Chapter 11: Chapter 10

It was breakfast the next day. The previous night Helena had managed to stealth past the guards at the gate using a crowd of drunken revellers as a distraction, and then back into her bedroom at the inn. When she had taken a look into the barroom at that late hour there were still a few guildsmen awake, but only barely, plainly worse the wear from drinking.

Helena sat down at a table in front of Kellin.

"What does it mean when someone is marked?"

"Good morning to you Helena. I am doing well. Thank you for asking."

"Apologies Kellin, that was rude of me. I'm distracted. I woke up today with a mind full of questions."

"It is of no matter," he said with a wave of his clawed hand. "I remember such times, when my mind was afire with the flames of curiosity and it burned away all other concerns. I must say you ask the most interesting questions. Why do you ask about marks?"

Helena had prepared an answer already, a half-truth that should hopefully be believable. "Kiara and I saw an argument while we were out shopping yesterday. It was very loud and heated. Something about how nightclans worshipped the night and they should be marked by the day. It made no sense to me at the time and it stuck in my head."

"Ahh. I understand your confusion. How much have you learnt about the Gods?"

Helena shook her head. "Nothing."

"I guess I should have expected that," Kellin said with a slight shake of his head.

"The eight Gods created eXalta and gave it life. They seeded the world with magic and blessed us with the System and the Interface to help us survive and to grow. The six Gods of the six races - Pyros, Aqueela, Tellus, Caelum, Lectus and Nimum - are often referred to as the Quest Givers. They encourage us to improve, to level, by showing us a path and rewarding us for our efforts. However amongst the Six there is friction for without competition there can be no progress. Lectus and Nimum for example are opposed in ideology which often leads to them creating quests that are at odds. This in some cases can lead to conflict, battles, even war.

"Now to answer your question, to be marked by a God is to be recognised as either a scion or a pariah. If Lectus marked a follower of Nimum as pariah then devout worshippers of Lectus might be able to sense the mark and shun them, or worse. Some would see it as their god wishing that person to die, such followers would feel bound by their faith to make that happen. From what you describe someone wanted a god to mark those in a nightclan so they could be found and arrested. A ridiculous notion."

"Why ridiculous?"

"The Six do not mark people for such trivial reasons. It is seen as the greatest of blessings or the most terrible of curses, one reserved for individuals who are the most holy or the most heinous. And then there is the fact the Watchers never mark anyone. They always remain uninvolved."

"The Watchers?"

"The final two gods: Day and Night, Sola and Luna, the Sun and the Moon; they see all things. Unlike the other Gods they do not guide us. The Watchers only observe and do not directly interfere. They exist to ensure the world and the heavens remain in harmony and balance. Light and dark, order and chaos, good and evil, the eternal adversaries."

That can't be good. Having Gods like them mentioned on her mark seemed very inauspicious. Not wanting to reveal anything about the mark to Kellin, Helena approached her next question carefully.

"What are Tiers?"

"The tier of a skill or item is an indicator of rarity and that generally correlates to its strength and benefits. That is not to say low tier always means weak or useless. Have you obtained the skill [Identify] yet?"

Helena nodded, she saw no reason to hide that fact.

"Good. It and a skill like [Analyse] are Common Tier because near-on every person in the realm has them. At low level it is short range and the information it provides is limited. However with good [Perception] and at higher levels of [Identify] it becomes far more useful and can work at further distances. A [Ranger] such as Eruwen and myself are very focused on [Identify] and it is one of the most powerful abilities in our skillset."

Helena nodded in understanding and indicated she wished for Kellin to continue. The green scaled adventurer was more than happy to carry on explaining to such an eager student.

"The known tiers are Common, Uncommon, Scarce, Rare, Very Rare, and Epic."

"Known?" a curious Helena asked.

"Our ancient histories mention higher tiers and mistwalkers are adamant they exist though they can provide no proof."

"And the other tiers are?"

"The stories speak of Legendary, Mythic, World and lastly Unique."

There we go, that's what I'm after.

"Unique?"

"That is described as being a special tier, different, unique, as it does not directly correspond to the power of a spell or an item's boons. It is said to denote an item or spell so singular it cannot be reproduced. The Da'Mon Sword, the lost crown of the last Emperor, the gate keys to the other realms, other myths and fables."

