Chapter 14: Attribute Mage (Patreon)

Zed swung down his tomahawk once more. The shrike was dead but his anger was barely satiated. The sharp end of the weapon bit into its flesh once more as it had done countless times with a squelch. He ripped the weapon free and spat to the side. His spittle came out bloodied.

“We’re going for a monster run,” he muttered, angry. “Join us if you’d like. What a load of B.S.”

The shrike lay dead at his feet and he stood over it, an almost defeated victor. He abandoned his tomahawk to the side and tapped into his anger as he reached for his other hand. He pulled a milk colored spike out of his elbow with a muffled gasp and tossed it aside.

He kicked the shrike because he was petty like that.

“And what’s it with monsters and stabbing me with bones?” he asked as he ripped another from his thigh with a muffled groan. “Am I a bone magnet or something? Then again…”

He looked to one of the pillars holding up the building. It was riddled with spikes. Realizing the monster could shoot the spikes from its tail had been a big surprise.

Quest: [Wreck it Shrike]

• Objective Complete: Defeat the [Shrike] 1/1.
• You have received 1 Mana Beast core.

Quest complete.

“Of course I have.”

He lifted the front of his shirt. It had a large, bloody tear in it where the shrike had taken a successful swipe at him. Beneath it he could already feel the wound closing up. He released the shirt with a sigh and stepped over the shrike.

He couldn’t believe they’d left him to a monster. Although, in hindsight he should’ve seen it coming the moment Ash started talking about him lying. In a sense, she hadn’t been wrong. But she hadn’t been right, either. He hadn’t lied to them, and while he’d kept secrets, it hadn’t been done actively.

“It’s not like it’s my fault I don’t remember anything,” he grumbled. He picked up his tomahawk, kicked his shoes off, sighing at the relief in his toes and sat down against a pillar.

Thinking about it, he realized it wasn’t being abandoned that hurt him. It was the fact that Oliver had been in on it. He wasn’t surprised the others had done it, he was surprised Oliver had been a part of it. Being left to a shrike hurt the most, though, there was no doubt about that. But being betrayed by someone he was beginning to see as a friend was a different kind of pain.

“Well,” he got up and headed for the beast. “Now that I’m alone, I certainly need the money more.”

The shrike’s torso was already a mess of deep cuts and wounds, and while he realized he had the strength to simply rip it open, he took the liberty of swinging his tomahawk down one more time. With a deeper cut in its chest, he put both hands in it and pulled in opposite directions. The ribs cracked and gave under his strength and he found himself staring at innards and organs he couldn’t recognize. Beside one particularly large organ was something dull and brown. It was as large as his fist, round, and looked as though it had been dipped in mud.

He took it out, ripping veins and arteries somehow melded to it. He held it up and was surprised to find it unblemished by the stain of blood.

• You have acquired 1 Mana Beast core.

“You’ve really got to learn that there isn’t much difference between acquiring and receiving something, you know. Now,” he dismissed the notification. “How do I sell this thing?”

“Sometimes we sell it at the folded lab back in town or exchange it at the nearest town.”

Zed turned to find the team staring at him. They stood side by side and Jason watched him with apprehension.

“You really were saying the truth,” Jason said.

“Which is creepy,” Chris said. “What kind of mage doesn’t know how to use spellforms?”

“Or have magic,” Ash added.

“They exist,” Jason said with worried eyes, drawing shocked expressions from everyone including Zed.

“What do you mean they exist,” Oliver said with an awkward chuckle. “The whole idea of being a mage is being able to cast spells.”

“Not necessarily. The whole idea of being a mage is being able to process mana and get stronger. To be able to advance in ranks. But there are some mages, the one percent, that can’t use magic. In place of magic, their bodies develop what is called attributes. And I think it’s fair to say Zed’s one of them.”

“And have you ever seen one of these magicless mages?” Chris asked.

“Once, on an expedition with Heimdall.”

Oliver’s jaw dropped. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. The guy we met couldn’t use magic but he weighed almost a ton and had the force of a brick with every hit. Even though he was just a Beta, he almost took my head off with a clothesline.”

Ash turned to look at Zed.

“What do you think his own is, then?” Ash asked.

“Well, for starters, I think he has more than one,” Jason said. “And while we’re at it, how about you hose him down before he starts to stink like last time.”

Zed turned reflexively, looking for any sign of a hose or a bucket. Or even water. He found none, and his situation registered a moment too late as he saw Ash’s upraised hands pointing at him. The air wobbled around her hands and he was hit by a blast of water. It had enough force to move him from his feet and send him flying.

His body adjusted itself as his feet left the ground so that when the stream of water became a trickle he landed on both feet.

He rubbed a hand down his face, cleaning the water from his eyes and clearing his vision then scowled. “What the hell?!” he hissed. “A heads up would have been more than appreciated.”

