Icarus Awakens

The fortified village sat as an empty shell, surrounded by the rest of the small pass it occupied. The way it guarded did not lead into the wider world beyond the Thormundz but into the mountains. In the past weeks, Roost’s Peak had moved from the second-most populated settlement in the Thormundz to the first, to the ghost town it now was.

The evacuees had taken much with them when Heldren’s team emptied it, but the walls remained. They stood on a rise within the pass which itself had been augmented magically through the effort of a team of Builders. Unlike the western theme of Hagain Village, the structures of the city were stone, blocky, and identical like hollowed out stone pillars. Each had a winged emblem carved into the stone by the main entrance. As Daniel had learned the day after coming here, one of the bordering regions had sponsored this fort and the weapons that defended it. Large enchanted siege ballista stood on the walls, and every single one was angled upwards. The greatest threat to Roost’s Peak wasn’t encroachment from the mouth of the pass, but from above.

Life remained to resist the elements that sought to undo what mortals had wrought. Each of the defenders had at least one level, though the average was below level two. Most had already hit their wall and could no longer advance. The outpost’s ability to divert creatures from Hagain was only one reason to justify such a commitment of personnel. The mine was the other.

Daniel had almost forgotten his phobia amidst the very real dangers of being eviscerated until he was confined to his room. Of all the things that had happened to him in this world, being grounded was the second worst thing to get under his skin. Well, grounded in the ‘stay on this side of town or you’ll be killed by the demented beast trainer’ sense. That restriction had been placed three days ago when they’d arrived.

As it turned out, the society in the Octyrrum was 1 for 2 on Earth hand sign translation. Thumbs up was roughly the same thing, but giving someone the bird just provoked confusion. He didn’t know this by how Tlara reacted but by Thomas asking him if that gesture was how he made his hands transform, after the fact. In the moments after his admittedly immature outburst, she had tried to kill him with the spark rhino. That was probably because he’d used an offensive ability rather than an offensive gesture right in her face.

In hindsight, Tlara had told him she had a hair trigger when they’d first met. The sudden fracture in the team’s cohesion ended with Kob hoisting both Hunter and the spark rhino away from each other, while Gadriel and Sigron respectively held Daniel and Tlara back. Everyone had been shocked by the development, except Tlara. She’d ranted about how she’d told everyone he was a Spiritualist and that this had been inevitable.

Lograve had been forced to break the team up into its training groups, sending Kob’s ahead while asking Daniel exactly what he’d just done. His explanation hadn’t satisfied the Arcanist, especially because he’d refused to answer when the topic eventually came to what had happened with Evalyn.

Now, Daniel could see Tlara pacing back and forth by the eastern side of Roost’s Peak. Her aura was bright red. To their credit, the rest of her team remained neutral with a smattering of green in Evalyn’s case.

I do not like this cage, Hunter thought. He and the ringcat outside of the abandoned house could see each other’s auras and were close enough to still communicate. While Identify Creature had an insane range, their telepathy was limited to about a hundred meters.

Sorry Hunter. It's that stupid Beastmaster's fault, that was a total overreaction. Daniel vaulted through one of the window sills and landed neatly on the ground one story below. Whatever feature he’d unlocked alongside Snap Shot was akin to a parkour power that he would have loved to test out in the small city he’d found himself in, if Tlara hadn’t summoned a flying dinosaur to patrol the skies. It stayed to her side of the city, but Daniel didn’t trust the lightning coursing across its spines to respect the boundary.

One of the guards in the remaining garrison looked at him with a combination of interest and respect as he landed. Thomas, the damnable scamp, had been retelling the brawl to anyone who would listen. His version of events was more charitable, though he hoped Evalyn would understand the assumptions Thomas had made about their night together.

He glanced up, looking at the tall mountain walls that surrounded him. Enormous red outlines sat still beyond the lip of the far cliffs. Identify Creature didn’t tell him everything about people at a higher level than him, but monsters weren't immune.

Skyshock Wyvern - (4)

There were a dozen of them in Hunter’s range, if you counted the young level three variants. The ringcat’s Growth had compensated for the terrain penalty on his senses, so this wasn’t as dangerous as it first seemed. Still, neither he nor the defenders could completely relax. One was actively perched just before the ledge as if waiting for a moment to strike.

