Soul Knight - Chapter 41 (Patreon)

When they met with the enemy drakes, they were already not far from the city’s walls. They had just barely managed to arrive in time, Nick’s party leaping off of Jerome and Jasper, still within the forest and just before the clearing.

The two soul servants were quick to tackle the leading drakes from the side, rolling over them and tearing into their flesh. Nick’s Frost Aura washed over them, and he charged in with his soul blade as Kaya transformed and fought next to him.

A war of claws and teeth was waged, as more drakes quickly surrounded his soul servants. The trees only barely funneled the creatures, the monsters crashing through the forest in anger. Jerome and Jasper both used essence abilities of their own, covering their red scales in essence.

With the enemy drakes slowed and crashing into one another, Nick’s blade had a much easier time of attacking the same point twice, and slashing deeply into them after he removed scales. He did his best to draw the creatures from Jerome and Jasper, and his success was only marginal.

They had a ton of blood from enemy drakes on them, and it was like they knew the two were the cause of many of their brethren’s deaths. But that was just fine for Nick, as that gave his aura more time to slow and freeze them.

Eirwen quickly took to the trees, firing her crossbow when she could. Rebecca fought next to Kaya, protecting her flanks with her crowd controlling punches and kicks. The wolflings howled, their dozens of spears punching into the drakes from their sides.

They kept their bodies low to the ground, dashing in and out and staking their spears, confounding the slower drakes by using the bushes and shrubbery to their advantage. They targeted where Nick’s frost was overcoming their limbs, finding the flesh weaker where they attacked.

The wounds quickly mounted on the many drakes, and Nick had heard nearly a dozen death wails, but they were still getting surrounded. The drakes glowed red with essence, sending claws of red after Nick and his allies.

Nick kept on the move, and Kaya danced as she swung her axe blades, controlling the drake’s tempo as she struck out with her feral energies. Wolflings were wounded, but they were quick to move their fallen brethren out of the way and continue on the attack.

But there were just too many, and Jerome and Jasper were finally taken out in a storm of claws and teeth.

He was thinking of raising another Soul Servant from a corpse, but knew it would take most of his mana. Instead, he decided they would back off. “Fighting retreat! We’ll–”

A massive drake burst through the trees nearby, sending wood showering over their party. The monster was easily twice the size, and immediately stood on its hind legs and swung with a claw full of red essence, sending a sharp wave of it straight for Kaya.

Eirwen used Omni Barrier on Kaya, but the thin aura was destroyed as she was sent flying. Caught by Sable, she darted in and took Kaya away from the threat as it continued its charge.

Rebecca backed off with the two, with several drakes still chasing. Thankfully, Nick’s Aura had been inhibiting several of them for some time now, and she managed to leap into a tree, following Eirwen as she crossed the branches before they could catch up.

Nick’s Aura didn’t even slow the alpha drake, but that didn’t matter to Nick after he saw Kaya hurt. Roaring, he stirred his essence with power and resolve, a determination to overcome this foe as his chains of Body and Soul essence wrapped around his body, powering his limbs.

The beast was distracted in its chase for Kaya, and he came from the monster’s blindside. Flooding his body with essence, he used Power Strike. Every muscle moved with perfect coordination, as he slashed powerfully into the monster’s hind leg with his blade of white light.

His blade cut deep, but the monster was large and it didn’t stumble. It groaned in pain as it turned and swung at him, but he just rolled under and slashed repeatedly into its underbelly. Blood showered onto Nick, and it roared, sending out a wave of red essence. The energy sent Nick flying away and into a tree, him grunting in pain.

It roared loudly in anger again, the sound different than previously, him feeling a stirring in his Body Core–a challenge. Nick glanced at the girls, and saw that they were safe up in the trees. His wolflings too ran from tree to tree up in the boughs, and it seemed Nick was the only one in danger, facing the alpha drake.

In Nick’s peripheral, he noticed that the many drakes had actually stopped their murderous charge to watch the battle, just outside the range of his Frost Aura. Nick realized he had a perfect opportunity to delay the herd of murderous drakes, and without risking anyone else.

Nick gave his battle cry, the martial arts kiai once more. He blurred as he leapt toward the drake, but the creature’s eyes narrowed on Nick, its claw striking out at him with perfect timing.

Nick jumped over the claw, even though he was already in the air using Double Jump. He was sent forward with a flipping spin, despite his forward momentum making the platform difficult to create.

He stabbed deeply into the creature’s shoulder with his blade of white light, then he repelled by kicking off from the monster’s chest as he withdrew it in a shower of blood.

The alpha roared, and began its chase of Nick. It swung its claw filled with red essence, and Nick just barely duck and rolled under it. The red energy carried beyond him and into a tree, cleaving right through it and causing it to fall.

