[Beastborne: Tower of Blight] Chapter 60

“Are those as good as your old armor?” Hermes asked, leaping on top of Hal’s knee.

Sitting in the Manatree’s glade, Hal’s legs were folded in a meditative position that was only comfortable due to his DEX and AGI. He never used to have that flexibility, and it certainly wasn’t the first time he reflected on that.

Even simple things like that were still amazing to Hal when he could unleash lightning from his fingertips.

Hal plucked at the edge of his clothes. Over the past week while battling the Tower and cycling with the Manatree, Hal had spent considerable time infusing his gift of clothes from Naitese and Orrittam until they were not only on par with his destroyed elder glass set, but improved.

It was a fairly simple process to take the monster parts that the various groups raiding the Tower had accumulated, turn them into essence motes and reinforce the material every step of the way.

Hermes was a surprisingly big help in that regard. He had a natural affinity for enhancing and often assisted Hal in the process. Hal modified the garments here and there to add pockets where plates of elder glass would go to shore up vulnerabilities near the spine, kidneys, and the like, but otherwise he kept the outfit the same.

There was something nice about wearing armor that looked more formal and regal. Something that he could see himself in during a political function–if Brightsong survived to have any–as well as on the battlefield.

Plus, the self-cleaning enhancement courtesy of Hermes was exceptionally handy. Getting dirt on it only required a small amount of mana to clean.

The more dirt, the more mana, but even though the cost would be hundreds of MP to clean it, he had no reason to do it during battle.

“I coulda done more, mate, but the y’know how it is with the bongy bonzers. The coppa dogs that lay the rules down here in the outback ain’t kind to our kind. The more mana it costs, the easier it is to apply, see?”

Hal couldn’t help but grin at Hermes’ amusing way of referencing the Shard and its system of interconnecting magics.

Vorax snoozed nearby, his lid opening and closing slightly with each faint breath the monster took. He reminded Hal of a plastic treasure chest in a fish tank, minus the bubbles.

Raging in the background of Hal’s mind was the battle between him, the Manatree, and the Tower of Blight.

It was an ever-present thing that Hal was slowly divesting himself of. Not because he intended to give up, but because he was teaching the Manatree to stand up for itself.

By slowly eroding his own control, he passed more of the responsibility to the Manatree in a controlled fashion. The Tower fought back every day, but that was fine with Hal.

He was forcing the Shadesblight to fight on two fronts. No matter how much power it had at its disposal, he knew the Tower couldn’t stand forever.

Unfortunately, the Rangers had alerted him to the appearance of several tribes within a few miles of the settlement. They would arrive in a day, two at the most.

It was a surprise they had taken so long.

Elaise had been to see him about it. Hal couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her look so lost or afraid.

“If the Tower still stands when the tribes arrive, they will think you are using the Shadesblight. No excuse will be enough for them. Not unless you show a grand display of strength before them, and even then, many will have their doubts that the Shadesblight is the one in control, not you. The Tower must be destroyed,” she said.

First impressions mattered greatly. He did not want Brightsong to be immediately seen as an ally to the malevolent Shadesblight in the eyes of the Shiverglades’ many tribes.

Hal knew that, eventually, the Tower would fall. It would run out of power. Already it was stretching itself thin fighting the Manatree and the people inside the Tower as well.

Each floor it created drained more of its essence. Hal could feel its malicious hunger for his soul all the way out here.

They had gone from distant strangers to intimate enemies. Hal hated the Shadesblight even more than Rinbast, and the Shadesblight appeared to return the sentiment.

I should be afraid that something so massive and devastating wants me dead, but I feel the same way. I want it utterly erased from existence. I will not suffer the Shadesblight to thrive on my Worldshard.

That was about the time that Hal came up with the idea of helping the Manatree continue the fight in his stead.

It was almost ready. The more he gave up to the Manatree, the stronger it became. Soon, he would be able to go inside the Tower himself.

The Shadesblight wouldn’t be able to resist such bait. It had been trying to goad him into the Tower since the very first day. And it had nearly succeeded in dividing him and the Manatree.

It knew that trick wouldn’t work again. Hal was banking on its hatred being so complete that it would throw everything it had at him, including the final floor and whatever monster nested there.

He wasn’t pushing the Manatree into its early grave. It was hale and eager to fight. While Hal could sense no semblance of hatred within the Manatree, nor in the way it talked like a voice on the wind, it wanted to destroy the Tower and the Shadesblight within.

Not out of malice, but to restore the natural order of the world. The Shadesblight was a thing that was not supposed to be. It was inherently unnatural.

To the Manatree, fighting back against the Shadesblight was resisting an infection taking root in the Shard’s soil. Its desire was noble and protective.

Though it was, as the name plainly implied, a tree and therefore another kind of thinking and feeling lifeform that was alien compared to a human like Hal. Even so, he was proud of the Manatree.

It had grown considerably, both in body and soul.

If they had a few more weeks, a month at most, Hal would have gladly stayed outside while his friends and allies pillaged the Tower to their hearts’ content.

The settlement was getting a lot of Experience and every day there were new treasures being unearthed from the Tower. The people of Brightsong, himself included, were being catapulted forward in power.

Hal was uncomfortable about the tithe people were giving him, but he made sure to use all the materials they provided to enhance the so-called “Tower Set” of equipment he had made over the past weeks.

Each time someone inevitably assured him that he was due what he was given. Without his efforts to keep the Tower off-balanced, no one would be able to enter the Tower and survive.