New information entered Helena's mind and she could not help but react. "Oh."

Congratulations, your Lore has improved: 5 -> 7

Congratulations, knowledge had been revealed:

[Mark of the Sun and the Moon]

Tier: Unique

Duration: Permanent

Effect: You are unlike all others - the Watchers are watching you. Those devoted to Day or Night are aware you have been touched by their God's greatest foe. Other details remain unknown.

A sense of foreboding filled Helena. Shit. That really can't be a good thing.

---

The room soon filled with those partaking of their breakfast, definite signs of hangovers in abundance. Tamhas stood and announced to the guild they would be leaving the next morning on their escort quest so it was everyone's last day in Nodel so make sure to be packed and ready to depart first thing.

Madam Jillian and Kiara were busy making the final preparations for the journey, Eurwen and Kellin had left the inn with Tamhas, so Helena found she had nothing to do and no one to talk to. Her day was empty and she had no idea how to fill it. The only thing she could think to do was go over all the loot from yesterday, some of it could be useful, but that wouldn't take her very long. May as well get it over with and pack the small amount of things I have. 

Once she was back upstairs she lay out everything she wasn't currently wearing upon her bed. Apart from two extra shirts given to her by Madam Jillian, and the outfit Kiara had liked, there was Madam Danielle's outfit including the mask and ankle boots, the rings and ruby pendant from the [Pyromancer], the necklace Aethelius had given her, two small piles of her phlacta powder filled spheres, and an assortment of coins - the biggest denomination being three gold coins.

She would have to be careful with those glass spheres, they were fragile and she'd been nervous all last night about accidentally breaking them. They would have to be packed extra carefully. Helena also wanted to make more of them, they had been very effective, but she would need more supplies for that.

Time to start identifying everything. She began with her colour shifting platinum silk dress.

[Dress]

That was what Helena was expecting, but from the reactions of others last night, they saw something obviously magical and expected it to be tiered. It had certainly worked in her favour, and was something to remember. Next she picked up a plain ring set with a small red gem.

[Gold Ring] [Tier: Rare]

So this ring was tiered but it didn't tell her much else. There must be a way to get more information. What was that skill Kellin had mentioned? [Analyse]?

Congratulations, you have gained the [Common Tier] skill [Analyse].

Analyse - Access the description of any tiered entity. Physical contact required. Details may be limited based upon various factors. Gaining levels in [Analyse] will provide greater functionality and information.

[Ring of Flame] [Tier: Rare]

Increase all [Fire] elemental damage inflicted by 20%.

That was useless to her but to confirm a theory she placed it on a finger. Like her dress the magic ring resized itself to fit. Theory confirmed, she took it off again. Most of the other rings were untiered, though they were jewel encrusted, which likely meant they had been kept for their intrinsic value. The exception were two engraved silver rings that Helena could see as being very useful.

[Lesser Ring of Protection: Projectile] [Tier: Scarce] [Charges: 2/3]

Shield the wearer from a single projectile attack of equal or lower tier. Limited protection from higher tiers. This includes: arrows, bolts, and throwing weapons. Consumes one charge per use. Recovery rate: one charge per day.

[Lesser Ring of Protection: Elemental] [Tier: Scarce] [Charges: 2/3]

Shield the wearer from a single elemental attack of equal or lower tier. Limited protection from higher tiers. Consumes one charge per use. Recovery rate: one charge every two days.

However it was the pendant that must have been the [Pyromancer]'s prize possession.

[Pyros' Bane: Pendant of Greater Resistance] [Tier: Very Rare]

Reduce all [Fire] elemental damage received by 90%. The wearer is immune to the status effect [Burning]. Note: benefits also apply to any currently equipped gear or clothing.

Helena wished she'd had that when first waking without her memories in the crater. She wanted to wear the pendant and the two protection rings immediately but had no idea how she was going to explain them to the Griffins. So for now they were going in the loot I'm keeping pile. The other rings she could look to sell at some later time.

That left the Raven Chief's necklace. It really was a beautiful thing. An incredibly fine lace net that would hang over her throat, the metal was an unusual dark purple covered by a faint rainbow sheen, like a layer of iridescent oil. 

