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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANVgKmlX4s
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuGzW1b0TH
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSgdkNDoN0
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkTmUGbElx5
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23pwEFtq7W
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YofeDbSYW
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GGADC0MBT
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQCrcwRVNT
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBubYdmGW4x
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51qK6jgpR6
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf50kf97Wi5
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."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDlJzxQbgA
[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.]73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQ5KPyO5iB
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYj5ks5QWB
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQDeABOXcp
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Sne12hzdC
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGPgozq3Dl
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EKgLu2FgH
Silence.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0yeiaGTq2
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."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbT0Q2cZub
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6nE5l144v
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UDhpTN8go
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxw81mpAT5
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxBsxto2xx
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvtYOVroI9
"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?"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsCPtmSSIT
"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. 73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tdhuhj2XE
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLDFG9JcEX
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvzAVmfzKn
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqaJ4PJjoU
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QidmVrMEU
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqyBaWnK0l
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4YKYTc0Zn
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ94Wqx9tbO
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkkOa0E4na
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZtFyS2B70
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqmrm5I3J8
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoefDGjph0K
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUoSUuNwfc
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYENeDShKlm
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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrRmJFEK4F
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5YSYnTCvS
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcyCjvGro0
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dPTktxIlP
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlVV1InXs0
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5ve0KChyZ
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Elc3DtscJ
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."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkImhZJUeBt
"Why help us?"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGdOlgWFdW
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."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAhURYVjUY
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NYigruJWd
"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.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdxGjqp1DI
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DOFeojo2u
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4qOosdqGU
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZ0ratFtdH
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGAKa52zEi
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpleZLamAV
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUYWM8WDDg
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47eucGMv9d
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUmofWplQI
