As Jack finished dematerializing the last of the Lightbearer’s Lanterns, he funneled all of the Eidos he had gained into his designation and enjoyed the series of notifications that followed.

[Congratulations, The Fool has leveled up!]

+5 Stamina due to level-up to Level 10 of E-rank…

+5 Intellect due to level-up to Level 10 of E-rank…

Magician’s Manipulation has been upgraded due to level-up to Level 10 of E-rank…

[The Fool designation is able to advance to D-rank. Would you like to rank up? Y/N]

He consented to the rank-up. His head swam and a bout of weakness quaked through his body as his designation ranked up. Thankfully, his advancement was merely to D-rank, advancing in rank could be especially unpleasant at higher ranks due to a strange phenomenon known as Logos Sickness. The phenomenon had many different triggers like ranking up a designation or using a Logos Fragment and its effects ranged from a moment of mild vertigo to several hours of incapacitation. A few seconds later, the discomfort passed leaving him only with another update.

[Congratulation, The Fool has advanced to D-rank and leveled up!]

+1 to all Attributes due to advancement to D-rank…

Magician’s Manipulation has been upgraded due to advancement to D-rank …

+2 Stamina due to level-up to Level 2 of D-rank…

+2 Intellect due to level-up to Level 2 of D-rank…

Magician’s Manipulation has been upgraded due to level-up to Level 2 of D-rank…

[Open Status? Y/N]

He opened his Status and looked over his new attribute values. With the attribute bonuses from ranking up and leveling The Fool, his Stamina penalty had been mitigated a bit though he was still eager to be rid of it. Additionally, although the Willpower penalty lowered his mana regeneration, his Magician’s Intuition trait increased his regen enough to make up for it. Not to mention, the increase in his Intellect gave him more Mana overall to work with. At the thought of his mana regeneration, he willed his Status to show the regen values of his Ethos, Mana, and Vigor going forward. He’d never needed the information on his Status since he hadn’t possessed a Mana or Vigor pool until recently and his level, the governing factor for Ethos regeneration, had been stagnant.

Name: Jack

Designation: The Fool (D-2)

Ethos: 234/260 (2.2/min.)

Mana: 349/390 (1.8/min.)

Vigor: 540 (4.2/min.)

[Attributes]

Might

23 (28)

Stamina

31 (26)

Dexterity

9 (12)

Agility

12

Intellect

27

Willpower

16 (12)

Focus

12

Resonance

-

[Abilities]

View Skills?

View Traits?

View Relic Skills?

Jack focused on the adjusted value for his Willpower delving into the factors in play behind the attribute’s adjustment and discovering that the ten percent bonus to Willpower from Magician’s Intuition applied after all bonuses and penalties. Even though he was receiving a smaller bonus than he ought to due to the penalty, the opposite would be true if he equipped a Relic that boosted Willpower. That was good news in his book. After looking over his attributes, he navigated to his Skills menu to check the changes to Magician’s Manipulation; he wasn’t disappointed.

Magician’s Manipulation (The Fool Skill)

The user may manipulate the elements of the world. The strength and capability of this skill are dependent on the level and rank of the user.

Available Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Light, Dark

Range: 15.5 meters

Cost: 10 Mana per second

Jack’s mind swam with possibilities as he considered applications for the new elements. Some quick calculations revealed that the range of the ability went up half a meter with every level. He needed to do some testing with the Skill, yet his only recourse, for now, was trying things out in combat and hoping they worked since he lacked the regen to waste Mana outside of combat while in a hostile area. As he wondered whether he’d be able to deflect the lightweavers’ attacks with his Skill, Cordan broke through his concentration by calling his name over the mindlink.

“Jack!” He said, practically shouting. A trickle of annoyance bled through the mental connection. Jack looked up from where he had been kneeling over the last lightweaver. Cordan, Alindal, and Raina were huddled near the yellow crystal atop the altar looking at him with annoyance, concern, and curiosity respectively. Admittedly, Jack had been tuning out their mental conversation while he processed his level-ups so he had no idea how long Cordan had been trying to get his attention. They couldn’t have known that he had leveled and ranked up. When he met Cordan’s eye, the veteran relic hunter added, “If you’re done over there, we could use you here. This crystal reeks of being a Relic and you’re our resident Tracer.”

“Right, be right there,” he said. He briefly glanced over the man on the floor in front of him like he had for all of the previous lightweavers and made a mental note of everything he observed. No serious wounds. Breathing’s normal. Heartbeat is steady. Poor guy’s going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up though.

