The crackling of a hearty fire echoed through the small chamber, radiating heat to its occupants as they huddled close by. Damp clothes hung heavily on their dishevelled bodies, whilst thick wads of mud clung to their lower extremities, as if they’d waded through a mud-filled pit to get to the shelter. In some ways, they had - the summer storm and the number of travellers had created a treacherous path through the woods. Some had suffered bloody cuts and bruises on the trek, now hastily bandaged with torn strips of clothing. Others had been wounded in the initial attack and had proper bandages on the worst of their injuries.

For all that the people looked hurt and dishevelled, there was a spark in their eyes. They'd survived an attack on their village, made their way through the forest and into the foothills of the Golgoth Mountains, all while enduring a fierce summer storm. They'd felt defeated, mentally and physically, at many points throughout the day.

But for all of that, they'd survived.

Perhaps it was the shelter from the cave that they found themselves in, or the warmth of the fire in the two chambers, but they felt a strange sense of burgeoning hope for tomorrow.

Children slept exhausted in their parents’ arms, the rushed journey taking its toll on their small bodies. Some of the wounded and elderly also slept, finding flat sections of the cave to collapse onto, the need for rest overcoming the discomfort of the rough ground. A Warrior also slept, arm roughly bandaged, in the middle of the larger chamber. He was covered in mud, clothes ripped, torn and bloody.

His nose twitched, as the aroma of cooking meat filled the cave. Opening his eyes, the Warrior groaned as his overtaxed body protested its tiredness. He forced himself to his feet, slowly moving towards the cooking fire. The droplets of fat hitting the flames and sizzling away brought an eager smile to his face. The large hunks of meat slowly turned on a spit, with even more meat waiting off to the side. He salivated, the rumbling of his stomach reminding him how long it had been since he’d eaten.

Katai sure hoped wolf meat tasted good.

The next morning, he awoke to the sounds of people tramping in and out of the chamber. He eventually rolled over, groaning painfully. His arm was stiff and sore, but not as bad as he had feared. The rest of his body however, was a mass of aches and pains. He’d been scratched up pretty badly by the wolf that had bitten his arm and everyone had suffered a fall or two during the hasty night-time journey.

Sitting up, he looked down at the state of his ragged clothes, the small movement shaking some of the dried mud and dust loose. He really needed some new clothes and a bath. He doubted he’d be getting either of those any time soon.

Rousing himself properly, he stood and stretched, feeling his body strain and relax as he fully woke up. His stomach rumbled in protest, alerting him to another pressing need of his body. He was ravenous and he had no idea where a toilet was. Unfortunately, the number of people in the cave to be fed meant the food had been quickly devoured the night before. He’d have to find the designated toilet area in the meantime and then look for Silas or Hiram to find out what the plan was.

Looking around the large chamber he was in, he noticed soot marking the roof, flowing up the short tunnel into the next chamber. Moss covered the walls near the tunnel entrance, the light and the damp providing a perfect environment for its growth. The ground was a mixture of dirt and gravel, with the occasional spire of rock jutting up from underneath. Nothing else seemed to be growing in the cave, but a dark tunnel led from the main chamber deeper into the ground, guarded by a trio of Warriors, all peering cautiously down into the mysterious depths.

A sensible precaution, thought Katai as he strode towards the entrance. He passed through a short tunnel and into the smaller entrance chamber, where a few families gathered, talking in quiet voices.

Reaching the mouth of the cave, he turned to the closest Guard and asked for directions to the latrine and to the Captain. Continuing on, he moved past the cave mouth and then turned up the hill, moving over the highest point and then descending into a small valley. After relieving himself in a stand of thick bushes where a piece of bright cloth had been tied, he headed deeper into the valley. He had to scramble over a layer of smooth rocks before he finally spied a dozen moving figures, gesticulating wildly at one another. As he drew closer, Katai recognised a few of the people arguing with Captain Hiram.

“We need to clear out the bandits as soon as possible. Launch a surprise attack or something, I don't know. Just do your job!” cried Elder Nafeer, one of the youngest of the group of Elders. She was red in the face, her eyes angry as she berated the older Captain.

“I am sorry Elder Nafeer, but there are just too many. We only ‘ave four tier two Warriors and a dozen tier one. It would be suicide to attack them now.” replied Hiram, keeping his voice calm and level. The reality of the situation spelled out so bluntly caused an outbreak of muttering amongst the Elders, some of them angry, but most of them despairing or full of worry.

