Chapter 28, Tomin Part 2

You have used the spell Spirit Surge and consumed 50% of your remaining energy. As the amount of energy consumed exceeds more than 30% of your maximum energy, it has caused an adverse effect.

Passed Out.

Time Remaining: 30 Seconds.

An additional possible side effect of absolute apathy has also been applied. You will struggle to find motivation for the next 5 minutes. Emotions will return slowly in a random order.

You will be unable to think clearly until this state is removed or ends.

Despite knowing his lack of care or concern was caused by the spell, Tobi didn’t feel like it was something that should matter. In fact, he kind of liked the sensation. No worries, no grief, no panic. It was kind of calming.

As the seconds ticked by of his passed out state, his mind floated in empty space. No thoughts stirred and all of his senses relaxed.

The seconds continued to tick by until at last there were 3 seconds left, 2, 1…

Tobi opened his eyes. Selene was standing just off to his side with a glowing staff in the air and a heal spell lighting Darien up like a christmas tree. The Talin was helping him fight one of the childlike creatures while Sax was giving out commands and struggling to block the doorway with both of his shields.

When Tobi passed out, it had been the Talin holding the door and Sax was helping kill the creature. Whatever happened after that, he couldn’t guess. More than that though, he didn’t even care what happened after he passed out. The urgency and importance of everything he was doing was gone.

Lay there as sounds washed over him without meaning, Tobi watched the creature die. Sax issued commands again. With the Talin’s help, they created a gap in the shields and pulled another creature from the living room area.

Plugging the hole with the shields again, Tobi noticed more of what was actually happening. Part of the living room door was in the hallway and at least 3 of the child-creatures were dead in the hall.

The back of Tobi’s mind stirred a little as he concluded what was happening. They were holding back the 8 creatures inside and letting them slip inside one at a time. It was a good idea and it seemed to be working.

They seemed to have figured out how to kill them too, as the first one they were dealing with refused to die and yet now 3 were dead in the hall.

I guess that leaves 6 more in the living room...well, 5 now… Tobi mused.

He still wasn’t concerned by anything he saw and his level of care was so low, he grew bored and turned his head to look at the ceiling.

Words, shouts, screams, roars, lights, spells, curses and other other manner of sounds and activity washed over his senses, and yet, Tobi continued to pointlessly stare at the roof.

Sax called out some encouraging words to the group and Tobi felt his own emotions stir a little. For the briefest moment, he felt like he could get up and keep going—give that extra little push that would lead to victory.

What’s the point? Tobi asked himself as the feeling dissipated into nothing a moment later.

The question bounced around in Tobi’s mind, growing in conviction the longer it lingered.

What’s the point in this? Why are we fighting? Why am I here? What am I doing?

Each question seemed to gnaw at Tobi as they applied not only to the situation he was in, but to everything that happened to him since he left his bakery months earlier.

He’d been content to live as an NPC until they found a way to release him from the game, so why had he suddenly decided to make a chess set? Why did he shout at Selest in the church? Why did he want to sail to see the Elves? What was so important about becoming stronger? Why...Why...Why…

Tobi frowned and looked across the hallway. The pile of dead child-like creatures was now at five. That would leave around 4 remaining in the living room but it still didn’t matter.

Why did I agree to come to this house? Why didn’t I leave Chadú as soon as Selene was rescued?

Anger broke through Tobi’s wall of Apathy. The urge to stand up and punch Darien with everything he had grew in leaps and bounds until it reached the point he was ready to stand up and do exactly that.

It’s all his fault… Tobi decided, staring at Darien, Him, Kleetz, Scrim, the King and his completely ridiculous tournament that makes no fucking sense at all… Bubele, the slaves… this entire country is fucked up.

Finding himself standing without realizing he’d even moved, he looked over at Darien. Sweat dripped from his brow as he and the Talin fought yet another child-like creature.

“I can’t find it…” Darien called, “Talin, keep it still.”

The Talin did his best to pin the creature while Darien cut a hole into it. Unable to find whatever he’d been looking for, he reached inside with his bare hands and began to feel around. Seconds later, he yanked something free and the creature stilled.

Whatever it was, Darien tossed it across the hall without caring about the direction.

“Next one Sax.”

The Talin rushed to help Sax maneuver his shields just enough to let a single creature through. None of them seemed to notice that Tobi was back on his feet yet but he still didn’t care, his attention was on the small glass orb that landed nearby. It appeared to be nothing more than a marble covered in black, congealed blood—yet that was what Darien removed from the creature in order to kill it.

Bending it down and picking it up, Tobi rubbed the ball clean. Just like he imagined, it really was a marble. A small, grey cloud inside swirled like a tiny storm—other than that, it seemed to be a completely normal, glass marble.

Identify.

Spirit Stone.

Your ability and knowledge is too low to gain any further information from the item.

The back of Tobi’s mind acknowledged the fact that he only thought the command and didn’t say it, but such trivial things didn’t matter. He put the marble in his pocket while the earlier anger he felt for Darien had waned. It still lingered and bubbled like a pool of lava, but a bigger hatred came at the sight of the dead Spook on the floor. That damn bastard had almost killed Selene.

Turning his attention back to the fight ahead, Darien was struggling with the child-creature while the Talin and Sax were trying to get the shields back in place. They were still attempting to fight them one at a time, so they had to plug the doorway back up with the shields before the Talin could help Darien in his fight.

Adonis. Tobi called, looking at his staff with his hand outstretched.

The staff obeyed. In the past, the best he could do with a mental call was make the staff shake. Tobi had known the staff would listen though. He didn’t even doubt it as the mental command came not just from his mind, but through the magic in his hand all the way to the staff.

Selene turned her head in surprise at the sound of the staff hitting Tobi’s hand. The sound of him catching and grabbing the staff hadn’t been much, but it was enough to startle her.

Walking forward and ignoring the urge to crack Darien over the head with his staff, Tobi asked himself once more why he was in Tomin’s house—why he had followed Darien like a blind sheep.

