Not all demons and dimensionals are hostile. Do not make that mistake. Do not do something stupid and attack them preemptively. Do not!

There is a book I have with me. On the cover, the title “Names of Dumbshits Who Died Dumbshit Deaths” is carved. I got this book from an old veteran, and some new kid will probably get the book from me someday. It’s not something used to mock the dead, though. It’s about what dumbshit thing they did, and why they did it.

For example, the first Master-Tier Pathbearer I served under was a glory-seeking jackass called Haven Summers. She thought she was the greatest godsdamned Aeromancer in the world and loved dropping storms on people. It was practically her only strategy. Thing is, most people don’t handle getting hit by a storm very well, so it worked pretty well for her.

And then came the day we found ourselves trying to seal a gate connected to the Evergrave.

Slight tangent: The Fae might look like and be related to all the elves that found their way over to our world, but they are not elves and they really, really do not like us. Fortunately, they also find the idea of butchering us to be abhorrent, since most of us don’t just pop back into existence after getting destroyed.

Connecting this back to the main bit: It takes a lot to get the Fae to kill you. Dropping a storm on someone is a felling lot.

There wasn’t even an attempt at a dialogue on Summers’s part. We got the gate’s core. A Fae team was already there. We saw them. They saw us. They tried to talk to us. And then Summers launched a storm at them and commanded us to attack.

Second problem: Being a Master makes you better than most people. It does not make you the biggest fish in any pond by far. Summers learned that the hard way when one of the Fae parried the storm back into her. And the Fae Pathbearer, being Fae and reluctant to kill a human, showed Summers her version of mercy by “shield-bashing” the shape of her mind. Summers lives on soup and thinks she’s twelve these days. Her family spent a fortune trying to get the best mind mages to fix her, but nothing’s really worked, last I heard. My guess is that you’ll have to get a Fae to fix what they broke, but honestly, good luck getting those capricious lunatics to do anything.

But back to the point—don’t just attack any dimensional, demon, or unknown you can find, because after the Fae beat the perpetual childhood back into Summer, she felt bad and decided to just give us the core as an apology, on the condition we invite her to dinner and play her a song. The rations we had with us were shit. None of us could carry a tune. But the Fae loved it.

And that was how I got my first Blessing.

–Memoirs of a Master-Tier War Mage

46 (I)

Allies

What remained of Guardshead Leu’s arrogance vanished, and in its place, anger emerged. That was a good benefit Shiv’s Dread Aura offered. It didn’t just allow him to magnify and strike other people’s courage, but also gave him a guess as to how scared they were at baseline.

Right then, Leu was terrified. But her terror was a different kind compared to Siggy, Tran, or Heather’s. Her terror was something that pushed outward, like a cornered snake driven to bite and fight. It fed her anger and fury; provoked her to action. Leu moved fast—about as fast as Shiv with an empty Momentum Core. Her stance shifted, and the air began to swirl fast around her as she clutched at something initially unseen. As Shiv narrowed his eyes, he caught sight of something—an outline revealed in the light. She was holding a near-invisible blade.

Awareness > 11

No wonder I felt something was off. She was armed. Just couldn’t see it. That’s a useful Enchantment. Or skill. Hmm. Come to think of it, I should push my Stealth harder. Absolute invisibility will be great for me. I might not be the best at spy crap, but after my little misadventure in the storage, I can still get pretty far with misdirection and ambushes.

“Who are you?” Leu said, her voice a low growl. “How can you know?”

“I ask you to speak with me honestly and your response is to draw a weapon?” Shiv asked, slightly annoyed.

“I wear divination-blocking Enchantments on me at all times. So, how? How do you know?”

Shiv paused. If that was true, why did he know? He wasn’t sure exactly, but he had a guess. “Because the System demands strife. It might want you to kill Confriga because that’ll be a nice moment of bloodshed and violence. And it let me have a glance because I might not be an active detriment against your plan. Maybe your counter-divination Enchantments only apply to people who don’t want you to succeed.”

She hesitated. By this point, the other three Pathbearers in the room were reacting in different ways. Siggy was terrified and stuck between staying and escaping; Tran had his saber drawn, its edge gleaming like a rising star; Heather was preparing to shape a spell and get everyone out of there.

