The Way Ahead

“Enforcer Lisana,” the Watchful Captain greeted them, pulling his spear into a salute, “How may I be of assistance today?”

“Armorer Nel. I’m investigating a trollish. What do we have available?”

“Is that so? Guisal’s would be ideal if the trollish is a troll or hydra. Instantly cauterizes anything.”

“I recall that one. Guisal was the Eternal Forgemaster, yes?”

“Astute as always, Lady Enforcer. The Tornblade would be preferable if the trollish is limited in regrowth.”

“Edwin, what do you know of your friend’s regeneration?”

“Um,” he hesitated, “It’s strong? Or at least fast. Alchemically based? Probably has something to do with his blood and potions given what I know about his speciality. Not sure if fire would be effective against him.”

“The Tornblade then.”

“As you wish, Enforcer Lisana.”

“Sorry, I’m confused. What’s going on? Don’t you just conjure your sword out of the same Skill you use for your armor?”

“Well, it is always better to be prepared for eventualities, and while our armory possesses nothing close to the variety of the Capital… ah, thank you Armorer Nel.” Tara accepted a sheathed dagger positively brimming with Skills. Edwin spotted some sort of repair ability in constant flux with a Skill trying to break it, and half a dozen other pairs of Skills fighting for dominance but locked in stasis between the two of them. “Thus, to prepare to fight a trollish, we require proper tools.”

“Ah, I got it. So trollish means someone has the healing powers of a troll, then these weapons have Skills imbued into them by their creators- Deadly Blade, or maybe Eternally Hot, something like that, which cover abilities you might not have on your own but persist with the object because yeah. I think I follow, at least for the most part.”

Tara gave a terse nod hidden behind her shining silver helmet as she led them back out, “Astute reasoning.”

They started traversing the labyrinthine route back to the surface, which made Edwin start to wonder why they bothered making everything so hard to get to. Was it about defense? Defense from what? They had some truly absurdly powerful people working to protect the Empire, and… actually, now that he thought about it...

“So something I’ve kind of been wondering,” Edwin softly prompted, “Is why doesn’t Emperor Xares do something about this sort of thing.”

“This sort of thing regarding what, exactly?”

“Well, like… your job. If he can see everything everywhere, why can’t he just swoop through the continent and kill every single monster and bandit in one go, or intercept criminals like Niall before they start to prey on people?”

“Hmm. The simplest answer is that he chooses not to, that we might be challenged and grow ourselves. He is still but one avior, for all that he hears and sees all, and rules far too much to patrol it all.”

“Really?” Edwin asked incredulously, “The guy practically seemed like a demigod when I spoke with him. For one, I spoke to him for hours but it was only like… seconds in reality. If he’s that fast, surely he could be anywhere pretty much whenever.”

“Registrars are capable of something similar, yet do you think Registrar Rizzali ought to come visit you?”

“Wait, they do? Actually, that makes sense. How did I not notice that?”

How would that work? Is it like some sort of time dilation, or is it more like a speed-up effect? What’s the trigger for it? How-

Tara said something.

“What was that? Sorry, I was distracted.”

“Clearly. Regardless, even so, you should not consider your experience with the Emperor to be typical. He simply does not intervene save for against direct treason, disloyalty, or disobedience.”

“And a governor threatening an Ally of the Empire counts?”

“Correct. Do not expect him to save you from your own stupidity, merely from the stupidity of his direct inferiors.”

“Why does he even leave stupid people in charge?”

“When I asked that same question, I was informed it was due to the alternatives not working as hoped when attempted previously.”

“Fair enough? I don’t know, it still seems kind of strange to me. But then again, I’m not a three thousand year old god-emperor, so maybe I’ll leave it to the experts.”

“Correct. That is indeed what is most effective,” Tara said pointedly.

“Okay, sheesh. I was just asking. No need to be so… sharp.”

Tara didn’t respond, and Edwin frowned slightly, “Sorry if that cut a bit close? Or are you glad I blade it?”

“Just… stop.”

Rillah was blessedly easy to find. Enormous green magical wings were obvious on multiple senses, and all it took was a tug from Unbound Tether to get his… Rillah’s attention.

“So, um, yeah. Tara, this is Rillah, Rillah this is Tara Lisana… you guys know each other, don’t you?”

