“Try not to break each other,” she called over her shoulder. “You’ll both regret it.”
The sounds of the camp filled the space they left behind. Crackling wood. Low voices. The river, steady and indifferent.
Harold was still by the fire when Sarah approached, her entire team with her. They came empty-handed except for some kind of pitcher or vase that Mira carried. He could see his guard still around him, conspicuously getting closer.
Jace walked just off her right shoulder, posture loose but eyes sharp. Mira stayed close to Theo, one hand hovering near his arm in case he stumbled, though he managed the distance on his own. They stopped together, forming a line without meaning to, with Sarah just a little bit in front. Harold looked up and took them in.
“Alright, you don't need to close ranks against me, I’m not trying to argue with you,” he said.
Sarah didn’t answer right away. She stood with her helm tucked under her arm, armor stripped down, blonde hair loose, face drawn but steady.
“Yes,” she said finally. “All of us, as this concerns all of us.”
“Before we start, I’m sorry I gave you such a hard choice; it’s not something I enjoyed doing,” Harold said.
Sarah exhaled once, slowly, then took a half-step forward. “You told me I had two options,” she said. “And I realized something after I walked away and was talking to them about it.”
“You didn’t actually give me a choice,” Sarah continued. “You gave me a way to be useful to you, or a way to stop being your problem.”
Jace shifted his weight as Mira’s jaw tightened. Theo stayed quiet and thoughtful in the back.
“That’s not fair,” Harold said. He was glad the pain on his face was hidden by the darkness. Sarah always had a way of cutting right to the heart of matters, and in this one, she was more right than not.
“No,” Sarah replied, “it’s accurate.”
She gestured slightly, not at him, but at the camp behind him. “You keep talking about adventurers like we’re future investments. Like what we are right now only matters if it leads to something bigger later.”
Harold straightened. “Because it mostly does. It’s hard to explain what’s coming, Sarah. I know you don't understand.”
“For you, though,” Sarah said vehemently. “Not for us.”
The words landed harder than she’d raised her voice.
“You want us alive,” she went on, “not because we’re people, but because we’re rare. Because we might be useful ten years from now. Because we picked this role instead of crafter.”
“That’s not—” Harold started.
Jace spoke up before he could finish. “Sir, with respect, that’s how it sounds.”
Harold’s gaze snapped to him, and Jace felt pressure at the edge of his senses. Like he was being assessed, and it made him want to defer immediately.
“And,” Mira added quietly, “it’s how it feels.”
Theo cleared his throat. “I almost died last week,” he said. “I get why you’re cautious. I do. But if she hadn’t acted, I’d be dead already.”
Silence stretched until finally Harold looked at Theo. “You were all in that situation because of a decision you made to chase something we already had handled. Then I made the mistake of sending you after something that could have waited.”
He exhaled and looked at the entire team. “My decision and yours put you there. And yes, I am limiting your personal agency. I need you alive, working towards the goals of the Landing and Humanity. Not doing what you feel like doing.
Sarah held Harold’s gaze. “I’m not asking for permission to be reckless,” she said. “I’m asking whether I’m allowed to decide what kind of adventurer I am, or if that’s already been decided for me.”
Harold opened his mouth, then… closed it as memories drifted through his mind.
This was exactly what she was like last time as well. A number of Lords attempted to pull her into their circles. Trying to get her to work for them, and she turned them all down. It was what drove her to start her own adventuring group, and the pressure only grew worse as she grew more powerful. Eventually, it killed her, as she had no backing… but this time… she did.
She didn’t press; she was trying not to pressure him too much. As strong as he tried to appear. Sarah knew that inside Harold was still incredibly fragile. He had been through so much, and she knew that what he was saying was coming from a place of love, not anger. Even if it took talking to Mira to understand that.
“That’s what we’re here to talk about,” Sarah said. “Before it happens again.”
Harold let the silence stretch for another breath, then rubbed a hand over his face and sighed.
