Beastborne- Mark of the Founder

by James T Callum

  Whip-thin bladed chains leaped up from the ground. They dragged the Sporelings, with their ungainly multi-legged gait, to a standstill. Moving his hands together, Hal lined up the creatures in a rough line ten or so feet across.

  The strain was immense. When he was under the effect of the Elysian Surge, summoning Bloodrake felt like conducting a symphony. Light and airy, easily moved.

  Now it was like dragging an anchor around. Though he was pleased to see that the improvements of Bloodrake II were readily visible. The damage itself was still negligible, but the bleed was nearly 20 points now. A significant increase.

  The Sporelings struggled against their bonds, shredding their oily black hides. Hal felt several of the links stretch and tear apart under the force of the creatures.

  Golden light flooded the room. The brilliant light lanced out from Elora’s bow and dove through the toxic creatures, blasting them apart into nothingness and breaking apart against the far wall with a room-shaking crash.

  Elora uses Ultimate: Empyreal Arrow.

  Elora defeats 13 [Shoggoth Sporelings].

  You gain 585 Experience Points.

  You earn 58 Sparks.

  You absorb 45 Aberration Essence.

  A Sporeling leaped at Hal just as he released the spell and came out his ethereal state. It knocked him the ground before he could so much as cry out. The ground cracked beneath him. He thought the thing was growling but realized the floor was shaking and rumbling beneath his back.

  The creature had whip-thin tendrils that rose up behind its main, amorphous bulk. Its two oversized legs melted and reshaped in a continual, stomach-churning oozing motion. At first glance, Hal couldn’t help but see an oversized, aggressively mutated version of the nerd’s candy mascot.

  Black spittle hung in thick strands as it opened its dark maw the size – and rough shape – of a beach ball. Hal had hoped that he would become ethereally unstable again but he knew his luck wasn’t that good.

  The [Goblinbane] laid a few feet away to his left but he wasn’t going to be able to get to it before the creature tore out his throat. Swallowing against the pain he knew was coming, Hal shoved his right forearm into the thing’s lunging mouth.

  If it was surprised by Hal’s action, it never showed it because it instantly bit down as if awaiting the meal all along. Savage pain gripped Hal and he nearly blacked out from the ripping, tearing agony.

  His left arm flopped around trying to grab onto his blade while he struggled to fend off the overwhelming panic. The creature tugged and pulled Hal up nearly to a sitting position as it thrashed its head around. Blood sprayed out from his wound and he swooned with nausea and the mind-shattering pain of it all.

  Just as he thought he’d pass out, Hal’s fingers closed on the hilt of his sword. His hand came up in a frantic flash, diving the [Goblinbane] into the creature’s cancerous hide.

  It screeched in pain, releasing his mangled arm long enough for Hal to pull it away. He drove a knee up into its soft underbelly to force it off.

  The creature recovered quickly but when Hal held the [Goblinbane] up, dripping the black blood of the creature, it gave the weapon a look of grudging respect and kept its distance long enough for Hal to get woozily to his feet.

  His right arm hung uselessly at his side, the pain was almost gone, replaced by a pervading chill and nausea. Blood pattered to the shaking stone at his feet.

  The ground crumbled and a bottomless fissure swallowed the both of them before he realized what was going on.

  As the floor fell out beneath his feet and Hal tumbled in the rushing air that whipped about him, he reached out with one hand to summon Bloodrake.

  A flash of red crossed his vision and the chains sprang free of his hand to encircle the free-falling Sporeling.

  Before Hal could crush it himself, two colliding chunks of flooring cracked together a foot in front of Hal’s nose, crushing the creature into a thick oozing paste.

  You defeat the [Sporeling].

  You gain 45 Experience Points.

  You earn 4 Sparks.

  His MP was bottomed out. Hal transferred enough of his SP until it was barely a sliver of green, using it to stem the serious bloodloss of his arm. Assimilation did the work that even the best hospitals back home never could. But even with that, he was barely at 50% HP. He was in a sorry state indeed as he fell to his certain doom.

