Interlude A
'Fresh Blood' thought the blood red orb that floated above the battlefield, the few other spirits that had retained their sentience through the years bobbing in the air as they spoke or laughed at the ridiculous way that the person was launched from the sand. When they landed, they found another source of amusement in the way the person was dressed. Was this what passed as clothing outside of their Tomb? Where were the furs and bands of steel?
When the young man's eyes looked skyward and locked onto the orbs, they heard the call. Yes in words, but they were felt in the soul, that was the call of a Lich. The call told them to fight, as it always did. Liath seemed a lot more concerned about this call though. The spirits broken by their time locked away fell into the sands to find what remained of their bodies to test the newcomer, to see if he would be the one to release them from the hold of the Lich.
But those who could still speak lagged behind, to watch and observe the young man in their sandy tomb. He could see the spirits, followed them as they fell to the floor with eyes that were not as concerned as might be otherwise expected of someone interacting with a horde. Either he didn't know what was about to happen…
A clattering of metal shattered the dead air as a roll of chain fell from one of his wrists.
Was that a weapon? Did people use chains as anything other than something to hold objects together now? How much have things changed during the years that had been spent separated from the world?
Only this interloper could show them.
The blood-red orb stayed still even as the rest fled to their bodies, resisting the call of his Master with all of his might. It would have been harder had he still been alive, with limbs that would have listened to the call before his mind could really stop them, but as a spirit he had a tad more control. His will versus that of his master was all it came down to, and while he still could not shake his yoke he could resist for a time. Being a speaker himself in life, he had some experience in the field.
And time was all he needed to assess the youngling that was in their midst. Would he fall to their numbers? Would he run from them entirely? Would he put up a good fight?
Curiosity was all he had left. It was the only emotion he could feel, his own little obsession in death. He existed as he was when he died, not fearing death in that chair, he was barely a spirit tied to some flesh at that point. He was simply wondering about what would happen when that beam of light hit him. Shortly after landing in their tomb, their new home for the foreseeable eternity, his Master forced him from his body for some purpose, colloquially known as "killing" him. For some cunning plan, he was sure.
It chewed at him, the fact that he didn't know. He must know. If he had blood it would be boiling at the thought of knowledge outside of his grasp.
The sound of an explosion drew him from his feverish thoughts.
Bones and Metal flew from the youngling, and immediately his concentration was broken. His Master's words took hold and he fell to his bones. One thing was for sure, the newcomer had brought answers to his questions.
He wondered if his master was ready for them.
Damn him to the Brothers, he'd take his chances with the Newcomer.
Interlude B
So close. He was so close. How many eons, millennia had he waited for this day? How many men, women, children had been tricked, lied to for this to come to pass? Wars fought, buildings razed, and lives stolen as fuel for his fire.
Five hundred years was not long enough to erase the humor of his biggest lie, his ultimate accomplishment. "A weapon to permanently kill a Lich," his transparent ass. Even when he had been alive, truly alive unlike his current state of in between, he had never pulled off such a lie. No ruler of the Northern Sands nor the Frozen Island even further north would have ever trusted the word of a Lich. No reason for them to keep their word to the living, no punishment could hold them to a promise.
But the South? With their single lifespans their memories were short. The name Servico Liath meant nothing to them. He was but another Speaker that had come with a plan, a plan to end a war.
And one Southern speaker under his control to sell his image was all it took to gain their trust. They carried the stone for his creation, carved the words that held it together, and he didn't even need to bring them into his Horde to do it. They wanted to follow him, Servico Liath. The Lich of Brundenburg. The Traitor of Kerny. And so many more epithets that he could hardly remember after so long.
He had brought cities to their knees, rulers to their deathbeds, and his horde ever closer to his goal.
True Immortality. Not this in between that trapped him and his Horde.
Had it been a thousand years since the Younger Brother had come to him, speaking a tongue that burnt the frozen sand around them with its power? Two?
Did it matter if there was no one to prove him otherwise?
Either way, it had been the exact same amount of time since his first "death". The first Lich, with news of a new Magic to rival that of the Tyrants of the South. He had been offered a Body to use, and ever since that first admirable sacrifice he had always endeavored to treat those that gave themselves to him fairly. They were just as, if not more, important than those that fought for his will.
The young man with some illness of the humors? Cured. The Priest with a wish to meet his God? His soul was sent on ahead, with care. The Noble with a fixation on Gemstones? Mines a plenty. The Headmaster who wanted for nothing but Students that excelled? They thrived under his tutelage. The King with a Wife that wanted nothing more than a daughter? Thoroughly impregnated.
He felt a little dirty when he thought about that one.
But it was all in the name of a good cause. True immortality. That which the Younger Brother had promised was his to behold, as was his right as the first Lich. One day he would become unmarred by the touch of death and undeath alike, with the Voice of the World itself creating him a new body like his first to serve him for the rest of his days.
He may not have been the Most Powerful of Liches and Kings that the Younger Brother had Spoken to, Grimmnir of Atlas would have that right. A will like steel, that particular student. He may not have been the most benevolent of them either, that was for certain. No, of all the Liches he had had a hand in over the many years of his existence, he could only claim one thing; He was the Most patient.
And today was the day it all came together. He had fuel, he had his Temple, and he had Spirits and Huntsmen-in-Training under his Dominion, ready to be called on at any time.
As he ran his ghostly hands along the thrumming walls of the Temple, beating like a living heart underneath his ethereal palms from the amount of Aura ready to stolen from the lungs of the Living and Magic in the Air, gathered and sent through over half a millennia of waiting, he realized that he had done it. The Temple was powering up now that he had managed to come across the barrier himself, setback for an age by a door thoroughly covered in Southern Graffiti. But he had found a pair of hands without the hesitation of his last Host.
He had won.
All he had to do was distract the Animals outside.
End of Interludes.
Fire was hard to control, all it did was eat and burn the world around it. It was heat, and in that simple way it could be deceptive. Fire burned and you had to watch it yes, but past that? It was fire. You gave it fuel, whether that be wood or Aura, and it burned. Electricity was similar. Aiming it was hard, you had to lace your target in Aura to act as a Target most of the time or it went to the most conductive thing nearby. Many scorched ovens spoke of Marsha's experience with that particular phenomenon. Ice was complex and required more than the others to properly use. Her Mentor had told her that if she wanted to master Ice she might as well just use Dust. It was easier that way.
Wind was the easiest of Elements, She had said. A push, A shove, and a cut. Easy to think, easy to envision, and easy to replicate. Wind was the Speaker's first friend, first weapon, and what most fell back on when pushed, while Fire was their last acquaintance, never to be trusted or given any distance without a careful eye.
