2023-07-14 22:57:48Over the next few weeks, Jason settled into life in Rockhaven and began controlling his powers.
Each morning he practiced sword fighting with some mercenaries who were staying at The Gold Fox. At first, Jason could barely swing his sword without losing his balance. But after drilling blocking and footwork, he soon could hold his own in sparring matches. His reflexes improved drastically, allowing him to anticipate his opponent's strikes.
In the afternoons, Jason visited Elena's cottage in the woods to develop his healing skills. She taught him to focus energy into his hands and let it flow into the injured or sick. Under Elena's instruction, Jason mended flesh wounds on animals with a simple touch. He even cured a young girl's terrible fever. Each day his abilities grew stronger.
During his free time, Jason explored Rockhaven and got to know the villagers. He checked on the traders in the marketplace each morning, often running into a friendly young woman named Daphne who sold baked goods. At night, he listened to tales and songs in The Gold Fox. Though he missed his old life back on Earth, the people of this world made him feel at home.
One night, Ralph came rushing over to the table where Jason was eating dinner. "Bandits on the south road! They're pillaging a merchant's wagon. The guards need help fending them off."
Jason jumped up, grabbed his new sword, and raced out the door with Ralph. They hurried down the dark streets to the town's southern gate. Sure enough, they could hear the shouts of fighting and the whinnies of frightened horses just down the road. The town guards struggled to battle a dozen brutish bandits wielding axes and maces.
Ralph and Jason drew their swords and joined the fray. Jason launched into the movements he had practiced again and again on the training grounds. He parried blows from the bandit leader, a mountain of a man with tattoos covering his face. When the leader left himself open for a split second, Jason slashed his sword across the man's chest then disarmed him completely. The bandit fell to the ground, seriously wounded.
"Retreat!" yelled one of the remaining bandits. The others disengaged and disappeared into the night, leaving their loot from the merchant's wagon behind.
The guards finished off the few stragglers. Ralph hurried to inspect the merchant who was tied up beside his wagon, bleeding from his head.
"Just a flesh wound," said Jason as he pressed his hands over the injury, allowing his healing energy to close and seal it.
The merchant was shocked. "That's amazing! Thank you so much for saving me."
"Don't go celebrating yet." Ralph turned Jason around to reveal a gash across his back. Jason had been so focused on fighting that he hadn't even felt it. But the pain suddenly flared.
Ralph ordered Jason to take off his shirt so he could examine the wound. It was deep and bleeding heavily. "Can you heal yourself like you did for him?" Ralph asked with concern.
Jason gritted his teeth. He hoped he could. After taking a deep breath, he channeled the now-familiar energy flow into his hands and reached around to touch his back. He could immediately feel his skin knitting back together under his fingers. When he brought his hand back around, it was covered in blood, but the pain had eased.
"Incredible," muttered Ralph as he inspected the area. "It's completely closed up. You'll have a new scar to boast of, but you're okay."
Jason sighed and gave a weary smile. Just another day in his new life as a healer and fighter of Phantasma.