Rillah gave a momentary, shallow bow, “Rillah De’Lariss, at your disposal.”

“Adventurer De’Lariss. Ah, of course. Were you the one involved in Sheraith earlier this year? I never did hear who your replacement was, did Lord Forsith’s girl emerge victorious? I do believe I’ve heard of you beyond that as well, though I cannot recall…”

“That was me, yes. I don’t actually know who my replacement was, because they hadn’t picked one when I left. I’d actually still be there, but Edwin helped me fulfill my responsibilities another way. And call me Rillah, please. And I wouldn’t be surprised, your predecessor certainly loved throwing Lefi in a cell for a few days whenever we passed through, and whether or not I was tossed in as well, it was always memorable.”

“He did have his oddities.”

“Don’t approve, eh? I think I’ll like you.”

“It is not my place to judge the wisdom or judgment of my predecessor.”

“Really? Whose is it, then? Like, wouldn’t you be the perfect person to do just that because you’re the closest to being in his exact position as anyone could be?”

Tara glared at Edwin, who raised his hands defensively, “Look, I’m just asking. How else will you do better, if you don’t try to improve?”

“Regardless of my thoughts on the matter, what’s done is done and I do believe time is precious in this, is it not?”

“Yes!” Edwin’s brain snapped back on track, “Yes it is. And we really should be working on that. How fast can you go?”

“It is part of an Enforcer’s duty to be ready for immediate deployment wherever in the province they may be required, and Rhothos is no Smo. I can keep up with you, whatever odd flight Skill you may possess.”

Edwin was skeptical but didn’t say anything out loud, instead just shrugging, “Well, are we ready then? Rillah. Anything left for you here? Do you want a hand with your flight speed?”

She shook her head, which Edwin took to mean she did want to leave and didn’t want his help.

“Alright, let’s…” a thought hit Edwin, and he turned to Tara, “You can fly, or something like that, right?”

“Something like that, yes,” she curtly replied, “But we have wasted enough time now, we are leaving. To Valenasis, now.”

With that, she stepped up into the air and started running across the sky, using some kind of Skill to… ah, neat. She was conjuring miniature barriers beneath her feet and using them as stepping-stones for her run. Impressive, though Edwin couldn’t help but wonder just how many Skills were integrated into her armor if it had just so much versatility. Actually, that made him wonder why her Skills weren’t more common, but maybe they just required really rare Paths? That was probably it, actually.

Tara hadn’t been lying when she said that she could go fast. She was slower than Edwin at his top speed, but she was faster than Rillah. Eventually, at Rillah’s prompting, he’d grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him. It felt… really nice, being able to help in such a direct way, for all that his brain kept getting distracted by how soft her skin felt under his fingers.

Edwin was pulled out of his musings by a subtle but insistent mental tug, and frowned as he slowed, releasing Rillah. “Hang on, I feel something odd.”

“Woa- Unusual? Unusual how?” Rillah flared her wings to catch herself, pulling into a hover. Tara likewise came to a midair stop from her sprint, looking at him.

“I just feel like I’m… needed? One moment, I’ll be right back,” he switched his Tether to pull him in the direction his gut was telling him to go, and sped off to the cries of his companions.

“Adventurer? Adventurer Edwin!”

“I’ll be right back!”

He jetted over to where he felt the impulse originating from, a small hill followed by a gulf. Inside the depression, he saw a person huddled up… hold on, was that...

“Inion?” he asked incredulously.

The fey looked relieved to see Edwin as he landed next to her, like she had been exhausted and was only just now catching her breath. Color was rushing back to her face, and Edwin could actually feel the parched pond that was her mana pool fill back up with water until it was once again a shaded spring. Once he was in reach, she desperately reached out and grabbed his arm, relying on it for support.

“You alright?”

“I don’t…” she panted, “I don’t do well when far from my bond. I was worse before you showed up.”

“Your bond? Like the Rhothos? But you haven’t been close to that in ages.”

“Well… our deal offset that a bit. But also… lots of rivers flow to the Rhothos,” she clasped his shoulder and dragged herself back into the air, color returning to her skin. “It means I’m rarely in any danger. There just weren’t any…”

“Hm?” Edwin frowned at her trailing off, and cast his senses out to try and spot what had…

Of course, Tara chose that moment to catch up. The armored figure launched forward in a glittering arc, her sword lighting up with a half-dozen Skills as she struck at Inion.