But Marsha had found that it was the wind that was the hardest to master. Small changes made large impacts in the outcome, to the point of not even resembling how she had been taught to use it. If she had enough time she could steal the breath from an opponent and leave them to suffocate as though drowning on dry land. She could steal the vibrations from the air and silence an area to the outside world. And she could do much more than that. Years spent practicing with the most simple of Weapons, spoken of with disdain by her master.
Push back your enemy, the old hag had croaked as she hobbled around the patch of frozen solid sand with her walking stick, And then hit them with something that'll actually hurt.
If only she had stayed alive long enough to see what she could do now.
She pushed her hand forward towards the Skeletons that shambled towards her in the dank hallway, two fingers extended almost like a Valean salute. With a twist of her wrist and a flux of Aura that flashed soundlessly the Skulls and helmets of both flattened into disks of bone and metal as though they had been hit with warhammers and muffled pops. Without a metaphorical cockpit the Spirits that had been hosting them floated flaccidly in place as their vehicles fell to the floor before slowly floating up through the roof.
She slammed her right palm into the chest plate of another as it charged at her from behind, watching dispassionately as it crumpled up like a soda can. The orb in it looked confused at the speed of its destruction as it continued forwards to float through her forehead with a tingling sensation. She wiped irritably at the spot as she turned around and made her way down the hall, carefully monitoring with her sixth sense the flow of magic as it made its way… somewhere.
She was making an assumption that it was moving towards the exit of the place or possibly the reason it existed. And she had a feeling that she was getting close, if the way that the Magic was nearly choking her with its intensity.
Also because she could actually see the blue light coming from around a corner up ahead. The same pale blue of the words on the various doors she had passed, all opened to the air but with script hanging in the air as proof of its existence. The writing was clear, eloquent, and efficient, so much so that she was sure that it was done by her Grandmother.
Like it had hopped off the pages of her Journal and hung itself in the air.
She walked briskly past a room as a spirit fruitlessly bounced off of the Words like they were a physical wall, and she supposed to a spirit it might as well have been. The Old tongue, in all its forms, was the only true thing to affect a Spirit to the point that only something with Script chiseled into it and filled with Magic could affect them on the physical plane. It still required a Speaker to implement, so it was at best another form of magic.
Unfortunately it took longer to Chisel the Word for smack onto a blade with an enchanting table than simply casting magic at them as well as having none of the limitations of range, so the practice of enchanting had fallen out of practice a long time ago.
Also the Southern speakers had mostly died out. That hadn't exactly help spread the practice.
But all of this just brought back one of the questions that had been bouncing around her skull ever since she had been roped into this; How had the Headmaster gotten into the Main chamber. Even the Spirit of a Speaker needed a body to interact with Enchanted objects. She huffed as she realized that some poor sap must have been possessed. She stuck her head around the corner when she arrived, finding the most intricate door as of yet, and what was worse was that she recognized the pattern that she had been charged with protecting by her Mentor.
A duty she had quite handily failed, even if she would be fixing it.
"The hell is the temple door doing here?" She whispered to herself as she slid down the Hallway, throwing a wary eye over her shoulder to make sure no undead were going to take her unaware before returning her attention. She squinted her eyes as she approached, mentally debating whether or not she needed to go in, before relenting and placing her right hand where a doorknob would be on a mechanical door. She took in a deep breath before pushing her Aura through her hand and Speaking as low as she could manage, "Fosgailte," wincing as the tell-tale reverberations of the Old tongue made too much noise for her liking.
Either way the Door slid up into the ceiling, and her eyes widened as the Antechamber of the Temple was revealed, only unlike the Temple that she was used to protecting, the entire place was lit up in the Pale blue light of enchantment, not a single inch of Stone unmarked as the tapestry of language in minuscule letters steadily spinning and flowing across the stone walls of the massive room. She braced herself against the Doorway and couldn't stop herself reveling in such a display of Magic, the likes of which she had never even thought possible.
Spires of Dust the size of Bullheads, with the Blue inlay drawing precise circles and patterns across the surfaces, stunning her in their beauty. The largest thing she had ever seen enchanted before was a cauldron, which was the lifetime achievement of the Old Hag who taught her. The amount of time and skill necessary to carve the entire room…? The Columns that spiraled up and down with Words, the ceiling that stood at least a hundred feet tall, and the Floor of the place that had multiple raised platforms all around the room?
She could barely fathom it.
"Colbh an Teine!" Came a harsh bark from within the room, and she cursed her inattentiveness as she dove away from her position in a roll. She flooded her forearms with Aura and turned towards the explosion with them crossed in front of her face. A column of Fire erupted in the doorway, following the sloped ceiling upwards even as the force of the Spell sent her sliding backwards on one knee. She stood shakily, and called the wind to whip around her to disrupt any potential missiles heading for her as she looked around.
Her eyes narrowed when she spied a structure in the middle of the room, where she had expected the Seat of the contraption to be, a Rectangular stone construct set squarely into the floor, faces parallel to the walls of the room with Blue letters swirling every which way without a set sequence or reason as far as she could tell.
But more concerning were the Figures silhouetted in the Low-light of the Room, all human and not nearly as heavily armed or fortified as the undead she had been flattening. The only part of their bodies that were visible to her were the pieces of armor or armaments that reflected the blue lights.
And their bright blue eyes.
Along the wind came a whisper right by her ear, the same voice that had been whispering at the corners of her comprehension, "Well, well, what do we have here? A little Southern Speaker, waltzing right into my den? Though, I suppose for one of you making it past your teenage years is an accomplishment."
With a glare she looked around the room, the slightly smoking hem of her robes bundled in her hand, "Why thank you, I aim to please," She bit out in a poor facsimile of politeness as her eyes darted around the room and she backed away from the Figures standing and brandishing weapons at her, "Any chance we can talk this out?"
An echoing laugh materialized in the air around her, "Maybe if it was just me, I might have been open to it. But with my new… friends? I have expectations to fulfill now," The voice lightly told her, obviously enjoying playing with its food, "How about this; You convince them that they're wrong and then we can talk!"
An unsettling giggle emanated from the group of four figures as they stalked closer, but Marsha stood her ground as she began to prepare for a running fight, "Any chance that you can drop your hold on them?"
Immediately the laughs stopped, as did their advance as it was replaced with them fanning out to try and corner her. A familiar voice spoke from the figure on her left as it flipped a knife in the air, "He has no hold on us, Miss Mourie."
