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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7C036hQ9N
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuXEfa2Qe0
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOc6CLAIlW
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Gi3tUcWg6
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgJLJsHe7V
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡycOiAw4IQT
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsn1Sgl51e
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPYwZ3grWR
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUjdck2aMj
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFW1slYDkg
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDE2NhLWkk5
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."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEO0mHx2rLJ
[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.]77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwdJeJyeFs
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPnccQGsBQ
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqxq5tEwkW
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC50e0NT7um
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQpTDcIVVa
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmHTyaTDFD
Silence.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9Cmg5VGJV
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."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvRl0xKjiq
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PwasnYr4e
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhDYyCubFP
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcu1S3E6ijV
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYjQtrmowa
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4KOuKdYuu
"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?"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUFlGtThat
"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. 77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1vqKAMwN7
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RIswkD8Bx
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeu1DeXLu1N
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctLol8PUGL
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddKuL9XYam
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpVXQ91mk1
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvV4Es2Aiq
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6r6ioPkw1
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0f89iJefEJ
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgC9U4z5hTV
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKFj8sxAjg
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaBsO27AUm
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRDk6aVURx
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqupC0gAwO
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMDDHyLEmp
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8D0dGI7AZM
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4h6R3tJtRQ
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4abLiudO5q
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhokeelu6Wx
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMS8PQNdfBH
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gKZazmpLQ
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."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiT88umHSlY
"Why help us?"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonaQ4e3ke3
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."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaOobnAv1S
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6HqNe5gM5
"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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGI5imcIykF
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zwUNc8ThO
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPgAIrmYpy
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULiAkxr4t0
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIXdiKmwTw
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOc54wKCFg9
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tavdykeDN
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oFKXEyadu
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaC73ujKAoC
然後按「加至主畫面」