[Beastborne: Voracious] (Book 5) Chapter 32

Chapter 39

Hidden Quest Complete: Mercy Me

Against your better judgment and those of your peers, you have chosen the path of mercy and forgiveness for those that had wronged you. However, you understand that their actions were not entirely their own. A soldier may be blamed for their actions, but that goes double for the one giving the orders. You understand that by turning the Kinslayers to your allies, you have struck a more grievous blow to Rinbast than if you had simply killed them.

Rewards

· 8,500 Experience

· Kinslayer Reputation Up

· Savior Title

New Title: Savior

You have shown kindness and mercy when you were well within your rights to slaughter those who harmed you. Whether intentionally or not, you have gone directly against what comes naturally to a Kinslayer. The negative Reputation malus from the title, “Kinslayer” is now removed.

+15% Reputation.

+25% Reputation When Offering Safe Harbor.

+25% Persuasion Success When Offering Safe Harbor.

New Title: Forged Founder

You have gained the allegiance of another Founder who seeks to aid you and, in turn, do what few Founders are capable of: working together toward the betterment of all. There is power in comradery. No man is an island.

+5% Kol’thil Sigil Potency.

+5% Aether Regeneration.

Surprised as he was to receive the new titles and Quest, Hal was relieved that the Shard seemed to agree with his decision.

Not only was the -10% Reputation effect of his Kinslayer title removed, it offered him a massive boost to Reputation and Persuasion when trying to convince people to come to Brightsong.

It seemed a win-win.

And the Forged Founder title was, in his opinion, even better. He had come across nothing that offered increased Sigil potency, though he was curious about the mention of Aether.

Since this was a Quest reward, Hal didn’t have to take the Experience directly into his Focused Class, Beastborne. Hal immediately siphoned a thousand EXP from the Quest reward to repay his “debt” from using Carve earlier. With that out of the way, Hal directed the rest of it toward Oathforger.

Oathforger reaches Level 16.

You have 5 attribute points awaiting distribution.

Your HP, SP, Spirit, and MP are fully restored.

With his HP still under a thousand, Hal put all 5 points into VIT. He felt the familiar skin-tightening sensation as his body grew just a little denser and more resilient.

While he led the others back to Brightsong, Hal went over his status.

[STATUS]

Hal Williams

Level: 62

Discordant Stone: 18,000 /55,000

Strain: 0/100

Wyrd: 0/100

BP: 31/35

Classes

Beastborne: 36

Oathforger: 16

Novice: 10

Resources

HP: 935 (+75)

SP: 700

MP: 1,090 (+75)

Attributes

STR: 15

VIT: 62

DEX: 15

AGI: 15

INT: 60 (+8)

MND: 85 (+8)

CHR: 65 (+23)

Regeneration

HP/hr: 152.8

SP/hr: 94.3

MP/hr: 301.6

There was more than a little uproar at the guild invite to all four. Giel kept his hood up and kept to himself, but it wasn’t a very good disguise and soon Mira and Elora were dragging him away from the Kinslayers to talk to him.

It clearly made the lamora uncomfortable, and he had suffered a fair amount of scars judging by the way they crisscrossed his face, but he did not go into a rage or do anything that Hal secretly feared.

In fact, the first night they had a small celebration to mark the occasion, welcoming another Founder to the guild and to Brightsong. It didn’t take long for the others to understand that it would be a massive benefit.

Hal still wasn’t sure of Tristal’s true intentions, but he didn’t feel that she was trying to manipulate him into a weak position. She might have once, but that was past now, and he felt that he wasn’t the only one glad for that.

There was a tension between her small shoulder blades that seemed to relax the moment the cider was passed around and people began singing some bawdy dwarven tune.

Tristal leaned over while the festivities played around them. She had to shout to be heard, “Are they always this friendly to you?”

She truly seemed amazed by that. Every now and then somebody would come up to Hal’s table and ask for a dance, which he’d decline if only because he knew he was a terrible dancer. That and Noth was deep in conversation with Giel, Elora, and Mira.

If he was going to dance with anybody, it’d be her.

“Usually,” Hal admitted. “Why?”

“Well it’s… so casual.”

“I’m not their king, Tristal.”

“No,” she agreed. “You’re something far more important. People have kings, we are Founders. We outrank kings, even emperors come to us seeking aid and wisdom. But I’m not here to tell you how to run things. Obviously, you’re doing a good enough job if you can survive out here.” She shivered and rubbed her arms. “A girl could freeze to death out here.”