"Andrea?" She questioned as the other began to circle in, possibly because they thought she was a Dust Mage. Weren't they in for a shock, "How would you even know if you're being controlled when most Mind control can't be detected by normal means? Trust me, you're under his control," The wind began to build in intensity behind her as she stared the girl down.
"Because we let him in," Came the unruly tones of the Girl's partner, nicknamed Vain for a reason, as he hefted his spear and stalked closer with the other pair of students, "He promised a way to make us immortal, and when a ghost shows you a buncha magical shit, you might as well dive in headfirst, amiright?"
"You most certainly are not, young man," She chided, and she realized the true issue of the hour; Dealing with them without killing them. Why couldn't they just be… janitors or at least people who had left puberty behind. It would make it much easier.
"Others may have forgotten," Came the voice of their Leader, who she would have liked to say was a surprise addition, but she couldn't find it in herself. If anyone would be enticed by the promise of immortality it would the Leader of Team NOVA, "But I never did. The power that was in the offer," She could see the smirk in his voice as he hefted his Weapon to his shoulder and aimed down the sights as his partner and the Spearman moved forward, "And what kind of Leader would I be if I didn't try to help my Team?"
"One that wasn't Brainwashed," She growled with a bit of heat even if she knew in the back of her mind that it didn't matter, they might as well have been sleepwalking for all that her words would do to convince them that they were wrong.
"Alright kiddos," The spirit chimed back in with a tinkling quality to his voice, obviously still enjoying the spectacle, "I just need a few more minutes and then I'll have proof that this works, so Go Team! Wanna do a Group huddle for enthusiasm!"
"Do your Job, Servico," Davis retorted with a shake of his head, not caring about the way that Martha's eyes widened. Instead he took the distraction for what it was and unloaded a clip into her while his Partner dashed forward to engage the Teacher in the Melee. A wide swing came in from her left and she ducked out of the way as the weapon cleaved the space she had just occupied.
Her foot impacted the Girl's gut and all of the magic she had been silently storing behind her came crashing forward to throw all four of them back.
Scythes of wind tore into the ground, only to be rebuffed by the script that they encountered, but the bits of rock and dirt from a chamber left uninhabited and uncleaned for half a century whipped up into the air instead. The students immediately raised their Auras in response and covered their eyes as they scattered. Instead of a Follow-up she scanned the chamber to find some indication of the Wayward liches position.
Then a canister landed at her feet and exploded before she could cover her eyes. The smell of phosphorous was just about the only thing she could take in as the Flashbang blinded and deafened her, and she responded by bringing her Aura up and whispering in the old tongue to create a miniature vortex around her position. She opened up her Sixth sense and closed her eyes to focus on the individual strands of magic in the air.
With a sweep of her arm another scythe of wind tore towards her wayward students, grimacing when she heard one of them go down hard. She hardened herself to what needed to be done and began to chant lowly once more. "Gaoth, freagair gairm do sheirbhiseach," She finished with a flourish and another wave of force as she blinked the spots out of her eyes.
She pursed her lips as she swatted aside the spear that came shooting in for her Liver and rolled down the shaft of the weapon to put her palm on the Child's chest. "Faster than usual," She conceded as he growled at her and tried to grab her, but a spontaneous gale sent him careening backwards into a wall, "But not nearly fast enough. Did you think a little magical energy drink would help you beat a fully trained Huntress, no matter how young? Do the smart thing, and back off," She called into the disorienting room of pulsing blue light.
She lurched forward as a body fell onto her shoulder and she rolled with it into an improvised and clumsy somersault that led with her landing on her assailants neck. As the rogue gasped at having the wind knocked out of her, Marsha pried her arms from her neck and called on her Aura for strength.
With a step and an exclamation of exertion she slammed the knife-wielder into the swordswoman and blasted both of them back much in the same vein as Vain. She winced at the wordplay and created a shield of whirling wind in between her and Nilah before turning the shield into a weapon itself with a flick of her wrist and a few terse words, flying like a frisbee towards the boy as he dove out of the way.
"So you want to fight," She decided as her purple eyes roamed the ceiling and floors for some sign of her true target, "If its a fight you want, its a fight you'll get. Just don't come crying to me after I wipe the floor with you," Wind began to flow in unnatural directions as the students tried to climb to their feet, a vortex appearing under her feet and lifting her off the ground. She couldn't stop the Aura that began to pour off of her as she began chanting lowly and animalistically.
Interlopers. Trespassers. Defilers. Dirt that needed to be swept from her Charge. She had inherited the responsibility of defending this sacred place, sacred in the way that a battlefield was after a monstrous war. To so callously try to use the place for some ill intent, with the spirit of the Traitor who erected the thing to begin with, was nearly an act of war. The sound of said traitor still Speaking to his horde in the background did nothing to calm her down.
Because she was the only standing soldier left to right this wrong.
Time to show them why the standing order in the olden days for a spotted Speaker was "Flee on sight."
Another burst of wind tousled her partner's hair and threatened to blow Cosma's hat form her head. The gust went unnoticed by Tank, his cute widdle ears bouncing as he moved, as he continued to plod along ahead of them, his short fur not even shifting in place as he happily trotted towards the source. If pressed, or if the opportunity arose to shout it from the rooftops, she would say that she was proud of the Dog that she had raised.
Even her own teammates wouldn't claim ownership of his unprecedented rate of growth, barely being three months old according to Mr. G and already the size of a full grown dog. The only other person that the animal expressed interest in was someone that he seemed to want to bite when given the chance… She blinked away the random thoughts and squinted down the hall as the situation came back into focus, "I thought we were moving away from Austin?" She questioned once the corridor had settled down, glaring hard at her trusted flunkee.
"We are," He responded resolutely, "That wasn't nearly strong enough, not to mention loud enough-" The sound of cracking rock interrupted him and the two of them immediately pulled out their weapons in anticipation of a fight. Tank pressed himself low to the ground and began to growl under his breath. From further down the Hall a glowing red figure appeared from the darkness with a crash, followed by another figure glowing a dull green in the dark. A large fist Carved a trough in the wall as the larger figure tried to catch the smaller more agile fighter with a punch only to be forced back in a shower of sparks and aura as a handaxe was swung into their gut and forced distance between them.
"Is that Raul?" Cosma questioned even as the glowing green eyes of the Larger figure took notice of them and dove for its enemy.
"Thank the Brothers, your eyes aren't blue! Get to Janette, she needs assistance!" Hazel bellowed as he struggled with the Security Officer of the School. With a roar he picked up his enemy and slammed him through a solid Stone wall to tumble out of view. Form the Hole in the wall the tell-tale Blood-red Aura of Raul emanated before a chain a trail of explosions trailed from the origin to the furthest reaches of his Aura.
