Exploration- Chapter 28

Off to a bit of a slower start this morning. Release days always distract me, although nothing like the anxiety that I used to feel. That and my wife and daughter got back yesterday. They are flying out in about 5 hours for the rest of the week in Colorado.

So I may not get as much as much done today as I'd like, but still can expect a couple more chapters. Then it's off the races the rest of the week while they're gone.

Chapter 28- Out of Time

When Samvek’s eyes opened for just a moment, I saw a fire burning with them. There was a hunger inside of him that I’d never sensed before, but it had a spiritual weight and couldn’t be denied. For a moment, I worried that despite the notifications and my checks that I had harmed him in some way but then he shook his head and let out a gasp. “Wow, that’s an intense rush.”

His smile helped put me at ease, a bit. “You okay?”

“Yeah, there were a lot of notifications. Apparently, in the Hell System I’m your vassal now, although, I hope you don’t expect me to call you m’lord or anything?” If he hadn’t been smiling I might have worried that he was being serious.

“No, I think we can skip that. It said you got a class called Blood Hunter. I hope that isn’t anything too disgusting?”

“It’s potentially over-powered but we have to see how it functions in practice. I gained an ability or not sure if it’s really an ability, it’s a part of me now though and it’s called Hunger. I think it’s intended to be a bit of a combination of tracking and battle lust. The class isn’t really about blood, but rather about vitae and by consuming the vitae of monsters I defeat, I can gain a tiny percentage of their stats. The vagueness in the description is why I can’t say yet whether the class is good or not.

“I do want to say something and you need to hear me.”

I nodded.

“You did exactly what I told you to, but you don’t know why I told you to. Yes, I trust you, but I received advice from Priest Bahran who is practically a second father to me. He told me he couldn’t explain why but said that it came from a Seer named Brian.

“Anyway, he told me that there would come a time when we were training together and that I needed to allow you to augment me. He said without that, I was going to fall hopelessly behind you, but that if it was successful I would be able to stand beside you at the end. Ominous, I know, and the ‘if’ part certainly made me nervous, but like I said, I trust you and I trust him. So, stop beating yourself up about this.”

With that I told him about the entire horsemen part of my quest and how I needed to incorporate a different system into each of the people. He asked, “I saw that about the horsemen thing. The terminology seemed strange, but I take it that it has some significance for you.”

I tried to explain the horsemen of the apocalypse both from a Biblical model and an X-Men form. When I finished he said, “I think I like the mutant one better, but if the system says that you’re going to need to bring apocalyptic force to bear, then we just have to find your other three horsemen. Knowing you, you probably already have some people in mind.”

The problem is that there are only three slots and at a minimum, four people that I need to include. I would say that we could look for another system, but I think my head is already full enough as it is. Too many different aspects between primordial, and the five systems that I’ve interacted with so far, oh and don’t forget about Psi.”

He jumped up at that. “Yeah, I don’t have much Psi, but this new ability seems like it could be very useful. The notifications said that you gained it through our connection as well.”

“Yeah, we could try it out in the boss room.”

Samvek shook his head. “As much as I’d like to, I get the feeling that helping Tad is more important than ever. You can’t be late for your crafting and we probably need to bring him into the dungeon to gain some levels. He apparently isn’t locked at 150, so who knows how far he can go. Maybe we could catch him up to us.”

I mumbled an agreement, but my mind was already racing. There was something I needed to do with Tad, that was certain. I somehow doubted that it had as much to do with power-leveling him as it did with the crafting, but that was just a gut feeling. Being here was what had given me the idea for enhancing Samvek, as I followed the basic pattern of awakening.

The two of us locked eyes and clasped arms. Some things would difficult to say between men, but in that moment, I knew that I had another brother who would never leave or betray me.

No further words were needed as we raced to the floor exit and then teleported from the save room to the dungeon entrance. That was when things went to crap. The set up outside the dungeon was entirely different. The town guard was gone and the only adventurers were gathered around a tent to the side of the entrance with a couple of tables set up where they could process information for those who wanted to enter the dungeon.

The actual guards in front of the dungeon were all Order members now. Identify went off without me having to ask. In front of the entrance were a pair of Lawspeakers and a dozen Lawkeepers. None of them were over level 80 and they felt like toy soldiers we could knock over.

That sensation changed when my eyes strayed to the tents on the other side. They had the colors of the order and plenty of Lawkeepers standing around as what must have been ceremonial guards. The expressions on all of their faces were strained and I felt three much more powerful presences inside the tent. Without being able to see them, Identify wouldn’t work, although I made a mental note to try and tweak that later. Instead of waiting though, Samvek reached for spatial mana and began to warp the area around us but just before we were teleported away, a pilon sticking up three feet from the path that led up to the dungeon pulsed.

There was a screeching sound like nails down a chalkboard and all of the spatial mana was disrupted.

Teleportation Lock Activated

The notification flashed in my mind but I didn’t need to words to know what was happening. Neither did, the three auras inside the Order’s tent. They all rushed out. One woman was whipcord thin and tall in leather armor another was a man in heavy armor and at least 7 feet tall. The third was similar to the Dreadnoughts we’d seen with Tad.

Identify quickly did its thing.

Vespa Saggen     Legendary      Level: 375

Class: Inquisitor

Darros Saggen     Legendary        Level: 368

Class: Law Warden

Marken Tal           Legendary        Level: 324

Class: Dreadnought

My eyes widened just a bit at their levels. I knew both Samvek and I could hit above our level, but I didn’t know quite what to expect here in a new universe.

