Soul of the Warrior

Reivyn watched the grass and trees bend in lines as the wind blew across them. The scenery of the grasslands and forests was exceptionally beautiful to Reivyn after months of the orange-brown desert. There had been the occasional greenery in the desert of Drallo, but it had been few and far between. Not only was the seat of the Wispan Empire exceptionally colorful, filled with the green of the trees and grass, but also the various shades of flowers littered across the landscape. It practically exploded.

The Mana density was rich, and even though Reivyn had grown accustomed to it, the visual impact still remained. Every which way he turned his head, the world glowed in his Sight. He didn't even have to activate his Mana Sight Skill in order to tell that the flora was drowning in Mana, but when he did, it took a moment of concentration, even with his Skill Level of 51, to be able to parse all of the information.

The column of soldiers extended forward and backward for miles from Reivyn's position in the center. The troops never relaxed their posture, nor did they devolve into small talk while Marching. Reivyn had wondered if it was the strict discipline of the officers or the soldiers themselves until he saw the eyes of a young boy who had stood out of the way to let them pass with his family. The only way Reivyn could describe the look in his eye was awe.

These soldiers are proud to be in the Imperial Army, Reivyn thought. It's not just that they have good discipline. They would berate themselves if they tarnished their reputation in any way.

There was a major difference between a local militia, a Lord's Retinue, and a standing Imperial Army. Reivyn had seen the disdain in some people's eyes when it came to local militias, and the Lord's Retinue had garnered mostly indifference except for after the Dungeon Break.

The Imperial Army was loved by the citizens of Wispan, and it was an accomplishment to get a position in its ranks.

The journey towards the capital continued for several weeks, and Reivyn had learned that at the pace they were traveling, it would take about a month in a half from the border to the city. The Region of Wispan was considerably larger than even Drallo, and that Region had been nearly double the size of Garoq.

Reivyn kept an eye out on the passing landscape, and one day, off in the distance, he noticed a majestic mountain top among a long mountain range. It pierced into the sky, and it was topped with eternal snow. The climate they had experienced up to this point had been fairly temperate, between spring and summer, with the occasional rain shower. It had been a long time since Reivyn had experienced snow, and seeing the huge mountain brought an idea to his mind.

"So, is there any reason we have to stay with the army?" Reivyn turned to Kefira and asked.

"Not really," Kefira answered. "We've just been going with them to be polite to my brother. We're both headed to the same destination, and it doesn't matter if we get there together or not. Why?"

Reivyn nodded his head to the mountaintop on the horizon.

"Sightseeing," he simply said.

"Sightseeing?" Kefira cocked an eyebrow. "You want to go climb The Dagger to 'sightsee?'"

"The Dagger?" It was Reivyn's turn to quirk an eyebrow.

"The Sword Peaks were already taken," Kefira shrugged. "Plus it's much shorter. That being said, it's a famous mountain in Wispan. The name comes more from how difficult it is to climb than it does from any resemblance of a dagger, though it does kind of look like one. The cliffs are smooth as glass, and there are several points where the edges could cut someone with a thousand Vitality."

"Oooh, now I'm even more interested. Have you ever climbed it?"

"Nope. Never really cared to."

"Seriously? Kefira," Reivyn gave her a deadpan stare, "this is the perfect opportunity for you. Not only will you gain some Life Experience, but you can work on your Space Magic, as well.

"Think about it. If there are places that we can't easily traverse, you can jump up above us and set a rope in place for us," he gestured to himself and Sera, obviously not leaving her out of the equation. "Then, once we get to the top, you can really try something new."

Reivyn paused and wiggled his eyes at Kefira. She frowned, not quite getting what he could be hinting at. Reivyn rolled his eyes.

"How far can you jump right now?"

"Several hundred yards," Kefira answered after thinking about it for a moment. "A bigger limitation on my ability is being able to see.. Oh!"

"Exactly!" Reivyn nodded, a smug smile on his face. "And not only that, we've been getting further and further into the deep parts of Space Magic. I wonder how being able to go deeper into the void tunnel will affect your jump ability. How far do you think we could see from the summit?"

