You joke, but there is actually little difference in four ducal scions showing up all at once and four serious count scions. The issue of last year was that there was four ducal scion in addition to four count scions, as well as five high talent commoners that managed to get in green.
You joke, but there is actually little difference in four ducal scions showing up all at once and four serious count scions. The issue of last year was that there was four ducal scion in addition to four count scions, as well as five high talent commoners that managed to get in green.
You may be right about the combination being the really difficult part, but little difference between them? The ducal scions completely dominated both tournaments and ruthlessly proved their superiority over the Count/Marquis/royal guard kids. We were the closest to actually giving one a decent fight and we still lost hard.
You may be right about the combination being the really difficult part, but little difference between them? The ducal scions completely dominated both tournaments and ruthlessly proved their superiority over the Count/Marquis/royal guard kids. We were the closest to actually giving one a decent fight and we still lost hard.
The ducal scions in questions dominated the tournament in good part because the count scions were their helpers, and as such there was an understanding there. You can bet that when Wen Cao or Bao Qinglin or the Luo guy got in, they also utterly dominated everyone else.
While there are advantages a ducal has over a count even in early green, they pale between the advantages a count has over a viscount in early green, from I understand.
The ducal scions in questions dominated the tournament in good part because the count scions were their helpers, and as such there was an understanding there. You can bet that when Wen Cao or Bao Qinglin or the Luo guy got in, they also utterly dominated everyone else.
While there are advantages a ducal has over a count even in early green, they pale between the advantages a count has over a viscount in early green, from I understand.
None of this is relevant to the tournament though. Kang didn't fight his ally/boss Sun Lilling, he fought Meizhan, who crushed him. Shen Hu had literally nothing to do with any of the factions, but he still crushed Han Jian (marquis) and got crushed by Sun Lilling (princess). The only (relevant) match ups where an 'understanding' was in play were Xiulan vs CRX and CRX vs. Meizhan. In the first case Xiulan didn't loose because she was a lower ranked ally who bowed out, she lost because she was a partial 3rd realm VS a 2nd stage 3rd realm.
The rest of the tournament also kind of pokes holes in your claim that Count kids are almost as bullshit as Duke kids. Shen Hu is a baron kid and Xiulan is a viscount kid. Meanwhile Han Jian, Lu Feng, and Huang Da didn't even make it to the 3rd realm in time for the tournament. I'm not saying Count kids don't have advantages, but they aren't uniformly monstrous the way the 5 Duke kids we've seen are.
None of this is relevant to the tournament though. Kang didn't fight his ally/boss Sun Lilling, he fought Meizhan, who crushed him. Shen Hu had literally nothing to do with any of the factions, but he still crushed Han Jian (marquis) and got crushed by Sun Lilling (princess). The only (relevant) match ups where an 'understanding' was in play were Xiulan vs CRX and CRX vs. Meizhan. In the first case Xiulan didn't loose because she was a lower ranked ally who bowed out, she lost because she was a partial 3rd realm VS a 2nd stage 3rd realm.
The rest of the tournament also kind of pokes holes in your claim that Count kids are almost as bullshit as Duke kids. Shen Hu is a baron kid and Xiulan is a viscount kid. Meanwhile Han Jian, Lu Feng, and Huang Da didn't even make it to the 3rd realm in time for the tournament. I'm not saying Count kids don't have advantages, but they aren't uniformly monstrous the way the 5 Duke kids we've seen are.
My point is that Kang Zihao or Lu Feng working for Sun Liling actually means they aren't the head of their own factions, and thus have less ressources/less growth during the year. Likewise, not only did Han Jian get in the sect as below where he should have been, but also decided to not really try for the tournament in order to help Han Fang next year, as there wouldn't be enough places for Han Fang this year.
In a year without the ducals, the count scions would have been much stronger, I think.
None of this is relevant to the tournament though. Kang didn't fight his ally/boss Sun Lilling, he fought Meizhan, who crushed him. Shen Hu had literally nothing to do with any of the factions, but he still crushed Han Jian (marquis) and got crushed by Sun Lilling (princess). The only (relevant) match ups where an 'understanding' was in play were Xiulan vs CRX and CRX vs. Meizhan. In the first case Xiulan didn't loose because she was a lower ranked ally who bowed out, she lost because she was a partial 3rd realm VS a 2nd stage 3rd realm.
