This ti, I head for Tarin's house imdiately. Triplestep lets reach the crows in record ti I reach the Cliffside Crows in just under an hour, leaving eleven on the clock until the raid begins.
Tarin, I know, is still asleep. But there isn't any ti to waste, and so I barge into his ho uninvited, and then copy Mari's trick. Firmant flows into my lungs, courtesy of Firmant Manipulation.
"Tarin?" I ask.
...Okay. Maybe using Firmant isn't quite as simple as just shoving energy into my lungs and hoping for the best.
Still, the crow seems to recognize that I'm in his ho. He bursts out of the pile of hay, ready to fight, and then looks utterly baffled when he sees standing there.
"Who you?" he asks.
"I'm a Trialgoer," I respond, figuring that's the best way to introduce myself. "I know this is sudden, but your village is about to be attacked."
"Trialgoer!" Tarin says, suddenly excited, before his expression switches to a frown. As best as I can read it, anyway. Beaks aren't particularly good for frowning. "What you talking about? How you know my na?"
I should probably start from the beginning. I'm not actually used to this, for all that I've t them twice now.
"My Trial is temporal," I explain quickly. "Every ti I die, I'm sent back in ti. I've done all this before been here, spoken to you and your wife, everything. We get attacked by harpies in about eleven hours in a raid as a part of the Trial. I need your help to get the villagers ready."
This ti, Tarin is notably more suspicious of . It's probably related to the fact that I barged into his ho without knocking though in my defense, the door to his hut isn't particularly... a surface I can knock on. It's a strip of cloth, and there's no bell attached to the front that I've seen.
"Prove it," Tarin says, and fortunately, I rember what he told in the last iteration.
"You told to tell you how you t Mari," I say.
"And how did we et?" Tarin asks. He sohow manages to look excited and skeptical all at once, his wings folded in front of him but his entire body standing on tiptoes. He wants to believe ... and there's a certain sharpness in his eyes, now that I've spoken to him a little more. I can read him a little better.
"You said Mari threw a courting rock at you," I tell him, and he trills with delight.
"Yes!" Tarin claps his wings together. "It was very good courting rock. You know where Mari? Best if she help!"
"I think she was around the edge of the village," I say, because that's where she approached last loop. But that's sothing that happens about an hour from now. "I don't know where she is now, though."
"Bah!" Tarin says. "I find. You wait!"
He takes three steps, and then imdiately trips over a chair. I stare for a mont.
"Tarin," I say, rembering another thing from that last loop. "Your eyes...?"
"Ah!" Tarin doesn't move from his position, half-planted into the floor but there's a sudden sense of power, and he's much steadier when he does get up. He flaps his wings once, then darts out of the door.
A second later, I hear a sense of power, and cover my ears in preparation for the thundering "Mari!" that echoes across the village. It's almost a wonder that nothing breaks, but I've seen the strength of their Firmant enchantnts by now.
What's a bit more surprising to is how everyone outside looks entirely unperturbed. Is this just sothing they're used to?
Mari returns in short order, and to my surprise starts fussing over . She seems almost grateful for so reason, though I can't imagine why. Tarin stands behind her, looking inexplicably proud of himself.
...I don't ask any questions.
Mari's insistent on getting all of us food and a drink, and I don't protest. The last several loops have just about wiped all mory of how pleasant it is to sit down and have a warm al, and while the stakes are dire, the al is also an opportunity to talk.
And so I do. I tell them about the specifics of the raid the number of harpies, where each of them land, and the specifics of how the raid appears to suppress their Firmant capabilities. That knowledge makes Tarin and Mari both darken a bit.
"Of course they cheat," Tarin mutters. I stare at him for a mont, seeing that spark of sharpness in his eyes again but he notices looking at him, and he points a wing at .
"Your Firmant unstable," he tells . "You know already? I tell you?"
I note, with so relief, that this ti he doesn't outright call my Firmant weak. "You did," I confirm. "You told to keep it. I can sense what other people are doing with their Firmant better that way."
"Yes," Tarin nods. "Your Firmant is your strength. Unstable Firmant rare! Your thing? Or... what you call yourself?"
"Human," I say, this ti catching on to the question.
"Or human thing," he continues. "But! Not important. Yet. Maybe later in Trial, yes?"
