Path of Dragons

Sadie swung her sword, hacking an abomination in half at the waist. It had taken two strikes – the hulking monsters were incredibly durable, even with Dat’s curses decreasing their Constitutions – but she’d managed it all the same. That was primarily due to her spell, Blessed Blade, which was an evolution of the generic Warrior ability Heavy Blows. It had been one of the first spells she’d gotten after gaining her class, and it had been absolutely necessary for her survival ever since:

Gaining nearly thirty percent damage against undead creatures was an incredibly potent boon, especially with her high Strength. Even then, it took multiple attacks to take down an abomination.

As the thing burst apart, she deftly dodged a spray of caustic goo. She didn’t know what, precisely, the stuff was, but she knew it would burn through just about anything it touched. Her armor helped, but it definitely didn’t make her invulnerable.

It was her latest spell, gained at level one-twenty, and she’d found it to be an invaluable asset. The wall it created was a little more than fifteen feet long and almost as tall, and she’d used it to bridge the gap between a boulder and a wrecked ship that had washed up on the beach. It wasn’t quite long enough – leaving a space of around three feet between the edge of the bulwark and the boulder – but it was enough to funnel the enemy into a single location.

Without it, she and her companions would have already been overwhelmed. As it was, she and the others were barely holding on. Dat was holding his own, steadily whittling down the horde of undead, and even Gideon had helped plug the hole. The man was self-serving and culturally bigoted, but he was not a bad fighter. More, he was loyal to her grandfather, largely because they’d been business partners for more than two decades even before the Handover, and he’d remained one of Tianwei’s staunchest allies ever since. He’d also proven to be incredibly talented at managing the various factions within Heaven’s Bastion, which made him an invaluable asset.

But Sadie just didn’t like him or his attitude.

Not that it mattered in the middle of battle. He was doing his part, which was all anyone could ask. The same was true of Nico, who took his characteristically conservative approach to healing. If someone could survive a wound, he barely did more than stop the bleeding. The only time he stepped in with his full power was when someone was on the verge of dying. Even then, he only used just enough ethera to get them back on their feet.

It really was an impressive expression of control, even if Sadie couldn’t follow that same philosophy. She wouldn’t stand by while someone suffered. She couldn’t. Nico didn’t have that problem, though. He’d always had a somewhat detached viewpoint, and it had struck her as incredibly strange that he’d been offered the Healer archetype. It was even stranger that he’d taken it. The only reason for his choice that she could come up with was that he liked the control it gave him. She had never asked him about it, though, so she couldn’t really say for certain why he’d taken the path of the Healer.

Regardless, he did his job as well, healing both her and Gideon as they took hits from zombies – usually the ranged ones – and abominations.

The big problem was that they lacked firepower. For all her power, Sadie was not an offensive juggernaut. She was a defender with utility, not an offensive fighter. Dat’s abilities more closely resembled those of an Explorer than a Ranger by this point, and Gideon lacked attack power as well. Zhang Yue didn’t count at all, as he possessed a class that was virtually useless in a fight. So, with Lin Tao dead, their only option was a strategy of endurance.

Slow but steady. And safe.

To that end, Sadie leveraged her abilities to the task at hand, cutting through another abomination – this time, she hacked its legs off, then destroyed its head when it fell – before turning her attention to the zombies. Dat steadily peppered the ranged undead with crossbow bolts, killing one with each shot. However, there were hundreds of the things – maybe thousands – and thinning the horde would take quite a lot of time.

In a spare moment, Sadie glanced back at Elijah, only to see something unexpected. It actually took her a moment to recognize him, though in retrospect, it shouldn’t have. The bipedal, salamander-esque creature bouncing around was clearly not native to the area. When she did realize that it was him, she had to question just what he was doing. Sadie knew that all of Elijah’s forms had distinct purposes, but for the life of her, she couldn’t understand what good such a small and seemingly harmless creature could do.

Still, she couldn’t deny that she was impressed with the form’s speed. Tentacles came from every direction, but Elijah moved like he had eyes in the back of his head, avoiding them entirely.

