ACT II - Reyla

Reyla stumbled into the house barracks, barely managing to reach a bench. She was covered in gore and blood from the monster hunt. She had spent the last month with the family army, going on patrols around their lands. The single month had been one of the most grueling experiences of her life, far more than anything she had done in the order. She had greatly underestimated her family’s army. She had always had this image of them being inferior to the orders, but the truth was far different.

The squad that she had been attached to had people ranging from single evolution to four or even five. And the monsters that attacked their land were… far more formidable than she had been imagined. She had seen monsters that were so much above her that she could’ve had no hope of even scratching their hide. The farms attracted all kinds of powerful monsters. Whatever her dad was doing to the soil made it emit power that attracted them. The territories around their farms were a battlefield, soaked in blood of monsters and the army. She hadn’t known that, but then again, her childhood she had spent sheltered behind the walls of the palace. And then later she was sent off to the Tower.

But the month had seen her fighting non-stop. Her commanding officer would send her into battle every time a monster that was only around or slightly stronger than her appeared. Even knowing that her squad was nearby, she had still felt like she was fighting for her life. Sometimes she would fight with other soldiers who were close to her level, and sometimes alone. But always she would only just barely win. She was still level 90, she had been forbidden from advancing by her dad and instructors, so that she could get as much benefit from monster kills as possible.

She sighed, and stood up, then headed into the cleaning area and cleaned the blood and gore from her body, leaving her armor to be cleaned by servants while she put on a simple pair of pants and a tunic. She downed a stamina potion to recover a bit and then left the barracks. She had been sent back ahead of her squad, because tonight was the night when she was to advance. She could barely wait. She had gained a lot of Essence, from the monster kills and the monthly contribution from serving her family. The size of contributions varied based on the size of the faction and the actions that one took, and her family was a large organization. House Ornn was one of the largest of the Houses in the Empire, one of the most influential.

She walked to the labyrinth in the dwindling light of the sun as it was turning into the moon. Her dad, Ender Ornn, was sitting in the center, the lights were already set up around and were slowly turning on. A few of her instructors were nearby as well, an extra table was set up under the canopy and was filled with books, tomes, and other references. All to help guide her next evolution.

“Daughter,” her dad greeted her with a warm embrace. She wasn’t yet quite used to getting hugs from her dad, which was perhaps only a tiny bit… sad. She returned the embrace and then stepped back, looking at the instructors. They were the best of House Ornn, people that guide others that were in the employ of the house, well, guided them depending on their position in the House.

“When you are ready, Mistress Reyla,” one of the instructors said.

Reyla took a seat across from her dad and started putting in Essence in her Class. She had enough Essence that she could advance to level 120, and she felt exhilarated at the advancement. She had been saving Essence for a while, and with the intense month that she had been through she had finally gathered enough. What made it all feel better was that she had done it on her own. Her dad had said that the family would help her, but that was probably going to come after she was sent to her mother.

Reyla started leveling up, and quickly she hit level 105 and her first perk choice. She took a quick look and then made it visible to the others. Immediately the instructors started looking through the tomes and whispering to each other. She tuned them out and focused on the perks.

Valkyrie’s Swiftness	Once per combat double your speed for thirty seconds.
Classer’s Hand	Effectiveness of all Class abilities is increased by 25%
Stunning Blow	Once per combat execute a stunning blow. The attack will send a shockwave that will stun your opponent for a short duration depending on the difference in strength between you. Strength of effects depends on the strength stat.

Reyla looked at her class specific perk. The increase of speed was tempting, because speed didn’t just mean the speed of her body, but also the speed at which her abilities came off cooldown. But with her True Classer there wasn’t really a need for that. The Classer’s Hand was far more powerful, and it was the perk that she had been instructed to look out for if she had a need to advance in the field. The instructors would most likely advise her to take that one. The last was a simple offensive perk, but her build didn’t need it.

The build that had been imagined for her was focused on her abilities. Because of her unique Class and its rarity, her abilities were more powerful than those of ordinary Classes, and they were going to get stronger still. Her entire early evolutions build revolved around picking options that supported her abilities. Perks and evolutions that would give her stronger abilities even more of a punch. And then, in a few evolutions, she would switch to her Class specific perks that would by then be even more powerful. The build that she was following now was what her mother would’ve liked to have been able to do if she could start from the beginning again. At least where perks were concerned.

