Edwin stared at the ring in his hand as he contemplated his next step. The ring had been sitting in a corner of the store for what seemed like ages, Robert didn't mind to give him for free in thanks for his help. He toyed with the ring for a bit, besides the fact that he felt a bit of a connection with it, and the fact that it glowed when he used his skills, it didn't do much.
For now, he focused on what to do in his next steps. He could go to the library, but that was unlikely to contain any truly important information, only what could be safely given to the public. He briefly considered trying to gain royal patronage, but he was unsure if it would be worth the effort, due to the fact that they were unlikely to actually give him access to what he wanted. More likely than not, they would feed him scraps of information so that he wouldn't leave the kingdom.
So, he needed a way to get access to stuff that was hidden from society, and that he could get access to without being wholly dependent on someone's goodwill.
A smile appeared in Edwin's face as a plan formed.
"Robert, see you later" He left the ring nearby his bed, then Moved.
Finding thugs in the streets wasn't particularly difficult, nor was getting them to talk. He wasn't fond of torture, but sometimes needs must. Thankfully, 14 years old or not, the thugs were easily intimidated by a couple of broken bones.
The next couple of days blurred together in a constant flow of running around the city and broken bones, and occasionally doing a few chores to help Robert. After spending so long fighting the Conquering King's forces, it was almost…disappointing to do a campaign against so underwhelming opponents.
His progress was surprisingly quick, helped by his flat-out inhuman mind that he had built over the years. He could take the tiniest of hints and quickly deduce a large part of the web of conspiracy around the capital.
And a web it was.
When he first started his campaign against crime in the city, he wasn't sure what to expect. Smuggling of illegal substances, maybe, perhaps even slavery.
No one would expect a cult towards Dark Gods and forbidden artifacts.
Edwin discovered that tidbit when he had, after a couple of days of investigation, discovered one of the larger bases of the largest gang in the city. For the most part, it was easy, oddly enough, some of the thugs had access to some magic, but nothing truly dangerous. He easily guessed their capabilities, and then it was fairly easy to calculate the trajectory of their attacks. Not that it was even necessary, considering his sheer constitution, but it was decent practice.
Then he fought against the local leader. He was not a worthy opponent, nowhere close to it, but the fact that he could face him at all was worrying.
He was a small man, unassuming with dark hair a sunken face,pitch-black eyes and wearing a dark robe. The moment Edwin saw him, he knew that some dark magic was at hand.
The man lunged at him, hands glowing with a dark power. Of course, Edwin had predicted something like this. He was much faster than the man, but he didn't want to discover what his magic did. As such, he took the pragmatic approach. He simply threw objects in the room in the man, they simpy disintegrated when they were about to hit him, something dark flashing inside the man's robes when that happened. Edwin simply kept at it, the man not having much in the way of…anything besides running after him.
He made sure to always stay a couple steps ahead of the man, and kept throwing objects at him at inhuman speeds. Chairs, tables, bricks, eventually, the objects stopped disintegrated, merely rapidly degrading, until even then that stopped all-together. At that point the man tried to run away, but Edwin was still faster.
Before making sure that he wasn't faking it by throwing a few rocks at the man, they simply htting him in the head and not causing much reaction, he took a step foward and knocked him out with a punch to the head.
He briefly noted that during the entire encounter, the man hadn't spoken once, or even made any type of noise for that matter. A brief examination of his body quickly showed why: He wasn't entirely human. His body was skeletal, sometimes literally. An undead of some sorts. Also, completely useless for information extraction, and he didn't feel the need to not kill a undead abomination. As such, he killed it painlessly by a punch to the cranium, then made sure it stayed dead by making a pyre.
He then explored what was left of the base,simultaneously finding a wealth of clues and not much at all. He discovered that they were called the Cult of the Forsaken, a organization that spanned multiple kingdoms and that they had turned Feuer into a stronghold, he discovered that they had access to numerous artefacts that were, to put it simply, incredibly evil and he discovered the location of numerous of their bases.
But just as everything in the whole investigation, there was nothing that he could use to gain actual personal power. At the very least, not through methods that he was willing to use. But at the same time, he felt like he was in the cusp of something really big. If that something big was going to be of any help to him, however, was yet to be seen.
After tinkering around with the artifacts that he found, most of them being related to decay, death, and being powered by these things, he decided that the best thing that he could do with them was burning them in a nice pyre.
