Chapter 388: Tales and Tallies
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Chapter 388: Tales and Tallies
Tala listened to Master Nadros story with rapt attention, mostly processing what was said as still rather frustratingly vague.
Even so, it was more than shed expected to learn.
Master Nadro had been born with an unusual deformity, magically speaking.
Mainly, he couldnt hold power at all.
His density always perfectly matched the environment he found himself in.
He didnt even disturb the zeme around himself as he moved through it.
That part of his defect had gained the attention of those who needed people to serve them within ascension chambers.
Talaas Talihad experienced some of those chambers. They were small, expanded spaces packed with vestiges and scripts to crank the magical density as high as they could manage.
As Master Nadro had indicated, it was a horrifically wasteful process, akin to throwing splinters into a press and then burning a forest for the energy to compress them down into a board.
Master Nadro had been utterly unique. Hed never even heard of anyone else with his malady since. His children hadnt inherited it either.
He hadnt even been reborn into those higher magical densities as the power simply passed right through him, unaffected, and unaffecting of him.
Even so, he did somehow benefit from steeping within the power.
He had been found on the street when he was a child, though he didnt know what age, and by the time hed served his rescuers for a century, he barely seemed to have reached the beginnings of puberty.
Tala had to interject at that point. Shouldnt you have aged normally, until you reached maturity, then stopped?
Master Nadro nodded, That would have been the standard, but for some reason, I reacted more like a material than a living creature, simply having the aging of my body radically slowed across the board.
Regardless, Master Nadros particular condition made it so that he was highly sought after to work within ascension chambers, and so his time was bought and paid for every hour of the workday.
More than that, he was often paid to sleep in the chambers in order to fit in his work around his other clients.
Needless to say, he spent all but a fraction of his time utterly steeped in the highest levels of power that the upper echelon of his city could create.
He continued in that way for years uncounted, until he had, indeed, reached maturity.
Sometime after that, a powerful man came to the city. He was granted access to one of the rooms that Master Nadro was cleaning and working within, making their meeting inevitable.
The man had hesitated upon seeing Master Nadro, staring at him intently for long minutes.
Master Nadro hadnt been surprised by the scrutiny, and so he had borne it with patience.
Finally, the man had smiled and said, Ah, I see the problem now.
He had then spoken a sentence, not a single word of which Master Nadro could hear at the time nor remember now.
Master Nadro had passed out, and when hed woken up, the man was gone. Master Nadro was left with the certain knowledge that he could keep magic within himself, if he so desired.
From there, he had advanced down the arcane path of magic like a born genius, every test that hed been subjected to indicated that his lineage was of a high race, magically speaking.
It was decided that he had an ancestor whose bloodline had surged within him, explaining his oddities.
And that was that.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))
Tala was rocked by even the vague implications of his story, So, an arcane unlocked your ability to use magic like one of them?
I dont think it was that simple, nor that it was something that would work on anyone. I got the sense that he saw something unique in me that day and acted on a whim.
That made sense, she supposed. Still, it was a lot to consider.
But, we are very, very far afield of where we should be.
Tala grimaced. I suppose we are, yeah.
Then, let us get back on track. You have a question you want to ask me, but you are afraid of how I will answer. It wasnt a question.
Well, here goes nothing. She sighed, answering the not-question anyways, Yes.
There was a long pause.
Tala took several long breaths.
Master Nadro waited patiently, sipping from a mug of tea that she hadnt seen him acquire.
Hold on I dont see even an obscured dimensional storage anywhere around him.
-Focus, Tala.-
Fine.
Tala groaned, Fine.
He smiled, still waiting.
She felt herself smile in response, finally giving in and beginning to speak, In light of eternity, everything is pointless. This life is basically a silly game that we play before the next world begins.
Hmm.
So, whats the point? Isnt it awful to forcibly stay in the game instead of moving on to what really matters? Are we immortals just petulant children who refuse to cross the finish line because we dont want the race to end? She felt foolish including herself with other immortals, but thats what she was, now that shed Refined.
