Chapter 10 - Red Calamity

> to Darius- Have you heard from my brother? I haven’t seen him since the disintegration event, either in game or reality. It’s weird. I though he would make himself known, even if it was only to whine

>>KIFIRIN<< from Darius – No idea. He doesn’t answers to whispers and is avoiding everyone IRL. Maybe he’s sulking? I was kinda stern with him in my last whisper. Have you reconsidered joining my familia by the way? :D

> to Darius - Haha no thanks. I’d rather stay in a little party with the same people always, but I’m not against joining a quest or whatever if you guys ever need support of any kind

>>KIFIRIN<< from Darius - Support?

> to Darius - I’m also a very good singer. Have you heard of the lizardmen's dungeon event? The singing kid? I would bet you I’m as good as her if not better ^^

>>KIFIRIN<< from Darius- I see. You have many surprises, don’t you? Well we will be raiding the Radiant familia castle. They have been targeting our weakest legion members as of late, so it’s high time we taught them a lesson. I have nothing against PK, but the odds have to be fair… and they weren’t when they came after our guys. Wanna join? I’ll be tomorrow at [COORDINATES] around noon.

> to Darius - Ok. I’ll be coming as Rinne by the way.

>>KIFIRIN<< from Darius - Noted. I’ll tell my people to watch out for you. What do you want as repayment for the support? It’s not like you’re hurting for money after all…

> to Darius – Get me a bottle of raspberry juice from the tavern and we’ll be good. I’ll mostly be there to join the fun after all

>>KIFIRIN<< from Darius – Haha! Alright ;p

………….

*Spirits! So many persons! So THAT’S a raid huh? Nice*

The plains surrounding the enemy castle were dark with people. Warriors were huddled in the vanguard, followed by priests and their protectors. Bowmen composed the rearguard with the mages. There were also many other classes but this formation stood out the more. It wasn’t complete because many were still in the tents area, but it was forming.

There must have been at least 5 000 persons. Rinne didn’t know if they were all part of Requiem or if Darius had hired mercs. The crowd was noisy, and she could hear the clang of metal, but it was a good racket. It put her in the mood.

Heading towards the bigger Requiem tent in sight, she waited for the seemingly-busy guys manning it to acknowledge her.

“Yes? What do you want? Are you a merc or a member of the legion? Mercs have to go to one of the blue tents to receive their orders. If you’re from the legion just tell your unit number to an official and he’ll lead you there. They’re the guys in yellow, you can’t miss them” Said one of the fellows when his eyes left the central map they were analyzing.

“Umm hi I’m Rinne. Sorry to bother you but Darius tell me you guys would tell me where to stay. I’m support so it probably gonna be the rear”

“Rinne? Ah yeah Darius mentioned you. He said you could go wherever and do your thing. You’re a free agent, so no orders. Just don’t get killed too fast alright? He seemed to think you could help”

“Haha. Alright I’ll do my best. Good luck with the planning. Bye”

They didn’t answer, so she left.

…………..

It was almost noon. Almost all of the stragglers had joined the formation. Apparently the Primes were either commanders of the army, or part of elite shock-teams who were to ram their way into the castle. They would destroy its defenses as the rest of the troops occupied the opposing army.

She decided to make her way to some high ground in order to have a great view of the battle. It meant that she stayed near the planning tent the busybodies were at. It was above the battle-ground. She wouldn’t see Darius because he was leading one of the shock-teams. His aim was the core of the castle. Once he destroyed it would make the place Requiem’s. The protections and traps would also be deactivated.

*Maybe I’ll ask him to let me train on the traps once we win. I still have the trap-mastery at beginner 1 after all. It’d be great for me and would allow them to have a friendly guinea pig trying their defenses. Win-win*

Her singing mastery was high enough that she could affect the whole battlefield from here. The castle may not be, but at least she would help change the tide of the battle. Not every singer may be able to do that, but she had a variant of the normal mastery and extremly good elemental affinities to boot.

Yep, she had sang when she was with Van, but just for the fun, so the singing had gone up but not the voice of healing, she hadn’t used it… there had been no need to.