Knowing they could have all died in that place, Tobi concluded it was no different to being a lemming and jumping off the cliff with all the other lemmings. (A video game Tobi had loved when he was about 5-years-old and possibly the last computer game he actually played.)

“Tobi?”

Darien stared up at him in confusion as he loomed over both Darien and the creature. The creature seemed to hesitate too, for the briefest of moments.

“Where is the ball thing?” Tobi asked without care while Darien renewed his struggle. With his state of apathy still in effect, he didn’t even bother trying to help as Darien struggled and appeared to be losing.

“It’s between the heart and the solar plexus.” Sax shouted as he finally got the lower shield in place and plugged the hole.

The Talin rushed over and started to help Darien. Tobi continued to watch and stared at the creature. When the creature was restraint and the chest open for attack, Tobi lifted his staff and slammed it to the approximate place Sax had mentioned.

Arcane Strike.

The burst of mana flew from both hands, down the staff and out of the bottom. The knockback effect of the spell hit the chest before the second part exploded inside. The sound of something cracking could be heard right across the hall.

The creature’s body went limp and both Darien and the Talin fell back at the sudden loss of resistance.

“Get the next one.” Tobi said.

Even Darien recognized the statement as a command and gave a nod.

“Are you OK, Tobi?” Sax asked as the Talin prepared to help him once more.

Tobi stared back without giving a reply. The apathy was wearing off, but the emotions he was regaining first were all negative ones. Anger first, then doubts. Hate followed but it seemed to be directed at everything rather than any single thing. The ruling emotion in that moment was something akin to Vengeance. A conviction to destroy everything that had hurt him and those he cared about.

Sax finally shrank back from Tobi’s glare and gave a furtive glance to the Talin. The Talin shrugged and gestured to the shields. Sax quickly looked back at Tobi before giving a nod and preparing to endure the struggle once more.

Tobi ignored the silent communication between the two has his impatience increased. He wanted the next one to hurry up and get there. The creatures, for all the strength, agility, power and previously ability were actually nothing more than puppets. Cut the strings and they were nothing. Tobi had the scissors, now he just needed the puppets.

One of the creatures came rushing through the gap and Sax pushed to trap the second one between the wall and his shield. With the Talin’s help, he was trying to push it back and close the gap. Darien pounced on the new target and Selene dropped a group heal and a blessing on them all.

The blessing took effect immediately and Darien managed to wrestle the creature to a spot where it couldn’t attack either Sax or Selene.

Tobi stepped forward to where Sax was struggling and casually lifted his staff. He pointed it directly at the head of the creature trying to scramble through.

Light burst from his staff as Arcane Strike hit the creature and drove it back. The shield slammed against the wall instantly and finished plugging the hole.

Sax looked up at him with surprise. From his crouched position, Tobi loomed over him like a great shadow. He’d dealt with the struggle so easily, it seemed almost unfair.

Tobi turned his attention to the Talin. He didn’t say anything, but the Talin gave a nod anyway and rushed to Darien.

Neither spoke as they both knew what was to be done. The Talin took the legs while Darien took the arms. They pulled with everything they had and Tobi stepped up to the plate again. Using the same process as before, he crushed the glass orb inside the creature using his magic.

This is too easy… all that effort before and they can be killed so easily. It’s sad. Pathetic even…

“How many are left?” Tobi asked Sax, walking back to him before the Talin and Darien even let go of the now dead body.

“2 or 3…”

Tobi hesitated as doubt tickled his senses. It was only brief, but he felt it as keenly as a knife, “Move out of the way.”

Sax made to move and stopped, “Aren’t we better if—”

At the look Tobi was giving him, Sax stopped his sentence. His step back was quick and both shields were up and ready in a heartbeat. All 3 creatures scrambling against his shield a moment before fell into the hall on top of each other.

Tobi stepped forward and used what he now considered his signature move. Arcane strike knocked the one on the top back and he planted his staff on the one underneath. Arcane Strike was used again repeatedly as he crushed its back with knockback blows and blasts of magic exploded inside its body.

The creature didn’t even have time to react as each spell forced it to stay where it was. The fourth spell finally hit the glass marble inside its chest. Unlike the previous creatures, the ball didn’t shatter and it only cracked. Whatever spirit was inside, shrieked and the piercing scream filled the hall.

The child-like creature spasmed for a few moments before it stilled.

The Talin and Darien gripped the third one while Sax rushed for the one Tobi knocked back across the hall. Selene cast her healing spells on Darien once again. Tobi hadn’t seen how much Darien was being attacked, but he must have had the weakest defense there because Selene was constantly being forced to heal him.

Tobi was about to move on to help Darien and the Talin when the creature he’d attacked started to rise back up. It didn’t move like it did before though. The eerie way it’s body rose from the floor didn’t include the use of its arms or legs.

Tobi looked back at the creature calmly. With the child’s body now hovering two-feet off the floor, it rotated in the air and turned to face Tobi.

Staring into each others eyes, the creature smiled. The toothy grin was shown yellowed teeth covered in brown blood. Tobi’s face remained impassive as he stared back.

A blast of air shot out of the creature, forcing Tobi to take half a step back.

Well that’s new…

Unlike the apathy he felt before, Tobi felt clearheaded. There was no anger, hate, spite, doubt or any other obtrusive emotion. It was the same mental and emotional state he felt when playing chess.

He could see Sax in the background pinning the other child against the wall with both of his shields; the struggle of Darien and the Talin was heard from behind, coupled with heals and blessings being cast by Selene.

A second blast of air shot from the child in front of Tobi.

There was no sense of urgency in Tobi as a dagger of pure air flew toward him. He didn’t even dodge as the blade sliced his cheek and his health took a small drop.

Lifting a hand to the wound, Tobi touched the wound lightly and looked at his fingertips. A small amount of blood came away with the touch and Tobi looked at the blood with mild curiosity.

“You dare trap me in this cursed body…” The creature hissed with a voice belonging to a man rather than a child.

I trapped him?

