them dragged it back toward the town, leaving a trail of blood in the grass behind them.

When they reached the city gates, a wide-eyed guard stopped them at the entrance.

“By the Twelve,” he cursed. “You got the Clawraptor?”

“So we did,” Knell said. “Where do we turn this in for the reward?”

“Ah, the guardhouse,” the guard replied. A small crowd gathered, staring at the Clawraptor’s body. “I’ve got the paperwork in the office, if you’ll just wait a minute.”

Knell nodded and the guard jogged off. He came back a few minutes later with a sheet of paper and a bulging pouch of coins. He held a quill out to Knell, who signed the paper and then took the bag of gold from the guard, handing it off to Stix.

“Do you need the body?”

“Of the Clawraptor? I can’t imagine we would,” the guard said. “I think it’s pretty apparent you killed it. We can dispose of it.”

“My team will handle that,” Knell said. “Thanks for the offer.”

He turned and headed back into the farmland. Cyll and Maya exchanged a glance, then followed after him with Stix at their side.

Once they’d put some distance between themselves and the town, Knell gestured for them to stop.

“Okay, this is far enough.”

“We stripping this thing?” Cyll asked. “Could probably make some pretty decent weapons and armor out of it.”

“That’s the plan. Try to get the scales and claws. I don’t think there’s much use for the teeth.”

“I could make arrows,” Stix said, kneeling beside the Clawraptor’s head and carefully pulling its mouth open. “I don’t think they’re any better than stone arrowheads, but they’re already sharp and there’s no reason wasting them.”

“Go ahead,” Knell said.

“Can I take one of the claws for myself?” Maya asked.

Knell raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. “I don’t see why not. We won’t need all of them.”

She nodded her appreciation. Over the course of the next hour, they hacked the corpse apart, taking all the scales that they could. Cyll claimed two of the claws for himself, while Maya took just one.

Knell spent the time meditating. Once they’d finished, they all returned to town. They were covered with the monster’s blood and exhausted, but that didn’t detract from the grins on Knell’s crew.

“Why was that so satisfying?” Stix wondered.

“Because we got money for it. Most things we kill don’t pay us for it,” Cyll replied with a laugh. “Knell, did you have a plan for this stuff?”

“Armor for as many of us as possible – sword for you. Hopefully, these will be a little stronger than the crap you keep destroying.”

“Fantastic,” Cyll said with a wide grin as they reached the market square. “I knew I liked you. How big is my budget?”

“Our equipment is the second most important thing we can buy. We’ve got two hundred and ninety gold to work with after paying for the flag. That will be split between your sword, armor, and anything else we need.”

Maya glanced at him, chewing her lower lip, but said nothing. Knell didn’t pry. They returned to the area with the Smith, which was right beside Jeff’s armory. The door hung open, so the group strode in.

A burly man with a wispy black beard turned around, his leather apron singed and stained with oil. He set the sword he was polishing down on a counter and brushed his hands off. He was nearly as tall as Cyll, but not quite. That still put him over a head taller than the rest of the crew.

“You look like customers,” he rumbled. “I’m Little Larry. Judging by that shit in your hands, you’ve brought something for me to work with?”

“If you can use it,” Knell said.

“Let’s see what you’ve got,” Larry said, taking one of the scales from Stix’s hands and turning it over in the light from the forge behind him. “Hm. Looks tough. Mind if I smash it?”

“Feel free,” Knell said.

He set it on the anvil and brought his hammer down on the scale with a loud bang. Sparks flew off it and the smith picked it back up, examining it. “Wow, that’s harder than I thought. What monster is this from?”

“Clawraptor,” Knell replied. “Can you use it?”

“That explains it. Damn right I can,” the smith replied, walking back over to them and scanning over their goods with an appraising eye. “What do you want?”

“Armor and a big ass sword,” Cyll said, holding his hands at arm’s length to demonstrate. “Like, really big.”

“I could probably make one good suit with the scales you brought me,” Larry mused. “It’ll take me some time to really get used to working with the material, so it isn’t likely I’ll be able to get two out of it. As for the swords – did you bring anything other than those talons?”

“We did not,” Knell said. “We were hoping you could provide the rest.”

“Probably for the best. Unless you’re smiths, you wouldn’t know shit metal from good if it hit you in the face. Considering you’ve brought a fair amount of the material – let’s see, how about two hundred gold for both the suit and the sword?”

Stix choked. “That’s a lot of gold.”

“You want good weapons or a piece of shit? Quality costs,” Larry said. “Take a look at any of my work if you don’t believe me. If you can break it without using magic, I’ll cut the price in half.”

Cyll’s eyes lit up.

“But if you just scuff it up or use it in some way you’d never use it in a real fight, then you’re paying for it.”

Cyll’s eyes returned to normal and he harrumphed. He still walked over to the wall and picked up one of the swords, examining it.

“They’re pretty good,” he admitted. “At least, they look good. I’m no connoisseur.”

“They’re good,” Larry said, crossing his arms.

“Two fifty if you throw in an extra sword and make sure everything is properly fitted,” Knell said, nodding at Maya. “One for her, one for the old man, and have the suit for the old guy as well.”

Maya’s eyes widened.

Larry snorted. “Deal. It’ll take some time to fit everything.”

“Start with the girl,” Knell said. “I’ll send the other back after a few minutes. We’ve got some work to take care of first.”