Hundreds of them attacked him, but all they found was air.

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Sadie could only spare a glance to ensure that Elijah was handling things appropriately, so once she was certain that he’d be okay – at least for now – she turned her attention back to her own fight. It was just in time to react to an abomination charging in her direction. It bowled through the other zombies, hitting her with unchecked momentum.

But she didn’t move, courtesy of Anchor of Faith:

It was a simple ability, but it had proven an invaluable part of her toolkit. As far as she could tell, when Anchor of Faith was active, it didn’t matter how hard something hit her. She would remain rooted to the ground before any amount of force – at least for a while. The ability wasn’t limitless. Each time she was hit, it sapped some of its energy, and eventually, it would break. However, for at least one hit, it would work, even if the blow exceeded the maximum energy the ability could absorb.

Bulwark of the Faithful shattered under the impact, increasing her physical attributes so much that when her sword flashed out, it cut through the abomination with a single blow. Just as the creature fell apart, something hit Sadie from behind.

Anchor of Faith was still in effect, so she didn’t fly forward. However, the ability did shatter under the impact. What’s more, she felt intense heat wash over her, singing her hair and blistering any exposed skin. More troublingly, the others didn’t have her Constitution or Anchor of Faith, so they were thrown into Blessed Bulwark with enough force to break bones.

Only Dat seemed to weather the blow, flipping mid-air, hitting the shield with his feet, then spring backward. Nico, Zhang Yue, and Gideon were not skilled enough to repeat that feat, and all three were either knocked unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. Thankfully, Nico maintained his awareness and immediately started healing – and for once, he didn’t hold back.

He didn’t have Ron’s levels, but in sheer output, he could outpace the other Healer. Only for a short burst, though. Ron’s class, from what Sadie understood, was built around efficiency, while Nico’s was best for massive bursts of healing that could turn the tide of any battle.

And that wasn’t even considering his Miracle.

Whatever the case, Nico showed his worth, getting everyone back on their feet and recovered in the space of a couple of seconds. By that point, Sadie had gotten a chance to take stock of the situation.

The heat and force had funneled through the gap, burning through a few zombies and knocking the rest back. That gave her an extra couple of seconds to look at the source of the fiery explosion. And what she saw was absolutely astounding.

The undead squid-monster was charred beyond all recognition. Many of the smaller tentacles were simply gone, and the bulk of the undead creature’s body had been turned to ash. The damage didn’t end there, either. An entire side of the ferry had been turned to molten slag, the sand had been glassed, and the rocks were just gone. Even the water boiled.

And in the center of all that devastation was Elijah in his upright salamander form, unhurt and unfazed by it all. When he looked back, Sadie couldn’t ignore the flickering flames dancing across his skin or the tiny columns of smoke drifting up from the corners of his mouth.

“Monster!” shouted Gideon. When Sadie jerked her head around to the pompous man, she saw that his eyes had widened.

Suddenly, Elijah was beside her – still in his salamander form. He croaked, “Not a monster. Still just a man.”

With that, he let himself return to his human form. Gideon’s eyes widened even further, and he scrambled back against Sadie’s Blessed Bulwark.

Sadie almost rolled her eyes. By that point, she was used to Elijah’s power. Sure, the fire was new, but she’d seen enough from him that she wouldn’t be surprised by anything he did. So, she turned her attention back to the small gap and said, “Good. You took care of that problem. Do you mind helping with the rest of these?”

“Suppose that’s not too much to ask,” he answered with a slight smile. Pointedly, Gideon still hadn’t moved. He seemed to have been frozen by the shock of what Elijah had done. His expression was that of a man who’d suddenly come to understand the weight of true power.

And it terrified him.

The same could be said of Zhang Yue, who had yet to move and looked as if he was beginning to question the life decisions that had led to his inclusion in such company. But at least Nico didn’t seem fazed.

Dat, predictably, just grinned, saying, “So cool.”

