New Message from The Fates- Goodbye Child of Ruin.

“Shit. That is not encouraging.” Deacon thought as he looked around at the waves breaking on a nearby corral formation. There was no archway leading back the way they came and according to the Wode notification, if they didn’t succeed it would have terrible consequences. Something was bugging Deacon though. Like a thought in the back of his mind straining against the chains holding it down. Desperately trying to come to the forefront of his mind. He hoped the answer would just come to him later. For now they needed to find safety and get the lay of the land.

“I don’t see anything but this smattering of islands and that busted ship.” Ralph said.

“I think a birds eye view might help us out. How many decks do you think are on that galleon?” Amanda asks.

“Wish I still had my rope ladder.” Tantus said as he examined the sand at our feet with a pair of handheld spectacles.

“There are several ropes on that half of ship. Could you make another?” Deacon asked.

“Yes, yes. The enchantment spell was originally based on a single length of rope. I had someone make it a rope ladder. I have everything except a feather. It can be any feather.” Tantus said looking up from the sand.

“What’s the deal with the sand?” Deacon asked.

“It’s completely white and gives off a unique magical signature. I’d say it would be very potent in making strong glass panes or even some very damaging friction-based spells. I’d like to take a sample of it.” Tantus replied turning back to the sand before noticing thick streams of the stuff flying up from the ground and pouring into Deacon’s bag. Deacon looked down at Tantus and winked.

“Well if we are going for a swim, I suggest securing any loose gear. I highly doubt there is a general shop around here somewhere.” Ralph said pulling the strap tight around the hilt of his sword.

“We aren’t checking the island we are on first. Might be something important within that grove.” Amanda asked.

“Ok Amanda and I will check the grove. You two figure out the best way to island hop to the ship.” Deacon said. Just as the plan was decided they all heard a rhythmic thumping in the distance. It was brief but was definitely more like drums than anything else. They all looked at each other worried what that could be.

Amanda and Deacon took no more than two steps closer to the trees before a spear shot out straight at Deacon’s chest. He had enough time to activate Phantom Shield disintegrating the spear in real time as the shaft reached him. Deacon then realized he was still channeling The Black. So instead of that consuming twenty percent soul energy it ate up a whopping forty percent. He wasn’t back to full from the previous fight yet. The soul energy bar was only at one hundred percent. Switching back to the Nether Plane would be a better idea for now. He then realized the party must have disbanded when they were transferred here.

“Ice in my veins.” He spoke as he rolled to the left of his position. The next step was sending out party invites to everyone. That should have been the first thing he did when they got here but they were all so surprised. The Black rolled back from eyes and the standard eerie green light returned to his pupils. Just then Amanda flung a knife into the trees. She must have spotted their attackers.

“There! I’m going right, you take the left flank.” She shouted as she dashed off into the tree line before immediately turning back at a full sprint. Deacon, just starting to move after the plan was made, looked behind her to see five humanoids with grey skin and hammerhead shark heads. So Deacon activated inspect.

Sharkskin Tribesman- This semi-amphibious race worships at the feet of Sumna. Their bodies are too heavy to stay under water longer than ten minutes. They developed a blow hole over time allowing them to transcend they limitation as long as they return to the surface. Level 17/ Mystical Monster.

Deacon acted fast to interpose himself between Amanda and the encroaching wall of grey muscle. Apparently, they didn’t like the fact that Deacon chewed up their crude spear. Three of them charged at Deacon making his next move easy. He stretched out his hand and fired a Nether beam in an arc before him in the sand. It created semi-circle of ice about a foot wide. As soon as they stepped on it, all three fell in a three stooges-esque disaster. Extending his claws, Deacon laid into the nearest tribesman. He found while they couldn’t get back to their feet instantly, it didn’t stop them from crawling off the ice strip. Deacon squared up with the one he just slashed across the arm. It opened its mouth while trying to grab him with both arms. Deacon ducked under the grasp slashing his arms out at its torso like he was trying to open curtains. His claws dug deep grooves into the body, but very little blood escaped. Dancing away from its reach he almost face palmed when he realized he was still using the Slave Masters Bane title. He quickly switched it to The Blood River for the added bleed effect.

