Nar exhaled heavily, water droplets bursting from his face. The downpour was incessant, and he felt as though he was standing in a lukewarm shower as he considered the dead beasts around them.

No, this might be even heavier than our shower, he thought idly. Though at least it washed off of all the blood bits.

"I know it's a pain in the ass in this rain and at this hour, but I think we should harvest them," Kur was saying, though his reticence was obvious from his mental tone.

"I think so too," Row said, sounding just as exhausted. "Uncommon materials and all that… Plus, there aren't that many bodies from what you're saying."

She's not wrong, Nar thought, frowning at the dead cacklers that littered their mud-soaked battlefield. Given the chaos they had just fought through, there should've been a whole lot more bodies to show for it, and their lack only served to further highlight their need to grow stronger as soon as possible.

Tsurmirel really upped the stakes this time around, Nar thought. Where in the Pile are they going to send us next, that is even tougher than this?

"Alright, let's try to get this done as quickly as possible," Kur said. "I'll come over with a few more harvesters and..."

"I think you should stay here, Kur," Row said. "Those aethermancers seem pretty banged up from what I hear, so we should get them cleaned up and out of the rain so their healer can look at them. And we'll need to have a chat with that party leader. We saved them, but if their guide is dead…"

"Yeah, there is that too," Kur muttered. "Sej?"

"Crystal's Mercy won't allow us to just leave them," the guide explained. "It's a death sentence without a guide."

"Right… Alright, if it's safe, then let's do some swapping around," Kur said, his tone worn out. "Raf and Jul are already over there, so let's send Mul, Jasphaer, Row and Lim over to help out. Gad, please stay there to cover them with Jaz, and… Sej, can you stay there too?"

"Nar killed the top alpha, so this lot will be running all the way back home and tomorrow, they will go back to fighting amongst themselves until a new top alpha starts to pull the herds under his control. So we're safe, but I can stay here if you want," the guide said.

"Please. It would make me feel a lot more reassured," Kur said. "Then, Nar and Viy, you bring over those aethermancers once the guys from our side arrive. Unless they are very hurt?"

"I think they can hold on," Sej said. "But I'll check."

"Alright. See you all soon then. Stay safe," Kur said.

"Right," Sej spoke out loud, drawing the attention of the aethermancer party. "Our people are sending harvesters over, and once they arrive, we'll send some people to take you back to our camp. Do you mind waiting a bit? But if you are critically injured, we can depart now though."

"We're fine," their tank, and presumably party leader, said. He had removed his helmet after the combat, in their aura lights, he had revealed himself to be a human, as Nar had suspected, with wavy, golden-brown hair and penetrating brown eyes to match it. "These two are unconscious, but it's not life threatening. Nothing that a good night's sleep won't fix."

Sej glanced over at the passed-out delvers. "Well, if you say so… Just let us know if you need to get out of this rain."

The guide had taken a small tarp from her inventory, and Eum and Leon now held it above the two passed out people, one furry one and another that seemed to have feathers, while the woman that Nar had caught looked over them. As for the third wounded party member, she was revealed to also be human, and she looked similar enough to the tank to indicate family relations. She now stared intently at Nar, or, more in specific, his arm.

Awkward, Nar too glanced down at his left arm. He pursed his lips as he found the same, albeit smaller, growth of aura glowing from the back of his bicep. His self-healing was regrowing actual flesh to replace the little chunk that had been torn from his arm, and he was effectively bleeding out aura in order to do so, the shine from his healing wound being bright enough to light up a large section of the massive trunk at his side.

I guess I would stare too, Nar thought. And once in a while, he did catch several stares coming from not just the wounded aethermancer, but from her companions, Sej, and Jaz too.

"Hey! You!" Sej suddenly said, startling just about everyone.

"Who? Me?" Jaz asked, stunned.

"Who else? I told you they were blind! What's up with visual distractions?" Sej chastised the archer. "That was a waste of aura and you ended up blinding us instead!"

Jaz scratched the back of his head, his expression downcast. "Sorry. I got a little carried away… This was my first time actually going all out."

