Runt of the Litter - Tales from Alirast

Trillia bounced back and raised all four arms to brace the [Shield of Faith]. Geo smacked it with an open hand and drove her to her knees.

As she tried to phase step away, she felt strong hands grasp her in the Aether and keep her in place. One hand yanked the shield to the side, the other smacked her upside the head, sending her spiraling into darkness.

A few hours later, she woke up with a pounding headache. "Damnit!"

She glanced to either side and saw a few dozen others also taking naps. The lesson whenever they faced Geo was how to retreat quickly. Either in the physical world, the aether, or both.

"This is bullshit! You can't escape him!" One of the Kadessian soldiers screamed in frustration. At least he hadn't been knocked out. "What's the point of this?! To show us you're better? We get that!"

Geo looked bored, as usual. "No. It's because I am slower than the Eldritch Shades, in both the physical world and the Aether. If you cannot dodge me, you will not dodge them. I attack using the same straightforward patterns that they do."

"Then I'm just going to die! I'm not that fast, none of us are!"

Hope sat on a wall surrounding the small ring they had created, kicking her feet back and forth. "So give up. We aren't forcing you all to be here, your leaders have deemed you too delicate to train in full. This is the best we can offer, we have to hope the [System] takes pity on you."

The soldier fumed as he stared at the girl, who spent most of her time doing seemingly nothing. Trillia hadn't quite figured out what her purpose was to the Eternals.

"What the fuck would you know about combat?! I've never seen you so much as lift a finger in training!" As the man took an angry step forward to continue his verbal assault, he found one of Geo's massive hands around his head. Slowly lifting the man up as his legs flailed wildly.

"Gaius. Don't kill him. He wouldn't have actually tried to stab me; he just wanted to see me afraid."

Her tone had fallen to a far less light-hearted one. Trillia took note of the name as Geo grumbled and gave the man's head one more little squeeze before unceremoniously dropping him.

"You wish to see me fight?" Hope's false smile had returned as she slid off the wall and walked over to stand next to Geo, who towered over her protectively.

The soldier suddenly seemed unsure of himself.

"Bring out your best thirty fighters. I'll take any other people who doubt me and wish to see what I am capable of. Tell everyone. Because next time I am forced to prove myself to the likes of you, it will cost you lives."

The man glanced around the room, which was paying far more attention.

It took an hour to gather up fifty other Kadessian soldiers who were disgruntled or just curious. Geo and Hope stood in that exact spot in the ring the entire time.

With all of them lined up across from her, Hope patted Geo on the arm and sent him to the sidelines. Trillia leaned forward with her mana sight on to watch.

"Just so you know, any injuries you sustain will not be grounds to get out of training, nor am I responsible for any permanent debuffs. Are you all ready?"

The soldiers spread out around the arena. Most seemed more and more unsure of it. Half of them believed they were about to attack a defenseless girl, the other half understood that if she was this calm, they had made a serious mistake.

"Begin!" Came the call from Geo.

Trillia watched as a wave of dull pink mana flowed through the Aether. The men drew their daggers and lined up in five rows of ten. Each walked forward to stand in front of her, each lifted their dagger in their primary hand and severed the smallest finger on their off-hand.

They didn't make a sound, they didn't wince in pain. They dutifully chopped off their finger and laid it at her feet before bowing deeply and moving to stand at the back of the line.

Those who had gathered to watch but not participate watched in horror as all fifty soldiers severed a finger.

Once there was a pile of fingers in front of her, they each ripped part of their shirt off and bandaged the bleeding stump. The arena held a calm, quiet over it that unnerved everyone, even Trillia wasn't spared from the chill running down her spine.

The mana retracted into Hope, and the screams began. Every man and woman who had stood against her clutched their bleeding hand in agony.

"Now. Who wishes to train with me instead of Gaius?" The blood drained from their faces, and everyone scrambled out of the training arena.

Everyone except a particularly stupid Orc turned Infernal. "I'd like to. If you are willing, Lady Hope." Trillia walked into the center of the ring to stand across from her.

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"May I ask why?" For perhaps the first time since seeing all of them, Hope had a genuine smile on her face.

"The eldritch attack the mind. I doubt I will grow fast enough or strong enough to fully resist you or them. But it does give me some ideas on how to train my group and I."

Hope motioned for her to continue as Geo came over and scooped up the fingers. Another chill ran down Trillia's spine as the giant troll began to crunch on them like a snack.

"I'd like you to attack our minds while we defend ourselves from Lord Geo. I know we are already losing, but it's not dangerous enough that the [System] is willing to offer any solutions."

"If they agree, we are willing. You are not disturbed by the display?"

"I am. But you are far less disturbing than the Eldritch. If they could see it...if they could see what those things are capable of..."

Hope bowed her head slightly. "The entire realm would fall into line to train night and day. Mercy upon those burdened with knowledge."

-=====-

Trillia felt the bones breaking in her arm as the angry troll roared and twisted one of her arms. She responded by jabbing the [Sliver of Fate] into one of his eyes. Hoping the momentary pain would let her phase step away.

