LAW OF GROWTH

  Days flew by as our quests with Rosa went well each day. We traveled north, over the bridge dam, and deep into the eastern woods. The fear of vampires struck me again, but I refused to let it restrain me.

  The woods were packed with a few rabbids, blindinus, blacats, ankle-bitters, wudos, and skittish azudorns. After the first day of hunting, the harmony between our two parties began to emerge, and our ability to slay blacats and blindinus became all too easy.

  We hauled as many corpses as possible after each hunt, sold them to butchers and cooks, received our payment from the guild, and celebrated at Corotho's Eatery.

  As of today, the quest giver, who remained anonymous, did not renew the quest, and so I decided to take up Drago's offer and meet him outside the city walls. He had been berating us about joining his party in their friendly sparring.

  Sparring against Farengar wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. His ability to cast wards and magic made each and every one of my Willpowered blows powerless. But why? Not even Mantis, with his quick movements, or Panuka, with her precise aim—none could land a hit on him.

  During a break, Farengar showed my party and me the symbol tattooed on the palms of his hand.

  FARENGAR

  Tell me, did you learn anything during our bout?

  He asked as we sat around on the dying grass and munched on dried wolf jerky.

  MANTIS

  I thought magic was weak against Willpower?

  He questioned.

  MANTIS

  But our attacks didn't work.

  FARENGAR

  Do you know the types of Magiks?

  He asked, and I suddenly remembered.

  HILROY

  Symbology!

  I blurted as if I was a child still in school.

  FARENGAR

  Exactly. Symbology is effective at blocking Willpower.

  He explained as Drago and Tempest joined us.

  DRAGO

  Talking about magic?

  He asked, taking a seat next to me and wiping his face of sweat.

  DRAGO

  It's bullshit, ain't it?

  He directed at me.

  DRAGO

  Magic continues to beat swords, muscles, and heaps of determination.

  FARENGAR

  Willpower, skills, and techniques all derive from Magiks.

  Farengar pointed out.

  FARENGAR

  Our very being relies partially on Magiks.

  HILROY

  Can you use all three?

  I asked with a curious smile, but he shook his head solemnly.

  FARENGAR

  Equally? Quite impossible.

  He uttered and took his gaze toward the children and adults watching us from the scaffolds of the city. A few of them urged us to resume our fighting.

  FARENGAR

  It would take an insane amount of training, memory, rest, and practice to use all three forms of Magiks equally. Even at that, a decade or two.

  TEMPEST

  Ya quite strong, Farengar,

  He mumbled, his eyes on the blade of grass he was fiddling with.

  TEMPEST

  Why'd ya run from Ire?

  A good question and we all seemed to hold our breath in suspense for his answer. Farengar's piercing eyes dropped onto the grass for a moment.

  FARENGAR

  Ire is far stronger than me.

  He stated bluntly.

  FARENGAR

  I felt it with Lesser Mana Sense.

  HILROY

  Lesser? Wow, pretty good.

  He shrugged at my compliment and continued his reasoning.

  FARENGAR

  I was never a fan of Mokoto's lack of danger. The many times we faced drakes, basilisks, titanomyrmas, and stolas, it was my ability that allowed us to flee and live another day.

  He took a deep breath.

  FARENGAR

  But not this time. There was not a damn thing I could do to stall Ire, and I chose to live.

  For the first time since I met him, a smirk appeared briefly on his face.

  FARENGAR

  You can't get stronger if you die.

  PANUKA

  I agree one hundred percent!

  She sang with a giggle, but Farengar's smirk was long gone.

  PANUKA

  So, what is your next goal?

  FARENGAR

  I want to learn auras.

  He mumbled uncertainly and gave Drago a side-eyed look.

  DRAGO

  What? We don't have a pass!

  He exclaimed in defense.

  FARENGAR

  I suggest you lot go back north too,

  He said to me.

  FARENGAR

  This city is not safe with such a monster living along its borders. I heard there were a few mountain villas past the den of griffins.

  I nodded,

  HILROY

  Yes, there is.

  FARENGAR

  A few scavengers are heading there.

  PANUKA

  What for?

  FARENGAR

  Seems like this Ire's Bounty has claimed everyone's passions of late...

  He mumbled humbly,

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  FARENGAR

  The tension between the North Star and the Lightning Kingdom has divulged into an all-out war.

  All of us except Drago lurched forward in shock and uttered a slew of curses.

  DRAGO

  Oh, right, I forgot to mention that ya lot,

  He laughed.

  TEMPEST & BOLIN

  Why didn't ya tell us?

  They asked in perfect harmony, but Drago laughed some more.

  FARENGAR

  I've been urging Drago to lead our party north. I've heard great things about the mountain villas.

  HILROY

  Fabulous. Heavy use of magic and puries, and exceptionally safe, but they're expensive to stay in.

  I pointed out, but he shrugged.

  FARENGAR

  I have the puries.

  DRAGO

  But we should wait till the passing of winter—avoid the scavengers. They tend to be a bit stabby before the scavenging.

  He suggested, and I personally thought that to be a good idea.

  DRAGO

  Say, how about we both go together? After the winter—or maybe earlier, during 2nd Winter, ya?

  Farengar shrugged and looked at me. Mantis and Panuka both stared me down before I asked,

  HILROY

  What are your thoughts?

  MANTIS

  Can we find a way to add Rosa's party?

  He asked with a fat grin before Panuka smacked the back of his head.

  MANTIS

  We could use more ladies.

  DRAGO

  Hey, I like the way this gent thinks!

  He expressed as I shook my head,

  HILROY

  Fucking Mantis.

  DRAGO

  So it's settled, ya? This will be fun.

  But despite their cheery attitude, the shadow of gloom that refused to leave Farengar's demeanor made me wonder just how strong Ire really was.

  *****

  Vampor Increased:

  Lesser Night Vision(82%), Lesser En Vitality(99%), Lesser Sound Vision(67%), Lesser Blood Control(81%), Lesser En Scent Detection(79%), Lesser Danger Sense(55%), Lesser En Reflexes(76%), Lesser Quickstep(79%), Lesser Heat Vision(79%), Lesser Mana Sense(33%), Lesser Day Vision(33%)

  Passives Increased:

  Lesser Body Control, Lesser En Strength, Lesser En Sight, Lesser En Hearing, Lesser En Stamina, Lesser Elemental Control

  Skill Increased:

  Lesser Soul Harvest

  After a week of intense training, sparring, Abi's tutoring, and meditating, I could finally cast magic from the air itself—granted, it was only a few inches from my body. After Abi discovered I was immortal, he suggested I abuse the Law of Growth. By setting myself on fire and torturing myself, I can further the growth of my Great Strong Body and increase my Petty Fire Resistance aptitude.

  After teasing Abi with knowledge of his son, Gideon, and what he was planning to do, Abi decided to part some of his wisdom on to me. While he was reluctant and quite blunt, I respected every ounce of knowledge he offered me.

  ABIMELECH

  Would you say my son was looking for happiness?

  He asked me, and I looked up from my sight magic training, causing the quick-moving pebbles to fall.

  Not too long ago, I learned that I was able to bring Abimelech's soul out. I pursed my lips as the thought came back to me—he refused to answer one of my questions, so I pretended to split his soul into ghosts. His fearful pleading was something that made me smile.

  PAIN

  Absolutely.

  I answered, taking in Abimelech's blue, fiery-like body that sat before me. Unlike when I first met him, he was unable to grow to such size because of the limitations of Lesser Soul Harvest. He was also unable to journey more than ten feet away from me but could interact with physical objects and cast Soulfire that burned away organic things.

  ABIMELECH

  Even at the cost of others?

  PAIN

  A group of people once found happiness in burning the wife of a Necromancer.

  I pointed out.