A second blast of air shot forward. Unlike the dagger of the previous spell, it appeared like ball with a trailblaze in its wake. The sight reminded Tobi of a fire mage’s fireball spell— except there was no fire.

Tobi’s body seemed to react on its own as he moved his staff and blocked the spell. He still received a little damage but the staff managed to block the majority of it.

So that’s how you block magic… Tobi wondered as he looked at his staff.

A second ball of air shot forward, just like the first, Tobi swatted it with his staff. His mind was turning but he couldn’t quite put his thoughts in order. The question of why he was even there resurfaced to the front of his mind.

Tobi’s health took another hit and his robe split on the sleeve.

“Tobi! What are you doing? Fight back.”

Selene’s voice cut through the air, but all Tobi focused on was the question.

What am I doing?

He’d asked himself the same question earlier and had no answer. What was he doing?

The sound of glass breaking rejolted Tobi’s senses. Turning his head to the side, he saw that Darien and the Talin had managed to kill the other creature. To help Sax though, they would have to face the new foe in front of them.

“I will kill you all…” The creature screamed, releasing even stronger spells and hitting all them at once.

“We didn’t trap you in that body though…” Tobi complained, trying to make sense of why the creature blamed him for what was happening to it.

“Lies!”

Another blast of air magic rushed forward. At least a dozen daggers of air flew toward him and Tobi simply watched. He felt his body pulled out of the way and watched passively as the blades flew by.

At what Tobi witnessed next, his soul chilled and the world stilled. Five of the twelve daggers hit Selene cleanly. The staff she was holding up to grant light to everyone else slowly dimmed and fell to her side. Her eyes looked down at the wounds as the blades of air evaporated into nothing. Her robe was torn and red stains appeared on her robe where each spell had hit.

Selene dropped to one knee and seemed to swoon a little. The child creature didn’t stop his attacks either and hit Tobi, the Talin and Darien with another set of spells. Tobi’s health dropped below half as the spell hit. The Talin and Darien rushed at the creature but Tobi simply looked at Selene.

Taking a single step toward her, followed by another… Tobi made his way to her in a dreamlike state.

Dropping to a knee in front of her and putting a hand on her shoulder, he urged the words ‘are you ok’ to come out of his mouth.

No words came. Selene’s head snapped up as her eyes burned and stared back into his.

“Snap out of it!” She growled through gritted teeth. The hate in her voice stung but only half as much as the slap across his face.

“... Why?” Tobi asked, lifting a hand to his cheek. He couldn’t understand why she slapped him at all and the burning sensation in his cheek seemed to only get worse when he touched it.

Absolute Apathy has ended.

The window only appeared for a brief moment before it disappeared again. It was the first time since the battle started that a window interrupted the fighting.

Caught off guard by the sudden interruption to everything that was happening, Tobi’s senses and emotions started to flood back into his body.

Selene’s hand rose again.

Alarmed by the fact he was about to be slapped again, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, “I’m OK now. Thank you.”

“Good. Now go kill that thing.”

Looking back over his shoulder at the creature managing to keep Darien and the Talin at a safe distance, Tobi shook his head, “How? I thought I already killed it but it came back to life.”

Selene didn’t seem to have an answer either and simply held her ribs where one of the blades of magic stabbed her.

“Are you OK?” Tobi asked in concern, unable to think about the creature while she was in that condition.

“I will be. I have already healed the bleed effects but my mana is too low to use anymore healing. I can’t even keep this light going much longer.”

Tobi nodded with relief as he watched Darien and the Talin struggle. He could even see Sax watching with worry from the opposite wall. The creature behind his shield was still struggling but pinned firmly and unable to escape.

Spotting the Spook lay on the floor in the corner of his eye not two-feet away, Tobi’s attention turned to the dagger sticking out of its chest. He recognized the dagger instantly as his own. It was the one the Talin made for him. A perfectly black dagger from tip to pommel. How it ended up in the Spook he didn’t know but it gave him an idea.

“Stop!”

The floating child hesitated and the Talin and Darien stopped their attempts a moment later. Tobi didn’t know who would last longer, the creature’s mana or the Talin and Darien’s health, but it no longer mattered.

“You said we will pay for trapping you in that cursed body,” Tobi noted, “but if you kill us, you will be trapped in that body forever. Is that what you want?”

The creature remained still but the expression on its face changed from anger to worry. Tobi had come to the conclusion that the Spirit in the stone had escaped because he didn’t destroy it properly. Chance’s were that he cracked it or something and the spirit came out that way.

If that was true, he would be able to set it free.

“I can set you free if you want, but you should know; it wasn’t us that trapped you. Would you like me to set you free, or would you like to get revenge on the man that did this to you?”

The child’s head turned from Tobi to the Talin and back again.

“How do I know you’re not lying.” The strange voice replied.

Tobi pulled the dagger out from the Spooks chest. He needed 100 dexterity to wield it properly and he only had 91 after getting rid of tailor, but he could still carry it just fine.

“That’s why you have the choice. I can set you free right now. There is a Spirit Stone in your chest. The man that trapped your soul put it in that stone. I broke the stone which should have set you free, but it seems I didn’t break it completely. I just have to finish breaking it and you can move on from this world.”

The creature shook his head, “I know what Spirit Stones are. If my soul is trapped in one, it will not set me free, it will destroy my soul. Are you trying to trick me?”

Destroy his soul? Is that what we have been doing?

“I am not trying to trick you, I thought that is how it works. If we don’t break the stones to set you free, how do we do it?”

“A Priest or higher must perform the task.” The creature replied, his hovering body lowering to the floor.

Tobi turned to look at Selene who just shrugged, she clearly didn’t know how to set it free.

“Is my soul really trapped in a Spirit Stone?”

Tobi nodded. He was about to pull the Spirit Stone out of his pocket as proof before thinking better of it. The creature might suspect him again if he suddenly produced a stone with a soul trapped inside.

“The creature over there has one inside too. We thought we had to break the stones to set you free. We didn’t know. I can cut the stone free from its chest and show you, if you like.”

The child turned to look at Sax briefly, “OK, show me.”