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Chapter 22
On the northern plains, Jason and Daphne saved a caravan from a stampede of raging bulettes drawn by strange screams from a distant castle. Fighting their way inside, they discovered the deranged lord was using a cursed artifact to control the burrowing monsters. The hungry bulettes turned on their master when Daphne dispelled the artifact's power, allowing the heroes to escape the collapsing castle. Seeking respite in coastal towns, the duo kept encountering nobles obsessed with exploiting a rare sea cucumber's supposed mystical properties for eternal youth. Following the rumors offshore, Jason and Daphne found a reef where humans harvested the creatures, breaking an ancient truce with the reef spirit who now churned up deadly storms in retribution. To make peace, Daphne repaired the spirit's damaged physical form with animating coral while Jason freed caged sea cucumbers. The spirit was placated and the storms abated. Hearing cries for help on a wooded hunting trip, the pair dis
Chapter 21
Venturing east through forests and meadows, Jason and Daphne came across increasing numbers of refugees fleeing some ominous threat. Questioning the bedraggled travelers revealed they came from a mining town called Stonevale now haunted by a "dark terror" lurking in the depths that killed those bold enough to investigate.Intrigued, the heroes altered course toward embattled Stonevale. They reached the remote town and found it half deserted and many buildings damaged by quakes. Only guards and a few stubborn souls remained. The captain of the watch confirmed they were plagued by unknown terrors from the mines that caused tremors and snatched away explorers.Jason and Daphne descended into the cavernous mines with magical illumination. The distant echo of falling rocks and eerie shrieks set their nerves on edge. In a deep chasm, they came upon several human corpses...and were then confronted by their killer! A hulking insectoid horror with four scything arms.Jason's sword barely fazed
Chapter 20
Returning at last to Rockhaven after their years-long odyssey across Phantasma, Jason and Daphne were welcomed as celebrities made good on the promise of adventure. Even Walter, the kindly fisherman who had ferried a confused Jason into town so long ago, tearfully embraced them upon hearing of their exploits. Among the crowds greeting them was Ralph, proprietor of The Gold Fox. "It seems only yesterday you two were sitting in my tavern, eager to explore beyond our little town," the robust innkeeper proclaimed. "Now Jason is a warrior of renown and Daphne a mistress of the elements! But no matter how you've changed, you'll always have a place here." Despite the hospitality, as Jason and Daphne settled back into Rockhaven, both privately felt something lacking. After experiencing so much beyond this rustic town's borders, normal life seemed trivial and dull. They yearned for purpose. Fortune soon provided. One night, Ralph burst into The Gold Fox with an urgent summons: "To the sout
Chapter 19
On a remote island, Jason and Daphne found a village held in thrall by a hag coven. The crones controlled the islanders by magically trapping their souls in bizarre spirit cages. After scouting the coven's twisted tree temple, Daphne cast a risky spell to project her consciousness inward so she could find the captive souls. Meanwhile Jason stood guard over her body, fending off patrolling hag sentries. Within the dark temple, Daphne's spirit followed faint cries of anguish to a grove of ghostly spirit cages hanging from the trees. Studying the arcane locks, she thought she could unseal them. But freeing one soul caused alarming psychic ripples. She would have to work swiftly. Back outside, Jason grew weary battling more hags arriving to stop the intrusion. He hacked down a couple crones, but a hurled hex blotted out his vision. The blinded hero could only flail desperately as the screeching hags moved in for the kill. At that instant, Daphne's consciousness emerged from the templ
Chapter 18
Passing through a remote village on their long road home, Jason and Daphne learned of a deadly plague that had struck without warning, leaving the inhabitants weak and bedridden. This seemed no normal illness. They went to the village healer's hut to offer their assistance. But the healer only glared suspiciously when they entered. "You must leave immediately!" she declared. "By law of the baron, no magic wielders are allowed here." Puzzled, Jason and Daphne pressed for answers. The healer explained that the nearby Lord Ashthorn had banned magic and its practitioners from his lands after his own daughter, born with talent for sorcery, had fallen prey to dark powers and fled rather than face punishment. In his grief, the baron had blamed all magic for corrupting his child. Daphne attempted to reason with the healer, saying their gifts could help end the plague. But the healer refused to defy the baron's edict, saying only true prayer could deliver the village now. That night, Jason
Chapter 17
After months of crossing scorching deserts and storm-lashed seas, Jason and Daphne reached fabled Acadia, a realm isolated from the rest of Phantasma by impassable boundary mountains. The brush-choked landscape showed no signs of human habitation, but the legends insisted a great kingdom awaited discovery somewhere within. On the fifth day, Daphne used a scrying orb and spotted ruins buried beneath vines in a nearby valley. They trekked to the site and found crumbling structures almost swallowed by the jungle after ages of neglect. Following clues and Daphne's divining magicks, they descended into a hidden complex beneath the ruins. In the depths, they entered a massive chamber with a shimmering mirror-like gate sealing off the far end. Strange energies pulsed from the gate, hinting at a portal to someplace or somewhen else entirely. Was this the legendary kingdom's location? Daphne deciphered the runes along the gate's frame. "It's locked...but these glyphs indicate four relics ar
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