Vol. 2, Ch. 78: Call the Healer! (But Not for Me!)
Neska recoiled backward, using her [Coiled Strike] to hop back and to the side several times, always showing intent to retreat rather than fight on the Prelate’s terms.
His frustration building, the Prelate swept wide with the blade, the metal blade vibrating with intensity
She wasn’t dodging it fully, but was able to turn direct hits into glancing blows, flaring her [Runic Barrier], growing brighter and brighter as his blows connected. Fortunately, it did not seem the blade was suited to beating against such a resolute barrier. She winced–even with the protection, the force behind them was immense. She summoned her roots to disarm him, only to witness him cut her roots to ribbons.
Syra responded by blasting a wide spread of water, keeping him from moving forward. He sputtered and coughed as the water pushed him backward, giving Neska the chance to grab his weapon and fling it with one of her outstretched roots. He tripped and smashed his face into the gravel, and Neska heard one, or possibly several, teeth crack from the impact.
Syra followed up with a jet of water that strangely didn't splash around him. Instead, it formed around him like gelatin, slowing his movements. "Not so fast!" Syra snarled, using the water to inhibit his movement.
The Prelate flicked a dagger her way, breaking her focus as she dodged, and the water splashed to the ground, while Neska constricted him with her roots
Even with roots winding around him, he still managed to rise, tugging at the vines, and they vibrated violently. With a pop, the root ball collapsed inward, with the seeker nowhere in sight.
Shit, did he teleport or move very fast? She scanned her surroundings, Syra taking a position behind Neska, while the other Seekers stared.
“Should we attack?” Derek whispered
“Hell if I know, they didn’t attack back, they just…well, held him there!” Neska was somewhat relieved that not all Seekers were zealots, but the odds of one in four were not looking favorable as she saw a blur of movement to her right.
The sword cleaved down and glanced off her [Runic Barrier], turning it a dangerous shade of red. She took that as her warning that it would burst on the next hit, and tried to create distance by smashing her tail into the man, only to hit nothing but air.
Damn it. This man was a speedster or a teleporter. Worse, he clearly intended to kill her, then make up a story later. “Please rein in your bloodthirsty officer, would you kindly?!” Neska hissed out, finally grabbing their attention. “Set aside your moral quandary–”
She juked with a [Spring Scales] and slid just as Evin slashed through where she’d just been. Syra blasted him with a jet of water, sending him staggering backward. He once again blurred the lines of superhuman speed. She flowed and bobbed out of his attack range,
The elementa once again used her ability to try to encase the man in a bubble of water, trying to slow his flailing movements, but he managed to cut through it again. Neska wanted to shout out that Syra needed an ability to freeze water or cause it to boil, but either could be rather dangerous.
Charging at Syra, he flipped through the air past Neska's outstretched roots, defying her calculation on where he'd land. He closed in on Syra, but she flared water from her body, forming a massive steam cloud that forced the man to swerve away. Judging by his pained expression a second later, she surmised the steam had mildly scalded him. Neska took that as her opportunity as he hesitated, planning his next move.
[Sudden Molt]
“Huh?!” he shouted as her scaly body went still. He closed to strike, sensing an opening, but Neska had already triggered her [Coiled Strike] and sprang toward him with his back turned.
Evin’s blade sheared through the makeshift decoy, its scales bursting apart into little particles on impact. She’d lunged toward him by the time his cohorts could get out a warning.
He wasn't as smart as he was fast; by the time the speedster figured it out, she’d wrapped around his body. She slammed his weapon into the ground and flung it away with her tail. Now she had him pinned and used her [Constricting Coil] to crush down. She controlled her crushing grasp by leaving him wheezing for breath, but not tight enough to harm him permanently. He pounded his fist against her scales, but without a weapon, it was a feeble effort.
“That is quite enough,” she hissed. “Seeker Derek, would you please take some initiative before he escalates this further?!”
“You let him go!” he demanded.
“Yes, I would like to, but he keeps trying to stick a weapon into me. It’s a rather troubling reflex,” she commented dryly.
“She is being rather polite about it. Just saying,” Nevin said, his foot tapping like he had a nervous tic.
"Goddamn it, Nevin, if this bitch strangles me, I don't want the last words I hear to be you being polite to the monster! kill her!" the Prelate coughed out.