"Don't send the Kiddies away, Hazel," Raul cackled into the hallway as the three rushed by in the smoke, the sound grating and unnatural, "Think of all the fun we could have!"
"I am, Raul," He responded, obviously trying to clamp down on his anger at the situation, a massive strike that sent a shock-wave through the smoke that clogged the hallway, "But if its a good fight you want, then they'll just get in my way won't they!"
"You drive a hard bargain big man!" The haunting voice trailed off as sounds of stone collapsing and explosions faded off into the distance as they crashed through walls or whatever else was in their way.
"It's getting worse," Roman spoke hurriedly as the ran through the place, quickly picking up on the sounds of violence and screaming children, "The crazy is gonna start coming out of everybody if we don't calm them down."
"Getting worse..?" She asked incredulously as she thought about everything that was happening, "It's already fuckin' bad, Roman! What's next, paperwork?!" A legitimate concern for her slightly panicked and mostly tired mind, already drained of Adrenaline after more than an hour of sprinting around full tilt.
He threw a harsh glare over his shoulder, his eyes flashing blue in the dark in contrast to the light the scroll threw off down the Hallway, letting his irritation show on his face for once, "Can't you feel the Itch messing with your head? It's unbearable just being here."
Well, that couldn't be right. She'd been to preoccupied with Tank to plan a single Prank. But he was obviously feeling under the weather, so she nodded along seriously to humor him. "R-Right, of course," She furrowed her brows to try and look serious and gave him a thumbs up, to which he groaned and put on a burst of speed.
"Just be ready to fight," He groused as he slid in the sand to a stop in front of an open door where the sounds were coming from. He caught her to stop her from sliding past him and she halted the gasp that was a normal reaction to three of their classmates stalking towards the Headmaster, who was herding a group of children away from them. She did little to be intimidating with an old metal chair the only line of defense. The children shied away and scurried as far away from them as they could, fear clearly written on their faces.
Tank had no such control over his stop and yelped loudly as he whirled and twirled across the floor. Cosma could feel the simultaneous winces from how close they stood. The sound drew the attention of the three assailants, who turned in Unison towards the pair and stared with wide toothy grins and glowing blue eyes that seemed to flow from their socket even as their Aura stood evident on their skin.
Greeeeeeeat, Demons or something.
Can't a girl have a casual walk in the catacombs with her boy-toy? Is that too much to ask?
"Oooh, you'll do nicely!" Emily called cheerily, in the most inviting tone she'd ever used when talking to Cosma, clapping her hands happily as her steps became jaunty. Her smile was the same perfected smile she wore when she was trying to get something to go her way, but there was a more genuine lilt to her lips. Seeing her relaxed was unsettling enough to put her on edge, but to see her so happy to see her of all people?
She was white knuckling her weapon.
"What do you want?" Roman asked, diligently staying calm even as they continued to advance with carefree smiles. Good, one of them needed to keep it together, and she was about to start shooting.
"To get better," Shebul answered as his purple Aura began to build on his fists while the tell-tale purple mist began to fall down his back and billow towards them along the ground.
"And there is no better place to test how far you've gone than in the crucible of violence," Luca finished as a few arcs of electricity began to travel from his weapon to his shoulder, "And I can think of nobody better to try to fight without my Semblance than two tricksters."
A shiver worked its way down her spine despite her Aura shielding her from the elements, and it only got worse when the three much larger, and experienced, combatants took steps toward them. In her panicked state her eyes began to dart around the room, which was unfortunately empty for her short term goals of hiding and fleeing, and instead found Janette ushering kids into the corners of the Room and shooing her towards the Door.
At least the Headmaster was on board with her plan, now just for her partner.
"Do you have a plan for this?" She whispered as the pair pushed Tank back out into the hallway at the exact same pace that their aggressors advanced.
He shot her an intrigued glance from behind his Glasses, "Do you honestly think that I can plan for a situation like this?" he returned just as lowly as his Weapon expanded in his hand and she finished reloading her Shotgun with a Clack.
"Skeleton filled catacombs, no," She admitted with a wince as the three began running and flaring their Auras in anticipation, "But fighting Team TESL? Most definitely." She was mentally crossing her fingers as Tank began to Growl, as though he had just caught up on the situation.
Her little Buddy was very late to the party.
"Environment is important for planning, Cosma," He told her petulantly, obviously referencing some lecture of his and Ashley's on strategy, but forgive her for being a little scatterbrained at the moment.
"Yeah, Cosma!" Emily gleefully yelled as she lunged forwards with her Spear, "Pay Attention!" The girl in question yelped as she broke right while Roman broke Left at the fork only to topple over her bulky Pup and get a mouthful of Sand. She could only watch as the blonde rocketed through the Air to crash into the Wall of the Corridor above her as she spit out grime. Moving much more smoothly than usual she swung around the shaft of her Weapon before landing in a crouch on the still vibrating haft. Cosma could only gulp and fiddle with some loose parts in her satchel as her friend joyfully smiled down at her from her new perch.
"I don't imagine me saying that I think you're awesome would help, would it?" She anxiously asked as she stood and hit the mechashift on her weapon, the slim single edge blade poking a hole in her satchel as it formed in shaky hands as she held it between her and her deranged opponent.
The other girl made a show of thinking by tapping her pointer finger against her chin as her partner took the crook of Roman's Staff to the Forearm before a snap-kick sent the weapon high and off balance for Luca's dust infused Mace. Eyes unnaturally bright, hair disheveled and falling down her shoulders and back, with clothes covered in dirt and sand. She needed no more proof that her friend was out of her mind than how unkempt she looked when she was otherwise obsessed with looking well kept.
"After having our asses handed to us by those annoying Mercenaries," She drawled as she too hit her mechashift button which caused the head of the spear to retract from the wall as she fell under the implement to catch her Machine gun, "I'm gonna need a bit more than encouraging words to let it go."
Cosma flared her Aura as bullets impacted on her chest and sent her sliding back in the sand with a sound of Metal clinking against a hard surface, and in response she whipped out the detonator from her pocket and pressed the button.
Emily gave her a snide smile as her Spear returned and she jogged forward, "Really Cosma, how naive do you think I am? You didn't have time to set charges-"
BOOM!
Cosma rode the shock-wave of the explosion and turned feverishly to bowl over Shebul in a sloppy tackle that took both of them to the ground. Without hesitation she bashed him in the back of the head with the hilt of her Sword with a fury borne of fear and panic. Her target grit his teeth as his monstrous Aura reserves ate the Hits without too much effect before he spun over and threw her away with aura enhanced strength. She rolled into a crouch and spun with her blade out to clip Luca in his Knees as she passed.
