“The real king, are you referring to Herke of Aschelund?” asked Sam.
“His presence is all over you and he is not one to make friends easily. How have you come to know him, especially dressed as you are?”
Sam wondered who this woman really was. She did have an air of danger about her, but her presence was mostly calming and it sounded like she knew the king. Still, Sam wanted to be careful not to say too much to her, just in case.
“I’m an ally to his cause,” he said.
“Is that so? That makes two of us then. I followed him into this abysmal forest to help him kill those who took the lives of his family so long ago. The only thing I fear is that the king will lose his purpose once his task his complete. You know what happens when cursed men lose their purpose don’t you?”
“They lose their Quintessence, that which makes them human.”
“Very clever of you. I would like to help the king avoid that fate, but perhaps it can’t be helped if he is to dole out his justice.”
Sam doubted that a man like King Herke would lose his purpose. As long as there were evil people around, he’d want to dole out his justice, probably until the end of time since the curse brought immortality according to the lore.
“Rondo needs to die for what he’s done. I’ll help the king mete out his justice to the fiend. Nothing else matters right now, especially events beyond our current control. I’m sure the king feels the same way.”
“Is that so?” she asked. “Hmm ... you have convinced my hesitant heart. It is for the best to help the king on his journey to find justice. Thank you stranger. I am Ji Susano.”
She smirked at Sam, looking more dubious than ever. Sam wondered why she had given him her name. Did she respect him or did she want to kill him? He tensed up when she rose up to her feet. She was a tall woman, easily over six feet, though the naginata in her hand was even taller. Its shining blade was wide, curved, and had multiple edges that looked like a flame.
“You have some of the king’s fire in you, I see, but you also have something even greater within, some greater purpose and power. For good or ill, I wish to assist you just as I have the king. I would like to give you this, the biggest piece of me that I can give.”
She extended her hand which shined with a white glow, obscuring whatever item she intended to give him. Sam took the item and got a message displayed across his HUD.
You’ve received an Ignitor.
“I am a pyromancer from the eastern lands. What I just gave you is a precious piece of my soul, a piece bathed in living flame. For us cursed with immortality, the soul and fire are intricately intertwined and can never be separate again. By sharing that with you, our fates have become intertwined just like the flames and our cursed souls. If you choose to take the flame within you and make it grow, there will be no limit to your power. This is the right of a pyromancer, one who is attuned with the true nature of cursed humanity.”
Sam opened his inventory and looked at the description for the Ignitor. In his excited haste, he passed over it several times before finally finding it.
Ignitor
Allows the use of pyromancies.
A shimmering orange and red gemstone that exudes a gentle warmth. It is to be embedded in one’s hand to grant access to the cursed flames of a human’s soul. Once embedded, it is said that it cannot be removed only extinguished. This particular flame has its origins in the eastern lands where fire is treated with reverence and is a great spectacle. The fire feels calm, but deep within there is a great and terrible power not unlike a sleeping dragon.
ATK 45
Weapon Damage 20
S ATK E = 8
D ATK F = 0
M ATK E = 12
B ATK E = 5
F RAT 100
L RAT 0
D RAT 0
P RAT 0
B RAT 0
Weight: 0
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! By equipping this, Sam could officially add Pyromancy to the list of badass skills in his repertoire. There was literally no reason to NOT do this. Learning Pyromancies had no drawbacks and had no special stat requirements to use them aside from the five spirituality points needed to learn one’s first Spellcrafte. That was what made the Prophet starting class one of the better classes to start the game with despite its poor looking stat distribution.
Sam selected the Ignitor from his equipment menu and equipped it to his left hand. Equipping it meant that he had to embed the thing into his hand. He clutched the shimmering jewel in his left hand as tight as he could. He somehow knew that he was doing the right thing. It was confirmed when the jewel began to burn his hand.
While instinct told him to drop the burning stone, his inner voice told him to hang on to it and endure the pain. The pain in his hand blazed hotter and hotter, causing tears to well in his eyes. In this moment it all felt all too real, the pain, the tears, and the promise of new power coursing through his veins.
Finally the pain began to subside and Sam slowly opened his hand. He looked at it and immediately saw the scar burned into his flesh. It was discolored, inflamed, and puckered where the jewel had entered the center of his hand. The redness of the flesh began to quickly heal itself however as he watched on.
“What the hell?” he whispered.
The scars healed almost all the way, leaving only a small circular burn mark on the back of his hand which looked more like a strange birthmark.
“It is done. You have your mark now. That piece of me will stay with you forever. Don’t misuse it,” Ji told him.
“Speaking of using it, how do I activate it?” Sam asked.
“You can only activate your Ignitor by learning a proper Pyromancy. I can teach you some of the basics ... for a price that is.”
Sam gave the woman a cynical look. He had to have a laugh at that one. He didn’t mind that she was profiting from his excitement.
“You’re a slick one Ji. What do I have to pay for these lessons?”
She gave him a smirk and began her explanation.
“I offer a basic lesson in crafting a Fireball, the easiest of the Pyromancies. That costs a mere two thousand souls. My other Pyromancy is one that is my specialty. It is the Dragon’s Breath and it is much more complex. As such I recommend you learn it when you have mastered the basics of Pyromancy.”
