"Would you like me to cut you down?" Veeran asked.

Ride responded with a rude gesture and a bit of muffled cursing.

"Very well. I can be patient."

Being around Ride was rejuvenating. The Jump may have corporeally took fifty years from his shoulders, but the true enthusiasm which the younger generation approached everything with did the same for his spirit.

Typically, come the time someone entered his tutelage, most of their 'edge' had been filed off, leaving them dull and uninteresting. That one needed to be slightly insane to take part in a Forerunner Expedition meant Veeran was at long last able to interact in a professional capacity with sharp young men and women, unafraid of every last thing and paralyzed with indecision as a result.

Of course, even without that aspect, watching people try to get used to their new skills always had the potential to be amusing.

Such was the fate of Ride, who had [Leafstep]ped a bit too aggressively, gotten snagged in a low-hanging vine, and had her momentum carry her firmly into a tight bind. Now, she was tied tightly to a branch, several coils of natural vine restraining her in an enormous tangle that barely left her with enough room to move her arms.

While his scouting partner sorted herself out, Veeran turned his eyes and ears back towards their surroundings, eternally vigilant for the threats they knew were out there.

There had been, all together, not much speculation on the nature of the Calamity which had surely brought them here. Admittedly, there wasn't much to speculate on, as their information was simply far too sparse to truly work with. Yet there had to be something, just as how an airplane couldn't fly without air so too could a Jump not leap without a Calamity.

Personally, Veeran felt that the most likely scenario was simply that they were far, far too late. That in the intervening time between their departure and landing, the Calamity had landed and won, wiping out all sentient life on the world before retreating and allowing nature to return and flourish blissfully unaware of what had come before them.

Though were that the case then there would surely be some marks of this engagement. Unless it had happened thousands or tens of thousands of years ago... but still, he knew firsthand just how destructive the truly powerful entities, the likes of which might warrant a Jump, could truly be. It could take millions of years to weather away those collapsed mountains and smooth the jagged canyons.

But, something with that kind of power could possibly erase the signs of its own passage, were it to win. Veeran hoped it was more akin to that, or something to do with the flow of time passing much faster here than back home. Some worlds were like that, he'd heard, and it was more pleasant to contemplate than the possibility they'd spent thousands or millions of years 'in transit' as it were, and that they would attempt to create a portal only to return to a long-fallen Empire and the Tyrants, free from their chains and ready to strike them down. It was petty and nigh-impossible, and thereby precisely what the self-important spirits had excelled at.

Inq and Ride had both been adamant that an Expedition couldn't work like that, that the mechanics of the Jump precluded it, yet there were sufficient irregularities with their Expedition that neither could be as confident as any of them would like.

Above him, Ride managed to swing herself into landing a solid grip on the branch she had bound herself to, and was now twisting the enormous tangle, helping her to unpick vines from around her waist, trying to get to her hatchet.

"No, damnit!" Ride's voice was still somewhat muffled, but it was clear enough what she was saying as the axe slipped through her fingers and fell to the forest floor below, punching through a tangle of ground cover and vanishing from sight.

She'd lost her grip on the branch during a desperate bid to reclaim the hatchet and had accordingly been turned mostly upside-down, where she was limply hanging off the branch, only a single foot still touching the wood above her. She spun idly as well, a look of annoyance clearly writ on her face.

"Okay, okay. You can cut me down."

"Very well."

Veeran adjusted his footing, squared up his position, and crouched slightly. Ride's eyes grew wide as she realized what precisely she had requested he do, and she tried to protest but Veeran was already moving. "Waitwaitwait!"

⟨Piercing Strike⟩

The empowered blow cleaved through the vines with ease, and Ride squeaked in surprise as she fell facefirst to the ground below.

She crashed through the bushes but managed to use those to turn herself in midair such that she landed in a sitting position, rather than belly-flopping onto the forest floor. A few moments later, she'd extricated herself from the vines and was looking around for her hatchet.

"Not what I meant," she grumbled, "But it is what I asked for, so feh. Do you want to help me find this?"

