Redemption Arc

For this fight, Lucian couldn’t afford to use the other consumables he’d prepared. He needed all of what he had remaining to make this plan worthwhile. If he managed to get his hands on the blessing underneath the Merspawn Knight’s feet, he was confident he could bring it home. And he already had a plan in mind.

Lucian cast First Sanctuary once again, protecting himself with holy magic before advancing. The main advantage that his opponent had was incredible speed. Its strength, by contrast, was lacking. That presented its own unique problems, but ones Lucian could overcome.

When he finally made it with him striking distance of the knight, it lashed out with its sword. The weapon sang through the air with uncomfortable speed, and Lucian felt it pass by his nose as he whipped his head back. The weapon didn’t seem heavy, but it seemed sharp, and it had a very healthy reach.

I’ll have to get hit… hard, Lucian accepted. This was going to be a lot more painful than getting a tooth pulled at the dentist, but it was either this or defeat.

Lucian ran forward with his whole being, almost as if intending to tackle. It swung once, striking Lucian’s neck hard. First Sanctuary shattered. Lucian tried to grab at the weapon, but it was futile. Soon enough it reared back for a stab, and though Lucian tried to dodge it speared his shoulder. The pain was miles beyond what even he had been anticipating, and he cried out in pain.

But amidst the pain, his training still bled through. Lucian held his arm out and said through gritted teeth, “Æshra!”

The Solar Butterflies manifested instantly, occupying the spot where the Merspawn Knight stood. It pulled its sword out and thrashed briefly, and Lucian received another cut to his face that cast him to his knees. The holy magic transferred vitality from the creature to himself as the butterflies chipped away at the knight’s being. He felt the pain slowly lessening as his wounds were healed, if only just.

Then, it leapt back. That was what he’d been counting on. Lucian, despite his wounds, fell forward and reached his hand out toward the blessing. His fingers touched the pearly light and it popped like a bubble, its energies flowing into him. He could still remember the popup from the War of Four.

You’ve received the Blessing of the River Union.

+3 MAG

+3 SPD

+3 DEX

Increases your attributes.

This blessing could be considered fairly standard as far as it went in the War of Four. It provided a straight increase in attributes without another additional effect. As he recalled, many people were irritated by the fact that this blessing increased magic, even though it required braving a horde of enemies. Mostly warriors were fit for claiming it. No one complained at the other two stats it raised—speed and dexterity.

Speed affected movement speed, casting speed, attack speed, and ability to dodge. Many people considered it the most important attribute in the game. Dexterity, meanwhile, primarily increased accuracy, and was necessary to learn certain skills. For spellcasters, it increased the length of time that spells lasted.

In this new reality, Lucian felt the physical change the moment the blessing merged with his body. It was as if his body became lighter, and his control over it increased proportionately. Everything felt sharper, clearer. And welling from within… he could feel magic stronger than before. Just as importantly, his magic felt rejuvenated.

Taking a blessing that changes MAG reset all spell cooldowns in the game, Lucian reflected. Seems that holds true.

Lucian raised up the arm that hadn’t been stabbed into and called out immediately, “Vörr.”

The scarab that burst free of Lucian’s hand seemed faster, and his control over it finer. The Merspawn Knight raised up its shield to receive the attack, but as it neared, Lucian jerked his hand in a spiral and the holy insect snaked around the shield to slam against the knight’s face. Lucian felt its vitality replenish his own, and as the wound on his shoulder lessened, rolled it to test that.

Just those three points is a big difference, Lucian thought.

For the first time in this fight, the knight went on the offensive. It rushed toward Lucian with its typical speed, but as it started to swing its sword, Lucian didn’t think its attack was as overwhelming as before. It was still absurdly fast, but he whipped his head back to dodge one slice. He was a step too late to dodge its sweep at his legs, and it sliced into his knee.

Lucian fell to one knee, but the moment he was settled shouted, “Æshra!”

The spell swarmed the Merspawn Knight, but this time it didn’t linger long. Lucian stayed near the spell, using it to cover himself.

“Þael,” he said to heal himself, and the wounds on his body stitched closed one after another. He had time enough to cast First Sanctuary again, even—dexterity extended the length that Solar Butterfly could be active. He felt his magic fatigue rising, but he didn’t have time to wait for it to recover.

If I can just prevent it from maneuvering out of Solar Butterfly… Lucian thought, studying the Merspawn Knight. His brain worked to come up with a plan.

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The moment that his spell faded away, the Merspawn Knight started to sprint toward him once more. As Lucian’s plan crystallized, he did just the same, running as fast as his feet would carry him. The Merspawn Knight pulled its sword back for a thrust, but Lucian dove. He felt the sword barely miss both his head and his shoulder before he slammed into its legs, tackling them both to the ground. The creature was lighter than it looked.

“Æsh—” he tried, but the knight slammed an elbow into his face. “Æshra!” he managed the second time.

