Chapter 15

Élet

Dzīve’s eyes sparkled as she watched Jack and Élet face each other.

“You have your own weapon or shall I give you a training blade?” asked the swordsman.

“I already have a weapon, but I have to check something. Can you give me a minute?”

“Go ahead, it’s a slow day.” He answered, easy-going.

It’s time to check my halberd’s stats…

She quickly opened her inventory and found directly what she was looking for.

System, ca you show me the statistics on my weapon, please?

A window opened, giving her the requested information, for which the young woman had a pronounced reaction.

...Dafuck?

Malice: Halberd-type linked weapon.

Rarity: ??? Damage: strength*4

Type: ½ Cursed+ ½ slashing, piercing or bludgeoning in accordance with the head used.

You can choose to deal lethal or non-lethal damage.

Abilities:

Malevolent voices: Each entity killed with Malice see its mind and soul sealed in the halberd, giving it at least a malevolence charge to the weapon.

The power of Malice and each of its abilities grow in accordance with the number of malevolence charges.

The user can burn a chosen number of charges to enhance Malice for a limited time. Those charges can’t be recovered in any way.

Charges stored: 204

Implosion: The user waves its weapon, unleashing a wide-zone pull CC and damaging nearby foes. Apply the Pain debuff to the targets. Stamina cost based on the number of targets.

Explosion: The user strikes an area, unleashing a wide-zone knockback CC and damaging nearby foes. Apply the Pain debuff to the targets. Stamina cost based on the number of targets.

Spiteful Cloud:

Passive (no cost): Narrow-zone cloud-type DoT around the user that applies the Pain debuff. Damages dealt are converted into the most critical resource(s) needed with a ratio varying between various resources. Active :

Condition: standing still.

Effet: Passive effect buffed, and the user can now move the cloud zone at will in a set radius around the user. Stamina cost based on the power of the ability.

Sealed

Sealed

Sealed

I knew that linked items were powerful, but not so much! No wonder no one disclosed the stats of their linked items to the world, they’re so advantageous to have! But… isn’t this weapon like, something fitting an evil protagonist? I mean, every last one of those abilities has an evil name! ...Bah, Don't look a gift horse in the mouth they say, right? After all, tools aren’t evil, people are. While I’m at it, can you show me my stats, system?

Body: 13

Strength: 104 Agility: 52 Constitution: 130 --- Hp: 1300 --- Sp: 260

Mind: 13

Thinking: Pace 52 Memory: 13 Magic Affinity: 13 --- Mp: 26

Soul: 13

Faith: 13 --- Ap: 26 Resolve: 104 Empathy: 13

Why the fuck are those at 13? System, where do the extra points come from?

“The extra points come from a side effect of your All-consuming Gaol.”

What do you mean?

“Alert, ability overloaded, unable to further verify details.”

Tch… Well, too bad. Well, I’ve a good weapon, and I can choose to not inflict severe damage with it, that’s already a thing... But maybe I should ask one or two questions before I start fighting.

“Okay, I have a weapon I can use for training.”

“What kind?” Jack asked.

“A halberd.”

“Hard to use but very interesting. Come on, let’s get started.”

“Wait, could you answer a question first?”

“Go ahead, shoot.”

“How many Health Points do you have?”

“Ah, I have twenty-four in my body stats and with my class modifier, that gives me nine hundred and sixty Hp.'

At least he won’t collapse at first? I already have so much Hp...

“I warn you, it could be very messy, it’s the first time I use my abilities.”

“Don’t worry, I’m here for this. Go get your weapon.”

The crowd that had attended the previous fight was now watching the swordsman and the young woman facing each other.

How did I get my halberd out of my inventory earlier? She asked herself. The answer came directly to her because, in response to her thought, an unhealthy red cloud oozed from her fingers to materialize her weapon in her hand. The silence had once again engulfed the surroundings, for a different reason this time.

The guards were looking at the halberd with surprised eyes, and Jack’s face was a little pale. Only Dzīve remained calm, even smiling at how cool her Onee-chan was.

Now that I can get a better look at it, it’s true that my weapon is impressive.

A slight mist was now slowly circling around Élet as one could hear whispers emanating from the halberd.

“Are you sure you can use this weapon for training?”

“Don’t worry, I can make it do non-lethal damage.”

“You reassure me.” He regained his fighting spirit by putting himself back on guard.

“Whenever you want.” He added.

“Okay.” Taking her weapon with two hands, she lowered it to point it at her opponent.

It’s really light...is it because of my strength or is it intrinsic to linked items? No, if it were my strength, I would still have been unbalanced by the movement I just made, the laws of Newton and all that… Okay, move on...let’s start with...

She brandishes her halberd towards the sky, as described in the ability description.

Implosion!

A powerful suction force then spread outward within a two-meter radius, clearly missing the swordsman.

“What are you doing?” he asked, seeing the aura of an ability without feeling the effects.

