《Re:Hammer》


 Prologue

    Now, was probably not a good time to be bored. Archeon the Everchosen had come down from the Chaos Wastes with a thousand warbands and was ravaging the north of the Empire as he made his way down towards Aldorf, the seat of civilisation. And while that was happening, hordes of barbarians poured in from the Sea Of Claws and were now raiding Nordland. There were even auspices in the stars that they were going to lay siege to Middenheim and then spread outwards from there. Obviously, that could not happen, and so Captain Estaria and her men were sent there as reinforcements. A grand Battalion of men and women, Horse, Cannon, and Shot were on the road. And even a small squad of Greatswordsman, that had set out from Middenheim on a task for their Elector Count. They didn''t offer what, so Estaria didn''t pry. But even with the looming threat of Norscan attack at any moment, Estaria was bored.


    She was never meant to be a Captain, ever wanted to be a Captain. She wanted to stay with her handgunners, and her goal was to join the Nuln Ironsides, and wield the greatest firearms Man had ever grasped. She liked guns, she was good with guns, she felt comfortable with the cracking boom of a gun and she was deadly accurate with her beloved guns. But, the tides shifted and instead of what she wanted, she got promoted to a Captain after one particularly bloody skirmish, and it wouldn''t do for the Captain to not lead from the frontlines. So all she had was a single pistol for cases when it was needed. Maybe that was why she was bored. On long marches, she would play with her Handgun, ensuring it was in pristine condition, ensuring that her bullets and powder were kept, ensuring that she was able to get it ready when called. There was never a shortage of things to do with her Handgun, but here on the field as a Captain, she had scant little.


    Suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts, there was smoke on the horizon. She ordered her men to make ready and approached cautiously. When they arrived, they saw a village being raided by the Norscans. One of many in this part of the Empire. Usually, Middenheim would send out large patrols to contest them, but with the threat of siege, it had drawn its men back. Estaria gathered her men to her and delivered her orders. A well-disciplined line formed up, and the Norscan raid was disrupted by a raking volley of Empire Handguns. It was amusing, to see the look of surprise on their face a moment before it was erased by the metal projectile. Soon the village disgorged its raiders, bare-chested or lightly armoured men with large weapons charging towards the Empire line with reckless abandon, throwing themselves into the hail of gunfire and not breaking step as their comrades fell around them. If there was one thing you were forced to admit, it was that these Norscans had courage. Heavy northern muscle then smashed against the tough Southern metal of the Empire Shieldwall, and the slaughter began. Estaria lost the ability to see the whole picture, as it was thrown into a flurry of blades, blood and mud, potted with the boom of guns, the scream of death and the slick of sword separating limb.


    Estaria''s blade bit deep into the chest of one man, and then she kicked him off her sword, freeing it for a second. Her shield blocked the second man''s axe and her arm trembled from the force but held enough for her to open his throat with her blade. Pushing back the initial charge, Estaria ordered her men into the village, to clean it out and save anyone who could be saved. The men charged with her and then dispersed into the maze of burning hovels. Estaria herself crossed the street and passed death until all the wind was knocked out of her and she was blown off her feet by a giant man with an equally giant hammer. Not just Norscans but Chaos Warriors as well. Coughing and trying to get her breath back as the man lazily approached, Estaria rolled over and pulled out her pistol, firing it at the giant, and puncturing his helmet, sticking the ball into his head. For a second, he just stood there, and Estaria worried that his fell gods had given him inhuman resilience. But then with a great crash, he fell over. Taking a moment to recover from his blow, Estaria stood and shook off the last of it. Reloading her pistol, it was replaced in its holster and she moved on, to the village square. It was the centre of the village, and maybe some had decided to go there for ease.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Once arriving, she realised nobody had chosen to go there, as the square had been turned into a makeshift altar, where a man in red armour stood, matching axe with sword as one of the Greatswordsman duelled him. Estaria wanted to pull her gun out and shoot him, but his fight with the Greatswordsman made it too hard to get a good shot. One Norscan decided to try for her life and got a sword through the face for his troubles, only moments before the Greatswordsman lost his footing for a moment, was disarmed, and then lost his head a moment afterwards. The man in red armour looked over as Estaria dispatched another two of his raiders, and bellowed.


    "I am Zarh, Blood-spiller of Khorne! Come face me all who dare!" the man''s voice was like thunder and his confidence was overwhelming, but Estaria didn''t allow herself to be daunted. If she could kill him, the rest of the raiders would fall apart without his leadership. And so she rushed, meeting his axe with her shield. But the blade was sharp and his arm was thick, and the shield was punctured, leading the axe to cut through her vambraces and give a minor cut to her arm. Next cut, would take the arm off. And so she swung with all her vigour and strength, but her blade simply clanged against his armour without puncturing it, and she got a boot in the chest for her trouble. The chest plate was already dented from the hammer, and her ribs didn''t feel like they could take any more punishment. But Sigmar was watching over her, as when she was booted off her feet, she landed close to the sword that had been disarmed from the now dead Greatswordsman. Quickly ditching the rest of her gear, she grabbed it and swung it in a great arc, screaming as it descended on the man closing in on her. The sword cut through armour and bit into flesh, but not deep enough to stop him. That wasn''t an issue though, she had a weapon that could hurt him now. Or so she thought. The next moment was the longest moment in her life, as he crushed her chest plate with his axe and buried it deep into her flesh. Gripping the greatsword with all her strength she pushed down on it, but her arms refused to move, and the axe was pulled out from her chest. The world went grey, sound muted, and then everything faded away into the dark.

 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    Well, at least she wasn''t bored anymore. But she was dead, which had its own set of problems. Wearing a nice dress, was not one of the problems she thought associated with being dead though. And, this place she was in was a strange thing, like it defied explanation. She looked about it and could find no words to describe it.


    "Confusing eldritch places of confusion are kind of par for the course, being dead and all. Why the dress though, is the real question" she muttered to herself, looking around to see if there was anything she could recognize.


    "Well, would you have preferred to be in your battered, bloodstained armour?" a voice asked. Ethereal and everywhere, the voice was very off-putting and yet soothing at the same time. Estaria didn''t like it, mostly because it made itself soothing like it was trying to tell her what to think.


    "You make a fair point, sir voice. But if I was one to accept points, however valid, from voices out of nowhere, then I wouldn¡¯t be dead¡± Estaria replied, smiling to herself.


    ¡°I¡­.fail to see the connection¡± The booming voice sounded confused now, which was only natural.


    ¡°I¡¯d probably be a beggar talking to a brick wall or a woman in one of them prison hospitals where they keep the disturbed¡± Estaria explained, before taking a stroll through the Halls of the Dead.


    ¡°I can¡¯t argue with that. But I can argue with you being dead, because you aren¡¯t. You are just between lives right now, and I am bored, so I am going to try something cool and interesting¡± the voice told her. Estaria raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything, the halls retreated from her vision, there was the feeling of being thrust many leagues, and then she landed in her body. Awake, and alive. And confused. She was sure she was dead, but after the axe, the whole thing got a bit confusing. And now she wasn¡¯t dead. Maybe she wasn¡¯t actually dead and the axe just hurt a lot, and then she had hallucinations.


    Sitting up, there were people around her, some groaning in pain, others silent as the grave. This gathering must have been the after-action pile, where people were placed so they could be looked over by the medics. However, her mind was drawn to something that was hovering in the air.


    Welcome to the tutorial, Player. To begin, please give the mental command ¡®Status Screen¡¯


    A luminescent box floated in the sky and was filled with words. Words she could read, but make no sense of.


    ¡®Mental Command? It wants me to¡­.think it maybe? But...what even is it?¡¯ Estaria stared at it for several moments before reaching out and touching the box. It was a physical thing, her finger could feel it, and yet it moved with her eyes. After poking it a few times and looking around to have it follow her head no matter how fast she moved it, Estaria let out a sigh and could no longer put it off. ¡®Status Screen¡¯ she tried a slight nervousness to her though.


    But, it turned out to be the correct way to do things because the box vanished and was replaced with a new, larger box. It was filled with details, but only the top bit was illuminated, the bit highlighting her name, ¡®Estaria¡¯. The rest was shaded, not so she couldn¡¯t see it, but enough to bring attention to the name. Hesitantly, she reached out and tapped it, and a new box appeared, separate from the large detail-filled box.


    Estaria Zashira. Daughter of Karl Zashira and Emi Zashira. 28 years old


    It was interesting to see a strange box know who her family was and how old she was. And also a little creepy. She tapped the new box and it disappeared, and then a new box replaced it, giving her some more information, albeit too late.


    This is the Status Screen. This is a screen where you can see your status


    Estaria gave the box a Scathing glare as it made such an obvious statement. And once she had done trying to intimidate illuminated floating boxes, she carried on reading.


    Here you can see your name, title, rank, Job, Level, Health, Luck and Special Resource (Cool) in the first box


    Each of the lines of the box was lit up against a dark background to bring Estaria¡¯s attention to them as she read them. So clearly, some mental connection with this thing beyond being able to call it up and down. She read what was lit up when it was lit up and was somewhat confused. ¡°Estaria Zashira. (Blank title). Captain. (Blank Job). Level 1¡±. Confused at the blank spots with Title and Job, she touched them both and got two boxes.


    Title - an acknowledgement of deeds done within the system. Grants bonuses related to the deed


    Job - The designation of one¡¯s skill focus. More jobs open as the player levels up


    Estaria had assumed that is how the system referred to her. As a Player. As if this was a game of dice. But, not having a title or a job made more sense now since they were deeds done while having this strange thing, and she had not had this strange thing for more than a few moments. And then she pressed the special resource. This, ¡°cool¡±.


    Cool - The ability to remain calm and level-headed, the spending of this resource allows the use of supernatural feats of dexterity and precision


    Certainly lived up to its name. Supernatural feats of dexterity and precision did sound like something she¡¯d like to be doing. But curiosity was still abound, so she let it continue with its explanation.


    Your stats are in the second box, separated into nine headings. Strength, Stamina, Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Precision, Intelligence, Wisdom, Luck. Skills may be increased with stat points earned from quests and levelling up, or training


    Estaria looked over them for a few moments and then nodded softly. They were basically numerical designations of a person¡¯s abilities. Most were a moderate 10, whereas Dexterity and Precision were a hearty 20.


    Finally, the bottom box details your stat points, your money, and the xp to next level, as well as any Traits. When you have finished, use the Status Screen mental command, to close it


    She had 0 stat points, a handful of coins, and 0% xp to the next level. As one would expect, you couldn¡¯t jump into a game half-way through. Even a most strange game like this¡­The one thing that was there was a trait, called ¡°Powder-Child¡±. She could guess but decided to get the game to tell her what it meant, and so pressed it.


    Powder-Child - The fascination of firearms is deeply ingrained, and skill follows such fascination. Gain +20% range and +10% damage with black powder weaponry


    That was very numerical. She didn¡¯t know weapons had range and damage, but maybe this system was affecting more than just herself. Maybe it was affecting the entire world...staring into the sky for a few moments, she got herself back on track.


    ¡®Status Screen¡¯ she thought, closing the screen and getting a new box.


    Basic Tutorial complete. New quest gained: Arrive At Middenhiem


    It hovered there till she tapped it, at which point it vanished and sanity returned. No more hovering boxes. Plus, it had given her a quest that was basically what she was doing in the first place. She could get used to that kind of quests. ¡°Quest, wake up¡± ¡°Quest, eat breakfast¡± ¡°Quest, blink¡±. She¡¯d ascend to Godhood in no time. But, thoughts of ascension were going to wait, for now,she was going to go out and see what the world was up to around her. So she stumbled to her feet, feeling a little stiff but certainly not like someone had just stuck an axe in her chest, and went out. Finding Sargent Borrago - Borrago Beast Eater, as he was known from one expedition having supply issues and he suggested the idea of supplementing them with the Beastmen that came to raid - she gave him a wave.


    Estaria was always amazed by Borrago. She wondered how a man could grow as tall as a Norscan and expand even wider than one and still be a jolly man from The Empire. His patchwork face, more scar tissue than actual face, belied his temperament, and he was an all-around excellent Sargent to have. Some new recruits would look at his rotund body and pass him off as a fat noble who bought his way in until Borrago outran them in the track and outfenced them in the field.


    ¡°Captain! I win!¡± He boomed, walking over to her. He did not move with the grace of a courtier, or the lithe stride of a Master Swordsman, but rather the inexorable nature of an avalanche. Everything about Borrago was Bigger. He had spent a small fortune on the custom-sized armour and weaponry he had to fit his meaty physique, and it repaid him threefold in the field. There were few sights more enjoyable than Borrago bludgeoning an Ork to death with his shield, or him using his cannon-esque pistol to put a fist-sized hole in a Chaos Warrior¡¯s shield and breastplate.


    ¡°And what is this that you win, Borrago?¡± Estaria asked, eyeing the rest of the camp. They had recovered well from the fight, and with the help of the surviving villagers, normalcy had returned and the train had broke early for dinner to tend the wounds, gather the loot and burn or bury the bodies.


    ¡°A Shilling! Someone thought you were dead, and I said it was not something you have the temperament to undergo. So there was a bet made and here you stand!¡±


    ¡°Mmm, I certainly felt Morr¡¯s cold fingers beckoning me to the grave. And then I punched him in the face and came back. Far too busy to die¡± She gave him a grin, and then wandered about the rest of the camp with him, to oversee people¡¯s actions and show she was still alive.


    ¡°Have you ever been to Middenheim, Borrago?¡± Estaria asked, looking up at the big man.


    ¡°My father took me on a journey to the great Temple of Ulric there once. And by the Wolf did it work! He was like five men after that day, in all he did. Even dying!¡± Borrago let out a laugh at the last, honouring his father¡¯s memory with jublience rather than despair. Estaria raised an eyebrow, glad for the conversation to distract her from thoughts of the strange system that still lingered on her mind. Why was it there, what was its purpose. It''s secrets?


    ¡°I never knew you were a worshipper of Ulric. I thought most people from Reikland worshipped Sigmar¡± Estaria was one of the small percentage of people to follow Ulric, the God that Sigmar worshipped, above Sigmar. As one would follow the Rieiksmarshall over a Captain.


    ¡°My Grandfather came down here on a job, part of the White Wolf mercenary unit. It was here that he met my Grandmother, and they had a few years of adventure before he retired to raise a family. And he worshipped Ulric, as did my father and as do I¡± he spoke with great pride, and it made Estaria smile. Few these days were as proud of their religion as they were of their finances. And a few were dangerously fanatical, a risk to all that surrounded them. Borrago occupied a happy medium.


    ¡°Well, I look forward to seeing it for myself. I feel that without first-hand experience like you, the worship of Ulric is diluted and different in the South. I may not recognize or be recognized by the Ulric priests when we arrive¡± She spoke, and then shook off such a dreary topic and waved him over to come get a hearty meal. The night passed without incident, illuminated and warmed by the corpse-fires that the Norscans were burned upon. And in the morning, they carried on their journey. Further incident, was fortunately lacking, and so the arrival at Middenheim was prompt. Initially, they were wary, as they were expecting an army to lay siege and then a battalion appeared at their gates, but the acknowledgement of reinforcements rather than besiegers was swift and Estaria got her men inside the fortress-city with good speed. Her curiosity over what was going to happen was answered quickly as a luminous popup box appeared.


    Quest completed! - 200 xp rewarded. New tutorial available


    Estaria read and then closed the box, and opened the status screen, seeing that she was 40% of the way to next level. A most generous reward, but she was at the very bottom. Rewards were generous at the bottom, and equal effort gave reduced accomplishment as a person grew. The heroic deeds of a private were the expected duty of a Greatswordsman. It would be a few hours before she was obligated to go to the other military leaders in this city, and so she tapped the new tutorial on her status screen and was greeted with a new box.


    Welcome to the Combat Tutorial. To begin, please proceed to the training ground


    She was then even given a cute little map, highlighting her position, and the position of the training ground. Following the guide, she got there in good time and saw quite the field of dummies. Several were occupied by those either running punishment drills or having the ambition to ascend the ranks, but there were plenty free, so she walked up to one. It spawned a red bar above its head when she got close, and a small numerical value at the end of this bar. Its name, ¡®Training Dummy¡¯ was white.


    This is a basic enemy or Mook. It has just a health bar and no special abilities. Every hit will reduce the health, and the Mook shall die when the health hits 0. Kill the mook


    Estaria thought it was pretty simple. It was just giving numerals to your average fight. There was nothing strange about it, so she drew her blade and struck the ¡®torso¡¯ of the dummy. Most of the health dropped, but it required a second strike for the health to be depleted and a luminescent ¡°40 xp¡± sprung up from the training dummy. Which was good. The dummy seemed to sag for a few seconds before the health returned to full and the damage she had done vanished. That was definitely magic, and Estaria stared at it for many seconds, before killing the dummy again - getting a Free training, please follow quest instructions to continue popup as she did - and watching it. The damage did just repair itself. Nobody else seemed to notice, so she decided to do some more noticeable damage.


    Taking her sword to its neck, she struck with all her might, hacking the double-strike needed to ¡®kill¡¯ the dummy and taking most of its head off so it hung by a string. Stepping back, she waited a few seconds and the head put itself back on. She stared around, but nobody seemed to be even looking in her direction, let alone seeing the crazy regenerating dummy. One final kill to ensure she really wasn¡¯t just seeing things, and it was confirmed. Regenerating dummies. Well, ok then.


    Now that was out of the way, Estaria was curious about this level up system, and so struck, struck and struck again, killing one dummy while the other regenerated until she got a ping sound inside her head, and a new popup box covered the passive-aggressive please follow quest instructions to continue box.


    You have levelled up. Main attribute increased by 2, other attributes increased by 1


    Looking at the Status Screen, she could see the results. Precision, her apparent Main attribute, was now 22. The rest were 11. Her health, luck, and cool had increased slightly as well, and her level was now 2. She didn¡¯t feel any different, but two shillings was hardly any more than one shilling, that was to be expected. Finally getting back to the tutorial, it directed her across the training ground to a different dummy. This was a larger thing and looked altogether more robust. Its name ¡®Elite Training Dummy¡¯ was white, with the Training Dummy¡¯s name being a dull grey. A yellow bar was underneath the red bar, but its number was considerably smaller than the red bar¡¯s number.


    This is an advanced enemy or Elite. It has a small Luck bar to protect it from direct strikes, and more health and better stats than a Mook, often possessing damage-reducing armour. Kill the Elite


    Estaria looked at this bigger dummy and nodded to herself. This was your average Chaos Warrior as opposed to a simple Norscan Tribesman. She threw a strong blow at the dummy, but it was off somehow and only glanced the dummy, barely grazing it. Cursing softly, she looked up, sure it would have done little damage to the thing. But instead, the vast majority of its luck bar depleted, down to a two digit number. Then it hit her. Luck protected from direct strikes. There was no doubt that this system was manipulating reality outright now, turning aside blows that would damage the target when it still had luck. The Luck statistic must have increased this Luck bar, making it harder to hurt you.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Grinning at this, she unleashed a second blow sharp and hard, reducing the luck to 0 and taking a decent amount of health off.


