Riftside 3 - Chapter 10

Enar’s shriek tore through the room and with it a chill fell over us as mana erupted from within him. Mara’s axe was already halfway up when Roq yelled.

“HALT!” 

The command boomed through my mind and everyone but Mara stumbled as they hissed in pain. 

“By my kingly wings, woman, cease! The adventurer lives!” Roq said. “Why are you so eager to take lives? Madness!”

As if on cue, Enar’s scream turned into a hoarse shouting.

“What in the rift-rotten portal piss is Roq doing sticking out of my leg? It hurts!” Enar screamed.

My heart, which had been lodged in my throat, plummeted back into my chest and I felt as if someone had just gifted me a second chance at life. 

With a gasp of relief that was half a sob, I yanked Roq free. Blood, dark and rich, welled from the wound, but his genuine reaction to the pain was the most beautiful thing I’d seen in a while.

Mara lowered her axe, its head thudding against the floorboards. 

She stared from Enar to me, her face a mask of disbelief. 

“I… I cannot believe it. You actually…”

“Move!” Katherine barked, kneading a fist into her temple as she shoved me to get at Enar’s leg. “I need to stop the bleeding!” Her hands glowed, just for a few seconds, as she ran them over part of Enar’s thigh, and the flow of blood staunched almost instantly, although the wound remained.

She lowered her hands once she finished. 

“I’m out,” she said. “Stupid hammer nicked his main artery. I fixed it, but I need to regenerate before I can heal the wound. Don’t do anything stupid!”

The tension in the room snapped like a frayed rope. I stood, my legs trembling, and grabbed Eryn, pulling her into a fierce, desperate hug. 

I kissed her, not caring that Roq’s haft was digging into my back, only that she was here, and we hadn't just murdered our friend. Death was an everyday occurrence in Dawnwatch, hell in all of Noros, but doing it to a loved one was something else.

Knut placed a heavy hand on Katherine’s shoulder. 

“You do good, beautiful flower. I am proud.”

“I know,” she said, her voice brusque, but refusing to meet his eyes.He leaned down, his massive frame dwarfing her, and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. 

“No. You did real good. I’m proud of you.”

For a moment, Katherine’s professional mask cracked. She softened and looked up at him, a tired smile touching her lips. 

“Thanks, grizzly. I’m glad you brought me. This was what I live for but also an interesting experience.”

Nabeeh scoffed playfully, crossing her arms. 

“A shame we didn’t bring Edwin. He’s missing out on all the celebratory smooching.”

Enar groaned, pushing against his restraints. 

“What… what happened?” he rasped and hissed, clearly still in pain. He looked from his bloodstained trousers to the relieved faces around him.

“You’ll be alright, Enar,” I said, my voice hoarse. “That’s the important part.” I turned to Mara. “Now, would you mind putting your axe away? It’s making the decor feel a little… hostile.”

“I will not,” she stated flatly. “I need to hear what Roq and Arclight are saying.”

I nodded slowly. So that confirmed it. 

“Your axe is a soul weapon.”

“Hi, fellow soul weapon,” Roq said. “You are welcome to introduce yourself now to your betters. Well, better. Time will tell whether you rank above or below Arclight.”

A dangerous stillness fell over the room. 

“Silence, Roq,” Mara said. “And listen up. If anyone here reveals the secret of my axe, to anyone. Be it your wife, a fellow adventurer, or your barber…” her voice dropped to a low, lethal whisper, “I will know. And I will find you. And I will kill you. Now swear you will keep my secret!”

One by one, we gave our oaths.

After Enar gave his, still dazed, he just chuckled weakly. 

“Three soul weapons in one day. I can’t wait to see my class and stats.” The room, which had been filled with a fragile relief, grew somber once more. Enar looked around, his smile faltering. “What? What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Enar, but you’ve got some catching up to do,” I said, my voice heavy.

