Dharen was blasted away by the impact, with a sharp crack that left Serah deeply concerned for his well-being. The hammer-wielding man smashed into a pillar, shattering it into shards that burst outwards like so many projectiles. She winced. Though she knew that he was abominably sturdy, his body would be sorely taxed by an attack like that. Her fears were confirmed as the man continued to lay unconscious against the broken pillar, only the slight rise and fall of his chest keeping Serah’s horror at bay.

Serah’s attention was pulled away as Ozen let out a roar, throwing himself into the fray and taking up Dharen’s previous role. The plan had already fallen into shambles. Though they had managed to whittle away at a portion of the creature’s body, with one of their heavy-hitters out of the battle, there would be far less opportunity to continue to inflict damage.

For a moment, it seemed as if Ozen could handle taking over Dharen’s mantle. He hacked and slashed with his axes in brutal ferocity, aiming against the gaps that linked the automatons orb-composed body in an attempt to break them apart. His blades sparked against the metal chassis, sending out a discordant shrieking with each and every cut. As he did so, Erik darted in and out of the fray - cutting in every so often and delivering a series of lightning-fast attacks.

Serah initially loosed arrow after arrow from a safe distance, careful to focus her attention on sections far from the others - an unlucky bounce of the projectiles would be terrifying. Unfortunately, it was soon clear that her arrows were not enough to dislodge the orbs from one another - it merely skittered off the reflective metal orbs, unable to create enough kinetic force to have a noticeable effect. She ceased her efforts, understanding that she might do more harm than good with the combination of the arrows’ ineffectiveness against the Orbel Knight Keljier and the propensity of the projectiles to scatter upon impact.

Instead, she took a moment to check on Dharen. The man was still knocked out, having slammed against one of the ornate pillars lining the room with brutal force. She placed two fingers to his throat, feeling for a pulse. A wave of relief flooded her, as his pulse came back strong and true. She had been fearful that she would find it weak and thready, evidence that he clung to life only ever so slightly. Instead, it seemed that he might very well be recovering with a monstrous amount of Vitality.

A high-pitched whistling caused her to jerk her attention back towards the fight and away from their downed member. She watched as Ozen took a heavy blow from a whip-like attack of the creature’s tail. Though it did not hold the devastating momentum of the attack that had brought down Dharen, Ozen did not have the benefit of the man’s overwhelmingly high attributes.

The tail cracked against Ozen’s chest, and he flew backwards through the air. He slammed into another pillar. Though the force was not enough to shatter the pillar, it brought Ozen down for the count; he choked out a stream of blood as he suffered heavy blunt trauma. Though he tried to return to his feet, he only made one step before collapsing to the floor in a heap. He lay there silently, deep into unconsciousness.

Serah let out a moue of worry. Just as she was preparing to rush over and assure herself that her companion yet lived, the sound of another impact reached her. Erik let out a cry of agony as he skidded across the floor, his arm twisted and mangled. Despite his speed, he had been glanced by a blow. Though he had managed to block slightly with one arm, he was still sent sliding across the room from the impact - with a crippled arm for his troubles.

Serah felt a wave of horror overtake her. Her mind replayed the events over and over in rapid succession. The injuries sustained by Tomas, the poison that was even now ravaging his body and slowly ripping away at his life. Dharen, laying in the rubble of a shattered pillar. Ozen, a heap on the floor. Erik, his arm crippled and mangled beyond belief.

Horror shifted, morphing into incandescent rage. She let out an enraged shout, a wordless message of defiance. She stalked forward, placing herself in between Keljier and her fallen friends. Though she knew that she had no way in which to defeat the creature, there she stood. Her arms raised from her sides, held out to show the creature that she would brook no passage. Not while she lived, at least. She found her lips had formed into a snarl, a bestial noise bubbling forth. Her body trembled, frenzied with rage.

She knew her chances. That she could not deny. She was ineffectual against a monster of this nature - a mere footnote in the battle’s outcome. Yet she could not bring herself to stand aside. The looming loss of Tomas had been an ever-present spectre, a constant sorrow that burrowed into her mind. Yet, even so, she had remained convinced that loss could be prevented with enough effort put forth by herself and her companions. But now, not only would Tomas be doomed, but Ozen, Erik, and even Dharen would be lost as well. And that was not something that she could accept quietly.

And so she voiced her defiance, screaming out her unwillingness to accept the death of her companions. She braced herself for a deadly assault, ready to be the shield that stood between her companions and death - as temporary as such a barrier might turn out to be.

A scuffing motion reached her from behind, the sound of a heavy footstep followed by a dragging against the ground. It resounded out with an unsteady staccato, as if movement was a herculean effort that could not be accomplished with ease. And Serah knew that it truly wasn’t a simple matter. All three of her companions had suffered grievous injury, Dharen most of all. Dharen, who she knew to be dragging himself towards her, towards danger once again.

As Keljier prepares itself before her, the shuffling footsteps reach her. Then, Dharen brushed alongside her. He passed an object into her hand as he did so, and her gaze lit upon the device. The Pulser was grasped within her hand, a soulseed set within its shaft. Serah looked upon the coloured crystal. The reason that Dharen had entrusted her with the device came upon her like a wave.

