Ruthless (The Completionist Chronicles Book 5)

by Dakota Krout

  “Again, how did you get in here?” Aten pressed the issue, “If you built secret tunnels or something, we really need to know-”

  “Aten, I would never.” Joe stopped him firmly. “Listen, I just wanted to warn you that nearly everyone that’s ever had an issue with the guild is showing up to throw their hat in the ring, and they are pulling out every trick that they can find. Is there anyone that we can go to and ask for help?”

  “There’s no one.” Aten waved a hand at the distant walls. “Even if there was, who is going to break through that line to come help us? Do you know anyone else that can do the ridiculous things that you do? There are hundreds of thousands of people out there. Mike, get someone on the lookout for those sappers. If the wall comes down, we’re done.”

  “Yes, Commander!” Mike saluted and ran from the room. Joe had never seen the stern man act so… military.

  “I’ve had your magical people working on defenses. You should check in on them.” Aten waved Joe off, turning back to the meeting at large.

  “Noticed that.” Joe shook his head at his memory of avoiding the flames that had reduced hundreds of people to ashes. Now that he thought of it, he wasn’t sure how his Coven would be dealing with creating that sort of massacre. Perhaps it would be best to check in. Joe slipped from the war room as quietly as he had arrived.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Joe jogged toward the Grand Ritual Hall, not even slightly bothered by all the smoke in the air. One of the benefits of having a higher constitution was that he was able to shrug off things such as smoke or weak poisons. Besides that, smoke inhalation was a stacking debuff, and his Neutrality Aura made sure it never had a chance to overwhelm him.

  When he had departed to try to raise his luck, Joe had left the others in his Coven in charge of the defenses. As far as he could tell, they were doing a great job. However, he was certain that they hadn’t had to kill a bunch of people before, and he was worried about what effects that aspect of battle might be having on their minds. He opened the path to the Grand Ritual Hall and solemnly strode down the winding ramp…

  “Cheers!”

  …only to walk in as the Coven slammed together large mugs of ale. Joe paused in shock, then started to chuckle. Soon, he broke down into full-bellied laughter, and the others were staring at him in concern.

  “You… ha ha… I thought you’d all be miserable! You’re having a party!” Joe was wheezing; he had finally realized that people were hardy, and they didn't need him to tell them that they were doing the right thing. They knew it already. “I need to learn to trust people! Ha, ha!”

  Joe’s mood lightened considerably, and the stress that had been causing his shoulders to knot up started to vanish. He sat down at the table and started discussing the rituals that were in use. Not only had they set up the massive flames, but there were dozens of minor rituals in use that he hadn’t been expecting. Kirby gloomily informed him of the rainbows and peaceful music ritual she had accidentally meshed together, then activated in the staging area where guild members were resting until called to the walls to fight. Apparently, it boosted fatigue recovery by a huge amount.

  They had also set up reinforcement rituals that added armor to the buildings they were activated on; this was a concept that Joe was very interested in learning, as he hadn't seen anything similar before. Of course, there were rituals meant for assault as well, and Big_Mo and Hannah had been working on a special combination of their rituals. Big_Mo explained it carefully. “So, we take the combined Ritual of Quarantine, and add it to the ritual I designed that I call ‘Blood amplification’.”

  “All it does is absorb any blood in the area and use it to amplify the range that the quarantine impacts!” Hannah burst in enthusiastically to clarify certain points. “If we use this in conjunction with a large-scale attack, we might be able to force the entire army out there to swim through a moat of sewage to come after us!”

  “How many people are going to want to do that, knowing that they’ll get sicker the closer they come?” Big_Mo laughed and *clinked* his mug against Hannah’s.

  “This is ready? Why haven’t you activated it?” Joe was pleased with this development. “I like this a lot. Non-lethal, really inconvenient, and the entire attacking force will help us fertilize the fields that they ruined on their way in!”

  That got a laugh from the people in the room, and Hannah explained that she was still working on boosting the efficiency of the ritual, as the combination made it an Expert-ranked ritual, and she knew that she could get it down to Journeyman with enough time. Joe nodded at that. “Let me take a look; I’m sure that together we could-”

  “Time!” Taka called, and a few of the people got to their feet. “Sorry, Joe; gotta bind a set of shattering, spinning, and gravity rituals on a boulder that the guild is sending over the wall via trebuchet. I call this one ‘Stone Blender’ for… obvious reasons.”

  “Less happy with that use of our abilities,” Joe sighed as they walked out of the room, their hurried footsteps and swishing cloaks stirring up dust. “I don't think anyone remembers that rituals were once banned here, considered taboo by the Mage’s College. How are we supposed to break the image that rituals are evil if we keep using them to destroy things?”

  “Is that why I only ever see you using them defensively or to build things?” Hannah pulled over a few pages with spell formulae on them as she questioned him.

  “I… guess so?” Joe thought about it. He really didn’t use many of the more potent, darker rituals to which he had access. “I guess I’m afraid that if I use my full abilities like that, I’ll be feared. I don’t want our class to have to slink through the shadows. I want us to be the wise old magicians that Kings go to for ways to save their people.”

