Chapter 10

Dzīve

“LET HER IN! PLEASE, LET HER IN!” Screamed Dzive, full of despair. Everyone, however, remained frozen, in particular the guards around the door, keeping their spears pointed straight at it. “What is happening on the other side?” asked Milo, tense.

“S-she destroyed a s-skeleton knight! With her b-bare hands!” answered an archer with a trembling voice.

“What? But it’s impo…” Milo was cut off in the middle of his sentence by a terrifying howl. Everyone’s face turned white and some of the guards almost fainted just by hearing it.

Antoine had wetted his pants in fear, and the twins had collapsed against each other in tears. I have to see what’s going on! Thought the girl. She ran to the nearest ladder before grabbing the first rung. The arrow was still hurting her, but she finally had time to break the keg to temporarily avoid further injury.

Climbing quickly while enduring the pain, she went to a shooting platform where three archers were already present. She expected them to make her life hard, but they did not stop her, and for good reason, they all had their eyes fixed on an Élet who was defying the living dead with her sword. Her light and dark hair had turned to blood-red, and from where she was, the girl could see symbols of the same colour covering the hand of her Onee-chan holding the dark blade.

Élet then leaned forward while adding her second hand on the handle of the weapon. Slowly, she retreated her left foot while anchoring her right foot in the ground and, suddenly, she was seven meters away, the sword across a zombie knight now entirely dead. He collapsed, the evil glow of his gaze forever extinguished. She freed the corpse of her blade by sending it to crash against other undead, by the same circular motion she had used to clean it, while remaining well upright.

It was at this moment that the undead archers reacted. Arrows began to rain, but the young woman did not care.

She kept piercing the skeletons’ head and the zombies’ heart, looking like she was dancing under a shower of arrows that never reached her. They were pulverized one after another until the sword in the hands of the enraged young woman was but a piece of twisted metal, and even in this state she continued to fight, her voice oscillating between screams of rage and laughs of grim pleasure.

She only stopped when none of the monsters who had wounded her little sister was alive anymore. The archers believed the threat had passed, the calm returning to the surroundings.

However, Élet had no time to rest, for out of the forest had appeared a bone golem at least five meters high. Like a wild beast, she immediately threw herself on it, the sword bursting in her hands as she crushed it against the monster’s solid exoskeleton. Not willing to admit defeat, she relentlessly attacked it bare-handed, to no avail. Each blow crashed without any effect on this creature too big and too resistant, making it impossible for the young woman to reach the nuclei of the enemy as she had done for the other undead.

Frustrated, she took a step back to position herself between the monster and the village, looking at it with a resolute air. Then, in the middle of the battlefield covered with bones, she raised her hand.

The black lance of a zombie knight, still in good condition, flew toward her before gently settling against her palm. A powerful whirlpool then emerged from its tip. It feverishly sucked in the fine purple dust, the bones, flesh and metal without distinction. The result made the archers tremble but not Dzīve, who remained surprisingly calm.

A large dark-purple Halberd covered by rust-like blood-coloured spots now stood triumphantly erected toward the sky, held by her Onee-chan. Voices came from it, screaming, roaring and crying as an unhealthy red cloud swirled around it.

She then jumped sharply towards the golem while lowering her weapon at a frightful speed, axe blade first. The fight was over in a second, the monster cut in half from shoulder to hip and then devoured by the halberd. Calm returned slowly as the young woman quietly collapsed, falling in a dust cloud.

***

“THE FIGHT IS OVER, OPEN THE DOOR NOW! GO HELP ÉLET, QUICK!”

Suddenly, a form rushed towards the fainted young woman. Dzīve stretched herself slightly before the anguish left her, recognizing Greypa. While treating Élet, he turned his eyes to the other wounded who was about to descend from the watchtower.

“Stop moving, young lady, or your wound will get so bad I won’t know how to treat it!” He spoke in a normal tone, but everyone heard him clearly.

As requested, the girl remained there, waiting to receive treatment. Meanwhile, the guards had opened the door and had positioned themselves around the old man to protect him in the event of another attack. To Dzīve’s astonishment, Greypa finished treating the young woman very quickly, arriving at the girl’s side in a heartbeat.