The guide sighed.

"Well, it definitely did the job. A good job. It scared the shit out of them!" she said, a rebellious smile sneaking its way onto her face and dismantling her hard stare. "Just think a little bit before you act, next time. This might sound counterintuitive, but for an affinity like that to really shine, you need to be strategic."

"I know…" Jaz said, grimacing. "People keep telling me that."

"It will come with time," Gad told the archer. "And here, we'll find nothing but experience."

The archer blinked at her. "Was that… A pun?"

"Who knows," Gad said, her tone just as neutral as ever.

"I'm going to get started," Jul said, pointing at the bodies. "Sej, I have an idea, but do you want to show me how it's done, just in case?"

Sej nodded and guided her towards the alpha. "I will. And I'll help out too. Raf, you come too! So, first things first. For a cackler, the most…"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Nar shifted his gaze to Jaz, leaving the trio to their grim, but lucrative task.

So that's what his path looks like… Utter chaos, Nar thought. But one he needs to keep control of.

And curious, Nar decided to check the archer's skills. After all, they should all be getting to know each other's capabilities.

Skills

Active

Arrow Aura 2 (Aura/DPS): The focused intent of will and aura manifested through the bow. Adds an extra n * 0.75 aura damage to base weapon damage, where n is the amount of aura points used. Your aura also strengthens your arrow and boosts its speed and piercing capacity by an extra 0.15. Cost n points of aura. - Common

The Real One (Aura/Affinity/DPS/Combo): At some point, it becomes all too real, and the pranks and games must come to an end. Target must be under 30% HP. [The Real One] consumes all the instances of [Prankster] on the target and delivers a finisher arrow that does 100 * n, where n is the number of instances of [Prankster] on the target. The arrow itself does some physical, piercing damage. The skill damage is psychic aura damage. Costs 150 aura and 90 stamina. 30 min cooldown. Warning: Using [The Real One] carries the risk of allowing all other targets currently affected with instances of [Prankster] to resist and remove them. - Uncommon

How Many Fingers Are Up? (Aura/Affinity/Debuff): Infuse your arrows with your aura and intention. Wherever they fly, they will create visual illusions to distract and sow chaos amongst your enemies! Illusions must be conjured by your own mind. The more vivid the illusion intent imbued into the arrow, the more flamboyant the prank will be! Has a chance to trigger instances of [Prankster]. Costs 25 aura and 10 stamina. No cooldown, let the chaos unfold! - Uncommon

Loud, Loud, Loud! (Aura/Affinity/Debuff): Infuse your arrows with your aura and intention. Wherever they fly, they will create auditory illusions to distract and sow chaos amongst your enemies! Illusions must be conjured by your own mind. The more vivid the illusion intent imbued into the arrow, the more splendid the prank will be! Has a chance to trigger instances of [Prankster]. Costs 15 aura and 6 stamina. No cooldown, let the cacophony unfold! - Uncommon

Meditation 2 (Aura/Recovery): Recharge your Aura through deep breathing and the emptying of your mind. Through this, it is possible to access a sense of… (No more information available) - Common

 

Passive

Don't Take It So Seriously! (Aura/Affinity/Debuff/Combo): Why take life so seriously when you can just have fun instead? Let go of the stuffiness and the expectations! Be free! Let your spirit soar! And of course, make sure to bring joy to the people… Or otherwise derive it from them! Your affinity debuff skills have a chance of triggering instances of [Prankster] on your enemies. - Uncommon

- Prankster (Aura/Affinity/Debuff/Combo): Each instance makes it just that little bit harder for your target to think straight and take things seriously! Can be resisted. - Uncommon

Aura Pathways 7 (Aura): True form of the [Aura Channels] skill. [Aura Pathways] spread out and reach throughout the body, connecting your aura core to every part of your physical being. The higher the level of the pathways, the higher its quality, allowing the user to better cycle their aura, in higher quantities, and with lesser and lesser loss of aura through leakage. - Common

Mastery 6 (Aura): The amount of aura that you can cycle and control all at once. Each journey is its own. Currently, 200 aura points. Warning: While you can reach for more aura, it will be extremely difficult, and carries with it potentially very serious risks - Common

Dark Vision 2 (Enhancement): As one born in the deepest darkness, you will always be able to see well through the dark. - Common

 

Nar couldn't help snorting.