“I am doing tests.” So for now, the area is not that big...I guess I’ll have to kill a lot of monsters to add charges of Malevolent voices if I want to increase its power…

“Careful, here I come!” She exclaimed after a few seconds of reflection.

Explosion! She lowered her weapon at lightning speed, using the hammerhead to try and hit Jack. The latter answered by raising his shield, from which emanated a beautiful golden colour that formed a protective extension covering him entirely.

He’s pretty slow though, isn’t he? In a blink of eye, her halberd crashed against the luminous rampart. The shockwave that followed the collision sent Élet flying several meters away, the young woman managed to receive herself properly in extremis. A heavy cloud of dust clogged the vision, but it fell away early enough, revealing an interesting scene…

“Kof-kof…” ”What happened?” “Everyone is okay?”

Almost all the guards were on the ground, getting up and looking left and right, checking that no one was injured. To everyone’s astonishment, the worst that happened was a loss of consciousness here and there. Even more bizarre, Dzīve was still standing, absolutely unaffected by the shockwave.

Ah, no, her hair is a bit unkept from the wind. What a joke, is it because she is considered an ally by the system, that’s why she is not affected? I thought I read something like this in the description of Explosion…

Jack was now on the ground next to the wall, a long and wide track extending between him and his opponent as if a giant ball had been rubbed on the dirt. His shield lay not far from him, a large hole pierced it through and through, of the same shape as the hammerhead of the young woman’s halberd, the steel shredded like paper.

Oh shit, I hope he’s okay! She thought as she ran towards him. Arriving at his side, she took his pulse.

Everything is fine, he seems to be alive and breathing properly... In fact, it looks like he just passed out…

“Is he okay?” asked Milo, going toward them.

“Yeah, looks like it. But I can’t really tell you if I broke anything...”

“I already knew you were powerful, but it still surprised me.”

“Yeah, me too. I didn’t expect to bring him down in one shot, especially after my first attempt failed.”

“Was that a normal strike?”

“No, an ability.”

He whistled to show his admiration before continuing. “Pretty powerful, right?”

“Certainly…”

“On the other hand, for the level of understanding of your style, apart from saying that you hit very hard, it didn’t help us much.” He said, sighing.

“Sorry…” She bowed her head, blushing, a little shameful.

“It’s not your fault, it’s the first time you’ve fought consciously, isn’t it? It’s normal for this kind of thing to happen. It’s just that usually rookies are less powerful…”

“Sorry…” She said for the second time, lowering her head even more.

“No big deal, no big deal. Lionel! Danny! Take Jack to the break room, let him recover a little..”

“”Yes Captain!”” They gently lifted the fallen man together, lest he has something broken, and took him with caution to the nearest circular tower.

“Well, I will fight you, but I tried not to get me down, if you will. I remind you that the goal is not to win, but to see how you fight, okay?”

“Okay…” She couldn’t lower her head any more, but if she could, she would have.

They put themselves on guard and fought like that for several minutes, the young lady refraining from carrying too powerful blows. The session ended…

First Observation: time slow down around me when I’m in combat…

She realized that after a few tens of seconds. The world seemed to be going in slow motion, her own movements having a normal speed from her point of view.

Milo was dripping with sweat just to avoid the young woman’s blows, her supernatural rapidity putting him to a hard test.

“I don’t know, pfff... how you do, pfff... to handle a halberd this way, but it’s pretty effective, pfff…” He was trying to recover his breath. When he had recovered, he began to speak again while walking towards the girl. “That said, you are full of opening. You may be fast, but your movements are wide and not very coordinated. Right now it’s not a problem because of your speed, but eventually you’ll become a walking target. Now I know what the little one needs to complete you.” He ended up with a smile. They had reached the place were Dzīve had watched them fight all along.

“So you liked your Onee-chan’s show kicking Milo’s ass?”

“Yes, it was great!”

“Ding… +2 to the Link Harmony.”

She ignored the system announcement for the moment, focusing on the discussion.

“Humf, don’t brag too much either, you’re going to have to train seriously if you want to go down this path.”

Whoa, looks like I hurt his feelings.

“It was a joke, it was a joke!”

“I hope so. Well, let’s get back to business.”

“You know which class I should try to acquire?” Asked Dzīve.

“Yes. It’s a class called -Guardian-, which focuses on the use of the shield, disarming and managing enemies on the front line. With this, you will be able to cover Élet’s blind spots while she goes wild. Is that okay?”

The little girl seemed to think for a minute, before nodding. “I’ll have faith in your judgment and try it for a while.”

“All right, so here’s what we’re going to do. For you to become a Guardian, we’re going to have to…”

Kailun

They had quickly arrived at Nana’s lair, the roman-catholic-style church. Upon entering through the main gate, Kailun was surprised. Indeed, the interior was different from what she expected. The large room was circular, with ten arcades, eight of which were overhung by statues. The dim light seemed to come from the small pool in the centre of the room. Everything was calm, no one was visible. However, they had hardly advanced that a woman appeared from the opposite door.

