[Beastborne: Tower of Blight] Chapter 28

“Finally,” Hal muttered to himself.

Robas, one of the Ebon Star tribesmen, looked up curiously.

Hal grinned wearily at him. “Just finished a Perk tree for my Sword Skill.”

The man nodded sagely. “Feels good to have something completed, does it not?”

“Yeah. And I haven’t even seen the Advancement yet.”

Hal then began to wonder what would be next. Would Sword Skill manifest a Perk tree even better than Cruel Blade? Despite how much effort it took, he couldn’t help but be immensely curious, and a little bit excited, too.

Despite the dire threat the Tower of Blight presented to his home and friends, he was able to face its challenges head on with the support of his allies. And he was able to grow by leaps and bounds thanks to those challenges.

Hal wasn’t the only one. Every person that fought through the Tower grew stronger too. It hadn’t escaped his notice that even the relatively weak Snowley had jumped up several Levels.

Robas’ attention perked up considerably more. “An Advancement, you say? Interesting!”

“I’ve already had one for Leadership,” Hal confided. He looked around at the others, who were now watching him intently, including Val and Giel.

Considering Leadership had offered Founder, Tyrant, and similar selections, he was curious as to what sort of Advancements Sword Skill would offer.

It already seemed rather specific, so he found himself wondering what else it could develop into.

Maybe something to do with my style of swords, Hal thought. Or perhaps something that would blend my sword and magic together?

“An Advancement is a precious thing,” Robas told him. “Getting to Level 50 in any skill is an arduous process. Given that you are a Leader of a tribe yourself, it makes sense you would have such Leadership, but your swordsmanship… it is unconventional. I did not think you would be so close to Level 50.”

“He’s just full of surprises,” Val said with a wry smirk. “Beastbornes excel at the unconventional, didn’t you know?”

Robas shrugged his heavy shoulders under layers of leather armor that Hal had once helped create for him. Robas was a skilled crafter in his own right and had continued to supply Hal with materials that he simply could not create himself.

Now, with essence motes, he could probably do the same thing as Robas, but why bother when he had a ready supply?

Combining materials from multiple disciplines felt better than making everything himself. It covered more defenses, and though Hal could probably make something akin to leather far easier than ever before, why should he when there was somebody who made good leather products himself?

Val’s reminder that a Beastborne was not meant to be alone–at least, not alone and survive–was a salient one.

It did seem a little contradictory, Hal admitted. From what Val told him about the Kinslayers, there were often times when a Beastborne went off on their own.

Simply dropped into the enemy territory like a bomb. Sometimes they survived, sometimes they did not, but the devastation was always spectacular.

Hal guessed that wasn’t the best way to make sure you could see another day, which fed directly into what she had been telling him prior to that about Beastbornes needing support.

Not because they were weak, but because they tended to go out of control and needed somebody to bring them back before they went too far.

Hal felt like he had tap-danced across that line a little too much in his life. He once had glowing blue eyes as a testament to that.

Now, the corruption seemed easier to keep at bay. He could meter his spellcasting–especially with his spellcasting focus amplifying his spells to an ungodly degree–so that he never felt the caustic sting of corruption for long.

And yet, a small part of himself missed it.

He missed walking that razor’s edge between life and death, sanity and madness. It made him feel more alive than he ever had since, and though fighting with a clear head was simply better, he sometimes found himself longing for the haze of battle that used to descend upon him.

It wasn’t a good thing, but he had felt a sense of pride at taming his Strain Affliction Levels. Using something so dark and terrible for the good of all, had felt… somehow heroic.

In a twisted way, Hal felt like he was doing something nobody else could do, and that made him feel special.

Yeah, he thought to himself, a guy who grabs hold of a live wire and lives is special too. Stupid, but special.

He supposed Val’s knowledge and traditions pertaining to Beastbornes were ultimately tainted and twisted by Rinbast’s machinations. As far as Hal understood, the tyrant treated them terribly. Little more than slaves.

A fate Hal could very well have endured if not for his friends. And so, it was because of them that Hal could be different. It sounded sappy, but it was the truth.

He might have died on some bloody battlefield a continent over, hardly even knowing his own name, if not for Elora, Ashera, and even Noth.

He wished there was a history to his fabled Class that extended beyond Rinbast. The Shard considered it to be a fabled variant. While that might only mean that the Class was far less common to acquire and generally ranked as more powerful, Hal felt there should be some myth surrounding it.

One that wasn’t just about slavery and oppression. Something the Kindred of Dream once said during his brief interaction with the godly creature suggested to Hal that perhaps Beastbornes were not native to Aldim.

Following that line of logic, it seemed possible to Hal that in some faraway land, there were people who practiced the art of beast magic. Maybe that was why people on Aldim knew so little about them.

Though, perhaps they were all dead in that faraway land due to their own destructive magic, just like the Balesian Mages.

