Tristan

For the second time in as many days, the young swordsmith crept quietly into the warehouse where he knew he would find the {Legendslayer} called Timetwister. This time there was no labyrinth of boxes, there were no stacks upon stacks of obstacles to hide behind. It was just him, a practically empty, wide open space, and the radiant silver circle blossoming beneath the one who stood in the very center of it all.

Timetwister.

She was bathed in brilliant light that shone up from the meticulous lines and symbols inlaid into the otherwise smooth floor.

She wasn't particularly large. Maybe only half a head taller than Sophie, and just as thin. Her long dark hair was flaring and flowing around her head though no breeze was present. Such was the power radiating off of her and the circle. It was enough to still Tristan's breath. Strangely, it almost felt like the sun's rays kissing his skin, warming him from the outside in. How could something so deadly feel so welcoming?

The woman was entirely surrounded by a bubble of barely-visible, slightly glittering magic, just a few hands' widths from her form like some sort of shield. Was this the result of the ritual, or merely some skill she had for personal protection? He wondered if this was even the full power a tier 4 could bring to bear against him. Bracing himself, he couldn't help but worry about what more he might be up against.

But he was prepared. They all were. They had planned for this moment.

He continued forward.

Tristan felt as though he was moving through sand, as though he could feel the granularity of time itself as it slowly slipped around and through him. Putting one foot in front of the other as quietly as he possibly could, he began to push against the riverlike current and move directly toward the circle. With each step, that current, that resistance, grew fiercer.

He raised the [Bane of Time], pointing the blade directly ahead of him. Immediately, the greatsword's edge began to glow slightly, and more importantly he could feel the push of the magical current weakening. He took that for a good sign.

As he moved nearer and nearer, cautiously, he became aware that the time mage was speaking, or rather chanting. He could not make out any of her words. As her voice rose and fell, the magic circle beneath her continued to brighten. Soon, he feared, it might be so bright it would impair his sight.

Yet now Tristan could see that there seemed to be particles of magic flaking off the ground and rising into the air as though carried by the same unseen current. They were creating a slight mist that showed the healer's shadow, long and harsh, rising dramatically all the way to the ceiling.

The most important detail that he noticed, however, was that Timetwister did not seem to have noticed either the door's illusions being dispelled or his entrance. She was still wholly focused on her task. Whatever it was this ritual might be doing, Tristan was fairly sure he didn't want her to complete it.

Tristan: I'm nearly in position... and still unnoticed. But she is channeling some serious magic right now. Sophie: We're in position, too. Give the call, and we'll be there with you! Tristan: Thanks. And soon.

He calmed his breathing, steadied his hands, activated [Rivalry], and pulled up his [Clock] skill, setting up a 20-second countdown timer. He intentionally set it for 5 seconds shorter than he'd be given upon activating [Minor Rune: Blanketing Silence], just so he'd have the extra warning before needing to switch weapons.

He stopped moving forward just outside the very edge of the ritual circle.

I can easily make that jump.

He prepared himself and all his skills. As Sophie had stressed, the order of activation would matter.

First would be [Blade Echo], then [Descending Crescent] while he was in the air, and finally, at the very last moment before he struck, [Minor Rune: Blanketing Silence]. Then they'd all be locked into silence for 25 seconds.

That has to be enough time. No time for doubts now. We've just got to do it.

Tristan: Here we go. Ten second warning. Sophie: We've got this! But good luck anyway.

Tristan wanted to believe that luck wouldn't matter now, given their plan, but as he took two steps back from the circle's edge, preparing to leap toward the shrouded figure in its center, he also knew he'd take every advantage he could get.

Tristan: Five. Sophie: See you soon.

He bent down low, mentally shutting out all distractions as he stared at his target. Then with two powerful strides, he leapt toward her, swinging his sword directly over his head.

[Blade Echo] appeared to double the number of swords in his hands. [Descending Crescent] cast them in a purplish sheen. And then, with a single thought, he started his [Clock] timer and activated the [Minor Rune: Blanketing Silence], as all sound seemed to vanish from the world.

In its place, there was a light show.

Bright silver parted around his blade's dispelling edge and spread like sparks into the air. His sword cut through the ritualized air--and the shield around Timetwister--like a hot knife through butter.

The woman herself didn't fare much better.

