Soul Knight - Chapter 9 (Patreon)

When Nick exited the cave and saw Eirwen, he nearly immediately began bragging about his success. However, when he saw her expression filled with worry and sadness, including her cute long ears drooping, his voice caught in his throat.

“What’s the matter, Eirwen? Where’s Kaya?”

“She…transformed and went inside. I know she can’t die in there, but I can’t imagine what kind of pain she’s going through. Is it bad?”

Nick considered lying, but realized she deserved the truth. “It…gets really tough. It’s not that bad when you enter, but it makes you weak, and gets worse as you push through. Abilities do counter it somewhat, so maybe her transformation helps. It’s not just the pain, but the ice makes you weak, and slow…”

Eirwen looked thoughtful, but her worry hadn’t lessened. “Oh, but I don’t know. She doesn’t exactly think straight when she turns into the red panda, and, she was pretty upset before she left. Kaya could be clawing at the walls right now instead of going through the Test.”

Nick couldn’t help but grimace at that. He had withstood the pain, but part of his ability to withstand it was knowing that it would eventually end. If he fell down and couldn’t get up, he couldn’t help but feel like he would have chosen the retreat option. But if he couldn’t?

“Is there anything we can do? I can’t enter her instance and help her out, can I?”

Eirwen sighed. “No, I guess not. Still, I can’t help but worry. I suppose, if she passes out from the pain, that will kick her out.” She looked over at Nick once more, and she blushed. “H-How did it go?”

He wanted to boast, but still kept it in. Nick decided to try to take her mind off it. Something was definitely cooking. “We’ll talk about it later. What’s cookin’?”

She smiled. “Oh! I got some of that stew going. I got bowls over here, you can have as much as you want!”

He gave her his best smile. “I can’t wait, fighting them wolves had me famished already.”

She ladled some soup into a bowl and handed it to him, a sad smile on her as she looked at him. The brown stew had tons of what he assumed was bearcoon meat in it, along with what looked like potatoes, mushrooms, and carrots that Kaya had gathered.

It was steaming, and he had to blow on his spoonful before putting it in his mouth.

The spices and flavors that reached his senses were a lot closer to chili in terms of spice than a stew he was familiar with. The bearcoon had started out a little rough, but now it all but melted in his mouth, as it had likely been simmering for hours.

He wasn’t sure exactly how long he was inside, but he thought there was no way it was more than a couple of hours.

“Damn, that’s some good stew. Thanks for cookin’, Eirwen.” He smiled. “I could get used to this.”

She giggled, her ears flicking up and down on the side of her head. “Well, there’s a lot more where that came from! We have to make sure to eat and rest up, to have our energy up for the next Test.”

Nick continued to eat, and took a look at his other notifications he’d received.

[Soul Magic Reached Intermediate]
[Body Enhancement Reached Novice]

He frowned as he read those messages. He had just copied what he had done with his Soul magic with Body. Perhaps the whirlpool wasn’t the best image for how to manipulate or utilize that type of energy within.

Eirwen had glanced at the exit to the Optional Test several times while he was eating.

Nick did his best to reassure her. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, Eirwen. Kaya’s will is as tough as nails, isn’t it? She put up with me, and I didn’t even get a scratch on me. She even cut my hair, I’m sure the desire to just jam them scissors into me was high.”

She gave an awkward chuckle. “I-I guess. She really doesn’t trust men. Kaya had gotten a boyfriend in town, but when he learned about me…  He said he’d pay for my medicine if we both slept with ‘em. Then, he threatened to sell us both out to Davon’s men. That’s when we moved out into the woods, a couple of years back.”

“Damn, that sucks, Eirwen. You two have been through a lot.”

“She has always worked so hard, for me. Kaya really beat herself up over what happened. It tore at her, that she had permanently harmed her sister.”

“Wait, she’s the one that hurt you? How?”

“During the fight against the scalemaw, both Kaya and Momma transformed to face it. When it died, both of them were all bloodied, though Kaya was mostly fine. When I came to help, she…lashed out at me. Since I got knocked out, I got bathed in the large beast’s essence. As kids, on Orion we’re taught to shunt the essence away from us until we were old enough, but since I wasn’t awake… After that, something in me had shifted.”

