Watcher's Test

by Sean Oswald

  Perhaps it was the conversation about the town they were soon to visit, or perhaps it was the exhausted relaxation which can settle in after the adrenaline from a battle has faded, but either way, none of the family or loggers saw the two flame lynxes until it was too late. Both beasts sprung from their hiding spots in the rushes near the bridge. The larger of the two hit Dave head-on, knocking him from the horse. The other pounced upon the recently healed Wilbur.

  It really is amazing what two plus days of constant fear and fighting to survive can do to people.

  Other than Dave’s time in the USMC, the Nelsons had never had any reason for violence to be in their life. Even sparring in tae kwon do class wasn’t true violence, not of the sort that Eloria had forcibly introduced into their lives. Yet two days of non-stop fighting or being afraid of the next fight had elicited a fight or flight response that was very close to erupting at any moment. Here in response to this sudden attack, the Nelsons sprang into action, not paralyzed by fear but taking the initiative to respond. Even Sara knew her responsibility was to activate her amulet so that the rest of the family wouldn’t have to worry about her. Jackson likewise knew that his job was to protect Mira from anything that came close so that she could use her magic without having to worry. Emily began with her Minor Blessing spell to increase the abilities of everyone around her and since it was all allies within range, even the three loggers were affected.

  The buff on Wilbur turned out to be a very good thing for those extra 37 temporary HP kept him going. The pouncing attack and subsequent bite had done over (80) damage to him, and he would have been in the red zone, so to speak. Equally emboldened by the buff, Malcolm took the risk of swinging his ax at the back of the flame lynx pinning his friend to the ground. His blow landed squarely against the back of the lynx for a full (17) damage. This wasn’t really enough to cause serious injury to the beast, but it was enough to draw its attention away to swipe at its attacker. Fortunately for Malcolm, this was only a level 5 flame lynx and its claws had not yet developed the superheated quality which automatically cauterized wounds. That, of course, didn’t stop them from cutting four deep furrows across his chest, tearing the previously unstained rough woven shirt and causing the logger to jump back with a cry of pain.

  That attack by the cat was all that was required for Emily to sneak around and trigger her Sneak Attack skill with a thrusting stab into the side of its muscular neck. This resulted in a critical hit, causing a gushing wound and (75) damage against the cat. Now well below half life, the cat was slowing as its lifeblood pumped out of the wound from its neck. Both Emily and Malcolm attacked it again, and while neither was a critical blow, both continued to chip away at the beast’s health. All the while the beast was lashing out in its weakened state with claw attacks. Emily’s superior agility allowed her to dodge the paw aimed at her, but Malcolm was not so fortunate and fell to the ground as the still powerful paw swipe broke his tibia on the right side and equally ripped bleeding wounds right through the leather of his boot. Just as the beast was ready to throw its weight upon the now prone logger, Jackson stepped in and ended it all with a single blow of his mace. The flanged head of the mace came swinging across with his best baseball swing, and this time swinging for the fences had a more practical outcome as it caved in the side of the beast’s skull and stole away its final (16) health.

  Dave wasn’t quite so lucky to be attacked by a level 5 flame lynx. Instead, he got hit by the leading flame lynx, a full level 9 which was on the cusp of reaching tier 2. Its claws rent into Dave, who lacked his split mail for protection. These wounds didn’t bleed as they were instantly cauterized. Had Dave been attacked by such a beast when they first arrived in Eloria; he almost certainly would have been dead by the time they hit the ground, but now Dave was able to shift them mid-air so that he wasn’t pounded against the ground with the cat on top but rather they both landed on their sides. Even as they landed, Dave started to cast his Minor Enlarge spell as this was clearly not the time to hold back. Three seconds had never seemed so long as he was trying to both focus on the casting and at the same time hold back the jaws of the giant cat from biting down upon his face or neck. The strength points that Dave had added helped, but the cat was impossibly strong, and Dave almost started to panic. His concentration was assailed by both his fear and by the pain he felt with each blow as the creature’s razor-sharp claws turned his chest into shredded meat. The spell started to slip away from him, but this new Dave, who had found his place in doing his best, was able to double down on the concentration and successfully complete the spell.

  Even as the spell caused his form to swell, his bones to thicken and lengthen, and his muscles to become denser and better able to support his massive frame, he got a notification but pushed it aside in the corner of his mind as he had no time to be distracted. With his enhanced strength, he was able to stand up and shove the flame lynx hard enough to create some separation between man and beast. Shoving against the cat caused him a small burn as his left hand grazed against the fiery-like hairs standing up on the back of its neck.

  That separation was what Mira had been waiting for. A part of her told her that she should have been trying to help the fallen logger with the beast that attacked him, but there was no way that she was going to stand by and help a stranger while her father was being mauled. She justified it in her mind by saying that the beast attacking her father was at least 50% larger than the one attacking the logger. Her Quickened Spell went off as soon as there was that bit of space and a glob of webbing struck the beast full in the snout and exploded all over its body, trapping it to the ground. Or so it seemed, until the highly flammable strands of webbing made contact with the burning mane upon the cat’s neck and burst into flames. Instead of crying out in pain, the monster seemed to like the fire growing visibly before them as the flames from the webs were all consumed into its body.

