Wayne just stared at Johnathan for a moment, but the other Legionnaire was already striding forwards imperiously towards the rest of the battle. A cloak of dark mist spread from his shoulders, flooding the corridor as he walked by.
Homer was still engaged with the rest of the arachnid constructs but as the unnatural darkness overtook his ankles Wayne’s friend paused and let out a sigh. The spiders tried to capitalize on his momentary weakness, but dark tendrils rose and ensnared them as they attempted to leap forwards to attack.
Their attempts to struggle against the darkness were in vain, as the mist enveloped the spiders in its depths. The noises of their resistance gradually snuffed out one by one, until the hallway was shrouded in shadow and silence.
Wayne sat up as the shadows receded, noting the composite parts of the constructs scattered across the smooth flooring.
“Lord Heirdt-”
“Thank Luminos you’re alright Homer. Not that I ever doubted your abilities, my friend.” Johnathan cut off Homer, while embracing him in a tight hug.
Wayne could still see Homer over Johnathan’s shoulder, and the confusion he was feeling was clearly written on his face.
“I-yes… it’s good to see you too.” He eventually responded, lamely.
“Yes yes, this is a very touching reunion, but it should wait until we find a way out of this death trap.” Jayna cut in sharply, before Johnathan could realize Homer’s mood.
Johnathan broke the embrace and backed up a few steps, before acknowledging Jayna’s point.
“Excuse me. You're correct, we need to prioritize our continued safety right now. Even if we manage to escape the ruin, the false basilisk could still await us outside. We will need all of our Shaping and wits to make it back to Light’s Reach without casualties.”
At that, he briefly glanced at Homer’s new, metallic leg.
“I see you were forced to reveal your Affinity. It’s unfortunate, but it will make this conversation more honest and accurate. To get out of here, our group will need to act with cohesion, and focus. If we get separated again, it is highly unlikely we will manage to make it back with our lives. To that extent, I suggest we all come forward with the extent of our Shaping capabilities, so that we can strike together effectively in battle.”
Lord Johnathan Heirdt scanned their collected faces, all covered in layers of grime and dirt. Wayne met his imperious eyes without flinching, the events of the last few days having forged his resolve through the fires of constant peril.
“To be both fair and transparent, I will begin with my faction’s Shaping talents.”
“Lady Banchera is a Disciple of the standard Empire Affinities, and she is highly trained in Light Shaping techniques, specifically those geared towards stealth and obfuscation. If need be, she can render herself and a small area around her very close to transparent to even enhanced eyesight. August also possesses a Fire Form used to disperse her body heat to avoid attempts at thermal detection, which is one of the false basilisk's suspected senses.”
August looked perturbed at having her personal information exposed without her consent, but Lord Heirdt didn’t seem to care about her reaction as he promptly moved onto Homer’s capabilities.
“As you likely already know or can infer, Homer is a Disciple who possesses a Metal Affinity that he can use to certain alloys to various degrees. As you just witnessed, he is a more than capable frontline combatant, and is a rather talented healer with his more standard Shaping Affinities. If a situation arises in which I am ever incapacitated for any reason, know that Lord Urlondst carries my full authority.”
He smiled at the acknowledgement and nodded slightly, but Wayne could tell that Homer was still conflicted from the reunion. Johnathan still proceeded without halt, only now he would finally reveal his own abilities.
“Now. As for my own Shaping, what I’m about to reveal is highly restricted information, so if the secret leaks, I will know where it occurred, as both Homer and August already are aware of this.”
Lord Heirdt’s words were clearly intended just for Wayne and Jayna, forcing the woman to roll her eyes in response.
“Ok my Lord. We understand. Just get on with it.” She barbed.
“Mmm. I am an external Meister of the Shadow Affinity. What defines a shadow is slightly different than simple darkness, but for now you can assume that every Light, Flame, and Shadow they cast can and will be manipulated by my authority.”
“I will control the field if we encounter numerous threats simultaneously, or work to inhibit and restrict any larger enemies so that you all may attack more freely. I can bind enemies to their own Shadow’s, while using my Light and Fire Affinities to create an environment suitable for my other Shapings. That is all.”
With that, their leader looked expectantly towards Jayna, ordering her with his gaze to share her own secrets. The other Legionnaire shook her head in exasperation, but still relented to the request.
“I suppose you all are aware that I’ve got a Lightning Affinity. I’m an internal Meister, so I focus more on the Forms side of things, but I’ve got a few longer range tricks up my sleeve. Though, it didn’t seem to do much against that bug out there. Other than that, it’s just the basic stuff, nothing too wild.”
At that, Jayna appeared to be finished with her self assessment, and although it really didn’t provide much information to Wayne, Johnathan seemed satisfied. Which caused his gaze to fall on Wayne next.
“I’ll tell you all what I’m capable of. But first, there’s something I need to know.” Wayne said, still meeting Johnathan’s eyes.
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There had been something bothering Wayne ever since they had set out on this journey, but it had become much more pressing since the report their mission was based on turned out to be a trap. Although Johnathan’s expression tensed, Wayne couldn’t afford to stay in the dark any longer.
“Did you manipulate the Cohort selection for the Assessment, Lord Heirdt?”
* * * * *
“Ah.”
The other Legionnaire’s face filled first with understanding, then with a surprising amount of guilt.
