Book 5 - Chapter 24 - Divine Preparations (Patreon)

[Author Note: Hey guys -- This is a new chapter I concocted as I 'tried to update Tanda' in terms of making her feel a little more relevant in the last series of fights. In all honesty, it barely changes all that much. But I figured I would include this here, so you guys didn't miss out. A summary of the changes is:

1. Tanda gets the ability to absorb some deathly energy as nethril when enemies or allies die, kinda like the emberborn for her personal usage

2. She gets a heal over time, called Rejuvenation. She uses it occasionally throughout the rest of the book.

3. She gets Avenging Strike, which utilizes the nethril for an empowered attack. She uses it against the final boss at the very end, where she leaps in to Jake's defense, and she also uses it in a few other places and it hardly changes all that much. The key thing is it makes her fast and powerful, almost like Ophelia's intervene and strikes hard if she uses her Halberd, and the bow simply spreads at ton of death energy into the target, damaging it heavily besides piercing them.

The main thing in this chapter is they talk a little bit about what makes bloodberri special, and how they need to shift tanda's hearthvines to represent Death, but her heart wouldn't be able to take it -- because they used brigid to form the hearth in the first place. Anyway, I hope I didn't screw anything up here, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.]

Having received the divine sparks from defeating the Enforcer and the other Champions, it was important for Tanda to decide on how to use hers. Jake had likely received all he could from the divine sparks with his Aura of Heavenly Flames at this Tier, and becoming a Champion in the 0th TIer.

Ophelia, Fhesiah, and Bloodberri had already received their first divine spark and became Champions at this Tier, and thus would be unable to take on another until the next. Jake had an advantage over the girls, in that he started in Tier 0 with his. Tanda received this same advantage.

Moving Hestia’s shrine to the forest next to Cernunnos and Brigid’s within the Refuge, they communed with the several Divine.

Hestia, Cernunnos, and Brigid’s presences entered their statues within the outdoor shrine. Jake’s family stood across from them, and the Divine seemed to have a proud air coming from them.

Hestia was the first to speak, “What a momentous occasion. You truly defeated that Enforcer and his allies, then defeated all the terrible plots of Tartarus, completing your Tasks. You built and empowered your allies, while being strong enough to face the greatest challenges. The work to free Highlands is still not yet done, but if you remain vigilant like you always do, I’m confident in your success.”

Cernunnos chuckled. “Luck was truly on our side, what abundance! Now, our time here is limited. We must spend your divine spark with haste.”

Tanda’s ears were flat on her head. “Should I spend mine? Do you have enough to…be safe?”

Brigid responded, “Such a good child, for you to worry about us. But worry not, our allies were prepared for his triumphant return, and my dear mate is a pauper when it comes to divine sparks no longer. Not only that, but not all sparks are equal. Why, none of you–”

Hestia made a shushing sound. “That would be telling, wouldn’t it? Much more information should be available to you soon, once this world is reclaimed. The knowledge in your Sector is incomplete regarding Champions, but there is still much for you to learn.”

Cernunnos laughed. “For you, Tanda my dear–Your auril heart and hearthivy vines form a strange system. The auril heart consumes the life energy and vitality within your body, mixing with your spirit through its connection to create your own auril. Your hearthvines are empowered by the auril heart and consume all energies from the void, creating the flames of Brigid–much like Hestia’s, but more focused on the fertility of life. But your spirit embodies the deathly hunt, a part of the cycle of life and death in nature.”

Fhesiah nodded in thought. “Yes, her hearthivy vines, if they are to follow the rest of our family, they should embody deathly energy, rather than life. The deathly energy of her spirit manifestations are applied to auril through the cycle, and that works, but it doesn’t match her hearth at all.”

Brigid replied, “I had to provide my hearthivy vines to supply you with a hearth, and because of that, Tanda’s system is disconnected. It’s not easy to make this shift, as just using my mate’s deathly energies would not work well. Deathly vines would not survive in a beastkin’s body, or would be detrimental to them.”

Cernunnos added, “With this spark invested, I intend to enhance your heart and hearthivy vines toward a more complete system. We will start with allowing the auril heart to absorb and store deathly energy into your auril heart, creating nethril. That energy will either be able to be expended as nethril using a new spell, or reborn as life energy through its absorption, creating yet another cycle that enhances your body and spirit further.”

Jake thought he understood. She would be receiving a mechanic similar to the Emberborn, where her deathly hunts would recharge her or empower her–more than just the kill rewards provided by the Framework would on its own.