---
The next couple of days were more of the same, going out, doing more chores, defeating increasingly powerful cultists and criminals as he made his way upwards their organizations. In the meantime, he had discovered what the Ring actually did. He only felt it when he was training his throwing Skills after the incident, after some experimentation, the ring made it seemingly faster to learn Skills, albeit not by a whole lot.
He wondered how the ring had ended up at the store in the first place, and how it was such an odd coincidence that he just found it…but decided that he had best things to do rather than question fate.
The info that he gathered from the criminal organizations was even less useful than the one he got from the cult. On top of that, it seemed like the cult had been absorbing the other criminal organizations for years now, utilizing their superior amount of resources, equipment and magic. It was honestly kind of scary that such a big thing was happening under the kingdom's nose.
Good thing he was there to deal with the situation.
He fought against a wizard capable of throwing clouds of decay made form, a necromancer with a small army of skeletons, a gang-boss with the power of skipping time, and now he was readying himself to face the most powerful criminal in the city.
Edwin was starting to really, really wonder how the hell had such a large number of powerful criminals entered the city and managed to stay hidden for so long. Either they were really good at hiding…or the kingdom just didn't care enough to deal with it.
He wasn't sure which was worse.
Weeks of searching for clues and connections, learning to read, and decrypt codes had given him a lot of information. The cult was a local branch, lead by a man known as Birow the Fell-sword. The fact that he had a Title was somewhat worrying.
He readied himself, ring in hand, as he stared at the largest base of the Cult in the city. The place was a long-abandoned warehouse, now, a temple towards a forsaken god of death and misery. If he managed to kill Birow, it would cripple the cult in the city due to its nature, and he was likely to gain good info towards the other active leaders. If he failed…he was going to leave the whole operation with very little to show for it, wasting weeks of work.
He didn't bother with stealth, punching the entrance open. Inside, he saw a dozen of cultists, all of them having access to minor artifacts, and likely having some minor magical prowess. A non-threat. He stepped forwards inside of the room, and then immediatly stepped to the side, dodging the blast of decay before they could even throw them. In the same move, he kicked the ground, the dust that had accumulated for years kicking up and obscuring their visions. It also did that to his, but he remembered exactly where they were, and where they were going to move.
One with the sword rushed forwards and was met with a fist to the face. Then, he grabbed the swordsman by the shoulder, and put him in front of the decay blast that Edwin knew was coming, then threw him at the cloud of decay slowly coming at him, knowing that it would delay it. Then, he jumped through the room, kicking one of them in the head, and moving quickly against the others.
Blow after blow, he systematically defeated all of them, even as more reinforcements came, he did the same with them. Predicting their avenue of attack, dodging the blows, then attacking. Soon, the room quieted down, the only sound being that of the dead, undead, dying or unconscious.
Yet none of them were his target.
He grabbed a nearby corpse and slowly made his way up the base, using the corpse to deal with the traps. Unfortunately, he had to bring a few other corpses due to the sheer number of traps.
He wondered why Birow wasn't doing anything for a while. He wasn't escaping, Edwin would have noticed, so either he was prideful and thought he could handle Edwin on his own, or he was preparing something.
When he reached the top floor, Edwin threw the corpse trough the door, the corpse exploding in a green cloud.
Edwin took a few steps backwards, then saw him. The man was immense, clad in a gray chain-mail, with a helmet obscuring his face, and with a black sword in his hands that radiated Death. He concluded that not getting hit was the best strategy.
"So, the Silent Blow, eh? Heard about you." The man said, seemingly more amused by the whole situation than anything.
Edwin frowned. He preferred his old Title.
"So, why didn't you act until now?"
"It was a test. Both towards my subordinates, and towards you. So, feel like joining the Cult?"
While they were talking, Edwin was examining the room, looking for traps. Besides the initial one, he couldn't see any, would he have hidden ones?
No. He just didn't care about the life of his subordinates. He also seemed to be itching for a fight. Edwin decided to answer with his fists. He stepped forwards, the man raising his sword in answer. Edwin dashed fowards and ducked, while at the same time twisting his body to kick Biruow's knees, even as the sword passed inches on top of his head, causing a good chunk of his hair to be destroyed by the power of death. Edwin quite liked his current haircut.