"We could see half the Region," Kefira said, a thoughtful look on her face. "I doubt I could jump that far, even with the increase in my Affinity and ability to go deeper, but that's definitely something to consider."

"And, if you can jump even a fraction of how far you can see from up there, we might not even lose any time! Though, you will have to practice your ability to take more than one person with you."

"What about the horses?" Kefira threw a wrench in Reivyn's idea.

"We trade these ones out for a few of the weaker ones, and then we can sell them to a farmer or something once we get close."

"You want to sell an Imperial Warhorse to a farmer?" Kefira gave an incredulous look.

"Or the militia," Reivyn said defensively. "What matters is that we take the ones that are likely to be rotated out of duty the soonest, and then we can get rid of them humanely. Don't forget you might not be able to jump super far, and we might have to descend the mountain to retrieve the horses, anyway."

Kefira nodded her head before she looked Reivyn up and down, a considering look on her face.

"Is that really the motivation for your spontaneous journey idea, or do you just want to get away from my brother and his army?"

"You wound me," Reivyn held his hand to his chest in mock outrage. "I feel that your brother and I have developed some form of friendship over the past weeks."

"Be honest," Kefira leaned in close and whispered, "you want to get me alone to do naughty things."

Kefira giggled as Reivyn's face turned beet red. It was usually him that caused Kefira to blush with his teasing, but she definitely got the best of him this time with the unexpected comment. Reivyn sat straight in his saddle and cleared his throat.

"While I'll never deny such a charge, in this context, it hadn't entered my mind... yet. It's there, now, though. Thanks for that."

Kefira pursed her lips into a kiss and winked.

"Welcome!"

"Seriously, though. I really just wanted to get out and explore a little. Fringe benefits aside, I think it would be fun."

"Well, I haven't explained all of the danger, yet," Kefira said. "Not only is it nearly impossible to scale unless you have a Class for it or a really high Climbing Skill, but we would also have to dodge the Ice Trolls that live near the top. They're low-Tier 5." Kefira gave him a pointed look.

Reivyn stared back at her for a few seconds.

"I'm waiting for the part that's supposed to make it 'not fun,'" he replied.

"They're nearly immune to magic, they're super fast and strong, they're smart, and they have ridiculous regeneration. They're harder to kill than many of the higher Level Tier 5 monsters you could find in the Region. To finish it off, they're not solitary creatures. If you run into one, you run into four or five at a time."

"Hmm," Reivyn stroked his chin in thought. "That does sound like it has the minor possibility of not being fun, some of the time." Reivyn tapped his chin in consideration for a moment. "Well, if you practice your ability to be able to jump with both Sera and me at the same time, it shouldn't be too big of a problem. I don't imagine we'll run into any of them on the face of the cliffs leading up."

"No, for the cliff face, we have to worry about the Blue Wyverns," Kefira mentioned matter-of-factually. "They're not nearly as dangerous as the Ice Trolls, and they're only high Tier 4, but they're still dangerous for climbers."

"Are they nearly immune to magic?"

"Not that I'm aware."

"Then it shouldn't be a problem for us. A little gust of wind, maybe some exploding rocks, and they're taken care of. I can see how they'd be a problem for Martial Classers that haven't gained the ability to use their Mana at range after reaching Tier 4, but we're powerful Casters. Shouldn't be a problem."

Reivyn glanced at Sera quietly listening to the side and frowned.

"That being said, I've never asked before because it hasn't really been an issue or anything, but can Sera use her Mana?"

Sera glanced at Reivyn for a moment before simply nodding.

"You can tell him if you want," Kefira said to her friend.

"I'm proficient with Water, Ice, Cold, and Freezing Affinities," Sera explained.

She held her hand out, palm up, and a ball of Ice coalesced above her hand. She only held it for a second before letting it dissipate, and she returned to stoically riding forward.

"She doesn't have a Class associated with it, yet, but she's probably going to go that way for her Tier 4 Class," Kefira said. "She's been working hard on it for some time now."

"Awesome," Reivyn nodded his head, giving Sera a thumbs up. She snorted at the gesture. Reivyn simply grinned.

"In that case, we're all able to use offensive Spells to some degree or another, and we have the ability to avoid the trolls if we run into any. I don't see a problem."