    When a strike will do more damage than you have luck, the rest will be taken off health. Armour reduces damage done to health, to a minimum of 10% damage


    The system, while crazy and reality-bending, seemed to be based in logic. Even the greatest of armour would still not mitigate the whole of the force. And there were tales of some legendary armour still being intact despite the wearer being dead. A few more blows had the training dummy sag, and an ¡°80 xp¡± popped up. The elite dummies gave twice the exp of the basic mook dummies. But took more than twice the blows to fell. The luck and armour were difficult to get through. Finally, she was told to head to another dummy, which she did. This one was huge and imposing. She felt somewhat intimidated by a dummy.


    This is a master enemy or Boss. It has a larger Luck bar than an Elite, and more health as well as more armour. It is liable to possess special abilities and has a Critical Wound slot. Kill the Boss


    Estaria wasn¡¯t sure what a critical wound slot was, but it didn¡¯t sound promising. Still, she got down to it, slicing at the Boss and watching its luck deplete. Some experimental side of her made her well...experiment. And so she swung lightly and knocked a chip off its luck, and then swung heavy and knock a chunk off its luck. The strength of the blow was what judged how much strength was knocked off. But with the auto miss system that was around Luck, made it somewhat dangerous to throw a hammer blow while luck was still up, it could put you off balance. So she decided to be more cautious while attacking luck, and only throw down when it was all gone.


    When the luck was gone and the first strike took off some health, the dummy suddenly swung round and grazed her head, her luck bar diminishing some as the attack was absorbed. In response, she got a popup.


    This enemy possesses a Counter-Attack trait. Every time it takes health damage, there is a chance of immediate retaliation. This may be blocked or avoided as normal attacks.


    Which, would have been something to know before the start of the fight, damn thing. But there was no point bitching now, she just got her shield up and struck with the blade, keeping a watchful eye on any attack, and catching it on her shield when it did come. Apparently, Luck didn¡¯t kick in when you intended to block it. Maybe it only happened when you missed the block? Either way, she eventually managed to bring it down to 0 health, at which point a small skull appeared next to the health and its luck and health went back up some.


    Once a Boss loses all its health, it suffers a Critical Wound, reducing its stats and opening it up to be killed. Stronger bosses have more Critical Wound slots. Stat-dependent traits will be disabled if they drop below the required number


    Estaria thought for a moment and nodded. It was like the last desperate gasp of a dying man. She had seen it in combat, where a man was severely wounded, and yet suddenly flushed with zeal and passion, driving on to make his death as glorious as he could manage. So Estaria obliged, chipping it¡¯s luck away before smashing its head off with one thunderous blow!


    The exp then came after that kill. 250 xp was the reward. And a ¡°Boss token¡± going into the Inventory.


    Congratulations on defeating the boss. It has granted you loot, in the form of a Boss Token. This may be exchanged for rewards in the shop. To find your Boss token, open the Status Screen


    Estaria read it and wondered where this Boss Token was. She hadn¡¯t received it, only heard of it. Still, she opened her Status Screen, and a tab at the top of the box was lit up. ¡°Inventory¡± it said, so Estaria tapped on it, and was given a whole new box. It was a mirror image of her, with boxes across her body. One on her head, one on her neck, one on her torso, two on each of her arms, one on her legs, and one on her feet. All were filled except the headbox. And below it, were thirty-some boxes, twenty-nine of them empty, and an ornate badge occupying the first box, with a small ¡°1¡± in the corner. Tentatively reaching out to touch it, a second box popped up suddenly, making Estaria take a step back. There were several things in this box. Some money, a title, something called ¡°Stat Potion¡± and other oddities. They had a small picture of the badge and a number next to them, assumingly the number of badges required to buy it, as only the top one with a small ¡°1¡± was lit up, the others were grey.


    Not sure if she wanted to spend the boss token or not, she decided that if they were important, she¡¯d just kill the boss dummy again to get a new one. So she pressed the top button and got a new, small box.


    You exchanged 1 Boss Token for 300 gold. Quickly followed byYou have gained gold. The Shop is now open after she shut the first one down. The Shop was interesting. Was she going to buy fake things with fake money? The third tab Shop was now lit up, and she tapped it, getting a new box that filled her eyes with items. Too many to read, and most beyond her money finances. Still, she was curious, and so bought herself a bag of 20 bullets for 100 gold, which got transferred to her inventory. Navigating to her inventory, the bag was there, with the little ¡°20¡± below it, but touching it, she got an option to Withdraw which filled her with curiosity. The button was pressed, and her eyes were filled with wonder as a bag of twenty bullets and powder charge was dropped into her hands. Nobody and nothing in this world could create something so permanent from nothing. This new system was disturbingly powerful if it could create a seemingly unlimited supply of bullet out of imaginary currency. She could arm entire battalions with an endless supply of bullets and powder, and they wouldn¡¯t need to be anywhere near supply trains or cities to restock. The consequences were mind-boggling.


    But her mind-boggling was put on hold when a new box came up, detailing a new tutorial.


    Welcome to the advanced combat tutorial. Please proceed to the firing range


    They were words that Estaria could get behind. Firing Range was her kind of thing. Even if her Captaincy was mostly relegating her to a pistol to keep her on the front lines - there were some Handgunner Captains, but they were mostly not well regarded from their lack of frontline leading, a man wanted to look to his side and see his commander, not have to look a hundred paces behind him - she liked to keep her skill with firearms sharp. So she could command the Handgunners with skill and wield her own with precision. While on her way to the firing range, she decided to check on the inventory, to see what she could learn about her pistol. It was hard to walk and read with the luminescent box, but she managed it well enough.


    Her pistol was an interesting thing. Damage was given and then the new damage in brackets from her Powder Child trait. And then range, bracketed range, and two trait Black powder and Imprecise. The two traits read;


    Blackpowder - Dangerous speed and exceptional penetration, blackpowder weaponry are great at laying low most targets. Deals 50% more Luck damage and ignores 20% of armour.


    Imprecise - This weapon is not made with accuracy in mind or uses an imprecise firing system to make itself work. The projectile will land anywhere within a circle surrounding the intended target (The Precision stat reduces the size of this circle, and is modified by range)


    It was good to hear they did extra luck damage. She could use them to rake an Elite of it¡¯s luck before closing in to melee. Getting to the firing range, she was glad she bought the bullets, because there were not that many free bullets to get some practice in. The targets in the distance were the same as usual, one a dull grey, one white, and one orange. The orange being big and intimidating. But at this distance, with a pistol in her hand, that was no worry.


    Subtargetting: with ranged weaponry, you may pick a specific body part to target. Each body part has it¡¯s own health and when targeted;


    Head - difficult to hit, but has moderate hp and will kill or give a Critical Wound to the target when it¡¯s health is depleted, regardless of the remaining Total Health.


    Torso - The easiest, but highest health body part on a person, the most effort is required to reduce this to zero, but will kill or give a Critical Wound to the target when it¡¯s health is depleted, regardless of remaining Total Health.


    Arms - Low health, reducing the arm to zero causes it to be unable to use anything grasped in this arm. Two-handed weapons receive mallus to their damage


    Legs - Low health, reducing the leg to zero will half the speed at which the target is able to move, and may cause them to stumble and fall if charging


    Total Health is the combined health of all limbs. If Subtargetting is not used, then the projectile will not damage a bodypart, but instead, deal damage to total health. If limb damage exceeds remaining Total Health, the target will die regardless of limb health.


    This, was certainly befitting of the name ¡°Advanced training¡±. But, she could grasp its concept. Target either a specific point, or as a whole. Specific point would be harder, as a whole less hard. Cocking the hammer of her pistol, she stuck her round through the mook dummies head, killing it in a single shot. She knew what the quest was asking without even reading the pop-up. Kill one of each. She reloaded the pistol, and then stuck a bullet through the Elite Dummy¡¯s head. Between Blackpowder, and the moderate health of the head, Emily killed it in a single shot, and then reloaded and aimed at the Boss¡¯ head. Strong batch of luck despite Blackpowder, and would take a Critical Wound before dying. Still¡­.Boom went the pistol, and crack went the bullet into the Boss¡¯ head. It drained the luck to the dregs and did a small amount of damage to the head, but needed a second round. The high Precision she had must have been helping her not fall foul of Inaccurate. Her eyes were invaded by another sight before she could reload however.


    Hidden quest complete!


    Headshot Mook dummy: 1/1


    Headshot Elite dummy: 1/1


    Headshot Boss dummy: 1/1


    Accept Rewards? (Sharpshooter Token)


    If the Boss Token was anything to go off, this Sharpshooter token would be interesting to see what it offered as a reward. Still, she decided to finish up here before checking that shop. No telling if luck Regenerated in battle or not. So another round was taken and then a third to kill it off after the Critical Wound. Which was understandable, she had seen some of the Chaos Warriors rush through three rounds before. Second one had her over a barrel with the Imprecise making her miss his head, but the third one hit clean and took him out. Then, she looked to the quests to get this sharpshooter token, and saw a change.


    Hidden quest complete!


    Headshot Mook dummy: 1/1


    Headshot Elite dummy: 1/1


    Headshot Boss dummy: 2/1


    Accept Rewards? (Sharpshooter Token)


    It intrigued her, that these quests started counting beyond the limit. So reloading her pistol again, she aimed at the regenerated mook Dummy, and cleaned it¡¯s clocks. Interestingly, she wasn¡¯t watching the xp pop up the first time, and this time the mook came up at 20 xp. Did ranged kills reduce the xp? She looked to the Elite dummy, and that too was now a dull grey. Frowning, she opened her status screen and looked over stats, seeing her level was level 3. Huh, she must have missed that with the spam of her quest and now this hidden quest and her interest over the sharpshooter token. A new thing, was the Trait point at the bottom just above Powder-Child. Hitting Spend Trait Point opened up yet a new window, and she felt herself pretty cluttered, so shut down the quest windows and the other clutter so she wasn¡¯t overwhelmed.


    Here, there wasn¡¯t many things to look at. Only two traits were lit up, the rest were greyed out. One made her laugh. Powder Teen which was clearly an enhancement of Powder Child, and Religious Devotee. Curious, she tapped Religious Devotee, and got the new box.


    Religious Devotee - Devotion to the gods beyond the average peasant extracts more from their blessings than usual. +5 to stats while blessed


    It sounded cool, but she didn¡¯t know how to get blessings of the gods, let alone how soon she¡¯d get them. So instead she picked up Powder Teen, clicking the checkbox and then hitting the confirmation box.


    Powder-teen: Growing fascination and growing excellence makes firearms a most apt choice of arms. 30% increase to range, 20% increase to damage


    More range would help her with Precision and keeping inaccurate down. She experimented some more getting the headshots in, but it only went up to 2/1, never higher. So she killed herself two more of the dummies, one Elite and one Boss. Surprisingly, the boss did not drop a token either times. Apparently, they were pretty low drop rates. Maybe she shouldn¡¯t have blown it on cash. But at the same time, she¡¯d not be able to fire off so many rounds without the 20 she had bought from the store. Even those were getting a bit dry. Firing range was finished for the day though, so she turned to the new quest and accepted the rewards.


    Hidden quest complete!


    Headshot Mook dummy: 2/1


    Headshot Elite dummy: 2/1


    Headshot Boss dummy: 2/1


    Rewards: (Sharpshooter Token) + (Random Box)


    Random Box was intriguing. So she went to it and opened it, getting a flurry of images before it slowed down to a picture reading ¡°20 bullets¡±. Which was nice, she wouldn¡¯t have to spend her gold on more bullets for later shooting. Next came the Sharpshooter token. Since there was only one of them, she could only get three things. One of them was 100 gold which made her think the Boss Tokens really were valuable. And the other two were 30 bullets or 10 Nuln-Forged Bullets. She knew exactly how valuable Nuln-Forged bullets were. Few, if any, places in The Empire could match Nuln, and only the Dwarves exceeded it. So they were selected, and kept stored away for a rainy day. Or a Chaos Day. The hordes were going to descend soon, and having these good quality bullets would go down well for popping heads off the leaders. She scanned through the list, paying only half attention to the handguns on show. She couldn''t tempt herself by knowing she could get one. And then, she got to Four pistols. One for 60, one for 70, and one for 80 and the final one for 100. So they were pretty far off. But their names, made her drool.


    Micro-Mainspring of Multitudinous Precipitation of Pernicious Lead


    Sharpshooter''s Micro-Mainspring of Multitudinous Precipitation of Pernicious Lead


    Nuln-Forged Micro-Mainspring of Multitudinous Precipitation of Pernicious Lead


    Dwarf-Crafted Micro-Mainspring of Multitudinous Precipitation of Pernicious Lead


    She recongized the name as the legendary repeater pistol given only to the most prestigious of the Nuln academy. Master Engineers and Steam Tank Commanders. Ohh, to have one of them, the only thing better would be a Nuln-forged Hochland Longrifle, and that was personal indulgence as it did not work with her Captaincy at all.


    Still, they were so far away, so she just shut it down. After that, she got a ¡°congratulations on completing the tutorial¡± thing, 300 xp and 200 gold. She¡¯d explore the store later, and since the xp hadn¡¯t leveled her up, she shut down the Status Screen and headed off to meet the leaders of this place before finding a bed. Sleep was always welcome.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    Sleep was easy, the meeting with the others had dragged on and painted a terrible picture. Nobody was sure when the horde would attack, but everyone was on guard for it. Some of the younger Captains, those who had bought a commission and had no experience, panicked and wanted to demand more reinforcements from the surrounding cities and counties. But then the Chaos Horde could just lay siege and Middenhiem would quickly starve to death from having an overstuffed population, far beyond what they could handle. Their inexperience had warred with more level heads, and then it became a shouting match of rank and privilege, nobleman against commander rather than a collection of military minds. Estaria welcomed the general dismissal when it came, and fled to eat and sleep. She wasn''t a great captain but today she had shown herself that there were far worse out there, and what was worse, these incompetent brats were part of the command structure in a city about to be hit with a wave of savage violence.


    Morning brought its own surprise. A small box offering tips about enemy name colours, and something called a Daily Quest. Maybe, from the name, a quest that was held every day? She opened the tips box first.


    Enemies difficulty is rated in colour. Dull grey means the enemy is far below your level, and you suffer


    -50% exp gain from these and reduced loot.


    That¡¯d explain the 20xp instead of 40 that mooks gave in the firing ground.


    White indicates a minor level advantage, or equal level enemies. Orange, indicates a level disadvantage, with the shade of the orange indicating the depth of the disadvantage. Red, indicates a severe level disadvantage, requiring great skill and courage to emerge victoriously. The shade of the red indicates the depth of severity. Black, indicates a legendary disadvantage, such that slaying these enemies will require a heroic display of skill and courage, and your name will go down in the myths of the world. But in all likelihood, you will just die. Fighting an enemy of orange or higher grants extra experience and better chances at loot.


    Estaria read that and then nodded softly. She wondered how it would affect her xp when the footmen of the chaos hordes were dull grey. She needed all the exp she could get if she was going to survive in this world, with Chaos coming down from the North and Norscans crossing the Sea of Claws and other frightening tales. Still, she was glad to know what the colours represented, and now she could better gauge when a fight was beyond her and decide thathightailing it was better than dying. Courage was good so long as it wasn¡¯t unfounded and suicidal. And before she did the daily quest, she had something else to do first, so she got up and dressed, took care of her personal hygiene and then was out, walking with purpose and determination in the brisk morning air.


    Middenhiem was an exciting city to be in, so different from Altdorf she could spend weeks here. But that was only if the Chaos Horde took weeks to arrive, which was something she doubted. Doing some opportunistic sight-seeing, she arrived at where she was heading, the Great Temple of Ulric. Estaria wasn¡¯t sure, but she thought it was the biggest temple to Ulric in the Empire. And as such, it had the greatest fire. Every Ulric temple had a flame, and it was heresy of the greatest magnitude to ever let the flame go out. But, she wasn¡¯t away from the game system here, as she got a box as soon as she entered the ground.


    Entering Holy Ground. Open Offerings tab?


    Estaria knew she didn¡¯t have any of them but was curious about this thing, so opened it and was shown confirmation that she had no Offerings. But there was a button to open the Offerings Shop. Which she did, and was confronted with four items. Average offerings for 20gp, Anointed offerings for 200gp, Blessed offering for 2,000gp, and Holy offerings for 20,000gp. Estaria wasn¡¯t sure where she would even get twenty thousand gold pieces from, because none of the quests had handed it out so far and the tokens sold cheaply in comparison. But, she did have enough money for the Anointed offerings, which sounded a lot better than the average offerings. She wasn¡¯t going to be here again after the Chaos Horde, so might as well make a splash. She bought it, and then it slotted into her inventory with the icon of a handful of grass.


    At first, she pondered what to do with this, but decided to just fall back on what she knew. Throwing the offering into the great flame to honour Ulric. Withdrawing it, and getting a small, silk-wrapped box, she tossed it into the flame. It was consumed voraciously, and then she got a luminescent box pop up.


    Ulric¡¯s Boon - +10 to Strength, +10 to Constitution. Lasts until replaced


    A grin blossomed, as she got free stats! Ok, they weren¡¯t free and she could only get the blessing of one God, but still. Her strength and constitution were now nearly equal to her Precision, and her Precision was pretty good. Wondering what kind of changes that would make to her combat, she opened up the Daily Quests, and read them. Two small boxes and several checkpoints greeted her.


    Physical Training:


    0/2 ¡°Mook¡± Dummies killed (Melee)


    0/10 Sword Drill


    0/5km run


    Agility Training:


    0/2 ¡°Mook¡± Dummies killed (ranged)


    0/1 Beam Walk


    Agility Training looked easier than Physical Training, but a Beam Walk was no joke. Plus, it was something you could fail, which made it harder than Physical Training. You could hardly fail at swinging a sword, and a run could be completed in stages. So she first headed off to the firing range, and success for that was simple. But, she wasn¡¯t entirely sure where she would do a Beam Walk. Did they have that sort of thing here? Her map gave her some guidance, and she followed it, Eventually finding herself at what looked to be an obstacle course. Completely empty, but without any gate or door to bar her entrance. Figuring she had nothing to lose, she went up to the Beam, got on top of it, and then her mind wandered off into how she really needed to get her breastplate into the blacksmith to repair that hole that had been made from the axe. And her shield to boot. And while her stuff was in the blacksmith, she might as well get her sword touched up.


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    Her mind drifting away was the worst thing she could do, as she slipped from the beam and crashed into a pile of leaves. Her luck meter reduced from the fall damage - Environment did damage as well as direct, it seemed - and she felt that pile of leaves was only there because she had a luck meter. Shaking her head to clear it of all the thoughts but also putting them away to be done with later, she got back up on the Beam and cleared it with only a bit of wobble and one near-fall before she got to the other side and the quest updated with her completion. Balance wasn¡¯t something she was great at but it wasn¡¯t something she was terrible at either. You didn¡¯t get promoted to Captain by being terrible at things. Except reading, she still couldn''t read. Which¡­.made...how she read the text on the luminescent boxes a question. But it did manipulate reality on a grand scale and could telepathically communicate with her. Maybe the words were getting sent into her brain and so her ability to read them was rendered moot.