The child rose back into the air and moved to the side. Darien and the Talin edged passed on the opposite wall, watching the creature as the went by. Once they were clear of him, the moved to Sax and together, all three of them restrained it.

Tobi walked over with his dagger in hand. Crouching next to the creature, he tried to cut it open. The blade couldn’t damage the skin at all though.

So this is what happens if you don’t meet the requirements…?

“Open User Window.”

Name: Tobi

Level14Health: 378/790Mana: 144/1569Energy: 31/100Satiety: 64/100

TITLESInventor

Inventor of Chess

Tobi of Brackley

Prophet

Gods’ Chosen

[td100]STATS[/tds]Distributable Points30 (75 used)Health Points61(+10)Intelligence138(+10)Strength74Wisdom90Attack55Dexterity91Agility69Defence43(+45)Leadership31Piety130(+20)Charm26Charisma31Logic81Stamina104Nobility53???-???-Endurance101???-???-

[td100]Additional Information[/tds]RaceHumanGenderMaleAlignmentGood; HeroicClassNoneAffinityArcane; Divine;AllegianceUndeclared

Professions [+Others+]Cooking: Intermediate 10 (+60 Health Points)

Elven Carpentry: Intermediate 1 (+51 Dexterity)

Lumberjack: Beginner 28 (+28 Strength)

Alchemy: Beginner 1 (+1 Intelligence)

Herbology: Beginner 20 (+20 Intelligence)

Enchanter: Beginner 1 (+1 Intelligence)

++Others++

Linguistics Beginner 34

- Known Languages: Elven, Malanchite, Talin, [Human]

Swimming: Beginner 5

Knowledge of Staffs: Beginner 2

Level 14? Just how many notifications are waiting for me when the battle state is removed?

Pushing the thoughts aside, Tobi added 9 stats into Dexterity to make it reach 100. With that done, he would now be able to properly wield the dagger the Talin made for him.

Figuring he might as well do the rest now while he had the window open, he distributed the other 21 points too. He remembered he wanted his wisdom to reach 100 thought he couldn’t fully remember why, so 10 of them went into that. A small ding sound was heard in the back of his mind.

Turning his head to look for the source of the sound, Tobi shrugged and turned his attention back to the stat window.

Figuring it would be nice to round up some numbers, he put 1 stat in agility, 2 in defense, 1 in strength and 2 into Intelligence. He still had five left but he could feel the eyes of the floating child burning into his back. The Talin, Sax and Darien weren’t exactly having an easy time of restraining the other creature either, so he left the 5 stats to be distributed some other time.

StatsDistributable Points5 (100 used)Health Points61 (+10)Intelligence140 (+10)Strength75Wisdom100Attack55Dexterity100Agility70Defence45 (+45)Leadership31Piety120 (+30)Charm26Charisma31Logic81Stamina104Nobility53???-???-Endurance101???-???-

Closing his user window, Tobi ignored the eyes of the creature struggling in front of him. Eyes that seemed to plead with him and beg him not to do what he was about to.

The dagger in his hand that formerly felt clunky and unwieldy now fit like a glove. The dull edge that seemed to be there before now gleamed and glistened, ready to draw blood from Tobi’s enemies.

Carefully inserting the blade, Tobi cut an incision in the creature’s chest. The blade was so sharp and durable, he even felt he could cut through the bone if he exerted enough force.

The creature didn’t show any signs of pain at all as Tobi peeled back the skin and flesh. The gruesome scene and foul smell made Tobi gag, but his ordeal wasn’t over yet.

Reaching below the ribcage of the creature, Tobi felt his way through the internal system of the child until he found the solid orb he was looking for. The body of the child had a lurched and spazzed as he took hold. As soon as he broke the small marble-like object free of its hold, the boy stilled.

Tobi heard the strange sound in his head once more. He was positive this time that the ding was in his head and not a sound from in the hall. The sound wasn’t important yet though so he ignored it and pulled the ball free. After cleaning it of gunk and wiping his hand on the rags the child wore, Tobi shown the orb to the floating creature behind him.

“So it’s true…” The creature sighed in a resigned voice, “I hoped you were lying.”

“How do we set you free?” Tobi asked, not wanting to destroy the souls in the two stones he had but release them instead.

“When I was living, any priest around could perform the task. Are you sure you do not know how?”

The question was directed at Selene and all eyes turned to her.

“I don’t know. I would need someone to show me how before I can try it.”

The floating child sighed and dropped back to the floor. His shoulders were slumped and he looked pained by the news.

“You say any Priest could do it when you were living? If that’s the case, it can’t be that hard. What spell did they use?”

“Retribution.” The child replied, daring to sound slightly hopeful.

Tobi hadn’t heard of that spell before and looked to Selene.

“Retribution?” Sax asked, “That’s a Divine spell though. Did all Priests have Divinity when you were living?”

“Of course. Do they not now?”

Sax shook his head, “When were you living?”

The child scratched his head, “We didn’t mark the years so I don’t know how to answer that question. I died during a war that involved all the races. Elves against Elves, Man against Man, Dwarf against Dwarf and every race against each other. It was a really dark time.”

“The great war…” Selene and Sax breathed in unison. Tobi had come to the same conclusion but he didn’t feel a need to point it out like they had done.

“If you died so long ago, how did Tomin capture your soul?” Tobi asked, trying to keep his attention on the situation at hand.

“I don’t remember much after my death. I know I was wandering in a forest. I was part of Ardene’s Mage Guild and we were sent as reserves to deal with Dark Elves intruding from the North. We arrived too late. The force sent ahead of us was already destroyed. We buried the dead and looked for survivors. That’s the last thing I remember…

No. There is more. I was visited by a dark Spectre. He appeared to me as an evil spirit, but his body was whole. He existed both in the world of the dead and the world of the living. I tried to fight him, but my powers were overwhelmed easily. The creature laughed at me and the next thing I knew, I was in pain. Terrible pain.

My next memory is waking up and seeing you. Your eyes are like the one that captured me, though now I think about it, the color is different.”

