Each use grants +1 to reputation with your patron and enhances their influence on your soul. Additionally, the target receives the Mark of the Heretic, allowing you to track its movement on the map for one day. The Mark can be used on no more than three targets at a time.
Ability activated.
Arkoosh had already jumped over Rawrk’s body. He had to make just four more steps... Fury reared up, blocking his path, but didn’t attack. Colin wouldn’t strike while Arkoosh was between me and him, out of fear of hitting one of his own. I gave Tinnie, who was restlessly hovering in the air, a mental order to dive behind my back, as there was no use for her now.
And then Lash of Pain whipped across the rogue’s face.
I had the “pleasure” of feeling it on my own skin when Pops used it on me in a duel at the Gybberkin Valley. I hadn’t forgotten how the wild, paralyzing pain pierced my every nerve, knocking breath out of my lungs.
Arkoosh’s legs gave way, but his level saved him from being knocked out and falling to his knees. Too bad for him. Colin still couldn’t attack. Arkoosh grunted.
“Damn you... You ugly… Son of a…! Kill him... Colin!” he wheezed through clenched teeth.
The floor trembled.
Looking back, I made sure that the passage had opened completely. I didn’t hesitate. Fury jumped to me, and I climbed on her back, wincing when her razor-sharp spikes pierced my thighs. We ran toward the light that was pouring into the tunnel from the outside. The massive slab behind us started to close with a creaking sound. The next second we found ourselves outside and under the open sky.
The blizzard that had been raging for most of the night had subsided. Two moons shone in the sky, one small, gray one and one large, green one. They caressed the valley with ghostly light, turning the snow into a sparkling blanket.
New location discovered: Vale of the Seventh Seal
Reward: +5,000 XP
But I had no time for the beauties of nature.
With a curse on my lips, I jumped off Fury and onto the snow, unable to stay on her back anymore. The inside of my thighs were bloody and my pants were in tatters. Any lover of torture would envy the way Fury’s dorsal spines ripped through both skin and flesh. It was a good thing that I never sat down completely, otherwise my ass and groin would’ve been torn to shreds as well. Looking back, I threw a furious glance at the tunnel entrance. My pursuers didn’t have time to jump after me. Nevertheless, my heart was still beating like crazy and was in no hurry to calm down. Someone will have to answer for an unsuccessful attempt on my life, and for Rawrk’s death. Why did he sacrifice himself for me? Was it because he joined my clan? If that was the case, it would be difficult to find a more loyal creature than a Raksh.
I made a big mistake.
I should have moved, not stopped.
A fierce blow to my stomach knocked the air out of my lungs and knocked me to the ground. Numbing pain pierced my entrails. The world spun, and I fell unconscious. Darkness, which I tried so hard to avoid, embraced me.
Chapter 36
Reality returned in flashes.
I sensed tremors. Pain tore my knotted guts. My consciousness slipped in and out of darkness, where bliss reigned and this agonizing pain didn’t exist. During one of the lapses, when my vision began to return in bits and pieces, I caught a glimpse of my legs through the haze. Behind them were deep furrows in the snow. Slowly, I realized that someone was dragging me like a bag full of loot. Someone’s strong hand was holding me by the collar. Fury slipped along, disappearing from sight, like a blurry shadow. The quiet buzz of wings informed me that Tinnie was also somewhere nearby. I instinctively tried to move.
“Endure and don’t twitch. We’re almost there,” retorted a hoarse bass.
The voice was unfamiliar, but I obeyed. I still couldn’t move; my consciousness flickered like a faint light. Whoever this was, they didn’t wish me harm. Not yet, at least. I never would’ve regained consciousness otherwise.
Soon we stopped. The stranger’s hand let go of my collar, gently placing the back of my head onto the cold snow. All of a sudden, a massive silhouette loomed over me, obscuring the two moons and their ghostly light...
I woke up in relatively warm environment; steam escaped from my mouth even though the temperature was clearly above zero. I found myself lying on a wooden, trestle-bed, and in beddings made out of smelly skins. The bed’s width allowed Fury to sit next to me. Her massive body both warmed and obscured the view of the place in which I had found myself. From somewhere behind her, dim light oozed into the room, piercing the darkness. I rose on my elbow; my insides immediately shriveled up in pain, but I only grimaced. For the sake of my own safety, I had to be patient and look around a bit. My glance slid across the polished marble walls; the room was small, round and about sixteen feet in diameter. A low, oval table with a couple of chairs stood near the wall on the opposite side; a hanger with some rags was a little to the right of it; then there was a door, and next to it was a small stand on which I saw weapons. Daggers? They seem small enough… My fingers clenched reflexively. I had a bad habit of losing weapons, but I would always manage to quickly find a replacement. This was partly reassuring.
“Fury, move... I need to get up.”
She snorted with displeasure, but jumped to the floor.
Throwing away the skins, I immediately felt the cold sink its teeth into my torso. I was topless. Through the holes of my torn pants, I saw the white foam that covered the wounds on my thighs. Looking upward, I found that my abdomen was covered with it as well. Someone had put a lot of effort into my survival, not hesitating to use precious potions. Instinctively thrusting my hand behind my back, I found that there was foam there, too. I flinched. I had been pierced through, like Rawrk. Colin, you bastard... It must’ve been him. Had it not been for Spiritual Link and the stranger’s timely help, I probably wouldn’t have survived. I got damn lucky again.
In the center of the room, slightly elevated from the rest of the floor, was a stone circle with escs. It was they that provided the room with the dim radiance. The system called it a Furnace of Power. What a waste...
The feeling of heaviness inside my stomach didn’t let go; the blow must’ve torn the viscera. I would feel it for a long time. Such a severe injury was almost always fatal; in real life, at least.
The system informed me that I had gotten a few new achievements. Only one caught my attention. My eyes almost popped out of my head.
Achievement unlocked: On the Brink Between Life and Death
Having avoided inevitable death by using Spiritual Link, you have activated Soulcatcher’s additional trait, Kamikaze’s Vengeance. From now on, you can cause enhanced damage by spending your own saves.
Cooldown: 1 day
Glancing over Soulcatcher’s description, I discovered that something had changed.
Soulcatcher
Rank 3 (0/300; 0/25 SP)
Unique skill
Deals astral damage to the Forces of Chaos equal to PD x4 for 30 seconds, restoring 100% of damage dealt in HP and energy for the caster. Ignores any defense of the Forces of Chaos.
Cost: 1 Essence Crystal
Cooldown: 1 minute
That was it. The bit about development after rank 3 being variable had disappeared. If I was seeing this correctly, it no longer dealt damage only to creatures of Chaos. Also, there were no longer any variations in its development. Sure, all other creatures still stood a chance because their defense wasn’t being ignored, but still! I just needed Soulcatcher to hit! Alan be praised! Things were simple and clear and Soulcatcher seemed to be one of my most powerful abilities. And where was this before? Waiting for a special invitation? Shut it, don’t tempt fate. You’re alive and have a couple of new goodies. The only thing that confused me about this Kamikaze’s Vengeance was its enhanced damage. How enhanced was it? The bit about spending my own saves was also a bit confusing. Combine that with its day long cooldown and the ability looked rather painful. It was clear, how
ever, that using it without Spiritual Link would be unwise, lest I risked kicking the bucket way too soon. It takes a bit to earn a new save since you get one every ten levels, unless you get lucky and get it as a reward from one of the quests.
In any case, it was better not risk it. Instead, it’d be better to get “fuel” for Soulcatcher, which was, in this very moment, at arm’s reach.
On weak legs, I somehow got up from the bed. After making a couple of wrong steps, I knelt down near the Furnace. An attempt to pull an esc out of the stone almost ended in a burn; the Furnace had been rightfully named so and the escs gave out not only light, but also heat, maintaining the temperature in the room. Clenching my teeth, I sat down and kicked the esc. It flew out of its nesting place and clattered against the stone. I froze. It dawned on me, somewhat late I might add, that this could interrupt the workings of the Furnace, leaving me to die in cold darkness. Thankfully, the light only dimmed.
