Chapter 35 - Machinations / Chapter 36 - Checkpoint / Cultist Access (Patreon)

Double release today and friday!

Here is your link to the google dock, or read below!

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Chapter 35

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As soon as she caught up with the group Elania mentioned the eyes. Much to her chagrin the blue orbs had disappeared and Taniel added a biting remark about scared girls. The rest weren’t any better, suggesting that she had been seeing things.

She thought she had seen the shape of two dogs behind the eyes, but in the shifting shadows of the caverns it had been too hard for her to tell even with her [Darkvision] making things easier. The dismissiveness of the group didn’t stop her from glancing back every so often, and she still felt like they were being watched.

The first thing to come to mind was the Ash Hounds from the Prancer, they certainly had not made any attempt to hide their fixation on her, but she didn’t know why they would be following her. If they were contracted to the Innkeeper shouldn’t they have been back at the Inn with him? She had assumed that since they were hounds and were kept in the Tavern as some type of pet or guard animal.

Despite the constant feeling of being followed and watched, nothing happened and Elania started to feel a bit silly. When the first traveler met them coming in the opposite direction she tensed, but the others didn’t react and she realized that this close to the City they would likely start seeing more and more other travelers.

They met several others along the way, and other than a customary greeting or acknowledgement no one stopped. Elania was actually starting to feel some anticipation at reaching Neftasu, when a sudden growl brought the party to halt.

One of the Ash Hounds stepped out from around a corner, its blue eyes standing out starkly against the bioluminescent cave walls. The frame of a large man that would tower over everyone she had seen so far followed. He had a thick beard dusted with specs of gray, and was clad in a set of light leather armor. In one hand he carried a large iron banded club.

[Innkeeper – Human – Lvl 487]

Elania was suddenly struck by a feeling of being oppressed, the lightweight feeling she had being pulled away by a sudden new burden. She wasn’t the only one to suddenly tense up, and the novices suddenly crumpled onto their knees. Only Marcus seemed to be unaffected, and one of the ranger’s hands went to his sword belt.

‘The Innkeeper is using an aura on us.’

Elania flicked her own aura on in response, and the crushing feeling suddenly melted away, although the two novices collapsed the rest of the way. Tanyan and Taniel looked back at her both with pained expressions, but didn’t say anything.

The look on the Innkeeper’s face was scaryand he levered the huge club onto his shoulder as he continued to approach, the second demon hound suddenly leaping out from behind a rock and joining at his heels. The other hound snarled and shook its head as it began to let out a low growl. The huge man covered half the distance between them at the slow non-chalant walk before Marcus took a step forward and held up a hand.

“That’s close enough.”

The Innkeeper stopped, the club coming down to thump heavily onto the ground as he planted the head of it in front of him.

“Marcus, unless ye’ve been hired to protect the thief on yer coattails, step aside.”

Elania’s mind was set racing. He was after her. She hadn’t done or stolen anything that she knew of though.

“You’ve got the wrong group, Innkeeper.” Tanyan stepped forward, shaking off the two auras, although a hint of pain tinged his voice, “We’ve nothing of yours.”

“Oh aye, ye’ve nothing of mine.” The Innkeeper leveled a finger directly at Elania, “She’s got a belly full o’ it though, and skipped out just a tid bit ago without paying for it. That’s what I’ve come to collect, ‘n interest to boot.”

“I didn’t, Marcus...” Elania felt a sinking feeling in he stomach as the mercenary grinned at her. “He...” She managed to stammer out an approximation of the events from her point of view, but the man held up a hand and silenced her.

“Yer the one that ate, and Shelly told me yer the one that ordered it. Now, I cannae let any o’ me patrons skip off without paying.” The Innkeeper began closing the distance again, and Elania could feel the pressure of his stare as he bore down on her.

“Wai---” Tanyan started to speak when one of the Ash Hounds cut him off with a growl and positioned itself in front of him. The holy monk stepped back and Taniel put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

“Not our fight.”

A cold numbness filled Elania. She knew Marcus had set her up for this, and Taniel’s refusal on behalf of the monks was another betrayal that she had suspected. Deep down she had hoped that Marcus’ warning earlier would have been wrong, but now she knew just how shallow their comradery was.

