The next five days passed in a hazy blur, tension and fear slowly building in the air of Ironmoor. The creature was coming. Everyone knew it from the meanest street urchin to the folks hiding behind the locked doors of Pithom Row. We all knew it. And there was nothing any of us could do to stop it. Not even me. I jumped feet first into my Vigil training. I was still no closer to figuring out who was beneath the mask, but at least I wouldn’t be an easy target when we squared off next time. Arturo, Cal, and I would all wake up at the ass crack of dawn and set out for the hills, clearing out the handful of Mortka dens in the surrounding areas.

Slaying bodies, clearing bounties, making off like bandits.

Thornsouls, Abyssal Tomb Vermin, Undead Boneshrieks, and even another lair of Crave Ghouls—far easier this time around since I had magical powers and a pair of pants. Each of the various creatures offered their own unique brand of challenge. The Undead Boneshrieks dealt damage through their banshee-like wails, which literally made my eyes bleed. They were the easiest of the lot, especially since they were basically aged bones held together with chewing gum and Scotch Tape. A single swipe of my mace was enough to topple those critters.

Abyssal Tomb Vermin were Giant Rats with a fancy name—typical RPG beginner quest fodder. The Thornsouls were the worst, dealing out devastating poison damage that left me with intermittent bouts of projectile vomiting for an hour or two afterward. Cal thought that was funny as hell. Still, as tough as they were, none even came close to the Stone Spider Matriarch. None of them were even in the same league. Which was both good and bad. On the plus side, none of my bones where pulverized and all of my organs remained inside my body. On the bad side, that also meant I didn’t siphon up nearly as much Essence as I was hoping for.

Not enough to push me up a rank, anyway.

Turned out that advancing within the Acolyte Ranks took a lot more elbow grease than the Novice Ranks. To move from Novice Silver to Novice Gold was a mere 1,500 Essence in difference. To move from Acolyte Silver to Acolyte Gold was15,000 Essence. Ten times the amount. And there were still five Classes above Acolyte—Journeyman, Master, Sage, Saint, and Fatemarked. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how much Essence I would need to harvest to get within spitting distance of the Fatemarked Class.

After a week of grinding my ass off, I’d only eked out a little over 11,000 Essence. Since there was no way I’d make it to Acolyte Gold in time for my rematch, I opted for some short-term gains at the expense of long-term returns. It was a gamble that would probably screw me over down the road, but the way I figured it, unless I survived the Hexblight, I wouldn’t live long enough to regret the consequences of my hasty actions. So, instead of saving up for the future—like a responsible adult, socking money away in a magical IRA—I burned through my accumulated Essence like a Boot Marine fresh to the fleet.

Sacrificing all of it for extra Attribute Points.

For 2,000 Essence I raised both Brawn and Verve to nineteen—pushing myself past the point of what was physically possible for a normal human. Not even an Olympic Athlete at the top of their game could compete with me now, at least not when it came to raw stamina or strength. I could outrun marathon gold medalists and outlift even the strongest powerlifters. Surpassing that threshold felt like having every bone in my body broken all at once. Better blood on the training mat than on the battlefield, as Drill Instructor Screw Y’All used to say.

I dropped another 2,400 Essence to elevate my Finesse from 15 to 18. Most of the powerful ranged spells required ridiculously high levels of Finesse—along with ungodly amounts of Arcana—and as a skilled marksman, being able to lay accurate shots on target was a matter of survival. I’d qualified as both an expert in the rifle and pistol before kicking the bucket, but with my Finesse cranked to 18, I’d be able to hit a target center mass at a thousand yards, and I’d make it look easy.

Then, most expensive of all, I spent 6,300 Essence to bump my Arcana up by two more points, going from 20 to 22. As much as I was a brawler by nature, I’d seen the power of offensive magic firsthand and it was the kind of thing to make a man take up religion. I wanted that kind of firepower on my side. I also wanted to see what kind of utter devastation the higher-level spells could mete out. With sixty ward points to spend, I could now afford to unlock some of those spells, but without a high enough Arcana Score, I’d be just as likely to kill myself as my enemies.

