Goal: Save Tarquin

A Mark of Hunting has been placed upon you. Your bounty stands at 5,000.

Minor Title gained.

The System notification jarred through his dreams like an alarm clock, and Nic’s eyes cracked open.

Nic woke up to the sensation of being carried. His entire body was a mass of pain, his regeneration doing nothing but making the wounds ache all over again as they sealed together. Matteos was lugging him along on a sled made of wood and rope.

Dizzy, Nic chuckled. They’d made him a sled out of the wreckage of the ship.

He had a good record against ships. Five to zero.

Turning over, he saw Jessie’s bloodsoaked face. He’d broken her nose and left a huge gash across her forehead, with scabbed blood clinging to her lips as she slumbered. But she was breathing. Wedged between their bodies was his mystic bag.

The moon was high above them. Its silver light glittered on the floating river that stretched between the sky islands.

He wanted a cigarette. Actually, he wanted a body that wouldn’t just reject all the nasty toxins and tars that made smoking fun.

A flutter of wings drew his gaze to Inkspur as the little wyvern fluttered down from the sky. Tiny claws landed on his chest. A silver ring hung from the beast’s beak, and it dropped it onto Nic’s chest with a bow.

“You look like cold shit. But you are ALIVE, and thus, your opponents must have fared EVEN WORSE. I desired greatly to witness the BROKEN BODIES of those who DARED oppose you! And BEHOLD, I found TREASURE in the SAND!”

Nic groaned slowly. Inkspur’s scratchy voice wasn’t exactly ideal to wake up to.

In the distance an immense flash of light lit up the horizon.

“What…”

“SULA!” Inkspur crowed happily. “A magnificent woman. IF ONLY SHE HAD SCALES. She and that worthless human are fighting.”

Nic tried to stand. “She’s fighting Azmin?”

“YES!”

His whole body protested even the simplest movements. There were huge scabby wounds across his back, threatening to rip open if he tried to sit up. His arm was limp and the nerves stung like hellfire as they grew back into the breach where he’d been cut open.

Another flash of light. Ice-blue against a raging, bloody red. Lightning sparked from the earth and lifted into the sky.

Nic wanted to be there. He wanted to see what the heights looked like. “Inkspur…”

“It was GLORIOUS. Ice blossomed from the earth. Ancient totems bore the NAMES OF THE DEAD.” His wings fluttered in agitation. “They are going to MURDER EACH OTHER.”

The forward progress of the sled stopped. Matteos turned back. His face was shiny and dark with bruises, his lip split. Courtesy of the same ‘friends’ who’d thrown him into the cell. “You can understand Nak?”

“Oh yes. His mind is MINE to read like a BOOK!” Inkspur declared with pride.

“Why… Who…” For a moment Matteos struggled to put together the right question. “What’s going on, with any of this? You might be the only person I’ve met who seems to know. I was getting ready to go to work. I was brushing my teeth. The world ended and I hadn’t even spat out the toothpaste.”

“The System.” Nic croaked. But he already knew he couldn’t explain it. Not this.

Mattoes was smart. Matteos had sharp enough instincts when it came to fighting. The only thing Matteos lacked, the only thing that truly held him back, was that Matteos didn’t love the thrill of life or death.

Nic came alive when he was on the edge of destruction. Matteos just wanted to know why.

“The HEAVENS have decreed you join their INFINITE PLAN.”

“Is… is that what Nak said? Really?” Mattoes looked at the little wyvern until Inkspur blinked and glanced away.

“More or less?” Inkspur tried.

“Inkspur…” Nic croaked. “Tell him exactly this. Tell him…” But what it was like, Nic didn’t know. He’d grown up with the System. It had assigned him his name. He remembered its voice better than he remembered the blurry impressions of his own parents. “It’s like a garden of worlds, I guess. You grow and you get big and strong and someday you’re pulled from the dirt and up into the System.”

“To what? Be eaten?”

“More or less.” Nic had to admit. “The System’s not a thing you can understand. It doesn’t make sense, not like a human does. It won’t give you a reason. It just wants you to get stronger and it doesn’t care how. Even I don’t know why.”

Matteos slowly adjusted his glasses. They were held together with tape. “Then why…” His fist curled in frustration. “Why pit people against each other like this? I can only see because somebody else made these for me, Nak. The whole world of sight and seeing- it flicked on like a switch because somebody else took an hour out of their day to give me an eye exam.”

“Take them off.” Inkspur snapped before Nic could say anything. “See for yourself.”

He slowly slid his glasses away, and blinked. “Oh.” His vision was probably perfect now. Just one of the small adjustments cultivation made to the body.

The huge elven sandship glided smoothly across the dune, coming to a halt by them. The elves cheered as they saw the prisoners, hurt but alive, and they leapt down to embrace their missing husbands and wives. Matteos shifted uncomfortably under their gazes, clearly feeling like an outsider. But even he was pulled into a crushing hug by a young, tall woman who’d paused to listen to the old man he’d carried - likely her grandfather.

Nic was already starting to drift back into unconsciousness as a sea of hands lifted him and carried him onto the deck.

---

The next time Nic woke up his body was shedding the scabs that covered his wounds. A quick check of the timer said six hours had slipped away, and the sky was just starting to break through into dawn, golden light coming across the desert as the sun rose.

He was in a small circle made of jade-green stones. Each of the rocks drew the ambient Essence in the air inwards and formed a faint vortex, and the overall design channeled it towards Nic.

The last of the filth and grime of regeneration broke away as he straightened up into a meditative pose.

His cultivation base was full again. It was a sea of warmth in the core of his chest.

