Second Skin: Unified: A litRPG Adventure (Second Skin Book 3)

by M Damon Baker

  Health - 385/385 Aura - 834/1034 Endurance - 385/385

  Sintári – Sintári interact with their surroundings in unusual ways. The effects of these interactions can be unpredictable

  Class – Warden – Wardens gain a 10% bonus to skills associated with nature or which have natural effects

  Specialization – Protector

  Mastery – Warlock

  STR - 51 (+5)

  CON - 32 (+3)

  DEX - 30 (+3)

  INT - 28 (+2)

  WIS - 28 (+2)

  CHA - 59 (+5)

  Abilities

  Ignore Armor – Your next arrow will ignore a portion of the target’s armor. Cost – 20 Aura. – 36%

  Stun – Your next arrow has a chance to stun its target on hit. Cost – 20 Aura. – 35%

  Block – You may attempt to use your bow to parry a single melee attack. Cost – 20 Endurance. – 20%

  Swarm – Your next arrow duplicates itself in flight. Cost – 20 Endurance and 20 Aura. – 47%

  Flurry – Perform three rapid strikes with a bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 42%

  Parry – Chance for your blades to block next melee attack targeted at you. Cost – 20 Endurance. – 43%

  Hamstring – The next arrow fired has a chance to cripple your opponent. Cost – 20 Aura. – 32%

  Hilt Bash – Stun your opponent with a successful hilt strike from your bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 41%

  Blood Price – Your arrow inflicts a damage-over-time bleed effect. Cost – 30 Aura. – 37%

  Blind – Your next arrow has a chance to inflict blindness on a successful hit. Cost – 30 Aura. – 37%

  Achilles Strike – Cripple your target with a slash of your bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 41%

  Penetrator – Advanced Ability – Your arrow pierces through armor easily. With increased proficiency it may penetrate through even greater barriers. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 60 Aura. – 20%

  Disable – Advanced Ability – A successful strike of your blade to an extremity renders the affected limb completely useless until healed. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 60 Endurance. – 41%

  Shockwave – Advanced Ability – Your arrow explodes on contact, dealing minimal damage but generating a stunning Shockwave in a radius around its detonation. Size and scope of this effect increase with proficiency. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 120 Aura. – 32%

  Sintári Abilities

  Natural Affinity – The Sintári’s unique connection with the natural world may manifest itself in random ways at times. While these effects are generally beneficial they are also typically outside the direct control of the Sintári. Modifier – Charisma.

  Control – Effect varies, applies to all Sintári Abilities. – 75%

  Protector Abilities

  See Truth – Twice per day, the spoken words of your target become visible to you, allowing you to see the truth held within them. Strength and duration of this effect increase with proficiency. Cost – 60 Aura. Modifier – Wisdom. – 44%

  Spells

  Enhanced Sight – May be cast on self or ally. Improves visual acuity of the recipient in dark or obscured conditions. Cost – 20 Aura. – 52%

  Create Trap – Place a magical trap upon an area. Size, type, and trigger of traps is determined by your proficiency. Cost – 40 Aura. – 53%

  Elemental Arrow – Your next arrow is imbued with elemental energy and causes additional elemental damage accordingly. Cost – 30 Aura. – 28%

  Spike – Launch Ice Spike(s), delivering bonus cold damage on a successful hit. Cost – 40 Aura. – 20%

  Bolt – Release a Bolt of pure Lightning at your target(s). Cost – 40 Aura. – 27%

  Find Weakness – Highlights vulnerable points on the target. Modifier – Intelligence. Cost – 80 Aura. – 20%

  Summon Elemental – Summons an Elemental creature. If you succeed in binding it to your will, the creature will serve you faithfully until the spell’s expiration. Modifier – Charisma. Cost 100 Aura. – 42%

  Shield – May be cast on self only. Manifests a forward – facing barrier against incoming projectile attacks. Duration and resistance of the barrier are based on proficiency and modifier value. Modifier – Constitution. Cost – 80 Aura. – 24%