“You didn’t say how much it costs. How much is it?” he asked.
“This lesson is worth fifty thousand souls, but I wouldn’t yet recommend it even if you can afford it.”
Dragon’s Breath sounded like it would be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Sam didn’t have near that amount of souls at the current moment. Maybe he’d have close to enough once he defeated the next boss.
“Please teach me the Fireball Pyromancy!”
He gave up the two thousand souls required for the spell and watched as Ji stepped over to him and took his palm in her hand.
“To call forth your flame, you must summon your Ignitor. Remember, it’s a part of you now. Feel for it,” she said, her voice a whisper.
It wasn’t hard to feel the Ignitor’s power within him. It was all he had felt since he had placed the fiery orb inside his palm.
He turned his palm up and watched it glow the color of fire. A black symbol appeared in the middle of his hand. It was a perfect circle soon surrounded by dark orange rays of light in the shape of wispy flames. It looked like a symbol for an eclipse and the black spot on his hand looked like an endless void. But when he stared deeply into it, he could see something more. Deep inside, he saw the terrible power of the flames.
“Yes, that’s it. You’ve awakened that power, the power of the cursed fire. Now use it.”
Sam clenched his left hand, the source of his Pyromancy power, an act which made the flames inside of him grow hotter and wilder. All of the power built up inside of his hand then, with nowhere else to go, it burst forth up to his palm. Sam quickly used his instincts to give solid form to the wild flames, an act which managed to calm
him a little.
He opened his palm wide to accommodate all the power then condensed the flames as he closed the fingers in around it and formed it into a sphere roughly the size of a softball. Sam grinned with overbearing pride once his new Pyromancy was ready to go. He looked over at a felled tree that was nearby and threw the Fireball right at it. The orb traveled at a mild pace and once making contact with the tree, exploded spectacularly. There was nothing left of the tree once he was done.
New Pyromancy Learned, Gained Fireball.
Replace Current Skill? Yes No
He could hardly think with all the power coursing through his body and mind. He quickly chose to rid himself of the Sword Uppercut, in favor of the Fireball.
“Are you freaking serious! Woooow! That felt so good! Hahahahaha! Oh, the power! The POOOOOOOOOWEEEEERRRRRRR!”
He laughed like a madman for about a minute as he chucked Fireball after Fireball throughout the forest. Luckily it was a videogame and not real life, otherwise he’d he getting a visit from Smokey the Bear and the forest rangers for forest arson.
“You have a lot of energy don’t you? You’ll need it for what lies ahead. Now pay attention to the path ahead of me. There is good fortune there for those who choose to follow the indomitable king. Look for your fortune.”
Sam gave Ji Susano a respectful bow.
“Thank you very much, Ji. Thanks to you, I’m a lot stronger now. I’ll see you around.”
“You may not see me again, but what matters is to bring some justice to this accursed land. Remember that. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
She gave him a bow then returned to her seat under the tree. Sam followed her advice and strolled down the path she recommended. He hadn’t visited this part of the forest before because of all the Stumpies in the trees. He looked for more up above and ffound some hiding in strategic places high up. He pulled out his bow and used his last two arrows to pull two of them down. He dispatched those two and rolled under the others, one by one, to bring them down. He cleared the area of all the Stumpies he could see, before continuing down Ji’s path. Behind a tree up ahead, there was a glow. The golden light brightened as Sam came closer. Once behind the tree, Sam could now see the glowing message very well. It was a symbol of a crown and below it were the words Royal Summons. Once Sam stepped up to the symbol, his whole body was covered in the golden glow. He touched the golden crown and a message popped up in his HUD.
Will You Summon The Charitable Walker, King Herke?
Sam didn’t think his jubilation from earlier could be improved upon or that his grin could be widened any more than before. But he was wrong.
22 The Will of the Forest
Will You Summon The Charitable Walker, King Herke?
“Oh Alex, baby! You guys are magnificent assholes aren’t you? I can’t believe you hid this beautiful golden ticket to victory all the way over here, surrounded by all those annoying Stumpies. On second thought, I can believe it knowing that you all learned game design at the Troll Institute of Design and Technology. I could cry right now.”
His gaze shifted from the symbol to his nearly depleted Soul Power gauge.
“I’ll have to pass for now, king, but once I get my SP back, I’ll return. Don’t go anywhere.”
Sam returned down the path towards Ji Susano. He had a start when he saw that she wasn’t beneath the tree anymore.
“Damn, I thought you’d stay a little longer. I hope you pop up again. That Dragon’s Breath sounds like a badass Pyromancy.”
He continued on, back to Barrington’s camp. He immediately went to where King Herke had been moon gazing before, but the king wasn’t there. Sam let out a sigh.
“Doesn’t matter, I can still summon him, at least. I hope.”
He made his way back around to the Soul Beacon and sat down in front of it. The warmth from it engulfed his body and replenished his SP over time. He sat and tweaked his stats in the level-up screen. He leveled up his speed twice and finally got it to twenty-five. He put his remaining point into dexterity to up it to twenty-one. Once he was done with that, he bought more arrows, including two-hundred Wooden Arrows and one-hundred metal tipped Army Arrows, from Barrington and set off down the northern forest trail once again.