He grunted at the attack and found her slamming the butt of her weapon into his Junk. His Aura took most of the attack as he had diverted his aura at the last moment, but he was unprepared for Roman's swing that caught him in the chin and sent him reeling nor Tank headbutting his Knees as he barreled towards his master with his tail between his legs from all the loud noises, which she assumed were happening underneath the piercing and shrill beep that was all she could hear. Roman smiled and hit him in the solar plexus with the explosive end of his weapon, sending his smoking body hurtling down the Hallway to impact with Shebul.
A wave of sand followed Emily as she screeched in with another Aura fueled lunge, her hair also smoking as she continued to try and skewer the pair as Roman dragged her back and out of the way of the strikes, and she let him as she mechashifted once more before diving in and catching the shaft in between the two bayonets on the top and bottom of the single barrel of her gun. With an explosion of breath she pushed up against the weapon before Emily punched the shaft and the power of the strike left her reeling. Much stronger than in their usual spars, and so much faster.
Thank the Gods that she was trickier.
She pulled the trigger and was rewarded with the Spear flying out of her hands, and ducked left as she trusted her partner to follow her lead. She swatted at the warm wetness on dribbling down the back of her neck as he followed it up with a strike directly across her face, and the new burst of adrenaline let her watch in slow motion as she spun away and fell on her ass. Her eyes narrowed as her mouth began to move but no sound came up. She squinted at her in confusion before sparing a glance for her fingers to confirm what she thought.
Newly deafened from improper Aura Shielding in the face of a point blank explosion, she did the only thing she could.
She began laughing as all three slapped hands on their ears as she screamed at the top of her lungs and fumbled for her bag. Emily, not someone known to make the same mistake twice lunged for her and tore her bag from her hands while pushing Cosma away from her. Cosma went with the motion and fled even further back as she dropped all of the pins she had managed to pull in such a brief time.
Not nearly all of them of course, she'd only had a few seconds, but as the saying went; Almost only counts with horseshoes and Hand grenades. And she happened to be carrying over twenty of the things.
A sudden force and wave of heat, and she was scrambling to get away from the crazy people and flooding her ears with Aura to hopefully get her hearing back in the next hour. She sent a look over her shoulder to see her partner locked in a contest of strength with Luca, whose eyes were glowing even brighter blue than before, and in between her and her partner were Emily and Shebul, whose eyes glowed just as brightly in the semi-smoky air.
If that were any indication, this was not a fight that would be getting easier over time, especially if the way that breathing was already getting hard for her. She quickly took stock as she rounded a corner, coming up with about five shots in Big Bertha and two smoke bombs. Movement in the corner of her eye made her stumble, but she caught herself and kept running, silently adding Tank to her list of equipment as she was running through doors that had other portals visible to try and buy time in the labyrinth of rooms that her and Roman had traveled through, but now with two tagalongs.
A Shotgun with only a few Red Dust rounds, two smoke bombs, and a Dog. Not to mention that she was deaf.
She winced as the dog in question ran into a closed door and bounced off of it in what she was sure was a loud as hell display.
...She'd make it work.
The scent of blood was what stood out to me as I came back to my senses, clogging my nose with its coppery smell with a hint of rust. I tried to blink my eyes back into operation, but the red receded at the same rate despite my efforts. I watched grimly as a scene unfolded in front of my eyes, swaying back and forth as my body continued walking. I growled in irritation as flashes of pain began to stab through my body, too numerous and extensive to properly find the causes for. [Instinct] and [Detect Bloodlust] were running wild, like I was a Computer that had just rebooted and I had yet to find my equilibrium. And much like a Computer I had a few screens floating in front of my face that I ignored of diagnostics.
Sound came in waves, first only the sound of wind and sloshing ice and then voices that were speaking lowly and smoothly. Like they were trying to sooth a rabid animal. I ignored them and clawed at my forehead, finding something embedded in my skull and putting pressure on my fried brain. Without thought I gripped it and tore it off, ignoring the immense pressure of my own strength in favor of watching my HUD to make sure my Hp didn't fall too heavily. With a sickening squelch the bone popped off of my head, along with a third of my forehead and my orbital socket.
I heard the voices recoil in shock as I activated [Osteogenesis] and replaced the piece of Blackened bone and flesh I held in my left hand as the red immediately fell away from my eyes and all my senses snapped back into focus.
[Hp; 28094/62274]
I wonder how much of that was me and how much was enemies?
I stared at the piece of bone and blood in my hand, appearing as though it had pierced my skin to form on top of my skin. It looked like half a pair of glasses, A single pure red marble of an eye staring back at me as it slowly dissolved into tiny particles and rose into the air like smoke. With a grunt I crushed it in my hand and let the pieces fall to the ground with a series of wet plops.
As I actually looked around, I realized that the ground had turned from sand into a sort of mud, made of sand and blood. The sloshing sounds I had been hearing were arrows being forced from my body by my regeneration and falling to the mud at my feet. "Must a done a number on me." I grit my teeth as one particularly large object scraped against my ribs as it tore its way free.
"Austin? You alright there, Buddy?" I grimaced at the patronizing tone of voice as I turned towards the source, finding a scared looking Taylor standing twenty feet away, looking remarkably free of blood. Must have been outside the splash zone during the main event.
"Who the fuck are you callin' "Buddy", Girlie?" I growled at her as I tore a javelin from the back of my right bicep and tossed it aside. Immediately I saw the tension in her form go down at the retort, only to return when I regrew the bones of my right forearm until my skeletal hand poked out from the sleeve of my Jacket. [Second Wind] followed quickly and the flesh followed the bone, and like that I was whole again.
Still dirty as hell, though.
"The Asshole tryin' to cave in the entire place, that's who!" She barked back, before waving at the other person that was on my Mini-map. "Teach me to be concerned about ya, Not even an ounce of gratitude in you, is there?" I felt the left corner of my lips quirk into a grin when I saw that Ashley was trying and failing to imprint the same presence that she usually did in her Pajamas.
"Course not, I had it handled," I returned easily, as the broken spear that sticking out of my back finally fell out alongside a veritable quiver of arrows on the ground. I did a double take as I realized that it was a quiver, next to a shattered Halberd, and a pile of armor. I took a step around and blinked as a piece of metal bent under my weight, and on closer inspection I noticed that some of the dark patches weren't quite blood-mud, the rusted metal just blended to well in the moonlight to stand out.
