Monsters and Legends, page 36
part #1 of Infinite Realm Series
Helping these two, even the entire town, was the same to him as killing a monster: just something that he could do. Spending more time with people, he remembered the reasons why he had stopped interacting with others on Earth long ago. They were self-centered, weak. They waited for others to give them power instead of taking it for themselves. They lamented their fate, their luck, cursed those who had more than them, coveted what was not theirs.
It was all so tiring.
If he hadn’t agreed to lead, then he would’ve probably left a while ago, and he stayed not because of these people, but because of a monster. Ereclaw had convinced him to stay, just by introducing something new into Ryun’s life. By making things interesting. Ryun was bored, and had been for years. Once he had closed the last monster-spawning point in the world, he had run out of challenges. The people who had survived had not been strong enough to threaten him.
Except, at the end, Zacharia had showed him that he was wrong. Ryun had been wrong about many things recently. Perhaps a part of why he wanted to stay was because he refused to be anything other than the best version of himself. He needed people, no matter how much he disliked them, and so at least he could make them strong enough not to be a burden.
They looted the monsters, and continued on, searching for the fortress. So far they had poor luck, but the forest was enormous, and they had only been looking for a day. Then Ereclaw walked over to him and whispered, too softly for the other two to hear, but loud enough for Ryun.
“There is a pack of monsters nearby,” Ereclaw said.
They had been encountering only a few of them at a time, three or four at the most. But Ryun needed more for what he had planned. “How many?”
Ereclaw’s ear twitched. “A dozen,” he said. The wolf had learned a lot since he advanced, but the numbers were probably the most important thing that he had become familiar with.
“Lead the way,” Ryun whispered back.
They changed direction, heading straight for the monsters. Jishh and Enka inquired about why they’d changed direction so suddenly, but neither Ryun nor Ereclaw answered.
“Oh, I’m going to enjoy watching this,” Kagehime said inside his head.
Ryun didn’t comment. Quickly, they found them. It was a mixed group: half were treants, the others wood elementals like the ones that had attacked the town—only both monster types were tier 2. It was perfect for what he had planned. He had asked both of his warriors what kind of titles they had, and thankfully they lacked at least one that they could easily acquire for themselves.
Ryun turned, startling the two warriors walking behind him. Then he jumped forward, his body floating over the ground, making no sound. He grabbed Jishh by his waist and jumped, getting high up into the trees. The kreacean was frozen as Ryun deposited him next to himself. He glanced back at Enka who looked at them, confused. The monsters had noticed and were heading straight for her.
“Lord? Shouldn’t we help her?” Jishh asked.
Ryun shook his head. Then, when he saw that Enka was looking at him, he pointed at the monsters and spoke. “Good luck!”
Enka looked back at the thirteen monsters that were rushing at her and she readied her axe. Aside from the weapons that he had gifted them, he had also given them new gear, better gear. She should be able to take care of the monsters, even though they were almost a tier higher than her. She could take them—probably.
Ereclaw climbed up the tree and sat down next to Ryun, watching.
“Lord? What—” Jishh started, but Ryun raised a hand, silencing him. The fight had just started, and he wanted to see how his subordinate conducted herself.
CHAPTER 56 – PRESENT – Reyla
Sisters
“She is late,” Dergobor said as he stabbed his dagger into the tree, trying to pull the tough bark off.
“Stop that,” Reyla told him. The constant stabbing was annoying her.
Dergobor stabbed the trunk again, forcing Reyla to turn and look at him. He grinned at her, but then saw her expression. Quickly, he pulled his dagger out and sheathed it on his hip. “Sorry.”
Reyla turned back, looking at the path in front of them, waiting for her sister to come. Nayra might not be the most responsible person around, but she had never missed an appointment, not with Reyla. And she was starting to worry.
“Can’t you do that twin thing of yours?” Dergobor asked.
Reyla grimaced. “I can’t reach her,” she admitted, which was one of the reasons why she was worried. Reyla and her sister had a unique perk, a link that allowed them talk no matter how far away from each other they were. Currently, she could feel that Nayra was there, but she couldn’t reach her. That by itself was no cause for concern, as there were many things that could interrupt their link. If one of them was in a dungeon while the other wasn’t, they wouldn’t be able to talk. If one of them was asleep, or if they were speaking with the Dealmaker… The list went on.
But Reyla just didn’t think that Nayra would be engaged in any of those activities. Nayra knew that she had to check in and give Reyla her report, and she wouldn’t miss the meeting, no matter what—which meant that something had gone wrong with her mission.
Nayra had been supposed to go and pick up the stolen materials from the miners they had trained and equipped, then get them to Reyla so that she could use them to accomplish her mission. The two of them had been dispatched to the front line, tasked with slowing down the expansion. Reyla had been working on a settlement in a nearby territory, while Nayra had been working in the territory that they were currently in.
Dergobor pulled his dagger out of his sheath and started twisting it around his fingers. “She is just being an asshole, making us wait because we got the better job.”
