>>3530230
>Disgusted. As much with the weakness of the victim as with the cruelty of the victor.

>>3530230
>>Annoyed. What's the point of living in the woods if you can't even get some peace and quiet?

>>3530230
>>Disgusted. As much with the weakness of the victim as with the cruelty of the victor.

>>3530230
>Angry, I may be old, but the fire still burns bright inside me

>>3530230
>Disgusted. As much with the weakness of the victim as with the cruelty of the victor.

>>3530230
>Disgusted. As much with the weakness of the victim as with the cruelty of the victor.

>>3530230
>Disgusted. As much with the weakness of the victim as with the cruelty of the victor.

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Seeing this you naturally feel disgusted--as much with the weakness of the victim as with the cruelty of the victor. You have a mind to box their ears. "Stop!" It's been so long since you've heard your own voice, that the deep boom surprises you most of all. The boys search for you among the trees, but you make it easy for them and jump down to meet them eye to eye. The leader is the tallest of them, handsome in that way which you've always detested, the symmetric features suggestive of a coat-of-arms and a fierce pride in a name.

You don't have to say anything. Leaping down two stories without so much as a sprained ankle speaks for itself. The tall one takes a step back, holding up his arm as if to put something between you and him--anything--and slips and falls on his back. His friends have already fled. The younger lad is on the ground, leaning against the stone and nursing a nosebleed. You walk over to the tall one and pick him up. "Don't come back here." You say, transferring just enough weight to his shoulders let him know what you can do. He shakes his head like a dog that just came out of a bath and then runs, slips twice on the snow--and is gone.

The younger lad backs up against the stone as you turn. "Please don't eat me sir." He says, already breaking into tears.

"Eat you? Is that what they say about me now--oh quit blubbering lad, be a man for goodness sake."

"I'm very sorry sir, please don't eat me sir."

"I'm not going to eat you, get up. Will you get up?" You have to drag him to his feet. His face is in pretty bad shape, the left eye is swelling shut and the nose might actually be broken. You sigh. "Come along then." It's another one of those things you just can't help.

Back at the cabin, you dress the boy's wounds, going so far as to apply some of your own healing balm to the shiner. Another old recipe: three parts glowroot juice, one part powdered acaia blossoms. As it turns out bringing the kid in was a fatal mistake. He somehow recognizes your former hero status and is apparently also a fan. He immediately requests to be your apprentice, the idiot actually wants you to teach him how to be a hero.

Naturally you just want to get rid of him and so...

>You request an unreasonable sum of money. The kid looks like he can barely afford bread.
>You tell him to get you the flower of one of the Acaia trees outside, to prove his worth--it's impossible of course, the flowers only grow near the top and a fully grown Acaia is nearly 500 feet tall
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>It's fine, he's just a boy, and he was out numbered at that

>>3530286
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>You request an unreasonable sum of money. The kid looks like he can barely afford bread.

>>3530286
Give him a riddle. The one that almost got you sphincted.

>>3530286
>You request an unreasonable sum of money. The kid looks like he can barely afford bread.

Ask why he wants to apprentice under us besides being a fan? If all he wants is to emulate us then warn him of the perils such a path has

>>3530286
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

Gets him off our back without risk of getting himself killed climbing a giant tree, and also helps the kid get some strength. He'll need it.

>>3530342
This.

>>3530293
Supporting

>>3530286
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.
inb4 his name is "Rock Lee"

>>3530286
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.
Been waiting for this ever since Levy Quest ended, I'm looking forward to another great story.

>>3530286

>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed
oh SHIT!
I'm milking you for every drop this time OP, you can bet on that

>>3530286
if we ask for money he might steal and get bothf us in trouble
if we ask the flower he'll just fall from the tree and die
the laps are harmless enough and will make him quit

>>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>>You tell him to get you the flower of one of the Acaia trees outside, to prove his worth--it's impossible of course, the flowers only grow near the top and a fully grown Acaia is nearly 500 feet tall

>>3530286
>>You tell him to get you the flower of one of the Acaia trees outside, to prove his worth--it's impossible of course, the flowers only grow near the top and a fully grown Acaia is nearly 500 feet tall

>>3530286
>>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

>>3530286
>>You tell him to get you the flower of one of the Acaia trees outside, to prove his worth--it's impossible of course, the flowers only grow near the top and a fully grown Acaia is nearly 500 feet tall

>>3530286
>>You tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

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Naturally you just want to get rid of him and so you tell him to run a hundred--no five hundred--laps around the cabin. He'll give up after the first ten, guaranteed.

"Five hundred laps?" He whispers. His chin drops to his chest and he drags his feet outside. Good riddance. You spend the rest of the afternoon grinding slumberlilies into a fine paste and soaking the nightblooms in brine. They'll be ready in the morning. It's funny how impatient you feel, having delayed so long.

Right around the time you're preparing dinner you hear a sound, a kind of muffled thud, as when a baby bird falls out of its nest. You head out to investigate. White wolves roam these woods and they sometimes leave animal carcasses--does, rabbits, on occasion other wolves--as a token of respect (really it's so you don't hunt them all down) but the sound came from near the back of the cabin and the wolves are always careful to leave their tax near the front door.

A blizzard has moved in and the snowflakes fall like razor blades. You don't mind it. It reminds you a little of when you first met Silvia--back before she began to hate you. Your thoughts turn back inevitably to red waters and white triangles of sails against the clear blue sky. The sun burns your neck, Iacopo's arm rests on your shoulder, his hand is in Silvia's hand. There, the vision breaks. You find the kid face down in the snow, shivering and unconscious.

You slap his cheeks a few times, he groans. You listen to his heart--still beating, but like a drummer at the end of a long battle. You carry him inside and for the rest of the night you watch over him, massaging his limbs to circulate the blood and lining his blankets with hot coals. In his dreams he mutters numbers. "One-hundred and forty-four" He whispers. "One hundred and fourty-four. One hundred and forty-four."

At some point you fall asleep and when you wake it's well past morning. The kid is trying to get out of bed. "One hundred and forty-four." He says. "I just have one hundred and forty-four more laps. You promised. Five hundred. Just another one hundred and forty-four." You push him down, the kid's teeth are chattering so much he can barely talk.

"What on god's red water is wrong with you kid? Are you trying to kill yourself?" But the kid is inconsolable, he'll do the five hundred laps even if it does kill him. You find his conviction...

>Hopelessly idiotic, and though you promise to teach him a few moves just to keep in him bed--you hope he'll leave on his own after that.
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.


another Silvia as our maiden.....I accept, oh Silvia, why have we wronged you

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3531891
>Hopelessly idiotic, and though you promise to teach him a few moves just to keep in him bed--you hope he'll leave on his own after that.

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.
Alright.
>when you first met Silvia--back before she began to hate you
Dammit.

>>3531891
>Hopelessly idiotic, and though you promise to teach him a few moves just to keep in him bed--you hope he'll leave on his own after that.

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3531891

>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.
Have him finish the laps when the weather clears

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3531891
>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

>>3532833
This, if he's okay enough.

>>3531891
>>Reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good.

> It reminds you a little of when you first met Silvia--back before she began to hate you. Your thoughts turn back inevitably to red waters and white triangles of sails against the clear blue sky. The sun burns your neck, Iacopo's arm rests on your shoulder, his hand is in Silvia's hand.

Wait, I'm confused. Are we the same character and is this the same Silvia and Lacopo from the last quest? If so when did Silvia begin to hate us and go with Lacopo?

