A written account of the interview of a Merchant of Sol Invictus, submitted to months of torture

Questioner: All you have to do is tell us about your homeworld and we will end the pain. Who is the Emperor? Why are you Merchants the only people who are able to enter the Universe? What are your goals?

Merchant: May the Emperor have mercy on my soul. May the Emperor have mercy on my soul.

Questioner: Why do you continue to repeat that? If you answer my questions I swear I will make it end. Tell me, who is the Emperor? How did he obtain his power?

Merchant: May the Emperor have mercy on my soul. May the Emperor have mercy on my soul.

I reach Albasalas’s cave far faster than I had on previous attempts, the increase in Dexterity making me run faster and the increased Endurance giving me a larger Stamina pool to draw from. I can’t dispute how convenient the physical stats are.

Standing 200 feet away and hidden behind one of the trees, I watch the two Corrupted Qual’Fan Trainees [Lvl 40] patrol back and forth across the cave’s mouth. They bear a striking resemblance to Faul but perhaps that is just because he’s the only other member of their race that I’ve met. Slightly shorter than him, they stand at 8 and a half feet tall with similar ashy grey skin. Their four eyes appear milky, having apparently lost their red coloring upon corruption. They both wear leather chest pieces, which appears to be made from the skin of Butchers and another creature, something with dark red skin and an almost scaly appearance. Their legs are adorned with leather greaves comprised of the same material. Most importantly, the corrupting fungus seems to erupt out of the back of their heads and cascade down their backs.

The first Trainee carries an interesting sword on his back, appearing to be similar to a khopesh. The blade extends straight for a few inches before entering into a long and graceful arc, ending with a brutal hook. He doesn’t carry a shield so I expect that he will have focused on Dexterity, with a sub focus on Strength, hoping to quickly close the gap between him and his opponents so that he can engage in close combat. The second Trainee holds a recurve bow in one hand while the other rests on a hip quiver, filled to the brim with arrows that appear to be made of bone. Together they are a ruthless combo, probably excelling in both close and distance combat.

The backbone of my plan is the suspicion Albasalas can only inhabit one of her creatures’ bodies at a time, the others performing actions based on the memories or instincts of the source body. My only evidence of this is the one example of her taking over the Butcher but the theory makes sense. If she could take over and control all of her creatures at once they wouldn’t be the mindless animals that fall to my attacks and traps. Her ability to organize them outside of combat is remarkable but once combat starts they seem to revert back to their natural instincts.

Entering into Effortless Presence, I watch them for another 20 minutes, wary of a trap. Once I’m convinced there is nothing lying in wait, I decide it’s time to begin. No time like the present.

Stepping out from behind the tree, I jog forward until I’m about 100 feet away, using the trees as cover so they don’t get a clear line of sight. The few glances I get between the trees show that they obviously hear something but don’t know where it is coming from, both Trainees becoming alert and bringing their weapons to bear. Taking a deep and calming breath, I conjure two Chilling Winds and enter into their line of sight, simultaneously casting both in their direction.

The winds hit them a second later and frost begins to form on them as they are buffeted back a few feet, raising their hands against the wind to balance themselves. I stare at the sight in shock. I’d known that Way of the Elements had increased the damage and effects of my Elemental Skills but not to the degree where I’d be able to push back the warriors. A smile breaks out on my face as I realize I’ll get to see how it affected all my other Skills as well.

Chilling Winds finally dying down, the Trainees look back at me with rage prominent on their faces. Instead of the light dusting of frost that used to accompany the Skill, they are covered quite heavily and ice has even formed at some of their joints, reducing their Dexterity even further.

The archer Trainee fumbles as he tries to get his bow up to fire but the sword Trainee begins to vibrate, roaring after a few seconds and developing a strange red aura around him. The sight of it fills me with fear and hopelessness, whispering in my ear to give up and let the peace of death claim me. From within Effortless Presence, I let out a little scoff. While that might have worked on me before I came here, the past 7 months on Helldarvin have tempered my resolve and given me the Skills to brush off such an attack. The Trainee doesn’t know that however.

Mimicking fear on my face, I return and begin to run in the opposite direction towards the field that I’ve been working on for the past couple days. I’m able to look back a few times and see both of the Trainees sprinting after me, catching up far quicker than anticipated. Gritting my teeth, I activate Mana Infusion in my legs for a split second and use it to throw myself forward and into the trap, quickly getting onto my feet and checking that everything is ready.

The Trainees both appear at the edge of the flat plain and, after staring at me for a few seconds, the sword one begins to rush at me, his quick movements slowed down by my increased acuity. As he’s running, I conjure a Chilling Wind and send it at the archer, the caution shown by it suggesting that Albasalas may be controlling him. The last thing that I want is for her to get involved. The winds buffet it backwards, solidifying and increasing the ice on the archer to slow him down even further.

