Robert excused himself saying they would begin first thing in the morning. He went to mourn with his younger brother. Elle and Armand burned holes directly into Deacon. There was an unspoken question in the air. What the hell happened to you? Deacon decided before it got more uncomfortable, to just start talking.

“Ok, look I’m going to leave some stuff out. You’ll just have to accept that.”

“Just tell us already.” Elle said.

Deacon began after he dropped the kobold chieftain into the pit. He went on to talk about encountering Zageracks and the deal he had to make to leave. Finding the three dead soldiers and experiencing his new soul absorbing ability. Fighting off the marauders in the Nicklelash family home. Ending with the Vendetta he now has against Qie Lao.

“If it wasn’t you telling it, I wouldn’t believe it.” said Armand.

“Do you realize what kind of bag…Wait the Zageracks?” Elle stammered, “He’s a dragon of legend, slayer of the unworthy and all that. His spirit was still conscious?”

“I think he’d been eating…I mean absorbing the souls of kobolds for years.” Deacon replied.

“Yet another fact you need to keep to yourself. You aren’t strong enough to fend off those that would seek to use you for their own ends.” Armand said.

“Anyway, the bag, my magic sight tells me its artifact ranked. That means very rare and valuable. The problem is those are usually tied to your soul. This one is not tied to you, so how are you using it?” Elle said.

“Remember when I said I had to make a deal. Well, that deal is dictating a future ability the big Z told me about.”

“Like what?” Armand asked.

“Eventually I’ll be able to call a soul to aid me. He insists it must be him and no one else.”

Their eyes popped so far open they could be confused for dinner plates. Elle began shaking her head while Armand just put his head in his hands. Deacon started to think this must be the downside he mentioned to Zageracks during their conversation.

“One, summoning a Dragon is resource intensive. At level four it will probably kill you.” Elle said.

“Five now since I gave that thing to Typhus. I should spend that point before tomorrow.” I interjected.

“Don’t interrupt. Its rude and no one likes it. Two, Dragons are notorious liars. They only think about themselves and what they want. You were right to be wary of his deal and I can’t imagine he hasn’t foreseen the time and place you will complete the task. We don’t want to be anywhere near you when you do.” She said, “Finally, three, there are no stories of anyone calling a Dragon and living to tell the tale. Its always some kind of sacrificial last act to win war or stop a demon horde or something else more ridiculous in nature.”

“Well, that does not sound good.” I said.

"A problem for another day. You can’t do it now right?” Armand asks.

“Nope.”

“Tell me about this Qie Lao. You said he fought with sword and shield like me?”

“Not at all. He leads with his sword and smashes with his shield. You use your shield for strictly defense based on what little I saw. His style is much more, aggressive.”

“Two sides of the same coin. You can use a shield as armor or a weapon. This sounds like he’s been trained outside the kingdom. We don’t really teach that style here. How did you fare?”

“He beat me unmercifully. If I didn’t have my protections, I would have been dead three times over. My speed and strength were completely mitigated. If I hadn’t learned my new dodge ability I’d probably still be taking a beating.”

“Yes, I see. I was going to show you that in the training tomorrow, but it seems you’ve learned that lesson already.”

“You were going to train me?” I said with surprise in my voice.

“Before Robert made his gracious offer, I planned on getting you to at least skill level one in hand to hand. I think you are better off in with Robert though. He trained in a special hand to hand fighting style which I don’t think is taught here either. What a lucky coincidence.” Armand shot a look at Elle, “I was also going to show you that you aren’t invincible. You take too many risks in combat, and we need to beat that out of you before becomes ingrained behavior.”

With that the conversation died down. A few townsfolk who recognized Deacon came over to thank him for his help. An hour or so passed by and Typhus came downstairs from his room. He was bleary eyed like he’d been drinking for days. He stumbled up to the table.

"What are you?” Typhus said close enough you could smell the brandy.

“Uh, guys?” I mumbled.

“Typhus why don’t you take a seat.” Armand gestured at the seat next to him.

“Be silent little lordling, I’m talking to the boy. Who sent you into my life to open old wounds?”, Typhus began pulling at the tatters of Deacons shirt, “this is disgraceful. I gave you this shirt as a gift and look what you’ve done with it.”

“Hey, Typhus, what’s this all about? I thought you’d be happy to have it.” I spoke up in my defense.

“Happy! I’m overflowing with it.” He said as he choked back some bile.

“Then I don’t really understand what’s happening.”

“You’ve just proven a hundred-year-old story to be true. Its no longer my word against his. The Tapestry you daft human, it changes everything.”

That was the last thing he said before taking a header directly into the table flipping it and all its contents right on top of him.

“Ain’t that a bitch.” I said.

I was dragged out of my cot in the room the innkeeper put me in first thing in the morning. I begged Robert to wait with his reply being something along the lines of, so you can put on strips of what used to be a shirt? Son of bitch was right. I need new duds. I told him I have a level up point to spend. It went right into agility. If I’m going to learn Kung Fu I want to bend like Neo. Throwing off the shreds of my shirt I met Robert behind the Inn. Training began as several slaps and finger pokes ended in me staring at the ground. My health didn’t move but my slate had several messages waiting for me.

Attribute

Score

Intelligence

10

Strength

36

Speed

35

Agility

14

Wisdom

12

Luck

300

You have been paralyzed.

Your lungs have stopped functioning if this persists you will die of asphyxiation.

Your arms have gone numb, you now operate at a negative to all actions.

A few more pokes and prods and I was back to tip top shape. Robert went on to say this was his family fighting style. It incorporates pressure points within strikes. Its not until later levels of the skill that you can stack effects on your target. His Grandfather on his mother’s side taught it to him. Robert became very quiet after that but pushed through the grief to continue. My routine for the next few days was to memorize specific strike points on the body, repeatedly strike a wooden dummy I kept breaking, and spar with Armand and Robert at the same time. Elle kept fixing the dummy and Armand enjoyed hitting something at full strength that wasn’t going to die. They said fending off multiple opponents increased the chance of learning the skill faster. Robert asked me not to use my dodge ability so I could get used to blocking for a counter attacks. He suggests I get some armor with good bracers to handle small weapon attacks. After about a week and half, I finally got the message I was waiting for from the fates.

New Skill learned- Pressure Palm style level 1- This fighting style incorporates pressure points to aid in disabling opponents for a swift coup de grace. At even levels additional effects can be added to strikes. These effects are detailed at skill level ups.