Mythica, book 1, Chapter 31+32.

Chapter 31.

“Fall before the champion of corruption and decay,” the new leader shouted as Sabine detected mana building inside her foe.

A cloud of sickly, greenish-yellow gas poured from the new leader’s body, rolling quickly over the floor of the throne room. A crossbow bolt slammed into the chest of the new leader, but he was unfazed by the damage and continued his foul magic. Sabine noticed dark mana coalesce around the bolt inside the new leader’s chest, the mana working to force the bolt out and repair the damage, just like it did with Sabine’s body.

Whatever this new leader was, his mana operated the same way her mana did. It also stood to reason that he had the same weaknesses as Sabine. The combination of pouring mana into his attack and what was being used to heal his injuries would eventually deplete what the new leader had to work with. It was time for Sabine to hurry the process along, a few hits with Reckoning should be more than sufficient to snuff out this creature.

Sabine charged forward once more; a bit angry at herself that she had been just standing there in shock like an idiot after seeing another champion. The leading edge of the cloud hit the nearest combatants. Sabine had seen poison in gaseous form before, many of the more exotic weapons vendors sold such things in delicate glass globes. The weapons had always seemed more dangerous to their users than to the enemy, and it wasn’t something Sabine considered an effective weapon.

This cloud was different, instead of coughing and choking, any verminkin caught in the cloud screamed in pain as soon as it touched them. Their flesh blistered and blackened in moments. The verminkin in front of her was decaying like a corpse left in the sun for too long. Despite the horrific injuries the gas inflicted on its victims, they didn’t die quickly, and the new leader seemed to relish the torment its victims were experiencing.

Sabine could see something else; she could see mana rising from the afflicted as their screams and life force slowly ebbed. The new leader drew that mana toward himself, if Sabine wanted to end this, she needed to do it quickly before the creature recovered from his expenditures. She moved to the edge of the growing gas cloud, and following a hunch, reached out and touched it.

Nothing happened. Since she was already dead, the gas had nothing to kill, and its corrosive properties weren’t affecting her mana-infused body. No, she saw that wasn’t entirely true, there was a slight tingle of a burning sensation as the gas broke down her dead tissues. Her nature as an undead created by one of the gods of death, as well as her use of dark mana, seemed to stave off the worst of the gas’s effects.

If she remained in the cloud for too long, she would eventually succumb to it, but Sabine had no intention of letting this fight last that long. At least the cloud seemed to linger near the ground, which meant that Orren should be safe enough on the upper level of the throne room. A glance at the second-floor balcony confirmed that Orren was still in the fight.

Charging forward, she caught the new leader’s attention. He laughed as she entered the cloud, then a moment later, began to look concerned. Another crossbow bolt slammed into the new leader’s head, and from experience, Sabine knew that headshots took a lot out of her kind. The new leader reached up to pull the bolt from his head, mana already congealing around the injured area as it worked its healing ability.

“How do you resist my master’s embrace? What are you?” The new leader shouted as Sabine closed the distance. She infused Reckoning with mana, and as the new leader looked at her with confusion, she hammered the flail right into the new leader’s chest. Bones crunched and the layers of flesh on the new leader’s bloated body rippled across the wound. Grunting in pain, the new leader lost his concentration and the cloud of noxious fumes stopped flowing from his body. When the dark mana was released, instead of blasting open the new leader’s chest, it was simply absorbed by his body.

“Thank you for that, I was running a bit low, care to help me some more?” The new leader taunted, realizing that Sabine’s power healed him as much as it injured him.

“Unlike your powers, mine don’t need mana to operate. I’m perfectly capable of ending you without it,” Sabine said as she slammed an unenhanced blow from her flail into the side of the new leader’s head. The hit caved in the side of his skull, but dark mana was already working to repair the damage.

“This blessed corruption that I spread is just for simple fools, like these verminkin. My master’s favor has unlocked greater gifts to deal with the likes of you,” the new leader threatened. From across his bloated body, mana collected, and arms and hands began to grow. Sharp claws tipped the hands and Sabine could see they dripped with some kind of toxin.

Faster than they should have been able to move, the claws tore at Sabine, breaking against her armor, but jostling her enough that Sabine’s next few blows were slightly off target. One of the claws finally found open flesh and raked across her face. Sabine could feel an intense burning from the wound and the pain increased as the foul substance coating the new leader’s claws began to work. Her mana reacted, stopping the spread of the corruption, and pushing it back.

“I don’t like men that get too handsy,” Sabine growled as she slashed with her buckler. The sharpened edge of the small shield sliced easily through the fleshy arms, causing the new leader to squeal in pain. Only when in pain did her foe sound like the rat he vaguely resembled.