Despite the crusts of sediment and goo sticking to the bottoms of his eyes, and the dull aches spread throughout his entire body, Nic felt strangely awake. The desert was full of small details that stood out to his eyes, and the world felt sharp, striking - beautiful.

“Did I…” The sensation of being awake was overwhelming. Like his entire mind had been cleansed, purged, by the ordeal in the desert. “Sofia, did I gain a level of Spirit?”

“I think you’d better see for yourself.”

Taking out his Mourners Lantern, Nic drew in the motes of mental essence and let them sharpen his mind.

“Cultivation map.”

Essence 5,394 / 5,394

+ 19.45 per Minute

(2.162 Base)

600% Local Modifier

+ Devoured an F-Class enemy (200%)

+ Consumed a G-Class treasure (100%)

+ Rested in toxic environment (100%)

Titles -

Hunted Beast (Rewards 5,000 First Wave Credits to your killer. Increase bounty by 500 with each Native you kill. Each dawn, gain credits equal to one tenth of your bounty.)

Cultivation Base (Unranked)

VI Physical Strength (Locked)

III Mental Acuity (2,852/4,000)*

II Spiritual Clarity (421/2,000)*

I Regeneration (1,702/15,000)

Poison Mist Shard (F)

Creates and controls poisonous mist from Aura. Excellent attacking Shard, capable of piercing many defenses and inflicting ongoing damage.

III Increase Toxicity (1,338/8,000)

I Add Aura Efficiency (0/6,000)

Secondary Slot (0/50,000)

I Poison Devouring (Complete)

Mist Armor (0/50,000)

Adhesive Touch (G)

Creates adhesive threads of pure Aura. A low-quality shard of marginal utility, but with clever hidden uses suited to a dexterous combatant.

II Base Enhancement (57/2,000)

Secondary Slot (0/10,000)

Permanency (0/10,000)

Totemic Petroglyphs (F)

Creates tools of bone, rock, and leather that contain the spirits of the fallen, calling them to your aid. A high-quality magical shard.

V Base Enhancement (Complete)

I Add Essence Efficiency (0/2,000)*

Additional Secondary Slot (0/50,000)

Summoning Limit (0/50,000)

Spirits of the Earth (0/10,000)

Techniques (12% Capacity)

Eight-Eyed Mantle (1,914/11,200)

Concept of Sacrifice

We get only one chance to die. We must make it count.

Converts Essence to aura. Rate of conversion doubles when seriously wounded.

(1% of Essence gained as Spiritual Essence.) (432/1,000 Spiritual Essence stored.)

Minor title. That was new. A punishment and a reward for angering Azmin Hale.

Not only had his Spiritual Clarity leapt up a step, but with the Concept of Sacrifice’s reserve of Spiritual Essence he was almost halfway to the next milestone. His mastery of Adhesive Touch had silently overflowed to the second rank as well, marking a small step towards completing the first five ranks and receiving another vision.

He hesitated for a moment over where to place his full reserve of Essence. Tunneling towards the end of Adhesive Touch might allow him to understand the skill better - but he couldn’t name how the Totemic Petroglyphs vision had directly helped him.

Similarly, he could try to unlock the Secondary Slot for Adhesive. But in the desert, his planned choice of adding the Drowning Shard and creating Mire-Caller would give him almost no value to speak of.

In the end, he chose to pour his energy towards an unknown. Spirits of the Earth. The Essence flowed towards an almost invisible node in the cluster surrounding his Totemic Petroglyphs Shard, slowly filling in another dark star in the constellation of meridian lines and node-points.

It would take another full dose of Essence to fully light up, but already, Nic felt a strange surge of energy pulling his attention away from meditation.

He looked up and saw a strange creature in the sands. It was made of flickering orange-red energy, its whole body shivering and flickering in and out like a warping mirage. It had the body of a rabbit, and stood on its hindlegs, horns emerging from behind each antenna-tall ear.

A blink and it was gone.

Nic shook his head.

“Nicolas. Try the exercises we practiced. The aura lanterns.” Sofia urged.

Nic lifted his arms and focused his aura, trying to will it to take the shape of lights. First his palm glowed brightly, and then the light lifted up, becoming a floating sphere that drifted above his fingertips. One by one, smaller lanterns emerged all over his arms -

Until he was surrounded by floating spots of luminescent white, the color of stars. They drifted around him in a misty haze of light.

“I see you don’t waste time. Wake up, practice, almost die- do it all again in the morning?” Sula walked towards him, cape draped over her missing arm. There were long cuts across her entire body, but they were already healed, shiny-pink scar tissue filling in the gaps. A cigarette smoldered on her lips. “I remember my Integration.”

The lanterns faded as his focus faltered, sinking back into his skin. Sula took a seat next to him.

She offered Nic the cigarette. Even knowing his body would metabolize out the nicotine, Nic took a puff for old time’s sake.

“At least I did some good this time, huh?” Digging into his pack, Nic took out the leather-bound scroll containing Sula’s offer of peace. “But, uh… I didn’t exactly deliver this…”

She grinned. “I think you made an effective case for leaving us be.” Taking the scroll, she tossed it aside. “Peace would only have been temporary, in the end. I just need time to search for my weapon.”

Nic had a suspicion. Not one he was going to say out loud, but- He had a guess where the ‘nuclear fire’ Sula was searching for could be found.

“Now.” Sula breathed out smoke, forming it with aura to take the shape of a dragon soaring from her lips. It flew through the sky on grey wings before coming unraveled and dissolving into a shapeless mist. “I believe we owe you a reward? Any thoughts?”