[Beta] Ashborn - 9. Family Skill (Patreon)

IX

Family Skill

The pass was big enough for two carriages to travel side-by-side, so our formation was two in the front and one in the back. Aurille formed the vanguard with four of the soldiers. I was in the driver’s seat of the last wagon, the rest of the guards trotting along. Jaoma sat next to me.

“Are you certain you shouldn’t be in the storage area?” Jaoma asked. “The bandits don’t have cultivators, but arrows can still kill us.”

That’s why Aurille, who could create shields, was in the front. I had nothing but Saber to shield me. The big cat sat between me and Jaoma, his ears perked for the faintest sound of anything.

“It’s worth the risk,” I said. The bigger the challenge, the more experience I would gain.

Jaoma nodded but didn’t respond.

My focus shifted to my family quest.

Family Quests: [Defenders of the Realm]

Objective: Defend your peers [1/25].

The definition of “defend” was pretty broad if saving Aurille counted.

‘Not that I’’ complain. I want to finish this as soon as possible.’

We dove deeper into Craig’s Pass. Though the weather was dry, there was no sun. Yet the angles of the sloping mountainside sharpened with every step, further convincing me a higher realm had a vendetta against the mountain some time in the past.

The hint of an cry roiled overhead.

“Sounds avian,” I whispered.

“White Stalkers,” Jaoma said. “Group hunters which live near the peaks. Shouldn’t bother us down here.”

Our carriages rumbled on. Behind us, shadows shut like a maw and cut off our retreat, boxing us into the valley. The scattered conversation between the guards had long died down. Beads of sweat dripped down the side of peoples’s necks and lumps went down their throats.

I licked my lips. The tension in the air tasted sweet.

Slowly, my sword cleared its scabbard. The keen whistle drew the gaze of every nearby guard.

“I don’t see anything,” I assured them. “Just being careful.”

They nodded and continued.

Either our ambushers were extremely careful, or this first part of the journey was going off without a hitch. An hour passed without anything happening.

“There’s a brook up ahead,” Jaoma said. “We’ll rest there.”

One of the soldiers made his way to the front to relay the merchant’s orders.

Moments later, a gap in the sparse number of trees on gave away the brook.

“We’ll camp an hour,” Jaoma said. “Break through the ice if you need to fill your tankards. Someone help me get a fire going, we’ll heat some snow for the horses.”

“I’ll come with you,” I told Jaoma.

One servant also joined, a middle-aged man in thick robes which didn’t stop him from shivering, and our party headed into the treeline to collect firewood.

“I would’ve liked to make it deeper into the pass,” Jaoma said, snapping off a branch. “But our next stop is a ways away.”

“What happened on the plateau was unfortunate,” the servant said. “It tired our mounts.”

Jaoma agreed and the two descended into chatter.

I stood back and kept my eyes on the mountainside.

[Frost Elder. A tree that has fruit in winter.]

Strips of ice climbed over bark dark as coal. The fruits, which looked like berries, and leaves were entirely blue.

The Frost Elders were the sole cover bandits could use, but their sparsity made the task impossible.

Off to the side, Saber dug through the snow.

‘That’s about the only other place I expect they can hide.’

But lying in wait in the snow was foolish if you weren’t a cultivator. How long could a mortal’s body withstand temperatures that low?

Long enough, apparently.

A clump of snow beside Jaoma and the servant shifted. I watched as the heap rose to about half the size of a man. Would snuffing an attack before it started count towards the quest? Should I wait? I seriously considered the thought as the snow fell away and revealed the humanoid creature underneath.

Icy-blue and pale skin, with the face of a deformed troll. It carried a pick axe in one arm and rushed to cave in the servant’s head, who was just now turning towards the blur in the corner of his sight.

‘Them dying means less people to protect.’

So better play it safe.

[Cryotrog - lvl. 6]

My blade curved under the head of the pick to stop the blow. The clash of metal ringed across the clearing, signalling the start of the battle. Three trogs burst out of the snow and screeched, the panic shouts of the soldiers joining the cacophony.

The trog in front of me opened its jaw wide. Saber dashed up behind it, jumped and tore into the creature’s neck. A quick thrust finished it off.

“Behind me!” I called.

Two of the three trogs sped forwards. The other stayed behind.

‘Why isn’t it coming?’

My gaze hurled towards it. A staff rested in its hands. The weapon whirled, and a wave of mist barged ahead like a tidal wave.

“Saber! The mage.”

The mist engulfed us whole.

Discarding my blade, I slung the spear from my back. I swiped in front of me. A cry, the sound of shattering glass. Blue blood dripped from the tip of my weapon.

“Stay near me,” I said.

“Can’t get any close than this,” the merchant’s quivering voice said.

He and the servant were practically standing inside my rear.

The spell blanketed outside noise and stifled my senses, but a glance at my screen told me Saber was alright.

I jerked and nearly burst into motion. Were they turning on him? He wouldn’t be their match if they ganged up on him.

Plumes of my breath joined the mist. ‘Don’t panic.’ My eyes closed, the deafening mist ringing in my ears. Saber was my family. How could a little mist stop from me from sensing him?

…

I envisioned him in my mind. Willed myself to feel him darting through the cold as the bundle of heat that he was.