“Alright,” he said quietly.
He gestured with two fingers toward the log and crate opposite the fire. “Sit. All of you.”
Sarah hesitated only a moment before moving. She crossed the space and took the seat he indicated, setting her helm at her feet. Jace dropped down beside her without being asked. Mira eased Theo onto the log next to her, keeping a hand on his shoulder until he settled. They formed a loose line, not defensive now, just present.
Harold stayed where he was, the fire between them.
“This isn’t a trial,” he said. “And it isn’t a lecture.”
He poked at the fire with a stick, sending a brief spray of sparks upward. “If I wanted obedience, I’d give orders and be done with it. What we need to develop is disciplined initiative.”
Jace snorted softly while Harold ignored him.
“You want to decide what kind of adventurer you are,” Harold continued, eyes on the flames. “That’s fair. But the moment you act under my banner, your decisions stop being just yours.”
She glanced briefly at the others before looking back at him. “What I don’t understand is why deciding for ourselves has to mean abandoning you.”
Harold didn’t answer immediately. The fire cracked, a log shifting as it burned down. Finally, with a sigh, Harold made a decision.
“I’m going to explain some of what happened to you in your past, Sarah. I was trying to avoid telling you because I felt like it would hinder your development. I wanted you to develop naturally, not worry if you were living up to what you were last time.”
The team looked at each other surreptitiously, leaning forward as one for whatever came next. Harold reached for his cold coffee, cradling the cup in both hands as he scooted closer to the fire. The light flickered between them, and beyond the team, he caught sight of Centurion Carter with Ren standing a little too still off to the side, pretending not to listen.
Harold looked back at Sarah and lowered his voice.
“Last time we spawned, it was in a village a few regions north of here, near a stretch of mountains that eventually got called the Blackjaw Range,” he said. “Because the goblins living there all had blackened jaws. You made it your training ground.”
He took a sip of the coffee and winced faintly at the taste. Even Carter leaned in despite himself.
“The northern edge of that range sits close to the border of another race, the Velthari. That area collapsed fast. No strong Lords, no alliances worth the name.” He made a small, dismissive motion with the cup. “They organize faster than humanity does. Took an early lead and ran with it. I’m not particularly worried about them right now.”
Mira frowned slightly at that, but didn’t interrupt.
“The village we spawned in,” Harold continued, “was run by a petty tyrant named Tyler Collins. He somehow passed the Lord’s test and ended up with a Silver-ranked village.” His mouth tightened. “He ruled through his soldiers and treated everyone else like property. And he has already been doing the same this time.”
Sarah’s grip on her helm tightened, leather creaking faintly under her fingers.
“At the time, I was working in the kitchen,” Harold said. “I didn’t start alchemy for a few more years. But we could all see where things were going, especially when people started to disappear. So I stole a lot of rations. And when you went off on a fake quest, I went with you.”
Jace glanced sideways at Sarah and saw that she hadn’t looked away once.
“We traveled the lower Blackjaws,” Harold said. “We fought monsters and did our best to avoid worse ones. We spent a lot of time running from various things. Eventually, we sold what we killed to other Lords. We traded favors and survived. You thrived.” He paused, staring into the fire for a moment longer than necessary. “Then the group grew.”
Theo shifted where he sat on the log, pulling away from the fire a little.
“A few years after that, the pressure started,” Harold went on. “Lords noticed how deep you were pushing into the range. The perks you were pulling out of it made you and your group strong, and they wanted to use that.”
Sarah exhaled quietly through her nose.
“You were the same back then,” Harold said. “Didn’t want to be tied down. You didn’t want tasks or banners. You wanted to explore the new world, you used to say, "The only people who ever get any place interesting in life are the people who get lost."
He glanced at her, and her eyes were a little watery…”Thats Thoreau.”
He smiled at her as the million small moments they had survived by themselves out there ran through him. “Ha. You always said it was your quote because it was a new world. You never admitted who it really was.” His smile lingered a fraction too long before he drew a steady breath and let the small victory fade.