Getting up, Jack collected his metal club from nearby the altar and joined the group who parted to give him access to the yellow crystal. His footsteps splashed lightly in the shallow puddles of water left from Alindal’s spell. He could still feel the crystal’s power vibrating against his skin. The gem had a smooth egg shape and sat in a holder made of the same yellow metal as the doors. He reached out placing his hand on it After a moment of silence, he frowned as nothing happened despite his intention on identifying the crystal. Another moment later, he started to wonder if it was actually a Relic.

Keeping his hand on the crystal, he asked the rest of the group, “Can you all feel the energy coming off of this thing?”

Cordan raised an eyebrow. “Of course, we can. Why do you think I asked you to identify it?”

Jack scowled at the man. “Well, I’m—”

His words were cut short as a foreign presence brushed against his mind. The sense of wrongness he’d felt since acquiring the Eternal Light’s Embrace amplified manifold. He felt a hunger driven by primordial emptiness radiate from the presence. He had barely enough time for his instincts to cry out before something began to pull at his very being. For a moment, he experienced the surreal horror of being drawn out of his own body toward the crystal. Fortunately, he was saved.

[A foreign presence used an ability to siphon Logos from the Blue Heart, but Cordan’s Defensive Mindlink stopped the effect from resolving.]

Jack jerked his hand away from the crystal stumbling backward gracelessly. He had a thin film of sweat on his brow and his breath came quickly while his heart rate neared the danger zone. Still, in a mild panic, Jack swept his eyes over the other members of the group. Cordan eyed the yellow crystal which had begun to vibrate ominously. Raina and Alindal both favored him with a concerned expression.

Raina hesitantly reached out to touch his arm. “Are you alright?”

Alindal also said, “Did something happen, my friend?”

Before he could collect himself or think to answer their questions, Cordan reached for his gun. Simultaneously, several cracks appeared at the top of the crystal. A sense of dread fell upon Jack like a lead weight anchoring him in place. His perception of time slowed, yet he was frozen. As Cordan raised his gun, the cracks on the crystal raced down its sides. Suddenly, its surface emitted a flash of brilliant light blinding Jack. A strange drone filled the air disturbing his hearing and causing his head to instantly throb with pain. A shot sounded.

“Jack, look out!” Cordan shouted in warning, but he couldn’t move. He didn’t even know what he was looking out for. From beneath his clothing, the Blue Heart sent a pulse of fear to his mind urging him to move. Still, he was paralyzed. Idly, some part of him wondered why Cordan’s mindlink which had supposedly countered the Twilight King’s Aura of Terror wasn’t taking effect.

Then, someone pushed him hard.

His hearing gradually returned to him in pieces after he crashed onto the ground. The process took several seconds. A woman’s labored breath, Alindal calling Raina’s name, Cordan swearing. His sight returned after his hearing. He blinked the spots out of his vision and saw the situation unfolding in front of the altar.

Raina was on the ground convulsing violently. Her eyes were wells of radiant yellow light and her breath came in frantic gasps. Kneeling next to her, Alindal called out her name while Cordan looked on with an expression on intense concentration. At the moment, Jack wondered why Alindal was speaking aloud, but then, he noticed a notification he’d missed.

[Raina has left the Defensive Mindlink.]

Jack got to his feet and asked, “What happened?”

Cordan sighed and shook his head. “Something came out of that crystal.” One glance at the crystal revealed that it had shattered into many pieces all of which lacked the crystal’s former luster. “The thing, whatever it was, dived toward your chest. I think it was aiming for that World Core of yours, but Raina pushed you out of the way and it passed into her instead. She left the mindlink right after. I’ve been trying to reconnect with her but I’m getting no response.”

Jack ran a hand through his perspiration slick hair. Emotions, equal parts relief and guilt, settled in his mind as he watched Raina convulse on the wet floor, unsure of what to do.

Abruptly, a wave of steam and heat flowed from Raina pushing the three of them back. She screamed. Jack briefly saw the shimmer of her Ethos as the glow from her eyes became brighter. Alindal shouted, “Something is happening to her Ethos!”

Cordan rushed forward, his eyes glowing with blue light. He pushed through the sudden heat and reached out to touch Raina.

***

There were armed men in the manor. Raina had heard gunshots barely a minute ago. Now, she could hear the footfalls of heavy boots moving toward the second floor. Alicia pushed her wheelchair toward the safe room and the emergency exit therein. Despite the situation, the nurse was calm like always. Raina couldn’t say the same. Tremors wracked her body making her teeth clatter. She couldn’t tell if it was happening because of her condition or fear. She tried to say something but as was the case recently, she had trouble getting her mouth to voice her words properly. Instead of the question Raina wanted to ask about her mother, only a half-coherent slur of sounds emerged.