The three of them moved in unison as though accustomed to fighting together. I knew that feeling. Samvek and I had it, although it was much more two individuals covering each other’s backs rather than professional soldiers. My dad had always told me that there was a world of difference between how a Marine unit worked together versus a random group of guys with guns, even if they were good shots. I could see that in how they moved.

Vespa spoke first. “Hold and answer for how you are using magic beyond anyone from this world.”

I knew better than to try pushing out with Charisma, but my Psi ability Persuade had worked on the lesser members of the Order. Something told me that even that wasn’t going to be a solution to dealing with these three.

“Drop to your knees, hands behind your head. We will take you down hard at the first sign of any spell casting or drawing a weapon, but either way you’re going to answer our questions.”

She was annoying, but I was still doing the calculus about whether we should simply fight now or try to play along with them for a while. That was when I felt magical pressure bubble out from her and the reality alteration around Samvek disappeared. In an instant he was there as himself.

Every member of the order drew their weapons. The guild’s adventurers were on their feet as well.

Marken asked, “What is he? Some new kind of beastkin?”

Darros replied, “Disgusting either way.”

A simple look from Vespa had both of them shutting up. The hierarchy was clear. I was about to try talking our way out of this when the last thing that I expected happened. Samvek’s spear was in his hands and he was moving, straight at Vespa. I felt a swirl of Psi as he moved and realized that he was trying out Physical Enhancement.

Samvek was already in motion when my mind caught up to what he was doing, the consequences of his charge rippling outward faster than thought. His spear had already struck Vespa, the blow so clean and precise that for a heartbeat the world seemed to accept her death as fact. I saw the shaft buried deep in her chest, felt the certainty of the kill settle into my instincts, and then watched reality reject it. Her wound sealed in a flash of pale light, flesh knitting together as though the spear had never pierced her at all.

Darros paid the price.

The damage tore into him instead, armor collapsing inward as blood sprayed across the stone. He let out a hoarse scream and staggered backward, one knee slamming into the dungeon floor as holy light surged through his body to keep him upright. I felt it then, a rigid lattice of magic connecting them, a conduit that redirected harm from Vespa into Darros with ruthless efficiency. At least they didn’t seem to have any of the insta-resurrection items which had become one of my bans while fighting higher tiered people. This seemed more likely to be a function of Darros’ class, the magic was full of that feeling of law and authority.

Samvek didn’t slow when the kill failed. If anything, the backlash ignited something inside him, a sharp edge of aggression that I hadn’t felt before. The Hunger he’d described earlier surged to the surface, bleeding into his movements and tightening his aura until the air around him felt predatory. He ripped the spear free and drove it forward again, Psi screaming as he poured more power into the strike, aiming for Vespa with single-minded intent. Darros took it instead, the spear punching into his shoulder and shattering bone with a wet crack as the redirection flared again. The big man was healing rapidly and not just his flesh but also his armor which seemed to be a part of him.

I stepped in hard then, as I brought Wayfinder up, the polearm’s haft bracing against the shock of Marken’s advance. The Dreadnought hit like a moving wall, his presence slamming into me with enough force to blur my vision and drive my boots back across the stone. His weapon came down in a brutal arc meant to end the fight in one stroke, and I twisted into it, redirecting just enough of the impact that it didn’t crush my chest. Lightning crawled along Wayfinder as I held, muscles screaming under the strain.

Even after the shock of Samvek’s attack, they were still underestimating us. Marken was strong, but not stronger than me. Even with nearly a hundred levels on me, I was confident that I was still at least 25% stronger than him.

Behind Marken, Vespa recovered with unnerving calm. Her eyes tracked the fight with cold precision as she wove something subtle and dangerous, a pressure sliding along the edges of my awareness rather than announcing itself. I didn’t see the attack so much as know it was coming. Precognition flared with a certainty that left no room for doubt. I shifted an instant before her blade cut through the space my spine had occupied. The air burned where the strike passed, close enough that I felt heat along my back. If I’d had the time, I would have felt a smug sensation of being rather jedi like, but that would come later.

I spun with the motion, Wayfinder extending fully into its polearm form as I brought it around in a wide, controlling sweep meant to keep Vespa from closing again. She retreated a step, reassessing, while Darros dragged himself upright through sheer will, blood soaking into the stone beneath him. The bond between them pulsed stubbornly, their magic holding fast despite the damage piling up. Marken pressed harder, every strike layered with discipline and flawless timing, forcing me to give ground inch by inch. He flared flashed of light as though that would blind me, but my eyes were only part of how I saw the world now.

They were true professionals and under other circumstances I might have admired both their resolve and their precision. Samvek was still pressing Vespa, his strikes growing faster and more aggressive as the Hunger fed on the fight, and I could feel the edge he was riding. If he lost control now…

I shook my head refusing to allow it to go there. Samvek had one of the most powerful wills that I’d ever encountered. Besides, there was this new connection between us. He was my horseman, but first he was my friend and I could tell that while he was fighting with increased ferocity, he was still in control. This was simply a case of letting a little more of the beast out.

I tightened my grip on Wayfinder and dug in, anchoring myself against Marken’s advance as lightning crackled along the blade. We were restricted, boxed in by the pylon’s interference, unable to disengage or reposition the way we normally would. They outleveled us, outnumbered us, and had planned for this kind of confrontation. Even so, as the clash intensified and the dungeon echoed with the sound of steel on stone, I knew one thing with absolute clarity.

They had underestimated us and it was time to make them pay for that.