I would’ve done more, but buying Attribute Points past level 20 became prohibitively expensive.

When I wasn’t fighting monsters, flirting shamelessly with Maggie, or getting drunk at the pub with Arturo, Cal, and Renholm—turned out the pixie had a mean appetite for wine and gambling—I was hunkered down in my Soul Vault, reading and crafting. Although the monsters I’d killed over the past week hadn’t been the endless founts of Essence I was hoping for, they had provided me with a heap of basic fabrication ingredients. Buckets of Iron Ore and Raw Silver. Mounds of Rawhide, Mortka Bone, and reinforced Mortka steel. Magically enhanced leather, razor-sharp claws, and a treasure trove of organs and alchemic ingredients.

I also picked up enough Affinity Scales to keep both Cal and Renholm fat and happy. Cal seemed to be growing more solid by the day, and was finally strong enough to withstand daylight, though in limited quantities. Renholm had also grown half-an-inch taller—a fact that he boasted about constantly when he wasn’t drinking, gambling, or swindling.

The Abyssal Tomb Vermin dropped all of dick—no surprise, given their basic-bitch status in the monster kingdom—but the Crave Ghouls provided more Hunger Affinity Scales and Transformation Tokens. I only earned a single Thornsoul Transformation Token, but I also picked up half a dozen Plague Affinity Scales, and twice as many Fear Scales from the Boneshrieks. Both had serious combat potential.

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Plague Affinity Scale

Type: Refined Plague Affinity

Class: Acolyte

Ability: Consume

Primary Effects:

When consumed directly, Refined Plague Affinity instantly cures any instances of disease or poison afflicting the user. Channel Refined Plague Affinity into a metaphysical foci, imbuing the item with unique benefits for a limited duration. Note: The strength and duration of the effect is directly proportional to the quality of the Scale consumed.

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Fear Affinity Scale

Type: Refined Fear Affinity

Class: Novice

Ability: Consume

Primary Effects:

When consumed directly, Refined Fear Affinity imbues the user with the passive ability: Moral Courage. While under the effect of Moral Courage the user gains a 15% resistance against psionic and mental magics and additionally becomes immune to Fear. Channel Refined Hunger Affinity into a metaphysical foci, imbuing the item with unique benefits for a limited duration. Note: The strength and duration of the effect is directly proportional to the quality of the Scale consumed.

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I’d already created a clip from each of the Scales for my Colt and the external effects were just as impressive as the direct consumption effects. Fear Scales created rounds that had a chance to inflict the curse Horrific Vision, which would cause the target to trip balls, seeing me as their worst fear made manifest.

The Plague Scales had the exact opposite of their consumed effect—instead of curing the disease, they inflicted the target with an instance of Blackblood Itch. According to Arturo, it was a hellish infection, often contracted in swamps, that made it feel like there were bugs crawling through your veins. Not deadly, but about as much fun as a sack of angry cats with super gonorrhea.

With all my new fabrication components and more time than I knew what to do with, I spent hours building new gear. I broke down the Silver Partial Plate Mail I’d taken off the Brood Matriarch, harvesting it for a blueprint, and thanks to the Stone Spider plates I transformed the armor into something even better. Partial Plate, crafted with rocky chitin that made the armor more resilient than typical steel and significantly lighter. It came with an inbuilt resistance against disease and made me look like a literal demon.

I hated to agree with Renholm, but wearing the skins of fallen enemies was definitely growing on me.

The hefty double crescent battle-axe ended up as a new skin for my K-Bar and I also finally had enough material to craft a skin for my Colt—though I had to choose carefully since those were incredibly costly.

I spent hours poring over the stack of USMC manuals available to me and quickly realized most of the weapons were considerably outside my price range and would be for a good long while. Believe you me, I wanted nothing more than to rock up to that douche nozzle monster with a .50 Cal in tow, ready to unleash a blanket of suppressive firepower, but the component list called for things I’d never even heard of before, and every component item was Journeyman Bronze Rank or above.

Hell, it even required one Fatemarked Ranked Pure Affinity Scale.

