Soul Knight Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Nick interrupted Kaya’s growl with a good distraction. “So, what next? We goin’ to that Ordeal?”

Kaya was startled. “W-Well, we do need to heal a bit still.” She frowned in thought a moment. “You revealing the entrance to the Ordeal, the dungeon, is quite attractive. If we can gain some Essence inside, we can become strong enough to leave Havendale. We’ll need to get food and other preparations to get ready.”

Nick frowned. “What do you mean, strong enough to leave? Can’t you just take a road or such?”

She shook her head. “The wilds are simply too dangerous, because there is no managed Ordeal nearby. In a way, this location is like an island. The creatures in the surrounding area vary too much. We might face a level five bearcoon near town, but just a few miles away a level fifteen shadow mantis could eviscerate us with no warning. It’s impossible to travel without protection, by having either large groups, high levels, or enchanted items. There is a caravan that comes quarterly, but once again–”

Nick groaned, “Damn, he’s got his hooks in that too? He’s really like some kind of island bandit king, huh?” He chuckled. “He’s got a pretty nice setup. He’s even able to sleep in a bed in town instead of some cave or tree or something.”

Kaya growled. “Nice? He’s a tyrant, a terrible person!”

“Take it easy, Kaya. I may mess around, but I’m on the good side, remember? I’m like a paladin!”

“A-And a necromancer, though?”

He chuckled. “True. But I even have a quest to take the guy and all his buddies down.”

Kaya frowned. “All of them, and it even names him? That’s…strange. Can you share it with me?”

Nick ran his hand through his long hair, thinking about it for a moment. “I dunno about that, Kaya. You ain’t trust me, why should I trust you? These quests are kind of personal. I’ll share it with Eirwen, though.”

That detail appeared to almost hurt Kaya. She looked conflicted, and Nick felt a little bad.

“Alright, I take that back. To tell you the truth, I don’t know shit about this world. I mostly hate people, but you know what? I liked you the moment I met you. Why?”

He approached her, and she backed away slightly with a frown. “Well, the pretty face didn’t hurt. But it was because what you got, right here.” He reached out quickly, tapping the area in the center of her chest before she could react–where a necklace might be worn, which made her blush.

Nick supposed that their soul being a known-factor, this probably had some meaning.

“I can see it, I can feel it–my strange race makes me able to. And I know–you’re a good person, Kaya, and I can trust you. You may be untrusting, and easy to anger, and ungrate–”

She growled, so Nick continued, “And that growl still does weird things to me, so I’ll just take a chance, listen to my heart, and all that? Here you go, just don’t share what you learn there with anyone else! You can thank me later.”

Nick didn’t just share the details of the bandit quest, he shared all the quests. Kaya’s eyes widened, threatening to pop out of her head.

“Damn, Kaya, that’s not a good look on you. Careful there, wouldn’t want that look to get stuck.”

She ignored him. “Nick, this is crazy–”

Nick cleared his throat, doing his best not to smile. “That’s, Prince Torian, to you, thank you very much. I didn’t go wakin’ up in no dusty crypt and fight like a thousand rats just to be called plain ole Nick.”

Kaya groaned. “Whatever! Nick, a special entity gave you these quests! The Orion system does give quests out, but they are not specific except within a Test or Trial–it is meant to stay neutral in most things. It would give you a quest to kill bandits, or climb a tower, but this tower, these bandits? No way!”

“Whatchu’ mean, like, some god gave these to me? Well, I am a prince, you know. We don’t play by the same rules as you peasants.”

Kaya ignored his needling. “It’s definitely a god, or perhaps a powerful ancestor.”

“It says I’m the last, though. How could they give me a quest if they dead? From beyond the grave?”

She shrugged. “Things are supposed to become a bit different once you pass level one hundred, they say. Not that Havendale has seen any. Did you get any details besides the quests?”

Nick thought about that. “Not really. There was nothing in those crypts besides a ton of rats. Well, there was this chest where I woke up. It had my sword, and—”

Nick froze, and Kaya narrowed her eyes on him. “And?”

He laughed a little awkwardly as he remembered the note he didn’t read, and coughed. “And nothing else. We gonna have to get back to that crypt, maybe there were some more clues. It was dark in there.”

Kaya was definitely suspicious of Nick’s behavior, her eyes narrowed. “Uh-huh. Well, it sounds like we’d be heading there anyway. I guess in the end, it hardly matters.”

“So? What do you think?”

“About what?”

“The quests, lady! You gotta admit, they some weird ones. I gotta make soul pacts, collect followers. You gonna help me out?”

She scowled. “Oh, so you want me to help you collect wives, is it? Just why would I wanna do that? Just for your information, I just want to either get out of Havendale with Eirwen, or I want Davon to go down. After that, we can go our separate ways. Till then, I’ll work with you–and don’t you dare try to convince my sister to help you in this quest!”

“Damn, so it’s like that, huh? I disagree about your sister–she’s a grown woman, she can make her own decisions, no? You know as well as I do that I won’t be the one tricking her, so what’s the problem with me asking her nicely?”

