They stood in the outer courtyard of the Celestial Order. The sun broke through the ash clouds and the veils of mist still hanging over the citadel. There were a few mutters and some feet shuffling as Finn turned to see the group of initiates gathered behind him in the early morning light. They were a ragtag army, filled with color but with a few generalities.
Those joining them from the Fire Lodge wore red sashes and studded leather training armor. Those from the Water Lodge favored blues and appeared the most diversely dressed, which made sense since—as Daros had once said—trying to get Water to do only one thing was impossible. The large contingent from the Earth Lodge had the most sensible attire of everyone—tunics, jerkins, and trousers bedecked with pouches and utility belts, all in shades of brown and green.
Of all the elemental lodges, there were very few from Air, but after what their lodge master had said, that was to be expected. Those who had chosen to go with Finn all wore pale colors, and their clothing looked like it was fashioned from multiple strips of cloth, sewn or tied around each other.
Rosa walked up to Finn after speaking with some of the Air initiates. “Teyvor is sticking to his plan to find a different realm devoted to Air. These here that are coming with us are all at least Level Eighteen, though. They’re senior students who can’t stand Teyvor Land anymore anyway.” She shrugged.
“Daros can handle Teyvor while they’re still here,” Finn said confidently, seeing his mute friend standing in the doorway to the Fire Lodge, silently raising a hand in farewell. Finn returned the gesture before surveying the numbers once again. “Two-fifty? Three hundred?”
Rosa nodded. “Nearly three hundred, but will that be enough?”
“It will,” Finn said firmly, hoping that what he was saying was true.
There were almost three hundred experienced fighters, who had been training in this place every day since they had arrived. More importantly, each of these fighters had advanced elemental powers they’d been able to hone, whereas those on the outside—in the New Zone—had to work out their powers by trial and error.
But three hundred against thousands? Finn shook his head, trying not to tally the awful chances. They had to be brave. They had to believe in themselves.
“Move out!” he called as he started the march toward the citadel’s giant doors, which now stood broken. Past it lay the crevasse-spanning stone bridge, and on the other side, Finn would tell them all to use their wooden citadel tokens to travel to Malvas.
Finn had no idea what they would find on the other side, however. Would they be immediately thrown into battle? Was Malvas even still standing?
His steps led him through the arched doors. The sun illuminated the high arch bridge, as well as the hundreds of meters drop to the distant forests below. Finn knew they had to be as ready as they could be, which reminded him that he had ascended again recently…
Oh yeah, I’m now Level 30, aren’t I?
He had hardly met any ‘normal’ characters in the New Zone at this level. If he concentrated, he could feel the power running through him. His body felt alive and strong in a way he’d never before dreamed possible.
I know I jumped from Level 28 up to 30 after killing that wyvern, Finn thought. That would mean +2 STR and +2 INT for every level because he was a Defender, but then he also had 10 free points to upgrade as well. He decided to do that before leaving.
You have run out of time to allocate your ascension points. They have automatically allocated for you.
What?! Finn was annoyed at first, but then he remembered that had always been the clause with the celestial ascension. You only had a limited time to make your own choices about your ascension points.
Name: Finn Callahan
Level: 30 (595, 000 / 640,000)
Profession: Knight-Defender, Premier Martial
Renown: High (local)
Agility: 48
Charisma: 20
Durability: 43 (+5 Part-Plate of Azor) = 48
Intelligence: 54 + 4 = 58
Strength: 68 (+2 for Gauntlets of Strength) (+5 for Phyrric Blade) = 75
Vitality: 26 + 3 = 29
Wisdom: 30 + 3 = 33
“Holy hells,” Finn murmured when he saw his attributes. He’d expected his Strength to be higher. He had been focusing on that, Intelligence, and Agility for a while now. So, it was interesting that the engines had chosen to elevate his Vitality, Wisdom, and Intelligence. He couldn’t find fault in the Celestial Engine’s choices.
I don’t really use Wisdom, he thought, but he knew it related to being able to resist other magic. He wondered if that meant he was going to encounter more spells and enchantments now that he was Level 30.
