NOVEL WEB Interlude 1: The Orphan
Floating mountains loomed behind the treetops. Not a few hills but imposing mountains. Their peaks pierced the sky and disappeared in the clouds. Vertiginous icy cliffs prevented an easy ascent. Could one only cross them? Gabrielle, in spite of squinting her eyes, did not see the end of the mountain archipelago. She could only see peaks, culminating higher and higher. The eternal snows were beautiful from far away. The girl knew the frost was lethal, but the most beautiful roses had thorns to protect them. Gabrielle smiled at the beauty of nature. She felt so small beside it. Small but hopeful.
Behind her, under the hill, was the temporary camp of her clan. The Gaeserts were a nomadic clan. They had stopped for the week and would be leaving again soon. Gabrielle had finished collecting some flowers for the clan's apothecary and healer. After a last look toward the majestic mountains, she headed for the camp.
As she reached the bottom of the hill, she nodded to Gael. The teenager would soon be sixteen. He was already old enough to be given adult tasks. Tasks that no one wanted to do, such as unnecessarily standing guard at the clan entrance. According to the apothecary, it was a way to keep the young people busy, train them, and make them work for the clan's benefit. The boy returned her greeting before looking back at the horizon with a confident pose and a superior air. Silly, as if you could stop any threat the Shaman might have missed.
Gabrielle liked Gael. He thought he was a great warrior while he hadn't hunted anything fiercer than a spider, but at least he tried to act like an adult. He focused on the clan's survival, not stupid children's quarrels. Not like some people. As if called by her thought, a burst of voice resounded in the direction of the women's tents. Gabrielle had a bad presentiment and hurried.
.
Behind Cerdà's tent, a small crowd had gathered. The cook must have gone hunting. Otherwise, none of the children present would have dared to raise their voices. Being a hunter meant being able to venture outside the camp alone and face monsters. Only the best warriors could become hunters. Cerdà was the best hunter in the clan. Respected by all, the Shaman and the Chief listened to her advice carefully.
But when the cat's away, the mice will play. If only they would play...
"What's going on here?" she asked one of the boys. The little one gasped before turning back to her.
"Oh Gabrielle, it's just you! You scared me to death! I thought Cerdà or another cook had come home from the meeting. Oh, as you can see, nothing special is going on. Just another fight between Broli and Agata. Broli is going to celebrate his sixteenth birthday, and the ceremony will take place tomorrow night. He wants to know who is the best warrior before that. That's stupid if you ask me."
"Of course, it's stupid. Broli will be a defender. If he still hasn't figured out that attacking Agata was useless, he'll end up developing the wrong skills. Agata is just as stupid for agreeing. Broli is an idiot, but she is not. She should have refused the fight."
"Honor..."
"What honor can you gain against your own clan? What honor can one lose when one is a child who has none? No one listens to the Shaman..."
Gabrielle stepped forward. In the center of a circle of children was a young boy bleeding profusely while wearing a gigantic smile. Opposite him was a young girl, breathless but intact. Constitution and Vitality versus Agility and Perception. A mistake from Agata would be enough to guarantee Broli's victory, but Gaeserts don't make mistakes. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here.
The confrontation had already been played a hundred times last year. Broli never let more than three days go by before provoking Agata. The young woman was the best among the girls, but Gabrielle suspected Broli had other interests in provoking her. In his defense, he was surely not aware of it himself!
Whatever the reasons, the results were always the same. Agata won. With difficulty, she always took longer, but she won. The girl had to be three times faster at running than he was, and she was accelerating five times more quickly. Broli would have had every chance to win in a confined space, but not outdoors. Both youngsters had the same strength, but Agata's agility turned that strength into speed. Broli's constitution allowed him to use his strength to increase his power. Broli would win an arm wrestle a hundred times, and Agata would escape that same arm wrestle a hundred times. But if Broli had been able to use a submission technique, the girl would never have been able to break free.
Agata was not stupid and would never have accepted a fight under unfavorable conditions. It was even a clan rule. When you can't win, run away. It was the rule that had allowed the Gaesert to survive in Elysium. The clan members were wise enough to know they were weak.