“So when I offered to fund and support you, I wasn’t pushing you away,” he said. “I was saying, ‘Go do what you think is right.’ That’s why I sent you out that first night without a quest. I knew you didn’t need one.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Sarah’s eyes flicked up to him again, and this time she didn’t bother hiding the smile.
“But I also know you won't stop pushing,” Harold added more firmly. “I know you’ll find trouble eventually. So the offer was simple. I fund you. You go where you want. And if I need something done near where you already are, maybe you can take a detour.”
Mira’s fingers tightened slightly around the vase, her knuckles paling in the firelight.
Harold leaned forward a little more as he got serious again. “The mistake last time wasn’t wandering,” he said. “It wasn’t refusing those Lords. It was doing it without any backing.”
Silence settled over the fire. “That’s what let that piece of shit Lord hunt you,” Harold said quietly. “Try to capture you and eventually kill you.”
“Let me be your backing,” Harold finished. “Start your adventuring group. Go adventuring.”
He paused, eyes holding hers across the fire.
“Just don’t do it alone this time, and I’ll expect your support when I call.”
Jace went still, and Theo let out a slow breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, but Sarah didn’t answer right away while she figured out what to say.
She looked down at the fire, then at the dirt between her boots, as if measuring something invisible. When she finally spoke, her voice was steady, but quieter than before.
“I don’t want to do this alone,” she said. “That was never what I wanted.”
Harold didn’t interrupt.
“I want to choose where we go,” Sarah continued. “There is so much new world out there, didn’t you ever feel constrained back on earth? It’s already been explored; your life is already plotted out the moment you’re born. The wild places are…tamed.”
The fire popped softly while Harold considered what she said.
Jace shifted first, rolling his shoulders back. “She’s not asking for independence from you,” he said. “She’s asking for independence with you.”
Harold’s eyes flicked to him, then back to Sarah.
Theo cleared his throat. “And if we die,” he added carefully, “it’s because we chose to take that risk, and before you say, I think we all know that it’s kinda selfish. But think of it as us out training our own way for the fights that you’re gonna need us for. I have no problem helping you out when you need it.”
Sarah nodded once. “We’ll take your backing,” she said. Harold’s jaw tightened slightly.
“But,” She held his gaze, unblinking. “If you ask for help, we'll listen.
The river whispered in the dark beyond the firelight.
“And,” Sarah added, softer now, “if we mess up, you don’t make an example of us. You talk to us first.”
For a long moment, Harold said nothing.
Then he leaned back, studying the four of them as a group instead of as assets, his eyes lingering on each face in turn.
“You’re asking me to give you what supplies you need and trust you,” he said.
Sarah nodded. “The same way you’re asking us to trust you.”
Jace let out a slow breath. Mira’s grip on the vase loosened just a little. Theo shifted his weight, he looked uncomfortable.
The fire burned low between them, sparks drifting up into the night as the decision hung there, heavy and unresolved.
Harold watched the fire for another few seconds, then nodded once. “Fine,” he said.
“But,” Harold continued, “there’s a condition.”
Sarah sighed immediately. “Of course there is.”
“The entire group goes through Centurion Garrick’s scout pipeline,” Harold said. “All of it. The full pipeline.”
Jace’s eyebrows went up while Theo winced. “That’s reconnaissance training,” Sarah said.
“It’s survival training,” Harold replied. “Moving unseen, knowing when to engage and when to disappear. Learning how to function when you don’t have backup and plans fall apart. Garrick’s scouts exist because they come back alive.”
“We’re not trying to be soldiers,” Sarah said.
“I know,” Harold replied. “That’s why I want you trained by someone who knows how to operate outside formations.”
Jace rolled his shoulders, thinking it through. “Honestly,” he said after a moment, “it fits what we already do. We just don’t do it as cleanly as we think.”