Looking back to Selene, Tobi hoped she would be able to shed light on the story.

Taking note of Tobi’s silent question, Selene shrugged, “Probably the Spook.” She answered, gesturing to the dead Spook at the other end of the hall.

That makes sense… Tobi mused.

“On a different note,” Selene added, “I know how to use Retribution.”

“Really?” The child and Sax asked together.

“Yeah, but I’ve never come across a Spirit Stone before. Were they common when you were alive?”

“They were common during the war. They were misused. The original purpose of a Spirit Stone wasn’t to trap souls of the dead.”

“So what was the purpose?” Darien asked. He’d been quiet up until that moment, but now he’d spoken, Tobi took note of the greed sparkling in his eye.

“It was a weapon against the undead. I am not completely familiar with it though. I was a powerful mage when I was alive, but I didn’t associate with cursed items like those. Anyway, Priestess, you say you know Retribution?”

“I do.” Selene answered, “What do I need to do exactly? Just cast the spell on the stone?”

“That should work, but I believe you can do it directly on this body.”

Selene glanced at Tobi before turning back to the creature, “I don’t have the mana right now. We also need to move through the house and fight the man that did this to you—as well as any other creatures still here. Didn’t you want to get your vengeance on him too?”

The child nodded, “That is true, I did think that way at first. My time here is long since over though. I shouldn’t be here. Especially here. I can feel that this isn’t my country. The God who will take my soul is not Ardene. It is regrettable, but at least I can finally go to my resting place.”

So god’s do take the souls of the dead? I wonder how he knows this isn’t Ardene… should I tell him that Ardene is no longer its own country?

Tobi shook his head and dismissed his thoughts. It didn’t matter if the wind mage went with them. As much help as he would be, they’d spent a good deal of time talking to him and they’d learned a new way to defeat the strange creatures. On top of that, they wouldn’t need to destroy any more souls trapped in the Spirit Stones.

“How much mana is needed, Selene?”

“500 for Retribution. I have regenerated 100 so far, but it would be faster if I didn’t need to keep this light going.”

Tobi nodded and glanced at the staff.

“Ah! I know a way…”

Tobi pulled his wand out of his belt and proceeded to move the dead bodies out of the way. The others didn’t know what he was planning to do, but they helped stack the bodies under the alcove of the stairs. Once there was enough space, Tobi nodded in satisfaction. The Talin and Sax were still dragging the dog ‘Stitches’ out of the way though, so he waited until they were done before he began.

So many bodies in such a small space. Its a wonder we managed to continue fighting in that mess…

On top of the bodies being moved, the loot they dropped after being killed was also evident. Tobi had completely forgotten about loot drops so it came as a bit of a surprise. Darien started picking up the loot straight away but Tobi just left him to it. As he started to draw a glyph on the floor with his wand, the Talin and Sax also started picking up the loot drops. Only Selene stayed to see what Tobi was doing.

“Mana glyph.” Tobi declared once he was done. A circle big enough for two people to stand in made up the outside with a five-pointed pentagon inside. The mana glyph itself filled the pentagon almost completely.

It was a little different to simply making the glyph itself for using on weapons and armors, but his new Enchanter friend in the store had shown him the difference during their talk of barriers.

Remembering the Enchanters instruction that different amounts of power stored in the glyph changed the results a little, Tobi checked his own mana. He had 323 so decided to use 300 of it on the glyph.

The glyph lit up blue instantly and faded to a dim glow afterward. Tobi stepped inside the circle to see if it worked how he planned.

His mana began to visibly rise instantly.

“Selene. Come and stand in this glyph with me.”

She nodded and stepped forward without hesitation.

Why does it say we’re still in a battle state? Nothing is attacking us…

“Open Notifications.”

You have killed Spectre with Spirit Surge.

+1,800 experience.

You have killed a Spectre with Spirit Surge.

+2,300 experience.

You have killed a Spectre with Spirit Surge.

+2,000 experience.

Divine Spell Learned: Spirit Surge.

You have helped kill a Possessed Child.

+2,100 experience.

You have levelled up.

You have helped kill a Spook.

+8,700 experience.

You have levelled up.

Your party has killed a Possessed Child.

+500 experience.

Your party has killed a Possessed Child.

+500 experience.

Your party has killed a Possessed Child.

+500 experience.

Your party has killed a Possessed Child.

+500 experience.

Your party has killed a Possessed Child.

+500 experience.

You have killed a Possessed Child.

+3,800 experience.

You have leveled up.

You have killed a Possessed Child.

+4,000 experience.

You have killed a Possessed Child.

+3,950 experience.

You have helped kill a Possessed Child.

+1,400 experience.

You have leveled up.

You have reached the milestone of 100 wisdom.

Experience gain restrictions based on level has been lifted. Killing targets of a higher level will now give more appropriate experience.

Additional experience will be awarded per 10 levels higher than your own of any defeated target.

For achieving this milestone, people will see the wisdom in your words and will succumb to your reasoning more easily.

Professions, Skills, Passive Skills and Sub-Skills will level at a faster rate.

You have liberated a soul from Possessed Child.

+1,000 experience.

Freeing the Soul from the stone will grant additional experience and Piety.

Wow...so many damn notifications… Wait…

As he closed each of the windows, Tobi stopped on the one talking about his 100 Wisdom. When he raised his wisdom to 100, he had heard a small ding in the back of his mind. Wondering if it had been caused by the notification, he thought to the second ding he heard. It had been the moment he pulled the Spirit Stone out of the child’s body.

As the next notification claimed he liberated a soul, he was convinced that the small dings in the back of his mind meant he had a notification waiting.

Well, that explains those weird sounds…

Figuring he had been too preoccupied with the fight to notice the sound when the other notifications had sounded, he closed the window of liberating the soul and yet another notification appeared…

Will they ever end?

You have created an area of effect mana glyph.

Understanding of Enchanter has risen and you have reached level 2.

+1 Intelligence.

The glyph will regenerate the mana of friend and foe alike.

Duration: 5 minutes.