He tilted his head to the side, clearly listening but remained quiet, sensing that she wasnt done.
Whats the point in mourning those who pass on? They are in the real world, right? Its like those who are asleep pitying those who wake up, or mourning them because they departed the dream.she huffed a self-deprecating laughIts like those running through the wilderness weeping because someone else has reached their own destination. Isnt that the point? To get to the end? If not, then what is the point? Why mourn anyone? Why do anything? Why shouldnt we just commit collective suicide and get on with the good stuff?
If Tala had still been mundane, she would have been breathing heavily. She knew that she had been repetitive, but she just didnt have the right words to express what she was feeling.
Even so, she didnt seem to have any more words to say. She felt wrung out from even the quick verbal dump.
Master Nadro nodded, seeming to pick up on her state. Why, may I ask, do you think the next world is better?
She grunted at that, feeling a bit of life come back into her, allowing her to answer, On an experiential level, Ive seen deeply into the next world.
When you helped a fount pass on?
She nodded. Yes. It was she shuddered, It was like having my every flaw exposed. I felt like tinder before the flame, water before the sun, dust before the wind. There was no malice, but by its very nature, I would be wiped away before it.
I wanted to know how careful I should be about others finding their way in here.
Ahh, now, that is a bit of a different question. I apologize for my misunderstanding. I understood breach as creating another entrance. If you wanted to simply step from zeme into a dimensional storage, you would just need a means of traversing the spatial dimension of magic. Then, there would be the remaining matter of enduring or overcoming any locks on the space as a whole.
When she looked confused, he continued.
In here, for example, you can move almost anyone around. I think even I would have trouble resisting if you were truly set on shifting me.
She felt a smile pull at her lips at the knowledge that she could move even him.
Because of that, what would happen if I tried to stick just my hand in here, and you didnt want me inside?
She nodded. I could move your hand away?
That would be a bit harder, but you could move it back toward where I was entering from. The effect would be indistinguishable from a repulsive force, keeping meor anyone you didnt want insideout. That is the preferred method because it is easier to move items as a whole, rather than ripping them apart.
She felt quite a bit better with that knowledge. It also lined up with what shed experienced in the Arcane lands.
The two of them chatted a bit longer, but both she and Master Nadro seemed to realize that Tala wasnt going to be making any more progress on her issues at the moment.
Additionally, Master Nadro had his dinner with the Feshua family, and Tala was not about to make him late for that.
They said goodbye and parted ways, Tala remaining in the sanctum, her thoughts heavy but not as heavy as they had been.
* * *
Tala was still thinking about what she and Master Nadro had discussed, even more than a full day after theyd parted ways.
At the moment, she was sitting in a watch tower along the wall, a few hours into their night-shift.
Her unit was all playing cards together to help pass the time.
As each of them was eliminated, they would do their own practice and training until the next game started.
Even so, Tala was incredibly grateful when her threefold sight detected creatures closing in on the walls.
These attacks are becoming more frequent, Alat.
-Yeah, this is the third one this week, by reports.-
And by the match recordings. Those were some fun fights to watch.
-True enough.-
They would have been more fun to participate in
-Yeah, but you do get to fight more often than most.-
She grunted internally, even as she looked closer at the incoming threat before blinking in surprise.
It was a pack of hocken.
She would call them shadow wolves, but the texts made it clear that they werent in any way associated with the Pack.
Tala and Alat had looked rather deeply into the wolves of the north after her encounter the month before.
As to the hocken, they were large, dark canines that looked to be composed of hairy shadows.
Even what she could see of their insides with her threefold sight didnt look to be organs so much as more fuzzy shadows.
They would almost have been cute, if not for the pure white, oddly glowing eyes.
They were odd, because while they did look to be glowing, they cast no light around themselves.