Though soulseeds that had been used in order to create enchantments on objects were no longer viable sources of energy with which to progress oneself, she had seen how the device operated. The interaction it had with the soulseed was different in nature. Rather than instilling a related enchantment upon the item that it was embedded in, the unique combination of the construct and soulseed allowed for the soulseed to be used as a simple energy source; thus, the soulseed had not been altered in such a way as to render it ineffective for the purposes that she suspected Dharen intended.

The information swept through her mind in a flash, and she brought her gaze back up to Dharen. The wounded man was looking at her intently, and she gave him a nod of understanding.

A light noise whispered from his disfigured face, a rasping sound that she could only assume was a laugh based on the light grin that painfully formed upon his face. Seeing this, she couldn’t help but feel hope surge within her chest. Hope. She had felt it before, when she had first Awakened. And now, as she looked at the laughing man with the broken body, she somehow felt it once more.

With his ridiculously-large warhammer in hand, with unsteady gait and shattered body, the man pressed forwards into the jaws of death.

But now, Serah could not believe so firmly that death was what lay in store for them. She palmed the device within her hand, touching a finger to the soulseed that adorned its surface. With a practiced effort, she pressed her will against it and forced it to shatter, guiding the now-homeless energy into her own body. She asserted herself against it, integrating it within herself, giving it a home anew within her own Seed of Hope.

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Level

Up

x1!

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Congratulations! You have reached Hope level 5 (Rank: Common).

Wisdom +6, Charisma +4, Agility -2 (NULL).

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Boon Granted:

You have received a Divine Boon of Hope!

Spirit +10, Wisdom +15, Charisma +10, Agility -5 (NULL)

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Name:

Serah

Awakening:

Hope

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Through hope, men may overcome their fear. Through hope, the righteous might gain the conviction to triumph over the wicked. Through hope, the weak may know the path to become strong. In all things, hope springs eternal; through hope, so shall you be.

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Level:

5 (Common)

Boons:

Dauntless Hope (Common) Rank 0

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- Second Chance -

The most devastating setbacks can be recovered from, should one only choose to persevere. Bestow the blessing of Hope upon another, that they may rise anew.

Duration: 10 Minutes

The next blow that would otherwise result in death will be reverted, returning the target to the state of health at the time of casting and bestowing 2 seconds of invulnerability.

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Dauntless Hope (Common) Rank I

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- Hope’s Avatar -

Despair is the killer of mankind. It leaves men quaking in their boots; it paralyzes them and leaves them breathless - resigned only to death. What then, of Hope? Hope readies the blade placed on a tyrant’s neck. Hope emboldens the virtuous and aids them in victory, in defiance against impossible odds. If Despair is mankind’s killer, Hope is its savior. Can Hope’s Avatar be anything less?

If caster and target place mutual faith and hope with one another, the target may be transformed into Hope’s Avatar. For 20 seconds, all of the target’s attributes receive doubled effectiveness. The caster is paralyzed for the duration of the ability, and will have the effectiveness of all attributes lowered to the minimum for 10 minutes following the Avatar’s descent.

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Name:

Serah

Race:

Human

Affiliation:

None

Spirit:

21

Strength:

5

Agility:

1

Vitality:

5

Endurance:

5

Wisdom:

38

Charisma:

27

Luck:

5

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Tower Tokens:

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2,200

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Serah felt herself expand in a surge of strength far greater than that of which she had experienced with any previous increase in power. Her eyes widened as she grasped the effects of her new Boon and, without hesitation, she placed her hopes upon her new Avatar. She reached with outstretched arms and soon found herself struck by a wave of weakness, paralyzed helplessly. Yet at the same time, a brilliant light descended upon Dharen’s injured form as he doggedly faced off against the dangerous automaton.

She stared, frozen, as the man became the Avatar of her Hopes. The next moments were a blur of motion and ferocity, as Dharen seemed to gain a second wind. Whereas before, he had been flagging, a tenacious participant in a potentially losing battle, now he had transformed. His injuries, though still devastating, no longer held him back. With his Vitality effectively doubled, it was as if he had been momentarily healed to a far healthier state. He ruthlessly struck at Keljier in a furious assault - dodging attacks with a deadly grace, bringing down hammering blows that almost seemed to shake the very room, moving with unceasing speed and endurance.

She stared, spellbound, as her Avatar of Hope laid waste to the enemy. Each blow knocked aside a portion of the creature’s body, and the separated pieces were linking back together ever more slowly. Then, Dharen’s warhammer lit with a cascade of blue swirls, and his hammer came down once more. The blow was unlike any that had come before, an overwhelming meteor that shattered the ragged Keljer’s body and sent it splitting in every which direction.

As the brilliant light faded from Dharen’s body and wisped away to nothing, Serah let out a sob of relief. The nightmare was over - Keljier was defeated. So too, would Tomas soon be saved. She felt weakness descend, an exhaustion that intermingled with the aftereffects of Hope’s Avatar and sent her collapsing to the floor. Yet, somehow, she felt a greater strength than ever - an assurity unlike any she had felt before.