Rise of the Devourer

Chapter 26: A Night in the Woods

Noah felt a hand shake him, as his mind slipped away from the dark comfort of sleep. Taking a moment to blink off the drowsiness, Noah looked up and saw Aurelia crouching next to him.

“I’ll need to catch about an hour of sleep. Can you take over the watch?”

Noah nodded, pulling himself up, yawning and stretching out his limbs. “I love feeling refreshed after just a few hours of sleep,” he murmured, looking to the still crackling fire.

“You must have a high Constitution for your level,” Leon said, tossing a piece of wood into the fire. “I mostly see sleep reduction with E rankers or higher.”

“You didn’t sleep?” Noah asked.

“I took a small nap, but I doubt I could’ve slept even if I wanted to,” Leon said.

Noah noticed some tools next to Leon, and scraps of shaven wood.

Leon smiled, and took out the little bear statue to show it off. “This little guy needed some repairs after that battle, so I figured I may as well make use of my time.”

Noah stared at the bear, realising that he could see burn marks and scars from their fight. There was a sizeable chunk missing from its side.

“Can you shrink and grow them at will? It was quite surprising when I saw the giant wooden bear come out of nowhere.”

“Some I can. The special ones. Most others I can’t. Cub was one of the first sculptures I ever made, so he’s more special than most, and I have the most control over him.”

Noah looked at the little bear, at the marks, feeling the gentle movements of Leon’s hands as he worked on fixing the sculpture.

“I know you said they weren’t alive, but… do they feel pain and stuff?”

Leon laughed. “No, they’re sculptures. They can’t feel pain, but… Cub definitely feels alive. Perhaps if I keep growing, maybe I’ll be able to bring them to life better.”

“It sounds like you care about your sculptures a lot,” Noah said.

“I do. It’s why I got me my [Life Sculptor] Path. It’s my greatest desire to create a sculpture so perfect, it can capture the essence of life, and be indistinguishable from the real thing.”

“Do you think you can do it?” Noah asked.

“Probably not. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try,” Leon replied. “And after that encounter… I feel like I have a chance.”

Noah nodded, leaning back. The crackling of the fire let his mind begin to drift, and he reached out to his Astral Script to see if he could finally open it.

To his surprise, the interface popped up with only a dull throb.

Name: Noah Brown

Race: Human (Symbiont)

Rank: F

Paths:

Exsanguinator - level 22

Astralwalker - level 20

Void Hunter - level 20

Attributes:

Power: 72

Agility: 38

Constitution: 49

Mystic: 78

Attribute points: 66

Noah eyes bulged as he looked at his menu. The recent battle had gained him a lot of levels. All of which he’d not gotten any notifications for. Reaching out to his system, he pulled up all relevant notifications.

You’ve survived [Terror – V].

You’ve survived the presence of an Ascendant.

You’ve gained the skill [Terror Resistance]!

[Terror Resistance] has reached level 3!

[Exsanguinator] has reached level 22!

[Astralwalker] has reached level 20!

[Void Hunter] has reached level 20!

[Blink] has reached level 7!

[Obliterate] has reached level 6!

[Blood Drain] has reached level 7!

[Bleed] has reached level 8!

[Void Hunter’s Eyes] has reached level 12!

[Void Hunter’s Eyes (Basic →Intermediate)]!

[Abyssal Symbiote] has reached level 7!

[Soul Resistance] has reached level 9!

There was a lot to go through, and Noah was a bit shocked by just how much had changed from that single encounter. Looking at his new Skill, Noah opened Terror Resistance.

[Terror Resistance (Basic) - level 3]

You have survived the depths of terror and lived to tell the tale. Find yourself resistant to Terror effects.

He was pleased by the new gain. Terror was the worst status effect he’d seen so far, and if the resistance meant he wouldn’t be as helpless against a creature like that again, then he’d love to have it on him.

Going back to his screen, Noah looked at his free stat points. He’d accumulated a lot, so it was about time to invest some of it.

Noah’s reflex was attached to Agility, which was a stat he’d most likely benefit from improving. Mystic was already quite high, and Power translated to more damage by his abilities. Constitution was also an easy one to get done, with his health directly tied into it.

After a few more minutes of thought, Noah distributed his points.

Power increased to 76.

Agility increased to 72.

Constitution increased to 80.

Noah saw his health bar rapidly increase in size as a wave of energy pulsed through him. The feeling was euphoric, and his body twitched from the rapid increase in Attributes.