[Ascelina's Booty : Greater Depository Lattice] [Tier: Rare] [Lifebound: unset]

A necklace originally received by Ascelina Na'Kear in 587 B.F. for her completion of the Divine Quest [Lost Wrecks of the Pirates of Ryl]. This necklace is a lifebound dimensional storage and its contents may only be accessed by its current owner. Additional information restricted.

This item is currently unbound due to the death of the previous holder. Do you wish to lifebind to this item and take ownership? [Yes / No]

Helena could take an educated guess what lifebound meant and that Aethelius would not have given it to her if it wasn't safe. Also it was loot, of course she wanted to own it.

"I select yes."

[Ascelina's Booty] is now bound to your anima. The following information is revealed:

For Ascelina's heroism and superlative execution completing her quest, Aqueela, Goddess of Secrets, has blessed this item.

This item has a hidden tier. In actuality this item is [Epic] tier and its true nature reflects this.

This item has greatly increased storage capacity when compared to similar items.

This item has the [Legendary] perk: spatial access - radius 2 meters.

This item has the [Epic] perk: invisible adornments.

This item has the [Epic] perk: extra slots. [Active: 0/8]

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This item has the [Epic] perk: currency storage.

Due to the special properties of the uridium metal used in its creation this item is immune to all damage of an equal or lower tier.

If Aethelius had known about this would he still have given her the necklace? Oh well, too late now. It was lifebound. He'd have to kill her for it. She wasn't sure what some of that description meant, so still holding the necklace in her hand she cautiously asked, "[Perks]?"

Spatial Access:

Unlike most dimension storage entities that require physical contact with an item or surface to store, or retrieve respectively; this perk allows access at a distance, and full spatial control on retrieval, within the specified range.

Invisible Adornments:

Sometimes you do not want to flaunt your precious booty. All worn jewellery can be made invisible on a per item basis.

Extra Slots:

For when one necklace is not enough. Bypass the usual restrictions on gear and item slots, and allow more active items. Only items of a lower tier can be placed into one of the extra dimensional slots, and will still count towards used storage capacity.

Currency Storage:

Without this perk Tellus has dictated a dimensional storage cannot be used as a treasury. All coins are automatically sorted by denomination and placed into separate, dedicated storage slots.

Remote looting sounded fantastic to Helena. If she understood the part about retrieval correctly that could be even better. The next perk meant she could make the pendant and the rings invisible, which would solve her previous concern, but these slots seemed to be implying she didn't have to wear them at all and she'd still get their magical protection. She wasn't entirely sure what a slot was but she had the rest of the day to experiment.

First things first, she placed the storage necklace around her neck and closed the clasp with an audible click. It barely had to readjust itself in size to fit around her slim neck. Next she thought about the item becoming invisible and it instantly vanished from her sight. She could still feel it there around her throat and with the touch of her hand. Success. Now to see how magical storage worked.

The System seemed to understand whatever she was thinking and her intentions, so when she looked at one of the mundane rings on the bed and thought loot, it disappeared and Helena felt the sensation of it entering her necklace. To confirm it had worked she thought show storage and the Interface brought up a floating transparent window in front of her. Her heart skipped a beat at what she saw. The window contents scrolled, and scrolled, and scrolled some more.

Will a day be enough?

Oh my Gods! If I tell Aethelius about this he's definitely going to kill me.

The Clan Chief of the Ravens had not used the uridium necklace to store a few personal items. Apparently it had the capacity to securely store every item, coin, and piece of gear The Ravens had ever come into possession of.

Loot!!

---

Helena yawned. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night after she'd stayed away until the early hours going through everything in the storage necklace. She was now confident she understood exactly how it worked, what spatial access could do, and what slots were. She brushed her hand over the invisible item sitting around her neck. One of the highest tiered items she had found in the storage. Helena could easily imagine why the head of a nightclan might need it.

[Nimum's Superb Choker of Purging] [Tier: Epic]

Immunity to all toxins, poisons, and venoms of equal or lower tier. Limited protection from higher tiers.

Helena found that she could wear Ascelina's necklace and the choker at the same time. But when she had tried to wear the necklace and a pendant, she had received a notification that only the first would remain active. These slot restrictions meant she could only wear eight rings, one on each finger. However mundane, untiered items did not contribute to the limit. It didn't make a lot of sense to Helena, she could physically put on more than one ring per finger, but then she pictured someone barely able to walk as they were weighed down by hundreds of pieces of jewellery, each of which with active magic. She could then see why the System did not allow that. Even then Helena felt it was still a rather arbitrary restriction.

