PreCursive

  Elder Einion and Gruffyd didn’t question me for very long, in the small side room they had led me to. After all, there really wasn’t all that much that I could expand on. Not without getting into secrets that I’m not sure Grey would wao let slip. I told them about our lessons and spiring with Azarus, as well as his capture and subsequent loss of an eye only to grow it back.

  Both men had kept suspiciously bnk faces at the regeion, looking pletely uned.

  There had been a little bit of i from them about how Bleddyn had taught me Fleshcrafting, as like Bleddyn had told me, it did give me a tie to their ot a formal one or anything, though. Just an aowledgment.

  They did seem pretty satisfied about the reported death of Magnus, though.

  Which. Yeah.

  You ah.

  By the time they were doh essentially interrogating me, evening light was starting to creep through the sts of the window.

  Gruffyd let out a long sigh, as what looked to be months and months of tension eased out of his massive frame. “Elder…” He said slowly, his gaze lingering on the form of Fade, lying on the floorboards near my feet. I swear I could see a note of reveren his eyes before they cut away to look at Einion. The Elder had pulled out a pipe some time ago and uffing away he window.

  I swear, was it a requirement for powerful old me to be smokers or something?

  “I’d like to ask you for permission t Nathaniel here t Bidd,” Gruffyd said in a respectful tone, bowing his head slightly.

  “Nathan,” I said, nearly automatically. The two men ignored me, though. I stifled a sigh, while I sidered Gruffyd’s words.

  So, he wa me somewhere? What was that about?

  The Elder tapped his long pipe on the windowsill to clear the bowl and then s. Turning to face Gruffyd, I could see that one of his long bushy eyebrows was raised iion. “I’m assuming this is because of his young panion?” For the sed time in as many minutes, anaze fell on Fade. The young Spirit wolf raised his head, able to tell that the versation had shifted in his dire. He cocked his furry head curiously.

  “It is,” Gruffyd nodded. “I feel like…it’s a suitable reward for them, sidering the boons they’ve bestowed upon our people.”

  The Elder crossed his arms, as he visibly pohe question his Chief had presented him. “It is…not out of the question,” He said slowly. “His link to Bleddyn, the aid he has given us, and his own bond to one of the Lis y Gwyllt…” He o Gruffyd. “You have my permission. Nathaniel Hart may stand before the Carreg Bidd. However, it will be up to the A One if they decide to answer or not.”

  A One?

  Gruffyd smiled broadly, standing up from his chair at our small table. “Good. Then, Nathaniel,” He said to me. “Late this night, I will e for you. I will lead you to a sacred py people, and there certain things will be revealed to you. The only person that may apany you is the pup. I’m afraid her your wife nor dwarven friend e along.”

  I shifted my eyes from one older man to the other. “Is this dangerous, or…?”

  Elder Einion answered, shaking his head. “No, not unless you’re deliberately disrespectful. Rather, this is a rare honor for you, such that few outsiders have ever been granted. In fact, I believe your Master is one of the only others who has been simirly blessed. Truly, history has a way of repeating itself.” He said, ply.

  “Alright,” I said slowly, getting to my feet as well. “Then…I guess I’ll see you ter.”

  “You will,” Gruffyd said firmly. “But for now, I o go see to some preparations. Until then, Nathaniel Hart.” With that, the Chief of the Thunderhearts left the room.

  Leaving me aloh the Elder.

  Said Elder was looking at me in a sidering manner, reminding me of Grey. He hummed to himself, before nodding. “I believe we’re done here, Nathaniel Hart,” Einion said finally. He me, before striding for the door of the room as well, his robes swishing behind him. Before he left, however, he looked over his shoulder at me. “I’m certain this isn’t the st time we’ll meet. Until then, young warrior.”

  With that, the Elder opehe door and walked out of the room.

  Meanwhile, I was looking down at Fade. “You think I’m ever going to get as dramatic as all these powerful old men we’re meeting?” I asked him, with no small amount of exasperation.

  Fade just chuffed at me in amusement.

  I shook my head ahe small room as well.

  I o find my ‘wife’.

  ……………………………………………..