>>3533459
Maybe all our kids went off to adventure and got killed. So she blames us for that. It's probably a "coincidence".

>>3533486
>>3533490
I'm just reusing names. Think of it as an alternate universe if you like.

>>3533490
it seems we have to win another silvia over, let the fun begin

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You find his conviction reluctantly admirable, and you decide to at least hear why he's so keen on becoming a hero. Maybe you can persuade him otherwise--for his own good. For now you tell him that if he really wants to finish the laps he can do so after the weather clears. His relief is so overwhelming that he immediately loses consciousness.

Behind you the jar of nightbloom petals sits on the windowsill. Its waters have turned a deep sepia shade, the color of the bier. It's ready now--but the kid lets out a shaky breath and you must pull the covers over him again; sweep his hair away to wipe the sweat off his brow. You trace the sunlight on his face back to the jar and then to the bright window behind it. Beside it the old red cloak hanging from a nail Why is it you always get stuck with these kinds of psychos? Do you have some kind of odor? Is god just messing with you?

You sigh and get up to prepare breakfast.

Later, you interrogate the kid over lunch. His name is Richter. He's a servant working for a Lord Briton, baron of Dunhowzer, the elder brother of the tall one you met before. "So you're an orphan." Nod. "And you want to be a hero?" Nod again. "You're a walking cliche, you know that?" He scratches his head.

"Weren't you an orphan too?"

You squint at him. "...No one likes a smart-ass, kid. Anyway, I think I can guess what this is about. And let me you tell you something. You don't want to be a hero. Heroes don't get the happy ending you hear about in the stories. That's the other guy, the guy who's telling the story. You want to know what happens to heroes? Heroes die."

"But...but they're the ones that save the world--like when you fought against the Archdemon Jerod--"

"There's always some Archdemon or crazy cultist or evil nobleman trying to enslave everybody. And there'll always be someone stupid enough to fight them. Doesn't mean it has to be you. Become a merchant or something. That's all the money, fame and pus--women--you can ever want."

"I don't want any of those things."

You scoff. "Right. So what do you want then, let's hear it."

"To be strong." He says, quietly. "To be strong enough to protect the ones who can't protect themselves."

1/2

>>3533984
It's not the words which give you pause (though you've heard them once before) but the conviction, that alignment of the spine with the clear-seeing eyes, which because he is so fragile, is somehow made even more convincing. You will never dissuade him. If you do nothing, he will get himself killed because self-sacrificial idealism and physical weakness can have no other end. But more than that, it's the first time in years that you've felt anything close to purpose or excitement. You want to help this boy, you want to see what he can become. What you can make him into.

And so the training begins the very next day, once the weather clears and the kid has fully recovered. Physical conditioning must come first. A decade of malnourishment and inadequate exercise has to be reversed before you can teach him anything useful. To that end...

>You start gently, just having him follow you around on your daily hikes and forages. No need to interrupt your normal routine.
>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.
>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.

>>3533988
>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.

>>3533988
>>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.

Like we wish we would have been trained when we were his age
heal him to health and comfort him in the moments of respite.
Where is Silvia now I wonder, what would she think of this...probably hate it.

>>3533988
>>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.

>>3533988
>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.
Instant hard mode is not how it works, fellas. We're just gonna fuck him up without much benefit.

>>3533988
>>>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.

>>3533988
>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.
We can make him a better hero than us. Good way to start is by making him better than we ever were at his age. Plus, this will be a better gauge of what he's capable of keeping up with on the long term.

>>3533988
>>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.

>>3533988
>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.
Let's not kill this kid.

>>3533988
>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.
Make that strength of will manifest!

>>3533988
>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.

>>3533988
>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back

>>3533988
>>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.
Kid might have rickets from malnutrition.

Could help get him a job as a town guard or militia to start off in.

>>3533988
>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.
Don't forget to teach him about herbs, writing and foreign languages if we know how to ourselves.

>>3533988
>>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.

>>3533988
>You start gently, just having him follow you around on your daily hikes and forages. No need to interrupt your normal routine.

Mister Miyagi-style - our normal routine is probably pretty badass so he'll get the strength training and exercise regardless. And we need to make sure he will stick with the training no matter how boring it is.

>>3534003
>>3533988
I change mine to

>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.

on second thought, not gonna run experiments on the kid

>>3533988
>>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.

>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. Just take him on your routine.

We either break his determination or we make someone who could do better than we did. Also, yeah we need to teach this kid more than just the art of ass-kicking.

>>3533988
>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.

Hope we don't break this kid

>>3533988
You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back.
If he breaks he dosnt have to will to be a hero if he lives though it he just might become something

>You subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as well hold nothing back.

Give him a week. If he can't take it, send him on his way and tell him he doesn't have what it takes. If he comes back and insists on getting better, he has potential. If he doesn't, you were right.

>>3533988
>You begin a strict exercise regimen, emphasizing strength training and mobility. The standard approach.

To that end you subject him to a harsh and highly experimental training method. If you're going to do this, you might as hold nothing back. The method is possible only because of the spirit bound to your soul and the alchemical recipes you learned from Silvia. It has two components: the transfer of invisible force or "weight" that your soulbinding grants. And a certain fermented drink made from milk and a yeast culture found in the gut of the Zanterburyan Naga. Each alone would kill the boy, but together they will remake him in the image of strength he so desires. So long as he can take the pain.

You add the weight gradually, when he's sleeping, a dozen pounds at a time. You mix the potion in with his breakfast. As the days pass he feels no change except the normal gain in mass one would expect from adequate nourishment and regular physical activity, but this is an illusion. The culture in the milk is gradually replacing the flesh of his muscles, bones, tendons and blood. The "inclinative" stress is preventing the culture from spreading too rapidly and destroying his brain. A week passes. A month passes.

He bears two hundred pounds of weight every second of the day in every inch of his body and feels nothing. The pain from the reconstitution of his limbs through the culture is tremendous and invisible. He sleeps in fever and eats with clenched teeth. But from the beginning you have told him, "The end is in the beginning." And the moment he complains he will be thrown out. So when you tell him to chop wood and carry water, to follow you into the forest on the long arduous hikes where, yes, you are cruel because you move at a pace which even makes you winded, he answers always with a "Yes, master!" and a smile. So you begin to love this boy. Because the days which seemed to drag on and on, like a wheel turned on a rusty axel, he greases into lightning.

You learn more about him. He never knew his parents. He was sold to Lord Briton's estate when he was born. He is not only a servant, he is a slave. He fought with the tall one, Oberlin, over the abuse of a new serving girl whose name he did not even know. Richter defended her--not only defended her, but helped her transfer her duties to a different part of the castle, away from Oberlin. The Lord of the house was out and Oberlin decided to take the matter into his own hands.

1/2

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>>3536421
He tries to learn more about you, asking about the red cloak on the nail (which he annoyingly calls "the cape") or the pieces of armor on the stand or the pale white sword gathering dust above the fireplace, or the album of old sketches that he "accidentally discovered" in your dressing drawer. But you have avoided the past for the last twenty-seven years and you will not embrace it now. You scold him constantly. You even box his ears when he shows you the portrait of Silvia, drawn in light charcoal chiaroscuro against the flames and shadows of her old study. You snatch it from his fingers, crumpling it as if to toss it in the fire but later you smooth it out and put it back with the others. It has been so many years since you've picked up the brush or the pen but the kid wants to learn, so what can you do? It is one those things you cannot help. You must teach him.