Health: 968 / 968
Mana: 1072 / 1072
Stamina: 816 / 816
His Health, Mana, and Stamina levels were also pleasing to Finn. He was finally over the 1000 mark in at least one thing, and he knew that he would need all the Mana he could get for the battle ahead. He checked the Blackwood Hearthstone, but that was still lower than it should be.
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Realm: Blackwood (Level 30)
Hearthstone: 700 / 1072
Patron: Sesuuk of the Lamakai Trine
The Hearthstone should have rejuvenated by now. He couldn’t imagine why it hadn’t.
Finn reached into his pocket and touched the medallion that was the psychic link to his patron. He considered asking if something was going on in Blackwood that affected the Hearthstone but stopped himself. One problem at a time.
If we liberate Malvas, Blackwood will only grow stronger.
New Ascension Ability.
Ascension Path: Fire
Smoke Shield. You can summon billows of black smoke to hide your actions and blind your opponent. Your opponent has a -50% chance of hitting you while the smoke is in place. Costs 100 Mana.
“That’ll be interesting.” Finn nodded to himself as Tobias hurried up to his side, coughing politely to draw his attention.
“We’re ready. I’ve told them to draw weapons and be ready to fight,” Tobias said.
Finn looked around to see that he had stepped right down to the far side of the bridge already. For a moment, he wished that the Citadel Guards were still here, but the mysterious figures in full bronze plate armor no longer guarded the bridges, main gates, and tower. No one knew if they were still inside the citadel somewhere or had merely vanished. Finn suspected they had been something like golems or automatons, powered by the instructor’s magic.
“Finn?” Tobias prodded.
Finn nodded. The Pyrrhic Blade flickered into existence in his gauntlet as he held up the simple wooden token. “Follow me,” he said, opening the portal.
He hesitated for only a moment before stepping through the swirl of celestial energy to be immediately confronted by screams, fire, and death.
Finn looked around, quickly taking in his surroundings. He was standing in a small courtyard, the one he had envisioned that led up to the main council hall. He had chosen this crooked octagonal space because it was set deeper into a supposedly safer part of the city, further back from the walls.
Right now, however, there was black smoke billowing over the stone rooftops, and he saw that several of the buildings had scorch marks. One building had an entire side that was nothing but rubble.
“Finn?! What is happening?!” Tobias said, emerging from the portal beside Finn as the Celestial Order Defenders flooded out behind them.
“I don’t know! Head for the council hall!” Finn started sprinting down the nearest route, knowing that it led to the main city square.
His boots hit the cobbles, and smoke shifted ahead of him. He could hear the clashing of steel on steel, the terrified and angry shouts of people fighting for their lives.
Suddenly, a form emerged through the smoke and Finn reacted, stepping forward as he raised his blade.
It wasn’t one of the trollish races at all. It was a human, wearing mismatched leather part armor and the gray sash of Malvas.
“Peters?!” Finn stumbled to a halt, recognizing the man as one of the wall captains he had fought alongside earlier.
“What—Finn?!” Peters slumped against the wall, and Finn saw that he was holding one arm awkwardly. It was badly wounded. “It’s Durzog’s horde! They’ve broken through the gate! Diane is trying to split their forces, but they keep pushing right through!”
The gate’s down. The walls have been breached, Finn thought rapidly. If they were only at the council hall, they hadn’t yet completely overrun the city.
“Earth magic should be able to strengthen the walls, fill the gaps,” Tobias said quickly.
Another loud, echoing scream met them from beyond the smoke. There were raised voices from the order’s band of three hundred as more initiates arrived every second. Finn formulated his plan in seconds.
“We create a bottleneck. Tobias, take Earth and Fire and try to get to the walls. Repair them if you can, but try to hold them. We can’t let the main horde into the city, or else we’ll never win,” Finn said.
“Aye!” The Verdainian leaped away, running down the line to tell the other premiers of the plan.
“Air and Water, with me!” Finn shouted, running into the smoke.
There were bodies everywhere, human and troll, and where there had been a wooden gallery of arches, there was now collapsed, burning rubble. Finn immediately saw scattered human defenders around the large civic space, but for a moment, he was entirely confused as to where the enemy was. Was he already too late? Had they been defeated?