  Blocks of flooring crashed and banged together all around him. The larger stones tumbled against walls that grew rougher and craggier as he descended.

  A heavy chunk of rock rolled and twisted in the air. It was strangely beautiful, watching all the pieces of stone, both big and small, twist and turn about in a slow dance.

  Only the knowledge that it was going to end violently stole away his sense of awe at the tumbling ballet. Unless he found some way to slow his falling, he’d be just as broken as those stones that seemed to float in the air around him.

  The Reaper alighted to Hal’s side, watching him with those golden eyes of hers. For the first time since they returned to the land of the living, she spoke. “You can’t fly.” It sounded as much an accusation as a question.

  “No,” Hal coughed out, blood falling away from his lips in tiny droplets.

  “You took me from my duty,” she grumbled. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

  Hal glared at her. “Seriously? You’re doing this now? I’m a little busy trying to come up with a way to survive this.”

  The Reaper snorted. She fell at the same speed as Hal, heavier stones passed through her like she was no more than a ghost. “You hardly seem capable of extricating yourself from this situation. Why did you bother to fight to return here? You had to know this would be waiting for you. That just sounds like dying with extra steps.”

  Aggravated at his powerlessness, and the way the Reaper so callously spoke of his failure, Hal lashed out knowing it would be worthless. His free - and newly healed - arm swung out hitting the Reaper solidly in the chest. The back of his hand slapped hard against her cuirass and she cried out in surprise. She certainly wasn’t crying out because it hurt.

  Hal’s palm smarted from the hit and the Reaper tumbled away, for a second she was corporeal. Then her spectral form came back and she passed through the stone that she should have slammed against.

  When she came back she glared at Hal but had enough respect for whatever he had done to stay well out of his reach. She stayed silent, studying him for long moments that Hal couldn’t waste.

  Twisting about, Hal had the presence of mind to sheath his [Goblinbane]. He grabbed onto a flat piece of stone and crawled onto it knowing full-well that it wouldn’t save him when they hit the bottom. But he couldn’t deny the comfort of having something solid beneath him as he rose tentatively to his feet on the stone.

  Up high above him, Hal saw Mira’s darting form leaping back and forth from one block of stone to the other. The heaviest pieces had fallen below them into the dark. He quickly searched for the others.

  Alone among them, Mira would likely weather the fall the best. Given a little time, she could probably leap out of the entire pit herself. He couldn’t see Elora or Giel but the shimmering silver-white of Ashera’s hair was like a beacon in the dark.

  She was falling, fast. From the way she tumbled and rolled, Hal doubted she was even conscious. He tensed the muscles in his legs ready to spring but held himself back.

  What could he do in such a hopeless situation? He was on death’s door. Hal glanced accusingly at the Reaper but she merely watched him warily.

  Ever since the Shoggoth, Hal had a bright blinking notification. An alert that told him he had completed a Quest. His only hope lay in the Chimeric Attunement Quest.

  He should have finished it, and while he was hoping for something more, he wasn’t about to risk Ashera’s life on his own hubris. If they were to have any chance of surviving, Hal would need his magic.

  And the only way to get it would be to Level Up. The [Corrupted Core] didn’t
look anything like the core from the Animated Doll and Hal was hardly in the position to be experimenting.

  He opened up his Quests.

  Quest Completed: Chimeric Attunement.

  Unlike the power-hungry Chimera Knights, you spurned the easy path to higher power and instead amassed your own knowledge and affinities far beyond what most Chimera Knights are capable of. Doing so while a Novice has proven your dedication to go above and beyond. Surviving death itself has shattered the mortal limitations holding you back from a true, unfettered transformation.

  Objectives

  Achieve 100% Monster Affinity in at least 2 Monster Families (Complete).

  Additional objectives available.

  Attain 100% monster affinity in 3 separate monster families (Complete).

  Achieve a combined Monster Affinity of 500% (Complete).

  Gain 100% Monster Affinity with two opposing Monster Families (Complete).

  Reach 200% in a single Monster Affinity (Complete).

  Attain no other Classes while undergoing Chimeric Attunement (Complete).

  Return from the dead without turning undead. (Complete).

  Reward

  Access to Chimera Knight.

  Additional rewards available.

  Chimera Knight Level +1.

  Chimera Knight, 2 Bonus Perks.

  Chimera Knight, 3 Bonus Perks, 1 Bestial Trait.

  Chimera Knight, 3 Bonus Perks, 2 Bestial Traits.

  Fabled Evolution Available: Beastborne.

  Would you like to turn in this Quest?

  Yes, Hal thought immediately.

  A choice popped up. He could take Chimera Knight, with its bonus perks and traits it would be a lot stronger right off the bat. Or he could take Beastborne. A relatively unknown Fabled Class.

  He held faith in Elora’s knowledge of Fabled Classes and chose Beastborne.

  You unlock Beastborne.

  Even among the lost order of Chimera Knights, there was a whisper and a rumor of something greater. A form of Beast Magic given physical form on the most fundamental levels. Many Chimera Knights died pursuing their desires to attain the title of Beastborne. Wielders of the most powerful Beast Magic, the Beastborne walk the razor’s edge between their humanity and becoming another terror that stalks the stars.

  Fabled Class Trait: Regenerative Prowess

  +25% HP, SP, and MP Regeneration.

  Beastborne reaches Level 1.

  You have 5 unspent Attribute Points awaiting distribution.

  Your HP, SP, and MP are fully restored.

  You learn Splice.

  The core of what it means to be a Beastborne is their capacity to take the essences they’ve acquired and mix them into an entirely new form, never before seen.

  Essence Capacity: 2

  Monster Attunements

  Each additional 100% Monster Affinity over the initial 100% provides a Monster Attunement. Beastbornes possess a higher affinity with monsters and as a result are able to take facets of highly attuned Monster Families for their own gain.

  Monster Attunements are only active while Splicing the given Monster Family.

  Monster Attunements Available

  Aberration: 1

  Goblin: 2

  Hal’s head swam with the possibilities. He was so assaulted with knowledge and new comprehension that he hadn’t noticed the healing waves that knit his skin and muscle together on his right arm. He was back to full again, across the board.

  The grin that spread across his face looked slightly sinister.

  40

  Hal left his Monster Attunements for later.

  Of much greater import to him was his newfound ability, Splice. He reached into that font of newly granted power and knowledge. There were three available essences: goblin, aberration, and shadow.

  Like Chimera Knight, it seemed Beastborne required at least a 100% Monster Affinity before he could access the associated powers. He couldn’t find any aspect of a goblin that would help him but aberration and shadow… those were rife with possibility.

  He nearly retched at the first idea that came to him. A flesh parachute. More disturbing still was the sensation that he needed only to will it so and he would have it.

  Nope. I have my limits.

  Instead, remembering the way the Shoggoth stretched out its pseudopods into impossibly tight positions, Hal tapped into the aberration essence and Spliced it with the shadow essence.

  The result was a series of dark, shadowy tendrils that stretched out from his back. He knew, without being able to see, precisely where they were. With each passing second, Hal became more aware of his new limbs.

  It took some getting used to having extra appendages but Hal found the shadowy tendrils obeying his mental command as easily as reaching out with his own hand.

  Easier, even.

  The tenuous holds that the falling, rolling stones provided would have been disastrous to navigate before. But with his newfound power, Hal found the chaotic space as easy to traverse as if he walked on a level street.

  All he had to do was think of where he wanted to go and the shadow-limbs moved on their own accord to support him. Tumbling, twisting stones were lightly touched while the heavier blocks were used as anchors.

  The shadow-limbs supported him effortlessly, spreading his weight out among the six long limbs that curled and gripped stone at impossible angles while pushing off of passing debris, robbing it of its inertia, all in the service of keeping Hal balanced.