  A few kind vilgers directed me to a long building they called a guesthouse. It wasn’t quite as big as the cil meeting hall, but it was still a bit bigger than most of the other homes in T?r Gronn.

  Ohere, I was directed to a room that had bee aside for our usage. Knog on the door, I was startled when one burly hand reached out and dragged me into the room. I was tossed unceremoniously inside and nearly fell ft on my ass, before I was steadied by a pair of cool hands. Looking up, I found that Sylvia had caught me before I could fat into the wooden floorboards. She wi me as I flushed slightly, standing up and straightening my Order uniform. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the person who had hauled me inside was Hook, who ping a rge entment dis the door. Wheivated it, the dull roar of the other patrons in the guesthouse immediately cut out. It was now eerily silent in the room.

  Hook turo face me with an annoyed frown on his altered features. “Report.” He said shortly.

  I decided not to try his patience. I spent the few minutes describing the entire versation I’d had with the Elder and Gruffyd, easily recalling the whole thing thanks ted Mind. When I was done, Hook heaved a put-upon sigh. “Ugh. Best not to annoy them too much by turning down this mysterious ‘offer’,” He said, using his fio make air quotes. “When the Chief es for you, you go with him.”

  I o my nominal boss. “Alright. So…,” I said slowly. “Other than that, what’s the pn?”

  Hook shrugged at me. “We don’t really have any other business here. We’ll leave at first light and try to catch up with everyone else in Elderwyck. You two,” He said, pointing at Sylvia and I. “Try not to cause air. I’m going to stay up here and coordinate some movements with Headquarters. Go on, shoo.” The disguised dwarf literally waved us away, causio stifle a chuckle. Still, I hurried out the door with Sylvia and Fade, while Hook shut the door behind us.

  I exged a gh Sylvia. “So, dinner? Might as well see what they have, before my ‘appoi’.”

  Sylvia smiled softly at me. “I’d be delighted.”

  Tromping dowairs with Sylvia, we found the guesthouse rapidly filling up. As I’d seen on the way in, this pce seemed to fun as kind of a tavern and cafeteria as well as an inn. It might just fun as a sort of unal meeting pce, with as filled to the brim with Thunderheart members excitedly speaking to each other as it was. From what I could hear, it sounded like word of their impending involvement in the war had leaked to the rest of the .

  They didn’t seem too upset by that fact. Rather, it appeared to be the opposite. They almost seemed eager. Both to engage almost endless waves of monsters and to put the Loyalists to the sword.

  Well, good for us I guess. Sylvia and I settled at an out-of-the-way table in a back er, so as not to be disturbed. Still, in moments, one of the barmaids appeared at our table to take our orders. We ended up settling on some mead, rabbit stew, and fresh bread.

  As we waited for our meals, Sylvia and I made some small talk. As my outer ring was occupied with that, my middle ring decided to get to some busihat had slipped my mind. I was curious to see if I had gained any levels from all the chaos of the breaks, and I had just put it off orek here. We were in a safe pce, though, so I could spare the attention.

  I called up my Status with Hidden Amidst the Spheres.

  I didn’t expect what I found.

  You have gained 12 levels!You are now level 81.You have learhe Talent, Short Bow Proficy!You have learhe Talent, Longsword Profiife Proficy has reached lvl. 6!Dual Wielding has reached. Lvl. 3!Trag has reached lvl. 4!Stealth Proficy has reached lvl. 7 (Max)!You have 120 u virtue points. Level 70 Css ability ied. Level 80 Css ability ied.

  Would you like to review your Status?Y/NI started coughing on my mouthful of rabbit stew, as I goggled at the absolute flood of System messages that I was bombarded by. That was by far the rgest amount of notifications I had ever gotten since my Status was awoken.

  What the absolute hell was this? Last I’d checked, literally just a few days ago, I had just reached level sixty-nine. But now I was eighty-one of all things? There was no possible way I’d gotten enough level Aether i forty-eight goddamn hours to gain twelve levels. They’d started ing slower for me as I got closer to the first breakpoint, and I generally o kill over a dozen monsters now just to get one level. That was on top of my frequent crafting sessions with Aetherial Melding, which granted a not insiderable amount of Aether just by itself.