Meanwhile, the sword Trainee begins sprinting towards me. One, two, three ... YES! Shock visible on its face, the trainee falls into the circular pit I dug and a roar of frustration accompanies it. It had taken a full day of digging, having to pause and prepare to retreat anytime I felt the vibrations of a Butcher, but I’d managed to complete the pit around the center ring of the plain where I now stand. I’d then coated the pit in oil, having a small trail of it lead up towards the circle that I now stand in.

Conjuring up some Fire Mana, I bring my hand to the beginning of the oil trail and set it alight. The fire instantly takes, the oil burning up quickly and rushing away towards the pit. I cross my fingers in anticipation, diving to the ground and covering my head with my hands.

Eyes closed, all I can do is listen and feel the vibrations in the air as the world around me explodes. The loudest sound I’ve ever heard erupts from all around me and the heat becomes almost unbearable, pressing down upon me with the force of gravity. The ground tosses and turns, all sense of direction lost. All I can do is curl up into a ball and pray for dear life that I come out of this alive.

After a few moments, that each felt as long as hours, the shaking subsides and I quickly get to my feet, looking around at the destruction in complete disbelief. I’d hoped that the Trainee would be taken out by my trap but I never would have imagined that my trap would have such sheer destructive power. The circle that I had been lying in had been blown backwards in the explosion, luckily landing face up or I would have been crushed by the force. A massive crater of overturned dirt lies in front of me, appearing as if a localized earthquake had hit this area alone. I see what appears to be parts of the Trainee’s body scattered around the crater, legs and arms blown apart into separate chunks. I’m so distracted by the sight in front of me that I forget about the other opponent lying in wait.

Pain rips through me, forcing me to scream as the pain threatens to overwhelm me. I fall onto a knee, still screaming and cursing in pain, and look down to see an arrow in my leg, the tip having pierced cleanly through my thigh. A quick check of my Status shows that the arrow has taken out a little over half of my entire Health pool. Not knowing where the other Trainee is, I grit my teeth and activate Mana Infusion, using my good leg to throw myself backwards towards a few trees, tumbling to the ground and then crawling behind them.

Safely behind the tree, I rip the tip of the arrow off and pull the rest out, gritting my teeth and moaning behind my breath as the pain tries to break my will. I manage to get the entire arrow out, dropping down to 20% of my total Health, and I rip off some of the fabric from my shirt, using it to bandage the wound in a makeshift fashion. The bleeding seems to subside after a few seconds and I catch my breath, mentally berating myself for getting too caught up in the destruction. I’d idiotically assumed the ice would have kept the archer busy for longer, a mistake that almost cost me my life.

Leaning around the side of the tree, I peek my head around the corner and look for the Trainee, spotting it as it makes its way around the fire lit crater. I duck back behind the tree before it can see me, not wanting to fall prey to another arrow. The first one was painful enough.

Using my good leg to hop up, I grab onto the bark of the tree and begin climbing up it, gritting my teeth and pushing past the pain. I’d love nothing more than to sit down and let my regeneration heal me but I know that is the path that ends in death. My only hope of survival is taking the fight to my enemy and killing it before it can fire another shot.

I reach the upper branches quickly enough and peek my head over, seeing the Trainee about 50 feet away with an arrow nocked in his bow. He doesn’t appear to know where I am, searching behind trees with his weapon at the ready. I don’t know if Albasalas is inhabiting this body and, at this point, I really don’t care. This guy shot me and needs to die.

Waiting until he is about 20 feet away from me, still searching the ground, I raise my right palm, left hand holding onto the tree to keep me steady, and conjure up a Freezing Beam. The ray of Ice and Condensed Mana blasts outwards, shooting towards the Trainee. It manages to look up and see the beam as it flies toward it but is unable to dodge in time. Ice bursts out upon impact but I don’t relent, yelling in fear as I unload my entire Mana Well in the attack. The beam sputters out after a few seconds and I look at my handiwork, hoping that my final attack has done enough to end this fight.

Luckily for me, the increased effects of the Elemental Way have obviously come into effect. The Trainee is completely covered in ice, his body trapped beneath the freezing onslaught of my Beam. I let out a sigh of relief at the sight, sliding off the tree and letting my body collapse onto the ground. Waves of exhaustion, both mental and physical, wash over me and I lie still for a good while, my recovery slowly rebuilding my body in preparation for my next confrontation.

A few hours later, my Health fully regenerated and my leg repaired, I stand up, stretch, and begin walking towards the cave where my next opponent hides.