Agata's POV
Agata lowered her arm and accelerated sharply. [Flash] allowed her to move quickly by increasing her resource consumption tenfold. She would lose all her stamina in about twenty seconds. But that's more than enough to beat this idiot. At higher ranks, the skill allowed her to break the sound barrier, but the girl wasn't there. Not yet.
Broli raised his shield to block the attack, but Agata had no intention of attacking a shield. [Shadow Stalking]. Broli's shadow turned into a dark pool, and Agata jumped out from it. She was now behind him. Her arm unfolded like a spring. Her whole body worked in harmony to maximize her power. The girl was a genius who had reached the Micro two years earlier. At this level, the mind perfectly understands the body, and the coordination between the two is perfect. Agata had total control of her body and could use all her muscles to increase the efficiency of her movements. Her stroke was swift, and Broli's back still faced her. I've got him.
"[Omni Parade]"
Agata scrunched up her nose. This idiot still hasn't learned to internalize the activation of his skills. The girl spun around, taking advantage of her momentum, and tilted her body. Rather than her hand, her foot hit the ethereal shield materialized by the young man. He was still turned, but his skill allowed him to protect himself in 360°.
Taking advantage of her support on the shield, Agata jumped towards the ground. As soon as her first hand hit the ground, the girl pivoted in a sweeping kick to try to knock her opponent down.
"[Strengthening], [Rooted]"
Broli's body was now as hard as a diamond, and she wouldn't be able to move him. Shit, if our shins touch, I will smash into him.
[Vectorization - Epic]. One of the secret techniques of female hunters. Agata's leg instantly changed direction. [Flash], [Reinforcement]. Reactivating the skill, while still under its effect, increased her stamina consumption a hundred times. She could only maintain the double acceleration for half a second. But if she hit him, the fight would end. The girl knew she would barely have the strength to stand afterward, but the power of her blow could have destroyed the trunk of a hundred-year-old oak. Broli wasn't that durable.
Agata's foot struck the young man's torso as it passed under the shield, almost breaking the sound barrier. Broli flew about ten meters and nearly crushed a few children who had not moved far enough away. The girl did not pursue her opponent. One, two, thr... Before she finished her countdown, Broli started to get up. No way?!
The boy struggled to his feet. He smiled. "I finally managed to learn [Man of Steel]! And I activated it without even speaking!" Broli found it in his heart to laugh.
What an idiot. He must have passed 300 points in Constitution. I have no energy left, but if he's still standing, I will fight!
Agata clenched her fist and focused on her legs. She could barely feel them, but she needed them to move forward. I'm coming!
"That's enough! Agata, I don't have an unlimited supply of bandages and remedies. If you don't want to spend the night making potions with me and the healer, go wash up. You Broli, go away. These are the women's tents, and if your ceremony is tomorrow night, then you don't belong here anymore. You're not a child anymore? Then act like a man. Cerdà doesn't have much patience with idiots, I remember."
Agata and Broli stared at each other for seconds before lowering their weapons. A wooden shield for Broli and a fork for Agata. As he opened his mouth, she cut him off. She needed to prove her speed in all things and especially the most ridiculous. Gabrielle had seen her choke once while eating her fish, bones included, to finish the meal first.
"Don't look down on us Gabrielle. You're only fourteen, and you'll never be a hunter! Broli will soon be a man, and after the ceremony, this kind of fighting will not be allowed for years. But if you must know, no one will blame Broli. He came to confront me so he could propose to me."
As the assembly of children exclaimed, Agata turned to Broli. "You are strong. I don't intend to be the wife of a weak man. But the men are stronger than you. If you catch up with them, and I still can't beat you in two years, then... Then I will accept!"
The girl's cheeks were now flushed, and she walked away toward the training ground. Broli smiled stupidly. Gabrielle walked up to him.
"Congratulations Broli-diot. Agata takes her words seriously, and silly as you are, you'll forget about losing this bet. Come with me, I'll clean your wounds."
The boy turned to her and then looked at his lacerated body. The adrenaline of the combat, followed by the declaration, had prevented him from feeling his wounds. But nothing pushed the pain back indefinitely, and Gabrielle saw his jaw tightening. He shook his head.
"No, I'm going to practice. Agata will not stop, and I don't want to fall behind!"
Whereas the boy was about to turn the heels to set out again to be beaten on - or all other stupid techniques used by the men to harden themselves - Gabrielle caught his arm.