Shiv, though, was curious. He was fascinated and wanted to see where this opportunity led. His plan might have ended in utter disaster, but it seemed the world wanted him to keep playing this subtle game for a while longer.

After a moment’s consideration, he dropped his Perfect Semblance. Leu’s grip on her blade grew visibly tighter as his true visage was unveiled. Shiv decided to keep both his helmet and mask on. Because he didn’t need mind-blowing surprises. Confriga was still in the process of leaving the building, and Leu thought she had all the variables under her control to assume an aggressive posture.

Dread Aura > 62

“My name is Shiv,” he began. “Part of what I said wasn’t a lie. I am looking for the Animancy Core. That’s one of the main reasons why I entered the gate. The second is the fact that I need to get to the surface, and this is the fastest way. The third is slavery and bastards offend me, so I intend to take this place or die trying.” Shiv chuckled. “In fact, I look forward to dying a lot more in the attempt.”

He still couldn’t read the demon’s features very well, but something about how wide her eye was getting made her seem flabbergasted. “Who… Are you a Necrotech? One of the Undying Masters who have split their souls? You’re here to deal with Vicar Sullain, are you?”

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“Right on the last one,” Shiv said, grinning under his helmet. “Who I am… is a chef. And I’m technically from the Republic. But I like to think of myself as my own man.”

“Do not mock me,” Leu hissed, the swirling whirlwind around her blade building to the level of a small typhoon. Heather’s spell broke as she got flung into a bookshelf. Tran cursed as his wounded knee gave out, and he held himself in place using his saber. Siggy was already sailing through the air, dragged along the walls.

Shiv just stared at Leu with his arms folded. He could feel the winds pulling on him hard, but he defied them with Might of Mass. “I’m not. Stop throwing a tantrum, I actually want to talk. But if you want to fight… Well, I guess your Reflexes are probably Master or close. Aeromancy is at least Adept—maybe a Fusion Skill with your invisible weapon. But how’s your Toughness? Or your Physicality? I think your armor’s Magical Resistance will keep you protected from my Biomancy for a few hits, but what you have on is pretty fragile compared to Confriga’s actual skill. We can fight. But I like my odds. How about you?”

With each word he spoke, his Dread Aura Skill ground tighter and tighter around her will. Leu’s muscles tightened for a moment. He thought she was going to attack purely out of instinct. And then, without preamble, she released the winds and releasedher weapon. Shiv frowned. It was probably floating in the air someplace he couldn’t see. Would be really useful if Adam was here.

Tran grunted as he rose to his feet. Siggy fell on Heather with a yelp as the latter was trying to rise using the bookshelf. Loose debris, books, and other scattered items littered all over the ground.

“Are you moving your invisible weapon behind me?” Shiv asked, mostly on a hunch. Leu went stiff.

Her eye narrowed. “How potent is your Foreshadowing?”

Shiv laughed. “Just Adept. Actually. Try running me through. It’ll break some tension.” She stared at him like he was insane. “I’m serious. Mostly because I don’t think you can do it. I don’t think your weapon has the capability to even chip me.”

“Are you mad?”

“No. Just curious. Come on. Do it.”

“No. I refuse. You—what are you trying to do?”

“Is that the weapon you planned to use on Confriga? If you can’t pierce me, what’s it going to do to him? He’s at least Master-Tier in terms of Toughness with his armor. It’ll be pretty sad if you got the chance to avenge your hatch-brother or whatever and your little invisible blade just bounces off of him. How’s it going to feel then?”

Leu stared at him for a beat. And then she made a dragging gesture, and Shiv felt something slam into them—striking perfectly at his lower back. A blast of wind tore the remains of Oldsmith’s painting behind him apart. What felt like a constantly accelerating javelin ground against his Adamantine Adaption. To his surprise, the tip of the weapon actually sank a good inch in before his armor adapted and stopped it dead. That would’ve opened his flesh at least.

Across from him, wind and lightning flashed as flickering invisible spells pulsed between Leu’s hands.

Shiv couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Invisible spells too? You must be pretty tricky.”

She hissed, straining with effort. “Why are you—what kind of Evolution do you even have? Is your Toughness Heroic?”

