Risha Chapter 37

Risha walked through the darkness, the eyes of her people watching her from the moonlight that was their only illumination. Fire would alert the enemy to their position and ruin their night vision, so Glo had forbidden their people from using it.

She arrived at the temporary command tent, and stepped inside. Her eyes took only a second to adjust to the complete darkness. 

Glo and Klu stood around a makeshift map, speaking in hushed whispers. They looked up, taking a moment to identify Risha. A single beam of moonlight illuminated the table, showing a map of the area.

Risha walked closer to the two creatures. 

“Grand Mother, what brings you here?” Glo asked.

“The system has granted me another skill.” Risha spoke in a quiet tone, not wanting to disturb the silence of the night. “I wish to test it on both of you.” 

Klu looked to Glo, then motioned with his head for the goblin to go first.

“I would be honored, Grand Mother.” Glo bowed his head.

Risha nodded, then reached forward and gently touched Glo’s chest. She wasn’t exactly sure how the skill was supposed to work, but this seemed right.

[Mother’s Spiritual Advancement]

Her skill activated and the mana within her writhed. It shot through her, leaving her hand in a bright purple light and entering her general. It traveled into Glo, making all of his veins glow. His head snapped back, his eyes going wide as something deep inside him was changed.

The world shifted as a presence beyond reality fixed its eyes on the small tent. The world unraveled, then reasserted itself as Risha and Glo were examined by the mysterious force. 

Risha felt a vague sense of approval, then the presence disappeared.

Risha collapsed, only for Glo to catch her. The glow inside him slowly faded as he gently leaned her against the leg of the table. 

Risha breathed heavily, having some trouble focusing. Her mana was completely empty, and a system message patiently waited for her attention.

She looked at it, curious.

Spirit Evolutions Granted: 1/5 (34/38)

The skill hadn’t mentioned a limit when she gained it, but it looked like she’d want to choose carefully who gained it next. Thirty four out of thirty eight. That was very specific, and Risha noticed how the number matched the number of her spiderlings plus Glo exactly. 

“Risha?” Glo kneeled down next to her, while Klu looked on worriedly. “Are you alright?”

“I might have to wait to use it on you, Klu,” Risha said, her brain moving slower than it should. “It took all of my energy from me.”

“It was… something to watch,” Klu said. He shared a look with Glo. Glo then turned to read something the others in the room couldn’t see.

“I evolved,” Glo said.

Klu was good at hiding his emotions, but Risha saw the shock that went through him. 

“What did you evolve into?” Risha looked up at the goblin who was still distracted by the screens in front of him.

“Spirit Goblin Commander,” Glo answered, “I gained an ability called [Spirit Mist],” then reading the screen in front of him, he continues, “You can control the element of your Grand Mother, Spirit.” 

He held up his hand, and purple mist gathered to his fingers, looking so much like the red mist that Klu wielded. 

Risha watched it in awe, something about the mist calling to her in a way that she couldn’t quite describe. It spoke to her in whispers, like a friend that she’d known ever since she was a child. 

She held up her own hand, reaching towards the mist, but it couldn’t hear her. Some kind of barrier stopped it from joining her, no matter how much she knew it wished to. She lowered her hand, and stared at her hand, wondering why her own element couldn’t hear her. 

Glo stopped his magic, and the purple mist disappeared into the air.

Risha looked up sharply when she felt a hand on top of her head. Glo looked at her with the care of a brother and a friend. 

He sat down next to her, and patted the top of her head. “It is yours. It’ll come to you soon.” 

Risha nodded, but couldn’t help the sadness that filled her when she thought about the strange purple mist that called to her.

Klu shifted, and Risha looked at him. He was deep in thought, his gaze far from the small tent they were in.

“Klu,” Risha said, drawing his attention back to them. “It looks like your red mist.” 

The orc nodded, “It is the same, except mine lacks the touch of the Grand Mother.” He looked at Glo, “Do you hear them speak to you? The spirits?”

Glo shook his head, “I can sense something from the mist. But I didn’t hear anything.” 

Klu let out a breath, “Good-” 

“I heard them,” Risha said, drawing their attention to her. “They wanted to speak with me.” 

Klu looked at her long and hard, then let out a small smile, “I should’ve known. Risha, you would’ve made a strong Mystic.”

“It was offered to me,” Risha said, “The system offered me the evolution of Orc Mystic before I refused it.” 

Klu laughed quietly, not wanting to make too much noise in the night, “You would’ve been terrifying. I will teach you how to listen, when you are ready, Grand Mother. Their voices can be…” his face darkened as he paused for a long moment. “Strong.” 

Risha smiled, looking forward to being able to hear the spirits again.

They spoke for a while longer before Risha felt ready to move again. Glo helped her up, and lead her towards her tent.

She fell into her bedroll, and her spiderlings cuddled her to a fast sleep.

***

Glo stood with Klu, looking over the forest from the top of a small cliff, maybe ten meters above the path below them. Through the trees, orcs and warbeasts approached, thinking to surprise the Grand Mother’s forces near the stream. 

Glo held up his hand, feeling the spirit mist as it moved through him. He still didn’t hear anything, but he could sense the power within the mist, seeking to fill him and guide him.

“It is a great gift.” Klu’s quiet voice made Glo turn to him.

Klu watched the High Goblin with unreadable eyes. Glo looked back at the orc warily. The way the mystic watched him had changed since Risha had granted him this power. It was with a respect, and caution that the orc hadn’t shown before. Now, Klu saw him as a potential danger. 