Then Finn saw something flicker out of the corner of his eye and leaped, spinning in the air before the dark shape came crashing down upon him.
You have been struck by the Oil Pot for 120 points of damage.
You receive -50% damage on fire-based attacks.
You receive 60 points of damage.
Finn felt the concussive wave hit his back as the object thrown from on high smashed right where he had been standing and exploded into a violent ball of purple-laced flame. He hit the cobbles, tumbled, and spun around to look up at who had just tried to kill him. There was a winged shape up there, leaping from one rooftop to the next.
“Zephyrs!” Finn shouted. He flung a bolt of flame toward the roof. His Strike hit the corner of the building and covered it in a fireball. He heard a satisfying shriek.
You have slain the Level 16 Zephyr Warrior. Experience awarded.
“They’re on the rooftops! On the roofs!” he shouted, spinning around as he saw another flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. He threw his arm out again, but before he could send a shot of flame up to meet the zephyr, the figure was hit by something else—a speeding flicker through the air that trailed white vapor around it as it got faster and faster, forming into a spear and striking the zephyr and sending the monster flying off the ledge with a blood-curdling shriek.
He turned and saw one of the Air Initiates, just releasing their casting pose as Rosa leaped into the air around them. Finn watched in amazement as Rosa twirled her Staff of the Aethers, whipping up a storm that swirled into a white and blue platform. It lifted her to the level of the rooftops.
“Air Lodge, arise!” Rosa called.
The advanced initiates catapulted and spun into the air just as Rosa had, using their magic to bring the battle into the air just as it was on the ground.
There was a screeching hiss and the clatter of talons as something hit the courtyard near Finn. He spun to see that a group of zephyrs had swooped down, sabers drawn, to attack the surviving humans.
Finn lunged toward the monsters, his Pyrrhic Blade bursting into flames as he slashed it across the first zephyr that had the audacity to challenge him, and then against the second, and the third.
The Knight-Defender, Troll-slayer, Beast-slayer, Premier Martial of Fire moved into the attacking group like a man possessed, because in a way, he was. Finn was possessed by the power of Fire itself as he ducked and swung, spun and slashed. He was strengthened by celestial energies and was easily one of the most powerful beings on this field of battle.
You have slain the Level 16 Zephyr. Experience awarded.
You have slain the Level 17 Zephyr. Experience awarded.
You have slain…
Finn saw and ignored the messages that continued to flash at him as bird-man fell, one after another. He remembered a time when killing them had been hard, and when the winged bird-people had been the most significant danger he had yet faced.
Now, though, Finn had slain the mighty Wyvern, the Avatar of Corruption. He was no longer scared of these beings.
“Finn!”
There was a shout of surprise from above him. Finn stumbled forward and looked up. He realized that he had completely cut his way through this gaggle of zephyrs. Behind him, the initiates of the Water Lodge were blasting away any stragglers with plumes of blue energy-laced water. The human defenders of Malvas had retreated to the steps of the council hall, looking confused at this sudden arrival of strange, powerful saviors.
“Blackwood? Is that you?” There was a call from the council hall doors as a tiny crack between them widened, shuddered, and then one of the outer doors was being pushed open past a barricade. Chief Diane of Malvas, Council Chairwoman and Realm Founder scrambled out.
“Diane! Thank heavens you’re alive,” Finn shouted in delight.
Even though Diane was smiling, there was no time for fond greetings.
“I brought my people here, to defend what we can, but the horde has broken through the outer gates. They’re pillaging the eastern part of the city, but I fear they will just keep on pushing us straight into the sea!” Diane said, panting as she ran to Finn’s side.
“Not if we can help it,” Finn said.
He briefly described his plan to her, and she listened. Her face darkened, but then a wicked smile cracked her features.
“The main contingent are heading straight up the main avenue. If you go now, then it might just work. I’ll rally what troops I have here,” Diane said before quickly looking up at Finn and the other Defenders from the Celestial Order. “This your army then, is it? I like the look of them. Just don’t destroy my city in the process of saving it!”