  Well, it looked like fire was a bad idea with this one. Mira immediately stopped casting her Flame Fan spell and switched midstream to her Ice Dagger spell. While the flame may have enhanced the beast, it did still serve to delay it long enough for Dave to pull out is his sword, cast Sure Strike, and strike down with all of the might of his enlarged body. He tried to trigger his Flanking ability but wasn’t able to, apparently just because Mira was attacking the same beast didn’t automatically allow him to use the ability unless she was close enough to the mob. Having failed at Flanking, Dave’s mind immediately shifted gears to activate his new Offensive Stance. His sword stroke was so powerful that it nearly sheared off the cat’s front left leg at the shoulder and inflicted a massive (180) damage. Still, after the flames had healed and augmented the beast, this blow was barely more than half of its health. That realization sunk in instantly, causing Dave an uh oh moment before five translucent blue blades of ice spun into the cat’s exposed right side and struck with devastating impact. The cat may have been immune to fire-based attacks, but it took double damage from ice-based attacks, meaning that the blades landed for a total of (90) more damage and even better instilled the Chilled debuff on the cat. A chilled creature suffers -20% to atk, -20% to Defense, and -25% movement rate. Unfortunately, the debuff timer in Mira’s mind’s eye told her that the status condition would only last for four seconds on the cat. Presumably because its natural heat would burn through the chill of the effect faster than another creature might be able to.

  Still, its temporary impairment was all that Dave needed to land one more blow. His Offensive Stance and Enlarged Strength were enough to drive the sword down on the back of the cat’s neck, severing its spine and causing another (65) damage, which was just enough to finish it off.

  As soon as the second cat fell, Emily sent a healing spell toward Dave. His chest had been cut into ribbons, and if the wounds hadn’t been cauterized, he would have been bleeding to death. Sadly, even after healing him, there were still numerous wounds burnt permanently open. Before she could cast another healing spell on him, Dave insisted that
she heal the two wounded loggers who were very much worse for the wear. It took two heals to restore each of them, and Emily chafed at the delay in healing Dave but was finally able to turn her focus back on him. It took another two healing spells on top of the first one and even then, Dave had some gaping scars on his chest which threatened to affect the flexibility of his chest and shoulders. They discussed if there was anything more they should try at this time but eventually decided that it would be better to do so in the village rather than out in a wild zone like this.

  Minutes later they were all remounted and crossing the bridge when Dave got to see the zone notification for himself.

  Warning! You are about to cross into the Eastern Albia Logging Zone. Do you wish to leave the Merkwood Zone? If so, please note if you want to receive future warnings.

  They all mentally willed themselves to cross the zone and then a step later they were in Eastern Albia. Dave looked back over his shoulder and sure enough, he could still see the corpses of the fallen flame lynxes right on the other side of the bridge. It was hard to rationalize that this was a different zone and what exactly that meant if he could still see everything on the other side. All three of the villagers seemed perplexed with Dave’s confusion, but they insisted that only sentient beings or perhaps, according to legend, certain very powerful magical beasts could cross zone lines. In the end, Dave just had to take them at their word and chalk it up as another oddity of Eloria.

  They got the same type of message a little more than a mile down the road.

  You are about to enter the village limits of Eris’ Rise. This is a safe zone.

  Interestingly enough, there was no warning or need for them to consent when crossing into the village. Yet, it was bizarre. All the Nelsons noticed it immediately. Mira was the first to comment about it. “I could almost swear that the mana level around me was lower when we left the Merkwood and I’m absolutely certain that it dropped again when we entered the village limits.”

  Both Dave and Emily lacked her heightened sensitivity to mana but tended to believe that she was correct. After a short discussion, they continued on toward the village proper as Malcolm and the other villagers were anxious to get back. Another half a mile down the dirt road that led from the bridge into Eris’ Rise, the family and friends ran into a wagon being driven out of town with three people on it.

  There was an older man in faded red robes, his gray hair marking him as probably in his fifties if not early sixties. In the middle was a younger man likely in his thirties, who was driving the wagon, both hands busy guiding the horses and bringing them to a stop. It was a bit hard to say from his sitting position, but Emily guessed he was about 5’6” and rather stocky, the kind of build a man gets from moving heavy objects all day. Not a body builder’s look, just a pragmatically strong thickness. Finally, on the right, was a stunning blond with curled hair cut to shoulder length. Emily was pleased to note that her vision as a moon elf seemed to have improved. She had noticed it at night quite a bit, but even now she was able to tell that the girl’s eyes were a brilliant crystal blue at a distance of at least a hundred paces. The wagon riders seemed alarmed when they saw Dave on his horse and more so when they caught sight of Emily, but then visibly relaxed when they saw Malcolm, Tristan, and Wilbur behind the two Nelsons.

  Dave signaled for the family to stop so that the villagers could reunite and explain just who they were. Whatever was going on between them, the conversation seemed rather heated. Actually, it mostly seemed as though the three men they had rescued were angry with the young blond woman, while the gray-headed man was trying to act as a peacemaker. Eventually, the discussion had dragged on long enough to be awkward and Dave turned to Emily, “Do you trust me?”