You feel a kind of joy of which you believed you were no longer capable and then you are even scared because you are a sinner, who deserves none of this. You find yourself late at night, watching the pattern of shade and moonlight play over the boy's clean brow as you place more weight upon him and you feel unworthy of the tireless admiration in his eyes. All glory fades, but sin remains forever.

Two months and four hundred pounds now on his bones. You stop feeding him the milk culture. The yeast now propagates by itself and the moment you release the weight, the transformation will resolve and he will know the full measure of his strength. You want to see how far you can push him. Every pound he carries is another pound off your own shoulders, liberating another ounce more of your own strength--could he one day carry it all?

But the routine cannot last. One day you return from a forage to find your cabin burning, your boy in the hands of some smirking rogue and the whole spectacle surrounded by a dozen armed men.

"I'm sorry master." The boy, blubbering as usual. "Your cabin...I tried to stop them but--"

"Quiet." Says the rogue, squeezing your boy's throat and pulling him back. "You're wanted for rustling old man. You're to come with us to Lord Briton. For judgement. Nice and quiet like. I only have instructions not the kill the boy." He hovers a thumb over Richter's eye, letting you know his unique interpretation of those instructions.

Seeing this you have no choice but to...

>Release the weight on the boy, so he can fight himself free. You can't fight them while he's in danger.
>Go with them. The boy's training is not yet over, releasing the weight now would be premature.
>Kill them all.

>>3536426
>Go with them. The boy's training is not yet over, releasing the weight now would be premature.

>>3536426
> give them the choice to leave with there lives or die by our hand. that boy is under our protection.

>>3536426

>Go with them. The boy's training is not yet over, releasing the weight now would be premature.

Save the portraits! Do not let the fire consume them, and then we go.

>>3536426
>Go with them. The boy's training is not yet over, releasing the weight now would be premature.
We can them latter

>>3536441
this, get those paintings

>>3536441
+1.
The kid needs to learn the value of discretion, and the portraits must be saved!

>>3536426
> The boy's training is not yet over, releasing the weight now would be premature.
>They destroyed your home and your memories because you were daft enough to leave the lordling alive. Kill them all.

>>3536426
>>3536750
support

>>3536426 #
>>3536750 #
support

>>3536426
>>3536750
Welp, here we go killing again

>>3536426
>Kill them all. except the boy we trained for the last few months
We die and play as the boy sooner. At least this way we kill so mooks before the lord tortures us to death.

>>3537001
HAHAHAHA, this old fucker is going to outlive that boy mark. my. words.

>>3536750
this

>>3536750
+1

>>3536441
Supporting. We no kill.

>>3537084
Switch to this >>3536441

>>3537001
the whole point is to play as the old guy, I don't want to play as that boy

>>3537206
I think anon wants to play a typical OPTeen and have our teacher die as an excuse for him to play an MC without discipline- making this a typical power fantasy.

>>3536426
>Kill them all.
We do not negotiate with terrorists.

>>3536750
>>3536426
Support

We're a former Hero, lords and their politics hold no power over us.

whatever we do we should get those paintings

>>3536426
>Go with them. The boy's training is not yet over, releasing the weight now would be premature.
Killing them all would not give the kid a heroic start

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>>3536426
>>Kill them all.
Except the kid, of course.
We fantasy John Wick now...

>>3537456
hell yeah

>>3536426
>>Kill them all.

>>3536750
"People keep asking if I'm back, and I haven't really had an answer, but yeah, I'm thinking I'm back."

>>3536750
+1

>>3536426
>Go with them. The boy's training is not yet over, releasing the weight now would be premature.

We should not risk the safety of our boy. We can escape from them later, right now the top priority is ensuring his safety.

Closing and tallying the votes here as it's getting difficult to keep track of whose voting for what (reminder to please link the post in your vote so it's easier to tally up)

>>3536428
>>3536441
>>3536452
>>3536467
>>3536742
>>3537118
>>3537128
>>3537272
>>3538120
>Go

>>3536750
>>3536918
>>3536927
>>3536984
>>3537001
>>3537050
>>3537258
>>3537262
>>3537456
>>3537550
>>3537950
>Kill

>>3538242
The Kills have it, Old man john wick here we come

>>3538261
Do as we say, not as we do. There's a reason we're disillusioned.

To be fair, going with them would serve no purpose. Theres no way in hell we will get anything other than:
You are accused therefore you are guilty

And you can tell that simply because they burnt our house down. Kill them, move on to another part of the forrest away from here, we should know a more secluded spot.

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Seeing this you have no choice but to kill them all. The cabin burns and all that you own on this whole earth turns to white ash. This is not what summons the old rage. Even for that you might have spared them--but they touched your boy.

So, slowly you reach down to unlace your boots. Transferring weight to the world is a short-lived affair. The difference in mass is too great, no matter how much your own burdens. Five seconds; ten if you can stretch it and definitely not everything--not even close to it. But even this much has not been released in a long, long time. You kick off your boots, letting the snow into the gaps of your toes. You palm a small pebble on the way up.

"We're not playing around old--"

It's a beautiful shot, straight through the jaw. The weight gathers a few moments before impact (instead of the exact moment--you're getting rusty) and it takes not only his head and neck but the upper part of his chest. The rest of his body, headless and surprised at such a great loss so suddenly, stands for a moment as if still alive and then falls backward. The kid's knees buckle and he just sits down, wide-eyed, covered in gore.

One of the armed men attempts to snatch him, but you press down on the snow with your toes and a miraculous lightness fills your body. You are at the boy's side in an instant. You touch the man's helmet and the sudden weight snaps his neck and jams his head down his chest cavity until it exits through the other side, splitting him in half. "Stay behind me kid." You say. Three more attack you at once but when you steal the weight of the first and send them screaming into the clouds and when you strike the second's armor with a weighted fist and blow a hole through his chest and when you put so much weight on the last that he falls face flat and is flattened into a thick mulch that is made nearly homogenous with the snow, the rest hesitate and the true leader emerges.

If not for the boy, you might have dodged it but the split second to grab and throw him back is enough for the blue flame to lick your side and score off a chunk of flesh. You turn and spit blood. The leader's fingertips glow with the blue-white embers of hellfire, not quite the black voidflame of the greater demons which can rip through reality itself but hellfire nonetheless. It doesn't make any sense, until you see the soulgem sticking out of the nape of the man's neck. Artificial soulbinding.

1/2

>>3538569
It's been a while since you've seen such an abomination, but it makes no difference. The others are bolstered by their leader's apparent success and by the blood slowly spreading from your wound. They move to surround you. You reach down and grab a handful of snow. You close your fist around it, compressing it into a shard of ice. The rest is a red blur. The soulbound one is the toughest, but it's only a lesser demon and his supernatural strength cannot match your own. Once you rip his hands off, his hellfire is gone too. The others lie in various degrees of mangling all around you, a few of them hanging from the trees in pieces, others trying to crawl away without legs. You step on the skull of one of them, casually crushing it with weight as you pass to the leader. You haven't killed him yet. You need to question him.

"Where did you get the soulgem?"

"I'll tell you. I'll tell you, please don't kill me."

"Speak."

"It was the lord. He put it in me first, as a test."

"A test?"

"Y-yeah, he has one also. In his eyes. Cured his blindness. P-please...I have a family."

"What's your name?"

"Telemund. Telly."

"I told the tall one not to come back here, Telly. He should've listened. You should've listened." You place your thumb on the man's forehead.

"Master!" The boy, springing to your side, covered in blood and snot, grabs your arm and pulls. "Please don't master. You're a hero. Heroes don't...heroes don't..."

The boy's plea...