[Intermediate 8 - 3%](VAR: Elemental) Singing mastery

Your voice calls to the elements themselves, and they help you express your needs. When you sing about a theme related to them, they will strengthen the buffs/debuff,

- The stronger your understanding/affinity to the element(s), the stronger the effect

- The stronger your understanding/affinity to the element(s), the greater the AoE affected

- The more elements involved into a song, the greater effects (Current limit: 5 because Focus - When you sing you cannot actively do anything else

A song unrelated to the elements will only be a song, pleasing to the ears indeed, but it will have no effects

Elemental Affinity (xx %) X Intermediate lvl 8 skill (34%) >>> ?? %

- Fire: (80%) x (34%) >>> 27.2 % buff on vitality and stamina [AoE 800m]

- Water: (80%) x (34%) >>> 27.2 % buff on wisdom and intellect [AoE 800m]

- Earth: (80%) x (34%) >>> 27.2 % buff on strength and endurance [AoE 800m]

- Air: (80%) x (34%) >>> 27.2 % buff on agility and luck [AoE 800m]

- Ouroboros : (80%) x (34%) >>> 27.2 % buff on health and mana regeneration

(taking in order to give, Ouroboros) [AoE 800m]

- Gravity : (80%) x (34%) >>> 27.2 % buff on movement speed and dexterity [AoE 800m]

[Locked: focus < 5 001]

- Space: (108%) x (34%) >>> 36.7 % on ???? [AoE 1 080m] [Locked: focus - Time: (108%) x (34%) >>> 36.7 % on ???? [AoE 1 080m] [Locked: focus < 7 001]

>>>> Foes are debuffed half of what your allies are buffed

Basic skill level properties:

- + 180 charm

[Intermediate 6 - 1%] The Voice of healing mastery

Your voice calls to the Ouroboros queen of life ljómi, and the higher your affinities to life and death, the greater the effects of your song

>>>>You have understood that there is no life without death, that they work hand in hand. As such you have the complete Ouroboros elemental affinity, which make this skill even the more so powerful

Ouroboros Affinity (80%) X Intermediate lvl 5 skill (28%) >>> 22,4 %

- Heals 22,4 % of life per every 10 seconds

- Regeneration of health is 22.4% more effective

[Beginner 3 - 8%] The Rhythm of Battle mastery

You feel the rhythm of battle and understand it. Your singing buffs then adapt to the individual level, helping your allies destroy their foes.

Macro-level >>> Micro-level (automatic)

The stronger the mastery, the more adapted the custom-buff and the more people you can affect thus.

Beginner 3 = 6%

- 6% of allies will have a custom-buff (random ally selection)

- 6% of the normal buff will change/evolve as the ally needs it

She needed a song that involved a lot of elements but she had none that wasn’t solely instrumental, so she used an old mantra about the elements found in the library highest levels. It was from an old runic language discovered into the glass desert, probably a remnant of the forgotten civilization that used to live there, but it suited her needs just fine.

The ancient language mastery allowed her to understand it, and the language itself was so musical that she knew the rhythm would come to her by itself. There may have been elemental singers then… the song was too centered on the elements for it to be a coincidence. Unless it was a ritual or something? It was a mantra after all…

*I hope it doesn’t fail, I would look stupid if it did so*

In case it didn’t work she still had a few ideas of what to use, but it wouldn’t be as effective. Emotions could call to the elements, so by using the right ones, she could get what she wanted. However, she hadn’t yet determined every emotion associated to each element. Once she did, it would facilitate her work because songs gave a lot in the matter of feelings.

………..

As the battle began, a soft, sweet and gentle voice could be heard over the clatters of war. It rang true like the tweet of a lone bird in a silent forest.

It was sublime, it was wonderful.

However, that wasn’t what created an uproar.

It was its effects.

Her song was way better than it should have because of the peculiarity of the “mantra” used. In fact, the song alone would have greatly influenced the battle thanks to her proficiency, but the fact that it was an ancient ritual gave it a punch. It also affected the castle by the way.

Requiem Alliance

ILAT GENII IGISUM - TIAMAT SINNISNARTU

You’re benefiting from the supreme gift of the Spirits (ILAT GENII IGISUM) through a maiden Singer’s channeling, (TIAMAT SINNISNARTU)

She is skillfully interpreting an ancient Sumerian ritual of deference to the elements, so as her ally, you are enjoying:

>>Fire: 45 % buff on vitality and stamina

>>Water: 45 % buff on wisdom and intellect

>>Earth: 45 % buff on strength and endurance

>>Air: 45 % buff on agility and luck

>>Ouroboros : 45 % buff on health and mana regeneration

It will last as long as she sings uninterrupted

It’s the first time it has been done in hundred thousands of years so the Spirits are being generous. Rejoice!