“The choice is the Classer’s Hand,” one of her instructors said. Reyla nodded, glanced at her father who gave her a reassuring smile. She made her choice and picked her perk.

Immediately after she started leveling again, heading toward level 120 and her evolution. She couldn’t wait to see what choices she would get. She knew that she was probably going to go with her Valkyrie evolution, she hadn’t really done many impressive things since she evolved last time. But one never knew, she could’ve somehow qualified for some unique class evolution.

She hit level 120 and pulled out the screen to her eyes, filled with anticipation. The window flashed in front of her eyes, and she froze.

“Mistress Reyla, can you show us your screens, please?” One of the instructors said, which snapped her out of her shock.

She blinked and looked at him, then to her dad.

“Reyla, what is it?” Her dad asked.

Reyla opened her mouth to speak, and then stopped. She made her screen visible and saw everyones reaction. The instructors quieted, frowns appearing on their faces. She glanced at the window again, seeing that she had only one choice.

Twin Blazing Valkyrie

Fire and spear, bridge to the Ethereal, to carry the souls of the dead. The Twin Blazing Valkyrie is a warrior focusing on the use of a spear and augmented with fire. A Twin Blazing Valkyrie excels at melee combat and has powers that dwell deeper into the Ethereal Realm. A Valkyrie can cross over from one realm to the other, and gains additional powers depending on the boons granted by those she carries over.

Shepard for the Souls: You are able to see souls. All Ethereal based powers are 20% more effective. All special attacks deal 1.5% of total damage dealt as soul damage. Gain +10% to strength and wisdom. !Gain one of the following: -Ethereal Cross: support ability: Allows the Valkyrie to cross over to the Ethereal Realm. Valkyrie can only return to the real realm on the spot she entered. -Blaze Dash movement ability: The Valkyrie makes a dash turning into a blaze of fire making herself invulnerable to all physical damage for the duration of the dash. -Finesse and Insight: Gain plus 10% to base dexterity and wisdom.

Reyla looked at the screen in disbelief. She had no choice, which meant that Nayra had advanced. She had reached the second evolution before her. How? Reyla wondered, her sister had been trailing behind Reyla for a while. And now… She couldn’t have fought the swarm… Reyla hadn’t really believed that the Twilight Melody Sect could survive the swarm, she believed that they would retreat out of the way of the swarm and wait it out. But the only way for Nayra to advance so far would be for her to get a large influx of Essence, like from killing a lot of monsters from the swarm. Or Ryun Nacht gifted her with Essence. Reyla frowned as another possibility occurred to her. She knew that sects often raised people to power, similar things happened in other factions and in the Empire even, although not in the same way.

“Your sister advanced,” her dad said. Reyla turned her eyes to look at him, and saw a faint smile on his face.

A part of Reyla was glad that her sister had managed to advance, but another was frustrated. Nayra had never been the one to follow the rules, she… she could mess up Reyla’s advancement.

One of the instructors voiced Reyla’s concern to her dad. “If Mistress Nayra is now the lead twin, that means that she can pick the class evolutions. Master Ender, if she hits the next evolution before Mistress Reyla, if she decides to switch from the Valkyrie category class…”

Her dad nodded his head and met Reyla’s eyes.

“Can you speak with your sister? She needs to understand the gravity of the responsibility she has as the one in the lead. I can understand her desire to chart her own path, even though I don’t agree with her methods. But if she decides to rebel further…”

Reyla opened her mouth to answer and then closed it. She could feel the perk inside of her, knew that she could open the link and speak with her sister at any moment, yet she hesitated. The issues between Nayra and her were too big to be resolved quickly. She wanted to speak with her and ask her how she had advanced, how she was doing. But… but, a part of her was whispering that Nayra hadn’t tried to speak with her either. A part of her was angry at the fact that Nayra hadn’t told her of her evolution, that she hadn’t used the perk first.

“I… I don’t know, dad… I don’t know if that would be wise,” Reyla said finally.