******
Sam’s heart was pounding the whole time as he again cleared his path of Stumpies and Big Mid-Boss. He didn’t want to get hit even once before going into the boss fight and he succeeded in doing just that before he made his way over to King Herke’s Charity Sign. Once at the golden glowing sign, he knelt down and put his hand on it.
Will You Summon The Charitable Walker, King Herke?
Yes No
Sam chose yes and took a step back once the sign began to glow much brighter. The golden rays from the sign cascaded outwards, blanketing everything nearby in a brief radiance. The light dimmed as it took the form of King Herke’s Walker.
The king sprouted up from the ground like a plant yearning for sunlight as he embraced his new awakening by stretching his limbs and flexing. Sam was impressed by the sight of the king in his Walker form. Herke’s eyes cast a golden glow and his whole body was surrounded in a thin golden mist that moved like fire. Sam wondered which was cooler, the King’s gold or his own crimson.
Sam gave a bow once he saw that the king was fully formed and alert. Golden Herke returned his bow with one in kind.
“Welcome back to the forest, king. How’s it feel to be a Walker?”
Golden Herke remained silent and stone faced.
“Dumb question, I suppose. Well, I’ve prepared everything for this battle. We’re going straight to the beast’s lair. Are you ready, sir?”
The king didn’t utter a word. He only stared at Sam with his golden eyes.
“So not even NPC Walkers can talk? That’s a strange design choice, but whatevs. As long as you can kick some ass like the real King Herke, that’s all that matters. Wait! Are you the real King Herke?”
It wasn’t as if the silent Walker could answer, but Sam wondered it nonetheless. It most likely was the real king, since Sam was his real self when he was a Walker. The king confirmed his question with a nod.
So you can at least understand me. That’s good, he thought.
“Now, it’s time. We’re going to crush this giant beast.”
The king couldn’t hide his excitement and pumped his fist into the air.
“Let’s go.”
Sam walked back through the forest and down the trail to the giant Soul Barrier at the cliffs. He stopped in front of it, with King Herke behind him and contemplated his victory.
Nothing would stop him now, not even a stupid glitch. He knew he wouldn’t have to worry about that though. He trusted Alex. If she said she fixed the problem, it was fixed. She hadn’t failed him yet, and it was because of her quick fixes that he was able to enjoy the game. He probably wouldn’t have even won the glitch contest without her assistance.
He tried to clear his mind before he walked through the Soul Barrier. He did a final item check and decided to remove his torch from its Quick Select slot. He put Ignition Powder in its place. He only had three of them left, so he’d make them count. He also didn’t think he’d get the chance to use his bow, so he unequipped it and lowered his equipment burden down to twenty-four percent. He figured the added quickness from a lowered burden would be more useful than the bow anyway in this fight.
Once he felt he was focused and prepared enough, he went through the mist and waited for the king to come through behind him. When he saw the king step through, he conferred his strategy with him before the monster could spawn.
“We have to run through here. Follow me and only stop when I stop.”
Golden Herke nodded. Sam ingested one of his Stim Plants and wasted no time before running forward. He stopped further ahead of where he stopped before so that the king had some room to dodge the beast’s plunging attack as well.
The beast’s attack kicked up a blanketing dust like befo
re, but Sam didn’t waste any time before attacking. He focused on the leg closest to him, thrusting at it rapidly and pausing to regain his stamina before he fatigued himself. He wondered why Herke wasn’t nearby assisting him, but he dared not take his eyes off of the opponent in front of him.
Just like before, the leg began to cast spiky wooden tendrils at Sam which he expertly dodged this time. Once he got the wooden armor on the creature’s leg to a low percentage of HP, he moved on to the next leg. His strategy was simple this time. Damage each leg as much as could before breaking it. That way he’d have an easier time breaking them once the creature sped up.
As he ran, he briefly glanced over to his left and saw King Herke at the rear right leg of the beast, hacking it to pieces with his tremendous greatsword. Unfortunately for Sam, the King had hacked the armor restricting the creature’s movements right off and now it moved faster thanks to its free limb. It managed to catch the king with one of its stomps and took down a nice chunk of his health, about a sixth of it. The king was also knocked to the ground.
“Damn it!”
Sam was caught in a bind now. He wanted to continue with his strategy, but if he did then there was a chance that the king would be vanquished in the meantime. He made up his mind there and ran over to defend the king.
He landed a flurry of stabs on the beast’s exposed leg before he was forced to dodge one of its stomps. The king was now up and managed to dodge as well. They both recovered and attacked it in tandem, Sam with his quick thrusts and the king with his powerful slashes. They crushed the limb in no time, sending blood flying everywhere when it exploded. Sam quickly moved on to the next part of his strategy.
“Leave the wooden armor on each leg, in critical health,” Sam ordered.
The king didn’t seem to comprehend what Sam was telling him and attacked the same as he did before. Sam couldn’t figure out what got lost in translation.
“Fuck it! We’ll just have to take this one limb at a time.”