"I believe it would be better for you to do so on your own. Is this not why we're out here?"

Ride paused. "Oh... I suppose this would be a good opportunity for that."

"As you endeavor to gain a new subskill or skill without the aid of the external System," Veeran provided as the Ranger felt around in the bushes, "It is best to make it inevitable that you will succeed. Make it an indisputable part of who you are and what you are doing, and the world will take heed."

"Not sure how that helps me here," Ride pointed out, "The entire thing I'm trying to do is to find something that I don't know where it is. How can I make sure that I know where it is, indisputably enough that my soul listens?"

"That is something which predominantly only you can determine," Veeran answered. "But - as anathema as it may be to you - oftentimes the best way to learn something is to simply listen."

"Listen for what?"

Veeran shrugged, "An answer. Ask the question, listen for the answer."

Ride frowned, "I don't hear mana, though. Is that a thing? People can hear words if their mana sense is hearing?"

"I have heard of it," Veeran replied with a wry smile. "Though my own sense is more melodic and ambient, I am aware that others perceive it as closer to actual words. And anything is possible with the appropriate skill. After all, there are those skills which simply grant a mana sense."

"Damned cheaters," Ride grumbled, and Veeran felt at least moderately inclined to agree, but this was a moment to teach, not to foster bitterness.

"Such things do have a place," he pointed out, "As do those who prostrate themselves before Tyrants."

"Underground?" Ride chuckled. "But alright. Where do I find the hatchet?"

"Are you asking me?"

Ride turned towards the ground, placed her hand on a nearby broad-leafed shrub, and asked again, "Where do I find my axe?"

She pushed her hand down a bit until it contacted the ground, and came up gripping her weapon. Ride frowned, "I think that was a coincidence."

Veeran chuckled, then motioned down the river. "Shall we continue?"

The First River gushed into a pristine ocean like nothing else. Red silt mixed with blue ocean water, forming great clouds of sediment churning in the ocean before them. While no particularly easy way down to the waterline itself existed - they stood atop a small cliff overlooking it instead - there was little direct need to. Their aim here was to determine the viability of a water route connecting Shelter to First Tower, not venture out into the ocean.

Veeran kept his [Frostblade] ready for use, should any of the circling creatures decide to get a little too curious. Clouds of the pseudowyverns were the most prominent creature, naturally, but so too were there much larger bird-like critters swooping through the air, picking fights with the smaller draconids.

"Interesting that the pseudowyverns aren't mobbing the bigwings," Ride remarked, as she matched Veeran's gaze.

"Would you anticipate that they would?" He inquired.

The Ranger shrugged, "Maybe? I'm not much of a bird psychologist, but I know sparrows chase hawks away, but these guys seem just fine with being outright attacked. It's just not what I would expect."

They stood, birdwatching for a few minutes, then Ride suddenly clapped her hands together. "Okay. Well, shall we carry on?"

Veeran considered it for a moment, casting his gaze out across the water and... "Do you see that?"

"See wha... oh. Oh. I thought those were waves. Or... mountains. Or something. Clouds?"

On the horizon, a pair of absolutely titanic figures were moving, clashing against one another. They were so far away that there was no way to see details, the mere atmospheric distortion obscuring anything beyond a quadrupedal body shape. One slammed into the other, sending a ludicrously tall wave splashing into the distance, and plunging the first under the water. It re-emerged not long after, but the column of water around it was turning into a mist that made it even harder to see what was happening.

Veeran's fingers tightened around his blade. Even with them on the open ocean, that sort of creature was such an immense threat that he couldn't help but fear for what would happen if that fight happened just a bit closer, sending those waves surging up the river and washing First Tower away....

"Have you fought anything like that?" Ride asked.

"Yes."

"Or were they all small- wait, yes?" Ride took a moment to parse Veeran's reply, but her open incredulity was such a delightful expression. "Was it during... the war? Oh! Was it one of those self-created threat things or was it a Tyrant directly?"

