Rowan had grown up in a rather isolated area in Vradora called Solum Village, hidden higher up on the mountains the residents of the village were not easy to visit - nor did they have anything worth visiting.
Agriculture was difficult in the hazardous environment of the mountain and monsters were abundant with a rockbird nest higher up the mountain and a cavern full of servile gorgons below. Despite all of this, the people of Solum Village would consider themselves happy.
(A/N: Servile gorgons are basically regular snakes with petrification abilities)
Connected and festive, the village was one that often believed themselves to be blessed with luck by Mons, the God of trials and mountains. Their life was not easy, but it was certainly happy. The people of the village would wake at sunrise and begin working in the mines or hunting; they would sleep as the sun set and repeat the day all over again. Children would play in the flats of the mountain, explore the safe caverns and not a day went by where children wouldn't be laughing.
In the eyes of some it would be an idyllic life, it certainly was in Rowans.
He was born atop the mountain and believed he would spend his life there. Rowan's mother, Elania, was a kind and gentle woman, the local medic of the village who cared for anyone who had gotten hurt without any charge - most of the village called her the Saintess of Mons due to her kindness and generosity, of course there was one other reason for her nickname. Rowan's mother was exceptionally beautiful with long, shiny and naturally soft brown hair; deep blue eyes and unblemished skin despite the amount of work she is consistently doing. For Rowan she was a source of comfort, someone he could come to no matter the occasion and a haven from the difficulties life brought.
Rowan's father, Ryan, was gruff and brash, but cared more for his family and community than he would ever care to admit. As the strongest hunter in the village and husband of the most beautiful woman, he was seen as a target of envy for almost every man in the village; though this was more of a village joke than any actual animosity among villagers. Rowan had more fond memories he could count of sitting on his father's lap, a fire burning in the hearth and his mother cooking in the kitchen, as his father told him tales of his hunts, stories about how he had acquired each of his scars.
"I fought a rockbird twice the size of this mountain!" He would proclaim, extending his arms wide as a young Rowan giggled on his lap, "We fought for three days and three nights before I hit it with a good right hook to beat it once and for all. The entire mountain shook when it hit the ground and the village partied for twice as long as it took for me to kill it."
It was only as he got older that Rowan realised a lot of his stories were made up, one of his funniest memories was watching his father trip and get cut by one of his swords, only for him to tell Rowan later that night he had fought a yet who had given him the injury.
His mother would laugh along in the background as she cooked, only bringing it to an end as she finished and served the food. It was always delicious, his mother's talents extending to food as she could turn whatever meat his father brought and the potatoes (one of the only plants that grew on the mountain) from the farms into delicacies that Rowan couldn't find anywhere below the mountain.
Rowan loved his life. He looked forward to every moment he spent on the mountain as he grew and didn't know how he could possibly get any happier; but he did.
When he was 7 his mother and father told him that he would be getting a little brother or sister. Rowan was elated by the news, he had always been jealous of his friends with little siblings. His friends with sisters always bragged about how amazing and adorable their little sisters were; those with little brothers always had someone to play with no matter what - there was no child that wouldn't want a sibling in an environment like this.
Every day Rowan would ask about the baby, his 7 year old naivety pushing him to do whatever he could to help; loving to see as his mother's stomach began to grow over the months.
The day he met his sister was one of the happiest days of his life, Joy was beautiful, she was everything to Rowan. He would spend hours just watching her sleep in her crib, at least until his father hit him on the head for slacking in his training.
Joy grew older and the first hints that she had inherited her mother's beauty was clear. Rowan's life had never been better, but not everything was perfect.
The chief of Solum village had 2 sons, one the same age as Rowan and one a couple years younger. The eldest was not a good person, he flaunted his authority to get away with anything since he was so certain that he would be the next chief of the village. His father regularly reprimanded his son, but as a father should he still loved his eldest son and did not enact any serious justice.
Rowan and Elra were not on the best terms as him and his group of friends tended to act cruelly. One such case was against Joy when she was rather young - building a grudge that could not easily be forgotten. Their uneasy relationship devolved to aggressive hatred over time, especially as Rowan became quite close with Alta - Elra's brother,
The peak of Elra's cruelty was thought to be his last in the village.
As more and more time passed, Elra's cruelty and arrogance only increased; one of his worst acts was torturing the pet of a young child until it died; what's more was that he was exceptionally lazy and put no effort into learning what he needed to in order to succeed the chief. In contrast, Alta was exceptional; he spent his spare time learning everything he possibly could and worked hard as a hunter - rising to be one of the best hunters in the village - all while maintaining his humble kindness, never mocking another villager for not knowing something, instead going out of his way to help teach.
Rumours began to spread through the village that Alta would succeed the chief and not Elra. After confronting his father and finding the rumours were true, Elra flew into a rage. It was only after a group of hunters subdued him that he stopped destroying things and attacking his father. He left the hut screaming and cursing his father, spit flying from his mouth and his face going red.
A majority of the village breathed a silent sigh of relief. Elra was in no way fit to lead and many were worried that the blissful life of their village would be interrupted by the ascension of a cruel leader; as such they were thankful the chief had seen the truth and chosen Alta as his successor. With Elra subdued, people thought that the matter was settled - of course they were wrong.
That same night, Elra snuck into his brother's room - knife in hand.
He had intended to kill his younger brother and then his father, securing his place as the leader of the village; ignoring that most of the village hated him and his plan would have resulted in the hunters killing him in kind.