"Yeah, did you ever," She snorted as Ashley made her way over, burning away blood in her way rather than simply walking through it, the priss. Taylor moved her head to the side and shook her head before her hand shot up and tore an arrow out of the back of my neck that I had missed, "We watched ya tear apart an army of the things. They shot you full of so many arrows that you looked like a porcupine at one point, but you just kept trucking. What did they do to piss you off, interrupt you while you were eating?"
I raised an eyebrow at her trying to act casual and looked over at Ashley, who was equally as affected by whatever had a hold of them. Not the ghosts, even worse than that. Emotion. The absolute worst. Especially when both tried to hide it, all jokes, smiles, and boredom from the two.
Too bad I could hear both of their heartbeats. Honestly, if anyone else could hear it I'd point it out to them, but until then I'd keep it as my little secret way to keep an eye on them and all my other friends, who all decided that hiding their emotions was the way to go.
Except Shebul, the lazy fucker.
"… Something like that," I answered as I scratched the back of my head and pointedly looked away from them, not exactly knowing how to broach the real reason. That I had got worried that, theoretically, metaphorically, they could one day be an issue for you guys.
And that made me angry.
I clamped down on the growl that tried to slip out at the thought. No need to dwell on it, not like it was unhealthy or anything.
"So, uh, not to be nosy or anything…" Taylor started as Ashley finally pranced her happy ass over to us, "But have you figured out how to get out of this place? I've kind of been panicking for the past hour and a half."
"And I would like to take a shower, if it matters," Ashley interjected glibly, looking me over with an arched eyebrow. I wondered if she was bothered at all by the situation or just my appearance. Probably not my most presentable, covered in blood and grime.
The [Notes] section immediately appeared in front of my page, but I closed out of the assist from Fenrir without even looking at it. This was the one constant of the Dungeon, and the one thing that made them so easy for me to understand. "There is only one thing that keeps these things open," I explained as I wrapped my chain up and around my fist as I looked around for the Temple, as I'm sure that's where my objective would be. [Instinct] properly aimed painted the picture of the Tunnels, with much less immediate sound than in between armies of walking armories, clearly, and I nodded grimly at what I found, "Some fucker whose head I gotta beat in. Ash, question."
"Would you like… an Audience?" She hazarded, not really willing to offer to help anyone. But hey, if she came to watch and ended up helping that didn't count. I sent her an unimpressed look, and she had the decency to look shameful, "Don't judge me. I'm pretty sure I have a concussion. Normally you wouldn't even notice my verbal wizardry."
"Should I be concerned that Roman is fighting Luca?" I asked instead as I began to pull up screens and see what had changed. The first few screens were telling me I had lost a few limbs in the fight, but the last two were an item description and a note from Fenrir, which I read with great interest.
[Probably should have fielded this with you when it came up, but you were busy so I let it slide. That whole [Deadly Sin] thing is [Half-Grimm] uniquely, Grimm certainly don't have it. The more you use it, the Higher the Level, much like a [Skill] in that regard. Except Apathy, which is a Static Buff/Debuff. The more you give in to it, the more beneficial it gets. The rub is the lower levels, which generally involve losing control, could easily get someone killed. Can't exactly see the higher levels, but there are only ten blank lines here, so eleven levels per Sin I'd say.
Oh, another thing, when you Access it, you have a particular… Item formed and Equipped as long as you are accessing the Power of your sin, intentional or not. That's this Mask. It gets hit, gets broken in Combat You immediately lose access to your sin. That means immunity to Stress level, but no Berserk mode for you. Also, if someone sees you form a Grimm Mask and go on a rampage, there may be questions.
Good Luck, Boss.]
[Mask of Wrath]; An item formed by The Game in Response to your [Half-Grimm] Status and Use of the [Wrath] Deadly Sin.
Relentlessly forward, let nothing stop ye'.
-Equipped when [Stress Threshold] is met.
-Equip to force [Wroth] Status.
I found the On/Off switch to anger.
Beautiful.
"Luca and Roman are fightin'?" Taylor broke my concentration as she scratched the hair near her right ear as she squinted at me in confusion, "The fuck did I miss?" I simply shrugged in response, not entirely sure myself. I'd been out of it, as if she somehow missed it.
Ashley only smiled benignly at my question, "I'm not that concerned, if that means anything to you."
"Well I am," Taylor responded acerbically, crossing her arms and looking mulish, "I don't want Roman getting hurt, and I'd think you'd be more concerned about this, Mr. Ferocious Loyalty!" She finished with a glare.
"If you could hear what I could you wouldn't be concerned for Roman," I explained as easily as I could. But there was a bigger issue that [Instinct] was alerting me to, and that was that all the people were beginning to smell eerily similar to the Skeletons and Dungeon itself, like the place was seeping into them. Overpowering their smells.
Just the same as had been happening all over the fucking campus.
The place was possessing them just like the Ghost was. I smacked a hand onto my face and dragged it down as I closed out of the screen and focused on actively trying to fix the problem. And not in the abstract, think like a ghost kinda way that Miss Mourie was trying to drill into my head.
I needed a much more hands on approach, and I had all the tools I needed at my disposal.
'Fenrir, what does the Game have about Possession?' Immediately my [Notes] Page opened again and I sighed as the words began to flow, taking the time to tell them that I needed a minute to figure something out. They gave each other uneasy looks and me not-so confident ones, but Taylor agreed to search through the area to look for cool shit while Ashley began to meditate to rebuild her Aura reserves.
No idea if that worked, by the way. She said it did, but my Scroll never really gave any indication that her Aura was coming back. But if it got me time then I'd take it.
[Possession; A general Term for Debuffs applied by [Undead;Ethereal] Enemies, but Most often applies to those with the [Deadened] Status of the [?] Skill. As this skill requires a Check of Res vs Res to be applied and Maintained, the easiest way to remove it is to cast the [?] Skill on someone already under its effects and win the Check versus the original Caster. Alternatively, a subject could be killed and then raised improperly as those with the [Warped Soul] Status are immune.]
Words and other words. Word salad. I growled at the useless screen, wishing I could snatch it from the air and impart exactly what I thought of its help. Instead I refocused and pushed on, 'What about this Warped Soul thing, anything on that?'
[Warped Soul; Two methods to obtain this Status 1) Revive a Soul without using the [?] Skill or 2) Death on Land Tainted by the Brothers causes immediate Revival with this Status.]