She continued, “With momma gone, we only had each other. I did my best to not be a burden, but when my symptoms flared up, I’d get so weak.”

Nick looked over at her soul, and noticed that it had brightened–perhaps, to above the original level.

“Speaking of, I think you’re due for another mending. Whether it just be time passing, or absorbing essence, I think we can get one more in no problem.”

“Oh! Okay.” She smiled, but then her eyes grew teary. “I thought Kaya would be happy about me being healed, but somehow, it only made her sad.”

“I’m sure she’s happy, it’s just that a lotta things are changing for her all at once. The more she sees you in good shape, I bet the more it’ll hit home. I can tell she cares about you.”

He prepared to cast his spell by standing next to her with his hand on her back, and this time did what he could to weave the Soul Magic as it left his body. “Soul Mend!”

Cradling the sphere in his magic, he once again did his best to fill in the cracks. Much of the green receded, and this time, he was sure her soul grew as he did. It grew slightly dimmer as well, and he knew that if he cast a second time, she would get extra-tired like she did last time.

“We’ll leave it at that for now. How’d it feel?”

Eirwen beamed. “Great! I think it’s working! Do you know how many…?”

He shook his head. “With how many green cracks I saw when we started, I thought we had a hundred to go. But after only three mends, we’ve made a lot of progress. I did get a bit better at it, too, but I’d guess we’re probably getting close to half-way.”

“I… Thank you so much, Nick. You’ve been a real blessing, even if my sister doesn’t see it that way.”

“That’s alright, Eirwen. It just worked out. I’m glad I could help you, no matter what happens between us.”

She blushed, perhaps in remembrance of his declaration. “I…did you succeed in the Test?”

Nick did his best to tease her a bit. “What do you think? Did you believe I was gonna pass it? I sure said a lot before I went in, huh?”

She giggled. “You really did. And yes, something in me knew you were gonna do it. You certainly believed you would, but I believed you, too. So what did you–”

Eirwen was interrupted by a stomping and growling sound coming from the cavern.

Kaya appeared in her full red panda glory, and Nick thought she was even larger than before. Steam appeared to be billowing off her, and her breaths came out in a fog. Her eyes were filled with rage and pain, as she stomped through the entrance to the cavern.

Eirwen was filled with fear and worry. “Kaya! It’s me! You’re okay, you’ll be just fine!”

Her words were just met with a louder roar coming from the bestial Kaya.

Nick sighed. “Get ready to take care of a few bruises.”

“And claw marks, and bites? You’re not going to use your blade, are you?”

“Huh? You think I’m the one that’s gonna be hurt? You gotta have a bit more faith in your man.”

“M-My man? This is serious, Nick! She’s strong like this.”

“I am always serious. Don’t you worry your pretty little head. I’ll take care of this real quick, and Kaya and I will both be fine.”

Kaya charged on all fours, and Nick led her away from Eirwen. He filled himself with his body enhancement, and swayed under a swipe of Kaya’s clawed hand. Kicking the side of her furred knee, his goal was to make it buckle.

When he struck it, it felt like he was kicking a wall. It only buckled slightly, but the next several swipes came in furiously at him, causing him to have to dance out of the way from each one.

Nick quickly found himself getting pushed toward a wall, but he mixed in alternating kicks against each of her knees as he dodged her attacks. Thanks to her leg buckling, he was easily able to get out of the way of the wall.

She seemed strong and her claws and teeth looked dangerous, but he was faster. His elf-like body was nimble, so unless he got caught, he thought he could fight her all day if he had to.

Kaya became frustrated, and leaped at him. Swiping both of her claws as she did, her swipes missed. Using her momentum as she recovered from her leap, he elbowed her hard in the chin, snapping her muzzled head to the side.

Nick followed it up with a knee to the same that made her unsteady on her feet, and he danced away at her unfocused retaliation.

Eirwen shouted worriedly, “Don’t hurt her!”