“Anyone see that?” Jason asked, ignoring him.

Oliver shrugged and Ash’s expression turned thoughtful.

“Hit him again,” Chris said with a smirk. “Aim higher this time.”

Water gathered in the space between Ash’s two hands and Zed took a hesitant step back.

“Now just hold on,” he panicked. “I’m very sure whatever—”

The next blast sent him off his feet. And Ash had taken the liberty of listening to Chris because he left the ground and hit the roof, hard. His mind wobbled at a sense of the unnatural as the air was knocked out of him. As he fell, a single thought crossed his mind.

Did the water bend?

Attribute: [Equilibrium] (Physical)

• Increased resistance to stun effects and knockback. You      have bathed in the stasis of a mana surge and now understand the concept      of stability.

Unsurprisingly, Zed landed on his feet. It didn’t diminish the pain from the roof, however, but it beat landing on his face.

“How’d you do that?” Oliver asked, flabbergasted.

“Probably some stability attribute,” Jason said, uninterested. “What I’m more interested in is his regeneration. The monster clearly took a chunk of his chest out.” He stepped forward, approached Zed. “But there’s nothing there. The wound’s already closed up.”

Zed took a hesitant step back, then forced himself to halt. As much as he liked to think it was a pride thing, he had a feeling he’d done it out of caution or fear. If Ash could throw him around like that with water. He feared to think of what Jason could do with his explosive light magic. Worse, Ash wasn’t even as strong as Jason.

Jason stood in front of Zed, peering down at his chest.

“Perfectly healed,” he muttered, thoughtful. “No one would even know you were cut.” He looked down at the tear in Zed’s pants where a spike had stabbed him. “Works for stab wounds, too.” Then he raised his eyes to meet Zed’s. “You have a stability attribute. How does it work?”

“I take it you have no interest in my forgiveness,” Zed said hesitantly.

“I am,” Jason answered. “But you have to understand, my team’s safety comes first. And I don’t know you, yet.”

Zed didn’t need to think about it. He understood. Most of the memories he had of different lives had one thing in common. Each of them valued their team first. The father valued his daughter first. The soldier valued his country. The Berserker valued Anousheh. Even the war vet that had been abandoned by his country in his old age still valued the country.

The tyrant didn’t, though, he frowned. Did he value his kids?

Zed shook the thought away. Jason was right. But understanding something did not mean agreeing with it. There had to have been other ways to learn whatever he’d wanted to learn.

“I can understand that,” he said. “Doesn’t mean I can just get over what just happened. My injuries heal, but they still hurt.”

“And we apologize,” Jason said. “But the other skill, how does it work?”

“It reduces the chances of me falling over. It—”

Jason became a blur of motion. His leg slid behind Zed and he shoved him with his shoulder.

Zed was on the ground before he even knew it.

Jason stared down at him with a look he could not place.

“I don’t think your attribute works properly,” he said. “Maybe you’re wrong and you just have better balance than most people.”

Zed picked himself up and Jason stepped aside to give him space.

“It’s an attribute,” Zed groaned, getting up. “Trust me. I know.”

Zed frowned, rubbing his shoulder. The fall had hurt more than it had any right to, and he had a feeling he’d broken something in his shoulder.

He eyed Jason suspiciously.

“I said it reduces the chances of me falling over,” he said. “Not that I can’t fall.”

Chris walked up to them, a skip in each step.

“Can I try?” she asked with faux innocence.

“No,” Jason said. “We’re trying to understand him, not bully him.”

“Me, too,” she said, then held a hand up. “Scouts honor.”

“You were never a scout,” Oliver chimed from behind them.

Zed pointed an accusatory finger at him from over Chris’ shoulder. “She told you that in confidence!”

Oliver looked at him in confusion and Zed kept his arm up a while longer before bringing it down and rubbing the shoulder.

“I think you broke something,” he told Jason with a groan.

“Walk it off,” Jason told him, turning away. “And give your core to Oliver, he’ll keep it in the bag.” He’d barely taken enough steps to cross half the distance when he stopped and looked back at Zed. “Also, is there anything else you’d like to let us know? It’s your chance to get rid of the secrets.”

Zed thought about it briefly then sighed. There were too many complications. In just one day they’d almost gotten him killed out of suspicions that he was hiding something. There had always been the possibility that this was going to happen. After all, it was always easy to say and do the wrong things when you had no idea what they were. But to fail in one day? That was, if he was being honest, very disappointing. He couldn’t continue like this, not anymore. It was no longer a viable option.

“Remember when I said I’m from Iowa?” he asked finally.

“Yes,” Jason answered.

“Well, I lied,” he said with a sigh. “I actually don’t remember my life before the morning I met you guys.”