Ellake - Gifted - Chapter 116

Prevous Chapter

A/N: Due to popular request we will have 2 chapters today. No chapter tomorrow. Enjoy!

I just can’t catch a break.

That was the thought that flitted across my muddled mind at hearing the cultist’s voice. I had started to sigh in annoyance when Nazim’s paw covered my mouth. The hairs around the side of his fingers were softer than I expected but still annoying. Only after a few seconds did I realise what I had done — almost announcing our presence to whoever had just returned.

I’m not thinking straight, I realised. Maybe that spider hit me harder in the head than I thought.

“Stay here,” Nazim whispered before padding silently towards the door.

Nightvision is so useful, I thought, seeing how easily my bodyguard could navigate in what should have been pitch darkness.

I waited, expecting to hear something that signaled Nazim’s successful ambush. Instead, I heard the clang of metal striking something solid. My aether core had almost nothing left in it, but my Cloak of Shadows cost so little that it didn’t matter. The darkness enveloped me, and I started crawling forward to see what was going on. Beneath my scuffed and scraped hands, the dirt of the room felt gritty, occasionally stinging when it got into one of the little cuts that decorated my fingers. Nazim had told me to do something, but I couldn’t remember what it was.

The sound of battle continued to filter down the hallway as I crawled like a baby towards the noises.

Gotta help Nazim. I’m coming! Can’t let anything happen to my family!

The words repeated over and over in my mind like a mantra, as though someone else was piloting my body. Crawling up to the edge of the room, I got a perfect view of the battle taking place. A crate exploded nearby as something solid crashed through it. Nazim wasn’t there though. He was on the other side of the room.

Sieve… Sepo… Severin. It took me a second to remember the person's name. He still looked and felt oily in my senses, like he had something slick covering him to hide what was beneath. Above his head hung a ball of light. My aethersensing could trace the source back to a ring.

Heh. Enchantments are so cool. Hells, I love magic.

Nazim was nearby, my trusty friend with his sword out. I had a second to feel more aether forming around Severin, and then some dirt lifted from the floor in the shape of a thin spear and shot at Nazim. My mouth opened to yell only for me to lose sight of Nazim as he moved.

So fast!

My bodyguard moved out of the way of the attack and then struck forward. His sword smashed into an invisible barrier.

Aether barrier. Just like me. Can’t keep it up forever!

Nazim spun to the left, not as fast this time, trying to move around the barrier. More aether flowed from Severin, dirt and stone rising up in the shape of a thin wall — enough to deflect my friend’s sword. Then earthen spears shot out of the wall. Again, Nazim blurred and vanished as he was forced backward.

I thought that one might have been the Quick Step Skill as Nazim had disengaged in a straight line. Though, maybe it was just hard to change direction when you were moving so fast. My wolfkin friend didn’t give the oily guy time or space. Closing the distance again, he started hammering at the aether barrier with his sword. I could see sweat beading on Severin’s face.

Good. Tried to sacrifice my friend. Die, you oily bastard!

I could tell Nazim was tiring as well. Keeping up his speed hurt him — he had told me that.

I should fix that for him. Gramps will know how. He knows everything.

My thoughts continued to stray in random directions, each one like a bubble popping rather than a string of logic.

Aethersensing told me the barrier was failing. Severin was pinned in the corner and his attempts to grab Nazim’s feet with the dirt were too slow. We were going to win!

My eyes drifted downwards to the cultist’s chest as I felt a thread of aether leaking into one of our enemy’s rings.

What’s he doing now?

I didn’t like it — not one bit. Grasping at my own aether core made me lose concentration. My cloak of shadows peeled away, revealing me. Severin’s eyes flicked to me immediately, widening in surprise. The distraction seemed to bring down his aether barrier. 

Three things happened at the same time. 

My threads of aether came together. Severin raised his hand towards me, the red stone of the white ring glittering like a red sun. Nazim lunged.

Darkness crawled over Severin’s eyes as my Shadowblind spell obscured his vision. My aether bottomed out and I collapsed to the floor. A thin beam of red flames scorched a path over my head. Even missing me, the skin of my cheek bubbled and burned from the proximity.

I screamed in pain as Nazim’s sword plunged towards Severin’s chest — and rebounded. The bastard smiled like he had won. Then the wolfkin blurred so fast that for a second I thought there were two of him. My bodyguard pivoted to his left, his clawed hand flashing out.

Blood sprayed the wall, the light above the cultist winking out as the remains of his throat splattered against stone before falling to the dirt floor with a wet thump. I felt something in the air around him as he fell — like a curtain parting. With his death, the mask was removed and the creature hiding within was revealed. Sparkling motes started to disperse.

No. Mine!

I pulled with something inside me. The motes felt like they were trying to escape my grasp. They failed, drawn into me like breath. Something flickered at the corner of my vision, but I couldn’t look at it yet. Everything hurt. Then he was there — staring down at me. 

A hungry wolf? Am I going to get eaten too? No, wait, that’s Nazim. We won?

My thoughts were growing murkier. He said something. I didn’t hear him. My mouth turned up in a smile, the tugging at my cheeks hurting. Then I felt light as air and we were moving. He continued to talk, and I heard jingling — then something solid closing — then more jingling. My chest ached in a steady rhythm, and I realised we were moving. The smell changed a moment later, and I worried I had soiled myself — which hadn’t happened in years. I remembered learning to control my bowels very clearly. That had been an important step for me.