So after some trial and error she had found a combination of body and active storage slots which gave her what she felt was the best mixture of protection and useful benefits. As long as she remembered what was in her storage and pictured it in her mind she could also change items with a moment's thought, her spatial access meant she could even swap those she was wearing instantly. She absent-mindedly stroked [Ascelina's Booty]. Such a great piece of loot.

Helena was wearing her usual combination of the supple, black leather pants and a bright white shirt. Madam Jillian had also provided her with a rust coloured pleated jacket. Her knives were holstered at her waist, and the other few pieces of clothing the Griffins had given her packed into a small satchel slung over her shoulder. She was to all appearances carrying everything she owned. The rest of her loot was either invisible or in her dimensional storage.

Downstairs was organised bedlam as every member of the guild in their full combat gear was crammed into the barroom for breakfast, their backpacks strewn across the floor and tables. Helena took a free seat on Eruwen's table and when the [Ranger] saw her she said, "You look tired. Couldn't sleep? That excited to be leaving?"

"Err, yeah. That's right. I'm finally going to see what the rest of the world looks like."

"Now that's a sentiment I can agree with. Stay close to the caravan though, it can be dangerous out there. The Griffins will keep you and everyone else safe."

"I should hope so."

Helena finished her large bowl of porridge and fruit jam, and a few minutes later Tamhas ordered everyone outside. There she found Madam Jillian and Kiara standing beside a small cart with their supplies hitched to a single horse with a glossy chestnut coat of hair. She put her small satchel in the cart and walked alongside the two women as The Golden Griffins made their way along the streets. They passed the giant, open gates and through the wall, and then through the lower class residential suburbs she had been in two nights previous. It looked a lot different in daylight as people went about their everyday lives.

They stopped for a while in a large square to wait for the other guilds and adventurers that would be joining them on the journey. There was a curious looking building at its heart. A circular, ancient temple made of grey stone blocks with threads of bright blue running through them. Thick columns of the same material were interspersed around its circumference, and more blocks laid on top. The strangest part though was the fact inside the open structure it was filled with a dense, swirling mist that seemed to be trapped inside the building.

"What's that place?" she asked Kiara.

"A Sanctuary. Come, let me show you."

Helena walked with the young teenager up the shallow steps that led to the temple, then Kiara told her to stop just before they both walked into the mist.

"Try to push your hand inside," Kiara instructed her.

"Is it safe?"

"Completely. But it's so peculiar the first time you try."

Helena did as asked and extended her hand only to meet resistance. At first it felt like really thick treacle but quickly became as tough as glass, and no matter how much force she used she could not move her hand any further. It was an invisible barrier as hard as stone.

"That feels so strange."

Kiara and her ponytail bobbed in agreement.

A few steps over, a man around her age walked up the steps and vanished from sight into the mists, as if the barrier did not exist.

"What?" she asked, startled.

"A mistwalker," Kiara answered, visibly amused by Helena's reaction. "Only they can enter a Sanctuary. To safely rest from harm, or to instantly travel to one they have visited before."

"That seems unfair to the rest of us."

"For every gift the Gods have given them, they also have weaknesses we do not."

"I will have to ask Kellin about them at some point. Are you excited to be going home?"

"Yes, definitely. I was always so excited to come to Nodel but this time, I'm not sure if we will be coming back. When we reach Feymarr you can meet my family and I'll show you all the best shops and places to see. It will be so much fun."

Helena laughed kindly, "I'm sure it will."

Soon after the number of adventurers in the square had doubled, the forty or so Griffins and a similar number split between two other guilds and what they called independents. Tamhas, the agreed upon leader of the escort, quickly had them all group up and on the move again.

There didn't seem to be a hard edge to the city outskirts, the houses and other buildings merely started to become more spaced out and infrequent, until Helena eventually found herself on a wide, hard packed dirt road surrounded by open countryside, a dense forest on her right-hand side. Waiting for them was a line of approximately fifty caravans and a similar number of horse-drawn carts, and to the side two richly decorated carriages. A handful of guards in dark green uniforms, with fine swords strapped to their belts, stood by those. Tamhas and two others broke off to talk to a group of people waiting for them for some last minute discussions. After that it didn't take long for the civilians to take their seats while the guildsmen formed two lines on either side. Then the convoy set out. 