Nick nearly laughed. The large claws of hers could easily disembowel him, and had been inches away from doing so more than once. There were a few close calls, but the leather armor he was wearing let the claws slide off thanks to the angle in which she struck.

Dazed, Kaya looked at him with an odd expression. He said, “Kaya, you in there? You’re making Eirwen real sad.”

She froze for a second, her eyes becoming unfocused.

“Eirwen believes it’s not your fault. You need to stop beating yourself up over it. If you work hard, you can control this. Even if you can’t, I’m here. I’ll make sure you can’t hurt your sister. There’s no need to be afraid.”

Kaya growled even louder than before, and Nick thought he saw her building up the red energy like the bearcoons he fought.

“Oh, shit. I’m gonna have to hurt her a bit, Eirwen.”

Her claws swiped at him brutally, and he was only barely able to sway his body back as if doing the limbo under a bar, springing forward and landing a vicious counter on her chin. She kept up her attack even faster now, the red energy making her persist through the pain.

His dodges and counters included his elbows and knees, striking her chin or her attacking hands. Kaya only used her claws, but Nick used his entire body. She now fought like a predictable beast, while he used precise technique.

Her tail reached out to wrap around his leg, but he drew his knife and cut into it instead. With a howl of pain, she tried to use her larger body to try to barrel into him, but he twisted and shoved her over his shoulder, slamming her into the ground with the classic judo throw. She was surprisingly heavy, but Nick was strong.

She howled in pain, but her claw grasped onto his leg painfully. He struck with his elbows powerfully into her wrist repeatedly, causing her to release. Only the leather armor kept her claws from piercing too deeply, but he knew he was bleeding.

Kaya was now unsteady on her feet as she got up, breathing heavily. The pain and hurt in her eyes had increased, from what he could tell. Nick really wished Kaya had brought that rope, he could be tying her up or something right about now.

Eirwen was crying now, and she approached from the side, just in Kaya’s line of sight. “Kaya, please… wake up! I… I still need you!”

Kaya’s raccoon-face changed its expression like she was slapped. She groaned, and her body began to change. Fur receded into her skin, and her body shrunk. Fur became hair on top of her head, and soon, naked flesh was shown to Nick’s eyes.

Eirwen caught her as she fell to her knees, and Nick went over to the backpack, finding a blanket on the inside.

Kaya seemed to have passed out, so Nick helped Eirwen move her near the fire.

“Is your leg okay?” Eirwen asked.

“It’s probably pretty bruised, but I don’t think her claws got too deep. She had quite the grip. I’d take care of her tail first, it sounded like it hurt a lot. Those are sensitive, right?” He looked at hers.

Eirwen’s little sheep tail arrived in her hand, her clutching it protectively. “Y-Yeah. I’ll bandage it real quick, but she’s got a load of bruises. Get your armor off, so I can take care of you next.”

“Yes Ma'am. Don’t have to tell me twice to get my clothes off. Kaya will be fine, don’t you worry.”

She giggled. “T-Thanks, Nick. I’m glad you’re here. Kaya gets mad at your humor, but I know you’re just trying to make me feel better.”

They spent some time taking care of Nick’s wound, and Eirwen got Kaya clothed and her bruises treated. Her tail now had a bandage as well.

When Kaya awakened, she pointed at Nick. “Y-You cut my tail!”

“Really? You come after me and your sister with claws and teeth, and that’s the first words outta’ your mouth?”

Her expression changed to that of remorse. “I-I’m sorry. I–”

“It’s okay, Kaya. I’m here, and I am fine. Everything’s all good now. Did you pass the Test? Hopefully that was worth something.”

Kaya looked proud, as she shared what she earned.

[Passive Ability Earned: Veins of Frost]

[+.75 Body, +.25 Soul]

[Power, anger and fury flow through your veins, and were tempered by unyielding cold and pain. Your body and soul are strengthened against the ice. Spells and abilities using ice affinity are less effective against you.]

Nick whistled. “Not bad at all. That’s two in one day. Sorry about that, Kaya. Your reward would have been more if I didn’t finish first.”

He shared his reward, and both girls seemed to remember his declaration, as they both blushed.

