The forest hummed with the brittle stillness of a held breath. Liora walked ahead, her red hair catching shards of sunlight filtering through the canopy. Nadine's dagger glinted as she scanned the shadows, while Ivy clung to Mira's arm, her laughter strained.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeouNRvjZTn
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Qj3M5oKl4
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC96K6q9PuG
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuf9Sl00Ro
Six robed figures emerged, blades drawn. Nadine moved first—employing all of Sister Kat's teachings. She had trained all of us on defence and basic attack, from the memory I recovered. She had a saying that this world was cruel and full of secrets and things above human so we should learn to be able to protect ourselves from some things. Well, Nadine was the quite talented at this as you can notice as she disarmed a soldier with a brutal twist, his wrist snapping like dry kindling. Mira, was sometimes tying with Nadine but also sometimes able to hold her stand down so she was second. She hurled a smoke pellet, its acrid fog masking her sickle's arc as it bit into a second attacker's thigh.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpfNDSuqsx
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjgkjlHEg7
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNj6ww1c4xR
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z6NuscHvc
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84GSHiM4Vp
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwlWS0niw8
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpRuN7y2En
Kael's strikes were frantic, unpolished. The leader batted his blows aside, grinning. "Is this the Church's great mythic threat? This is so disappointing but it is also quite rewarding. I can't wait fore the promotion I will get when I bring your head back to the church."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVBex03qqR
[You're drowning in fear, Host] Elia hissed. [Breathe. Adapt. Do not let the fear control you. Control it instead. If you can't it would be the end of us all and all those you hold dear too.]114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnx3eO93WR
A slash grazed Kael's collarbone. Pain sharpened his focus. Heeding Elia's advice, Kael focused on the battle once more. The Codex flared again, etching cleaner stances into his muscles.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktZCBmhdhw
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHMujmWufF
He feinted left, pivoted, and drove the shattered branch into the leader's knee. The man roared. Kael seized his sword, the blade trembling in his grip.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUYW51o2kt
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPL5D7fCP04
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHivEBEHRSM
Silence.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoqZKzUznj
Ivy lay against the boulder, the arrow still lodged in her shoulder. Mira retched into the dirt, her hands shaking. Nadine knelt beside Ivy, her stoicism cracking. "Stay awake. Look at me."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBPrm3ELA7
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoMKEVOdPm
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFb2hZHIGO
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPEYff7Jkh
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFFj7yTeH3
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTe1l6O8W6
"I'm dying right? S-Sister Kat always said I'd die doing something stupid. Well at...cough cough least I didn't die doing something stupid this time, right Nadine?"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFj7w2DmBw
"Not today, Not ever Ivy. You're not going to die, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you, alright?" Nadine said, binding the wound with torn fabric.
"Yeah, Nad" Ivy said with difficulty. 114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrTIoswaXr
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfFtMpIEua
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NHd7wNqfd
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTI9rjCScK
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdYy9DWPMt
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcqnqfg9Ym
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX467T7Xz1W
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSG02lKphgg
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQP4eTZdsH
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVmzLuAYDM
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRafulOi3fi
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4OaVSlwWX
Dawn brought sleet, the forest floor a slurry of mud and rotting leaves. Ivy's wound festered, the skin around it blackening like burnt parchment. Mira stumbled under her weight, cursing.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvfAUVEjDT
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMtRj5ImQe
The village emerged from the mist—a clutch of stone cottages hunched around a crooked well. Villagers peered through cracked shutters as they passed. They followed us with their eyes like they were scanning us for danger.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwergAM4B5V
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LCjosfCJm
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡin5Zpkao8w
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7W88Bo042
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2ROUCN6SJ
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLMMnFGegC
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaAodc5uqz
She smiled faintly. " I'm no damsel in need for a knight to save her. The world is a cruel place, Kael. It can shape and destroy you in a heartbeat and whim. I learned it the hard way after the Church killed all I can call family in this world. It etched into me that only those with power or its equivalent or those that have something the world needs is qualified to live in this world."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHj7zHy7HIU
"Why help us?"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopcadIgrOk
Her eyes met his, holding something that one couldn't quite decipher, well at least not for Kael. She traced his jaw, her touch colder than the snow. "Because you're the first interesting investment I've seen in years. And I'd hate to lose my stake… not yet. So please, don't die too early on me."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFixQZD3f8h
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobacSx2QxV
"Was that a confession, or am I taking it wrongly? Probably, I am taking it out of context." Kael said to himself before he stood up and walked into the house also.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQhlHp5iUB
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiym2FJ0kPZ
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmikFs09l1
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvEzqTnO7b
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyh33NIKG8A
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5Nmz9ClK5
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcxnUHUdvo
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfO8qyyelB5
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡED8kBjPqT5
