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.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0xWhiSnqJ
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvNk4owqyZ
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0iywkfJSy
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExIumuFAB2
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.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fBH4jxCTu
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjbANTs5Gn
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvfk0UXZ6o
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60R6g1nROn
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoUVIuuJB9
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2lAKMNr7a
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenFMdRmjm6
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."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGz4JGpGYDk
[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.]74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDom95z3X3
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.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4ecWAhiqK
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHQQUMGKO7
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.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidqXsJmZU2
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAibfuznMC
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsY7SRgC7bS
Silence.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqfiyeMp0q
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."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPN8kc8y2Mm
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nj6ALNZDZ
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClfKLFMjFZ
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3X7Bqr6LAX
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5X0csIuGz
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oYtFdt1OE
"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?"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HiFrrGl7n
"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. 74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbIgRimvzH
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZ0tumrV0V
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRax1TQWLg
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfMMHMx1uL
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyrQ9enTlc
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcpEY0tMhA
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOPaT2hfrj
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrSzQ6OTjl
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEG2Hrqbh9D
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0S4O3bcyTI
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxstiuJdw82
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewmMJ64Y6w
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.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5flFF6OEY
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5qxl5gnKq
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.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpDTNO9zgo
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBYwc6Q64B
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlXbamt85U
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡseIoCxjZqq
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf62klY01io
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkTUC2sECZl
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHd2cDfHdY
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."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiJB2pnHQC
"Why help us?"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BXKD7yQ3r
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."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Y2CzrSa5M
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdo3EkBxZR
"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.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIS6Qrxinq
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGMUUSHEWQ
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DzUAO70HO
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkfTcpVwxM
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaifk30YuR
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxu1i7JGEcE
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTN5PSzntKf
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWxs3Vrw8Y
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4C48qEiPX