“That’s amazing though, Kaya. You did something that hadn’t been done in 27 years. You should be proud of yourself.”

“W-Why do I feel like you’re using me to brag?”

“Me? Nah, no way.” He grinned. “Still, whether I beat the Test or not, shouldn’t subtract away from you. You’re awesome, Kaya. I mean it.”

“Y-Yeah!” Eirwen added with a big smile at Kaya, “That’s amazing.”

Kaya couldn’t help but smile back, but then looked over at Nick’s bandaged leg. “I… Thank you. Sorry for the trouble. I really–”

Nick snorted. “Don’t worry about it. Look, I realize you’re worried about using your transformation, but guess what? I faced your worst. I’m still here, and nobody got really hurt. That skill is a part of you, so you should be able to use it. With me around, you don’t have to worry. You should work hard, and master it. That’s what the Tests and Trials are for, aren’t they? To make you better? Now’s the perfect time.”

Kaya frowned, but she reluctantly nodded at Eirwen’s worried look.

Nick looked at his armor again. “This armor I’m wearing, it was your mom’s right? I can tell it was made to stretch over her body, allowing her to transform. Why don’t you wear it, so you can use it while fighting?”

She sighed. “I… I don’t think I’m ready for that, and you need armor anyway–mine won’t fit you. We’ll practice at the next safe area. I… thanks, Nick.”

“No problem, Kaya. I gotta thank you for this haircut, after all. Made me snazzy and all that.”

Eirwen giggled at his ridiculousness and Kaya smiled, but she certainly looked tired. She now began to eat some stew, her eyes staring into the wall.

Nick asked, “You gonna try the Test too, Eirwen?”

“M-Me? Um…”

“I think you can do it, it can’t hurt, right? I do think using Body, Mind, or Soul, you can get an advantage to win. I mostly used Soul, but I mixed in Body toward the end.”

“I’ll do it! But, in the future. My Soul isn’t healed yet, and stressing it out seems like a terrible idea. I can do it later.”

He snapped his fingers. “Ah, you’re right. It didn’t seem like my level mattered, it certainly didn’t reduce my reward. It’ll be here the next time.”

Nick and Eirwen both had a bowl of the stew, and Nick went to the entrance of the cave and resummoned his Soul Servants. He wasn’t sure at what point it was, but they had been dispelled as he had trudged through the Optional Test.

At one point his mind was barely functioning with how much pain he was in, so he must have canceled them for the extra bit of soul power.

Recreating the two using the wolf and wollywompus corpses, he could tell Jerome was back, but the other spirit or soul within the furry crocodile was just random or drawn from somewhere else.

They rested and took a nap in some bedrolls hanging off Eirwen’s pack, but Nick couldn’t really fall asleep. He heard Kaya snoring after just a few minutes, and she had placed herself between Eirwen and Nick.

He whispered, “You awake, Eirwen?”

Eirwen’s voice was soft. “… How couldn’t I be?” Eirwen shifted to laying on her side and facing at Nick by propping her head up on her hand, looking over Kaya.

Nick couldn’t help but snicker at that, as it was punctuated by a loud snore from Kaya. He shifted to look over to her as well. They talked in hushed voices.

“At least someone is getting rest, though I get the feeling she’s not getting enough of it.”

Eirwen sighed. “She really doesn’t. Kaya has always worked hard, for me. My medicine didn’t come cheap.”

“Well, she doesn’t have to worry about that anymore, and not just because you’re healed. I’d do that and more, if you’d be my woman, Eirwen.”

She blushed. “J-Just then?”

Nick snorted. “I might be an okay guy, but I’m not selfless. I think I’d help you out while you’re in front of me, but I like the goals and the Quests given to me. They might have fallen into my lap, but I already had a life in which I suffered. I want to live this life to the fullest, and to do that I need followers, I need partners–wives that I can trust. If you refuse to let me pursue you no matter what, I don’t know what I’ll do, but I may have to move on.”

Eirwen frowned. “But you said you’d fight any dragon, climb any–”

Nick chuckled. “I did, didn’t I? And I meant that, but that depends on if it’s a no-no, rather than a no-maybe. I ain’t about to force myself on some girl that doesn’t want me. I ain’t into some one-sided thing. So, what’ll it be, Eirwen? You want to be my girl?”

