The Forgotten Faithful: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 2)
Page 46
“Please…” It whispered back, and I reached out with my left hand, putting my finger to its lips.
“Shhhh…” I responded, then yanked my dagger free of its hand, making it whimper. “Speaking… unless it’s to answer my questions… is not a good idea, now is it?” I asked, and lifted the dagger back to its cheek, idly carving a smiley face into its creamy, soft grey skin.
“I’ll tell you…I will…” it whispered; eyes screwed shut against the pain.
“Oh, I know you will…I don’t doubt that…” I whispered back, finishing the arc of the mouth.
“Now… you took my friend, and I want to know where she is, where she’s being taken to, and who’s there… and I really, really don’t recommend lying to me… but that’s a choice a man has to make for himself, isn’t it?” I smiled at it, my rictus snarl stretching wide into a grin, as I let Amon direct me, the loss of my friend making me forget that lines existed, let alone that they were being crossed.
I could feel Oracle still, drawing further away from me, headed downwards; her fear and her rage fed my own. I could see my mana bar glowing, constantly ticking down, as whatever fusion I’d managed to make of flesh and magic that had sped my reactions and strength up to match theirs consumed it.
I could hear the others crashing through the undergrowth, coming closer and closer, and I knew they didn’t need to see this. I’d do what needed to be done, so that they could sleep and enjoy sweet dreams at night, safe.
Oh, yes.
The Drow began speaking, eyes screwed tightly shut against the pain as tears leaked out, sobs interspersed with gritted teeth and cries of agony, as I pressed for clarification, pressing with my dagger, deep and slow…
Chapter Twenty-One
The others had arrived while we talked, Bane, having led the way, had seen what I was doing and told the others to hold back.
He’d moved up, making sure I knew he was there, then had checked the bodies and spread the team out, searching the area and giving them something to do besides listen in too closely.
When it was all done and I stood up, wiping the blood from my dagger before I sheathed it, Bane stepped in close and faced me, the rapidly cooling meat on the ground laid between us.
“Are you okay?” he asked me and I nodded slowly, the fury that filled me making me feel like I might burst if I moved too quickly, but also demanding I move, react, hurt something…
“Jax, I need you to do something for me; can you do that?” he said, and I nodded slowly, feeling the tension in my neck, the tendons standing out like steel wires.
“I need you to close your eyes and breathe… don’t do anything else. Use the meditation techniques we discussed; put all emotion in the box. Hate, fear, love, all of it. Visualize the box in your mind and pour your emotions inside.”
I frowned. I needed to be off; I knew where Oracle was headed, where they were going to take her, and…
“Jax!” Bane snapped, and I jerked, glaring at him, my left eye twitching, blood thundering through my veins. I could hear my heartbeat; it was so loud…
“Listen to me… you know me… and you trust me, right?” Bane asked, and I stared at him for a long time before nodding jerkily, once.
“Then you know that I’ll always do what you need me to do, right?” I nodded again. “Not what you want, but what you need…”
That sounded right. He was good like that, a good friend.
“Now, come with me, just over here…” He led me to the side, guiding me to sit down, and handed me a drink. “Just rest. We’ll take care of it all in a minute; you just fill that box for me…”
I sat there, eyes closed, and slowly pushed down all my emotions, feeding them into the box he’d taught me to visualize. It seemed to take forever and yet be over in only a handful of seconds …before I felt tears tracking down my cheeks.
I slowly opened my eyes again, looking at the mess of trees before me.
The sunlight that filtered down through the gently swaying branches high overhead gave the glade a gentle light, the green and red leaves fluttering and the smell of wild garlic and lavender growing somewhere nearby filled the air, as did the scent…of blood, and death…
I looked down, flexing my fingers, and feeling the drying blood cracking. I slowly turned my hand over, distantly observing the patterns it made. A tiny voice in the back of my mind was moaning in fear at what we’d done, but…I couldn’t remember all of it, not exactly…just bits, and…
I looked over my shoulder, searching for the body, and saw that it and the others had been dragged away into the bushes, a foot sticking out at the end of a smear of blood marking the location. Bane was walking towards me, a small pouch in one hand and a collection of swords and daggers hanging from belts held in his other hands.
“Bane…” I whispered, looking at him.
“Are you okay, Jax?” he asked me quietly, tossing them aside and crouching next to me as he held out a waterskin and poured it over my hands…and my arms, and wiped at one of my cheeks with a scaled finger.
I saw the bloody mess he cleaned away, and I remembered…I blinked, my brain having seen something, a memory of screaming and blood spraying, and then it was gone.