“No human can resist my master’s embrace. What are you?” The new leader asked. The fear growing on his face told Sabine that he was out of tricks.

“I’m not human, at least, not anymore. Tell me, who is this master you serve?” Sabine asked as she continued to hammer and slash at the new leader. His mana was starting to run low as her assault left him on the defensive. The new leader was no longer able to replace the grasping claws that Sabine was systematically carving from his body with her buckler.

Glowing blue targets began to appear on the new leader’s body. Orren must have given up on archery and was trying to use his special ability to help her directly. Reckoning never stopped moving, each twirl of the weapon sent its deadly head slamming into one of the weak spots that Orren was identifying. She could feel a satisfying crunch when the weapon hit the target. Her flail was powerful enough that it didn’t need mana to do horrible things to a body, even one as corpulent as the new leader.

“I serve Zalzaran, god and master of corruption and decay. Spare me and I will share his power with you. Between the two of us, we can complete his task and grain power unheard of,” the new leader pleaded.

“Thanks for the offer, but I have no intention of serving a god that creates things like you. When you see this Zalzaran again, give him Gnessos’ regards,” Sabine taunted as she continued her work.

“Wait, you are a champion too? How? You’re a human,” the new leader whined as the last of his mana was consumed as it tried to repair his damaged form.

“I used to be a human, but now I’m something more. While I may be undead, I’m nothing like you,” Sabine said, briefly removing her Mask of False Life to give the new leader a peek at her true form.

A few final blows ended the abomination in front of her. As this new leader expired, the last of his mana reformed into a tight ball that flew into Sabine’s chest. There was no pain as it hit, and she could feel the mana meld with her own. A brief struggle for control ensued, as the remnants of Zalzaran’s power tried to take over. Little of his god's power remained in the mana, and it took only moments for Sabine to exert her will over it, adding its power to her own. A rush of energy hit Sabine as new prompts from Gnessos appeared.

You have done a great deed in the sight of your master. By defeating the champion of a rival god, you have been granted a title and the benefits it confers. Bask in the glory of Gnessos and know that he is pleased with your progress.

You have achieved rank 4 in Gnessos’ favor.

You have achieved rank 5 in Gnessos’ favor.

You have unlocked the title, Zalzaran’s Bane.

You have stolen power from a rival god’s avatar.

Sabine pushed away the text drifting in front of her view. While the throne room they were in was quiet, the sounds of battle had continued to grow. Gnawtooth must be making his push and from the sounds of things, he was winning decisively. Despite how much she wanted to, now was not the time to read about any new upgrades that she might have been granted with her new ranks.

“Orren, get moving. Meet me down here,” Sabine shouted, glad to see that her friend was still alive. The thought struck her as funny. “Do I consider you a friend?”Sabine asked herself. Orren and Skrix met her a few moments later, the guard that had accompanied them was notably absent from their group.

“What happened to your friend?” Sabine asked.

“He had an unfortunate accident once you defeated that thing,” Orren said.

“Guard was going to stab-kill Orren while Orren-mage did magic book things, so I stab-kill guard first with my new knife,” Skrix said, gleefully showing Sabine the blood-covered weapon.

“Nice work Skrix, you can keep that blade, just make sure you take care of it and clean it as soon as you get a chance. Blood shouldn’t be left on there for too long,” Sabine said. While she was happy the little scout had taken the initiative to save Orren, she wasn’t sure she was keen on dragging him around with her on her adventures.

“I think we’ve got a problem, Sabine. Our good friend Gnawtooth is likely to win this fight soon, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to be the next target after he does,” Orren said.

“We need to get out, but first, we need to grab any loot this place might hold. The new leader wouldn’t let any wealth get out of his sight. Check the walls for hiding places. Odds are, whatever loot he had was hidden like everything else in this place, behind poorly placed piles of rubble,” Sabine said.

She had already figured out where the loot was, and their little search was just to keep Skrix from seeing what she was going to do next. Searching through the remains of the new leader was not a fun task, but the first place she looked at proved to be the right one. Not having any clothing or armor to tie it to, the new leader had hidden his small coin pouch inside a crack in his throne.

If the pouch was like hers, it would have access to the realm of the dead. Whether she could access it the same as she could her pouch was another story. Sabine tried to open it, but the pouch resisted. She tried pushing some mana into the pouch which caused it to suddenly open. Coins and valuables started to pour out, but the pouch’s link to the new leader was severed with his death, and the cloth began to rot away to nothing.

