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Side Chapter: Tulos
🕑 Added 2024-10-03 15:30:03 +0000 UTCAuthor's Note: Thank you all for your continued support! It means the world to me. I cut a lot (and I mean a lot) of fat from this chapter, which brought it slightly below my usual word count minimum. Even so, I still believe it is on the cusp of being too wordy. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. In exchange for the slightly shorter chapter, I have decided to give it to you early. In case anyone asks: RR gets their chapter at the usual time.
“For all our efforts, all our knowledge, I am left feeling as if we barely know a thing. It is exciting, is it not?”
~Unknown
Imprisoned was the titan, bound by colossal chains forged in the fires of conviction. Stripped of armor wrought from pride, it bore a mantle of bloodthirst and violence. Unceasing was the titan’s thrashing, for it yearned to be free. The chains held firm. They always did, leaving it imprisoned beneath the roots of a dying tree.
Barbed, the titan’s bindings grew, and so the titan bled. Greedily did the tree drink of its diluted potency, yet in doing so, so too was the tian fed, and so the titan grew.
The chains held firm. They always did.
Until they didn’t.
No omen heralded the sudden upheaval. Screaming winds tore the air. Calamitous quakes ruptured the earth. Fractured, the titan’s prison did, as once immutable chains warped and shattered. An opportunity. A chance. The titan mustered its might and heaved.
Yet bound it remained.
Impossible. Broken lay the links. Loosened were the restraints… all but a few. Bloodthirst. Violence. Housed by the mantle were the greatest of the chains, endlessly intertwined and buried deep within the titan’s flesh. So long as the titan bore them, it would never be free.
No. Strength surged from deep within the titan, answering the tormented call of the wind with a roar that threatened to rend the world asunder. Massive hands engulfed the chains. Muscles bulged with untold strain. A threshold loomed before the titan, and there was nothing it would not sacrifice to cross its bounds.
The world stilled. Once more, the titan heaved.
Flesh ripped. Sinew tore. Pieces of the mantle were ruthlessly excised in chunks, trailing chains and gore as the titan unmade itself with brutal efficiency. From the jagged wounds oozed silver ichor, and as it covered the titan’s form, so too did its form begin to change. At that moment, the titan did not care. It could not.
For the first time in a long time, the titan was free… and it was needed.
***
Mana erupted from Tulos’ Core Skill, flooding his system as he rushed towards Rosita. There was no time for reflection or introspection, to weigh conviction against the agony he heard in every one of his beloved’s tortured cries. The decision was made for him.
Rosita stood with her arm outstretched towards Vigil’s writhing form. A diversion. A distraction. A break in concentration. Something needed to be done to disrupt whatever Skill was at play.
Mana-sharpened senses searched for an opening in Rosita’s stance and spotted several.
A ruse, reawakened instincts screamed at him, sharp as the day he set them down. She saw him. She was ready for him.
She was not the only one. The instant Tulos started to move, Rosita’s subordinate rushed to intercept him. Lithe muscle and mana enhancement carried the man easily across the distance, each foot barely touching the ground.
Adrenaline set Tulos’ heart to hammering, eliciting an involuntary thrill as restraint gave way to the elation of fully embracing Weapons [Axe] for the first time in over a decade. Tulos' weapon of choice, the large battle axe from his time in The Capital, remained out of reach, propped casually against the door of his work shed. The common hatchet on his belt was a poor substitute.
It would have to suffice.
He did not remember transferring the weapon to his hand; the action existed beyond thought. Every step practically thrummed as possibility rushed to the forefront of Tulos’ desperate mind. Power. Momentum. At their core, there was a deceptive aggression to the axe forms ingrained into Tulos by his teachers and refined by his Skill.
The standard issue short sword worn by his opponent had already been freed from its scabbard, and Tulos could only be thankful that interior spaces and city walls did not favor armaments known for their reach. He was still at a disadvantage, but it was not insurmountable.
