Chapter 15 - Journey to Shatterspine

Tal took a deep breath, “Strike me if I haven’t missed this fresh air,” he spoke into the air, looking at the land around him. Now that he knew he wasn’t being targeted by the surrounding weaponry, he could properly appreciate the landscape. The sun hung in the sky, shining down a rich golden glaze. To the left of the sun, Tal spotted this planet’s moon for the first time. It was either much bigger or much closer than the one orbiting Earth as it took up considerable space.

Even in the bright of day, the sky was full of countless constellations and many other ungrouped stars twinkling faintly in the distance. Tal hadn’t noticed it before, but it was simply beautiful. And for a moment, he let his guard down and simply enjoyed the view.

But that moment quickly passed when it dawned on him just exposed he felt in the open space. His time in The Tower had seen him slowly acclimating to its dark, close-quarters environment.

“Oh, don’t be so gloomy. Take a look at how not-dead you are right now!” his sword chimed in.

Tal sighed, ‘First things first. I need a summary of where I am at…’ he thought. Then with another mental expression, he questioned the system. ‘ Profile...but with more details?’ Luckily, it complied.

Player Profile (Expanded Sheet)

General

Name: Tal Cael

Species: Human, Male

Affiliation: (Pending)

Level: 4

Health: 140/140

Mana: 130/130

Primary Attributes

Dexterity: 15

Agility: 14

Strength: 15

Constitution: 14

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 13

Charisma: 10

Secondary Attributes

Determination: 1

Martial Awareness: 2

Abilities

Incorpearility Shift [Rare]

Level: 2

Mana Cost: 50-100

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Effect: Target a particular area of your body to go partially incorporeal for a small period of time.

Skills

Sword Mastery

Level: 7

You have begun learning the ways of the sword under the instruction of a true master.

Traits

Perfect Pathways

Your pathways have been sculpted by the Deity to handle vast amounts of Mana as smoothly as possible. Only your personal talent can hold you back now.

These pathways come along with a condition of Affiliation from . Navigate to a shrine to re-establish connection and sync affiliation status with Deity.

Dual Bound

Your soul is bound to two different entities. Your trait ‘Perfect Pathways’ is preventing you from the backlash of the contrasting energies.

‘Affiliation? That’s certainly new. Looks like that was the price I paid for my pathways. And, of course, there was a price.’ Tal thought cynically, thinking back to the Deity that had summoned him to this world. It all seemed so long ago now. It was strange for him to acknowledge that figure was the equivalent of a god. ‘He had been powerful, sure. But divine? Far from. He had his own set of problems and worries.’

A ding interrupted his musings, and a window expanded itself in his eyesight.

Restore Connection (Quest)

1 / ?

Description: Navigate to a Shrine of your Deity. More details will become available when in the vicinity of a Shrine.

Error: No Shrines attuned to your Deity have been found.

Description: Convert or create a shrine and devote it to your Deity. More details will become available when in the vicinity of a shrine.

Reward: (Variable). I did tell you that you haven’t seen the last of me…

Tal stared at the screen for a moment, noting from the “/?” that it looked like a multi-stage quest. ‘Well, that certainly clears things up a little bit.’

Tal also noticed the absence of any bloodline entry with much disgruntlement. That stupid Tower had removed it when it was ejecting him, and after all the trouble he had gone through to get the cursed thing, no less. Tal would have been happy to see the bloodline gone after witnessing the control it granted the Null over his body, but now it seemed they were somehow permanently connected anyway.

‘Still…I guess it let me keep that sweet ability. Rare ranked as it is; hopefully, it can give me a one-up in this world. I just need to find a way to level it up. I wouldn’t mind filling out my attributes more as well. And my traits. And my skills. And-’

“You’ve got incoming; something big. Oh and, from behind you”, his sword interrupted him.

Tal whirled just in time to catch the last vestiges of the portals’ rippling surface. A single figure marched forth from the portal with an absolute confidence. Then, from behind, the cluttering of weaponry hastily being turned away from the figure met his ears. He gulped; something profound and alien within him stirred briefly enough to let off a panicked warning.

She was clad in a ruby red uniform so dark it was almost black. Golden inlay lined the edges of the uniform, reflecting the sun’s brilliance off its polished lustre. She held a thick wooden staff in a loose grip, complete with a swirling spiderweb of black cracks. A set of piercing midnight eyes travelled up the path she was on, searching.

Her eyes met Tal’s, immediately narrowing. She bumped her staff to the ground, and in an instant, the gravel at his feet tossed him off his feet and off the gravel path. She let off a humph of satisfaction and, without a word, turned and extended an expecting gaze back toward the portal.