  Entangle – Create an area of entangling vines that will hold any foes caught within its radius. Area of effect, the distance you may cast the Spell, and the power of your vines will all vary based on your Abilities and proficiency. Modifiers – Strength and Dexterity. Cost – 150 Aura. – 26%

  Compel – Force a sentient creature to answer a single question. If you successfully dominate their will, the target will reply with a truthful answer to one question you ask. Modifier – Charisma. Cost – 80 Aura. – 1%

  Skills

  Bow – 68%

  Critical Hit – 54%

  Blades – 51%

  Long Sword – 50%

  Short Sword – 53%

  Dagger – 60%

  Critical Hit – 44%

  Two-Handed – 57%

  Pole Arms – 14%

  Spear – 23%

  Armor – 45%

  Medium Armor – 47%

  Perception – 58%

  Environmental – 59%

  Identify Enemy – 56%

  Identify Person – 54%

  Combat Dodge – 26%

  Subterfuge – 41%

  Stealth – 41%

  Find Trap – 20%

  Disarm Trap – 20%

  Set Trap – 20%

  Manipulation – 57%

  Persuade – 68%

  Barter – 41%

  Survival – 24%

  Tracking – 27%

  Identify Creature (Beasts) – 19%

  Skinning – 16%

  Field Dress – 15%

  Alchemy – 19%

  Herbalism – 31%

  Potion Craft – 27%

  Lore – 8%

  Identify Magical Item – 14%

  As we marched north, the trees thinned out and patches of snow began to cover the ground, and we crossed the boundary into Laska two weeks later. In the face of our Army’s numbers, the Laskans employed their time-honored tactic of simply yielding their land to us, apparently content to bide their time and wait for the harsh climate to do their work for them, but Laska had never been invaded by an army like ours; one with hundreds of Evokers. So, even though we suffered during the day, our camps were quite warm and comfortable overnight, and we marched relentlessly forward towards the Realm’s capital of Kiva.

  Most of Laska’s settlements were smaller, hosting only a few families or perhaps a clan or two, save for a few oceanside locations that were able to draw upon the bounty of its waters. The land’s sparse resources practically made this a necessity, but Kiva was an exception to this rule, made even more so by our Army’s approach. The city was practically overflowing with those who’d abandoned the lands we’d crossed on our journey there, but still stood firm against us behind its walls of frozen stone.

  Most of the terrain we’d traveled over on our trek to Kiva had been flat, featureless tundra, devoid of any cover. Fortunately, just outside Kiva’s walls was a small hill, perfectly positioned for our siege weapons to pound its walls into dust. So, just as in Ondale, we began to set up our artillery and erect our camp around the base of the hill overlooking Kiva’s fortifications, in preparation for bringing them down.

  Tási left me to go speak with her friends from Ashton while they busied themselves assembling the heavy catapults and ballistae, and I wandered among the rest of the soldiers as they dug trenches and set up their tents. Líann was looking for anything exciting to do after our long, tedious march, so I positioned her among the archers of our rear guard rather than listen to her whine again about how bored she was.

  Despite the long period of time it’d been since we had last seen any trace of beastkin, Ella still insisted on maintaining a heavy guard around me, and Saibra and Rhia were among those who acc
ompanied her as they followed me through camp. Bane circled high above, out of sight among the dark, billowing clouds, still maintaining his near-constant vigil over us. All was going exactly as it should, until the ground beneath my feet shook violently, and the force of a tremendous explosion launched my body through the air.

  I rolled to a stop amidst a pile of icy snow, but it wasn’t the violence or even the shock of what had happened that caused me to remain motionless on the cold ground. Among the pain and disorientation I felt, one thing came to me more clearly than anything else I’d ever felt—Tási. Or more precisely, her absence. Whatever happened, it had severed my link with her. The bond we’d shared since the moment her elemental spirit linked itself to me had been extinguished in an instant, and I knew that there was only one thing that could possibly cause that—her death.

  My legs guided me up slowly, and I gazed at the hill where she’d been standing alongside the troops setting up our weaponry—but that hill was no longer there. In its place was a deep, smoking crater and all around it, the white tundra was streaked with scorch marks and littered with our dead, or at least pieces of them. The explosion that had obliterated the hill had also shredded their bodies, most beyond any hope of recognition.

