Chapter 42: Battle PT 2

“How can you allow our son out of our sight so soon?”

“Have you no heart or are you just too confident in the abilities of the Kan and Hukku bloodline combining?”

Vasu looked at his ranting wife sighing internally for the umpteenth time they would have this argument.

“Our son is special. You saw it and we knew of it before he was even born. You had your family divine for the entire pregnancy. Our son is special. I say this twice because it is twice important to acknowledge this fact. Going off the continent to explore himself and his abilities will not kill him. Traveling to a minor world where most kingdoms and empires lack the technology to have serious weaponry able to kill our son before he could blink should not worry you nor I.”

“I do not just believe in the Kan Family or the Hukku family. I believe in our union. I believe that both of us, some of the strongest figures in the Empire currently, son can do more than we ever could, than we ever would. I believe he can complete the third path and break us out of the boundary. Where the true stage awaits. Orcs? Goblins? Creatures who slaughter for the sake of slaughter. Rape for the sake of rape and much, much, worse is to only be a steppingstone on our son’s path and accession. We will build the greatest hero the Empire will ever see. Greater than Apollo himself. After all, even he could not break the boundary. Now he slumbers like our ancestors. Ready to be reawakened once someone strong enough does what no other has managed to do before.”

An argument overheard from before Aegis left for Prima.

“I can see all weakness before me, and all shall provide to my insight.”

The Crimson Army battled against the Nox horde. The once twenty thousand strong force that was moving to invade the bountiful lands of the Last Kingdom were now reduced to a mere fifteen thousand and continued to rapidly decrease as the Crimson Army cleaved its way deeper and deeper into the opposition.

The long spears of the front two lines pierced their way through the lowly creatures. In front of each spearman were two soldiers holding large tower shields that protected the spearman as they skewered Nox. Once the spear grew heavy a surge of their strength would produce fire and burn the corpses away. Most of the men and women in the Crimson Army had met the requirements to have Aspect: The Soldier as their very first of the three aspects they would eventually hold. Their perk Interlocking Force reduced any damage an individual soldier might take by twenty percent. A reduction that saved many lives as parts of the shield wall grew weak and a few unfortunate soldiers were grabbed out and swiftly killed before their allies could save them. Yet even when the area grew weak a reinforcing squad seemed to magically appear at the moment the area would collapse to take over and allow the injured soldiers to retreat. Able to fall back and be healed by the mages who practiced the necessary magic.

Their second perk Battle Mind only active in the very front lines as the soldiers fought against the Nox greatly enhanced their reflexes. As a young soldier by the name of Loran missed a blow with his long spear it was one of his protectors who hoisted their tower shield bashing the Nox away from the paused young man. Preventing a ripped throat and saving his life in the process. Battle Mind would show them the optimal area to strike at one of the red veins and red-eyed creatures. Showing where they were weakest. While their passive perk Rejuvenation worked in overdrive struggling to pull essence and mana for the arid air into their users but achieving results as much as possible. All over the Crimson Army perks began to advance in their tiers becoming stronger and closer to advancing into a new stage as their users activated them and used them in an appropriate setting.

Yet this remained unknown to me for a bit as I was in the front of my Crimson Army. Since the beginning, I never used my full power in charging to allow my soldiers to catch up to me. I didn’t want to be as reckless as I was during the Five-Minute Battle where we first tested our mettle against the forces of Count Caccula. Now as fireballs and earth spikes rained over my head and hit the middle to far back of the Nox horde, I began to see signs of my soldiers using their perks from their sole aspect. I didn’t pay too much attention but with an aura, you could extend your vision far outside the range of your body.

Right now, my aura was sweeping mainly forward and over the Nox horde. This was how I danced through the battlefield avoiding blows to my un-replenished armor. I decided it wasn’t worth wasting my mana in trying to replenish Crimson Twilight as the metal it was constructed from was so far superior in its quality that the claws of the low-tier Nox could not pierce it. I had yet to have a true opportunity to test it against the higher tier Nox and hopefully I wouldn’t have to worry about that in the battle. The energy from the blows although reduced would still transfer into the armor.

Regardless I wasn’t worried about the Crimson Army losing in the first real battle on the world of Prima. I had too many cards the Nox would need to defeat before we had a real chance at losing and I wasn’t afraid to use them. From the spells stored in my armor by my parents to the ones stored in my cousin’s. She also had a few highly destructive tier seven spells available to cast at a moment’s notice and without a Nox to counter her as a mage this fight was as good as ours.

Even still I had assurances in Princess Moriah and the ten great families of the west. These people were strong. Moriah was an entire tier above me in strength and with an aspect enhancing that strength she would achieve even more on the battlefield.

“I am the Fortress, and the Fortress shall move, gritting itself through all damage it may take.”

I activated Adventurer’s Grit the moment a tier six Nox slammed into me. My shield blocking most of the force sent my way while my ax absorbed the kinetic energy from the blow as I removed the embedded weapon from its chest. The moment I felt its intentions I began to react bringing my weapon up and my shield allowing the creature’s momentum to bury my weapon into its chest.