“Ah Katai, glad to see you're awake,” Hiram noticed the approaching figure, giving him a stern look and a slight shake of his head, “how’re you feeling?”

“Tired, but happy to be alive,” said Katai, “and you?” He shot a glare towards Elder Nafeer, missing the look of exasperation that flashed across Hiram’s face. He may have come here to argue the same thing as the Elder, but it didn’t mean he had to like the vocal Nafeer. Her voice was one he had hoped to never hear again once he joined the Guard, but alas it was not to be.

“Aha! Don't you worry about me boy. I may be gettin’ on in years, but I can still run you around in circles, even if you are the hero of the hour.”

Katai shot him a questioning look.

“Aye lad, everyone knows what you did last night,” Hiram continued, a hint of pride entering his voice, “people won't soon forget that...still, you're a right block-head for leaving your position!” Hiram whacked him lightly on the side of the head, his slight smile betraying his lack of real anger.

Katai ducked his head, trying to hide his bright red face from the watching crowd.

Hiram turned back to the group of Elders and spoke loudly, “We need to secure these caves until we either find a better location, or help arrives from Waycrest village or the Capital. We also need food and water, clean clothing and bedding. We can rough it for a while, but the necessities are needed today,” he said, punctuating his words by slapping his fist into his open palm. “I've already sent out hunters and volunteers to find water and any food that can be scavenged from the area. We have a few trappers too but they'll need support to feed all these mouths.” Hiram paused as he let that sink in.

Turning to face Katai thoughtfully, he continued in a quieter voice. “Are you up for some more work Katai? We need someone to head deeper into the cave. It’s not for the faint of heart, but after last night I know I can count on you if things go wrong. Make sure we're not sitting on top of some creature’s spawning ground, or gods-forbid, a Rift.”

Katai hesitated for a second, before nodding. “I can do that. But…uh,“ he lowered his voice so only Hiram could hear, “are we really going to abandon the village?” His voice was low and tightly controlled, the anger barely in check, “Just let those animals destroy everything we’ve worked for and do nothing?”

Hiram gazed at him sternly for a moment, before his gaze softened. He sighed tiredly, looking older than ever before. “I know you’re angry and you have every right to be – you’ve been through absolute hell. We all have.” The old man put his hand on the young man’s shoulder and gently squeezed as he looked into Katai’s eyes. “I’m truly sorry for everything you’ve been through. For what everyone has been through this past day and a half. But getting vengeance now means we’ll lose most of our remaining Warriors, if not all of them. And I won’t let anyone go off on some suicidal mission just to take a couple of those bastards with them. Trust me Katai, it’s not worth it. I promise you, we will get justice for what happened here. We just can’t do it on our own.” His eyes held Katai with their sincerity, seeming to pin him in place.

Katai’s eyes stung and he looked away, unable to handle the churning emotions that scolded his heart, hurting his chest. Hastily blinking back the hot tears that threatened to break free, he stared a hole in the ground, willing the awful mix of feelings away.

Finally able to look back up, Katai kept tight control over his expression, a slight tremor to his lips the only weakness he let by. Clearing his throat, he replied quietly, almost timidly, “You promise?”

Hiram smiled gently. His eyes seemed to glisten, the turquoise colour gazing into Katai’s eyes, full of shared pain and the wisdom of many years. “I promise.”

The Captain clapped Katai on the shoulder and said, in a louder voice for the others to hear. “The village is here now. It’s sitting in the caves and foraging from the forest and gathered here with me now. It’s the people who make up the village of Tiaston, not some buildings and a strip of land.” He looked around, fierce and proud. No one else in the crowd of Elders made a sound. “I may have failed you once already - but I swear I won’t fail you again. The village here, needs protecting. That’s my job and that’s what I plan to do.”

Katai entered the cave once again, his eyes adjusting to the gloomy atmosphere that the burning torches did little to alleviate. He walked through to the second chamber, collecting some dried rations from a food bin after passing on his orders to its Guard. Hooking a waterskin onto his shoulder, he headed towards the second exit, the one that disappeared down into the earth, into the unknown.

Sitting down near the Guards that were watching over the tunnel, he brought up the last messages he’d skimmed over after the battle against the wolf pack.

You have defeated Wolf – Pack Leader (level 32).

Congratulations! You have gained 2 Warrior and 2 Blood Mage levels.