Radiant Alliance

ILAT GENII EZERU - TIAMAT SINNISNARTU

You’re being utterly cursed by the spirits (ILAT GENII EZERU) through a maiden singer’s channeling (TIAMAT SINNISNARTU)

She is skillfully interpreting an ancient Sumerian ritual of deference to the elements , so as her enemy, you are afflicted with:

>>Fire: 25 % debuff on vitality and stamina

>>Water: 25 % debuff on wisdom and intellect

>>Earth: 25 % debuff on strength and endurance

>>Air: 25 % debuff on agility and luck

>>Ouroboros : 25 % debuff on health and mana regeneration

It will last as long as she sings uninterrupted

It’s the first time it has been done in hundred thousands of years so the Spirits are being generous. Cry your eyes out!

Rinne wasn’t really aware of the true power of the song, busy as she was. However she keenly witnessed the tide of the battle changing as her side suddenly POWNED the other. It was wholesale slaughter. *Strange… It shouldn’t have that much of an effect. Nah, must be the general effect of all Requiem's buffs*

She also saw one of the elite teams doing a one eighty, totally ignoring the castle and running to her rescue. Yep, rescue. Somehow the members of the radiant alliance were going after her like Kamikazes. Maybe she shouldn’t have set herself on such high grounds? She was making a pretty nice target, with a totally clear line of sight. *Oops. Darius is going to be mad…. Dereliction of duty… I’ve stolen one of his elite squads. Oh. 2 of them now. They're gentlemanly!*

Maybe the fact that she was also shining a bright royal blue added to her attractiveness as a target? Or maybe it was just signaling her position like a radiant neon sign and people couldn’t help but going after her.

Glowing unmoving targets on high ground were ASKING for it. *That’s new. I wasn’t glowing last time. Is it the mantra? Maybe I should have gone with an emotional song after all. Too late… Dayum*

Yup. She didn’t know.

If she had, she would have run away from here as fast as she could. Rinne had lost the soothing protection of anonymity.

………..

*The fuck is this? Kif- no, Rinne….. What are you? Did she get the ritual in the library? She said she was gonna help, but this is just outta the lock. My goodness, I better keep her identity to myself or she’ll be swarmed by familias wanting her. ARGH! And it makes me want her as a Prime even more*

Things were going so well that taking the core felt like taking candy from kids. Easy and mean. Evil. *Oy! They’re the ones who came after us! It’s payback! We’re NOT evil*

As it was, the raid ended pretty fast. They totally whooped the asses of the Radiants.

As soon as he finished his part, Darius prepared to rescue his friend. She would need it. He had already asked 2 regiments of primes to make sure she came out of the fight unscathed. The girl sure had really badly chosen the place to make her stand…

The Primes assigned to her would make sure to deliver her to him in one piece, so he just had to get to her and hopefully pull a disappearing act.

> to Rinne – You stay on place. Don’t move. Don’t talk. Just… don’t. Keep even your name to yourself you get me? My Primes will be protecting you from the mercs, so please, not a word!

>>DARIUS<< from Rinne – Hmm yeah. I just saw the song description. I didn’t expect that. It’s the last time I use an obscure reference in so much a public setting. Everybody is totally trying to mob me. They all want me for themselves. But do I have to wait for you to leave? Your Primes are having difficulties guarding me.

> to Rinne – Why? Do you have the opportunity to make a run for it?

>>DARIUS<< from Rinne – Well, I could Blink away. So… yeah.

> to Rinne – Surprises, surprises. Again. Try to make sure the next one doesn’t give me a coronary will you? Alright. I’ll be meeting RIN at the 5-claws tavern?

>>DARIUS<< from Rinne – Deal. You still owe me a bottle of raspberry juice

………..

After she finished whispering to Darius, Rinne signaled that she was leaving to the closest Prime having taken on the role of bodyguard.

She winked at his frown, and eying the madness one last time, Blinked.

On the plains, the thousands of mercenaries who were trying to get to her just stopped. The girl had disappeared in the matter of a second. Even her protectors looked spooked.

..............

Meanwile, in a corner of the SitumCorp Forum

..............

Rinne couldn’t blink far, so she chose the planning tent. The map was still there. She pocketed it. It would be useful if she tried the castle traps later.

Taking on her Rin persona, she freely left the battlefield behind. Nobody even spared her a glance. *Neat-O. I love that skill*

................

Darius had teleported to town, and then headed for the tavern in question. He asked for two glasses of raspberry juice as well as a full unopened bottle. Deep in thoughts, he was taking his time sipping the fruity goodness when somebody sat across him.

“Hi”

“Hi Rin. You do know that Rinne is in deep shit right?” he slid her a glass but kept the bottle for now

“I kinda guessed that when the mob almost dismembered my guards by trying to get a piece of me. Too bad… I liked Rinne. I guess I won’t be her much” She greedily accepted the drink

“You won’t? But… that was….OP as hell! You can totally give the victory to almost any army! With you by my side they wouldn’t be anything we couldn’t do!”

