SoF Ch. 31-40 (Patreon)

Hiro handed Tilly a cloak at the entrance and threw a matching one over himself, “We do not know the capabilities of the enemy’s network, but if there is even a chance we could be thought dead for some time, it will be to our advantage.” He then shrugged deeper into his hood and moved out into the deserted street.

They moved with their heads down, and Tilly tried to copy Hiro in the way he slumped his shoulders and lost some of the purposefulness of his steps. As the streets became more crowded, they found themselves in good company, moving through crowds of refugees worn and weary from their hopeless flight.

Tilly found it easier and easier to slump his shoulders and step hesitantly as they moved through crowds of hundreds, then thousands of people doomed to whatever fate awaited them once their last protectors fell. There were just too many... Hiro's words from the day before seemed less cold and more pragmatic as Tilly tried to wrap his mind around the logistics of moving these people to some sort of extraction point. Or even if they succeeded, where would we keep them? What would they eat? Tilly's demands the day before felt childish and he couldn’t help but wince as he followed the Samurai Lord carrying the weight of his whole people's survival on his shoulders.

Hiro took him to the side of a building near a particularly busy intersection and grunted to him in a low voice, “Follow me at a distance now, we will be entering a particular shop, but we must not be seen together. I'll go in first and you follow a few minutes after. We are to move to the back of the shop and request a view of some of the more exotic species.”

“What kind of shop is it?” TIlly questioned back, trying to talk out of the side of his mouth as a patrol of guards moved through the crowd at the intersection.

“Ah... I should have warned you. We are meeting in the residence of the only other known human element in this conflict. She apparently has quite a few connections pertinent to our cause.”

Before Tilly could ask another question, the guards shouted to a nearby group of hooded men standing in a huddle and demanded that they reveal themselves and state the nature of their business in the capitol. Hiro's eyes hardened, and he nodded firmly at Tilly and then moved off around the edges of the crowd towards a line of shops.

Tilly’s mind was reeling, the memory of the teary-eyed woman barging past him at the top of the Cura’s steps came to the forefront of his mind. Much of the strangeness of his situation had just been shoved in a box at the back of his mind labeled, “shit I'll deal with when I am not about to die”. But the prospect of meeting another human, who must have had some sort of similar experience with the Administrator…

Tilly growled softly to himself as he shoved the straining lid of the box back down and found a mental lock to fix the latch. He could have an existential crisis later when the possibility of genocide and slavery was no longer looming for the people around him.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Hiro’s figure approached a door particularly crowded with refugees to a shop with some sort of stylized plant emblazoned on a sign over the door. Tilly watched the storefront for a while longer and realized under prolonged observation, that the crowd of refugees around the shop were all adolescents or children and some of them seemed to be much more alert than the other groups Tilly had seen populating side streets and alleyways throughout the city.

After a few minutes, Tilly decided to go for it. He crossed the street as unassumingly as possible. None of the children looked up at him or even acknowledged his presence, but Tilly could tell they were distinctly aware of him nonetheless. Another thing that became apparent as he moved through the small crowd toward the door was that they were sick. All of them.

He could hear it in the troubled wheezing breath of a little female satyr to his left. He saw it in a small gnomish boy who had a disturbing rash spreading over his neck and face. When the boy caught Tilly looking he scowled up at him and then looked away, the sudden contraction of his skin causing a few of the sores to weep a dark gray substance. A hacking cough sounded behind him, and he suddenly couldn't just walk past them toward the door anymore.

His feet froze in place and he found himself kneeling down in front of the wheezing satyr girl propped up against the storefront. Her eyes had a glassy sheen as they struggled to focus in on the large shadow that had just blocked out the afternoon sun. Tilly’s medical training kicked in as he assessed rales in the lungs and an obviously altered consciousness, which could be due to septic shock or a prolonged viral infection. He wished he had some antibiotics or fluids to give her, but he wasn’t on the engine anymore and he would have to work with what he had.

“Hey, sweetie… I can hear you having a little trouble breathing. Anything in this shop that can help you?” Tilly asked, the typical gruffness draining from his voice, as he realized he didn't care how impossible the odds were. He was going to help these people, no matter the cost. Logistics be damned.

The girl just looked at him confused, but the young gnomish boy with the rash chimed in next to her, “The lady inside has already tried all the normal things. None of them worked. She is keeping us around to try out some different remedies… But I don't think they will work either. We came here to be safe from the Scale-bellies, but look where that got us. Sick and without family.” The boy spit to the side, a look of long-kept fury smoldering behind his eyes. Then when he saw Tilly looking at him again, he quickly looked away, wiping his shining eyes and refusing to look back.

Tilly felt choked up as he looked back around at the children huddled around the doorway to the shop. Some seemed watchful and were eyeing him with curiosity, while others like the little satyr girl were in a daze. The weight of their helplessness threatened to topple him over from his kneeling position and he reached for something, anything he could do for them.

The ever-present fire that he now felt in his chest stoked itself. It didn’t grow any hotter, instead building up pressure until it overflowed up his throat and hovered, just behind his closed mouth. Following some deeper instinct that seemed to answer his groping for some way to help, he took a deep inhale and then released his breath right into the face of the little girl. No flames appeared, but he did feel some drain on his mana and he wondered what was happening. Her short curly hair moved gently in response to his breath and she closed her glassy eyes at the sensation.

The strangeness of his action hit him and he looked around suddenly embarrassed at the refugee children that were watching him. He got up, pretending that nothing that had happened, and wishing that he hadn't done something so weird to a little girl that had already experienced enough. He quickly moved to the door, the sound of the gnomish boy reacting to his odd behavior following him in,

“Tinkerer's Ball’s, that was weird. He looked like he would have terrible breath. Glad he didn't try and breathe on me...”

Tilly hunched his shoulders at the comment as the door swung closed and found himself in an open room filled with plants. He had yet to get a chance to enter a magical shop, but he was not disappointed.

Different sections and surfaces held different crystals above them providing separate kinds of light and temperatures. Each of these areas was stuffed full of strange plants. One tuft of grass in a clay pot to his left was swaying in a breeze that did not exist, another blood-red flower seemed to tip its petals toward him as he walked past, delivering a distinct impression of hunger. He saw his notification log flashing, but he decided he didn't have time to look at the names of all the plants in the store.

Tilly suppressed a shiver at the thought of another plant trying to eat him and quickly moved through the maze of tables and shelves covered in plants to the back counter where a bored-looking female minotaur sat checking a scroll and grinding some seeds into a paste with a mortar and pestle. Tilly approached and drew back his hood,

“Hi, I was wondering where I could go to see some more exotic species?” He stated, making sure to get the phrasing just right.

“Gods, I do hate that Librarian of yours,” she said, looking up from her work with a frustrated expression.

“I mean, we know there is another human in the city now, and obviously there is only one Lord of the lapin people…Do they think im an idiot, that I wouldn't know who to let through without a code phrase?”

“Well, I was ju-”

“No, no. Don't bother. Just go through the door and up the stair mister spy man. The rest of the ‘Cabal’ is up there.” She interrupted, swinging up part of the counter on a hedge and giving him access to the door to the back.

“Uh, thanks,” Tilly said, a little of his frustration bleeding into his voice at the misunderstanding. He moved passed the minotaur and through the doorway when he heard her voice call after him.

“Oh, and do not piss off my master. I don't care if you are both humans. She has enough on her plate, and we don't need another of your kind bashing in here and trying to mess everything up by helping.”

Tilly just scowled in response, not bothering to correct yet another set of assumptions about who he was and what he wanted based on his race alone. He moved up the narrow stairs on the left of the hallway that sat behind the doorway and noticed his notification icon blinking again.

He toyed with the idea of bringing it up, but then he heard a harsh voice ring out from the other side of the door at the top to of the steps.

“Why don't you stop being an ass and tell us, Cornelius! Is he alive or dead? How can we make any plan if the old monster is a wild variable?” Notification log forgotten, Tilly opened the door, not wanting to miss whatever was happening to decide the fate of the refugees filling the streets outside.

He opened the door to a simple large open room dominated by a center work table that was surrounded by six figures as different as could be. They each turned to him as he entered, studying him with expressions ranging from curiosity to suspicion. Unfortunately, the latter expression was held by the speaker of the question Tilly had heard through the door.

She did not seem at all excited to see him, and her near hostility irritated him in a way that was difficult to pin down. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't even noticed him yesterday, or the fact that he was the only other of her kind in the entire city, and yet she eyed him like he had just been caught eavesdropping or something. The feeling that accompanied being identified pinged in his mind, and he went ahead and identified them all back.

Directly to his right was Hiro, who stood erect with his arms crossed, nodding to Tilly in solidarity. Then there was Elder Kihei, who leaned on his staff wearing an expression of subtle amusement. Next to him was the other human, whose name he did not know but his skill identified as:

Level 32 Botanist Surveyor

She wore the same safari-style white blouse and pants with a long leather coat over it all that had a ridiculous amount of pockets. To her left was an impeccable armored Satyr covered in scars. He only offered the human a cursory glance before turning back to the map coving the table.

Level 62 Bastion of the Empire

Next to him was a portly minotaur in relatively rich robes that was sitting comfortably in the only chair in the room, although it did not seem to be doing well holding him.

The final member was an older satyr in formal-looking servant's garbs, with a prominent badge trimmed in silver pinned to the front.

Level 41 Imperial Steward.

“Why is he here again?” she stated in frustration pulling the attention of the room back to her.

“He may mean something to you Hiro, but he’s only level 12. What could he possibly have to add to this discussion? ” She said, leaning over the table and staring at Tilly like a full trash bin that no one wanted to take out.

That was the last straw for Tilly, he was tired of all the unearned hostility thrown his way without him getting any chance to defend himself.

“Look lady, I don't know what I did to piss you off, but I’m just here to help those kids out on the street, and if you-”

“Don't you dare speak to me about helping the children!” She shouted suddenly furious.

“I haven't slept in days, trying to find some way to beat this accursed malady that has infected them. You don't get to come in here-”

The door slammed into Tilly’s back as it was suddenly flung open. He turned to see the female minotaur from behind the counter barging in carrying the little satyr girl in her arms. Following behind her legs was the same little gnomish boy from the front of the shop.

She laid down the little girl with exaggerated care on the table, and the whole room was filled with the crackling liquidy sound of her breathing.

“The children say he did something to her, and she started getting worse. She now has a fever which was not recorded in her documented symptoms.” The minotaur said, looking over at Tilly with open hostility now roiling in her gaze.

“Yeah, hold your nose when he talks to you! I'm pretty sure it’s his breath.” the gnomish boy added unhelpfully.

CH. 32 Negotiations

“Shit…” Tilly cursed under his breath.

“Just perfect!” The woman said, barging past the elder and Hiro to join her colleague over the child. She placed the back of her hand on the little girl's head and pulled it away immediately. She whirled around to face Tilly, her eyes flashing with rage.

“YOU! Tell me what ability you tried to use, and its effects. Now.” She demanded, thrusting the fingers of her right hand into his chest while reaching into one of her many pockets menacingly.

“I didn’t use any abili-” Tilly's agitated reply was cut off by the sudden sound of a deep racking cough from the girl. She was almost choking and the minotauress lifted up her small convulsing form to attempt to give her a better angle to expel whatever she was dislodging.

The coughing was so violent that it completely derailed the conflict as all eyes moved towards the girl in concern, not even the hardest of their number able to witness the death of a small child with indifference.

With a final choking heave she spat out something dark and viscous on the table. It was terrible to imagine something like that in the girl's lungs. But upon expelling it, the girl displayed obvious relief, sighing and leaning back into the minotauress' arms and breathing easily for the first time.

Then to his horror, Tilly noticed the small back coagulations start to move on its own. Before he could even cry out, Hiro’s midnight-black blade was flashing down on the table. Destroying the substance and leaving a significant score on the work surface.

“What in the Name of the Gods is going on?!” The portly minotaur shouted, finally rising from his chair. The human woman looked back and forth between the stain and the little girl now breathing easily, clearly processing the new circumstances.

Tilly took advantage of the pause in the conflict to pull up his notification log and scan over the last few minutes.

Congratulations! You have unlocked a new ability: [Blue] Flame’s Renewal. As a reward for unlocking an ability not seen on Nephesh for several Epochs, you have been awarded the Title: [Hostile Environment].

-[Blue] Flame’s Renewal: At the cost of 10% of your total mana, you impart the purifying nature of your indwelling flame, greatly increasing the recipient's ability to remove curses, poisons, and infections from their body. This Ability has been augmented by your mantle and does 200% more damage to Corruption.

[Hostile Environment]: Due to the unique nature of your physical body, foreign substances have a hard time persisting within your physical body. Poisons, Viruses, and Physical Curses will be 50% less effective against you. This Title scales with Endurance.

Hiro took the time to look at each of the occupants in the room before sheathing his sword and calmly stating, “That is why he is in this room. He has shown remarkable ability against this new threat.”

All the eyes in the room turned back towards Tilly as several things hit him at once, the sicknesses presenting in the children were being augmented by Corruption. He was once again facing a problem way above his pay grade, and by some deus ex machina bullshit, he was the most effective means of combating this thing's influence on the world. Finally, part of him burned to imagine someone actually coming up with this tactic to bog down the healers and medicinal sources in the city. He only knew of one local source of Corruption, and it was the Cult of the Serpent and their allies. Fuck those guys.

“Why am I not surprised? I knew there was something magical influencing their debuff, but I could not dispel it, no matter what alchemical solutions I tried. The city’s Temple of Light has been swamped for days with these cases, and they can barely dispel it, even with their focus on healing and purification.” The Surveyor wondered aloud looking from Hiro to Tilly with understanding dawning in her eyes.

