Two necklaces — one a half-melted lump of silver, the other what might be a religious symbol — and a plain blade which was a short sword for her but probably a dagger to an Elf. That was the entirety of what Ana found when she riffled Karti's pockets. A bad habit that she'd picked up during her time on the street and one she'd found hard to break over the years.

Her notifications, though? Those were a treasure trove.

Congratulations! Your Party has defeated: Human Binder (29); Human Binder (26); Human Binder (23); [...]

In total, her Party had killed six Binders, two Summoners, four Cultists, a possessed wolf, a revenant badger, and the revenant of some person named Tlarta. From those, Ana had received 4 Major, 6 Medium, and 5 Minor Growth Crystals, with another 4 Mediums, 6 Minors, and 5 Lessers as bonuses.

Then there were the Skill Levels she'd gained, along with everything else:

Congratulations! Your Skill Command has improved to Level 10! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Major). You have gained the Perk Unity of Purpose.

Unity of Purpose: A divided fighting force is no fighting force at all, but a rabble. For the purpose of commanding unit cohesion and trust between those you command, your Charisma modifier is treated as though it were 2 Steps higher. Value increases with Command Skill Level.

Congratulations! Your Skill Inspect has improved to Level 5! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Minor). You have gained the Perk Breakdown.

Breakdown: When Inspecting a creature with Class Levels, you learn all Classes they have, as well as the number of Levels in each, listed in chronological order.

Congratulations! Your Skill Axes has improved to Level 6! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Minor), Growth Crystal (Medium). You have gained the Perk Cleaver.

Cleaver: The purpose of an axe is not to cut flesh, but to split armor and bone. When using the Axes Skill, your Strength Multiplier is treated as though it were 1 Step higher for the purpose of penetrating armor and cleaving bone. Value increases with Axes Skill Level.

Congratulations! Your Skill Blunt Weapons has improved to Level 7! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Medium).

Congratulations! Your Skill Shields has improved to Level 6! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Medium).

Congratulations! Your Skill Unarmed Combat has improved to Level 11! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Major).

Congratulations! You have completed the Achievement Death Dealer III! 4 Advancement Points awarded.

Death Dealer III: Kill no less than 100 sapients.

Congratulations! You have completed the Achievement Underdog II! Moderate bonus to overall toughness awarded.

Underdog I: Kill no less than 5 times your own Class Level's worth of enemies in a single combat.

Underdog II: Kill no less than 10 times your own Class Level's worth of enemies in a single combat.

Rayni's lessons in what caused Skills to Level rang more true than ever; while her weapon Skill increases could possibly be explained by sheer volume of use, Command and Inspect pretty much had to be due to pressure, focused intent, and the importance of success.

Between the combat rewards and the Skill Levels, Ana had received a grand total of 6 Majors, 13 Mediums, 13 Minors, and 5 Lessers. She was well over what she needed to reach Level 16. She again had mixed feelings about the bonus Advancement Points from killing so many people, but the bonus to "overall toughness" from her new Achievement sounded nice.

She only had to hope that when the final butcher's bill came in, it wouldn't have cost her anyone she truly cared about. Not that she didn't care about the losses of those she wasn't close to; she wanted this place to thrive, so those she left behind would prosper. But she also had to be honest with herself.

It will be worth it, the Wayfarer whispered in her mind.

Welcome back, Ana replied sourly. Nice of you to finally join us.

Oh, don't be like that! The goddess sounded relieved, even amused. I couldn't have helped. I can't see the Sentinel's faithful unless mine are nearby, anyway. Would you have wanted me cheering you on, distracting you? I can do that next time, if you like.

No, I don't want you doing that. And what 'next time'?

Oh, there will be a next time. I'd bet my divinity on it. But, speaking of my faithful…

"You look pleased with yourself," Messy said from behind her. Ana silently scolded herself. She'd been too focused inward to pay attention. But she didn't miss the fragile tone in Messy's voice, nor the strain behind her girlfriend's wavering smile when she turned to look.

There was a thick spray of blood across Messy's shoulder, neck, and face, smeared where she'd wiped at it.

"Just checking my notifications," Ana said. "You saw some fighting after I went?"

"We did. We won. Thanks to you breaking us out of whatever stupor we were in. Gods," Messy sobbed once, then wiped furiously at her eyes, further smearing the blood and her trademark eyeliner. "I've never been so terrified, Angel! They could have cut my throat, and I wouldn't have stopped them. I just wanted it to end!"

Ana took two long steps over, then looked at her hands lamely. They were covered in blood.

"You think a little more will make any difference?" Messy said with a wan smile.

Ana hugged her, as tight as she could without hurting her.

"I… I just needed to see that you're alright," Messy said into the top of Ana's head, no doubt getting blood all in her hair. "Torden said that you were, but I needed to see. Those notifications, Angel. The… all this! The bodies. Did you do all this?"

"Yeah," Ana whispered.

Messy gave a mad little laugh. "That's— that's so— Gods, I'm sick! I'm sick, Angel! If you let me, I'm going to ruin you once we manage to get properly clean."

"You're not sick," Ana said. "But even if you were, I'd like your sickness. It complements me."

"It does, doesn't it?" Messy pulled back. She wiped her mouth with the clean shoulder of her tunic, then Ana's with her thumb, before planting a light kiss on Ana's lips. "I need to help with the wounded. We're getting them together, taking care of what we can until Touanne and the others get to them. Find me when you're done?"

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Of course," Ana said reluctantly as she let go. "Go! Save some lives!"

As Messy left, Ana returned her thoughts to the rewards she'd gained from the afternoon's bloody work. Breakdown was interesting as a Perk; she'd wondered about Pirta, for example. No way was that woman just a Guild Administrator. She'd Inspect her when she returned. And Marra had told her outright that most of her Levels were not in Clerk at all. How many others around her had Switched to Leveling a different Class rather than Resetting? Knowing things like that could be useful, not only to suss out their combat abilities but for an idea about who they were as a person. Someone who chose to keep their Levels in a Class must be attached to what that Class represented, after all.

The two other Perks, Unity of Purpose and Cleaver, were just multiplier boosts in areas she didn't really care about. She knew that they were good; any bonus was good, pretty much by definition. She could easily calculate what effect they had purely mathematically. But it was all becoming abstract to her. A few more Points of Strength or Charisma in very specific situations? Great! But she didn't have the experience or the cultural background to really appreciate it. Something that would come with time, perhaps.

As Ana mused a group of six cultists emerged from among the tents, escorted by Wandak and some of his Party. Good, Ana thought. He made it. She'd seen him go down to one of those bolts of Death-magic, and he didn't look right as rain, exactly, but he was alive and walking which was good enough for now.

With them was Kaira. She presented herself as cheerfully as ever, but Ana could see the afternoon's strain in her eyes, and in how she moved and how she held herself.

"Hey, Ana!" Kaira said, her voice unnaturally brittle. "I see they've got you on guard duty, too."

"Waiting for Captain Pirta to come back with the others, and probably a Life-mage," Ana confirmed. "I'm kind of hoping Mister Cult Leader here will twitch too hard in my direction, though."

"Yeah, they've got me here to put down anyone who tries to run," Kaira said. Her tone and eyes were hard, but it was plain as day that she desperately hoped that the prisoners would just quietly do as they were told.

"Tor told me Brosden got hurt. How is he?"

"Bad. Took a bolt of fire to the side. Nasty as hell, but he'll pull through. He's a tough little bastard. Has to be to put up with me, right?"

"To keep up with you, sure," Ana said.

"Sure," Kaira echoed. She might even have meant it, just a little. Then she nodded to the six prisoners, who'd picked up four bodies between them. "Well, looks like they're ready to go. See you for the next load."

"Yeah. Hey, you going to be okay?"

"You know me," Kaira said noncommittally, then followed the prisoners and their escorts.

Ana wondered if she did. She'd spent less than a hundred hours with the woman in total. But she wanted to. Omda had told her once that Kaira found it hard to make and keep friends, mainly due to impulsiveness and a quick temper. Ana had the same problem but for very different reasons, and it would be nice to have someone who understood. Besides, Kaira already knew about her, and hadn't abandoned her any more than Messy had. That counted for a lot.

Captain Pirta had been gone for less than ten minutes when she returned with several people in tow. By then Kaira and her group had made another trip and cleared away the remaining bodies, though the blood that stained the dirt and had spattered and run on the white stone of the obelisk still spoke of what had happened.

On the ground, Karti's breath was less laboured, though he was very much unconscious. That, or he was faking far better than Ana could see past, and she'd done her best. Pirta gave her fellow elf — possibly her old friend if Ana had understood her correctly — a look of mixed relief and disappointment. Had she hoped on some level that Ana would kill him? Was that why she'd left Ana alone with him? It was hard to say. Ana was sure that Pirta could choose when to be transparent, and when not. The question was if she could convince Ana that she felt something completely false.

At least Ana knew one thing for sure now. If anyone in this Splinter could kill Ana, it was Pirta. When Inspected, the woman was now labelled as an [Elf Mistress of the Glaive (30), Guild Administrator (11)]. Captain Falk may have been the martial Captain of the Splinter, but there was no doubt in Ana's mind which of them was the stronger fighter.