So, somewhat cute except for the eyes.
Well, and the teeth.
Their mouths in general didnt lend themselves to cuteness either.
The jaws were drooling black spittle around razor-like teeth, making the creatures look rabid in the worst way.
Theres a pack of hocken incoming. Tala spoke basically as soon as she noticed the creatures.
Everyone turned over their cards, setting them down and standing up.
Master Girt was the slowest to stand, and he stretched back. I assume youd like this one? Youre still working through some stuff, right?
He smiled her way, but Tala could still see echoes of the pain within him.
She hesitated.
She really, really did want to punch something.
To tear apart an enemy and destroy the tangible threat in her life.
But Master Girt was hurting too, and his wound, while older, was deeper than hers.
Almost to her own surprise, she shook her head, You know what? How about you take these? There are only eight that I can see, but they should still be a good fight.
He gave her a long look, before a grin split his face. Really?
She nodded.
He looked around at the others, and they all nodded agreement as well. Alright, then!
Tala could see Master Girt relaxing, mentally settling into a ready state for the coming clash, and the look in his eyes seemed less burdened than his features had in a while.
Ive been rather selfish, hoarding the fights that our unit has had, havent I?
-I mean, you are the front-line fighter for the group, and they were always involved, acting in support, but yeah, you could have shared a bit more.-
Help me remember to be better about that, alright?
-Will do.-
Master Girt twisted, popping his back first one way, then the other. Lets do this.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 388: Tales and Tallies
Tala listened to Master Nadros story with rapt attention, mostly processing what was said as still rather frustratingly vague.
Even so, it was more than shed expected to learn.
Master Nadro had been born with an unusual deformity, magically speaking.
Mainly, he couldnt hold power at all.
His density always perfectly matched the environment he found himself in.
He didnt even disturb the zeme around himself as he moved through it.
That part of his defect had gained the attention of those who needed people to serve them within ascension chambers.
Talaas Talihad experienced some of those chambers. They were small, expanded spaces packed with vestiges and scripts to crank the magical density as high as they could manage.
As Master Nadro had indicated, it was a horrifically wasteful process, akin to throwing splinters into a press and then burning a forest for the energy to compress them down into a board.
Master Nadro had been utterly unique. Hed never even heard of anyone else with his malady since. His children hadnt inherited it either.
He hadnt even been reborn into those higher magical densities as the power simply passed right through him, unaffected, and unaffecting of him.
Even so, he did somehow benefit from steeping within the power.
He had been found on the street when he was a child, though he didnt know what age, and by the time hed served his rescuers for a century, he barely seemed to have reached the beginnings of puberty.
Tala had to interject at that point. Shouldnt you have aged normally, until you reached maturity, then stopped?
Master Nadro nodded, That would have been the standard, but for some reason, I reacted more like a material than a living creature, simply having the aging of my body radically slowed across the board.
Regardless, Master Nadros particular condition made it so that he was highly sought after to work within ascension chambers, and so his time was bought and paid for every hour of the workday.
More than that, he was often paid to sleep in the chambers in order to fit in his work around his other clients.
Needless to say, he spent all but a fraction of his time utterly steeped in the highest levels of power that the upper echelon of his city could create.
He continued in that way for years uncounted, until he had, indeed, reached maturity.
Sometime after that, a powerful man came to the city. He was granted access to one of the rooms that Master Nadro was cleaning and working within, making their meeting inevitable.
The man had hesitated upon seeing Master Nadro, staring at him intently for long minutes.
Master Nadro hadnt been surprised by the scrutiny, and so he had borne it with patience.
Finally, the man had smiled and said, Ah, I see the problem now.
He had then spoken a sentence, not a single word of which Master Nadro could hear at the time nor remember now.
Master Nadro had passed out, and when hed woken up, the man was gone. Master Nadro was left with the certain knowledge that he could keep magic within himself, if he so desired.