  I hadn’t killed over one hundred and twenty monsters since I’d st checked my Status. Not by far.

  Alright, calm dow’s try to reason our way through this. What had we been doing over the st few days?

  Well, there had been a not insiderable amount of monsters on the way here tronn. But it wasn’t like I was the only person to kill them. It had beey frequent for either Sylvia or Hook to take care of them as well. I don’t think I had personally taken out more than a single level’s worth of deformed beasts.

  I suppose there were the cores I had taken out on the mad dash away from the first Break Stone? But, those had barely had aherial prese all. To my sehey’d registered as little more than motes of potential. Even if I’d taken out dozens of them with the now-deceased Finch, I doubted they had tributed at all.

  That left only…

  “The Break itself…” I muttered to myself, frozen in pce.

  “Nathan?” I heard Sylvia ask me in a ed tone of voice. “Is something the matter?”

  That broke me out of my shock, causio realize that I had let our versation slip in the midst of my fusion. My outer ring that had been speaking to her had stuttered to a halt with the revetion of my new levels. I looked up at my partner, an idea crystalizing in my mind.

  “Would you…mind cheg something for me?” I asked her slowly. “You haven’t checked your Status sihe Breaks, have you?”

  Sylvia blinked her sapphire eyes at me in fusion. “No, I haven’t. I generally only check my Status once a week now, since I passed the first breakpoint. There’s no point anymore, usually.” She paused for a moment, taking iensity of my stare. “Are you askio?”

  I her, intensely, intensely curious now. “Please. I’d like to see if the same thing happeo you.”

  If she had gained a bunch of levels as well, then…

  Sylvia nodded slowly at my request and dug around in her own small waist pouch for the mirror that I knew she had oaking out the small pact device, she flipped it open and touched the surface.

  I saw the exaent she received her System notifications, written across her Mithril features.

  Sylvia’s eyes widened in deeper surprise than I had ever seen from the Sculpted woman, as she ht boggled at the tiny mirror.

  Just like I had.

  “Seven levels?” She breathed in exhirated shock. “That’s insane! I’ve never gotten so many at oime…” Sylvia looked up at me in happy surprise. “Nathan, did this happen to you too?”

  I her, my owarting to break through my shock. “Hell yeah it did, and I have a theory. I think it was the Breaks that did this somehow. For some reason, I think just being around those enhanced Breaks gave us a ton of levels for doing nothing. I don’t know why, and I wish Grey was here to bounce ideas off of.” I moaned in exaggerated despair, befrinning at her. “But this is great.”

  Sylvia me with a grin of her own. “And not just for us. For the Army as well! Think of all those soldiers that have suddenly gained so many levels! The Loyalist's pn backfired! They’ve directedly strengthehe Uprising by not only feeding us thousands of monsters, they kickstarted growth with free levels!” She started ughing in a way I had never heard from her then, all but bent over at the irony of it all. If she could, I think the Sculpted woman would have been g. “Gods, what if they gave Father a level with this! I don’t think he’s gotten one in years! Decades maybe!”

  I joined her in ughter, as I clicked yes with my middle ring in order to see what fanew css abilities I’d gotten.

  Level 70 Css ability (Thornbde Acolyte)Lifeblood Sealent): Sehe rushing blood of your foes. Ooh, that was a weird one. If I trated, I could almost physically feel the pumping blood in the bodies of the other patrons in the guesthouse. The sensation was like an orchestra of thumping drums against my mind. This was useful, if a bit odd.

  Level 80 Css ability (Thornbde Acolyte)Thorned Sunder (Skill): Strike with the force of the dendropathic malicious. That…was less useful.

  By itself, I could somewhat tell that it was a melee striking skill. And not a very useful o that. It seemed to be able to infuse ons with an enhahorny edge, giving it more pierg ability.

  Not very useful for both a spear user, and someone who had both The Stilnt Bde to take care of mystic-born defenses, and Grinding Crimson Ssh for armor.

  On its own, that is.

  I started ughing again, as I felt Grinding Crimson Ssh resoh Thorned Sunder in a very specific way.

  I was absolutely certain that I could bihe two skills with Synergy.

  I almost felt like thanking the Loyalists for all this growth.

  Almost.