“I finally see why they think we bring calamity. It was bad before, but now with this infecting our weakest populations and you showing up just in time with some special ability to beat it… I can't help but connect you with this turn of events.”

At this, Hiro stepped back into the conversation, “Think what you will Mrs. Cooper, but the Abomination was assaulting our people a month before Jonathan Tillman arrived. In my weaker moments, I have begun to think there are still some Gods left that care.” He said, matching the heat in her eyes with a collected coolness that did much to diffuse some of the tension in the air.

“Look lady, all I can tell you is that my system calls this stuff Corruption and I have a strong feeling that it is breaking into this world from multiple sources. I don't know who knows what but someone up there” He said pointing up, “Called Origin gave me a chance to come here and try and make something of myself. I was a real sack of shit at times in my old life and I'm trying to do better. So…” He said, thrusting out his hand, “My name is Jonathan Tillman, I was a firefighter back home, and now I'm something called a ‘Son of Flame’ and because of events that transpired back near the Lapin village, I am now supposedly a Champion of said deity. Im here to help Ma’am.”

He stood there awkwardly for a good three seconds as she blinked rapidly at the change of pace in the conversation before thrusting out her own hand and shaking his firmly.

“My name is Amelia Cooper and a long time ago I was a landscape architect. Now I am a Botanist Surveyor. My abilities can be used in combat, but are more geared towards harvesting, preserving, and capturing flora of the magical variety.” She then let go of his hand, “I have been here for decades, and trust me when I say, you have a lot to learn if you want to survive your first year.”

Tilly nodded, “Yeah, I have plenty of questions. What I haven't had is any time to get them answered.” He responded wryly. Amelia quirked a smile at that and turned decisively back towards the table.

“That is exactly why we are here today, we need to work together if any of us are going to survive the week, and it's time to start sharing notes. Heras, take the girl and boy back downstairs, watch for guards please.” She said with finality, moving around her assistant and back to the work table with the map.

Heras frowned in disappointment, but did as she was told gently lifting the sleeping girl and shooing the complaining boy out the door, “I'm gonna have to smell his breath… aren’t I?” The retreating sound of his high voice traveling up the steps even as he went down.

“I think the Temple… will want to know… about this ability.” Elder Kihei chimed in.

“Exactly what I was thinking, as soon as we are done here, he can treat the children present and then move to the temple and after that the quarantine quarter.” The botanist responded without even looking over at Tilly.

“Uh, I'm all for helping, but that sounds like a lot of people. I'm pretty sure I can only do this ability ten times before my mana runs out.” TIlly cut in, more than a little perturbed that they were already trying to move him around like a pawn on a chessboard.

“He has been marked for death by the Marcellus family. He will stay with me, or someone of equivalent ability. They will find us again soon and he is not ready to face what they will send next. Last night we fought Apepi and a full death squad. Within the city walls.”

At this, the scarred Satyr flinched as if struck, and the portly minotaur shook his head in disappointment.

“How many more do you think are within the walls?” The satyr asked gravely.

“Linus, it does not matter if they are within or without. We are a broken nation already, when their army arrives, they will find the way open to them. Marcellus, the Purists… others whom we do not know. They will all turn at the perfect moment, willing to be puppets for just a morsel of more power.”

“Well, that is exactly why we are leaving tomorrow! The Caravan Hub will leave, no matter what your Cura has to say about it. It is clear that there is no protection here for us, so we will move on, we are mobile people and the Grey Steppe is more than enough to stop the snakes.” The Minotaur harrumphed.

“We all know you are leaving Cephalus. My question remains. How many will you take with you?” Amelia shot back in frustration.

“All of the people of course. But more than that I cannot say, supplies are tight in the city, and we are no charity.” Cephalus said, wringing his fat hands. Whether in fear or greed, Tilly could not say.

“We are authorized to open the imperial treasuries at this time to any and all efforts to defend the empire and her people. Can we convince any of the free companies to stay and fight?” the formally dressed satyr added in, speaking for the first time in Tilly’s hearing.

“That is very… ah generous of you. We will take as many as we can through the Steppe, but our people will not die in a pointless fight. Lord Hiro has said it. This city will fall, all we can do is save what we can while we still have a chance.” Cephalus responded, sorrow coloring his tone for the first time.

“Who exactly… has authorized this… old friend?” Elder Kihei asked.

“You understand the fractured nature of the Cura… So we have been sworn to secrecy until this time. I am permitted to say this: His Majesty knows he has failed in his duties. He is not gone as some have claimed, rather he is husbanding all of his remaining strength to spend it when it is most needed. In fact, it is with his blessing that I am attending this meeting. We cannot save the city. But we will do what we can to save her people. Hiro, we know that duty alone has bound you to the throne, and your duty is almost up. But the throne calls upon your honor one last time. Take as many of the helpless as you can. Consider it the last order from your emperor.”

Hiro took in the request, his resting frown deepened into something truly weighty, and Tilly saw the terrible conflict of duty and passion play behind his eyes.

“I knew when he approved our venture there were strings. That old schemer has been planning for this for some time…” Hiro responded heavily, realizing that he had no choice but to risk the remainder of his people to save the others.

“He had many plans, and unfortunately they have come to naught. In the end, you have proved to be more loyal than many of the founding families of the empire, and for that he is sorry. But he does promise that a reckoning is coming.” Linus followed up, attempting to placate the Samurai lord on some level.

But at his words, Hiro's eyes only hardened, “Here are my terms. One, my people will be first in line to leave. Two, I leave shelter and food to you for however many make it through to our lands. Three, you will be treated as a third member state of the confederacy we will form. I offer you the same terms as the Honu. Is that acceptable to all present?”

CH. 33 Heavy Breathing

Hiro took the time to look each member of the meeting in the eyes and wait for their response.

Elder Kihei smiled slowly “This is a terrible end... But also a hopeful beginning… for our peoples. The link… will be ready… by tomorrow evening.” Hiro nodded in thanks to the ancient Honu. He then turned to Amelia.

She gave a curt nod and said, “At this point, my chief concern is the children, I am already liquidating my stores with Cephalus and I will travel through the portal to this venture to support the refugees. I have been working on some ideas for the food shortage. The Cura was unwilling to partner with me, but perhaps this is better in the end."

Cephalus just waved away the look, knowing that he had very little to do with this other escape plan.

The scarred soldier held Hiro’s gaze for an intense moment and then replied, “My men, although spread thin, are moving through those that shelter in the city and finding leaders among the fleeing peoples. We are forming a militia of those willing to fight a moving battle through the streets. The First Phalanx will not leave the city. We will make those who have betrayed us pay dearly before the day is done. All those not able or willing to fight will be ushered to the Grand Promenade. Hopefully, that will get them close enough to the Teleport Hub that we can get them out before we are broken. As of now, we should be ready by tomorrow evening. Any not ready by then will be left.” He said gravely, his hard eyes colored with bitterness and his shoulders squared against the terrible weight of the duty that laid before him.

Hiro then turned to Cornelius, the representative of the emperor. Who had watched the reactions of the rest of those in the room carefully.

“There are several treasures that will be gifted to this Confederation by the emperor. The staff of the palace will also be staying, as will the true loyalist families. We have our own end to make. But know that you have the emperor’s gratitude, and we consider your obligation to the throne fulfilled upon the completion of this last request.”

At that, some of the hardness in Hiro’s eyes mellowed, and he slowly looked over to Tilly to see what he was thinking, “Despite what others may think, there are many ways to help. It is my opinion that healing the sick only for them to die tomorrow is not a wise course of action. However, you are no one's property, what would you do?”

Tilly considered Hiro's words carefully and the threat of assassination that was sure to follow him leading up to the escape. He looked over at Amelia, who had schooled her face to an expression of indifference, and thought again of the children huddled around her door hoping for help. He wondered, for a moment, what drove her almost desperate need to save as many of them as she could.

In the end, even if it didn't make any sense, he had to try to do something. He could tag along with Hiro and probably do some good before the flight through the portal… Some part of him made an appeal to the rational place in Tilly’s mind. It was the sensible and safest action in a very dangerous environment. This internal appeal however fell on deaf ears as the fire in him raged at picking any option because it was the most “sensible”.

He had spent his life running into burning buildings, not away from them.

“Lord Hiro, I appreciate your offer of protection, but for better or worse, I know exactly what I need to do to make a difference in this fight. If I can even free up one parent from having to carry a sick kid, and they make it out because of it… Then there is nothing else I can do.” Tilly said, matching the intensity of Hiro’s gaze with fire of his own.

Hiro nodded slowly, “Then we will be parting ways, I go to gather my people and get them as close to the square as possible, you will find us before the portal activates. Do not throw away your life saving those who are doomed. Save as many as you can, and then find us, my friend.”

“I’ll be there. Hopefully, with thousands of refugees in tow.” Tilly replied, a shit-eating grin cracking his serious expression.

“In that case, I must be going,” Hiro answered, a wiery smirk appearing on the edge of his mouth.

“Apparently, my people and I are tasked with creating a new nation, and we have a day to make ready. ” He said, before bowing to the room and making for the exit.

Following his lead, the others started to leave, all going to make their own rushed preparations before the operations tomorrow.

The Minotaur handed Amelia a fat purse as he moved to leave, “My people will be by later today to recover your goods, and we will care for them as you have taught us. Take care of my third cousin, sister.” Then he gave her a quick but powerful hug, which she endured with a huff, and then moved his considerable girth through the door.

Elder Kihei moved past them at a sedate pace, pausing to lay his ancient hand on Tilly’s shoulder.

“Do not throw away… what is not yours. I see in you a hunger…for worthiness… you might find it in death,... but do not pay… such a price… lightly.” He then nodded at Amelia with a grandfatherly smile and moved through the door.

The remaining two Satyrs had huddled together in the corner for a few last-minute words, but seeing that everyone else had left they looked up and moved past the humans to the door. The soldier just nodded at them both, the elder servant however paused at the door and looked back,

“Seldom has an empire of our small size held two humans at once. I have always thought that a boon, but you two are a credit to your race. Remember us as what we were, not as what we have become.” He requested sorrowfully, the duties of the day taking a greater toll on him than they had on any of the others. He left the room with those words, his shoulders slumping for the first time as his pride bent before the terrible evidence of his people's failure.

“He is right, you know. When I first set up my business here twelve years ago, this was one of the most prosperous and just nations to border the Steppe. It was nothing compared to its glory days, but it still held to the ideals that made it great. No one saw such a rapid decline coming and even with the losses of the last year, there was still this sense that the empire would continue, as it always had…” some of the stiff determination she had exuded gave way to sorrow as she watched the empty doorway, before turning back to Tilly with a sigh.

“So, you can use that ability 10 times before your mana is exhausted?”

“Uh yeah, that's what it says. By the way is there any way I can just shoot my screen over to you?”

She looked at him incredulously, “No, Some have abilities to see part of another character sheet, but it is extremely invasive. How long does it take you to regain your full mana pool?” She said, moving to another part of her work room, and starting to shuffle through some drawers.

Tilly gave his wisdom regen a glance and did some quick math, “probably a little over an hour and a half.”

The Botanist dropped what she had been looking at and looked back over at him in shock, “Even at level 12 that is dismally low. You must be pouring almost all of your points somewhere else.” She looked him up and down.

“Its not Strength, certainly not Intelligence…”

“Its Endurance alright!" Tilly exclaimed in exasperation, tired of all the judgments from people on a guy who had literally been here for a week.

"I did what I had to in order to stay alive. I may have only been here for a small amount of time, but I have seen enough shit to fill a decade, and then some.”

Her incredulous expression fell and she settled into a simple eyebrow raise, “At least you will be tougher to kill than anyone expects at your level. Here-” She said, pulling out a terrycloth sack from one of her pockets and handing it to him.

“I have a few things that will help, but they are not overly powerful, so we best get started now.” The sack felt like it had a mixture of dried herbs and seeds in it and Tilly was about to sniff it when she slapped down his hand.

“Not Yet you oaf!” she sighed as he snatched his hand back, more out of reflex than any pain.

“Do it when you are out of mana or you will waste its effect.” at her words, Tilly looked back down at the sack and activated Identify.

You have identified a ‘Shaman's casting aid’ when smelled this item will provide a temporary 200% increase to the user's wisdom. This increase only last 100 breaths for the user.

She had already moved past him and was halfway down the steps when he looked up from reading, “Come on, we have a lot of people to heal and assassins to avoid, no time to waste.” She called over her shoulder in a business-like manner.

Tilly had always been extremely decisive under pressure, but tended to be more laid back and passive when not in those environments and as a result usually gravitated towards wherever the social momentum was going. He wasn't proud to say that he had ended up doing things he regretted with the wrong crowd more than once in his last life and he could help but marvel at his ability to fall in with such bossy people even in the ‘realm of human myth and legend.’

He was mostly sure he was doing the right thing and followed after the only other human he had met without hesitating. But he might have moved a little slower than necessary just to show her he wasn’t going to be pushed around all day. Not that she seemed to notice, as he came to the bottom of the steps, she was already giving her assistant orders, “Heras, please bring in the children and lock the front door.”

The minotauress moved with a grunt of affirmation towards the door and opened it, giving indistinct instructions to the children outside.

“Can you help me with this, Strength is most definitely my lowest attribute,” she said, already pushing against one of the center display tables holding several plants. Tilly moved next to her without a word and added his weight to the move, slowly shifting the table to the side, and opening up the center of the shop.