“But would it be fun? To have everything handed to you? A friend told me that there was no worth in having something handed to you without making any efforts. Think about it. What is the aim of Tales of Fates? To challenge oneself. By relying on me for everything, you would just spoil it. And there are many unknowns in world. Rinne is not a sure ticket to victory”

“… I see your point. It was almost too easy” He sighed “But still…”

“It’s a moot point anyways. I’m not joining your familia. You may call on Kifirin the rogue or Rin the mage whenever…. even Rinne the singer if your need is extreme. But I won’t become a Prime”

He choked on his drink“…. Kifirin is a rogue?”

“Ah. Oops. Yes she is” She eyed the waste of raspberry juice with mournful eyes

“Koff koff! Damn girl. Your avatar is weirder than ever. Can I take it that your mage and rogue are also OP?” He was tidying up the table with napkins. When he ran out, she gave him hers.

“Hmm…. Oh well. Ever heard of the twin demons?”

“Eh? Who hasn’t” He felt he knew where this was going

“I’m the one with the book”

“…. You are?”

“Yep”

“Ah I give up. Whatever. Your secret is safe with me. What are you gonna do now?”

“Dunno. I’ll make it up as I go”

“I see. Well, don’t be a stranger and keep in contact. I’ll regularly send you invitation to raids and hunts, so if you ever feel like it, just join and I’ll have a bottle of juice ready for you” He winked

“A-Ok. By the way, I’d like to be allowed to test the defenses of your new castle one of these days. I’d like to level up my trap mastery and haven’t found a place to do so yet”

“Sure. Just warn me first”

“Great. I’ll be going then, I have to finish a paper for college” Her gaze was stuck on the raspberry bottle

“See you” He smiled and gave it to her before she unlogged.

…………..

When she logged in a while later, she happily took out her precious bottle and watched it moony-eyed. She was sooo going to enjoy drinking it…

However at that moment a drunk rudely bumped into her. Her charge fell from her hands and crashed into the floor, the liquid nectar seeping between the battens of the tavern’s flooring.

It upset her

In fact, it upset her so much that she tore the guy’s heart out. She didn’t stop here though, and went after the many patrons of the tavern. She was just… so MAD!

*Wait…. I did what? What am I doing? I … I have no control over my body! MAD MAD MAD! What is this? This… all-consuming anger? KILL KILL KILL! It’s me but not me. Oh god I’m slaughtering people for no reason…. Can’t be… Chaos streak? Ah… DESTROY!*

The silver of reason she had left bid her farewell, and her body went on with the carnage

Soon after, out of the tavern came a winged person. She was glowing red and seemed as if made of fire, even her floating hairs. Her eyes were but a mix of swirling red infernos and yet exuded a darkness like no other as they gazed into nothingness.

The great wings of fiery burning red feathers that graced the creature’s back were burning everything to a crisp as her whole body was being used to murder. The elements were rampaging all around here as if raging furious.

She was beautiful, and the scene, murderous as it was… was still sublime to witness. Heimlin was burning as a goddess of destruction ran amok ignoring the pleas for mercy.

In Heimlin, almost none survived. In fact, (almost) none that saw her did. She was too strong. Too fast. Too skillful…. And too unpredictable.

6 hours it lasted. The nightmare carried on for 6 longs hours.

This day the ~Red Calamity~ was born.

-------- xxx --------

Davros watched from the protected library grounds as SHE mindlessly slaughtered everything in the town. He knew whom it was, and he knew why. He accepted that it was a necessary evil, and it wasn’t like the murdered townsfolk wouldn’t come back. Still…. They would be pretty much traumatized.

He was quite distressed himself, and yet he hadn’t had to face her. He didn’t need to. Witnessing the slaughter was enough to give him the chills, and he guessed that if he felt the abysmal blood-thirst from the top of his tower, then so did most of the town.

The aura of doom and mad laugh weren’t helping either. But damn, was he glad that the special feature hadn’t activated. Her singing all along would have been too much for the Strategianos

*Thanks Loki for small favors.*

Cold. He felt so cold.

He grabbed a pull and kept on watching. He felt that he had to do so… that it was the least he could do for those she was tearing apart. He was protected by the library after all… and wouldn’t share their fate.

…………

Deidre had received a warning from THAT person and quickly left the town before the shit went down. She had also taken Jo with her. She had been expressively forbidden from interfering OR joining in the fun. Her kills wouldn’t respawn after all.