Kaya began to scowl, but instead, she deflated. “Fine, you’re right.” She pointed at him, “But you share that quest before you go flirtin’ with her!”

He shrugged. “I was gonna share them with her anyway. So, how do these Ordeals work. Do we just go in there, and fight? How long does it take? I ain’t know shit about these Ordeals, but that tower didn’t look that big. Explain it to me like I’m five years old.”

“It might be better if we wait for Eirwen to explain that. She’s much more…studious.”

Nick was liking Eirwen more by the second. “Oh really? But she’s taking a nap. How about the 50,000 feet overview, at least.”

“The what?”

“My bad, just an expression. You ever looked over the land from a tower, or like high up on a mountain? You can get the lay of the land, but the details are blurry. Like that, but just with what you’re explaining to me: Ordeals.”

“Fine. Generally speaking, when we get inside the tower, it’s powered by mana and essence. Each floor will be somewhat randomized and like its own world, and have their own Tests, or Trials. Tests are often just a need to complete the floor and move on to the next, but sometimes will have us needing to survive a series of encounters, or complete a special challenge; such as enduring great cold for a long period, or crossing a desert–the former is actually the known first floor of this Ordeal. It should give us information in our Quest Log when we enter the floor.”

Nick groaned. “That sounds terrible. I’m going to have to fight through ten floors of that kinda thing? You sure we can’t just hunt us some more bearcoons? Maybe there’s enough rats, there was a lot.”

Kaya shook her head. “I told you, that’s not an option. Hunting in the wilds for essence might work for days, maybe even weeks. But eventually, our luck will run out. A powerful creature will find us–and, there are even such things as Roaming Tests and Trials. The only reason we’re here in this treehouse is because of an enchantment. It makes most stronger creatures avoid the area, while still close enough to the tower to avoid roaming Tests and Trials. It’s almost wearing out. We’d rather live in town, but Davon and his men have been after us. The man is sick.”

“Wow, those Tests and Trials can roam? This place is crazy. What are the Trials?”

“Rarely, a floor doesn’t have a Test, it has a Trial. A Trial has a special challenge, and it’s a lot more complicated than a regular floor. It may have intelligent denizens, like you or me, within. The other floors are just essence-constructs, not truly alive. These people might have their own Test, and we can either aid them in it, slay them, or accomplish our own to complete the floor. It depends.”

“That sounds kinda cool, we can meet people inside? Alright. But Eirwen here doesn’t seem like a fighter, really. Are we able to bring her?”

“Hmm… I’d rather not, unless your soul mending really does work. Not only is she not strong enough for travel, but she hasn’t been able to get a class. If she could, she’d probably want a non-combat class. They don’t count heavily against the difficulty.”

Nick noted that detail for later. “How or when did she get sick, anyway?”

Kaya appeared hesitant to explain this to Nick, but she sighed. “It happened a few years ago–when my mother died. We got attacked by a crazed scalemaw, and… together, we killed it, but… she didn’t make it.”

She paused and got a bit teary-eyed, perhaps at the pain of the memory returning. “Eirwen was hurt real bad, but the biggest problem was she absorbed too much essence before her Body, Mind, and Soul were ready. Typically, you shouldn’t absorb enough essence to reach the first level until you’re fully an adult, around eighteen years old, or when the three main attributes reach close to 2.”

“Damn, what is the scalemaw, some kind of giant lizard or something? That sucks, Kaya.”

She nodded, and looked sad, thinking about the past. Nick returned to the original topic.

“Those Ordeals, it’s like balanced based on a party’s entry, then? This really sounds like a game. Anyway, what can you do?”

“That’s right. I’m a Rogue, for now. You saw how I fight, mostly. I’m meant to flank targets, dealing high damage to them. I have a bonus to the loot gain from enemies, and I should get more things like that later.”

“Okay. Why?”

“Why what?”

“Well, a lot of things. But why would a rogue increase the loot? Why do Ordeals test you? Why do people live inside the tower? Why don’t you live inside the tower? This place makes no sense at all. It’s like a game and not, at the same time.”

“W-Well, essence and mana makes up the fabrics of reality, and as a rogue, my passive skill will influence the merging of awarded essence from our kills into, more often, items through the Orion System. The rest, it might be better if Eirwen answers. She cares a lot more than me about that stuff.”

“Alright. But you said for now you’re a rogue. You can change your class?”

Kaya nodded. “Before the second stratum, you can channel your essence into another class. Some is lost, so people don’t always do it. You do keep skills, but not passives related to the class. If you go up in class rarity, you’ll find yourself at a much lower level once complete.”

“Huh, you get extra skills? Maybe I should be doing that now. I got the option of switching to a Soul Mage–”

She shook her head. “That sounds like a rare class, the higher the rarity the more that is lost, and, the more harm to your spirit. If it’s just the skills, don’t do it for that –you can simply purchase or find skill crystals if the system does not grant them.”

“Damn, so I should have started with warrior or rogue then moved up! Soul Knight is an epic class, so I’m really stuck. Why do people choose the weaker classes anyway?”

