Book 4: Chapter 33: Trophies
When Victor came to his senses, he stood among more than two dozen other hunters who’d similarly gone through an incredible influx of Energy. Many stood, swaying on their feet, dazed like Victor. Others, perhaps having received less, laughed and cheered, slapping the hands of their neighbors and whooping, waiting for Cayle to make her post-battle announcements.
Victor ignored everyone, including Tes, as she grinned at him expectantly, no doubt waiting for him to tell her about his gains. Instead, he carefully read through the System messages floating in the air before him:
***Congratulations! You have achieved level 44 Titanic Herald, gained 12 strength, 22 vitality, 12 dexterity, 12 agility, 12 intelligence, and 12 will.***
***Congratulations! You have gained a Class feat: Titanic Presence***
***Titanic Presence: The blood of mighty titans surges in your veins. Something buried deep in the primal instincts of other peoples and creatures recognizes your heritage and respects it. Your aura is heavier, and threat and danger are pervasive in its dense folds.***
Smiling broadly, Victor looked at his altered attributes:
Energy Affinity:
3.1, Fear 9.4, Rage 9.1, Inspiration 7.4
Energy:
6554/6554
Strength:
159
Vitality:
244
Dexterity:
64
Agility:
87
Intelligence:
56
Will:
437
Points Available:
0
Titles & Feats:
Titanic Rage, Ancestral Bond, Flame-Touched, Titanic Constitution, Titanic Presence
“Well?” Tes finally asked, reaching out to nudge Victor’s shoulder. Victor glanced around and saw that the guy who’d been hassling him had wandered off and that everyone seemed preoccupied with their own situations.
“Where’s Valla?” he asked rather than answer right away.
“She’s up on yonder hill from which she tossed many a lightning bolt into this great old serpent.” Tes gestured to the rocky slope a hundred yards or so behind and to the left of Victor. He thought he could see his diminutive blue friend up there, sitting cross-legged and staring into the sky.
“I hope she got a good amount of Energy from it.” He grinned as Tes began to frown, staring at him pointedly. “Oh, all right—I gained two levels, a bunch of attribute points, and a new feat.”
“Something to do with your aura?” Tes guessed.
“You can tell?”
Cayle continued to call out hunters, going more slowly now that people were winning larger and larger shares, allowing for some celebration. When she got to ten-share awards, she named herself, three other members of the Spears of the Copper Sunset, and then Victor. Cheering resounded for each name until she called out Victor, which was followed by some hisses and grumbling.
A few hunters, much higher rank than Victor, who’d been awarded a single share or less, started to argue loudly, and he could feel the angry glares coming his way. Victor remained seated, remained steady in the control of his aura, and tried to follow Tes’s advice, waiting for Cayle to sort the matter out. When some of the louder, more powerful hunters began to walk toward him, and the grumbling crowd refused to listen to Cayle’s shouts, he began to get nervous, preparing himself to leap to his feet.
He needn’t have worried, though—when Cayle’s shouts went unheeded, she seemed to lose patience and produced her enormous spear, smashing the haft against the crate, sending an explosive bolt of howling, brilliant Energy into the night sky. As the wasteland canyon lit up like noon on a bright day, people turned to see what their angry leader had to say.
“Before you try to undermine my tally, perhaps you’d all like to hear why Victor has won such a share, hmm? Do you all feel you can grant me that tiny bit of respect?” She didn’t yell, but her voice was full of venom, and the grumbling malcontents looked away from Victor as Cayle began to list his accomplishments during the battle.
“How many of you were burned with the wyrm’s magma breath?” She looked around, and when not one hunter spoke up, she continued, “That’s because Victor planted his Heart Silver axe, Lifedrinker, directly into the great beast’s primary Energy pathway! The axe never allowed it to build up the Energy necessary to pour forth a gout of terrible liquid magma!”
Some appreciative grumbles sounded around the gathered hunters, and Cayle continued, “How many of you witnessed a great dark spirit in the shape of a bear? Did you see how it tore out the tendons on not one but two of the wyrm’s legs before it was destroyed? Victor summoned that bear!”
“Victor!” one of the Degh giants howled into the night, and a few others cheered along with his cry.
“How many of you saw Victor striding along the wyrm’s back, tormenting it with a whip of powerful Energy that tore through its hide and caused it to thrash so madly that it gave us its belly?”
“Victor!” the Degh cried again, and this time others echoed his shout, “Victor! Victor!” Cayle nodded at the sound and raised her spear, looking over the heads of the gathered crowd to Victor, offering him a salute of sorts. He stood up, held a fist high, locked eyes with Cayle, and nodded back to her.
After that, it was just a matter of divvying up the goods, and Victor was glad to stand on the perimeter, waiting for the others to get their shares first. None of the hunters were hostile to him after Cayle’s little speech describing his accomplishments, and Tes said he was probably safe to relax his hold on his aura for a while as the others picked up their shares.