Great, both involved dying. Not an option to kill my best friend and my Partner for a solution to a temporary problem. So I needed to go to the source, and the description listed an unknown Skill that I could use to break the Possession if I won a battle of Res. I'd take my chances. 'Brother, do you have anything on that Question mark?' I was surprised when after a moment the page flipped to an annoyingly empty page.
[?; Necromancy ?
Impose your Will upon another in a Battle of Strength of Wills (Res vs Res).
?]
Of all the cryptic nonsense- Impose my Will? What was I supposed to do, give them a stern talking to? Cover them in my Aura-? And then before my very eyes the Page began to delete letters one by one, before writing out just enough to get the point across.
[?; Necromancy, Stat Requirements; Res 45.
Impose your Soul upon another in a Battle of Strength of Wills (Res vs Res).
?]
Cover them in my Aura, and just... be willful, Apparently. Might as well start with the one who I had accidentally cast Magic on. She had taken it pretty well, considering I could have given her magical cancer for all she or I knew. "Taylor could you help me test something?" I called over my shoulder, not even reacting as she appeared at my elbow almost immediately. I was startled, however, when she was decked out in a suit of armor so rusty it looked like it would fall apart if I touched it.
How she managed to get it on without destroying it was a mystery lost to focusing on curing Possession.
A gloved hand came up and slapped the Visor of her helmet up so I could see her eyes, and my thoughts must have been visible on my face because she immediately gave me a half-assed and very Cosma-like explanation, "I got bored. What do you need?"
"Your patience," I responded easily as I closed the unhelpful description and placed a hand on her plated shoulder. She gave me a look that promised a slap to the side of the head if this didn't hurry up, and I smacked the side of the helmet hard enough that the thing fell to pieces.
"Hard to concentrate when you're making so much noise~" Ashley hummed at us, and with her eyes closed she missed the scathing looks we both sent her. If the little self-satisfied smirk was any indication, she was aware of them anyway.
"Well," Taylor said impatiently, "Gonna do something?"
"Beat you upside the head and fight the big bad myself if you don't shut it," I grumbled, well aware that I was bluffing. No clue if it would go away if the guy died, after all. Then they might be stuck with it for life.
I shook away the negative thought and pushed. Slowly but surely Aura pooled down my arm and collided with hers, much in the same way that it had when casting [Purge]. But now it wasn't nearly as turbulent and barely pushed back when my Aura crashed down, like an avalanche moving in slow motion. There was a screeching of metal as I closed my eyes and tried to feel out exactly what was happening, but the only thing I could feel was a… lack of something.
In my mind's eye I could see the edges of my Aura, where the edges of mine and hers bled together, and I could feel the tension in her body at being enveloped in my Aura, but… there was no push back like before. Her heartbeat was slow and steady, even if her Blood pressure was higher than I thought it should be. The organ sounded stressed for whatever reason.
Where was the resistance? It happened every time I did this to someone to use [Shatter] or any other Aura technique, where the fuck was it now?
Wait, I hadn't even noticed when I cast [Purge] on her, but I most certainly did when I practiced with Marsha. The fuck was this?
"Austin? Hoss? Boio?" I opened my eyes and found myself gripping her by both shoulders and with her head leaning away from me with a confused look on her face, but not exactly scared. I only grunted in response, shooting glances at the way that the armor had literally fell apart under my hands without effort.
"Why aren't ya scared, girlie? There ain't any push back from your Aura." I growled at her, now just generally concerned, but she looked at me like I was stupid.
"Because I trust you?" She replied with a snort, as though it were the most simple thing in the world.
"Well stop that," I growled in her face, but that only made her laugh. And that just pissed me off. Here we were, in a literal monument dedicated to the things I could do when I was angry covered in my blood and defeated enemies, and she had the gall to say that she felt safe near me.
"Haven't steered us wrong so far," She explained in a tone that made me snarl, "Besides You wouldn't hurt a friend."
"Maybe not on purpose," I growled as I picked her up by the shoulders and tried to shake some sense into her, "But it's called caution, Girlie! I could kill ya without even meaning to! My aura explodes and you let me cover you in the shite, what are you, suicidal?"
She laughed as I put her back on the ground and removed one of my hands, with her still in the seal of my Aura perfectly at ease. Like a moron. A moron who was looking at me like Tank looked at Cosma. She trusted me.
She was gonna get herself killed doing it, too, and I couldn't just sit back and watch it happen. I felt my hackles begin to rise at the thought and my Aura spiked in response. There was a response in her Aura as well, spiking simultaneously, but I didn't care. "Trustin' me is the literal last thing you should be doin'," I bit out in her face, and she actually had the temerity to frown at me, like I was being unreasonable.
"Well, it's happening whether you like it or not, so get used to it," And like that I could actually hear my blood boiling as I bared my teeth at her. If she wasn't careful she could stress me the fuck out and then there was a ninety percent chance she'd be a smear in the sand. In my mind's eye, I could see my soul raging like a fire, using hers as fuel in a very not metaphorical way. And then a film that was unable to be felt by my neanderthal self popped in the sea of Steel-gray and Yellow-Orange, and I could detect something out of place. It tried to wiggle out of sight, but my Aura-covered right Hand snatched it like I had the bundle from Shebul's Semblance with [Soul Tear], crude claws made of aura digging into it and threatening to break as I tried to pry it loose.
No subtlety, no curiosity, no distractions. I poured Aura into my hand through explosion after explosion until it was shreds in my hand. I knew something was off, Taylor may trust me, but no sane person would let me cover them in what was soul fueled C4. The ghost had gotten to her as well, and I hadn't even noticed. My aura responded to the situation, and I was so fucking pissed that I could barely look at the Screens that appeared in the air between us.
Ability contested, base [Aura]!
Austin; 105 Res. ?; 101 Res.
Winner; [Austin]. [Dominion] Removed. Cost of 5000 (250(Base Cost)/.05(Aura Skill success chance)) Aura.
Ability contested, base [Aura]!
Austin; 105 Res. Taylor Chesterton; 27 Res.
Winner; [Austin]. [Dominion] Applied. Cost of 5000 (250(Base Cost)/.05(Aura Skill success chance)) Aura.
Skill Learned; [Dominion, Level 1, Stat requirements Met; Res 45!
Respect my Authoritay!
Impose your Soul upon another in a Battle of Strength of Wills (Res vs Res).
Number of Souls under [Dominion] = (Lvl Res/10) = 11 Souls.
All souls under [Dominion] gain (Lvl/2)% Bonus to Str, Dex, Con, and Agi, and temporary access to the [Deadened] Trait but must make a Res check to disobey an order given by whoever holds [Dominion].
