Accidental Reaver

A peaceful, ice-cold waterfall fell onto Luke's body.

The whisk of water clamored into the pond beneath the stone on which the Reaver sat, creating ripples. Off to Musai's pagoda lay Wayfinder, Xera, and a pile of the Reaver's gear. Whispering Tome floated above the pile, flipping its pages back and forth.

Musai merely glanced at Luke when he entered, sheathed his swords, and said, "My guidance is unneeded, young branch. Tidal waves come to Sylen's shores. If combination reaches you, use green Iona to find me. My blade needs a final honing before Yuriel's sanctimonious damnation. Until then, branchling, I'll next see you on the fateful day where Sin meets Ichor."

A gale broke across the idyllic realm, and Musai vanished with it. Luke grasped the rudiments from Musai's words. He believed Luke would come here without his watchful eye. And due to the pressures that only a High Defier bore, he could no longer afford to oversee him—not with the Tide closing in.

You'd think that'd make the realm more tranquil, except sitting on the same wet rock next to Luke, was Aloysius. Who turned out to be anything but 'tranquil.'

The massive black-haired man beat a hand on Luke's back, causing the waterfall to split from the impact, "This reminds me of my days training under the metallic pressure. Your gifted, youngest, it won't be long before you are beside me, crushing the worst enemies against humanity. The glorious battle, vile blood across raging faces, hearts beating, and the simplicity in fighting, nothing is more worthy."

Aloysius' excessive force left a dull pain on Luke's back. Shifting the most affected shoulder, a crack popped out from the joint. Keeping his eyes closed, Luke spoke, "Do all Defiers deal with this sort of training? The others seem to work on their 'main' technique instead of sitting under an water-element like this waterfall."

Aloysius settled his hands in his lap, and a broad smile appeared. He said, "Embrace it, youngest. Each of them joined with a technique unrelated to their element, but you did. You yourself, are honing your 'main' technique. I am unabashedly bottlenecked at the peak of Adept with my Metal Element."

He's got me there, Luke admitted internally.

Aloysius put one of his giant fingers onto Luke's chest, his expression morphing, "Here is where we share a bond deeper than being a Defier. Akin to your connection with Iona through both of you owning companions." Taking the finger off, Aloysius continued, "We possess an Exalted Heart." He paused in thought for a moment, "A refreshing, cool waterfall such as this is a wonderful break, but that's not why your eldest has come. Let me tell you about a little-known facet to these Exalted Hearts. A state to them."

Setting the white robe he wore past his shoulders, Luke let the below zero water rinse his body. By now, it barely provoked a reaction. The Ice Soul evolved Luke's resistance too far. Until he could figure out a more punishing water, Luke decided this would be his last waterfall session.

The growth versus time investment started to struggle to prove worthwhile. Glancing at Aloysius, he said, "This thing," Luke gestured to his sternum, "has secrets? Like what?"

Aloysius stood up, "Your heart hides nothing, Luke. It is only misunderstood—understudied. Rare classes are poorly mapped. An Exalted Rare is an extreme case of 'there's not enough of you.' This state I came across comes only in particular circumstances and with no guarantee at any point. I call it the Pupiless State."

"Odd name. You sure the heart is responsible for it?"

"But fitting, in the deadliest battle I encountered against a Diplomat, this state gave me the final edge. Without my Berserker Heart, your eldest would have gone ahead with all other Defiers who came before us."

Despite what felt like what could be vital information, Luke instead became interested in battling a Diplomat, "You've fought a Diplomat and won? Didn't a handful of those ruin that Mercanta kingdom?"

"Another story for another day, youngest. But withstood is a better term." Aloysius' genial features tightened, "Since the banner has been blessed, you may see them. It's not yet your time for those creatures. Aruna and you are assigned to Envoys. Clear that burden first."

Connecting his hands at the fingertip, Luke perfected his posture. Humidity dampened any smell, and the pond current swayed flowers back and forth. Clouds blocked any direct sunlight, creating perfect lighting. Breathing for a while, Luke changed his questioning, "You're saying I'm trying to bite off more than I can chew?"