“Woah!” Edwin barely had time to react, but fortunately Overcharge was all but instantaneous, and he managed to shift his body to be in the path of Tara’s attack, hoping that his enhanced durability would be enough to protect himself and Inion.

It did not. Her sword barely seemed to even slow down as it stabbed straight through Edwin’s shoulder, cutting skin and muscle and bone like butter.

Well. That’s not good.

It didn’t hurt, not yet. He was, however, very acutely aware of the chill in his back that was the metal of Tara’s sword. His mind cleared of everything unimportant, he had a sword in his shoulder, what did he need to do for that? Overcharge was in full effect, so every second felt like ten times that, he had time to process.

...he was immediately proven wrong when Tara withdrew her blade at a speed which even his Overcharge-enhanced self could barely track. One moment, the blade was inside of him, the next it was gone and several Skills rushed to the wound.

Okay. So he needed a bandage and a health potion, he could-

The pain hit.

Edwin collapsed to the ground, the pain overwhelming his mind, constantly distracting him and screaming that he needed to pay attention to his shoulder. It felt far worse than most of his previous significant wounds, and he clenched his back, trying to keep as much blood in as possible, but his right arm refused to cooperate. Internally, he was aware of his Health and Stamina rushing to the site of the injury and trying to knit the flesh back together, but for his bones that was going to be a very long process.

Externally, he was dimly aware of yelling going on while he fumbled around in his belt looking for one of his health potions. Given that it was, for once, his right arm out of commission, he struggled a fair bit more than usual in trying to find the correct vial.

Even once he did find it, his fingers refused to cooperate in actually bringing it to his mouth until a soft hand caught his, snatching the apparatite container deftly from his trembling fingers. Edwin desperately tried to retrieve the stolen medicine, but before he could track down the thief, cool relief was pressed against his wound, drops of water infusing his shoulder and bringing him a hint of reprieve.

“...perception, refocus.” a voice floated past, and Edwin thought in confusion before he grasped the intent.

Around him, he dragged his Perception to full-bore focus on his… hearing.

The rest of the world dropped away, the pain fading into obscurity and the light going dim. Even his awareness of his own body faded away, but he didn’t panic thanks to staying perfectly in control. His mind, free of the all-hands-on-deck alert that was having his shoulder nearly cut off, was able to relax and think properly, processing the noise in the background.

“Edwin, Edwin can you hear me?”

He nodded, probably. Having no proprioception was weird, but Stamina Manipulation informed him his head was moving in a vaguely nod-like pattern, so it was probably fine.

“Okay, good. How do you use this thing? It’s all crystal.”

“Cap at the top… just put it in my mouth.”

He returned a bit of Perception to the rest of his head, giving him a bit of awareness of someone holding his head upright. Rillah, he was pretty sure, hesitated for a moment before gently pressing the top of the vial into Edwin’s lips. Once it was there, he dispelled the apparatite cap and downed the potion.

With that on its way, he felt more confident in allowing his Perception to relax back into its normal state. The pain returned, just as bad as before, but by carefully moderating his Perception he now could properly appreciate what was going on.

Rillah was at his side, her hand resting on his very bloody shoulder, her spring magic doing its best to stem the tide of blood flowing from his stab wound, though it was fighting against at least three Skills lingering in the injury. Meanwhile, Tara was holding Inion at swordpoint, but they weren’t actively fighting. That was probably an improvement?

“The gasjai were you doing?” Tara demanded, somehow noticing Edwin’s attention.

“Hey! You were the one who just decided to stab Inion. I was hoping I’d be able to do something to stop you,” he protested, then winced as the motion made his shoulder twinge. “What Skills were those?”

“That is confidential.”

“Gee, thanks. That’s real helpful in knowing what I need to do here,” he grumbled, turning his attention to the mass of magic fighting in his arm.

His Stamina and Health were the most prevalent, he could see. Health was steadfastly trying- and even succeeding slightly, with a second wave the potion had provided- to close up the flesh wound. However, as it tried to do its job, a dark gray-black Skill ate it up, annihilating the Attribute and keeping the injury open. That was fought by his Stamina, at least, but that particular Attribute had its job cut out for it as it also defended his Perception from a sparkling whitish Skill that tried to overwhelm him with pain and one last one which was holding back… Adaptive Defense?