Veeran chuckled, "It was not during the war, but a special deployment afterwards. And I never directly fought one of the bigs, merely contributed once. Nowhere near that big though."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"I mean," Ride said with a bit of awe, "I'd say that any Tyrant is going to be more impressive than a mere bit of gigafauna. Did you cut it in half? Did you charge it, cutting down its idols and slaying its servants? Gut one of its kids?"

"None of those things," he waved his hand, keeping his eyes still fixed on the distant horizon, "Had I attempted to engage The Cerulean One with a blade, mankind's assault would have slain me just as surely as the spirit itself. I remained on the edges, avoiding death as best as I was capable of and snuffing out a few minor storm spirits when the opportunity presented itself. It likewise was not as exciting as you envision. Terrifying, yes. There used to be a saying about putting the fear of the gods in someone, and well."

He paused, not letting himself smile at the anticipatory expression Ride was openly wearing. "If their fear is not present before you try to kill them, it certainly shall be once you start trying. Yet, I digress."

He delighted in seeing the expression of frustration on Ride's face as he diverted himself, only for it to morph back into interest as he continued. "You asked how to kill gigafauna. The answer, as with anything, is copious amounts of artillery."

"What, cannons?" Ride scoffed, "I thought the sort of healing magic which Tyrants and their minions have at their disposal was good enough to shrug off bullets."

"That's true, to an extent." Veeran acknowledged, "Most kinetic projectiles lack the mass or magic required for dealing lasting damage. But it is not guns which I would seek."

"What, then?"

"Armor-piercing nukes."

Ride momentarily laughed before realizing he was serious, then a number of emotions flitted across her face as she processed what he'd just said.

"Now come along," he indicated, "Though we may have found the ocean, there are many more things which you may yet locate to develop your skill before we return."

The System was undeniably one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind, the single creation justifying their position atop all others. Magic beholden not to birth, the violation of a Tyrant upon a bloodline, nor to supplication, but instead upon one's dedication and determination. It truly was a testament to boasting in one's own accomplishments.

It certainly had been painful to be ripped from the very peak of mortal potential to the very bottom, yet a hundred levels had been a worthy sacrifice. Levels could come easy, Jumps far less so.

Class: [Frost Knight] (Force, Metal, Ice) Level: 8 Major Stats: Strength 5, Capacity 5, Power 5 Regular Stats: Skill 1: (Sword 1), Dexterity 3, Resistance 2, Cohesion 1, Mind 5 Minor Stats: Recovery 0, Generation 0, Aura 0 Skills (2/3): Frostblade*[[Frostblade#⟨Piercing Strike⟩ | ⟨Piercing Strike⟩]] 6

With eight levels reclaimed, and without Ride's knack to assign points to basic substats, Veeran had decided to assign five points to Mind, two to Dexterity, and one to Resistance.

His wounds from The Cerulean One went deep, 'cracks' permeating him like a broken vase, causing him to generate, retain, and be capable of using far less mana than his stats would normally imply. But his body remained proud and unbroken, defiant of those who would attempt to break it.

Smith would no doubt say that his five Strength made him roughly ten times stronger than a normal human, but Veeran knew well all of the ways in which such things could be misleading. Strength was far more about the capacity to cause physical change in the world rather than a mere 'power output.' He'd punched through steel walls when he'd had a hundred Strength, then cut himself on the shattered metal after the punch, as his Resistance had been too low to protect him from the aftermath.

Mind was his preferred stat regardless. The improved reaction time and sensory processing it provided were the primary benefits, yes, but mostly it simply felt refreshing. Like a permanent caffeine boost, a sense of awareness and mastery over one's own experience of the world that simply couldn't be matched any other way.

Yet for all of the wonders that could be accomplished with the physical stats, and Veeran had seen true wonders as one approached maximum level - leveraging pure Strength or Dexterity to fly, Recovery regrowing half a body in an hour, hearing whispers a mile away with Mind, barely even being knocked down from a direct missile strike - magic was truly the greatest gift. Like fire stolen from the spirits, the capacity for simply learning and mastering reality had been brought into the hands of 'mere mortals,' and Veeran took great delight in knowing just how much it must agonize some of the fallen Tyrants to simply know that 'the gift of all gifts' was being 'sullied' and mastered by... truly, truly hopeless cases.