Amanda quickly stood back-to-back with Ralph. Tantus created a magic shield behind them and began casting a new spell. Ralph stabbed out at the one attacking him forcing it to step back from the pain of the cut. Amanda ducked around a right hook and blew some powder into its blow hole. It then reached up to its throat coughing up spittle and wheezing. She then began to systematically sever tendons with her knife noticing she needed to put her entire body weight into each slice. Their skin was tough as leather. Ralph managed to run his through before it got its meaty arms around him. It was about to chomp down on him before the two were separated by a large whirlwind that lifted the tribesman at least one hundred feet into the air before unceremoniously dropping it back to the sand with a loud crunch. At that point it stopped breathing.

Deacon was having an easier time now that his claws not only drew blood, but every second slash drew gouts of it. His first opponent had a paralyzed leg from Pressure Palm and was bleeding out on the ground to his right. The other two saw that and began pressing Deacon hard. He had to use two Spectral Dash’s to avoid being crushed between them. At the end of the second dash he caught a backhand from a Tribesman right under the chin that dropped his health by thirty percent. That mystical disclaimer in the description must mean their attacks count as enchanted. Was that going to be the same for every monster with that label? Deacon didn’t have time to theorize as they pressed the attack.

That accidental strike must have emboldened his attackers since they both rushed at him. Deacon swept the leg out from under the first one causing the second to have to jump over him. Once in the air Deacon created an Ice Sickle at chest height and started it spinning. Newtons second law. The tribesman launched himself at just the right angle and speed to carve an Ice Sickle sized hole right through its body. With the added bleed effect, it looked like a horror movie set exploded all over the beach. The one that was tripped at the start of this was trying to wipe all the blood out of its eyes. Deacon was in no better shape after side stepping the circular saw event. Now it was one on four, and the Tribesman didn’t like his odds. He turned tail and ran toward the tree line.

“It’s getting help. Stop him.” Amanda yelled as Deacon turned toward the Sharkskin man and noticed a faint outline between him and Tribesman. It was like when you needed to target range in a video game, and you were looking for just the right angle. Only in this instance it was projected on the world in front of him. He decided to trust his instincts and the next thing he knew he was coated in more blood and viscera than before. He turned around to see he’d been moved through the tribesman. Deacon’s slate was blinking at him, and he could hear a stampede of elephants hitting an overstuffed amusement park.

New Racial Ability- Dragon Claw Barrage- This ability drives you forward twenty feet while swiping your claws at anything in your path. This is a combination of your dash ability and dragon lineage. It will cost fifty percent of your endurance…Rule Breaker fifty percent soul energy. Higher levels of this ability will infuse it with whatever arcane source of energy you are currently using.

Deacon looked around confused. Did he just wolverine his way through the enemy? His friends all stood there with their mouths agape. There was a source of water right there. If he jumped in maybe, he could get all this biomaterial off of him. Deacon trudged over the sand toward the water. It looked like the others were having a conversation about what just happened. As Deacon began scrubbing his face, he noticed it was fresh water, not salt. That didn’t make any sense since these were islands and that definitely looked like the ocean. Ralph stepped up next Deacon.

“So we all saw you claw your way through that enemy then grab your head. Are you feeling, ok?” Ralph asked with a look of concern on his face that didn’t match the fear in his eyes.

“Yea, I just unlocked a new racial ability. It was a bit much for me. My energy reserves are down to around twenty percent. I won’t be much good if we get into another fight.” Deacon said.

“Did you have a choice?” Ralph asked.

“What do you mean?” Deacon asked back.

“Did your slate ask if you wanted to learn it?” Ralph retorted.

“Actually, no. It didn’t. I just got a feeling or more of a sensation.” Deacon answered.

“That isn’t normal. Also learning new skills or abilities in the field is very rare. I would suggest talking to Jacob about this when we get out of here.” Ralph said patting Deacon on the back.

“Hands off the merchandise.” Deacon said with a chuckle before Tantus showed up and splashed water at him.

“Enough, enough. We need to get the hell out of here.” Amanda hollered.

“About that. I think I may have something that will help.” Tantus said reaching into his bag. What emerged had Deacon in hysterics. A brief time later all four of them were seated on what amounted to an inflatable blue banana boat, only it was filled with air magic.

“We will never speak of this again.” Amanda said.