Comparing their outlines and the image in his Encyclopedia to Tlara's pathetic man-sized bird monster, he could tell they were truly fearsome. Electric spines traveled the length of their wing arms that could be used to fire orbs of electricity. Their biology didn’t make sense when compared to the sparkbat swarm whose individuals exploded when they flew alone, and he was very interested in seeing one fight Tlara so he could watch what would happen.

The chance wouldn’t happen here. Roost’s Peak had weapons designed to handle these enemies. The use of the ballista was the first clear indication Daniel had seen of context driving advancement. The guard who manned them barely advanced even though they regularly gunned down level three and fours. At least in the hunt on the way here he had directly participated with a great deal of risk to himself. That he had gained two potential was likely only due to killing one of the alphas, even if his hand had done most of the work. With Daniel and Hunter as an early warning system, their job was made even easier. The knowledge that he could see the raiders from the sky approaching quickly won over the guards’ favor and made Daniel’s side of the city quite inviting. Think any will attack today?

Not unless they wish to die.

Daniel smiled. He’d finally thought to ask Hunter to share his attributes with him and regretted not doing so before the ringcat had Grown. So long as Hunter willed it, he could see additional information in Hunter’s identification aura, similar to the one he’d seen on Heldren so many days ago. Hunter had started putting together complete sentences and Daniel knew his intelligence must have improved, even if the actual number wasn't that high.

Hunter - (Ringcat - 1)

Attributes:

- Strength: 19

- Dexterity: 14

- Endurance: 16

- Wisdom: 12

- Intelligence: 9

- Charisma: 8

Abilities:

- Fearsome Roar

- Springing Strike

Features:

- Identify Creature (external)

- Keen Senses: Hearing/Smell

- Terrain Affinity: Grasslands

- Underbrush Step

It was a lot of green and blue text, likely including everything that would have been listed on Hunter’s character sheet if he had one. Similar to his notifications he couldn't 'click' on anything other than Hunter's name to bring up the additional information. As far as he could tell the hyperlinks only existed outside of his Encyclopedia to let him know there was an entry. He’d tried the same with Thomas and Lograve, but they’d refused despite expressing some curiosity. Exposing all of their powers and attributes in one fell swoop appeared to be an equivalent measure of social trust as revealing one’s browser history.

Another of the garrison passed by, one of the handful of air gestalt that remained in the Thormundz. From what he’d heard, Eido had contained most of the earth and air gestalt in the region. If you could, would you talk to them? he asked Hunter silently. You’ve almost got four syllable words down.

You are obnoxious.

Nearly there, he laughed. With his new intelligence, Hunter was fully becoming the friend his power suggested he could be. At times he even forgot he was mind melding with a murder cat. Don’t you hate her? Tlara, I mean. If there’s anyone I want you to talk to it’s her, just to see the look on her face. So what if her beasts are dumb, that doesn’t mean all monsters are.

Unwise. She is stronger than us.

For now. Daniel was more focused than ever on leveling up. Gadriel’s balanced path was nice, but too slow when a bird of prey was making herself busy digging your grave. He wasn’t sure if Hunter’s Growth was capped to his current level, but seeing as the ringcat wouldn’t level up himself without the ability to hunt there wouldn’t be any improvement until they were back fighting monsters.

Two auras stood out among the odd hundred of the fort. Lograve was approaching with Gadriel beside him. Daniel’s initial misgivings about putting Identify Creature on people had faded when no one seemed to be able to tell when it was on them. Besides, he could always blame it on Hunter if they did notice. Daniel stood against one of the buildings next to the street corner and attempted to surprise the two. It had worked the first two times but by now they were on to him. “Will you cease these petty games?” Gadriel’s voice called out.

“I thought this was a training team. Just keeping you sharp.” He turned the corner to find both were not amused. Lograve’s expression was more foreboding than Gadriel’s. Not just because of the level difference, but also through the lack of his usual charm.

“Is the city in any danger?” Lograve asked.

Daniel looked up. “No, they’ve mostly been keeping back since one of the ballista nailed a wyvern before it took off.”

“That power is quite unnerving,” Lograve replied, still keeping his true emotions hidden. “Especially for a level one.”

“It’s just good synergy. I couldn’t do it without Hunter’s ears and nose.”

“You have been far more help to this place than I could have imagined. Have you considered a permanent role here?”