It annoyed Glo.

Glo had been a danger before this power, even if he was lower level than the orc. 

“I would suggest that you do not use the spirits outside of yourself,” Klu said, breaking Glo out of his thoughts. “You come from a martial path, and even the greatest of shamans are cautious when they gain the power of a mystic. The spirits work much better from within, where you have the most control.”

Glo might be wary of the orc, but he trusted his words all the same. 

The mist entered him, the purple glow spreading through his veins. Power filled him, and Glo knew that the power was his. 

Glo smiled, then turned to the approaching orc party as they walked through the road beneath him. He held out his hand, and a goblin lieutenant handed him his spear. 

The spirit flowed through him into his spear. 

He looked back to the orcs below him, his smile turning sharp. He raised his spear, and through the trees, monsters pulled back bow strings. 

He lowered his spear, and arrows flew. Then traps sprung, and giant spiders fell out of the trees, the most notable being a large black spider with an hour glass on her back. 

Glo smiled, then filled with a strange confidence, he jumped from the cliff. 

He drew back his spear as he fell, channeling the power of the spirits through his entire body. 

The orcs below him looked up, but they were too late. Glo stabbed down with his power, and a whirlwind of cutting spirit spread out around him, knocking up dust and blood. 

The dust cleared to reveal him on top of a dead orc, his spear pierced through its head. 

He looked up with a sharp smile, ready to draw more blood. 

***

Risha held her sword out in front of her with her eyes closed. 

She stepped forward, her arm going through the motion of her swordsmanship with a precise sharpness that bellied the ferocity of her style. 

Small imperfections were corrected without thinking as she gained insight into the movement. 

Another step, followed by an upward swing that cut through the air slowly, every movement controlled to make the strike as perfect as possible. 

This continued for more minutes.

Shouts and screams reached her from the distance as Glo led their army through another battle. Risha paused, and opened her eyes, looking into the distance where she knew they were fighting. 

The spiderlings in her cloak were still, sensing the blood in the air the same way that she did. Nearby, two of her spiderlings rested in the trees, large and intimidating. They’d taken to guarding her more closely after the exhaustion that came with her new ability.

That was also why she rested here, instead of fighting with her people against the forces of the enemy.

“Grand Mother.” 

RIsha stared into the distance for another moment before turning to the kobold who called to her. 

Leaf-Watcher stood tall next to Talo and Aliya the vine-child at the edge of the small clearing Risha practiced in.

Risha sheathed her sword, and waved them closer.

The three made their way into the clearing. 

“What brings you here?” Risha grabbed a nearby piece of cloth and wiped down her arms. They’d gotten sweaty from the practice and the rising sun. 

Talo bowed his head, “Aliya wished, see you.” 

Risha looked down at the small vine-child, who hid behind her mysterious guardian. 

“Hello, Aliya.” Risha spotted the dagger she’d given the girl. It was tied around her waist. That made Risha smile.

Aliya waved, but stayed quiet. Her grip tightened on the leg of the man. 

“What brings you here?” Risha asked.

Aliya gulped, then said a single word, immediately putting Risha on edge. 

“Danger.”

Risha’s eyes sharpened and Leaf-Watcher’s ears folded back as the kobold sniffed the air. 

Risha turned to the kobold, waiting for her more advanced senses. The clearing was silent except for the distant sounds of fighting. 

Leaf-Watcher’s lips pulled back in a silent growl. “It’s faint, but there’s an unfamiliar scent in the air. Not orc, or one of ours.” She glanced at Talo, “It smells like you, but different.”  

Without prompting, the spiderlings all over Risha’s body skittered down her cloak and into the surrounding areas. They spread webs, invisible to the eye, and not meant for capturing, but instead making a net for detecting anything in the area. Then they hid.

“How many scents?”

A long silence, “Three, maybe more…” The wind stopped, and Leaf-Watcher’s chest rumbled in anger, “They’re gone.” 

Risha placed her hand on her sword, “how many warriors do we have near?” 

“There’s a small unit close,” Leaf-Watcher answered, “They’re watching the flank for Glo.”

Clicking came from the west, her child’s words translating for Risha. “Someone passed through my web. I can’t see them, but I feel their rhythm in the ground. There’s five.” 

Risha didn’t turn towards the opponents, not wanting to alert whatever it was. Instead she closed her eyes, trusting in her sharp ears. 

A soft whoosh was all the warning she had, but her tensed muscles were ready. She ducked, something brushing her hair as she rolled towards the kobold and landed on her feet.  

Her eyes focused on the distance, strands of cut hair drifting through the air where she’d been standing. 

Darkness spread through the trees, a blade of black seeping back into the unnatural shadows. Risha caught sight of the figure wielding the blade in the darkness. It was only for a moment, but a moment was all she needed as [Hunter] activated. She could follow the single figure moving through black. 

Risha had not forgotten the number her child had said. Whoever this was, it was not the only creature in the darkness.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw as Talo reached up to the wrappings around his face. Slowly, he loosed them, a silver energy extending around him and clashing with the shadows of the enemy. The energy held the shadows back, but didn’t reveal whoever it was that attacked them. 

Talo’s cloth wrapped around his arms, the last of it hanging towards the forest floor.

Risha drew her sword, while Leaf-Watcher stepped in front of the vine-child and her protector. Her spiderlings waited in the trees, ready to join in the fight.

As soon as they could see the enemy that is.