Tanyan didn’t give up though and he fished in his pocket and pulled out a coin.

“Here! We’ll pay for her. She obviously didn’t skip out on purpose, sir.”

The man didn’t stop or even look at Tanyan as he continued forward straight toward Elania, “I don’t want yer coin, monk. If’n we ‘er in the Waypost she’d be subject ‘o the law o’ The Guard, but ‘ere on the outskirt, the aggrieved is their own ultimate justiciar ‘en juror. Unbound like ‘er has more value as a servant ‘n lesson than yer coin.”

Elania gave the monk a weak smile. Well, at least he had tried the simplest form of appeasement, but she knew he wasn’t going to break rank to actually fight for her. The monk looked about to protest the Innkeeper’s words, but a vicious snarl from the hound silenced him. Both hounds had positioned themselves ready to deal with the monks if they dared to intervene anyway.

“Princess.”

A screen appeared in front of her. A contract offer. So this was his plan.

All the other roiling emotions that had been paralyzing her were replaced by a cold anger as she scanned the proposal. It was exactly what she had suspected of the bastard.

“Fuck you.”

Elania flipped the screen and all but threw it back at him, wishing the red text would smash into his face. The only satisfaction she got was the surprise at her rejection. Oh, the contract wasn’t the worstpossible contract, but it left enough hooks that he’d be able to make her into nothing but a slave the more he ‘assisted’ her. Maybe he thought he had been more subtle or she was too stupid to realize that.

Running seemed like a futile thing, as the Innkeeper came to a stop a short distance away. She could feel the strength rolling off the man. She was sure he was stronger than Marcus, and both wanted her.

“Contract. Accept it,” the innkeeper said.

The window appeared again, and she read it. It was not nearly as bad as the one Marcus had sent her. It promised that she’d be treated well and protected, and she’d serve the same role as Shelly the waitress without any ‘extra’ duties. He’d supply all the essence she needed to live. The problem was the duration as she wasn’t sure just how many yearsthe old man was going to live.

Still... she considered it. She found herself reassessing the man. He wasn’t as bad as she first thought, lumping him in the same category as Marcus. Although it was still slavery.

“The duration and cance---”

“Accept,” As soon as she started to try and negotiate, he stepped forward his large hand coming down to clamp on her shoulder painfully. He was going to try and force her to his will. Elania’s entire body clenched as a searing hatred of all of them took hold of her. She had had enough of everything.

Marcus and the Innkeeper were impossibly strong, she didn’t have a fraction of their raw skills or experience. All she had was one single trump card and surprise. She was still able to feel the fuzzy existence of the Mana Shard in her pack, and she yanked as hard as she could on all the power that was still inside of it.

[Power: 432/208]

Her hud suddenly turned red in the corner of her view, the sudden influx of Power setting her insides on fire. She didn’t just feel it, she could see the red of her eyes reflecting off the Innkeeper’s sudden surprise.

The man reacted impossibly fast and the pain from her shoulder suddenly doubled into agony and she felt herself being lifted into the air as he prepared to fling her away. But he had stepped so dangerously close...

Elania focused everything into her fist as she swung at him. She forced all her power into it, turning her hand into a temporary star of light.

It was over in an instant, a red squelcherupting through the tunnel in an explosive spray that covered everything.

“Sweet Divines!”

Her forearm was gone.

So was the center of the Innkeeper’s torso.

The pressure crushing her shoulder stopped and suddenly she had to hold onto his arm to keep from flying away as she reached the top of the arc he had been about to fling her through. For a single weightless moment she caught the blank look of death on the man’s face. She didn’t even know his name.

The timeless moment ended and she landed on the bloody corpse with a bounce, barely managing to protect her face with her good arm.

“Fuck!”

Elania looked up as she recovered and watched as the two demon hounds attacked. The red fury in their eyes shined like hot coals as they rushed forward together. One lunged for Tanyan and Taniel intercepted it with a glowing fist. The other was rushing for her.

It did not get far as Marcus was suddenly there planting a dagger through its neck eliciting another viscous spray of blood across the stone. A white orb flew from Tanyan’s hand that homed in on the other hound as it tried to dodge Taniel’s attacks. Snarls turned to yelps as it was suddenly covered in the white light and then it ceased moving altogether.