Sabine brought out her storage pouch and held it open under the flow of treasure, catching most of what was pouring out. All too soon, the flow of wealth stopped and the new leader’s storage pouch rotted away to nothing. Sabine wasted no time and up everything that had fallen while trying to come up with a plan to cover their escape.

“I found the loot, now we need to figure out our escape,” Sabine said, the fighting growing ever closer to the throne room they waited in.

“Gnawtooth knows about the escape tunnel, if we just run, he’ll follow. Even with Skrix’s help, they’ll eventually corner us somewhere unless we can get a big enough lead,” Orren said.

“Why don’t we leave him a distraction? I’ve got something that might keep Gnawtooth busy for a bit,” Sabine said as she started pulling bones from her coin pouch.

“Hamish, you’re needed,” Sabine said, summoning her advisor. The pile of bones began to quiver and then reformed into its normal position. A small blob of dark mana began to glow inside the skeleton’s chest as Hamish linked to it and stood.

“Oh my, you take me to such lovely places, Sabine. What’s going on” Hamish asked. Skrix gave a small shriek when he spotted the skeletal advisor and ran to hide behind Orren.

“Not a lot of time to explain right now, Hamish. An army of verminkin is going to come pouring in here any minute and I need you to stall them for me,” Sabine said.

“I’m no warrior, what do you think I can do against an army?” Hamish complained.

“You’re no warrior, at least not yet, but you can talk, and that’s what we need right now. When the verminkin enter, make a show of yourself having just defeated that thing,” Sabine said, pointing toward the corpse of the new leader.

“Oh, skeleton thingy can claim-demand that he lead tribe if they think he kill-slay new leader,” Skrix said excitedly as he worked up enough courage to peek around Orren and offer his opinion.

“What is that awful creature, and why is it speaking to me?” Hamish asked.

“Remember Hamish, no time. Do you think you can handle this for me?” Sabine asked.

“Yes, I suppose I can do what you’re asking. I was quite a thespian back in my day. While I have no doubt that I can sell my performance, I won’t exactly last long once they answer my challenge for leadership,” Hamish said.

“As much as I’d like to stay and watch your performance. We need to run. Before I go, I can summon something to help you,” Sabine said, activating the two charges on her Amulet of the Spirit Beast.

The yellow mana swirled from the necklace and two large forms began to take shape. As they watched, the two shapes solidified into giant bears. Larger than any bear Sabine had seen before, these were true monsters. Instead of fur and flesh, these were almost ghost-like in their appearance. Reaching out to touch one, Sabine found it was solid and despite its appearance, wasn’t an illusion or specter of some kind.

“Very nice, I can work with this. Run along Sabine and let me prepare for my performance. Too bad there is no respectable audience to see this,” Hamish said.

“I want to stay and watch-look at scary skeleton man’s performance,” Skrix whined. Seeing that the summoned spirit beasts didn’t harm her, Skrix walked over to inspect them, poking the beasts to see if they were real.

“If you want to return to Gnawtooth’s service, be my guest, but the rest of us are out of here,” Sabine answered, motioning Owen to follow.

“No, I follow-serve Sabine and Orren-mage. Skrix valuable part of team now,” the verminkin claimed. He had proven useful in helping keep Orren alive, but the jury was still on whether it was a one-time occurrence.

Sabine led the party back through the escape tunnel, listening to Hamish practice the lines he intended to use on Gnawtooth. She was sure to get a recap later when she summoned him again. Now that she thought about it, Hamish would probably be insufferable after today, and there might need to be more skull kicks in his future.

Chapter 32.

Sabine’s one concern was that Gnawtooth might have left a force to watch the escape tunnel exit. Before they went out into the open cavern, she pushed mana into Eyes of Undeath to see if there was anyone lurking just outside the entrance. She sensed nothing, but the range of the ability was limited so she emerged with weapons drawn, ready to deal with any verminkin ambush. The others exited, Orren with his crossbow ready, and Skrix waving his knife about like a madman.

“We’re clear, at least for now. Let’s move as quickly as we can back to the entrance to Hammerheads. I don’t know how much time Hamish can buy us,” Sabine said.

“Wait, I smell-hear something nearby,” Skrix said, his rat-like nose moving in an almost cute manner as he sniffed the air. Sabine couldn’t smell anything, but her hearing did pick up the sounds of combat nearby.

“Skrix, lead us around that mess but take us somewhere that we can get a look at what’s going on. Our objective is to make it to the far side of the cavern,” Sabine said. If Skrix could get them close, she could spot if they were in any immediate danger. After that, Skrix just needed to get her to the general vicinity of where they had entered the Darkrealm, and from there, she could work out where the passage under Hammerhead’s tavern was located.