Double mana regeneration while standing on the glyph.

You have stepped on an area of effect mana glyph.

Mana regeneration has doubled.

Tobi continued closing the windows and at last they seemed to have stopped.

Sighing with relief, he turned his attention once more to his mana regeneration. In battle, his mana regeneration was 1.6 per second. Out of battle, it was 5 per second—and as much as 10 per second if he was meditating.

As his condition was still ‘In Battle’ for some reason, his mana regeneration was now at 3.2 per second. It didn’t sound like much to Tobi, but it was a different story when watching his mana bar slowly fill back up.

When the 5 minute duration of the glyph was up, it would be nearly 1,000 mana regenerated.

960 mana? Tobi wondered, doubting the quick math he had just used. 960 mana in 5 minutes while in a battle state was huge!

Then again, he wouldn’t be using any mana during that five minutes, so he also had to take that into effect. While regaining mana constantly during battle, he was also using it—so how much it regenerated by seemed to be incredibly slow.

“How long until you have enough mana.” The old man’s voice asked.

Tobi turned to look at the child who had silently joined them on the mana glyph. It had caught Tobi by surprise, but the child just stayed there as though it was natural for him to also receive the buff Tobi had created.

“I will have more than enough in a minute or so,” Selene answered, as she sat on the floor and got into a meditative position.

Apparently, the child thought it was a good idea and sat down too. With the space largely taken up by two people sitting down, there wasn’t enough space left for Tobi to meditate as well.

“Hey. Spirit Kid.” Darien called after confirming there was no more loot to gather.

The child opened a single eye and looked in his direction.

“Do you know if there are any other strange creatures in the house? Can you remember anything from before Tobi woke you up?”

“No.” The child replied replied bluntly and closed his eye again.

“Actually. This child does seem to have some memories.” He added after a few moments, “The memories are cloudy and some are from when he was alive, but they are there. One minute.”

Everyone moved around the child while he seemed to concentrate on his thoughts. His brow creased and his head tilted to the side slightly.

Selene was giving a similar expression. While she was trying to meditate for quicker mana regeneration, his words had broke her concentration and she was struggling to maintain the meditative state.

“Sorry,” The boy said, “this is a little odd for me. It’s like looking through a window and being unable to understand what I am looking at. There is a man and he is giving us instructions. I can hear the words and this child understands them, but they mean nothing to me. We are being told to destroy something. We have other instructions too… Some men will be coming. We have to kill them all. All except one who goes by the name Darien. I don’t know who he is but the Child seems to understand who that person is.

Ooh. I suddenly have an overwhelming urge to kill you all. No, wait, the child has the urge, not me. What a bizarre feeling. Hmm. Well, whatever; the child seems satisfied that he destroyed what he had to. He and his brothers and sisters did everything they were supposed to. Except for you kill you guys and capture this Darien fellow.”

“Where were they supposed to take Darien?” Darien asked.

“I don’t know. Home? Wherever they live, I guess. I don’t know. The child recognizes the place but it means nothing to me. All I can see is a dark room with grey walls. I can hear the sound of dripping too, but that comes from outside the room. His master seems to be waiting for him there.”

Although Tobi didn’t know where the spirit was talking about, he understood what was being described. When he thought of the word ‘Home’, he thought of his bedroom back in England. The spirit was probably seeing the place that the child imagined whenever he thought of the word home.

The conversation continued back and forth for a minute while Tobi’s mind wandered, but his mind didn’t return to the conversation until the spirit mage said the child was trying to regain control of its body.

“Little rascal…” The spirit mage complained, “So that’s how it works…”

The child’s face continued to frown as Tobi and his party stared back, waiting for the moment when he lost control and attacked them all.

“Seems this body is animated by the Spirit Stone. I don’t know why I didn’t sense it before, but the more he draws from the stone, the stronger he gets. I don’t think I can hold for too long now he knows how to take control back.”

“Selene…” Tobi murmured, taking a step back and involuntarily stepping off the glyph.

Selene nodded and stood up instantly. Pointing her staff at the child’s body while he maintained his meditative pose, Selene called out ‘Retribution’.

A burst of light no weaker than Divine Light shot from the end of her staff and struck the child in the chest. The body rose and ripples of magic slowly pushed the light back. The child’s eyes snapped open and glared back at Selene.

The force of the two magics inched back and forth, seemingly equal in power. Slowly, little by little, the wind magic started to push back the light. Tobi could literally see the point where the light broke over the wind barrier.

“A little help…” Selene called through grit teeth.

Tobi looked around quickly for something to help with. Looking at the staff in his right hand, Tobi rolled his eyes.

“Arcane Strike.”

The spell blast the empty space at the end of his staff before the second part of the spell broke on the wind barrier. The light of Selene’s spell inched closer.

“Quicker!” Selene urged in panic, “My mana!”

Huh? I thought it was a set 500 mana?

Figuring something must have changed about the spell due to the prolonged casting, Tobi cast Arcane Strike repeatedly. Each cast was 50 mana and each cast only managed to help the light gain half an inch of distance.

Gathering a hundred his remaining mana, Tobi cast Arcane Strike again. The blast area it hit the shield was much larger, but the distance it pushed the shield back remained the same.

So bigger doesn’t mean stronger? Then…

Tobi took a deep breath and fired a 10 mana shot of Arcane Void followed by a 10 mana shot of Lion’s Roar. It was a test to see if one was more effective than the other.

Lion’s roar bounced off the shield without much of an effect but Arcane seemed to puncture a tiny hole in the barrier for a second.

Tobi fired off another shot of Arcane Void. Again the wind barrier seemed to show a slight opening before it closed itself again. The light of Selene’s spell was getting steadily closer to the body, but there was still a couple of inches to go and the child continued to push it back.

Gather 20 mana per shot, Tobi fired three right to the center of Selene’s spell. The wind barrier retreated a few centimeters with each shot, but on the third shot, a stream of light broke through and hit the child.

The shield broke and the rest of the light followed, hitting the child full force in the chest. A second passed with the child suspended in the air.