Nick dashed in, and tried slicing at its front legs, but was met with a counter of its claws with surprising speed, before its head whipped out. Just as he dodged, Nick was forced to use Double Jump again, just barely moving out of the way of the alpha drake’s other claw.

The monster seemed to be learning about what he was capable of doing, and Nick had difficulty wounding it further. Thankfully, he had a method, but he would only get one shot at it.

The monster’s eyes narrowed, and it took a deep breath as its head reared.

“Ah, shit.”

Nick gathered his essence into his legs, as he crouched and prepared to jump. A flame like that from a flamethrower was spewed from the drake’s mouth, a thin, liquid-like cone of fire sprayed at Nick. He leapt to his right with his legs first, his feet crashing into the tree as he grabbed onto a branch, to hold himself up.

The spray followed him, so Nick leapt again, higher into the air. Using Double Jump he leapt higher, and his hands grasped onto a high branch and pulled himself up onto it as the burst of flames neared him.

Running along the branch, he jumped high, sending him just above the drake alpha, charging the essence into his soul blade as it lit into a blinding white light.

Activating Essence Burst, his accumulated essence combined with his own blasted down beneath him. The beam fired into the creature’s mouth just as its flames petered out from above as he fell, and it burst through the back of the monster’s mouth, the blast of essence ripping through the monster’s skull.

Nick did his best to use Double Jump on his way down, to slow his fall–but his feet slipped, and landed almost flat on his face, next to the dying alpha drake. Nick grunted as his body took the hit, the impact feeling like Lothar had hit him in the chest powerfully with a mace.

His ribs cracked as he groaned in pain, but he twisted his body to take a look at what was happening.

Only to find the large drake’s body falling toward him. But he was quickly whisked away, Luna and Fang grabbing him and carrying him away.

Pain rippled through Nick’s body, his wounds being disturbed. He was nearly delirious with pain as he groaned, the two running away with him. To Nick’s surprise, there didn’t appear to be a whole lot of noise, he had expected the ground to be shaking as the angry drakes chased. Instead, the steps seemed orderly.

Relief flooded him as Eirwen and Rebecca’s magic filled Nick, restoring his wounds.

Nick was nearly delirious from the pain as his flesh knit, “Hehe, beat the drake, almost died from the double fall. Those are really tough.”

He knew it would take a bit of time for his ribs to mend, but he felt them making a connection quickly.

He heard Eirwen’s voice from behind him, before her head filled his vision. “That was reckless, hubby, but lucky. It seems like…they are leaving.”

[Trial of Leadership Update: The Young Alpha Drake was defeated by Nicholas Noblefrost in single combat, ending the young drake threat. Reward for Trial Closure has been increased.]

[Trial of Leadership Completed. Trial Closure in: 68 hours, 27 minutes. All Trial Takers besides Nicholas Noblefrost and his party have been ejected from the Trial, his party being found the victors. Your party must exit the Trial within 48 hours.]

[Rewards calculation pending Exit. Your Followers are owners of the Nagduros and Zura Ordeals and Crown Sanctums. Should you wish it, they may be combined with Havendale on Closure, instead of them being restored to their original locations. You have until Trial Closure to decide, claim your Crown Sanctum and make your selections. You must visit your Crown Sanctum to fully claim the Ordeal before Trial Closure, or your Followers will be transferred to their original locations.]

Nick’s body sagged with relief as he read the messages, with Kaya, Rebecca, Eirwen and the wolflings gathered around him. He winced as he sat up, but was still filled with excitement, “Yes! Finally going to be able to get some answers. What’s a Crown Sanctum?”

Eirwen giggled, and Nick knew she got the same notifications. “It’s what you call Lothar’s house, at the bottom of the tower. It’s customizable, using the various resources you earn from the Ordeal and running your fledgling kingdom. I actually know a bit about this because it’s in the Hero’s Path book!”

Nick gave a sigh of relief. “That’s great, I wouldn’t know heads or tails about this kinda thing. What about you, Becca?”

She looked ashamed, her cheeks dusting in embarrassment. “My father was very…quiet about a lot that went on in his Crown Sanctum. There were books in the library on the topic, though. I just haven’t read them.”

Eirwen beamed. “You don’t have to be ashamed for your father’s actions, Becca! That’s right! You have a library! Oh, I can’t wait to visit it. Havendale didn’t even have a real library.”

Rebecca gave her a sad smile. “Thanks, Eirwen. We have pride in ours! We had books shipped from all over our Shard. I’ll be happy to show you around, should you visit.”

The sound of hooves reached Nick’s ears, Lothar and Agatha arriving on horses, with several warriors. Lothar did not dismount, as he called out to Nick.

“You made it, princeling–No, Lord Noblefrost, now!” He gave a hearty laugh. “Congratulations! It’s amazing you were able to restore your Heritage. There is much work to be done! We have war trophies, and much essence to be gathered! This has been a huge boon for our people.”