Ride, for instance, was walking in the entirely incorrect direction.

"Is it this way?"

"Perhaps if this world were a sphere, it would be."

"Grrrr.... What about now?"

"You spun in a complete circle until you faced the exact same direction as before to ask that," Veeran responded.

"Now?"

"Is it me you are attempting to ask, or the winds and trees?"

"Where can I find the giant icy magical sword?"

Veeran's [Frostblade] was stuck point-first into a tree just above head level while Ride stumbled around blindfolded, attempting to discern its location. As a skill construct of its own, in addition to being the most magical item in several miles, it ought to be the easiest to locate and thereby the easiest means to aid Ride in gaining a skill of the kind she sought.

"I understand that you specialized in subskill usage," Veeran attempted to move Ride to a somewhat more productive means of thinking. It was far easier to utilize magic to gain more magic, than it was to gain magic from nothing. That was what the old mudkin had suffered with, and was these days hardly an issue whatsoever.

"Not quite," Ride responded. "Skill usage in general. Best in my class in that. Well, you know, I was in most things, but that was my favorite."

"How might you be able to use that here?"

"I am using it, to avoid falling - oof." Ride walked into a tree. She weakly continued, "I'm okay."

"Could you have utilized your skill to avoid that tree, perhaps?"

"Uhhh... maybe?"

"Speak not with words," Veeran decided to add. Being annoyingly cryptic was one of the best perks of being old, and simply because his body now claimed to be in the prime of his life didn't mean he was about to let the perks of age slip away from him.

"Don't you dare finish that statement with 'speak with your heart.' If you do, I'll - ow!"

"Whisper to the wind, allow yourself to hear its reply." What were some other sayings he might be able to utilize in this situation? 'Be one with the leaves,' perhaps? 'Be rooted to the earth, as light as a drifting leaf, and as sensitive as a drop of dew' was a good one. 'Allow the breeze to carry your thoughts?'

No, that one didn't make sense in the wrong way. It was close, but it wasn't quite there.

Ride had her hands extended out in front of her, and Veeran could hear the melody of rushing wind emanating from her palms. Ah, she was utilizing her [Leafstep] to gain sensory input, it seemed. Extending her mana sense of touch beyond herself did seem like a good step, now it was merely a question as to whether she would finally succeed.

Ride vaguely waved her hands as though she was holding a sword, drawing it with a flourish from its sheath and swishing it through the air into a guard. Veeran paid it comparatively little attention at first, until the melodies of Wood and Air began to fill the air in a resonant tune, creating something greater than the sum of their parts, and when the capstone notes of Force began to sound, Veeran couldn't help but smile.

Ride spun until she was directly facing where the sword was, strode confidently towards it, and her hand snapped straight towards its handle, which she grasped and then immediately released.

"Cold!"

Veeran laughed. "You succeeded, it would seem?"

"You cheater!" Ride pointed at him accusingly as she pulled her blindfold off, "You said you stuck it in the ground!"

"Did I, now?"

"Yes!"

"I suppose I lied, then." He couldn't actually remember precisely what he had said when he'd 'hidden' the [Frostblade], so he might have been technically telling the truth. Not that he cared much either way. "What skill?"

"I think it's called [Rustlewind]," Alyssa replied, "First I've heard of it, though. Are you familiar with it?"

"Not particularly," he answered. "Well. Miss Ride, I suppose congratulations are in order."

Ride preened for a moment, until Veeran felt she had celebrated enough, "Now, put the blindfold back on. You need practice with your skill, so you get to find your way back to First Tower with nothing but it."

"....You're joking, right?"

Veeran merely cocked his eyebrow.

"You... are joking, yes?"

"Lead on, Ranger."

"The blindfold thing was a joke, right?"

It had been. But now Veeran was curious as to whether he could get Ride to actually do it.

"Lead on," he repeated.

"As soon as you tell me it was a joke!"

It truly was fantastic, just how rejuvenating being around the younger generation was.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.