The man in question walked beside Pirta, and while all his Levels were in Peacekeeper, there were now thirty of them rather than the twenty-nine he'd had a month earlier. Marra was nowhere to be seen, but Tellak walked beside him. There were also the two elder Barlos, with Tor's father carrying an object wrapped in cloth: a bulging disc the rough size and shape of a basketball with the top and bottom quarters sliced off. Rounding out the group were Spira the Hydromancer and a few other higher Level mages, all looking tired, many of them with blood and burns on their clothes.

"Tellak," Ana said, ignoring rank and priority. "How'd your Party pull through?"

"One dead. Three injured. Jay lost some of her hair to a near miss," the pale woman said. Like everyone else, she mostly seemed tired. Then she forced a smile and a joke. "You may have to give her some styling tips."

"Sure," Ana said. "I'll do that. But she's alright? With the mages here I'd've expected her to be with you."

"She got… enthusiastic in the fighting. I thought it best not to let her near any of the prisoners. And Simt is not well. I asked Jay to sit with her."

"Right." Ana kept her voice neutral. Jay was a bit of a surprise, but Simt? Not so much. The Kineticist had a hard time fighting changelings, and they could at least be rationalized as frenzied monsters. They screamed as you killed them, but not in fear and pain. And they didn't shoot at you.

Turning away from Tellak she said, "And Captain Falk! Congratulations!"

"Thank you," he said. He also sounded tired, but not too demoralized. Marra must have been alright. "This battle was unfortunate and costly, but also rewarding. Yes indeed!"

"Now we need only survive to enjoy those rewards," Pirta said. Not wasting any time, she continued, "Master and Mistress Barlo. The device, if you please."

The object that Master Barlo revealed by removing its cloth covering was smoothly polished and absolutely covered in Engravings, to the point where Ana wondered where they'd found the time to do it all. It also appeared to be made of stone, but from how the man handled it that was either not the case, he was far stronger than she thought reasonable, or it was hollow. Not that it mattered.

"Now, you are all aware that we haven't had the opportunity to test this on anything like the scale of what we'll be doing here," Mistress Barlo said, "but the smaller scale tests went as we hoped, and there is no reason why it shouldn't work."

"Work how, exactly?" Ana asked. "What does that… device do?"

Tor's father said, "Well, it— how well versed are you in translational mana theory?"

"Not particularly," Ana deadpanned.

"In that case… dear, would you?"

"We're hoping to drain the obelisk of mana in a controlled fashion, without collapsing the surrounding ritual in a destructive way," Barlo's mother explained.

"And this device is completely new? You came up with it in how many days?"

"Oh, it's not completely new, as such," Tor's dad said. "Draining mana from an object is a simple and well established process. The tricky part was to figure out how the obelisk might possibly function, and then work backward from that to prevent the destabilizing effects of powering it down. We started on that when we first heard about the cursed thing, working from notes provided by Mistress Touanne. And you all claiming an Ascendant Crystal from that Delve to infuse into the engravings was a great stroke of luck. A Greater would have done, but every edge counts, yes? We'll know soon enough if we succeeded, and if not, I wish you all the best of fortune in getting something out of this Karti and his thugs. Preferably within—" A crack of thunder interrupted him. He finished, "Within the next, oh, six hours."

"Right," Ana said, looking at the stone. It was covered in faintly luminescent swirls and geometric designs. "It feels like there should be more ceremony. Like everyone should be gathered to watch."

"While I don't always mind theatrics, there is a time and a place for such," Pirta said. "And it's neither here, nor now. Also, Marshal, I know that you have a rather high Connection, and I've been told that you've been learning to Shape and Channel, but I suggest we leave this to the Barlos and the experienced casters. If you'd be so kind as to take Karti's feet, we can get him out of here and get to work on the surviving Summoners."

"Yes, that is likely for the best," Mistress Barlo said as she did something to the device. "Confidence in one's own work is all well and good, but the survival of our son and neighbours rates rather higher than pride."

"I knew you'd understand," Pirta said gratefully. "Marshal?"

"Sure," Ana said. She grabbed Karti's ankles and lifted, while Captain Falk insisted on shooing Pirta away and doing the same to the male elf's wrists.

They must have looked ridiculous as they carried Karti away. The man was so tall that he dragged on the ground as they went, carrying him toward where the prisoners were kept — an empty pen that had once held people kidnapped from Earth. Wandak and Kaira, who were standing guard, waved.

"First guard duty, now you're moving prisoners around," Kaira said with a wan smile. "Should I be worried about my job?"

"I'm just temping," Ana joked back. "Tomorrow—"

Karti's back half hit the ground as fear suddenly flashed in Ana's awareness, from multiple sources. At the same time, her Danger Sense screamed and her combat bonuses returned with a vengeance.

The traitors had made their move, but not against her. Messy was in danger.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.