Agatha chuckled. “Congratulations, young master. You made an oath, a pact–and you fulfilled it, saving the people of Nagduros in truth. Our people are forever in your debt, and you now have honorable warriors ready to fight for you.”

Nick smiled. The people of Nagduros were his now, and only he could relieve them from being his followers. “We need to talk, Lothar. But we can work on cleaning up, first.”

Lothar nodded. “That’s right–Trial Closure and Exit. When Ordeals are involved, it can be a lot more complicated. I’ll leave you for now, but I will call upon the craftsman of Nagduros to aid in dismantling these beasts now that the threat is defeated. It looks like the mines we fought over will now be yours, whether you choose for our Ordeals to be restored to their original locations or not.”

Agatha added, “I do believe you should be able to use our map within our Sanctum, to make the best decision. We have a little bit of time, and we’ll be happy to aid you in this. Let’s meet tonight or in the morning? We’ll be partying tonight, so heal up!”

Lothar gave Nick a complicated look, his voice solemn, “The men are gathering those that fell in battle. They should be brought here to you soon, but–it doesn’t look like there is much, or any of them left, of some of them. Are you…going to be able to resurrect them?”

Nick frowned, and he was touched with emotion, his chest tightening. On the same day he gathered his many followers, they might have died under his orders. Then, it was like he might have failed them. He might be able to put them into another corpse or creature, but was that really living? He had promised to protect them with his pact as their lord.

“I… I’m not sure, honestly. If their head is still attached to their body, I should be able to. If it’s not… I may have to find an alternative.”

Agatha looked on with tired eyes, nodding. “They knew going into battle that they might die. It is normal on Orion, to assume when one dies outside of the Ordeal that this is the end for them. That you can give them a shot at continuing to live is still special, but not completely unheard of. Either way, they fought honorably, dying with pride.”

Lothar nodded. “Do your best, young Lord, and that will be enough. Rest well.”

Lothar and Agatha took off toward Nagduros on their horses.

Eirwen dusted herself off as she stood, and put a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, hubby, I’m sure there’s an answer. Cheer up! We’re all alive, and it’s time to get Looting! These second stratum monsters should have all sorts of good stuff!”

She began marching away, “Let’s get working, wolflings! Hubby needs some rest still, and even Kaya is a bit wounded from that heavy blow.” She walked over to the nearest drake corpse, and the wolflings followed her to help with the dismantling of the creatures.

While Nick knew they couldn’t understand her words, they quickly got the message, causing him to chuckle, his chest feeling like knives piercing him from the action.

Nick frowned as he thought of all the wasted essence. “But I’m at the cusp of the second stratum, the essence here will be wasted. Is there something special I need to do?”

Rebecca was baffled. “W-What? You don’t know what to do? Why would you enter an Ordeal without knowing how to cultivate to the next stratum?”

Kaya chuckled. “Havendale is a backwater location, and Nick is a bit special–in many ways. We’ll fill you in, but you’ll need to keep this all a secret from all but Nick’s Followers.”

They did their best to explain the situation in Havendale, and a little bit about Nick’s situation–that he was an Archaen, and the last of his kind. The idea that he came from another world was hard for Rebecca to understand, but Kaya explained it like a shard that didn’t have Orion’s rules and essence inside.

“That’s fascinating! I can’t imagine a world without essence, and without essence, there can’t be mana. I’d like to learn more about this world.”

Nick chuckled. “I won’t mind telling you more about it, but we can return to the original topic. How should I enter the second stratum?”

Rebecca sighed. “I don’t know that much about entering the second stratum either, but the purest path is to just condense your cores. It’s the most common thing done by those that climb the Ordeals, and it is not a weaker path.”

“What other options are there?”

“I told you about the Nexus Core, but there are a few others I am aware of. The common goal among those in Zura is to create a faith core. Using all the divine essence we gain from worship and our spiritual energy gathered in our mind and soul, we establish our faith core. The higher the purity of our souls, the greater the faith core.”

Nick smiled as he looked at her soul again. “You got nothing to worry about there, Becca. I doubt you can be more ready than you are now.”

She blushed. “W-What? Oh that’s right! You can really see it?” She giggled. “And here I thought you might really be able to see through my clothes.”

Kaya’s tail flickered as she smirked, and teased, “Oh? But you didn’t complain, huh?”

Rebecca’s face grew redder. “W-Well, I couldn’t sense him doing anything! If he could see through mine, that means he could see through everyone’s. That he spent so much time looking at mine was…flattering? B-But, if everyone is naked, then it’s like nobody is! I…didn’t know what to feel.”

Nick snorted a laugh. “That’s some good reasoning there–it’s kind of like nude beaches back on Earth. But no, I can see souls, and sense them, and yours is radiant. So–What other options do you know?”