“It’s been hard,” Hal agreed. “The cold is something we’re constantly fighting against. The longhouses help, which you’ll be now lodged within. Sorry, no special treatment, remember?”

“I’d sleep in some hay if it meant I’d be warm,” Tristal admitted. Then she colored and looked away. “What I mean is, thank you. I didn’t expect a five-star hotel or anything, and for as little as you’ve been out here, there have clearly been great strides made.”

“I appreciate that,” Hal told her, lifting a mug up to toast with her. “To new friendships.”

“To new friendships.”

“By the way,” Hal said as he watched her sip. “Everybody is expected to pitch in something to the efforts. Construction is chief among them, but if you have any grasp on other crafts or the like, let me know and we can see where you can be the most help.”

The thought of manual labor seemed a bit too much for poor Tristal, who nearly choked on her cider. Hal’s grin spread wider.

“I think,” she managed to say after wiping her chin with the back of her sleeve. Not that they had napkins. “My talents would be best placed as a guide to you.”

“Do you now?”

She ducked her head hurriedly. “Of course, you are the Founder here and my Guild Leader, so perhaps I was a bit hasty suggesting what you should do.”

“No, no, you’ve got a point. You did mention you could teach me how to use the Kol’thil without using Experience. That’s been one of the main reasons I’ve avoided using it, that and a nasty side effect that’s not germane to this conversation.”

He knew it’d get out sooner or later. Everybody in Brightsong knew about his Kol’thil Bleed, though few knew why he had it. Those that did wouldn’t tell Tristal, but she was smart. She might be able to work it out.

If she knew anything about what she considered the Founder’s Mark, she could probably work out that he shouldn’t have two. At least, as far as she knew.

Hal knew better than that, but his knowledge was also full of holes. It would be good to have somebody who could help fill them in.

“If only I had a Gold Mark as well,” she said with an envious sigh. “I would be far more useful to you then. You don’t happen to have a way to grant me one, do you?”

“Afraid not.”

Tristal eyed him up and down, her bright blue eyes sparkling with interest. “I suppose you won’t tell me how you have two Marks?”

“Not yet.”

“Fair.” She took something out of her pocket, though Hal suspected it was also her Inventory. She held up a roughhewn piece of purplish-blue crystal. “Remember when I gave you one of these?”

Hal took out the matching item from his inventory.

[Greater Magicite Gem]

(Magical Artifact) (Fabled)

Provides the wielder with a store of ambient aether that can be drawn upon for a wide variety of uses.

“Aether?” Hal asked. This wasn’t the first time he’d heard the term, and he didn’t expect it to be linked with the Kol’thil. This was something that the Kindred had spoken of—not to mention Naitese, at least in passing—and it was the reason that he could do Aetherochemy at all.

Were they related? Could he make something like this?

I bet I could combine it with Bonecrafting to make something wholly unique and probably quite a bit better too….

Tristal grinned at his awed expression, looking quite like a cat.

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

She leaned back, cupping her mug in both small hands. “You. I don’t mean to make fun, certainly not. Okay, maybe a bit. But God’s honest truth, you looked surprised, shocked, then deeply interested and then, well, a bit like a mad scientist. I’ve never seen somebody go through so many stages so fast. I would almost expect you to have seen magicite before, but considering your… ahem, barbaric use of Experience instead of magicite to fuel your Sigils….”

“Yes, I’m aware my use of Sigils is a bit crude,” Hal told her. He turned the magicite over in his hand. It was about the size of a grapefruit and possessed an inner light filled with thousands of tiny points that swirled and left faint traceries within the crystalline material.

“Magicite is very rare. It’s something that eventually breaks down, however, and so we’re always after more. The larger the magicite, the more aether it can store, though how much it can handle depends largely upon the area you’re in. High-density areas offer faster recharge, low-density does the opposite. With me so far?”

“High-density: good, low-density: bad.”

“Correct. Now, focus on the magicite. Feel the pulse of energy within. The Shiverglades possess surprisingly rich aether, so you should have plenty of aether in there to use on one of your Sigils. Try it out, pull through the stone, not yourself.”

She shook her head as Hal tried and struggled to do as she instructed. “Honestly, I’m surprised you’re alive. The pain never clued you in that maybe you were doing something wrong? It’s not supposed to hurt, Hal!”