"Is that a farworlder expression, youngest?"

"Yeah, means to take on more than you should, usually to your own detriment."

Aloysius muttered, "Biting off…yes, like how Musai will handle the Apostle, the six full Defiers will muster with the greatest hunters to battle the Diplomats. Youngest, this reminds me of what is waiting within the Tower. I've stayed longer than I bargained for."

The hulking man jumped from the wet stone, shattering the top layer of half of it. Vaulting in the air, he spread out his limbs and crashed against the grass near the pagoda, "Explanations aren't my strong suit, Luke. If you face against a god creature or its minions, and your heart seeks to connect with you—don't refuse. This is how the Pupiless State can be achieved."

Not at all enlightened, Luke's eyebrows furrowed, and lips crept up one side of his face, "What does it do? You're sure it's important enough to tell me?"

Waving a hand in the sky while turning away from Luke, Aloysius answered before leaving the realm, "I fought with another Heart Bearer. After some drinks, he, too, had undergone this 'state.' It was different for him. So it should be for you too, youngest. See it as a return to your roots."

The Reaver wanted to ask more questions, but Aloysius left the realm already. Luke tried to sort out confused thoughts.

A return to my roots? What does that even mean? Did Musai's way of speaking rub off on Aloysius somehow?

Concentrating frost essence onto a clutched fist, Luke punched the waterfall around him. The water froze solid. Luke repeated a similar feat with the pond. He shed the moisture clinging to his body and decided to do things his way.

Musai's methods had their merits. From the looks of it, while effective, they also lacked flexibility and awareness of tools Luke had at his disposal. With that mindset, Luke approached the pagoda's middle, bent down to pick up Wayfinder, and came to the circular dirt grounds.

Whispering Tome appeared content to remain where it was, floating over the gear pile Luke left behind. Xera called after Luke, "Take me to where the fun is! Why only the compass?"

While peering down at Wayfinder, Luke said, "Xera, I've come to see Wayfinder, and you, are completely different types of artifacts. And I don't mean you are a 'class-type' and Wayfinder is a 'Numbered.' There are certain things one can help, where the other can't. This is one of those."

"The golden metal hunk can't do anything I can't do. What is it you need? A wand? A sword? A sword wand?"

"I need a guide, Xera."

The unexpected answer caused Xera to falter, "Oh…I see. Why can't I guide you instead? I've tried many times. Heck, I do it even when you don't notice."

Wayfinder tore from his recently dormant state, opening up a clasp, and he said, "Blood bathing lass, keep your pants tight. Ain't a battle in sight here. The lad is takin' a wee experiment with his trusty handsome compass, now ain't ya, lad?"

"Close enough," Luke didn't bother to input any corrections.

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"Fine," Xera's crystal dimmed, going quiet.

After adjusting Wayfinder to his typical position, Luke internally reviewed Triple Step, closing his eyes. He felt the electrical signals going to either calve muscle, the interaction causing him to step three times in the same instant, creating a burst of speed.

Compared to his vague memories of what Musai imprinted, what Luke accomplished remained unrefined, inefficient, and inexperienced. Bits of dust pillowed up as Luke repeated minor movements, starting the signals within for Triple Step on repeat. He'd cancel it before it'd cause him to explode forward—or backward—like a whip.

In recent conflicts, the Reaver used frost to try and shortcut the process, covering part of the problems surrounding Triple Step. Indeed, it worked, but it was a stop-gap measure. Triple Step needed to stand alone or combine with Elementalization to unlock its real potential.

Undergoing dozens—if not hundreds—of attempts, Luke pinpointed the smallest growth. In half an hour, he'd perhaps shaken off less than five percent of the initial effort needed to jolt the signals, control them, and combine with the inhuman agility and strength within to step three times in one motion rapidly. It proved difficult, but of course it would. If technique growth were easy, the shortage of those at Expert in any one or above wouldn't be this dire.