From there, he had advanced down the arcane path of magic like a born genius, every test that hed been subjected to indicated that his lineage was of a high race, magically speaking.
It was decided that he had an ancestor whose bloodline had surged within him, explaining his oddities.
And that was that.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))
Tala was rocked by even the vague implications of his story, So, an arcane unlocked your ability to use magic like one of them?
I dont think it was that simple, nor that it was something that would work on anyone. I got the sense that he saw something unique in me that day and acted on a whim.
That made sense, she supposed. Still, it was a lot to consider.
But, we are very, very far afield of where we should be.
Tala grimaced. I suppose we are, yeah.
Then, let us get back on track. You have a question you want to ask me, but you are afraid of how I will answer. It wasnt a question.
Well, here goes nothing. She sighed, answering the not-question anyways, Yes.
There was a long pause.
Tala took several long breaths.
Master Nadro waited patiently, sipping from a mug of tea that she hadnt seen him acquire.
Hold on I dont see even an obscured dimensional storage anywhere around him.
-Focus, Tala.-
Fine.
Tala groaned, Fine.
He smiled, still waiting.
She felt herself smile in response, finally giving in and beginning to speak, In light of eternity, everything is pointless. This life is basically a silly game that we play before the next world begins.
Hmm.
So, whats the point? Isnt it awful to forcibly stay in the game instead of moving on to what really matters? Are we immortals just petulant children who refuse to cross the finish line because we dont want the race to end? She felt foolish including herself with other immortals, but thats what she was, now that shed Refined.
He tilted his head to the side, clearly listening but remained quiet, sensing that she wasnt done.
Whats the point in mourning those who pass on? They are in the real world, right? Its like those who are asleep pitying those who wake up, or mourning them because they departed the dream.she huffed a self-deprecating laughIts like those running through the wilderness weeping because someone else has reached their own destination. Isnt that the point? To get to the end? If not, then what is the point? Why mourn anyone? Why do anything? Why shouldnt we just commit collective suicide and get on with the good stuff?
If Tala had still been mundane, she would have been breathing heavily. She knew that she had been repetitive, but she just didnt have the right words to express what she was feeling.
Even so, she didnt seem to have any more words to say. She felt wrung out from even the quick verbal dump.
Master Nadro nodded, seeming to pick up on her state. Why, may I ask, do you think the next world is better?
She grunted at that, feeling a bit of life come back into her, allowing her to answer, On an experiential level, Ive seen deeply into the next world.
When you helped a fount pass on?
She nodded. Yes. It was she shuddered, It was like having my every flaw exposed. I felt like tinder before the flame, water before the sun, dust before the wind. There was no malice, but by its very nature, I would be wiped away before it.
I wanted to know how careful I should be about others finding their way in here.
Ahh, now, that is a bit of a different question. I apologize for my misunderstanding. I understood breach as creating another entrance. If you wanted to simply step from zeme into a dimensional storage, you would just need a means of traversing the spatial dimension of magic. Then, there would be the remaining matter of enduring or overcoming any locks on the space as a whole.
When she looked confused, he continued.
In here, for example, you can move almost anyone around. I think even I would have trouble resisting if you were truly set on shifting me.
She felt a smile pull at her lips at the knowledge that she could move even him.
Because of that, what would happen if I tried to stick just my hand in here, and you didnt want me inside?
She nodded. I could move your hand away?
That would be a bit harder, but you could move it back toward where I was entering from. The effect would be indistinguishable from a repulsive force, keeping meor anyone you didnt want insideout. That is the preferred method because it is easier to move items as a whole, rather than ripping them apart.
She felt quite a bit better with that knowledge. It also lined up with what shed experienced in the Arcane lands.
The two of them chatted a bit longer, but both she and Master Nadro seemed to realize that Tala wasnt going to be making any more progress on her issues at the moment.
Additionally, Master Nadro had his dinner with the Feshua family, and Tala was not about to make him late for that.