  “Well, I’m not a King, but I’d sure like my home saved.” Big_Mo snorted at Joe’s words even as he missed a flask he was pouring blood into and got it all over his hands. “Crap, that’s acidic! Ow, shoot. Joe, can I ask that you go out there and do something scary so that we have time to set up more rituals?”

  “No, I need to help Hannah with-”

  “We got this,” Hannah interrupted Joe firmly. “All I need is time to make it happen. You could be finding things to do that are more useful.”

  Joe looked between the two, understanding that they weren’t trying to get rid of him; they really believed that he could do something. He stood straight, nodded, and marched from the room; determined to do… something! Something that would justify their faith in him. As he walked out into the Pathfinder’s Hall, he went straight for the door, but paused as a whisper reached his ear.

  Joe.

  “Who’s there?” Joe peered in the direction of the whisper, but only heard soft music and the crackling of a fire. Seeing as the building was nearly empty, that might not be a great thing. A buzzing filled his ears, and Joe followed his instincts toward the Temple. Looking around the lively room, Joe didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Just before he left, a flash of darkness shifted the appearance of Tatum’s altar. He stepped closer, and placed a hand on the stone book.

  Greetings, Champion of Tatum! Your Cleric class level is considered equal to your character level, due to starting as a hidden class! As a Cleric, you gain an ability or spell every third level. Calculating… level is eighteen! You are owed an ability from level eighteen!

  As you are a Champion, and not a standard Cleric, you get to choose the school that you draw your cleric abilities from! As Occultatum is a ‘Neutral’ deity, you can choose ‘neutral’, ‘good’, or ‘evil’ aligned abilities from the school of your choice. Would you like to choose your level eighteen ability? Yes / No.

  “Yes.” Joe perused the options that were available: abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, and transmutation. His mind reached for illusion, but he stopped himself. The recent conversation that Joe had with the Coven made him seriously consider necromancy. If there was something ‘scary’
when it came to spells, the undead usually topped the list. He took a deep breath, reached out… then stopped, shaking his head. Joe wasn't cut out for that type of spell. Although he could pick from ‘evil’ spells, he just… couldn’t.

  Joe looked at the remaining options available, and selected ‘Evocation’.

  Evocation is the act of calling upon or summoning a spirit, demon, god, or other supernatural agent through the power of your will, mana, and potentially various sacrifices. Choose a spell.

  “Yes, that’s what I need…” There were only two spells that appeared, and both were decent.

  Mystical Infusion: Perform a rite that infuses your body and mind with power and knowledge pulled from an outside source. Unlike possession-style spells, there is no chance of losing yourself to an outside being, as you are taking only their power. Effect and time limit vary.

  Planar Shift: Directly summon a being from behind the veil, and use them to accomplish your goals. Binding and directing are very important, as it is unlikely that you and the summoned being have goals that align. Effect and time limit vary.

  Joe wanted Mystical Infusion, but the practical part of him knew that if he were using that power… he would become a front-line fighter. Then, when the spell ran out, he would be at the front of combat. It made far more sense to summon something that he could use to aid him, or be a meatshield at worst. “I choose Planar Shift.”

  He collapsed to the ground as information hit him right in the brain. Joe writhed in agony while darkness poured from the altar and into him. As he lay there, panting, a book materialized and dropped onto his chest; a volume so thick that it knocked the wind out of him.

  Spell gained: Planar Shift (Student 0). Directly summon a being from behind the veil, and use them to accomplish your goals. You have been granted a book that will allow you to know what being you are summoning, how to control it, and how to banish it if needed. Effect and time limit of the summoned beings vary. As this is a spell granted directly by a deity and fits within your skillset, it has been increased to the Student ranks. Effect: Comparatively easy control of anything summoned below the Student rank. To increase skill level, summon and control a being that you intended to summon for one hour per skill current skill level.

  Current skill progress: 0/30 hours of control.

  Mind still buzzing, Joe inspected the swirling pages of the book, also handily named ‘Planar Shift’, and saw what appeared to be variant ritual diagrams. “I suppose I can see why I got boosted all the way to Student…”

  “There he is!” Joe heard the pounding of feet just before being pulled up to his own. Two guards hoisted him upright, and they started running out of the room together. “Joe, the wall was breached. We held off three teams of bombers, but the fourth managed to take down a section of wall to the north.”

  “Why are we running toward headquarters?” Joe spat out a huge ball of blood and phlegm that had caught in his throat for unknown reasons.

  “Aten sent for you. This… this wasn’t supposed to happen.” The guard on Joe’s left seemed to be choking on something as well. “We were supposed to be safe here!”

  “He has a plan.” The other guard seemed far more calm. “Aten always has a plan.”

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  “I do, in fact, have a plan.” Aten told Joe, much to his surprise. “It requires a bit of legal mumbo-jumbo, so bear with me.”

  “Rawr!” Joe waved his hands in front of him like they were claws. Seeing that no one was smiling, Joe coughed into his hand and settled into a seat. “Sorry, was trying to ‘bear’ with you.”

  Aten tapped the table with his index finger a few times, then shook his head. “Just… alright, here we go. Will you continue working to get this town to town level five? Even without a tangible benefit?”