Hmm. That gave him a bit of an idea, but he put it on hold while he finished assessing the battleground. There were more Skills trying to help him after all. He could see the gentle streams of Rillah’s spell, the Skill forming some sort of complex lattice which mana flowed through and turned into Stamina and Health that matched Edwin’s own and helped to replenish his losses.

There was also a faint energy outline of where all his arteries and bones and tissues should be, which he managed to Identify as Anatomy- and of course the harmful residue left behind by his Overcharge usage, damaged tissue and black goop making everything even more complicated.

With the situation properly surveyed, he returned his attention to his original idea. Instead of just using his Stamina to try and disperse the harmful energy present, he leveraged it into his Adaptive Defense, trying to make the Skill work at his whim. It felt a bit like wearing very thick gloves- except not at all because Stamina Manipulation was using an entirely different set of proprioception compared to his fingers- and the glove was also covered in grease.

He did manage to fashion his defensive Skill into something of a ‘spike’ and stabbed it into the heart of whatever Debilitating Strike Skill kept threatening to make Edwin black out from the pain. The Skill, when used in such a direct manner, activated quickly and hardened itself against the whitish sparks flying from the opposing Skill. Soon, with ever-increasing pressure from Edwin, the entire attack broke apart in one last cascade of sparks that sent spasms through even Edwin’s extra-dampened pain sensations.

He breathed a sigh of relief, his Stamina pulsing with his lungs, and allowed his awareness to expand more, for all that he kept it focused on the struggle in his shoulder. He next tried to get rid of the Wounding Attack, or whatever kept eating his Attributes, but even with his Adaptive Defense spike he found himself rebuffed by the third Skill in play. Hmm. It seemed sharp, in a way, and it cut deeply into whatever it struck. It was probably partially responsible for breaking his Overcharge to begin with, but that didn't particularly matter at the moment.

It couldn’t cut Attributes, and that meant Edwin just needed to overwhelm it with… just needed to overwhelm it with…

A scowl flickered on his face. Stamina Manipulation wasn’t working the way he wanted it to. He just couldn’t get the proper volume behind his will to properly enact his will. It was like trying to put out a campfire with a teaspoon- one that leaked, even. It was almost frustrating how snappy his Mana was. For all that it was strictly rate-limited by his System, he could still build up an impressive amount beforehand and use it all in one go. That was from a certain point of view the basic idea behind his potions, after all….

Hm.

Could he do something similar with his stamina? It wasn’t totally outside the realm of possibility. Stamina was kind of like his movement after all, and with his Unbound Tether charging, he definitely moved in the ‘wait, wait, move’ camp. Heck, his Overcharge worked not that dissimilarly… he needed to focus.

With his new strategy in mind, he accumulated stamina as fast as he could, ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice. A bit of experimenting found that his lungs were an ideal place to store Stamina; they were, after all, already intimately tied to the Attribute.

Breathe in, breathe out. Each breath brought more Stamina to where he wanted it, and all too soon what he could properly hold back was eclipsed by the amount he was trying to control. Just before it lost all cohesion, Edwin pushed it at his shoulder.

The tide of energy washed through the wound, washing away bits and pieces of Tara’s Skills. It wasn’t going to be enough, though; he could see that clearly. It was just too undirected, and didn’t have enough punch behind it. Using Overcharge wouldn’t work either, the uncontrolled flood of energy would probably hurt him more than it helped…

Oh, right.

Edwin Infused his Stamina Manipulation.

The Mana permeating his body woke up, and started pouring into the Skill structure he guided his Stamina with, filling it with a second wind of strength and power. Even a bit of Health got caught up in the new torrent of internal energy, but not enough to unlock an associated Skill quite yet.

Edwin’s magical physique was more than enough to overwhelm the barely-hanging-on invading Skills, their light and structure being snuffed out in the blink of an eye, broken into pieces and ruined.

Only then did Edwin’s health potion and Rillah’s continuous stream of new Health and Stamina finally get the chance to fully do their job, and his bleeding slowed and stopped.

