81 - Well Done

Not ready to move or speak yet, Joe lay on his back, watching the holy ground around him brighten in the light of the approaching torch. The only effort he had the motivation for was knitting his broken legs back together.

"Look over there, Tung. Something shredded a paladin and some other guy. Let's loot the pali first. The other guy looks like he's got crap."

'Are you kidding me? Thieves?' he groaned mentally. 'Hey, Hawking? You back?'

I never left. It was your engagement in spiritual combat that rendered our standard connectivity inoperable for the duration.

'Fair enough. We'll talk in a minute. I have to deal with these two first.'

Joe turned his head and id'ed the two figures. One was huge, a lumbering brute of a woman. The other was a slim, agile youth, dancing around his vast companion in excitement.

Tunga: Fomorian: Thug 9

Jandic Mull: Human: Rogue 8

"Berghal's boon! Look at that axe! You'd be a badass with that thing."

"Sell it," the more ponderous voice of the giantess argued. "Get real room. Good food."

Joe pulled himself to his feet, drawing [Haybreaker] from his dimensional bag. He didn't want a fight, but he wasn't going to let these two loot Azbekt. There was no question in his mind that had it not been for Azbekt's sacrifice, the Night Haunt would have consumed him and, from inside his skin, continued its chain of atrocities. The earlier bullshit that occured between Joe and the dwarf sucked, but when you weighed out what really mattered, Joe owed him. Big.

"Leave it," Joe ordered.

"Woah. He's not dead," Jandic scoffed. "Big words. You're the same level as we are, and there's two of us. What makes you think we aren't going to gutter stomp your face and clean you out, too."

The wildness answered before Joe could.

Your skill [Hunter's Pursuit] has increased to rank 1.

Joe found he had crossed the distance between him and the slight thief in an instant. His claws were wrapped around the small man's neck, ready to tear the scoundrel's throat out.

'WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! STOP!!!" Joe screamed inside his head at the feral spirit. This close-up, he could see the rogue was in his late teens. Jandic was obviously trouble, but Joe was not about to kill the kid for it.

The wildness, on the other hand, was all for ripping the boy's neck out.

Joe managed to restrain the savage instinct in time to see Tunga swinging a heavy club at his head. [Heavy Hand] interposed his forearm in time, and Joe expected the thick chunk of wood and metal was about to shatter his ulna. Instead, the club smacked into his arm with a stinging impact but inflicting very little actual damage. The improved deflection from upgrading [Strong Arm] and physical damage resistance in his hands and arms from [Savage Claws] negated almost the entirety of the blow.

He fired off [Deaden Flesh] at the formorian's left leg. Even without [Crystal Mind] running, the spell landed effortlessly. As Tunga toppled over on her side, he noted that for all her size, her features looked no older than her comrade's.

Joe looked back at Jandic in time to see the rogue ram a knife into his gut. It missed his heart, which was about all he had to worry about against such a small knife in the hands of a low-level street punk. Joe numbed the little hoodlum's leg as well and dropped him. As the youth crumpled to the dirt beside his bigger, bullish ally, Joe plucked out the blade and healed the wound.

"Are you guys done?" he asked in a bored voice. After what he had just survived, these two thugs barely qualified as a threat. "If so, then this is your lucky day. See that mess of blood and fur over there?" Joe asked, pointing at the mangled corpse of the demon wolf. "That was the Night Skinner. If you get the city watch here in the next fifteen minutes, I'll say you two were instrumental in the success of the quest that destroyed that monster. I'm pretty sure you guys won't be paying for drinks and meals for a long ass time when word of your heroic involvement gets around."

He watched the two stare at the ravaged, hairy body. Tunga's face brightened, but Joe watched a look of calculation cross the smaller scoundrel's expressions.

"Don't get them here, and I'll let everyone know you tried to rob one of the saviors of the city," Joe added, gesturing toward Azbekt's fallen form. "How well do you think that'll go over?"

