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.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojldf7UPEZ
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuClfl0e0I
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2kSazav3d
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnUKYdF7Oo
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.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhA519niVTG
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvJ40b9u4V
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibD8DA12j3
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZ66Nm3IpN
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4ls0qP2EI
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fg6oPu11Z
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1tAR5HKjo
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."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4R0QHDaww
[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.]115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KajBxpDEz
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.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdKWZDtzFV
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCoDqXL6LF
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.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCcmRst3y1
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9BDRWtIkm
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tmvtipk5b
Silence.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrYAdZzR4Wa
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."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOmAF0Tns2
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pZqamPeYg
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHFPK8dQER
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qzNxIepcb
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4htu6wtL4P
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQosmZuUi1e
"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?"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxb1zBjOfZx
"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. 115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMBRYRaBTM
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkPWwGpFOV
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxjPsDipTV
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCqWkDd6YY
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM24lI9EbRX
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ogtiXGCKw
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPqXPopYby
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkJ650f7lX
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gpFVqjYrs
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqvBzPwrVq
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQCcMk9O1A
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFdA3oUlBt
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.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mZiSl8XNN
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYWMlvyf9P
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.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCykdVzH8c
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppSzlF3fW2
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3T3XDlkKP
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3yfCSzFHL
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbLSxNASJL
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaa9QBCDsrw
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrGPWzDLB4
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."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNaVOn0gw5
"Why help us?"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NdLtShknt
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."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8FgUygtbc
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UYJ07oyNl
"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.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKDHSY6a4x
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEkw9cDCQY
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7V3cRCOrl
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9VVV3mYN0
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Pqu6l5bBa
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnL0w2OemW
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkRiUNL0UZ
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSUORbQFyi
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3eX3KN6cu
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