“Shame you have to give up this shop. It’s one of the coolest and most magical places I have seen in my time here.” Tilly said, standing back up straight and looking around at the different magical enchantments and crystals making sure each plant section had exactly what it needed to continue to live outside its environment. The children where already filing in, some helping the others who were too sick to move easily on their own.

“Yes, well Cephalus is giving me a family price on the goods, so it's not a total loss, but I will miss this little shop. Some of these plants have quite the story attached to them,” she said looking around wistfully as the children finished filing into the room.

“Alright children, I want you to bring the 10 worst cases to the front. Cog, that includes you-” She said as the gnomish boy immediately started shuffling to the back of the group.

“Young man, I have seen just how far that rash goes, and how you tear up every time something brushes against it.” She admonished the boy as he hung his head and reversed course to the front. “Alright, but Im not going first. I want to see a few others survive the smell before I try it myself…” he mumbled looking at the ground.

Some of the others looked around in fear at his words and Amelia again spoke up, handling the crowd like a pro, “Now, now. I would hate to see such a proud race reduced to cowering in fear behind some of the gentler races. Why, on your intellectual integrity alone, you should be first in line to test this for the others.” She needled the boy.

Tilly watched impressed as conflict bloomed across his face, before he screwed it up in resolution, causing some more of his legions to ooze, “Fine. Hurry up beardie. If I'm gonna do this, let's make it quick.”

Suddenly the whole room was looking at Tilly again, and he was in the uncomfortable position of having to exhale in the face of a child in front of an audience. He had never worried about his breath before, keeping a relatively clean mouth, but there obviously hadn't been much chance to floss in the last couple of days, and-

“Come on!” Heras said, giving Tilly a healthy slap on the back that he did very much feel this time. Tilly shot her a look before straightening up and taking a deep inhale, feeling the fire in his chest respond to his intentions and begin to kindle that same intensity he had felt earlier.

Then he felt the dip in his mana as simmering heat accompanied his exhalation and hit the boy right in the nose. He wiggled the facial feature without opening his eyes as if something tickled it. Then his expression relaxed into a look of surprise, “It actually didn't smell that bad guys. Kind of reminded me of the furnace in my dad's worksho-”

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed on the floor shaking. Several of the watching children cried out and the rest just watched in horror as all the open sores on his rash began to sizzle and then smoke, releasing a horrible stench. Amelia quickly crouched down to the boy's side and lifted him in her arms, looking up at Tilly inquiringly, but all of Tilly's attention was on the small cloud of noxious fume forming on the ceiling above the boy.

He could faintly see shapes wriggling in the twists and turns of the smoke and without thinking, he imbued his right hand with a blue flame and leapt into the air, striking at the thickening cloud. It caught like a match to a helium balloon and instantly the smell was gone. Tilly looked around the room that was considering him in a new light and he suddenly felt bashful again.

“God, I hate that stuff.” He murmured to no one in particular.

Once the children saw Cog breathing easily with small nearly healed scabs marking the place where he had previously sported the greyish, oozing rash, they were a lot more willing to be treated and Amelia had to shout a few times to settle down the commotion.

“Alright, so once expelled, this substance has some form of malicious sapience… Heras, you handle anything physical, so Mr. Tillman can save his mana.” Amelia directed.

“My pleasure mistress,” Heras growled pulling a maul out from nowhere and standing firmly at the ready.

“Mr. Tillman, if you would be so kind as to self-administer the shaman’s aid. That will keep us going along at a good pace, and please pay attention to your use of air once you take it. I believe it works off ambient mana inhalation and you can stretch it as far as you can slow your breathing.” She informed him as she lifted Cog and moved him over to the side of the open space to lie comfortably and recover.

Tilly pulled the sack to his face and took a deep breath in, taking in a scent that reminded him of a foggy early morning in a grassy field, still wet with dew. He felt his soul solidify slightly at the scent memory and he felt firmer in his purpose and identity that he had in years.

“Very good Mr. Tillman, now husband your breathing as much as possible and we will see just how many of the children we can move through before you run out.”

They did just that, setting a pace of about one child per 3 min, with Tilly able to slow down his breathing to just 3 breaths a minute, probably due to his Endurance. With only a few deep breathing breaks, He made it through the rest of the group of 20 in under an hour.

By the end he had bottomed out his mana and recovered before bottoming it out again several times, making sure not to overdo it like he had last night. He did however have a throbbing headache by the end of the exercise and he gratefully took the tea Amelia handed him when offered, looking around at the room of children, either resting or slowly coming to. They all looked much better than they had an hour ago, and Heras’s maul was covered in a fading black stain. It seemed to Tilly that she had enjoyed the smashing a little too much for a botanist's assistant, but who was he to judge?

He took his first sip of tea and immediately felt a cooling sensation begin to move up his head and into his frontal lobe, easing the migraine considerably.

“Wow, thanks. This stuff is incredible.” He said, looking over at Amelia with gratitude.

“We have one day to cure as many people as possible, and it is going to take every alchemical and herbal trick I have to keep you going.” She said, her smile turning slightly predatory.

Tilly missed this completely as a light bulb went off in his head.

“You have a plant shop, and you obviously have the alchemy skill… do you by chance have an Herb Lore Codex?" He asked, a stupid grin blooming on his face.

"I have become something of a plant enthusiast myself in my time here and I have made a discovery that could change Nephesh as we know it.” He said, sporting a predatory grin of his own.

Amelia’s eyes lit up at the possibility of a new genus or species to discover on this vast plane, even after all these years, she had never grown tired of discovering something novel or new and entering it into the magical tomb. She had the honor of making 9 discoveries herself in her time on Nephesh, and had to admit she was impressed that the new arrival had found something in only a week.

Ch. 34 Triage

Something about healing so many of the children and then getting to talk about his favorite discovery so far on Nephesh had Tilly feeling giddy. Amelia’s smile had ratcheted up to an uncomfortable level as Tilly described his fortuitous encounter in the forest and his discovered uses for the unknown magical tree. Her hopeful and encouraging smile had become something manic by the time she took out the tome from one of her pockets.

Tilly’s eyes widened as he watched the book expand in size as she pulled it from her pocket. The cover was embossed with golden leaves and vines and arcane symbols faintly shown on the surface of the material that wasn't quite leather.

“And you are sure that your herb lore skill gave it no other uses?” Amelia asked at the end of the explanation, reluctantly jotting down his entry into the Plane-Spanning magical codex. It would show her name on the entry to every other owner of a Codex as long as the magic of the book accepted it as a valid entry. At the last flourish of her reed pen, the page she was on flashed and her words gained the golden magical sheen of all the others. Then her eyes lost focus, and as she pulled up her status screen, her face lit up in surprise, then chagrin.

“It seems that this entry was enough to finally get me to level 33…”

“Awesome! Glad to help!” Tilly responded happily, looking down at the page in wonder as the Codex magically generated a simple sketch of the tree and its known uses. He completely missed the coloration in Amelia's cheeks as the final line generated for the plane-wide community of Alchemists and Herbologists.

-Discovery inputted by Amelia Cooper, Botanist Surveyor.

Tilly looked up in almost childlike wonder as she closed the book quickly and shoved it back into a pocket. She didn't even look down as the book shrank to size to fit into the space. It was full Hogwarts-level magic, and Tilly was tired of missing out on explanations of such cool items.

“Ok, I know we have a lot to do, but I have got to ask about the jacket.” He said, almost desperately.

Her eyes refocused from working on her private screens as she assigned her new stat points, “Ah, yes. Well, this was a gift from some dear friends. When I came to Nephesh, I was deposited on the Grey Steppe, and they were having a lot of problems with an invasive species of plant from a certain irresponsible magical neighbor. A lot of my early work was in figuring out how to combat the incursion. Through that, I fell in with the Caravans, and I was able to help them out of a very tight situation with an Endless-Tide Locust Swarm. They were generous enough to give me this as a reward, and it has been invaluable in my work collecting and propagating plantlife from many different biomes.” Her eyes had taken a far-off look as she pulled forth memories from a different life of travel and adventuring.

As she spoke, Tilly tried once again to gauge her age but was unable to get a clear read, she had an air of maturity about her but showed no wrinkles or gray hair. Without thinking he blurted out his next question while the Minotauress assistant was busy arranging the children and preparing the shop to be cleared out.

“You said you have been here for decades, but you can't be older than 35 or 40. Do we stop aging when we get here?” He asked, excited to finally get some answers from someone who would understand just how crazy all of this was. In response to his question, she unconsciously moved some of her hair out of her face, and straightened out her jacket,

“Well, when I arrived I was in my mid-thirties, and I have been here for around 20 years… what I understand leveling slows the aging process, and as long as you keep doing it, you don't age very much at all. At some point, I think you reach a kind of immortality, but it is well north of level 100. If you will excuse me, I need to grab a few more things from the back before we head to the temple.” she said before abruptly turning and heading toward the back door.

Tilly again just nodded, oblivious to the emotion implicated in her actions. He was far too busy thinking about never aging beyond his 48 years. He no longer felt any of the aches and pains in his body, and he was only getting stronger and faster. He didn't think he looked that old, but it was hard to tell when it was your own face. He also had yet to see a mirror in his travels and thinking of his appearance caused him to take a surreptitious sniff of his shoulder.

A focused sniff made apparent what his nose blindness had kept from him. He was ripe. His reflexes didn’t save him from being hit in the face by another cloth sack of herbs that emitted a pleasant fragrance as it bounced off his face. He did manage to catch it on the way down and looked up to find the minotauress looking at him from behind a display holding lots of different kinds of Herb bundles.

“Rub that one wherever you deem appropriate, it will help. I don’t think anyone else will say anything, but my kind had a very good sense of smell, and… well just do us all a favor.” She said, looking back down at the goods she was packing. Thankfully most of the children were still out from their ordeal, but Tilly did hear a snickering laugh that sounded distinctly like a certain gnomish boy behind him.

He refused to look at anyone as he reached under his leathers and rubbed the sewn sack on his underarms like deodorant mumbling to himself, “Been a little busy trying to keep everyone alive.”

Amelia returned from the back with something that looked like a fantasy fanny pack full to bursting.

“I see you don't have much in the way of equipment, I used to wear this before I had my jacket. It has minor weight reduction and expansion enchantments in it, as well as a durability charm. I have loaded it up with some of the basics. It should attach to your leather pants and still benefit from the overhang of your jacket.” She said looking up from fitting the last item into the magical storage space. Tilly quickly pulled his arm out from under his jacket and hid it behind his back.

Amelia handed him the magical storage item and then looked over at her assistant,

“Heras, thank you for looking after the children. For those that don't have a group to return to, can you make sure they make it to the lapin rally point near the Hub tomorrow?”

“On my honor Mistress, we will be there.” She responded patting her maul happily, an eager smile plastered on her bovine face. Tilly wasn’t sure what about the next day's events made her smile, but he was glad someone else was having a good time.

“Well, If Im going to heal the whole city, we better get started huh?” He said, trying to be friendly. His words just caused Amelia to rub her eyes and his thoughts returned to her statement about not sleeping for several days. He knew that things like that would be more and more possible as his Stats increased, but he couldn't imagen her being overly high in Endurance as a part of her class build.

“Yes, we will do everything we can before tomorrow evening and pray that the enemy does not arrive before then. I hope you are ready Mr. Tillman, I don't think you will gain any experience from this work, and that means you will be bottoming out your Mana quite frequently over the next 24 hours. I will do all I can, but…it will not be pleasant. Some of my accelerants have some difficult side effects.”

At her words Tilly’s expression firmed, resolving into something much harder and more resolute than he typically showed in social settings.

“Ma’am, at this point, we are talking about lives at stake. I will do whatever it takes to help these people until we run out of time.” He then strapped the small pack on the back of his belt line under his jacket, finding that it fit just like she said it would. Hopefully, it would last longer than his last piece of storage equipment.

Amelia took on a considering look in her eyes as she processed his reply, “You know Mr. Tillman, I have met three other humans in my time here, and they have each proved to be repulsive or unbelievably selfish. Forgive me for my initial reaction, I just expected more of the same power-hungry mania I have found in our kind during my time here.” She said, putting her hands on her hips and letting some appreciation bleed into her tone.

Tilly took a moment to bask in the acknowledgment of his choices so far, feeling the thrum in his veins that was becoming more and more familiar. Even with everything going on, he felt good. Better than he had in a long time. Subtle waves of pleasure throbbed up from his side and he unconsciously adjusted his jacket to cover the scar that no one else could see. He was willing to admit that he had always loved helping people and no small part of that was the attention he would occasionally get from his acts of service.

“Thank you for saying that, but I am far from perfect.” He said, managing to school his smile. His response seemed to strike Amelia in an unfavorable way as she winced and looked away,

“Yes, none of us are Mr. Tillman. Our kind doesn't get sent here for being perfect.” She muttered darkly before straightening back up, her face taking on the business-like expression he was beginning to associate with the persona she preferred to interact through under stress.

“You are, of course, right. If we are going to make any difference, we might as well start sooner rather than later, how is your mana?”

“Almost refilled…” Tilly answered, struggling with whether or not to follow up on her last statement before deciding that it really wasn't his business, and it would be selfish to ask any more questions considering the time crunch.

“Good. Let us be on our way, Heras I will see you tomorrow, Fate willing.” She said, moving towards the door and grabbing a cloak that hung on a peg there. Tilly followed suit, drawing up his hood around his features and closing the front of the cloak for as much privacy as he could get in the late afternoon sun.