Luckily, Alta was not a very deep sleeper. In the final second he was able to roll out of the way of Elra's knife, resulting in nothing more than a scar along his cheek; with his superior ability as a fighter, Alta quickly took down his brother.
His father, having heard the screaming of Elra, rushed in to find his youngest son pinning his eldest down. With Elra being in Alta's room and the knife on the floor, the chief had no choice but to accept the truth. Elra was detained and 3 days passed as the important figures discussed what needed to be done with him.
Many called for his death, the very few who favoured him tried to call it a manic episode; but in the end the village chief wanted to give his son one last mercy.
Elra was banished from the village, ordered to descend the mountain and upon climbing it once again he would be killed. Elra didn't stop screaming and raving about how he would get his revenge.
Rowan had watched at the time, being 16 years of age and his sister 9. At the time, Rowan's naivety had believed that was the end of it all.
Days passed normally after that, some others in the village going missing - namely the ones sympathetic to Elra. Rowan continued hunting, the village continued turning and Rowan's life returned to the happiness he was used to; until a year had passed.
It was an overcast day, a storm building in the west as lightning crackled through the clouds. A group of cloaked figures approached the village, clearly telegraphing themselves as though they were no threat; but the aura they gave off could not be hidden, putting the entire village on alert.R
Rowan watched as the lead member pulled down their hood, a scar running through a wicked grin. Elra had returned and the glint in his eyes was even more malicious than Rowan had remembered. The hunters called out, reminding Elra of what was said would happen to him if he ever came back up the mountain; but he was fearless, mocking the hunters as he goaded them into attacks.
One of the less disciplined among the villagers stepped forward and prepared to attack Elra, but as he did, Elra revealed what was under his cloak: He was no longer human. A clawed hand lifted from beneath the cloak, both scaled and furred, it slashed down and cut the hunter into pieces.
Elra had been transformed into a lesser chimerae.
The hunters were shocked into silence as Elra and his followers laughed raucously at how quickly they had killed the man. While others wished to confront the monster before them, Rowan's father held them back, reminding the hunters that they were not sure what Elra was capable of and it would be a dangerous fight.
"What do you want?" Rowan's father had called out, stopping the laughter in its tracks.
"... As you can see, my partner here-" He indicated to a distinctly feminine member of his group, "- Has allowed me to transcend my human body. Not a single one of you stands a chance against me so you will give me what I want."
"In 5 hours, you will hand over my father and brother. After they are summarily executed for treason against my noble self, I will claim my rightful place as king of this mountain. Fail to meet my demands and your end will be... Painful"
The hunters gritted their teeth, fearing that if they yelled out they could be killed. Having said what he wanted the group walked away, disappearing.
A heated debate occurred immediately after; not about what to do, but how they would do it. Not a single villager consented to handing the chief and his son over to that madman, instead what they debated was how they would kill him. Killing a lesser chimerae was difficult as they often had vastly superior strength to normal beings and depending on what they were made of, they could rival dragons in strength - luckily they often lacked magical ability, something the village hoped to take advantage of.
It was not long before Elra returned, the rain pouring down over the mountain as thunder echoed through the peak. Elra did not even need to ask the villagers' response as he was attacked at first sight; blocking the attempt, but luckily failing to kill the hunter.
"So be it." They had all heard clearly through the howling winds, despite sounding no louder than a whisper. A wicked grin spread across Elra's face as the woman stepped forward, in the rain and wind her deep purple hair moved chaotically as she pulled 3 items from her bag. Just based on her clothing and hair, Rowan immediately recognised her as a witch from the stories he had been told as a child.
The witch cast a spell, causing a trio of ravens formed from her shadow taking hold of the items and flying high into the sky. The villager's eyes just barely tracked the shadow birds as they flew through the sky, right until they exploded into bright purple flames.
This alone shocked everyone watching as the fire didn't quickly extinguish under the heavy rain, but as they eventually did a feeling a safety fell over the villagers, some even mocked the witch for failing in whatever she had done. But this didn't last long.
It was Rowan's father who had noticed it first, the rain had begun to change ever so slightly, a purple sparkle running through each drop as it landed on the warriors of the village.
"There's something wrong with the rai-!" He had shouted, interrupted as one of the warriors turned their sword on him, their eyes no longer clear and their anger spiking through the roof.
In an instant Ryan was able to subdue the one who had attacked him, but had sustained a serious injury to his back. He looked around in panic as many others began to fight amongst themselves; around half of all the warriors present were affected and were attacking anything they could find. Looking past the gate, Ryan saw that it was not just the warriors, nor was it just those caught in the rain - the entire village had been infected and were attacking each other without reason.
"Son." Rowan remembered how serious his father had looked, a glint of worry that had been completely foreign in his father's eyes up until this point, "Go find your mother, protect your sister. Do whatever it takes to keep them safe."
Rowan wanted to protest, but his father silenced him with a hug, before yelling to those who could still listen.
"CHARGE!" He screamed, rushing towards the witch. Rowan was frozen for a moment, the weight of his father's request finally hitting him - he didn't think he could win.
Tears fell, masked by the rain, as Rowan turned and ran back into the village - avoiding the crazed villagers as they attacked him. He knew his priority and what must be done. He weaved through the loosely defined streets until he finally spotted his house.
Without even stopping to open it, Rowan crashed through the door; desperately looking for his family. He did not spot his mother and headed over to the door to Joy's room, his hand on the door knob as he heard a distinct creaking noise behind him.