*

We’d retired downstairs to our dining table and given Enar the rundown of what had happened, the dangers of breakthrough, and how we’d healed him. He stared up at our trophy wall, his gaze lingering on the semi-fluffy head of Arclight’s previous form and the dark, jagged crown of Quarris mounted above it.

“You have to tell people about the breakthrough,” he said, turning to Mara. His voice was no longer weak, but filled with a new, quiet anger. “You can’t keep it a secret. I could have died.”

“And would you have gone through with it if you knew?” Mara asked.

Enar paused, his jaw working. 

“I… I’m not sure,” he admitted honestly. “From what you’ve said, I’m the first one to survive it going wrong, ever. If it wasn’t for Ash and Roq, and Katherine’s healing, my daughters would be growing up without a father.”

“And that is precisely why we do not tell them,” Mara said, leaning forward. “We are at war, Enar. We cannot afford to have fewer scavengers taking the chance, fewer adventurers willing to risk the next breakthrough. It is hard enough to defend Noros as is. But now,” she glanced at me, then at Katherine, “Thanks to your efforts and sacrifice, that has just changed.”

“How much exactly will this change things?” I asked.

“If we can replicate this,” Mara said, her face intense, “Especially if it can be done without a soul weapon to guide the process, it means fewer scavengers will fail their initial breakthrough and many more people will survive.”

“How could we do it without Roq?” Nabeeh asked, frowning. “He’s the one who sensed what was wrong and guided the doc where to heal.”

“If the cause of the breakdown is the same, you won’t need him,” Eryn mused. “If it is always the lack of connection between the Class Gem and the Mind Gem energy, then the treatment should be the same for others. If all that’s needed is to heal those specific parts of the brain, in that specific order, then any healer can do it. They wouldn’t need a soul weapon to guide them, just the knowledge of the procedure.”

Katherine nodded, hand shaking as she sipped at her lemonade. 

“Correct. The only variable we wouldn’t be able to measure is the rate of Mind Gem energy depletion. But that could be solved by working in teams to continuously heal the patient while the others regenerate. Unless the worst luck strikes, we’d save them. And besides, this was an extreme case. He was full of mind gems, was he not?”

I nodded to her.

“Enar,” I said. “What was it like? Going through it? Do you remember anything?”

He shuddered. 

“The scariest, most painful thing I’ve ever done. Especially… fainting and waking up again.”

“What do you mean, fainting?” Eryn asked gently.

“I don’t remember most of it,” he said, his brow furrowed in confusion. “The ten hours you said I was… thrashing? Most is just blank. A black void. The parts I do remember, when you healed me back to sanity, were horrendous. But I do want to thank you, Roq,” he said, looking at my warhammer. “For talking me through it. It helped. Even if you are horrible at cheering people on.”

“You are most welcome, Healer Enar,” Roq said graciously. “I will do so again next time.”

Enar laughed and shook his head. 

“Oh, there will be no next time for me. One failed breakthrough is more than enough for me.” 

“Interesting,” Katherine murmured. “Perhaps the subject feels no pain during the broken down state, or simply retains no memory of it. This… this could truly change the face of our war.”

“How?” Enar asked. “What percentage of scavengers has a… a bad breakthrough?”

“Roughly five percent,” Mara answered.

“That is a lot of lives, sure,” I said, “But will it be enough to impact the war effort?”

“Scavengers gaining  classes is only part of it,” Mara said. “It is not a fact that is widely spoken of, but many adventurers refuse to face their later breakthroughs out of fear of having a breakdown. Some of our most skilled adventurers are even prohibited from advancing by Central Command. We simply cannot risk losing a high-level experienced warrior to a failed breakthrough.”

“By the bells,” I said, my eyes going wide. “Do classed adventurers face the same failure rate!?”

Mara nodded and I exchanged incredulous looks with Knut, Nabeeh, and Eryn.

“That means there is an over twenty-five percent chance of having a bad breakthrough on your way to level sixty,” Eryn said, having done the numbers in her head.