[Power: 33/212]

She was tapped, she’d dumped almost four hundred power into the man’s chest. The blood pouring out of her arm slowed to a stop, but the pain of [Regeneration] flaring and rebuilding it didn’t come.

[Your physical status is degrading!]

[Your Power is insufficient for Regeneration! Your body will heal slower.]

The pain made it hard to think and reading the expanding cloud of messages was impossible, so she swiped them all away. What she was focusing on was more important.

Marcus was staring at her, and so was Tanyan and Taniel. Marcus had stopped the hound which had helped her, but she saw the sudden flicker in his eyes and she felt like she could almost read his thoughts. He didn’t see her as a toy to play with anymore, but as a danger.

He started to reach for his bow off his back, and Elania knew exactly what he could do with it from the fight with the Manzitore.

She hadn’t seen the prompt but she didn’t need to see it. She slammed her intent into the Innkeeper’s corpse to absorb his Power. The response from the [System] was almost eager in its rush to oblige as the entire area that was splattered with his gore began to mist over. Elania could feel the rush of Power flowing over and into her. The flow didn’t finish immediately either. It was providing a rapid but steady tick of Power as evidenced by her self-made Hud.

[Power: 55/212]

[Power: 77/212]

[Power: 99/212]

[Power: 111/212]

[Power: 140/212]

Marcus was already reaching for an arrow, and Elania realized she had to act. The ranged attack she could do was wholly inadequate. It was so much less potent that the close range one was, and she knew she’d never make it close enough to reach the ranger.

Her gaze slid to the two unconscious forms nearby.

“Wait!”

“Stop!”

Elania ignored the chaotic shouts, she didn’t have time to hesitate and she launched herself through the air landing with a slide before lifting one of the novices up into her lap and turning back toward the others.

Marcus had his arrow trained on her, but she had just barely made it in time. A strap on one of the bulky baskets of moss snapped off the man’s back as she hugged him tightly to her chest, and then she reached up and broke off the wicker lid that held the highly reactive moss inside. The green glow escaped casting her and the novices in an eerie light.

“One spark and all your moss and the novices will melt away,” Elania’s voice came out cold and calm which was terrifying to her. “Put it down.”

Much to her relief Marcus complied, although he kept his bow out. Taniel and Tanyan looked at her in shock.

The sudden flaring pain in her stump was a reminder of the damage she’d already received and when she read the number on her Hud she realized she might be in trouble.

[Power: 379/216]

[Your body is experiencing thermal degradation!]

[Your body is slightly adapting.]

[You have gained a level in Demonic Aura!]

[Due to your high power, Regeneration is enhanced!]

[Due to your excess power, your body is exceeding its limits!]

[Your body has greatly exceeded the limit of its capacity for power!]

[Find a stronger body or reduce your current power!]

It was still ticking up. She couldn’t feel the Mana Shard in her pack either, although she hadn’t yet figured out how to fill the damned thing even if it wasn’t dust in her pack. She bit down on her lip as the pain in her stump intensified, and she quickly pointed it away from the baskets when motes of yellow-white energy started to float off of it as it began to reknit itself.

Apparently, the process became more flashy the higher over the cap she was. At least it seemed the effort was slowing down the speed of how fast her Power was still rising. She realized the mist was still pooling and she hoped suddenly that the amount of mist didn’t represent just how much power she was expected to absorb.

“Over 200%!”

“That’s not possible, they can’t exceed their maximum.”

“She’s obviously doing it.”

“What is she?”

Elania wasn’t sure who the voices belonged to, but in the lull of the combat with her focus being torn away by the sudden ‘healing’ that didn’t seem as important as breaking the standoff with her still being alive at the end.

She had the tools she needed, and they understood the concept of hostages. Elania pulled up her contract menu and began to edit. Creating a loophole-proof legal document while her arm was reknitting itself into existence and her insides were melting was not a simple task, but she gritted her teeth and focused. She kept it simple out of necessity.