I don't know what might happen later in the Trial, but I nod, taking him seriously. His world has already encountered the Integrators and their Trials, after all. That information seems prudent.
"More importantly," I say, catching both their attentions. "There's the two harpies that attack the center of the village."
Both crows listen attentively as I describe the two Lants and what they're capable of. They seem equally agitated when I describe the trouble they had fighting off the Lants, declaring it a cheap trick to fight them with their Firmant suppressed so heavily and I don't disagree. It's clear that this is a cheap trick on the part of the Integrators, making the Trial artificially difficult for .
They're trying to force to make a mistake.
"Need to kill them at the sa ti," Mari squawks, and I agree.
I'm still not confident I can do it alone. I'm stronger now by a full order of magnitude, but it remains to be seen if that will an anything against the harpies.
It should. I'm hopeful.
We will see.
It's almost ti for the raid.
I've practiced as much as I dared to with Tarin. He's still more than able to keep up with , despite how much I've grown. It makes wonder exactly how much the Integrators suppress him and his wife during the raid. I can defeat any one of their guards fairly handily, now, but Mari and Tarin themselves?
They're forces to be reckoned with.
We've got a plan mostly set up for the upcoming battle. Now that Tarin and Mari each know what to expect and what the harpies can do, they assure that they'll be able to hold on long enough for to take care of the other ten harpies. Firestep and Triplestep in combination both give trendous speed but the longer I take, the harder it will be for Mari and Tarin to help out in the fight itself.
I have to pace myself. I can't wear my Firmant out entirely Tarin's warned that the strength of my Firmant doesn't yet match up to the variety of skills I have available, and if I push it too hard I might find it more difficult to use Firmant right when I need it.
So I resolve not to do that. Speed is the priority, and most likely more than enough to deal with the base Elegies, along with my scythe. I'll save Crystallized Strength and the like for the Lants.
I've asked the Interface if any crow deaths will persist past the raid, but it hasn't given an answer. I don't want to make any assumptions about it. There's no reason that would happen nothing in the phrasing of the raid that indicated that would be a possibility and yet I find myself still paranoid about it nonetheless. The Integrators strike as the type to be petty.
I'm distracting myself with thoughts.
We haven't bothered hiding halfway up the cliff this ti, since we know where all the harpies will land. Instead, we're hiding. I'm enclosed within the hut that's closest to the first landing spot, near the northern edge of the village.
[ Warning: You are in range of a Raid! ]
There we go. It's ti. I don't need to give a signal Tarin's made sure everyone knows what the small earthquake that accompanies the start of the raids ans. He's made sure they're aware that their weapons will be useless and their Firmant suppressed.
So many of them are fighting anyway. So many fighting to protect their hos, their children. More than before, even, because now they know their warriors won't be enough, and even the non-combatants have taken up arms.
[ Rank E Raid Lost Harpies proceeding! You have one more chance to beat this raid. If you fail, Cliffside Crows will be removed from your map. ]
One more chance.
Firestep. Triplestep.
I dart out of the house, flas burning around , just as the first harpies land. My scythe rests comfortably in my right hand, and a small push with Firmant Manipulation sends a trickle of Firestep down into the scythe, too. It imbues it with a little more speed, a little more offensive power...
I cut clean through the neck of the first harpy before she realizes what's happened.
[ You have defeated an Elegy of the Lost (Rank E)! 5 Strength credits. 1 Reflex credit. 5 Speed credits. 1 Firmant credit. ]
Diminishing returns suck, but all that sparring with Tarin's paid off a bit. I just need a single quick roll to test an idea.
[ 1 Firmant credit spent! Rolling for results... ]
[ Select between:
Temporal Echo (Rank D)
Tree Punching (Rank F)
Sparring (Rank F) ]
I was right. I select Temporal Echo without a second thought. I'm already fighting the second harpy as I do this, sidestepping past her scream and cleaving my scythe through the center of her skull.
I grimace at the sight. I'm not doing that one again.
[ Temporal Echo obtained! ]
[ Temporal Echo (Rank D) has evolved to Temporal Fragnt (Rank C)! ]
I doubt banking any of my other credits will help now, but this will have to be enough.
Now I'm ready.
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