What an evil fucking Skill. That it was the only way to immunize them to the enemy was no comfort when I was literally handed the keys to Taylor's free will in such a brutal fashion. And I knew her Res now. Morals were for people in better situations than mine, but such a flagrant removal of freedom was Maddening, and the need to do it just to stop someone worse from doing it instead? The Window closed before I got nauseous just thinking about it.
When this was done, this Skill and Magic was being buried, to never be thought about again. The Boost to Stats was not worth the Nastiness, as simple as that.
The Tension in our Auras resolved by mine momentarily snuffing hers out, and for a moment there was only one soul between the two of us. And then I ripped my hand form her shoulder and stalked away, leaving her to stumble back and freak the fuck out. I assumed that her having the Soul leech removed was a similar feeling to me removing my Mask. Sudden, bright, harsh clarity in a moment.
And she didn't have the Game buffering the effects either.
"What are you doing?" Ashley asked as Taylor began wheezing at the new intrusion into her Aura. That was another thing about the situation that was odd, where Shebul's and this Ghostly Fuck had pieces of Aura hidden in other people's Aura Mine did not do that.
Bright in my eyes I could see a layer of Steel-Gray Aura over her Yellow-Orange, pulsing in time with her own. The ability to see her Aura began to fade, but the difference between the two techniques was clear in their effect on Taylor, who was hacking out a lung.
"I can protect you from… The Itch," I explained as I helped Taylor stand up and get her feet back under her. "It should even make you better at fighting," I added on, barely able to keep my voice steady with the way that my guilty conscious was wreaking havoc on my psyche.
"Austin," My leader cautioned as she narrowed her eyes at me, "What did you do?"
"What I had to," I volleyed back, "Now, I can protect you from what we have to fight, which can possess and change your mind," I watched as her eyes widened in surprise and waited for her to soak it in before continuing, "But there's a catch."
"What's the catch," Taylor demanded as she stretched and did a set of shadowboxing at max speed, "Can't be physical, I Haven't felt this great since… never, I guess," She finished lamely before Shooting off in a burst of her Semblance, "And it ain't fucked with my Semblance."
"The only way I could make you immune was to…" I faltered for words that would make this sound better, my Charisma making a surprise entrance to fuck my day up. I settled for hitting myself in the face with a loud smack, "I may have Possessed you myself."
Taylor looked at me with a flabbergasted expression, "What's that mean for me?!" She sputtered and flopped her hands in my direction. As she looked to Ashley for support.
"Means the dickbag we're fighting can't tell you to fight us like your partner is fightin' Roman," I barked, now thoroughly past caring about her feelings on the matter. It had to be done, no matter how nasty. And the less they knew about the potential for fuckery the less I'd get bitched out about it.
"It's like a Possession Vaccine," Ashley summarized shortly, "A little in to keep the rest out."
"Yup, And its your turn," I agreed, "Get your shot or you're worse than useless when we go into that Temple. And I ain't riskin' you runnin' off and killin' people while me and her go kick ass. So grit your teeth, Marsha is having an issue we need to go."
There was no politeness in me when I used the new skill on Ashley, slapping a meaty hand onto the top of her head in her position sitting on the ground. Ashley, who had a good deal of Res to fight back with, and multiple years worth of Possession floating around in her system to make it a challenge.
Just not enough. The numbers didn't lie, and mine were bigger. The same feeling of a bubble popping under the pressure and I was in. My Aura cocooned her as well, and where she had more than me and Taylor put together, my Will was simply stronger and refused to yield to hers even as it tried to burn me away like the blood in the sand. And like that I could see all that I needed to, her Aura more like a fire than even mine in my angry state.
My right hand fell towards her face, and I saw the look of betrayal on her face before I caught the piece of Aura before it tried to slither out of reach. A moment later and there was a bundle of my aura in theirs and they were protected from being possessed again. I bent over at the waist and tried to blink the spots from my eyes.
I looked over at the two girls, and let the determination overtake me. This was no time for disgust nor second thoughts. It wasn't a moral dilemma if I refused to think about it. Besides, I was near the fucking finish line.
There was bitches that needed killing. And I was Pissed.
End of Chapter.
Austin Staín
Class: [Outsider:
Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])
Lvl 25: 75/2500 exp to Next Level.
Hp: 62274/62274 HP Regen: 1453 Hp/Sec
Stm: 2179/2179, Stm Regen: 322 Stm/Sec
Ap: 10600/10600, Ap Regen: 265 Ap/Sec
Current Stress Level; [259/1103]; Natural Stress Relief; 1.05 per Minute.
(5 per even Lvl, 6 per odd Lvl)Str: (150) 161
(2 per odd Lvl, 3 per even Lvl)Dex: 51
(7 per Lvl)Con: (194) 208
(0 per Lvl)Agi: 9
(0 per Lvl)Int: 1
(1 per Lvl)Wis: 5
(-10 per Lvl)Cha: 1
(5 per Lvl)Res: 105
Free Points; 0.
Attribute Points; 0.
Atk: 1338
Max Thundering Blows Damage: 53864
Pistol Atk: 304
Def: Phys; 80%.
Mag; 0%.
Debuff; 80%.
Shell: Phys; 588 Damage.
Mag; 21 Damage.
Attributes:
[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed 15% decrease in speed. Inherited from Nan.
[Big Bad Wolf]; 2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. 100% to experience gain to the [Osteogenesis] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm]. Inherited from Fenrir.
[?]; ?.
[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%. Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.
[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You? Gained Through The Little Things.
[Guardian Angel]; 10 Cha to those that you have saved.
[Fast Regenerator]; When most people lose limbs it's permanent...
Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.
[Rampant Mutation]
Constant regeneration has left you more fit to Fight.
Add 25% of your Con to your Base Attack.
For every 5 points of Con ignore 1 Physical Damage for purposes of Damage.
[Deadened]; I Will still fight...
Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.
Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.
Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.
[Juggernaut]; Wade through Blows…
For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.
5% Atk
[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.
[Direct Approach]; Hard heads Prevail!
When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.
[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.550) to (Str*3.7550).
[Destiny Breaker]
The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.
-20 Luck.
(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.
[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker, with the potential to be hostile.
?
[Pack Animal]
Familiarity is your comfort.
(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].
(100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted (Level 3)].
What a fucking Chapter.
And what did I say, I was off by one. Next chapter is the Climax, and I should be able to wrap up the Resolution in the same chapter. We have progress, we have action, and we got characterization.
Or at least I hope we do as this is the largest chapter I've written.
Alright, Short Author's Note This time.
Review if you would like, They make my fuckin' day even when they insult me.
Jericho Out.