[Spoiler]

[Contractor: Elania Reyes]

[Contractee: Tanyan]

[Duration: Until Contract Termination]

[Essence Upkeep: Contractee 0.04/hr]

[Contractor Requirements]

· Contractor will not harm Contractee’s group or goods.

· Contractor may terminate the contract at any time.

[Contractee Requirements]

· Contractee shall provide Contractor with sufficient essence to sustain them for the contract's duration.

· Contractee shall prevent members of the Conclave or Mercenary guild from harming the Contractor for the contract’s duration.

· Contractee may terminate the contract in a public place in the City of Neftasu while the Contractor is not in any current danger.

[Contractor Penalty Clause]

· Contractor shall forfeit their life immediately upon failure or any violation of their requirements.

[Contractee Penalty Clause]

· Contractee shall forfeit their life and soul immediately upon failure or any violation of their requirements.

[/Spoiler]

Her vision was blurring with tears from the pain, but she pulled her hand out of the [Glow-Moss] basket and pushed the contract toward Tanyan before rubbing at her face. As the screen reached him she saw his eyes widen and he began to read it.

She didn’t have any effort to spare for threats or more gestures. She saw the first bits of skin on her good arm beginning to float away, small motes of yellow light flaking off into the air. Her Hud had stopped working at some point, and she realized that her forearm had fully restored itself. The pain was from the excess Power. One of the motes of light landed in a novice’s hair, and she realized it would take just one of those landing on some of the Moss to end the three of them. She looked up to Tanyan.

Marcus and Taniel were yelling at him, but he looked up at her at the same time she lifted her head.

“Ok. I accept.”

Ding!

[You have gained a level in Contracting!]

[You have been reclassified as a Manager.]

[You have unlocked the Contract Management Screen!]

[You have gained the title Contractor!]

[You have 1 Contractee.]

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Chapter 36

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Burning excess power while holding onto hostages and keeping track of Marcus and Taniel while her arm was rebuilding itself and her insides were melting was a trial of endurance. Elania let off several blasts of energy into a far-off wall which caused the others to start demanding things of her again while Tanyan frantically tried to rein them in. The truth was she wasn’t happy about it either, using mana so close to the Glow-Moss, she was extremely aware if she damaged the moss or harmed the novices now… she would die thanks to the contract.

There wasn’t much choice though, as if she had let the Power build up anymore, she was going to disintegrate or catch on fire or… or… Something bad.

Elania didn’t dare let go of the novices though, as the others were still arguing. Taniel was gesturing at her and Marcus had his bow, and Tanyan was frantically explaining something to them. It all felt a bit surreal, as she realized she couldn’t hear anything except a ringing in her ears. She’d stopped blasting away at rock when her power had stopped climbing off the charts. With no more ways to get more power, she’d left it topped off well above what felt tolerable.

[Hud]

Power: 476 / 246

Level: 48

It seemed that she’d gained some levels from the Innkeeper. She’d knocked a hole right through his chest like it was nothing. She had killed him. Suddenly a wave of nausea rolled over her and she released the novice she was clinging to and threw up. The acidic bile added another burning sensation to her throat and she didn’t feel much better.

Tanyan came over to her and offered her a cloth. She hesitated to take it, but ultimately deciding wiping off her face was worth it.

“..ear me?”

God how it hurt.

“Fuck all of you.”

Elania pushed herself up off the ground and stood, a slight wave of vertigo making her wobble and Tanyan reached forward to steady her. Wasn’t having it though, and brushed away his arm.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I’m not the enemy, Elania.”

“But they are.”

“They were just frightened. They didn’t know you could do something like that, and Saren was someone important.”

“Saren,” Elania mouthed the dead man’s name. He’d… He had left her no choice, anything short of her lethal response would have meant him easily overpowering her and then…

Her thoughts kept clipping themselves off before finishing as she looked to the others over Tanyan’s shoulder, they were checking on the novices and securing the baskets of moss.

“Could you turn off your aura,” Tanyan gave her a weak smile, and looked over at the others with her, “It’s a bit intense right now, I’m not sure they are going to wake up if you don’t.”

Other than suppressing the novices, keeping her aura up didn’t seem to serve any purpose so she obliged. It seemed to spike in power when she first activated it, so having it off cooldown would probably be a good idea anyway.