Daniel froze. The suggestion had come out of nowhere and was spoken like the decision had already been made. The walls of the city suddenly seemed as high as the pass. “You’re kicking me from the team?”

“The upheaval between the Beastmaster and yourself has imperiled group dynamics,” Gadriel explained stiffly. “Leaving both of you on the team, even separated, endangers everyone.”

“Then throw her out! She’s the one that sic’d her slave on me.”

That troubled Lograve. “Spoken like a Spiritualist.”

Glare at him for me, will you? he asked the obliging Hunter. Lograve had questioned the ringcat after the incident in hopes he was incapable of lying. Instead he had been further discomforted by Hunter’s improved diction. Now, the Arcanist met the gaze of the ringcat and Daniel frowned. “I’m starting to think they’re not completely off, but I will admit I have every reason to hate her. Either way, that doesn’t mean I’m the one that should be punished. She tried to kill me!”

“She is of higher level and more value to this team,” Gadriel argued. “Despite my convictions, which do not entirely align with yours, her removal would do more harm.”

“Additionally,” Lograve said as if introducing the carrot coming gift wrapped with the stick, “Your staying here would drastically improve the city’s defenses. You would not level as quickly, but by identifying every creature slain you will have earned some progress towards it. To say nothing that it will be safer for you here.”

The walls of the city crowded around him. People could feel trapped in many things, from a marriage, or a job, to a floating island. A besieged fortress surrounded by monsters he could see at all times wasn’t that big of a stretch. No, he couldn’t stay here as a glorified radar dish. He couldn’t let one mad woman take his friends and his new life away from him, just when it was starting to go right.

“What if I refuse?” he asked, prompting Lograve to lean towards him.

“The opportunity for special treatment was offered and denied,” he whispered with a hint of danger. It was completely unlike the cheery mage he’d first met in the tent, and Daniel remembered the aftermath of the field battle where multiple ringcats had been impaled with giant spikes of ice. His blood froze as if one struck him now. “I suppose you are still ignorant of certain facts. I will correct this. Few of my level would tolerate impudence from someone of yours. Here and now, the circumstances require special considerations. Elsewhere, in some cultures, Tlara would have the right to kill you should she have believed she was threatened. If I need to remind you, I am a level above her. You will stay here.”

Lograve stepped back. The aggression he’d displayed had even muted Hunter. Gadriel hadn’t heard what was spoken but looked in surprise as Daniel turned pale. “It is for the best,” the Hero told him uneasily.

He couldn’t refuse the Arcanist. Daniel couldn’t muster the courage, nor could he deny that both men in front of him could kill him if they had the slightest inclination. This world suddenly seemed far darker and dangerous than he could have imagined. The conversation he thought was between friends had rapidly turned to walking the line and being pushed off the tightrope.

No cages or masters, Hunter broke into the miasma of his fear, sensing it through their bond. No fear or uncertainty. Fight or die, that is life.

You got a four syllable in that time. Daniel weakly grinned despite himself. “No.” Lograve was about to intimidate him again, so he stopped time and thought to himself. Hunter protested as always, but not as much as when he was level 0. “No!” Daniel repeated with confidence. “It makes more sense for Tlara to be removed from the team.”

“And why is that?” Lograve challenged.

“The whole point of this is to train the low levels. That’s me. Taking me off the team defeats its purpose, and you can’t tell me Tlara can’t scout for monsters with that pterodactyl of hers. Sure she can’t tag things, but she’s level two. That means she’s better than me at it right?”

“What if that doesn’t matter?”

“Then none of this makes sense. You’re just taking me off the team for the sake of-” Daniel’s expression soured. “Oh, you suck.”

Lograve turned to Gadriel. His imperious expression melted into a wry smile. “I told you, he’s more cunning than you give him credit for. You can’t exactly blame me, Daniel. You ruined my previous ‘prove you have the will for this’ exercise back at my library. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to see if you truly had determination.”

Daniel felt relief mix with the aggravation this game had caused him. “That was all an act? Was anything you just said true?”

“You tell me,” Lograve said without a trace of sarcasm. “But there is a cost to this and a reason I needed to know you wanted this. As you said, this team’s purpose is training. You’ve been among friends in battle, now you need to work with those you despise. If you can’t handle that, you might as well stay here. Life doesn’t always let you choose your companions.”