Turning robotically he saw the silhouette of his mother, soaking wet from the rain; but something thicker was dripping from her hands.
Lightning crashed against the mountainside and briefly illuminated the village, letting Rowan see what had become of his mother. Her eyes were clouded and her clothes had been ripped; and from her hands, blood dripped onto the remains of their door.
"M-Mum?" Rowan questioned shakily, placing his hand on to the hilt of his sword. But she did not respond, just taking a lumbering step forward before breaking into a sprint towards her son.
Bearing her fingers and teeth like a savage animal she crashed into Rowan, toppling the pair of them over the kitchen table. Plates crashed to the floor and the table itself was crushed under their weight as Elania tried desperately to rip out her own sons neck. Rowan's eyes became flooded with tears and it was hard for him to even see, unable to muster strength that would harm his mother - but his father's words echoed through his mind:
"Whatever it takes."
He had no choice.
Rowan quickly pushed upward, throwing his mother across the small room. She rolled across the floor before quickly righting herself on all fours like an animal and Rowan got another good look at her with lightning crashing once again.
Her eyes had become entirely red, no pupil or sclera - just red, like they had been bled away. Her teeth had become significantly sharper and her face was slowly changing to resemble the muzzle of a wolf; her fingernails had extended slightly like claws. Yet, she was still distinctly human, the aspects of Rowan's mother almost being emphasised by whatever the witch had done to the villagers.
As his mother growled and Rowan got back to his feet, shakily taking out his sword; a door creaked open. At the midpoint between Rowan and his monsterised mother, a small face peeked out; one that devolved into fear as they laid eyes upon Elania.
"M-Mummy?!" She cried, staggering forwards as tears built up.
"JOY!" Rowan screamed rushing forward, the monster doing the same as a fresh prey had presented itself. Rowan just barely managed to grab Joy by the back of her shirt and pull her to safety, almost throwing her out of the path of their mother's claws. But Rowan was not entirely able to avoid injury, a deep cut running up his arm as a result of his mother's claws. "STAY THERE!"
Joy only nodded slightly, tears falling in earnest as Rowan's attention returned to his mother.
They went back and forth, attacking one another; but Rowan could no muster up the courage to kill her, his love for her simply wouldn't allow him to - he had no choice.
Rowan pushed his mother back and turned, picking up Joy before sprinting into the rain. Rowan's sister cried in his arms as their mother pursued, the streets were empty with only Rowan, Joy, their mother and the corpses of the villagers present; but Rowan did not have the time to process that, he just needed to get Joy to safety.
All the while as he ran, the incessant cackling of Elra ran through his ears; never stopping its mocking tune. As he reached the village centre the laughter intensified and a horrible pain ran through his back, knocking him to the floor with Joy in his arms. Their mother had caught up with them.
He rolled for quite a while, finally stopping and letting Joy go as he turned to face his mother again.
"Go hide" He said, Joy turned to look at her brother in shock and fear, tears hidden beneath the rain, "GO NOW! HIDE! I'LL FIND YOU!"
With that he ran forward again.
Running away was not an option for him, his mother had become a monster and his sister's life would be at risk if he did not put a stop to her; there was nothing he could do.
From his peripheral vision, Rowan saw Joy running down a side street, away from danger; and his fears of her getting into danger were lessened - he could focus on the task at hand. He went back and forth with what was once his mother, their swords and claws clashing as Elania desperately tried to rip her son to pieces.
It all came to an end as Rowan pushed his mother back one final time, allowing her to charge up towards him; but that would be her end as Rowan's sword pierced through her heart - finishing the fight as blackened blood fell from the wound.
But that was not the end of Rowan's trauma as he watched his mother's transformation begin to fade, her body began to return to its natural beauty. Her eyes looked into his, tears falling from both yet in no way alike.
Rowan's lip trembled in pain, he had killed his mother - he had caused her death. But Elania's look was resolute and her tears were regretful and with her last breaths she did what she could to assure her son:
"Thank you... *Wheeze*... I... Love you." She coughed, blood pouring from her mouth at the same speed as her tears fell, "Look... Look after *cough*, *cough*... Joy."
And with that she slumped to the ground, dead. Never angry at her son, just pleased that she had not done the unforgivable and killed them herself; she felt that their lives would be safe in Rowan's hands.
Rowan let out an agonising scream that echoed through the mountains, drowned out the pouring rain, thundering clouds and howling winds; not a soul who heard it would misunderstand the anguish in Rowan's shout. New tears fell from Rowan's eyes, reddened from the strain his brain had suffered. Rowan dragged himself to his feet; leaving behind his sword; and moved with soulless steps towards where he had seen Joy run to.
He had killed his mother and he knew it was unlikely anyone else had survived; so he would not fail in this final duty.
But as he turned down the street, a new agony befell him.
What awaited him was a crowd of cloaked figures with a man and woman, carried aloft in grand skeletal thrones, at front and centre; but what drew his attention was the creature lying in the witch's lap, a monstrous creature much smaller than the one his mother had become, but still having features that were distinctly human. Features he could recognise from any distance.
Rowan fell to his knees, the emotional pain he was suffering having overloaded his brain - even more bloody tears fell as Elra's laughter echoed through the street - the storm coming to an end and revealing a tranquil night sky.
"It's a shame, really." The witch said with a sorrowful frown, one that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Had you been just that slight bit faster; or that slight bit stronger you might have been able to save her..."
