TS5: Chapter 36 (Patreon)

Sharing a glance with Velin, Thorn nodded.

“Yes, we’re here to challenge the elemental shrines.”

“Then this is a great request for you,” Felmer said, reaching under the counter and pulling out a map that he spread out for Thorn and Velin to see. “Wolves are a pretty serious problem for travelers leaving the valley, but the winter was harsh and they’ve begun to venture down into the valley itself. A pack was sighted between here and the water shrine, so if you are headed that direction you are likely to run into them.”

Looking over the map, Thorn had Eve record every detail, reconstructing the map digitally as he listened to Felmer.

“Do you sell maps like this?” Thorn asked, tapping on the buckskin map.

“Not typically,” Felmer said with a half smile. “But soon enough an enterprising villager will start selling maps in the market. It's a pretty common request from challenger teams.”

“Would you consider selling this one?” Velin asked, causing Felmer to look over at her with an appraising stare.

“I honestly doubt that you have the coin for it, ma’am. Most times, when challengers arrive they don’t have any denari, and besides, a map like this which has been passed down for generations isn’t the sort of thing money can buy.”

Rolling up the map, Felmer stowed it under the counter and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked between Velin and Thorn. The merchant’s face maintained his half-smile at all times and it was hard to tell if it was a habit or if there really was a mocking note hidden behind it.

“I see, thank you for helping us understand,” Velin said, bowing slightly. “Do you have any materials we can use to create our own maps? We don’t yet have any denari, but we expect to earn some soon.”

“I do. Fourth shelf, on the back wall. You should find parchment and pens, and the like,” Felmer said, pointing toward the back of the shop.

“Great, we’ll be back soon. Oh, and thanks for the job,” Thorn added. “We’ll bring back the pelts when we come.”

“Sure,” Felmer said, waving his hand. “Take your time and don’t get yourself killed.”

After Velin and Thorn left the shop, Thorn stopped and looked back at the store, a faint smile on his face. Noticing that he was annoyed, Velin took his arm and tugged on it.

“Come on, let's go meet up with the others,” she said, pulling him through the crowded market.

Stopping to get a snack for Akira from a vendor on the side of the road, Thorn and Velin met up with Mina and Corvo who had been exploring the market, and then headed back to the Golden Meadow Inn to meet everyone else. When the team had gathered, Thorn distributed the map that he had copied to everyone who had an E.V.E. and asked Corvo to work on creating copies for those who didn’t once they had the money to buy parchment.

“We managed to pick up a job request,” Thorn said, looking around at the team, “to kill some wolves. Apparently there is a pack on the way to the water shrine, so I think it makes sense to head that direction first. It would be good to figure out how the shrines work, and since the water shrine is relatively close, it shouldn’t take us too long to get there. After we sell the wolf pelts we collect we will split up the money and decide how we want to approach this next year.”

“What do you mean?” Vesna asked.

“Well, we have a few different options,” Thorn said, holding up three fingers. “We can focus on one aspect of the puzzle, say for instance, the shrine’s team challenges, to try and climb the team leader board. Or, we could split up and challenge the shrines individually. Finally, we could do some mix of both. I, for one, am interested in both the team challenges and the solo challenges, but I’m also interested in what the town and the valley hold and wouldn’t mind spending some time exploring.”

“I see,” Vesna said, “I hadn’t considered that we might pursue the individual challenges, but given your abilities, I can understand why you might want to challenge yourself. Historically, the individual challenges are dominated by the god beasts, while the team challenges are fought over by those of us from the temple.”

“Whatever we end up deciding, we should go to the water shrine and check it out as a team,” Velin said.

Nodding, Thorn pushed his chair back and stood up.

“Agreed. Unless anyone has pressing business, let's get going. I’m sure the others have already gotten started.”