“Is she all right?” she asked him, anxious.

“She is just asleep.” He replied in a disillusioned tone.

“But how is that possible, there was so much blood… What about her wound?”

“Nada, niet, nothing. There is a hole on both sides of her clothes around her heart, but no wound at all.” He didn’t seem to be able to believe his own words.

“Well, enough about her, I have to take care of yeh too, I tell yeh.” She had cared so much about her big sister that she had momentarily forgotten the arrowhead stuck in her leg…

Élet

She slowly opened her eyes, fighting a violent headache. The system quickly came to her help to diminish the pain, clearing her mind. This time I recognize this ceiling. Indeed, she was once again laid in the bed of Greypa’s guest room. Through the window, the daylight struggled to illuminate the room while the trees remained motionless outside, without the slightest breath of wind to make their leaves dance.

Trying to move, Élet felt a weight leaning on her. Dzīve had fallen asleep at the bedside of her Onee-chan, her head lying on the belly of her big sister. Still weak, the young woman extended her hand to caress the girl’s hair.

But what am I doing here... I remember getting into an impossible rage and then...and then...nothing…

“Ding, consciousness detected in the player, launch of pending operations.”

The gentle female voice of the system did not take long to manifest itself, interrupting the thoughts of the young woman. “Congratulations, you successfully fought the Fifth Regiment back from the dead, and shot down the Bone Golem born of the battlefield butchery!”

“You have successfully completed Act One of the First Chapter of your Bastion! Acquisition of the Quest -First Chapter, Act Two: The Restless Dead -. New development options have been opened. Adjusted reward: Level +15. Warning, all other rewards have been used by Malice’s stabilisation. No Shards have been awarded.”

“You’ve completely mastered your Militia class in just one fight! In addition, you alone killed a Boss of a level way higher than yours! Acquisition of the -Super Rookie- title.”

“You have reached the highest level of mastery for your Militia class and have met the requirements to make it evolve. To manage your classes, please open your Character Sheet.”

“Your overall level has increased by fifteen steps, you are now level fifteen and have fifteen points of Fundamental Characteristic to spend.”

“You have fulfilled the necessary conditions to acquire the innate Demonic Rage ability. To manage innate abilities, please open your Character Sheet.”

“Warning, due to object -Malice-, no loot was harvested post-combat.”

“Acquisition of The Linked Halberd, Malice.”

“To manage objects, please open your inventory.”

“You have acquired the Hast Weapons Skill.”

The young woman had listened slack-jawed to the system making announcements one after the other, without really knowing the why and how. When it had finished, the silence seemed deafening to Élet.

Okay, well, since you’re tired and the little girl’s asleep, why don’t you take a look at all this, dear Zoe? Anyway, I’ll have to do it at some point or another, let’s do it now… She tried to reach the bracelet of her right wrist, in vain, the little one lying on it. Ah… System, would you mind opening my character sheet?

Without answering, the system did as requested. Élet then found that this menu was almost identical to the one that Hermès had presented to her when she had created her character. However, a window was added to the right. On the left one was the triangle with the yellow, green and blue values, all at seven. The value at the centre of the triangle, however, now displayed in grey the value of fifteen. Above everything stood a small sentence.

-Points to assign: 15-

I knew it, the character sheet from character creation was a simplified one, this one look a lot more like the ones I’ve seen in Uncle’s and other streams. Wait. She looked once more and frowned.

Why do I have seven in each Main Stat? She remembered accurately that they had been at five when she had created her character. What’s going on? She searched a bit but, still unfamiliar with the menus, she didn’t find anything about it.

...It’s not that I’m not happy, but it would be nice if I knew where those points came from... Oh well, let’s put that at the back of my head for now, I’ve other things to do. And so, about those points… She looked at the number, fifteen, thinking of the ways she could split it but, remembering the words of Hermes, she distributed them in a balanced fashion. Just thinking about it, the theorycrafter heart of the young woman was filled with anticipation. She then focused on the right window. This one had only three boxes on it so far, the first one saying ‘Militia, evolution available’ the second ‘Empty’ and the third ‘Level seventy-five to unlock’.

