Stone Shaping is level 56!
Stone Shaping is level 57!
His own gains weren't bad, especially that level of Adamant Discord. He must have been onto something with the opposing forces.
"Sir?"
Felix turned to find an older, Human woman standing at attention only a few feet away. She was wearing a hammer at her waist and had a crude symbol stitched on the right side of her tunic. The woman hadn't snuck up on himhe'd heard her footsteps scrape clumsily across the groundbut he was surprised. The other Legionnaires were too timid to come so close.
"Yeah?"
"Captain Irina Kovalt, sir. First of Bone." She saluted with her fist to her chest, right over that embroidered symbol.
Oh, now I see it. It's a femur. Oh. Felix restrained the sigh that wanted to slip free. "How can I help you, captain?"
"Help? Sir you've more than helped already! You damn near wiped the monster horde out completely! Alone, no less." The woman was probably in her fifties, but she had the excitement of a schoolgirl as she looked out at the jagged battlefield.
"Yes, right. So you don't need anything?" he asked. He really wanted to get back to city center and finalize his preparations.
"Oh, we just wanted permission, sir."
"Permission for what?"
"To loot the bodies, sir. We've number of butchers on hand that can make use of the monsters before they go bad, and recover monster cores."
"Oh!" Felix could have slapped himself. "Yes! Do that. Send all monster cores to the Lady Haarwatch, please. There are a number of ongoing City Quests for monster cores. Make sure you all take the Quest before turning them in, though."
"Yes, sir!" Captain Kovalt saluted again and gave a series of sharp handsigns. At her signal, the Legionnaires eagerly ran forward, several with long glowing knives in hand. With a nod from Felix, the captain also went off after the nearest bird monster, gutting it in two quick movements. Their knives would stem the rot, allowing them to harvest what they needed from the corpses.
Huh, monster cores. I should have thought of that. Felix shook his head as he walked back toward the sundered Wall. Cal will need all she can get to fuel the city, and it'll get these folks some steady experience.
Felix had sensed the captain's incomplete Temper through his Voracious Eye, similar to many in the field. A few had pushed entirely through Apprentice Tier, but they felt...flimsy, somehow. He wasn't sure where the certain came from, but his Eye hadn't lied to him yet.
He'd almost made it through the Wall when a wash of aquamarine vapor announced the sudden appearance of his mentor. Zara flowed up to the Wall, riding a wave of her own power, one that gave off a steady, sparkling sound like wind chimes and soft marimba music. It faded as the wave vanished.
"Zara," Felix greeted her. "You're too late. The monster attack is all over."
The Naiad looked beyond Felix, at the Legionnaires as they picked across the battlefield and carved into the monsters nearby. She turned her ice-blue gaze on him. "You cannot coddle them forever."
"What are you talking about?" Felix asked. He felt his mood sour at the tone in her voice. "I saved their lives. Those monsters were too strong for them. Too many."
"Perhaps. But you robbed them of valuable experience, both System granted and not," she pointed out.
"They're out here because of me, Zara." Felix surveyed the sweaty, laughing soldiers. Their Spirits were jubilant, a stark difference to what he'd felt as they began their doomed charge. "I'm responsible for them."
"No you're not," Zara said with a sharp look. "They'refor the most partgrown adults. Many have been making their own decisions for decades before you arrived."
"That's not what I mean," Felix said. "If I hadn't"
"Inspired them?"
"Misled them," Felix growled. A few Legionnaires perked up at his tone and quickly moved farther away. "They're chasing after my accomplishments and they'll die because of it. I asked Cal to disband them, but she refused. I tried talking to them, to convince them to stop, but their Spirits sing when they think of protecting their town." Felix scrubbed his hands over his face. "So while I'm still here, I can at least protect them."
"Felix," Zara said, her voice softer and quieter. She put a hand on his shoulder. "They have chosen this path. All of us, them included, have to live with the consequences of our decisions. Choice and Consequences are sacred, and cannot be taken by another. Not unless we let them." She let go of his shoulder and turned back to the battlefield. "Danger abounds on the Continent. You do them no favors by protecting them from it. That is how it always has been, and always must be."
Felix frowned but didn't argue. "Maybe you're right, Zara. But just because something has always been, doesn't mean it should be."