>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

>>3538571
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

>>3538571
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

If only for the kid. The guys no threat, and this scene should be enough to put off any thoughts of hunting us down again.

>>3538571
>>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

We are turning this into a redemption quest bois

>>3538571
>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

>>3538571

>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

Come on, we haven't lived this long just to get "corrupted" at the last second. Killing another villain, one who still poses a threat, will not make us a bad guy.

>>3538284
Fucking this!

>>3538571
>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

Best shatter the silly nothings of bs in his head less he suffer losses of the one he will someday care for due to his naivety.

>>353857
>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

The world is a cruel place and the kid needs to learn that mercy to the enemy will get you and those close to you killed. You cant be the ideal storybook hero and expect the badguys to play along.

>>3538571
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

>>3538701
Good job me, obviously replying to >>3538571
Voting for no mercy

>>3538571
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

Yay not being assholes

>>3538571
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

Who knows, maybe Silvia will even learn not to hate us

>>3538571
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

>>3538571
>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

I am not going to make any accusations, but there is a surprising amount of participation for this thread.

>>3538831
I agree.. quite a few IDs only have 1 or 2 posts to their name...

>>3538839
Force everyone to use tripcodes and ignore anyone who doesn't have at least 3 posts to their name of any substance!

Would probably kill the quest tho.

>>3538831
>>3538839
>>3538871
Pretty sure it's just phoneposters. I don't think anyone's dedicated enough to this quest to samefag it.

>>3538571
>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.
The man is corrupted by a demon.

>>3538571
>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

>>3538571
>>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

lurker here
not voting because i prefer to watch
gotta get my three posts in so i can vote later if i feel like it

>>3538874
I post of phone though iv naver samfaged a vote on this quest.
Guse its time to kill the lord as well, since his probs doing some bad stuff experimenting on the slaves and shit and he wont let this go.
Time for the boy to find out what beenng a hero and punsshing to evil is all about.

>>3538874
you could be mistaken

>>3538891
>>3538894
>>3538904

>>3538571
>>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

>>3538571
>>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them.

We're trying to groom him into something we're not. That said, I have no idea what sort of life he'll have with no hands.

I'm one of those phone posters. As an aside, could we get more info on soul gems and/or 'abominations'? This guy still has the gem embedded in him, is he gonna go crazy? Can we remove it? Ethical/war-mongering concerns?

>>3538571
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

>>3538571
>>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.
Mercy is a common mistake for beginners...

File: inceldur.gif (273 KB, 245x180)

273 KB GIF

>>3539017
>could we get more info on soul gems and/or 'abominations'?
The short answer is pic related. The long answer is it will be revealed as we go. The super secret answer is I don't know either. I just have a vague idea which I'll develop it if/when it becomes necessary--e.g based on the outcome of this vote/spoiler]

>This guy still has the gem embedded in him, is he gonna go crazy? Can we remove it? Ethical/war-mongering concerns?

Sparing his life would mean dealing with these problems.

>>3539051
> spare him, but keep him under your watch, as much as you want him to go home, he can't. Not until you can find a way to remove that soul gem in his neck. He's too dangerous to just send out anyway. keep him with you for now until you know what's going on. Better to keep a potential enemy close than let them roam free.

>>3538571
>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

As much as we want the boy to be happy, we have to be realistic. Kindness often does not end well, and in someone who will be corrupted soon, there's no chance for this to benefit us.

Deluding the boy into thinking mercy is always the best option for 'heroes' will get him killed one day. Not everyone deserves to be saved. Not everyone *can* be saved. It's high time he learns it and accepts it, for his sake.

>>3538571
>>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

Tell the kid it is a demon

>>3538571
>Goes unheard. If you don't kill him now the demon will eventually corrupt him, he'll come back later try and hurt you again. Villains never get better, they only get even. You'll not let another person you love die to foolish idealism.

>>3538571
Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

>>3538571
>Stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

File: Silvia.jpg (52 KB, 564x738)

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The boy's plea stays your hand. You're not a hero--and you never really were--but the boy deserves better. You can be better. You can act according to heroic ideals, even if you no longer believe in them--even if you never did. You can try.

But that still leaves matter of the soulgem. Eventually it will lead to total possession and that will be as complete a death as any you could deliver. You don't have the surgical or alchemical expertise necessary to safely remove it either but you know someone who does (and she could probably do something about the hands you ripped out too). Again the vision of red waters, red beaches and the woman who still hates you. On second thought, maybe you should just kill him after all.

Behind you the fire has died and the roof and the rafters have caved in. Your body moves automatically to sift through its remains. The armor is destroyed. The sword is warped and shattered. The sketches are burnt little pieces. Only the red cloak, impervious to all insults of hell and heaven, remains intact. You drape it about your shoulders--it's heavier than it looks. The boy has just finished cleaning himself and tying up the man's stumps so he doesn't bleed out.

"Telly. You're coming with us. Grab his hands kid." The man doesn't ask where you're taking him, perhaps it's the look on your face or perhaps the sight of his men torn apart like confetti that communicates the necessity of absolute silence. You put the kid on your shoulders, bind Telly to your waist. "Hang on tight. It's been a while since I've done this." You press down once more with your toes, momentarily transferring all the accumulated weight to the earth, it lasts only a hair's width of an instant, but it is enough. You jump so high you can touch the bottom of the clouds if you but reach out. The tops of the Acaia trees are below your feet, the town in the distance, the castle beyond that.

The kid screams as much on the way up as he does on the way down, at first from fear and then from exhilaration. Telly has to take a second to empty his stomach. It only takes ten more jumps and three more hours till you hit the Red Coast and the city of Lescruz with all its domes and bell towers. You land somewhere near the gates, leaving the guards on the wall marveling at your spectacular entrance as you pass through.

The city is eternal, even its smell has not changed in twenty-seven years: sea salt mixed with the exotic spices and lime that the meat peddlers put in their shishkebobs. You take the boxcars up the hill, pulled beneath the rails by a longworm underground, until you reach the old academy campus. Even this is the same, but when you ask about Silvia you learn she's no longer in the Grande Laboratoire but some other smaller building you don't quite remember.


1/2

>>3539672
"Aren't we going in master?"

"Hmm? Yes, of course. I'm just a little..."

"Tired?"

"Nervous." Your hand tentatively reaches for the knocker but the door opens from the inside and she steps out. It really isn't fair how pretty she still is. "Silvie."

For a second she doesn't quite recognize you and can almost pretend like it's old times--and then her eyes go hard and she frowns and you want to crawl between the waves and drown. "What are you doing here?"

"I need a favor."

"I'm not interested." She shoves past you and then turns around to just say, "And didn't I tell to never to show your face to me again. Did you forget that?"

"No, Silvie, I haven't forgotten."

"Don't call me that. Don't call me at all. Just get lost."

"Hey! You can't talk to my master like that."

"Quiet kid."

"What, you have a sidekick now? Word of advice little boy, find a new master. Preferably one who's not a coward."

The kid looks at you, waiting for your retort. But you have nothing, all you can do is stare down at your bare feet.

"Is that his cloak?" You know this this tone, Silvia goes quiet when she's overwhelmed with anger. Pure ice. "Please leave before I call the guards." She turns again, as if to go and do just that. You grab her arm.

"Silvie--Silvia, please listen to me. It's the soulgems again." You can feel her tense up as she wrenches her arm away. She finally registers the last member of your party and closes her eyes and scoffs. She turns and looks up into your eyes, she leans in, as if to kiss you. "It should have been you." She whispers.

"I know." You say.