Valla approached, though she grimaced as she drew near and said, “Could you make your aura any heavier? I don’t quite feel enough of a strain!”
“Hey, I’m working on it! I held it in check all damn night.”
“It’s true,” Tes smiled at Valla and walked over to give her a brief hug, “I’m proud of you, Valla! A half-share at your rank is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Thank you, Tes. A pity I can’t compete with this lunatic, though! Still, all joking aside, I’m proud of you, Victor.”
“Oh, man. Can’t you insult me? I’m not used to people being nice.” Victor chuckled, then added, “I’ll share my rewards, don’t worry. Though you’ll have to wait and see if anything’s left after I share with my ancestors . . .” Valla’s mouth fell open, and her eyes widened, and Victor laughed, shaking his head. “I’m kidding. I mean, I will be sacrificing some of my share to them, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty left over.”
“Wise! Thanks to your ancestors, that battle went much better than it could have. People are stealing glances your way, Victor, and I see respect in their eyes.” Tes stepped away from Valla and reached up to squeeze Victor’s shoulder. “Your axe, Lifedrinker, she’s going to be as famous as you, I think. I’m glad Cayle realized what she did—how you interrupted the flow of the wyrm’s Energy. Its breath could have killed many more of the hunters.”
“I, well, to be honest, I didn’t know that would happen; I just wanted her to get a good long drink.” Victor chuckled and gently patted Lifedrinker’s haft hanging by his side. In an effort to get the attention off himself, he looked at Valla and asked, “Did you get your share?”
“Yes! A gallon of the wyrm’s blood, a rib, five side scales, and two back scales.”
“Shit! Not bad, I guess,” Victor shrugged; he had no idea of the value of those trophies.
“Outstanding, Valla. Those back scales, alone, are worth a handsome sum.” Tes, ever-cheerful, smiled broadly at Valla as she congratulated her.
“Well, I can attest that they’re hard as hell,” Victor chuckled.
“People are clearing out, Victor. I think you can walk forward to claim your prize. Perhaps reign in your aura one more time tonight.” Tes took his elbow and urged him back toward Cayle’s big crate and the remaining wyrm trophies. Valla followed along, breathing a sigh of relief as Victor’s aura receded.
“Victor,” Cayle said as he approached. “I told you I was fair, didn’t I?”
“Yes, Cayle and you were true to your word.”
“Well, you earned this.” She turned and waved to the pile of Wyrm parts on a large tarp. “A full ten shares.” She walked around the tarp, pointing to each item as she listed them off, “Four fangs, twenty ribs, a hundred side and belly scales, forty back scales, a heart, fifty gallons of blood, a pint of magma venom, a quarter liver, seven pounds of the brain, five horns, two claws, and your option: the stinger or another heart?”
“Chingado,” Victor breathed, looking at all the paper-wrapped and jarred wyrm parts. The barrel of blood looked like an oil drum he’d seen in vids back on Earth. He glanced at Tes and raised an eyebrow, “What should I take? The stinger or another heart—I mean, I know the obvious benefit of a heart, but . . .” his voice trailed off as he looked at the seven-foot length of hard black stinger. He supposed the venom tubes and gland had been severed so the hunters could divvy out the venom itself. Still, that stinger looked like something special to him.
“The stinger can be made into a powerful weapon,” Cayle said before Tes could speak.
“Yes. The right smith could make a mighty spear or lance. Would Lifedrinker grow jealous, though?” Tes asked, gingerly reaching out to gently brush two fingers along the axe’s haft.
Victor thought about her words—he doubted Lifedrinker would react that way, especially if the spear weren’t intelligent and he kept it in a dimensional container. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to have a long, pointy weapon when Lifedrinker didn’t quite suit the circumstance or when she was busy drinking the life from a foe? He chuckled and said, “She knows she’s my favorite.” As if to confirm it, he reached down to feel her silvery head, letting the heavy hammer spike at the back rest against his palm.
“What about it, chica? Do you care if I have a spear, too?”
“A spear is but a tool. I’m your weapon, your companion; your spirit and mine are bound. I care not.”
“Well said, love, well said.” Her words struck a chord within him, and Victor suddenly found the idea of using any other weapon rather unappealing, at least as long as he didn’t have to. Why would he want to run around with some wyrm stinger when he had Lifedrinker? He looked at the three women standing nearby and their questioning expressions and said, “Lifedrinker doesn’t care, but I’m not feeling it—I need to get my axe skill up to legendary, anyway, right? I think I’ll take another heart.”
“It’s settled then. Take your share, Victor. I hope you,” she turned to Valla, “and you, Valla, will consider hunting with us again. The Spears were impressed by you both.”