“Well, that’s just the thing. There are more options, but they are specific to other races and peoples, their many Ideals and Concepts. It’s also possible to form specialty cores in the second stratum, but adherents of Seraphara are taught to create their Faith Core now, in the first.”

Nick groaned. “Well, I suppose it’s not the end of the world to lose all this essence. Essence is easy for me to get in the Ordeal–I can even have soul servants farm it. I need to go into my barrows and maybe there will be something in my heritage.”

Kaya sat down next to Nick. “Oh! That reminds me. Now might be the perfect time–for me.”

Nick thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “That’s right! Is it time to change your class to beast warrior? Hell yeah!”

Kaya blushed. “I think so! You are well protected now, and there are no enemies here. We have enough time for me to recover before Exit.”

Nick nodded. “Go for it! Rebecca and I can watch over you. Though, are you going to be able to walk? I thought this was going to take more than a day or something, isn’t it better to be in a bed?”

Rebecca shook her head. “No, she should be able to move just fine. But anything involving essence will be harmful for her for the next few days, from the strain on her cores.”

Kaya’s essence stirred, as she selected the class. Nick watched her soul, as something was layered on top of it, her soul blurring as it did. It condensed as her soul shrunk, and she groaned in pain, her face scrunched up.

Nick saw her soul become somewhat misshapen and strain, and what looked like stress cracks forming. It wasn’t nearly as bad as Eirwen’s originally was or misshapen, but he thought he could help. After a few minutes of this happening, it was completed.

He noted, “Huh, I might be able to help a little with healing that. Though, I don’t know about your Mind or Body cores.”

Rebecca frowned. “Changing classes is definitely a more drastic change on one’s soul than one’s body or mind, but it can depend on the class. Since she’s a warrior, I suppose Body may be affected even more. I may be able to help a little bit with healing the Body, but eating some of this drake meat will help even more.”

Nick used Soul Mend, noticing the cracks being filled. His immense Soul Power now had a much larger effect than in the past, and now, it healed much more completely.

Rebecca used her healing as well, the white light filling her body.

Kaya sighed. “That felt great–but I’m hungry now. Just like with Winny, huh? If we had known this, I could have become a beast warrior before the main assault. Still, it wasn’t worth the risk.” She stirred her essence, wincing. “I still can’t absorb essence for now.”

Nick nodded. “We didn’t know what we didn’t know, and, we didn’t have Becca here. Get anything good?”

Kaya’s eyes unfocused, as she looked at her Menu. “R-Right, I lost two levels, bringing me back down to level 7. My passives now increase my strength and speed while in Beast Transformation even more than before, and even during partial transformation.”

She continued, “Then, another that lets me power these axes and help my feral essence travel, allowing me to send ranged slashes–kind of like the alpha drake you saw. The iconic ability of the beast warrior is the Feral Strike, which is a fast, yet fierce attack that uses my feral essence like a claw swipe or a bite, even with my hands busy, like a third hand.”

She continued to look over her Menus. “I have a choice between getting stronger and more feral as the fight goes on, or to help my essence penetrate armor and essence better.”

Nick thought about it. “With how worried you were about ferality, I feel like the armor penetration is better. Still, that’s up to you, Kaya. If you become my Wife, you’ll become an Archaen Beast Warrior, right? That might shift things too.”

Rebecca stammered, “H-Huh? Kaya’s going to become your wife too? Is that…okay?”

Nick chuckled. “You heard me before. I’m the last of my kind. That’s a big burden for just one wife to take on, to raise numerous heirs and keep us from destruction, and fight by my side. It’s my duty, and my Quest–If I’m going to raise a powerful House and Race from the ashes of extinction, quality and quantity have to be kept in mind. Am I wrong?”

Rebecca blushed, as she fiddled with her habit’s skirt section. “T-That, I guess it’s not wrong, but…”

Kaya chuckled. “And us beastfolk are fine with it, so I don’t see the problem? Anyway, I’m feeling much better now, thanks for the healing, Nick and Becca. I think I’m going with the penetration.”

Rebecca smiled. “You’re welcome, Kaya. You are a powerful warrior–I could tell when you guarded against my blows, without hurting me. The shadows were driving my body, and I felt so helpless. Thank you, for keeping me from hurting anyone.”

Kaya chuckled, then teased, “You’re a lot stronger than you look! I kinda wanna see through those clothes too, just to see how toned you must be!”

Rebecca blushed. “Many of us under Seraphara work hard on our bodies, to protect ourselves against Orion’s dangers. Cultivation and exercise increase the purity of our bodies, through control and discipline.”

Kaya continued her teasing of Rebecca, and Nick just chuckled, looking at the wolflings dismantling, and even beginning cooking some of the drake’s meat, smacking and licking their lips.

They had won, and Nick was filled with relief.