You follow her into the lab. You don't ask her about her circumstances. It's clear, by the state of her dingy working space, that she's been demoted, it's also clear she hasn't slept or eaten a proper meal in months, possibly in years. She tells you the surgery will take several hours and by her tone of voice--still quiet--you can tell she doesn't want you around while she works. But also, there's a nervousness there, like something out-of-tune.

You decide to...

>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group.
>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

>>3539674
>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.
Nope. We're not staying there. It will only lead to double trauma when he walks in on us.

>>3539674
>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

>>3539674
>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

>>3539674
>>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group.

there's something wrong, we need to find out what

damn, we did some shit right? and got the owner of the cloak killed

>>3539674

>>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group

Lets figure this out, no more running

>>3539674
>>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

>>3539674
>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group.
We were hiding for way too long. Time to deal with our past.

>>3539674

>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group.

>>3539681
There is no he to walk in dude, he dies long ago.
We are wearing his cape, and she said that it should have been us.
He is probably the third person that was on that picture back home, and he died.

>>3539674
>Leave her to her business and make the boy stay. He needs to see his decision through.

Silvie could give him a better understanding of things than we could and talking to this little hero might soften up her attitude, even if it is deserved. In the meantime we can kill time in the city.

Is this quest based on something that is already finished? If so, what was it?

>>3539674
>>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

>>3539674
>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group.
We are a coward. We should change that. For the kid

>>3539774
QM did make a quest about a peasent levy who survived war and slavery but I don't think this quest has anything to do with it. But the names of the characters in this quest share the names of the characters in the levy quest. Who knows, maybe there's a connection after all?

>>3539821
See >>3533602

>>3539674
>Leave her to her business and make the boy stay. He needs to see his decision through.

>>3539674
>>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

we can handle our past later, for now, the kid needs us.

>>3539674
>>>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

>>3539821
Perhaps the name of the MC is William?

>>3539674
>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

>>3539674

>>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group

Guys we need to figure out this soul gems thing, its important for the kid too

>>3539674

>>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group

>>3539683
>>3539727
>>3539734
>>3539774
>>3539820
>>3539821
>>3540053
>>3540233
>>3540532
>>3540534

If this isn't evidence of samefaging I don't know what is!?

>>3540535
All of these are single post IDs

>>3540535
I dunno about the others but I'm >>3539683 and no one else.

>>3540537
You are retarded.

>>3540545
...This is your first post in this thread. You are proving my point.

>>3540559
That 1 ID posts exists? Congratulations.

>>3530232
>>3530238
>>3530293
>>3530342
>>3530345
>>3530364
>>3530367
>>3530370
>>3530371
>>3530463
>>3530527
>>3530568
>>3530749
>>3530953
>>3531729
>>3531900
>>3531939
>>3532504
>>3532624
>>3533212
>>3533486
>>3534024
>>3534127
>>3534251
>>3534616
>>3534645
>>3534647
>>3534968
>>3534971
>>3535423
>>3535581
>>3535974
>>3536434
>>3536441
>>3536452
>>3536742
>>3536918
>>3536927
>>3536984
>>3537550
>>3538279
>>3538284
>>3538583
>>3538891
>>3538904
>>3538905
>>3539026
>>3539032
>>3539528
>>3539637

All of these, every last one of them, are single post IDs. call me paranoid all you want, but the samefaggery is strong in this thread. this list goes from every start of the quest to current QM post.

>>3540569
Ok, who hurt you? Who acuse you of samefaging you that now you feal need to blow off steam on us?

>>3540576
All I am saying is that someone, I don't know who is samefagging. If it's not you great chill and enjoy the quest: however I believe someone is. I view the number of single post IDs this quest is getting every single time that QM posts as suspicious. none of the anons on that list ever came back for the follow-up post by the QM. That doesn't strike you like even a little suspect?

>>3534645
>>3539820
>>3540576
All three of this are mine.
>>3540587
So no. People use work, school, home wifi, mobile data. They ID changes

>>3537084
>>3540593
I missed one

>>3540569
I am shocked and hurt that you accuse me of blatant samefaggotry. >>3530527
While you are correct in that I havent posted since, I do still keep an eye out. Its a lack of time, not morals, though I concede you got my 4chanx to notice you.

>>3540587
Reasonable suspicion is not inherently wrong. Many threads can and are ruined by samefagging. It does appear very suspect that those IDs pop up only once.
Even if you use mobile, you should at least give yourself a name, its very helpful.

>>3540587
I'm just too lazy to consistently post

>>3540649
>namefaging
You disgust me

>>3539674
>>Stay and catch up, figure out what's bothering her and how the soulgems could have reappeared. She always was the brains of the group.
>>3540569
been busy with work and my car today.

>>3540649
Ive found that alot of people dont actually like when people use a tag.

>>3540725
Only when you develope a crappy red and a persona to that tag.

There are a few trips here that no one minds or gives any trouble.

>>3539674
>Leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once.

Let her calm or stew for a bit, come back in a better mood for both of us, and treat the kid to something nice, like a bowl of noodles thick broth with meat and veggies.

>>3539674
Leave her to her business, take the kid out into the city.

>>3540569
WTF??? I’m on mobile

>>3540569
I actually posted a while back for the Tree decision and thought the thread died cause the QM took and odd amount of time to respond. Loving the quest btw QM.

File: Carolina.jpg (49 KB, 564x658)

49 KB JPG

You decide to leave her to her business and take the kid out on a tour of the city, he's been antsy ever since he saw you fight. It's a lot for a boy to take in at once. Besides it's another beautiful day in Lescruz, a walk will give everyone some time to decompress.

Lescruz is a port city, a center of commerce. It is a city of sets and collections, contrasts and coherences. Language and custom and culture and clothing melt together into an untraceable tangle. Slaves are sold side by side with cabbages and sacks of powdered cumin and salted chicken carcasses. Beggars panhandle on the steps of domed alabaster temples that have weathered three millennia unchanged. Street urchins fleece academicians who have spent their entire lives trying to "solve poverty". There are murderers in silk suits slipping alms to saints sitting naked below the shades of tarps and towers. There are prostitutes on break eating bananas. There are prostitutes on call offering "father-son activities" at discount prices. There are gamblers rolling smoothed knuckle-bones into cups. There is garbage and gutter filth and old rain and fresh blood intermingling through cracks in the cobblestone like the sweat of this city. Somewhere a dog lies down and dies of thirst, and a man laughs. Somewhere a woman screams, and god looks away.

All through the city, the boy's hand is clasped tight in yours. He asks no questions because there is no time to articulate anything beyond the monosyllable and before something else, something wholly new and alien in his small world, pops into existence and wipes out all language. Lescruz. Not only a city that never sleeps but one in which no one ever even blinks.

Finally, you arrive at the docks. The fabled red surf kisses the red rocks and runs back, as though water were uncertain of its love of stone. You leave the boy sitting on the pier, dangling his legs in the water, promising him a cold treat from the vendors. When you return you find him chatting with some little brunette. Her sundress shows a little too much leg; her bearing, a little too much pride.

"Carolina, this is my master. Master. Carolina."

"Ha! I knew it. I knew your were a liar." She says, poking the kid in the arm.

"But I'm not! He's the hero that slew the Archdemon--"

"Excuse us for a second, little miss." You drag the kid away. "Now, normally I don't interfere in these kinds of... situations. To a fault really. But I'd recommend staying away from that girl."

"What? Why? I mean, yeah she does speak kind of funny but when I told her how I was training to become a hero, she got real excited."