“Did you… did you strengthen all your Attributes at once?” Leon asked.

Noah found himself struggling to reply, as each muscle in his body tensed.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Leon said with a sigh. “You’re really new to this, aren’t you? Lie down and sleep. You’re going to need rest.”

“I’m… fine,” Noah replied through clenched teeth.

“You’re really not. With how rapidly your aura is expanding, your body must be going into overdrive to keep up with the changes. If you can’t sleep, then Meditate. I’ll keep watch by myself for now.”

Noah didn’t argue with him, closing his eyes as he began to Meditate. Mana flowed into him as his mind sunk within his consciousness. His focus deepened entirely on his breath, and the sensations began to slip away.

Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out.

It was calming, and Noah could feel each breath filling his mana pool and rejuvenating his body until he was filled to the brim with Mana. The capacity had grown, from a shallow puddle to a deep bowl of water that rested within him.

Mana Regen: D1 → D2.

Mana: 100%

Noah opened his eyes, finding himself feeling a lot calmer. He glanced at the skies, realising the suns were starting to rise in the distance.

“Hope you feel better?” Leon asked Noah.

“Yeah,” Noah replied.

“Good. There’s a rule of thumb we teach newly Awakened for strengthening their Attribute. Rank F to E, the recommended amount is no more than twenty-five at a time. Above that it’s fifty, up to Rank C. Rank B can do up to seventy-five. And a hundred at once is what Rank As are recommended,” Leon said, glancing at Noah. “Typically, this is only information nobles and their children learn. Commoners don’t have the resources or the kind of Paths that can survive encounters where they grow this rapidly.”

Noah nodded. “Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.”

Having mostly recovered, he reached out to his system again, and noticed his notification system was still messed up. Noah frowned, focusing on the notifications.

He could feel his concentration pushing against his Astral Script, as he began to move the notifications to a folder. Forming the notification box properly, Noah then began to focus on tagging them.

Levels. Skills. Abilities. Attributes. Sub-Attributes.

Each tag would have a different display priority, and he’d be able to access all of it one at a time, or all at once if he wanted.

A ping chimed in Noah’s ears, alerting him to a notification, and a single red dot on the icon appeared. Noah opened the notification, before seeing the Skill tag highlighted and saw the new Skill up.

[Soul Modification] has reached level 3.

Noah smiled, happy to see his new system was working. Now he wouldn’t be spammed by random increase notifications while in the middle of combat and could check them at his leisure.

There was more to be done, and Noah suspected there could be a lot more tweaks he could make to his Astral Script, but he didn’t want to strain his soul again, and decided to leave this be for now.

Moving through the notification folder, Noah reached Void Hunter’s Eyes, and opened the [Ability] menu.

[Void Hunter’s Eye (Intermediate) - level 12]

You can see clearer than ever, and your eyes can peer through the darkest depths. Become capable of channeling mana into your eyes to look at life-force.

Noah noticed the change regarding the mana channeling. He tried the ability out, feeling Void mana gathering in his eyes. Vibrant flashes of green covered his eyes, his own body being a particularly bright source.

Looking around, Noah found one particular spot blindingly bright, and he had to stop his ability to be able to see clearly. Noah blinked a few times, clearing his vision, before he saw the glow came from the scale Irios was clinging to as he slept next to his mother.

Noah used Identify on the scale.

[???]

The scale of an ancient being.

“How is Irios doing now?” Noah asked, turning to Leon.

“His fever vanished almost entirely. So I’m hopeful,” Leon replied.

“You should keep the scale hidden. It’s… got potent life-force in it,” Noah said.

“I can feel it,” Leon replied. “I plan to make a necklace out of it and let Irios keep the scale. The life-force will be good for him as he’s growing up,” Leon said.

Noah nodded, clutching his own necklace.

“I’m still not sure how Irios wasn’t affected by the Terror effect,” Noah said.

“He’s a child. Unawakened are typically immune from effects like that,” Leon said.

“Huh,” Noah murmured, glancing back at Irios.

The sun’s rays pierced through the forest trees, and Noah noticed Aurelia stir and wake from her sleep. After taking a few moments to settle her wild hair, she turned toward them. “Any problems?”

“None,” Leon replied. “Was a rather peaceful night.”

“Good. The monsters are likely all exhausted by the eclipse, so at least we had that going for us. We should get moving, I want to get to Windrest before sunset.”

