Chapter 94

“Will I see you again?” I asked, my hands hanging limply at my sides with Gramps and Nazim flanking me.

My question was directed at George, but my eyes had immediately flicked to Etta. Tears and dirt stained her face, small rips marring her woolen clothes from our mad dash through the forest. She was my oldest friend, the only one similar to me in age, and she was leaving. I could feel something kindling in my stomach at the thought, but I was too tired to really take notice of it.

“Maybe,” George offered, eyes flicking into the darkness as though impatient to be gone. He held off though, giving us these final moments.

“Will you go to Helenica?” Gramps asked, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

George pursed his lips, his arm twitching in obvious pain where his cousin's lightning had burned him. For a moment, I didn’t think he would answer, but when Etta looked up at him, he seemed to deflate a little.

“No. My family has allies and associates in Meravia, especially Helenica. Trade partners, merchants, and perhaps even a friendly Guild or two. They would just find us again. We will go to Helenica, but from there, I will secure passage for us to the southern continent.”

My mouth opened and then closed. A small flicker in me hoped that I would see Etta again — that perhaps my adventures would take me to the southern continent. Who knew how far away that was though. Tears formed at the edge of my eyes. Was this really goodbye?

“Once you’re settled, if you want to stay in contact, have your letters sent to the Thistle and Thorn Auction House in Helenica,” Gramps suggested. His words let a small ember of hope form in my heart.

“We’ll see,” George replied, only for Etta to interrupt him.

“I’ll definitely write. Promise,” she whispered to me.

George still didn’t look convinced, but he gave a small nod, tugging on the reins.

“This is goodbye then. Thank you for everything. Keep up your practice, Bastian. Maybe we’ll meet again. Cornelius, it was a pleasure. You’re a better man than the Society deserves. Nazim, without you I would’ve died. You saved my wife — I will forever be in your debt.”

George nodded to each of us and then, with a nudge of his knees, the horses started moving.

“Bye, Bastian!” Etta waved, crying once more as she disappeared into the darkness. Kaylee managed a nod and a raised hand in farewell. I didn’t blame her for not doing more. She had just lost her mother, her home, and now she was fleeing into the night with what was probably months of travel ahead of her.

I called on my aether — my nightvision spell forming more quickly than usual — just so I could watch the horses pick their way through the forest for a little longer. Then they were gone — hidden behind the trees and the darkness.

Gramps turned me around, and we began our walk back to the outpost. I half-listened as Nazim recounted the events of the evening to Gramps. When the wolfkin mentioned how the foxkin was targeting me, and the reason the assassin gave, Gramps glanced down at me curiously.

“How did you know where the foxkin was?”

“I could feel cold tendrils where he was hiding in the tree. Kind of like when I manipulate my own aether to cast a spell,” I explained half-heartedly.

“Your affinity perhaps…” Gramps mused, but seeing the state of me, he seemed to decide to tackle that topic later, nodding for Nazim to continue.

“Are you alright?” I asked when Nazim mentioned getting poisoned.

“It itches like crazy. Feels like ants made of fire crawling beneath my fur. I’ll be fine in a few weeks. My arm is going to be useless for a little bit while it heals.”

“Not many take the Poison Resistance attribute,” Gramps commented, the old man's curiosity clearly piqued. Once more, I reminded myself that if anyone ever said I was too curious, I was blaming it all on him.

“I was trained as a bodyguard to protect a noble pup of House Fenrith,” Nazim pointed out.

“I can see how that would be useful then,” Gramps agreed.

The conversation between them continued as we finally broke free of the forest. I could see the outpost clearly now, a lantern clearly lit in the kitchen as its light shone out through the window.

“When I arrived, he was pulling his hatchet out of one of their soldiers' heads. Lucille was already dead,” Nazim explained.

Gramps paused, turning to me. “You killed one of them?”

“He killed Lucille,” I said defensively, my lip quivering.

Gramps put his arms around me. I staunchly refused to cry again, my jaw clenching as I held back my tears.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

I told them what happened — how I had tried to hide Etta with my Skills; how we had been found anyway. About Grandma Lucille intervening with her threads, and the soldier's Skill that launched his hatchet into her. Finally, how I had hidden my approach, swinging my own hatchet into the soldiers’ head.

“It gave me an achievement, I think,” I whispered at the end.

“What does it say?” Gramps asked.

I shrugged. “Don’t know. I haven’t looked at it yet.”

Instead of the expected encouragement to check the notification, Gramps simply nodded. “Well, when you do, let me know if you need advice on it or just want to share.”

I didn’t respond, instead my eyes drifted down to the bloodstains that were still on my hatchet. Then we were at the back door of the outpost. Entering inside, we found Mum waiting, worry etched on her face with Martin and Griselda seated around the table as well.

Mum rushed over to us, grabbing Gramps and I. “Is everything okay? What happened?”

Griselda simply glanced at my hatchet. “Another?”

I nodded. Griselda grunted, but I couldn’t hear any amusement in it this time.

“Another what?” Mum demanded before her eyes found my hatchet and widened.

I was silent through the recounting of events. My stomach felt empty, but the thought of food didn’t stir me to action. Mum sat beside me throughout, her face moving through a series of emotions from distress to outrage and ending in sadness. When she took me up to bed, she offered to stay with me, but I told her I was fine. I wasn’t — I just wanted to be alone.