He had learned that his actions had saved Ashera’s party from certain death, just as his previously completed Quest stated, though it had not referred to exactly who. If that had come to pass, Brightsong’s fate would have become grim indeed.

He could not imagine a world where so many of his friends were gone. And fortunately, he did not have to.

Since only a single party could go in, Hal decided to make an entire set of armor, including accessories, that provided greater protection and enhanced offensive capabilities.

They were specifically geared to the Blight effect of the Tower. The Manatree blessing was taking hold, healing people who managed to find a crack in the Tower’s facade.

Such damage appeared less and less as Hal relinquished more control over to the Manatree. Unlike Hal, it was not aggressive. It stood its ground, kept the barriers up, but it did not attack in the same way with a brutal pounding tide of Spirit that created fissures of moonlight within the Tower.

It was still enough that every floor had a few fissures to cleanse Blight stacks, allowing the party within to progress through many more floors than they otherwise would be able to.

The Tower also seemed damaged in another way. The time dilation effect was all but gone. Spending an hour in the Tower was equal to an hour outside, give or take a few minutes.

Every day, the raid group switched, allowing those who were tired or wounded to leave the Tower to be replaced by another party that was rested and ready to go.

He figured that if the Shadesblight was a person rather than a thing, it would be gnashing its teeth in fury at the way things had been turned against it.

With all the loot they were pulling out of the Tower, outfitting each group with progressively better equipment was fairly easy. What Hal’s armor couldn’t manage, the loot from the Tower could easily cover.

Some groups hardly took any of Hal’s equipment. What they managed to find within was better, and Hal didn’t see any reason to waste more time making more.

His Osseochemist was already Level 20, and he had gained a new Perk, Bound Soul, which enhanced the parameters of any equipment he wore by 25% if it was equipment he created.

With Hermes’ help, Hal had tested out if it worked on something he improved upon instead of created, like with the fine battle robes he was gifted. He was pleased that it had.

Even better were the traits he gained at 100 Vitality and 100 Intelligence.

You learn Steel Body.

Requirements: 100 or greater VIT.

Once per day, you can create a cascading surge of healing power throughout your body, recovering all of your HP. Additional HP healed over your base HP incurs a greater cooldown.

Testing it out, Hal learned that due to his [Manatree Dew Ring] granting him a whopping 1,000 HP, the cooldown on Steel Body was nearly double its base. Which meant he could only heal himself to full once every two days.

He still preferred the added HP, even if it meant he couldn’t use Steel Body every single day. Just being able to have one “get out of jail free” card up his sleeve was amazing.

It was like a supercharged version of Empty Vessel, but for his HP instead of Strain.

Empty Vessel

Each Beastborne is unique. Those that follow the Azure path accept the risk of Strain but are not without the tools to handle the dangerous influx of corrupting magic. Once per day, you can focus on the way your body was before becoming a Beastborne. Holding that image, you purge all Strain from yourself, becoming an empty vessel once more.

He took a closer look at the Intelligent trait.

You learn Savage Intellect.

Requirements: 100 or greater INT.

You can now add a portion of your Intelligence modifier to all forms of damage. If a form of damage already includes an Intelligence modifier, that modifier is doubled.

As good as Steel Body was, Savage Intellect was better.

It was like a miniature Convergence that he didn’t need to think about. As far as Hal could tell, Savage Intellect worked on every type of magic, every physical attack, and just about anything he did.

It even worked to improve his Osseochemy results. Allowing him to leverage one of his highest attributes in literally everything he did.

As much as getting Osseochemist to Level 20 was a major milestone, pushing Hal’s total Level to 91 combined, the attribute abilities were by far the MVPs in his opinion.

He was already working on getting Charisma to 100 next. It was already at 97, putting him just one Level away from another attribute trait.

Hal idly wondered if it would be worthwhile to bring up his STR, DEX, or AGI to 100 just for their ability, but thought better of it.

That sounds like a trap, he thought to himself. The kind of thing that seems good on paper, and then suddenly your stats are perfectly balanced and everybody else is either faster or stronger than you.

It seemed better, in his mind, to hit 200 next in his chosen attributes. If 100 gave incredible boons like Savage Intellect and Steel Body, then 200 would be even better.

“Your crafter Class is so strong!” Hermes said, clearly envious. “It’s hard for me to gain Class Affinity. I got two of ‘em goin’ up, mate! Maybe the Shard doesn’t like my indecisiveness? It oughta appreciate my omnicrafter style!”

“Are you an omnicrafter?” Hal asked slowly. That sounded important. It had been brought up in passing before, like it was this mythological thing.

Whatever it is, I surely don’t have it. Hal was more than happy to have a single crafting Class and to enjoy doing it. No shame in being a master of one.

Especially when that one Class can do everything Osseochemist can, he thought with a smug sense of pride.

Hermes paused, then rubbed his muzzle. “Well… I’m not sure. Maybe? If not, it’s my vibe, mate!”

“Well, maybe the Shard is just getting used to you,” Hal said.

That seemed to please the oppa.

As far as Hal understood, there were few soul aeder not just in the Fallmark region, but across the entire Shard.

As far as he knew, what he said could very well be true.

What did that say about Brightsong then? What were the odds of his settlement attracting not just one, but three soul aeder?

Just as unlikely as me falling through a portal to another world, he thought. Something has clearly caused events to skew. I know Midarian invited Komachi over, but what about Kow and Hermes?

He shook his head. Perhaps it was as simple as a soul aeder attracting other soul aeder. Once you got the one, the chances were higher of finding more.

Still, he couldn’t entirely shake the feeling there was something deeper going on.