    Basic Agility Training Complete - 1 stat point gained to spend between Dexterity, Agility, Precision.


    Estaria pondered that. It was pretty decent to get from a daily quest. Added to level up and training, the possibility of getting 100 stats in something if she trained every day for a few months was enticing. Dropping the one into Agility to make the Beam walk later a bit easier, shethen thought a bit. Not getting any more bullets from it, would mean she needed to get them from a different source to be sustainable¡­.then it occurred to her. The Hidden Quest was...Hidden. There was nothing to say it wasn¡¯t daily until it popped up as finished. So Estaria quickly headed over to there, her Physical Training amusingly getting a 0.3km/5km on the run quest. Here at the firing range, she took headshots at the Elite and then the boss. Powder Teen did a nice increase on damage, so bullets weren¡¯t expended as quickly. On the hit to the Boss, the hidden quest did indeed pop up.


    Hidden quest complete!


    Headshot Mook dummy: 2/1


    Headshot Elite dummy: 1/1


    Headshot Boss dummy: 1/1


    Cracking a grin, she took the other two - Precision rolling badly and spending two shots on the Boss, so it ended with the other tree - shots and then got her medal and her random box, and the final boss got her a level up. Probably the last one for a while since Elites were a dull grey now and Bosses were barely orange at all. Rolling it, she got something helpful but not what she was wanting. An ¡®Engineer¡¯s Maintenance Kit¡¯. Inside were good quality rags, tools for disassembling and reassembling, some nice looking oil, and finely crafted brush. The case itself was even nice leather. A girl could keep a gun in near pristine condition for years with this kind of kit. Serviceable condition without any oil. Didn¡¯t solve her bullet problem, but she had enough for a few days. And if worse came to it, she could buy some with her tokens. Next, was off to the Physical Training. Kill two mooks, run 2km and do a 10-swing drill with the sword. It sounded easy, so she got down to it.


    The mooks fell like wheat, with her Ulric¡¯s blessing giving her hearty damage increases to her melee. Then, she did the ten swings, which were of a different sort swing and so didn¡¯t count from those that killed the mook dummies. It would be quite the monotony to do all this every day, but that is how a person got fit. And looking at Borrago, there were certainly benefits to being a person of robust physicality. One thing, however, was both interesting and annoying. After the 10th swing, she got a popup box telling her about her Fatigue. It was ¡°25%, consider resting¡±. Which wasn¡¯t very high, so she would consider it later and headed to the track.


    There, she found some others doing a run as well. She had thought she was up early enough for it to be empty, but these looked more veteran soldiers and so they would be getting in their work early before their duties began. And among them, was Borrago. Of course, he wasn¡¯t a big guy like he was from just messing about in the dining hall. So Estaria went over and joined them on the run, thinking it wouldn¡¯t be difficult since she was a Captain, and had been doing this war thing for a few years.


    However, she had underestimated it quite considerably. Running like this was a much different exercise to a march or a fight, and so she got a rapid pop-up telling her her fatigue had hit 50%. Rather than give in and admit defeat, she couldn¡¯t let herself be seen like a woman that would do such a thing in front of her men, and so pushed on, running with them as hard as she could. Halfway through this, she got a message telling her her stamina had gone up from extensive training, which was always welcome, but not enough to hold off the next box of ¡°Fatigue 75% - Stats have been halved¡±. This sucked. Really...really¡­.really...and then it was done.


    Fatigue at 95%, ready to collapse and just sleep forever, she got the one attribute point and quickly slammed it into Stamina. Borrago walked over with a laugh and handed her a drink, which she took with relish and downed to the dregs.


    ¡°Any reason you decided to come join us on the track?¡± he asked as Estaria just gave up on standing and fell to the floor.


    ¡°Gotta get the points¡± she murmured, too tired to remember that nobody else could see her status screen.


    ¡°Ambition! Ha, well now is the best place to have it. I myself want to be a Captain, so I can go home to my mother and see her beam with pride!¡± He had a passionate voice while telling Estaria his goals. And it made her smile, and sit up. Stamina increased fatigue recovery rate as well as it increased max fatigue, so it was slowly draining down the sinkhole.


    ¡°For now, we should just look to saving our asses from this coming Norscan horde. Then we can think about ambition. Speaking of, I need to get to the Blacksmith. The last guy I met didn¡¯t do me any favours¡± she nodded to Borrago, got up, and slowly ambled off to her room. Her sword, shield and armour were recovered, and given the option, she decided against storing them in her inventory. It would be weird to explain that to the blacksmith. And some actual real money to pay the man with. All her preparations done, Estaria headed off and got her stuff repaired, before spending most of the remainder of the day snoozing to recuperate. Ulric, that run was a monster.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3


    The next few days were hard days. Her stamina wasn¡¯t increasing fast enough to let her make the run easy, only progressively less gruelling. Every point went into Stamina, and it worked out enough to get 20 by the end of the week. At the start of the new week, however, it was nice to survive the run without collapsing. Her armour had been repaired and had figured out a handy-dandy new system for selling things that she got from the random box. As was the case with the second care kit. Nearly the case with the second pistol, but she decided it was better to have a backup and a secondary for when she needed to pop a few rounds off, or couldn¡¯t reload. The ¡°Huntsman¡¯s Rifle¡± that she got from the box, quite clearly the jackpot with all the fanfare, was more questionable. It might have a good price tag but rifles were rare and hard to come by in the world, so maybe it would do better with an in-world selling. And then it came. In the early morning, just as she was finishing up her Agility Daily and preparing for the Physical, the alarm bells were rung, and Middenhiem exploded into action. The Chaos Horde had been spotted. A few seconds after she heard the bells, she saw the pop-up, informing her about a new thing.


    Horde Battles - dealt with differently to personal fights, Horde Battles are large armies pitted against each other where you play a part, rather than being the focal point as with Personal Fights. Exp is gained collectively, and then delivered to all participants. You gain 50% of the exp for things you kill, and 50% is delivered to a pot to be dispersed between all surviving participants at the end. Loss of the Horde Battle will half the total pot.


    It sounded interesting - and opened another can of worms that people around her could gain experience, but that was a can for some time when she wasn¡¯t about to deal with a crushing tide of bodies - and rewarding. With the crazy amount of numbers out there, even if she had to share it with everyone in Middenheim, Estaria would still be looking at a good harvest. If they won. If she survived. Looking up to the walls, seeing Cannons and Mortars prepped and readied, ammo barrels hauled and loaded. Seeing men rush to the armoury and retrieve handguns, which were checked and cleaned before taking up posts on the walls. Seeing grizzled veterans, devout followers of Ulric and men with years of combat experience behind them, gear up and get ready for the coming wave. It was easy to think that Middenheim was a nut too hard to crack. But that would just be a lie told to herself to ease her away from the harsh truth that this could be the end for so many of Sigmar¡¯s Sons. And the end of the greatest Fortress in The Empire. Talabaheim could contest, but if Middenheim fell, it would lead the whole Nordland, Middenland and Ostland on the Middenheim-side of the great River Riek open for Chaos raiders.


    Not entirely sure what to do with herself, her men were foreign to this city and so other captains were guiding them where they needed to be, she wandered into the Quartermaster to see if he needed anything. Her supply gathering abilities with her gold were limited, but a hundred bullets and powder could be the difference between another volley and running dry. And a good volley could shred a battle line.


    ¡°How are supplies looking?¡± she asked him, not quite dressed the part for her Captaincy, but this was not the situation where he could chase out helpful looking people.


    ¡°Well. I am still trying to figure out how you populate the firing range so prolifically every day and yet there is no shot or powder missing or signed out. The supplies you brought with you were loaded and reported on the day you arrived¡±


    So it seemed that the game didn¡¯t make people forget discrepancies with the logic of the game-to-real-world conversion. The idea of getting rich of trying to sell off stuff she bought in the shop went down in flames pretty quick. She had no idea what the conversion rate was anyway. Could be that she set herself to a loss, buying bullets from the shop and selling them in the world.


    ¡°Magic stuff and also things¡± She said vaguely, giggling softly to herself. The quartermaster just grunted and nodded to the rack of weapons.


    ¡°We are down a few rifles, but other than that we have enough to keep everything on its toes. We will grasp victory or defeat by our own merit, and not by a lack of equipment¡± he nodded and then got back to his paperwork. Estaria thought for a few moments and then bit her lip. One rifle in a horde wouldn¡¯t make a great deal of difference, but at the same time, it just might. Better to be safe than sorry.


    ¡°One of our riflemen was hurt in the attack on the Norscans. He¡¯s been trying to smooth out the damage, but eventually came to realize that it¡¯s not happening anymore. So you can have this¡± Estaria lied, but what was she going to do? Tell him that a flowing box gave her a random item every day if she did a quest and that random item was this rifle? What an elaborate trick to play of a poor quartermaster.


    ¡°Ahh, poor guy. Stick the rifle on the rack and we¡¯ll get it to a man who can use it¡± the Quartermaster ordered. Estaria did such and then left, to her barracks. It was filled with people who had the same idea as she did. Everyone who had some semblance of weapons training was gearing up for this one. The horde demanded nothing less, after all. Donning her armour, her sword and shield, and the two pistols, she went to the walls. Assisting menials in fetching and carrying until the preparations were complete. And, then, in the dusky glow, they came to see the Norscan horde in its full enormity.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    She had no idea where so many people had come from, but it was a true showcase of the scale of the Invasion. This amount of Norscans would require a massive fleet of longboats to come across the Sea Of Claws...Or maybe the did not all come at once. Maybe this was a collection of all Norscans and all Trolls that had come to raid and pillage and take advantage of Kislev¡¯s weakened state and The Empire¡¯s distracted nature. Archeon was a definite distraction for most people. The throbbing chant of ten thousand voices in unison was an unnerving one, one that could easily put fear into the hearts of men were it not for these men being Ulric¡¯s men. Men who manned the walls of Middenheim, the greatest city in The Empire. Many cities would claim the same, but Estaria would support Middenheim¡¯s claim for that title.


    Borrago strode the walls, his thunderous voice competing with the distant chants. He might lose out when they got closer, but for now, he was doing a grand job in competing with the initial conflict. Out of the gloom, she could see that they had been preparing for this attack, with troll-wielded rams, several dozen ladders and a ramshackle but functioning siege tower. That would have to go first. The others would deal damage to the gate and would allow Norscans to assault the walls, but the siege tower would disgorge a venerable horde and give them a boon that Middenheim could ill afford. So Estaria strode over to one of the mighty emplaced cannons - greater than field cannons for they did not have to be pulled - and took command. Even with her Powder Teen perk, they were out of range, but they would move in soon, and when they did, she would stick a ball in through the front of the tower and see it fall.


    While waiting for the range, she saw a new box pop up. One that told her about a class of enemy called ¡°Monster¡±.


    Monsters have no luck bars or critical wounds but possess unique traits such as scales and fiery breath and regeneration, as well as considerable armour and great amounts of hitpoints. Care must be taken when engaging a Monster, for they are a superior foe to any human of equal level.


    The Trolls having no luck bar would be nice, but they were Trolls, which meant she had to take them down quickly or they would regenerate. Fortunately, Estaria was witness to a new man climbing the stairs to get atop the walls. A man of orange hair and orange clothes, carrying a brazier staff and three sets of keys, he smelled of burned clothes and singed hair, but still, he seemed the most energetic and most elated person on the wall. Passion and Violence mingled closely to make this Bright Wizard a most spectacular sight. By his left, came a great man wielding a great axe. She had seen him when she went to the Temple of Ulric to pray, and this Warrior Priest was a grand match for the Warrior Priest that had been attached to Estaria¡¯s own retinue. The pair of them would be as the Ghal Muraz against the invaders. Estaria just hoped their faith would hold to the end. Seeing one fall was never a good sign, nor was it ever taken easily.


    A minute later, the army was close by, and Estaria was preparing the Cannon when a large patch of the field outside of Middenhiem caught fire. The entire army was lit up, as bright as day, and the gunners - less than she expected, but this was Middenhiem, it would show it¡¯s value in the melee - had a clear line of sight to take shots. The Norscan horde also had a giant inferno to navigate around, hampering their effectiveness. Two birds with one giant flame. Gotta love the Bright Wizards. And with that, Estaria ranged the cannon, and then gave it an order to fire.


    There was a second¡¯s hesitation while the gunner thought about what was happening. She wasn¡¯t his commander, but she was a Captain of The Empire. And so there was a boom of cannon fire. Maybe it was because she was aiming it and sighting it in or something and the gunner was just putting match to bangy-bit, but the cannon benefitted from her Precision, and the ball flew with great precision, smashing through the tower¡¯s face and causing a great groaning of overburdened wood before it collapsed in on itself. A more well-crafted tower may have survived, but this was was knocked together by angry nomads. So quality was questionable.


    Lack of siege tower didn¡¯t mean the horde was harmless, however. There was still thousands of them, trolls and norscans both. There were enough ladders to cover every inch of the walls, and the rams could still shatter the gates, as solid as they were. Biggest problem solved didn¡¯t immediately solve every problem. And so Estaria got up from the cannon and turned back to the walls themselves. It was going to be a hell of a fight.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4


    Soon they were in range proper, and the roar of firepower was impressive, even with the lacking quantity compared to what you might find elsewhere, tradition warring with practicality and more harshly, the order of The Emperor to maintain a certain level of handguns. The order was given not to force them, but to give them an honourable way to balance the both, as the orders of a superior were held in great regard by the sons of Ulric, and none were superior to The Emperor. While a proper army could field twice as many handgunners and the same in bows, she wouldn¡¯t be as confident in their line infantry than she would here in Middenheim, Home Of The Wolf. Even now the Warrior Priest of Ulric was whipping the men up into a frenzy to match the Norscan¡¯s, and Estaria felt drawn into it, feeling her own zeal for the fight grow as he howled.


    "Ulric give me the fangs of the wolf!


    Ulric give me the claws of the wolf!


    Ulric give me the coat of the wolf!


    And I will show your enemies the mercy of the wolf!"


    He was echoed by the men on the wall, and Estaria - recognizing the prayer from her own worship and glad it had not changed from North to South - joined her voice to the cacophony. Men bared teeth, howled, screamed and bashed their shields. And that was the men of The Empire. The average Altdorf peasant would see little difference between those of Middenhiem, and those of Norsca. And maybe the only difference was one¡¯s geographical location. As Estaria finished her prayer, a box popped up in front of her.


    Touch of the Wolf - 20% increase in melee damage, +5 to strength, stamina, and constitution


    With this buff, she realized he wasn¡¯t doing this for any morale reason, but was actually working the magic of his god like a true Warrior Priest. Drawing the eye of Ulric, so that all who prayed to him would receive his touch. It would be put to great use very soon, as they beasts closed in, unperturbed by fire raining down on them, and then the wall shuddered as the rams that the trolls were wielding smashed into the gate. Chunks of the gate splintered immediately, leaving holes that could be widened to man-sized with some spirited axe-work. The Trolls did not survive long enough to enjoy their victory however, as oil was poured down a hatch into them and the ground around them, brought instantly to a boil by the Bright Wizard. Deep, pained roars filled the air and the trolls fled, only to be turned into giant rampaging pyres as the bright wizard lit up the night, igniting the oil that covered the trolls. Seeing a large amount of their number killed by the hated fire, and seeing the night burning intensely, the remaining Trolls fled, feeling that no food was worth facing their greatest - and only - weakness. Screams fought the roaring fire, cries of eminent victory filled the air from the burning trolls, and the crack of handgun and cannon filled every space that was left with an efficiency that surprised Estaria. She had thought them to be using such weaponry because they were told to, but maybe their pride made them learn how to use it to the best possible manner. Looking out into the field, Estaria smiled. Only a fool would attack a bastion like Middenheim and not expect to be hit hard from the start, and relentlessly till the finish.


    Then a second sound rangout. One that was almost silent against the din of battle. The clunk of wood against stone. The ladders had come. Small piles of rocks were lined up along the wall in anticipation, and Estaria stepped forward, grabbing one and hefting it over her head and tossing it over the walls. The Norscan climbing up the ladder had his head bludgeoned in by the falling rock, and fell from the ladder. More rocks were thrown, but there were many more ladders than piles and rocks, and the rocks themselves were not endless, so soon the first Norscans made it to the top.


    The Warrior-Priest of Ulric swung as one of the heads appeared near the walls, the Norscan¡¯s helmet getting split open along with his head in one might swing from the man¡¯s axe. Despite a spirited effort to the contrary, the Norscans made it onto the walls, and them melee began. Blood rapidly slicked the floor, and bodies both Empire and Norscan filled the walls, making it a most treacherous foothold to have. And yet Estaria found herself in a state she had not felt in a long time. Each man who fell to her blade invigorated her to further kills. She was a strange woman in her soul. While enjoying the art of precision with her handgun and later pistols, the northern ice could not be shaken and she was always ready to throw down with the screaming masses, blade against blade. A powerful slam of her shield sent one of the Norscans plummeting down to break his body on the ground below, and at the same time, she saw Borrago cut an armoured man in half with a swing. The horned helmet and superior gear marked him out as better than a simple tribesman, but that mattered not for the Beast Eater. Crashing her way towards him, he gave a non-vocal bellow of acknowledgement and together they fought, back to back against the tide of Norscans coming over the ladders.


    Fatigue at 25%


    The unintrusive box rang out, and a few moments later the gate was turned to kindling by the warriors hammering on it, exploiting it¡¯s weakened form from the ram. Attacked on two fronts, neither force could assist the other. The Sigmar-led forces on the ground, mostly made up of her Southerners to put the Warrior Priest to best use, got into the thick of the fighting. Neither as ferocious not as skilful as the northern Middenhiemers, they had their own zeal when lead by their Warrior Priest. A glance around the walls revealed that it was too chocked full of bodies to see her Priest, but his howl of fury and passion ensured her that he was still alive. She was thankful for the extra Stamina she had built up over the week, and of the buff the Warrior Priest had given, but her fatigue was still climbing with every kill, and the numbers grew as the seconds passed, each unblocked hit lowering her luck. Near fifty percent, a great horn rang out from the central fortress of Middenheim. The horn signalled a retreat to ground further in the castle. The Walls were not the only place preparations were being made, but separate staging grounds as they pulled back to the main castle, each designed to cost the enemy, to bleed them of men and morale. Designed to keep the advantage and pull back when it was lost. Of course, with nobody fighting on the walls and nobody at the gate, the Norscans would have free rein into Middenhiem, but that was a non-issue at this point.


    The retreat off the walls was orderly and precise, fighting and snapping at the Norscans every step of the way. Their pursuit was dissuaded of being to close by a group of northern hunters, who used their longbows to harass anyone who tried to get to close. The fight back was rough but eventually, there was enough space to properly disengage, at which point the gate fighters also did the same. She was then lead through the maze of buildings by the Warrior Priest until they reached a redoubt, a fortified position at the end a narrow corridor of buildings. At first, Estaria thought it would make for great mortar shots, but they weren¡¯t like that here. Maybe it was just to keep them packed together and taunt a few into killing themselves to progress, or something.


    In this redoubt, they met a new complement of men, fresh and ready for action, as they were directed to a small area off from the centre opening, which held short rations. Water and tacks to get your breath back from the fight. A few surgeons to stop the bleeding of any wounds. She looked back, at the maze of streets she¡¯d never have been able to navigate without the Warrior Priest, and then around herself. The whole of Middenheim had been built not as a city, but as a Fortress. The imposing, sturdy houses that were a far cry from the ramshackle hovels of the South were designed to block off movement, they were placed to confuse and the Middenheimers would take full advantage of that ensuing confusion. They didn¡¯t just rely on high walls and sturdy men.


    The water was fouled somehow though because it looked and tasted enough to turn your face inside out.


    ¡°Cold does nothing for the taste! But, here¡¯s hoping you¡¯ll forgive us, things being what they are and all¡± the civilian at the large kettle exclaimed after seeing Estaria¡¯s face. ¡°Proper beans, boiling water, and a bit of goats milk make an experience many times superior to this swill. You should try some after we eject this rabble¡± he finished, before nodding and getting back to others.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.¡°The confidence he has¡­truly staggering¡± Estaria said softly, finishing the foul brew and eating her tack before taking a seat on the ground and relaxing. Only people truly confident and truly born in a Fortress could have the courage to make an area for besieged soldiers to rest. And then the source of this confidence appeared, as a giant man with an equally sized hammer, and bedecked with great plate armour. The Ar-Ulric, most respected man of the Ulric church. From all around her came the sounds of tapping feet and signs of respect towards the great leader of the Ulric Church, and signs made with gauntleted and gloved hands. With a lift of his hammer and a lupine howl, he took to the front lines, backed by his full-plate wearing guards and Greatswordsman besides them. Such a wall would be terrifying for Estaria to try and charge against. But then they did just that. The first Norscans found their way out of the maze and to the redoubt. Not that it would do much for them until they finally came in mass since that first was shot in the head by Estaria.


    ¡°Black powder is a coward¡¯s weapon!¡± one of the Middenhiemers cried.


    ¡°I dunno, anyone who is willing to wield a weapon they know will explode and kill them with any given use is pretty ballsy in my book. Plus you have to put a few weeks into training just to off-set its inaccuracies. And then another year to be accurate with it. And just because you are training doesn¡¯t mean the whole explosion clause is removed. Imagine if every swing of the sword could make the sword shatter into a thousand shards that then embed themselves in your flesh¡± Estaria countered, giving a speech while reloading her pistol. It garnered a laugh of appreciation from the giant Ar-Ulric, either for the words itself or the way it was presented. Estaria was not quite the fanatic to get so insanely flattered that the Ar-Ulric had laughed at her words, but they did make her blush a little from the recognition. She was a face in the crowd girl, even after becoming a Captain.


    With respite gained from her guns, she shot more Norscans, but the drip was becoming a flood as the Norscans guided their fellows through the maze. A small wave of firepower came from the Redoubt, but there was not many of them, to begin with, so it was scattered and light, taking merely the stragglers on the flank. And then they reached the wall, and the carnage began. Skulls were split, chests were smashed. Axes bashed against the plate of the men holding the line and were repulsed. A pile of dead Norscans began to build up in the entrance to the redoubt, and soon Norscans had to climb over their fallen to attack, which put them in the worst position possible and lead to the wall of dead growing. Eventually, Norscans just started to try to push the dead bodies onto the Ar-Ulric and Teutogen Guard. The wall that held off the Norscans then folded and became a ring, supplemented with the soldiers gathered in the redoubt proper. An arena of death that cut the Norscans to shreds. They had numbers in droves, but that was all they had, as there were few champions and it didn¡¯t seem like there were any true-blooded Chaos Warriors in the horde. Eventually, the Redoubt filled with bodies, until there were no more bodies.


    Estaria, who had been one of them drawn into the circle, let out a breath as the last Norscan fell to her sword. Casually reloading her pistols, she put them into the holsters, and then stretched her tired arms. With the rest, the buff, and her Stamina, fatigue had dropped enough that it was at 39 now. The jittery nerves and powerful battle adrenaline were felt clearly now in this moment of calmness. And it only made the next part even worse. Striding out to the front of the Redoubt, a mighty Chaos Champion appeared his name Black to Estaria¡¯s sight. A being so strong it would end her life in a handful of moments. And from behind him came eighty-seven red-clad Chaos Warriors. From the Redoubt, Estaria could see the orange names and luck bars denoting them to be Elite enemies. The fight they were in for was a fight that was going to smash through the front lines and roll into the Redoubt itself, the fury and force of the Middenheimers being the only thing to keep them from razing the city.


    A horn rent the air when the Chaos Warriors appeared, and then they charged in. It didn¡¯t seem to be the Chaos¡¯ horn, but rather charging in response to it. Still, that didn¡¯t change the fact that they were charging. Estaria gave the man in front both pistol rounds, but they both glanced off armour, his luck reduced a fair degree from Blackpowder¡¯s damage to luck ability, but still with a sizeable amount left. Whoever was going to face off against him would need to be glorious. Hastily backing up and reloading her pistols, she stuck another two into him before he got to the front line, and a Greatswordsman was cut down in the first swing. Estaria had no more time to worry about him however because his warriors had arrived and were clashing with the men in the Redoubt. Estaria found herself quickly engaged with one of the giant metal clad monsters, and the fight was rough. Each blows felt like they were delivered by a Troll, her shield-work the only thing between her and a shattered body. And that didn¡¯t stop her shield arm from quickly growing numb from pain. Her sword slowly stripped his luck as her own was taken off with large, worrying bites, but eventually, she was down, drawing blood and stealing health. An act soon repeated by the man as her health bar decreased from a blow. One final leaping strike slid her blade under his helmet and spilt his blood on the ground, but that was one man. Just one, and it had nearly killed her.


    Around her, men piled in to fight the Warriors and were cut down as they cut them down. But the price was too dear, and the soldiery was getting overwhelmed by the skill and staying power of the Chaos Warriors. Small pockets of resistance struck, Greatswordsmen and Warrior Priests matching blow for blow, but the ground was littered with the heroic men of the Greatswords. Even the Ar-Ulric¡¯s Teutogen Guard were being felled, though they reaped a far more bloody toll of their foe before falling. The Ar-Ulric himself clashed against the Champion, being the only man not struck down by a matter of course. And then Estaria was in combat again. She swung and then got a pop-up box.


    Touch Of The Wolf has Expired


    Which came at a terrible time, the sword of the Chaos Warrior smashing her to the ground and stealing a chunk of her health. Blooded and stunned, Estaria tried to climb to her feet but was not able to move as a giant foot slammed her into the ground, forcing the breath from her lungs. She defiantly flailed her sword, but lacking a good angle and without the buff to her stats, it did little more than chip his luck stat. The blade came up, and then a massive clang filled the air as the helmet deformed with a crumble, and the man fell sideways, freeing Estaria, and giving her a chance to take the hand offered by the man, a large Middenhiemer in full plate and wielding a great hammer.


    ¡°Ulric Hunts!¡± came a pounding roar, as a dozen such armed and armoured men rushed into the Redoubt, answering the horn¡¯s call and lending aid to their beleaguered comrades. Estaria recognized their armament and insignia as the Order of the White Wolf, a strong knighthood order who had detachments at every temple to Ulric. Even if it was but a single man watching over a small shrine. Middenheim detachment was by far the largest, as their temple was the greatest. The Knights were a cut above the already high soldiers of Middenheim, and their arrival tipped victory away from the arriving warriors. But by themselves, they would not guarantee victory, only a more costly defeat for the warriors. But then, as Estaria staggered to her feet, a boom came from the Al-Ulric. Looking over, he held aloft the helmeted head of the now-corpse at his feet.


    ¡°See the Mercy Of The Wolf, Father!¡± His roar reverberated through the air, and his passion filled every man present with a martial desire unmatched by the earlier Wolf Priest. And Estaria was informed of its superiority by a nice little box popping up.


    Howl of Ar-Ulric: 100% to Melee weapon damage. +20 to Strength, Constitution, Stamina


    And like that, the rest felt. Chaos Warriors though they were, they could not stand to a divine boon granted to the men by the head of the church of Ulric himself. His blessings were the closest one got to being touched by the God Himself, and so their power was undeniable. And with that driving them, the last man was driven to his knees, bleeding and dying. The Siege of Middenheim was finally over.

 Chapter 5

    The fight, main and proper, was over. But that did not mean Middenhiem was safe, or that the siege was over. The Knights of the White Wolf pushed out from the Redoubt back to the gate and walls, to ensure that there was nobody lurking there for a second wave, and many swordsmen took to roving groups to clean the labyrinthian streets that may hide Norscans in waiting. Estaria waited for her Luck bar to get to full before going out to join one of these. With the Ar-Ulric¡¯s blessing, it was an easy thing to cut down the mooks and very few low-orange elites that remained. The power that the head of the church wielded was immense. While finishing up one route to the Redoubt and preparing for another, she got a new popup, one that didn¡¯t bode well.


    Howl of Ar-Ulric has ended


    Fatigue at 100%. Activity suspended until Fatigue reaches below 50%


    That wasn¡¯t very good at all, Estaria thought as she fell forwards, her body no longer responding to the unconscious order to stay upright. She didn¡¯t even hear the clatter of her armour hitting the ground. For her, the time from falling to waking was a heartbeat, which was why it was jarring to suddenly wake up in a bed, stripped of her armour and seemingly alone. She wondered what officer gave up his house to put her here because it was a nice place. Her sight, however, was immediately filled with a mass of boxes, such that it was hard to see anything around them.


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    You have levelled up


    Making a mad waving motion to shut down the twelve boxes that were telling her she had gotten the rewards of the siege, there was one below it that she had never seen before. And what it was saying was most interesting indeed.


    Loot gathered. Shop price; 999.865 gold pieces. Captain¡¯s share of 20%; 199934 gold pieces.


    Estaria stared at the box, reading it and then reading it again just to make sure. This one siege had made her little under two hundred thousand gold pieces. Even if the exchange rate was 10 gold pieces to one Throne, she was still rich as an Altdorf noble. That was that, retire now, spend the rest of her life in comfort. Even hire a villa in Bretonnia, admire the countryside, die old and fat and happy. But it was just a fantasy, she wasn¡¯t going to go through with that. She had a lot more to do before anything like that was going to happen. Shutting that box down, she opened her Status Screen and admired the stats.


    Strength: 27 (37)


    Stamina: 32


    Constitution: 27 (37)


    Dexterity: 46


    Agility: 37


    Precision: 45


    Intelligence: 25


    Wisdom: 25


    Luck: 25


    The many level ups had given her stats a healthy boost, and the training had added a few on to boot. But her main stat, which was assumed to be precision, wasn¡¯t as high as she would expect from it getting double rewards. Maybe it cycled between three? Main stat meaning your main bracket, not a singular stat. Would explain why the three for a more lithe body were higher than the three for a physical or mental person. Level up also meant trait points, so she went to scour that list. Having six points to spend, she went on a proper spree.


    Powder Woman: Firearms are the most engaging weapon you can possibly think of, and their secrets are being pried open to feed your appetite. 50% increase to range, 30% increase to damage


    Powder Matriarch: Black Powder is your Blood. While you may lack academic understanding, your practical knowhow rivals an Engineer and even the most unruly of firearms bow to you. 70% increase to range, 50% increase to damage. Imprecise is removed


    Decorated Veteran: Well known, and well respected, your name is toasted to by many. Increase the rewards of Tokens, Medals and Medallions by 1.


    Swordswoman: Learning the way of the sword is hard, but with practice, one can be a venerable cause on the field. Grants sub-targeting for melee weaponry.


    Celerity: Swifter than most, you run with the grace of ten men and the speed of five. Add +20 to agility for the sake of movement speed.


    Quick-Load: In the blink of an eye, you are ready to fire again. Spend Cool to instantly reload your firearm with a flourish


    Six new traits under her belt, Estaria leaned back on the bed and smiled. Powder Matriarch made her sound old, but it would certainly help relieve people of their lives, especially when she got one of the experimental weapons from the shop. It made her wonder what she was going to spend all that gold on. But, there was still more, down in the corner, waiting for her to tap. So, she did and got even more popups.


    Repeatable Quest complete:


    20/10 mook enemies killed


    2/1 Elite enemies killed


    Gain reward: Money Box


    Chose reward: Sharpshooter Medal (2), Vigor Medals (2) Sharpshooter Medal (1) Vigor Medal (1).


    Estaria was unsure what Vigor medals were, so accepted the option where she got both. Her new trait increased the rewards, and so she got two of both medals. And there had been many a man who had fallen beneath her sword and gun, so she got cleared that quest three times, getting 6 medals and three Money boxes. They were opened, and a random amount of gold given to her. While it didn¡¯t seem like much, it was still welcome. And then she looked over the Vigor medals shop. It was similar to the Boss and Sharpshooter shops but dealt with the physical side of things. Melee weapons, shields, some potions. Medals counted for two tokens, and there was a potion called ¡°The Long Haul¡± which she bought, and then withdrew and drunk.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    The Long Haul used. Stamina increased by +5


    While Estaria was thankful for making her Stamina better, the potion tasted like old shoes. But with this, her stamina was equal to her strength, mostly because of the run that was hell, every day for nearly a week. It had given her many stamina points. She then looked to the Sharpshooter Medals. She did want to get the pistol, but¡­.


    Quicksilver Potion used. Agility increased by +5


    Up to 42. With Celerity, she would have 62 Agility for movement. Not that it really meant anything, she didn¡¯t know what the average was. Unless the average was 10. Which would make sense, she was an average woman when it came to the sword, and so her strength was 10 when she was level 1. Leaving the shop, for now, she would go ogle what things she could buy later, Estaria slid out of bed and walked to the door out of the bedroom. It could only have been a few steps, and yet she felt so strange doing it. She felt off balance by being far too on balance. She was more stable than this building and it was a disconcerting feeling to be so pristinely balanced. She wasn¡¯t meant to be this well balanced, humans were not designed to be this balanced. She kept thinking she was going to fall over because the idea of being too balanced was not one she could grasp and so her brain was defaulting to not balanced enough. Clutching to the door as if it was a stable mast in a storm, she slowly opened it and headed out. Every step was one of grace, and her head told her she should be wobbling all over the place, even though her body barely twitched.


    Getting to the staircase, a servant spotted her and then returned to the kitchen, almost as if her appearance was why she had scurried back into the kitchen. Well, at least she didn¡¯t have to have anyone watch her walk with legs too long and balance too much. The stairs were not wide, but even on her tip-toes, she felt as if they were as broad as the floor itself. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, she decided that it was just not going to work like this. Worrying about it was like a new recruit fretting over his inexperience. It wouldn¡¯t just vanish overnight, and only experience would solve this issue. So she took a breath and did her best to stop worrying about it. It was still weird, but she was focused on other things.


    Like how her steps felt way too small and her legs way too long. It was like she was just shuffling along, barely moving one foot from the other. And so when the servant who had fled the sight returned, she found Estaria walking the length of the room, and then turning and walking back. Her strides were broad and her gait was beautiful. The woman was so fast it took her a few seconds to clear the distance before turning to do it again. But as for why¡­.maybe she had hit her head? The servant gave a light cough, and Estaria looked up from her striding.


    The servant was holding a cup of something, and it was steaming hot, indicating it had just been made. Maybe the servant fled to go make it. Who knew with these kinds of people.


    ¡°Ahh, thank you¡± Estaria said as she was handed the cup and took a sip. She could tell from the taste of it that it was the same as the stuff she had been given in the siege like a man can tell a misshapen bit of metal and a mastercrafted sword are still both swords. But the taste was something else entirely. The man really was right that the cold did nothing for its taste. She could quite enjoy this beverage.


    ¡°So, where do I find some clothes?¡± she asked the maid. The maid gestured to follow her and then ascended the stairs again. She wasn''t talking though. Which, was a strange thing. Maybe it had something to do with the nice silk scarf she was wearing around her neck? Estaria didn¡¯t want to push the point in case it was a bad set of memories for her, so just let herself get guided to a nice set of clothes, which she then donned. Finishing the cup, she replaced it in the kitchen and then went out into the world. With the bustle of the city, you wouldn¡¯t have thought it was besieged by thousands only yesterday. Striding out into the streets and using it to get her legs under her, she found herself at the Redoubt, where many a man had perished. Borrago was there and waved to Estaria as she arrived, but even before he said anything, she noticed a very strange thing.


    All the Chaos Warriors and all the Norscans were naked. Stripped to their skin and with no sign of where the loot was. She thought it highly industrious of the Middenhiemers before Borrago came over.


    ¡°Good to see you up Captain. Was a scare to see you collapse. But most have their heads full with this conundrum. When we came out this morning, every foe had been stripped clean, down to their underwear, if they had any, to begin with. Nobody can explain it either!¡± His voice was part worried, part wonderous at this sudden and unexpected turn of events. All Estaria could do was smile and nod in amazement. How could she give her only theory of what had happened to him? That all the men had been stripped by the system, and all the things had been sold off. Looking about her, there was much work to be done, and two quests popped up by her side, enlightening her to new things.


    Dynamic quest started:


    Move bodies to the pyre: 0/20


    Move bodies to the Cart: 0/20


    Run to gather supplies: 0/5km


    The dynamic quest was, an interesting concept. Plus, no shortage of bodies, so she¡¯d certainly be able to overcompleted this one. And if it was repeatable, get a lot of stuff out of it. Whatever the rewards were.

 Chapter 6

    Well, that was just bad format. The Dynamic quests were actually two different quests, but some glitch in the system or something had caused them to come up looking like they were the same. Still, the quests were run and done, a whole day was spent¡­.running, actually. When it came out that Estaria could somehow move like she had lightning in her veins, everyone wanted her to go here and get this, go here and get that. She felt like a courier and not a Captain. By the end of the day, she got the carrying bodies quest done, once. The running to collect quest, however, was overdone a solid half dozen times. She had covered every inch of Middenhiem by the end of the day, but much was done because of that. Strength increased from all the carrying, Agility from all the running, and Stamina because Estaria didn¡¯t slouch when she was asked to get something. She ran for it.


    In bed after the long day, she finished the carry quest and got a potion. ¡°Potion Of Lesser Experience¡±. Which was actually really good. The bar was close to ending so a quick push would be good. Withdrawing it from her inventory and downing it, it tasted of strawberries. Gods, she could buy them just for the taste if nothing else.


    Experience limit reached. Please choose a Job to continue gaining experience


    The box came suddenly, mostly because Estaria was focused on the taste of the potion. But with the box bringing her back she turned on the status screen and opened the flashing Job box. There was a list of several, but they were pretty simple and didn¡¯t entice her. This was going to be important. And then she saw one with orange text. Mostly because it really did have telepathic communication with her, the box to explain her question came up as soon as she mentally asked it.


    Orange Jobs are superior to normal jobs. However, they require passing a Job Quest to obtain


    Estaria looked at the job - Captain, which was pretty fitting - and then back to herself. It was no use deciding to jump right into this job quest without preparing, that was just stupid. So she shot job down for the moment and opened the dynamic quests for running. Here she completed 6 of them, earning her six of those delightful potions, and her choice of six others. Hovering over, there was Lesser Quicksilver Potion, Lesser Guile Potion, and Lesser Acuity Potion. After a very quick bout of thinking, four Guile and two Acuity potions were picked. She really didn¡¯t need more Agility right now. Was still coming to grasp with what she had.


    Despite how good they tasted, Estaria put the experience potions away in the inventory for now and withdrew the Guile potions. Holding onto her sheet for support, she popped open the top and drunk the content. It tasted, like a sweet apple. Maybe, the taste was evocative of her main stats? While the experience was for everyone, the Stamina potion tasted like old shoes. Testing out the Acuity potion, she got a mellow tinge of chocolate. Which all but confirmed her theory that these were good tasting because that was her main stat! They were downed by her, and then another pop-up came, unexpectedly.


    50 Dexterity, Second Slice unlocked.


    Second Slice - The blade is like flowing water, always moving from one spot to the next with incredible grace. Spend Cool to make a second melee attack immediately after the first.


    Another Cool-powered technique. Now she was superpowered in both aspects of combat, her long-range covered by Quick Load and her melee range covered by Second Slice. And speaking of melee range...She had spent the day considering what she was going to do, and finally, come to the conclusion that at least some of it was going to be spent in the Temple of Ulric. Estaria didn¡¯t know what happened to the money spent there, but it seemed to please theGod if nothing else. So she got some shoes on and shuffled on over in her civilian clothing. Not, that that dampened the recognizing at all, a lot of night workers gave her a wave as she passed, and one Night Watchman even offered to escort her to the temple when she told him where she was heading. It was cute, but she refused, stating that it was the great work of him and his peers that allowed a woman to walk to the temple by herself and feel safe. He seemed both embarrassed and emboldened by that, and went off into the night, his chest out and his confidence against the monsters in the shadows radiating as brightly as his lamp.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Eventually, Estaria got to the temple, and the pop-up told her she was entering holy ground. The offerings shop was opened, and she picked up Holy Offering, dropping 20,000 gold pieces into this handful of reeds. As simple as it seemed, she could really feel the power radiating off it. Heads were turned as she walked towards the fire, clearly not the only one to recognize it¡¯s feel. And then when she threw it into the fire, a most beautiful sight was shown before her. The flame twisted and rose, like a wolf running out of the flame and up, up into the sky. Murmurs of Good Omens and Ulric¡¯s Approval filled the air as people began to talk. Some flicking glances at Estaria before getting back to their talk. This was really going to blow up, wasn¡¯t it? She really didn¡¯t need heralding as some sort of chosen of Ulric or whatever else they were planning. Letting out a soft sigh, she saw the new pop up as she gave the offering.


    Ulric¡¯s Boon - +20 to Strength, +20 to Constitution.


    Mercy Of The Wolf - deal double damage against foes with 25% health remaining.


    The strength and constitution were considerable, and Estaria felt herself filling out, her civilian uniform getting tighter as the stats affected her physical build. Wasn¡¯t just the still-strange walking from Agility, but also her physique from Strength. An errant thought flashed in her head that she needed to check herself out in a mirror sometime. Muscular women always made her tick in a way nothing else did. But that was slapped out of her, it was no time to be going ogling her own body. Instead, she was going to the shop. Leaving the Temple to avoid anyone tempted to come over and bother her, she opened the shop item and flicked through, much more money for a spending spree now.


    One item that caught her eye was a Barrel of Bugman¡¯s XXXXXX. It made Estaria smile, and give a soft laugh. For 5,000 a barrel, she¡¯d be making some dwarven friends with that. She bought four, and her inventory was now ladened with copious amounts of the best booze you could hope to find. Prices increased as she scrolled down, and then something made her splutter. Gromril was for sale. Starting at a fist-sized chunk for 10,000 and currently the most expensive she could afford for 150,000 was a boulder half the size of a man. While that was her stash from the Siege wiped out, that much Gromril wouldn¡¯t just make her a friend. She could probably buy a Dwarf Hold. Even the fist-sized chunk, too small to be made into anything proper by itself, would get you fast friends with any Dwarf you gave it to. And you really would need to give it to a Dwarf, since nobody else could do anything with it.


    Taking a few breaths so she didn¡¯t do anything rash and buy something that wouldn¡¯t be of use for at least another month, she scanned the lists for more and came across a 50,000 sword. ¡°Blade Of Ulric¡± it was called. And while she really didn¡¯t need to throw any more fuel on the fire, she clicked it up.


    Blade Of Ulric - The Wolf God¡¯s fang, forged into a mighty scimitar to fell his foes and bring honour to his followers!


    Looking through its stats, she saw it had high damage, good armour penetration and ¡°Breath Of Winter¡± which dealt additional frost damage and reduced fire damage when wielded. Well worth the price tag, and so Estaria got it. Withdrawing it from the inventory, Estaria admired the blade. It was beautiful, the handle exquisitely crafted, the edge glistening with the soft frost of early winter, and the blade inscribed with runes she¡¯d have to show a historian or librarian or another smart guy to understand. Returning it to her sheath, Estaria got back to her room, dressed in her combat regalia, spent a good hour cleaning her pistols with her cleaning kit, and then opened the job screen, and accepted the challenge for the Captain job. The world went white, and Estaria could only hold her breath in anticipation of what was to come

 Chapter 7

    In an instant, she found herself at the head of a small squad. Thirty people in all, and she had kept her own equipment, which was good. If she had to do this without the new Blade Of Ulric, things would probably suck. Mostly because the siege was done and she¡¯d have to wait for ages to test it out otherwise.


    Complete the Patrol with more than 60% of the squad remaining


    Looking over at her men, she sawthat they were the clumsy-in-the-field volunteers kind of men who could barely march and were not wearing armour that fit them very well. The test would be more keeping them alive than anything else. She was sure there would be some enemies coming to try to kill her and her men but wasn¡¯t sure what. And that was what put her on edge, waiting for the enemy to arrive. And when they finally did, it caught everyone off guard with who it was. The vanguard scout came sprinting towards them, waving his hands dramatically and shouting.


    ¡°Rats! G-g-Giant rats!¡± he shouted, arriving in front of Estaria with a panicked face. She mentally sighed and resolved herself to the fact that this job would be her dealing with a group of paranoid levies. Reaching out to plant a hand on his shoulder, she gave him a comforting smile that she gave everyone who got spooked out in the field. It was a smile that everyone learned how to do because everyone got spooked now and then. It was the nature of such high tension.


    ¡°In a situation like this, you can see something at a glance and it can panic you. You can think you have seen something, and you can go running off to tell someone. But you can¡¯t report such things casually. As the forward scout, your report affects the entire squad. You have to be clear, you have to make sure that what you saw is what you saw. If it is not, then you have put everyone in peril¡± She finished her speech, and he seemed less panicked. A lot more towards the fact that he had seen something and worried rather than getting a clear view. It might have even worked if the speech didn¡¯t immediately lose all credibility as a man pointed and shouted.


    ¡°Gi-giant rats!¡± The man screamed. The cry of surprise and fear fluttered through the ranks. Even Estaria took a step back. There were many monsters of the world, so why had it made her giant rats?


    And then she took a step forward and looked to her men.


    ¡°So the rodents are a bit bigger than usual. I don¡¯t see any giant cats around here, so we have to kill them! Handgunners ready your weapons, Swordsmen gather in a line in front of them! They are threats to the Empire and will be killed as such!¡± Estaria¡¯s thunderous voice rocked the men on their heels and halted the rout. And then to punctuate her orders, she pulled out one of her pistols and put a bullet down-wind, Sub-targeting the closest rat¡¯s head. It was a white mook, and so its head was blown clean off. And then his friend was also downed as Estaria reloaded the gun with a flourish and fired again. Such precise shooting and the reloading trick that was most impressive gave the men the spine to follow orders and regain their positioning. Estaria¡¯s pistol was joined by handguns, but they were hastily and inaccurately fired, and only a few of the bullets in each volley made it to their intended targets. And so sooner than she had hoped, they were inundated with rat. Scabbed, Swollen with hunger and with dirt-crusted, matted fur, these creatures were desperate like a wild dog. Flailing claw and the occasional stabbing spear - they didn¡¯t even have weapons for the most part - couldn¡¯t hope to get through shield and armour, but the weight of number and desperation was doing what shouldn¡¯t be done and men were going down, shredded with tooth and claw even as they were cut apart.


    Seeing their friends be eaten by giant rats had an understandably adverse effect on the morale, but Estaria kept them in place with her grit and presence, eventually clearing the wave of rodent and concluding the situation. Three people had been mauled to death by the rats, one more was nursing a bleeding claw-strike across his face. And everyone was shaken.


    ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t exactly the first combat situation I wanted you guys to be in, but you did well. We¡¯ll finish up this patrol and-¡± Estaria was interrupted by the words of a beast behind her, which caused the whole squad to shrink back in fear.


    ¡°Kill-stab! Take Life-Bodies for Underempire!¡± the large, black-furred rat had a fractured grasp of how to talk, but that didn¡¯t make it any less intimidating. A large, well-equipped thing with a dozen others. Taller, broader, more menacing than the half-dead creatures that came before, it occurred to Estaria that the ones before had been to shake up the line and test their defences before the proper warriors arrived.


    The order to fire was one that went unheeded this time, and so with a curse, she just rushed the closest rat and struck with her Second Slice. The first blow knocked the vast majority of its luck down - and did some damage to health with the ice, it seemed magic didn¡¯t play nice with Luck - and then the second blow sent it sprawling to the ground, where it died. The second black-furred rat thrust his spear, and it bashed against her shield with a jarring thud. Her retaliatory swing clipped most of the luck, but she wasn¡¯t destined to kill it, as a pair of handgun bullets slammed into it. Having lost its Luck, the bullets hit home and felled the rat. Her radical charge into the enemy had emboldened her routing squad, at least enough to stand behind her jeering and shooting handguns. Although the way they shuffled back when it looked like she was going to retreat to them implied she was on her own as far as a fight went.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The support was helpful, as the Handguns snapped at anyone who tried to encircle her, and it seemed that despite being big and well armoured, the rats were not the bravest. None wanted to charge towards the group of gun-wielding men except in number, and every attempt to go around the woman in front would leave them exposed to the Handguns for too long before reaching the enemy. And so that lead to the only possible route, going through the woman. And so the sight of Estaria holding off a dozen giant rats while her men cowered behind her and fired off pot-shots whenever they thought they could, was branded into their minds. The woman captain carving up rats with her sword, each blow cleaving armour and spilling blood until by bullet and blade, there were no more rats left to fight.


    Turning back to her men with a scowl that sent them scurrying back as much as the giant rats had, she cocked her head and wordlessly ordered them to continue the march. It took them a minute to get back into line because nobody wanted to go near the rats and so gave them a wide berth, but eventually, they finished the patrol and got back to came, where Estaria delivered the report of giant rats to the Commander. And one of the black-furred rat¡¯s heads because she knew he would just laugh at her otherwise. Of course, it was spooky to see a giant rat¡¯s head dumped on your desk, but he acknowledged the risk that this presented to his camp, and that night there was double guards around the perimeter. Several squads came back undermanned, a few never came back at all, and it was putting everyone on edge.


    And then, the edge was justified. Rending the night and stirring people from their slumber was the crack of a handgun. All at once the camp came alive with activity, soldiers rushing from their tents to investigate the noise. And from there it was seen, a giant horde of rats descending upon them in the thousands. Chittering, screaming, raging forward like a tidal wave of fur and fang. The more disciplined handgunners among the camp quickly took to firing lines and delivered volleys into the horde, well experienced with the weight of number that many threats could bring. But the rounds were swallowed by the endless tide and there was nothing that could be done to slow it down. The night watchmen were simply absorbed into the teeming mass, and it surged towards the centre of the camp where the rest of the men gathered. And a new box.


    The Skaven Descend.


    Lovely and ominous. No quest, no direction, no anything. If these creatures were to overrun this camp, the city beyond them would be helpless. No warning of the oncoming horde, they would be at very least crippled, at worst crushed and emptied entirely. She could stay and fight, but the battle was so one-sided even her powerful attributes would do no good. And yet¡­


    ¡°Commander! Get a horse and go warn the city! We will hold them off long enough for your warning to matter. And take the head, so they can¡¯t just ignore you¡± She told him. He had the position and standing to make an impact in the courts, and would at least gain the support of the martial-minded nobles. He seemed shocked at the sudden, blunt nature of it all, but quickly felt the truth in the words, grabbed the head, and set off out of the camp on horseback. That was the city saved, but now she needed to deal with the camp. The camp they were all going to die in¡­


    Well, if it was her destiny to die in this quest to get a Job, then she was going to die with abloom. Returning to the front, she drew her pistol pair and unleashed both rounds, before quick-loading them and firing them off again. Her Cool ran dry from constant reloading, and then the pistols were discarded and she rushed into the fray, backed by swordsmen and halbarders to her sides and handgunners to her back. It was a fight far different from the siege of Middenhiem. There she fought for the city and her life, but here she fought to kill as many of the bastards as she could and to give the Commander as much time to get away as they could manage. A pile of rats grew in front of the line as blade and bullet cut them down like wheat, but no wall held forever. Man after man fell to the swords, the spears, and the fangs of the rats. Some of them were overcome and set about ripping apart whatever they could get their teeth into and eating it.


    Bullets ran out, and so the Handgunners made a desperate charge into the horde, and a momentary split in the wave gave Estaria the view of a large, heavily armoured rat-man, leading on the rest. She didn¡¯t know if this was real or fake, but given the power of the System, it could be either. Or both. And so she pushed off, charging through the hole in their line, swift as the greatest of horses. A lesser man would simply get caught in the throng as it closed back up, but Estaria was fast enough to keep ahead of the curve, and so ending with a great leap, she soared towards the Rat-man, smashing him from his perch with her shield. Rolling to recover from the landing, her blade swiftly took a sizeable chunk from his Luck bar, which was reciprocated very quickly. The rat was fast, and it struck with undue force, but it was a situation where Estaria could truly grasp the speed of her own movements.


    They clashed like lightning, a Rat-man squeaking in the broken tongue of rats, and Estaria blocking, dodging, and weaving. Eventually, with extended sub-targeting strikes, she disabled one of the Rat-man¡¯s legs. And with just enough Cool built up, she threw a Double Slice to his head. The first cut triggered a Critical Wound, and with the second, his head came away from his neck. Mercy Of The Wolf providing the damage needed to kill him dead. More black-furred rats came out from around her, screaming in what seemed to be happiness. Why they would be happy that their boss was dead she didn¡¯t know, but she geared herself for the fight. And as her health began to deplete, she was wondering when the quest would be over.


    30%...25%....20%.....15%.....the quest, would be over any minute¡­.10%.....5%.....any, minute¡­¡­..

 Chapter 8

Spoiler: Spoiler<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

 Chapter 9

    Suddenly, Estaria was back in her room. She didn¡¯t feel the last blow land, but she was sure it did. And yet, she did not die. That was such a relief, she couldn¡¯t handle dying twice in the same lifetime. And then, she was giving a simple box in front of her.


    Duty Unto Death.


    Was it, praising her for dying or was there a tone of judgemental disdain behind it, that death ends your duty and should not be rushed into? Shaking her head, she knew she was thrown off because she was questioning the philosophical meaning of a floating box only she could see. Screw that, there was training to be done. And interestingly, new training as well.


    Physical Training:


    0/4 Mook enemies killed (Melee)


    0/2 Elite enemies killed (melee)


    0/1 Boss enemy killed (melee)


    0/20 Sword Drill


    0/10km Run


    Agility training


    0/2 Mook enemies killed (ranged)


    0/1 Elite enemies killed (Ranged)


    0/1 Beam Walk


    0/1 Handstand for 5 seconds


    While her melee training was just average, kill more things, run more stuff, swing more sword, her not-Melee training had the addition of ¡°Handstand for 5 seconds¡±. She wondered how that would go down. As a child, she had never really done a handstand, or any other of the childish play, come to think of it. Plus¡­.Giant Rats. Did they exist? Were they created for the quest? Estaria was unsure, and that was the worst part. And then snapping back again, she wondered if her Agility was more varied because she was an agility character. It was certainly an interesting idea.


    While she was heading to the training ground, she scanned the shop for anything interesting, and eventually came across a 10,000gp ¡°Potion Of Greater Experience¡±. She grinned broadly and, lacking any self-control due to having possibly died at the hands of giant rats a few minutes ago, bought 6. Withdrawing the first one and taking off the top, it went down the hatch and froze Estaria in her steps. The taste of the potion was sublime. Never before in her life had she had such a tantalizing taste. Smooth, and rich, it¡¯s texture was perfect and the taste itself didn¡¯t overwhelm her. Even the level up boxes was in the way of the taste, and she had run through them before she even realized it. There was a lot of exp in each one, and she was now level 20, but that wasn¡¯t the point. She struggled with herself, trying not to buy more and simply stormed off to the training ground, here Celerity making good time, and giving her something to throw herself into. Sword Drills and running, a good way to work off strain. She got out of the danger zone and didn¡¯t quite feel so harrowed mentally, and so took a quick break before the dummies, to go over the stuff from her level ups.


    First Job Unlocked: Captain. Traits reduced to once every three levels.


    Ohh, that sucked. Getting fewer traits was always bad, but she did have plenty of them, to begin with, so it wasn¡¯t a massive issue. Keeping up the once every two levels would lead her to be inundated with Traits. She shut that down, and the second one popped up.


    Job Traits unlocked. These traits are special traits related to your Job.


    Who made this? Was there really a need to be so obvious? Shaking her head softly she shut that one down and there was a third. Seems she had ignored quite a bit.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    50 Precision: Advanced Sub-Targetting unlocked. Groin, Eye, Hands, Feet (arrow/knife/bolt only)


    Estaria felt herself cringe upon seeing ¡°Groin¡± but kept reading anyway.


    Groin: Deals high damage and stuns the enemy when hit. Destroying the Groin causes stun bypassing Resistance.


    Ulric, could she cringe harder? The idea of putting a bullet through a person¡¯s testicle just made her clamp up, despite not having anything down there to be shot.


    Eye: Very difficult shot, but deals immense damage. Destroying the Eye causes instant death or Critical Wound


    That, one made sense. There wasn¡¯t much to the eyeball, and sticking a bullet through it was going to go right to the brainpan.


    Hands: Hitting the Hands will immediately disarm the foe. Destroying the Hands will cause the destroyed hand to be unable to be used.


    Feet(Arrow/Knife/Bolt only): Hitting the Foot immediately stops a person¡¯s movement. Destroying the foot cuts movement speed by one quarter.


    Well, there was a nice bit to counter the cringe of the groin. It was like the old tales where the hero archer pinned a man to the ground with an arrow. Wasn¡¯t something she was going to do though, she used black powder, rather than arrows, bolts, or knives.


    50 Agility: Weight-Spread unlocked.


    Weight-Spread: Your weight counts ? of its actual number for the sake of unstable footholds.


    That looked to be the last box. Letting out a soft sigh from the immense information thrown at her through this one, she was back into work. With the work she did from the basic training, she had more bullets than she knew what to do with. A few hundred standard ones and a hundred Nuln-Forged. They had been used extensively in the siege, to great effect. And the normal ones would allow her to train for weeks on end, even if she didn¡¯t get more as a reward for doing it.


    The Dummies were so below her level at this point that the fight was a joke. She split them in half with one swing. Which wasn¡¯t a surprise for the Mooks, or the Elites, but taking out the boss with a single swing was emboldening and enticing. She was getting strong. Of course, the Ulric¡¯s Boon and the sword would help a lot for that but still. She was going to have her ego moment and like it!


    Physical Training:


    4/4 Mook enemies killed (Melee)


    4/2 Elite enemies killed (melee)


    4/1 Boss enemy killed (melee)


    20/20 Sword Drill


    10/10km Run


    Advanced Physical Training Complete: 2 skill points to spend on Strength, Stamina, Constitution


    The training couldn¡¯t be over-completed, which was sad. But she wasn¡¯t going to complain, she was getting free points for this. Stamina was way ahead of Strength and Constitution due to panic buying when she had just started this, so those pointed needed to go into the others. Ulric¡¯s boon was keeping them nice and high, but it seemed artificial values didn¡¯t give the stat traits. So one point in each. And then another box. One that, while she should have expected but was caught by surprise anyway.


    Hidden Quest Complete


    Kill Mook Dummy with one Swing: 2/1


    Kill Elite Dummy with one Swing: 2/1


    Kill Boss Dummy with one Swing: 2/1


    Accept Rewards? (Vigor Token, Random Box)


    Vigour token. Not so important for her because of her Main Stats being different. But she¡¯d probably stockpile them anyway and see if there was anything cool when they built up. The random box was also interesting, and so she opened that, but it only rolled some different swords and they weren¡¯t all that helpful for her with Ulric¡¯s Fang. She¡¯d make Borrago a gift if there was anything that caught her eye. Giving herself a few moments before going off to the Agility training, she rolled through the Vigor shop. She hadn¡¯t really looked properly last time.


    It was here, she got a red-backed thing with a very angry LOCKED text across it. That¡­.was a new thing. She tapped it and got a bigger red box.


    This is Locked. Complete special requirements to unlock it


    She could almost feel the snappy bite in the first sentence. And what those special requirements were, wasn¡¯t even hinted at.


    ¡°Bloody thing. All right, then keep your secrets¡± she shook her head, closed it down and headed off to the firing range. This was easy. That Hidden Quest was so easy to complete these days. One, two, three. Tokens and box. Box gave her more bullets. And it was all good. Heading to the Agility training, the handstand and beam walk was done. The Handstand was strange, but she couldn¡¯t say she didn¡¯t like it. The two points went into dexterity because she was really enjoying how easily her sword was to wield. It flowed like silk across the skin, and that was a boon beyond most in the battlefield. And then finally, with her training done, she headed back to her room, pulled open the status screen, and looked over the two traits she got.


    Two were orange-edged and certainly had an interesting name. Clearly, a Job Trait.


    So she tapped it to read up on it.


    For The Empire!: A steely shout to light a fire in the hearts of your men! +10 to all stats (Excluding yourself) to anyone who can hear your shout.


    Captain¡¯s Shadow: Snap of a Captain¡¯s finger, and the target falls. Designate a target to be hit with a Hotchland Long Rifle bullet. Usable every 10 minutes.


    Fair traits they were. And so Estaria caught some sleep, for what tomorrow would bring.

 Chapter 10

    The training went on for a week, with every day making Estaria feel more and more powerful.. Her dexterity was growing in leaps and bounds, and this new ¡°Advanced¡± training was making it even faster. Her sword was like a light, streaking through the air and bringing death to dummies. She wondered how it would go for a real target. Probably, really badly. Estaria was acutely aware of meetings going on around her, but she didn¡¯t feel like she was someone who was needed. A low-born captain didn¡¯t need to attend now the siege was done. Plus, she had other problems. A few days into moving the bodies, they came across the Warrior-Priest, at the gates. His grim visage marred by multiple fresh scars, and his armour pitted with axe wounds, he died clenching his hammer, and the bodies of Chaos lay all around him.


    While he died valiantly, he still died, and it was playing hell on morale. A man like that, being felled by the foul forces of chaos, was seen by many as the foulest omen of what was to come for the Empire as a whole. Added to the fact the Middenhiemers didn¡¯t hesitate to bring up the fact that their warrior priest had survived, and this was an omen of what Southerners could do against the Chaos Horde. Which was a really strange mindset to have, but The Empire really didn¡¯t like itself. She had four men in stocks from fighting with the Middenhiemers, and more were probably going to follow. With no Chaos left to fight, the tension, cultural and religious, between North and South grew to clashing. And Estaria just hoped they could get out of here with an intact regiment.


    Fortunately, she had gotten orders this morning to return to Altdorf, and so today was spent gathering the men and preparing for departure. It was hard, as disgruntled soldiers were scattered across the city in less than ready states of being. Still, Borrago and the other sargents took no excuse, and her column was filled by mid-day, with the bruised and hungover vagrants as much as the men who had arrived within the hour, raring to get home and out of this strange, cold place. The march would be slow, and they would be lucky to get out of the immediate surroundings of Middenhiem before night fell. The plan was to return to Altdorf directly, through the road that cut through Drakwald Forest. Of course, that plan didn¡¯t go down well at all due to the infestation of creatures that lingered in Drakwald, but even in these times it was patrolled and guarded. A much better choice than taking the Old North Road to Marienburg and then going to Altdorf from there.


    Deciding to try and motivate people, Estaria announced that if they madegood time they would camp in one of the fortified inns that were along the forest road. But she wasn¡¯t sure how good it was at that goal because she was distracted by a man standing by the gate with his guard retinue.


    ¡°I have heard you name, Captain Zashira, and I thank you for the support you have led to my city. I heard you fought with great passion in the siege. It is women like you that the Empire needs if it is going to survive. The Al-Uric mentioned his desire to see you stay, but this is not ours to decide¡±


    Estaria listened, and felt abashed by the compliments of the one-eyed elector count. She could lead and she could fight, but being called out and brought to the spotlight was something she suffered under.


    ¡°Give this letter to those in Altdorf. I would send a runner, but you are heading that way anyway¡± Borris handed Estaria a letter, who quickly put it in her inventory so it would come to no harm. With that done, he nodded and bid them save travels before returning to the castle proper. Estaria took this opportunity to leave before anyone else tried to come and start anything. Gods, she hoped this whole Ulric business would stay here in Middenheim. She was no hero, no chosen, just a Captain. With, a strange system that made her a superhuman monster¡­Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    The march was slow and fortunately uneventful. Camping was equally uneventful, and they met none of the monsters that the forest was famous for in the first few days.


    ¡°Excited to see some Beastmen, Borrago?¡± Estaria asked with a grin on the third day.


    ¡°Haha! I know all the best recipes for Beastman! Some Minotaur Steak would put some steel into the spine of these men!¡± His thunderous boom was heard quite far, and the debate of Minotaur steak and other food made from Beastman sparked into being, with some discussing the taste and the culinary techniques needed, while others pondered the moral and theological impact of such food.


    While in camp on the third night, Estaria thought to skim the shop to see what she could ear-mark for later use. There, she saw a collection of keys to what were called ¡°Dungeons¡±. Drakwald Dungeons. Each key had a rating and were relatively cheap. The S-rank key that promised such good fun, was only 10,000, where as the D-rank was 500. Buying one of every rank, she first took out the D-rank and held it in her hand. A few seconds passed before she got herself a box.


    Enter Dungeon? Yes/No


    The answer was obvious. She wouldn¡¯t have bought the damn thing if she wasn¡¯t going to enter, so it was exactly what she did and the world turned white for a few moments before depositing her outside a small campfire. A small box popped up in front of her to explain the situations.


    Dungeons are localized instances where you face challenges relevant to the location you have entered the dungeon from. Each dungeon has a monster superior to the rest, and larger dungeons can have several. A Dungeon is complete and the rewards given when all the monsters are killed - for smaller dungeons - or the final boss slain - for lager dungeons. Slaying more monsters will grant additional rewards. Monsters respawn if the boss is still alive, to a maximum of 5 times. Wounds gained in the dungeon are healed when you leave, but dying in the dungeon will cause a temporary debuff outside and inside other dungeons, as well as ejecting you without a reward. Escaping a Dungeon can be done at any time, forgoing completion bonus and half the gathered rewards. Fatigue gained in Dungeons is retained.


    Having Dungeon keys all the way up to S-rank would let her see the scope and scale of these dungeons. They could be a great source of money and experience if there were good creatures in them, but getting to greedy could lead her to die in the dungeon and lose all the gold. For this one though, she felt far outleveled. White-level mooks and a white level elite as the dungeon boss. A dozen small, hornless creatures braying around the fire while eating something Estaria decided to not look into. One creature, slightly taller with stubby, half-horns, looked over them. Well, she was only here to test this whole thing out. Estaria clicked her fingers, and a cracking bang rang out, the half-horned creature taking a bullet to the head and expiring quickly. The dozen braying creatures looked up, but they were not quick enough to catch Estaria bursting from the bushes with unnatural speed. Driving the Blade of Ulric into the chest of the first creature, she gave a graceful spin and beheaded the second.


    In a whirl of motion, a dozen creatures laid dead at her feet. These creatures were hardly worth calling a challenge to anything that wasn¡¯t a farmhand, so it was a poor show of her skill, but did let her understand what was going on inside.


    Dungeon complete! 700+150 gold earned. Exitting in 10 seconds


    So, no more D-ranks then. Possibly these things were something she was meant to learn of earlier. Or before she got into a massive Horde Battle that gave her some thirteen or so levels. With one final flash, she was back in camp. There was still a few days of marching to go, and it wouldn¡¯t do to go through all of her dungeons in one day, so she decided to try some more tomorrow. Dealing with the men, she got some food and then went to bed.

 Chapter 11

    Breaking camp and setting off, the lack of activity was not to last, as the vanguard scouts came back to report that a large Beastman horde had broken into one of the small forts along the road and was currently fighting the beleaguered garrison. Ordering a double-time at the news, Estaria¡¯s column took flight. Most men had recovered from their lack of self-control in Middenhiem, but not really from the loss of morale caused by the dead priest and goading of the Northerners. Still, any man would run to the aid of another when the Beastmen were involved. The battle was going poorly for the fort, but that meant it was going to go well for the sudden reinforcements, as they crashed through the gate and took up positions there, a sudden fanged wall to their backs, and handguns besides. Estaria then rose her sword and let out a deep bellow to be heard by every man.


    ¡°For The Empire!¡±


    Not only a shout for their morale but also the activation of her trait as a Captain, the men roared in return, the garrison of the fort pushing with renewed vigour, crushing Beastman between two flanks. Savagery and thick hides did not save them from the blades of the swordsmen, but it did allow them to exact a toll before finally being taken down. Finally, the last creature was brought low by Estaria¡¯s men, and the battle calmed. All was not over yet, however, because a deep, gullettal roar filled the air, and from the forest undergrowth burst a Minotaur and it¡¯s Bovigor followers. Borrago reacted sharply, his miniature cannon blowing off the Minotaurs kneecap and causing it to stumble and crash into the ground. Estaria took a pair of Bovigors, but the rest smashed into her line, tossing men and buckling armour with feral rage and great horns. Estaria sprinted into the thick of it with her disturbing grace, and her blade sung against Beastmen too feral, and thus considered Monsters. Her high strength and high-quality sword allowed her to do great damage to the beasts, but she was still on her toes for any shield work that needed doing.


    It was hard fought, considering there were less than a dozen, but eventually the last creature bled it¡¯s last into the ground. The crippled Minotaur didn¡¯t get its desire, and amidst a roar of defiance, it was torn apart by a volley from the Handgunners. Which was good, that thing was huge. With it dead, She got a box about how the ¡°Captain¡¯s Halflings¡± gathered the loot and sold them for 15,000. Which kind of made sense, not a lot of loot to be had from Beastmen. Unless you counted dirty fur and ancient weapons.


    ¡°These lot would be if anyone tried to escape, I¡¯m guessing¡± She commented, before looking around the bodies. She had educated herself on the enemies of the Empire, so best to work her ability to kill them. ¡°Did you find the Bestigor?¡± she asked the man who looked to be in charge. He gave a blank stare for a few moments, still shell-shocked and feeling like he had stared death in the face only to be pulled back a few seconds before the teeth snapped.


    ¡°Big thing. Large horns. Probably armoured¡± she expanded. It seemed to snap the man to the present because he shook his head. ¡°So it¡¯s still out there. You need to send a runner to replace your losses. I don¡¯t expect them to give up on this place¡± she told him. He didn¡¯t even question her, a sign that either he had gotten command because the true commander had lost his head, or that he was seriously stunned from the fight. Looking about, she could see the rest of the men. Now the fight was over, a dark cloud loomed over them. Desertions followed this kind of morale, so she let out a sigh and went to find the Quartermaster.


    ¡°Magic trick for you. Everyone out there is basically dead out there, morale-wise¡± She told the Quartermaster, who shook his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s Drakwald. Nobody is happy to be here¡± he replied a gruff growl to his voice. However, his jaw dropped when he saw Estaria pull a barrel out of nowhere.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try help out, hmm?¡± The barrel had ¡®Bugman¡¯s XXXXXX¡¯ on it, and she could see the Quartermaster¡¯s eyes glisten with admiration and desire.


    ¡°Where¡­?!¡± He was cut off by Estaria holding up a finger.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. You did. Rainy day, you know?¡± She gave him a knowing nod, and then went out. Basic camp had been broken, and wounded were being tended to while the dead were being prepared to burn. Apparently, people were not buried in Drakwald, the lot of them a superstitious bunch. Too drained emotionally and physically to even ask where all the equipment that Estaria¡¯s invisible Halflings took had gone.


    ¡°Alright! Quartermaster is putting on a show. But we gotta earn it because it¡¯s quite the show. We are going to need a barricade at the broken gate till it can get fixed¡± She told her men. There were grumbles, but the idea of getting invited to the show that was being put on was enough for them to gather boxes, scrap, and stakes to make a temporary barricade against anything that tried to come in. It wouldn¡¯t hold forever, but it would give them some time.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Alright lads!¡± came the shout of the Quartermaster. ¡°It¡¯s been a hell of a day and gonna be a hell of a night! That¡¯s why I brought this out. Any man who volunteers for sentry duty gets double helping. Just take care! It¡¯s a strong drink, and we don¡¯t need a bunch of lifeless dullards¡± He put the Bugman¡¯s barrel in front of him, and word quickly spread across the fort. Sentry duty was well filled that night, and Estaria got a cup of what was considered liquid gold by many. Taking a swig, she could really get behind its reputation. Smooth, but with a strong taste and not with the acrid burn that strong alcohol usually had. She was tempted just to spend all her gold on barrels of this and open a tavern. Dungeons to keep her in supply, and a happy town.


    Still, that went the same way as her idea to retire in Bretonnia. So after finishing off the cup and getting dinner - Borrago cooked his Minotaur Steak marinated in Bugman¡¯s as well as other dishes - she looked at the key to a C-rank dungeon. Time to explore!


    Are you-


    She didn¡¯t even bother reading the whole of it before hitting the yes button and getting transported into the dungeon. Campfires ahead of her, she brought up something she rarely used. This system did have a minimap, but most of the time it was easier to talk to someone than try to translate it. The map gave her a great sense of scale. The camp ahead was self-contained, but was on the wings of a larger camp, with a second satellite camp on the other wing of the large camp. Like the way a larger war host would break camp. She knew these creatures could make a loud noise, but a firearm was louder, and out of place, so she wasn¡¯t going to use one of them. Plus, these places did respawn as long as the boss was still around.


    Walking up, she saw the enemy were light orange, more like yellow. Maybe a level ahead of her, they would require a fair amount of time for her to get advantageous reaping from. So, B-rank it was for farming. Kicking off with her incredible speed, she slammed into the back of one of the Ungor. Bigger and stronger than the Brays, they were still pretty human in their size and durability. So her blade slipped in and stole his life. The shock of her sudden, swift arrival allowed her to cut down three of them before they reacted to her presence. Each slash killed another creature, the skin freezing from the runes that adorned her blade. As she cut through the Ungor like chaff, she felt like a God descending to the earth to smite the unfaithful. It was a foolish thought to have since these creatures were a match for the regular footman but could hardly hold up to veterans, Knights and Greatswordsmen. But it was not something she could really hold off. Turning the camp to a bloodbath, she flicked off her sword and took off, circumventing the large camp and arriving at the second small one. There she delivered bloody vengeance on their existence, before walking into the main camp. Sparsely populated, this was the commander¡¯s camp, as she saw not Ungor but Gor. Large things, as much beast as man and thick hides. All a standard orange, which made the blood-soaked Estaria grin.


    The Ungor had not been a challenge enough to do more than a small chunk of damage to her luck bar, and the blood that covered her was scented as their own, leaving the Gor wary. And then, out of the far tent, came a large creature with magnificent horns. It spoke, but in a harsh language Estaria had no understanding of - although a box did pop up with a progression bar of comprehension, which was a system she was totally ignorant of, plus an option to spend XP to speed up the progress - but with the new box she had, she felt it would be, at very least fun to talk back, at most a tactical advantage to understand the enemy. And so she spent the xp and suddenly, it¡¯s words made sense.


    ¡°--Of Gnak Bonechewer! We will grind man-thing into the ground, make you part of Gnak. Make you strong like Gnak!¡± the bellow was strange to understand but even stronger to reply.


    ¡°I dunno. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d like to be part of you. I like having a bath, ya know?¡± She grinned as Gnak just stood there, shocked that Estaria had responded.


    ¡°...We will kill talking man-thing!¡± Gnak most elegantly shouted. Growling and braying filled the camp but Estaria shouted before they charged. It was a gamble on what she was going to do, but with the Brays having no horns, the Ungor having stubby horns, and the Bestigors having rather magnificent horns, she thought that horns were rather important in their culture.