Derek still hadn’t drawn his weapon, seemingly doing the math of the situation as he looked at her, the Prelate, and Syra. He spent a long time looking at the crowd, a few of whom were heckling the currently ensnared prelate.
He sighed in resignation, as if the right choice were bothersome, and picked up the fallen weapon. “Alright. First, let him go, then we can talk."
“Sure. I’ll let him go when he promises to stop trying to murder us for simply existing. And give an apology to my friend,” she added as a barbed insult.
“Get…off…me…”
“Manners, Seeker Evin,” Neska chided him, constricting down further, and he wheezed. “Seeker Derek, I see you have silvered manacles on your hip. Would you be so kind as to restrain him?”
“You let him go, I’ll do that.”
“This snake is a liar and a killer! Don’t listen to her!” Evin gasped. “I said attack!”
The man clenched his jaw further and unclipped the manacles from his belt. “Prelate, you attacked them without cause. This is not protocol–”
“Ah, to hell with this!” He grabbed a dagger from a pocket on his vest and tried to stab through her scales, but it glanced off, owing to the hardening effect of [Constrictive Coils]. He reeled back and threw himself with massive force, sending them tumbling.
Damn speedster. They broke all sorts of rules about momentum. She came out of the tumble and snared him with more roots before he could get to his feet. This time, she held him there, with him struggling to break free, his face beet red.
If only he were this passionate about fighting actual monsters. Neska conjured another root to pick up the dagger on the ground, with all the men reaching for their weapons. Instead, she directed the vines to twist around gently and offer it hilt-first. "His weapon, Seeker Derek?" she said in a dry tone. "I think I've made my intentions quite clear."
“Stop this at once!”
All eyes turned to another voice up above--specifically, an Awakened bounding over a house. More specifically, that voice belonged to Professor Gurigea, who landed with a strange squishing sound as her frog legs absorbed the shock from the landing. Juni and Brent followed at full speed from a side street, panting and out of breath.
The professor immediately leaped into the fray, putting her arms out. “That is enough! These two are my students, what is the meaning of this?!” she demanded of the seekers. Then she turned her head and glared at Neska. “And why is he tangled in roots?!”
“So he doesn’t try to turn me into snakeskin boots again?” she shrugged. “He’s a little soaked, but unharmed.”
The professor peered at her for a good five seconds. The faintest flicker of a smirk crossed her lips for a split second. She then turned toward the Prelate and hopped over to him, puffing her cheek pouches like a frog about to croak. “How dare you attack one of my students! This is outrageous! Explain yourself!”
“They refused to submit to interrogation, I was within my authority!” he said, but the confidence and leering smile were gone from his face. He now had the look of a man who’d known he’d pushed way too far, and was hoping to avoid admonishment. “You all saw it, she refused to comply!” he screamed, pointing to Derek and the others.
The young man narrowed his eyes. "Prelate, they complied with our reasonable and lawful requests." Neska noted how carefully he worded himself.
“Derek, he was going to have them–” the youngest recruit started to protest, but a subtle head tilt from Derek silenced him. “It’s a little fuzzy, actually. They moved so fast. B-but, they didn’t use any dangerous abilities.”
Neska didn’t hear an outright denial of reality. Still, they were clearly in an untenable position: defend their commanding officer’s actions, even if they were horrific, or tell the truth and likely be punished for it later. It still didn’t look good for her, either way. “I can simplify it. I refused to let him strip my fellow student and friend naked in the street, after allowing them to search our bags and view our papers. Though my–”
She sighed. Her academy uniform was crumpled on the ground again, this time with a giant gash through it. “Professor, will you pardon me for a minute? One of my abilities…doesn’t take my attire along for the ride.”
Gurigea turned toward her, her large eyes examining the unclad lamia, and nodded slowly. Then she turned back toward the captive Seeker, looking livid. “Cassia, please. Also, please release him.” The frog’s tone had turned stone cold murderous, and Neska could practically hear her limbs tensing like piano strings. “I want both of you to go back to your dormitory after this. Do not detour anywhere else. Brent, Juni, thank you for the hasty notification.”
She turned her attention to the underlings. “Seekers, this disturbance is over. I'll speak with the students and the headmistress about this and your command chain. Are we clear?”
