The forest hummed with the brittle stillness of a held breath. Liora walked ahead, her red hair catching shards of sunlight filtering through the canopy. Nadine's dagger glinted as she scanned the shadows, while Ivy clung to Mira's arm, her laughter strained.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhg7I76HkT7
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkl952Oo1A
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsKwyiprnw
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAa0MfK2bmF
Six robed figures emerged, blades drawn. Nadine moved first—employing all of Sister Kat's teachings. She had trained all of us on defence and basic attack, from the memory I recovered. She had a saying that this world was cruel and full of secrets and things above human so we should learn to be able to protect ourselves from some things. Well, Nadine was the quite talented at this as you can notice as she disarmed a soldier with a brutal twist, his wrist snapping like dry kindling. Mira, was sometimes tying with Nadine but also sometimes able to hold her stand down so she was second. She hurled a smoke pellet, its acrid fog masking her sickle's arc as it bit into a second attacker's thigh.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIDTuw3TSG
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXvpfr793m
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxJNxsrKLn
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbg3u31PHS
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6l7eMfPVL
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZCwAs5TBM
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmdUG3KpT3
Kael's strikes were frantic, unpolished. The leader batted his blows aside, grinning. "Is this the Church's great mythic threat? This is so disappointing but it is also quite rewarding. I can't wait fore the promotion I will get when I bring your head back to the church."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zVON5aR9u
[You're drowning in fear, Host] Elia hissed. [Breathe. Adapt. Do not let the fear control you. Control it instead. If you can't it would be the end of us all and all those you hold dear too.]144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGDRjLnrN4
A slash grazed Kael's collarbone. Pain sharpened his focus. Heeding Elia's advice, Kael focused on the battle once more. The Codex flared again, etching cleaner stances into his muscles.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMcHQOEKAb
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBbO1ChZNK
He feinted left, pivoted, and drove the shattered branch into the leader's knee. The man roared. Kael seized his sword, the blade trembling in his grip.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApLmlo2EWk
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREwHdtv9S2
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBX9UjJHecz
Silence.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7wyoEBN53
Ivy lay against the boulder, the arrow still lodged in her shoulder. Mira retched into the dirt, her hands shaking. Nadine knelt beside Ivy, her stoicism cracking. "Stay awake. Look at me."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWHZpFykq5
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHedEkDu13W
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EkRm6NuNW
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJUYdXPWPs
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OPwDkL4pC
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNocarkWJk
"I'm dying right? S-Sister Kat always said I'd die doing something stupid. Well at...cough cough least I didn't die doing something stupid this time, right Nadine?"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWn9sPvYtYE
"Not today, Not ever Ivy. You're not going to die, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you, alright?" Nadine said, binding the wound with torn fabric.
"Yeah, Nad" Ivy said with difficulty. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQR9Sxjr7r
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnRFblCcid
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfMWFJmz0X
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSpuHSqMfL
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRcYKe487A
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOWtxZQt3R
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe22bl26Lme
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRQSrsLHBP
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKSMD8hVuP
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7BxohS83a
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGx6ud65eS
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MzeoC1oZe
Dawn brought sleet, the forest floor a slurry of mud and rotting leaves. Ivy's wound festered, the skin around it blackening like burnt parchment. Mira stumbled under her weight, cursing.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUqa2WqWhp
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkea0GsbTyt
The village emerged from the mist—a clutch of stone cottages hunched around a crooked well. Villagers peered through cracked shutters as they passed. They followed us with their eyes like they were scanning us for danger.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7DHkvPxwZ
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmH30tIHvVy
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJuApVbbfU
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUP1yk1D8oG
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2Iq2xPhUq
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85gRnlnSPC
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIpHnBLFbg
She smiled faintly. " I'm no damsel in need for a knight to save her. The world is a cruel place, Kael. It can shape and destroy you in a heartbeat and whim. I learned it the hard way after the Church killed all I can call family in this world. It etched into me that only those with power or its equivalent or those that have something the world needs is qualified to live in this world."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnj19IeaqcK
"Why help us?"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmK5PNC8VwW
Her eyes met his, holding something that one couldn't quite decipher, well at least not for Kael. She traced his jaw, her touch colder than the snow. "Because you're the first interesting investment I've seen in years. And I'd hate to lose my stake… not yet. So please, don't die too early on me."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7F2rtA82FL
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByHOZbyGJ8
"Was that a confession, or am I taking it wrongly? Probably, I am taking it out of context." Kael said to himself before he stood up and walked into the house also.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhl9wxxGRLX
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTknPPDkntQ
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4WRwKclCJ
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5HCuoUhCX
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1txKOIvRUD
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy51jIMRmy6
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJAPpLhVoc
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0ZOfgV5HE
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xDNvQPud7
然後按「加至主畫面」