Her father tilted his head. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Nayra and I did not part on the best of terms. We reached an understanding, but… we hadn’t spoken to each other since then. I worry that if I tell her that she needs to follow instructions from home again, that she will decide not to just to spite me.”

Ender Ornn’s eyes flashed with something that was completely incomprehensible to her. It was there only for a moment, but it made Reyla realize just why he was one of the most powerful in the Empire. That one look had made Reyla shiver deep down in her bones.

“It seems like our failure to see was larger than I thought,” her dad said.

Reyla bowed her head.

“No,” her dad said. “Don’t feel ashamed, this is our fault for not looking after you properly.”

Before Reyla could answer one of the instructors spoke.

“Master, if Mistress Reyla can’t risk antagonizing her twin, then there is only one recourse left.”

Reyla blinked at that, looking at him in confusion.

Her dad sighed. “We did not plan on doing this for a while yet, let you get accustomed to your power, but I see that there is no choice.”

Reyla blinked as her father pulled out a small box out of his storage and placed it on the table in front of them. He opened the box and she saw Essence Crystals inside. Immediately she realized what they meant.

“You want me to evolve again, to get ahead of Nayra,” Reyla said.

Her father nodded. “Yes.”

She didn’t know how to feel about that, on the one hand, she would advance, on the other… she didn’t earn that.

“You don’t need to be unsure, this has been always the plan. We were just intending to wait until you met with your mother. The dungeons discovered are all around level 200, we couldn’t have let you go at your current evolution.”

Reyla swallowed hard, and then looked at the crystals.

“If that is what you think is best,” she said at last.

The instructors told her to confirm her class and make her choices. The Class was a powerful one, but Reyla couldn’t help but wonder what kind of a Valkyrie Class she would’ve gotten. Nayra’s and her experiences differed, they would not have been given the same choices. She shook her head and looked at the windows. Instead of an extra ability she picked Finesse and Insight, since she was waiting for more powerful abilities that were yet to come in higher evolutions. These low evolutions were meant to build a solid foundation, her class would not shine until a lot later.

She glanced at her perk window and made it visible, letting the instructors make the choice for her.

Flame Curtain	Once per combat send a curtain of fire flying in a direction of your choosing. Strength of effect depends on your intelligence stat.
Ferry the Soul	Create a contract with a recently departed soul, carry it to the Ethereal Realm and provide protection until it reaches the afterlife. Fulfillment of the contract will permanently grant you a boon in the form of one of the Soul’s perks. The perk gained depends on the soul, as the soul will lose the perk it offers.
Embodying the Spear	Increases the leveling speed of any skill that can be used with a spear by 400%.

 Again the choice was simple, she was told to pick the Embodying the Spear perk. It would help her with her secondary focus on skills and would lead to better spear based perks in the future. Ferry the Soul was tempting, but she knew that she would get better Valkyrie flavored perks in the future, and entering the Ethereal realm at her low evolution was madness, there was no need to take such a risk for a reward that could be tiny.

She took the crystals and started pulling in the Essence, and then she started leveling. Every time she hit a perk level, she would let the instructors debate and check their tomes, and then they would let her know what the best choice was. She managed to get some powerful perks, but all focused on making her other powers better.

Finally, she reached level 180. Again, she looked at her window, expecting a choice and seeing only one.

“Nayra…” Reyla whispered, her expression had to have made clear what happened to the others.

“She reached her third evolution?” Her dad asked, his tone sounding impressed.

Reyla couldn’t imagine how her sister had managed it. Unable to respond, Reyla just made her window visible.

Twin Dawnwrought Valkyrie

You come with the dawn, the flaming star, bridge to the Ethereal, to carry the souls of the dead. The Twin Dawnwrought Valkyrie is a warrior focusing on the use of a spear and augmented with dawnfire. A Twin Dawnwrought Valkyrie excels at melee combat and has powers that dwell deeper into the Ethereal Realm. A Valkyrie can cross over from one realm to the other, and gains additional powers depending on the boons granted by those she carries over.