They said goodbye and parted ways, Tala remaining in the sanctum, her thoughts heavy but not as heavy as they had been.
* * *
Tala was still thinking about what she and Master Nadro had discussed, even more than a full day after theyd parted ways.
At the moment, she was sitting in a watch tower along the wall, a few hours into their night-shift.
Her unit was all playing cards together to help pass the time.
As each of them was eliminated, they would do their own practice and training until the next game started.
Even so, Tala was incredibly grateful when her threefold sight detected creatures closing in on the walls.
These attacks are becoming more frequent, Alat.
-Yeah, this is the third one this week, by reports.-
And by the match recordings. Those were some fun fights to watch.
-True enough.-
They would have been more fun to participate in
-Yeah, but you do get to fight more often than most.-
She grunted internally, even as she looked closer at the incoming threat before blinking in surprise.
It was a pack of hocken.
She would call them shadow wolves, but the texts made it clear that they werent in any way associated with the Pack.
Tala and Alat had looked rather deeply into the wolves of the north after her encounter the month before.
As to the hocken, they were large, dark canines that looked to be composed of hairy shadows.
Even what she could see of their insides with her threefold sight didnt look to be organs so much as more fuzzy shadows.
They would almost have been cute, if not for the pure white, oddly glowing eyes.
They were odd, because while they did look to be glowing, they cast no light around themselves.
So, somewhat cute except for the eyes.
Well, and the teeth.
Their mouths in general didnt lend themselves to cuteness either.
The jaws were drooling black spittle around razor-like teeth, making the creatures look rabid in the worst way.
Theres a pack of hocken incoming. Tala spoke basically as soon as she noticed the creatures.
Everyone turned over their cards, setting them down and standing up.
Master Girt was the slowest to stand, and he stretched back. I assume youd like this one? Youre still working through some stuff, right?
He smiled her way, but Tala could still see echoes of the pain within him.
She hesitated.
She really, really did want to punch something.
To tear apart an enemy and destroy the tangible threat in her life.
But Master Girt was hurting too, and his wound, while older, was deeper than hers.
Almost to her own surprise, she shook her head, You know what? How about you take these? There are only eight that I can see, but they should still be a good fight.
He gave her a long look, before a grin split his face. Really?
She nodded.
He looked around at the others, and they all nodded agreement as well. Alright, then!
Tala could see Master Girt relaxing, mentally settling into a ready state for the coming clash, and the look in his eyes seemed less burdened than his features had in a while.
Ive been rather selfish, hoarding the fights that our unit has had, havent I?
-I mean, you are the front-line fighter for the group, and they were always involved, acting in support, but yeah, you could have shared a bit more.-
Help me remember to be better about that, alright?
-Will do.-
Master Girt twisted, popping his back first one way, then the other. Lets do this.
