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.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gFOC3OnDT
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkv0nTpfmOe
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQhSrhkCp3
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElFkuPmkud
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.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7d91KctLr
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRLQnNA7DK
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4iA2lhL3Y9
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSPXuNxA5J
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEq06CwdIX
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XT1e1Nzg6
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgBsZwkH36
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."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZOZ2yL08w
[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.]203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjrxOCncJR
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.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8b0WA4rFL
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7CwFyjV37
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.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAzJI3ttlU
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoO6sXolSJ
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtHBjrQCas
Silence.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yFFYyz7iZ
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."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9NyVo15e7
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4Td3pjOo4
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP32fDo2zFX
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCKUidf89u
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRR7xwqBl6a
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoRHC9zxdi
"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?"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNBJBUHLPu
"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. 203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kiBzlK9ia
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhnhunHONl
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzIoeU7wsE
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7PjfXRjxo
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO00r9bXVUR
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjUKjYGxnK
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBy0pt9u32
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA2Bozy1oB
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0RQb7vHRN
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmxd05ChaY
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiEkxTk44I
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiE140aWAtN
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.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJ6iKTAGmn
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI07a6DRqA3
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.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDiVjUeO6g8
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhAYLaZGZy
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXOyrbCG9K
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaHvDp57VV
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4SMPio8wi
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRzMHizGFV
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKlNTxdZcC
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."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOpVcVdeoF
"Why help us?"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE02B39Pxld
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."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZdqBd4AEg
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJkzEuXMgj
"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.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Jle1b4Zk6
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8NJnVYKfE
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoKrECQtf1
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVkUu8tJTU
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRePqG60W3q
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBs8bJpBd5X
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuPLA6qPTC
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0T1hS0nG7
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYx4VYnDNX
