Orjin knew that, because he saw the welts on the arm of the Stitch-woman, the Hemp-caste Sorron. She and Jalte, a Garuda, were thickset—in fact, Jalte was the biggest Garuda that Orjin had met, including the fearsome members of the Loquea Dree, the crow-type Garuda.
Orjin knew that, because he saw the welts on the arm of the Stitch-woman, the Hemp-caste Sorron. She and Jalte, a Garuda, were thickset—in fact, Jalte was the biggest Garuda that Orjin had met, including the fearsome members of the Loquea Dree, the crow-type Garuda.
Jalte had [Ironmarrow Bones], which did. He no longer flew, and he was so heavy that Xil could flit around him. But the [Peerless Spearmaster] had put his entire force into the spear-strikes, and the fragile Garuda body whose bones normally broke easier than any other species—
Salii glared about. Xil raised a claw. Salthorn, a hand. Orjin raised a hand, and she nearly threw the clipboard at him. Sorron, having been here before Jalte, lifted one finger.
Salii’s reaction was slower than the [Martial Artists]’. She leapt into Jalte, slammed into the Garuda like an iron wall, and fell down, scattering her clipboard’s papers. Erin Solstice stared at the [Secretary] and then around at the [Martial Artists].
The other people of Pomle turned their heads. Xil nodded, and Salthorn’s grimace was pained. Sorron and Jalte’s faces were blank, for Orjin had begun this war, and yet they found something in it. Vandum? He shook his head.
You could hammer your bones and crack them, break them, and build them up tougher and tougher again, like Sorron and Jalte promised. But…sometimes, you just broke them to dust. Shattered them, and nothing would fix them ever again.
There were four different sides in here! Salii could [See Allegiances]. She saw Vandum’s so-called Disciples of the Martial Era fighting with their enchanted gauntlets against Sorron and Jalte’s [Stonebody Martial Artists]. But there were two more groups in the mix.
The Stitch-woman was scowling—but only a tiny bit. And she and Jalte came over and both patted Iratze on the shoulders. You could tell they loved training and learning in and of itself, because the defeat to their style meant compliments from their mouth.
“It is a superior way of holding someone. All that weight…it looked silly to me and required so much flexibility to even get in position for it. But now I see. The question is—will it work on Jalte?”
The second highest-level [Stonebody]—and his class was [Ironbody]—felt like a rock. When Iratze pulled with all his might, Jalte admitted to a bit of pain. A tiny bit—and he then stood up with Iratze hanging off him and swung the [Grappler] around a bit until Iratze let go.
Xil saw Jalte, the [Ironbody Martial Artist], plant his feet on the ground. Warriors and [Soldiers] alike sprang away from him as the bolt of [Arced Grand Lightning] curved and struck him.