  Hal reached Ashera’s unconscious body moments later.

  His shadowy tentacles pushed and righted himself as unconsciously as standing up straight on a slant. He held out his arms to catch the tumbling woman.

  Safely in his arms, Hal looked around for the others but still couldn’t find them. A cacophonous racket echoed up through the long fall and Hal knew his time was short. One look below showed him a rising cloud of debris quickly approaching.

  Any moment now they’d crash into the bottom. Hal doubted his new powers would cushion him against such a blow. His Perception outlined a small natural crevice in the rocky wall, fifteen feet below.

  Before Hal knew what he was doing, his tendrils coiled and thrust him across the gap between himself and the side of the pit. He found himself stumbling into the crevice, Ashera still held safely in his arms.

  It was a tight fit but Hal managed to push through into the darkness, his Guild badge lighting the way.

  The cloud of dust and debris rose up. It flooded into the narrow passage, choking Hal’s lungs and forcing him to lift a ripped piece of his quilted armor to cover his face.

  An act he did unconsciously with a shadowy appendage.

  The crevice split into several paths but Hal was drawn to a single one. It was the only one that had roots growing out of it. Intuition told him that those roots were important to follow. Hal followed the roots as they snaked through the rough, craggy chambers.

  Ashera’s HP was low, hovering at around 7%. She looked rough, her hunting leathers were ripped and torn, splashed with too much blood.

  Once they were far enough away from any perceivable danger, Hal set her down in the mouth of a rocky chamber that spread out into a wide cavern.

  “Come on, Ashera. Work with me. I can’t heal you… how do I help you?”

  He had no potions. No magic that could heal somebody other than himself. And that came at a steep cost. Hal thought back to his first meeting with Ashera. The notification he’d gotten had said he gained Sympathy was with Ashera, hadn’t it?

  Kneeling beside Ashera’s supine body, Hal placed two hands over the worst gashes that peeked through her armor. Please let this work.

  Hal triggered Assimilation, focusing on Ashera’s wounds. He had no idea what he was doing. It felt like he was walking in the dark.

  Without a direct resource to restore, his Assimilation did nothing at first but he didn’t give up. He pushed deeper, focusing on Ashera as an extension of himself rather than another person. Her H
P came into sharp focus.

  For a brief moment, he swore he could feel the many cuts and broken bones as if they were his own injuries. That seemed to be the trick to it. As soon as he felt the pain, his SP drained at an alarming pace until it was entirely emptied.

  Ashera’s HP ticked up slowly. 7%, 10%, 15% all the way to 25% until both his MP and SP winked out. His HP began to drain with a cold numbing sensation that frightened him to his core.

  It was exactly how it had felt to die.

  Hal kept a keen eye on his HP as he repaired Ashera’s broken and battered body at the cost of his own health. Once he hit 10% Ashera fluttered her eyes open, her own HP healed up to 50%.

  You learn Empathy.

  You are able to share buffs and abilities with any person you possess Sympathy with.

  Gasping for breath that wouldn’t fill his lungs, Hal struggled to keep conscious. Ashera’s confused expression searched his face and then the area around her.

  She reached out a weak hand and touched his cheek as if unsure he was real. “Hal? You look terrible.”

  He assumed he looked the way he felt. Hal doled out a little EXP from his Discordant Stone into Beastborne. The rush that typically accompanied a Level Up washed the weariness and chill from his bones.

  Beastborne reaches Level 2.

  You have 10 unspent Attribute Points awaiting distribution.

  Your HP, SP, and MP are fully restored.

  Hal grinned at that. He had a good store of EXP left from all those fights and only one Class to spend it on. As tempted as he was to push Beastborne as high as possible to catch up to his companions, he held off.

  While he couldn’t repeat the cure-all of Leveling Up again, as it reduced its efficacy by half each time, he didn’t know how long they would be down here. Even being able to heal up to full, then half, then a quarter more per day was worth holding onto the EXP.