“Hello Nana.” Said the young boy, respectful.

“Hello Antoine and… Kailun, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Yep. Nice to meet you… Nana?”

“Hahaha, you can call me that, but my real name is Nadiane.”

Kailun lifted her thumb to show that she had understood. Nana then proceeded.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Antoine seemed hesitant, so Kailun took the hand.

“We’re here to find a class for the kid. Greypa said you could help us.”

“Me? Why?” Nadiane seemed genuinely surprised.

It was Antoine who answered her. “I want to be able to support Dzīve when she fights, but I’m too scared, I don’t want to fight directly on the frontline…” He seemed a bit shameful, but he quickly recovered. “...and Greypa told me that the best way to do that is to become a priest…” He left his sentence on hold.

“Oh, I understand now.” However, she seemed a little troubled. “But you know, it’s not easy to become a priest, it’s a vocation… Are you sure about this?”

“If it allows me to help Dzīve... and Élet and all the others, of course... then yes, I am sure.” He replied, determined.

“So the principle is simple. Choose one of the eight gods and pray, pray until you feel the divine warmth filling your soul. It’s simple, but difficult.”She said, swiping the statues with a move of her hand.

“But which god should I choose?” he asked, a bit lost.

“If it is for the battle that you intend to devote yourself, pray to the warrior to support the blades of your allies, their armour and prevent the weapons of your adversaries from harming them. Or pray to the healer if you want to heal them, sustain their vigour and ease their pain. It’s up to you.”

“Okay…” He began to reflect, making his gaze pass from the statue of the healer, with his vials, needles and doctor’s costume, to the warrior, clad in a powerful full armour, her hands placed on her zweihänder. After careful reflection, he approached the healer and knelt down, clasping his hands together to beg the deity to grant him his graces.

Ooooh, he’s really cute like that... I hope he will succeed, it would be sad if not…

She was interrupted in her thoughts by Nana who had approached her quietly.

“It is said that you are a deity who came down from heaven to help Antoine, is that true?”

She seemed doubtful, understandably given her status as a priestess.

“I guess you could say that.” Kailun shrugged. “It must look like that, but at least I don’t see myself as a goddess, if that’s what you’re asking for.” Nana seemed troubled by this answer.

“But then, what are you?”

“Human, like you. But... not quite. I think we could be described as guardian angels...or contract devils, sometimes.”

It seemed to have cleared up the ideas of the priestess.

“If you are guardian angels, what gods do you serve?”

And a surprise question, one!

“How do you explain this… Some of us serve gods, who have no names or that we cannot pronounce, other gods that do not exist here. Me? I serve no one. I’m free.”

Nana nodded her head. You could see that she had understood the concept while having trouble accepting it. An Angel who doesn’t serve as a god? Weird…

“By the way, I don’t know the gods you revere. A little explanation, perhaps?”

“Of course.” Back on more familiar ground, Nadiane had regained her poise.

“The one for whom Antoine prays is called the Healer. He watches over the sick and prevents the spread of epidemics. He is the patron god of midwives, doctors, wise woman, apothecary, that kind of profession. He is in a relationship with the Warrior, there, in the opposite alcove.” She showed her the statue of the woman in armour. “She brings courage and honour to the fighters, ensures that their blades strike the enemies and that they are protected from their own. She oversees conflicts and wars. She is the patron god of all who fights.”

She then turned to show Kailun two more statues.

“The second couple is formed by the Elder, guardian of knowledge, aged, ancient and venerable things, and by the Lady who encourages the ardour of youth, adventure and the joys of life.” The old one had a disdainful port but sparkling eyes and a slight smile. The young lady was clad in a dress and held out her hand, as if inviting her partner to dance.

Nadiane turned around again.

“The third couple is the Blacksmith and the Weaver. They are both bearers of creation, but the Blacksmith embraces the material world and concrete things while the weaver is more focused on dreams, illusions and imagination. She is also the patron god of the Magicians.” The blacksmith had his eyes fixed on his anvil, a hammer in one hand and an iron bar in his other. Opposite, the weaver seemed to be working on a loom, her blindfolded eyes turned towards the sky.

She took a little breath before starting back.

“Finally, there is the couple of the Shepherdess and the Reaper. The first represents birth, fertility, life and the beginning, the second death, rest and the end.”

The reaper had a typical representation of Death, with its scythe, skeletal body and empty orbits. The shepherdess had a shepherd’s staff in her hands and looked at her companion with both sweetness and sadness.

It’s very functional as a belief system...

Nana had spoken in a soft voice to avoid disturbing Antoine.

“How long will it take him?” Asked Kailun curiously.

“I don’t know. Several hours, at least. Come with me, let’s have some tea.”

Kailun put her thumb up and followed the priestess. They passed through the door just opposite the entrance, entering a corridor with alcoves dedicated to some minor gods. They then passed through a room dedicated to the care of the sick before arriving in a small lounge, where they drank tea and talked about things and others, and time passed…