Maybe it was because his jump hadn't been quite as straight as he might have liked, or maybe it was that the healer had twisted the moment she'd noticed the silence stifling her voice. Whatever the cause, Tristan's echoing blade entered into the woman's right arm, not her shoulder. Neither of its two resulting cuts passed through her center at all. But her arm still fell to the ground as blood sprayed everywhere, turning some of the luminous silver of the ritual circle to crimson instead.

Until all of that--the blood, the light, the arm, and in fact everything else around them--seemed to just... stop.

The blood, the light, the rolling of the severed arm on the ground, even the open-mouthed, soundless scream from Timetwister. It all ceased.

Then it all rewound.

Suddenly the arm rolled backward, upward. The crimson light and blood sucked back together and into the stump that was no longer a stump but the healer's full and reattached arm. Tristan's sword even tugged against his grasp, as if trying to pass back through the swing it had just committed. But Tristan held firm, and he forced the sword's swing to continue, whipping it around like the Roving Blade, to come at her again.

Tristan couldn't explain what he'd just seen. It shouldn't have been possible. The rune should have halted the use of any new skills. Unless it was already active somehow, he realized.

Timetwister had now spun around trying to find her attacker, her mouth moving silently, though Tristan still thought he recognized a few choice curses crossing her lips. She also flexed her arm as she clearly tried to throw out some sort of spell, but this time the Blanketing Silence did exactly as promised.

Then a flash of claws and emerald feathers tore across the woman's mystified face, just missing her eyes.

Sneakers had arrived, and just in time, as his very visible plumage seemed to pull attention off of looking for Tristan, allowing him to attack the time mage again.

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His sword flew out horizontally this time, cutting twice through Timetwister's side and slightly into her back. But those wounds also began to knit back together, though much more slowly.

I guess I haven't cut through all her buffs yet.

Attacking more was the clear solution to that. He knew that the invisibility granted by his [Avenger's Stealth] was rapidly fading, and he planned to take full advantage of it before it was gone entirely.

His timer said only 6 seconds had passed, but it had felt longer. He pushed in again, before [Blade Echo] could fade, staying behind the healer, and thrust his blade straight through her barely-armored midsection. At the points of contact, something like a green shell appeared and attempted to cover her, only to shatter like glass at the echoing impacts.

Better still, the wounds formed when he pulled his sword out did not begin to immediately heal.

Another echoed slash, followed by another. With Sneakers tearing at her all throughout. Tristan kept dancing behind and around the woman. [Blade Echo] faded. Eventually Timetwister was able to spin and face him, but by that point, she was looking rough.

An enormous chunk of neon-glowing rock streaked in and smashed against the side of Timetwister's head. Tristan braced against an expected impact, but it magically washed through him, which only confirmed that this was [Astral Comet], meaning Sophie had found the outer limit of the silenced zone and let loose her spell scroll. Unlike with him, the comet's impact did rock Timetwister forward, and the woman fell almost feebly to her knees, practically right at Tristan's feet.

He didn't even think about it. He just raised his sword above his head again, focused his full strength into his arms, and brought the huge blade down upon the healer's neck.

And that was it. Her head separated from the rest of her body, and this time there was no miraculous healing. As the notification that popped into his vision proved, the fight was over before his [Avenger's Stealth] fully wore off. Before even his sword was consumed by the cost of its Blanketing Silence.

[You have slain Timetwister, level 42] {{Legendslayer}}

[Path Quest updated: Avenge the Brightshield]

. . .

Gods among us, he thought, we did it! We really did it.

Tristan didn't understand how. He just couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

It was easier than I thought it would be. And something about that rankled him. She was a tier 4... and still died so easily. It wasn't even a challenge.

In a way, it didn't feel real. He knew it was. The notification proved it. Even when the silvery wisp of light began to slowly swirl up from the now-headless healer's body and directly into him and his quest, Tristan couldn't grasp it. And strangely, he didn't have any desire to open the quest and see its progression.

He hadn't taken a single attack from her, or a single hit point of damage, so he hadn't needed [Rivalry] or [Versatile Blade] or his breastplate's [Tempered Spirit]. And the way she'd just fallen so suddenly... How he'd finished her off kneeling in front of him... like he'd been an executioner.

But that was entirely too foolish a thought, because he knew she was tier 4. There was nothing helpless about her. It was only because of their preparations that she'd seemed that way.

But still the thought itched, and he wanted to scratch it.

He looked down at the greatsword in his hands. The tier 4's blood still dripped off its tip.