Dawnfire: All fire based powers now create dawnfire, an intense fire that is extremely hard to put out and burns more intensely during the day. All fire based powers are 20% more effective. All special attacks deal 1% of total damage dealt as soul damage. Gain +10% to strength and wisdom. !Gain one of the following: -Dawn Call support ability: Lift your spear above your head and summon the light of dawn. A blinding blast of light flashes from the tip of your spear. -Dawn Dash movement ability: The Valkyrie makes a dash through the Ethereal Realm, making herself invulnerable to all non-soul damage for the duration of the dash. -Finesse and Insight: Gain plus 10% to base dexterity and wisdom.

The moment her father and the others read it they exclaimed in shock. Reyla blinked as she saw the instructors step back, look at each other. Her dad’s eyes were wide and his body stiff.

“Dawnfire…” Her dad whispered.

“What is it?” Reyla managed to ask, she didn’t understand why they were so shocked.

“That…” one of the instructors started. “How did she get that, now? It’s only her third evolution!”

“Dad?” Reyla asked.

Ender Ornn blinked, and then seemed to shake himself. “Dawnfire, it is… It’s your mother’s power, her attunement. It is what makes her so powerful.”

Reyla was still not sure exactly what the issue was. She didn’t know much about her mother’s power, she had never seen her in action. She knew what she was called, of course. The Butcher of Dawn, and she knew that she fought with a spear and fire, that her Class was some kind of a Valkyrie variation as well. Nayra’s and hers Class was supposed to be a better starting point.

“There are no records of it appearing this early,” one of the instructors said. “The earliest was Mistress Karya, at her sixth evolution and Mythic Class rarity.”

“The requirements are…” Her dad started. “Nayra had to have survived through a harsh battle while everyone around her died. She had to have killed many in a short period of time, but still… It shouldn’t have appeared this early.”

Reyla looked back at the Class, seeing what it provided. It did seem strong, for which she was thankful. But inside, she felt conflicted. Nayra had eclipsed her it seemed. She had evolved twice in the time that they had been separated. That made Reyla feel like Nayra had been right. That her falling behind was because of the order and Reyla stifling her and not any personal failing on Nayra’s part.

“This is a good evolution,” the instructor said. “Very good, but… this means that Mistress Nayra is probably still in the lead.”

Her dad nodded his head, and then he seemed to shake off his shock and smile. “Yes. And it seems like my other daughter still understands the value in following the path we laid down before her. She has done well. I don’t think that we should worry about her stepping off this path.”

“So…” Reyla started.

“So,” her dad added. “I don’t think that we should push you higher, you need to earn this power yourself. This is the level that your mother wanted you on before you went into the dungeons. Whether you overtake your sister or not, that is up to you.”

Somehow that made Reyla feel better. The instructors debated again what she should pick, this time the abilities were strong, but in the end they were expecting stronger ones in the future. Again, she picked Finesse and Insight, and then went on to her perk.

Dawnfire Wings	Wings made out of dawnfire grow out of your back, allowing you flight. The wings last for a maximum of three hours, and will stay on cooldown for the same amount of time that they have been used.
Silencing Strike	Once per combat execute a silencing strike that will seal your opponent’s ability use for a short duration. Strength of effects depends on the difference in levels.
Dawnspear	Increases the leveling speed of any skill that can be used with a spear by 200%. Any dawnfire powers used with a spear are 20% more effective.

The instructors looked at her perks, and alongside her father made the decision. Being able to fly would be cool, but ultimately there were other ways of achieving the same thing, or she could get a better version of the perk in the future. Silencing Strike was the one that they had planned for her to pick originally, the perk that they were looking for, but the Dawnspear was too powerful to ignore. She picked the last perk and finished her evolution.

She released a long sigh, suddenly feeling exhausted even though her body was in perfect condition, better even. She had advanced far more than she had expected, had been helped by her family. But she knew that she was going to need to prove the expense worth it, even if it was nothing for her family.

“Go and rest daughter, tomorrow we will be hunting stronger monsters. And then in a few days you will be heading to meet your mother and start your training in truth.”

Reyla felt excitement build up inside of her. For the first time in her life she felt like she was truly a part of her family, like she had parents that cared for her and wanted her to succeed. She just wished that Nayra was with her as well.

She nearly used her perk and talked with her sister, but she thought better of it. She was not the one that betrayed her family, she was not going to be the one to make the first move.

She hugged her father and then retreated back into the palace, heading to her room in search of a bed and a long and restful sleep.