"When you put it that way... Alright, I'll go tell my brother."

The trio cantered along on horseback through the open fields. The distance to the mountain range where The Dagger was located was deceptively far. The mountains towered over the one the Revenant Dungeon had been a part of, though that one supposedly continued for thousands of miles, spanning several different higher Tier Regions, eventually. The Dagger itself was an obelisk climbing the sky.

The view was breathtaking, though, and it only got more awe-inspiring the closer they got. The mountains grew taller and taller the further they traveled.

There hadn't been a nearby highway for the three to take, so they had simply cut across the open fields and forests. There was the occasional road to move along, and even so far from centers of civilization, they had been paved and well maintained. It was just another example of the difference between a Tier 1 Region and a Tier 4.

The villages dotting the landscape had been prosperous relative to what Reivyn was used to, and he could tell that even the normal Lifestyle Villagers had an average mid-Tier 3 Class as adults. In Garoq, the average adult was still Tier 2, and only those that pushed themselves or lived dangerous lives were Tier 3 without traveling abroad to higher Tier Regions.

Kefira had explained that the higher Mana Density ensured greater Experience rewards with the monthly calculations, as well as an increase in Experience gained from handling Mana dense materials in every day life. It wasn't a monumental difference, but it added up over time.

Even before reaching Tier 3, Reivyn needed well over 10,000 Experience for one Level. Getting an additional hundred Experience per crafted item or several hundred to a thousand more each month eventually led to hundreds of thousands of additional Experience Points to allow for the growth of the citizens of a Tier 4 Region. Not only that, but it was an exponential rise, because the increased Levels and Skills made it so that the people could in turn work with more interesting materials that gave higher Experience returns.

It took them almost two weeks to reach the foothills of the mountain range. They had dumped their horses off at the closest village, selling two to a farmer and one to the head hunter that acted as the local guard captain. They had stipulated that if they didn't return in two weeks, giving themselves plenty of time for their excursion, then the deal was final, but if they showed back up before then, they had the option of buying them back with a 20% premium plus costs.

The foothills weren't anything like the ones near the Revenant Dungeon. Instead of a smooth, gradual climb up, the hills immediately ascended from the ground, creating a steep path to follow.

Reivyn, Kefira, and Sera weren't deterred, though, as their Stats allowed them to easily handle such hardship. The three of them simply trudged up the steep hills, climbing the short cliffs when needed, and made their way up into the mountains.

Reivyn had somehow made it through life to this point without acquiring the Climbing Skill, despite having gained the Acrobatics and Balance Skills long ago. That didn't remain the same for long, however, after only climbing up three short cliffs he got the notification.

[Skill Unlocked!]

[Tier 1:]

[Climbing (0 ->1)]

The new Skill leveled quickly in the environment, and Reivyn was confident that it would be a good boost by the time it was really needed. The mountains weren't short, and it took them several days to reach a point where it finally came in handy.

The other two girls similarly gained the Skill, and they weren't a burden to Reivyn. They had procured plenty of rope and climbing tools not only from the soldiers before leaving, but also from the various villages and towns they passed through on the way.

Kefira had taken the time to hone her jumping ability, too, and she was able to easily carry both Reivyn and Sera with her when she did her hops. Whenever they reached a cliff face that was above a few dozen yards, Kefira would jump to the top and secure a rope in place to allow for faster, easier climbing of the other two. She had offered to just jump all three of them at once, but Reivyn had said that he wanted to experience the climb, and Sera had agreed.

Kefira had just shrugged her shoulders, not as concerned with the other two over it because her inherent nature was one of being able to use Space Magic to her benefit. She gained more relevant Life Experience jumping to the top than climbing the long way, but she still used the Physical Skill for the shorter routes to round it out.

On the fourth day, Reivyn stood at the face of a sheer, blue wall. He ran his hands over the smooth, nearly frictionless surface. He peered up overhead where the wall disappeared behind a wall of mist. If he concentrated, his Perception allowed his vision to pierce the veil of the clouds, and he could clearly see the top of the first major hurdle.

He turned to face Kefira.

"Can you see the top?" Reivyn asked. Kefira nodded. "Think you can safely jump up there?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Kefira determined.