“I… can understand how this situation appears. Yes, I had my family use some connections to ensure the group I was assigned to would serve my interests. August and Homer were included to ensure that my faction was the majority, while both you and Jayna were included as… strategic connections. But you have my word I had no intention of bringing any of you into an assassination attempt. Upon our return, each of you should expect to be handsomely and discreetly financially rewarded. But nonetheless, I… apologize.”
The admission clearly was not something Lord Heirdt wanted to say, and the apology took it even a step further, a mature acceptance of fault that improved Wayne’s opinion of him immensely. Still, he didn’t forget that Johnathan had made his ‘best friend’ suffer just so the spotlight could shine on him brighter.
It was enough however, for Wayne to get over his suspicions and show some cooperation so they could survive.
“Alright, I’ll take you at your word and let the matter rest, Lord Heirdt. Now, as for my own talents…”
Funnily enough, Wayne had barely had time to review his own Statistics recently. Just to make sure he was being accurate, Wayne quickly brought up his Order System and scanned through the text it offered.
Statistics:-
Skills:-
“When the blight did I get so strong!”
Wayne couldn’t help himself from shouting as he kept rereading his statistics over and over again. He forgot about the danger, even the rest of the cohort as he just stared slack jawed. Then, Lord Johnathan had to ruin the moment.
“And, would you finally share with us how strong you are, exactly?”
Suddenly, Wayne’s enthusiasm had a bucket of water poured over it, as he realized his improvement still left him as the weakest person here. Flustered, he spoke without thought.
“Ah, well… I’m an Acolyte of the standard Affinities, but I can see.”
Then, Wayne heard what he had said and hurriedly tried to amend his statement. “I mean, of course I can, rather I meant to say I see mana. How powerful, and roughly what Affinity, although I’m still getting the hang of it.”
For a moment, Wayne was worried about what they might think. But August quickly nodded, understanding on dawning on her face.
“That’s how you knew the false basilisk was there, out in the Wildes. Its mana gave it away, even though it was masking its presence and body heat.” August said.
Wayne sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he nodded. A gleam shone in Johnathan’s eye as he heard that, the beginnings of a plan seeming to click into place for the other Legionnaire.
“I understand.” Was all he said, however.
“So what’s next?” Jayna chimed in, clearly impatient to escape the deadly ruins.
“...Well, let us retrace our steps back to the entrance, and get out of this ancient place. There is no telling what else we might find here, so be cautious.” Johnathan said.
Then with a flick of his wrist, he snared a metallic spider limb with a shadow tendril and pulled it into his grip.
“And bring a leg. They will serve as well as any other tool to clear the rubble blocking our exit.”
* * * * *
Thankfully, Johnathan remembered the route back, and the cohort made it to the ruin’s entrance without any further issues. Together, they got down and carefully began prying the heavy stones out of the collapsed passage, trying to make an opening without bringing the whole ceiling down on top of them.
It was slow and loud work, so after a while Lord Heirdt decided to patrol the hallway to make sure their flank was safe. As his form retreated into the distance, some absent-minded chatter started up amongst the rest of the cohort.
“Homer, Wayne, it truly is good to see you again. We were all distraught, especially Johnathan, though he would never admit it.” August said.
Homer looked pensive as Jayna continued the conversation.
“Yeah, he was pretty upset when the entrance separated us off. He insisted that ‘we search the whole ruin’ in case you two found another way somehow. Johnathan was tearing apart waves of those spider golems you two were fighting without even stopping for it.”
Then, she stopped, and glanced at Wayne and Homer.
“Speaking of, how did the two of you get down there? I feel like we were awfully deep in the ruins already when we found the both of you.”
Homer and Wayne shared a look.
“...It’s a long story.” Wayne finally said. “Let’s just say we got pretty lucky with a fall, and even luckier once we were in the ruin. Even with all that luck, Homer still lost his leg to that bastard bug.”
“Alright then, if you two want to keep your secrets, then I’m free to assume something extremely embarrassing happened down there that you don’t want to talk about.” Jayna said with a smirk.
“Oh, like you wouldn’t believe.” Homer said with a wink.
August started giggling, and soon all of them were laughing, the imminent escape from the ruin taking a weight off all of their shoulders. Wayne had noticed himself laughing a lot more now that his life was in constant danger, but for some reason he didn’t find it that strange.
If anything, it made sense to Wayne, because now his perspective was so different than it was just a week ago. It felt oddly right to celebrate the small things, so Wayne would. And apparently, the others felt the same way.
Or most of them did.
“What are you all doing! I can hear you from almost five hundred strides down the hallway!” Johnathan said while emerging from the darkness.
“Oh lay off it.” Jayna retorted, prying another large rock from the rubble.
“We are still in unsafe territory. I will not ‘lay off' it.” Lord Heirdt said, before eyeing their progress.
“But, it may be time for me to share our plan for dealing with the false basilisk. We should be ready to move out soon.”
This got everyone’s attention, and the entire Cohort quieted and turned to their appointed leader. He gave a small smile.
“Better. Alright, so to begin with, I should clarify that we will only be ‘dealing’ with the basilisk. Unfortunately, actually slaying the beast is likely outside the realm of possibility with our current capabilities.” Johnathan said.
Then his smile went cold.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t seriously maim it as we escape though. I, for one, would like to cause that bug the maximum amount of pain possible. And ideally, together we can leave it a parting gift it won’t soon forget.”
Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter if you made it this far down! If you did, make sure to follow, rate and review at the home page. I’ve got big things planned for the series, so be sure to follow to keep getting updates.
Next Chapter release: 2/22/25
Until I talk to y’all next! Much love,
Michael D. Henry