That single sentence, the only thing the witch had ever said to Rowan, was harrowing. His mind simply couldn't accept it, he couldn't accept that his family was gone, that his village was gone; it couldn't because if it did it would shatter under the weight of his grief.
Rowan simply gave the witch a vacant stare, trying to muster up the confidence to say something, anything to her - but nothing ever came.
"Leave him at the bottom of the mountain." She finally said, ignoring Rowan and turning to Elra.
"... Hmm, I suppose that'll be a good reward for being the only one to survive. Hahahahahahaha!" Elra mocked, and that was the last thing he remembered before waking up in a bed he did not recognise - beginning the start of Rowan's desire for revenge that would lead him to joining as one of Marquise Barview's knights in order to gain the strength he needed to kill the witch who had ruined his life and taken everything from him.
"I wish... I had gotten another chance..." Rowan mumbled as the malignant arachne reared up for one final attack that would finish things off, "Things would be different, I know they would be different."
And in that instant a message appeared in front of Rowan's face:
| [«Notice» Conditions for skill evolution into the hidden class skill: {1st Stage - Denial} have been met] [1st Stage - Denial (L): Reverse/Nullify any damage or status effect taken in the last 24 hours for anyone in a 1 metre radius of the user. Cooldown - 3 Days] [Condition: {Weeping Paladin Class}, {Regret (10/10)}, {Feel true, deep regret for an event in the past}, {Deny the reality of your weakness}] |
Rowan's eyes went wide, but he did not hesitate for a moment and activate the skill.
Everything changed, there was no more pain in his body and the poison that had just previously been destroying him from the inside out had disappeared without a trace. His glee was forgotten as Rowan jumped to his feet, expecting an incoming attack; only for said attack to be the young arachne to fall into his arms, asleep and with no injuries. Better yet Rowan noticed a complete lack of blizz symptoms.
His mind spun, trying to figure out why exactly this had happened only for him to marvel at the rank of the skill.
Legendary. There was a stark difference between the immortal ranks and anything below - it was like comparing the fighting ability of a newborn and a seasoned soldier, there was nothing to compare. It was completely understandable that the measly affects of an S-Rank drug could not do anything to stop the power of an L-Rank skill. I'm just glad this was her first time with the drug, otherwise even the skill wouldn't have been able to help her.
Rowan was happy that the girl would be able to live a happy life from this moment, and though it was sad that he was not capable of saving the other - one life saved with a hypocritical attitude was better than saving no one at all.
In the distance Rowan noticed a band of the Marquise's knights in the distance coming towards him, their crises having likely been resolved. He shot them a smile as they got close enough, but noticed that their eyes became shocked.
Before Rowan could even turn to see what they had, a sharp pain pierced through his chest.
Rowan turned to see a man forming from the shadows of the debris pushing a dagger straight through Rowan's heart, in his other hand was a syringe that Rowan quickly recognised from his training as a knight.
Liquid Blizz! He became panicked, blood rushing up and out of his mouth. His veins began to bulge and turn green as Rowan realised the sword had been coated in a highly powerful poison.
"It's a shame." The shadowy figure said with a slight grin, "That girl and a number of those knights are going to die because you were too weak to kill her."
"Had you been just a little stronger you might have survived."
Rowan's eyes widened in rage as he used his fleeting consciousness to try and come up with a plan; he only had a few seconds and it was enough to know what to do.
Rowan spun slightly, building the smallest amount of momentum before throwing the arachne towards the knights - pleading to protect her - as his skill activated at the apex of his fist.
[Misplaced Aggression]
It didn’t really damage the shadowy man, nor did it even push him all that far away. But as Rowan collapsed to the ground he grinned in delight at the enraged face of the shadowy figure who had been pushed just far enough that he could not grab ahold of the girl. The man's eyes fixed on Rowan as the target for his fury at having failed, foiled by someone he viewed as beneath him.
Rowan knew he couldn't save himself, but he took great pleasure in his final words. A single tear dropping to the capital streets:
"I guess... This time, I was strong enough..."
CassReyes
Hey, thanks for reading.
I know some people didn't really care much about Rowan and that was my fault. He was supposed to have a much larger role in helping Liz, but every time I tried to write him in it felt clunky and I would go "I'll just add him to the next part" right up until it was his big climactic fight scene. If I ever do a rewrite of this story, which I have considered for the distant, distant, future, I will make him more important.
However, I hope his backstory evoked some emotion and got the people who didn't before to care slightly. R.I.P for Rowan, not because he died, but because I forgot to write him properly in the first place.
Also, first look at the kind of power a Legendary rank skill provides! Full reversal and nullification of any damage I felt was quite impressive, though it did take me a while to come up with a cooldown that was both long enough and didn't undermine the power of the skill.
I hope you enjoyed, see you in the next chapter :).
Little extra information:
Spoilerspan>
[Weeping Paladin] is a class just before an incredibly powerful one: [Grieving Paladin].
While classes are not ranked the same way as other parts of this world like race or items, [Grieving Paladin] is considered to be one of the legendary ranked classes due to the skills needed to acquire it: Namely the grief skills.
I hope the requirements didn't seem too easy for Rowan to get [Denial] since the emotional aspect of them is what I wanted to display as the actually important part of the skill.
Other than that there are 4 more stages, I won't go into all that much detail in case I decide to use the [Grieving Paladin] in the future, but I'm sure you can guess which of Rowan's skill evolve into grief-type skills; especially since he used 4 of them in the fight.