"Yes I have no doubt. Look kid, that sort of girl is nothing but trouble. Just look at her."

"OK."

"I have two words for you: Man. Eater."

"I'm pretty sure that's one word, master."

"...No one likes a smart-ass kid. Point is, she's the kind of girl that tugs on your heartstrings and then strangles you with them afterward."

"Like Miss Silvia?"

>>3541343
"Yes, exactly like--I mean no! Not like Silvie at all."

"She was the one in the drawings right? She was in your old party. Why did she talk to you like that? Does it have something to do with the smiling man that's always with her in the sketches? The one wearing your cape?"

"For the last time, it's not a cape, it's a cloak. And it's not mine. It was passed down to me. And I'm not talking about this. Come on, it's time we head back."

"Ricky, are you leaving already? I thought we were going for a swim. I wanted to show you my breaststroke."

"Oh dear god in heaven--we're leaving right now kid."

"No."

"No?"

He stands there a while, rubbing his arm. "Can you at least tell me this? If I hadn't...if I wasn't there, would you have killed him? Even after he begged for mercy and he told you that he had a family, would you have killed him like the others?"

So it comes back to that. In the kid's eyes you can see the answer he wants to hear...

>And it's exactly that which you tell him. A lie, because mercy was always Iacopo's charge, and yours was always self-preservation. But for the kid's sake, the show must go on.
>But you can't lie to him. Yes, you would have killed him and maybe the next time you will. And if he has a problem with that, then he needs to become strong enough to stop you with more than just words.

>>3541344
Yes, you would have killed him and maybe the next time you will.

It was my weakness in that moment, when I should have cast the rings into mount Mordor, but didn't, that lead to the death of my friends and to make the people I love turn to hate me.

>>3541344
>But you can't lie to him. Yes, you would have killed him and maybe the next time you will. And if he has a problem with that, then he needs to become strong enough to stop you with more than just words.
Tell him he's going to have to kill someone at some point if he stays on this path.

>>3541344
leaving him alive is helps no one, even himself. i assume the gemstone would eventually kill him and lead to the death of many others anyway, so an earlier death is a mercy

>>3541344
>>And it's exactly that which you tell him. A lie, because mercy was always Iacopo's charge, and yours was always self-preservation. But for the kid's sake, the show must go on.

>>3541344
But you can't lie to him. Yes, you would have killed him and maybe next time you would.

>>3541344
>Write in
>"But you were there. It's better to spend less time dwelling on what might of happened if things were different and more time focused on what has happened and what will happen."
Sidestep the whole question

>>3541344
>But you can't lie to him. Yes, you would have killed him and maybe the next time you will. And if he has a problem with that, then he needs to become strong enough to stop you with more than just words.

>>3541344
>>3541371
support

>>3541371
Support,I don't think lying is a good thing and the truth might be too harsh for him.

>>3541344
>But you can't lie to him. Yes, you would have killed him and maybe the next time you will. And if he has a problem with that, then he needs to become strong enough to stop you with more than just words.

>>3541344
>But you can't lie to him. Yes, you would have killed him and maybe the next time you will. And if he has a problem with that, then he needs to become strong enough to stop you with more than just words.

>>3540569
Based
>>3540576
Faggot

>>3540569
just lurking

>>3541371
+1

Also check it out I have a single id

>>3541371
this + we might as we'll let him play with the girl. He's a kid and it's better if he develops social skills.

>>3541344
But you can't lie to him. Yes, you would have killed him and maybe the next time you will. And if he has a problem with that, then he needs to become strong enough to stop you with more than just words.

>>3541371
+1

>>3541344
>>3541371
Voting for this

File: Iacopo.jpg (98 KB, 564x813)

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In the kid's eyes you can see the answer he wants to hear, but you sidestep his whole question. "What do I always tell you kid? The end is in the beginning. If you were there, if you weren't there--don't waste time dwelling on what might have been. Focus on what is and what will be. A hero doesn't deal in hypotheticals." The kid nods to himself and in the same moment you see Iacopo, passing you Silvia's unconscious body and making you promise--still with that goofy smile, though now a little sad. How can he not be afraid? Even now you don't understand. Then Silvia leaning in so close you can smell the pomegranate perfume in her hair. She still wears it and it still summons the old blood. And she is telling you it should have been you. A hero doesn't deal in hypotheticals. Right. Let's hope the kid learns that lesson better than you did.

"Ricky? Aren't you coming?"

The kid glances at her and then back to you, his shoulders straighter, his gaze more certain. You mouth the words man-eater and he snorts. You ruffle his hair. "Go on kid, I have to run a few errands anyway. I'll come pick you up here around sundown. Try not to get yourself killed while I'm gone."

"But I thought heroes die?"

"Not without permission." You're already at the end of the pier. "And no funny business either, keep it above the belt you two." The girl, who has already stripped down to her bathing suit, opens her mouth, attempts speech, makes a noise like a chipmunk, turns several shades deeper and then hastily jumps into the water. Maybe not quite the minx you initially thought.

As for your "errands"...

>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years
>You head to the old red light district. For...information.
>You should visit the memorial while you're here, pay your respects.

>>3543449
>>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years

lore time

>>3543453
+1 support

>>3543449
>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years.
>You should visit the memorial on the way there, pay your respects.

>>3543449
>>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years

>>3543449
Visit the memorial.

>>3543449
>>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years

>>3543449
>You should visit the memorial while you're here, pay your respects.

>>3543449
>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years

>>3543449
>You should visit the memorial while you're here, pay your respects.
To reconnect to the past.
Then
>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years
Awkward time

>>3543655
it would be more interesting to save our stuff from the burning cabin and emerge unhurt.
followed by doing feats of super human abilities on the way to see the noble.
too bad we went john wick

>>3543449
>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years
I'm scared

>>3543655
This.

>>3543449
You should visit the memorial while you're here, pay your respects

>>3543449
>>You should visit the memorial while you're here, pay your respects.

>>3543449
>You should visit the memorial while you're here, pay your respects.

>>3543449
>>You should visit the memorial while you're here, pay your respects.

>>3543449
>>3543655
>>You should visit the memorial while you're here, pay your respects.
>To reconnect to the past.
>Then
>>You head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years
>Awkward time
This.

Also, I want to give her time to consider the apparent issue of the gems more and hating our face a little less.

(First post in the thread, but who's counting?)

File: archer.jpg (75 KB, 564x834)

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As for your "errands" you head back to the lab to speak with Silvia in private, to clear the air that's been settling for 27 years. You should also visit the memorial on the way there. Pay your respects.

The old obelisk is cracked in several places and at its feet, weeds have taken over unchecked. Even the name etched in the stone has weathered away.

So this is the fate of a true hero. His body is not even buried here, it is a meaningless artifice. A soiled vagrant is sleeping in the shade of it. You nudge him with your foot and when he turns over, beneath the mess of long gray hair and misshapen beard, you recognize an old friend.

"Archer?"

He shades his bloodshot eyes and tries to sit upright only to lurch forward, nearly falling over. You grab him. He looks at you again and speaks your name. You nod and he lets out a laugh and embraces you tightly to his chest and begins to weep into it.

"I thought you were gone too." He says.

"No, I've just been...I'm alright. What happened to you?"

He talks about his old business. He was once your party's exclusive supplier, a childhood friend of Iacopo's that started from nothing to become one of the wealthiest merchants in the kingdom--not in small part because of the spoils from your own adventures. He never quite recovered from the death of his wife and Iacopo, as with so many others, was his base of support, the shoulder he could lean on. Then when even he was gone and he fell to gambling and drinking. It's a typical story.

