“[Congratulations, Karastak!]” beamed Azazel, “[You now have the Passive added to your list of abilities. Just eat eighteen more hearts, and you'll gain the Title where you'll be able to gain an extra heart just like they do to ramp up the regeneration from 10% to 25%!]”

“Uh...” he stared agape at the little girl in his head, not knowing what else to say, but mechanically held out his left hand towards the other body just as his little bat flew out and attached her small feet to his fingers. Whereupon she began to clean herself free of the brackish blood whilst squeaking happily from the meal.

“[Oh! Looks like Little Mother also gained the regeneration, too!]” Of which caused his mind to short circuit for a time as he just stared at her position.

However, he quickly shook himself free of the stupor, and turned to fetch his bag, only to be stopped by Tanin astride his white haired horse. “You need something?” he growled softly, his eyes gliding upwards until he perched them between the other's eyes.

“It's taboo to eat a monster raw, Karas,” the Elf frowned, “Continuing to do so will result in you becoming a monster, and others will come for your head when this occurs.”

“It's not a taboo where I'm from, Tanin. We eat what we slay, and if I become a part of the Troll race by doing so, then so be it,” he shrugged his great shoulders underneath his robe, and maneuvered himself over to his bag. Here, he spotted the twins staring at him with barely comprehensible looks, whilst the other pair's expressions regarded him as nothing more than a monster in sheep's clothing. One that has just been discovered after recent events.

Shrugging his shoulders, he reached down and lifted the bag before turning away and walking forward just in time to hear Tanin mutter, “If we act now, some of the creature's blood could be sold for...”

Frowning, Karastak set the bag down next to the bodies, lying his staff upon it as well. Whereupon he extended his claws once more in order to remove the bodies with his acidic poisons. Upon kneeling between the pair of bodies, he heard the Elf call out, “What are you doing, Karas?” His eyes large and round with confused surprise.

“This,” came the pale giant's answer, as he punctured the bodies with his claws, and felt the small poison sacs in his hands squeeze as the fluids rushed out towards the needle-like opening at the end. After which he extracted and retracted them into his body whilst watching the chemicals dissolve the remaining meat, blood, and bones into pooled combinations, much to the horror of those behind him.

“What have you done?” howled Tanin, urging his horse forward, “The blood could be used for regenerative potions, and could be sold for hundreds of gold!”

Turning slowly, and retrieving his bag and staff, Karastak gave a haughty, but pitying look at the one before him, “What's mine is mine, and yours is yours, Elf. We just agreed on this; are you telling me you're going back on our verbal agreement?”

The other just growled whilst grinding his teeth as his knuckles became white from grasping the reigns too tightly. “I should remove you from the group for this,” he growled softly, and frowned when he noted the other's smirk, “but I won't because we have a quest to complete.” The elf believed he had won with his statement, but found his frown deepening with the pale man's smirk became a small smile, his eyes dancing with merriment.

“Very well, then let us proceed through the mountains.”

*

The group rested within a cave with Karastak in the far back, several pinpricks of light dancing about himself as Little Mother squeaked happily whilst trying to catch and eat the motes. Towards the entrance of the cave, Korin, his group, and the Elf were sitting around a small fire that was cooking the remains of a bear the Human had slew after finding the opening.

The bear itself couldn't be more than a few seasons old, but was old enough to leave its mother as it scrounged for food whilst sleeping in its new den. Now, however, it was to be used as a food source for those who needed solid foods to live, not blood or energy as the hidden Vampire did. However, this didn't stop the twins from taking a small portion of raw meat over to the content duo in the back. Whereupon they found the little white bat snacking on the lights as they danced around her.

“That was an impressive battle, Sir Karas,” came the husky, sultry voice of Elena, which was accentuated by a nod from her sister. The latter's eyes flashed golden from a tiny mote speeding past her head, followed closely by the squeaking bat who desired to eat the mote.

Upon catching it, they watched with widened eyes as the small creature's head revealed her skeletal structure from the light in her mouth. After swallowing the mote, it showed off the rest of her body before disappearing into her gullet. This was followed by more squeaking as she dashed around hunting for more of the lights.

When the Wolfwomen turned to himself with questions in their eyes, he shrugged before explaining, “They are just motes of energy, only a quarter of 1 mana used in their creation, and I use them to keep up her hunting instincts.”

The sisters released a note of understanding, whilst Elenor asked, “Why do you have to add on the phrase 'Spoken Word' when you try to cast a spell?”

“Yeah,” chimed in her sister, “It seems unnecessary to do that.”

“[You can go ahead and tell them, Karastak,]” Azazel shrugged next to him, her body leaning against his right arm, head on his bicep, “[Your Secondary Class is common amongst Scribes, so you don't have to worry about spilling any 'Secrets of the Universe'.]”

“Well,” in his left hand, a small stylus appeared and he pointed the tip at the pair, “do you know what an Enchanter is, or what they do?”

“Um, they items like clothing, armour, and weapons?” asked Elena.