  Somewhere in my mind, screams of pain and cries for help echoed back and forth, but the only thought that registered was Tási’s death, and the wicked trap that had taken her life. The ideal location of the hill had been no stroke of luck, it had been built there just for us—to lure my army into the Laskans’ trap and snuff out as many lives as possible in one brutal stroke. As if in confirmation, the gates of Kiva flew open, and the Laskans flowed out onto the frozen ground, seeking to finish the devastation that their deception had wrought.

  As the Laskans surged forward, something inside me broke. The sensation was like the snapping of a dry twig in its sharpness but powered by the unrelenting force of a hurricane. The pain of Tási’s loss was far more than I was able to endure, and I felt myself retreating from my anguish as my fury took hold of me. Tási was dead, and everything that was good inside me died along with her. Love, joy, happiness—all of it turned to ashes, and I was left with only a deep pit of burning rage and darkness, along with an insatiable desire for revenge.

  That rage boiled inside me, rising far beyond my ability to control, and I found myself staring down upon the carnage from above, watching as the Laskans charged—I only saw my own form slowly walking towards them in return. I experienced my fury and pain in their full force, but observed my own actions with an odd, detached sensation.

  The world flew into a green-tinged haze rimmed in the deepest black, and I watched as my body moved forward of its own accord, bathed in an aura of dark, menacing shadows, from which tendrils of black vapor writhed in utter fury. My hands held orbs of pure darkness, hideous black things, each larger than my own head. I’d never created anything so powerful before, yet the two spheres held a mere fraction of the deep rage that was boiling inside my veins. Then, with the bare flick of my wrists, the orbs shot forth towards the horde of Laskans that were bearing down on me, extending their own dark tentacles of destruction as they flew towards Tási’s killers.

  While my orbs bore down upon them, a flash of light tore through the Laskans as Bane unleashed his fires. I hadn’t called him down from above, but he’d seen what had happened, and shared in the searing pain I’d felt. Hundreds of souls perished in his flames, and the deaths of many more were illuminated by those fires when my orbs ripped through their ranks.

  Scores of Laskans were simply obliterated as the orbs themselves reduced everything they touched to a pile of smoldering ruins. The long, black tentacles that extended from each of the black spheres lashed out as they sliced through the Laskan ranks like a scythe, ripping though bodies and cutting them down, leaving a wide swath of death and destruction in their wakes. Nothing withstood their dark power, and the dark orbs’ passing left behind only a thick trail of black ashes among the Laskan lines.

  The devastation caused the Laskan charge to falter, but I offered them no reprieve. I watched as my body, surrounded in its dark aura of hazy black, flung orb after orb into the Laskans’ ranks. From somewhere outside my mind, I sensed Bane’s fury and outrage, fueled by my own bitter pain, and he joined me in my relentless assault. Together in our darkness and hate, we rained fire and destruction down on the Laskans. They tried in vain to flee, but their retreat was cut off by Bane’s fires, and their advance was halted in the face of my fury. Screams of pain and agony pierced the cold air, but I did not hear them. There was no room in my mind for their cries or for any restraint—my love for Tási had known no limits; my fury at her death knew no bounds, and I did not stop slinging my orbs of black destruction until not a single Laskan remained before me.

  With no targets to unleash my rage upon, I sunk to my knees on the cold, frozen earth. The burning pit of fury inside me yielded to the anguish of loss, but the shock of it left me numb. People came to stand silently beside me, but I only knelt there in the cold snow, consumed with a feeling of deep emptiness—surrounded but yet completely alone. Finally, someone took me by the arm and gently guided me to my feet before leading me back towards the remains of our encampment.

  We stopped briefly along the way, and a discussion ensued among those who were escorting me. In my hazy confusion, none of the words registered in my mind, but when we resumed walking once more, our path had been diverted slightly for some unknown reason.