“Bye Kids,” Tilly said turning and waving at the few children that were awake. The first little girl he had healed looked back up at him silently but after a moment gave him a wave and a brave smile. He could tell she felt better, even if she wasn't sure what had happened over the last few hours. Her smile and the thought of what she had endured and would still endure before the week was over dampened some of Tilly’s good humor. The rush of saving people felt a little more shallow in the context of the little girl and her struggles. He may have cured her ailment, but did she even have a family to go back to? He realized that her best-case outcome for the next few weeks was a life of hunger and makeshift shelter...

As he followed Amelia out the door, he could help but grow introspective. What was he trying to prove and who was he trying to prove it to? Why had he really left Hiro's protection?

Amelia lost herself in the crowd of tired and scared people struggling through different stages of grief and hopelessness and Tilly had an easy enough time keeping up with her brisk pace. He had a much more difficult time working through the complicated emotions the little girl's smile had brought to the surface. As he tried to pin down the doubts he was feeling, it was almost like he hit a fog of apathy. Something internally directly opposed this introspection and urged him to keep moving and not stop to think.

Why wonder about all this? Just do what you do, Run in, and Save as many as you can. That's what heroes do.

Tilly was a simple guy and didn't really ever spend time on self-reflection, but that brave little smile nagged at his conscious. She was doing the best she could in an absolutely shitty circumstance. Was what he was doing even going to make a difference? Was Hiro right? Was this all for his own vanity?

He loved helping people. He always had. Seeing someone with an obvious problem and getting to solve it right there had always done it for him. It was the complicated problems. The ones he felt powerless to solve that had always lodged in his brain like splinters.

House fire? Easy. Put the wet stuff on the red stuff. Simple as that.

A homeless schizophrenic man who was rubbing his bloody hand on a gas station window? For some reason those sorts of situations had hooked into his mind and never left. The man didn't want to go to the hospital and didn't want to listen to the police when they asked him to stop his vandalism. Wouldn’t listen to us as we tried to help bandage him, and ended up being arrested. Those were the calls that had stuck with Tilly through the years. He had found himself more and more frustrated and jaded by the state of the world and the ones left in the margins, who wouldn’t or couldn’t get help. His daughter's fight with cancer had almost been icing on the cake after 10 years on the job. Negative emotions and memories started to well up from deep in his chest as his thoughts started to spiral. The fog of cheerful apathy started to thin.

Just do what you can to help people. Make a difference this time.

His simple driving directive seemed more and more shallow as he thought about it. He had tried that his whole past life and apparently he had barely broken even on the ‘cosmic scale’. Unprocessed emotions from his past failures and even the current circumstance built in intensity in his chest, and for the first time he noticed that the fire in his chest was roaring in response to something.

He stopped walking, all of his attention taken by the conflict raging in his chest that he had for some reason just noticed. On one end was a subtle throbbing pleasure that had been emminating from his side almost nonstop since he had awoken. It urged him to keep going, keep moving. Dont, stop. Dont, think. At the same time, he realized that it was the source of the overwhelming tide of fury he had felt in both instances of combat in the last day.

On the other end of the internal conflict was his internal flame. The thing that he hadn’t really noticed in his first days on Nephesh but had come to associate with the source of his power. This was the place that had been augmented by the blue flame on the altar. The magic that he pulled on to purify each of the children.

Now that he was paying more attention, he could feel its internal flame actively trying to consume the pleasurable influence of Seed in his side.

At some point, Amelia noticed that she had lost her companion, and looped back around to find him standing still with his eyes closed. An expression of intense concentration on his face.

“Johnathan. Are you ok?” She said, some kindness entering her tone, even as she looked around to make sure they weren't garnering too much attention. Fortunately for them, the surrounding refugees made good company when it came to losing attachment to time and place.

Tilly’s eyes flew open as he returned to the present. He looked around abashedly and collected himself before whispering, “The last few days have been a lot… I'm good, I promise... I'll explain later.”

She watched him for a moment more, searching for any further signs of instability before nodding and taking him at his word, “Very well, the temple is a few blocks away. You can't miss it. The steps and street in front of it are crowded with the worse cases in the city.”

Knowing that he was so close to people who could really use his help grounded Tilly, but this time he made sure not to lose track of the feeling of conflict that was raging in his torso. He wasn't going to let this go again. He opened his stat sheet and grabbed the title he had almost forgotten about and mentally put a tracker up under his Health and Mana.

Corruption’s influence: 14%

“I'm ready. Let's make the most of whatever time we have left.” Tilly responded. Amelia nodded firmly not noticing the grim turn Tilly's tone had taken. She turned back and began to move through the crowd again. Tilly followed her hiding his tightly clenched fists in the sleeves of his robe. His newly realized emotions simmered under the surface of his resolute will.

Ch. 35 The Sick and The Dead

Before they turned the corner onto Temple Row, Tilly was hit by the smell. It was more than the funk of hundreds of unwashed bodies kept in one place for too long. The air was thick with a tang of rot that settled cozily around Tilly's nose and would not dissipate no matter what he pulled up to cover the orifice. He marched forward dutifully following the vector of Amelia's as she angled for the corner of a building that sat on the intersection of Devotion and Temple Row.

Soon after the smell came the sound of shouting,

“Please, she is dying!”

“Lights Mercy, is there no one left to do the workings?”

“Where is your God now that we need her?!?”

Tilly stayed in stride with Amelia and slowed when she did as the temple came into view. There were hundreds of petitioners in the street around the entrance to a squat stone structure with a tall tower emerging from its center, shining with a steady light. Everyone in the crowd was either escorting someone who was extremely sick or on death’s door themselves. Most of the crowd was pitiful to look upon, but a few continued to cry out in rage and despair to the haggard-looking clergy at the entrance of the temple and their grim guards.

“Have mercy mother!”

“We know you keep the best magics for yourselves, it's time to open up!”

An elderly clergyman who was moving through the crowd handing out linens and water looked up at that last call, “How many times must we tell you! The Mother Superior is only able to cast so much. We must let her rest between healings or the only reliable healing in the city will be gone!” He shouted in the direction of some of the more rowdy members of the crowd.

Tilly looked over at Amelia, wondering where she wanted to start, but her face betrayed her surprise at the sight. When she looked over at him, it was with an expression of chagrin and guilt.

“This is much worse than it was two days ago when I was last here. If we move into this crowd and start healing, we will soon be mobbed. I had hoped to get to work without garnering too much attention. But it seems like this will be impossible to do and remain completely anonymous.” She said softly, chewing on her lip, eyes shooting back to the crowd as if trying to think of a way forward that didn't end in chaos.

Tilly’s face was set in grim lines as he read the situation as best as he could, “So the temple is locked up tight to give the healers time to rest, and if we start working on the people out here we might get mobbed. Even if we don’t get rushed once we start, there is zero chance of not being found out by those in the city that want me dead.”

Amelia’s eyes widened as she suddenly stopped chewing her lip and looked back at the elderly man making his way through the crowd,

“If they are limiting entry, maybe we can use that to our advantage. I think I can get us in, and if we can convince the clergy to work with us, then we can pose you as another faceless priest and heal as many as we can.”

At this Tilly shrugged, it was better than risking a mob. He had seen a few of those in his day and they were no joke. Add magical bullshit into the mix and he was absolutely sure it was something he did not want to mess with.

“Let's go for it. Hiro didn't seem too hot about me revealing myself to this temple, but it's probably the best of our options.” Tilly said, shrugging the hood of his cloak even deeper over his features.

Amelia gave him a half-hearted smile, “I should not have brought this option to the table so flippantly. I hadn’t thought this through nearly enough. Move over to that wall over there and I'll be back, hopefully with a way in.”

Tilly nodded his ascent and Amelia moved down the street and through the crowd. Tilly had lost sight of the older clergyman and hunkered down against the thick stone wall of another temple while waiting for Amelia to return. While he was there, he looked up and down the road and noted that there were not many temples in the temple district, and almost none of them were as well maintained as the towering temple of light in the center of the road.

The temple’s wall he leaned on supported a curvy structure made up of domes and arches that was topped by a statue of a dwarf holding a hammer in one hand and a scale in the other. Must be a deity to craftsmanship or commerce or something…

Just then Tilly heard the voice of the elderly clergyman from before ring out tiredly from the crowd,

“Alright, that's all the water and linens I have, the guards are going to come through and collect the ones from yesterday. Do Not give them any trouble and if you have some old Linens, For the Lady’s Sake, please don't hold on to them, we will cleanse them and bring them back out as soon as we can. Dirty and diseased bandages will not help any of your cases.” At his words, two of the guards moved to a couple of very large wheelbarrows at the bottom of the steps and lifted glowing face coverings over their airways.

Tilly couldn’t see where the man was in the crowd, but he saw the two guards begin to move through the crowd and receive the discolored old linens from the main patients in the crowd. Anxious murmurs rolled through the people as they unwrapped and uncovered sick family members or infected limbs. Then the process was broken by wailing in the distance,

“Father! Father, answer me! Oh Gods he's dead. We have been here for two days with nothing but clothes for our trouble and now he is dead!” The voice was growing more frantic by the minute, and the energy of the crowd was starting to shift. Other yells started to rise up indistinctly from the crowd, and Tilly was afraid he was about to see them break out into a riot. A very sickly riot.

Then the haggard-looking woman in white robes stepped forward from the entrance of the temple. She had not spoken yet in Tilly’s hearing, but instead of trying to gain control of the crowd she simply raised her hands and staff before starting to chant. A golden light radiated from her and the crowd closest to her quieted as it washed over them.

The priestess gritted her teeth as she chanted and more light flowed out from her in bursts of concentric light. This had a more powerful effect than any sort of violent crowd control and everyone fell silent as the light washed over them all. Even Tilly felt a distant echo of the massive area effect.

Warmth trickled into his body where the light touched his skin and it moved through him relaxing knots in his shoulders and easing the last of his headache. If this was the edge of the working, what was it like in the center of the area of effect?

Suddenly the chanting cut off, as blood trickled down from her nose and her eyes rolled up into the back of her head. The crowd seem mollified and then even concerned as she collapsed on the steps in front of the main entrance. The guards surrounded her in a protective formation even as the clergyman’s voice rang out in anger,

“Light have mercy, Dinah! You were supposed to only be supervising.” He shouted as he rushed through the crowd. Once he arrived, the formation broke and his hand lit up with more minor magics. He rattled off some orders to a pair of guards who gently lifted the priestess and took her inside. He then turned and addressed the crowd.

“Look I know you are suffering. This is not easy for any of us, but in case what you just saw didn't make it clear. We are doing everything we possibly can to fight this. Only our most senior members can completely cure you, and they are pushing far past their limits with the support of the rest of us. Please remain calm, we will see as many of you as we can today.” He said, some of the fire leaving his expression as he scanned the crowd before looking farther and farther out until he found Tilly across the street. Even at this distance, Tilly could feel the curiosity burgeoning on his brow.

Just as Tilly processed the look, Amelia appeared back at the edge of the crowd and made her way over to him, “Mataus is the steward of the temple and he has been by the shop several times to restock the temple when their normal shipments were delayed or short. He says he is willing to get you into the temple without being seen, but he stressed that we had better be telling the truth. I assured him we could deliver on what we promised, and even with our relationship, I'm not sure he would have relented if I hadn’t told him you were also a human. That got his attention.” She said, turning and eyeing the crowd warily.

“So is there a back entrance we need to get to or something?” Tilly asked, craning his neck from his position to try and spot some previously unnoticed alleyway.

“Uh… Im afraid not. The plan is somewhat more involved than that. I hope you are as resistant to this infection as your magic seems to be.” She said, digging her hands through her pockets. Tilly stared at her for a moment as she flashed an apologetic smile his way and gestured for them to move toward the outskirts of the crowd.

As they quietly arrived at the edge, Tilly saw the cart approach, piled high with soiled linens and the bones of the plan clicked into place. He looked over sharply to Amelia, who was tying a thick square of cloth over her airway that had several more of the deodorant balls tucked into cleverly sewn pockets in the center.

After she finished, she handed him a similar cloth and a few more of the fragrant herb bundles. Her eyes were serious, and Tilly caught the slightest hint of a challenge in them as he moved to follow her lead.

The guard kept moving toward them, and the Mataus’ voice rang out from the steps, “I have just been informed that we will start seeing patients again in the next few minutes. Each of you has a number and you will report to the guards when called. If you make trouble or try and harm another child of Light, we will confiscate your number. If you do not have a number, please report to the guards and one will be issued to you shortly.”

This was clearly a speech he had given many times, but still, the crowd broke into orderly action. Maybe it was part of the magic of the priestess, or maybe it was guilt over what had followed, but they moved into orderly cues, and in all the shuffling, a guard looked the other way as two humans hopped into the back of the cart and covered themselves in damp and discolored linens of various shapes and sizes.

Ch. 36 The Good Guys

“Ghhaaahhh” Tilly breathed in explosively, emerging from the putrid pile of unmentionables like a swamp monster being birthed from the primordial soup. He tumbled out of his cart almost bumping into Amelia as she emerged from her own cart with much less drama.

“Accolade, channel a basic cleanse for as long as you can. We won't get much out of them with this smell clouding the room.” Tilly looked up to see the same elderly clergyman from outside. Upon closer inspection, Tilly saw that he was a Satyr of the almost human variety. It seemed he had accompanied both guards and carts to interview his odiferous guests further on their motives and abilities.

Tilly found himself in an austere but neat waiting room with what looked like a few benches and cots for the sick. He thought this might be where they triaged people before they were seen by someone at normal times. The temple steward stood with his arms crossed next to a nervous-looking young elf in priestess robes and a few guards. Behind them, lying on one of the benches propped up by pillows was a sleeping woman well past her prime. She was wearing more ornate robes than anyone in the room and Tilly assumed she was one of the more powerful members of the temple. She appeared human except for the green tinge to her face and the leaves she had growing instead of hair.