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Patreon link for 3 day early release
Rowan had grown up in a rather isolated area in Vradora called Solum Village, hidden higher up on the mountains the residents of the village were not easy to visit - nor did they have anything worth visiting.
Agriculture was difficult in the hazardous environment of the mountain and monsters were abundant with a rockbird nest higher up the mountain and a cavern full of servile gorgons below. Despite all of this, the people of Solum Village would consider themselves happy.
(A/N: Servile gorgons are basically regular snakes with petrification abilities)
Connected and festive, the village was one that often believed themselves to be blessed with luck by Mons, the God of trials and mountains. Their life was not easy, but it was certainly happy. The people of the village would wake at sunrise and begin working in the mines or hunting; they would sleep as the sun set and repeat the day all over again. Children would play in the flats of the mountain, explore the safe caverns and not a day went by where children wouldn't be laughing.
In the eyes of some it would be an idyllic life, it certainly was in Rowans.
He was born atop the mountain and believed he would spend his life there. Rowan's mother, Elania, was a kind and gentle woman, the local medic of the village who cared for anyone who had gotten hurt without any charge - most of the village called her the Saintess of Mons due to her kindness and generosity, of course there was one other reason for her nickname. Rowan's mother was exceptionally beautiful with long, shiny and naturally soft brown hair; deep blue eyes and unblemished skin despite the amount of work she is consistently doing. For Rowan she was a source of comfort, someone he could come to no matter the occasion and a haven from the difficulties life brought.
Rowan's father, Ryan, was gruff and brash, but cared more for his family and community than he would ever care to admit. As the strongest hunter in the village and husband of the most beautiful woman, he was seen as a target of envy for almost every man in the village; though this was more of a village joke than any actual animosity among villagers. Rowan had more fond memories he could count of sitting on his father's lap, a fire burning in the hearth and his mother cooking in the kitchen, as his father told him tales of his hunts, stories about how he had acquired each of his scars.
"I fought a rockbird twice the size of this mountain!" He would proclaim, extending his arms wide as a young Rowan giggled on his lap, "We fought for three days and three nights before I hit it with a good right hook to beat it once and for all. The entire mountain shook when it hit the ground and the village partied for twice as long as it took for me to kill it."
It was only as he got older that Rowan realised a lot of his stories were made up, one of his funniest memories was watching his father trip and get cut by one of his swords, only for him to tell Rowan later that night he had fought a yet who had given him the injury.
His mother would laugh along in the background as she cooked, only bringing it to an end as she finished and served the food. It was always delicious, his mother's talents extending to food as she could turn whatever meat his father brought and the potatoes (one of the only plants that grew on the mountain) from the farms into delicacies that Rowan couldn't find anywhere below the mountain.
Rowan loved his life. He looked forward to every moment he spent on the mountain as he grew and didn't know how he could possibly get any happier; but he did.
When he was 7 his mother and father told him that he would be getting a little brother or sister. Rowan was elated by the news, he had always been jealous of his friends with little siblings. His friends with sisters always bragged about how amazing and adorable their little sisters were; those with little brothers always had someone to play with no matter what - there was no child that wouldn't want a sibling in an environment like this.
Every day Rowan would ask about the baby, his 7 year old naivety pushing him to do whatever he could to help; loving to see as his mother's stomach began to grow over the months.
The day he met his sister was one of the happiest days of his life, Joy was beautiful, she was everything to Rowan. He would spend hours just watching her sleep in her crib, at least until his father hit him on the head for slacking in his training.
Joy grew older and the first hints that she had inherited her mother's beauty was clear. Rowan's life had never been better, but not everything was perfect.
The chief of Solum village had 2 sons, one the same age as Rowan and one a couple years younger. The eldest was not a good person, he flaunted his authority to get away with anything since he was so certain that he would be the next chief of the village. His father regularly reprimanded his son, but as a father should he still loved his eldest son and did not enact any serious justice.
Rowan and Elra were not on the best terms as him and his group of friends tended to act cruelly. One such case was against Joy when she was rather young - building a grudge that could not easily be forgotten. Their uneasy relationship devolved to aggressive hatred over time, especially as Rowan became quite close with Alta - Elra's brother,
The peak of Elra's cruelty was thought to be his last in the village.
As more and more time passed, Elra's cruelty and arrogance only increased; one of his worst acts was torturing the pet of a young child until it died; what's more was that he was exceptionally lazy and put no effort into learning what he needed to in order to succeed the chief. In contrast, Alta was exceptional; he spent his spare time learning everything he possibly could and worked hard as a hunter - rising to be one of the best hunters in the village - all while maintaining his humble kindness, never mocking another villager for not knowing something, instead going out of his way to help teach.
Rumours began to spread through the village that Alta would succeed the chief and not Elra. After confronting his father and finding the rumours were true, Elra flew into a rage. It was only after a group of hunters subdued him that he stopped destroying things and attacking his father. He left the hut screaming and cursing his father, spit flying from his mouth and his face going red.
A majority of the village breathed a silent sigh of relief. Elra was in no way fit to lead and many were worried that the blissful life of their village would be interrupted by the ascension of a cruel leader; as such they were thankful the chief had seen the truth and chosen Alta as his successor. With Elra subdued, people thought that the matter was settled - of course they were wrong.
That same night, Elra snuck into his brother's room - knife in hand.
He had intended to kill his younger brother and then his father, securing his place as the leader of the village; ignoring that most of the village hated him and his plan would have resulted in the hunters killing him in kind.