The man simply withstood the kick and quickly cut downwards. Of course, Edwin expected as much, already on the move, rolling between the man's legs, quickly standing up, and delivering multiple blows against his back.
"Quick fucker aren't ya?"
The man grumbled as he spun in place, his sword a black streak which Edwin had already ducked to avoid. However, the man had some tricks up his sleeve, a green sickly mist emanating from him even as he simply kept spinning. Edwin almost found it clever.
He simply jumped backwards through the building.
Edwin fell gracefully. The man stopped his spin, then stared at him.
"Now I'm annoyed. Was such a great plan…"
He jumped, the green mist rolling around him as he walked. Still, it was obvious that he hadn't withstood Edwin's blows unscathed, but it was still going to be a tough fight.
Edwin was physically weaker and actually slower than him, but his blows were predictable and he preferred to use power over speed in them. He was actually near the top of what these lands could produce.
He pondered if he should retreat. It would be doable, he was slower, but not by a huge margin, and he definitively could outwit the man. But…he didn't want to, Edwin knew he could defeat Birow, because he hadn't used all he had yet.
Edwin nodded, a small grin forming on his face. He had been avoiding using this technique due to it being costly to use for long bursts, and he wouldn't be able to learn much if he simply overwhelmed his opponents.
Through years of training, he had improved his mind, but he had learned how to infuse concepts into his body. Edwin rushed forwards, his speed multiplying manifold, becoming Determination made Manifest.
Immediately, the man stopped holding back, slashing forwards at the same time as the mist rolled off him in waves. Edwin easily sidestepped the slash and held his breath, even as his fist connected with Birow's shoulder, then he kept going. He couldn't maintain his determination forever.
Blow after blow rained towards Birow, even as the green mist burned Edwin's clothes and skin. Edwin simply ignored the pain. Birow's armor cracked, then, he started to swing his sword one handed, and punching with the other. Edwin could predict the sword's movements, easily staying out of it's reach, however, he prefered to simply withstand the punches, to not give up momentum. even as he felt his body's constant complaints.
With a final blow, Birow's armor finally was destroyed, Edwin's fist connected with flesh and bone, breaking both, Birow jumped backwards, even as his mist advanced, Edwin did the smart thing and retreated, exhaustion seeping in from his technique.
Both opponents stared one another, a good chunk of Birow's armor was destroyed, while Edwin's body was in an awful state, skin blistering and boiling in several points, made worst in places where Birow's fists had landed.
"Heh, strong for a kid." Birow laughed. Despite the injuries, he didn't seem to be worried.
Edwin realized at that moment, Birow didn't fear death. That was…troublesome.
The mist increased in size, obscuring Birow from view, still, Edwin knew that he couldn't maintain that for long, otherwise he would have used a whole lot more of his mist at this point.
"Still just a kid though."
Edwin frowned in annoyance even as the mist shot forwards towards him in the form of small tendrils, which easily dodged, but Edwin knew they were only as distraction for the main attack that was coming. Birow raced forwards. Edwin ignored the mist and focused on his sword, ducking behind Birow's overhead swing, then concentrating what Will he had left in one last swing towards one last blow. He stood up, stepped to the side, then punched Birow' unarmored shoulder with all his strength and Will, his bones fragmenting and hitting his inner organs in the process.
He was dead. Yet, impossibly, his boneless arm moved and gripped Edwin's tight. For one second, he feared that he had miscalculated, then, Edwin felt a wave of pain as his shoulder was cut by the Fell-Blade. Edwin ducked, in the process turning what would have been a lethal strike merely into a crippling one.
With one more effort of Will that he didn't know he had, Edwin broke free of Birow's grip, even as pain burned in him arm. He prepared himself to retreat from the fight…and then Birow fell over, dead.
Edwin wasn't sure how he had managed the last strike.
Edwin sat down for a second, exhaustion overtaking him. That had been…a difficulty but costly fight. He only hoped the prize was worth it.
---
Edwin has received two complications.
Decaying arm – Edwin cannot properly utilize of his right arm. On top of that, it's under constant pain. 1 month to heal.
Choose the second one:
{ } Rotten flesh – Edwin's body has been deeply affected by the mist, having a rotten and decaying look. -5% all physical attribute, -20% social ones. 1 month to heal.
{ } Unhealing bones – Some of Edwin's bones were broken and refuse to heal, making everyday life even more painful. -10% to all physical attributes, lessens training efficiency. Needs a decent healer.
