It was one of the oddest experiences of his life, though it came with a sense of completeness and relief that all felt at the end of a long ordeal. He wasn’t whole, he may never be again, and yet he may be stronger for it.
“Are you sure this is alright?” The older woman at his side asked. She and his father had been there the entire time, and while others might have felt stifled by this, he was simply glad they were alive.
There were a couple of Clerics in the treatment room, one of the nicer ones meant for longer stays, though it was the middle-aged Craftsman who answered. “Of course it is. The core of this was enchanted by Reikos himself, and my bindings will ensure a perfect fit. He could block a falling boulder and not worry about something coming loose.” The talons of the man dug into one of the straps as it was fiercely tightened across his chest, though the pain from the compression lasted for only a moment before fading. His breathing wasn’t affected at all. “See? There, now how’s the fit?”
“Mmm,” he grunted to the crafter, nodding his head.
“Thelma and I, we were just wondering if this was necessary,” his father tentatively clarified. “We are eternally grateful for all that you’ve done for our son, of course, but after seeing that Murdon was able to regrow his…” He left the sentence to die on its own, unable to muster the courage to ask amid so many potent people. Both were leveless, even after the great change had come and allowed many to overcome previous walls. If he had to guess, his parents weren’t trying to advance. They’d long ago made peace with their fate and had poured all their love and ambition into him.
Quala, one of three people he owed his life to, gently spoke up. “The damage to your son’s shoulder, and the prolonged infection, makes regrowth particularly difficult. If he awakened Regeneration today I wouldn’t expect him to regain use of the limb for months. There is an inertia to injuries like this, just like the rare curse your son was afflicted with. I am only glad we were able to address the latter in a way that allows for a total recovery, though that too will take time.”
“Of course!” His father quickly assured the Cleric. “We trust that you have his best interests at heart. I just worry this will make his life harder.”
“Harder?” The Craftsman would have snorted if his biology had allowed it. “Mr. Restiff, this is a finely enchanted item you have here. If it wasn’t for the Regent himself he could have never afforded this, not at his level.” The man tapped the metal socket that fit onto his shoulder and dithered for a few moments in a fit of honesty. “Well, it has its drawbacks. Avianoids would never go for this unless they had no other option, it would impair Grow Wings, but it should be well suited to your son. Especially as he can bind the construction as a Focus. Knights,” he shook his head.
“What kind of effects will it give him?” the younger of the two life debts in the room asked. Thomas hadn’t been around as much after coming to the Threst region, but his early help had been instrumental in keeping him alive. Those two hadn’t been the only ones in the Thormundz, but all the others had died in that last battle.
“Who knows?” The Craftsman shrugged. “I can’t recall the last time we used one of these. Like I said, not for the winged folk.”
He knew his mother would say something well before she did. “It will keep him safe, right?”
The Craftsman was steadily moving toward exasperation, though Thomas intervened with a question of his own. “It does seem like a fast turnaround. He’s going up to help Guy in like, what, a day or two?”
“The world is changing,” Quala replied sagely. “With all the threats that face us, we need bravery such as this. And it is not as if he is not willing.” There was a pointed gaze with that, prompting him to respond. He tried, but after half a minute the best he could do was simply nod.
“It’s alright son, you’ll get there,” his father soothed as he rubbed the shoulder that was still whole. On the other end, the Craftsman cheered.
“Ha! There, you should have control of it now. See if you can move it.” He took a step back, but his mother joined and placed her hand next to his father’s.
He already knew it had worked as he had gained feeling of the limb. Binding it as a Focus would take more time, but the basic functions of the enchanted arm were under his command.
Sigron raised his shield arm up into the air and brought the hand into a fist when it was in front of his face. It could do more, he knew, but that could wait until he was out of this bed. It had been a long rest and his body had suffered for it, but Sigron felt no less able.
No, it could be said that he was better for it. A Knight’s duty was simply to endure for others. Murdon had gotten creative with his class’ role, but he had always been simpler. The Octyrrum had not overlooked his strife, and as his health had returned, so had more power come to him due to his survival.
If that was all then he would just have kept on pace with those others of the region, less so if you considered the bursts of potential they’d received from defeating multiple dragons. No, there was one more matter that came from the two hands on his shoulder. This had been more recent, and he wasn’t sure if they knew what had happened. Whether they were aware or not, the bond had formed. With it and his new powers, it was time for Sigron to begin to repay what he owed, starting with the one whose actions had created the greatest of his three debts.
It was time to hunt once more.
…
Soraso turned out to be good at chess. Not that the game existed here, and Daniel wasn’t particularly inclined to change that, but the Regent had been thinking ahead even as his team had been kicked out of Aurus due to the fallout of a jerk Hero and his father. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
It should have occurred to Daniel to double check where the ruins were on his Map since he’d been shown their location before, but it hadn’t. Bond-induced recklessness aside, Daniel wasn’t suicidal enough to test his theories on whether his Spoke could bypass the sky and ground limits like it had the Shroud in Aughal.
It came as a bit of a surprise then when the Regent himself appeared in town and told them they were only an hour’s flight away from the ruins. They weren’t going to them today, the last member of the team had yet to join, but Soraso wanted to give them a briefing before so they had more time to think on it.
To her credit, Shuni wasn’t as self-abasing toward the head of the region as many others were, preferring to just meld into the wall instead and listen. The same went with the Wingcraft proper. A crowned cloud wasn’t too big of a deal considering what they’d dealt with, and the Regent wasn’t trying to maintain the composure he’d seen before in the meeting with Cloak.