The mists off in the distance roiled, and gales swept over the flower covered flat plains. It kicked up more dust around the dirt training zone Luke practiced in. The target dummies on either side of Luke shook in the wind, a vibration settling off them. Possibilities of what else he could try with Triple Step swirled in Luke's mind, but he often cut them out. They could be revisited when the basics were accomplished. Assured the typical way would take months, if not years, Luke stopped feeling reluctant. He lightly touched Wayfinder, activating Polar South.

For the coming hours all the way until noon, Luke practiced Triple Step intensely using the insight gathered from Polar South. When the ability stopped flowing into him, usually about thirty seconds later—with slight variance—he'd review the guidance shown. He minorly adjusted a signal there, allowed a muscle to flow differently, pressed more agility into one fiber over another. These adjustments piled and piled, until suddenly—

[You have reached Apprentice with Triple Step. Conscious effort to activate the technique reduced dramatically. Speed gained modestly increased]

The Reaver opened his eyes, satisfied. He attempted Triple Step once again, blasting past the target dummies. By his account, the process condensed, and the speed became controlled. The strain on the muscles also lowered somewhat, but not significantly. As the Interface revealed, the mental effort required to control the trio of electrical signals, agility, and strength attributes drastically dropped. Using it where it mattered most—combat—would be vastly more practical.

Glancing down at Wayfinder, Luke admired, "You have this habit of making rapid progress a lot more feasible, Wayfinder. Thanks for the help."

Wayfinder spun his needle, "Oi, what's this? Admitting my shiny casing is better for a brain aid than to use as a weapon? Don't think I've forgotten me short days as a flail, lad."

Luke cringed, "Those were desperate measures, for desperate times Wayfinder-"

Wayfinder chortled, "This old one is just pulling a leg, lad. A blockhead that starts to use me properly is a sight for sore eyes. The previous scalawags tended to skip across me Polar South ability. Had one of the dumbest consider me an ability reset item with me Temporal North ability, the sliver backed buffoon he was."

"Find that hard to believe. Every ability you have in store is useful in its own way."

"Aye, no need to go convincin' me, plenty of lucky blind fools who refuse to use the tools around them. Any-te-way, you frosty, what's the next stride? I can see the muscle spasms around them legs of yours, should lay off for a while."

Certainly, Luke endured shooting muscle pain even now. Messing with the muscles in the fashion he had torn them apart, after the pain tolerance increase and vitality threshold breakthrough, he barely noticed. He thought to push further, although working on something else sounded like a better plan. What was he going to do, take Triple Step to Adept in one day?

He shook his head at the thought. Even with Wayfinder lowering the barrier to growth around techniques, asking for two qualitative jumps in one day was wishful thinking. Dipping into the pond, Luke washed off and swapped his equipment back on, with the artifact trio in their rightful positions. Wayfinder around the neck, Xera in a scabbard to the side, and Whispering Tome floating over his shoulder.

Quickly exiting Musai's realm, Luke barely registered the Defier's Branch ground floor. He dismissed any individual approaching him, instead entering the other swirling red portal, where he knew Sooty would be.

The terrain remained as it was before. Split in half by a peach barrier, Iona slaughtering illusion beasts with Timber by her side, magma flowing, geysers bursting, thunder cracking, and poison spewing. Luke became exhausted just by looking at her. The slime dominated, gentle wind, golden-lit rolling grassy plains where two birds terrorized unsuspecting monsters seemed like heaven by comparison.

Lulu and Sooty encircled a pair of slimes. Sooty often shadowed Lulu, each masking the other's incoming movements. Luke could sense the flowing shadows covering Sooty's body had thickened compared to before. The two were in such a concentrated state neither noticed Luke coming to observe. He left them alone. Creatures grew the most when in their deepest concentration. Ruining that would be counterproductive and defeat the purpose of their temporary separation.

Instead, he filtered for Interface Logs concerning Sooty; Luke discovered three.

[Your companion, Sooty, through repeated practice, has grown her expertise in Shadow Elementalization. Continual exertion has raised her strength and agility attributes]

That didn't say she'd grown up an entire level. If a stage in a technique could be broken down into three or four sub-steps, then Luke believed this meant Sooty managed to go up one such sub-step. One or two more and she might reach the same overall stage he had. Luke moved on to the other notices.