Luckily, Alta was not a very deep sleeper. In the final second he was able to roll out of the way of Elra's knife, resulting in nothing more than a scar along his cheek; with his superior ability as a fighter, Alta quickly took down his brother.
His father, having heard the screaming of Elra, rushed in to find his youngest son pinning his eldest down. With Elra being in Alta's room and the knife on the floor, the chief had no choice but to accept the truth. Elra was detained and 3 days passed as the important figures discussed what needed to be done with him.
Many called for his death, the very few who favoured him tried to call it a manic episode; but in the end the village chief wanted to give his son one last mercy.
Elra was banished from the village, ordered to descend the mountain and upon climbing it once again he would be killed. Elra didn't stop screaming and raving about how he would get his revenge.
Rowan had watched at the time, being 16 years of age and his sister 9. At the time, Rowan's naivety had believed that was the end of it all.
Days passed normally after that, some others in the village going missing - namely the ones sympathetic to Elra. Rowan continued hunting, the village continued turning and Rowan's life returned to the happiness he was used to; until a year had passed.
It was an overcast day, a storm building in the west as lightning crackled through the clouds. A group of cloaked figures approached the village, clearly telegraphing themselves as though they were no threat; but the aura they gave off could not be hidden, putting the entire village on alert.R
Rowan watched as the lead member pulled down their hood, a scar running through a wicked grin. Elra had returned and the glint in his eyes was even more malicious than Rowan had remembered. The hunters called out, reminding Elra of what was said would happen to him if he ever came back up the mountain; but he was fearless, mocking the hunters as he goaded them into attacks.
One of the less disciplined among the villagers stepped forward and prepared to attack Elra, but as he did, Elra revealed what was under his cloak: He was no longer human. A clawed hand lifted from beneath the cloak, both scaled and furred, it slashed down and cut the hunter into pieces.
Elra had been transformed into a lesser chimerae.
The hunters were shocked into silence as Elra and his followers laughed raucously at how quickly they had killed the man. While others wished to confront the monster before them, Rowan's father held them back, reminding the hunters that they were not sure what Elra was capable of and it would be a dangerous fight.
"What do you want?" Rowan's father had called out, stopping the laughter in its tracks.
"... As you can see, my partner here-" He indicated to a distinctly feminine member of his group, "- Has allowed me to transcend my human body. Not a single one of you stands a chance against me so you will give me what I want."
"In 5 hours, you will hand over my father and brother. After they are summarily executed for treason against my noble self, I will claim my rightful place as king of this mountain. Fail to meet my demands and your end will be... Painful"
The hunters gritted their teeth, fearing that if they yelled out they could be killed. Having said what he wanted the group walked away, disappearing.
A heated debate occurred immediately after; not about what to do, but how they would do it. Not a single villager consented to handing the chief and his son over to that madman, instead what they debated was how they would kill him. Killing a lesser chimerae was difficult as they often had vastly superior strength to normal beings and depending on what they were made of, they could rival dragons in strength - luckily they often lacked magical ability, something the village hoped to take advantage of.
It was not long before Elra returned, the rain pouring down over the mountain as thunder echoed through the peak. Elra did not even need to ask the villagers' response as he was attacked at first sight; blocking the attempt, but luckily failing to kill the hunter.
"So be it." They had all heard clearly through the howling winds, despite sounding no louder than a whisper. A wicked grin spread across Elra's face as the woman stepped forward, in the rain and wind her deep purple hair moved chaotically as she pulled 3 items from her bag. Just based on her clothing and hair, Rowan immediately recognised her as a witch from the stories he had been told as a child.
The witch cast a spell, causing a trio of ravens formed from her shadow taking hold of the items and flying high into the sky. The villager's eyes just barely tracked the shadow birds as they flew through the sky, right until they exploded into bright purple flames.
This alone shocked everyone watching as the fire didn't quickly extinguish under the heavy rain, but as they eventually did a feeling a safety fell over the villagers, some even mocked the witch for failing in whatever she had done. But this didn't last long.
It was Rowan's father who had noticed it first, the rain had begun to change ever so slightly, a purple sparkle running through each drop as it landed on the warriors of the village.
"There's something wrong with the rai-!" He had shouted, interrupted as one of the warriors turned their sword on him, their eyes no longer clear and their anger spiking through the roof.
In an instant Ryan was able to subdue the one who had attacked him, but had sustained a serious injury to his back. He looked around in panic as many others began to fight amongst themselves; around half of all the warriors present were affected and were attacking anything they could find. Looking past the gate, Ryan saw that it was not just the warriors, nor was it just those caught in the rain - the entire village had been infected and were attacking each other without reason.
"Son." Rowan remembered how serious his father had looked, a glint of worry that had been completely foreign in his father's eyes up until this point, "Go find your mother, protect your sister. Do whatever it takes to keep them safe."
Rowan wanted to protest, but his father silenced him with a hug, before yelling to those who could still listen.
"CHARGE!" He screamed, rushing towards the witch. Rowan was frozen for a moment, the weight of his father's request finally hitting him - he didn't think he could win.
Tears fell, masked by the rain, as Rowan turned and ran back into the village - avoiding the crazed villagers as they attacked him. He knew his priority and what must be done. He weaved through the loosely defined streets until he finally spotted his house.
Without even stopping to open it, Rowan crashed through the door; desperately looking for his family. He did not spot his mother and headed over to the door to Joy's room, his hand on the door knob as he heard a distinct creaking noise behind him.