[Demonic Aura (Deactivated)]

[You cannot activate Demonic Aura for 30 minutes.]

“I explained to them the contract. It was smart.”

Elania nodded weakly, but the thought that her safety was only really guaranteed by taking hostages meant her heart wasn’t in it. She thought she had been making progress, but she realized how naïve she had been. The group wasn’t really even a group, Marcus was in it just for the job, and while the monks were together, she was most definitely an outsider to all of them.

Get to the city. Get money. Find a place to stay. Get things she needed. Join an organization that could protect her. Get stronger so she wouldn’t have to use lethal force to… subdue anyone trying to force her into things she didn’t want. That seemed to be the only plan she had.

She looked at Marcus who’d just finished shaking a novice awake and standing the younger man awake. He seemed to sense her looking at her and he turned to stare at her in return. She could feel the difference in how he looked at her, the way his face was set. She was not some low-hanging fruit, but a dangerous threat. Well that would be better.

[Your body is experiencing thermal degradation!]

[Your body is slightly adapting.]

[Due to your excess power, your body is exceeding its limits!]

[Your body has greatly exceeded the limit of its capacity for power!]

[Find a stronger body or reduce your current power!]

She wished the stupid messages would stop bothering her. It wasn’t like the sweat on her forehead or her insides being on fire were not reminder enough. She swiped the messages away, she would try and find a way to make them less obtrusive later.

The group had started to finish shaking itself back together, and although the bastard had just tried to rope her into a slave contract and set her up as a thief she, she had a question.

“Marcus, does the mercenary guild accept demon recruits? As members, not slaves.”

He didn’t answer at first. She thought he was going to ignore her when he suddenly grinned.

“I misjudged you, girl. Not something someone who has lived as long as me often does. It might raise eyebrows, but nothing prevents it,” Marcus looked away towards the two demon corpses still laying about, “If you don’t mind ‘cleaning up’ those, that would be for the best. Not a wise idea to leave evidence behind.”

Elania wanted to protest, but she didn’t know if someone was going to come hunting her or if she would be going to jail for killing someone. Marcus seemed to notice her sudden agitation and guessed at the source.

“Saren was well liked, I wouldn’t advertise that you’re the one responsible for his disappearance. Even if you were protecting yourself.”

So, she wasn’t going to be reported directly to whatever the police where here. ‘The Guard’ she supposed. That was a relief, but also drove home how different law was compared to 21st century America. It would probably be better in the city, didn’t they mention a ‘Binding Stone’ that allowed calling the guard? That would be something to look for as soon as they arrived.

“Well?”

Elania realized she hadn’t replied at all, and nodded, “Ok. I’ll get rid of them.”

First she needed to see about her Mana Shard, she was already way over her normal limit, although the excess was slowly melting off and her maximum ticking upward.

Pulling off her backpack she fished inside, but felt her heart crumble when she found a pile of dust in the bottom of it. She took a handful and held it up, a stream of it flowing back down into her pack like sand.

“Ah, that makes sense.”

Elania looked up at Marcus with a frown.

“I couldn’t figure out how where you were getting your power. Normally it must come from somewhere. Pity you melted a Mana Shard though, but I suppose anything less would have ended things in a different way. Still not sure how you went over your maximum though. That shouldn’t be possible.”

Elania shrugged, and decided to deal with the corpses, “I’ll need to release some energy while absorbing them.”

“What’s your maximum? 200%?”

Elania smiled, “You can see my ‘Power’ but not the exact number? How do you see it? Identify?”

“At level 20 [Identify] will show HP and Mana, or Power for demons.”

She turned away from him, and he frowned.

“You didn’t answer me.”

“No, I didn’t,” Elania said, a small smirk emerging.

Marcus grunted and went back to help the monks, while she considered the two Ash Hound corpses. It would have been simple to just absorb them and dump out a lance of energy to bleed off the excess. But… she found herself wondering if there was a way to use the extra power to level up. Sending surges of power in a blast did level up her [Mana Manipulation] but it seemed to be based mostly on the number or duration of those rather than how much power she used…

She didn’t need her knife to focus on any more to send a bolt of energy, and she started sending weak lances of the light into the wall. They dissipated without any effect, and each one cost a point of Power, but she managed to gain a few messages.