"Then business as usual, just a bigger leap."

Kefira gathered here Mana, and after concentrating for a few seconds, she disappeared with a pop that Reivyn could only perceive with his Sense Mana Skill. Shortly after, a rope was flung down and dangled against the icy cliff face.

Reivyn channeled his Mana into his feet, and he created little Earth spikes for traction. Reivyn didn't need to use his feet against the wall to climb the rope, but there was no reason not to take every measure to ensure a safe ascent. It didn't take but a few minutes for Reivyn and Sera to rejoin Kefira nearly a hundred yards higher than they had previously stood.

"Not too bad," Reivyn smiled.

"That was just the first real leg of the journey," Kefira pointed out. "There are some cliff faces that are several hundred yards straight up before there's any kind of footing."

"As long as you're confident, it should be fine. You yourself said that your jumping range was several hundred yards, and it was being able to see far enough that was the real limitation."

"I know. I'm just saying."

The three continued their climb up the mountain. They didn't run into any situation where Kefira couldn't jump to a higher position, sometimes traveling as far as 500 yards up in one go, and the climb wasn't all sheer cliffs, either. There were still plenty of paths to traverse on foot.

It was another half a day before they ran into their first monster. Reivyn was half-way up a 300 yard cliff when he heard Kefira's voice reach down to him.

"There's a couple of Blue Wyverns headed our way!" She called down. "I think I might have spooked them, but they look like they've spotted the two of you."

Reivyn looked up and out over the vast expanse of sky. Way up above his head, he spotted two flying creatures that looked like large birds at first, but with his Perception, he could tell that they were anything but.

They were large lizards with two legs and two wings. It was hard to judge without anything next to them for comparison, but Reivyn figured that they had a ten-yard wingspan, at least. Their legs looked incredibly powerful and muscular, and their claws were probably as long as Reivyn's torso. He could see their reptilian heads pointed down in his and Sera's direction, and he knew that they had shifted their focus from Kefira to the "easier" prey along the cliff face.

Reivyn watched as the two Wyverns' wings folded up, and their bodies took a nose dive straight for him. They picked up incredible speed extremely quickly, and Reivyn summoned two different Spells, pumping 500 Mana into each. The bodies of the Wyverns shifted as they brought their claws forward, ready to try and skewer Reivyn and pluck him from the cliff, and Reivyn timed his Spell for that moment.

A huge gust of spinning wind, laced with Blades of Air shot out from Reivyn straight to the descending reptiles. The wind was contained in a huge bubble, and it looked almost like a tornado orb. The lines of the tornado propelled the blades of air at lightning-quick speed, and the two Wyverns were easily knocked off course as it struck them.

They had been incapable of adjusting their aim, and it was inevitable that they would fly straight into the wind blast. Lacerations appeared all over the Wyverns' bodies and wings, and their nosedive was thrown off course. They screeched in pain and defiance as they wheeled further out into the sky, getting ready for another attack.

They had learned their lesson though, and while they still wanted to come in with a hard charge, they weren't stupid enough to build up enough momentum to stop them from being able to dodge another Spell.

Reivyn readied another set of Spells.

"Sera, get ready!" Reivyn called.

"I'm on it," she replied.

Reivyn thrust his Spell out once more at the advancing beasts, but this time he angled it so that it would fly past the attackers. As he had expected, they dodged to the side out of reflex, and because he had shot off-center, they moved in the direction he wanted them to.

Another burst of Mana followed right on the heels of his Spell, and Reivyn felt it travel up the cliff face alongside him. A loud explosion rang out, and soon a giant shard of ice came crashing down, smashing through the Wyverns. They had been taken completely by surprise, and they were crushed to death at the foot of the cliff by the giant ice boulder that Sera had dislodged.

A Notification for the battle flashed in the lower corner of Reivyn's vision, but he ignored it for now. He turned back to the task of climbing the cliff, and after another couple of minutes, he and Sera joined Kefira.

Reivyn looked over and noticed a third Wyvern lying on the ground. It had been severed in half, and blood and entrails leaked from the clean cuts. He turned and raised an eyebrow at Kefira.

"What?" She asked innocently. "I never said all the Wyverns had focused on you."