The rest of the tournament also kind of pokes holes in your claim that Count kids are almost as bullshit as Duke kids. Shen Hu is a baron kid and Xiulan is a viscount kid. Meanwhile Han Jian, Lu Feng, and Huang Da didn't even make it to the 3rd realm in time for the tournament. I'm not saying Count kids don't have advantages, but they aren't uniformly monstrous the way the 5 Duke kids we've seen are.
Also, let's not forget the absolute goldilocks matches that Kang Zihao got in the tournament. First he was Sun Liling's only ally, so he couldn't lose--then he fought a literal minion who was a realm beneath him--he basically got a free ride to the inner sect.
Even if you don't deserve it, if your family has political power, you will get into the Inner Sect.
My point is that Kang Zihao or Lu Feng working for Sun Liling actually means they aren't the head of their own factions, and thus have less ressources/less growth during the year. Likewise, not only did Han Jian get in the sect as below where he should have been, but also decided to not really try for the tournament in order to help Han Fang next year, as there wouldn't be enough places for Han Fang this year.
In a year without the ducals, the count scions would have been much stronger, I think.
If anything it's the opposite of that though. CRX and Sun Lilling were giving their allies all kinds of perks to keep them from joining the other side. If anything, the Count kids had even more resources than normal, although that didn't matter to them as much as it did to us.
The Duke kids are uniformly OP, while Count kids can range from skilled to just barely not scrubs. I'm really not seeing any evidence for your assertions.
Generally, i'd assume duke families will have a bigger talent pool to pull from.
So it makes sense they can send more talented children as a kind of ambassadors and show of force to the sects.
Lower you go, less options you have, so the children sent to a given sect are chosen less for talent, and more for who is at hand.
Also, let's not forget the absolute goldilocks matches that Kang Zihao got in the tournament. First he was Sun Liling's only ally, so he couldn't lose--then he fought a literal minion who was a realm beneath him--he basically got a free ride to the inner sect.
Even if you don't deserve it, if your family has political power, you will get into the Inner Sect.
Eh, Zihao got favoritism over other Greens, but on a normal year, being Green would be enough to enter the Inner Sect.
So its not quite that he got in undeservingly per se (Huang Da and Han Jiao got no help, after all), just that he got favored over more deserving people, which is not quite the same. Sure, its still hella unfair, but it means that one has to have achieved a certain skill minimum to deserve the nepotism, at the very least.
Factually speaking, Kang is an above average cultivator whose position in the Inner Sect would be almost guaranteed in an ordinary year, being a full green in your first year of the Outer Sect should be enough to get you in
He's not super notable, but he isn't actually middling either, and I say this as someone who disdains him
I think the perception of him as mediocre comes from two factors:
1. Being compared to monsters like Liling, Meizhen, CRX, Ling Qi and Ji Rong makes most people look mediocre by comparison
2. Kang Zihao is a slimeball who likes to talk up empty words about honor and duty, but lacks the moral and intestinal fortitude to actually back it up. His contemptibility makes it easy to perceive him as pathetic, which well he is, but it makes him look weaker than he is
The qi flowing through her veins seemed so very sluggish as she felt the pressure of metal points through the fabric of her gown. A thousand thoughts flew through her mind in a fraction of a second, but soon, there was only clarity. Ling Qi jerked her head back, buying herself bare millimeters of space, and the knife sparked as the threads of her gown resisted it's cut for another fraction of a second. Uncaring for the expense, Ling Qi flooded her spine with vital wood qi and her aura flared violently as it rippled out over everyone nearby. Ancient strength seeped into her skin and flesh, the strength of One Thousand Rings Unbroken..
But it would not be enough, she knew with perfect clarity, to survive this, she had to make sure that they would not be able to strike like this again. Her hand closed around her enemies thin, clammy wrist just as time seemed to resume it's normal course. Hot pain bloomed as the knife penetrated her gown and cut into flesh, but she dragged her assailants hand down with all of her strength, and combined with her reaction, it was enough. Cold metal cut deep into her resisting flesh despite her art, but it met her collarbone, and though she felt a deep uncomfortable grinding as the serrated edge struck bone, it went no deeper. The blade still cut deep, but instead of taking her throat it carved deep into her shoulder instead. Horrible pain and heat flooded her senses, but she refused to scream, and mentally batted aside Sixiang's intent to cleanse the poison. As Ice cold qi froze the blood seeping from her wound, the muse understood.