And even if I had the parts, which I didn’t, it would’ve taken me a week solid to assemble them. There were so many intricate pieces—springs and triggers, adjustable iron sights and receiver components. The Bolt Housing group alone had a dozen individual components that would need to be handcrafted before assembling. Needless to say, it was going to be a hot minute before I got to trot that bad boy out.

The M240 Series medium machine gun was a step down from the almighty .50 Cal, but still an ass kicker in its own right with a respectable 7.62 caliber, a max effective range of 800 meters, and the ability to lay down five-hundred and fifty rounds per minute. Naturally, that was also well outside of my price range. The M249 light machine gun—called the SAW, or Squad Automatic Weapon—was closer to the mark, but still a mite too rich for my blood.

Working my way down, I saw that there were four options that I could unlock with the fabrication components on hand—the Mac 10 Submachine Gun, the formidable Russian made AK47, the ol’ reliable 5.56 M16M4, and the house clearing semi-automatic Benelli M4 Super 90 combat shottie.

Problem was, I could only make one of them.

The MAC 10 was a beast that could lay down lead and could lay it down fast. It could chamber both .45 ACP and 9mm rounds—though that didn’t matter much since I was using Arcana—and had a fire rate of over a thousand rounds per minute. It was reliable, durable as hell, and easy to conceal, but thanks to its stubby barrel it kicked like a mule and was incredibly inaccurate. Next up was the M16-M4. I’d trained on the M4 and loved it like a little brother—it had great range, amazing accuracy even with iron sights, and minimal recoil. But the 5.56 round didn’t have as much stopping power as the AK’s beefer 7.62 cartridge, even though the AK was far less precise.

Still, neither was going to put down the Hexblight.

Which led me to the Benelli combat shottie. It didn’t have the range of any of the other weapons and featured a more limited ammo capacity, but it was hell on wheels for up close and personal combat and had decisive one-shot stopping power. As a Marine, I’d always loved the axiom one shot one kill. I figured if anything could deliver on that promise, it was the Benelli. Crafting it was costly as hell—and wiped out the bulk of my high-quality crafting reserves—but it left me with a tactical shottie, and what better way was there to celebrate all of my kills then with a shiny, new soul-bound shot gun?

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Mortka-Forged Benelli M1014 Shotgun Skin

Type: Steel, Ranged Weapon

Class: Master

The Benelli M1014 Shotgun is the gold standard for military excellence and is relied on by Marines around the world to execute tactical breeching in any climb and place. The Benelli is a 12-Gauge capable of chambering 2-2/3” or 3” rounds, giving it unparalleled stopping power and comes with a collapsible buttstock, making it perfect for close quarters combat. Though it is not accurate past a hundred yards, only a fool would allow themselves to be on the business end of this powerful weapon.

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I’d never been happier. The only thing to do now was select my abilities then visit Arturo and see if he or Cal had made any headway with Gustav’s logs. I was sure the answer to our mystery lay inside those journals—Wyld Wisdom had told me as much—but damned if I’d been able to discern what it was. On the surface the ledgers were just a bunch of mind-numbingly dull business records. Illegal business records, sure, but still just pages and pages of numbers and dates and pay rosters. We needed ourselves a forensic tax account and instead we had a drunk priest, an even drunker pixie, and a couple of trigger-pulling jarheads.

Not exactly the auditing dream team.

I shoved all that to the back of my mind as I regarded my spinning avatar and pulled up my Character Sheet.

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Boyd Knight

Race: Vigil Bound

Level: Acolyte, Silver Rank

Current Essence: 527

Next Ascended Rank: 15,000

Attribute Points: 0

Ward Points: 60

Characteristics

Brawn: 19

Verve: 19

Finesse: 18

Arcana: 22

Insight: 16

Vigil Wards

Ward of Justice: Soul Bound Weapons (Boon)

Ward of Valor: Diamond Body (Boon)

Ward of Wrath: Arcane Insight (Boon)

Ward of Balance: Language of the Heavens (Boon), Sidhe Pact

Ward of Truth: Threads of Fate (Boon)

Expand Ward List

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I had a monster to curb stomp and sixty ward points to get the job done.