The pace was unhurried and relaxed though the Griffins were the most serious she had ever seen them as they kept their eyes on the surroundings and the horizon. Helena looked back at the great city of Nodel as it lay there cusped within its mountain range with a sense of relief. The Ravens were gone, and if anyone was still hunting her they would have a much harder time finding Helena now. Hopefully things would calm down and her life would no longer be so dangerously hectic and consist of constant threat. At last she could relax.

***

You are under the status effect: [Stasis]

Duration: Variable

Effects: You are completely immune, even to time itself. 

Time stopped. Somewhere between eternity and the infinitesimal, it began to tick again.

"— do it!"

They stumbled into silence and utter darkness, and collided with a hard, vertical surface with a pained grunt. They blinked but the blackness was all consuming.

[Illuminate]

The light emanating from their body revealed they were trapped, surrounded on all sides by dirt and rubble. They stood within a small pocket of air, unable to outstretch their arms fully, completely engulfed by solid earth. It didn't leave them with many options before it soon turned into their grave.

Thinking fast they pulled out two black, studded leather gloves with silver stitching from their storage ring and fit them over their hands. Flexing their fingers until the gloves were snugly in place, they made two fists. Taking a series of quick breaths and then a final deep gasp of air which they held, they then punched the wall hard, the concussive magic in the gloves helping to cause an explosion of dirt. Squinting to protect their eyes they punched again, and again, angling upward as they attempted to dig themselves an escape using only brute force.

Too quickly they began to feel dizzy and weak. They kept their now numb arms moving even as the air felt like molten lava in their lungs. They needed to breathe to live, if they did it would be the last breath they would ever take as they inhaled nothing but lungfuls of dirt. They punched and saw sunlight, blessed sunlight. They kept punching, even faster than before, until the hole was large enough to push their way through. Taking a breath of wonderfully sweet fresh air they tripped and found themselves rolling down the side of a huge crater.

They hit the bottom with a dull thud but otherwise made no other noise. With frustration they stood and dusted themselves off. With determination they climbed back up the slope and looked around upon the utter devastation. They expected it but it was still impossible to comprehend. The majestic, towering capital of Nodel was just ... gone. The loss was unimaginable, unthinkable. What made it worse was the bitter knowledge they had caused this. They were the one to blame. But another deserved to die for it.

Looking to the heavens they swore an oath in front of the Gods of eXalta.

"I swear to the Givers and the Watchers. No matter where you hide I will find you. Your punishment will be spoken of in hushed whispers for millennia. You will wish for death, a release I will never grant. Run as far as you want, it will not matter. When you look over your shoulder you will see me there, getting ever closer. I'm coming for you, you traitorous bitch."

Divine Quest Received: [Pursuit of the Last Princess]

~~~

One of his junior assistants rushed into the meeting room and interrupted Matthew during another team's presentation that he was in the middle of watching. The assistant thrust a portable screen towards him with something approaching panic. "Sir, the update to the rankings just happened and I think there is something urgent you should see."

"What could be so important about that?" Matthew took the screen with irritation at being disturbed and glanced at the tablet. His assistant had arranged the display so the Top 100 Players and the All Time Top 100 tabs were clearly visible, each on separate halves of the screen. The lists were simple to understand. A pastel green box containing a player's current character and their status, and on the relevant icon - sapient kills. On the tab that included the historic data from the all time list, those character's now dead were highlighted in a pale red. No one knew the criteria the AIs used to create the rankings as there was no such parameter as 'game score' anywhere on a player's status. Observation had shown that it wasn't purely based upon a player's level either. While level, gear, skills and feats mattered, as far as the experts could tell, it also included more intangible concepts such as fame and influence on the world.

Looking at the tablet screen Matthew could see the same unheard of player now topped both lists, if that wasn't unusual enough their player status was mostly blank, along with the fact their details were highlighted in neither green nor red, but instead sat upon a background of bright metallic gold.

(Rank 1) [Name: Anomic] [Race: unknown] [Grade: unknown] [Level: unknown] [Kills: 3,158,780]

Matthew leapt up from his chair and exclaimed to the startled room, "Who the fuck is Anomic?!"

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