"I can't believe Silvia didn't help you. I'm going to--"

"No, she tried. She still tries. But that's...well you know what it is. I was a great man once--or so I like to think--and I'd be ashamed. I am ashamed."

"I'm sorry."

He shakes his head. "You've seen her? Does she still blame you?"

"She's right to."

"No she's not. No. She's not. It wasn't your fault. The idiot knew what he was doing. We all knew it couldn't be anyone else. That's not on you."

"Yeah."

"Really. That's just the way he was, ever since we were boys."

"I'm not sure I ever understood him. What drove him." You lean your forehead against the name on the pillar, but the tears have long been spent. "He was always the better man, it should have been me."

"Bullshit. Come on, let's get a meal. Your treat. I'm not exactly liquid at the moment."

You talk about old times. That time Iacopo decided to wage a personal war against slavers in the city and had every criminal and assassin in a hundred miles aiming for his head. Or the time you accidentally became the head of a minor criminal organization and Iacopo had the bright idea of trying to unite the other gangs and turn them into a non-profit charity. Or when you found the golden sarcophagus of Nedebshuzzar IV and Iacopo decided he wanted to bring back the entire thing but the entrance was too narrow and the gold was too heavy so he attempted to a drill a hole through the ceiling and rope it out. Nothing ever went according to plan.

1/2

>>3547642
You tell Archer about the boy too and he seems eager to meet him. You beg him to come with you up the hill, but he declines. He tells you not to go out of your way to see him again but you know he's pleased when you say that you will.

Back at the lab, Silvia is poring over some old book while Telly lies unconscious on the metal operating table. His hands have been reattached and the wound sealed with healing gel, but the soulgem hasn't been removed.

"It can't be removed." She says, reading your mind. "They fused the crystalline matrix with his nerves--ingenious really, it solves the problem of host-rejection that you see with other methods. But it also means removing the soulgem will paralyze him from the neck down."

"Then we have no choice."

"Well, not exactly. We don't have to remove the soulgem to remove the demon and the gem by itself is harmless. If I had another gem, it might be possible to transfer the soul into it. Of course we'd need an expert soulbinder to ensure the extraction doesn't rip his own soul apart."

"So you want me to do it? Where would I even get another soulgem? I'm not sure how they popped up again in the first place."

She closes her book. "There's a name I've been hearing again. Cult of the Eyeless God."

You pull up a chair and sit down. "...but I killed them all."

"Apparently not. Well, I'll need some more time to research the transfer method and I suppose you'll need to gather information on this cult--where's the boy?"

"On a date. Practicing his breaststroke."

"...Is he yours?"

"Of course not. Just a stray I picked up."

"Sounds familiar." She seems relieved somehow.

"I met Archer at the memorial. Both are in pretty bad shape."

She smooths her skirts and stands up. "You shouldn't have come back."

"Look I know you want me dead, and...you have a right to feel that way, but I love this kid. You'll like him too, once you get to know him. Anyway, for his sake, can't we call a truce?"

"You think I want you dead?" She whispers. She turns and hides her face. "Yes, fine. Now, please leave. I have work to do."

It's about time to pick up the kid anyway. You want to say more, almost to tell her about Iacopo's promise and absolve yourself but that moment passed three decades ago. It's too late now. You can't even say goodbye. You have to slip out in silence.

At the pier, the kid is nowhere to be found. Interrogating some of the vendors closing shop you learn that he and the girl left with some questionable characters--possibly against their own will. Hearing this, you...

>Release the weight on the kid's body, the sensation should help you pinpoint his location. There's no time to waste.
>Seek out the city guards, one of the patrols must have seen something.
>Head to the slums and start bashing heads until someone talks.

>>3547643
>>Seek out the city guards, one of the patrols must have seen something.

>>3547643
>Head to the slums and start bashing heads until someone talks.
Try to vent some frustration via violence like a man

>>3547643
>>Head to the slums and start bashing heads until someone talks.
If the city guards could help, then he's either in too much trouble or they are *way* too bored.
Better off asking about the maneater-lette.
TRY to ask first, then bust heads. Like, don't do permanent damage to random ignorant savages?
She may be relatively innocent.
But our boy needs to know when to come to heel, damn it.

Thots are no excuse, boy!

>>3547643
>Release the weight on the kid's body, the sensation should help you pinpoint his location. There's no time to waste.

>>3547643
>Seek out the city guards, one of the patrols must have seen something.

>Release the weight on the kid's body, the sensation should help you pinpoint his location. There's no time to waste.

this is the option that guarantees his safety

>>3548178
>this is the option that guarantees his safety
Unless he happens to be on a tour of the Works Factory...

>>3548218
>Wonka Factory
Damn auto-correct...
Ruining my damn jokes

>>3548096
I *HIGHLY* oppose this.


>Head to the slums and start bashing heads until someone talks.

>>3547643
>>3548305
>>Head to the slums and start bashing heads until someone talks.
Linking Valek's vote for ease of convenience.
And in no way hoping for an accidental padding of votes.

>>3548305
I thought about releasing to find him quicker, but I figure there would be a catch. Namely him not knowing his strength and accidentally hurting or killing someone and that someone might even the girl he was with. Then we would have to deal with the "trauma" and emotional stuff including Silvia being upset at us even more, etc.

>>3548305
This

>>3547643
>>Head to the slums and start bashing heads until someone talks.

>>3547643
Bribe the guards for information rather than causing a ruckus and a headache for them by busting heads in the seedier parts of town.

>>3539821
Can you give me an archive link to the quest?

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Hearing this, you head to the slums and start bashing heads until someone talks. You leave a trail of blood behind you as long as the Dunhowzer river, until the sun rises from the sea but you are still no closer to the boy than when you started. At some point you encounter Archer in an abandoned halfway house living with several other drifters. He draws on some of his new connections to try and get you a name and address, but by then you've already attracted some attention. Apparently, you're not the only one looking for these kidnappers. The girl's parents have sent out their own investigators, a pair of freelancers by name of Donven and Franzen.

Archer's leads take you back to the docks, to a small schooner that sets sail immediately for a hideout on the coast. You speak to the freelancers on the way and learn that this whole thing is about the girl. Her father is in bed with some dangerous people and they've taken her as leverage. You couldn't care less about some noble's offspring but you have no doubt that your boy tried to save the girl and got himself involved as well. You make a mental note to move on to the next stage of training after this, the weight will need to be increased significantly and actual fighting technique will need to be taught.

The girl is a sobbing mess, but otherwise unharmed. The boy is not in the hideout. The thugs have sold him to another party who asked for him by name and they are riding back to their employer--the Baron of Dunhowzer--even as you speak. You're about ready to massacre the ones you haven't killed already--including the girl's father who started all this nonsense--when the hideout is stormed by the city guards. They're not here for the smugglers or to investigate the kidnapping. They're here for you.

The Baron has put a generous bounty on your head. You're being charged with murder, slave rustling, and treason and you're to come with them to await your "trial" in their dungeons. They've already arrested your associates, "The dame from the academy and the old man" and if you try to escape they say it will go worse for them. The girl has regained her composure and assures you that her father will see to it that you are given the finest counsel, she promises a swift pardon.

Having no choice you...

>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.
>Agree to the shackles and the iron, you need to make sure Silvia and Archer get out safely.

>>3549584
>>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.
We are responsible for looking after the boy, nothing else.

>>3549584
>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.
Those two would never forgive us if we jet the boy go.