Sarah shot him a look. “You’re supposed to complain with me.”
“I am,” Jace said. “Later, right now I’d like to not get surprised by a herd of horses again.”
Theo nodded. “I wouldn’t mind learning how not to leave a trail Jace has to clean up after.”
Sarah rubbed her forehead. “Fine. We can do that.”
“There’s more,” he added. “It’ll take time for the Landing to finish spinning up supplies anyway. We are only just beginning to hit our stride. You need proper kits and at least some redundancy. While that’s happening, I’ll be making potions for you. I’ll train Elia so she can make a version of the potion I gave to you.” Harold said. “One for each of you.”
Mira cheered quietly while Jace and Theo looked alittle confused.
Sarah opened her mouth to argue out of habit, then stopped.
She hesitated, then stepped closer to the fire. “But I need something too.”
Harold looked up at her and rolled his eyes some.
Sarah said. “I need your advice.” She glanced back at her team, then nodded to Mira.
Mira stepped forward and carefully extended the closed vase, holding it with both hands.
“We brought something back that we stole from the Lizardman Priestess,” Mira said. “It kept Theo alive and we each took a sip.”
Harold’s eyes dropped to the container.
“And,” Sarah added, “it changed something.”
The fire crackled softly as Harold reached out and took the vase, his expression tightening the moment his fingers closed around it.
“…Alright,” he said quietly. “Let me see it.”
Harold turned the vase over slowly in his hands. The surface was rough, fired clay reinforced with something he couldn’t see but could feel through its weight and balance. It was made to withstand rough handling.
“That’s blood,” he said as he uncapped it and smelled it.
Sarah nodded. “We know,” she said flatly. “Centaur blood.”
Harold didn’t comment on that. He tilted the vessel just enough to feel the resistance within, the way the contents shifted sluggishly rather than flowing freely.
“It’s not raw, though,” he said. “This has been processed and reinforced. The amount of mana within it is much more than normal.” He ran his thumb along the rim as he closed it. “Whatever they did to it, they did it on purpose. Blood is a powerful ingredient depending on the source.”
Jace frowned. “That’s bad, right?”
Harold glanced at him. “It’s powerful.” He said, recalling some of the other things he used to make with blood.
“What did this do to you?” He asked the group as a whole.
Mira swallowed. “It healed him.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Harold said, “but that's not all it did.”
He held the vase still, “I can’t tell much more without my equipment. Most of which we don't have right now.”
He looked at Sarah. “I can’t tell you a ton, but I know this. This wasn’t made to be shared casually. What else did this do to you?”
Sarah looked at the rest of her team, then back to Harold.
“We all got the same perk,” she said. “At the same time.”
Harold’s pacing slowed. “Show me.”
Sarah didn’t argue. She focused, then flicked her gaze slightly to the side. A moment later, her expression shifted, and she angled herself so Harold could see.
A translucent screen shimmered into existence between them, hovering just above the firelight.
Harold leaned in without realizing he was doing it.
Thresher King’s Communion (Epic).”
- Establishes a bonded cohort among all who consumed the ritual compound
- When gaining a perk, chance for the perk to manifest at +1 rank that has a chance to spread to the cohort
- Chance increases under greater injury, exhaustion, or high-threat conditions
- Grants small persistent healing effect
Harold stared at the screen, unmoving. Then his jaw tightened. He straightened slowly, eyes flicking back to Sarah, then to Mira, then to Theo.
“…All of you,” he said quietly.
Sarah nodded. “It triggered together.”
Harold exhaled sharply through his nose and began pacing again, faster now, one hand dragging through his hair as he reread the text line by line.
“Shared propagation,” he muttered. He stopped short and looked up. “What was the priestess doing while she gathered the blood?”
Jace answered immediately, tension creeping into his voice.
“She was ritually killing centaurs and draining them. Then, feeding the bodies to the Thresher King.”