The young elf, clasped together her hands and began to chant a hymn. The song washed over the room and Tilly felt it press against and then saturate his armor, which seemed to almost drink it in the magic. He heard hissing and popping from the piles behind him and the almost overwhelming stench was slowly reduced. The young woman’s voice began to grow hoarse as if the chant was somehow becoming more difficult the longer it went on until she finally cut off with a fit of coughing. Tilly moved forward unconsciously in concern, but the guards moved to block him immediately.

“Hmm, your concern is appreciated, human. I am Steward Mataus of the temple of the Lady Light. Amelia has dealt with me honestly for years and we are taking her at her word that you can do something about this sickness afflicting our city…” He trailed off, not quite asking a question. Tilly waited a moment to see if he would continue, but then he just stood there, leaning into the awkward pause. So Tilly just picked up where he left off, trying to decide what was 'need to know' and what was dangerous to share.

“Well... For starters, my name is Jonathan Tillman, and almost as soon as I arrived here on this plane, I have been set against the stuff that is underpinning this 'sickness'. My system tells me it's something called Corruption. The lapin outpost was under siege by creatures under its sway for weeks, and the members of this Cult of the Serpent are under its effects too. Although, I believe they have partnered with it willingly. As I fought it at its source near the Lapin village something happened to me and my class was altered. I am now kind of the antidote to this stuff.” TIlly said trailing off, hoping that was enough to let him get started without involving him in more shit than he was already in.

In response, the steward slowly nodded, taking in the human's story before shaking loose his hands from his robe, “Yes, well give me just a moment.” He said, as arcane symbols lit up around his hands and one eye flashed with the same color as the symbols. Tilly felt the same tingling he normally felt as he was identified, but the feeling continued to intensify as if something was pressing in on his very soul. Then the fire within him kindled to a deeper heat in answer and pressed back against the metaphysical weight releasing a "wumph" of a distant explosion through the auras of all present.

The steward's eye flashed back to normal, and the symbols around his hands flickered out. He visibly flinched and shook out his hands as if stung, “Huh, I have been blocked before, of course. But I have never quite felt so… rebuked.” He said, trying to process what he saw. Tilly wondered for a while how much he was supposed to share with this unknown element. They were obviously working hard against this incursion and they didn't seem to be profiting from it in any way, but he thought back on his Title, [Harbringer]. Whatever Origin was, it didn't really seem that well known by anyone he had interacted with so far, and he was hesitant to step into some divine conflict that he knew nothing about. Was Origin just pursuing its own vendetta against this stuff on a higher level than the deities of this plane? Who owed allegiance to who? Tilly guessed that Origin might be the big "G" God to all of these other little "g" gods, but who was supposed to tell them that? If they didn't already know, Tilly didn't want to be some sort of evangelist. In fact, he didn't even really like Origin that much himself...

If it wasn't for the fact that he was stuck fighting this stuff that Origin was obviously the antithesis of, Tilly was pretty sure he would be looking for a way out of this relationship already.

“Look Mataus, I am a Champion of a Deity that does not want to be known… I think. Honestly, I’m not really sure but I would rather not figure that out right now. What I do know is this; I have an ability that can expel this stuff from anyone's body. I can help with a lot of the people you have out there, I'll just need somebody on hand to smoosh the stuff when it comes out and recharge me when I reach empty.”

The steward’s face slipped from disbelief into confusion, and Tilly thought that he probably lost him completely somewhere around ‘smoosh’.

“Look” Amelia interjected, rescuing the derailed conversation.

“The little ones that you sent to me have all been cured. I know that none of their cases were too advanced, but I don't think it matters with his ability, and he can cast it ten times before running out of Mana. He has something this city needs, we just want to use you for a little anonymity.”

At that the Young priestess looked up in hope and even the sleeping matron cracked an eye, proving that she had not actually been sleeping at all.

“What did you see Mataus,” She said, her voice dry. He turned to her in concern as one of the guards rushed forward with a cup of water.

“Yes well, nothing overly concerning Mother. He is clearly not Demonic-Aligned and while I sensed no ill will, I was limited in my gaze to the knowledge that he is a hybrid caster with a relatively small well. The best direction that the Lady was able to give me was that he probably fell within the realm of Chaotic Good” He report crisply, some of the concern he had shown for the priestess outside coloring his tone once again as he address his leader.

“Well, it's not like we have many options. None of our healings cure this ‘Corruption’. We have been reduced to supporting me as I cast an Advanced Banish. Bring in the first one, and we will watch as he uses this ability. If what he says is correct, then we will place the full support of the temple behind him and see just how many people he can cure before he is wrung out.” She said, before taking a thirsty drink from the offered cup. Tilly saw that she sat up with some considerable effort. She was beautiful in a stately way, but her face was drawn with deep exhaustion, and he wondered just how long she had been pushing herself.

“Jerin, bring in the first.” The steward ordered the guard nearest the door who nodded and left.

“Wait, Mataus, we need something to hide his identity," Amelia interjected

"He has already faced off against Shadow Hunters in his short time in the city, and the Marcellus family has ordered his death. We came in here to hide who would be the new source of healings in the city. Do you have any robes of the Forsaken on hand?”

The church members in the room flinched at the mention of enemies already in the city, except for the Mother who just sighed, “I wish we had more than just the spare uniforms on hand. Dark days are ahead for this city, and while the Cult wouldn’t dare to touch us, we will only be able to shield a few from their wrath… Fetch him the uniform, and delay the first patient until he is ready.”

Another guard rushed off, leaving the steward with only two guards and the junior and senior priestesses. Tilly was about to thank them or ask about the Forsaken when the elder priestess spoke again issuing more orders as she considered the changing circumstance.

“Mataus, I want you to have another Discerning Eye ready. Focus on whatever is expunged from the patient. We may not be able to fight in the physical battle, but this is our supposed realm of authority, and I have hated having nothing but questions and apologies for our flock.” To which the steward nodded seriously.

Just then the second guard returned with a simple white uniform draped over one arm. He held it out in reverence to Tilly who took it reluctantly and began to figure out how to put it on over his existing kit.

It was a face wrap with a shining lantern of some sort emblazoned where his forehead would be and a tabard with an oversized hood. As handled it, his Identify pinged, and he pulled up the description.

Robes of the Forsaken. Worn by warriors of the Light who have forsaken all other ties and covenants to do battle with Demon kind. +10 to wisdom. Demonic-sourced mana will be 50% less effective in mental and spiritual attacks.

As he struggled with the unfamiliar cut of clothing, Amelia stepped up and helped him find the right way to hang it over his leather jacket, “I thought of these because they are always swooping in to fight for the light-aligned factions and their abilities are as legendary as they are mysterious. Their identity is one of the things they forsake when they take up the mantle, so the news of healings at the temple will be pinned on the mysterious Forsaken Order instead of the new Human freshly arrived in the city.” She said pulling up his cowl to cover his now-covered face. She stepped back and nodded to herself.

“These are a loan Human. I hope the Wisdom will help you in your efforts, but neither you nor we are ready for the consequences of you donning that uniform officially.” Mateus said seriously off to the side.

“But you must admit, it does suit him…” The Mother said thoughtfully behind him. Tilly didn't really like their attention or more importantly the attention of their diety on him.

“Ma’am, I'm pretty sure I am taken. But I do hope my guy and yours are friends. By the way. After all this, do you mind giving me some pointers on how to contact a deity, if I’m gonna keep fighting this stuff, I want to know who I’m fighting for…”

Before she could answer the first sick person came in. She was a smaller minotauress who still towered over Tilly by a foot if she was standing straight. Instead, she shuffled in front of the guard on a swollen leg that could be smelled as soon as the door opened. It was wrapped up with multiple layers of bandages, but those did nothing to hide the rot. She stiffened at the sight of Tilly in his uniform, but then hesitantly explained her situation.

“Good afternoon your holiness. Thank you for seeing me. The caravan leaves tonight and I didn't want to be a burden in this state. My company had taken a contract a month ago to escort some villages fleeing the Scale-belly advance, and in that action, I took a barbed arrow of theirs to the knee. Nothing to my kind and I didn't think of it for days, even as it continued to be sore. then it started getting worse and swole up. Our healers couldn't do anything about it, even when they evoked the Bright Ancestors. So I was sent here.”

“Yes, come forward into the Lady’s light child.” The steward said calmly as if he knew exactly what was about to happen. She hobbled into the center of the room before Tilly and Amilia, and she smiled at the minotauress in encouragement.

“You may proceed,” Mataus said, and it took Tilly a moment to realize he was speaking to him. He took a step closer to the minotauress and kindled the flame in his chest before breathing out deeply in front of her. She blinked rapidly in surprise before beads of sweat started to appear on her brow.

“Describe what you are experiencing child,” Mataus said in a kindly tone, even as his eye flashed again. She answered through clenched teeth,

“I know not what the Warrior has done, but I felt a burning enter my body through his breath. It has settled into my leg and centered onto the wound and it is burning fiercely!” She said, gritting her large bovine teeth even tighter against the pain. Then she grunted and the sound of something popping issued out from under all of her bandages. They had not been clean when she came in, but in the seconds following the sound, they were soaked in an unsettlingly dark maroon color.

“Cut those off!” Mataus barked, glaring at the bandages with his shining eye. The guards quickly complied, and as soon as they pulled the bandages free, they began to animate and wiggle like a hundred little appendages.

“Great Ancestors!” The Minotauress huffed in relief, even as Tilly stepped quickly forward with an enflamed fist to consume the bandages. He had once again found himself moving almost by reflex at the sight of the Corruption, calling his blue fire even as he moved to attack the expulsion.

The rest of the room however looked at the man in the Forsaken uniform with various expressions of shock or surprise, except for Amelia who wore a look of smug satisfaction.

“Ancestors Light be upon you!” The newly healed minotauress said moving her now normal appendage, with nothing but a slight burn scar to mark the wound. Her eyes shown with admiration as she looked back up at her savior.

“Thank you, sister, that will be all. Many more to see today.” Amelia said, stepping in and pulling her around to face the door again. As soon as she was out Mataus spun on Tilly,

“I understand your fidelity, believe me, I do. But we are not the only branch facing such a malady. Please you must tell me as much as you can.” He said, his eyes showing with an almost feverish light. The elder priestess stepped in to blunt some of the steward's enthusiasm,

“We understand you are here in charity… Do not be pressured by our needs if you can not share.” the older priestess stated from her perch on the bench. She had watched the process with hope and that hope had solidified into confidence at the sight of the obvious effectiveness of the divine ability. She didn't need a name to recognize something good when she saw it, “Whether we hear the story now is of no consequence, we are obviously on the same side and Light will always prevail.” She said, her tone heavy with meaning at the last phrase.

Tilly looked back and forth between the people in the room and thought again about his interactions with the administrator and then the blue flame in the Temple. They had said nothing about hiding their existence, and while he wasn't sure what informing this faction about more of his existence would do, Tilly couldn't help but feel like these were the good guys. It may be naive, but he wanted to be done with smoke and mirrors. In fact, he was already involved in some sort of cosmic power struggle… what are a few more Deities in the mix?

“Alright, give me a few minutes before the next one, and I'll give you the cliff notes version.” He relented, deciding to go big or go home.

Mataus gestured at the guard near the door to wait, “Human, I do not know what cliffs have to do with this, but any information will help us in this new fight.”

Tilly just winced at the mis-understanding before deciding not to bother with it, and continued with a short version of his story, “Well I woke up on Nephesh like four days ago-”

Ch. 37 Exorcizing is No Joke

Tilly cut out many of the details but made sure to share Origin’s name and everything thing Tilly had seen in the Temple as well as the exact words of His Champions mantle Title. He even thought about revealing the Seed. But after recalling the words of the Flame at the altar, he realized that getting the parasite out of him would probably take more than a few clergy, so he kept it to himself. No use in spreading around his problems to those who already had enough to deal with.

The Steward left to send a report with the Elder Priestess who had introduced herself as Rowan. They left behind a few guards and the younger priestess who had recovered from her effort to channel cleanse on such heavily corrupted materials. Amelia set up a miniature chemistry lab on the other side of the room and started brewing up different concoctions as the patients started to stream in one after another.

They fell into a sort of rhythm where Tilly would see as many patients as possible while running through his Mana, and then he would rest and recover with the aid of either Amelia and some herbal concoction she had on hand or the young priestess casting one of her support abilities. Un-aided, he could recover his mana fully in about 50 min, depending on their particular intervention, that time could be cut down by 10-30 min.

He would spend the time between healing sprints focusing on his breathing while trying not to be overwhelmed by the side effects and debuffs that he was racking up and then removing as the Botanist Surveyor and Priestess of light worked together to get as much casting out of him as possible without hitting a medicinal or magical dead end.

You have received the Potion Toxicity Debuff. Any alchemical treatment you receive for the next 12 hours will be reduced by 50% in its effectiveness.

“I have toxicity again,” Tilly said, after rubbing some of the salve Amelia had given him on his chest and face. It would supposedly widen his ‘dantians’ temporarily and allow his natural rate of recovery to increase in all areas for 20 min, giving him a 40% gain in Mana Regen. Actually, make that 20% now that the Debuff was back.

They had cured over 120 people at this point and Tilly wasn't the only one hurting from the constant work. Both guards leaned in on their weapons, with sweat staining their protective robes as they had to face a new apparition of Corruption after every casting. None of the apparitions were especially dangerous on their own, but they could not be allowed to escape and the varied nature of their appearance kept both the of the guards on their toes, as Tilly tried to keep from intervening as much as possible to save Mana.