Finally the light seemed to break the laws of physics and pushed right through the child’s body. No wounds appeared on the body itself, but the spirit of a short old man with a beard and stereotypical robe was pushed out of the body.

The light ended and the child’s body dropped to the floor.

“Thank you, my lady.” The wizard said. After a small bow, he looked to the ceiling and floated upward. Just like that, he was gone.

You helped free the soul of a trapped Spirit.

+5 Piety.

+2,000 experience.

Tobi closed the window and looked at the space the old spirit had been. Was it all over, just like that?

“Thanks.” Selene panted.

Seeing Selene bent over slightly with sweat was dripping off her, Tobi gave a nod, “What happened?”

Selene shrugged and tried to regain her breath, “When my spell met his, it was like a battle of wills. After a while, my mana started to drain. Quickly too. I didn’t know a Divine spell could be countered like that…”

Tobi thought about it for a moment. Magic vs magic made perfect sense to him though. Even if it was Wind against Divine, it was still only one mage against another. Naturally the stronger mage would win, regardless of whatever type of magic used.

At least, that’s how he expected it to work.

With the appearance of the window, it also meant he was no longer in battle state conditions. Did that mean the fight was over and it was time to move on to the basement?

Turning toward Darien to ask that very question, Tobi hesitated. The questions and doubts after he’d passed out were still in the back of his mind. He could remember a strong urge to hit Darien. He didn’t feel the same emotion now, but how he looked at Darien had definitely changed.

“What’s up?” Selene asked, putting a small, delicate hand at the base of his back.

Shaking his head, Tobi wondered the same question, “Why are we here, Selene?”

“What do you mean?”

Staring at Darien who’d already moved to retrieve the loot of the latest kill, Tobi sighed and let it go. He wasn’t sure what he meant either. He felt like he had made a mistake somewhere. Done something he wasn’t supposed to or lost sight of his aim.

No. It’s more than that. I don’t have a purpose.

Realizing what it was that was troubling, Tobi looked at Selene and told her it was OK. Convincing himself it was just caused by fatigue and his incredibly low energy level, he expected he would be back to his normal self after a good nights sleep.

“Come on.” Tobi called, “Let’s get this finished.”

The group agreed and followed him through the door to the living room. The room was a mess but whatever caused the darkness in the hall didn’t apply to the living room. Even without the light of Selene’s staff, the group could see well enough to avoid walking into things.

As the only person who could actually see perfectly, Tobi moved around the room and grabbed candles and lanterns off the shelves and fireplace. He passed them all to Darien, “Light these.”

Darien looked back at him with confused but Tobi ignored him and continued around the room. The bookcases were mostly emptied and the few books that remained could be found anywhere. The fireplace was overflowing with ashes too and small scraps shown that some of the books had met their fate right there.

Clean patches on the wall shown where pictures had been hung and clean sections on the shelves shown where ornaments or other items had been.

The place looked like nobody had lived there for quite a while. Whatever Tomin did in the house, he clearly spent little time in the living room and even less time cleaning it. Of course, some of the mess could have been caused by his ‘pets’, but that didn’t account for the dusty shelves.

Continuing through the house on the route pre-planned back at Darien’s, Tobi made his way to the kitchen area and looked back at his party. Sax had just finished lighting a candle and was using it to light the lantern in Darien’s hand.

Leaving them to it, Tobi pushed the kitchen door open wide and tried to see as much of it as possible. Just like the living room, it had already been raided. The cupboards were open and mostly empty, a small mess was beside a little trash bin and dishes were stacked up in the wash basin by the back window.

“I guess the ghost was right when he said Tomin had left.” Sax noted as he joined Tobi in the kitchen.

“Yeah, but he also said something was to be destroyed. If it was something simple he’d have just done it himself, so I am guessing there will be evidence of whatever it was. I want to see what was destroyed.”

“I agree.” Darien answered, skirting passed them both and making a direct path for the basement door. Just like in most houses, the basement was directly connected to the kitchen due to its most basic reason for being used. The cellars and basements were the coolest part of a house, so it was where most people stored their food stuff and hung their meat.

Tobi didn’t think it was very sanitary, but in Lybernia it seemed to be a common practice. In Anderon, Tobi used the meat on the same day he bought it, so he’d never had problems with storing food. The majority of the food he did keep was flour and similar goods used for baking. That meant he could store them in jars or sacks, so refrigeration had never been a problem.

As Tobi reached the top of the stairs, he sighed and shook his head. Darien had rushed straight down there without a thought. That had been the same way he got himself trapped last time he was in the building. Hadn’t he said so himself?—That once he got to the bottom he became trapped by some kind of glyph barrier?

Following Darien down the stairs and taking a look around, Tobi watched as Darien scuttled about.

“What are you looking for?”

“Nothing.” Darien answered. He didn’t even try to make it sound convincing as he opened a cupboard door and slammed it shut again.

The entire unit Darien was searching around had the broken remains of an Alchemy lab on top and a drainage system at the side had a wide range of liquids clocking it up. Blue water, green sludge, red...blood?...purple slime and a dozen others pooled together around a metal grate in the floor.

The trail of fluids flowed from two different directions. One led to the broken Alchemy equipment on the unit and the table in the center of the room, but the other trail went off in a different direction.

Looking to the origin of the second trail, it seemed to flow straight out of the wall.

Stepping over the mess and following the still flowing liquid, Tobi kicked the brick lightly. A dull thud sounded back. It wasn’t the sound he expected to hear.

After knocking on the wall and moving down, he finally found the spot where the sound changed and it seemed to be an actual brick wall.

Now that he was aware of it, the basement appeared to be only half the size of the house above.

“Help me look for a way to open this wall.” Tobi called as Sax and Selene entered the basement, the Talin following close behind.

Selene stayed at the bottom of the stairs but the other two made their way over and helped search. The wall opened a minute later without explanation.

Turning around to look for the cause, Tobi spotted Darien with his hand in the wall. A small brick was on the floor at the side of his foot.