  Emily chuckled, “You know that is almost never the prelude to a good idea.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes. Just try to follow my lead.”

  Stepping forward just a couple of paces, Dave called out to the villagers, “Is it customary to keep a Daughter of Redemption waiting in the middle of the road?” Emily rolled her eyes at Dave, which almost made him laugh and ruin the effect, but he managed to maintain a straight face.

  The question seemed to catch all of the arguing villagers off guard, but the man in the middle caught himself first. He stepped forward with a slight bow. “My name is Jarvis, son of Jarvis, and as a member of the Eris’ Rise city council, please allow me to welcome you to our village.”

  The gray-headed man also stepped up at that point and added, “You have our thanks for saving Malcolm and the others, and of course a Daughter of Redemption is always welcome in Eris’ Rise.” After a slight pause, he continued, “Umm, it is just that you are a moon elf and we had no idea that a moon elf could be a chosen follower of Shanelle.”

  Emily glanced over at Dave and for a second, he thought that she was going to be too far out of her comfort zone and not be able to go with it, but then Emily boldly walked past him, and he saw that dynamic spark of life which made her so undeniably attractive to him, the thing that had first caught his eye. Not an external beauty, though she certainly had that, but a vibrancy and confidence that was just so dang sexy. Emily held up her right hand to the villagers with her palm facing forward. Both Jarvis and Talvenicus let out slight gasps as even at twenty feet away they could see the silver symbol of Shanelle magically tattooed into her palm. It was believed the world over that the marks of the various deities upon their followers could not be imitated by any mortal magic, and so if she had the symbol of the shooting star in silver, she was clearly a priestess of the Goddess of Redemption.

  The people of Albia were, by and large, a very religious people and while most favored Mishpat, Lord of Justice, no devout Albian would offend any of the three deities of the Godhead. The churches might not have direct political power in Albia, but they were large world-spanning organizations with tremendous resources and were to be respected.

  Once the realization of the tattoo sunk in, both Talvenicus and Jarvis bowed deeply, which set off a chain reaction of bowing has first Malcolm, then Tristan and Wilbur and finally Aloysia, albeit a bit reluctantly, all bowed. Dave seized upon this to try to secure them a place in the village long term. “You can stand. My wife doesn’t want your obeisance, she wants a place where she can do the good works of Shanelle, and this appears to be where the Goddess has sent us.”

  Slowly, they all stood straight with the three loggers being the slowest to end their bowing. Talvenicus’ eyes were wide as he asked, “Do you mean to say that you will honor Eris’ Rise by establishing a church here?”

  Not knowing at all what that would entail or how common the church sites were, but seeing the way that the older man seemed to be shocked, Dave didn’t want to overplay their hand. “Let us say that we are here to explore that possibility.”

  With that last statement, Talvenicus and Jarvis put their heads together for a brief but rapid-fire conversation before Talvenicus looked up again and said, “You bring great honor to our tiny village, and while I don’t pretend to understand the ways of the gods, I also can’t deny that we are in grave need of your assistance, especially with what Malcolm has described of your healing magic. Please follow us into the town, and we will find a place for you to stay, and if you are willing, you can help with our wounded.”

  Having seen how badly Malcolm and the other two had been wounded and now hearing that the village had more wounded, Emily went into nurse mode again. “Please lead us to your wounded first then.” Without even waiting, she grabbed Dave’s arm and walked them both back to their horses and immediately mounted up.

  The others seeing her urgency all climbed into the wagon, even the loggers who, while they had ridden the mounts offered before, felt more comfortable in the back of a wagon rather than on the back of a horse, especially one that had been conjured out of thin air right before their eyes. The wagon made its slow, wide turn and then headed back into town flanked by the Nelsons on either side. This allowed for sideways glances fro
m everyone to check each other out, the villagers because most of them had never seen an elf before and the Nelsons because, well frankly, they were still getting used to meeting people from another world, even if that world was their new home.

  Once back at the village, Emily met with Gertrude and quickly started using her healing magic. She had Mira give her back the mana regeneration ring and when she explained her need to regenerate magic faster, she hesitantly took the cloudy blue tincture which the herbalist told her would enhance her mana regeneration.

  You have consumed a potion: Tincture of Mana Regeneration (Standard Quality)

  Effect: Increases Mana Regeneration by 10/minute for 20 minutes

  At this point, her cooldown meant that she could cast her healing spell every 50 seconds and her mana regen with the ring and potion was up to just over 25 mana per minute. Since the spell cost her 30 mana each time she cast it, she wasn’t able to cast quite as fast as her cooldown allowed, but thanks to the potion she was pretty close to it. Dave had stood around for a while, but it quickly became obvious that Emily didn’t need him to be there, so he turned to Talvenicus and introduced himself and their children and found out his name and that he was the mayor. Talvenicus evidently came to the same conclusion that they were not needed for he offered to lead Dave to a place where he and his family would be able to sleep for the night.