Turning robotically he saw the silhouette of his mother, soaking wet from the rain; but something thicker was dripping from her hands.
Lightning crashed against the mountainside and briefly illuminated the village, letting Rowan see what had become of his mother. Her eyes were clouded and her clothes had been ripped; and from her hands, blood dripped onto the remains of their door.
"M-Mum?" Rowan questioned shakily, placing his hand on to the hilt of his sword. But she did not respond, just taking a lumbering step forward before breaking into a sprint towards her son.
Bearing her fingers and teeth like a savage animal she crashed into Rowan, toppling the pair of them over the kitchen table. Plates crashed to the floor and the table itself was crushed under their weight as Elania tried desperately to rip out her own sons neck. Rowan's eyes became flooded with tears and it was hard for him to even see, unable to muster strength that would harm his mother - but his father's words echoed through his mind:
"Whatever it takes."
He had no choice.
Rowan quickly pushed upward, throwing his mother across the small room. She rolled across the floor before quickly righting herself on all fours like an animal and Rowan got another good look at her with lightning crashing once again.
Her eyes had become entirely red, no pupil or sclera - just red, like they had been bled away. Her teeth had become significantly sharper and her face was slowly changing to resemble the muzzle of a wolf; her fingernails had extended slightly like claws. Yet, she was still distinctly human, the aspects of Rowan's mother almost being emphasised by whatever the witch had done to the villagers.
As his mother growled and Rowan got back to his feet, shakily taking out his sword; a door creaked open. At the midpoint between Rowan and his monsterised mother, a small face peeked out; one that devolved into fear as they laid eyes upon Elania.
"M-Mummy?!" She cried, staggering forwards as tears built up.
"JOY!" Rowan screamed rushing forward, the monster doing the same as a fresh prey had presented itself. Rowan just barely managed to grab Joy by the back of her shirt and pull her to safety, almost throwing her out of the path of their mother's claws. But Rowan was not entirely able to avoid injury, a deep cut running up his arm as a result of his mother's claws. "STAY THERE!"
Joy only nodded slightly, tears falling in earnest as Rowan's attention returned to his mother.
They went back and forth, attacking one another; but Rowan could no muster up the courage to kill her, his love for her simply wouldn't allow him to - he had no choice.
Rowan pushed his mother back and turned, picking up Joy before sprinting into the rain. Rowan's sister cried in his arms as their mother pursued, the streets were empty with only Rowan, Joy, their mother and the corpses of the villagers present; but Rowan did not have the time to process that, he just needed to get Joy to safety.
All the while as he ran, the incessant cackling of Elra ran through his ears; never stopping its mocking tune. As he reached the village centre the laughter intensified and a horrible pain ran through his back, knocking him to the floor with Joy in his arms. Their mother had caught up with them.
He rolled for quite a while, finally stopping and letting Joy go as he turned to face his mother again.
"Go hide" He said, Joy turned to look at her brother in shock and fear, tears hidden beneath the rain, "GO NOW! HIDE! I'LL FIND YOU!"
With that he ran forward again.
Running away was not an option for him, his mother had become a monster and his sister's life would be at risk if he did not put a stop to her; there was nothing he could do.
From his peripheral vision, Rowan saw Joy running down a side street, away from danger; and his fears of her getting into danger were lessened - he could focus on the task at hand. He went back and forth with what was once his mother, their swords and claws clashing as Elania desperately tried to rip her son to pieces.
It all came to an end as Rowan pushed his mother back one final time, allowing her to charge up towards him; but that would be her end as Rowan's sword pierced through her heart - finishing the fight as blackened blood fell from the wound.
But that was not the end of Rowan's trauma as he watched his mother's transformation begin to fade, her body began to return to its natural beauty. Her eyes looked into his, tears falling from both yet in no way alike.
Rowan's lip trembled in pain, he had killed his mother - he had caused her death. But Elania's look was resolute and her tears were regretful and with her last breaths she did what she could to assure her son:
"Thank you... *Wheeze*... I... Love you." She coughed, blood pouring from her mouth at the same speed as her tears fell, "Look... Look after *cough*, *cough*... Joy."
And with that she slumped to the ground, dead. Never angry at her son, just pleased that she had not done the unforgivable and killed them herself; she felt that their lives would be safe in Rowan's hands.
Rowan let out an agonising scream that echoed through the mountains, drowned out the pouring rain, thundering clouds and howling winds; not a soul who heard it would misunderstand the anguish in Rowan's shout. New tears fell from Rowan's eyes, reddened from the strain his brain had suffered. Rowan dragged himself to his feet; leaving behind his sword; and moved with soulless steps towards where he had seen Joy run to.
He had killed his mother and he knew it was unlikely anyone else had survived; so he would not fail in this final duty.
But as he turned down the street, a new agony befell him.
What awaited him was a crowd of cloaked figures with a man and woman, carried aloft in grand skeletal thrones, at front and centre; but what drew his attention was the creature lying in the witch's lap, a monstrous creature much smaller than the one his mother had become, but still having features that were distinctly human. Features he could recognise from any distance.
Rowan fell to his knees, the emotional pain he was suffering having overloaded his brain - even more bloody tears fell as Elra's laughter echoed through the street - the storm coming to an end and revealing a tranquil night sky.
"It's a shame, really." The witch said with a sorrowful frown, one that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Had you been just that slight bit faster; or that slight bit stronger you might have been able to save her..."