“One in four adventurers die on way,” Knut said. “Bad.”

“But with this?” Mara said, growing excited. “If this procedure works on classed adventurers as it did on Enar, we will see a surge of new high-level adventurers.”

“Why hasn’t this been fixed before?” Nabeeh asked. 

Mara chuckled. 

“Let’s just say we’ve tried everything we can think of, including healing people as they go though a breakthrough, but we’ve never had a soul weapon with the ability to give us the view from inside before.”

“Speaking of seeing things from the inside,” Eryn said, giving Enar a hopeful smile. “How did your breakthrough go? What are your stats? What’s your class?”

Knut looked Enar up and down. 

“Don’t look bigger.”

“How am I supposed to check?” Enar asked.

“This’ll be faster,” I said, pulling out the borrowed Soul Tablet.

Enar placed his hand on its surface and glowing runes flickered to life, but as he read them, his face fell. A look of utter despair washed over him. 

“What… what in the sliced portal is this?” he whispered, sinking back into his chair with a heavy sigh. “This can’t be true.”

I turned it around and looked.

NAME: Enar Silker

CLASS: Healer

LEVEL: 10 (0/11)

STRENGTH: 8

AGILITY: 8

VITALITY: 11

MIND: 39

TOTAL STATS: 66

MANA: 10/11

He also had the four classic Healer spells, the weakest of which cost ten mana.

“He’s barely stronger than a scavenger,” Roq stated, his disappointment palpable. “A lot of effort for very little result.”

“He does have a decent Mind stat,” Arclight pointed out.

“True,” Roq conceded. “It will come in handy with healing others. His spells will be potent.”

“Your Mind stat is excellent, yes,” Mara said, her voice void of sympathy. “But with a mana pool of eleven, you can’t cast anything but a single heal before you are exhausted.”

“I’m useless,” Enar said, his voice cracking. “I can’t go adventuring like this.”

No one argued. The silence was a heavy, damning blanket and we all knew that it was far from good.

“Cheer up,” Roq said finally. “You are alive. If not for my superior abilities and this outstanding, never-before-seen feat of soul forging, you would be a smear on the floorboards. So don’t be a mopey-dope. Be a cheerful cherry. Which, by the way, would be a lovely flavor for a celebratory pie of survival. Hint hint.”

Enar just nodded numbly. 

“Sure. Of course. It’s just…yeah, it’s nothing like we hoped. But you’re right, Roq. I’m alive.”

I put a hand on his shoulder. 

“We know. You wanted… you expected, more. We all did.”

“Yes,” he said, his voice thick with unshed tears. “I’m barely more than I was.”

“You’re wrong,” Katherine said suddenly, her voice sharp. “You’re all wrong.”

“How so?” Knut asked. “Enar weak. Cannot bring Riftside like this. Too risky.”

“He doesn’t need to go Riftside,” Katherine said, a smile spreading across her face. “Or, he has to, but he doesn’t have to leave Sentinel Station to have an impact. Your party,” she said, looking at me, “Owes me a healer. I gave a Class Gem to Eryn, and she was supposed to become my apprentice in her downtime.”

Eryn flinched, looking down at her hands. 

“Katherine, I’m sorry. We’ll find a way to make it up to you, I promise.”

Katherine waved a dismissive hand. 

“Enar’s Mind stat is outstanding. If he had mana to match, he would be a phenomenal healer. So,” she said, turning to Enar, “You will become my apprentice. You will work in the infirmary. You will cast your single spell, one at a time, then regenerate your mana. And you will learn the ways of the healer, focusing on the basics, earning Mind Gems for your work. You will level up, your mana pool will grow, and one day, you will become a great healer. What you were meant to be. And Ash’s party will help you. They will dedicate mind gems to you, every single time they go out. You will get a small share so you can level up slowly.”

Hope flooded Enar’s face, but when his eyes met mine, they faltered. 