A shudder shook him, and he wasn't entirely sure of its source. Perhaps it was from the sword itself, because sound suddenly seemed to have returned to the Realm. Cracks instantly started to spiderweb their way across the length and breadth of the greatsword. The cracks grew in number and thickness, until eventually the whole weapon crumbled in his hands. Flakes of metal that quickly became more like powder began to fall away, and the whole thing dropped through his grasp.

It was already dust before it hit the ground.

Almost like sand.

The sands of time.

There was more to the notification, he now realized, and as he read it, the moment felt even more surreal.

Congratulations! The swordsman Class has reached LEVEL 10!

You have now reached the third tier milestone! Greater challenges and opportunities will present themselves, as the world begins to recognize your growth and bend to your will.

Are you ready to advance to Tier 3?

Tristan read and reread the notification, because even as he did he couldn't imagine taking such a momentous step along his Path now. As he raised his hands to his face to rub his eyes, he realized just how bothered he seemed to be. His hands were literally shaking.

What is wrong with me? I should be thrilled right now. I should be so freaking happy!

Except his gaze slipped back down to the headless corpse that he'd just created, and he couldn't tear it away. He started replaying the fight in his mind, and what he recognized was the utter efficiency of the plan he, Sophie, and Sneakers had executed.

Is that normal?

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth, and the itch intensified.

What was the cause?

Was it because he'd killed someone?

No, he'd made his mind up long ago that Timetwister needed to die, and he'd followed through with it.

It wasn't because she was a healer, for similar reasons.

Was it because this was so much easier than Venom?

There felt like there might be something there, and he wanted to dig deeper, but he was interrupted before he could.

"Tristan!" a voice called out to him. "TRISTAN! Hey! We did it!"

Sophie's voice. She sounded beyond thrilled. It was a jolt to him, because he just thought that he was supposed to feel the same. But... he didn't.

He tried to pull his eyes away from the fallen time mage, but he still couldn't. Headless like this... He didn't know why, but something about it bothered him.

"Yeah," he managed to say.

"And did you get as huge a blast of experience as I just did?"

"Yeah," Tristan repeated, still somewhat lost in thought.

"Tristan! I gained three whole levels!"

That snapped him out of his stupor for a moment. He managed to look toward her and, lo and behold, both she and the astral sitting on her shoulder had shot all the way up to level 17 in one battle.

"Holy shit," he said.

Sophie beamed. "Yes, exactly! Exactly 'holy shit,' Tristan! This is insane! I know we just managed to take down a tier 4, but this is the biggest boost I've ever seen in my life! Even my Inspiration wasn't this big, and it was a couple levels ago, when it would have been easier."

There was that word again. Why was it bothering him so much? He looked back to the body, then the astralist again. "Congratulations, Sophie. That's... really awesome, and you totally deserved it. Your planning--"

"Our planning," she corrected immediately.

Sneakers made several sounds that might have been an agreement.

"Yeah, our planning," he parroted, "it was good." He shrugged his shoulders and walked away from the body that was once again fully occupying his thoughts.

"Hey," Sophie said, catching up to him and lightly tapping his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Sophie bounded in front of him, directly in his way. "No, you are not fine. What's wrong?" She placed her hands on both his shoulders and shook him until his eyes met hers.

"Tristan? Are you hurt? I didn't think she managed to land a hit..."

"She didn't."

Their eyes remained locked until Tristan couldn't maintain it any longer, and he looked away. He was careful not to look anywhere near the body. He also kept his shoulders firm and square, maintaining the outward appearance of strength. But just thinking about the "fight" again caused his thoughts to start spiraling into that discomfort that he simply couldn't understand or explain. What in the gods' names is bothering me so much about this? He folded his arms across his chest.

"Tristan, hey." Sophie's voice was much quieter now, and calmer too. "Hey, it's okay."

But he couldn't trust his voice to respond.

"It's okay," she repeated. "You're okay. We're all okay."

The notification kept blinking in the corner of his vision, and it was so tempting to think that its blessed presence might mean that everything was fine. Isn't that how power and strength work? he reasoned. Sophie gained three levels off of one kill. We were both rewarded!

But for some reason, he didn't want that. At least not right now.

"I think I'm just gonna go," he replied.

"Oh... Okay," Sophie managed. "I'm going to check on the loot, at least. If there's anything Soulbound on her though--"

"Have it all," Tristan said, not really listening. He was already walking toward the door. He couldn't get out of this warehouse quickly enough. He needed to sort out his thoughts.

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