The Lighthouses and the Pit (Fantasy Mage Quest)

You are trained hard. It seems was redundant, to say this, given the difficulty of what you have faced so far. Days that were once ten hours stretch into twelve, or even fourteen. Jagged Edge treats you with quiet disdain, always pushing you further, always trying to make you a little better, but always looking down on you as well. It's not quite contempt, but only because you're not really worthy of contempt in his eyes. It frustrates you, and while you work hard to become more powerful, you don't do it for his approval. You do it because - well for a lot of reasons. Perhaps because you're angry and you want to show that kindness doesn't make you weak. Perhaps because you're worried and you want strength so you don't have to risk yourself to save other people.


You're not quite sure. Still, the important thing is that you work with tremendous dedication, and increase your combat skills along with your power of Infinite Sharpness. Where Dancing Dagger once trained you to face ten man, you now face fifteen or twenty, your fitness and speak constantly increasing, your swordplay as well. You are blindingly fast, incredibly skilled, at least in comparison to those of without magic.

Jagged Edge grunts with mild surprise when you opt to come south with him. You can tell he expected some other outcome, but you're aware this is the best option. If you're to understand magic, and the world you live in, you have to go to Everett. It's a first important step of seeing what's outside Madalgia, and perhaps a way to see another way of living. Madalgia is a tormented city, but perhaps Everett will be different.

The two of you step outside the city along with a number of merchants who ride in twin wagons, each of them carrying a bow. You've seen them have little effect against Darklings before, but it is surely better than nothing. You speak to one of the merchants, and before he can even tell you his name, Jagged Edge glares at him, and he falls silent immediately. You scowl back at him, but he seems completely inured to the look you're shooting at him.

And then it begins. What you had faced with Grand Axe had been nothing more than a preface to what you truly faced outside the light of the Lighthouses. The occasional Darkling, the laggard Spinewolves you had once faced were nothing compared to what you face now. It is only a day into the trip when a Spinewolf runs towards the wagons, moving at twice the speed you would seen them move before. You raise your sword, but before you can take action Jagged Edge moves like lightning, and the Spinewolf collapses, two of its legs cut clean off. He swings his halberd again, and carefully smashes the teeth out the beast.

"Swallow. Kill it, and gain its power. Now, if you please."

You approach it hesitantly, but the Spinewolf is crippled and almost nonthreatening. You swing your sword, feeling for the moment where it will be sharp enough to cut between worlds. You feel correctly, and the sword separates the Spinewolf's head neatly from its shoulders.

This keeps happening, hour after hour, day after day. Jagged Edge neatly disables one Darkling after another, and leaves them for you to kill. You feel your power grow in hours in the same way it had taken weeks or months to do beforehand. On the second day you kill six or seven, and on the third you kill twelve. You feel the power growing in a substantial and real fashion. You hadn't expected Jagged Edge to be so relentlessly giving, making sure you can every scrap of power you can. You still hate him of course, but it is unexpected.

He rarely talks to you, and you strongly feel as though he thinks you're a burden. Perhaps though he doesn't really talk to anyone. It's not as if you've ever seen him talk to anyone beyond Dancing Dagger. You have seen him kill as many innocent people as you've seen him hold a polite conversation with. It's on the sixth day that things take a turn. A small pack of Spinewolves attack, totalling nine. This would be enough to overwhelm you easily, but Jagged Edge turns them into so much mincemeat. Another pack arrived soon after, and they meet the same fate. And then a third pack arrives.

He is looking somewhat sweaty, and breathing heavily. He leans in his halberd for a moment, and just as the Spinewolves scatter so they can approach from all directions, something else appears, crawling out of the nearby forest.

It stands almost 10 feet tall, and nearly 20 long. It is black, like the Spinewolves, but its jaws glistened with rainbow fluid that constantly fall to the ground. Legs adorned with blades formed from chitin, eyes place equidistant around its large, vile body.

Greatspider.

Jagged Edge curses under his breath.

"Swallow. We have two options. The first, you run with the merchants towards the other treeline. I'll take down the Darklings, Spinewolves first. My skills aren't well suited for penetrating the armour of a Greatspider. Once the Spinewolves are dealt with, you returned and we try to deal with the Greatspider together. They're much more likely to die though."

He speaks again, his face sour, as though he has bitten into something unpleasant.

"Or, we leave the merchants to fend for themselves in the safety of the wagons, if you think you can distract the Greatspider for a little bit of time. I prefer you didn't, but given your tendency towards… Heroics, I thought at least offer you the option so you don't go haring off on your own. Thoughts?"

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Escort the Merchants - They're more likely to die, but it gives Jagged Edge more tactical room to maneuver and destroy the Darklings. Less risky for your personally.

Distract the Greatspider - Dangerous? Check. Saving innocents? Check. Sounds like a job for Swallow! Less room for Edge to maneuver though, and he'll have to manage risk to himself, the merchants, and you. Riskier to him personally as a consequence.

Kill the Greatspider (COSTS A FATE POINT) - Distraction? No, you have mobility and offense on your side. You could make this work. Maybe. Probably! It sounds insane, but if you flung yourself into the attack recklessly enough, and got lucky enough, you could avoid its attacks, use distance to jump up, and slice into its brain. Or cut off one of its legs and do the same. It'd be dangerous, but it'd probably impress Edge, and also the power boost would be considerable.