With a trembling hand, I reached for the esc and, gently squeezing its partially melted edges with my fingers, I felt my anxiety waning.
If an enemy attacked now, the short-term effect of Lash of Pain wouldn’t save me in this state, while Soulcatcher could. After all, I had no idea where my savior was, or who could arrive in their absence. I had no idea what plans they had for me. The Lowlings, too, seemed friendly at the beginning when they “saved” me from the Okhtans and earned my trust. For now, long live reasonable paranoia until I find out more. After all, the fact that the stranger didn’t kill me right away didn’t mean that they wouldn’t kill me later. Only two things were important in this world: information and socs. I’d rather avoid a potential dagger to my already fucked up gut. So it was worth preparing myself for a long conversation...
Looking at the weapons stand and assessing my condition, I realized that I didn’t have enough strength to get to it. On all fours, I crawled back to the trestle-bed, somehow climbed onto it, and covered myself with the hides. Without waiting for a special invitation, Fury gently jumped up and lay down beside me. I pressed myself against her hot body; fatigue plunged me into regenerating sleep...
But I woke up immediately when I realized that I hadn’t seen Tinnie.
Her vitals were in perfect order, so where was she? Luckily, it was enough to summon her mentally, for her to squeak in response from somewhere in the room. It turned out that she was examining some bag near the rack.
“Drop it. It’s not ours.”
Tinnie sniffed dismissively and continued marauding. Fine. She was too small to take anything significant anyway, and whatever she does end up taking won’t go any further than this room. It was hard to say who had brought me here. I didn’t manage to see their face, but my intuition assured me that they were a human. Feeling tired once more, I closed my eyes, leaned back, and sank into sullen drowsiness. I didn’t know what prevented the Lowlings from opening the passage again, catching up with me and finishing me off, but it was worth finding out. In the light of recent events, I could no longer count on them. They were my enemies now. “Mashta didn’t want it to come to this,” Colin’s voice echoed through my mind. “She was against it from the very beginning... Don’t think badly of her, okay?”
Not a chance. Your actions speak for you, not your false regrets. It’s customary to return such “gifts” hundredfold. I couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened. So far, the Lowlings had seen only the peaceful Wisecracker, but the vengeful me was not to be fucked with. Poor Rawrk... This quest had cost him too much.
Mentally opening the quest log, I wanted to make sure that the Raksh had died for a good reason. However, it felt somewhat blasphemous to measure the life of an intelligent creature in quests.
Quest complete: Mysterious Stranger
Reward: 5,000 XP; 0.1 (2.25) saves
Current reputation with the Guardians of the Belistva Fortress Faction: Neutral (55/100)
Despite Rawrk’s death, my reputation had grown. I accepted the rewards without much enthusiasm. Apathy overwhelmed me. When you can barely move, there is little that can please you. All I felt and saw were darkness, stench, bitter cold, and pain that twisted my guts into a burning knot and made me sweat and shiver; all the “joys of life” were gone. At the same time, Rawrk’s death kept resurfacing in my mind. I hoped that the brave Raksh only spent a save. It would be a shame to lose a clanmate that fast...
The clan! I remembered the system had mentioned something about recalculating the achievement rewards. Now I had something else to occupy my weary mind with while my body was regenerating. This would also keep me awake. After all, enemies could attack at any time!
I opened the clan menu and very carefully went through everything, looking for changes. First of all, I looked at the list of clan members. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out a countdown in front of Rawrk’s name. It read: 10.54. So, the clan interface now allowed me to track the moment of my clanmate’s resurrection and come to their timely rescue if the situation required it. An extremely useful feature. Judging by the numbers, this was Rawrk’s first death, as he would spend 12 hours in the Cradle. I must’ve been trying to come to for more than an hour. The names of my former clan members remained grayed out as they were inactive. The guys had probably left the sandbox by now and were exploring a new location, Boxwood City, while I was freezing my ass off. I might as well have ended up in a morgue.