Fortitude and Resilience advances to Unbroken Will
Unbroken Will: A skill representing Ling Qi's raw, tenacious will to live, even in the face of insurmountable odds. Allows the use of Resolve in the place of Stamina for physical armor.
With her expression contorted into a snarl of pain and effort, Ling Qi tightened her grip on the assassins wrist, fingers digging into disgustingly rubbery flesh. Qi scented with moonlight and celestial wine burst from her every pore, washing over the assassin in a wave of confusion and momentary madness. With the roar of Xiulan's flames in her ears, Ling Qi held her grip on the assassin and turned, dragging her enemy with the motion.
She could already feel the assassin slipping free, their wrist growing still softer, almost boneless in her grip as they tried to slip away, but all the same, she heard a high pitched almost canine wail of pain as Xiulan cast a blinding white lance from her fingertips. Barely more than a finger wide, it was not just flame, nor lightning. It seemed almost liquid behind the shimmer of heat, a lance of sunlight, devastating in it's purity.
A second later, the assassin was free of her grip and she spun back to face it, the mantle of Winter's Aria already around her shoulders. Ling Qi tried her best to ignore the faint edge of raggedness in her voice, though she had avoided the worst, she could still feel the ragged hole in her flesh where her throat had been pierced, just above the collarbone, now sealed with a pack of crimson ice. She felt the fetid heat of poison in her veins bringing sweat to her brow and making her hands shake. However, her attention did not waver from the one who had caused all of this.
Something in the hunched figure triggered an instinctive and visceral disgust, even beyond what she felt toward a foe who had nearly her taken her head. Wrapped in a spiderweb of leather straps through which it's pale, rubbery hide was visible, the thing seemed to fall just short of seeming human in shape. It's apelike arms too long, the contours of it's skull holding just a touch of beastliness. It's face was concealed behind a strange leather mask with prtruding sacs hanging from it that grew and shrunk with it's breath, all stretched over a vaguely canine muzzle, and flat black lenses of smoked glass stared back where eyes should be. A single whip like cable of dull grey hair hung from the back of the things skull, and where it able to straighten it's hunched spine, it would stand almost two and a half meters high. Certain features gave the impression that it might be female, but Ling Qi felt an instinctive revulsion toward giving it even that much identity.
Even as she summoned her Singing blade, she sang the Hoarfrost refrain, and the creature still staggering as the blanket of twisted darkness qi receded like a rippling oil slick from the point where Xiulan's fires had struck, even with the distortion the creature represented in her senses, even with that defense, Ling Qi smelled the scent of burned leather and meat. It had no time to throw up another defense as the Cold washed over it, biting and hungry. Yet still the assassin moved with preternatural quickness, vaulting backwards with signs of great effort to avoid the onrushing song of winter, and the darting mist blade. Though it avoided the full weight of the melody, Ling Qi still saw flesh blacken and freeze on the creatures feet and legs as it flipped through the air, her qi punching through the creatures paper thin defenses.
"Ling Qi, I can't remove the poison," Sixiang hissed, frustration and fear coloring their voice.
A worry for later, Ling Qi kept her attention fixed fiercely on the assassin as it landed further down the wall, startling soldiers who were just now beginning to react to its presence. She heard Zhengui bellow in rage, but a single harsh thought stopped him from barreling back. She needed him to hold the line against the disease spirits. For the first time in a long time, she felt him balk at obeying her. She shot her little brother a startled glance through a single mirror-eye and met Zhen's frustrated gaze.
"Please, little brother. I can't afford distraction. I need you to stop them," she pleaded. She knew he wanted to help more directly, but if the swarm and the titan centipede were able to press down on them while they were still fighting the assassin. She did not have time to watch him, but Ling could feel it as he turned his attention back to the disease spirit, could feel the massive surge of vital qi flooding into the increasingly barren earth as a veritable spear wall of roots erupted across hundreds of meters of ground, impaling countless lesser spirits. She felt Hanyi try to leave her dantian to help, but she was out of time, she sent the young spirit to aid Zhengui, she did not want Hanyi being a target for the assassin.