"No. We go. Get guard," the brutish girl grunted. She hobbled up onto one foot, dragging Jandic to his feet with her. They both tried to walk but flopped back onto the ground as they attempted to take a step.

Joe had an idea he wanted to try. Now that he was back in his body, he should be able to activate the other aspect of [Curse Cleaver].

[Curse Cleaver] - Uncommon - Spirit: You can empower your attacks to inflict additional damage to cursed creatures or disrupt curse-based effects. Your attack damage and curse negation increases by 10% plus 2% for each skill rank you have with this skill. Cost: Minor Mana| Range: Touch. {Disruption}

He slapped Tunga's numbed leg and cast the spell targeting the [Deaden Flesh] he had put there. Just as its name implied, [Curse Cleaver] clove through the witch curse, dispelling it. Joe considered casting a second time, but he decided Jandic could keep his dead limb until the curse wore off.

As the giantess carried her friend away, Joe opened the most important notification he knew was waiting for him. His weariness and aches washed away in a rush. Fireworks and joy flooded through his body. A second ago, he had been too wrung out to even digest his triumph. Most of that vanished in leveling's euphoric cascade of exhilaration.

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You have reached level 13. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point.

The level didn't come with any skills, but honestly, Joe didn't care at all. The huge pick-me-up from leveling alone was worth it.

Feeling refreshed, he dropped a [Homefire] against the tower wall, hoping it would reach the Count and Hah'roo while he refilled his medallion with a few laps around the tower. Even though there was a large list of things he needed to address, Hah'roo, the Count, composing Azbekt's body, dealing with all the rest of the alerts he had waiting for him, he was surprised by just how awesome running was.

[Hunter's Pursuit] activated, and Joe found his pace quickening again and again until he was sprinting a wide ring around the dilapidated shrine. His legs raced him across the paths effortlessly, moving faster and more fluidly than he ever had before. In that moment, the wildness reflected the same joy in flying across the ground. Its only complaint was Joe's boots. The wildness would much rather run barefoot.

Joe finally reined in his exuberant dash, with more than enough distance restored to his talisman. Letting [Hunter's Pursuit] have another go, he effortlessly scaled the outside of the tower. Between the skill, the vines, and his claws, there was no point in which he had any worry about falling.

He checked on the Count first, mostly because he was closer. The {Shock} condition had cleared, but the man didn't look well at all. Using wound-sight, he could see the corruption lingering within Valloc. In the time since Joe's treatments, whatever infection he had missed had grown and was clearly causing the monster hunter a great deal of pain.

"I can stand, Joe," the nobleman hissed through clenched teeth.

"Good. I'm going to teleport us outside. I think the city guard is on its way."

"Hah'roo? Azbekt?"

"I'm checking on Hah'roo next," Joe replied and found his voice choked off for a second before he could finish his answer. "Azbekt didn't make it. He saved us, though."

"Such are the warriors of Phealti. Unstinting in all things, but most of all in the defence of others."

Joe had no words to reply with, and so he jumped them both to the top of the tower and then to the pebbled paths below. After climbing back up, he sought out Hah'roo. His heart hammered loudly within his chest; he was terrified she had died while he had been gone.

Her health was frighteningly low, but she still breathed. Even with all of his other advancements that night, Joe still didn't know how to undo her head trauma. The best he could do was to heal her up to her limit again.

Joe carefully lifted her pale form from where he had hidden her, noting how light she felt. At first, it seemed to him like she was fading away into the clouds she so loved. That is, until a more practical realization hit him. His strength had more than doubled since he last occupied his body. Hah'roo, being slight of build already, just highlighted this change in stats.

With her in his arms, Joe teleported them up and out of the tower, appearing beside where the Count was standing over Azbekt. The nobleman had drawn a golden cloak from one of his dimensional spaces and draped it over the body. The fierce axe he had laid across the broad chest. Joe nodded to the man in thanks. It was a far more fitting gesture than he could have accomplished.

As he laid Hah'roo down gently onto the grass, the monster hunter spoke again.