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the sound of a bell ringing filled the air. Heading outside, the team saw that the individual challenge leader board was glowing brightly as names appeared on it. Listed first was Numamir with a number two next to his name. All of the other god beasts were also listed, with number ones next to their names. Noticing that Metra had poked her head out of the inn to look up at the leader board, Thorn asked her to explain what the numbers meant.

“The name is obviously the challenger, and the number next to their name is the stage they completed in the shrine they challenged. If you look, you can see that there are seven shrines listed above the names. The first one is the air shrine, and that’s the one they challenged. As they complete other shrines, they’ll add more numbers, and as they beat more difficult stages, their numbers will go up. The team challenge works the same way, but it doesn’t look like anyone has kicked that off yet.”

“Wish us luck,” Thorn said, flashing a smile at the innkeeper. “We’re headed to the water shrine now.”

“Oh? That’s quick. Have a good time and don’t die.”

Waving goodbye, Thorn spoke to Velin who was at his side.

“Why do people keep saying that?”

Less than an hour later, Thorn understood exactly why the townsfolk added that charge to their goodbyes. The team was heading for the water shrine which was perched above a waterfall overlooking the valley and they had just come into the foothills when they stumbled upon the pack of wolves that Felmer had mentioned. There were close to thirty wolves in total, and each one stood at least seven feet tall at the shoulder. They were easily sixteen feet long from the tip of their noses to the end of their bristling tails, and their matted fur was coarse and spiky. Huge fangs and extra long front claws gave them a vicious look, causing Thorn to draw a breath when he first spotted them with his mental sense.

“Corvo, can you scout for us?” Thorn asked as the team paused to prepare for combat.

They were downwind, so the wolves had not yet spotted them, but Thorn thought that if they got much closer it was likely that the wolves would notice them. Seeing the direction Thorn was pointing, Corvo took a running leap into the air, transforming into a large raven that took to the sky with a flap of his wings. It didn’t take him long to spot the wolves and report back, passing an image through his E.V.E. of the massive wolves that stood between the team and the water shrine.

“We’ve got a fight coming up,” Thorn said, turning to look at the team.

“They’re just wolves,” Borish said, his tone slightly disdainful. “I don’t understand why we’re being so cautious.”

“Because we don’t know for sure if they are just wolves,” Thorn replied calmly. “Corvo has located them up ahead, so let’s get into formation and move forward. Borish and Stello, up with me. Vesna, you and Mina will take our flanks. Make sure to keep the wolves from surrounding us. Pel and Alph will be in the middle with Kendal and Velin and Akira at the back. Akira, can you protect our backs?”

As everyone moved into position, Thorn heard a faint howl and looked toward the mountains, his expression narrowing.

“Be careful, they’ve noticed us and are on the way.”

Thorn wasn’t sure if it was because the wolves had noticed their presence because of Corvo, or if it had been something else, but whatever it was, they were headed in the team’s direction. When the first wolves broke over the hill, Thorn heard sharp breaths from most of the team members and couldn’t help but grin. The thirty giant wolves racing toward them, mouths open and fur bristling, was an intimidating sight but everyone present was experienced enough to hold their ground. Even if he didn’t have a good opinion of the three saints who had joined their team through his deal with the Quilla family, Thorn was comforted by the fact that they were all competent fighters who had plenty of experience with dangerous situations and didn’t need his babysitting.

The team was standing on the top of a small hill, and as the wolves got to the bottom of it, Thorn took a small step forward, leveling his halberd at the wolf leading the charge. The beast must have been able to sense the danger, as it veered to the side, rushing toward Borish, who was on Thorn’s left. With a shout, Borish lifted his blade and hacked forward, unleashing a wave of light that ripped through the air, catching the startled wolf on its chest and opening up a large wound. Even though the wolf had flinched away, the wave of light moved too quickly for it to dodge, and the force of the strike threw the beast from its feet.