She seemed shocked at the mention of the epic class, but Kaya scoffed. “Lower rarity doesn’t always mean weaker. Sometimes, the higher rarity classes split focuses, and they also require more essence to level. More often than not, the higher rarity classes also have special, challenging requirements. Their prerequisite Body, Mind, and Soul would be high, and then skills with things like controlling mana, weapons, or soul, as examples. Another example is a Hunter requires a vast knowledge of forestry, use of bows, traps, and other things to acquire it.”

Nick said, “Huh. I just had so many choices when I woke up in that crypt, I didn’t realize people here had such a hard time. So why’d you pick rogue? What’s your dream class, then?”

“I really chose rogue because of Dash. It’s a life-saving skill when you’re on the run. I’m pretty good with daggers and blades, besides. I didn’t think I’d ever have a real shot at getting much over level five in my lifetime here in Havendale, unless I got lucky. Anyway, I think if I could pick the perfect class, it’d be Beast Warrior.”

“Why ain’t you a beast warrior, then?”

She blushed. “It’s–It’s because…none of your business!”

Nick frowned. “What, you embarrassed? I can’t even be a Beast Warrior, either. Sounds kinda cool.”

Kaya scowled. “Of course you can’t, you’re not a beastfolk!”

“Alright, alright, no need to get mad. How am I supposed to know that?”

Kaya froze as she probably realized this, but she just turned her head away with a huff, her tail flickering in irritation. This girl had a light fuse. Nick sighed, at least he got some information out of her, before she got mad.

“So what now? We got some time to kill before Eirwen gets up. We gotta prepare for the Ordeal, right? Dungeoneering supplies? We’re gonna need a lot of rope. Actually, one more thing–I really could use a haircut–which of you gals is good at that?”

Kaya hesitated, looking at his hair. “I’ll take care of the dungeoneering supplies, and I can do your hair. I think it looks kinda good, but it needs to be evened out for sure.”

“I’m ok with longer hair, but we’re going to be adventuring. This is too much. I’m used to much shorter hair, this gets in the way. I’d have just lopped off my ponytail, but I know that makes it look terrible.”

“I’ll take care of that. Tell you what, I’ll go do that for now, and why don’t you absorb some of that essence that’s floating around you? You’ve wasted a lot! Just what are you waiting for, anyway?”

Nick stared at her like she was stupid. “Did you forget already? How am I supposed to know about all that! There was no essence in my world. How do I…absorb it?”

“I… but I thought I saw you absorb it!”

“That was just my Judgment ability. It did something, pulling in all that…soul essence into me, I guess? I don’t think it did anything for the…body. The mind essence my blade absorbs. Later, I kinda just copied what the spell did.”

“You’re too weird. The best way to describe about how to absorb essence from kill rewards is meditation, also called cultivation. Once you get good at it, you should be able to do it on the move, but the gist of it is that you weave the essence into your body, mind, and soul.”

Now it was Nick who scowled at Kaya. “Ah, hell nah! This some new age bullshit, I hate this game now!”

Kaya was taken aback. “W-What? I don’t make the rules, Nick. That’s the truth of our world! The system rewards us for winning against enemies, completing quests, or overcoming life’s challenges–and we must weave that essence into ourselves. There’s even essence in the air we breathe, and the food we eat. You can just absorb that through cultivation instead, but it’d take years unless you’re outside a managed Ordeal or deep in the wilds.”

Nick sighed. “Alright, fine. So what do I do?”

“It’s easy to get started. It’s best you take a seat in this chair, and I’ll cut your hair to something more manageable while you do it.”

She started combing out his wild mane, the act of it oddly calming and intimate. Her touch was much more tender, and Nick could tell she had done this many times, likely for her sister. Perhaps, even her mother.

Her calm voice interrupted his musing, “First, you slow your breathing, finding the center of your body, your body essence.”

Nick frowned. “You mean like the soul?”

Kaya tsked. “No, I mean like the body. It’s lower, behind the navel. The mind is above, in the head, of course.”

She continued, as she started making cuts into his hair, cutting off large swathes of it at the neck level.

“Then, once you’ve found it, you will the surrounding essence to join yourself. For me, I imagine my essence spinning like a whirlpool, drawing in the essence from further away. Somehow, that appears to draw it in. I repeat this for the other essences, alternating the spin of the whirlpool.”

“Wait, we gotta do this in the Ordeal?”

“We do. We’ll watch over each other. Thankfully, not a lot is lost over time, and once you get good at it, we can mostly do it on the move. Keeping up with it, the loss negligible.”

Nick did as she instructed, doing his best to visualize it. He found that what she described was not all that different from what happened when he used Judgment, it was just the soul essence moved so much more instinctually for him.

Eventually, he found his body essence, and he could sort of feel the essence floating near his body, as if orbiting him. Something like a sphere of the essence of his body, much like his soul, began to spin and draw in the essence, making it a part of his own.

As it was drawn in, he felt a warm feeling spread throughout his body. He entered a trance, and he didn’t even notice Kaya as she cut his hair and even trimmed his nails, and eventually left the room after cleaning up.