“So, one week to the green light,” the regent commented smoothly while floating in the main room of the compound’s central house. “Your last member is in the last stages of recovery and will be overKnighted here on the big day. I’ve also brought what support I can.” He nodded to a bag placed on the table containing potions and a handful of scrolls. “Unfortunately several people, including a certain leader of Apex Flight who will go unnamed, have decided to make my life difficult all of a sudden so that’s the extent of my generosity. Now, onto the main course of today’s word meal. I’ll start with this since I’m sure you’ve all been wondering why I’ve chosen you instead of the brawniest winged mana sacks I could find.”
He floated to the ground and moved the Sword of Threst into his hand, concentrating briefly. How does his class work with that as his Focus? Daniel briefly wondered in the short lapse. He knew Soraso’s powers still worked since Thomas had registered mana loss when removing the Enforce Secret effect put on him, but any group enhancing ones would still require some kind of music, right?
“This is why.” Soraso made several quick cuts in the air, leaving rifts in space around the entirety of their open concept living room/ interior courtyard. What was an expansive space became cramped as it seemed the Regent had created looping portal walls trapping them in a corridor of space barely tall enough for Khiat to be extended.
“The ruins are enclosed buildings!” Daniel exclaimed, getting his point instantly. It wasn’t just this hint but several other factors, including who his initial picks had been and something Shuni had mentioned about her skills. “It’d be a nightmare for anyone used to fighting midair.”
“I don’t think anyone would be used to fighting in these conditions, excepting earth gestalt from Kallical,” Soraso mused, “But for whatever reason I have a shortage of them on hand.”
“What about ground teams?” Shuni asked from the side, eyeing the space that had just intersected her wall with some wariness. She’d almost lost her balance when Soraso had turned her leaning wall into a portal. “We have plenty of people native to the region who can’t get flight certified.”
“Yeah. You probably know how much attention they get from the guild compared to Blessed who can do little more than sink slowly in the air.” He gave a diffuse shrug as the air gestalt’s arms rose in a bit of a delay after his shoulders. “Honestly, a lot of them end up like the spearfighter you have bunking here, more patrols and less fighting. Though I will mention in fairness that she pulls some serious weight on clearing mortal crimes based on the most recent report by the Captain here. I’d go so far as to say his opinion of her is one of begrudging approval.”
“Really?” Daniel asked, surprised. Janice hadn’t mentioned anything like that, though then again he’d mostly imagined her as walking a set path around Pinion’s Point every day while looking for anyone trying to sneak half-sentient ringcats into the town.
“Surprised me too that a Martialist would have that affinity. It’s good to see we have people who remember that just because the monsters are getting rowdy doesn’t mean we can let people get away with assault and theft. Present company excluded for about, mmm, three days.”
Shuni just tried not to let it show as she rolled her eyes, while Khiat, still crouching so as to not have her head phase through the ceiling and up through the floor, asked the salient question. “The ruins are all this small?”
“I… believe so,” Soraso answered with a pause. “Though if I saw the entire structure I wouldn’t need you. No, but the part we can immediately access is like this, hallways and rooms. Our elite hunters are specialized for midair combat. Even if they have diverse powers, they have trained and fought in one kind of environment for most of their lives. As you know, Threst has certain negative rumors circulating about its treatment of nonfliers. Most aren’t eager to come here unless they like the view.”
“You’ve still got people like the Commander,” Daniel pointed out.
“And if I wanted to get rid of the only person keeping the Hunter’s Guild running smoothly for a week or two, I’d put her in my team.” Soraso shook his head, and his voice grew heavier. “No, there’s another reason. Not one I say with certainty, but it’d be a Crest of a coincidence if I’m wrong.”
He waved a hand before taking a seat as the rifts vanished. The fact that he was entirely made of cloud and probably didn’t need to sit at all to rest occurred to Daniel, but it did add to the moment as Soraso’s clear sky eyes dimmed slightly. There was a feeling that whatever was about to be shared should be accompanied by a campfire and a flashlight mounted under his chin.
“I never let anyone else enter when I explored. The Sword is the only way out, and if they were separated I couldn’t guarantee they’d make it back.” Daniel wanted to interject here but was suddenly spellbound, some passive feature no doubt working in Soraso’s favor. “The base of the ruins are broad, and I managed to cut into several sections before finding where they ended. Over that time I faced… monsters. Their forms and abilities differed from what I expected, but in my opinion their overall strength was always the same.”
“They’re all level 4?” Daniel asked skeptically, now finding enough to object despite how much he wanted this to work. “We have a level 1 on our team, that’s too dangerous.”
“The monsters were exactly the same strength,” Soraso replied with some emphasis. “At first.” He waited for someone to interrupt again but had won another moment of rapt attention. “The longest time I spent in one place was half a minute. I was moving quickly and still only explored a kilometer or so, and I found the strength of my foes gradually increased as I fought them. It wasn’t until this venture that I knew, or rather guessed, why, and as soon as I found this out I left immediately. Trust Me, I wouldn’t be considering sending in you guys if I thought a bunch of monsters as tough as me would be waiting for you.”
An image appeared in the air of a wall about the same height as the corridor Soraso had summoned. It was translucent like a hologram, leaving no doubt that it was an illusion. Still, it had a faintly marble look that distantly reminded Daniel of the Divine Pavillion’s walls, especially the blank section that had been meant for Cloak. At least, it would have save for the scar in the wall, where a deep purple to black pool filled the empty space.
As if beckoning a captive audience to behold a work of madness, Soraso asked, “What do you know of the Astral?”