My choices were nearly endless, and that in itself was the problem. The right combo of skills and spells would hopefully see the Hexblight dead and buried, while the wrong combo would leave me mangled on the side of the road with my spine tied into a pretzel. Doing a quick scan of the Expanded Ward List, there were a few obvious choices that jumped out at me and grabbed me by the throat. Combat Sense was too useful not to have, and after employing Master Mentalist at Gustav’s party… I couldn’t stand to be without it.

The world was so much slower, my mind so much less focused. I felt… dumb without it.

That was eight points, and two more for Totem Transformation. I still hadn’t used the skill yet, but having it in my back pocket was comforting. A plan C in case plans A and B fell apart all around me.

With ten points gone and all the easy choices out of the way, it was time to roll up my sleeves and get to real work. My gut reaction going into this fight was to keep my distance—stick to the rooftops, pepper the Hexblight with conjured bullets and ranged magic. Never get inside of the Hulk Smash zone. I hadn’t kept my distance last time and I’d ended up with a broken spine for my troubles. A quick ranged buildout played through my head—Overcharge, Quick Hands, Maximum Penetration for weapons skills, augmented with AoE abilities like Rain of Fire and single target spells like Kinetic Blast or Arctic Spike. Hell, I could even add Stealth Step to help me attack unseen from the shadows.

An easy, straightforward build. A build that was all wrong.

Deep down, I knew fear was driving me to lean that way. After getting broken in two like a piece of cheap plywood I was a little gun-shy to step into the ring again.

But going toe to toe was exactly what I needed to do, even if it made me feel queasy. Chances were, the Hexblight and I were gonna tangle in the middle of the city where there was a ton of potential for collateral damage—I needed to control this fight, not run from it. And, if we could work out the identity of the host, then Arturo would be busy casting the ritual and wouldn’t be able to lend me a hand. In fact, I needed to make damn sure that the Hexblight wasn’t paying any mind to the priest, which meant I needed to keep its attention fixed entirely on me.

Powerful AoEs could work, but it would be a risky gamble to cast spells like that inside a narrow alley or a crowded street packed with civilians. Close quarters combat was my best option to contain the damage. Cal would be on deck for the battle, but even when transformed, the best he could do was minorly inconvenience the Hexblight.

Renholm probably couldn’t even do that.

But there were a few things I could do to give my teammates a leg up. I pulled up my Expanded Ward List and glanced over the options under Bastion of Presence.

Bastion of Presence Mantle of Strength; Cost: 5 Mantle of Authority; Cost: 8 Mantle of Sanctuary; Cost: 10 Mantle of Scales; Cost: 14 Mantle of Healing; Cost: 22

Mantle of Strength was an active aura that would significantly boost the combat prowess of me and my teammates—fortifying our attacks, increasing movement speed, and buffing combat skills such as Rend, Peerless Warrior, or Crippling Strike. At five points it was a steal, but the thing was, I could only have one Mantle active at any given time and what I really wanted was located toward the bottom of the list.

Mantle of Scales

Affinity Scales are a powerful tool in any Vigil’s arsenal—they can be consumed directly to recoup Arcana or heal grievous injuries, can offer invaluable buffs and resistances, or can be wielded as an offensive weapon to inflict crippling wounds against adversaries. When Mantle of Scales is activated, it allows the Vigil to extend those effects, for good or ill, to those within the vicinity.

By activating Mantle of Scales – Charity Form, the effects of a consumed Affinity Scale radiate off the caster in a thirty-foot aura, adding those same benefits to all allies within the Area of Effect. The strength and duration of the effects are directly proportional to the quality of the Affinity Scale consumed.

By activating Mantle of Scales – Reckoning Form, the caster uses their aura as an active metaphysical foci, transforming the Affinity Scale energy into a AoE weapon and afflicting all enemies in the Area of Effect. The strength and duration of the effects are directly proportional to the quality of the Affinity Scale consumed.

A caster can effortlessly switch between Charity Form and Reckoning Form simply by refocusing their combat intention while the Mantle is activated.