    ¡°Fake-Horned Cretin! Can you not face me yourself?!¡± she retorted. Stunned into silence, the roar of outrage from Gnak was thrice as loud.


    ¡°Will kill! Will eat! Man-Thing is Gnaks!!¡± right on the money. Horns were a touchy subject. It rushed at her and Estaria first thought to slow his charge with a swing, but the creature was enraged and would probably charge through it, so she threw herself to the side, letting him charge wide before using her speed to blitz past him, taking a piece out of his luck bar, before spinning and taking the second piece. His frenzied rage couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the Dexterity that Estaria possessed, and every attack was deflected and parried, answered with a lightning-fast riposte. It was not long before she gave him a critical wound and then ended him spectacularly with a called shot to the head, decapitating him in a mighty blow. So this was her powers. A woman could get addicted to this kind of skill.


    Boss defeated. Exit dungeon?


    Estaria, hit no. Wanting to exploit this power a bit more. The Gors stared at their fallen Bestigor but didn¡¯t get enough time to register it properly before the controlled devastation of Estaria was upon them. It didn¡¯t last long.


    Total Obliteration. 5000+2000 gold. Bestigor Blood earned. Exiting in 10 seconds.


    Once arriving back in the world, she checked her fatigue. Seeing it around 31%, she decided to just catch some sleep. Extensive murder was rather exhausting. And she¡¯d rather not ruin the taste and memory of Bugman¡¯s with Bestigor blood. That certainly did not sound appetizing at all.

 Chapter 12

    Waking in the morning, the mood was better than yesterday night. Probably because of the excellent beer and feeling of comradery. She learned later from Borrago that this was a home fort, where people lived, and so the soldiers wives had come out later to dance for them, joined by some of the drunker husbands. It had been a bright night, and truly showcased the brilliance of humanity. And to add to that, the morning showed a relief force coming through the barricade made at the gate, with men to replace that which was lost and materials to replace the gate. Beastmen could attack again, but they would face the same situation as they faced before, possible defeat even without Estaria¡¯s intervention.


    With high spirits and a lot of drunks, Estaria shook her head and worked out a sharing of rations so that her men could stay a day or two and recover from the hangover before heading out to Drakwald. Borrago shared his recipes to ensure that the Drakwald Fort could reinforce their rations with meat. The big man had been industrious last night, and so there was a lot of prepared, salted meat that was shared between the fort and her column. Estaria looked to the B-rank key in her hand, and thought about it. Did she want to run into a Minotaur? It was a question she pondered for a short while after returning to her tent. To allow her some moments to think, she took out the Bestigor blood and knocked it back, blanching at the taste and general act.


    Blood consumed. Random Physical Stat increased


    Well, yay, she guessed. Still debatable if it was worth it. Shutting that box down, there was a second one beneath it.


    50 strength: Overwhelming - A mighty blow can fell a hardy foe in one swing! Damage that causes a Critical Wound now spills over (but does not create a second Critical Wound)


    That, would be helpful against bosses and monsters. And now, to go test it out. No more procrastinating, she brought out the B-rank and used it.


    Do yo-


    The flash of light took her to the dungeon, and it was not a camp, but instead a fort. Burning and broken, it had clearly just suffered from a severe Beastman attack. Opening the mini-map, she saw herself inundated with dots. Too many to fight, even for her, she¡¯d be overwhelmed. She¡¯d need to think tactically. There was a nice expanse outside the fort, she wasn¡¯t restricted to fighting in there exclusively. So, with a bit of thought, she gave a smile, and walked through the gate. Drawing her pistol, she shot one of the Ungors in the head, and got the attentions of everyone. All manner of Gors, a surprisingly slim amount of Ungors, and no Brays. This was a true Warherd. Drawing the attention of everyone in earshot, she grinned and then ran away, followed by raging hordes of monster. The lack of Centigors meant that they couldn¡¯t keep up with her, however, and so she was able to circle around and double-back into the courtyard, and then face a reduced force of those who were either too far away to start the run or didn¡¯t want to give up their dinner.


    Estaria had hoped to get some of the fat trimmed before the large party she led out came back, but Gors were stronger than Ungors. The previous ones she had faced were few in number and shocked at the Bestigor¡¯s sudden decapitation. These beasts were more numerous and ready for a fight, so she had to work at killing them. She was fast but they were ferocious, and several attacks had to be aborted to avoid a wild swing that would not have done her any favours.  She had five of them dead by the time the roar behind her signaled the return of the bulk. Not a favourable number, andGors were cunning, a human intelligence behind that bestial savagery. Two pistol shots went through the eyes of the closest Gors, and then Estaria darted away, up the walls where she could get an advantage of height on them, and be somewhat secured. The steps up to the wall were made for human feet, not bestial hooves, and the Gors - Bovigors especially - were too large a creature to handily traverse the stone steps. Given time, they would be able to make the ascent, but Estaria had no desire to give them time. The closest Gors took fire from her pistols, their blood and entrails slicked the stone steps, making it even more of a hellish foothold.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Eventually, however, her Cool ran out, and she could no longer reload with a flourish. She would have to put her sword away to do the reload, and that was not something she wanted to do. Plus, a spear whizzed past her head and made her turn to the Gor on the ground. Furious over being unable to reach her, they had begun to throw things at her. With little choice remaining - she could not return fire on them and the creatures climbing the stairs with any degree of speed to keep them both at bay - she let out a soft sigh of resignation and leaped off the walls, into the mass of Gor. Her blade came down and seperated a Gor into two halves, before disarming another. Using her shield as much as a weapon than a defensive piece of equipment, she tore her way out of the Gors that had gathered. B-rank truly was the best place to farm for loot and exp. A-rank and S-rank would be way more than she could manage right now. B-rank was enough of a challenge that she had no luck and 80% health by the time she had finished with these Gors.


    Taking a moment to catch her breath and regenerate her luck, she reloaded her pistols and then realized these buggers would respawn if she didn¡¯t kill the boss. So she moved on, into the keep. Larger, better equipped Gors stood in her path, but their numbers were less, so she could deal with them much easier. She was a duelist kind of girl, excellent against a single target, but not so great against hordes. Eventually, she got into the centre of the keep, where a giant Minotaur stood next to a smaller Bestigor.


    ¡°How is this woman here? The Warherd sits outside¡± the Bestigor spoke. So, coherent. Clearly a dangerous Bestigor. Maybe even on it¡¯s way to Beastlord.


    ¡°Killed them¡± Estaria replied, her voice choppy and short to hide the fact that she was still recovering from the fight outside, and not enough to have gone through the Gors outside.


    ¡°Through many Gor by yourself, and speak the Beast Tongue. A most strange thing..¡± The Bestigor cocked it¡¯s head, as if studying her. But the blood-red coating on Estaria¡¯s armour was too much for the Minotaur.


    With a roar, it rushed her, wanting to get into the gore-slick fight, to crush, and kill. When one was not intimidated by the size of the thing, there was an advantage to a woman fighting a Minotaur. As it charged, she rushed in herself, before sliding along her knees slashing at it¡¯s leg. Gods, it was like hitting a tree-trunk! She cut the thing but not deep enough to be notable. And the Minotaur saw her slide and span around, it¡¯s crude hammer club smashing against Estaria¡¯s shield and knocking her clean off her feet. The second charge was met probably not so intelligently. Shield up and braced, she rushed the creature at her full speed, bouncing off him but feeling something break as the force of his charge met with the force of Estaria¡¯s own shield. Her body was slowly, not aching so much. The pain was drifting away and getting replaced with a focused zeal, a rush of adrenaline and hyper-focused mentality in such a dangerous situation she might die - if only in a dungeon. Getting back to her feet she rushed forward with a thrust of her blade, driving it two inches into his chest, which gave her an elated feeling of victory and meant she totally missed the head that smashed her clean off her feet and into the wall, some three foot above the floor. The fall from that one was not gentle. *AND* her sword was now in his chest.


    But that was not the end. Instead, Estaria just grinned and had a mad plan. Drawing her pistol while the Minotaur roared from the frostbite growing out from the freezing blade, she zeroed in and pulled the trigger. The ball flew through the air, and precisely hit the handle of her sword, the force of the gunshot driving the blade deep into his chest. The Minotaur staggered towards her, but it did not get far enough before it¡¯s internals were frozen solid, and it collapsed, not to get up. Fuck, there really was a reason she didn¡¯t want to fight one of them things. She was quite possibly stronger than Borrago, and still struggled to cut the dam thing. Getting up and walking over to the Minotaur, she ripped her blade out of it¡¯s chest, and then turned to the Bestigor. Which was probably going to kill her.


    ¡°Khorne demands the best of fights. To kill you now would be a bare sliver of what I would get to face you when you were at your peak. Khorne¡¯s eyes are upon me, and besting you shall see me gain his favour. Recover, metal woman. I shall wait¡± the Bestigor said. Estaria, just stared in disbelief. She...what?


    ¡°Khorne is a mad dog of a God! Why...would you?¡± She asked. The Bestigor bristled at her words, but retained himself.


    ¡°Khorne is many things, Metal woman. You see what is easiest to see¡± he then turned his back on her, to rummage through a large pile, clearly the loot from his fight. She could just, stick a pair of bullets in his legs and the fight would be done like that. And yet, she didn¡¯t. Something about the overwhelming confidence he had, and the faith in his God. She couldn¡¯t help but somewhat respect the Beastman. He was snacking on an arm and so she wasn¡¯t going to be making friends, but found it hard to hate him.


    So she did as he said, and recovered. Health regeneration seemed specced off Constitution, which she had a lot of. And her fatigue was dipping until it was 0. Eventually, she was as recovered as she would be, and got up, speaking to the man.


    ¡°This has been a most strange day for me, Bestigor. But I think it is one I will remember for a long time¡± she told him, smiling to herself. The creature drew a pair of swords longer than her own Scimitar, and battle, was joined.

 Chapter 13

    The Bestigor was prepared for her, but Estaria was confident in her new stats, and so she rushed the thing, starting with a shield ram and then following up with a Second Slice attack. Unfortunately, the size and general bulk of the Bestigor meant that the ram did little, and then he parried both attacks before taking a chunk of luck off her bar. This, creature was more powerful than Estaria could have comprehended. Did they get buffs for being in dungeons? Either way, there was no time to be thinking about that, no time to be doing anything but fighting this most powerful of foes. She¡¯d certainly gain combat experience, if not actual Experience.


    Estaria flowed like water, and the Bestigor came like falling rocks, each one striking, countering and then trying to exploit a minute window left in the other¡¯s defenses. Luck chipped away little by little, and soon Estaria was on her health, though quickly followed by the Bestigor. Eventually, she decided this fight was not going to be won without some drastic action. So she grasped her blade, gritted her teeth and feinted with her shield, leaving an opening that the Bestigor exploited. His blade bit deep into her armoured side, and the pain near knocked her off her stride. But she persevered with grit and fury, and made a Called Shot to the Bestigor¡¯s arm as it stabbed her. She threw a Second Slice to make sure that she really cut it off, but as blade hit body, she got a strange, popup.


    Shadows of the Future: 300% Damage


    There and gone in the same breath, it lasted long enough for her to cut the Bestigor¡¯s arm off, and then was gone as if there was no evidence it had ever been to begin with. The Bestigor¡¯s backswing was fast and brutal, slashing through Estaria¡¯s armour and spilling copious amounts of blood on the ground. Her health dropped dangerously low, and the shock of it threw her from her feet. The Bestigor roared in pain from his lost limb, and Estaria knew she needed to get up, but her whole body felt numb. Breath coming out in gasps. Her hands felt cold, her whole body felt cold. If she could just...sleep for a moment¡­If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The thumping footsteps of an angry Bestigor brought her back to reality, and she barely managed to roll out of the way of the incoming hoof before it crushed her head. Now, was not the time for dying. Forcing her body up and regaining some semblance of balance, there was one last chance to finish this off. Come round from his armless zone and stick a sword through his eye. High damage, plus Overwhelming and Ulric¡¯s ¡°Mercy of the Wolf¡± would help her do enough to take him out in one swing. If she could manage the blow, of course. He was shown to be as fast as she was, and as skilled. The only benefit she had, was two arms to his one. But, it was a benefit she was going to push.


    Rushing at him, she then shifted of to the size and leapt, his blade coming at her and being blocked by her shield as she thrust the sword forward, driving her entire body into the blow that penetrated his eye socket and drove the creature to the ground. Finally¡­.Finally¡­.the fight was over. Estaria collapsed for a few moments, and then hit the yes button when the button came up to leave the dungeon.


    Dungeon finished, 25000+6000 gold. Greater Potion of Experience earned. Exitting in 10 seconds.


    She laid there for ten seconds before she was back in the camp. Her wounds gone and the cold feeling subsidized, but the bone-deep weariness did not. Ignoring whatever else might be happening, Estaria dragged herself to the tent and collapsed to the sound of a new box.


    You have leveled up

 Chapter 14

    Estaria woke groggily in the morning, and went out to see how things were getting on. The shoddy barricade had gone and was now in the process of being replaced by a proper gate, with the materials that the relief force had brought in. No sudden attack in the night, and nothing going horribly wrong. Which was very good, so Estaria leant against a pole and opened the screen to pop her newest trait down. Scrolling through, one Captain Trait looked good, so she opened it up.


    Your fight is with me! -  Instantly taunt any enemy to fight with you, ignoring any other target between you. Debuff surrounding troops if you lose or run


    That was bought. Very good skill for pulling in the enemy commander and getting an intimate one on one with him. Just had to make sure that she could beat him and didn¡¯t have to run away from him. That would be bad. Guys didn¡¯t need debuffs more than being humans already did for them. Next, she opened her inventory and stared at the A-rank dungeon key. The last dungeon was a mess, and she wasn¡¯t eager to have a repeat performance or worse in a hostile territory like Drakwald. Maybe when they got back to Altdorf.


    And speaking if, it was time to get her guys moving on back there. Didn¡¯t want to be proclaimed dead or anything crazy like that. Putting on her gear, Estaria headed out, and first saw a few men gathered around a wagon. At first she thought it was the supply wagon from the way they were all crowded, but it turned out to be the wagon carrying the building supplies. What led everyone to crowd it was revealed when she got closer and saw people trying to lift it, and not doing so well since it was a large, ladened wagon.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Estaria asked, looking over at the apparent situation.


    ¡°Ahh, Captain. We¡¯ve got sommat stuck in the wheel. Guys trying to lift the cart and get it out but so far it¡¯s not going to well. ¡®Eavy laden cart, ya know?¡± the man replied. Estaria looked it over, and then nodded, grasping the cart and hefting it up. The weight was nothing compared to her strength stat, and it was hoisted off the ground, giving the man plenty of time to free the wheel before she put it down.


    ¡°Nice lift Captain! Gotta share your secret with me¡± a man exclaimed. Laughter and repeated accolades followed, and then the men dispersed. Going to find Borrago to get everyone ready to leave, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked back at the wagon. It might have been normal for her, but the others should have definitely said something about her lifting  some six hundred pounds off the ground by herself. But...apparently no. Did it just not occur to anyone? Or was there more to it than that?


    Estaria thought for a moment, and then just shook her head. This wasn¡¯t going to get her anywhere. Maybe later she could go talk to a scholar or Wizard in Altdorf about it, if she ever could start that conversation...How would she start that? ¡®Hello, a floating set of boxes that control reality are giving me superpowers. Care to explain?¡¯. That really wouldn¡¯t go down well at all. Insane asylum at best. And that would really cripple her career...Although the jackets that were used to restrain the patients were kind of cute. She¡¯d keep it around as a possibility if all this soldiering fell through, and went off to go see Borrago. With him, she gathered her men and proceeded to make the journey back to Altdorf. Fortunately, nothing else happened along the way, they made good time out of the forest, not meeting anything more than small packets of Beastmen. The Drakwald Patrol had kicked up three times as much in the face of the oncoming Chaos Horde, and so the road home was finally over. Altdorf loomed in front of them. Beautiful, beautiful Altdorf. Never would she have thought those walls would have produced such relief in her.


    Letting her men go to the barracks or their families - and claiming to shoulder any flak they got for that order - Estaria wanted to retreat to her little hovel and just enjoy not being in a life-threatening situation for a few days, but she had duties to get to - she went to go report to her commanding officer, and deliver the letter as well. She found the Major in his office, and entered after knocking and being told to come in.


    ¡°Ahh, Estaria! We were expecting you back days ago. How was it?¡± the Major asked. She¡¯d never really got his name, he was always just ¡°Major¡± to her.


    ¡°We arrived in time to repel the attack, Major. But we have suffered several battles on this outing. First we were hit by an outrider horde in a hamlet, and then after the siege itself, we took the Drakwald road and came across a fort currently under attack. After that, we were pitted with multiple minor skirmishes on the way home, resulting in considerable loss of life. The ultimate objective, however, has been achieved perfectly. The Count of Middenhiem has sent this letter with my regiment to ¡®Those in Altdorf¡¯.¡± Estaria withdrew the letter from her inventory - subtle like so it seemed like she was getting it out of her pocket - and handed it to the Major. He was high enough of a rank or just self-absorbed enough to open it and read the contents. Then he closed it again and nodded.


    ¡°Good. Excluding any emergency deployment, you and your regiment has the fortnight off to rest and recover. We will refill your ranks while you are on leave, and then you will be in charge of training them up to scratch for any future deployments. You are dismissed¡± The Major gave a nod, and then got back to his paperwork. Estaria was glad for Captaincy, she didn¡¯t want to go any higher though, it seemed a hell of paper and red tape. Still, couldn¡¯t argue at two weeks off. Probably more to drum up recruits, arm and basic boot camp the sods than to actually rest the men. A few screaming brats in nine months would be testament to how tired her men were coming home. Giving him a salute, Estaria left his office, and went home.


    Once there, a hovel of a thing that she shared with another - she had splashed out on better gear with her pay, but would probably get new accomodations soon - she stripped out of all her clothes and quickly got into the bath. Her roomate worked as a blacksmith during the day, so little chance of him appearing. After laying there for an unspecified amount of time, soaking in the water, she returned to her senses and looking over her body. Her abdominal muscles were rippling, and her arms muscular. She couldn¡¯t remember if this was some subtle progression or if she had popped into this overnight or some other strange third thing. Not that she was complaining, a set of abs like this were always good on a girl. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Estaria opened her inventory to lazily browse while soaking, and saw she had a few of those potions put away. She forgot to finish them off in all the catastrophe she had since then and now. No matter, she was now in a prime position to do just that, so she fished them out and took all four of them. Together, they were just enough to push her over the edge. The stat page, was looking very healthy indeed, these days. She could open it up and get a broad relay of what she had, which was lovely.


    Strength: 53 (72)


    Stamina: 60


    Constitution: 49 (69)


    Dexterity: 76


    Agility: 66


    Precision: 70


    Intelligence: 32


    Wisdom: 32


    Luck: 32


    Gold: 69134


    Powder Matriarch: Black Powder is your Blood. While you may lack academic understanding, your practical knowhow rivals an Engineer, and even the most unruly of firearms bow to you. 70% increase to range, 50% increase to damage. Imprecise is removed


    Decorated Veteran: Well known, and well respected, your name is toasted to by many. Increase the rewards of Tokens, Medals and Medallions by 1.