Ling Qi rose into the sky as the titanic centipede crashed down on Zhengui, legs and mandibles skittering off of his shell, and focused her full attention on the assassin it was already moving, dashing back toward Xiulan with its knife raised in a low guard, weaving through the crossbow bolts being shot at its back with contemptuous ease. It's limbs a blur. In one smooth motion, the creature reached into a pouch at it's belt and flung something toward them. Ling Qi glimpsed a dark purprle crystal tumbling through the air for a fraction of a second before it exploded a rippling wave of black smoke engulfing both her and her friend. She felt the mist seeping into her channels, through her eyes and her ears and her nose, eating away at the qi enhancing her senses like acid.
"No," she snarled, and her left hand rose, to the sound of tiny bells chiming. The jeweled symbols of the moons hanging across the back of her hand flashed and grew hot, ruby inlay blazing, and drank in the smoke, the air howled as the foulness was sucked in, vanishing into the delicate talisman as if it had never been.
Somehow, even with its face wholly covered, she read startlement in the assassins frame as it was revealed, halfway into shimmering out of visibility by twisted currents of air. Xiulan's lash struck out, and the creature did not have the time to reverse momentum, not enough time to adjust course as tongues of flame curled around it's limbs and slammed it into the rough green wood of Zhengui's rampart. The column of flames and distorted air around her friend hissed with the fury of an uncontrolled wildfire as lightning roared out to scourge the trapped assassins pale hide.
Ling Qi forced herself to ignore the growing pounding in her head, the spots starting to appear in her vision as the wound carved across her shoulder throbbed. The tips of her fingers felt numb, and an unpleasant tingling feeling was spreading through her chest, but the assassin was not down yet. Even now, rising she could see movement where it struggled against Xiulan's lash rising from the smoking pit in the wood that the lightning crashing down on it had wrought. Black miasma rose from it's flesh, absorbing jagged trails of electricity.
Again, she sang the song the Hoarfrost Refrain, even as her qi guttered low, lower than she had felt it in a long time. Was it the poison, draining her qi so badly? She powered through the weaving of the qi for the technique regardless, ignoring the leadennes in her limbs, and the way she was gradually losing altitude as the trickle of qi keeping her afloat grew unstable.
The assassin shuddered, flesh freezing under the harsh melody, the miasma not enough to hold back the effects of her mentors song. A crossbow bolt, whistling with steam, thudded into it's hunched back, punching through leather and flesh. She felt it then, the creatures foul qi surging as it finally slipped the bonds of Xiulan's lash and lunged, dark qi bulging under its skin, filling channels to the point of bursting. Xiulan began to move back, startled, but she could see that it would not be fast enough. Viridian energy rippled across Ling Qi's gown as she activated Deepwood Vitality, gleaming shells of bright green qi shimmering across herself, Xiulan and all the soldiers within range.
Just in time as the assassin's flesh tore apart under the strain of the growing qi, and a wave of utter foulness washed over them. It was not acid, nor slime, nor anything else so easy to describe. It was the essence of filth, foul beyond words, and even beneath her technique, Ling Qi gagged and held back tears from watering eyes. She felt her technique shatter under the weight of it, but it had held long enough. The technique had passed. A vast scoop of the rampart was gone, eaten away, rotted into sludge.
"Vile thing," Xiulan spat as she dragged herself out of the pitted crater with a flick of her wrist, her flame lash having caught onto a protruding branch of the surviving rampart. Across the way, men scrambled to climb back up the broken wall, but Ling Qi was glad to see them unharmed too. "Thank you Ling Qi."
"Your welcome," Ling Qi said dizzily, and a moment later, her feet hit the ground with a thump. Her head felt light, there was another thump, she fell to her knees. How silly, that wasn't the sort of thing that was supposed to happen any more.
"Ling Qi?!" Xiulan cried out from… somewhere near by.
"Get her down into the ash," Sixiang's voice snapped from empty air. "I can't cleanse the poison, but Zhengui should at least be able to heal the symptoms."
Ling Qi felt warmth. Tongues of flame licked her skin, and gusts of wind tugged at her hair, hot enough to melt flesh and boil blood, they were comfortably warm to her. She felt Xiulan tugging on her arm, pulling it around her shoulder. "That's not gonna work, you're too short," she murmured dizzily.
"Do be silent," Xiulan snapped, and Ling Qi felt the rush of wind as she leaped down from the rampart. "...Idiot girl, why did you take the beasts knife. I know you could have dodged it."
