Chapter 14 Raw
After selecting the Phoenix Floo item from my inventory menu, my body moved on its own, taking a small purse of the powder in my left hand and making the fingers on my right hand dig into the purse and pull a handful of the grey-blue ash precariously between my fingers and thumb. My entire arm then moved on its own, deftly flinging the ash just overhead in a manner that covered my entire body. I felt a comforting warmth, really a heat I was certain I shouldn't have survived, but the heat did feel safe. My surroundings blurred then all I could see were azure flames in every direction.
The flames then rescinded from my view and I felt the warmth drain from my skin, but felt it stoked stronger than before at my very core, somewhere between my chest and abdomen. The cool air blanketed me and saw that I was standing in front of a Soul Beacon. I instinctively reached out to touch the azure flames in the center of the stone auroburos, comforted by the immense warmth that had warmed me only seconds ago.
I looked behind me and saw Barrington hammering at his forge and Sedwin in the distance hacking away at a shambling revenant in an alchemist's uniform with his claws. Each of the bear's slashes brought a new dismemberment.
"Perfect!" I said looking at the smith. He looked at me for a second with complete disinterest then went back to his work.
I walked over to him and rapped on his merchant's counter.
"What do you want?"
"You really have to work on your people skills if you want to sell more of this stuff."
"Like the weapons I make, I seek the best quality of customer, not the highest quantity of them."
"Then you're a shitty merchant, amigo."
"I have no interest in being a merchant. Those who desire the best weapons seek me out. Occasionally this brings some truly spectacular warriors to my shop, warriors who've attained great spiritual wealth in their travels."
I watched as Sedwin, now done with his skirmish, dragged what remained of the revenant's body from the edge of camp and into the forest. He disappeared into the dark woods shortly thereafter.
The smith continued, "My weapons will be of great use to them and will stay with the warrior, growing to the peak of their power. Each weapon I forge will go on to become legendary when they find the best warrior to wield them."
"You talk as if these things are alive," I said.
"You're a blind, deaf fool if you think they aren't."
I looked at the dagger in my hand and felt like I was looking at it for the first time.
Living weapons?
A lot of thoughts came to me on the subject. Did Barrington just imply that this game had another system to it that I wasn't properly using? I had to know. He said that weapons could grow and "become legendary." Could you really power these things up in some other way? There was nothing in the manual about it.
"Tell me, how can I make my weapon grow and become legendary?"
"From the looks of you, I don't think you'll be making a legendary weapon any time soon. But looking at your weapons, it appears they are already growing thanks to your many combat engagements. But it will be up to you now to guide them down the desired path."
"Explain."
"I will not, but perhaps my apprentice will once he returns."
Lousy old grump, I thought as I quietly waited another minute for Sedwin to return from the forest. Once he was in the camp, I asked him about the weapon system and he basically gave what amounted to a tutorial of weapon crafting minerals, weapon types, affinities, and the potential uses of each type of weapon. It was enough to give me a lot of ideas. For now I settled on one. I needed a lot more DPS than what I currently had and from the sound of Sedwin's detailed lecture, I now had a way to get a ton of damage on my weapon right away. This game took a lot of cues from The Death Planes, even with its weapon upgrading system, but there was enough here to set it apart as well.
Now armed with vital new knowledge, I once more approached the old grouch of a blacksmith.
"I'm ready to do business now."
He stopped his hammering and begrudgingly gave me his attention.
"What is your request?"
I placed the Basilard on his counter, along with some ore and said, "I would like you to reforge this with this raw glass I've collected."
He rubbed his chin as he inspected the blade and ore.
"This is enough to do the job, but ... are you sure you want me to do this to your sword? It's fledgling, but it is nearly awakened."
A menu hovered over my sword, showing me the difference in stats between my normal Basilard and my potential Glass Metal Basilard. I nearly quivered at the numbers.
"I have no need for this sword to be awakened."