[Your companion, Sooty, through repeated practice, has grown Talon Strike to Tier 1 Rank III, Shadow Wing to Tier 1 Rank II, and Essence Screech to Tier 1, Rank II]

The third and final notice came as a surprise, due to what evolved it.

[Through separation, Sooty's link has strengthened with you, leveling Reaver's Link to Tier 1. Automatically showing the altered ability]

A black feather-bordered notice screen revealed itself.

[Reaver's Link, Tier 1]

Companion's attacks have a 5% chance to stat-steal for their Reaver. Companion gains a 30% additional effect from the Reaver's enhancements. Allows closer communication with Reaver, separate experience gained from Reaver, and to match half of one attribute from the Reaver, chosen by the companion, without attribute imbalance penalty. Always active. Unable to switch initial choice.

Chosen attribute: Intellect

Luke felt odd about a major choice like this being made without him, but ultimately he wouldn't kick away a gift like this, or scold Sooty over it. His bird always deserved some independence from him.

Well, that boat has sailed.

Other logs made themselves known, all related to the duel with Janeus.

[You have stolen away the maximum allowable limit in one combat round from Janeus. Due to your thresholds, the Intellect attribute has hit its world limit for the Reaver class, 799 points. Unable to grow Intellect further until you have reached tier 2, unlocking the next threshold]

The Reaver categorized before moving on to the other notices. That certainly throws a wrench in things. I guess it makes sense. When I underwent the first ascension, it said the second vitality threshold could be shattered, not the second threshold for agility, strength or intellect. See no reason to get upset about it. It sounds like a luxury problem to have.

[You have stolen away 1470 HP, 63 Strength, and 65 Agility from Janeus]

[You have inflicted sin upon Janeus, converting him into your first Sinned. Sinned may never betray you]

This shocked Luke, as making someone a Sinned never occurred before. To be perfectly honest, Luke had no idea he could even do that. As for the conditions for what caused Janeus to become this way, other than vaguely thinking he'd stolen away too from the unfortunate elf, Luke found no self-evident answer. While that hypothesis could be correct, other things could've been the culprit.

Keeping the pondering for another time, he brought up Sooty's status screen, motioning to leave quietly afterward.

[Sooty]

Level: 48

HP: 4625

Stats: 255 Agility, 399 intellect, 125 Strength

Special Stats: 15 Fire Resistance, 15 Frost Resistance, 15 Mental Resistance, 10 Resilience

Abilities 5/5: Reaver Beak Tier 1 Rank 2, Iron Feather Tier 1, Talon Strike Tier 1 Rank 3, Essence Screech Tier 1 Rank 2, Shadow Wing Tier 1 Rank 2

Passives 1/3: Reaver's Link Tier 1

Class: Reaver's Companion

Resource: 115 Essence 11.5/s Regen

Equipment 2/3: Quicksilver Feather, Spatial Feather

Skill Points: 20

Currently training with her feather friend, Lulu.

Luke noticed Sooty decided to hold off on spending her skill points. He guessed the bird intended to use them on whichever skill lagged behind after all these intense grinding sessions for her came to a close. One unanticipated negative came up from their separation, while Sooty still gained experience from him with their link, she missed out on the rewards from the Vampiric Wing quest.

He shot another look at Iona, who was engrossed in a battle with the magma giant boss and the bird pair, both busy attacking a lone Immortal Slime. Turning away with his cloak fluttering out, Luke returned to the Defier's Branch Lobby. Despite the servants and staff doing busy work around, he felt lonely.

The training Sooty pushed herself through already paid dividends, but Luke had grown used to his cheery bird being on his shoulder. Knowing now wasn't the time to second-guess, Luke created a new goal to chain his emotions.

Accepting another challenger from the stacks waiting on him sounded like a good use of time. He'd alter the price, though. Gold was insufficient; Luke desired specific resources for both him and Sooty. Rather than hassle to get them himself, why not have the envious bring them to him unwittingly?

A subconscious, greedy smile broke across Luke's face.