Heat brushed past my face like a breeze. A lithe form dodging underneath a strike and leaping to counter another. I took my spear in one hand, stepped forwards, and threw.

The mist swallowed all feedback, so I reached for my sword and readied myself, but the fog pulled away. The caster trog sank to its knees, my spear blooming from the other side of its skull.

Your connection deepens.

Scion’s Blood (early) -> Scion’s Blood (middle)

Family Skill unlocked.

Saber’s presence in my mind peaked. I could feel him on a level I hadn’t before, could feel the visceral speed and force behind his movements as he juked a vertical swipe and gouged out the trog’s throat.

The avalanche of raw energy barrelling into me was more than just experience. It was the thrill of the hunt. A snare which reverberated through both me and Saber. I spun towards the last trog, the one I’d cut when the mist roiled in. I’d gotten its dominant arm by sheer luck, leaving it to flail worthlessly and try to keep Saber at bay.

I moved. What should’ve taken two steps now took one, and my blade was at the trog’s head before it could react.

[Cryotrog - lvl. 6] x 4 killed. Extra experience gained for killing a higher level enemy.

[Cryotrog - lvl. 5] killed. Extra experience gained for killing a higher level enemy.

My gaze whirled towards the other side of the battle, hungry for more.

The shouts had stopped, so I thought some of us may have died, but my expression relaxed after seeing Aurille sitting on a bench made from ice.

She was meditating, not a single hair out of place. Six trogs surrounded her, stuck in various striking poses. One was even in the middle of a jump. Ice had embraced them like a loving mother, leaving not a part of them uncovered.

All of our other soldiers were unharmed.

‘Guess her level wasn’t a bluff.’

I sighed, and the feral fury that seemed to build within me joined the frigid air.

“I thought you said bandits ruled this pass?” I said to Jaoma, who kept hovering near me just in case.

“They should.” He glanced at the corpses. “The trogs live within caves in the mountain. They should not be out here.”

“Another monster may have pushed them out,” I said.

“Could be. I don’t plan on figuring out.”

I chuckled and made my way back to the carriage.

Family Quests: [Defenders of the Realm]

Objective: Defend your peers [5/25].

Huh. So all four of them counted.

‘Because it was a collective ambush, maybe.’

I paused beside one of the statues Aurille froze over and tapped it with my blade. No movement whatsoever.

“Are they dead?”

“Soon. The ice drains the life out of them.”

A whistle. Nasty power.

One of the men got the campfire going, and I seated myself on a log. This encounter had given me enough to reach the next level.

Before I began cultivating, I checked my notifications.

Your connection deepens.

Scion’s Blood (early) -> Scion’s Blood (middle)

Family Skill unlocked.

Ashenblood - Scion’s Blood (middle). Gain an intimidating aura when in the presence of your peers and lessers. Dexterity +10.

‘The stat boost is a welcome upgrade…the aura text didn’t change, but maybe the effect had. Now what was this about a family skill?’

Please select your Ashenblood Family Skill.

Rend - Early: A flaming slash that cleaves through the air and cuts anything in its path.

Stalk - Early: Your steps mimic that of a predator. Prowl unseen. Enemies have a harder time detecting you.

Fury - Early: The instincts of the Ashenblood flow through your veins. Battle and bloodshed make you drunk. Speed increases whenever you slay an enemy.

‘Well, damn.’

The plump woman eyed them. “Who’d you say you were looking for again?”

Mei pointed towards her blonde twin tails. “A girl with red hair. You can’t miss the colour. She should’ve arrived here no less than two days ago.”

Scar, who was seated at a table, grunted in agreement.

“I ain’t seen no girl with red hair,” the innkeeper said. “But there were two.”

“Anything you can tell us about them?” Ray jumped in. “She may have changed her appearance.”

He wasn’t sure how she’d done that given so little time had passed inside the realm. Maybe she found an ability scrool.

“One of them didn’t talk,” the innkeeper said. “The other ate like a pig.”

Ray glanced between his party. That…didn’t sound like anyone they knew.

He tried a different angle. “What about the quest headed for the mountain pass?” The system had given him a hint that a travelling merchant was about to make his way to Castle Shield.

“You just missed the ride,” the woman said.

Mei screeched. “We’ll miss the event!” She pulled on her hair.

Ray sighed. They’d spent too much time chasing a ghost.

‘We should’ve gone straight to the Wastes.’

That’s likely where Ashe would go, too. Castle Shield had a no-combat rule. That, and they couldn’t gun for her during the test while the examinators were looking. Not overtly, at least.

“Is there any other method of transportation available?” Ray asked. “We really need to make it to Castle Shield.”

As long as they arrived one week from the start of the event, they would be able to catch her.

“You ask a lot but haven’t ordered anything yet,” the woman said.

He produced his purse. “Cold drinks please. And a bath.”

Both Scar and Mei shot him a look.

“Three baths,” he corrected.

All that travelling knew they could use one.

“A copper per drink,” the innkeeper said. “Baths are ten copper.”

“Ten?” Ray nearly screamed. “The guard said seven.”

“That’s the price for regulars.”

A moment.

He sighed and reached into his wallet.