A moment later the wolves crashed into the team and everything was a mad tangle of flashing claws, ringing blades, and deadly spells as Thorn, Stello, Borish, Vesna, and Mina fought against the half a dozen wolves at the front of the pack. In the center of the defensive line, Thorn wielded his halberd like a spear, stabbing, slashing, and hooking with the tip in order to create space. Warding off one of the lunging wolves with a twist of his weapon, Thorn stabbed his halberd through the thick fur that matted the wolf’s chest and wrenched it to the side, slamming the beast into the ground.

At the same time, he stepped forward and to the right, his foot slamming into the ground to create a wave of earth that transformed into chains, tying down the two wolves coming in right behind the wolf he had just stabbed. Forced to a stop, the wolves howled furiously as they continued to lunge forward, but before they could break the chains a storm of razor sharp ice slammed into their heads, stunning them. There was a crimson blur as a wave rose up from underneath them and a moment later their heads fell to the ground as Stello passed by, his longsword coated in their blood.

Seeing that Stello and Mina were coordinating well, Thorn turned his attention to his left side where Borish and Vesna were fighting, supported by Pel’s arrows. The three saints were fighting against four wolves, and though they were holding their ground, it was clear that they lacked the offensive power to kill the wolves quickly. Even as he looked, Thorn saw a fifth wolf trying to circle around Vesna, but before he could say anything there was a flash of alchemical flame and the wolf was blown backward down the hill.

“Hah! Get spiced!”

Realizing the left flank would be just fine, Thorn threw himself forward, his halberd drawing a wide line that forced the four wolves rushing toward him back. Half a dozen wolves were already dead, laying in bloody piles on the hill, but the others didn’t seem to care one bit and continued to rush toward the party, their teeth and abnormally large front claws gleaming in the midday sunlight. One of those claws glanced off of Thorn’s armor and he spun, slamming a heel kick into the side of the wolf with enough force to crush its ribs and snap its spine. The more he fought, the faster Thorn moved, and he soon found that he was starting to mix all of his maximized elements into his martial arts in a more holistic way.

He had been practicing with each style individually, trying to master the various forms of the Elemental Blade, but in the thick of battle his body instinctively swapped from one elemental style to another, each overlaid on the simple movements of the Titan’s Fist martial arts. Be it his halberd or his arms or legs, Thorn’s entire body was a lethal weapon, and the Titan’s Fist pushed that fact to the extreme. Dodging a slash with a simple sidestep, Thorn’s fingers ripped through the throat of a lunging wolf even as his halberd darted out to stab into the chest of another.

Without hesitating, he tossed both of the dying wolves backward over his shoulders and stepped forward, his foot snapping out to meet the teeth of the next wolf. The two beasts he had thrown over his shoulders slammed into the ground in front of Velin and Kendal, but before either of them could do anything, a ball of crimson flashed by and the two wolves stopped moving, their spines severed. The fighting was fierce, but it was quickly apparent that the team wasn’t in any danger. Any time someone got into a sticky situation Alph’s potions were there to bail them out and Velin and Kendal’s spells would heal any damage they had suffered.

It took twenty minutes for the last of the wolves to fall, and it was only that long because the last four tried to escape into the hills when they saw how badly their companions had been massacred. When the last wolf was down, Thorn looked over the thirty massive corpses piled up and rubbed his nose. The wolves were certainly dead, but recovering an intact hide was going to be a real challenge. Between their blades and spells, most of the wolves were in terrible shape, and even if they could skin the beasts, it was unlikely they would get anything but scraps of leather from them.

“Huh, didn’t think about this,” he said, turning to the team. “We should be good on claws, but Felmer said he wanted skins too. Anyone have any ideas?”

“I should be able to help,” Velin said.

Walking up next to one of the still warm corpses, Velin stretched her hand out, lightly touching the rough, spiky fur on its back. Green energy poured out of her fingers, spreading over the corpse and sinking into its skin. The large gash Thorn had cut in the wolf’s side began to shrink, knitting together as the healing spell took effect.

“Perfect. Lets get these beasts skinned,” Thorn said.