Instead, she found herself in the Aether staring up at a many-winged creature of impossibility. Trillia had come to learn that this is what Hope looked like in the Aether, it had the same unnerving effect that the eldritch did. As one of a thousand hands reached out to grasp Trillia, her crown of horns lit up in the Aether and exploded outward.

"Hope?!" Trillia stood there in place, dazed with a bloody nose. Geo had dropped Layla to the ground, running over to Hope's side, who had been blown backwards with a bloody nose herself.

The woman was cackling in the same maddening way that Stas often did. "She actually hurt me! Gaius look! Blood!" Another little giggle as she pulled her hand away from her nose.

A notification popped up in Trillia's head.

Racial Skill Obtained: Crown of the Aether
Crown of the Aether- The horns on this creature's head exist almost entirely in the Aether, they can store an amount of mana equal to this skill's level (Minimum 1) multiplied by 10, multiplied by this creature's maximum mana, worth of mana. This mana is used to negate attacks that originate from the Aether, even if this creature is not aware of them.

Trillia blinked in surprise. "Whoa! Hope! Hope look at this skill!" Trillia ran up and sat next to the woman. Geo seemed to grow angry initially, but a hand on his forearm stopped his anger in its tracks. As Trillia read the skill out, Hope's eyes lit up.

"That's amazing! It will help stop the shades from using sneak attacks on you!" Hope leaned over and pulled Trillia into a hug. The two had become fast friends over the past few months, despite Geo's overprotective nature.

Other than her terrifying mental attacks, Trillia wasn't sure if she had another job in the fortress.

-=====-

"Still no trait for the tail?" Sonya asked as she crunched down on an apple. She and Trillia sat on a rampart overlooking the rapidly growing settlement around the newly built fortress.

"Not yet. It's been months. Maybe I just won't get one?"

"Maybe. You don't use it a lot in battle, maybe try to win some of the fights with your friends using only your tail."

Trillia nodded at the advice. "Do you think we'll win?"

"Who cares?"

That caught her off guard, she turned to look at Sonya with a puzzled expression.

"Look. We either win or we don't. If we don't, this realm will get gobbled up by the eldritch. If we do, it will cost us a lot of lives. All we can do is train. I'm not going to ponder, debate, and worry about what is going to come after us, little sister. Leave that to people like Hope and Ash."

Sonya always did seem pretty carefree, but to not worry at all? Trillia shrugged and took a bite out of her own apple.

-=====-

"May the weight of time weigh heavy on your shoulders! [Slow]!"

Trillia absolutely hated Amelia's new magic. It felt like she was trying to run underwater. She was still considerably faster than all of her friends, but it wasn't nearly enough against two of them.

Layla's spear slammed into the side of Trillia's torso, ripping through organs on its way out the other side.

Trillia lashed out with her tail and carved a chunk of flesh from Layla's face. Layla responded by grabbing the tail in both hands and yanking Trillia off her feet.

As Amelia's great club came down for her head, she raised her arms to defend. "I surrender!"

The club stopped short of its mark. "Damnit! I thought temporal magic wasn't allowed?! Isn't the universe supposed to stop it?!"

"It doesn't actually slow time, it just warps your perception of it." Amelia explained for at least the dozenth time. Not that Trillia cared for the reasons why, only that it almost always turned the tide of battle against her. It felt like her body took ages to respond to her thoughts.

"That thing is getting more and more deadly by the day, even if you don't have a trait for it yet." Layla grinned as the flesh on her face had already healed over.

Trillia was finally taller than Frederick, the one human in their group, but with an endless supply of troll parts, Layla had grown considerably in size, strength, and regenerative abilities.

Geo didn't seem to mind carving organs out for her and Stas to experiment with and use. Her species had also officially changed to [Orc Abomination].

"I agree, even if I don't get a trait for it, it will still be a huge help. Especially if someone isn't constantly screwing with my mind and slowing me down!" Trillia shot Amelia a glare, which the minstrel laughed off with her usual mirth.

As the group of three cleared the ring, Simon, Malor, and Frederick stepped in. The two younger warriors went up against Simon alone, and they usually lost.

Taz, Dire, and Ialu were also training; it always ended with Ialu respawning and Taz needing to heal Dire, but the two were growing at a rapid pace.

-=====-

It had been nearly a year since she had awoken the Eternals. Arlyss had found no new leads on any other slivers of Alirast. But it didn't matter, hope was returning to people. Despite Alliyah's initial worries, more and more people were flocking to the Eternal Fortress to train.

They turned no one away, and they didn't ask for payment. They only asked that if Alirast was in peril, you'd rise to defend it.

No one turned down such good training at what they thought was an affordable price.

As Trillia kneeled next to her bed, she clasped her hands together and prayed to the many gods she believed in and kept up with.

For the first time, she focused her mind on Dawn and Kain. "I know not what the two of you seek from us. But I pray that you give us the strength to persevere and overcome your trials. I pray that you let me keep this realm and her people safe. I pray that you show mercy to the fallen."

As she opened her eyes to climb into bed, she could swear that she felt a little peace of mind wash over her.