Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

Leonard ran through the forest as the twin moons—just emerging from their double eclipse—cast their eerie, fragmented light through the dense canopy of clouds above. Shadows danced and flickered around him, and the thick layer of fallen leaves crunched beneath each of his steps. He glanced repeatedly over his shoulder, heart pounding in his chest; the silence of the woods brought both relief and despair.

Marissa had left first—and now she was nowhere to be seen.

As he sprinted, guilt started gnawing at Leonard's mind. Was it truly worth the risk? Double-crossing a Black Reaper and stealing the reward from that Temporary Rift would undoubtedly spark a war against the Bridan Empire. It would take the empress only a few days to learn that the deadly assassin had betrayed her and gotten backstabbed by her enemies—enemies the Black Reaper had hired.

After picking up Elena and Brandon from Trogan Academy, they'd need to leave—and quickly. If Leonard and his wife were to be caught, the king would throw them in jail without hesitation and give them along with Marshal Vancaws to the empire as scapegoats.

The trees blurred around Leonard, trunks melding into a continuous smear of brown and green as he channeled more aether into his legs. In the distance ahead, the forest's edge appeared, marking the border of Kastal. With one final push, he broke through the treeline and reached a clearing bathed in the light of the dual moons. Leonard paused and caught his breath for a moment before turning toward their meeting point with the marshal.

Come on, Marissa, he thought, retrieving his communication orb. The artifact's smooth surface glowed faintly in the moonlight.

Rounding a large rock, Leonard began infusing aether into it before coming to an abrupt stop.

Just a few dozen feet ahead were his wife and Marshal Vancaws, surrounded by a dozen men. Each of them was clad in thick plate armor, a golden crown gleaming on the chest and a rune-covered spear in their hands. The royal guards.

Behind them stood three men and two women in a semicircle, their high chins matching the arrogance etched into their faces. At the center was a man in his sixties, with neatly combed graying hair and piercing-blue eyes that would make anyone yield: Kastal’s king.

"Leonard," the man called out, his voice carrying the weight of both condescension and latent threat. "What a pleasant surprise."

"My king," Leonard said, bowing his head as his throat tightened.

A guard stepped forward, pointing his spear at Leonard before motioning to join his wife and Marshal Vancaws. Leonard complied and walked toward them; his eyes briefly shot to the nobles alongside the king—four heads of the Twenty Great Houses—the very ones who had previously shown no interest in dethroning the man, despite his insatiable greed.

Then Leonard glanced at the royal guards around them; each one was at the pinnacle of the Gold Tier. Trying to escape was futile. Even if Marshal Vancaws could somehow hold his ground against the king—which was highly unlikely, despite both men being Platinum—there was not a chance Leonard and his wife could get away from the House heads and the elite guards.

The king, still smiling, casually tossed a communication orb into the air before catching it back. "The empress just informed me herself that unless I hand you over to her tonight, she will declare war on Kastal." He paused, tilting his head as if deep in thought, then let out a mocking sigh. "So, tell me: is there any good reason I shouldn’t give her what she wants?"

"Because you’d miss out on quite a treasure, Therion," Marshal Vancaws answered with a shrug. "We wouldn't have risked killing a Platinum Black Reaper for something trivial."

"We could simply slaughter you all and take it off your corpses," the head of the Aureus House spat, glaring at the old man. The moon glinted off from the gray strands scattered through the man’s short brown hair while his oversized nose flared with obvious anger.

Marshal Vancaws shook his head. "If you did, you’d be missing out on the half I hid," he said. "On top of weakening our nation right before a war."

"Always so cunning, Gerad," the king answered with a chuckle. "But if you think I’d go to war over a few rewards from a single, Temporary Rift, then you don’t know me as well as you think, my friend."

It isn’t just any rewards, Leonard thought to himself.

A smile crept onto Marshal Vancaws’ lips. "You might change your mind once you see them."

Slowly, the man reached for the Endless Pouch at his belt, unfazed by the royal guards who leveled their spears toward his throat. With exaggerated motions, the marshal pulled out a linen bag, turned it upside down, and let its contents spill onto the ground.

Dozens of colorful crystals, flowers in glass jars, and glowing pieces of ore fell to the forest floor with multiple thuds. But among the pile of rare resources, three breathtaking stones stood out by the strong and vivid aether emanating from them. Leonard already knew what they were, but still cast Identify to confirm which ones the marshal had hidden.