Yup, that’s the two classes limit for low-level character indeed. Other empty boxes should appear as I play and found more or less exotic means to unlock them… Having regained a bit of her strength, she pressed the box annotated ‘Militia’. The system’s voice echoed in her ears.

“Congratulations, your Militia class is ready to evolve. Please choose one of the options offered by the menu. To choose, please open one of the available classes’ previews and press -accept-. A short description of each class is provided in the class menu as a preview, just press them to access them.”

Available evolutions:

Fighter

Halberdier

Aegis Berserkr

I remember the colour-coded rarity system, quite classic but effective. She thought about it a second, remembering how it went exactly. It was something like Grey - Common; White - Uncommon; Green - Rare; Blue - Extraordinary; Yellow - Epic; and Orange - Legendary, if I don’t make a mistake? She looked at her classes again. Wow. I’ll maybe read the other classes but something tells me that I’ll take the yellow one whatever the others give. In Binding Fate, like in a lot of other game, but not all, rarity was directly linked with power. I just absolutely don’t understand why those are my evolutions paths. I mean, Halberdier? What the fuck? ...Keep going or you won’t do anything, Zoe.

Fighter

Rarity: Uncommon

Role: Tank, dps, light support.

The role of Fighter is often the first step of people whose goal is physical combat, at a distance or in the fray. It is designed to provide good survivability, which makes it a popular starting point.

Modifiers: Str(ength) * 1.5, Con(stitution) * 2.5, Agi(lity) * 1.5, T(hinking) P(ace) * 1.5, Res(olve) * 1.5

Bonus skills mastery: Armour Wearing (*2), Common Weapons Handling (*2), Shield Handling (*2), First Aid (*1.5), Archery (*1.5), Survival (*1.5).

Basic Ability: Powerful Strike

Traditional, if way better than what I’ve right now for the modifiers and the bonus to skill mastery. She quickly made the count. So, if I took this, I would be at eighteen in strength, same in constitution, a whooping thirty in agility, and eighteen in TP and Res. Let’s see what Halberdier is worth.

Halberdier

Rarity: Rare

Role: Dps, zone and crowd control, Anti-large.

The Halberdier wields a powerful hast weapon, often a halberd, which allows them to inflict powerful blows to enemies much larger than themselves, or to clear large areas by sweeps. Impressive, this role is often filled by experienced guards. Difficult to use in a confined space, the mass and lever of a hast weapon makes it perilous to handle for inexperienced people.

Modifier : Str* 4, Con * 3, Agi * 2, TP* 2, Vol * 3

Bonus skills mastery: Armour Wearing (*1.5), Handling Hast Weapons (*4).

Basic Abilities: Sweep, Rupture

Not bad, not bad at all. You really feel the specialization of this class, in particular this Handling Hast Weapons is really big. She thought, acknowledging the class’ strength. But now, to the dessert. She was smiling.

Aegis Berserkr

Rarity: Epic

Role: Dps, Tank, Area Control, Priority Target Protection.

The Aegis berserkers are part of the few true tanks of the battlefield. Feared and respected, they unleash their rage on their opponents while protecting key places or important people. Able to defend large areas, they are always in front of enemy blades in order to save their comrades.

Modifier : For * 8, Con * 10, Agi * 4, TP * 4, Vol * 8

Bonus skills mastery: Advanced Armor Wearing (*2.5), Advanced Shield Handling (*4), Advanced Single Hand Weapons Handling (*2.5), Runic Tattoo Art (*2), Mithridatisation ( Sharp - Piercing - Mind Attack)

Basic Abilities: Guardian Frenzy, Vital Link, Rampart of the Aegis

Wohoho! As I thought, it’s another level altogether! Look at those modifiers, it’s insane! Without further ado, she pushed on the box labelled ‘accept’ in the right down corner of the class showcase sheet. In her character sheet, the word ‘Militia’ was replaced by ‘Aegis Berserkr’

“Class ‘Aegis Berserkr’ acquired. Abilities Guardian Frenzy and Demonic Rage resonating. Starting integration. New ability acquired: Hell’s Warden Wrath.”

“Congratulations, you’ve acquired an Epic class before you reached level seventy-five! Acquisition of the title -In the footsteps of legends-.”