When I first fought these creatures, they were on the same tier as me our reaction time, strength, and speed was near one another. It was a three versus one and I had trouble just fending them off and now things were much different. I fed mana into the perk Ashes Fall from [Beyond] boosting it to a height I previously hadn’t experienced. Its range easily crosses 300ft and falls onto the enemies. Those ashes fell over hundreds of Nox as they entered the killing field and easily began its drain.

“Ashes spark to life, let your body be its kindle.”

My body began to replenish itself as I watched the mana, essence and what I suspect was raw life force draining from the Nox in front of me. Leaving behind a corpse. The last time I did this was when I fought Koama Lionheart allowing her to use me as a whetstone to fuel her ascension into a new tier. Almost killing her in the process of draining energy from her. Just as I replenished myself the falling ashes swirled together and formed the Dean of Ash. My last passive perk on Aspect: Starlit Harbinger.

The Dean of Ash hadn’t seen much use, its buildup requiring time, and most fights I’ve been in since coming to the world of Prima had been either without the perk having appeared yet or against someone that I did not want to kill. The great families are the prime example and my cousin when I first received the passive perk.

The Dean of Ash joined me in battle consuming the Nox that attempted to attack it leaving behind dried husk before tossing the corpse aside. My knights looked on in awe but only let it phase them for a moment as they steadily began to continue to fight. It was right here and now that I was beginning to gain a much deeper insight into aspects and perks.

Aspects, as I was beginning to form from my understanding, use, and testing of them, were embodiments of a trait a person carried. At least that was my rough thoughts on the matter. I hadn’t been able to get the system to reveal anything more on the aspect as she would not say more until I deposited a World Binary Core into the heart of a world. My aspects, Starlit Harbinger and Adventurer embodied those very traits about me, and even the aspects I had access in choosing all embodied something about me.

Back when I was first introduced to aspects there were a few that I glossed over. Aspect: The Heir and Aspect: The Castle. The Heir was able to increase all skills that came to governing over a people amongst other things while Aspect: The Castle was able to increase my defensive capabilities. Both came about under different circumstances that help define who I am today. The first was as I began to learn and understand part of what it meant to be the Kan heir. The second after my willingness to put myself forward in the protection of the people of Ton. The city that was massacred and soul sacrificed by a crazy necromancer that I still had unfinished business with. A hunt I promised would come in due time.

So, from my understanding, Starlit Harbinger and Adventurer came around because of a few things. The first, Harbinger, the original aspect I chose mutated and evolved having to do something with my bloodline and those traits about myself. Adventurer came from the pure pleasure I felt in the exploration of the Catacombs. These were all still theories I was working on and developing. Hopefully, the things I put into place would begin to show some results. Every soldier in my army whether mage or knight trainee had to have their aspect approved by me.

This didn’t touch on perks yet. Perks were an entirely different matter. My ax lopped the head of a red vein Nox that bit towards my legs as we pushed deep into the middle of the army. My mana pool was around half now, and I estimated roughly half of the Nox horde had been slain. It was time to pull out some major trump cards and put an end to this battle.

“Get back.”

I shouted to the knights following closely to me and a few notable soldiers who also kept up. It hadn’t escaped my attention that their aura perk seemed to have increased in strength. As I shouted, I moved forward as well created a distance of well over a hundred feet as I found myself surrounded by Nox. Several of the golden vein variants are here and ready to pounce.

Smiling, laughing, I released my bloodline out burning the Nox not strong enough to hold into a crisp. My bloodline had been an ability that served me well. Something I could always rely on to flip the board and change a situation. Something I would rely on now as well as my activation was single to the rest of the leaders of this expedition to Prima. To do the same as me to show the people of Prima we knew were watching a show that would last for generations.

Red lava came gushing forth from me. White-gold light surrounded Princess Moriah as her bloodline came into being. A great gale swept around Aisha Loft as she flew cheerily through the air. Fire spread all around Koama Lionheart matching the color of her curly mane-like red hair. I knew just beneath her dark freckles a smile was floating covered by her helmet. So on and so forth came the abilities of the great families.

“Let this be a lesson to those who do not believe in the power of the Empire. Let this be a lesson to the High Queen of the Nox to scared to come to the battlefield, only sending her minions to die."

I paused for the dramatic effect and to allow my bloodline to be absorbed within Rage of the Dragons. Its kinetic storage is full from taking so many blows.

I laughed heartily as it came into completion. The Dean of Ash began to cover me, and I began to feel replenished from the lives it absorbed its power strengthened me farther as the perk itself upgraded. It was not the sole perk to upgrade from this battle.

In the far back, I felt a resonating power respond as Amaya’s bloodline activated. I became even stronger, and my ax was vibrating in my hand barely able to hold back the power it contained. The creatures around me stood in fear and began to scramble back. The endless courage they seemed to have faltered. I felt as if my power was unlimited and I pushed deeper into the Nox horde not wanting the Crimson Army to be affected by what was to come.

“Today is a good day to die but not for my Crimson Army. Let this be a lesson to the High Queen of the Nox. The people of the Last Kingdom are underneath my protection.”

“Unlimited Crimson Claw.”