  ABIMELECH

  Or out of pleasure.

  He countered.

  PAIN

  Hmph, fair point.

  We were both staring at the quick-moving pebbles I commanded with sight magic and Telekinesis. After a few hours of training with sight magics, I aimed to perfect my Lesser Elemental Control over stone with the help of Abi shouting off unpredictable instructions.

  We also discussed Enchantments and Infusing as he helped me retrieve some of the enchanted items and Lek's branches from Kari Jokul's old shrine. He informed me that after years of neglect, the shrine became a burial place for honorable followers from across the plains.

  As for enchanting, the process involved taking the hieroglyphs of puries and fusing them into other physical objects. Infusing, on the other hand, was quite interesting.

  ABIMELECH

  Infusing is a dangerous practice.

  He uttered as we were retrieving that last pair of Lek's branches.

  ABIMELECH

  The process of warping space and reality to combine two identical objects into one.

  I waited for him to continue and could feel his angst even though his soul was not in my soul chamber.

  ABIMELECH

  A minuscule mistake, a slight difference between the objects in question, can cost the Infuser his life, depending on his skill.

  He explained. Unfortunately, he did not know why such a mistake was so catastrophic.

  As the week continued, adventurers would come by nearly every day to lay eyes on the earthly spire north of my lair. If they were to stray too close, I would allow my animals to disturb them, and if they continued...

  ABIMELECH

  Why do you have to slay them?

  He asked me moments after I had quickly disposed of a party made up of family members.

  PAIN

  But who attacked first?

  I countered, and he silenced himself.

  Sure, I would go out appearing as threatening as I possibly could, but only once have these adventurers fled from me—a group of gorgeous ladies that tested my will. When they turned tail in fear, I was happy I did not have to spill the blood of such gems.

  Early one morning, as I looked through my hawk's eyes, I asked Abi what drove him to tutor me.

  ABIMELECH

  You reminded me of Gideon when he was but a boy.

  PAIN

  How so?

  ABIMELECH

  You and he are alike in regard to the knowledge you seek... or rather, how you strive to obtain knowledge.

  He explained as my hawk flew over the Chief's estate searching for Cain.

  ABIMELECH

  But, as you already know, dismissing my son's thirst for knowledge made him grow bitter and selfish.

  I reckoned that he would put away such thoughts if I had ignored his talk about Limbo, souls, and the undead.

  PAIN

  But instead, it drove him to want more.

  I concluded, and he agreed.

  ABIMELECH

  Permitting him to take the role of an Instructor had only exacerbated his bitterness and vileness.

  I could feel the sadness within his soul as he continued.

  ABIMELECH

  And, as if I was a mad fool, I continued to ignore my son. Once, he was a bright, smiling boy who would gaze up at me with brilliant eyes. He was also looking—always wanting to know the answer... But he soon turned into a spiteful gent. Yet, I was in denial, believing that he was not lost to the pull of dark magic. Deeming, he would suddenly let go of those thoughts. In the end, the death of my father at his hands shook me.

  The sorrow within him intensified as he continued.

  ABIMELECH

  Akin to me and my son, my connection with my father was similar. All I sought from him was attention. I tormented my body relentlessly. Long sufferable nights and days in order to be recognized by one of the greatest Conjurors of the time. Oh, how I was cast aside. A leaf, far gone from its tree... Ah, pardon me... I am trumpeting my sorrows onto you.

  I smiled widely as I watched children and adults cheering adventurers sparring outside the walls.

  PAIN

  Feels good, does it not?

  I asked as I watched a child point at my hawk sitting on the wall and out of reach.

  PAIN

  To talk to someone after so long.

  I felt his soul smile in agreement.

  Skill Increased:

  Lesser Solusion Ritual

  Then after gaining Lesser Solusion Ritual that morning, acquiring vampor from the plenty of lagardientes that roamed the south, and finding a new friend in Abi, I was in such a cheery mood that I decided to quell my revenge on the city.