And this would push her closer to the next step–where they would shift her hearth to embody death, forming a complete system. Jake imagined this was a complicated shift, but thanks to this, that could happen at the next stage.

Tanda accepted, and a spark entered her chest. The divine energy entered her heart, shifting it and creating a more complete cycle. Over just a few moments, her heart grew, and her hearthivy vines were enhanced in their connection to the heart. Thanks to this change, it appeared her vines would mature even faster.

[Cyclical Auril Heart]
[Your Auril Heart was empowered by your patron deity once more, improving its connection to your spirit, but also creating a connection to nethril. Additional storage has been added as it grew, and like the bellows to a forge, your heart beats harder and the hearthivy vines draw more energy to be ignited from the void–increasing their growth and strength.]

[Misc Skill Learned: Death Absorption]
[Your auril heart can now feed off deathly energies. It can now create nethril from the death energy nearby. On ally deaths, far more is generated. Nethril will be consumed over time, as the life energy is reborn.]

Brigid smiled. “Your vines are nearly complete. Using mana within will be much easier for you, and your Technique you chose should be much enhanced. Now that your spirit has grown, you are ready for a few more abilities.”

[Druidic Spell Learned: Rejuvenation]
[Consume a combination of auril and mana, to create a magical seed of regrowth on the target. It will heal the target over time, restoring their health periodically over thirty seconds. Can refresh or stack the effect up to three times.]

[Champion Spell Learned: Avenging Strike]
[Consume built up nethril and auril to use a powerful attack with your bow or halberd. This attack is empowered greatly by deathly energies, such as your avenging flames.]

Hestia added, “Now, regarding the rest of you, we intend to focus your earnings on your personal Tier up. Using your Tier up, our intentions are to bring you all into balance as much as possible. It’s a bit of a gamble, but we will invest early. Often, we like space to steer the ship’s course, as it were, but this should be a strong opportunity.”

Fhesiah asked, “Just how are you investing in our Tier up, then? We’ve already earned Merit for our Racial improvements.”

Hestia replied, “The Framework will improve your race, but we have something else to aid. I’m a little biased, but I think you can all agree that your hearths are all something special, and important for your edge in battle and in life. We all agreed to focus on improving your Hearths further as you evolve.”

Jake chuckled. “I do agree, the hearth is definitely something that makes us all special. Our ability to fight long and hard was part of what helped us win in that last battle. Still, aside from boosting an ability or item, we’re not aware of any better options.”

Ophelia noted, “We hardly understand how Bloodberri’s odd hearth core even works, and it wasn’t even enhanced when she became a Champion.”

Hestia sighed. “I wish I could tell you more, to give you all the options and allow you to select. But regarding them, you did learn that Bloodberri is a descendant of a Divine’s Hero. This was a goddess that died before the Framework, so things were a little different back then. However, this is the reason things are different for them, just how could they have a hearth core made of just light and darkness, and my flames? Unfortunately, any other knowledge is restricted to you. When you reach the second Tier, more info will become available for you to learn or research. Until then, I hope that you will trust us to act in your best interests.”

Jake frowned in thought. He wondered what kind of knowledge was restricted exactly. One thing he had learned, was that some of those most faithful and long-lived would be able to channel the divine through them in special ways.

Bedwyr had a special attack he had gained after decades of faithful service and worship of Arawn, that at this Tier, required priestesses to channel their faith and mana into him to accomplish called Icy Death. It was powerful, though not at the level of calling a divine like a Champion. At the second Tier with enough time, Bedwyr may be able to use the ability on his own.

Perhaps, there was a sort of faith-based core or other ways to enhance themselves that they weren’t using, or were using without even knowing it. Certainly, his Divine Hearth Core had advanced more rapidly than he expected on Highlands, even without the dual cultivation.

Saving the people of Highlands and earning their faith and gratitude, a well as people choosing more clergy classes, might have increased the overall faith energy they were collecting.

Regrettably, this was something they couldn’t currently measure. Other than when he used his Divine Energy to call upon Hestia, or when he was in the Divine’s presence like now, he couldn’t perceive any kind of faith energy. Of course, they were linked, but he guessed their sensitivity to what would be miniscule particles must be too low.

Based on his original pace, he had estimated it would take a year sitting in his Refuge to reach the fifth level of his hearth core. But each of the girls had all progressed theirs just as rapidly as he had, and the special situations involving the Mana Font and collecting the Divine Sparks made it level up all at once.

With that in mind, what faith, divine and whatever other energies made up their Eternal Essence could accomplish appeared limitless. The idea that Bloodberri had some remnants of a dead goddess within them meant that Hestia–and now Echidna–could have repurposed some of this to aid them in ways they couldn’t understand.

Jake accepted. “You’ve certainly made sure that, with our own efforts, we’ve been prepared for the challenges we’ve faced. The hearth does make us special, so I’m looking forward to what happens next.”

Hestia chuckled. “I just know you will love the result. We shall meet again after the world’s conquest is completed.”

Hestia then focused on everyone. “With that, we shall part. You have much to look forward to, and we look forward to your future triumphs. Highlands should have a few years of peace, and I am expecting that I won’t have a Task for you for quite some time. You will get the rest and relaxation that you desire, and have the opportunity to raise your children if you so choose. Prepare your Guild during the Tier-up period, and yourselves as well.”

Cernunnos chuckled. “That’s right–it’s okay to slow down on your training and preparations for a time, but never stop. Keep sharpening your claws, to prepare for what comes next. There are countless wicked in need of punishment.”

They said their remaining farewells, becoming inert statues once more and leaving the Hart Clan alone in the clearing.

Fhesiah smiled. “Well, that was fun! So, now we’ll be even special-er, huh? When we make it to the next Tier, that is. What’s going to stand up to us when we already defeat our enemies so easily? Five Enforcers?”

Blood hummed. “As strong as we are as Champions, we cannot win the Raid by ourselves. The future conflicts we shall be a part of will require us to have powerful and numerous allies. Not only that, but people we can trust, that are loyal to us.”

Berri groaned. “You mean more people? I can barely remember all the names of the friends we already have!”

Ophelia chuckled. “You don’t remember them, though. You still call Amara book lady! Whether you forget a dozen names or a hundred, is there really any difference?”

Tanda asked Jake, “So, what next? I feel a bit stronger already!” Suddenly, she activated her Technique, Avenging Flames. Her auril heart beat, and her flames took on a more deathly quality, a more powerful embodiment of her spirit.

She then swung her halberd a few times, testing out her power. She cast Rejuvenation on herself, a glowing green light giving off healing energy. With that, it appeared she could keep her Avenging Flames up nearly all the time, or amp them up for even more strength.

She deactivated it, but marveled at the feeling of her enhanced auril heart connection. “That felt powerful! I think my attacks will be just a bit stronger now.”

Fhesiah noted, “I think that must have increased your affinity with the deathly energies. Maybe some nethril was even drawn in, over the Song of the World?”

Tanda nodded. “I think you’re right! Not much, but I think it’s there.”

Jake thought about the utility of the ability. Most likely, it would build up as more creatures died around her. Many of the boss battles in the future were going to have mechanics with various creatures spawning, and their deaths would empower her. It would make her stronger as the fight went on.

Jake chuckled, as he removed his new shield from his storage bracelet. “That’s great, Tanda. You’re really catching up to us in strength now. I’m going to work on this shield Ophelia made me. I want to make it like hers, but using my Hearth Control.”

Blood looked at the shield in interest. “I like this idea. Maybe someday, I can earn that skill and do the same? My telekinesis is getting good, but controlling something like that seems a little tedious.”

Fhesiah kissed Jake on the cheek as she began to leave. “We all have our own preparations to make. We’ll see you later?”

Receiving hugs and kisses from each of his girls, Jake returned to his workshop.

Jake then followed through with creating the enchantment. Thankfully, he didn’t need to connect the scripts to his soul, and instead used the crafted Hearth inside it. It resembled the Olympic torch in the center of the shield, and filling it with his hearth flames, he could make it float in place or fly it around.

Practicing with Ophelia, he found that he could mostly block her blows, without investing too much mana. Most of what the shield contained would hardly be consumed as he floated it around, the efficiency good. This allowed him to use his weapon in a two-handed grip, able to bring much more power about if he was forced to melee.

He didn’t think he would use this feature overly much, but if he had to, it was there. Like her Hearth of Hestia, he could easily float it around and control his Hearth flames near it, to create barriers or send spears of flames out.

To block a more significant attack than a simple blow, he would definitely need to invest his mana, or he would just be smacked with his shield as the attack crashed into him.

It would take some practice, but Jake thought this was a good way to train his Hearth Control.

Jake’s next project was working on some special arrows for Tanda, but he was unsure if he would make it in time for the next Greater Rift. Still, each of the family members had come a long way. They were ready for the next challenge.