He got the point before Lograve said it out loud. “You’re putting me on the other training team? She’ll kill me. Her, or her little friends.”

“An agreement has been reached that serves two purposes. You and Evalyn will switch for the time being, and Tlara will not harm you.” Lograve raised a qualifying finger. “I will add that you will face increased scrutiny and expectations. One condition is that you follow her orders, within reason.”

“Like one of her 'tools'?” Daniel crossed his arm.

“It’s her way or Roost’s Peak I’m afraid. Look at this like an opportunity to bed the other woman on the expedition.”

“I need to know what kind of orders I can refuse before I agree to this,” he quickly stipulated.

…

Daniel was already regretting his decision as the arch of the city’s gate passed overhead. He knew Tlara would be unbearable, but he didn’t think about the rest of the team. Kob was a titan towering over the group. As it turned out, they were earth gestalt, like the smaller one not covered in stone. Daniel could have guessed that had he not assumed there was some kind of stone giant race. Kob and the other gestalt on the team barely said anything, and when they did it was incomprehensible.

That left Sigron, the man covered almost entirely in metal. The one exception was his padded helmet, which looked like a reinforced version of the old football kind. Aside from Hunter, he was the only possible ally of the five. That didn’t change the fact that Daniel would have told Thomas what had happened with Evalyn if he could swap the Knight for the Cleric. Sigron wasn’t bad, he was just quiet. Kob spoke more than he did. It wasn't until being placed on the other team that Daniel realized the man hadn't spoken at all during the trek. That meant the only real conversation he could have was in his head.

Daniel kept Hunter close. Tlara seemed to despise the ringcat even more than she did him, and he didn’t trust her enough to include what she saw as his possession among the ‘do no harm’ clause of their arrangement. Her aura also remained cherry red.

The five adventurers were accompanied by Daniel’s ringcat and a large gecko-like creature that was Tlara’s third monster he'd seen. The spark rhino’s carrying capacity was no longer needed now that the training teams could use Roost’s Peak as a field camp. Instead, the level 2 shock runner was wirey and could cling to walls while discharging from four lightning spikes embedded just above its webbed paws. Its skull reminded Daniel of a hammerhead, with bulbous eyes attached to either end.

The fact that so many creatures here had lightning spines didn’t escape Daniel. Hunter’s lack of them was glaring, but he liked to think of it as a distinguishing feature. Lightning spines were useful, though. Daniel’s lightning wings were only one example.

The crossbow’s quiver, or belt, or whatever word was more appropriate, had come with twenty bolts. Tlara’s spark rhino had carried extra ammunition, and Roost’s Peak had a stockpile. During a hunt, Daniel would be restricted to those twenty shots before relying on the sword he was hardly trained with or the mysterious chicken hands he hadn’t fully tested.

A few additional bolts were also carried in Hunter’s pouch, but these were special. He’d had the idea knocked into his head after seeing so many of the local creatures wield lightning with their spines. No one else he'd met had picked up on the fact that they could be used postmortem. Whether he was just crazy enough to consider it or his class was prompting him, Daniel had been using the days stuck in Roost’s Peak well.

“Have that thing scout ahead.” Tlara interrupted his thoughts with a rasping, yet melodious command. Avianoids had to try hard to make their voices sound unpleasant. He had to give it to Tlara, when she set her mind to something she fully committed to it.

“His name is Hunter. And I’ve already got everything within two kilometers tagged, roughly.” The momentum of his earlier defiance with Lograve stopped dead as he was suddenly aware of how isolated he was from anyone who cared about him, both Octyrrum and Earth-bound.

The feathers that ringed Tlara’s head perked up. It seemed like an instinctual reaction that did not connect to happiness. “Tools don’t have names, they have a purpose. If you're here to learn then fucking start with that. Send your tool out and forget its name.” The aura around her reddened further when he didn’t respond. “Do you need me to fucking remind you of what you agreed to?”

Daniel glanced towards Kob and sighed when the giant didn’t say anything. As the actual team leader, over even Lograve, Kob could override Tlara if she ordered him to do something insane like kill himself. Kob didn’t see fit to speak now.

Can’t stop me from thinking it, he sulked. I’ll turn around right now if you don’t like this, Hunter.

Nothing dangerous is close. Besides her. Hunter showed his teeth to Tlara. The feathers on her arms started spreading out to form pseudo-wings and relaxed when the beast padded off.