Alicia stroked her hair comfortingly. She whispered, “Shh, stay silent, little raindrop. We can talk once we reach the safe room.”

Raina attempted to nod her head but failed as it lulled to the side. A hint of the life-long sense of frustration she felt slipped into her thoughts. The combination of not having her medicine and being woken up in the middle of the night made overcoming the limitations of her illness basically impossible. The pair rounded a corner. From the darkness, a shadow crossed Raina’s peripheral vision and the world went sideways. Raina spilled onto the ground as her wheelchair was thrown forward. Disoriented, she looked up and saw Alicia struggling with a man in dark clothing and a black mask. The moonlight from a nearby window barely illuminated them. Raina tried to call out, but she couldn’t. For once, it wasn’t her condition that held her back; it was fear. She caught sight of the man’s eyes as he wrestled with Alicia. There was something inhumane and savage in those eyes. The sight of them was enough to suppress her desire to speak. Her fear told her that she didn’t want the man’s attention.

Surprisingly, Alicia wasn’t losing. She had a hold of the man’s wrist and the two were seemingly fighting over control of something the man held. Raina saw the glint of metal and her breath quickened. He had a gun. Alicia aimed at kick at the man’s genitals which he blocked by raising his leg to intercept hers. He pushed forward attempting to throw Alicia off balance, but she somehow got her feet under her and twisted to divert his momentum into a throw from the hip while pulling the gun closer to her. Instead of pulling against her throw, the man leaned into it clenching his arms around Alicia’s midsection and pushing the gun to the side with his superior strength. He hunkered down as she tried to throw him then lifted her into the air by her. Rather than kick her legs like Raina imagined anyone else would do, Alicia pulled one of her hands from the man’s wrist and drove a savage elbow into the man’s head. He staggered for a moment as she struck him again and again.

Raina couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Admittedly, Alicia was oddly fit compared to any other nurse Raina had ever known, but to see her move the way she was moving was unbelievable. How did she know how to fight like that? A bit of hope welled up in Raina’s heart as the man dropped the nurse. Alicia gained control of the gun and turned it on her attacker. A gunshot rang out.

Raina flinched at the sound closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she blinked in confusion. Alicia was on the ground, not the man. A pained groan escaped her nurse’s throat as Raina tried to figure out what happened. She didn’t wonder long. Another man walked forward from the darkness beyond her sight holding a gun similar to the one on the ground by Alicia.

The man who had attacked Alicia addressed the newcomer with a gravelly voice. The quiver of anger in his words sent shivers down her spine “I had it fucking handled. You didn’t need to—”

“I don’t care,” said the man, his voice strangely calm and soothing. Although she couldn’t see his eyes, Raina felt his gaze go from Alicia to her then back to their attacker. “Did you find it?”

“Nah, it wasn’t in the safe room,” said the gravelly-voiced man. After hearing that, the newcomer turned around and made to leave, but the other man added, “What should I do with the girl?”

He pointed at Raina whose face twisted in surprise and fear as both men looked at her.

“What about her?”

“Well, she’s the daughter, ain’t she? Shouldn’t we grab her too?” he asked.

“No. The mission says nothing about her, just the wife and the box. We have the wife already so your only concern should be finding the box. Is that clear?” The man’s calm and soothing voice turned menacing when he spoke the last words.

The other man bowed his head slightly and said, “U-uh, yeah, I got it, boss.”

With that, the other man left leaving Raina and Alicia alone with their attacker. During the entire conversation between the two men, Alina had been futilely trying to reach for the gun while clutching her side. Raina gritted her teeth at the futility of her nurse’s struggle. Where were the security guards? Why was this happening? What did these men want wit her mother? While she agonized over the situation, the man took a step forward and drove a kick into Alicia’s midsection eliciting a pained cry from the wounded woman.

“Fucking bitch,” he said with renewed anger. Raina cried out, her words slurring as her mouth refused to work with her. The man looked over at her, picked up his gun, and said, “What was that?”

He walked closer kneeling down in front of her. He grabbed her by the hair causing her to cry out. Once they were at eye level, he asked her again, “Come on, speak up, princess.”

Raina looked into his eyes and froze. His eyes were feral, brimming with barely restrained anger and savagery; however, that wasn’t what made her freeze. It was the sadistic glint in his eyes. She knew that this man wouldn’t have mercy on them, but she spoke anyway. “Pl-plea… her alone.”

She stumbled at the start of her sentence losing part of the meaning midway; however, she’d managed to pull through on the last two words. She prayed the man understood. From the looks of it, he did. He started to speak then stopped. Raina heard the sound of static and muffled words from his ear. The man spoke in affirmation of something then focused on Raina. She shivered uncontrollably when she saw the gleam in his eye.