That single sentence, the only thing the witch had ever said to Rowan, was harrowing. His mind simply couldn't accept it, he couldn't accept that his family was gone, that his village was gone; it couldn't because if it did it would shatter under the weight of his grief.
Rowan simply gave the witch a vacant stare, trying to muster up the confidence to say something, anything to her - but nothing ever came.
"Leave him at the bottom of the mountain." She finally said, ignoring Rowan and turning to Elra.
"... Hmm, I suppose that'll be a good reward for being the only one to survive. Hahahahahahaha!" Elra mocked, and that was the last thing he remembered before waking up in a bed he did not recognise - beginning the start of Rowan's desire for revenge that would lead him to joining as one of Marquise Barview's knights in order to gain the strength he needed to kill the witch who had ruined his life and taken everything from him.
"I wish... I had gotten another chance..." Rowan mumbled as the malignant arachne reared up for one final attack that would finish things off, "Things would be different, I know they would be different."
And in that instant a message appeared in front of Rowan's face:
| [«Notice» Conditions for skill evolution into the hidden class skill: {1st Stage - Denial} have been met] [1st Stage - Denial (L): Reverse/Nullify any damage or status effect taken in the last 24 hours for anyone in a 1 metre radius of the user. Cooldown - 3 Days] [Condition: {Weeping Paladin Class}, {Regret (10/10)}, {Feel true, deep regret for an event in the past}, {Deny the reality of your weakness}] |
Rowan's eyes went wide, but he did not hesitate for a moment and activate the skill.
Everything changed, there was no more pain in his body and the poison that had just previously been destroying him from the inside out had disappeared without a trace. His glee was forgotten as Rowan jumped to his feet, expecting an incoming attack; only for said attack to be the young arachne to fall into his arms, asleep and with no injuries. Better yet Rowan noticed a complete lack of blizz symptoms.
His mind spun, trying to figure out why exactly this had happened only for him to marvel at the rank of the skill.
Legendary. There was a stark difference between the immortal ranks and anything below - it was like comparing the fighting ability of a newborn and a seasoned soldier, there was nothing to compare. It was completely understandable that the measly affects of an S-Rank drug could not do anything to stop the power of an L-Rank skill. I'm just glad this was her first time with the drug, otherwise even the skill wouldn't have been able to help her.
Rowan was happy that the girl would be able to live a happy life from this moment, and though it was sad that he was not capable of saving the other - one life saved with a hypocritical attitude was better than saving no one at all.
In the distance Rowan noticed a band of the Marquise's knights in the distance coming towards him, their crises having likely been resolved. He shot them a smile as they got close enough, but noticed that their eyes became shocked.
Before Rowan could even turn to see what they had, a sharp pain pierced through his chest.
Rowan turned to see a man forming from the shadows of the debris pushing a dagger straight through Rowan's heart, in his other hand was a syringe that Rowan quickly recognised from his training as a knight.
Liquid Blizz! He became panicked, blood rushing up and out of his mouth. His veins began to bulge and turn green as Rowan realised the sword had been coated in a highly powerful poison.
"It's a shame." The shadowy figure said with a slight grin, "That girl and a number of those knights are going to die because you were too weak to kill her."
"Had you been just a little stronger you might have survived."
Rowan's eyes widened in rage as he used his fleeting consciousness to try and come up with a plan; he only had a few seconds and it was enough to know what to do.
Rowan spun slightly, building the smallest amount of momentum before throwing the arachne towards the knights - pleading to protect her - as his skill activated at the apex of his fist.
[Misplaced Aggression]
It didn’t really damage the shadowy man, nor did it even push him all that far away. But as Rowan collapsed to the ground he grinned in delight at the enraged face of the shadowy figure who had been pushed just far enough that he could not grab ahold of the girl. The man's eyes fixed on Rowan as the target for his fury at having failed, foiled by someone he viewed as beneath him.
Rowan knew he couldn't save himself, but he took great pleasure in his final words. A single tear dropping to the capital streets:
"I guess... This time, I was strong enough..."
CassReyes
Hey, thanks for reading.
I know some people didn't really care much about Rowan and that was my fault. He was supposed to have a much larger role in helping Liz, but every time I tried to write him in it felt clunky and I would go "I'll just add him to the next part" right up until it was his big climactic fight scene. If I ever do a rewrite of this story, which I have considered for the distant, distant, future, I will make him more important.
However, I hope his backstory evoked some emotion and got the people who didn't before to care slightly. R.I.P for Rowan, not because he died, but because I forgot to write him properly in the first place.
Also, first look at the kind of power a Legendary rank skill provides! Full reversal and nullification of any damage I felt was quite impressive, though it did take me a while to come up with a cooldown that was both long enough and didn't undermine the power of the skill.
I hope you enjoyed, see you in the next chapter :).
Little extra information:
Spoilerspan>
[Weeping Paladin] is a class just before an incredibly powerful one: [Grieving Paladin].
While classes are not ranked the same way as other parts of this world like race or items, [Grieving Paladin] is considered to be one of the legendary ranked classes due to the skills needed to acquire it: Namely the grief skills.
I hope the requirements didn't seem too easy for Rowan to get [Denial] since the emotional aspect of them is what I wanted to display as the actually important part of the skill.
Other than that there are 4 more stages, I won't go into all that much detail in case I decide to use the [Grieving Paladin] in the future, but I'm sure you can guess which of Rowan's skill evolve into grief-type skills; especially since he used 4 of them in the fight.
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Patreon link for 3 day early release