“Works with me,” Larry said with a grin.

Knell counted out half of the smith’s pay and set it on the table. “Other half on completion.”

“Of course,” Larry said. “You’ll be wishin you paid me more when people see what I make you.”

Knell nodded, then headed out of the smithy. Maya remained behind while the rest of them walked out of the city and back into the surrounding farmland.

“Where are we going?” Stix asked.

“Somewhere more private to talk,” Knell replied. “Cities are full of prying eyes.”

He stopped on top of a small hill and glanced around. They were only a few minutes from the city, but there wasn’t anyone in the immediate vicinity. He sat down with a grunt.

“What are we talking about?” Cyll asked.

“Long term plans,” Knell replied. “It’s about time to let you know what our major steps will be. I didn’t want to do it while Maya was here. She isn’t part of the crew yet.”

“Yet?” Stix asked. “You’re planning on letting her join?”

“It depends on her. She was clearly putting on an act in Blackfoot Bay. As irritating as that was, I hardly care about words. She’s got determination, so if she manages to earn herself a new Path that’s strong enough to help us, I have no reason to refuse.”

“That’s… pretty honorable of you,” Stix said.

Knell raised an eyebrow. “I’d prefer the word practical. No point making enemies where there are none. Now, back to the topic at hand. We can’t stay out here forever.”

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, running through everything one more time.

“This will be pretty general, but there are a few major things we need to do before we can take on the gods. The first, and most obvious, is to grow in strength. The Shards are not immortal, but they are powerful. Their Scions are as well. And therein lies the first challenge.”

“Killing the Scions?” Cyll asked. “It’s hard, but not impossible. I’ve offed a few.”

“That too – but no. It’s me,” Knell said, tapping the bridge of his nose. “Or rather, my eyes. I’m a Scion. As little as it is, Mordrigal should still have some degree of control over her eyes. That isn’t a risk we can afford to take when we challenge her.”

“How can we do anything about that?” Stix asked. “They’re your eyes. You can’t just pluck them out!”

“When a Boon turns to an artifact, the god loses all control over it,” Knell said. “So, it stands to reason that if the Boon is sufficiently changed, it will no longer be Mordrigal’s. There’s no way to change them directly without blinding me, but they’re directly tied to my Path.”

“You crazy bastard,” Cyll said, understanding dawning on him. “You’re going to try to change your Path?”

“Something like that,” Knell said. “I don’t want to give specifics here because I don’t know how secret our talk really is, but that’s the essence of it. If my Path is modified, Mordrigal should completely lose what little right she still has to my eyes.”

“How are you going to change it? The gods have a lot of control over the Path you can get,” Stix said. “I really didn’t get out much, but I’ve never heard of a Scion changing their Path unless they lose their Boon.”

“I have a few ideas. A Path Change stone would be one possibility,” Knell said. “Those are quite rare though, even more so than Path Upgrade stones. Another would be an artificer with suitable power. If they modified my eyes, I could break my Scion Path. The bond between Boon and Path goes both ways.”

“But then you’d lose your powers!” Stix exclaimed. “Or at least the ones that Scion gives you.”

“That isn’t as bad of a loss as you fear it might be,” Knell said. “But that isn’t something I will elaborate on right now. Let’s assume I successfully change my Path to remove all of Mordrigal’s influence. The next step – and one we’ve already started – is to build infamy. We can’t destroy the gods on our own.”

“Starting a following to make an army,” Cyll said, nodding. “I did that too. I assume you’ll be using infamy instead of your actual goal so the gods don’t try to intervene early?”

Knell nodded.

“Wish we did that too,” Cyll said, his gaze darkening. “Too many people died because we revealed our hand too early. What next? A bunch of people that may or may not fight in your name isn’t going to be enough.”

“That part will be very long term,” Knell said. “When I say infamy, I don’t mean just within the Shattered Sea. We need to become one of the strongest crews in the Sixteen Seas. I don’t just want an army. We need to be known around the world. An army can be quelled. A population cannot.”

“They won’t all help you,” Stix pointed out. “Especially if we go the infamy route. Won’t we have more enemies than allies?”

“We’ll have some,” Knell replied. “But not as many as you think. We may be pirates so we can act outside the influence of the guild, but we won’t be pillaging. Instead, our main target will be liberating people the guild is taking advantage of. We’ll interfere with their plans, take what we can from them, and become vigilantes. There’s little people love more than a folk hero.”

“Skipping a few steps there, but you did say this was general,” Cyll said, nodding slowly. “What next? Let’s assume we’re famous and somehow haven’t gotten killed by the gods for killing a bunch of their Scions and fighting the guild.”

Knell tapped his staff. “This. Until we’re powerful, I can’t risk directly researching ways to kill the gods. There are a lot of people that don’t like them, but if someone catches on that we’re serious about taking them out, we will have a considerably more difficult time. Once we have some strength behind our name, I will attempt to figure out what my father learned and likely hid for me within this staff. Then we will begin, starting with the weakest Shard we can find.”

“Well, it was certainly general,” Stix agreed. “How many years is this meant to take?”

“Several,” Knell replied. “This isn’t something we can rush. In between advancing our agenda, we’ll also find time to try and look into what happened to your brother and take care of any other matters we might earn ourselves in the meantime.”