“Yes,” he nodded slowly, noting that the other three were listening as well, “Those who share my class write down their words in order to anything and everything with their abilities. However, with the Sub-class of Wordsmith, I am able to conjure up such words and turn them into a reality by using just a command phrase.” At this point, Little Mother squeaked with content as she landed atop his head, then wiggled her body under his hair so that only her beady little red eyes were shown.

“What do you mean?” questioned Priscilla as she approached the group, curiosity getting the better of her. Whereas the other two strained their ears in order to eavesdrop, but otherwise staying away.

“It's easier to just show you,” he smirked softly, producing a gold coin with a stamped image of a pauper holding up a crown of thorns. The stylus which was in the hand before had vanished as he pulled the coin from underneath his robe. After which he began an incantation, his voice rumbling in a deep monotone which caused his pet to squeak as the others stared, “.”

Upon so saying, the coin's entirety glowed with a soft, yellow light before fading away into tiny motes of energy which also faded into nothingness. However, he wasn't finished with the incantation, “.

“!” Within his hands came ten motes of golden light which slowly shaped itself into a disc-like structure the same as any gold coin he had in his possession. After which a small pop resounded throughout the cave, followed by the small tinkling of coins hitting one another as ten appeared in his palm.

The women of the group stared at the golden coins, more so as one was passed off into their hands. Whereas the rest were crushed in his palm, the energies used to create them reabsorbed into his body.

“H-how?” stammered the Halfling Priest, “H-how did you do that?”

To which the giant just shrugged his massive shoulders, “It is something to do with the combination between my Class and Sub-class. An Enchanter is only able to do just that, , but as a Wordsmith? I am able to project my Enchantments upon the world, making them a reality to do as I see fit.”

“Are they real?” inquired Elena, her eyes sparkling at the newfound wealth along with her sister.

“They're as real as the original with only one stipulation attached,” he held up two fingers, and between them was another gold coin. After which he squeezed the object until it released a small popping sound, its energy showering upon the ground below before vanishing completely, “Only I can make them vanish, as with my other magicks.”

His lips upturned into a smile as he recalled, “When I was being tested by the Guild for my combat prowess, I was tasked with defeating a Gold Ranker in any way, shape, or form. He was the only instructor available at the time, you see,” Karastak's shoulders shrugged gently as Azazel's ethereal dace nuzzled against his side, “and I immobilised him with a combination of a and spell after using a to blind his eyes.”

“A what?” This time, Tanin was the one to ask, as he and Korin had made their way over with two haunches of cooked bear meat on wooden plates. One which the Human shared with the Halfling Priest, who absentmindedly ate her portion.

“Inquiring about my ability?” at the nod from the Elf, he continued with, “It's the same as any regular Enchanter's ability , but mine is able to cause the word, or words, to become a reality. You see, after writing a word down, and supplying it with some mana, I am able to cause it to become as such. Here, I'll demonstrate.”

To the left of his position, so as to not remove the little girl from her resting against his other side, he used his forefinger to write three SPARKs. “I want you all to pay attention, alright?” at their nod, he continued with, “I've written this word down three times in order to demonstrate what I am able to do. The first one I will show what happens when a small amount of mana is given to the first, the correct amount is given to the second, and too much to the last. I advise all of you to shut your eyes for the final one, else you'll be blinded until morning.”

In so saying, he used a few drops of energy to fuel the first SPARK. Of which caused only a few motes of yellow light to appear for a quarter of a second before vanishing into nothing. Whilst the second caused a torrent of half second long motes to shoot up towards the ceiling itself, much to the enjoyment of the women before himself. However, as he pointed at the last word, he asked Little Mother to crawl into his robe so as to be shielded from what was to come next, “Close your eyes tight, please, or be blinded until morning.”

“What?” frowned Korin, who then yowled as a blinding burst of white light erupted in front of himself, shooting outwards and into the night, “MY EYES!” Both hands covered his eye sockets, as he fell onto the ground, rolling around whilst rubbing them with a knuckle each.

“I did warn you twice,” Karastak shook his head, coaxing Little Mother out from under his robe, and allowed her to wiggle back under his hair with a squeak. Whereas Azazel giggled softly, crawling into his lap as she laid her back against his abdomen. If one didn't know better, and could see her as he did, they might have believed the child was his daughter, rather than a Goddess and her Chosen.

Karastak

{Race: Goliath (Vampire; Energy)}

{Age: 25 (1 month)} {Soul Age: ∞ Potential}

{Level: 19} {STR: 30; DEX: 30; CON: 32; INT:43; WIS: 46; CHA: 40}

{Health: 164/164} {Mana: 180/180}

{Class: Enchanter} {Subclass: Wordsmith}

{Skills: ;

;

; ; ; ;

}

{Passive Skills: ; ; ; ; }

{Titles: Immovable Object; One Who Seeks Knowledge; Vampire Lord; Soul Bound}

{Titles Equipped: Soul Bound}