Riftside 2 - Chapter 61

I stood in Knut’s room looking down at him, listening to Roq and Arclight talk of how we were going to turn him into the perfect tank.

“Bones, Ash!” Roq said. “We start with the bones. Make them denser, thicker. Like steelhusk trees rooted in the earth. A skeletal fortress!”

“Indeed,” Arclight agreed. “Increase bone density and improve structural reinforcement. Like the bones of a bear within a human frame. Widen his ribcage and broaden his pelvis to improve the protective cage around his vital organs. But temper it with strategic reinforcement, not just bulk. We need resilience, not just size.”

“Then muscle,” Roq continued. “Layers of it. Not just big, but dense and powerful. Like the Platemaw’s hide, but alive and coiling with strength.”

Eryn and I began relaying the concepts to Katherine, framing them as our own ideas. 

“I’m thinking of the body like a complex forging project,” I said, trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about. “Needs a strong frame, reinforced layers…”

“His skin and connective tissues must also be toughened,” Arclight added, “To give resistance to tearing and puncture. Plus more fat to act as shock absorption and buffer against deep lacerations.”

“And don’t forget what powers this,” Roq said. “Enlarge his heart and expand his lungs. He’ll need the power to fuel his new size or he’ll just be big but slow.”

“Consider the skull as well,” Arclight said. “For more padding around the brain.”

“Unnecessary! His skull’s thick enough to stop a charging Brambleback!” Roq cackled. “Ha! Probably don’t even need his helmet!”

Katherine listened, eyes narrowing as we described the suggested changes. 

“Your instincts seem sound,” she said, dismissing or filing away her suspicion. “I will guide the gem’s energy towards these specific enhancements if it lets me.”

“Ready,” Knut said and nodded at Katherine.

Eryn wished him good luck and joined Nabeeh downstairs to keep watch and give Katherine peace to work. 

I helped Katherine anchor Knut to the bedframe.

As I tightened one of the final straps, Knut gave Katherine a strained grin. 

“If there’s any… mind gem energy left over at end,” he joked, his voice a little tight, “Could always make few strategic modifications to my, uhm, you know.”

Katherine rolled her eyes, but a definite blush crept across her cheeks as she playfully smacked his shoulder. 

“I can only handle so much raw power, Coinshield. And you’re already pushing the limits,” she added, a teasing glint in her eye, “But thanks for the improper suggestion. Now I won’t feel quite so bad about the agony you’re about to endure. You clearly deserve a little suffering.”

Knut’s booming laugh filled the room, a sound that was soon to be replaced by something far less joyful as he swiped out the fiery red Warrior Class Gem. He held it for a moment, then looked at Katherine and raised his eyebrows. 

She shifted uncomfortably, glanced at me, and I found something really interesting to stare at on the opposite wall, ignoring the smoochie sounds behind me.

“Ready,” Katherine said and I turned back just as Knut pressed the gem to his forehead. 

I immediately strapped down his free arm and quickly locked the five heavy metal chains used for reinforcements. 

Good thing, too.

Knut roared in agony, and his body arched violently against the straps, veins standing out like thick ropes on his neck and arms.

Katherine’s hands glowed as she placed them on Knut’s chest. 

“I’m starting with his skeleton, focusing on the ribcage,” she said. “By the bells. My healing is undone almost immediately..”

“The bones are drinking the power!” Roq said. “Tell her to widen the thoracic cage first, Ash! Make room for the furnace his heart will become!”

“His foundation needs to be strong,” I relayed to Katherine, trying to sound like it was a sudden instinct. “Ribs should be widened, to support everything else.”

Katherine nodded, her brow furrowed in concentration. 

“The bones are thickening, calcifying. This is just extraordinary!”

“Monitor the energy expenditure,” Arclight said. “Her magic is strong, making rapid changes. It is costly. Ensure enough remains for the muscular and dermal enhancements. Advise caution against over-expansion of the ribcage at this juncture.”

“But not too wide,” I said to Katherine, echoing Arclight’s caution. “We don’t want him left with potential for power but not the strength to fill it.”

Katherine acknowledged.

An hour, or perhaps an eternity, passed in this intense, focused effort of back and forth. The air in the room was thick with the smell of Knut’s sweat, but I didn’t mind. He was a brother, if not by blood, but by deed. 

His screams, now muffled by a gag, were still harrowing. I felt tense, more tired even than after the thirty-six hours of forging. The concentration and being in the presence of his agony, it was emotionally draining.

Suddenly, the door to the bedroom burst open and Eryn was there, her face a mask of urgent alarm.

“Ash,” she said, her voice low and tense. “There’s a group outside. Six of them. Heavily armed. And they’re wearing Domitius colors. They came walking down the main road and stopped right outside our house.”

“Fun!” Roq said. “Time to level up!”

My blood ran cold. 

“Katherine, maintain focus on Knut,” I said, adrenaline flooding my system and I snatched Roq from the table. This was bad. Very bad.

“I’m taking the top of the stairs,” Eryn said as she left. “Covering the front door. Nabeeh’s downstairs.”

I moved to the window of Knut’s room, peering cautiously through a slit in the curtains. There I saw them. 

“Tell me what you see!” Arclight said.

“Six bags of experience,” Roq said excitedly. “Big bags of experience. Adventurers.”

“Each is leading a horse, but none are mounted. Might be that they just arrived. Over.”

Arclight relayed my message.

“They are wearing black with silver and red,” Roq added. “First human Ash killed wore the same colours.”