[You have gained a level in Mana Manipulation!]

[You have gained a level in Mana Manipulation!]

[You have gained a level in Mana Manipulation!]

[Power: 426 / 254]

She wasn’t sure how much Power the Ash Hound was worth, she doubted it would be anything like the tidal wave that…

She avoided thinking about him, and instead focused on the first demon corpse and started the absorption process. The misting corpse started to float into the air, and she watched as her Power ticked up. It was a lot less than she had expected, only giving her ten points.

‘I guess they didn’t have much. I guess he kept them weak, but… they seemed loyal to him.’

She quickly absorbed the second one with the same result and didn’t waste any more Power. As it was she’d already dropped over fifty points of power, in return for three levels of Mana Manipulation and eight points to her max Power capacity.

She’d lost track of how many levels she’d gained and had not looked at her [Status] screen in a while to check the changes, but before she could do so Tanyan called over to her.

“Let’s go,” he waved and gave her a brief smile.

She paused and followed the group from a little way behind. He seemed to be unphased, and even upbeat. But for her, she had finally realized they weren’t her friends. She just needed them to get to the city and answer her questions.

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There was a subdued tone that had taken hold of the group as they made their way towards the city. The anticipation and excitement of almost finally being there after so many troubles and trials along the way had completely evaporated for Elania.

Instead she was focusing on a new menu that she had found.

[Essence Management]

[Power: 384 / 266]

[Rank: Manager]

[Contractees: 1] [View]

[Contract Essence Income: 0.00 PU/hr]

[Essence Composition: 79% Human, 19% Darkwalker, 2% Other]

[Corporeal Upkeep: 0.04 PU/hr]

[Excess Drain: 48 PU/hr]

Some of it was obvious, but she had to puzzle a lot of it out. Corporeal Upkeep? Was that how much it cost to keep her alive? The Excess Drain seemed to be how much was bleeding off because she was over her Power limit. And… Shouldn’t her ‘Contract Income’ be positive? It was in one of the clauses with the contract she had made with Tanyan. Maybe that was because she was over her limit right now. She would check that later when the extra bled off.

It was the voices that made her head snap up, and she spotted another group ahead of them going in the same direction. They were getting close. She hurried her step and closed the distance so she wasn’t so far away from Tanyan and the monks. The subdued silence didn’t abate as Marcus continued to lead them through a narrowing tunnel. The width halved on them, and was down to twenty feet apart when she could hear murmuring voices indicating a crowd ahead. As they turned a corner the tunnel widened out and she saw the Checkpoint.

A metaled wall and gate cut off the tunnel from the ground up to the ceiling thirty or forty feet above. Two worn purple banners with a symbol of a dagger hung on either side of the gate’s raised portcullis. Torches were lit and set in holders around the bottom of the wall, but faintly glowing crystals hung from several chains hooked to points in the ceiling. They cast everything in a slight purple hue.

The large metal gates were closed, and everyone was seemingly being shuffled through a pair of smaller wooden doors built into the wall. A half a dozen guards were in sight, and there were several balconies set in the wall with doors behind them which hinted to her that the fortification had room for many more. A small line was standing about waiting, and Marcus lead them to join the waiting people.

The line moved at a steady pace and when the group in front of them was ushered forward one of the steel-clad guards nodded to Marcus.

“Party of six?”

“Aye.”

Elania couldn’t help but fidget when the man’s eyes fell on her, and a frown creased his face.

“One’s a demon,” the guard said. A second guard looked over and nodded, then went inside the gate and disappeared. “Your group will receive additional screening.”

“Fuck,” Marcus cursed and then pulled out the badge he had used at the waypost and gestured to the monks. “Licensed Mercenary, en a party of Conclave Monks with valuable goods. Cannae ye cut us a break?”

The guard grinned as if he was happy to cause them discomfort.

“No exceptions to random screening.”

Elania wanted to comment that he would have made a perfect TSA agent, but managed to remain silent.

Marcus seemed ready to argue, Taniel stepped forward and put a hand on the ranger’s shoulder.

“Let’s just get it over with,” Taniel said.