The notifications blinked in the corner of my vision, and I stared at them with the kernel of anger slowly building into a raging fire. It was no doubt a step forward for me, even if all it did was save me a few months of effort — but it had come at the cost of Lucille’s life and the presence of one of my closest friends.

I knew I was being unreasonable, and because I knew it, I relented, opening the notifications.

Path Unlocked! Path of Ambushing (0/10)

A quick glance at the new Path told me it was an Advanced one. Something for me to consider in the future, especially given my propensity for stealth. For now though, it wasn’t like I was hunting anything, so I didn’t see a way to use it unless non-violent ambushes counted. I decided to ask Gramps in the morning before moving onto the second notification.

Achievement Acquired! Slay a second Classed Individual while not possessing a Class.

Assessing engagement and environment.

Determining physical assistance rendered — Assistance provided by (Advanced) Classed individual.

Determining equipment assistance rendered — User succeeded with a mundane weapon, no enchantments, spells, or aether-related assistance found.

Determining capability of opponent — Opponent was in an optimal state.

Determining distance in development between user and opponent — User is still four years from Class Unlock while opponent was a Third Tier Adept.

Determining risk of engagement — Risk of death extremely high.

Reward determined.

Reward: 1000 Steps on any Basic Path OR 100 Steps on any Advanced Path. Additionally, 10 Steps on the Path of Exceptionalism and a Skill Seed (Combat) (Lesser).

Free Skill Slots available. Would you like to use your Skill Seed (Combat) (Lesser) to gain a Skill?

I didn’t — not yet at least.

Would you like to receive your Skill Seed (Combat) (Lesser) as a physical object?

I mentally agreed to the offer, taking the orb and placing it into my stash alongside the other Skill Seed already there before returning to the rest of the notification.

The reward was good — at least for my progress. In many ways, the Boon I had gotten the first time was better, and I had thought perhaps this reward would improve the original boon. The fact that it hadn’t could have been because that wasn’t possible, or perhaps the reward had just been reduced due to Lucille’s help.

Looking at the notification made my anger flare again, but this time I tried to direct it towards the ones responsible. House Arman was to blame. Mentally, they moved to the top of my list of enemies, in this moment surpassing even the demons who had hunted me and the cults that brought them into this world. Perhaps, when I had calmed down a little, that would change — though I doubted it.

I considered waiting till morning and asking Gramps what my best option was. Choosing the Advanced option and putting the steps towards my Path of Obscuring Shadow was incredibly tempting but ultimately a waste. I progressed far faster on Paths related to my shadow affinity so it just wasn’t worth it. Completing my Path of Hatchets was an option as well, but that would happen anyway. Really, the only two considerations were the Paths of Aether Manipulation and of the Completionist. The decision, then, was easy. What was the point in completing Aether Manipulation earlier when I didn’t have an advanced attribute slot to make use of the reward?

I mentally selected the advanced steps reward and applied it to the Path of the Completionist. Boosted by my frankly ridiculous Gifted attribute, it increased the advanced and difficult Completionist Path by one-hundred-and-seventy-four steps. I glanced at the result and snorted.

Path of the Completionist III (498/500)

Two steps — two bloody steps short.

Whatever, I thought. I’ll get those when I finish the Path of Hatchets in a few months.

The ten steps on my Path of Exceptionalism weren’t influenced by my Gifted attribute — an annoyance but a known one by this point.

With the notification and reward handled, I went to sleep. If I dreamed that night, I didn’t remember. I woke early, the sun not yet risen. Normally, I would have gotten out of bed to start the day and get to work. Instead, for the first time in my life, my motivation was lacking. I felt empty, like a bucket with a hole in the bottom — the desire to progress leaking out of me until there was nothing left but a hollow feeling reminding me of what I had lost.

Nazim chose that moment to quietly enter my room. His left arm still hung limp at his side, the claws on his hands peeling away as though dead. I felt bad seeing it. If it bothered the wolfkin though, he didn’t show it.

“Up,” he growled.

I rolled over under my fur covers to face away from him. Was I being petulant? Absolutely. Did I care? A part of me did, but that part was a whisper, barely heard over the empty void where my pain lived.

I yelped in surprise as I was yanked out of my bed by my foot and held upside down by Nazim.

“I said up.”

I flailed at him with my fists. My attacks were ineffectual, doing little more than grazing his fur and, perhaps, irritating him.

“Good, you’re angry.”

“Of course I’m angry,” I raged, still swinging. “They killed her right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything about it!”

“You couldn’t do anything, this time. What about next time?” Nazim asked, his voice low.

I paused in my futile attacks. Next time? Because, of course, there would be a next time. This world was not a kind one. I knew this. Yet, until now, I had been spared any true loss within it. My family had always been safe — my friends the same. Others had suffered, but not me. Perhaps, I had quietly thought that was how it would always be. Last night had shone a light on the childish lie I had believed.

The depression that had tried to claim me turned to anger, the bucket within me refilling with a different kind of motivation. Numbers going up had been enough before, a part of my plans for a future of adventure. Now, those desires were enveloped in another: To be strong enough to protect the things I cared about and to punish those who threatened what was mine.

I relaxed my arms, reaching for the floor. “Put me down.”

Nazim lowered me enough to place my hands on the floor then let me go. Balancing on my hands, I let my feet fall to the wooden floor before returning to a standing position. Then, I looked up into the wolfkin’s yellow eyes.

“Training,” I said. It wasn’t a question.