{ } Stench of death – Edwin constantly feels the stench of death, clinging to him like a unwanted companion. -10% overall effectivines, lasts 1 week.
---
The winner of the last vote was {X}Mind X3 + {X}Determination
After winning this fight, Edwin has learned much. You have 3 picks and 2 Majesty.
{ } Sun Ring (0 picks, 1 majesty) – Improves the effect of the Sun Ring, increasing rate of training skills even further. ????
{ } Might's Purview (0/3) – Sometimes, all you need is raw might to deal with your problems. [++might]
{ } Grace's Purview (0/3) – It's trough Grace that one achieves Excellence, and trough Excellence can one move the world.[+agi, +wits, +charisma]
{ } Determination Manifest – Trough one's will, man can change the world. Trough it, one can make the cold and uncaring universe care. [++Will]
2 picks –
{ }Fists of Destruction – When all else fails, one's fists becomes their greatest weapons. Why try anything else, however, when you can have the fists of destruction?
+Might
Greatly improves the damage of Edwin's fists, and on top of that greatly improves the damage that it does against inanimate objects.
{ }Kicks of Fury – Speed is the greatest of advantages, be it to reach places, to fight someone, or to run away. Why not utilize it to kill, too?
+Agi
Allows Edwin to add his agility to his strength when attacking.
3 picks –
{ }Determination's Grasp – Allows Edwin to contest esoteric effects utilizing his will. Currently relatively weak, but can greatly improve trough training. Can be utilized for curse mitigation.
{ }Calculus of Conflict – Defining advancement. You can only have 3 Defining advancements currently.
There is a system in battles, in warfare, and in conflict in general. No individual is truly random, for all have motivations behind their actions, and Edwin has learned to learn the smallest of things, and from it, create the optimal path to victory.
+ Competence.
++ All mental stats.
In conflict, all mental stats have their effects increased by 50%.
Increases the effect of mental stats in all forms of conflict.
Decreases the effect of all non-mental stats by 10%.
---
On top of that, Edwin has learned quite a bit from the criminals of the city. You have 3 picks.
{ }More training – Instead of immediately rushing forwards, Edwin will train for a bit. Each time taken, gives +1 pick in the previous vote.
*1 pick, can be taken multiple times.
{ } Go see a doctor - Edwin's condition…isn't great, currently. While a good healer would be expensive, if Edwin immediately goes to a healer with his ill-gotten ill-gotten gains, it could help quite a bit.
*1 pick, can be taken multiple times. Instantly heals Unhealing bones.
*Halvesthe effect and time it takes to heal complications.
{ } Minor artifacts – Edwin will grab minor artifacts that he got knowledge from. He is unsure of what he will find, but he is sure he is going to find at least something.
*1 pick, can be taken multiple times with diminishing returns.
*Roll for what you get. Low chance of very useful artifact, high of useful, low of mostly useful. Artifacts are very likely to help in combat more than 1 pick in other places would, but be worse long-term.
{ } Cult warehouses – Edwin will go after warehouses of the Cult of The Forsaken. There places are likely to contain information on their magical systems and their more powerful artifacts, some of which Edwin would be willing to use.
*2 picks.
*Guarantees at the very least one very useful artifact.
*Acess to other magical systems cost small amount of Majesty.
*Might encounter magical sytem Edwin is unwilling to use.
*Risk varies according to build. 0 chance of actual death, however, due to Edwin's competence.
{ } The Forgotten Dungeon(+0.5 majesty) – Edwin has no clue what it's actually in the dungeon, or what the rewards are. Probably the reason it's called The Forgotten dungeon. He only knows where it is due to some crime lords utilizing artifacts from it.
*1 pick.
*Likely medium risk?
*Very high chance of useful artifact or knowledge?
*Edwin is curious.
{ }Crypt of a Forsaken God.(+2 Majesty.) – Edwin knows that in the end of the month a gathering will take place to bring their god back into this world. That would be…bad.
*If taken with training, will have option to create new technique/skill using Majesty.
*0 picks. Edwin has plenty of time to get ready to it.
*Very large rewards in picks and artefacts.
*Normally would be very high risk, but due to Edwin's intel he is confident that it would only be a high risk.
*This probably didn't succeed in the original timeline, so someone's probably going to deal with the situation.
*Butterfly effect is a thing.