Again? It’s normally not so common to drop a title, really, what happened when I was out? She thought a bit and felt dumb. Oh. I should have checked my other rewards and titles before choosing my class… not that I think that I would have chosen differently, but in the future this could lead to a big mistake. Theorycraft Zoe, remember to theorycraft! System, can you show me my titles please?

As usual, the system didn’t answer, favouring to directly execute the given order. Still on the same page, a highlighted arrow appeared, showing the name of her character. ...Aaah yes, I remember, okay.

It read ‘Élet of the Absolute Fury, Super rookie on the footsteps of legends’. She pressed the three titles one after the other to display the description.

Absolute Fury: Awarded to those fit to become ???. Effect: Significantly increases the bonuses of abilities based on anger, wrath, fury or madness. Super Rookie: Awarded to extremely promising beginners with outstanding accomplishments. Effects: *1.1 to all sources of Shards. Monsters and quests of a higher level than that of the character bring even more Shards and are more likely to release interesting loot. In the footsteps of legends: Awarded to players who have acquired a special class well before the average of their standard acquisition time. Effects: Ease the acquisition of legendary rarity classes and below. Opens up more possibilities for evolution and access to exotic or extinct classes.

The first two titles are really not bad, especially the bonus in Shards, but it is the third one that makes me dream, all the possibilities it opens, I am so looking forward to discover them! At that moment, the little girl moved her head a bit, starting to wake up. Damn, I still had things to check… Well, too bad… She made a reason for herself by seeing the bright side of things.

Time to know what happened after my I was impaled. Dzīve opened her eyes and her gaze grew full of tenderness for her Onee-chan. She tried to get up and throw herself on her big sister but fell heavily on her chair, repressing a cry of pain.

“Urgh!”’ Greypa, who was actually entering the room, shouted loudly.

“I told yeh not to use your leg, yeh will reopen the wound, yeh idiot!”

“Sorry.” She replied, apologetic.

“Don’t bit her nose too much, she was just happy to see me with my eyes open.” Interceded diplomatically the young woman, which startled the old healer.

“Yeh’re already awake?” he said, surprised.

“For a while, yes, but I wanted to let her sleep. How long was I asleep?”

“A few hours, four, five at most.” He turned toward the young girl and said with an exasperated voice: “Yeh see, I told yeh she was fine, yeh’re the one who’s hurt the most. Now would yeh like to go to bed and have your wound heal properly? I even put a bed in Elet’s room!” He ended by pointing out said furniture.

“Yes, Greypa, I’m sorry.” She said, waddling on her chair before he helped her get to the bed. Meanwhile, the young woman got up and regained her sense of balance, oscillating a little on her feet. How did he bring this here on his own?

“And now, you rest! I’m going to make supper with Élet, behave yourself in the meantime. And here is a book to keep yeh busy.” He said by handing her a doorstopper titled -Important ingredient for any alchemist and how to obtain them (without dying)-, and which gave the impression of being very old. Oh my god, that’s an old-fashioned book. I’ve not seen one of those since… Since Uncle brought one home I think. Looking at the book, the little one was like a cat having in front of a spot of light.

“Thank you Greypa!” She ended up saying before immersing herself in this collection of curiosity. When they were out of the room, the young woman spoke to the old man.

“Isn’t it dangerous to give a book like that to a girl like her? She might want to go looking for the ingredients described in it, right?”

“Yes, but it’s okay because she’s immortal, isn’t she?”

Élet looked at him, puzzled.

“Surprised, huh?” There was a proud smile on his face.

“How do you know that?”

“Old stories speak about it, but I think I’m the only one who still remembers them precisely enough...” His gaze was lost in the distance for a moment, before returning to the present situation.

“Well, that’s not what we need to talk about right now.” By this time they had arrived in the kitchen. “But this discussion is going to wait for me to have picked up what I need to prepare a proper meal.” He left the room, giving the young woman time to look around.

The kitchen was spacious, with many windows with shutters still open. On one side was a sort of stove covered on top by a black stone. Acting as a lamp, a crystal was gently floating in the centre of the room, close to the ceiling, pouring a warm light on the central kitchen island just below it. This worktop was equipped with a battery of knives, a large cutting board and a sink quite close to a modern model. Yes, we are clearly more in the fantastic than in the medieval there.