3 attribute points awarded for reaching level 15 Blood Mage.

With the levels from defeating the Pack Leader, the battle with the wolves had been greatly beneficial. He’d surpassed the half-way point for his Warrior class, hitting level twenty-five and gaining a new skill selection. Passing that and level fifteen of blood mage had also given him a handful of attribute points, as well as levelling his Lacerate skill, which had been lagging behind Sense Blood. It was still a fair way behind, but hopefully it’d even out somewhat with training. Sense Blood after all was always active, unless he turned it off, while Lacerate had to be used against an enemy. It was always going to level slower. The question was how would he train a skill that couldn’t be defended against? And who would he train with - Silas?

Thinking of training turned his thoughts to something that had been on his mind for a while now. His friend deserved to know what he’d chosen for his second class. To be honest, he didn’t think he’d be able to hide it from him much longer, as Silas was always curious about anything class or skill related. The questions would keep coming and he’d only be able to avoid or lie about it for so long. His friend was perceptive and knew him better than anyone else. Plus, he had his new Blood Mage skill to select and he wasn’t sure what to do there. As much as Silas was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, he gave surprisingly good advice…when he was being serious.

Perhaps admitting his Mage class to Silas and then getting his advice would be a good idea? It was risky, but people were bound to start asking questions, especially the other Warriors. They knew what skills were generally available for a melee-focused class. At the very least, Silas could spread a rumour that Katai had gained a weird hybrid class that had some ranged abilities. Maybe that’d help deflect any curiosity?

For now, before they descended further into the cave, he’d allocate his attribute points and then look through his new Warrior skills. That skill list should be much easier to decide on than the Blood Mage abilities.

With a thought, Katai brought up his attributes. He still thought about his plan of putting points into Charisma – it had, after all, been his highest natural attribute and it made sense to increase it to see what class he could get. It didn’t however, make sense to do that now, when he was likely going to need all the combat-related power he could get. Putting points into something that didn’t increase his survivability wasn’t smart. Perhaps when he got closer to level fifty, he’d put a few points into Charisma – it wasn’t like he’d find it hard to spare a couple of points, now that Blood Mage gave him a whopping three points every five levels!

Decision made, he put half of his points into Constitution, and the other half split between Strength and Dexterity. He knew Constitution was always going to be the most important to him, as all combat classes benefited from it, but also because his Blood Mage skills used health for power, instead of mana like most Mage classes did.

Looking over the updates he was about to apply, he felt a sense of satisfaction. The increases from his Mage class were giving massive improvements to his statistics. If he could gain a second Rare class, he’d be unstoppable, purely on statistics alone.

Attributes

Strength: 18 (+1)

Dexterity: 18 (+1)

Constitution: 26 (+2)

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 16

Charisma: 17

A faint heat built up in his chest, slowly expanding out to the rest of his body. Chills followed the wave of heat, causing muscles spasms all over. His heart-rate slowed, easily pumping enough blood through his veins to keep it working under the most adverse of conditions. He was at the pinnacle of health, unconcerned by anything but the most virulent of diseases, or the deadliest of poisons. He felt indestructible.

Reigning in the feelings caused by the changes to his body, he closed the attributes panel. Breathing deeply, he calmed his thoughts. He needed to be level-headed when making these decisions, they couldn’t be unmade.

Feeling more in control, Katai opened up his skills list to see the new Warrior selection he’d gained from reaching level twenty-five.

Warrior Skills - available selections: 1

Battle Cry - Increases stamina regeneration of self and friendly units for 15 minutes, for all who hear the cry.

Expedient Retreat - Forced disengagement from opponent. Speed and agility increased until attacked.

Block - Completely negate an attack. Requires weapon, shield or heavy armour to be equipped.

This list was much more straightforward to Katai. He already had a skill that worked in a similar way to Block, and while Expedient Retreat did seem useful, especially if he found himself up against a much stronger opponent, it didn’t give him any benefits other than to run away. Nothing to improve his actual combat capabilities.

Battle Cry on the other hand would be useful in levelling his other Warrior skills in the future, allowing him and his training partners to spar for longer periods. Not to mention the combat benefits of being able to last longer and use skills more frequently, and applying that benefit to his fellow Warriors. Actually, thinking about the benefits outside of combat, he'd be able to do any kind of physical activity for longer with this skill. Plus it should stack on top of his 'Relentless' trait, which increased his total stamina and stamina regeneration.