Still, that must mean some kind of history was left behind, Hal thought. Even through destruction, there are remnants.

“What did you get?” Val asked, brown eyes twinkling with curiosity. Her question brought Hal back to the present.

“I haven’t looked yet,” Hal admitted.

The stunned looks on his companions’ faces told him he should probably stop stalling and get on with it.

Sword Advancements

[Master at Arms]

Extending your expertise beyond swords to all bladed weapons, your Sword Skill will transform into Master at Arms and account for the use of any bladed weaponry. Through your use of swords and improvised weapons, you have shown a skill and willingness to go above and beyond standard swordsmanship. Creating the unique weapons you have suggests that you crave more than the mundane. Any additional bladed weaponry skills you possess will be folded into Master at Arms, increasing its Level.

Your Master at Arms Skill will increase at a faster rate if you use a variety of bladed weapons rather than a single type, and your damage dealing capacity will likewise rise with each switched weapon.

Master at Arms Perks

(Walking Armory)

To accommodate your new desire to switch weapons on the fly, you gain the ability to summon marked weapons straight from your inventory with the delay reducing after each weapon swap until it is nearly instantaneous.

(Rivers of Blood)

Your Bleed affliction chance changes to Lacerate, an enhanced version of Bleed that inflicts a wound status and bleeding damage-over-time in one. Your current chance for Bleed affliction success is doubled.

Hal looked over the Master at Arms Advancement a few times. “Wow, that’s way better than my Leadership Advancement… I guess that makes sense though, since this directly influences combat.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Summoning marked weapons would no doubt be useful during the rush of battle. However, that was contingent on Hal owning multiple weapons of comparable item level.

Not an easy feat, even with his Osseochemist Class coming into its own.

He basically only had one weapon at any given time. Generally, whenever he made or found another weapon, its damage was substantially higher than the previous weapon. Sometimes, he even had to use his old weapon in order to create the new one, such as was the case with [Fetter] turning into [Founder’s Folly].

That’s not exactly conducive to being a Walking Armory, Hal thought with a frown.

The Master at Arms Advancement sounded incredibly strong, but the Advancement gave him the impression of a heavy hitting weapons specialist. Someone who focused on wielding a vast variety of weapons to deal the majority of their damage.

Hal’s repertoire was concentrated more on beast magic and swordsmanship, not just melee skills.

As he was thinking through the Advancement, he began to see somewhere else in his mind’s eye. Like a vision, or a waking dream.

A giant club of metal slag crashed into a hulking monstrosity with far too many limbs. Another huge weapon materialized out of a bloody mist in the hands of a tall, coated woman with eldritch limbs writhing out of her back.

The screeching behemoth staggered on its six legs, only for the eldritch fighter’s greatsword to chop into its central body mass. Molten lava splattered out of the craggy weapon, melting the creature’s defenses. The force of the blow slammed the monster into a crumbling stone wall.

With a shark-like grimace and silver fuming eyes, the eldritch fighter raised another weapon over her head. The fighter snapped the octagonal hammer down. Lightning erupted, turning the monstrosity into a pile of ash that scattered to the wind.

Hal rubbed his eyes, the vision disappearing. Yeah, well, not everybody can have quite so many weapons.

He wasn’t sure what he saw. Another Beastborne? He couldn’t deny the hope in his heart.

While he could work on expanding his available weapons, Hal was more inclined to pick another Advancement over Master at Arms. One that preferably directly improved swords or had something to do with beast magic.

Though that seemed like a long shot.

Considering that he acquired his Sword Skill even before becoming a Beastborne, the odds of that didn’t seem likely.

“What’s way better?” Val finally asked, ensnared by curiosity. “You can’t just say that and not explain!”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to do that,” Hal admitted, his mind lingering on that vision. “My first choice is Master at Arms, but there’s more, I think.”

“Master at Arms…” Val said slowly.

Hal did his best to explain everything he had seen in the prompts. He wasn’t sure if Val was jealous or in awe. She kept looking at him strangely.

“Maybe I should pick up a weapon skill,” she said aloud. “I didn’t think there was any use for it, but you’ve clearly shown that there are some edge cases where a weapon might be useful. Though I think I’d prefer something a little more effective than a sword.”

Robas grinned to himself. “A spear is a good weapon. Long reach, can keep an opponent at bay easily and out of range of their much shorter sword while you decide what to do next. With your magic?” He shrugged. “It would be an easy choice.”

“I like to keep my hands free,” Val admitted.

“There are shorter spears,” Robas told her. “Even those designed to throw.” He nodded toward Hal. “I have seen this one imbue his weapons with that monster power. Perhaps you could do the same to a thrown spear, short enough for one-handed use, plus you can throw them at your enemies.”

“Sounds like being an archer with extra steps,” Val muttered, but she didn’t seem to entirely dismiss the idea.

While they continued to talk about possible weapon choices, Hal moved on to the next Advancement.