"Wouldn't have been able to set it up for a good enough counter," Ling Qi muttered as they fell down into. "Mighta let it take a shot at you."
"Fool," Xiulan repeated harshly. "Zhengui!"
Ling Qi sucked in a breath of air as Zhengui roared in response, the ash around them flared green and she felt the haze recede from her thoughts. Her qi was still down to dregs, but she no longer teetered on the edge of unconsciousness. She looked up and saw Zhengui bracing himself against the centipede coiled around him even as scores of roots grasped its legs and Zhen struck, biting deep into it's chitin again and again. On his back, Hanyi stood, singing, surrounded by the shattered chunks of lesser spirits as they tried to swarm over Zhengui and burrow into the wound in his shell.
But her wound still throbbed, the frozen blood still sealed the wound, kept more of her life from spilling out, but the poison still pulsed, hot and painful through her veins. The ash flashed again still more disappearing, and she felt the wound struggle to close fractionally, pushing the damage back, but only barely. On top of all that the swarm was still oncoming, and they now stood level with it as spirits crept, crawled and flew through the distracted Zhengui's defenses.
"...Sorry, it still seemed like the best choice though," Ling Qi said quietly to Xiulan.
"I am sure it did," her friend said with a sniff. "You madwoman."
"Say's the one who went out to let herself get struck by lightning on purpose," Ling Qi snorted. She looked across the oncoming enemies with an unwelcome trepidation. Perhaps if she fell back into her mist she could drain enough qi from them to overtake the loss from the poison? Zhengui would need to keep healing her though…
At that moment, she heard trees splintering and the earth cracking open. From the now ruined copse to the south, a second and then a third titanic insectoid form reared.
"...Bullshit," Ling Qi breathed.
"Language," Xiulan said beside her, staring up at the enemies with a blank expression. "Can you run?"
"I think so," Ling Qi said, rising to her feet, only a little dizzy. She felt her stomach sink. Could they really keep holding here? She could feel Xiulan's qi dangerously low after raining down so many powerful attacks on the assassin. She herself had almost nothing the poison eating away at whatever sparks of qi tried to refill her dantian, even as it burned in her veins.
Just as she began to consider that they might have to abandon the village though, a second sun bloomed in the sky. The two titanic centipedes, already scuttling forward toward the battlefield had only an instant to let out ear piercing screams as a crescent of liquid gold crashed down on them. Rotted and splintered wood was vaporized instantly, and segments of the beasts bodies blackened and swelled, exploding from the heat before the molten metal even touched them. When it did, they were gone.
Ling Qi looked up, unblindinded by the descending light, and saw the source. Gu Yanmei descended from the sky on wings of liquid gold. In her hand was a sword that seemed like a shard of the sun, and her mere presence brought death to the swarm. Lesser spirits died, vaporized in mid air, erased as if they had never been, toxic pools bubbled and hissed, evaporating as if they never were, purified by the light of a descending sun. Below, Zhengui let out a below of triumph as Zhen dug his fangs into a section of exoskeleton shattered by conflicting temperature, and the beast coiling around him began to spasm in it's death throes.
"Sister?" Xiulan Asked in bafflement as the fourth realm descended.
"It is good that you are well Xiulan," Gu Yanmei said evenly as she descended, droplets of molten metal hissing as they flew with each beat of her wings. Wherever they touched the foulness seeping into the earth began to burn away, leaving crisp and barren soil. "We will speak later, with this matter taken care of I must be off to assist…"
"Sister," Gu Xiulan interrupted, and the older girl's eyebrows shot up. "Sister please, my friend, Ling Qi, she has been badly poisoned."
"If there is anything you can do Senior Sister, it would be appreciated," Ling Qi said weakly, she was beginning to feel dizzy again, and the lessening pain probably had more to do with damaged nerves than weakening toxin.
The earth shook beneath her feet again, almost making her lose her balance. She saw the Core disciple above her glace away, hesitating for just a fraction of a second. "I am no medic, but there is a reason I was deployed against this foulness," Ling Qi's eyes widened as Gu Yanmei leveled her sword, the blinding blade pointing directly at Ling Qi. "This will hurt," the stoic girl said curtly, if not unkindly.