The priestess, whose name was Triss, also wore a haggard expression as she choked down some sort of bitter-smelling tea that Amelia had handed to her to keep her in the game.

“I can cast Purifying Radiance one more time, but after that, I think you will have to deal with the Debuffs another way. Even though we are keeping my Well from bottoming out, I am closing in on mana exhaustion, and will be useless to you if you need me to boost your wisdom again.” She said between grimacing sips of the tea.

At that, Amelia looked up, eyes red from the repeated brewing and processing of raw magical herbs, “Yes, well save yourself until we run out of all options on my end. Speaking of which, Mr. Tillman, I have one more thing to use that will work great and clear out any build-up of impurities in your system. With your Endurance, it should be safe to use, but it will not be pleasant.”

Tilly’s head pounded as he tried to focus on breathing and the source of his power. The internal flame showed no signs of flagging, unlike its surrounding vessel which felt strained and sore from the constant emptying and filling. He had not yet had a chance to spend so much time meditating, even if it was in short bursts he had found it incredibly enlightening. In fact, if he added up all of his recovery sessions, he had probably spent several hours breathing deeply while focusing inward on the sensation of his flame.

The Flame seemed to flow out of him in specific pathways, each manifesting a different ability. His Flame’s Renewal built right below his lungs, stoking as he breathed in deeply and activated it. Then surged up from his center, through his mouth, and out with his breath onto the target. It didn't burn exactly, but after over a hundred uses in less than 24 hours… every empowered exhalation was accompanied by a sharp needle-like pain that ran up his pathway.

“Sure, why not... Give it to me and let's get through the rest of these people. I can keep this up as long as you guys keep topping me off.” He said in between slightly ragged meditative breaths. He didn't know how much he had left, but he was sure of one thing. They weren't going to stop because he couldn't keep up. Behind his back, Amelia shared a look with Triss who just shrugged as she continued to choke down the bitter tea.

....

Amelia

Amelia was confounded. Tilly hadn’t mentioned Mana Exhaustion once.

With her help, she had hoped he would be able to purify 50 patients before hitting one roadblock or another. At his level, his physical body just couldn't take much more abuse than that, or at least that is what she had thought.

A normal magic user of his class could run through his full mana reserve 3 or 4 times in a row before the infamous Mana Exhaustion debuff struck. Depending on the nature of the usage, you could lose consciousness or even lose the ability to move your magic through your pathways for hours. Yet typically the onset of the debuff would be preceded by crippling pain that made casting impossible. But, Amilia had never met a mana user who had such a crazy ratio of Endurance to Wisdom. For all she knew this could be typical of his build. Nonetheless, he seemed to deal with herbal toxicity just like everyone else, and it was time to use her last resort.

She reluctantly pulled out a bundle from one of her pocket spaces.

“Well, Mr. Tillman, I am going to hand you a leaf that I need you to hold under your tongue for 10 breaths. You will want to spit it out, but you must hold it for that long, it will cause a chain reaction throughout your body that will force you to expel 70-80% of your short-term impurities over the next 5 minutes. We will leave the room, and I am sure the guards will be able to bring you something to use. Also, I suggest you remove your clothing for this, as it will be quite messy.”

She gingerly took one of the plump purple-veined leaves from the bundle with a cloth, so as not to let the powerful reagent touch her skin, and placed the cloth-wrapped leaf on the bench next to her recently gained ally.

She didn't know what he was talking about with the whole Origin story, but what he had mentioned about the administrator, had taken her back decades to her own transference and the mess of a life she had left behind…

Mr. Tillman's voice interrupted her revere as he eyed the leaf, a curl of distaste tweaking his lips, “Naked huh… Best for last, I guess.” He muttered before beginning to shed his equipment.

Amelia was once again confounded... She had expected some pushback at least at the mention of such a strange method of detoxification. But she saw that he was actually going forward without any hesitation and once again marveled at his trust in her. Many shied away from taking anything but the tried and true recipes from licensed alchemists, however, her class let her discover new uses for flora much more readily than most who typically gathered for potion producers. This, in turn, allowed her to come up with new recipes much more frequently than others, using all kinds of unique and rare plants she had come across in her travels.

“I have of course tried this on a few subjects, and some have even reported Stat increases after using it, so there should be some benefits to outweigh the cost.” She stuttered quickly as she moved towards the door, not ready for how fast this was proceeding. She didn't bother to mention that she had only tested it on herself and Heras and that his results would be a fascinating addition to her body of data. The priestess was right behind her through the door. The guards, however, remained, one of whom was pushing forward a bucket with the toe of his boot.

Tilly just nodded tiredly at her to show his understanding before pulling his furred leathers over his head. She turned away as the door shut and sat in the hall for a few minutes as the sound of retching and bowel cleansing began to emerge. The priestess looked over at her almost shocked, and Amelia gave a nervous chuckle in reply.

“I promise you, this method is by far the most effective way to use the leaf. It will allow me to re-use several of the recipes I have already employed to keep augmenting his Mana regeneration...And I would never give a patient something that I had not tested first. This particular method is just a bit unorthodox.”

“...Unorthodox?” Triss grunted through half-lidded eyes as another round of retching began.

“It sounds more like torture.”

Jonathan Tillman 12 min later.

He shakily pulled back on the loaned Forsaken hood and tabard.

“That should be it… Much easier to cleanse than those awful bandages.” The Priestess said, false cheer ringing in her voice.

One of the guards, the taller humanoid that displayed much more hair than the other, helpfully added, “He must have produced his body weight in waste… I have never seen such a thing in all my years at the temple.”

“Yes well, that was to be expected considering the toxic load we had put on his system. Even your order’s Purifying Radiance does little to remove actual toxicity. Rather I think it is more focused on removing the negative magical side effects of a wide range of maladies.” Amelia chimed in, leaning into an academic tone as if they were all in a lecture hall.

Meanwhile, Tilly took a deep drink of the provided church rations they had brought into the room at some point and a mechanical bite of some sort of spongy bread. The taste from the leaf still hadn't quite left his mouth, leaving behind a bitterness so acute that he felt like every tastebud on his tongue had puckered into a painful tension. Water and food were helping, but the process was slow.

He had wiped down as well as possible, and the priestess had taken away most of the smell with that handy cleanse of hers. But he couldn't shake the memory of feeling slime oozing out of his pores as his whole body convulsed and squeezed out waste from every orifice. He felt like a tube of toothpaste, rolled to the very top of its cap.

“Well, I don't think I ever want to do that again, but you were right Amelia,” Tilly said as he mentally dismissed the new notification on his screen, and looked over at the woman who had already begun the process of brewing some other concoction.

“I actually gained a point in Constitution and Dexterity. Apparently, the changes I have undergone so far had wracked up a lot of toxins… So thanks I guess.” He added, actually pleased to get something out of that nightmarish experience. His Mana was nearing 100% again and while the ordeal had furthered his exhaustion, it had also left him with a strange clarity that lent him a mental sharpness he didn't know he had been missing.

“Ulnas, can you send the next one in, I’m ready to keep going.” He said, a steely determination underlying his tone. The hairier of the two guards left while the other reluctantly picked up the “cleansed” pot and removed it from the room.

Soon enough Ulnas returned with Satyr woman holding a baby that had an unhealthy greyish pallor. Tilly straightened up from his slump against the bench and moved forward, gathering in a breath as his flame stirred and trying his best to ignore the feeling of hundreds of tiny knives that had begun to stab the pathway leading up his throat to his mouth.

CH. 38 Out of the Frying Pan

Every breath brought the sensation of jabbing needles back to his throat and lungs. The last twenty castings or so had been true agony, each empowered exhalation accompanied by an unconscious deep groan of pain. Through the agony and the gasping breaths of his short periods of recovery, Tilly numbly repeated his mantra, "One more... one more, and I'll stop."

The priestess Triss had long since passed out, and they had found another exhausted member of the temple to try and support him, but apparently, they could no longer do anything about his damaged mana channels. Instead, they stood by to support the guards and serve as a second line of defense against the manifestations.

Even Amelia had collapsed at some point, not sleeping for days and her constant magical brewing had caught up to her. At first, she had pulled a bench over to continue brewing while seated, and then a little while later, the sound of soft snoring emerged from her corner of the room as she sat slumped over her temporary work table covered with beakers, cauldrons, and burners.

Tilly's world had narrowed to one gasping breath after another, he realized it had been a while since the last person had come in. He had signaled for a break to regain some Mana and had lost track of time after that. Through the fog of pain and fatigue, he looked up at his Mana bar, which was blinking for some reason, but showed 12%. Enough for one more...

“Ulnas. Bring in the next.” Tilly croaked allowing his head to loll to the side and catch sight of the guard who was leaning heavily on his weapon near the door. He just nodded tiredly in response and moved through the door, before coming right back through, a surprised smile lighting his face.

“You are one stubborn Aurochs, human!" He almost shouted, the exhaustion clearing from his face like fog before a rising sun.

"That's all of them. The Mother Superior started seeing some of them refugees hours ago, and together, you have managed to get through every petitioner. That is it, you have done it!”

The gears in Tilly’s mind slowly ground together, trying to process those words.

“Done?” He said, too tired to hide the tears of relief pooling at the corners of his eyes.

Even through his fog, he felt the burden lift from his shoulders. He had given his best… There were no others that would die because of his lack of will. He let out a half chuckle, half sob as his shoulders slumped in relief and his body sagged much deeper into the bench against the wall he had been using for the last- Well he had no idea how long it had been. He saw several Debuffs active on his status and each came with a timer.

Minor Exhaustion: 6 hours remaining

Potion Toxicity: 10 hours remaining

Mana Exhaustion: 14 hours ({Partially Resisted}, {Localized}) remaining

None of them gave him a good notion of how long he had spent in the temple, he only knew that they had arrived sometime in the early evening. “How long till morning?” He croaked out again, as the other guard rushed over to bring him some water.

Tilly pulled some into his mouth and swished it around trying to wash away the feeling of sandpaper that pervaded his airway.

“It is several hours yet until dawn. We have orders to guard you as you sleep, and we will wake you in the morning.” Ulnas stated solemnly, his pride in the work they had done clearly evident on his face.

At that Tilly let out a groan of relief and stretched out on the bench, mostly only processing that he could finally sleep. Improved Endurance or not, he was utterly spent. In fact, he was way past spent, having long since entered the fugue state he had sometimes found at the fire station on a double shift with no sleep. He had spent decades operating at a functional level well past his limits of exhaustion and it was good to see those years still meant something here.

He decided to pull up his flashing notification log as he blinked slow heavy blinks on the bench, wondering if there was anything he needed to know before he slipped away to unconsciousness. The screen came up and he mentally filtered out all the healing, debuff, and cleansing notifications. The mental filters resolved into five distinct announcements from the system, and they danced before his bleary eyes, refusing to resolve into legible lines. He screwed his eyes shut to try and clear the bleariness and once closed, began to forget what his goal had been in closing them. The blanket of darkness was deeply soothing to his perception and he gave up struggling, allowing his consciousness to slip away.

The newly filtered notification screen remained obediently visible before Tilly’s face, happy to stay as long as was needed.

Congratulations! You have unlocked a latent aspect of your class Son of Flame. Unlike other classes with stricter Ability pathways, your class harkens from the First Epoch. The numerics assigned by the system are more flexible for you and can be bent and at times broken depending on your need and force of will. Minimums and Maximums as estimated by the system cannot fully define your abilities.

Congratulations! You have reforged the mana path along which Fire’s Renewal flows. It is now defined as Fire Renewal+ They have been broken and remade in the heat of a purifying flame and once they fully recover from this trauma, they will be 100% more effective, allowing you to cast the same Ability for half the mana cost, or empower it to twice as effective at full cost.

Congratulations! You have emptied and filled your mana well over 24 times in 24 hours! By this action, you have forcibly expanded your well and your ability to fill it. Wisdom + 3 and Intelligence + 5.

Warning! Due to recent gains, you have lost the Title: [Resolute]

Congratulations! You have pushed far past your limits for the sake of others without a promised Quest Reward or Experience. You have done so motivated by deep pain and longing. This has been noted by the system and you have been awarded the Title: [Scarred Heart]

[Scarred Heart]: Any goal you pursue motivated by the depths of your soul will be met with an unparalleled opportunity by the System. “Guard your Heart, for out of it will flow Unimaginable Strength.”

…

Jonathan Tillman 6 hours later

Tilly was awoken by the sound of the door shutting harshly and urgent whispers coming from that direction. His head felt like it was stuffed with wool and his mouth felt unbelievably dry. He pointlessly licked the roof of his mouth trying to produce a drop of saliva to no avail, and he cracked his bleary eyes open to try and find some water. The blue glow of a screen was shining in his eyes and he quickly dismissed it in order to find the container of water.

The backup Priestess was gone, and Amelia was still slumped over her temporary work table snoring. The guards were both by the door, sharing an intense conversation with the older clergyman… what was his name again?

Tilly groped around until he found the water pouch before sitting up with a groan and pulling the canteen to his lips, taking deep thirsty swallows as the lukewarm liquid slid in between his teeth and cooled the harsh gritty sensation covering the interior of his mouth and throat.

“Mr. Tillman, we had hoped to let you rest for a while longer, but the situation in the city is… ah… deteriorating rapidly.” He said, wringing his hands nervously, much of his mature confidence gone. Mataus, that was his name!

“What’s happening? How long have I been asleep?” Tilly mumbled, the fuzziness in his mind clarifying to a throbbing headache as he came fully to consciousness.