  “Of course, but-” Joe was cut off as Aten waved his hand.

  “Good enough; then I predetermine that your quest is complete.”

  Quest complete: The making of an Elder. The Guild Commander has determined that you fulfilled the spirit of this quest. You will automatically become the ‘First Elder’ when the guild upgrades to a ‘Sect’.

  Aten leaned toward him. “As First-Elder-in-waiting, you have more power than a measly Guild Commander. Do you want to run the guild? I can get the paperwork-”

  “Not even a little!” Joe physically recoiled from the offer. The others around the table sighed a breath of relief.

  “Good, because I was testing you.” Aten admitted easily, ignoring the glare he got in reply. “Just like that, you are automatically considered to be at the same privilege level as mine in the guild. Here is my plan: you have all the requirements to move into your second specialization, except the raw stats. You and I are going to go to the breach in the wall, and work to plug it. If the battle is turning against us, I am going to activate the Aegis.”

  “What happens after that?” Joe pressed as the people stood up around him and started walking. “Guys? The rest of the plan? There was more to it than that; I know there was!”

  “We’ll tell you if we need to enact it,” Mike grimly stated, his hands on a pair of daggers at his waist.

  “This is not a comforting plan!” Joe yelled at the group. No one was listening, so he hurried to catch up with them. They rushed toward the sound of clashing metal, breaking stone, and harsh screams.

  As they got in range, Joe felt as though his eyes were lying to him. His guild members were being pushed back by what appeared to be non-player mercenaries, and hundreds of people holding mauls were bashing on the wall. A huge chunk of wall had fallen inward, and their current actions were widening that gap every second.

  The leadership rushed into the fray, and combat over the next few seconds proved that they had earned their high positions. They moved in delta formations of five people each, and swung their weapons in harmony, sometimes almost touching their comrades with naked steel. But, each time, the weapon would slide past and land only on the intended target. Arrows rained down on the enemies as the wings of the formations opened fire, and narrow openings were exploited to bring down the opposition.

  The mercenaries were clearly around level fifteen, judging by their dangerous air and the power of the abilities they could use, but they were still routed quickly. They fell into an orderly retreat, even though they were being heavily pressured by the Wanderers. Joe saw a flash of something… a sigil? That was… these were mercenaries from a Noble House! The sigil was quickly obscured by combat, but Joe now knew for certain that there were enemies coming after them from all walks of life.

  More good news reached him. Joe noticed that Kirby was directing a group of the builders into moving the massive stone that they had bound with a building repair ritual, and it should be close enough to fix the wall in only a few minutes. All they had to do was drive back the opposition, and they would once again have a thick wall dividing them from those that were coming after their lives.

  It was just then that the leadership started dying. It began with an arrow through the eye of a mage. Joe would have chalked it up to standard combat, but her scream ended abruptly. Too abruptly. Catching sight of purple-robed wizards coming through the crowd, Joe understood what was happening. “This is a trap!”

  Though he shouted as soon as he made the connection, it was already too late. Even as Joe responded, four more leaders on their side were killed by Jesters that seemed to appear from nowhere. The silence mages stopped anyone that seemed to be trying to shout orders, and the mercenaries surged against their lines. Joe watched person after person get cut down, and suddenly Aten was next to him. “Just like we thought. If we didn’t come, they would have been able to destroy the whole wall, but if we did… they’d get the leaders.”

  “You knew this would happen, and you still-”

  “We thought this might happen. We didn't know for sure.” Aten grunted his words. “It is time… Golden Aegis!”

  The reaction wasn’t as instant as he had hoped it would b
e, but the change started soon enough. A deep *thrum* rose from the center of Towny McTownface, similar to a jet engine spinning up. Golden light began pouring out from the Guild Hall, coating everything in its path like honey pouring over a spoon. Everything the light touched, so long as it was associated favorably with the guild, from buildings to people; started to shine with the golden glow.

  It sped up as it encroached upon the edges of town, and in no time flat, it had crashed over the walls. Joe felt a glorious sense of well-being fill him, and a counter appeared in his vision.

  Golden Aegis activated! Immunity to all damaging effects is in place for 24 hours, so long as you are in the town-specific territory controlled by the guild ‘The Wanderers’. All damaging effects against someone under the protection of the Golden Aegis will rebound upon the attacker for double damage!

  Joe jumped forward into the open, past the protections of the wall. Hundreds of arrows were aimed and released at him, dozens of spells were fired off, and fighters charged at him. In an instant, Joe was peppered with so many attacks that in any other circumstance, only the heel of his feet would have remained non-shredded. Instead, roughly forty percent of everyone who had aimed at him was slapped by a dark clone, and all of the enemies were slapped if their attack landed; then each assailant was dealt double damage by a golden light that rebounded on them.

  Damage dealt: 83,219 Dark damage. Title effect Pierce the darkest night has come into effect: Damage increased by 10%! (All damage dealt now includes 5% armor piercing. The piercing bonus increases to 10% with dark-aligned spells and weapons.) Damage partially reduced when dealt to lower-leveled personnel, due to title effect: Tatum’s Chosen Legend.