“I have the same thing in my basement.” Darien answered, “Tomin helped me build it, so it’s hardly surprising he copied the same design.”

Tobi frowned and turned his back to Darien. He didn’t see a reason for Darien to freely give that information away and if it were him, he definitely wouldn’t have shared. It went against Darien’s character to give such things away and Tobi’s opinion of Darien dropped even further.

The room beyond was pretty much what Tobi expected to see. More than half of it was filled with tables covered in broken alchemy equipment. The fluid coming out of it all dripped to the floor and flowed toward the door Tobi was standing at.

As he stepped over the miscellaneous fluids, Tobi looked around the rest of the room. Papers had been ripped from the walls but the corners where they were stuck still remained. One piece was still mostly intact as it clung to the wall by one corner. It was ripped down the middle, but other than that it didn’t appear to be damaged.

The second half of the room looked like a study. Pieces of paper were lying on the floor and a small metal bin was filled with discarded and scrunched up parchments. The inkwell was turned on its side and the quill was on the floor, but other than that, it was mostly a tidy area.

“Looks like he took everything important…” Sax noted as he followed Tobi into the room.

“Makes you wonder how he carried it all though. With the living room, kitchen and this basement, how many people do you think would be needed to carry it all?”

Sax considered the question as he stepped over a small pool of blue liquid, “A dozen or so? And that’s if he didn’t empty the rest of the house too.”

Tobi agreed. Even after leaving about 10 possessed children, Stitches, several Spectre’s (of which some could still be in the house) and the Spook, enough items had been taken to conclude that Tomin had not left by himself.

Making his way over to the writing desk, Tobi opened the drawers and made sure each of them were empty.

“What’s this?”

Turning to look at what Sax was referring to, Tobi examined the parchment in his hand. He’d pulled it out of the trash and unfurled it, so it was probably nothing. Not wanting to discard Sax’s interest, he walked over to look at it properly.

“Identify.” Tobi called out of habit before reminding himself that he’d successfully called commands out in his head earlier. Now he knew for a fact it was possible to call it out in his head, he was determined to do so in the future.

Alchemy level is too low to guess the aim of the recipe.

“Looks like a recipe for a potion or something. I’m not sure.”

Despite his answer, Tobi was now curious too and looked through the other parchments on the table while Sax inspected more of the trash.

Your Enchanter is too low to decipher this glyph.

The glyph Tobi found was on a piece of parchment under the desk. The corner was bent and the side was slightly torn, but it appeared to be dropped rather than discarded.

Convinced he could get meaning from the glyph at a later date, he put it in his pocket and continued searching the other parchments.

“How about this one?” Sax asked, passing him another piece of paper.

Food Poisoning Recipe.

After checking the recipe and the results, Tobi knew why it had been discarded. It was nothing more than a laxative.

“Its a recipe to help bowel movement.” Tobi answered, turning his attention back to other papers on the floor.

Spotting a piece of parchment pinned against the back wall, he pulled the desk out a little. Sax helped and together they moved the table completely out of the way.

“Looks like blueprints or something, do you recognize what it might be for?”

Sax took the paper and inspected it for a minute, “Nothing I have seen. DARIEN, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS FOR?”

Darien stopped what he was doing and looked over. He was holding a vial of green liquid at eye level. The vial was broke but mostly full. After tossing it to the side and walking over, he took the parchment and inspected it himself.

“Looks like the plans for the arena Kleetz is building. But why would Tomin have it?”

“Who knows? My guess would be that Tomin and Kleetz have been working together under your nose. Might explain where Tomin is now… I think I’ve seen enough anyway. Did you find what you were searching for? Or are you going to stay and keep looking?”

Darien shook his head and looked around, “I will let my guys in and continue looking. If you’re going out the front way, can you tell the others to join me too? Make sure one of them stays on lookout though.”

“And not five minutes ago you said you weren’t looking for anything.”

“And we both knew that I was lying.” Darien countered, “It is just something between Tomin and myself. He probably took it with him, but I need to make sure.”

Tobi shrugged, “Doesn’t matter to me anyway. What was that green vial you were inspecting?”

“How should I know? I don’t know the first thing about Alchemy—I was just looking at it.”

Energy has fallen to a critical low.

If energy falls much further, stats and movement may be affected.

“Ah. Seems I am getting tired. It really is time for me to go. I will let your men know on my way out.”

At that moment, the Talin appeared at the door, “Selene wants to know if you are finished yet.”

“Yeah, we were just coming out now.”

************

Back to Main Page

************

Breaths:

Spoiler :

I will start my author’s comment with: “So sorry it took so long.”

I will add this: “If only you knew…” and leave the ambiguous comment there.

Honestly, my author’s comment on this chapter could be equally as long as the chapter itself. Work, life, lack of motivation and a million other things…

If it wasn’t for TUSF, it could easily be another month before I posted this chapter.

There is a lot missing that I wanted to include, but seriously, just getting this much done was equal in effort to the 27 chapters that came before it.

As I can no longer remember who I have given shoutouts too and who I haven’t, I will shoutout this week to Calavente and sa1880612m

Thank you both for the comments and reviews. As always, I read them all and take everything on board.

@Calavente, the dwarf? Graham? Haha. I think introducing ‘Gilgamesh/Balrock’ was premature. I might start making the other characters have more of an impact on the story once I end this [volume] but we’ll see who gets to play a role and whatnot. First I need to get Tobi back on track. His derailed storyline has gone on for far too long. I didn’t expect it to last this long when I first planned it out. I expected it to be about 10-13 chapters—but now look, we’re 14 chapters in and moving along so slowly I sometimes think I am going backward!

I am tempted to hint at the million and one things that have been removed, edited out or changed in this chapter. And by ‘Million and One’ I may not actually be exaggerating the number. When I started this version of the chapter, TUSF said: “So, what are you planning for the 90th version of this chapter?”

I don’t think the number counts as an exaggeration. More of an approximation.

Peace and Love and all that,

~Aspirer.

~Aspirer

*Hits Post before decides to write version 91 of this chapter*