Numeracy helpfully informed him it had been seventy-four seconds since he’d started, and Tara was looking at him with… something. He hoped it was some flavor of admiration, particularly given the number of tricks he’d had to pull out.

Edwin tried to roll his arm, but Anatomy, his Stamina, and pain receptors alike all screamed at him that he wasn’t ready for that. Instead, he settled for stretching his left arm, trying to release some of the built-up tension.

“That was so unpleasant. Did you really have to?”

“You did not inform me that firstly, you knew and were friendly with a fae, and secondly that you were going off to meet her. I arrive and you are not only being grabbed by a fairy but totally nonresistant to the contact. A creature well known for their ability to ensnare the mind. Do you perhaps understand now?”

Edwin winced, “Oooh. Yeah, when you put it like that, I see what you mean.”

After all, if someone he knew said they felt ‘something strange’ before running off, then next time he saw them they were apparently deeply enthralled by a creature known for mental tricks, he’d probably jump to the same conclusions Tara did.

“Sorry about that.”

“I believe you have been punished suitably enough. I have never seen one of my foes ignore a Debilitating Strike so easily, though I suppose it is rare that it both functions and they survive long enough that fighting it off would be viable.”

Edwin idly noted that Polyglot flared when Tara had said the name of her Skill, but was more preoccupied trying to parse what his language Skill couldn’t help him understand.

“That sounds like a compliment. Was that a compliment?” he asked Rillah.

She sighed, “Yes Edwin, that was a compliment.”

“Nice to have it confirmed. Anyway, Tara, could you please stop holding my fr- Inion at swordpoint so she can give me a hand with fixing my shoulder? Rillah, no offense, but her healing is way better.”

“Oh, is it now?”

Edwin sighed, and glanced at Tara. Had she sighed as well? He thought he’d heard something, but she remained in full armor so he couldn’t tell.

“Can we just try to get me back on my feet for the time being, please?” Edwin gritted his teeth as the much more mundane pain of an injury made itself aware, a dull ache that felt more like a muscle cramp than the sensation of having a big part of his back split open.

Tara reluctantly put down her blade and allowed Inion access to Edwin. As she knelt behind him, her soothing water stinging only slightly as his Health leapt with renewed enthusiasm in its efforts to fix him. Edwin dutifully played along, trying to use his Infused Stamina Manipulation to push around Health. It didn’t really work, but it did seem to be enough to get his First Aid skill to start working at fixing him up as well.

It would still be some time before he was back to full form, but at least he was well on his way. Anatomy helpfully informed him that any sudden movements would likely break his scab, but he could avoid those well enough.

“So anyway, yes. Tara, this is Inion. Inion, this is Tara.”

“You allow a fey to count as your friend?”

“Hey, Inion’s saved my life several times and helped me find my feet in the Verdant. I almost would say I trust her more than you.”

“Oh, almost now? I’m sorry, would you trust her to heal you better than I would?”

Edwin winced.

“This was your friend who aided you within the Verdant? Why did you not inform me of what it was?”

“Look, it… didn’t cross my mind? I don’t know, I don’t record every stray thought I have with my Almanac.”

“Just most of them,” Inion quipped.

“And besides, you’re asking me why I didn’t think of something, which was probably just because I didn’t think it was important?”

Tara sighed, resting an armored hand on her helmet. Behind her, Edwin caught a glance of Rillah holding back a laugh. Then she narrowed her eyes and moved to where Inion was healing him.

“What are you doing? You heal him like that, it’ll scar.”

“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know you knew how to do it any better.”

“Well I do, and if you feed the Skill like that on the surface then the skin will heal before the internals will and then as his muscle repairs itself…”

“Enough!” Tara snapped, “Fix him and be ready to move again soon. I care not how nor what squabbles the two of you have, work together and get him in the air quickly. We do not have time to waste.”

That shut up the two girls working on Edwin’s back, and even just thinking about that made him bark out a quick laugh, only to instantly regret it when it split the tender skin back open, blood running down his back once more.

“What?” Tara demanded.

“It’s nothing.”

“What?”

“I said, it’s nothing. Well, okay. It’s just that... this isn’t exactly how I imagined it would be like to have three girls fighting over me.”

Rillah laughed, Inion made no noise but he felt her hands tremble slightly, and Tara just looked to the sky, where he could just about make out a muttered curse.

“Adventurers.”