The portal rippled once more and from the distorted plane emerged an ensemble of spear-wielding women wearing a much less ornamented version of the woman’s uniform. They fanned out immediately in a perfect half-circle around the woman.

Before they could finish organising themselves, however, a familiar person navigated themselves out from behind one of the barricades - this time without any ledger in hand. He cleared his throat awkwardly before offering a bow and then addressed the woman at the group’s centre in a much more reverent voice than Tal had received.

“Kessia Al’Savage, Master of the Grimden”, he strained a broad smile and gestured toward the group, “whose prowess I can see is even greater than their proceeding reputation. It is my pleasure to welcome you back to Shatterspine!” he paused for a reply, shifting slightly under their intent gazes. When it became evident no answer was forthcoming, he continued with a cough, “Ah…King Malazen has seen fit to provide all Masters of The Tournament an escort to their private quarters. Let me show you where yours awaits you.”

The woman nodded sharply, and the group followed in the wake of the departing diplomat.

Tal did his best to stay silent throughout the exchange, doing his best not to draw the ire of the all-too-easily irritated woman. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief when the party left the area - toward what he assumed was the Shatterspine Kingdom - without incident.

“Well, wasn’t she cranky.” his sword agreed. “Though did you hear that? A real-life tournament! Do you think there would be other nice swords there that would want to talk to me? They don’t even have to be a sword. I’m not weaponist. We should go. Can we please go?”

Tal let out a long breath, picking himself off the ground. “There’s as good a place as any, I suppose. We can check it out, though I’m not promising how long we’ll stay. We really need to find somewhere we can sleep. And I’m assuming this kingdom doesn’t have free housing; people are greedy like that. So we also need to make some money somehow.” Tal said, feeling a headache start to take on. ‘Hopefully, being a hub of civilisation, there will be plenty of opportunities.’

Without further thought, he started off in the direction the group of women had left in, following their collection of footprints. Soon enough, he had navigated a way out from the encircling barricades and defences positioned around the portal. Without the fortifications marring his view, he was exposed to the wide valley before him.

The valley narrowed and inclined as it bore on, though even through the distance, Tal could spy a looming stone wall at the end. ‘This is going to be a bloody long journey on foot...That’s got to be at least a week of walking!’

“Now, aren’t you lucky you have some impeccable company!” his sword chimed in.

Tal didn’t bother to reply, instead looking into the far distance where he could see the party of women from earlier, now on horses and getting further with every second. But they weren’t the only group making the trek to get inside the castle’s walls; hundreds of people bottlenecked toward the end of the valley, seeking entrance.

Tal heard a commotion from the portal behind him. Turning over his shoulder, he spied a group of caravans from the other side and the ‘ledger-man’ rushing over to assess the new arrivals. ‘Just where are all these people coming from…’. But after watching the large procession of caravans continue to emerge from the portal, he got an idea.

Soon later, the procession of caravans had finished with the admin side of things and was journeying in the same direction Tal was headed in. A little later, he introduced himself to the procession’s owner, a guarded old dwarf with a thickly knotted beard trailing past his shoulders.

“You know how to use that thing, boy?” he said, gesturing toward Tal’s sword. Tal lied through his teeth, assuring him that yes, he could use it. And technically, it wasn’t a lie. He never said he could use it well. But, despite his assurances, the dwarf didn’t seem to believe him.

Still, after Tal showed signs of not giving up his campaign, the dwarf relented and let the boy onboard in a spare carriage for the promise of added protection.

There were a few stipulations. First, he would be tasked with helping to guard the procession. He wasn’t sure what from, but it sounded easy enough. Additionally, his allocated carriage was used primarily for storage. It was riddled with the type of supplies and equipment one might use on a long journey. Lastly, he was expected to pull his weight in the camp set up each night - and subsequent dismantlement in the morning.

But Tal wasn’t disgruntled in the slightest either. There were plenty of upsides for him, and he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty to earn his keep. His feet would thank him later. Not to mention he would be receiving shelter. The most important thing, however, was that he could get a bit of whatever food was in the pot each night.

Overall, it was a great deal for the dwarf; he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. And for Tal, well, he considered it a solid agreement too.

Tal climbed aboard and tried to make a comfortable space for himself within the storage cavern he had been given. He found a box full of thin but large rugs that hung off a large coil of rope. He strung his makeshift curtain around the room for some privacy.

Many moved boxes later, and Tal was lying on the floor, puffed and with an aching back, but he couldn’t help feeling admiration for his handiwork. A wave of exhaustion came over him then, but done with his work and feeling quite deserving of some sleep, he closed his eyes and nodded off.

***

The Null stirred from within, restless. They hungered for battle. They needed it like their host needed food - or shelter. They needed it. And they would make sure they got it.