In truth, from what Sedwin explained to me, the weapons that were awakened would rely on stat scaling. At the moment and for the forseeable future, I didn't see myself investing points into physical stats like strength or dexterity. I wanted to see what I could do with the speed stat, before anything else and I had no interest in creating a jack of all trades character. Because of that, Glass Metal weapons greatly appealed to me. raw glass permanently silenced a weapon, according to Sedwin, and that meant it could never grow on its own. raw glass was also incompatible with other metals. Once a weapon was forged with Raw Glass, it could never be reforged into anything else. glass metal weapons also had a very short ceiling of growth compared to Awakened weapons. Buuuuuuuuut, at the cost of all that, Glass Metal weapons grew in strength at an absurd rate, and because they didn't scale with any stats, their base damage was much higher than other weapons at comparable levels.
"Normally, the souls inside of a weapon such as this are lost when it is Silenced by magick or by this insipid metal. I have, however, developed a method to extract those souls and bestow them to you."
"Why thank you," I said, genuinely pleased by this, but then my cynicism immediately kicked in. "And what percentage of those souls will you have for yourself?"
His beard shook and I could see the dawning outrage on his face. For him it was a reflex, but he stilled that instinct in face of the truth I presented to him, the truth that we both knew.
"Twenty should suffice for my labor," he said with quiet indignity.
It was high, but I got the sense that I shouldn't push the issue this time.
"Fine, twenty it is."
"Is that all you require?"
I placed my Blighted Dagger on his counter next to the Basilard.
"You can use the souls already inside to increase its power."
"If you prefer, I can empower your dagger with its held souls first, as that is a much faster process."
"Yes, please do that. I'll be over at the Soul Beacon if you need me for anything."
"I won't."
"Alright, do your thing then."
I headed to the Soul Beacon and worked on my stats. There wasn't much to work on. I just pumped it all into speed. Once done, I tested a wide range of movements including running, jumping, roll dodging, and various flips and tumbles. This time, the increase was much more noticeable. I jumped higher now and my dodge roll carried me a much farther distance away. My recovery from these actions sped up as well. Just like in The Death Planes, speed was easily my favorite stat in the game. The thought of going back and playing a slow tank gave me the sickening sensation of brief claustrophobia. It was a feeling I was all too familiar with so I leapt across the camp to shake the it. Sedwin stared at me with his mouth agape.
"Your dagger is ready," Barrington yelled across the camp.
"That's okay," I yelled back. "I'll come back for it when the Basilard is reforged. I have other weapons I want to test."
"I don't understand your reasoning, but if it is what you want then I won't argue."
"Thanks. How long will the reforging take?"
As soon as he took the items, there was a glow surrounding the sword that turned into a blinding light. As the light subsided, the smith handed me my new weapon. I could immediately feel the difference from before. The sword now felt hollow, but the stats showed me that I made the right choice.
Basilard +5
Sword
A shortsword that frequently gets mistaken for a knife. The Basilard is a blade that has been forged in many shapes and sizes and wielded by nobles and rowdy paupers alike at different points in its lifespan. This design is the military standard.
ATK 75
Weapon Damage 75
S ATK (strength attack power) F
D ATK (dexterity attack power) F
M ATK (magic attack power) F
B ATK (belief attack power) F
F RAT (fire rating) 0
L RAT (lightning rating) 0
D RAT (dust rating) 0
P RAT (poison rating) 0
B RAT (bleedout rating) 2
Weight: 1.5 lbs
The bleedout rating was also reduced to two percent from five, meaning the base damage of the blade was that much higher and the weight was point three pounds lower than the normal variant. It was perfect for me. Looking at it, I nearly cried.
"You have to be the best weapon for this point in the game. You're definitely the best I've come across so far."
I stopped looking at the beautiful greenish sheen of the brand new metal for fear that I might kiss it inappropriately.
"Here are the remainder of your souls," the massive smith stretched over his counter and handed me a white misty orb. "I've taken my fee, including what was owed for the work I performed on the glass metal sword."
I thanked the smith and left his camp with a grin on my face and what was no doubt a wicked gleam in my eye.
"There's no way I'm losing this time, pyro bitch."
******
Where the hell are you?