Ivan.

My gut clenched. 

“Classes?” Roq asked in his Eryn voice. 

“Relay this, Arclight. One tank. Scarred face, tower shield, and warhammer. One mage, slender and wearing a hood and carrying staff with a dark gem on top. Two archers. Two warriors, damage dealers. One has twin short-swords. He’s got tribal tattoos on his face. Last is my size and has a greatsword as tall as he is.”

“It’s got a blood red tassel on the pommel!” Roq said.

“I think he’s the leader. Over.”

They didn’t make any overt threats. They just stood there, looking at our house and chatting amongst themselves as if observing a monument or sightseeing. 

Every time Knut let out a particularly loud groan or thrashed against his restraints, some of them would shift their weight, as if itching to advance. 

“Isn’t it rude not to go say hello? With extreme prejudice?” Roq urged.

I ignored him, my own heart hammering in my throat. I wished desperately that Knut wasn’t incapacitated. Six against three was poor odds, even with two soul weapons. How the hell did we go from a breakthrough to a siege so quickly?

“If they attack, I’ll jump down from the window as soon as they hit the door and use Ironburst on the mage and archers to take them out quickly and trap the melee between us. Over.” 

It was a risky plan, but I didn’t want to end up in a protracted battle when outnumbered. Three versus three would be the best I could hope for on such short notice.

For a full five minutes, they waited, exchanging whispers and looks. The damage dealer with the twin swords and the mage seemed to be heading into an animated argument, pointing at the house. 

Are they debating an attack? Do they think it might be a trap?

Then the man with the greatsword snapped out an order, loud enough for me to hear even through the window and over Knut’s groans. 

“Enough,” he said, his voice rough. “We check in with Serona first.” 

He turned, leading his horse away, and heading towards the Royal Bank and the first ring road. The others followed, leading their own horses. The damage dealer with the twin blades, however, shot one last, lingering glare at our house before he, too, departed.

I let out a shaky breath, the immediate tension easing but a cold knot of dread remained in my stomach. 

“They’ve left,” I said, turning to Katherine. 

“Awww!” Roq said. “They didn’t want to play.”

“We’re definitely outnumbered again. By a lot. Over.”

With the immediate threat outside gone, I refocused on Knut and Eryn came to place Arclight back on the table. This was one development we could have done without. Especially today.

Katherine continued to guide Knut’s transformation, all the while speaking quiet encouragement to him, though I doubted he could even hear or process it. 

Another two arduous hours crawled by, and I knew in just how much suffering my friend was. “The energy is fading,” Arclight observed. “The transformation is nearing completion. His life force is… formidable.”

I relayed her words to the doctor.

“Final stages,” Katherine said, her voice strained and her clothes sweated through. She’d been doing sprints of healing interrupted only by trips downstairs for mana regeneration. 

“Spending the remaining energy on the core in his chest,” she said. “Hopefully, this helps increase his mana reserves.”

“You should hear his heart! Booming like a drum!” Roq said. “And he’s got lungs like bellows. He’s going to be a walking fortress!”

Finally, with a shuddering gasp Knut’s body went limp and the violent convulsions ceased. 

I took a slow breath as he lay there panting, drenched in sweat, the red glow of the Class Gem slowly fading from his forehead as it became one with him.

Then he groaned in pain, his voice raspy and noticeably deeper than before. 

“North wind on wet ballsack…” he said. “A thousand times worse than any beating ever.” He coughed, a raw, ragged sound. “Flayed, shattered, then hammered together, on god’s anvil.”

“Cracked steel and splintered anvils!” I said, my voice carrying enough cheer for the both of us.

Knut turned his head towards me, eyes struggling to focus. “Ash? Trouble?” His voice was filled with horror. “Breakthrough fail? Am I… less?”

“Come see, my wielder,” Arclight said. “The big one has awoken.”

I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face as Katherine unlocked the chains and began to undo the straps. I shook my head, my voice filled with mock despair. 

“Oh, the news is terrible, Knut. Just terrible.” I helped unhook the last strap. “You are now, without a shadow of a doubt, significantly taller than me again. And broader than a bloody Mossback Boar.”

A deep, rumbling laugh escaped Knut and he pushed himself into a sitting position. 

“Taller and bigger to better protect golden bird,” he said with a pained grin. “And rest of family.”

Katherine gave a tired but profoundly satisfied smile. 

“Your core feels exceptionally strong,” she said, shaking out her hands. The amount of power she had channeled had to be tremendous. “The transformation appears to have been a complete success.”

Eryn and Nabeeh entered the room then, mirroring my expression. 

Nabeeh let out a low whistle, looking Knut up and down with an appreciative glint in her eye. 

“Well, well, well. Are you sure you can handle this much man, Katherine? He’s almost as big as Edwin.”

“Be quiet,” Katherine said and shot her a look, but there was no real heat in her words. 

I clapped my even bigger brother on the shoulder. It felt like I’d slapped a solid oak. 

“We might need every ounce of your new size and strength sooner than we think,” I said, briefly recounting the appearance of the Domitius party and their unsettling surveillance.

His good humor faded slightly.

“But for now,” I said, trying to lighten the mood again. “Let’s get some food into our new giant, and head back to the Timberline. See how much coin our handiwork brought in.”

“Deserve barrel of Johan’s best ale,” Knut declared. “And mountain of roasted meat. To fuel new form.”

“And you shall have it,” I said, my own grin widening. “But first, what are your stats, big guy? And what glorious new skills did you get?”