Leon nodded, going over to wake his wife and son. Noah took the time to put out the campfire. He watched Aurelia, sitting next to a pool of water as she stared into it.

“Is everything alright?” Noah asked, snapping her out of the daze.

“What? Yes, yeah, everything’s fine,” she replied, wiping at her eyes once.

“Still feeling the aftereffects?” Noah asked in a quieter voice, crouching next to her.

“I’m fine. Just a little unsettled. Back there, in front of that wyrm, I had accepted my death. My purpose, everything I’ve been working toward, I lost it all. Just like that. It’s just… taking some time to move on from that.”

Noah rested a hand on Aurelia’s shoulder. “But we’re alive.”

Aurelia nodded. “We are.”

Noah smiled, patting Aurelia’s shoulder once more as he got up. Leon and Shaya were awake, and so was Irios, who clung to his mother, the wyrm scale tightly grasped in his hand.

Noah looked out into the distance, seeing first dawn light up the sky, as the suns began to peek over the horizon one after the other, and birdsong began to whistle through the brightening sky.

After checking for everything, and gathering up their camp, the party of five made their way through the forest.

It took roughly the entire day to exit the forest before they were forced to make camp as the suns set. After resting through another night, they set out a few hours before the suns rose once again.

In the meantime, Noah had been learning more about the eclipse from Aurelia and Shaya.

“The eclipse happens roughly twice a year. No one is sure why, but that’s how it works. The time of an eclipse can be hard to predict, with some happening as close to each other as a single month,” Shaya said.

“There’s another lunar event called the Bloody Moon. It’s a moon that appears when the Crimson Heart awakens, but that one hasn’t happened since the primordial god went to sleep. The Watcher also has a Night of the Dead, but that happens every few years, and the eclipse itself lasts for an entire day. It’s a big thing, and causes a lot of unrest. The only people who seem to know when these will happen are the Watcher’s cultists and the Crimson Cultists.”

“Wait, so all of these things are influenced by the cults and primordial gods?”

“The cultists don’t cause them, though I’ve heard some large scale rituals can. But they can predict these events. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get that information from a cultist, so there’s no real good way to tell.”

“That’s wild. How many cults are there like that?” Noah asked.

“There’s many sub-branches, but all of them follow one of the three primordial gods. The Incarnation of the Void, the Watcher, or the Crimson Heart. Each of which have the Abyssal Cult, the Lunar Cult, and the Crimson Cult respectively.”

“And the gods are against them?”

“Hellion, the mother goddess of Justice, fights against the Abyss in her eternal war. But all gods are against the cults, yes. Raelinah, the old goddess of War, led her Valkyries against the Crimson Heart a millennia ago, putting it to sleep. Now the god of War, Rutha, has taken over the task. And Septah, the god of Mercy, protects against the Watcher. The other gods don’t have any specific foe, but they all shelter us against the primordial god’s influence,” Shaya said, pulling out a necklace she wore.

“I see,” Noah said. “Do you follow any of them?”

“Hellion is my goddess, but my mother worshiped Septah, and so I’ve grown up with the god of Mercy’s teachings. This pendant was given to me by my mother, and though I do not worship Septah, I have met him once and his words stay close to my heart,” Shaya said.

Noah did a double take. “Wait, hold on, you met the god!” he asked, baffled. “As in… in person?”

Shaya looked at him in confusion. “I did. It was during a festival held in Septah’s name and the god had visited our church for him, which is when I saw him.”

“So the gods… often meet their believers? In person?” Noah asked, struggling to wrap his head around the idea.

“Not often. Maybe with the high ranking clerics. But they do appear in their churches. And sometimes elsewhere too,” Shaya replied.

“Man… our gods were just… distant things. Imagine actually meeting the god you worship,” Noah said, before shaking his head.

“Well, some old deities did that, but they fell out of faith. It’s a bit hard to keep faith in a deity that does not respond,” Aurelia said.

Noah nodded, though his thoughts churned. Of what he’d heard of Hellion, he did not have a good impression of the supposed goddess of Justice, with her ruthless and merciless ways. Given how she’d asked him to sacrifice his life the moment he’d gotten here for her cause also did not fill him with good feelings about the goddess.

Letting his thoughts drift, Noah watched the sunrise light up the grasslands, as the City of Windrest became visible. Tall walls and a landscape filled with windmills greeted Noah. There was a constant wind circling the city, and the architecture reflected it.