Eyelids started to close but something pushed them open. 

Can’t sleep? Okay, what else is going on? Oh, blinking. Something to look at?

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Soulstealing III (81/50)

Reward: Extra Affinity Slot

Just want Aunt Agnes wanted! I’m the best! I thought giddily. Hmm, more blinking? Okay. I’ll look.

You have completed a Rift Path! Close the Rift (1/1)

Reward: 4 Unallocated Stats. 6 Aether Coins. 1 Singing Sapphire. 1 nugget of Cassium.

I heard clinking and cursing. The shuffling around hurt my chest, but the words were waiting. 

Unallocated? Those go to Gifted! Dunno what the rest of those things are. What? More words? When will they end?!

Achievement Acquired! Defeat a Rift Champion solo while not possessing a Class.

Assessing engagement and environment.

Determining physical assistance rendered — No assistance provided.

Determining equipment assistance rendered — User succeeded with a mundane weapon.An enchanted ring of Aetheric Barrier was used. Spells were cast by the user. No other aether-related assistance was found.

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

Determining distance in development between user and opponent — User is still three years from Class Unlock. Opponent was Advanced Tier 1.Determining risk of engagement — Risk of death almost certain.Empty Affinity Slot detected.

Reward determined.

Reward: Choice of three Moderate Affinities. 35 Steps on the Path of Exceptionalism.

Three? Okay. Which ones?

Free Affinity Slot available. Would you like to choose an Affinity?

I heard growling. Was Nazim talking to me? I couldn’t tell. Aunt Agnes wanted me to get another affinity though. She didn’t like Shadow — dunno why. Shadow was clearly the best. You could see in the dark and hide from all the bad things. I was a sneaky boy! Like… like… I couldn’t think of what that was like. There should be something though. A sneaky sneaker? That sounded dumb. But another affinity would make my aunt happy, and then she would send me to the best Academy — because that was where best boys like me should go.

Affinities available. Please select a single one from the following:

Sound (Tier 1)

Life (Tier 1)

Water (Tier 1)

Just like The Rift! That’s amazing. Now what ones did Aunt Agnes want me to get again? Not Sound. Water could be fun, like Etta! Plus, maybe it would make me even better at swimming. I was good at swimming, wasn’t I? Life… life… that could let me heal Nazim? Someone said Life… Blake… and Agnes. Life!

The words vanished and more appeared.

Achievement Acquired! Close a Rift solo while not possessing a Class.

Assessing engagement and environment.

Determining physical assistance rendered — No assistance provided.

Determining equipment assistance rendered — User succeeded with a mundane weapon.An enchanted ring of Aetheric Barrier was used. Spells were cast by the user. No other aether-related assistance was found.

Determining number of enemies in Rift — no Rift monsters had been killed upon entry.

Determining distance in development between user and Rift — User is still three years from Class Unlock. Rift drew from Floors 1 and 2 of The Echoing Depths.

Determining percentage of Rift cleared - One Rift encounter and Rift Champion defeated. Sixty percent of Rift cleared.Determining risk of engagement — Risk of death almost certain.

Reward determined.

Reward: Boon Granted: Unclassed Rift Conqueror - Unlock Class Path one year early. Receive two additional high tier rewards on all future Class Paths. 50 Steps on the Path of Exceptionalism.

Boon! Confusing though. I’ll ask Nazim!

I opened my mouth and told my friend the problem. For some reason, he looked confused. Or was it worried?

The sky changed again. It looked like wood. Maybe we were in a tree? Hornpeak had soooo many trees. We stopped moving. There were voices. Then an angel was looking down at me.

“Hey, Mum,” I whispered with a smile.

Fingers touched my jaw and held my mouth open as something was poured in. Tasted like dirt, and I choked on it for a second before swallowing. More voices in the background, but it didn’t matter because Mum was with me. She had tears in her eyes which made my chest hurt. It was my fault — I made her cry again. I started trying to mumble apologies.

Her voice was soft as she sang to me, almost crooning. Such a nice voice. Someone else was touching my head, but every time I tried to look, Mum would draw my attention back to her. When the hands stopped touching me, I started to close my eyes. No one stopped me.

I woke up with a pounding headache. Mum was curled up next to me. Blearily looking around the room, it took me a second to recognise where we were — our room at The Golden Purse inn. There was no sign of Nazim, which had me worried.

My face felt tight and everything hurt. I reached up slowly with my fingers towards my cheek only to brush against fabric instead of skin. Someone had bandaged me. I didn’t remember who. Everything after escaping the Rift felt like a blur.

Laying still, I took stock of my injuries. My ankle throbbed in time with my heartbeat, and I glanced down to see that it was strapped with fabric as well and what looked like pieces of wood. A brace perhaps? My chest hurt, breathing slightly painful, though less than I expected. My cheek felt cold and tight beneath the bandages while a pounding filled my head that made thinking difficult.

The dulled agony that was my existence made me smile. I was alive and we had escaped! To me, at this moment, the details mattered less than that simple fact. 

There was the sound of footsteps outside the door, coming and going, but for now, I intended to relish my freedom — as I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the moment Mum woke up, such things would be at an end for the foreseeable future.

I glanced at my Status, eyes widening. 

Two affinities?