Tulos curled his free arm over his neck and torso, willing to use the bulk of his extremity as a shield as he swung the hatchet in an overhand chop. Mana from Strength [Body] joined in perfect sync with Tulos’ Core Skill, saturating his muscles to the edge of injury to throw every ounce of his considerable mass behind the strike.
It was a desperate maneuver that bordered on suicidal. A well aimed sword thrust could severely injure him, lethally so. Tulos felt the haft of his hatchet threaten to splinter under the force of his white-knuckle grip. Even in death, he would not release the weapon, nor would its momentum cease.
Every one of Tina’s screams hardened Tulos’ resolve. When sword parried hatchet, Tulos learned a piece of valuable information; he was prepared to throw down his life in the exchange. His opponent was not.
The swordsman immediately launched into their counter-offensive, a display of agility that highlighted the difference in Tier between the two fighters. It was that same agility that allowed them to seamlessly transition into a frantic defense when Tulos was able to match the pace. It should not have been possible, yet disbelief did little to alter the deadly reality.
There was no time for Tulos to question the seemingly bottomless well of mana erupting from his core, only to direct it towards the fight. Every form had a name, and as Tulos flowed from one to the next, so too did his mana fuel their might. River Stone to Foot of Bear, Backwards Claw and Mountain Cliff.
The names were secondary to the sheer brutality and aggression of every chop or domineering piece of footwork. Conversely, his opponent's sword lashed out like a serpent in a series of artful thrusts, transitioning fluidly from defense to offense; the favored sword school of Sentrodah’s guardsmen earned its reputation for good reason.
Every second stretched endlessly, and it was impossible to tell how many had passed. Too many, for the sudden spasm of agony in Tulos’ leg signaled a turning point. Reckless mana enhancement always had its risks, and Tulos forcing his Tier One body beyond its limits was sufficient to invite them.
Torn muscle refused to obey. The sudden lapse in Tulos’ footwork created an opening, one his opponent exploited without hesitation. That was the first cut, the first of many. Hot, burning pain accompanied each kiss of steel. Having lost the momentum, Tulos’ opponent seized the tempo. With the tempo, they dismantled Tulos’ defense.
Mana could only compensate for blood loss for so long. As Tulos crumpled to his knees, so too did the heightened efficacy of his Skill start to wane. Along with the budding mana pains came the vague sensation that a System Window was awaiting his review.
Tulos did not notice it, nor did he hear whatever snide remark his opponent made from behind their outstretched blade. He saw their lips moving, but could not hear anything over the deafening sound of the blood pounding in his ears. Surprisingly, a killing blow never came. Perhaps it was because of the hatchet still locked in Tulos’ grasp. Even in victory, his opponent remained cautious.
Weakness threatened to seize Tulos. Strangely, he wondered how he must look, brought low like some wounded beast of burden. Gradually, his vision grew dark and… no, that was wrong. It was not just his vision. A dark shadow had fallen over everyone. His opponent was glancing skywards. Something was blotting out the sun.
Tulos mustered what little strength remained to him and fixed his face into a rictus grin. The shadow brought with it a noise, one that pierced through his growing fugue in defiance of all things sensible. A whistle.
Comments
Jack
To be perfectly honest, I expected will to pull preserverence into overdrive, drawing on fudge's mana to use quantum manipulation to try and do something, as it's the stupid thing to do but greatly advances progression and that's usually how novels in this genre vein go
TheShadowSlayer_
I feel like the titan imagery, while potent and enjoyable, detracts from the thoughtlessness of Tulos's charge. It feels too planned and not spontaneous enough, as you gave it such a buildup. Perhaps it would be improved by a direct cut from "rotting in unmovable chains" to "instant, total violence" without any in between? I'm not sure. It's difficult to write scenes like this, as they're enjoyed more emotionally than logically. You certainly didn't do a bad job, but improvements are possible. Also, personally I would have been more on board with the fight being shorter, maybe only two or three strikes long. A burst of mindless violence, quickly suppressed by either Tulos, the swordsman, or Rosita. This sort of impulsive act shouldn't be a dragged out fight, but come to a quick and bloody resolution, imo. Honestly, take all this advice with several grains of salt. I'm not exactly sure what I want out of this chapter story wise, or what you're aiming for. All I know for certain is that it is very, very, very lucky Lionel arrives just when someone is about to die. Cliffhangers are good and all, but be sure to justifying from Lionel's perspective.
