His still-broken ribs were gently informing him that was not a good idea.
Staggering out of bed, he asked around the headquarters for any healers, but was instead told that Berk was waiting outside for him. He made for the door.
“Well, yer lookin’ worse for wear.” Berk’s gruff voice came as soon as he stepped outside. Marc had left his axe and bag behind for now, though his constellation dagger was tied to his hip. Despite changing clothes, he was still covered in blood and grime that he hadn’t the energy to clean off the night before.
“Well, I’m alive at least.”
“Yep. Let’s get you healed up. You been to the temple yet?” The Temple of Allfaith. It was technically an allied faction but Marc had never really had any reason to interact with them. It was a tall, imposing structure with few windows and a heavy aroma of incense. Marc shook his head in response, and Berk just motioned to follow him.
“Doppelgangers in the tunnels is bad news, kid. Keep it to yourself, with the flood goin’ on.” He said, barely whispering.
Marc nodded, “I figured I wasn’t the right person to go deal with them anyways.”
“Y’ain’t wrong.”
“By the way Berk,” Marc asked, “What class are you, anyways. You asked me that but. . .”
“Ah, trick question in case both of you were fakes. My class has been. . . stuck for a while.”
“Stuck?” Marc tilted his head, only to get a sharp pain in his side from the movement. “How can you get stuck?”
“Ha, you be indecisive.” Berk gave a dry laugh. Marc didn’t return it.
The two walked in silence for a bit. Berk eventually broke it, “My class, right now, is War Witch.” Marc was vaguely familiar with it. In his time helping Lloyd, he’d seen a lot of the second-echelon classes, and must have read it before.
“That’s. . . Warrior-Shaman?”
“Started out a Shaman, then Warrior, then Curate.” That explained why Marc couldn’t bring anything to mind, given he didn’t look at much but rogue stuff. Each different Historia usually increase the specificity of a class at the next Echelon. A lot of people would only use Historia from their first class, solely because it was easy and usually readily available, but the versatility of other classes tended to draw most adventurers. “Course, I favor swords more than spells nowadays.”
“And bats. . .” Marc muttered. Berk gave a far more genuine laugh this time.
“And clubs too. But, I’ve gotten an Archer, Mage, Craftsman, and Rogue Historia in me too at this point.” Seven different Historia? Marc’s eyes went wide, but when Berk saw it he already had a knowing look. “Yep. Level 50, Echelon 2, and stuck. Hard to do what your class wants you to when spells ain’t swords, swords ain’t daggers, and none of it’s craftin’. I’ve tried the ritual, oh, 5 times now? Failed, all of ‘em.”
“I. . . I’m sorry?” He didn’t really know what to say. Berk was well respected, and clearly powerful, but being stuck where you were, like a dead-end job that you couldn’t ever get out of, sounded terrible.
“Ah, don’t be. Just be careful yerself. I’m lucky in a way, I can gamble on another Historia, got enough focus in me. But. . . “ He didn’t need to finish.
“How can you tell how many you can take?”
“Depends on your Focus. If I’d started as a Warrior I’d be screwed.”
They rounded the corner and the temple was only a few buildings away.
“But that’s on me. Go in, I’ll get the payment taken care of since I’m the one that did it.”
Marc walked in and was taken to another room, where the same elf that healed him the first day stood.
The stranger in white looked upon the academy. They were well and truly forewarned about the encroaching zombie hordes, now on their doorstep. They wouldn’t last long, but would keep them occupied at least until the flood started. Not to mention the threat of others roaming the area.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
“Mages, always scared of stepping past the threshold,” The stranger pondered to himself. His companion had heard his musings more than enough times to ignore it, tearing at a piece of zombified flesh. “Well, the towns are out of the way, we might as well get going.”
He stood and continued his march through the scattered snow. The Sage Lands experienced snow far earlier in the year than the two were used to, where leaves would just be starting to turn. Still, they knew the cold well enough.
Due south was Grand Vale, and any of the smaller villages between the academy and city were abandoned. Just about anyone left there would either be mercenaries, idiots, bandits, or monsters.
The stranger’s mind wandered to the mysteries of his order. Who was interred within the highest tower, what items did the reliquarists hold, were psychics real, and so on. The last one was a common topic of discussion, and the stranger believed they did.
It was an hour past noon when the scent of fresh dirt met his nose, and he pulled out his Writ. The message was still being scribed.
Delay previous commands. Prioritize your target within Grand Vale. We count upon you.
- Master Gerig
“Thanks Gerig, figured that one out already,” he grumbled. He was the one who had figured out there even was a target within Grand Vale in the first place, not to mention the length of time between responses.
Gerig was far from his favorite master, always saying things that were either obvious to anyone with a pulse or simply wrong. His only specialty was spellcraft, and even then he was surpassed by many of his peers. Still, he was a master and warranted respect for his rank and loyalty. The stranger rolled the writ up and tucked it away.
His target would be hidden among the rest of the people in Grand Vale. He looked to the south, and moved forward once more, his destination straight ahead.
Marc didn’t give Nico enough credit. He’d not needed to get a full bone-setting heal in a long time, and Jacky’s magic was different enough that he’d lost sight of how terrifying the elf’s was before. He was now highly uncomfortable and stiff from that. Berk advised him not to move too much, and promised to go with him for scouting out any cloth armor he could use in future.
Right now, though, Marc was off to a smith to get his axe sharpened. As it turns out, using an axe as a cane for navigation in the dark was not easy to do, though for the next few hours Marc still had dark vision.
The markets were more packed than normal, but the blacksmith that Lloyd got his daggers from was still there and was trustworthy enough to not mess it up. There was another person there, dressed in some kind of robes with a large crossbow across her back, but she left without a word to anyone once her gear was fully repaired.
Returning to the headquarters, Marc saw that the bulletin board was updated.
The flood would be starting in less than a week. He’d be in the city somewhere, likely patrolling for some dire pigeons or other pests grown to terrifying size through whatever process makes something Dire.
Marc sat down in his room, deciding to take the rest of the day to rest, looking at his character sheet again.
NAME: Marcus H. Green
RACE: Outsider
CLASS: Wanderer
LEVEL: 13/50 (47%)
ECHELON: 1
HEALTH: EXCELLENT
ABILITIES:
RSL - 37
Resilience. How able you are to resist and recover from adverse change.
FCS - 26
Focus. How able you are to concentrate and exert yourself mentally.
MGT - 24 (+16)
Might. How able you are to affect the world around you.
FNS - 16
Finesse. How able you are to perform tasks quickly or skillfully.
LCK - 7
Luck. How much the gods like you.
At some point, Marc had gotten 1 extra point of Luck. At this rate, he’d have 10 points by the time he reached level 50! Marc smiled at the ridiculousness of it.
BOONS
WANDERER BOONS
SIGHTSEEKER - 68%
All Wanderers are called to the discovery of something new.
Current effect: [8] / [19%]
Next Potency loss [14 days]
ADEPT SURVIVALIST - 05%
The bare elements are gentle toward the wanderer. Day or night, snow or shine, the wanderer’s place is ever the road.
SUPPRESSED - ESTRANGE - 17%
To wander is to leave, whether by choice or force.
TEMPORARY - DARKWALK - X%
Wander through the world darkly.
OUTSIDER BOONS
POLYGLOT
An innate replacement boon for all outsiders. Imperfect, but understandable.
AETHEREAL RESISTANCE
Allows prolonged and frequent travel through the aethereal media used for teleportation..
SPECTATOR EFFECT
A Unique boon provided to Farlanders familiar with Computer Role Playing Games.
HISTORIA BOONS: 0/2/6