"You're not going anywhere. You're injured, and you'll lose weeks of training if it gets infected. Also, don't forget that I need experience as an apprentice healer. Healing you is helping the clan."
Despite the shaky rhetoric of her statement, Broli was convinced. All she had to do was say "for the clan," and most warriors would obey. Their simple devotion was not precisely to Gabrielle's displeasure. The honesty of the Gaeserts was refreshing. The opposite of the Snaherts, for example.
During the last meeting of the clans, Gabrielle had been able to speak with one of them. She had exchanged all her savings for a gemstone that was supposed to heal any Tiers 0 who was not dead. The stone had done nothing to help one of the warriors who had been disembowelled. Mama Apo - the healer - was absent at the time, and Gabrielle had watched him die before her, his eyes filled with hope. She had betrayed that hope. I won't betray any hope anymore. Starting with you, Broli.
Once in the healer's tent, Gabrielle began to apply an ointment to the boy's wounds. Despite the pain, the boy complied obediently. When the healer spoke, the others listened. Her words saved lives. Her words could kill… Although Gabrielle was still an apprentice, she already had the apothecary's authoritative tone. The voice the old healer used when she ordered three hundred kilogram behemoths to lie down and grit their teeth.
As the girl applied a bandage to the deeper wounds, she asked Broli why the adults were not there. Gael shouldn't have been alone guarding the entrance, and the fight shouldn't have gone on for so long before being interrupted. But the young man would not have sold his father's secrets easily. Sorry, Broli...
"Broli... Your father is the Chief of the clan. Even though you're not an adult yet, you must know about it, right? The other kids don't know, so they don't have to worry, but you being so brave, your dad must have told you too, right?"
The young man fiddled with his bandages, and Gabrielle had to put a slight blow on his hand to calm him.
"Oh? Sorry. Your ointments are working. I feel almost healed already!" the boy exclaimed.
"Thanks Broli, I made them myself. A new and effective recipe for the Tiers 0s. Even Mama Apo congratulated me on it. But forget what I just said. You don't need to know about it, it's a warrior topic..."
"What?! But of course I know! Father didn't tell me, but I heard it anyway. A new portal has opened, and Champions are coming. The fiercest beasts are being repelled by the Concepts for now. The System does not want Champions to die instantly. Father and the Shaman want us to migrate to settle near the portal. The first clan there will have a great advantage, resources will be plentiful, and no monster will be powerful enough to decimate our warriors. For a year, we will be safe from extinction!"
A portal?! Champions of civilizations arriving in Elysium?! Given enough time, these champions would become unstoppable. The founder of their clan was one of these champions himself.
"But we shouldn't be the only clan that knows about it, right?"
Broli looked down. "No, according to the Shaman, at least two other clans know about it. The Aelbes and the Snaherts..."
Gabrielle thought aloud.
"The Aelbes are powerful. More so than us. But they are full of honor. They will not drive us out, and one portal can support two clans. But three... The Snaherts are unworthy. I have no desire to have them as neighbors."
"Neither did Father, but the Shaman says we have no choice. The portal is pushing back too many monsters, and the territories are turned upside down. I hear a horde is coming. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of monsters may pass through here in a few days. If we stay here, we will die. All the hunters are now looking for a safe path to the portal. Some have already seen Snaherts scouts and hunters. Father wants to travel with them to fight the fiercest beasts together. But the apothecary does not want it."
The boy's gaze dropped, and he murmured the last words. "Because of you..."
Gabrielle looked up. "Because of me?"
Broli stood up hurriedly. "Gotta go, see you later Gabrielle!" The girl grabbed his arm and squeezed one of his meridians, spreading her aether in the boy's body.
"[Restraint]"
The technique was used by Mama Apo to immobilize warriors driven mad by pain. Broli fell to the ground. Gabrielle didn't even think that a clan healer had to swear never to hurt a clan warrior. Their art was healing.
"What did you mean, Broli? Why because of me?.." The girl's voice became more and more inaudible as she spoke, but the boy heard.
"I... It's not my place to tell you that Gab'. Ask Mama Apo."
