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By nightfall you have covered twenty miles of rough terrain and have been assailed by extremes of weather. From a desert-like heat at mid-afternoon the temperature plummeted, causing a sub-zero squall which left you and Bracer blanketed with frost. But now, as darkness draws its cloak over this troubled land, the temperature quickly rises. This heralds the return of the rain, and the thunder and the violent lightning strikes.
Helped by your tracking skills, you discover a shallow cave where you can take shelter from the storm. You are tired and hungry, and unless you possess Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
(I do have it)
(Do I have Animal Mastery? I do, I turn to a certain section)
Your spine tingles with the presentiment of danger. Your senses warn that something evil is abroad this night and you are fearful that it will come upon you while you are sleeping. With this worry foremost in your mind, you stand at the mouth of the cave and use your Kai Mastery to summon a woodland creature. A few minutes pass; then you sight a wildcat and its cub emerging from the pines. They have answered your call and obediently they submit to your will. You command them to guard the cave mouth; then you settle down to rest, confident in the knowledge that they will wake you at the first sign of trouble.
You are awoken in the middle of the night by the she-cat’s nervous growl. At first you think that a new day must already have dawned for the cave is awash with bright light, but when you look out at the surrounding landscape you see that the light has a far more sinister origin.
The sky is alive with hordes of glowing, wraith-like phantoms. They swoop down from the roiling storm clouds and skim the treetops, howling and screeching like angry banshees. A trio of these ghastly apparitions passes within a few yards of the cave mouth and startle the wild cat and her mewing cub. Terrified, they flee the cave and disappear into the pines.
(Do I have Kai-Screen and a certain rank? I do!)
The three phantoms swoop down into the trees as if to pursue the fleeing cats, but then they break off their attack and come speeding once more towards the mouth of the cave.
You sense a hostile psychic presence about them, an evil mind energy which is growing stronger as they draw nearer. You draw on your own formidable psychic skills and erect a defensive wall around your mind which keeps you safe from their first bombardment. Having encountered unexpected resistance, they veer upwards and vanish into the clouds. They have gone, but not for long. Within minutes they return with seven more of their ghostly brothers in train.
(Do I have Kai-Surge and Sun Lord rank? Yup!)
You open the depths of your mind and summon forth a glowing ball of Kai energy which you project at the leading phantom. This fiery ball of psychic power rips into the creature’s ghostly form and causes it to shriek with agony. Your devastating blast has wounded this entity, but it has not stopped its attack. It gathers itself and swoops down upon you, like a hungry vulture descending on a corpse.
Vortexi (weakened by psychic attack): COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 22
For every level of Kai rank you have attained above that of Kai Grand Guardian, you may add 2 to your COMBAT SKILL for the duration of this fight. If you possess the Sommerswerd, restore 5 points to your ENDURANCE score.
(I have 56 CS right now, so we are good. I toss an 3 and an 8. It dies and I took 2 damage.)
You have destroyed all of the ghostly creatures that were attacking you, but you are mindful that there are still hundreds of these malevolent spirits circling the area. You stand with your horse at the rear of the shallow cave, your weapon ready in hand, and pray to Kai and Ishir to keep you both safely hidden. Gleefully, the Vortexi ride the raging storm for more than an hour until eventually it dies and they slowly disappear.
An uneasy calm descends upon the land. You sense that the danger has passed and try to get some rest, but the recent memory of your ghastly confrontation is still vivid in your mind which makes it impossible for you to sleep: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Furthermore, unless you possess Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose an additional 3 ENDURANCE points.
(So now I’m at -4 EP, as a reminder, I keep my skills from previous books, so I can still gain +1 EP for each section where there’s no combat due to my healing)
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