Recommended Attribute Minimums: Arcana, 22; Verve, 20

At 14 Ward Points, Mantle of Scales was a goddamned kick in the gut, but the ability to burn scales and grant their benefits to my buddies was a powerful tool. The fact that I could also use it to bitch slap the Hexblight with devastating debuffs like Horrific Vision, Blackblood Itch, and Internal Petrification made it a spell I couldn’t afford to pass up.

Next, I picked up Matchless Endurance from the Ward of Valor. It wasn’t flashy and it sure wasn’t going to turn any heads, but it would keep me alive and fighting longer, and I couldn’t ask for much more than that. Matchless Endurance would numb my body against physical pain, allowing me to fight longer and harder even after sustaining otherwise debilitating injuries. It was basically a shot of adrenaline I could trigger at will. It also temporarily increased my Verve score by 2 points and proportionally increased both my Health and Arcana Regeneration as I sustained more damage in combat.

In short, it was a quintessential tank skill if ever there was one. I augmented it even further by tacking on Spiked Shell for 14 points.

Spiked Shell (Passive)

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—so shall be the terrible reprisal visited against those who would raise a hand against the Vigilante. When the Vigil is struck by a melee attack, the foe’s sins are turned against them as retribution spikes of Arcane power erupt from the Vigil’s armor, reflecting one quarter of the damage back upon the dealer. Spiked Shell is a passive ability but does automatically consume Arcana when generating retribution spikes; if the Vigil has no Arcana to consume, the spell will fail.

Recommended Attribute Minimums: Arcana, 19; Verve, 18

Between Matchless Endurance and Spiked Shell, I’d be able to take one helluva licking and still keep right on ticking. Neither skill allowed me to deal any extra offensive damage, but that was where Peerless Warrior and Fire Javelin came into play. Peerless Warrior had saved my ass during my tussle with the Stone Spider Matriarch, and I couldn’t go into battle without at least one offensive magic spell tucked up my sleeve. I had a number of options available—Kinetic Blast, say, or something like Arctic Spike—but the Hexblight had used plant based magics to tear Cal to pieces, so I figured it was probably weak against fire-based attacks.

So Fire Javelin it was.

After my costly spending spree, I only had four points left.

Since I was planning to play the role of punching bag, I desperately wanted to snag Warded Shield, but I was one point short and I wasn’t willing to give up any of my other abilities. I could afford Overcharge—it let me deal 10% extra damage with ranged projectiles—or Rend, which was another powerful Melee option. Neither seemed like the perfect fit, though. Life Siphon, from the Path of Death, had potential, but I figured I could replicate its effect simply by activating Mantle of Scales and consuming some Hunger Affinity Scales.

After much deliberation, I finally settled on a crowd control spell that could help lock the Hexblight down in case it got a wild hair up its ass and tried to go after Arturo or make a break for it.

Spectral Roots

Even the land itself cries out against those fiends who would flee from the wrath of Raguel. Call upon the spirit of nature to summon powerful vines, covered in thorns and tearing brambles, to wrap around enemies and hold them fast in place. While summoned, Spectral Roots can badly slow enemies and limit their ability to fight back, while doing additional piercing damage. But be warned, this spell requires focus and a steady stream of Arcana, without which the summoned roots will quickly wither and die.

Recommended Attributes: Arcana, 17

With my Attribute Points distributed and my Ward Points spent, I headed over to the Statuary Room to tweak my gear for the last time. I augmented my Colt with the Benelli skin—a wave of pride and satisfaction washed through me as it snapped into place. I honestly couldn’t wait to see how the Hexblight liked getting a mouthful of augmented shotgun slugs. I added Illiud’s Faith to my heavy Stone Spider Partial Plate Armor, granting me extra protection against disease.

As for the Elemental Flame Marble I’d earned from the Stone Spider Matriarch, that baby went into my new battle axe skin, which I swapped out for the mace. I’d grown comfortable using the blunt weapon, but for something like the Hexblight, I figured chopping power would serve me well—especially since we were gonna dance close up and personal.

Armor in place and weapons locked and loaded, I was as ready as I was ever going to be. Now all that was left to do was run down some more leads and wait for the monster to show up. Hopefully I’d done enough to survive the shitshow rolling my way…