The buildings were tall deeper in the city, peeking above the walls as the central and higher layers of Windrest rose up above the landscape. Many bridges connected the tall buildings, and Noah spotted more than a couple people jumping off from the top with wing-like gliders attached to their arms, allowing them to fly around.

“What’re those things? That they’re using to fly?” Noah asked, pointing at the group of people jumping off the walls of the city.

“Ah, those are feather-gliders. They have wind mana stones embedded in them, and let you para glide for a long distance,” Aurelia replied.

“Windrest is famous for those, but you see them in other places as well. They’re not good outside of very specific terrain, but here, you’ll see almost everyone using them to travel,” Leon added.

“I loved flying with those as a kid,” Aurelia said. “I’ll show you how it works when we get in.”

“Actually, about getting in. I don’t see any gates? Are we on the wrong side?” Noah asked. No matter how he tried to look, he couldn’t find an entrance to enter the city.

“Like that,” Aurelia said, pointing.

Noah looked where she was pointing and saw a giant platform at the walls. With a sudden burst of wind, a tornado manifested beneath the platform, carrying a large group of wagons and people up the walls.

“Oh shit, an elevator,” Noah said, watching the platform move steadily up before coming to a stop at the top.

“Yup. A wind based one. There’s eight of those in all directions of the city. We’ll be entering from the southwest gate,” Aurelia said.

Noah watched the elevators and the flying gliders with fascination as they made their way through the grassland.

By the time the suns rose above the walls, the party of five had reached the base of the gate and were waiting their turn to board. Noah felt like a child stepping on an escalator for a first time as he walked on the giant stone floor.

With a jerk, he felt the entire platform start to move up, the four chains on all sides clanging as they held them stable. Powerful gusts of wind blew all around as they rose high into the sky, before coming to a stop at the very top of the walls.

“I always liked the view from this city,” Aurelia said.

“It is quite a sight,” Leon agreed.

Noah watched the path they’d taken to come here, the forest out on the horizon, with a wide lay of grassland all around the city.

“Can’t deny the sight,” Noah added.

“Let’s head in. I don’t have my adventuring plate, so we’ll have to go through security,” Aurelia said.

Following her, he waited in line, watching as people walked by the guards. He saw the security ask everyone to place their hand on a stone, before asking them the same three questions.

Noah walked up to the man, and the guard looked at him with an uninterested look. “Place your hand on the stone.”

Noah followed the instructions, placing his hand on the stone.

“Name and age,” the guard asked.

“Noah Brown, twenty-four.”

The stone lit up with a white light.

“Are you a member of any of the three cults?”

“No.”

The stone lit up again.

“Do you have a criminal record?”

“No.”

The stone lit up once more, and the guard nodded.

“Pass through.”

Noah walked through the entrance, and waited for the rest of his companions.

“We’re here. I cannot thank the two of you enough for helping us,” Leon said.

“We’ll be in debt to you both,” Shaya added, bowing her head.

“I know this isn’t nearly enough, but please take this as my thanks for taking us through the pass. Irios looks well now, but we’ll still take him to a healer, just to be sure. We wouldn’t have been able to get here without your help,” Leon said, digging into his pocket. He put two brightly glowing stones in Noah’s hands, and two in Aurelia’s.

[Mana Stone - C]

An aspectless C grade mana stone.

“This… this is a lot,” Aurelia said, looking up at Leon.

“Please, don’t refuse. I truly, genuinely cannot thank you two enough. And I was hoping to give some compensation to you not just for accepting the quest, but also for the wyrm scale,” Leon added.

Aurelia looked back at the scale in Irios’ hand, then nodded. “Very well.”

Leon extended his hand to Noah. “It was great to meet you, and you, Aurelia. We’ll be in Windrest for a while, but even after we leave, don’t hesitate to ever reach out if you ever need anything.”

“It was a pleasure for me as well,” Noah said.

“May Hellion’s guidance watch over you two,” Shaya added, dipping her head once, and Noah returned a nod.

“We’ll take our leave now. Till fate brings us together again. Till then, I hope you come to enjoy our world, Noah,” Leon said with a wink and turned away.

Noah stared in surprise at the man, then laughed. A moment later, a notification for his Quest completion chimed.

Quest: Escort Mission, Completed!

Quest: City of Winds, Completed!

Noah looked out to the new city. Taking in a breath, he smiled, feeling excited to explore.

It was time for him to finally register as an adventurer.

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