“Perfect, I’ve all that’s needed to make a good, balanced meal!” Said the old man by laying down heavily a large piece of meat, a good bag of potato and some orphan vegetables, chickpeas and turnips mainly.

“That’s good, you have the same notion of a balanced meal, it seems.” She replied, chuckling slightly, before she had a sudden realization. “Is that like, meat from an animal?” She asked suspiciously. The old man looked at her, frowning.

“Were do yeh want to get meat but on livestock or wild beast?”

Of course. I’m the dumbass here. “Forget it, it just surprised me. Let’s keep going.” I don’t think I ever eat meat from an animal, it’s always tank-cultivated meat at home.

“Okay… Would yeh peel the potatoes while I do the meat?” Argh, not the potatoes! ... No, you’re a guest, make an effort!

“Okay.” She said, nodding her head. They began to cook. They worked a minute or two in silence, after which Greypa spoke.

“Do yeh remember what happened in your fight?”

“Not really. After the sword in the heart, it’s the black hole.”

“I can imagine, seeing the state you were in, ahahah!”

“Stop teasing me, old man.” she told him.

“Tell me what happened.” Thus, Élet listened to the intimidating account of her exploits, the manner in which she had destroyed an armoured skeleton with her bare hands, the massacre of the undead group, the creation of the halberd, and finally the execution of the bone golem. Well, all of a sudden, my choices of evolutions no longer surprise me...

And the potatoes were peeled, and the meat cut, and they were boiled in a great pot upon the stove, of which the black stone was a fire rock, a calolapis, a kind of magical pebble producing heat when it was put in contact with a source of Mana. “

Yeh can go back to your room, chat with the kid if you want. I’ll take bowls with me on the way up, and we’ll eat together in your room.” He said to her with a tired smile.

“I’m going to stay downstairs to rest and watch the pot cooking.” He added. Élet was a little surprised because, since the young woman had met him, it was the first time that Greypa really seemed like an old man.

***

Back in the room, Élet sat down at the little girl’s bedside. Very excited, she approached the young woman with great enthusiasm.

“This book is great! Look, it talks about a lot of stuff, like Yggdrasil!” She said, showing her a print of the World Tree.

“According to this book, you can use its sap to create a potion that harmonizes the one who drinks it with nature. And with its leaves, you can make bandages that can heal almost any wounds! But I have better!” She added before turning more pages.

“This is the chapter with the dragons…” And so she went on for a while, showing things more extraordinary, each even more extraordinary than the previous one, before stopping and suddenly changing the subject.

“I would like to ger stronger.” She said in a tone full of resolve. “But you already know that. What I would like to know is if you have any ideas that could help me.” Her gaze wandered on the cover of the book before she spoke again. “

If I had these legendary ingredients, achieving my goal would be a lot easier, but I don’t have them, so I have to find another way.” Élet answered softly:

“If you want to be stronger, you have to fight and to study, and I can help you, at least for the fighting part. I can help you figure out how to fight, plan strategies and implement tactics taking into account strengths and weaknesses of the involved parties. But for starters, you’re gonna have to acquire a class. Unfortunately, after our lunch, I’m going to have to go and rest for a while, probably all night, so we’ll do this next time, when I come back, okay?”

“Are you going to leave me again?”

“I’ll come back, I promise. That’s what I did earlier, right? And with very good timing, I think.” She said with a sufficient smile. The young girl thought for two seconds before turning a decisive glance to her big sister.

“I believe you.” She said, serious.

“Good.” Élet answered with a smile, caressing the little girl’s head. In the meantime, Greypa had arrived in the room with three bowls of steaming stew. They ate in silence, all exhausted by the harsh day, and when they had finished, the old man cleared the cutlery and the earthenware without a word, before disappearing like a shadow. The time had come.

“Do you really have to go?”

“Yes, but the next time I come, I will be able to stay longer. That too is promised.” They hugged one last time before the young woman opened the menu to disconnect.

As she disappeared, Dzive kissed Élet’s cheek.