She saw the worried look and Daniel’s face. “What? If it dies just tame another. I had a ringcat just like it last week. Want to know what happened to it?”

“You pushed it off a cliff?”

“That would have been a waste.” Tlara did something with her beak that was probably how her race snickered. “I fed it to another monster to cover my escape. It fucking died.” He’d expected a cruel smile, an evil gleam in the eyes, but there was just nothing. Tlara’s complete apathy chilled him more than anything else she could have expressed.

…

The two training teams were here to improve their levels, but also to purge the monsters from the countryside. Skyshock wyverns were far too tough for one team to take on without losing people, but the city’s defenses could handle them. They flew too high for anything but the ballista to reach anyway. The sides of the pass held better targets. A network of valleys ran through the nearby mountain and created cracks in the pass walls. The wyverns mostly ignored these unless something drew a lot of attention. Beating back any threat on the ground would allow Roost's Peak to focus fully on the sky.

The first hunt was planned to be three days long. One day for scouting, the second for fighting, and the third for the return journey. Assuming there were advancements to commit, everyone besides Daniel would need a day or two in town before setting out again.

The first night found Daniel’s team hunkering down in a small cave to escape from the rain. The two gestalt were speaking to each other with what sounded like the ambiance of a haunted forest. Even if you could understand the words that occasionally broke through the noise, the conversation was unintelligible. Topics like nature, weapons, the team members, and food were referenced in no discernable pattern or context.

“I see a group of level twos,” Daniel reported from the collection of tags Hunter had placed, trying his best to be professional under the circumstances. “Rock elementals? Huh, not a lightning monster this time.”

“Fuck that,” Tlara replied, not even looking at him.

“No?”

“We need a group with at least one level three. I’m here to advance, not to babysit your ass.”

“Level three? I almost died when we fought level twos!”

Tlara cocked her head to the side. “Huh. Shame you didn’t.”

Daniel sighed and turned away, knowing that Kob would end up choosing the target. His thoughts returned to those two and the strange language barrier between all gestalt and other mortals. Are you following any of this? He asked Hunter. The ringcat had finally been allowed to rejoin him after spending all day skulking the narrow crevices and forested valleys that ran through the mountain like a horizontal ant colony.

No. At least they aren’t hostile.

I guess. Daniel then used his speaking voice, low enough to not carry to the gestalt. “Sigron, do you know what they’re talking about?”

The Knight, still wearing his armor even in the relaxed atmosphere, turned to him with a blank expression.

“He’s fucking mute,” Tlara cut in. She was cutting an annoyingly smooth pose leaning against the mouth of the cave. “He can write but he doesn’t seem to like doing that either. Some kind of curse, not that I fucking care about the details.” Sigron’s expression blanked in general agreement, though there was a sideways look toward Tlara at the end.

“So how do you guys communicate during a fight? I wanted to ask about that anyway.” He assessed the group with a tactical eye, trying to make the best of the situation. “Khare’s the other trainee, you and Sigron are level two and Kob is, uh.” Daniel couldn’t decide on the words to describe the giant taking up half the space of the cave. “Anyways, our last battle the plan was half baked. Shouldn’t we discuss strategy now?”

Tlara started sharpening her talons with a knife as she answered. “It’s fucking simple. We kill the monsters and try not to die.”

That’s just overdoing it. “What about tactics? Formation? What happens if that level 3 frost strangler charges me?”

“Sucks to be you then.”

“Cover.” Kob’s tombstone face rotated towards her. He added another word. “Team.”

Daniel heard the avianoid’s musical equivalent of a grunt, and Tlara corrected herself exasperatedly. “Then Kob will rip it to fucking shreds. Or someone else will help you, I guess. Don’t expect me to care about your fucking ringcat.”

“What? But he-,” he stopped and chose his words carefully. Daniel had to be the bigger man if he wanted any hope of making headway with Tlara. Or, at bare minimum, if he wanted to get through this without one of them killing the other. “I’d cover for your beasts.”

“You’d put yourself in danger for them?”

“Well if it’s a fight I’m already in danger. Isn’t that what being in a team is about?”

“Fucking Spiritualists!” Tlara shouted both of her favorite curses indignantly and ignored his other questions. Daniel sighed, not at all looking forward to the hunt tomorrow.