He did have a point there. Her sister could be difficult when she didn’t get what she perceived as her right, and she could be resentful, especially when Reyla was concerned. The difference in their strength was the most common issue for their fights, and their arguments had just gotten worse since Reyla had increased the level gap between them again and gained another perk. Reyla understood why she felt that way—the two of them were twins, identical in almost every way—but while both had been given the same opportunities and resources, Reyla was the one who had pulled ahead.
Sometimes she felt bad for her twin when she saw how much she wanted to prove that she was just as good as she was. Reyla had tried to talk to Nayra about it, told her that she would catch up soon, but every time she tried it only led to more arguments. Still, Reyla didn’t think that her sister would actually stoop so low as to ignore orders. She had always been extremely dedicated to their service.
“Something is wrong,” Reyla said. “Nayra might be an asshole sometimes, but she wouldn’t miss a meeting, not for anything.”
Dergobor caught his dagger and looked at Reyla, then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” He sighed. “Something happened.”
Reyla pushed off the tree she had been leaning on and raised her blue-and-gold winged helmet before putting it on her head. She pulled out her long spear from her storage ring and looked into the distance. The former miners camp wasn’t far away—they could get there in an hour if they paced themselves.
“We should check their camp,” Reyla said to her partner.
“Right. You think they ran into trouble?” Dergobor asked.
“The miners would pose no threat…and there shouldn’t be anyone strong enough to threaten Nayra and her team in this territory,” Reyla said. But she knew better than to dismiss anything. The Infinite Realm was not a kind place—it was filled with all manners of dangers and monsters. Only the strong thrived here.
“Let’s go,” Reyla told him, and then they started running through the forest.
They approached the camp slowly, taking care not to make any sound. Once they reached close enough, they hid and observed. The only living things in the camp were two men: a drake and a human. They sat next to a fire, and spoke too softly for her to hear. The sun had not yet turned to the moon, but it would soon. Reyla looked around, searching for any signs of her sister or even the miners. Her skill |Power Sense| told her that the two were strong, as strong as Reyla herself was. Of course, levels, Cultivation, and stats weren’t everything, but they accounted for much. She worried that her sister had gotten herself in trouble.
Dergobor placed his hand on hers and then gestured to the side. Reyla followed his gaze and saw her sister. She sighed in relief as she saw her. Nayra and her team were chained with sealing manacles and tied to a tree. All three were in a sitting position and were slumped down, unconscious. It explained why she couldn’t reach her sister with their link.
“How are we doing this?” Dergobor asked.
Reyla glanced back to the two. Aside from her skill telling her that they were strong, the fact that they captured her sister’s team alive told her more. From the fact that they managed to subdue and capture Nayra and her team without any grievous injuries meant that they knew how to utilize their powers effectively. It also told her that they wanted them alive, which meant that the two were most likely wardens.
“We need to set Nayra and the others free,” Reyla said. Her sister was the priority. They couldn’t allow any information to get back to their superiors.
“They didn’t interrogate them yet,” Dergobor said. He knew about the link, so he knew what Reyla and Nayra could do with it. If Nayra had been interrogated, or even awake after the fight, she would’ve told Reyla. She had to have been unconscious since they fought.
“We can’t let them try it,” Reyla said. She wasn’t worried about them torturing them. Such means didn’t reveal any true information, and the three were trained—they wouldn’t talk—but there were skills, abilities, and techniques that might allow one to take the information right out of their heads. She didn’t know if these two had such powers, but even still most of those abilities required the target to be awake. She didn’t think they had managed to learn anything, not yet.
“We killing them?” Dergobor asked as his hand tightened on his dagger.
Reyla knew that they might be able to take the two, if they caught them unaware and ended the fight quickly. They had killed stronger opponents before by working together, but if the two were in fact wardens, then killing them would bring more trouble than it was worth. From her briefings she knew that they were to avoid the wardens for as long as possible, and kill them only as a means of last resort in cases where they managed to learn the truth and obtain proof. Killing wardens would surely mean an increase in their patrols and forces being deployed in the frontier territories, which would impede their plans. And if the wardens found out who killed one of theirs…they would mobilize their entire force to hunt down the culprits.
“No. We can’t afford to,” Reyla whispered back. She pulled out three small vials filled with red liquid and offered them to Dergobor. “I’ll go and grab their attention. You go around and heal them, then free them and run. I’ll follow once you are clear.”
She was the strongest, and the fastest one of them. She felt confident that she could escape the two men.
Dergobor nodded. His form shimmered and he turned nearly translucent, his entire presence vanishing as he walked away. Reyla looked at the two men sitting in the middle of the camp, and she pulled her spear out of her storage and stood up, walking out into the clearing.
CHAPTER 57 – PRESENT – Reyla
Clash
Reyla walked slowly toward the two men, not bothering to hide her presence at all. Her behemoth bone spear was held in her right hand, her red-and-gold armor shining in the dimming light. The two noticed her as soon as she stepped out of her hiding place.
“Halt!” the drake yelled out as the two of them stood up. He pulled out a warden’s badge and showed it to her. “I am a warden. Do not approach—identify yourself and state your business.”
Reyla paused. The badge confirmed that the two were wardens. That complicated things, but it didn’t change what she had to do. She needed to buy some time for Dergobor to get into position.