“The sun rose a few hours ago, and the grand Caravan left sometime in the night. It was thought that the Cult’s forces would still be hours away at this point but it looks like our reports were wrong. They have been spotted from the walls. How our diviners or scouts missed this, I do not know but the city is almost devolved into a riot…”

Tilly’s headache throbbed deeply as if to emphasize how truly fucked they were. As of yesterday, it seemed like all their preparations wouldn't be ready until this evening, and that was a hell of a lot of time to hang around with an army at your door.

“How many are there, and what is the state of our defense.” Amelia’s sharp voice interrupted from the other side of the room. Tilly looked over at her form, noticing her mussed hair and drool stain on the collar of her shirt. Her eyes and voice however contrasted completely with those signs of recent sleep. They showed brightly with determined sharpness.

“The home Phalanx and two auxiliary Phalanxes are positioned to intercept. The Walls are manned by a mixture of the city guard and the private guards of the noble houses. The Emperor’s Bastions have been seen moving through the city, but no one knows how many there are or what they are doing. As for the enemy…” At this, the Mataius’ formal-sounding report devolved into a choking sob.

“There are reported to be ten thousand Naga warriors of various levels, with accompanying elites… and they are driving a force of fifty thousand before them. Made up completely of irregulars-”

“What sort of irregulars have they been able to get in those numbers?”Amelia interjected, shocked.

“It is reported that they are employing some method of converting conquered citizens into war slaves. I can only imagine that these forces are a result of the sacking of our last remaining satellite city. They will be used as fodder to throw against the Home Guard and exhaust its resources.”

“Let me guess” Tilly cut in, a hollow tone of despair filling his voice,

“They all have black eyes and display berserker levels of aggression.”

“Yes… The cult employs blood magic that can be powerful and compulsive at times, but we have never seen anything like this. It's worse than the rituals of undeath some of our demonic enemies use. At least those conversions result in a loss of levels and must be accompanied by a controller of some kind. Is this related to the curse-empowered sicknesses we have been combating in the city?”

The color had long since drained from Tilly’s face as he considered what the people of the city were about to face, “Yes, it's all connected. Those people have been Corrupted. Once it progresses that far, I don't even know if I can do anything to save them. They will do everything possible to spread the infection. They will devour and kill many, while any who remain relatively intact will be added to the horde. At least that is how it happened with the beasts surrounding the Lapin Outpost”

At his words, Mataus’ frown deepened and Amelia shot up from her seat and started grasping her equipment and shoving it into various pockets, “I have got to find Heras and the children. If we are to fight, I would do so protecting them.” she said as urgency speed her movements.

Tilly got up and began to remove the cowl of the Forsaken, “Hopefully they have already met up with the Lapin contingent, and if so, that means I’m with you. We will help anyone else we can along the way.

“Wait! Please. We can protect you here in the Temple!” Mataus said desperately as the two made preparations to leave. Amelia totally ignored him while Tilly threw the balled-up uniform to one of the guards.

“Sorry Mataus, I don't think that is an option for either of us,” Tilly said shortly as he grabbed some of the bread and hurriedly shoved it in his mouth, chewing as fast as possible. He had learned long ago, that you always ate and drank what you could when you could before going out on an unknown engagement.

“The gift you have cannot end here in this skirmish! We have received word to recruit you if possible and send you through our network to the Shining Isle.” At the desperation in his tone, alarm bells went off in Tilly’s mind and his hands drifted to his hatchets, his look growing hard.

“Whatever your orders, we are leaving. We have promises to keep.” At his words, Amelia had once again reached into a couple of pockets threateningly, eyeing the steward and guards with an unforgiving coldness. That is the second time Tilly had seen that, and he could help but wonder what exactly she would pull out of there if threatened.

Mataus raised his hand in a conciliatory manner, “No. Despite what you may think, no one here will force you. But many across the Plane need your abilities, Mr. Tillman. This is not an isolated incident, and the Church is struggling with her allies to contain it. With our backing, you could truly skyrocket in power and help countless others while doing it.” The steward pleaded, his eye emploring the impetuous human to see reason.

Tilly allowed his words to sink in and felt the reality of the possibility of his death over the next day. Was he being selfish? These really seemed like the good guys, who was he to say no to helping all those people? These thoughts and more swirled through his head and seemed to reverberate through his body in time with the throbbing of his headache. Doubt crept in, and his normally resolute and decisive manner was once again struggling to find a way through the confusing morality of this conflict.

But in the end, he slowly shook his head. To say yes to Mataus' offer, would mean having to change who he was on a fundamental level. He had made promises, and he couldn't break them and remain the man he was. Maybe that was wrong, but he thought again of the little girl lying in the shop, and her small courageous smile.

If doing the right thing meant abandoning her… His heart firmed and clarity rang through his being.

As if in response to this revelation he felt a deep echoing thud in his chest, and he started, before realizing it was a beat of his heart that had just echoed through his whole body, pushing back the throbbing of his head, suppressing the ever-present invasive sensation of the Seed. It even enveloped the burning heat in his chest combining to form something solid and sure.

Something in the Steward's eyes changed, and he relented before a voice sounded from the hallway past the open door. “Very well. If you must go, you will do so with our blessing.” In walked the Mother Superior, looking as tired as Tilly felt. Tilly felt his Identify finally ping while looking at her.

Level 62 Elder Priestess of the Lady Light.

“I have a blessing I can give both of you that might just help you survive the day. I can only cast it once a year, but this feels like the right time to use it, don’t you think Mataus?” She said, looking over at him with a small smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.

Ch. 39 Into the Fire

Amelia had just finished tucking the last of her things into her coat, and at the offer, she looked over at Tilly who shrugged and said, “I think we take all the help we can get.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Amelia said, nodding firmly before smoothing out some invisible wrinkles on her coat and moving forward to stand next to Tilly in front of the Mother Superior.

“Except for the cool-down, it is actually a very simple blessing. It lasts for 6 hours and will give you divine insight into your surroundings. Providence will guide your steps.” She said smiling.

“A year cool-down for that-?” Tilly blurted before receiving a sharp elbow in the ribs from Amelia.

The Mother Superior simply smiled in response, and began to chant, pulling her hands from her voluminous sleeves and waving them in esoteric motions. No light emitted from her form like Tilly had seen with other blessings in the Temple, but he could feel something settling over his body, like a warm coat.

The priestess’s eyes flashed and she finished with, “Light protect you and guide you.” Then she hunched over, and Mataus caught her collapsing form. Tilly rushed forward in concern, but Mataus waved him away with his free hand, “This is only because she, like you, has pushed herself far beyond her limits these last days. Now go, the blessing will make itself known to you as you head out. May the Light shine upon you.” He said as he and one of the guards lifted the Priestess and carried her over to one of the same cots that they regularly used for the sick.

“Thanks for everything guys, I won't forget you, and if we make it out of this, I will be looking you up,” Tilly said nodding to the steward and the guards.

“No, it is us who must thank you. Your arrival was nothing short of miraculous. The Light always finds a way.” Ulnas said seriously, his tired smile filled with fierce gratitude.

“Mataus, always a pleasure. I have always appreciated the work you do here and I am glad to have been a part of it in the city’s last days.” Amelia said solemnly to an acknowledging nod from the steward.

With that, they both turned through the door and moved toward the exit of the building. When they emerged from the large front entryway they found a line of grim guards standing at attention on the steps facing out into a city bathed in morning light. What would have been a somewhat peaceful vista was marred by the sound of distant screaming and general roar of upraised voices from the populace.

Tilly’s eyes were immediately drawn to a pillar of black smoke rising in the distance in another part of the city, and old instinct drew him in that direction even as he tried to remember where exactly the Teleportation Hub was in the city.

Amelia moved passed the guards who saluted before returning to their grim vigil and then paused at the bottom of the steps as if in indecision.

“What's up? Should we find where the Lapin contingent is setting up and see what Lord Hiro is planning?” Tilly asked, coming up behind her.

“That is precisely what I was going to do, which would require us to move that way” She pointed toward the city center with a thoughtful expression, “But I feel something pulling me in a different direction. I believe it is the blessing of the Mother Superior… But how far do we trust something like this? Does it take into account our own goals, or does it prioritize our survival above all else?” She pondered, tapping her foot and looking in the direction she had pointed.

“Well… If this is really such a powerful Ability, then I’m sure it will turn out to be more than just a ‘danger compass’. Let's move in the direction you know we need to go as fast as we can, and if either of us feels anything change, we will let the other know.” Tilly said slowly, as he too felt a slight tug away from the direction they needed to go.

“If it is warning us of immediate danger, it's best to be prepared,” Amelia said as she reached into her main right-hand pocket and pulled out a full staff, Mary Poppins style. It looked like a simple length of grayish wood whose only distinct feature was a sprig of budding growth at its top. With her other hand, she fished out a bundle of something. Tilly quickly pulled out his hatchets and held them to the sides and followed as Amelia moved down the street with a purposeful stride, staff at the ready.

Tilly’s Health and Mana were both at 100% but he still had two Debuffs remaining from the night before:

Potion Toxicity: 4 hours remaining

Mana Exhaustion: 8 hours ({Partially Resisted}, {Localized}) remaining

He didn't really understand the second one, but he imagined it had something to do with the faint pins and needles sensations he felt in his lungs and throat every time he exhaled. He was happy to see the blessing also up on his HUD below the Debuffs:

Light's Blessing of Insight: 6 hours remaining.

Temple Way was more or less abandoned, with only a few other edifices showing a guard presence at the front entrance, the others being shut up tight or left open and empty. Apparently, only a few of these factions trusted their luck against the Cult of the Serpent, which Tilly guessed was religious in nature.

Amelia took a turn down a side street that pointed more directly toward the center of the city when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, just as Tilly felt a slightly more urgent tug back toward the Temple of Light.

The side street also seemed abandoned, but they both looked at each other as the pull of the blessing redoubled in strength.

“We continue,” Amelia muttered under her breath dropping her cloth sack at their feet and then moving forward at a more cautious pace. Then something occurred to Tilly and he stepped in front of Amelia, keeping his hatchets at the ready, “Unless I miss my guess, you are more of a back-line combatant, so let me take the lead, yeah?” He said through the side of his mouth as he continued. She nodded, continuing to scan the suspiciously empty streets.

Tilly wished the Priestess had given them more information before passing out, but then again, he doubted something like this functioned the same way every time. The tugging grew even more insistent until it felt like someone was pulling the back of his jacket. He was about to turn and suggest a longer route to the Hub when the sound of clapping echoed up and down the street. Tilly’s Head snapped up to the source and found an ornately dressed Satyr with two giant thugs in house guard uniforms emerging from a shadowed doorway a little further down the street.

Tilly’s face grew hot, and he felt the phantom dribble of spit slide down the side of his face as he faced the Marcellus family scion once again.

“Ah, I should have known you two rats would find each other. I hear you have been getting in things far above your station Mrs. Cooper.” He said with a smile that dripped scorn.

“And You!” He said turning his gaze upon Tilly,

“The resources my family has wasted on you are unconscionable, you little cockroach. ” He spat, some of his control slipping as his scorn somehow deepened.

During his short monologue, Tilly felt the Blessing cease its pull backward, and he glanced behind them to see a couple more thuggish guards stepping into the mouth of the side street behind them. They were trapped.

His Identify populated their levels and classes.,

Level 26-28 Marcellus House Guard Elite. X 4

Shit, way too much for him to handle, and no super effective cheat power to use on them either. He hoped that the Botanist Surveyor had some ass-kicking in her, because if not they were fucked.

“Run on my signal-” Amelia hissed through clenched teeth, obviously seething with fury at her mistake in ignoring the blessings guidance.

Tilly's hands were itching to throw one of his hatchets, and he really didn't want to leave her to handle this fight, even if she could.

“What are the little rats chattering about?” the Marcellus Quaestor sniggered moving slowly closer,

“I hope you aren't leaving our surprise party so soon! What about our guest of honor?” He gestured grandiosity, at the other side of the street, from an abandoned shop appeared the Marcellus house steward, holding a small squirming gnomish boy in his hand.

“I'm sorry Mrs. Amelia!” Cog Cried pitifully,

“I left the group to try and find some of my family, and these smelly bastards caught me!” He snarled out through a sob, before receiving a sharp cuff across the head from the steward, “You will speak with respect when referring to the young master.”

The boy cried out in response, and Tilly’s fury grew cold and terrible as he noted the bruises already marking the boy's face and neck. Amelia's hissed next to him,

“You slimy pile of auroch’s dung! You would hide behind a child?”

At that Titus Marcellus snorted with laughter, “This creature is no child, it is little better than an animal. Besides, we brought him for fun, not because we needed him. Steward, you may dispat-”

“Wait” Tilly shouted, whipping his head around to drill his gaze into the Level 38 Quaestor. Panic and fury mingled in his chest as the situation so rapidly devolved before his eyes.

“No one here has done as much damage to your name as me, and honestly I have loved every minute of it you cowardly traitor.” Tilly snarled, not having to fake any of the goading delight he felt at insulting the Satyr.

“If this boy is an animal, what does that make you? Little Errand Boy for the Snakes? A pet?” Tilly continued, showing every one of his teeth in a fierce grin. A glimmer of a plan had formed in Tilly's mind that vaguely involved him starting a fight with this guy and giving Amelia space to make an attempt at snatching Cog. But as he had given voice to his fury and vented at the antagonist that was responsible for so much suffering in the city, his blood began to boil.

He hated this piece of shit. The plan faded away, as Tilly's world zeroed in on Titus Marcellus.

The half smile half sneer fell from Titus’ face and was replaced by raw, teeth-grinding fury, “You hairless ape. You have no idea what is going on here, but I look forward to showing you just how out of your depth you are.” He said, rolling up his sleeves,

“Stay back, I will take care of this buffoon myself.” he spat, “ And don't even think of trying anything,” he said, casting his icy gaze at Amelia.