Evin clearly hadn’t read the audience and instead doubled down, shouting in outrage. “Don’t you dare try to push authority–”
Neska glanced at the Seeker’s helmet, sitting upended on the ground. She summoned an extra set of roots to wrap around the helmet and raised it for him to see. “Prelate Evin…if I wanted to harm you? Do you think I would have taken a half-measure of just keeping my fellow student safe? And not just restraining you?”
She clenched her fist, and the roots constricted, crumpling the helmet in a squealing protest of creaking metal and popping rivets. She let the roots slide back into the ground, and the helmet dropped with a dull metallic thud. “Seekers Derek, Ryan, Nevin, I hope we meet under more ideal circumstances.”
“Y-yes, Miss Cassia–” Derek slapped Nevin on the helmet, giving him a stern look before he fell silent.
Neska let the roots dissipate around the enraged Prelate after a subtle nod from Gurigea. The formerly aggressive Seeker now cowered under the gaze of a professor who could probably kill him with little effort. “I won’t forget this, you goddamn snake!” he screamed.
“Please don’t. I would hope you would improve on your close-quarters skills, as I demonstrated a few weak points in your technique,” she answered calmly. She then slithered over to Brent and Juni, with the mouse leaping up to her arms. “H-hey, public displays of snakebound transportation are restricted to weekends,” she protested.
“Goodness, I’m just glad you’re not all cut to pieces, or worse, them! I fully expected you to–never mind, we should go.” Indeed, Gurigea’s baleful look spurred the four students to make haste back to the academy. Distantly, she heard the prelate screaming at his subordinates, with Derek still trying to talk sense into the man.
She saw the flash of manacles at one point, and the prelate's curses only grew louder from there.
“The hell did we miss?” Brent asked after they put a short distance between them and the incident.
“Talk later,” Neska said in a low tone. “We have onlookers.”
Indeed, she could hear the whispers from the gathered citizens, staring at her in awe. She caught words from children hastily shushed by their parents.
“That was so cool!”
“She just disarmed him and beat him up like nothing!”
“Is she a witch? She’s got that banger hat!”
“Damn Seekers, she shoulda done worse to him.”
Neska raked her hat gently at that mention. Maybe the hat was catching on. “So,” she whispered to Juni, “How was your day?”
“Not as exciting as yours. By the way, I did some digging with Brent. We made some interesting discoveries.”
Such as?”
“We narrowed down on where our assassin is and who might be helping him.”
“One problem,” Brent said with a sigh, folding his hands behind his neck as they walked. “You two might be landing in a heap of trouble first.”
“Not as much trouble as Prelate Evin is about to be in,” Neska said, glancing over her shoulder. “Oh, and I might have a Seeker fan.”
Juni grabbed her ears and let out a grumble. “Only with you, Cassia. Only with you.”
"I suppose there's a silver lining. I got some skill ranks from that unruly asshole," Syra muttered. "Cassia, you should have let me drown him."
"You can do that?"
"Yep, I can." Neska shuddered at that idea--maybe Syra could direct her water into their lungs. Then again, her own venom was quite deadly.
Something she kept to herself, but still smiled at, were the notifications that rolled in. There was an unexpected boon from this skirmish.
Level Increased: Witch 11 → Witch 12
1 Essence Point Gained (3 available)
3 Attribute Points Gained (6 available)
Ability Proficiency Increased
Woven Root Hex 14 → Woven Root Hex 16
Constricting Coils 2 - Constricting Coils 3
Sudden Molt 3 - Sudden Molt 4
Spring Scales 8 - Spring Scales 9
Coiled Strike 8 - Coiled Strike 9
Title added, Slippery as a Snake: You have been adopting a style of defense with your effort, avoiding hits with positioning or evading them with Abilities, rather than taking them head-on. +2 Agility, +2 Intelligence. This Title may evolve depending on your actions.
Title has Evolved
Merciful 2: You have granted a dignified end to your foes, and stayed your hand against those too stupid to live, upholding a personal moral code. Or maybe just pragmatic use of social circumstances. +3 Endurance, + 3 Soul (this replaces the prior bonuses). This Title may evolve depending on your actions.
Vivi? Really now? Throwing shade my way?