Ling Qi had only a moment to brace herself as a beam of sunlight, raw and pure struck her. Her shoulder and neck lit up with renewed pain, and the frozen blood shutting her wound boiled off into so much mist. Ling Qi felt something like liquid fire injected directly into her body and spirit, scouring veins physical and spiritual of corruption and toxin.
However, the last thing she experienced as her consciousness faded was Gu Yanmei's head whipping around in alarm as the earth rocked, no mere minor tremor like Ling Qi had felt before, but a violent quaking that threw her from her feet. Far, far to the south, in the great mountains of the wall, Ling Qi saw the sky split asunder. She saw a mountaintop disintegrate into so much powder, and saw the storm wracked clouds rip apart in an expanding cone leaving behind a bare blue sky. Gu Yanmei's molten wings flared out, and she felt the Fourth realms energies slam into place over the rampart and village shielding everyone from the terrible gale that ripped through in its wake.
But by the time she felt her back impact the dry, burnt ground her vision was already fading.
***
Ling Qi's eyes snapped open and she sat up with a gasp, her expression wild. It was dark now, how long had she been…?
"Easy," a familiar voice reached her ears, soothing and calm. "You are in a medical wagon. You are safe. The attacks are over, for now," Liao Zhu said quietly.
Though her heart still thundered in her ears Ling Qi saw that he was right. She could feel the faint tremor of the wagon moving under her and she was seated on a soft bed. The cramped spae was packed with medical talismans and pill cupboards, the scent of medicine stung her nose, but it a safe scent. She felt a fraction of the tension leave her shoulders as she looked down at herself. She had been dressed in silver patients gown, and if she plucked at the collar, she could see a thick layer of poultice packed into her wounded shoulder. "Senior Brother, what happened after I…?"
She trailed off as she turned to look at him. He too was seated on a patients bed in a patients gown, though his mask remained in place. However, that oddity was worth little attention, compared to the empty right sleeve of his gown.
He chuckled. "My apologies Junior Sister, it looks as if this Senior was not wholly invincible after all. He is sorry for disappointing."
"I… will the Medicine Hall be able to fix it?" She asked with faint horror.
"Perhaps if it were merely severed," he said shaking his head. "But no, it is gone, devoured flesh and spirit. Even the channels are gone. I will simply have to adjust."
"I'm sorry," Ling Qi said, ducking her head, she didn't know what to say. "...What happened though. That was no normal attack, and Xiulan said that a messenger told her that there were attacks all over the Sect, and that earthquake at the end, and the sky…"
"You were awake for that then," Liao Zhu said leaning back against the wall of the wagon, his eyes closed. "I will not say that our whole theatre was a distraction, I saw the lines of too many enemy objectives for that, but… it was a side objective. One of many struck across the Sect lands. The Sect will be shifting its footing after this."
"...If this was just a…" Ling Qi swallowed down bitter words at the idea of everything she had seen being a mere sideshow. "What… what was the main objective then?" She asked, taking a steadying breath.
Liao Zhu was silent for several seconds, staring up at the ceiling of the medical wagon.
that was great! I want to see Xiulan because this is the first fight we've been in with her that could count as a defeat, and she is linked into larger info networks.
Genuinely torn here. I love Su Ling, and I think her attitudes towards what's going on might be really useful for a commoner-perspective type thing, since she's still in the Outer Sect. But I also really want to know what the hell our liege lady was doing, and Xiulan probably had an interesting chat with her sister after all this.
LING QI........ awwwww, I'm sure Xiulan is as touched as she is irritated with youuuu
That entire scene was great. The pressing matter of the poison, the fear, the unnatural assassin themself....
I kind of hate to say it, but I'm always the most impressed with the chapters where Ling Qi almost wrecks herself in her goals? Something about the determination factor is great to read about because the desperation comes across big time.
Also Liao Zhu, even a single loss of an arm is pretty oof..... your biceps........your hand................. (I second bonding through our recovery period tho )
What about our commander lady? Wasn't she Elder Zhou's daughter, if I'm remembering correctly? I mean, sure, she was probably always prepared for the possibility of his death, considering his position; but chances are, with his power, she never actually expected it to happen. I suspect that's going to leave her angry and shaken, if she survived her fight. (I'm assuming she did, but it wasn't addressed, so I can't be positive.)
)
... Though I guess we still need stamina for poison checks etc.