Christopher Silvestro
I love the feedback and suggestions. To remain on the dbz analogy, I would say in this chapter Tulos could be likened to USS Trunks. There is still something raw and unrefined about his reignited connection to the Skill. Still, I appreciate the dialogue and will reflect on it. It would not require anything too drastic plot-wise to rejig things to have the fight been closer, so I will revisit the possibility when I review the finished product and whatnot. :)
Pope Yoda I
Perhaps more of a self-discovery, sword saint route than a magic weapon? Or go further and the weapon is a bloodline item accidentally inherited from an ancestor / warlord, thus bringing up the concept of Inherited / Lineage Skills. Perhaps Tulos briefly became the avatar for a fragment of his ancestors fury? Or the titan imagery is actually the axe itself, which holds a shard of divine power from a really cool backstory. In summary, before I accidentally create another DnD campaign, the use of mythological figures holds weight. No one wants to see Goku go Super Saiyan and then immediately get Yamcha'd.
Christopher Silvestro
Posted my above reply before I saw your second post. To answer your question, I do have an arc planned for Tulos. It will not be the focus of the overall narrative, but his story will be periodically touched upon.
Christopher Silvestro
For those interested in a peak behind the curtain at a tl;dr of an unpolished version of this chapter (be warned: potentially spoiler adjacent). Feels like a fun Patreon perk, I think :) : Basically, it was going to be established that Tulos' old axe was a spellscripted work, something keyed to his mana and thus unusable by others (hence why he was allowed to keep it, among other reasons). He kept its inner stores topped up mostly out of habit and yada yada he would mjolnir it to himself and the fight would be a bit more prolonged. The shadow would interrupt the middle of their fight as opposed to end of it.
Pope Yoda I
I would posit the following: 1) Depending on how high he reached before locking himself down 2) With surprise on his side 3) Against someone younger than him who either wouldn't be familiar with him or just hold him in contempt (and thus, probably a touch of underestimation) 4) With a magic system that probably doesn't have the sort of degradation we'd be familiar with when it comes to professional athletes, because I've yet to see Skill Loss due to lack of use mentioned 5) And the bound titan imagery, which surely would have been a pain in the butt to implement, just feels extremely unnecessary if the dad turns out to basically be a mortal now Ultimately, what role does the dad play in the future of your story? There are worthier characters to compare to a primordial god than a throw away side character with no cool history. The scene can just as easily stay as is, but the titans have a gravitas in mythology that just doesn't match up to someone who gets casually slapped aside. Maybe downgrade to a bound beast instead?
Hammy
TFTC, Honestly I stand by my statement last chapter, that if this is how there government acts, there is no way there would not be a rebellion soon or already in progress. I get that the elite have more power but even ants when enough work together can kill animals.
Christopher Silvestro
I appreciate the feedback. There was a version of this chapter that played more to that effect, but it felt... inconsistent. The new direction placed more emphasis on the contrast. For Tulos, for his Skill, there is a shift, something great and transformative. To the world, it simply was not enough - not yet. Keeping pace with someone so beyond his Tier while wielding a hatchet, even for a time, was an amazing accomplishment, but the decade of Skill stagnation needed to mean something.
Pope Yoda I
This feels unnecessarily anticlimactic, made worse by the really cool bound titan scene at the beginning. Ultimately, nothing is achieved and Tulos is one shot. I'd recommend either saving the titan imagery for another chapter, or at least having Tulos and the guard take each other out through a more robust combat scene. Make him an actual bound badass, instead of a very disappointing cut scene.
Darune Albane
ebil author getting enjoyment from your ebil cliffies
