“Demons are especially strange beings. Are they a dark reflection of the Archons’ holy power, as the Church states? If so, why is it that they are made by the Archons themselves? I posit that Demons are a kind of ‘ultimate villain’ the Archons pay special attention to in order to foster conflict, for whatever reason. I have met four Demons in my long life, and I have found each one to be, in their own way, a paragon of malice and corruption.”

- Oreanen Vainen, the Emerald Sage, discussing Demons

Level 10!

Class Advanced: 🠊 Level 11!

Talent — earned!

Talent — earned!

Helena didn’t mention the level ups to anybody, preferring to be quietly satisfied and mention it at some later date.

Meanwhile, Bim toasted Zara.

Level 27!

Coll laughed, giving various Talents a spin and commiserating with his mother and old friends.

Bim leaned back in his chair, enjoying the relieved and excited atmosphere.

Level 6!

Talent Advancement!

)> 🠊

🠊

🠊

He looked around him, at his friends, at the people partying, enjoying themselves. He had to be stronger. Bim had been confused and groggy and barely did anything while Coll, Zara, and Helena did all the work.

AND CLASSES MERGING

Level 6 + Level 4 = Level 3!

All Talents retained.

Talent — gained!

They partied and laughed, ate and drank, sang and told stories, danced and argued, all throughout the night.

A couple days later, the cart was fully stocked-- the two bandits having been thrown in the local prison awaiting trial-- the team was prepared, and everyone exchanged their goodbyes.

“You’re a witty bastard, Coll. See you around.” Helena said. Coll nodded to her.

“Thanks for killing that beast of a man.”

“Rule well, Chief Administrator.” Zara said, hand on his shoulder. “If you fail these people, I’ll take your head.” She smiled warmly.

“Keep yourself hydrated, friend.” Was all Bim said, before shaking his and Walsh’s hands and climbing atop the cart. Off they went, gone so soon, four adventurers looking to save the world a little at a time.

🟌

They struck out southeast, following the edge of King's Lake. On their morning out of the town, the four of them spent a long time just chatting. “I’ve changed Classes twice in the last few weeks, and leveled even more. It’s crazy. I just wish I had been able to keep up with Helena last night.” Zara seemed rueful about that.

“Well, ma’am, I’ll be honest; I’ve had since I was sixteen years old; my Da taught it to me, though it took an age and a half. I’m twice as fast as ya, at least. I don’t think a single person any one of us have ever met could beat me in a footrace, ‘cept for perhaps Coll’s Ma. She definitely has , or even .”

“Is that actually a Talent?” Bim asked.

Helena smiled. “Yes it is. Passive physical Talents go from Improved (Minor), to Improved (Moderate), to Improved, and that’s where even the pros stop. But there’s a step above that-- . , , , and . It’s said that only perhaps two or three people in the entire world can hold a Talent of a particular category at a time. I want to have . It’s always been the dream. But she probably didn’t have it, to be more serious; if she did, we wouldn’t have been able to track the fight with our eyes.”

Bim folded that information away for later. He looked harder at Helena. “Did you level last night? You’re practically blurry with how much you’ve been shivering with excitement.”

Helena smiled. “Thank you for saying something, Bim. As a matter of fact, I did level. I’m a now. I’ve got a couple strange Talents from it, but they sound useful.”

Greg froze, suddenly tense. “, you said?”

She looked at him questioningly. “Yeah. . Why do you look like you saw a ghost? Have you heard of the Class before? I hadn’t.”

“ kill the risen dead, dark magicians, and… Demons, among other things.”

Helena cocked her head. “My Uncle Gannek used to tell me stories about Demons when I was very young. Said they were just tales, though.”

Greg looked troubled. “They aren’t stories, that’s for sure. My mentor, Rivenstead, kills them as part of his job. If you got the Class specialization, that must mean that Gailen was a Demon! That raises so many questions.”

Greg scratched his scruffy chin. “Demons are made from regular people becoming so perverse and broken inside that they are granted a Class that warps them into something inhuman and vile, but also very powerful. Demons are fairly uncommon-- about once a year on average someone, somewhere turns into a Demon. It’s the job of the to slay them when they pop up, to give a rough explanation.”

Helena nodded. “If all Demons are half as nasty as Gailen was, I’ll be happy to put ‘em down. But how do you know so much about my new Class?”

“Like I said, my mentor’s a too. , specifically. I learned a lot from him when we trained together.”

“Where’s he now?”

Greg grimaced. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you even if I wanted to. He lives a nomadic life; never stays more than a few months in one place. Besides, he and I haven’t talked since I left my training. We had an… ideological disagreement. I’ll explain another time, when I’m more ready to break down what happened.”

Helena nodded respectfully, then turned to Zara. “What about you? How are you feeling about that new Class?”

Zara sighed contentedly. “Honestly, it’s amazing. The Talents I’ve got from it and the sense of purpose and connection to the world around me are like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Since getting it, I feel… I feel like a piece of the land itself, walking about, able to bring change where it’s needed, to set things right and guide the people. It’s empowering.”

“I’m glad you’re getting that much out of it.” The said.

Conversation lapsed in and out, and after a long day of travel, as the shadows lengthened, they set camp beside the road.

“We’ll be outside Walsh lands soon.” Helena said, eyes sharp. “We’ll need to be vigilant for wild animals, bandits, and the like. We don’t want to get ourselves hurt being careless out here. I’ll take the first watch.”

As Helena took up her most and the three others drifted off to sleep, the moon shone down full and bright on their little camp. The scene was one of serenity.

Their recovery from the previous night’s chaos could be said to be speedy.