After a brief pitstop at Constoble's tree to practice and change my Alchemies, I was once more near the cliff I'd first seen the Barker because it was the area I'd last seen Ji Susano. Now that I had my weapons strengthened, I wanted to see what they'd do to her.
"Looks like somebody figured out how to get into my game ..."
It was dark and I was surrounded by tall trees with low hanging limbs. I looked around for signs of the intruder, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I walked over to the cliff to get a better view of the forest on the other side. That's when I saw him – absurdly tall, dark as the night, and enveloped in a mist-like crimson aura. The glow from his eyes gave him away.
I looked down at the perfectly man-sized gap between this precipice and the one slightly below me on the other side of the gap. That's when I remembered how the two cliffs looked like one from the other side and how I had almost fallen down into it when I was exploring.
"This looks like a good spot for a fight," I said unable to contain my amusement.
The intruder finally took notice of me as I stood there. I studied his features as he slowly approached and saw nothing but a complete joke. A six and a half foot tall assassin trying to sneak around. I could see him and his glowing eyes from a mile away.
Cabron, was the only thought on my mind as I stood perfectly still and stared at him like a deer in the headlights. He stopped and stood about ten feet away from me, completely buying into my bullshit so I stretched that period on for as long as I could. Once I sensed his patience reach its end, I spun around and made a dash for it. I took twelve steps before receiving a system prompt and an item that appeared to be from my guest's demise.
You Have Vanquished an Encroacher.
"Gotta watch where you're going, Sarem. These cliffs'll kill you," I said opening my menu to the item.
Token of Survival
Proof that one has survived an otherworldly assault.
For those who have never adventured, Spirit Walkers are naught but a myth and those who talk of them are considered tellers of tall tales. Though mostly ephemeral, encroaching spirits can sometimes leave lasting personal effects. Objects or body parts left behind by Spirit Walkers can only be preserved when a survivor has an intense connection to it. With proper proof, even the skeptics can be swayed.
With that odd distraction out of the way, I continued through the forest in my search for Ji. I only made it partly into the forest before I saw a familiar message.
"Tut tut."
You are now being Encroached Upon by Sarem the Sanguine
This should be fun, I thought as I changed my equipment. I removed my Ceremonial Blade and Blighted Dagger from my right and left hand slots. I then switched to those empty slots so that I could hit this guy in the face, a lot. I'm sure he wouldn't like that.
As soon as I closed my inventory my guest, Sarem, appeared in front of me to my right. I stepped forward and gave him a hospitable bow and a what I hoped was a warm smile. I kept my eyes on him as I stooped forward. He courteously returned the bow. What a gentleman. He knew how to respect "whamen", but he also knew to keep his eyes on me. He came straight at me with a light sprint. I stood there calmly, studying Sarem's gear. His rapier gave him the range advantage, especially when combined with his reach, and he also used a shield. His shield was mid-sized and looked pretty sturdy. I wouldn't be able to get through his defenses with direct attacks with my pitiful six points in strength. I'd have to get around his shield then I could have my way with him.
I expected an easy win until I saw his aggression spike in an instant. His speed increased ten fold as he broke into a wild dash and closed the distance between us in no time at all. He'd managed to circle around to my side and as soon as I turned to meet him, he rolled around to my back, a classic move from The Death Planes. It was one I had expected. I was ready to meet him as soon as he jumped to his feet. My right fist connected with his face first followed by a flurry of followup blows. He screamed something but his words were silent as I continued to pummel him. The tree at the crimson encroacher's back forced me to back off. I ran, knowing he would be angry enough to immediately give chase. He easily took the bait. Seeing my hapless prey snared in my net, I spun around and threw the hardest haymaker that I could.
He reacted faster than I expected, raising his shield between us before my fist could even reach him. My fist struck the metal plate on his wooden shield and he pushed me back. I expected heavy recoil, but my fists didn't rebound as hard as weapons normally did. I got my hands up in front of me as I saw his skinny blade parting the air on a collision course with my chest. I took a small leap on the inside of the blade and pushed Sarem's sword arm to the side, knocking him off balance. With his stomach and chest now wide open, I threw a big uppercut into Sarem's vitals. Sarem vomited blood all over as his body bounced on my fist. I lost control of my body as the game system took over and added another segment of animation to my attack. As Sarem rested on my fist, I heaved him away with one hand.