“Too many people fighting, I’m confused and no want to stay and watch-sort the battle,” Skrix said. He had led them closer to the fight and behind a slight rise in the cavern floor where the stumps of giant mushrooms gave them some concealment. In the distance, a swarm of verminkin engaged in battle near the entrance to the new leader’s cave. Sabine couldn’t tell the troops of one side from the other and doubted that the verminkin involved knew any more than she did.

The verminkin all seemed content to just slaughter one another. Sabine could only hope they kept at it for a good long time. Hammerhead had been worried about something emerging into his tavern, and if she hadn’t taken the bounty, the new leader and his toxic cloud would have probably emerged at some point and killed everyone in the tavern. Now, the verminkin lacked the numbers and skill to do much more than scour the cavern for resources and move on.

“I agree with Skrix, let’s move,” Orren suggested.

Sabine agreed, she didn’t need to waste any additional time here, it served no purpose. Gnawtooth, or whoever emerged victorious from the battle would need to consolidate their power. Chasing Sabine wouldn’t be very high on their list of things to do, so their retreat should be reasonably safe. That didn’t mean Sabine let her guard down, and until they gained some distance from the battle, she kept her Eyes of Undeath fed with mana to search out any nearby threats.

Skrix proved rather helpful at navigating the floor of the cavern, leading them past forests of mushroom stumps and avoiding areas he thought various creatures might have taken up residence in. Orren seemed to be running on the last dregs of his energy, and even Skrix was starting to slow down when Sabine called them to a stop. They were almost to the far side of the cavern, but if they ran into trouble on their way out, Orren and Skrix wouldn’t be much help until they got some rest.

“Here’s a good spot, you two rest and I’ll keep watch,” Sabine ordered. The pair needed sleep, and since things were likely safe for a time, Sabine wanted to check in on her new rank.

An old stalactite had fallen from the ceiling of the cavern and created a convenient pile of rubble for them to hide their campsite. Orren pulled some rations from his pack and shared the dried meat and hard, cracker-like bread with Skrix. It was simple trail rations, but Skrix acted like he had been offered a seat at the king’s table. After the pair scarfed down their meal, they both fell asleep with little trouble. While they slept, Sabine finally had time to review her new rank and the changes that came with it.

Sabine Giroux.

Revenant, Rank 5.

Gnessos’ Favor: 144/2500.

Mana: 44%.

Titles: A new title has been bestowed upon you by Gnessos.

1. Zalzaran’s Bane. By defeating the champion of one of Gnessos’ rivals, you have stolen some of that champion’s power. You can now exert some control over corruption and decay. Because this is a stolen ability, you must experiment and discover how to use it on your own.

Beware, by eliminating his champion, you have created enmity between yourself and the god Zalzaran. Any of his followers will see through the Mask of False Life and react to you with great hostility and violence.

Traits:

1. Call of the Grave.

2. Eyes of Undeath. This ability has improved, and the range has increased. In addition to sensing life force, the presence of undead, and nearby mana, Eyes of Undeath will now allow you to examine your immediate surroundings in greater detail.

A new ability for Eyes of Undeath has been unlocked. You may now detect the nearby presence of the champions of rival gods.

3. Soulbound. A portion of your power has been siphoned off and given to your advisor Hamish. Speak with Hamish to discover if he has gained any new abilities or knowledge due to this infusion of power. Normally, you can only summon Hamish once every 18 hours. When you attain a new rank, this timer is reset.

4. Enhanced body. By attaining rank 5, your revenant body has begun to improve. These improvements are represented as a percentage increase over what the body possessed when it was still alive.

Strength: +65%.

Durability: +30%

5. Translator of the Fallen. Your connection to the realm of the dead allows you access to many things. One of these things is the ability to quickly learn the language of any soul that has passed through Gnessos’ hands before.

Abilities:

1. Manipulate Mana. Your mana capacity has increased and mana efficiency for all abilities has improved by 38%.

2. Rapid Healing. This ability has evolved, and you can now cycle your mana into the body of an ally to temporarily increase their rate of natural healing.

3. Stagger. The area of effect has increased to a 25-foot cone. The wave has improved and now deals minor crushing damage to anyone in its area of effect. Stagger no longer needs to be targeted on the ground, and can instead be activated on whatever target the weapon strikes. The duration of the slowing effect has increased to 4 seconds.

4. Rage of the Revenant. Summon the rage-filled spirit of the body you now wear, flooding it with power and generating mana at a surprising rate. This effect lasts for 60 seconds. While under the effects of Rage of the Revenant, you will merely be a passenger in your body, unable to affect it in any way.