>>3549584
>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.

>>3549584
>>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.
John Wick time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBvf7KUEZ78

>>3549584
>>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.
Well, now we know that bashing heads was the worst choice.

>>3549584
>Agree to the shackles and the iron, you need to make sure Silvia and Archer get out safely

>>3549584
what do we know about Sylvia and Archer and their capability to easily deal with this threat on their own?
how long will it take for the boy to be carted home? I'm sure we can jump to catch up with them if it's a few day's time
we can probably also break out of dungeons relatively easily
we should wait and go peacefully unless there's an immediate risk of missing the kid

>>3549584
I ask that we all think about what the implications are of us doing this will be. Beating up a bunch of city guards means we'll not be welcomed in the city anymore (if we ever were), but also jeopardizes the people we currently care about, namely Silvia and Archer.

The boy should be fine for now, the girl cares for him, no?

And even if he is in a precarious situation, going all berserk is sure to sour our already rotten relationship with Silvia, and possibly get them the boot as well for being our 'accomplices'.

Hence, I feel the best choice of action for all of those involved (that aren't us) is to agree to the shackles.
It would definitely show us being willing and able to change, after all.
We would grow as a person.

>Agree to the shackles and the iron, you need to make sure Silvia and Archer get out safely.

>>3550066
You make compelling argument so I will support you

>>3549584
>>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.
Silvie and Arcer are grown. Richter is our charge.

>>3549584
>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.
Silvia and Archer both used to work with us back in our prime, they can handle themselves. The boy doesn't even know how to fight. I think it's pretty obvious who needs our help more.

>Fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does.
Bureaucrats up against people with experience, one of which probably has leverage and both of which will presumably be supported by the girl's dad? Easy enough.
Possessed baron up against what with all that weight is just a regular kid? Not good.

File: Briton.jpg (40 KB, 564x846)

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Having no choice, you fight your way out and go after the kid. You have to get to him before the possessed Baron does. Silvia and Archer can take care of themselves but the kid is defenseless as he is and you're still hesitant to release the weight from him and prematurely end his training. The guards are no match for you and though you're in the mood to turn them into soup, you decide to spare them. The guard force of Lescruz may be as corrupted as a sodomite in a seminary but some of its members have families and they do occasionally keep the peace. The kid's fanaticism must be rubbing off on you.

You leave the guards kneeling on the ground and tell the girl, Carolina, to get Silvia and Archer out of danger. You don't entirely trust her, but she's clearly smitten with the kid (heroics tend to have that effect on women) and even wants to come with you on the rescue (a request you immediately shoot down) so she can't be all bad. You take some equipment off the thugs, a shortsword and some armor. You're not immortal and this time you don't plan on showing any mercy.

Unfortunately, Briton's goons have too much of a head start and were apparently mounted on thoroughbred strutters so that by the time you catch up to them they've already arrived at some kind of dropoff. They ride up to a carriage sitting at the side a crossroads. The group of hooded men that shuffle out of it take the boy and examine him until the tall one from before pops his head out the window and yells for them bring him inside. The boy is instantly silenced by a third man who also steps out.

This man's presence, even from this far out, makes your skin goose-pimple and your teeth ache to the roots. The spirit of the Grabbit bound to your soul awakens and grows excited for the first time in ages. The otherworldly glow of his eyes, where the two red-orange soulgems have replaced the balls in their sockets seem to penetrate through whatever matter they gaze upon. It is no lesser demon bound there, but a lieutenant of some Archdemon, a monster--not quite of the invincible, apocalyptic strength of that which it serves, but strong enough to draw the nervous sweat of your brow.

You're not sure if the demon has already taken over, with the greater one's it's always difficult to tell. They're not the mindless brutes of their lesser counterparts and some of them even take pleasure in the slow methodical conquest of their host. His presence complicates things and you decide to...

>Wait until nightfall, follow them and break into the castle under cover of darkness
>Throw caution to the wind and ambush them now before they take the kid and hurt him

>>3550762
>Wait until nightfall, follow them and break into the castle under cover of darkness
Can't be too hasty. I have a bad feeling about this

>>3550767
support, things are about to get complicated

>>3550762
>>Throw caution to the wind and ambush them now before they take the kid and hurt him
We should attack now, while the lord is away from his castle and the majority of his human forces.

>>3550762
Stealth will be our greatest asset. It would be wise to avoid fighting that guy until much later. Hopefully we can sneak the kid out later with a few casualties when we break him out and completely avoid that fiend.

>Wait until nightfall, follow them and break into the castle under cover of darkness

>>3550762
>Throw caution to the wind and ambush them now before they take the kid and hurt him
So sick and tired of trying to be smart and sneaky breeki, only to get ambushed and imprisoned. Never works out for us.

>>3550762
>Throw caution to the wind and ambush them now before they take the kid and hurt him

>>3550762
>>Throw caution to the wind and ambush them now before they take the kid and hurt him

His presence complicates things and you decide to throw caution to the wind and ambush them now before they take the kid and hurt him. A single, calculated jump puts you right in the middle of them. Transferring weight into your soles as you land cracks the very earth and puts them off-balance. The strutters get spooked and run off, taking care of the hired men. The hooded ones drop the kid and fall backward. The movement unmasks three sets of clouded eyes, a horribly familiar sight. The kid is unconscious. Only the third man, who you assume is Briton, is unphased.

You sling the kid over your shoulder and attempt another jump. As you take flight, Briton chases after you on the ground. He's using voidflame to tear open portals in space, traversing sight-distance in a single instant. When you finally land, he's waiting for you with a volley of black hellfire. You weave past the shots, the kid still hanging to your back, and charge him with the sword, gut him through the stomach, push him back and pin him, blade and body, to the trunk of an oak. A quick transfer of weight ensures he won't be able to take out the blade but before you can release the hilt, he tries to grab the kid's face--you catch his hand before he can do it and he burns you instead. There's no pain, there's no sensation of any kind. The fire eats your fingers like a creeping ooze, spreading without need of fuel or air.

You jump away as far as you can and then jump again to ensure Briton cannot follow. By the time you land the hellfire has spread to your elbow. It will not stop until it has eaten everything--you draw your knife. You have no choice.

"Master?"

You were hoping the kid wouldn't have to see this. There's no helping it. You don't close your eyes to the stroke, not even to the pain. The burning arm drops to the grass with a squishy thud, is consumed by the flame, and is gone. "Master!"

"It's alright. Take off my belt and wrap it around. Tight."

He does it, trying to push down the sobs. You only feel a slight melancholy. True, the arm is gone and the wound is therefore not something that even Silvia can fix, but on the other hand (quite literally) the kid safe. It startles you think how far you might have gone--if even an arm is nothing...

But there's still the demon. A mundane weapon can never kill such a creature and even now you're sure he's melted his way through your trap and is slowly closing the fissure in his stomach. All you've bought is time. A few days, at most a few weeks.

First order of business...

>Return to Lescruz and retrieve Silvia and Archer
>Expedite the kid's training to its last stage: soulbinding
>Hit Briton's castle before he does. Buy yourself some more time

>>3552665
>>Expedite the kid's training to its last stage: soulbinding

>>3552665
>Return to Lescruz and retrieve Silvia and Archer

>>3552665
>Return to Lescruz and retrieve Silvia and Archer
Kid ain't ready. Have we even given him all of our power?

>>3552665
>>Return to Lescruz and retrieve Silvia and Archer

We will need allies, wherein the end game now

>>3552665
>>Return to Lescruz and retrieve Silvia and Archer