  When we stopped again, I stood still for a while, and those around me seemed to wait for me to say or do something, but my thoughts were still lost in my emptiness. Then, out of nowhere, the sound of utter anguish came to me. It struck my heart with such force that I slipped from the grasp of whoever had been holding me and fell to the ground once more. The wail of despair had pierced through the fog of my mind; not only because it echoed so closely my own deep feelings of desolation, but because I’d recognized its source as well.

  Before anyone could help me to my feet, I rose on my own, and began walking slowly towards the sound that had stirred me from my grief. There, only a few steps away from me was Venna, sprawled on the ground next to Stel’s body, crying the tears that I should have been shedding for Tási, who lay next to him, shrouded beneath a heavy blanket.

  I knelt down in the snow once more, this time between the slowly cooling corpses of Tási and Stel. Venna never tore her gaze from Stel’s body; she only held him in her arms and shed her tears over his lifeless form. His body had been badly broken, and both his left arm and leg were bent at odd angles within the confines of his armor. But that was not the full extent of Stel’s injuries. He’d obviously been close to the site of the explosion and had been all but decapitated in its powerful blast. Stel’s head only remained attached to his body by the barest strip of flesh, a wound so grievous that only Death’s Embrace held the power to restore him.

  But Tási had fared even worse—she’d been among the troops atop the low hill when the massive explosion erupted, and even the God-forged armor she wore had provided her with scant protection from it. But it was only when I peeled back her shroud that the full extent of the damage that had been done to her became apparent.

  Except for the slight blue tint of her lips, I might have mistaken her for sleeping while Tási remained covered beneath that blanket, but pulling it away revealed that lie to me fully. Nothing but scorched bone and charred bits of flesh remained below her waist, and the desecration of her body continued up nearly her entire left side, where the curled fingers of her hand twisted into a burnt knot.

  My love, my Tási, lay beside me on the cold ground, dead. But I had the power to return her to life. I had the power to restore her, even from the state she was in. The power over life and death was mine, to a point, and understanding the true depth and meaning of that power, I withdrew Death’s Embrace from within the folds of my cloak and did the only thing I possibly could with its gift.

  I felt the magic flowing over and th
en through me as it took hold, and its restorative powers began to stitch together the body that lay beside me. The essence of life flowed back into dead flesh, and the utter stillness of the world around me suddenly broke when I heard the sound of a deep breath being inhaled as that essence took hold.

  “…No,” someone nearby whispered in disbelief as I turned to cover Tási’s corpse once more.

  I stroked her hair and ran my fingers along the cold skin of Tási’s cheek as I began to bid her farewell. Although my sense of loss was deep and profound, I also knew that I had the strength to overcome it—while Venna did not. Stel’s death would have ended her, if not right then, soon after. Perhaps not in any final way, but the person she was would have ceased to exist without him. As painful as it was, I’d chosen to bear the burden of Tási’s loss for her instead, rather than lose the two of them.

  “D-Dreya,” Venna’s voice cracked as she called to me, but I ignored her—she had her love back, and I needed a few last moments with mine.

  But as I gazed at Tási, the light blue tint of her pale lips spread across her skin, and when it covered her, she burst into a plume of vapor before my eyes. The cloud of mist resolved into a roughly humanoid shape, and an almost recognizable face peered back at me with deep blue eyes.

  “Do not mourn our child, Sintári,” the oddly resonant voice called to me. “We sent Tási to you for a purpose. The waters knew your path would be difficult, and that the forces of darkness would call to you strongly. We gave you Tási to ensure that you knew the power of love as well, and in that, she has succeeded beyond anything we dared to hope. Your darkness is strong, but with Tási’s help, your love has grown even stronger, as your selfless act has demonstrated.”

  “You will never see her again, Sintári, but neither is Tási lost to you. The part of her that was once ours has returned to us, and you will find her wherever we are. Tási may speak to you from the calm waters of a lake or in the rushing sounds of a stream—all you need do is listen for her. Her body may not be eternal, Sintári, but the waters are. Tási has not left you, although you may need to listen more closely than you’re used to if you wish to hear her voice again.”