It's a good path. And affinity, Nar thought, eyeing Jaz as he made easy jokes with Eum, the furry aethermancer that had fought with his bare claws. It suits him.

He shook his head and closed Jaz's skill list. Like Cor with her [High Tide], Nar was sure that Jaz would likely continue gaining more finishers, or different combos that he could spend his [Prankster] instances on for a variety of effects.

If anything, I'm actually surprised he's managed to unlock [Meditation] level 2 already! Nar thought, shaking his head. He and Tuk both! How in the pile did those two loud mouths ever manage to sit still long enough to get it? And before me! And how do they even have the same levels of pathways and [Mastery]? And which are higher than most of the rest in the party, too!

He sighed. Life was just full of mysteries, and the night had been long enough already for him to bother with that one.

Still, he thought. Their party's affinities really are a lot more synergetic than ours. Tun's tanking affinity is great at lying down an unbreakable frontline, while Cor can buff them all and potentially uses her massive damage [High Tide] when she manages to get up faster. Even Jaz's affinity is perfect at distracting the enemy and helping out both tanking and with giving Cor enough time to use her [High Tide]. In comparison, we have me, who needs to roam around freely. Viy who needs to be well away from the party, and Mul who is the same. And Jul, whose passive [To Cast Out Fear] can make her reckless, needs to be covered by Gad…

He grimaced.

Well, we'll make it work. Fortunately, Gad's affinity "arrived" just in time to loosely hold us all together in just the right way, he thought. Though, Row's party only has three affinities so far. There's no telling what anyone's going to unlock, or how their paths are going to change.

He crossed his arms and glanced up at the pitch-black canopy above them, looking for something else to keep his mind occupied from the pain of his arm missing and regrowing a freaking chunk of flesh.

My [Aura Blade] needs fixing, he thought, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the rain as he glanced up. We'll be here for at least a month, fighting non-stop against stronger and stronger beasts… I need my [Aura Blade] to work better.

He passed a hand through his hair, and again, was happy for his decision of trimming it short.

Plus, while I thought the skill was pretty fast, these uncommon were pretty good at dodging it, he thought. I need to increase my pathways to make it even faster… Or maybe it's me who's too slow at my low level 40.

But he heard the sounds of the others arriving just then, and filed his worries for a later time. Preferably after he'd had a good night's sleep.

"Hi! I'm Row, second party leader of this domain party!" Row introduced herself.

Second? Nar thought, trying to keep from smiling. Kur would hate to hear that, even if it's the truth.

"I'm Leon," the tank and party leader introduced himself. "On behalf of my party, thank you so, so much for coming to our rescue! We are in your debt!"

And having said that, Leon bowed his head to the red-haired party leader, even while he was holding the tarp over his party members. Eum mirrored the gesture, and so did Era, their healer.

"No need for that!" Row said, flushing so deeply she almost turned the color of her hair. "Anyone would have done the same! We're just glad we could be of help! Plus, there's all of this uncommon harvesting to be made! And speaking of which, we can give you guys your share later on."

Leon blinked at her. "You would… Harvest for us?"

Row shrugged. "We're already doing it, and you guys look like you could use the rest."

Leon smiled at her, then he openly grinned.

"You are good people, Row," he said, his tone heavy with gratitude. "But you can have all of it. While we are also gatherers and harvesters of opportunity, tonight I think we just need to get out of this rain."

"Right," Row said, nodding. And turning to Nar. "Can you guide them back, then?"

"Gladly," Nar said, stifling a yawn. "Are you guys ready to go?"

Leon nodded. "Ready when you are."

"Alright. Let's go get you guys dry," Nar said, motioning in the direction of their camp.

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