"That's nifty and all, but how do I even have the strength to do that?"
"Rule of cool, Z. Things don't always have to make sense."
Sarem's HP bar dwindled by about a fifth. He had more HP then me but still not what I'd consider a lot. That surprised me. I figured most people who played this game would be dumping everything into HP and strength. I also had to commend him on his speed. He was more armored than I am, but he moved nearly as fast. He was grinning now, likely because my attacks did shit damage. That was a critical after all and it did less than a fifth of his HP.
This time he kept his distance and picked his spots. With his shield up, he managed to strike me twice with two quick jabs from his rapier. It didn't escape me that his attacks took down huge chunks of my HP. I hadn't expected that from light attacks. He was practically gloating now that my HP was below his. I pressed forward with my two fisted assault, throwing everything I could. Nothing got through his shield, but my speed and sheer aggression made him back away from me. I kept pressing until I saw the two zombie bears I'd fought earlier had resurrected only a few yards behind him.
It was my guess that this game would give encroaching walkers immunity from NPC enemy attack, just like The Death Planes. Sam continued backing and was well within the bears' aggro range and yet they did not respond.
"What didn't you guys take from that game?"
"I resent that!" Maya yelled.
Sarem stopped once he noticed that I was standing still and followed my eyes to the bears lying behind him. With a smug look on his face, he said something, but the game continued muting his dialogue. We both now knew the situation. Clearly, Sarem had the impenetrable high ground and anything I did that wasn't a swift retreat would result in lost limbs and a lifetime of life support. Still, HE WAS UNDERESTIMATING MY POWER! MY UNLIMITED POWER! Thirty year old memes aside, I would be taking that high ground the hard way. Running away would be too obvious.
I saw my opening for high ground ownership. I just couldn't mess up the dodge roll I was imagining. I ran straight up the incline towards Sarem and was now close enough to aggro the bears. They shuffled past on either side of Sarem and as soon as I was in attacking range they went for big slashes. I leapt under both pairs of claws with a dodge roll which put me in front of Sarem until I rolled again to his back. I saw him spin around so I leapt into another roll before he could attack me. I could feel him on my heels as I jumped to my feet. A grunt escaped my lips as his blade pierced between my shoulders, but the blow was only glancing. The damage still ended up being sizable.
Knowing his advantage was at this range, I knew I had to close the gap between us, but I didn't want to make my intentions obvious. I rolled at an angle towards the right, almost a side roll, and noticed Sarem roll forward. Perfect! I was in position to land a back critical, but I knew he'd expect that. He surprised me by using some sort of extravagant looking special attack, which briefly covered his body in a flaming glow. His sword was covered in that same glow and swept upwards in a vertical cut. The attack was fast, but my reflexes were faster. Seeing the tell of the attack in Sarem's wrist, I dodged the blow and was in perfect position. Not wanting to draw this out any longer, I switched to my Glass Metal Basilard and stabbed through to Sarem's lower extremities. His glowing blood gushed like a fountain out of his abdomen and came spraying out his back as I put my foot to his back and pushed him from my blade.
Feeling a little giddy now, I gave Sarem a curtsy as he began to fade away. If he really wanted me dead so badly, I might as well fan the flames to make him think of more clever ways to kill me and I thought the dainty display would do just that.
You Have Vanquished an Encroacher.
I got another Token of Survival for my efforts, but couldn't further bask in my victory as the two bears had already closed in on me. I rolled away then ran through the forest, thankfully making it far enough for them to give up chasing me. As a gentle wind caressed my skin, I heard footsteps trapesing across the brush in my direction. I turned to my left to see Ji, her naginata in her right hand, its pole rested behind her arm while its blade pointed towards the forest floor.
"Thank you for making this so easy," I said trembling with what I hoped was excitement. The glow in the center of her eyes let me know that it was time for a fight.