Chapter 388: Tales and TalliesTala listened to Master Nadros story with rapt attention, mostly processing what was said as still rather frustratingly vague.Even so, it was more than shed expected to learn.Master Nadro had been born with an unusual deformity, magically speaking.Mainly, he couldnt hold power at all.His density always perfectly matched the environment he found himself in.He didnt even disturb the zeme around himself as he moved through it.That part of his defect had gained the attention of those who needed people to serve them within ascension chambers.Talaas Talihad experienced some of those chambers. They were small, expanded spaces packed with vestiges and scripts to crank the magical density as high as they could manage.As Master Nadro had indicated, it was a horrifically wasteful process, akin to throwing splinters into a press and then burning a forest for the energy to compress them down into a board.Master Nadro had been utterly unique. Hed never even heard of anyone else with his malady since. His children hadnt inherited it either.He hadnt even been reborn into those higher magical densities as the power simply passed right through him, unaffected, and unaffecting of him.Even so, he did somehow benefit from steeping within the power.He had been found on the street when he was a child, though he didnt know what age, and by the time hed served his rescuers for a century, he barely seemed to have reached the beginnings of puberty.Tala had to interject at that point. Shouldnt you have aged normally, until you reached maturity, then stopped?Master Nadro nodded, That would have been the standard, but for some reason, I reacted more like a material than a living creature, simply having the aging of my body radically slowed across the board.Regardless, Master Nadros particular condition made it so that he was highly sought after to work within ascension chambers, and so his time was bought and paid for every hour of the workday.More than that, he was often paid to sleep in the chambers in order to fit in his work around his other clients.Needless to say, he spent all but a fraction of his time utterly steeped in the highest levels of power that the upper echelon of his city could create.He continued in that way for years uncounted, until he had, indeed, reached maturity.Sometime after that, a powerful man came to the city. He was granted access to one of the rooms that Master Nadro was cleaning and working within, making their meeting inevitable.The man had hesitated upon seeing Master Nadro, staring at him intently for long minutes.Master Nadro hadnt been surprised by the scrutiny, and so he had borne it with patience.Finally, the man had smiled and said, Ah, I see the problem now.He had then spoken a sentence, not a single word of which Master Nadro could hear at the time nor remember now.Master Nadro had passed out, and when hed woken up, the man was gone. Master Nadro was left with the certain knowledge that he could keep magic within himself, if he so desired.From there, he had advanced down the arcane path of magic like a born genius, every test that hed been subjected to indicated that his lineage was of a high race, magically speaking.It was decided that he had an ancestor whose bloodline had surged within him, explaining his oddities.And that was that.The source of this content novelbinTala was rocked by even the vague implications of his story, So, an arcane unlocked your ability to use magic like one of them?I dont think it was that simple, nor that it was something that would work on anyone. I got the sense that he saw something unique in me that day and acted on a whim.That made sense, she supposed. Still, it was a lot to consider.But, we are very, very far afield of where we should be.Tala grimaced. I suppose we are, yeah.Then, let us get back on track. You have a question you want to ask me, but you are afraid of how I will answer. It wasnt a question.Well, here goes nothing. She sighed, answering the not-question anyways, Yes.There was a long pause.Tala took several long breaths.Master Nadro waited patiently, sipping from a mug of tea that she hadnt seen him acquire.Hold on I dont see even an obscured dimensional storage anywhere around him.-Focus, Tala.-Fine.Tala groaned, Fine.He smiled, still waiting.She felt herself smile in response, finally giving in and beginning to speak, In light of eternity, everything is pointless. This life is basically a silly game that we play before the next world begins.Hmm.So, whats the point? Isnt it awful to forcibly stay in the game instead of moving on to what really matters? Are we immortals just petulant children who refuse to cross the finish line because we dont want the race to end? She felt foolish including herself with other immortals, but thats what she was, now that shed Refined.He tilted his head to the side, clearly listening but remained quiet, sensing that she wasnt done.Whats the point in mourning those who pass on? They are in the real world, right? Its like those who are asleep pitying those who wake up, or mourning them because they departed the dream.she huffed a self-deprecating laughIts like those running through the wilderness weeping because someone else has reached their own destination. Isnt that the point? To get to the end? If not, then what is the point? Why mourn anyone? Why do anything? Why shouldnt we just commit collective suicide and get on with the good stuff?If Tala had still been mundane, she would have been breathing heavily. She knew that she had been repetitive, but