“Looks like I’ve gotta go, so I’ll spare you both. Besides, far be it from me to deny a noble lady like yourself,” he said. Raina’s hopes soared at his words and he laughed at the change in her expression dropping her unceremoniously. He got to his feet. “I’d be quick if I were you.”

He laughed walking away in the same direction the other man had left. His words left a heavy pall of dread over her as she crawled toward Alicia whose pained coughs spurred her onward. It was an agonizingly slow process due to her weakened muscles which struggled to support even her gaunt frame.

When she was nearly there, smoke rapidly began filling the hallway. She coughed violently, collapsing completely to the ground. She tried to recover, but lack of air to breath stalled her. Then, the heat came. It welled up from below like an eruption burning her arms and face.

Was the manor on fire? How had it spread so fast? She pushed through her weakness to crawl a bit further. Her arm flailed outward searching for the woman who’d been her caretaker and confidant for half her life. Her hand found nothing as the first of the flames caught on the sleeve of her night gown. She screamed as the fire licked her flesh.

Her mind went blank except for the pain and panic. It was unbearable. It stretched on for an eternity until abruptly, parts of her body went cold. She thought of her mother and Alicia in a brief moment of lucidity. As she began fading, something strange happened.

[Warning: You are taking ongoing damage from a hostile effect. Ethos is at 50% capacity]

The notification jarred Raina’s mind from the memory. Within her mind, something snarled at her. The presence radiated oppressive heat like the inferno from her memory. It was then that she realized the state of her body. She tried to regain control, but the presence fought against her with feral abandon. It shoved another painful memory at her, yet she shrugged it off with some minor difficulty. The presence burrowed deeper into her memories searching for something else to use as a weapon. The idea that the intruder had used the memory of her dying moments flooded her with cold wrath that pushed against the heat. The severity of her situation floated away from her as she turned all of her willpower into a weapon. She lashed out savagely aiming solely to cause it pain; similar to what she had felt in reliving the memory it had forced on her. She struck out again and again. The invader cried out retreating away from her weaponized wrath. She didn’t relent. She didn’t even concern herself with her own well-being as her body grew still. She simply wanted to inflict suffering on the presence. Eventually, it had nowhere to run and suddenly vanished leaving her in control.

She took a much-needed breath of air.

***

When the light began to fade from Raina’s eyes, Jack’s instincts told him to get his weapon ready. Alindal saw him do so and started casting a spell following his lead. Eventually, Raina went completely still and Jack’s breath caught. He couldn’t hear her breathing or her heartbeat. Cordan cursed. Then, Raina gasped filling Jack with a surprising amount of relief. He didn’t relax though.

Not a second later, a ball of light with a fragmented crystal at its center shot out of Raina’s chest. Jack swung at the creature but missed. The creature released waves of heat accompanied by dizzying strobes of light. Cordan shielded his eyes and Jack stumbled. The smell of ozone filled the air as lightning cracked over his head striking the creature dead-center. The crystal at its core exploded leaving a cloud of rapidly dissipating wisps of light.

On the ground, Raina groaned pushing herself up into a sitting position. Their eyes met and he asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Crappy,” she said closing her eyes and holding her head. “It feels like you hit me in the head with that club of yours.”

She chuckled and popped one eye open to meet his gaze. He saw the truth in her eyes. Beyond her humor, the specter of something she wanted to hide lurked near the surface. He ignored it. Now wasn’t the time for such things. Besides, he had enough specters of his own to deal with. Instead, he brushed her joke aside and expressed his gratitude.

“Thanks for pushing me out of the way,” he said while offering her a hand to stand up. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. She blinked at him but Cordan interjected before she could respond.

“Raina, check your Ethos and Attributes. We need to know if that thing did anything lasting to you.” His facial expression was still severe contrary to everyone else. Raina’s eyes widened, likely because she hadn’t considered the possibility. In truth, neither had Jack.

Jack left worrying about Raina to Alindal and Cordan since he wanted to avoid confronting his feelings on the matter. He walked over to the spot where the light ball had been destroyed searching the ground for any sign of an eidos stone. He found it lying in a puddle of water; however, unlike normal eidos stones, small specks of darkness marred the opaque center of the stone. The colorless surface of eidos stones made the anomaly easy to notice. Briefly, he concentrated on the stone to identify its grade.

[Error: Eidos Stone is corrupted.]

Jack blinked. What the fuck?

What did that mean? As he turned the strange eidos stone over in his hand, he called out, “Guys, I think you should see this.”