Chapter 043 - Cold Rage

Stealth was not Anna’s thing. She had her heritage and the stealth skill to at least help it along but truth be told she preferred a straight-up fight. Even so, she was not stupid enough to dismiss the value of a bit of subterfuge. Trickery and hedging bets had gotten her through most of her tussles so far and she wasn’t opposed to using it again. The Undead could not see her with their wraithsight alone. It wasn’t something she could wield against everyone, but if it worked, it worked. 

She took a deep breath as she reached the flat platform of the structure and shot a look up towards the top of one of the four guard towers. The skeletons stood still, their heads slowly turning in search of prey. Her heart pounded in her chest and excitement turned to a steady flow of warmth in her veins. Warmth turned to fire that filled her heart with iron. She stood up a bit straighter, fingers tightening around the handle of her weapon.

It was nice while it lasted, she thought. Pretending to be normal-ish for a little while. Making jokes, reading books, but this… she exhaled and she strode forward towards the edge of the tower and the steps leading onto the malformed fort. This is where everything feels right. 

She stopped at the top of the jet black steps and watched the snow land on it before melting away with a low hiss of sound. She turned her head towards the center of the platform. No more than a hundred or so feet away the Gazer Pylon stretched up, it seemed bigger up close. She watched the nearly opaque eye floating above it slowly rotate, counting the seconds it took for it to make a quarter turn. When it began to turn in her direction she pulled back to press against the wall, counting down.

She stepped back out a moment later and kept moving, always keeping the tower’s eye in the corner of her own vision while she assessed her surroundings. The undead ‘fort’ or whatever the weirdly shaped thing was, had a number of buildings jutting out of the flat platform just as she’d observed. One of them was long and flat and set along the far side of the platform from her. Another building, the one she was standing next to, was a bit taller and while the first looked simple this one had a slightly more elaborate design with carvings on the pillars that held up the walls and roof.

Everything was made from the same jet black stone.

She kept walking, quietly observing everything she could while she waited for all hell to break loose on the other side of the platform. Catherine had reasoned that Anna could probably get in close if she was careful which would give her more time when Catherine started her diversion. Anna had agreed to the plan, wanting to maximize their chances. She paused at what appeared to be a doorway leading into the more elaborate building and glanced up at the tower. The eye was turning around again. She clicked her tongue and quickly opened the door, slipping inside.

The scent of ozone blasted her in the face and she nearly staggered, gasping as she felt the almost liquid heat of radiant mana in the air. This place was toxic. She looked around quickly. The interior appeared to be some kind of storage, shelves were arranged on every wall with piles of crates set up near the back. The shelves were laden with what looked like essence crystals but they were much larger and glowed the off-blue of mana. This seems unsafe, she thought as a ragged cough turned into a gasp at her left.

She rounded on the source and spotted a person standing there. He had olive green skin and deep set eyes over sunken cheeks. A bit of blood trickled down his lip as he gaped at her openly before panic began to fill his eyes. She launched herself at him as he drew in a breath and grabbed hold of his face, squeezing his mouth shut and looking him dead in the eyes. She wasn’t sure how the whole translation thing worked and didn’t want to make even the sound of speech in case it caused a problem. Instead, she just stared him down, unable to use her presence either while it was muted.

He shrank beneath her stare, his hands going slack at his sides.

She drew her club up to his chin. Move or speak, and you die.

He seemed to get the message and practically froze in place, tears welling in his eyes. She stepped back and used identify on him.

Adani Orc Male (Contracted Slave) - Level 3

She frowned behind the mask. Contracted slave? He gave up his freedom willingly? She thought and glanced around. I doubt that very much, grumbled and turned away from him. She wasn’t sure how long had been spent in the room but-

“Slave!” a raspy voice called from outside. “You best not be sleeping in there!”

Anna froze and glanced towards the orc. Shit. Two options here, best one is… she slipped back and holding a finger over her mouth in what she hoped was the universal gesture of silence. She pressed her back against the wall and gestured for him to move. He stared blankly at her before hacking out a cough and scrambling to the shelves where he grabbed one of the large crystals. His skin sizzled on contact and he whimpered before stumbling towards the door.