"I have been asking for ten years. Ten years without an answer. Ten years of postponing the news. "Wait until you are ten years old Gabrielle", "Ask me again when you know how to prepare an ointment by yourself", "Wait until you are an adult my dear". Mama Apo is lovely to me, and she wants to protect me. But even though I will never be a warrior like Agata, I have the right to know. Even though I will be a healer, I have the right to revenge. My parents are dead, and the poison has been eating away at me for ten years. Stop being a coward Broli. Stop thinking you know better than me what I need to know. If your father and Agata were killed, you would want to know the truth. So be a warrior and tell me the truth. Lying does not sit well with us Gaeserts."
The boy looked at the girl for a long time. He finally got up, despite the technique of Gabrielle.
"Be careful, I was only immobilized for about ten seconds. It's not my place to tell you, but I have no reason to hide it. It's the Snaherts. I don't know who, I don't know why, but they killed your parents and marked you."
Gabrielle lowered her head. She had always known it deep down. All the clan hated the Snaherts, but nobody spoke about them when she was close. She rolled up her left sleeve. On her forearm, a large black scar pulsed. The other kids thought it was disgusting, and so did she. She had even considered cutting off her arm, but her mother had sacrificed herself to save her from the poison. Immune, it would take years for her body to eliminate the poison. Her [Poison Resistance] had been improving for ten years and had already evolved.
When she looked up a few minutes later, Broli had long since disappeared.
On Gabrielle's left stood the women. The Gaeserts were an equal clan. Warriors and hunters were of equal strength but had different specialties. Some protected with their Constitution and Vitality, and others attacked with Agility, speed, and precision. It was only by working together that they were able to cross the islands of Elysium. But tonight, it was the men who were concerned by the ceremony. Gabrielle saw Mama Apo talking with Cerdà. The old healer did not want to travel with the enemies of her clan. This was understandable because a healer had to help every clan. Healing the Snaherts, the ones who killed her first apprentice, was unthinkable for her. Furthermore, the Snaherts specialized in venom, a discipline known to the healers. "Poison or potion, only the dosage changes," Mama Apo said.
Agata was behind the two women, busy stuffing herself with meat under the exasperated gaze of her brother Gaël. On the right rose the men's tents, and Gabrielle ventured there. She found Broli alone, meditating.
"Hey. Sorry about yesterday. I was... in shock. But thanks for telling me all that. I wanted to make it up to you. Do you need anything? I have alcohol if you want..."
The boy opened his eyes and began to laugh. He calmed down before answering.
"Funny, I would have said yes to you on any other occasion, but not tonight. Tonight I'm becoming an adult. I know I'm not the smartest man, but I can at least be the bravest. I don't want alcohol. I want to face my fate proudly."
Gabrielle nodded her head.
"That's brave. Are you scared? They're going to merge you with a Tier 3 core. You won't be quite the same after that."
"It's true. It's funny to think that, but I'm not afraid. All men go through this, and only the weakest die or change. I'll probably grow hair everywhere, my bones will thicken, and my nose will flatten, but... I'll get the strength to protect the clan. You too, Gab'."
What is this idiot saying?
"Ahah, don't look at me like that," laughed Broli. "You heard me right. You're the smartest girl in the clan, but you still have much to learn. In the meantime, let me protect you. With me and Agata, the clan will grow stronger. You... you will know what to do with our strength. I trust you. Mama Apo stands back from decisions, but if I were Chief, I would listen to you."
"... Thank you Broli. I appreciate it. It was you I came to comfort originally, but I see you don't necessarily need it. I feel like you've grown up a lot lately, and I'm not that far ahead of you anymore. I won't be able to make fun of Broli-diot soon!"
"Ahah, I think I'm still an idiot Gab'. But you make me feel better, you know? Being a protector, that's what I want. I need people to protect, and cheering you up helps me. Sometimes helping others is how you help yourself..."
Gabrielle was stunned. Broli had to have doubled his intellectual capacity during the night to hold such profound and coherent words. The drums began to beat, and the young man stood up. It was his moment.
"Oh, and thanks for yesterday. The ointment... I've seen your scars, you know? I know you inflict wounds on yourself to better learn to heal. To better heal us. You're not the only one who wants to make the clan powerful. You can count on us Gab'. We are the Gaeserts. Your revenge is my revenge. The Snaherts will pay."
With these words, the young man disappeared. The girl smiled because he was right. She was a Gaeserts. She was sacrificing herself for them, and they were sacrificing themselves for her.