As the spell surged out, it was little more than a disgusting fight in the mud. Lucian felt himself pierced, kicked, stabbed, but he held on, calculating that his Solar Butterfly could heal and kill faster than he himself could fall. And then, when Lucian’s world was spinning from a blow to the head…

Lucian felt a swell of gratitude. It was the feeling he got when taking in purified essence. The once solid thing that he’d been holding onto faded into dust. Lucian looked down to see the Merspawn Knight disintegrating in his arms, dead. Moments later, he collapsed face first into the wet sand.

I won, he processed, the rain falling all around him.

***

No one could miss Lucian’s fight against that aquatic sniper. His bright white holy magic could be seen especially easily through the storm. That, plus the fact he’d abated the sniper’s arrows, made everyone take notice. But then… the flashes of white stopped, and everyone waited with bated breath.

Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating Lucian face down in the sand.

“No,” Helen said by instinct, watching all of this from cover. She tried to stand, but Rowan grabbed her arm. “Let go! He might need healing!”

“Others need it more,” Rowan said, directing her to Arslan. “Do what you can, not what you want.”

Helen looked over once more, clearly rattled. Then, a flash of white cut through the storm. Magic swirled around Lucian’s figure as he sat in the storm, healing his wounds. Helen exhaled in pure relief, then focused back on Arslan.

“See? I told you it’d be fine,” Rowan said.

“You said no such thing,” she said, but then moved off to tend to the wounded with renewed vigor.

***

Lucian sat amid the storm, taking these precious few moments to rejuvenate himself.

This Merspawn Knight drops two purified essences. HP+2.

Health was the most common drop as purified essences. Considering that health was one of Lucian’s lowest stats, that wasn’t something he was going to complain about. He had 16, after that addition—about as much as most mages. Even someone like Olivia started with 18 base HP.

But… not quite done yet, he reflected, watching the horde of mermen as they swarmed into where Rowan and the others were. He rose to his feet, looking back to the main island. His path back had been destroyed—he’d dislodged the bridge. Getting back… the rapids looked too fierce to brave, and the gap far too big to jump. Maybe he could throw a Rimecore, do it as he did before.

But all of that was predicated on the idea he intended to get back in the first place.

Lucian took off his satchel and set it down on a rock, removed from the bulk of the water. He opened it up, pulling out two things—his small crossbow, and a spanning device. He set the crossbow on the ground, inserted the spanning device, and started cranking it until the string was taut. Next, he retrieved a bolt. Instead of a sharpened tip, it had a small glass bulb on the end.

Lucian took aim, though the rain obscured his vision greatly. But then… he didn’t need accuracy. After looking around a moment for a dense cluster, he recklessly fired. It quickly vanished into the storm, but Lucian paid it no mind. He knelt down, picking up the spanning device once more to reload the crossbow. As he was reloading…

Lightning struck again, its thunder loud enough Lucian flinched. He looked up to see the remnants of the lightning strike. In the spot where he’d fired, the mermen and mermaids spasmed violently on the ground. A few orbs of purified essence flowed through the air, and Lucian welcomed them.

These bolts? They had Lightning Callers attached to the tip, and once the glass around them broke, they could function. Useful for tanking lightning damage, or for calling down lightning in certain missions. He briefly considered how nice it would've been to use this on the knight, but frankly he wouldn't have been able to hit this island at all, and the blessing disappeared when the flood stopped in War of Four.

Random enemies have HP +1 drops, Lucian reflected. This’ll be ahuge harvest.

The beauty of a good plan wasn’t huge success, but minimization of risks. He thought he’d minimized risks with the Fated Sword scroll against the Merspawn Knight, but things hadn’t gone his way. Lucian didn’t like risking himself that much, despite appearances.

Lucian fired another crossbow bolt, and as he loaded the next, lightning struck again. He felt a deep happiness as three purified essences came to find him. There really was nothing quite like a strategy working out flawlessly. Without the bridge, he didn’t even have to worry about enemies coming after him.

***

Lucian fired his last prepared bolt, and it soared through the air before hitting a large water serpent. It turned its head to look at Lucian moments before lightning struck it violently, casting it to the ground. Purified essence rose up from its corpse and surged toward Lucian, and he welcomed the sensation.

What a haul, Lucian reflected, flexing his stiff hand which had been reloading a crossbow for what felt like an eternity. Including the blessing, +5 MAG, +3 DEX, +4 SPD, +8 HP, and +2 CON. This was exactly what I needed. I’m finally average.

A huge crack echoed through the air, and Lucian looked right. There, he was just in time to watch the stone golem reeling backward, an explosion of fire having wracked its face. The school dean pulled back an arrow on a bow that was taller than he was, and when it fired, it left a spiral trail through the air to pierce it straight in the eye. The golem tottered… and then began to fall.

As it fell, so too did the storm wane. The intense rapids calmed slightly, receding, and the monsters began to scurry away into the sea. The rain slowed, and the clouds faded away.

Mission 1: Bandits in the Confluence. Complete, Lucian thought, almost seeing the prompt in his vision.

As Lucian looked back toward the main island, he came to the grim conclusion he’d need to swim back. Either that, or wait for a rescue.