“So slow!” the intelligent undead rambled. “With all that flesh on your fingers you’d think you were tougher!”

The sound of something thin and hard striking skin made Anna scowl as a bubble of rage boiled up in her chest. She stamped it down, though, they weren’t her people and not her concern. If they survived what was about to happen, she’d figure it out then, but she had no interest in playing hero here. She moved closer to the door and listened as two sets of footsteps carried away from her. She forced herself not to sigh with relief and cracked the door open, peeking out to the tower. The Intelligent undead was at its base, opening a door on one side and moving in. She almost analyzed him but after Catherine’s reaction, knew better.

I can’t stay in this room, it's worse than the Tainted halls. My mana will be capped off before I even start.

She glanced up at the eye above the tower and watched it sweep towards where she was standing. She pulled back and closed the door, counting down again and pushed it open one more time, scanning the area for the next building closer to the tower. She should have acted by now, she thought. Where-

A howling hiss filled the air the eye snapped around, pointing in one direction. She took a breath and firmed her resolve before darting away from the building towards another smaller structure just a few dozen feet away. The hissing and roars grew louder and she heard the sound of something screaming before a rush of wind followed it. She looked up to the tower and saw green light fading off of its eye. It’s already attacking. I need to hurry.

She raced from the spot, glancing at the door the intelligent skeleton had sequestered himself inside of and slid to a stop. She pulled the first three plates from her inventory and attached the first one, quickly confirming the enchantment prompt and pulling her head back as she was practically blasted in the face with an aerosol of mana. She shifted a bit to the side for the next two, moving down along the glowing ‘cable’ running up the side of the tower.

The door opened and she quickly moved further around towards the next one. “By the chill, what is happening out here?” the undead snarled and marched out. “Why haven’t you killed whatever it is yet?” he demanded.

She placed the next three plates quickly, hoping he wouldn’t notice the glow of the heat reaction as they affixed themselves. “What’s that stench?” he demanded.

He has a sense of smell? Shit. She hurried around as his footfalls began to move in her direction and started placing the third set. From where she was standing she could see the gathering skeletons firing their crossbows into the snowy darkness. She heard the rushing scream and whoosh of another blast from the pylon but focused on what she was doing. She didn’t have time to appreciate the fireworks. 

“What the? What are these? Engraving plates!” the undead shrieked and she raced to the fourth and final spot. His footsteps raced around the side while she placed one. Yes. She hurriedly confirmed the prompt. The placed the second. Yes! She knelt down and placed the third just as he slid to a stop behind her. She rose to her feet, breathing hard and turned to face him. He was shorter than she’d expected, his body clad in purple armor with silver accents. He had a whip in his hand.

His eyes glowed bright and he tilted his head. “I know you’re there,” he hissed. “I see the plates but I don’t see you.” He raised the whip up over his head. “Show yourself, saboteur! Speak! Tell me what you’ve done and I will make your death quick!”

No point in hiding now, she thought as the distant fighting escalated. She analyzed him and started to move to the right, getting out of his direct line of sight.

Skullborn Overseer - Level 10

Double. Fucking. Digits. She thought with momentary alarm as he whipped his head in her direction again.

“I felt that!” he snarled. “Where are you? How are you doing this?”

Above them, the pylon let out another shriek as it prepared to fire only for the whooshing sound to never come. It let out a low almost-groan and the tower shuddered. The skeleton looked up at the tower and its eyes shrank in what she assumed was its version of surprise. She took her shot and charged, winding up a power strike as the skeleton turned to demand more answers. She didn’t aim for its head or chest like she would have before. No, she went for the knees. The blow connected and she felt the force transfer but the skeleton barely budged, stumbling back only a step before opening its mouth in a bone-chilling shriek.

She stumbled back, cupping her ear with one hand as her head swam. Fuck! Shit, that hurt!

Next came the crack of a whip and she felt the impact across her face, sending her spinning. She hop-stepped, trying to catch herself as the whistle of the whip went over her head. She slid to a stop and turned, finding the skeleton twirling the weapon around, striking at the entire area around him while strange, incomprehensible words and hisses rumbled out of his gaping mouth. She’d never seen magic from another circle cast before, but she had a pretty good idea of what this kind looked like now.