Eirwen blushed, then got a mischievous smile as she tapped her lip. “Maybe-yes?”

Nick raised his brow, “Maybe-yes, what–”

She giggled. “Maybe I like the idea of you wining and dining me, or climbing a mountain for me? You’ll still do that if we have a little fun, right? How did you know I’d like that, by the way?”

Nick smiled. “Of course, I’m more than down for a little fun if you are, and we’ll still go on dates–that’s a promise. I didn’t really know. It was like…my body, or soul knew, maybe? I don’t know.”

“Well, I won’t say it’s the most important thing to me, but it seemed fun and romantic! Still, we can’t do much until we get out of this tower, can we?”

Nick snorted. “Why not? This girl is still snoring up a storm.”

Eirwen covered her mouth and stifled a giggle. “Well, the Ordeal is really not the place for that, but maybe at the next safe zone we can have more time to get to know each other? But also, I’m worried about Kaya. I think…she believes you’re taking me away from her, and she could tell if we…had a bit of fun.” She pointed to her nose.

Nick frowned. “What, she’ll smell us? I'm not so sure if I like the idea of sneaking around Kaya forever–”

“N-No, it won’t be for long, just until, maybe after we finish the tower? I think she’ll feel better then. I just don’t want to hurt her. Or perhaps I can use some dream magic… Can you do that for me, wait until then?”

“Oh snap, you can do something like that? I’m on board for some of that! I suppose that’s not much to ask. But the dream date sounds like fun, can we do that now? I might just be able to fall asleep knowing that was waiting for me, even with this snoring.”

Eirwen snorted. “I think we’ll really need real nightfall for that. Even with my magic, I don’t think we can sleep for hours in the middle of the day. We need a good sleep for that to work.”

“Alright, it’s a date. But I’m going to need something to hold me over.”

Nick stood slowly, and quietly moved around Kaya, coming up alongside Eirwen. Kaya’s ears started twitching as she snored, and Eirwen looked worried.

He leaned in, and she motioned, holding up her hand in a stopping motion as he moved to wrap his arms around her. Nick raised his brow, giving her a questioning look.

She blushed, then motioned to herself. Then leaned toward Nick but with her body away from him, so that they wouldn’t touch anywhere except their lips.

He’d take it. Eirwen’s cheeks were red, and as he leaned in, he couldn’t help but feel she looked cute. Her white curly hair framed her heart shaped face, and her sheep ears wiggled up and down in excitement as his lips met hers.

Enjoying the soft touch of her lips, he let it linger for a moment before pulling away. When he did, her face followed along with him, so he kissed her again. She had a sharp intake of breath, as her green eyes stared at him.

Smiling at her, Nick got up quietly and returned to his bedroll. Kaya continued snoring, his mission accomplished.

Nick whispered, “Let’s get some rest, the sooner we beat this tower, the sooner we get to enjoy the outside.”

Eirwen nodded with a blush, then turned to go to sleep.

Nick found himself able to fall asleep, and after a time, they woke up and got ready to leave the floor. Eirwen packed all her things by loading up her backpack, the bed rolls stored on the outside.

Nick and Kaya both checked their throwing knives and blades, making sure they were ready for the next floor.

“How ya feeling Kaya? Your tail all good?”

Kaya held her bandaged tail in her hand. “Y-Yeah. Eirwen’s bandages have essence soaked in them. I… I’m sorry, Nick, I’ve been real…obtuse with you. You’ve really helped us both, and even if you are…eccentric, I can see I can count on you.”

Nick nodded. “That’s right. You can just count on the fantastic, incredibly awesome Prince Torian.”

Kaya chuckled, and rolled her eyes with a small smile. “Don’t forget humble.”

Nick snorted. “Whachu trying to say? My awesomeness is only exceeded by my humbleness!”

Eirwen giggled, as they all continued their approach to the portal.

Nearing the portal to the next floor, Nick couldn’t help but realize.

“Man, that was kinda crazy. That was just the first floor!”