“I…no. No, I’m not sure I am…” I whispered to him, slowly shaking my head.
My mana had started to refill after I’d released it, and I conjured a pair of fountains for Bane and I with barely a thought, splitting the magic for the first time, but too dazed to realize what I’d done.
Bane ignored his fountain until he saw me start to scrub at the blood, then he dipped his head in gratefully, opening his gills to the lifegiving water.
When I finished washing, and I was sure Bane had finished, I cut the mana to the spells and let them fade away, wringing the water from my top and shaking my head when it still came away bloody.
I’d stripped off my armor and scrubbed it, then rinsed my top, assuming it’d be okay, but man, it was drenched, and inside, that voice was still screaming that we’d done something terrible.
I muted it, feeling like my emotions were wrapped in cotton wool as I spoke to Bane.
“She’s gone, mate; the Drow said that he’d sent his fastest runner with her down into the tunnels. She’s being taken to their leader, some Drow-spider thing; he said that they have a way to move faster underground, that there’s no way I can catch her, and…and I believe him…I questioned him, and he…”
“No.” Bane gripped my chin and made me look at him. “No, Jax, don’t concentrate on what happened. You were angry and hurt, and you did what you had to do. Don’t think about how you asked the questions; just answer this, do you think the Drow lied?”
“No,” I said adamantly.
“Do you want to do that again to another sentient being?”
“Definitely not,” I said, but then I paused, considering it.
“No Jax, I know you could do it; I’m asking if you want to.” Bane repeated, and I shook my head.
“No, I really don’t.”
“Then that’s all you need to remember about this. They caused it and would have done the same to you if they’d won, and they would have enjoyed it. In the future, if you need me to, I’ll do your questioning, but for now, all that’s important is that you got the information. Do you know where the entrance to the smuggler’s path is? I take it they’re why no smugglers have made it through in a while?”
“Yeah, they moved in a few months back. They’ve got a city on the other side of the mountains and found a way through the caves to here. This is scouting force; they’re here to check it out and to steal what they can, then send back reports, and their queen will decide if they’re to come and take the city.”
“And the path itself; we can’t catch a Drow underground, not when they’ve got a head start, but we can track them, if the path is clear?”
“It’s filled with concealed traps, but only in a few places, and I know where.” I muttered; my mind drawn inexorably back to the whimpers
from the Drow.
“You have to stop, Jax; you can’t concentrate on that now. only one thing matters. They have Oracle, and we have to get her back.” Bane said, “Do you want to wallow here, or save her?”
I glared at him, and he nodded. “In that case, pull yourself together. We need to leave. I suggest you change your top before you put your armor back on…”
I looked down at the soaked fabric and give it an experimental squeeze, getting a red tinged stream of water for my effort. I grimaced and stood up, stripping it off and throwing it aside, it was one of my few tops from earth, but I really didn’t want it anymore.
I looked in my bag, finding only one top left, the one I’d taken from the Drow in my maddened state. I swallowed my bile at another mental image of what I’d done to him, and I pulled the shirt out, examining it.
Gloom Spidersilk Tunic
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This Spidersilk tunic is woven from the strands of the Gloom Spider, a species bred by the Drow to create these specialized outfits. This tunic grants a +5 to armor, is resistant to cuts and tearing, and has additional padding sewn into the shoulders and chest.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Very Rare
No
98/100
N/A
I shook it out and looked it over, the subtle grey and black shimmer of the material making me swallow as I dismissed the memory. I steeled myself, deciding it was just loot, and I’d taken a fuck-ton of that already.
No need to be suddenly squeamish, even if I had peeled a sentient creature like a grape during questioning.
I saw a series of notifications blinking for my attention, and I pulled them up, swearing as soon as I read the larger one.
I’d managed to create or discover a new ability, it seemed, but it was one with some seriously shitty consequences.
New Ability found!
You have supercharged your body with mana, creating a hybridization of your mana channels and musculature. You now have two paths before you and must choose one. This choice cannot be undone or postponed…
Full mana channel conversion:
Altering your mana channels to fuel your musculature completely will result in an increase of +10 to Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, and Constitution. You will begin to change to a new form, one that is far stronger than any human. Each additional level you will gain +2 to each of the aforementioned Stats.
Beware!
You will no longer be able to cast spells beyond those that are internally focused, all mana in external use will be cut off.
Current conversion status 1/100
Mana-Overdrive:
This ability will allow the supercharging of your physical form, increasing your physical stats in Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance and Constitution by +20, but will last only so long as you have mana. Once this ability ends your physical characteristics will drop by -10 until a full healing has been carried out.