Rage of the Revenant can only be activated once every 5 days and only when you’re facing imminent destruction. You must select one target for your rage and when your target is eliminated, the ability will end, and your body will need time to recover.

Equipment:

1. Reckoning. Forged of an unknown material, Reckoning is the embodiment of a revenant’s quest for vengeance. Bound to you, Reckoning cannot be wielded by any other. Should someone try to take the weapon from you, they will be immediately afflicted with a necrotic curse until they release the weapon. If lost or destroyed, Revenant will slowly reform in the land of the dead until it is ready for you to summon it once more.

This weapon will amplify any mana infused into it, and channel it into the type of damage the wielder wishes. Currently, the weapon can amplify damage by up to 25%. Reckoning can create crushing, piercing, and slashing damage. More damage types and additional abilities may be unlocked as you gain Gnessos’ favor.

This weapon still rebels against your control, but your mastery over it has reached the point where a new ability has been unlocked. In addition to pushing mana into the weapon to improve its damage, you may now infuse additional mana into Reckoning to increase its range. The maximum range for this ability is 15 feet.

2. Mask of False Life. When worn, this mask allows your undead form to take on a normal appearance. This item also hides the visual effects of your Rapid Healing ability.

A new ability has been discovered. The Mask of False Life will also hide your presence from the avatars of rival gods. Beware, once an avatar has been defeated, the mask can no longer shield you from that god’s followers.

There was a lot for Sabine to unpack. She already knew that her body had become stronger, and the new abilities and improvements for some of the older ones would make her much more formidable. Just about everything across the board had improved when she jumped two levels. Gnessos’ next rank was going to be more difficult to obtain, but Sabine was certain she would reach it and surpass it before long.

While the others slept, Sabine tried out some of her new and improved abilities. First off, she activated Call of the Grave, to see if she could sense any nearby remains. Her senses felt like they were on overload, as she detected remains and small burial sites all around her. The Darkrealm was a dangerous place, and it had many victims buried under its soil to prove that fact.

Walking out of their hidden shelter, Sabine focused on the nearest remains. Bones began to push their way up through the rocky floor of the cavern. Several were remains of beasts and other foul things that lurked in the dark, and Sabine could sense that Hamish would be unable to use them. He needed a humanoid skeleton, and the closest thing she could find was the rather ordinary-looking remains of a verminkin.

Hamish may not like it, but it was the best she was going to be able to do for the time being. Sabine stuffed the bones into her storage pouch. Thankfully, the remains had been there for a long time and had been picked clean by scavengers. So far, Hamish had only chosen older remains that were completely skeletal. She didn’t know if he could operate a body that was more akin to a zombie than a skeleton, so she’d stick with what she knew worked.

Sabine wanted to try out her Rapid Healing upgrade on one of her companions, but she didn’t think they would appreciate being woken up from a deep sleep by her pushing mana into them. When they were awake and willing subjects, she would find some time to practice. There shouldn’t be many objections since the ability had a good chance of saving one of their lives at some point in their adventures.

Cursing at herself, Sabine realized that she had already started thinking of Skrix as part of her team. It was the mercenary officer in her, always looking to recruit when it made sense, but did the little verminkin make sense? Other than an additional source of income, and the promised compendiums, Orren wasn’t exactly a permanent member of the team either.

Some part of Sabine wanted to use the pair of companions expediently, throwing Skrix at a foe to buy her time, and using Orren to help fund her main goal. But when she thought about it, Sabine had to admit she had grown fond of Orren and didn’t just see him just as a means to an end. He seemed like a good man, and Sabine found that she rather liked having him around. It made her place in the world a bit clearer. Here was a person that needed her instruction, and she got the same sense of fulfillment when she worked with Orren that she did when she trained her mercenaries.

With the treasure they had gained, she was going to be done with Hammerhead’s Tavern and its bounty board. She had enough to fund her trip to Golgotia, and it was time to find her sister and her family. Would Orren even want to stay on after the grueling adventure down here?

He was not held to any agreement to follow Sabine across the world. She would have to let Orren make the decision, but she would much rather have him by her side than go things alone. She had a fresh taste of companionship and comradery, and Sabine didn’t want to lose that again.

Skrix was a different story. The verminkin had proven useful, but he hadn’t completely earned her trust yet. Taking him back to the surface world would create as many problems as it solved. She couldn’t deny that he was somewhat useful and was eager enough to follow her instructions. Odds were that the little guy would slink away with whatever he could steal when she wasn’t looking.