“Katherine’s right. It wasn’t our fault your breakthrough failed, but you’re our friend. We will help you any way we can, including trying to make you some mana regenerative or increasing gear if we get our hands on some recipes.”

“Y-you… you’d do that?”

Mara nodded in approval. 

“You show your wisdom, Doctor Ridley. Where we see someone unfit for adventuring, she sees the clay of a great healer, given time and investment. And yes, Aldrich here is a man of his word from what I gathered.”

“I’ll do it!” Enar exclaimed with a profound relief. “Thank you, Doctor. Thank you all for still giving me a purpose!”

“You are welcome, Enar,” I said, smiling genuinely. “And this doesn’t change our offer. We’ll still do anything we can to help you and your family. You are one of us.”“Since Enar will be my apprentice, I am willing to transfer Eryn’s debt to him. You are freed from your obligation, Eryn.” 

She wouldn’t offer her free training, but the mandatory service was waived.

Eryn accepted with a quiet thanks, but I saw the shadow pass over her face. Another door to her healer identity had closed, but I think it was worth it to keep Enar alive. 

Arclight seemed to sense it, too. 

“We will hunt the toughest monsters and slay them all,” Arclight said. “You will be the greatest huntress to ever walk on two feet!” 

Eryn just gently rubbed a hand over her bow, expression unreadable.

“I will, however,” Katherine continued, her gaze falling on me, “Require you and Roq to join me for ten more breakthroughs. I need to explore and map this process. Once I have, I will write up my report for Central Command.”

“You will have my full support,” Mara said. “But the report will not mention soul weapons. You, Katherine, will take full credit for this discovery.”

Roq began to protest, a furious squawk in our minds, but Mara just stared at my hammer, her expression unwavering. 

After a moment, Roq sighed with theatrical magnanimity. 

“Well, it is not as if I am in this for the glory. I am here for revenge, so the healer may put her name on the discovery. Though… it would be fitting if she cites a certain ‘Dr. Vannash’ as a co-author.”

Katherine actually laughed. 

“Fine. Dr. Vannash it is.”

“Before working on improved breakthroughs, Katherine,” Mara said. “Write up what you learned today about saving a failed breakthrough. Give it to me, and only me. I will disseminate it and have it confirmed. And I will have Harold implement a new rule. All breakthroughs are to be done under medical supervision from now on, for… we’ll make up some reason.”

“I will,” Katherine agreed.

“Why doesn’t your soul weapon speak?” I asked Mara, unable to help myself.

“That,” she said, her voice turning to ice, “Is none of your business.”

Eryn, sensing my frustration, changed the subject. 

“With Enar joining Katherine, does this mean Vos will let us pick Nina now?”

A sudden nervousness twisted in my gut at the thought of putting another scavenger through that ordeal so soon.

But Mara just laughed, a short, sharp bark of sound. 

“No.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because all the Guild’s Class Gems have been spent,” she said. “As soon as the other parties heard you were sponsoring a scavenger, they rushed to claim their own, wanting a piece of the Guild’s ‘generosity’.”

“Fine,” Knut said with a shrug. “We hunt as four. More loot, fewer to share with.”

Mara scoffed. 

“Have you met the man? You will be relegated to guard duty in Sentinel Station until you find a fifth member, be it by borrowing from another party or finding a solo adventurer willing to join you. He’s not going to back down, and trust me, he’s almost as strong as me. He can make you.”

I cursed, my gaze flicking to the trophies on the wall. 

“We need to be out there hunting! The monsters aren’t waiting, we can’t afford to be stuck here!”

“Which is why,” Mara said, a slow, predatory smile spreading across her face, “I might have an opportunity for you.”

We all looked at her, waiting. By the bells, what did she have in mind now?

“I have an apprentice,” she said. “She’s… uniquely suited to join your little group.”

“Why?” I asked, my voice wary. I didn’t know her, but I already knew that I wasn’t going to like the arrangement since it was forced on us.

Her smile widened. 

“Because she has her own soul weapon.”