Choosing this will result in a single increase of +2 to Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, and Constitution, and a onetime increase of +5 to a stat of your choice.
Beware!
Choosing this ability will result in a permanent altering of your mana channels, until mana manipulation skill reaches 10. Any sufficiently advanced practitioner of the magical arts will be able to sense your approach by the mana leakage you emanate, and your mana regeneration will drop from 2.9 points per minute, to 1.4 until your mana channels are fully sealed at level 10. Excessive use of this skill will drain you of mana and health…
Mana-Overdrive skill 1/100
I re-read it twice to make sure, and sighed. There was no choice to be made here, not at all.
If I chose the first cool-as-fuck option, I could be a hell of a fighter. I could scrap my casting ability and concentrate on the fight, growing seriously stronger, and I’d have both a massive jump right now, and a serious one with each level. Hell, I’d go to gaining nine points per level up, rather than five as I did now. I’d also pull my mana from Oracle and Bob, killing them both. Not going to happen.
I selected the Mana-Overdrive skill, groaning as my mana channels shifted, and pain rippled through me. I fell forward with a gasp, my eyes flaring wide. It felt like my veins were on fire, my muscles being torn from my tendons and flesh.
I could literally feel my mana channels writhing and shifting under my skin, and Bane was there in an instant, Barrett, Lydia, and her squad going into full freak-out mode as they searched for a target.
“It… it’s okay…” I ground out, forcing myself to speak, even as I dug my fingers into the ground, squeezing as I tried to crush the earth below me. “Just get anything you can… strip the bodies, if there’s anything… worth taking…”
Bane shook his head and gestured to the pile of weapons, and I looked over at them, panting in pain.
“There’s nothing else worth taking. The basic low-level armor is little better than anything our people wear now, and it’s either damaged or bloody. I’ve taken the weapons and wealth already.”
“Give them the weapons… if they want them…” I forced out, and he gestured to Lydia, who separated out the swords and gave them to those that wanted one.
There were six swords in all, and while they were an upgrade to Jian, who spun and flicked them about, loving his new blades, to the others, they were a secondary weapon, and an extra weight.
Barrett’s sword was huge, a great two-handed affair, and he wasn’t interested in another one. Neither was Cam, but Lydia, Arrin, Stephanos, and Miren each took one. The daggers were passed around as well, while Bane kept the throwing knives.
Eventually the pain ceased, and I collapsed to the dirt, panting and trying to slow my heart rate. I looked at my HUD and saw my health and mana bars were drained to barely above half.
I groaned and pulled out a healing potion, knocking it back, and casting ‘Battlefield Triage’ on myself at the same time. I’d managed to assign the five points while I was changing, thinking it was better to get it over with in one go, and I pulled up my character sheet when I could see again.
Name Jax
Titles: Strategos: 5% boost to damage resistance. Fortifier: 5% boost to defensive structure integrity, Chosen of Jenae
Class: Spellsword > Justicar
Renown: Unknown
Level: 13
Progress: 123,030/120,000
Patron: Jenae, Goddess of Fire and Exploration
Points to Distribute: 5
Meridian Points to Invest: 0
Stat
Current points
Description
Effect
Progress to next level
Agility
41
Governs dodge and movement.
Average speed + 310% (+10% increase in darkness, -20% in daylight)
49/100
Charisma
12
Governs likely success to charm, seduce, or threaten
Success chance +20%
5/100
Constitution
32
Governs health and health regeneration
HP+400, regen 25pts per 600s (+10% regen due to soul bond, -20hp, each point invested now worth 20hp)
38/100
Dexterity
21
Governs ability with weapons and crafting success
+ 11% chance to wield weapon successfully, + 11% chance of crafting success
69/100
Endurance
25
Governs stamina and stamina regeneration
STM +150, regen 15pts per 30s
66/100
Intelligence
26
Governs base mana and number of spells able to be learned
+140 mana, spell capacity: 13 spells (-20mp due to soul bond)
51/100
Luck
18
Governs
overall chance of bonuses
+8% chance of success in area luck affects
11/100
Perception
24
Governs ranged damage and chance to spot traps/hidden items
+140% ranged damage, +24% chance to spot traps/hidden items
81/100
Strength
24
Governs damage with melee weapons and carrying capacity
+14 damage with melee weapons, +140% carrying capacity
32/100
Wisdom
34 (28)
Governs mana regeneration and memory
+240% mana recovery, 1.7ppm, 240% more likely to remember things, -50% mana regeneration until mana manipulation reaches level 10.