With a sheepish grin, Hal said, “Listen, Tristal, everything hurt back then. My Beastborne powers felt like somebody had injected my veins with battery acid, so having this Founder’s Mark hurting too didn’t seem so odd. Besides, the strength of it was such that I figured it was a worthwhile tradeoff.”

“Men,” she muttered to herself.

“I heard that.”

“Good. You are a Founder now. You need to think about taking better care of yourself because you’re also responsible for all these people. Once you—I mean, we—get this place cleaned up, adventurers are going to flock to it like bees to flowers.”

“We do have an Ancient Dungeon,” Hal felt compelled to add with a touch of pride.

“You what?”

Hal spared quite a lot of details, but he gave her the cliff notes of the Dungeon below Brightsong and let slip that he knew where several others were. He still planned on establishing border towns or outposts near them to extract valuable resources from the Dungeons while also providing an extension to his claim on the Shiverglades.

Those plans had seemed so far away just a day ago, but now they seemed front and center. With this piece of magicite, he might be able to use his Kol’thil considerably more than before, maybe even use it in Aetherochemy and Bonecrafting to make something far more improved.

And that meant he could supercharge their construction. Building Kow’s inn for one would be a great starting point. But there was also a host of other buildings that they needed to get up. He didn’t want his people to be huddled in longhouses any longer than they needed to be.

They deserved their own homes. Something that, living in Seattle, was always going to be out of reach for him back on Earth. Maybe things had gotten better since he came to Aldim in 2019, but he doubted it. At least here, he could live out the American Dream and actually own a house. In fact, he owned a cozy little cottage with the girl of his dreams, and if that wasn’t a life goal, he didn’t know what was.

Something small, she says, he thought to himself. Well, Cushion from his host of Copper Sigils seemed to fit the bill.

Copper Kol’thil Sigil: Cushion

Shape a portion of air, creating a cushion of variable strength and resistance.

Komachi was scampering about the place on another table, rushing back and forth as dwarves talked to her, passed some [Sparks] to her, and got their tankards refilled. She was having the time of her life, but she was always bumping into just about everything.

Hal did as Tristal instructed and, against his instinct to draw on himself, he pulled through the stone in his hand. It warmed up slightly and the light dimmed, but he could feel the Kol’thil working.

I could have gotten so many Levels if I had this!

Komachi was skidding. Her tiny hind paws—which Hal always secretly thought looked a little like monkey feet—were struggling to find purchase on the slick table. Before she slid right into a few tankards of brew, she hit something soft and squishy.

The pobul blinked in surprise, looked around the room and somehow managed to find Hal among the moving and dancing bodies. She chirruped loudly enough that even he could hear her, and then immediately made a beeline for him because… well, that’s what Komachi did.

“Is that… an otter?” Tristal asked in that tiny voice that everybody gets when they see something utterly adorable coming their way and they don’t want to scare it off.

“That’s Komachi,” Hal said, reaching through the magicite again and this time, creating hardened steps of air.

How Komachi was able to tell they were there was anybody’s guess. They were nearly invisible, a subtle warping to the air. Without missing a beat, she hopped onto the first one, scrabbled up to the next, and so on until she was on top of the table facing them.

“Ya havin’ a good time, Hal?” she asked him, and he nodded in response. She looked at Hal sweetly and rubbed her muzzle against him affectionately, which not so long ago would’ve been quite the rarity. After his Monster Core was healed, she seemed to like him a great deal more.

“Hello, Komachi,” Tristal said, slowly extending a small hand to her. “My name is Tristal. I hope we can be good friends.”

Komachi looked at her, then back at Hal. “Why she talkin’ like dat?”

“She’s new.”

Komachi nodded and then leaped into Tristal’s lap. She always coveted fresh cuddles and, as Komachi put it, “that new person smell”. And since Brightsong didn’t have cause to get many new people—though that seemed to be changing—she was always on the hunt for more friends.

Hal laughed at the shocked expression as Tristal lifted her arms up, afraid to move or do much of anything, which was not an uncommon reaction to getting a lap full of Komachi.

They closed out the night with only a few minor accidents. One of which, the wholesale destruction of a window when Agda’s fire spell went awry and melted the glass, gave Hal the perfect opportunity to practice with the magicite more and to see how it reacted to Gold Sigils.

Not to mention, using Gold Kol’thil: Mend to undo the melted glass hole which was letting in a bone-chilling wind was something that put a smile on Hal’s face.