Sorry. He really deserved more humiliation than you dished out.
Yes, he did. I have a feeling, though, that this might have a ripple effect, she thought, holding her head high. Hopefully, one for the better.
Or, more likely, you’ve just pissed off every seeker on the continent.
How about we just look at my current status, Vivi? I’ve been quite busy the past few days, and this walk back to campus isn’t getting shorter.
Certainly.
=Status=
Name: Neska Aksen
Witch 12, Tier 2
Lamia (Legendary) Tier 2
Vitality 16
Agility 27
Endurance 23
Intelligence 40
Perception 27
Soul 28
3 EP available, 0 available
=Evolutions=
Coiled Strike (9), Venomous Bite (9), Prehensile Tail (3), Spitting Venom (6), Spring Scales (9), Sudden Molt (4), Constricting Coils (3), Venom Swap (Passive)
=Hexes=
Venom/Mana Bolt (10), Woven Root Hex (16), Ember Hex (5), Baleful Eye (2), Verdant Weave (?)
=Rituals=
Ritual Tracing (3), Ritual Precision (3), Ritual Potency (3)
=Alchemy=
=Titles=
Awakened - You are a humanoid fused with a monster’s soul and body.
Daughter of Ouroboros - /REDACTED/ Discover more about yourself to fully realize this Title.
Witch - human granted class for hexes and blessings.
Reconstituted - your soul has been made whole.
Merciful (II) - You have granted a dignified end to your foes, and stayed your hand against those too stupid to live, upholding a personal moral code. Or maybe just pragmatic use of social circumstances. +3 Endurance, + 3 Soul. This Title may evolve depending on your actions.
Defender - You chose to engage in a difficult battle to defend someone else, without an expectation for anything in return. +1 Vitality, +1 Endurance. This Title may evolve depending on your actions.
Shatter the Ceiling - Break a limit on an ability or evolution. + 2 Intelligence, + 2 Perception.
Kinslayer - Kill one of your own kind, regardless of circumstances.
Enduring Bravery - Be the victor in a battle you had a low chance of winning. +2 Endurance, +2 Agility.
Unbreakable Bond - Save a friend in dire need, at great risk to yourself. +4 Vitality, +4 Endurance, + 4 Soul.
What Doesn’t Kill You, Makes You Weirder - Your efforts to protect your body by sampling deadly things builds an increasing resistance to the same effects over time, with sufficient long-term exposure making you immune to a given toxin type.
Slippery as a Snake - You have been adopting a distinct style of defense with your efforts, avoiding attacks with positioning or evading them with Abilities, rather than taking them head-on. +2 Agility, +2 Intelligence. This Title may evolve depending on your actions.
Neska expected the admonishment to be severe. She expected to be threatened with expulsion, a penalty, the Seekers detaining her, or worse.
All four waited inside Neska’s dormitory room, waiting in dreaded anticipation. “I don’t think we could have played that hand better,” she concluded.
Syra laughed bitterly. “Sure, that was a ‘good’ hand. I don’t want to envision what a bad scenario looks like for you, or what you’d do to get out of it.”
“Well, if history is any indicator, blow up a pack of spined wolves.” Syra shook her head, but didn’t immediately respond. “Why Professor Gurigea, by the way?” Neska directed to Brent.
“We met her along the way, and as soon as we said the word ‘Seeker,’ she looked like she was ready to go kill some fools. Which, fortunately, you may have incidentally prevented,” Brent said, outstretching his hand and wagging it gently. “Despite the frog's appearance? She is scary and dangerous. More than you, Cassia.”
A gentle knock at the door interrupted their discussion. “Neska, Juni, are you all in here?”
It was Professor Harvine. Neska hadn’t seen her in a bit, and this probably didn't bode well. She opened the door to reveal her and Gurigea, looking uneasy.
“May we come in? We need to discuss a few things. In private.”
“Of course, come on in.” She knew this could go only one of two ways: punishment or accolades. Or possibly a mix of both.
As soon as Gurigea latched the door, Harvine cleared her throat, fighting back what Neska suspected was a choked sob. “Are you two alright?”
Neska showed the hole in her uniform. “I need some tougher clothes. The rest of me is injury-free, however.”