As Jace said, Thresher King Harold stopped and looked at him as he was running through processes in his mind and muttering under his breath. They couldn't hear anything he was saying, but they could see the spark of madness or genius.
Harold pointed at Jace, "You, go hide in the darkness."
Jace blinked. “What?”
“Now.” Harold commanded.
Sarah gave a short nod. Jace sighed, as if this were his life now, and slipped off into the darkness.
Harold counted under his breath. When enough time had passed, he turned back to them.
“Can you tell where he is?”
Sarah didn’t hesitate. She pointed in the direction Jace had gone.
Mira frowned. “No,” she said slowly. “He’s… over there.”
She pointed somewhere else entirely, and Harold stared at her.
Then he sat down hard on the log by the fire.
“…Damn,” he breathed.
Mira looked back at him and kept speaking…”That’s not all…I can vaguely sense their emotions. Nothing firm, but I can get a feel if they are happy or not.”
Sarah turned to her sharply. “How are you doing that?”
Mira hesitated, then shrugged slightly. “You have to bring down your walls, Sarah. You’ve always been a little closed up, but the connection is there if you allow it in.”
Sarah opened her mouth to argue, then stopped. She looked away instead. “Maybe,” she muttered.
“Blood,” he said quietly. “Of course it’s blood.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Hands down,” Harold went on, voice warming with something dangerous, “the best alchemical ingredients come from things that are already dense with mana. High-ranked dungeon bosses. Region Bosses. High-ranked individuals… Anything that’s been shaped by pressure long enough to develop innate properties.”
He finally looked up at them.
He gestured vaguely at the vase in Mira’s hands.
“This wasn’t a potion made from scraps. This was an exchange.”
Jace frowned. “Exchange how?”
“High-ranked monsters are intelligent. The Thresher King is a sapient being; he might not reason as we do, but he does have reason.”
Harold exhaled slowly. “The priestess wasn’t just sacrificing centaurs. She was paying blood for attention. Blood for favor.” His eyes narrowed. “The base of this compound was almost certainly something derived from the Thresher King himself. A secretion. A shed fragment. Something close enough to count.”
Sarah felt her stomach tighten.
“That alone would make it potent,” Harold continued. “But then the priestess reinforced it. Layered it with additional ingredients. Bound it with her perks. Saturated it with her mana. And then—” He paused, looking back at the screen. “—you stole it.”
Silence crept in around the fire. Mira swallowed, and Theo shifted while Jace went very still.
Harold leaned back, eyes alight despite himself. “I tried to make something like this once. In my last life. Not with a major region boss involved, obviously. I wanted a way to bind a group tightly enough that their growth reinforced itself.”
He shook his head, half in disbelief. “It was inefficient and fragile. Nowhere near this clean.”
Sarah shifted under his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable. “The perk propagation,” Harold said, “that’s… extraordinary. Dangerous, yes, but extraordinary.”
Sarah cleared her throat. “About that—”
Harold looked at her fully then, sharp and immediate. “What else did you get?”
Sarah’s mouth closed. Her shoulders dipped just a fraction.
Jace blinked. “Wait, what?”
Mira’s eyes widened. She covered her mouth with both hands. “You killed the priestess,” she hissed. “What perk did you get?”
The fire cracked softly between them.
Sarah didn’t answer right away. She kept her eyes on Harold, like she was bracing for judgment rather than asking for understanding.
And she showed Harold another screen with the other perk.
Rite of Taking (Epic)
- Killing an enemy with a ritual blade grants an increased chance to acquire a perk from the victim
Harold read the screen faster than everyone else and turned to glare at Sarah…”He exhaled slowly. “That should not exist.”
“You can not show this perk to anyone. Ever!” Harold said to her. If other adventurers found out you had this, they would hunt you down just for a chance to gain this.”
“Wait,” Jace said in wonder, “We can get perks from people too?”
“Oh yes,” Harold said glumly, “It’s part of why we failed last time.”