“No. Just Adamantine Adaption.” Shiv didn’t know if it was wise telling her, but he was enjoying her reaction too much not to get another rise from her.

“Why do you have a Master-Tier Skill Evolution meant for monsters?” Leu stopped driving her unseen javelin against him at the same time as she took a step back, and the winds in the room immediately died. She was still holding quite well, but she felt less than half as confident as when this conversation started.

And Shiv was a bit embarrassed to admit it, but he kind of enjoyed intimidating people. The stunned and fearful reactions sent a rush of amusement through him each time. “Maybe because I am a monster?” Shiv replied. “Who knows. But it was a good stab. Not sure if you can get through Confriga’s body, though. He barely budged when I struck him, but I didn’t exactly get to use my Momentum Core on him, so I can’t really tell you how tough he really is.”

“Master,” she spat. “He is a Master without his armor. He has the Void Serpent’s Aegis as his Skill Evolution.”

“Cool. I don’t know what that is because an asshole named Roland Arrow stopped me from attending proper school. More details about me: I like cooking, fighting stuff, learning about Biomancy, an Umbral named Uva, bullying a certain Young Lord, killing evil bastards, and the whole being a Pathbearer thing in general. What I want is to get back to Blackedge after dealing with the Animancy Core so I can help stop the vicar, save the town, and then beat the shit out of Roland in front of everyone. I added killing Confriga to that list because of the child-torturing Necromancy bit. Now. You got to stab me and I told you plenty about me. So. Your turn. Start with your hobbies or something. I don’t care.”

Heartbeats passed. The demon looked on at Shiv with stunned disbelief—and she wasn’t the only one. The Slayers and Siggy were rooted to the ground by shock at what Shiv just casually shrugged off. The walls behind him were barely standing after Leu’s brief strike. Shiv didn’t even shift an inch.

Leu shuddered and let out a disbelieving breath. “I… Everything you said is honest? Truly?”

Shiv nodded. “Yep.”

The demon considered him again, and her body language softened to a wary but non-aggressive posture. “How… strange. But the System desires strife, indeed. It should not surprise me to encounter a Hissak at some point.”

“What’s that?”

“The closest meaning you might understand is ‘System-Favored’ or ‘Chaos-Blessed.’ Both functionally mean the same thing when considered from certain perspectives.”

Shiv smirked. “Yeah. I remember Valor calling me that. Guess it’s a bigger deal than I thought it was.”

“Valor?”

“Valor Thann,” Shiv said. “People also call him He Who Kills Eternity or something.”

And at the mention of Valor’s name, Shiv felt Leu’s courage nearly shatter. “Godsbane! Lordslayer! Realmbutcher! You know the Deathclad One?”

Godsdamn, Valor, just how many titles do you have? And how much shit did you get up to? “Yeah. I’m technically his disciple now, but he’s kind of outsourced most of that training to another guy. Partially to train him through me. I suspect he just can’t be arsed to teach me the very basics. I don’t blame Valor, though. Training a novice chef is pretty hard, so I can’t imagine teaching a novice Pathbearer is any easier.”

“Disciple,” Leu practically choked out. “I…” She mastered herself, but her courage remained under siege. “Yes. Yes, it is true. The vision you saw is no lie. I am here for retribution. This revenge, I have been planning for over 313 years.”

Shiv gawked. “Wait, you’ve been after him for over three centuries?”

“It is immensely difficult to rise through the ranks of The Fist—Lord Scorn’s Legions. Lesser Marshal Confriga and I—along with the many others of our race—am Vulteg. Translation of the closest meaning is like… Fingerling. We are extensions of his power and will, created by his magic to serve as the means to his ends across the Integrated Dimensions. I spent years honing myself, following Lesser Marshal Confriga through the ranks, from battlefield to battlefield. All to fulfill a forbidden wish. To avenge my clutch-brother—the only of my kin to survive our metamorphosis into adolescence. And now I have finally drawn close, yet…”

Leu let out a weary sigh. “Yet, it is as you realized. Despite my greatest efforts, I cannot best Lesser Marshal Confriga in direct battle, nor have I discovered a means to ensure his death through subterfuge. And thus you find me here; planning, preparing. Until now.”

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