she just didnt have the right words to express what she was feeling.Even so, she didnt seem to have any more words to say. She felt wrung out from even the quick verbal dump.Master Nadro nodded, seeming to pick up on her state. Why, may I ask, do you think the next world is better?She grunted at that, feeling a bit of life come back into her, allowing her to answer, On an experiential level, Ive seen deeply into the next world.When you helped a fount pass on?She nodded. Yes. It was she shuddered, It was like having my every flaw exposed. I felt like tinder before the flame, water before the sun, dust before the wind. There was no malice, but by its very nature, I would be wiped away before it.I wanted to know how careful I should be about others finding their way in here.Ahh, now, that is a bit of a different question. I apologize for my misunderstanding. I understood breach as creating another entrance. If you wanted to simply step from zeme into a dimensional storage, you would just need a means of traversing the spatial dimension of magic. Then, there would be the remaining matter of enduring or overcoming any locks on the space as a whole.When she looked confused, he continued.In here, for example, you can move almost anyone around. I think even I would have trouble resisting if you were truly set on shifting me.She felt a smile pull at her lips at the knowledge that she could move even him.Because of that, what would happen if I tried to stick just my hand in here, and you didnt want me inside?She nodded. I could move your hand away?That would be a bit harder, but you could move it back toward where I was entering from. The effect would be indistinguishable from a repulsive force, keeping meor anyone you didnt want insideout. That is the preferred method because it is easier to move items as a whole, rather than ripping them apart.She felt quite a bit better with that knowledge. It also lined up with what shed experienced in the Arcane lands.The two of them chatted a bit longer, but both she and Master Nadro seemed to realize that Tala wasnt going to be making any more progress on her issues at the moment.Additionally, Master Nadro had his dinner with the Feshua family, and Tala was not about to make him late for that.They said goodbye and parted ways, Tala remaining in the sanctum, her thoughts heavy but not as heavy as they had been.* * *Tala was still thinking about what she and Master Nadro had discussed, even more than a full day after theyd parted ways.At the moment, she was sitting in a watch tower along the wall, a few hours into their night-shift.Her unit was all playing cards together to help pass the time.As each of them was eliminated, they would do their own practice and training until the next game started.Even so, Tala was incredibly grateful when her threefold sight detected creatures closing in on the walls.These attacks are becoming more frequent, Alat.-Yeah, this is the third one this week, by reports.-And by the match recordings. Those were some fun fights to watch.-True enough.-They would have been more fun to participate in-Yeah, but you do get to fight more often than most.-She grunted internally, even as she looked closer at the incoming threat before blinking in surprise.It was a pack of hocken.She would call them shadow wolves, but the texts made it clear that they werent in any way associated with the Pack.Tala and Alat had looked rather deeply into the wolves of the north after her encounter the month before.As to the hocken, they were large, dark canines that looked to be composed of hairy shadows.Even what she could see of their insides with her threefold sight didnt look to be organs so much as more fuzzy shadows.They would almost have been cute, if not for the pure white, oddly glowing eyes.They were odd, because while they did look to be glowing, they cast no light around themselves.So, somewhat cute except for the eyes.Well, and the teeth.Their mouths in general didnt lend themselves to cuteness either.The jaws were drooling black spittle around razor-like teeth, making the creatures look rabid in the worst way.Theres a pack of hocken incoming. Tala spoke basically as soon as she noticed the creatures.Everyone turned over their cards, setting them down and standing up.Master Girt was the slowest to stand, and he stretched back. I assume youd like this one? Youre still working through some stuff, right?He smiled her way, but Tala could still see echoes of the pain within him.She hesitated.She really, really did want to punch something.To tear apart an enemy and destroy the tangible threat in her life.But Master Girt was hurting too, and his wound, while older, was deeper than hers.Almost to her own surprise, she shook her head, You know what? How about you take these? There are only eight that I can see, but they should still be a good fight.He gave her a long look, before a grin split his face. Really?She nodded.He looked around at the others, and they all nodded agreement as well. Alright, then!Tala could see Master Girt relaxing, mentally settling into a ready state for the coming clash, and the look in his eyes seemed less burdened than his features had in a while.Ive been rather selfish, hoarding the fights that our unit has had, havent I?-I mean, you are the front-line fighter for the group, and they were always involved, acting in support, but yeah, you could have shared a bit more.-Help me remember to be better about that, alright?-Will do.-Master Girt twisted, popping his back first one way, then the other. Lets do this.