“If you so much as twitch, Evander will stick the ugly little midget.” He smiled, and Amelia bit back a gasp as the Steward made a knife appear in his hand as if by magic, placing it almost gently upon the boy's cheek.

“If you can distract them for even a few seconds, I can get him free and take care of the goons behind us,” Amelia whispered, carefully watching the knife point. But Tilly did not respond, in fact, he didn't hear her at all. His attention was consumed by the tattoos revealed on the Quaestor's right arm. They seemed to bleed ink, just like the ones on the Shadow Hunters a couple of nights ago. They called to him and disturbed him at the same time.

The roaring throb began ringing in Tillys ears grew even louder, and his heart beat wildly as his mouth went instantly dry. The Seed in his side began to writhe, its tendrils reaching hungrily for more. The veins in Titus’ right arm wriggled in response, like recognizing like, and the blood drained from Tilly’s face as his eyes met the Satyr’s grim smile. He knew.

“I had wondered what this sensation was… I kept thinking that you felt familiar, yet I had no reason to know you. Then when I let the Shadow Hunters over the wall and I felt their Corruption, I finally discovered the source of our bond.”

Amelia's wary eyes left Steward, and looked over at the Quaestor In confusion, “What is he talking about?” She frowned, taking in the obviously cursed Tattoos and the writhing of Titus’ arm. They had both seemed similar eldritch movements hundreds of times by this point, and her expression fell as she put together what he was implying.

With dawning horror, she looked over at her companion, “Mr. Tillman, what is he talking about?” She asked again more urgently.

Tilly’s mind was sluggish, the sweet feeling of hatred sung in his veins, drowning out reason and shame. He was going to tell Amelia, he was going to tell Hiro, but not like this. Not from this pompous ass. His avoidance and his shame came roaring to the surface before being drowned in fury. This was all the stupid goat's fault…

His surroundings faded away, Amelia and even little Cog fuzzing into the background as his breathing grew ragged and the color drained from his vision until everything was painted in shades of gray.

Titus Marcellus smiled warmly at Tilly, “You can hear its song, can’t you? It's offering of freedom if only you let yourself go... Show us your true self! Ahaha!” He finished with a high-pitched squealing laugh.

“Jonathan!” Amelia shouted.

Tilly heard none of it. Not the antagonizing of the Satyr, not Amelia's cry. He only heard the throbbing beats of his own heart and the roaring of his hatred.

He was going to chop this fucking goat into pieces.

Ch. 40 Just Deserts.

Amelia Cooper Level 33 Botanist Surveyor.

Amelia knew she shouldn't have trusted another Human!

Her thoughts were whirling as she tried to take in the tumble of new information while simultaneously gaining some sort of control over the situation. She silently activated the mana in the RageSpore packet she had left at the mouth of the side street. She felt them greedily gobble up the stored energy and puff out an invisible mist of airborne fungi, that if inhaled, would produce confusion and extreme aggression in a target after thirty seconds. For better or worse, things would drastically change in half a minute.

She couldn’t believe after all of his supposed effort to stop this infection he was already under the Corruption’s influence. She didn't know if he was a willing host or not, but the Marcellus’ Scion’s words had sent him into a frenzy... she even saw two disturbing black tear stains flowing down from dark watering eyes. All of her naive hope came crashing down around her as she shouted in frustration,

“Jonathan!” She yelled, trying in vain to shock him out of the influence of whatever powerful force was trying to gain control over the region. She felt the familiar tang of regret and failure as she took in his complete lack of a reaction. A grizzly smile bloomed on his face and he stalked toward the vastly more powerful Quaestor like an absolute idiot. The Satyr seemed to relish the challenge and was happily showing off his arm which was infested with the eldritch malady. She could tell that the tattoos were meant to somewhat contain the influence of the foreign substance, but that was a fool's errand. He obviously was just as caught up in the moment as Jonathan and she doubted that his world extended beyond this conflict.

Another small sob sounded out from behind her and her grip on her Budded Staff tightened as she whipped her head back around towards little Cog.

25 more seconds. She quickly checked her connection to the Strangle Vine cutting she had instructed each child to keep. It weakly responded from Cog's pocket and she was thankful that she had renewed the connection to the cutting as each child was healed yesterday. She could channel Frenzied Growth into any willing plant as long as she maintained her mana imprint. A seed would have been better, but they took too long to grow and imprint and she hadn't had the time! Instead, she had to mangle her last two living specimens in order to cover all of the children with some measure of protection.

Something like a cutting wasn't as good as a seed for longevity, but it would grow almost instantaneously. She hoped that if she activated it when the disturbingly impassive Steward was distracted, it would be enough to bind him while she grabbed the child.

22 seconds.

The Marcellus scion reached into his robes and withdrew a sceptrum, the foolishly ornate weapon that had become fashionable amongst the young aristocrats the last few years. This one, however, glowed with purple light as the smirking Quaester flourished it needlessly a few times before matching Jonathan’s approach with a proud upright step.

“I’m not surprised really. A brute like you would long for such comfort the substance offers.” He admonished the approaching human.

“There are methods to tame its influence while reaping the rewards… But I am sure you received your imbuement through something vulgar like a bite or scratch. Aha!” he finished with an absurd laugh before suddenly lunging towards Jonathan with an open swing.

The swing wasn't particularly powerful or fast, but he was 26 levels above Jonathan’s Son of Flame class and it showed. Jonathan immediately reacted to the obvious swing but was simply too slow, and was going to at least receive a bludgeoning blow to his shoulder. Amelia squinted her eyes in sympathy while maintaining her internal count.

Then Jonathan seemed to be jerked to the side, and Titus’s eyes widened in shock at the strange movement.

17 seconds.

Jonathan wasted no time, showing an astonishing battle sense, even when under the effects of this Corruption. His axe heads flared with an angry blue flame and he swung them at the Quaestor from opposite directions. Taking advantage of his opponent's off-balanced stance after the surprising missed swing.

The Quaestor easily batted away the clumsy attack with his glowing metal rod. But his smirk was gone. He did not like being surprised again by such a weak opponent.

“You are quite the cockroach, aren't you? I am growing weary of your antics. Bug!” he spat, accentuating his final sentence with wide-sweeping strikes that Jonathan barely blocked. Even with the obvious telegraphing from the overconfident Marcellus, each blow knocked him further on his back foot until he was up against the side of the jutting storefront from which the ambushing party had emerged.

Jonathan felt wood behind him, snarled, and suddenly lunged back at the Quaestor recklessly. His face was a mask of animalistic fury, as he rejected the circumstances of his plight completely. The lunge was received full-on by the satyr with a smile blooming on his face anew. Jonathan's full weight didn't move his opponent at all and the Quaestor brought down his spectrum viciously on Jonathan’s back, causing an explosive grunt to sound from the human.

“A tackle?” The Satyr sniggered, before lazily slamming another blow atop Jonathan’s back. The second blow knocked him to the ground, and Amelia's whole body tightened, willing the spores' effect to hurry.

5 seconds.

“How positively juvenile.” He yelled before aiming a kick at Jonathan’s prone form, which once again slid just out of the way without any corresponding movement from Jonathan.

It must be the Blessing! Perhaps it was burning out its influence in his altered state by physically moving him. While each of its influencing movements on Jonathan hadn’t been particularly preternatural in speed, they had been so inexplicably well-timed that each blow had been just short of landing. Amelia was glad the fool had something to help him until she was ready to spring her own traps.

Any second now those two goons should start showing symptoms.

“How unbelievably frustrating!” The Quaestor yelled in fury at having missed his kick.

“Very well, if the child won't stay still for his discipline, I will have to hold him down. Chains of Judgement!” He shouted in a high-pitched whine. Spectral chains shining with purple light appeared around Jonathan’s wrists and yanked his arms upward and back until he was hanging from them with his back against the same wooden storefront.

Shouting could be heard from back down the street, and both of the thus far inactive guards flanking the fight looked over with suspicious expressions. The Quaestor didn't react, totally absorbed in his ‘lesson’, and to Amelia’s horror, he finished his move by thrusting his Sceptrum through Jonathan’s shoulder, pinning him to the wood of the wall behind him.

Cog cried out in horror behind her and she whirled back around hoping to catch her chance at the distraction.

“There! That should help you keep still for the rest of our little game.” Titus said, smiling manically as he flexed his hands in anticipation. The guards maneuvered around him to get a better view of what was happening further down the street, where the two others had actually begun to brawl. They were shouting obscenities at each other with their weapons lying forgotten on the street.

Amelia watched the steward carefully. As soon as he craned his neck around the boy to peer coldly down the street, Amelia flooded the cutting with mana.

Jonathan Tillman Level 12 Son of Flame.

The boy's cry cut through the angry grey mist of hatred that had clouded his mind and Tilly felt an extraordinary pain radiating from his shoulder. He blinked rapidly as his vision cleared and he saw Titus grinning manically before him. In an instant, the situation crashed into Tilly’s awareness along with a crushing shame that he had once again given part of himself to Corruption's Influence.

Tilly saw Cog held tight by the Steward, with a knife drifting near his cheek and Amelia posed on the edge of her feet as the guards nearest to him started to move back down the street.

“Crete! What in Justice’s Upright Teets are you doing?” The guard on the right shouted back down the street toward the other two who seemed to be fighting for some reason. This was lost on Titus who was pulling back his fist almost in slow motion as he carefully took in Tilly's expression as the pain of his position filtered through the aggression haze.

Over Titus' shoulder, Tilly saw Amelia lean forward on the balls of her feet as a faint green nimbus glow emitted from the staff. At the same time, something exploded out of Cog's pocket and Tilly found himself smiling as Titus’ fist connected with his face, shattering his perception and causing stars to flare in front of his eyes.

“What’s so funny you Neanderthal!” Titus shouted as the green thing latched onto the Steward’s arm and rapidly grew up around his extremity. He shouted in surprise and Tilly was amazed to see Titus not even flinch as he leaned even closer to Tilly’s face and shouted, spewing hot flecks of spit,

“Answer Me!”

It wasn't too late… A dark joy flooded Tilly's heart.

He may have fucked up, but there was still a chance to get them out of this. He took in a deep breath and felt a dagger-like pain in his over-drawn mana channels as he activated a now achingly familiar ability.

Titus leaned even further forward, his eyes wild as he gleefully looked forward to the breaking of his newest victim and Tilly exhaled the invisible purifying fire all over his face. Titus looked at him confused for a second until his eyes clouded over and he released an animal-like scream. Fire flooded into his lungs and then into his bloodstream, eagerly chasing down its quarry.

The guards turned first in confusion to the Steward's surprised shout and then to the sound of their master’s scream, not able to quite keep up with events. Tilly then mercilessly headbutted Titus’s reeling form and Amelia's staff whipped around to bludgeon one of the guards on his head.

Titus Marcellus stumbled back, continuing to scream in agony as the writhing forms under his arm started to tear themselves free to escape the purifying flame. The Steward had dropped Cog in an effort to shift his knife to his unbound hand, and Amelia followed up her blow to the first guard by whipping her hand out of another pocket and flinging dust in the second guard's face. His thick shortsword clattered on the cobbles as he started to hack and wretch in response to whatever hellish substance she had just introduced into his system.

“Take the boy and go, Amelia!” TIlly shouted hoarsely, while arduously pulling his ruined shoulder forward on the weird scepter/rod that Titus had beaten him with.

Cog scrambled away on all fours as the steward began hacking at the still-growing vine that had just arrived around his throat. The guard Amelia had initially whacked was backing away from her, sword at the ready. Titus continued to scream as black tendrils ripped themselves free from his arm leaving it a mangled mess.

With a final heave, Tilly pulled his shoulder free and found to his surprise that he was still clutching both of his hatchets in a death grip. Without thinking he immediately flung the one in his uninjured arm at the guard closest to Cog and Amelia while igniting it in flames.

The Guard grunted as it lodged with a meaty thunk in his back and Amelia looked over at him, obviously torn on her next step. The tentacled horror had almost fully detached itself from the Marcellus scion and the steward had carved bloody marks along his shoulder and neck freeing himself from vine-like growth that had emerged from Cog's pocket.

She reached down and grabbed Cog, throwing his small terrified form over her shoulder. She gave Tilly a flat look, “None of us are sent here because we are good.” Then she frowned apologetically and skirted around the tentacled thing that had almost completely pulled free from Titus' body. As soon as she was out of range she turned and sprinted down the street away from the remaining combatants.

The guard who had been hacking up a lung had almost recovered and Tilly quickly recalled his second hatchet from the back of the other who had been reaching around pointlessly to remove it. Looks like these guys were pretty much all Strength and Endurance.

Only one of the two guards who had been in a fight down the road was left, and he came limping his way toward the main group with the other left in a bloody pulp at the intersection.

That left three wounded combatants, one writhing horror, and one aristocratic brat still screaming hoarsely in pain. All of whom were at least 14 levels above him…

Mana : 93%

Health : 45%

Tilly took a deep breath as they all took turns looking at the horror, the fleeing Botanist, and him. By some unspoken arrangement, they all zeroed in on him as the greatest threat. He clutched his newly recalled hatchet in his good arm and held on to the other one weakly as the gaping hole in his shoulder leaked blood.

Then a small paper bird flew into his view,

“Jonathan Tillman! My tracking sigil informed me that you are injured. Do not worry! Help is on the way!” The bird declared in Shuji’s voice for all to hear. His opponent's eyes sharpened at the words and the Steward's creepily calm voice issued out a command,

“Kill him and get the master away from the specimen.”