The brief respite afforded by the backlash of Elijah’s skill soon came to an end, and together, they plugged the gap and began the arduous process of slaughtering the undead. Elijah remained in his human form, but even in the month or so since she’d last seen him, his technique had improved. Not a lot, but he was markedly more skilled. What’s more, he’d clearly gotten a new ability, which caused a huge sunflower to grow in their midst. From that sunflower came an ongoing barrier that helped to mitigate the damage of weak attacks.

Gradually, and with everyone’s help, they whittled the horde down until only a couple of abominations remained. Elijah shouted, “Make sure everyone gets a hit in. We don’t want anyone left out of the experience.”

The group advanced, surrounding the monsters and killing them off. Zhang Yue and Dat used their ranged attacks, while Elijah, Gideon, and Sadie fought in melee range. Nico, of course, healed.

The party wasn’t nearly as well-tuned as the one back in the Trial of Primacy. Sadie missed Kurik’s bombs – as well as his surly personality – and though she’d never admit it, she preferred Ron’s approach to healing over her brother’s. The new group was powerful enough in its own right, though, and they were more than capable of meeting the challenges presented to them.

Soon enough, the horde had been slaughtered. Thankfully, the island was small, and the population of undead was finite. The same couldn’t be said for Hong Kong, where a single battle would inevitably attract millions of zombies. Some had come from the Primal Realm, but most were the city’s – and its surrounding area’s – residents.

For the longest time, she and the others from Heaven’s Bastion had tried to simply eradicate the threat, killing tens of thousands of zombies. Yet, after more than a year of using that strategy, they’d barely made a dent.

No – they needed to get to the source. The Primal Realm was the origin of all of Hong Kong’s problems.

But to deal with it, they needed to do what they’d come to the island to do – get the Blessing of Water so that they could enter the Primal Realm and defeat its challenges.

“Where are you going?” Nico asked, bringing Sadie out of her thoughts. She looked up to see that Elijah had already started walking back the way they’d come.

“Checking on Ke Ming,” Elijah said.

“I won’t waste my healing on that trash.”

“Never asked you to,” Elijah responded. His frustrations were obvious, though. He hadn’t lived through what everyone else had. Necromancers weren’t responsible for quite as many deaths as the wild undead, but they routinely clashed with the people from Heaven’s Bastion. Whole parties of gatherers had been slaughtered, and recently, they’d resorted to using the Branch Teleportation Network to launch raids. They were the enemy.

To Elijah, they were just people, though. Sadie wanted to feel the same way, but she’d lost too many of her people to see things through that lens.

Ke Ming might be one of the good ones, but Sadie had been burned too many times to give him the chance to prove it. She wouldn’t kill him outright – especially since he’d rendered a service – but she had a hard time even considering helping him.

Still, she chose to follow Elijah’s example and took a deep breath before joining him on the way back to the ferry.

Gideon said something, and Nico just stared at her incredulously. Dat had already disappeared, presumably to scout, but she knew that he would agree with her choice.

When they reached the ferry, they found that it was even more damaged than Sadie’s first glance suggested. An entire side of the ship had been destroyed, and the charred bodies of its zombie rowers hadn’t moved. They were obviously dead, though.

“Ke Ming?!” shouted Elijah, cupping his hands around his mouth. “You still kicking, bud?”

“I live,” said the ferryman, peeking over the edge of the boat and looking down on them.

“Do you need me to help you with the boat? It looks a little damaged.”

“I can repair it well enough to get back to the dock,” the man answered. “I am more concerned about the loss of rowers, but it is not the first time I’ve lost a few good men. I’ll be fine. The ship will be repaired in a day. Perhaps two.”

Sadie wanted to groan. As much as she disliked the creatures the ferryman had referred to as “good men”, she couldn’t deny the usefulness of the service provided. Without Ke Ming, they never would have made it through the harbor. The squid wasn’t the only monster that called it home, after all.

Still, Elijah was mollified by the ferryman’s insistence that he could repair the ship – probably through some class ability – so he nodded and turned to Sadie. “So, you ready to go find the Tin Hau Temple and get the Blessing of Water?”

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