He selected the skill Battle Cry decisively, confident in his choice.

New Skill: Battle Cry (Novice) – Level 1.

Looking over his Warrior class skills, he was happy with his surprisingly fast progress, achieving almost as many levels in the past day and a half as he had in the previous year of Guard training. It seemed the added danger and risk really did increase the speed at which skills and classes gained levels. He’d certainly been at risk of losing his life on multiple occasions, to opponents far stronger than him. Quick-thinking and a good plan were the only reasons he was still here. Well, that and his incredible Blood Mage class.

Warrior [Common] – Level 28

A versatile combatant, the Warrior has a wide array of skills that can be combined to produce many different types of fighter, from bow-wielding hunters to heavily armoured centurions.

Requirements: Engage in a fight or battle.

Bonuses: Strength + 2, Dexterity + 2, Constitution + 1.

Traits: Relentless.

Skills: Lunge (Expert) – Level 5, Parry (Expert) – Level 3, Bash (Proficient) – Level 3, Battle Cry (Novice) – Level 1

"Ready to go?" Silas called out as he rushed over to Katai, laden with a handful of hastily cut torches. Katai stood, stretching his stiff muscles. He was going to be sore for a while, but at least his arm was showing signs of healing. It was itchy and scabbing, the small amount of dried blood surprising Katai as he expected his arm to be covered in the stuff, completely shredded from the wolf attack. Instead, it was swollen and red, with a number of puncture wounds that were already closed over. The health-regeneration bonus was showing its incredible worth, as well as his high Constitution attribute.

"Lucky you brought some torches, I completely forgot," said Katai, nodding at his friend. "Seems you have some use after all."

Smiling, Silas clapped him on the back and handed him one of the torches. Lighting it with his own torch, he then gestured towards the hole.

"Well then, let’s go adventuring!" he said, a childish grin splitting his face.

Rolling his eyes, Katai turned and led the way down the gently sloping tunnel. Against his will, Katai’s heart sped up as they descended into the unknown. His natural curiosity and sense of adventure had taken over, supressing his earlier feelings. At least, for a little while.

After all, he thought, who knows what we might find down there.

“Oh yes, they’ve done well here. Some very strong emotions.” A hunched figure muttered happily, crouching over a piece of blackened flesh left in the wake of the recent attack.

Clad in a dark hooded cloak, with matching shirt and pants, it was covered in a thick layer of dust. The ragged cloak and cracked leather boots seemed to indicate this traveller had been on the road for quite some time.

The diminutive figure hawked and spat a wad of phlegm at the remnants of the corpse. Sniffing thoughtfully, it rubbed its worn boot through the mess at its feet and sighed.

“Too much damage,” it said, perhaps not realising it was muttering out loud, “but there must be some in decent condition around here. Time to hunt!” Eyes gleamed from within the shadows of the hood.

It sniffed, breathing in deeply though its nose. Turning slowly as it took several deep breaths, it finally came to a stop facing the nearby mountain.

“Ooh yes, I can smell the potential from here. There’s something special. Delicious!” Smacking its lips, the figure practically skipped as it took off.

Some time later, the sounds of the forest quieted as the dark figure crouched by a mound of freshly dug earth. The lack of sound in the surrounding area was unnatural, the normal rustling of forest creatures and bird calls dying down in the presence of this particular individual.

A smile passed its cracked lips as the figure considered the mound before it, revealing wickedly-sharp teeth. Its grin widened as it muttered an incantation, a darkness bursting forth from its chest. Strands of dark power sunk into the earth around the area, the largest strand sinking into the mound directly in front of the creature.

Cackling gleefully, it clapped its hands with excitement as a pale hand burst forth from the earth.

Katai's Status

Katai D’Castro

1st Class: Warrior – level 27 (+2)

2nd Class: Blood Mage – level 15 (+2)

Skills (1)

Lunge (Expert) – level 5

Parry (Expert) – level 3

Bash (Proficient) – level 3

Battle Cry (Novice) – level 1 (+1)

Sense Blood (Proficient) – level 2

Lacerate (Novice) – Level 4

Attributes

Strength: 18 (+1)

Dexterity: 18 (+1)

Constitution: 26 (+2)

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 16

Charisma: 17

Magical Aptitude

Blood (Life): 62%

Water: 9%

Resistances

Spirit: -16%

Void: 31%

Blood (Life): 62%