"You were the last man standing, Joe. The first pick of the spoils is yours," Count Randeau stated, turning slightly to include the headless corpse of the Night Skinner.

Azbekt's people really should get the first draw, as the dwarf had made the ultimate display of heroism. Yet Joe knew the Count would talk him around if he tried that tack. He knew he was too shaken and mentally exhausted to fight the noble warrior over it.

He stepped up to the glowing orb over the ravaged corpse and sent a thought to Hawking to loot it. Unlike previous rewards, the items neither shot up into the air nor were they gathered by the spell [Coin Catcher] had become. Instead, he received a window of options.

You have been awarded the first selection of party-based loot. Please choose one of the following:

[Athamé of the Dark Defiler] (Item: Weapon: Dagger / Spellfocus - Epic) Tempered in the blood of an infant cambion, the blade is steeped in the taint of defilement. Rituals bent towards befoulment have a superior empowerment added to their results. {Corruption}

[Demanding Phantom Edge] (Item: Weapon: Longsword - Epic) The spiritual damage inflicted with this weapon bypasses physical armor and physical resistances. Strikes with it leave no physical injury, such as cuts, bruises, or drawn blood. It cannot block or be blocked by purely physical items. While wielding this weapon, your stamina depletion is increased by 25%. {Spectral}

[Hex-Wrecker] (Item: Ring - Epic) If your target is afflicted by one of your curses, you can detonate the instance of the curse, inflicting scaling damage based on the severity of the hex and its remaining duration. This action removes the curse's effect. Range: Close. {Curse}

[Lavalier of Talons] (Item: Neck - Epic) When activated, a storm of slashing spectral claws surrounds you. All creatures in close range from you take damage based on your Dexterity for 5 seconds. The effect can be dismissed at will. Cost: Moderate Mana. | Cooldown: Short {Phantasm}

He dismissed the first two right off. The dagger was disgusting. The longsword sounded amazing, but Joe was skeptical about being unable to block with it. He was far from a capable swordsman and that seemed like a limitation only a skilled duelist would be able to work around.

It was between the necklace and the ring. Joe hadn't seen anyone else use curses. A quick glance through Baleful Warder revealed additional hexes he could take at future levels. Considering these facts, the ring seemed like it was slated for him to take.

As he slid the band onto his finger, it hit him just how exhausted he was. It felt like he had strained his resource pools, given the amount of energy he had expended this evening. His stamina and mana had been refilled by leveling, but that didn't alleviate the overwrought sensation he was experiencing. His health was nowhere near full and wouldn't be until his breaks were fully mended.

Feeling generally wrung out, Joe sat down next to Hah'roo and dropped a [Homefire] to ease all their pains. He had survived, but at the moment, he was too beaten down to be able to revel in his victory. One that he surely would have lost without the Mark of Death.

Joe looked at the symbol etched onto his arm. He had to move the new hair out of the way to see it clearly. When he did, he saw it had returned to its typical state. It had lost its presence and weight. The motes of gold still twinkled in the black, but they were no longer churning around like a snow flurry.

Joe gave the prophetic mark a thankful pat, closing the alerts from Hawking informing him his skills had reverted back to normal. He closed his rank-ups notifications as well.

Finally, he focused on the second glowing orb waiting for his attention. This one must be the result of his quest.

You have successfully completed [Moonlit Massacres]

You have gained 4,000 experience points.

You have gained 3,000 gold pieces.

[Writ of Innocence] (Item: Script, Soulbound - Epic) By your actions, you have proven yourself to be innocent of the charges of being incompatible with societal order. Your previous actions are absolved of any further censures. {Order}

[Undaunted]: (Trait) Fear not even fear. You have Major Resistance against Fear effects.

As they waited for the approaching city guards, Joe filled Valoc in on what had happened after the man had been struck down. Under the man's growing look of pride, he soon felt his cheeks reddening.

The simple words, "Well done," was one of the greatest moments of either of Joe's lives.

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