I just had to be deceived by the small folk... Taking into account how I got here, I thought that many of those who found themselves in this prison must’ve also been unfairly condemned by the system. I had hoped that I wasn’t among immoral monsters as that thought helped sooth my soul a little. Sadly, the Lowlings turned out to be masters of deception...
Getting the thought of them out of my head, I returned to the clan and, with even greater surprise, found out that my position had changed from “advisor” to “vice-clanmaster.” This was probably because I was the highest-ranking member in this location. On its own initiative, the system adjusted the settings so that someone could take full responsibility for the clan. And that wasn’t the only thing.
Clan skill points: 23/0 (free / distributed)
I spent about ten minutes trying to figure out where almost dozen clan points had come from. Despite the fatigue and sluggish thinking, I managed to figure out that clan points were awarded for achievements in dungeons and services to the clan. For simple achievements like those that I had received in the lair, Alone in the Dark and Sly Dog, the clan received a point for each, and for achievements on a global scale like The Battle Beyond the Edge and Sped up by the Fight, the clan received 10 points for each. Sandbox rules! The clan got another point from one of the two new achievements.
Negotiator
You have the ability to find a common language with representatives of the warring factions. Your silver tongue disarms all those who lend an ear.
Reward: Charisma +1 (6)
At Home Among Strangers
You have convinced a representative of a hostile faction to join your side and persuaded them to join your clan. Such an act can change the balance of power in Lunar Rainbow. Since this happened for the first time, the recruiter for [Fortune Hunters] clan now receives fivefold XP.
Clan skill points: +1 (23)
Clan XP for accepting a new ally: +1,600
Recruiter reward: XP +8,000
Changes to the Cunning stat: +1 (8)
That’s a lot of XP! So, a clan gets a hundred points each time a novice levels up, and the recruiter, thanks to the achievement, gets as much as five hundred! I’ll move heaven and earth in search for new clan members!
The achievements obtained hinted at compulsory socialization. Survival conditions were set in such a way that even renegades learned to appreciate having a partner and prevented people from resorting to arms without urgent need and reasonable motivation. And not only among their own, but also among strangers. Thanks to the Dalrokts, the outcasts were able to organize themselves, but a dark past couldn’t be simply
thrown away or replaced like a pair of dirty socks... That’s why the Lowlings...
Again!
To hell with them!
I understood the situation with the clan as follows: this closed location didn’t support direct communication with the other ones, so the system created something like a copy of the clan, the local variation of Fortune Hunters, so our previously accumulated XP was reset and was now at 1,600 out of 10,000. Not like I had lost much because of that. When I left the sandbox, the clan was only level 1. It was logical to assume that when the branch clan reconnects with its main one, all of the XP and achievements would be combined. However, only time will tell what really happens.
Most of the novice clans couldn’t boast with a pile of clan points. Inspired, I immediately opened the clan skills page. Changes had occurred there, too. Two more passives were added to the old Aura of Maturity that granted + 5% combat XP.
Recalculation
Rank 1 (0/1)
1% of players’ XP is redistributed toward clan progress.
Voice Chat
Rank 1 (0/1)
Clan chat that allows long distance communication.
Range: no more than half a mile radius
Interesting. And how does it work in practice? Does a weak transmitter switch on in your head, or what? Attempting to use the points for the good of the clan resulted in a failure.
Error! Clan level insufficient to increase skill rank!
Understanding that the miserable percentage XP that I had was no good, I opened the clan quests tab that, naturally, existed to help level up the clan. Once again, I felt like I had run face first into a stone wall.
Error! Conditions for the formation of a clan quest have not been met!
Ooooh, damn you!
Utterly disappointed by unfulfilled hopes, I remembered my stats. Cunning by itself gave a standard bonus to XP and intelligence, casually helping me reach level 15 and at the same time providing me with save points of which I now had 2.35.
As for the pets, Fury had reached level 13, and Tinnie somehow reached level 11.
Keymaster Page 25