Syra showed bruised skin, shimmering with a liquid texture. “I got bruises from her vines. I suffered more injury from her keeping me out of the fight than I did from those brutes.”
“Okay, good.” Harvine reached out to hug the two of them. “I am so, so, so sorry that happened.”
“Melissa, we’re not…” Gurigea sighed as her small sacs on her neck deflated slightly, and gave them a moment. Neska certainly didn’t mind, as her tail tried to inch around Professor Harvine.
“Oh, this is weird. Um, I have to ask, are we expelled?” Syra asked anxiously. “Because we totally, totally did not pick that fight.”
Harvine let go and returned to Gurigea’s side. “No. You’ll not be expelled. I have to commend you for your restraint, actually. I know Cassia would and could have killed every single one of them if she chose to.”
Should have. But didn't. Risha might have made that choice. I couldn't. She kept that thought for later. “I did one better. I humiliated that piece of work,” Neska said calmly. “They were out of line, and I was not about to let them dehumanize Syra.”
“Well, they got half a strip search,” Syra said, snickering. “If unintended.”
“I really need to find a way to upgrade my [Sudden Molt]. Losing my equipment and garments is a massive tradeoff,” she muttered.
“Enough,” Gurigea interrupted, waving her hand to gain attention. “First off, don’t be proud of this. This could have ended with you two dead, or worse, all four of them dead, and Seekers invading the Academy and bringing our independence to a halt.”
Neska folded her arms, looking at Gurigea contemptuously. “What was I supposed to do, let them strip-search Syra in the street? You know what, don’t answer that.”
“Cassia, can you be a little less…bitey?” Harvine asked.
“No. This is beyond the pale. Why are they even here?” she demanded. “Why were we singled out?”
“First question: Professor Serkin.” Harvine’s fist clenched as she said his name, as if his grave injury were an infuriating reminder. “They are here to conduct an inquisition. The security counsel thought it wise to bring in the Seekers to show they are pursuing all leads. Some students are scared.”
“The second question, they were beginning flight patrols, looking for anyone matching the description we gave them. I find it a touch ironic that they detained you, considering you were there to help Serkin scrape by,” Gurigea said, looking nonplussed. “Prelate Evin won’t be on the patrols anymore; he was reassigned rather quickly. Probably on account of the optics.”
“Yes, attacking a student without provocation does generally look pretty bad,” Neska said deadpan.
“That’s why all students are now officially cordoned off from Rivilat, until further notice. The announcement will be made shortly,” Gurigea said. She curled her fingers tightly as she said that. “It’s to avoid escalating tensions any further. The only way students will travel to the satellite branch is with professor escorts, which will make things rather tedious."
“Unbelievable. That sack of shit gets a free pass, and we’re being punished?!” Syra shouted. “This is bullshit, and you know it!”
“I know,” Gurigea said with a loud croak to her words. “It is. Thank the Divines you didn’t hurt the Prelate other than bruising his ego.”
"I did exactly what I had to." Neska narrowed her eyes. "Do you think he would have stopped at dehumanizing us? I don't think so. He was looking for people to punish or monsters to kill. He wasn't looking for assassins or Varadur infiltrators." She showed her ripped academy uniform, still mending slowly.
"Cassia--"
"No. I'm tired of being told not to tangle with them. There is clearly resentment against the Seekers from the populace. Or what the Seekers are currently, and it's because zealots like Evin lead them. There's only one thing you can do with someone like that: show the others what real leadership looks like, and kick out the corrupted members." She wondered how much of this behavior was encouraged by the mimicoids in their midst.
Only now, when they were out of danger, could she speak with simmering fury. "I think if Syra and I had continued to let him walk over us, his men would have gone along with whatever malicious idea he had in mind."
“I heard people cheering Cassia on. Just saying,” Brent said, his ears perked up. “The value of public opinion shouldn’t be dismissed; the Seekers are not welcome nor well-received here.”
“Brent, don’t encourage this,” Harvine scolded. “What exactly were you doing off grounds?”
Neska raised a hand. “There’s no rule that keeps us sequestered to the campus. We’re free to come and go…until we weren’t, as you just said.”
Harvine bit her lip and pointed to Gurigea. “Technically, she’s right. But what were you doing?”
Juni put a hand up. “Uh…finding an assassin. We might have just narrowed it down a lot.”