“Awww so boring. Watching is no fun” They had prime seats for the show but Dei was still unhappy

“Do you even hear yourself talking? The town is burning”

“Don’t worry. An anonymous donation will soon be made, and the people will respawn”

Johannes felt like frowning “They will still have died”

“Yup. They were always so jealous of immortals and shifters… well I’m sure that they’ll be reconsidering their opinion. Meeting a pissed off judge can do that”

“Why pissed off?”

“Why not? Judges are cranky and cantankerous by definition. But when they see what’s coming, smoke will be coming out of their ears” Dei giggled

“It’s the number?”

“Yep, but that’s not all. Millions of EXCEPTIONS are being dumped into their hands. They’re gonna be tearing their hairs off trying to deal with this. I don’t think they have any slip for that kind of occurrence”

“I Kinda get your point”

…………….

Gen looked at his friend. Behind them the capitol had almost finished burning but the ambers were still glowing strongly as they gave up the last of their heat. Some fires were still burning on the outskirts of the town. They were close to such a fire.

“Was this necessary? You totally forced this one”

“That I did, but she would have left the town…. What was I to do? I wanted his proud city to burn…. And here it is... Burning! Isn’t it great?” He materialized a stick and planted a marshmallow on it. Then he put it near a flame and watched with glee as the sticky-goodness darkened.

“Ew. You’re totally over-cooking it. Black means burned you know?”

“No I’m not. The crisp is the best. That sweet taste of caramelized sugar is simply divine” The hooded unknown ate the scorched marshmallow with relish under the disgusted stare of his companion.

“Uh. I disagree. To properly roast a marshmallow you have to let it sizzle, but the moment it gets brownish, take it out of the fire”

“… Well, whatever floats your boat. We like it black. And don’t you think that the diverse fumes are giving it an exotic taste? ‘Burned corpse flavoring’…. How do you like it? A bit spicy but fine overall”

“Just forget it, your tastes are awful… which is understandable, given whom you are”

The hooded figure raised a brow “Plait-il?”

“Nothing. What are you gonna do about this person? He’s not gonna be happy about the city. Won’t it put the girl into his shit list or something?”

“Mouhahaha! But that’s where We’re being a genius. When you want to hide something, just do it in plain sight. He’ll be so cross with ‘that shifter’ that he won’t dig deeper. And VOILA! Kifirin free from suspicions! And I’m sure that he may even send her a few nasty trials to get revenge, which will serve my interests as well. How is that for an evil masterplan? Who’s the genius huh? Who?”

“… You? I admit that it MAY work. But you’re still taking a risk”

Gen’s friend childishly plugged his ears with his hands “Ba-ba-ba-baaaaah! I’m not listening! We don’t like criticism. Let’s go home”

The hooded figure disappeared. Gen shook his head and then left.

The place was now silent. On the other side of the town, the red calamity fainted.

-------- xxx --------

The strange unknown figure reappeared, looked discreetly around itself and closed onto the passed out Kifirin. She was naked.

It whistled

“Damn. We wish her clothes wouldn’t burn each time. I won’t like people seeing her naked. Not that I can’t do something about it…”

Gently gazing at her, the unknown being reached for her with a sort of scared reverence. As it took her small right hand into his own, a dim glow encompassed their clasped appendages.

Her formerly destroyed clothes rematerialized on her body.

It then rearranged her to be more at ease. It didn’t want her to have any kinks when she woke up…. though It wouldn’t mind taking care of them. And scratching her itches.

*Oh my. We’re having dangerous thoughts**Cold shower it is, cold shower**Aww come on it’s great thinking! Let’s just scratch that itch**Please! We’re not that kind of person!**Are we?**Hmm not sure…What would you say?**I say cold shower**So do I**And I**Yeh yeh it’s for the better**Well let’s do it then, the shower has the majority**Aye Aye*

The figure vanished after a last look at the unconscious girl.

Then it took the promised cold shower

*********************************************************

Next Act - Short Spoiler

Next Act - Prologue

Hello! This is the end of the first Arc.

Sometimes the hooded figure says "We" when referring to itself, but it's done on purpose ^^

I'm more or less halfway through Arc 2, and as I'm still writing it, most chapters will be subject to changes. Not the first ones though, so I'll be posting them later.

Arc 2 is about the formation of FUBAR BUNDY, her infamous familia, and their firsts ''EVENTS'' (fame baby, fame!)

I'll be having my exams soon, so I'll have to stop writing as much for a while. ( I'll write a Arc entirely before releasing it anyways, so my releases willl be bursts of chapters once in a while)

Have a nice day! Advertisement Previous

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