The human looked at her intently, then glanced at the tree where Nayra was tied.
“A twin sister,” he said as he recognized her appearance. The drake just grunted and hefted his shield, not quite in a threatening manner, but clearly readying for a fight.
“May I ask why my sister and her friends are tied up?” Reyla said, taking a step forward. She needed their eyes on her and not on them.
The drake raised his mace, while the man put his hand to the side and a long and curved sword appeared there. Immediately she could tell that the sword was an awakened object, and that made him even more dangerous. Such things were rare and highly sought after—those who were weak would often be killed by those who coveted such objects.
“Your sister,” the drake spoke, “refused to cooperate with us, and engaged in hostile behavior. She will be questioned and transported to the nearest warden outpost for processing. You are welcome to come with us and speak on her behalf.”
Reyla sighed. Nayra should’ve known better than to engage in combat with the wardens. Her first course of action should’ve been to run, but Reyla knew that her sister was impulsive and eager to be recognized. It was why she made stupid mistakes, and ironically was why she wasn’t given more responsibility.
“I’m afraid that I cannot let you take them. I apologize for any offense that they gave, but we are expected to return home. If you would release them to my custody, I promise that they won’t be making any more trouble for you,” Reyla told them.
“And where, exactly, is your home?” the drake asked.
“We are from a small city up north, in Endless Dream territory,” Reyla told them. The Endless Dream was an adventuring organization, one specializing in dungeon diving, and they had a territory nearby. It wouldn’t be odd for a group of adventurers to be in the frontier territories—finding an unknown dungeon could be very profitable.
“So you are adventurers?” The drake’s tone clearly stated that he didn’t believe her. “Why was your sister dealing with escaped miners turned bandits, then? We observed her group collect the goods that the bandits stole. Surely true adventurers wouldn’t stoop so low as to steal?”
Reyla cursed her sister for her stupidity. She had been told to make sure that the collection of goods wasn’t observed by anyone other than the miners themselves. “I’m sure that what you saw was just a misunderstanding,” Reyla said as she saw a small distortion around Nayra and her team. Dergobor’s ability gave him camouflage, allowing him to take on the appearance of his surroundings, as well as muffling his presence, but he could still be seen if someone was perceptive enough.
“We will need to clear up this misunderstanding. If you would relinquish your weapon and join us at our fire, we can wait for your sister to wake up and then establish exactly what the truth is,” the drake said.
Reyla couldn’t do that, of course, and she could tell that the two men knew it. She raised her spear and entered a fighting stance. “I’m sorry, but we really don’t have the time to wait.”
The two men were ready for her, but still she advanced. She entered her basic breathing form, and triggered her base technique, {Flow}. The Qi flowed through her body, making every one of her movements fluid, allowing her to chain moves smoothly. She activated her movement ability, [Haze Burst], and she felt the air around her shimmer and her speed increase. She shot forward, activating her support ability in the process. [Immolation] burst over her body, blue flames surrounding her armor.
She knew that she was at a disadvantage, fighting one on two, and fighting people who had defeated her sister and her team. She didn’t hold back at all. The drake stepped forward, and she activated her combat ability. [Mirage Double]’s form shimmered into existence over her own, a warrior made out of blue light. The double stabbed forward and the drake raised his shield to block, but the double’s spear was just a mirage, and it passed through the shield harmlessly. Behind it came her real spear, she aimed the attack at the drake’s shoulder. But just before her spear connected, the human appeared next to the man, and his sword swiped upward, blocking her spear. She pivoted backward quickly, executing another [Haze Burst] to evade the human’s counterattack.
She was surprised that he had realized the danger, but if he had fought Nayra, then perhaps he had already seen the ability. She saw a hole in the middle of his chest—his armor was parted there, as if he had been speared. Both Reyla and Nayra had the same Class, the Twin Flame Valkyrie, a legendary Class that they had gotten for accomplishing a great feat prior to gaining access to Essence. They both followed the same path as well, that of The Lotus Dance. Their abilities and techniques were the same—the only difference was that they had different skills. Nayra utilized a short spear along with a buckler, while Reyla fought with a single spear. Her sister had gone down a path of balance between offense and defense, while Reyla put more focus into offense alone. Their fighting styles differed some, but they had learned together, so they remained more alike than not.
The biggest difference between the two of them were levels. Nayra was level 80, while Reyla had reached level 90. Reaching that level had allowed her to gain a perk that made her Class far deadlier than her twin’s. The most important perk that every person with a Class that heavily relied on abilities searched for, or at least most, the True Classer perk, which halved all the cooldowns for her abilities. That meant that she could utilize them better, and with a shorter downtime. It was the perk that made a Class that much more powerful.
As soon as she finished her short retreat, she jumped forward again. Her [Immolation] was draining her stamina for as long as it was active, but her build allowed for the extended use of her abilities. She hadn’t always been able to fight as she could now—it had taken years of careful building up of her Class, until she had the right perks to make it truly shine. Her sister had unfortunately gone down a different path, one that she believed in, but she had not yet received everything that she needed in order to fully utilize her skills.
