NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40: Tag Along
“Kossia?” Leif asked, his voice a questioning hiss.
Hera raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Oh, you got something to say?”
Leif hesitated. I suppose it's too late to back out now. “I know, or rather, I think I knew that name.”
“You?” She asked with heavy scepticism. “Knew me?”
“No. Maybe? I don’t know. I don’t remember who I was.”
She squinted at his words. “Then. How. Do. You. Know. My. Family?” Each word punctuated with intent.
“One of my skills… [Aura of Nobility] has a note attached to it. I didn’t know what it was until your name was mentioned.” Leif explained.
“Do tell.” Hera said, keeping her sword raised. But her tone was less overtly hostile now, more curious.
Like I have a damn choice. He grumbled internally. But he wasn’t too upset, not when he suddenly had a lead to his past.
He read over the note, then mentally shrugged. What's the worst that could happen? “It says: Keep this suppressed around the Kossia family, they’re insufferable.” He kept his tone as flat and neutral as possible.
For the second time in only a few minutes everything went quiet. Except for the sound of Johan choking. Leif’s response seemed to have temporarily stunned Hera. Though if that was a good thing or not he wasn’t sure.
She laughed. A single, high note. It split the evening air like a particularly loud ranged attacking skill.
The sword fell from the Spriggan’s neck as Hera doubled over wheezing. Her initial laugh turned into an avalanche as more tumbled from her mouth.
Leif glanced at Melissa, the old woman had her lips pressed together in an amused line. Her eyes creased, the laugh lines pronounced due to her advanced age.
“Sorry… If that was offensive to your family.” He told the old woman.
“Not my family deary, I worked for the Kossia’s my whole life. But I followed this one when she left the roost.” Melissa said as she smiled at Hera, the younger woman had fallen to the muddy ground.
“There’s more.” Leif noted.
“P-please tell.” Hera snickered as she got to her feet. She wiped a single tear from her eye.
“Sure.” He said, shrugging. Without a sword to his neck Leif was far more willing to share. “Two years later, one of them married my cousin. They’re closing in. Help me.” He said, keeping his voice neutral.
Hera fell over again. The ghostly projection of the archer faded away into wisps of smoke. Leif could have sworn it gave the woman a disapproving look as it did so.
“So…” Marcus said, wringing his hands together. “No violence? We’re all good here?”
“Yeah, yeah. There’s no way Plant Boy over here could have faked something so accurate. Oh man, it's gotten so bad even the monsters know to stay away.” Hera wheezed.
“I don’t actually know what any of it means.” Leif said.
Actually can I even put notes on skills? Then he opened his system and tried to add a note.
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Grounded Stance I:
Aspects: Comprehension, Enhancement (body)*
Grants instinctual understanding of combat stances and their uses.
Grants a bonus to balance, footwork and stability while fighting in a combat stance in which you have proficiency, bonus increased by degree of proficiency.
Notes: Testing.
===
Huh, it’s that easy. I should probably add something more relevant to the skill.
===
Grounded Stance I:
Notes: Only works while grounded.
===
“What’s your name spriggan?” Hera asked, wiping a tear from her eye and regaining her composure.
“Leif Vin.”
“Vin huh? Vin… It doesn’t ring a bell. But my family has holdings in Epidor and Varan, kingdoms to the east of here. I never really paid attention to the politics and games, so I’m probably not the best person to ask.”
“Leif is a common name in the northern kingdoms.” Melissa said as she took the bowl of soup from Leif’s hand, she turned to the expedition members. “Okay you lot, less gawking and more eating.”
Epidor and Varan. The northern kingdoms. I’m probably from one of them. Leif thought. Then he turned to Hera. “Thank you for the information. Also for not killing me.”
She waved him off. “Marcus, Siegfried, I’m assigning this to you. Any actions Leif here takes while moving with this expedition are now your responsibility. But I doubt anything will happen.”
“Yes ma'am.” They both responded.
“Oh, another thing.” She said with a sly smile. “The Academy doesn’t accept monsters not bound by a [Tamer] class. Even if I wanted to ignore those particular rules, and I don’t, they exist for a reason. But even if I did, Afredi most certainly wouldn’t.”
Sieg nodded and Marcus rubbed his chin in thought.
“Alright people.” Hera said, clapping her hands together with enough force to make a small shockwave. “There are no signs of either high threat targets. We’ll be observing for the next few days, then we head back to basecamp.”
===
Hera stepped under the flap of her tent and let out a tired sigh. These past few weeks had been akin to the troublesome task of wrangling kittens. And now it seemed like the whole expedition would be a waste.
The empire is not going to be pleased. But they never are. She thought, kicking off her boots and hanging her shoulder cape on a small stand. The tent had been prepared after she had arrived, the furniture produced from her storage item.
“Darius, we both know I can see you. Stop being a creep.” She said.
“Ah. My apologies ma'am.” A young man with olive skin and sharp green eyes said as he materialised out of concealing mist. “Would you like my report?”
Unlike the other young adults of the expedition Darius didn’t wear the Academy’s uniform. It caught her off guard sometimes, she had gotten so used to seeing the uniform over the past year.
She motioned for him to do so.
Darius cleared his throat. “N-no hostile actions or temperament. When encountering Melissa the creature showed no signs of violence.”
“Did she know you were following?”
“Probably not.” He admitted.
“Reassess that answer boy. My grandmother might be twice the age of the next oldest person on this expedition, but she’s thrice as cunning. She knew.”
“Yes ma'am.”
“So. Think you could take the spriggan?”
Darius shifted uncomfortably in place. “N-no ma'am. Probably not.”
“Correct. Your threat assessment has improved.” She said with a curt nod. “Anything that can control that many animals isn’t in your strike range. Now, get out of my tent.”
Darius awkwardly bowed then made to exit.
“Oh, one last thing. Keep an eye on Johan and the other idiocy oriented members, it isn’t every day a unique being walks into your campsite. And I’m quite fond of this one already.”
===
Leif sat on a boulder overlooking a small gully. It was a few minutes walk from the camp, and while he had technically been accepted the spriggan knew to keep his distance. He let the tension of the past few hours drift away.
He had been interrogated, questioned. As it turned out he didn’t have much to add to the story Marcus and Sieg had already reported.
Both men had argued for him to stay within the camp, they even offered to let him stay in their replacement tent. But Leif needed little rest, and the idea of being trapped beneath something, even if it were just a sheet of fabric…
The fractured moon hovered overhead, red lines criss crossing half of its surface like still bleeding wounds. He breathed in the cool night air, tasted the hint of incoming change on the wind.
He’d been putting off his advancement until now. And finally he had a few days to focus on himself. It was a strange thought, that despite being a tree this was the first time in what felt like a lifetime he would remain still.
To advance beyond this point you must overcome an advancement trial!
Warning! Advancement trials difficulty is based on your total number of skills. For every skill above a total of 10 difficulty will dramatically increase!
Current skills: 10!
Warning! Failing an advancement trial may result in the loss of class levels!
Advancement trial may only be attempted while at level 25!
Any experience gained while at level 25 will be banked until trial is completed!
Warning! You are vulnerable while undergoing the advancement trial!
Good luck! Begin advancement trial? Y/N
Forced to retreat, beaten, treated like trash, tested and threatened.
Just get stronger. He thought mockingly to himself. Okay then, I will.
Eleven years since his rebirth. Eleven years of stumbling around blind and confused. But he was no longer directionless. He now had his first taste of success, a light in the dark that may reveal who he was.
No more holding back. It was time to take the next step.
Commencing advancement trial!