Can I interrupt his spell? She thought and raised her hand to release a pair of firebats, the first one colliding with the whip and exploding immediately. She raised her hand to shield her face from the brief wave of heat as the second made it another few feet before it too exploded. That would be a big ‘no’. Her lip twitched and she drew back a bit further, glancing towards where Catherine was still making her way up, charging towards a pair of skeletal warriors as the crossbowmen fired from above. 

The spell ended and the whip ignited, green flames racing down the weapon as the air ignited around it. The Overseer tilted his head forward, his eyes flicking left and right. She took a step and he moved, the whip snapping out with a noisy crack in her direction. Her eyes widened and she threw herself into a roll, getting to her feet as the whip came at her again. Damn it! She hopped back, putting all the strength she could into her muscles and hurled herself away. 

He cackled. “Coward,” his voice was an oily rumble. “I heard about you, from our commander. He said you had some strange power to hide your life force. Terran, right?”

Her eyes narrowed, she didn’t take her eyes off of him as she slowly took a step to the left. She rolled her jaw left and right. She tried to put herself into a position where she could see Catherine’s progress. Just ignore his babbling, she reminded herself. Just-

“You claimed authority! So if I kill you,” he said thoughtfully. “It’ll be mine and I can present it to him. That Authority will make taking your world that much easier.” he tapped his chin. “Or maybe, I present you to him, and he can keep you around until he does it himself. Slave. Either way, this world will make an excellent garden world. Your kin will be rendered into stock!”

All she saw in that moment was the orc in the storage room replaced by her mother.

Anna let out a breath and closed her eyes but that white hot anger just didn’t come. Not the way it usually did. She half expected herself to fly into a rage, but her blood just stayed smoldering, like liquid metal in her veins. She heard Catherine getting closer, heard the machine above her struggling to fire, and she heard the pounding of her heart in her ears. She exhaled again felt her blood cool, the rage turned into something else. Something focused. Something that she hadn’t been able to dip into before stirring her heritage.

She wasn’t stronger. She wasn’t faster. Her stats didn’t change. But she knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it. She took a step forward and cranked the volume on her presence, blasting it at him before releasing an Aura Snap. The one-two-punch surprise didn’t faze him like the other creatures she’d blasted with it, but he reacted all right. He jerked back as his eyes finally fixed on her and he laughed, whipping his weapon out to lash at her. “There you are!”

She raised her club and tighten her grip with a cold scowl, the flaming tendril wrapping around it and gripping it tight. He tugged, she tugged back. He froze and his eyes brightened. “You dare!”

She tugged again and grabbed her club with both hands. He slid forward and let out a grunt. “Let go!” he bellowed, “I order you to let go, wretch!”

She tugged a third time and put her back into it, she pulled with all of her might as she felt an odd invasive feeling wash over her. The skeleton yelped as she dragged him to the ground and threw herself forward into a leap. She landed a few feet away, standing over him as he pushed himself up and snapped out a clawed hand. She grabbed his wrist with her free hand, pulled, and drove her fist, her weapon, and his whip right into his head.

It felt like hitting a brick with her bare hands. Even so, she didn’t flinch, she’d hurt worse before. This was nothing. The flames proximity did a bit to her health, ticking it down steadily, but she ignored it. She wanted only one thing. 

He looked up at her and chuckled. “Barely did a fraction of my-”

She punched him again.

“Your level is too low you stupid-”

She punched him again.

“Idiot creature!” he shrieked and started muttering something. She punched him again and he said something she didn’t understand, probably a native curse. He swiped his claw again and tried to pull his arm back. “Why are you so strong? You’re only level five! What are you?”

She said nothing and punched him again, and again, and again. She paid no mind to Catherine stopping next to her as she hopped on top of him. All she could think about was this son of a bitch and what he’d said. No one touched her world. No one touched her ‘kin’. This was her world, and she would be damned if anyone but her called the shots.

He coughed out a laugh beneath her, his glowing eyes turning into pinprick points. “Your hits barely leave a scratch!” he snickered. “You will exhaust yourself before-”

She punched him yet again.

“I told you I’m too durable!” he shrieked.

She leaned down and looked him in the eyes.

“Good.”