    Swordswoman: Learning the way of the sword is hard, but with practice, one can be a venerable cause on the field. Grants subtargetting for melee weaponry.


    Celerity: Swifter than most, you run with the grace of ten men and the speed of five. Add +20 to agility for the sake of movement speed.


    Quick-Load: In the blink of an eye, you are ready to fire again. Spend Cool to instantly reload your firearm with a flourish.


    Your fight is with me! -  Instantly taunt any enemy to fight with you, ignoring any other target between you. -20 stats to surrounding troops if you lose or run


    For The Empire!: A steely shout to light a fire in the hearts of your men! +10 to all stats (Excluding yourself) to anyone who can hear your shout.Captain¡¯s Shadow: Snap of a Captain¡¯s finger, and the target falls. Designate a target to be hit with a Hotchland Long Rifle bullet. Usable every 10 minutes


    Captain¡¯s Half-Dozen Halflings: Sneaky little half-men with large sacks, loot all enemies at the end of every fight, regardless of the fight.


    50 Stamina: Furious Zeal - Stats are reduced by 65% at 100% fatigue rather than immediate unconsciousness.


    50 Dexterity: Second Slice - The blade is like flowing water, always moving from one spot to the next with incredible grace. Spend Cool to make a second melee attack immediately after the first.


    50 Agility: Weight-Spread: Your weight counts ? of it¡¯s actual number for the sake of unstable footholds.


    50 Precision: Advanced Sub-Targetting unlocked. Groin, Eye, Hands, Feet (arrow/knife/bolt only)


    50 strength: Overwhelming - A mighty blow can fell a hardy foe in one swing! Damage that causes a Critical Wound now spills over (but does not create a second Critical Wound)


    Groin: Deals high damage and stuns the enemy when hit. Destroying the Groin causes stun bypassing Resistance.


    Eye: Very difficult shot, but deals immense damage. Destroying the Eye causes instant death or Critical Wound


    Hands: Hitting the Hands will immediately disarm the foe. Destroying the Hands will cause the destroyed hand to be unable to be used.


    Feet(Arrow/Knife/Bolt only): Hitting the Foot immediately stops a person¡¯s movement. Destroying the foot cuts movement speed by one quarter.


    There was a new one. One she hadn¡¯t seen before. From this, she could surmise she got a trait at 50 of every stat. Whenever she got to 50 stamina, she must have just missed the box telling her about it. Gold was nice and healthy, so she opened the shop and bought the 50,000 gold head-sized chunk of Gromril. It was a hefty metal, and pure Gromril at that. The beauty she could make out of that. Or, give it to a Dwarf, make a friend for life...She wasn¡¯t feeling the wisdom or intelligence though. Maybe they were dud stats? Meant to be used on Magic and so without magic, she didn¡¯t really get anything out of them? Entirely possible.


    With stats checked, money spent and xp potions drunk, Estaria bathed and then when that was done, got out and dried herself off. Clothes were nothing fancy, but she certainly wasn¡¯t getting back into her army gear. Besides, she wanted something that¡¯d show off these abs. Staring down at them with a dopey grin, she still wasn¡¯t over the fact that they were there. Totally caught up on her own body, she heard nothing, until;


    ¡°Umgi? Where did you get those muscles?¡± came the rough voice from the door. Estaria looked up to see her dwarven room-mate standing there, staring at her.


    ¡°Dawi..you are meant to be at work!¡± She exclaimed, dashing to the bed and pulling the sheets from it to wrap herself in.


    ¡°Boss has closed up for a week, he¡¯s joining an expedition. I came home to get my gear because I am also joining him. And, you were there. Naked¡± Dawi had a stunned voice, staring more at the place where Estaria was than the woman herself.


    ¡°I got a bath. Didn¡¯t, think you¡¯d be home¡­¡± Estaria replied, her face flushed as she scooted over to the wardrobe and pulled some clothes from it. ¡°S-so, this expedition¡± the prompt was to stop Dawi from looking at her while she dressed, and yet not have an awkward silence. It worked well enough, as he started to talk.


    ¡°Aye, there is talk of a new mining operation being built in the caves west of Black Water. It¡¯s not quite the cursed Khark itself, but still saw heavy opposition, with equally lucrative amounts of Gromril. We got word of it, and the city is abuzz. The Dawi want all the hands they can get, so even Umgi mercenaries are in on this. It¡¯s a big thing, and while a lot of mercenaries are already attached to Altdorf and other cities because of the invasion, there are still plenty of hands¡±


    Dawi finished explaining by the time Estaria was dressed in her nice dress. It was far from nobility, but she liked it, and it was also clearly not peasantry.


    ¡°Problem being, you gotta buy into the expedition and then you get a cut of any rewards found. Bigger buy in, the larger the cut. So we got a lot of merchants in the expedition, but not actually in the expedition. And enough cuts have been given out that nobody else is getting rich¡± He looked up at Estaria, and shrugged. ¡°Still, all the Dawi in the slums are joining, pretty much. The cut isn¡¯t as important as helping our kin. Though the money would be welcome. They are buying in as cheaply as a pint of ale, to get up there. The hope is that they will impress someone and get into one of the Throngs¡± He finished, and then with Estaria dressed, went about getting his gear.


    Ancient axe and well-worn crossbow, a shield and some leather, he didn¡¯t have much in the way of gear, but he had guts and spirit like most Dawi.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go get in this expedition then. Being on leave would just have bored me anyway¡± Estaria gave a broad, confident grin, and Dawi led the way. While he did, he grumbled about what he was going to use as the buy in and how much he was going to buy in for. If he wanted to get a big buy and risk it, or little buy and just be present. If there was going to be any good Throngs up in the mountians, if he was going to meet anyone proper. Essentially, like the average dwarf, he grumbled about everything there was to grumble about.

 Chapter 15

    Arrival, buy-in - which surprised Dawi, to have Estaria just pull out two barrels of Bugmans - and then eventually taking off. All of which was nice, simple, and streamlined. Arriving at the foothills where the dwarves and humans had gathered - even one or two Ogres, which meant the mercenary job was widely advertised - Estaria settled in and got a tent up. It was a massive, sprawling camp of a dozen different companies and dwarven throngs. It was more like an army than an expedition. This was no sneak in and grab shit before the enemy came. This was far more sit there and hunker down, reclaim the Karak, become legendary warriors. Gain a new Gromril mine. A noble endeavor, and maybe the Dwarves would be driven enough to clash with the Greenskins and keep them out of the Empire.


    While wandering, Estaria caught the rough, harsh language of the dwarves, and while she couldn¡¯t understand it, the tone made it¡¯s grumbling pretty clear. Spending some experience to gain fluency in the Dwarf Tongue so she could understand it, Estaria went looking for the man and found him, sat alone. But she was caught off guard by the readout hovering above his head.


    Traukon Brightbelly - Level 29 Ironbreaker


    Player Interaction - Interacting with other players can be done in many different forms. Open the ¡°Interaction Screen¡± to see what can be done.


    Estaria couldn¡¯t even move, because she was shocked to find this place had other players. Sure, it was kind of hubris to think that there was only her given this massive superpower in the world, but she didn¡¯t think that there would be other people this close. She expected them to be exotic Lustirans or mighty Chaos Lords. This guy was a dwarf. A really overt dwarf, given the bulky armour and large axe, but still not quite what she thought other players would be. But then, she was just your average human with a special sword, so there was always that.


    ¡°What¡¯cha staring at, Umgi?¡± Traukon asked, his eyes flicking up for a moment and then returning to his dinner.


    ¡°Ohh. I¡¯m, just, it¡¯s-¡± she stammered, and that was not something that he was enthusiastic about hearing.


    ¡°You never seen a true-blooded Dawi?¡± he looked up properly this time, and then paused, and made a sound. ¡°Ohh¡­¡±


    ¡°My thoughts exactly. I never thought I¡¯d see another player. I never knew there was another player in the system to meet¡± Elou said, moving over to him and taking a seat next to him.


    ¡°Mmm¡­.ever thought that strange? The, fact that you call it a system, and yourself, a player?¡± Traukon asked, finishing his food and looking up. Estaria opened her mouth to speak, and then paused, and frowned. Thinking on that one.


    ¡°No. Until you pointed it out¡± She muttered, now being irate at the fact that it hadn¡¯t bothered her.


    ¡°The same here. Me thinking it was never a problem, but you saying it sounded strange and wrong¡± Traukon shook his head, grabbing his ale and drinking deep. ¡°Although this system is a great boon. I am stronger than any dwarf, as robust as the mountains, and wield my axes like lightning. Down in the tunnels, I cut a bloody swath through the foe, and now I stand ready to reclaim a Karak! New tunnels to explore, new foe to bring low-¡±


    ¡°If we succeed¡± Estaria cut in. ¡°There is a reason why most expeditions that way have been small and quick¡± she pointed out.


    ¡°Ack! Just like an Umgi! You share the boon, and your level is such that you are sufficient to have surpassed any Umgi, and yet you still doubt¡± the ale was finished and he rose to find more.


    ¡°Mmm, I¡¯ve just met enough foes to know it never goes smoothly¡± she then got off the morosesubject, and grinned ¡°But this does. I got some Bugman¡¯s from the shop. Middenheim was besieged and so I got a massive windfall, and bought cool stuff¡± she told him, the dwarf grinned, clearly having had his own supply of it, but never one to pass up free ale!


    ¡°So, have you ever had other people not really notice the extreme capacity of your actions? I lifted this six-hundred pound wagon and they just looked at me like it was a normal thing¡± Estaria asked, curious.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Aye...at one point I tossed an axe some hundred paces into a Goblin¡¯s skull. An impossible throw, something that should have raised incredible ruckus. But, it didn¡¯t. My brothers saw it, and then returned to their post because that was the last¡± he told Estaria, shaking his head. The conversation then turned to other things, and Estaria made a new friend over a pint, culminating in exploring each other¡¯s status screen. A Hidden trait that one couldn¡¯t see themselves popped up, and each was told their own. Traukon had Son Of Stone which gave him reduced negatives for Critical Wounds and Fatigue, where as Estaria had Human Ingenuity which gave her a bonus to EXP gain. Which, made Traukon¡¯s higher level even more alarming. HE must have gotten into a fight every day since the system dropped to get that level.


    Still, eventually Estaria was drawn over to a Dwarven merchant who had set up shop on the outskirts. Apparently, selling goods and trade for money was not the most well-received of Dwarven exploits, and Traukon left her to return to his Ironbreaker brothers. Estaria didn¡¯t have much in the way of money, but found this a great time to learn the exchange rate. Double-tapping the coin counter on the inventory, she converted ten coins to Thrones, just to see. And out came a hefty bag, that once counted out, had a hundred thrones in it. 1:10 exchange rate¡­.While this would make it hard to use real world wealth to fortify her game currency, it would allow her to do practically anything she desired in the world. Armed with this new, near-infinite wealth, she headed to the stand, and talked. He had followed the mercenary armies up from Altdorf and made a venerable fortune on their equipment, which he would take home with him. Unlike Dawi, this one was no warrior, which he did not see as a huge problem since his family had lived in Altdorf for hundreds of years, and they were small Empire citizens now, not Karak dwellers.


    This did not stop them from being exceptional craftsman then, and Estaria put in her pistols, shield and armour for some rework and repair. After a little bit of thought, the sword also went. Barter price went to 90 Thrones, which she paid and then a tip for express. With that all done, she found her tent - going to the Quartermaster when she realized she was out all of her equipment, and getting loans - she then opened up her inventory and used a B-rank DUngeon key. She was going to get some money and xp grinding in a dungeon, and not targeting the boss because she got trashed last time.


    This time, there were no Beastmen, but instead Greenskins. A large and rambling camp of goblins and orcs, expanding quite a distance. She couldn¡¯t see the center of the camp from where she was, but she was sure the Warboss was there. She wanted to know where to avoid, but she could always run away or leave the dungeon if it came to that. She wasn¡¯t planning to stick around for completion after all. Darting in, she used her speed and strength to drive the blade through an Orc¡¯s back and then tear him in half, before dispatching the group of goblins he was harassing with her shield, and some kicks. Goblin punting was surprisingly fun, as it turned out, and she could aim them pretty precisely to use them as projectiles. These were slave goblins more than warrior goblins, so she went through them easily, and a punted goblin smacked on the back of a feasting Orc, which then turned and upon seeing Estaria, roared.


    The hulking mass then charged at her while the rest of the Orc gathered themselves to charge with him. Having learned from the Minotaur, Estaria leapt over the Orc, spinning and slicing her blade into his helmet. But, such a simple blade could not pierce an Orc¡¯s helmet and skull with a single swing, so she merely cut his head and then deflected the second orc¡¯s axe. It was a strong blow, but her stats these days were high enough to take it with little problem. Estaria took her blade to the next Orc and crashed it against his breastplate, only to have the damn thing crack and split in half.


    She let out a surprised yelp and got smashed to the ground by another Orc for her troubles, rolling quickly to recover and discarding the hilt of the broken blade. Her Blade Of Ulric was something of great durability and strength, but simple mould-forged broadsword was not going to help her in this kind of fight, with her kind of strength. So she grabbed the axe from one of the fallen Orcs and got a little ping off to the side, telling her there was a new tutorial note. Something for later that.


    Now facing off against all these creatures, she noticed there was no Luck bar. All Orcs counted as Monsters, and so had a lot of health and no Luck. Which, was interesting, so she could just get stuck in with this all-too-heavy axe and start butchering. It broke eventually, but she simply replaced it with another fallen weapon and turned the Orcs into mince meat. The Dungeon kept enforced creature zones, so no Orc moved from their zone to where she was, leaving her to kill with impunity. After they were all dead, Estaria looked up the Tutorial and saw it was about Racials. Weapons she lacked any Racial Proficiency in would have reduced damage and durability, which explained why they broke as quickly as they did.


    She would need to be careful, and keep a bunch of weapons around so she didn¡¯t end up breaking and running out. Still, even the B-rank orcs were not a huge problem so long as she stayed out of the large zone, with the Trolls and Black Orcs. So she went about it, catching some rests between killing, and after a few hours, she left the Dungeon. No gold reward and half loot, but that still netted her a tidy five grand and two level-ups, which was nice. Took her a long time to get those levels, but she was grinding mooks...so it was all swings and roundabouts, really. She¡¯d get her next trait at 27 tomorrow, since they were waiting here for three days for everyone to turn up, and then join in this expedition with great confidence. Things really were looking up for her.

 Chapter 16

    The intention in the morning, was to go run another dungeon. She felt it kind of fun to mow down hordes of Orcs, and while her stats weren¡¯t quite high enough for thirty of them to be like chaff, she could still do it. Mostly by staying out of the big boys circle and avoiding anything big, but still. However, went she went to go get her gear and see if that made any difference, she was accosted by a Dwarf with a large beard and strange regalia.


    ¡°Your sword. How much will you sell it for?¡± he demanded, getting right to the crux of the matter. At first, she thought she¡¯d asked buying price, at 500,000 Thrones. But, then she thought for a moment. There was no guarantee that Orange-rank equipment could be bought again.


    ¡°Excuse me, for a second¡± she said, In Khazalid, just to confuse him. Turning from him and opening the inventory - it seemed others didn¡¯t really question the gesticulating that using the system caused, like they didn¡¯t question you lifting 800lb or running a mile in less than a minute - and got to the store. There, she scrolled down, and saw Sword Of Ulric - Sold Out. Which...made things a huge risk. Sold out because she had one and it was a one at a time thing, or sold out because it was sold out? If she sold that weapon she¡¯d be out a blade she loved, and didn¡¯t have the capital to buy anything that was in the same vein. Plus, 500,000 Thrones didn¡¯t come out of your back pocket, so she¡¯d not have it for a while.


    ¡°Sorry, It¡¯s an ancient family heirloom. I can¡¯t sell it to anyone. Dishonour to my ancestors, and all. Why, are you so enthusiastic about buying it?¡± Estaria asked, giving the Dwarf a smile and hopefully placading him. Whatever it was about her sword, it was pressing enough that her Khazalid - which was a Big Fucking Deal - wasn¡¯t even mentioned.


    ¡°It has Runes. Lost Runes. Regaining the knowledge of even one of them would be a greater achievement than this expedition. I need the sword so my Master can catalog every rune etched into it, and relearn the Lost Runes¡± The Dwarf had an almost frantic tone of voice, which didn¡¯t suit a Dwarf at all.


    ¡°Well, I am sure I can hang around your Karak for a week or two while you do your work. I mean, exploring a Dwarven Karak? That¡¯s worth more than a million Thrones¡± she grinned, and then walked up to the merchant¡¯s stall. ¡°But after. The blade is irreplaceable, and I don¡¯t want to die because I let you look over it¡± she told him. The Dwarf took in her words, and then nodded and headed off, probably to go tell his Master.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about no Runes, but I dealt with the sword¡¯s physical body. It is very sturdy, and holds an edge better than anything I have seen. But there is a difference between holding an edge and being sharp, so I sharpened it for you. The rest gave a bit of Dwarven love to it, should work better on the field now¡± the merchant told her. It was quite amazing that he got this all done in one night, but the amount she was paying to get it done then probably had him up all night. The equipment went on, and Estaria nodded.


    ¡°Thanks. See you after the fight, when we are all rich¡± she gave him a wink - knowing who to talk to properly and who to bolster, as any good Captain did - and headed off back to her tent. There, she got a new key, and entered the B-rank dungeon again. From here, she engaged herself a new set of Orcs with her new sword.


    The difference was incredible and immediately obvious. She split the Orc from shoulder to hip with one blow, and it made her laugh. Further slaughter of the Orcs rose the laughter to a surprisingly disturbing degree. She had a theory that this game system was messing with her head to make sure her head didn¡¯t go quite so insane from everything she was doing. But that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t feel some emotional extremes. Like the beastman camp, she went through the Orcs like a bloody whirlwind. It felt glorious, it felt empowering, it felt¡­.surprisingly hard actually. Like, physically, her sword had just hit something really hard. Looking up, there was a massive, Black-clad Orc staring down at her. Black Orc Bigg¡¯un¡­..she¡¯d entered the inner circle. Fuck, her head had gone again. The blade of his axe took a chunk of her Luck and she got out of his range, killing the two Orcs that came at her as she did so.


    ¡°I really need to stop doing that. One day I¡¯m going to come face to face with a damned Dragon. And who¡¯ll be laughing then?¡± Estaria muttered, her blade going up in the air and a pair of pistols being drawn. Sub-targetting aimed both bullets into the Orc¡¯s eyes, and then he was dead, the pistols were away, and she caught the sword. Taking a deep breath, she saw the rest of the Orcs were coming, but wasn¡¯t so sure she was in the mood for a fight with rankers like this. Still, desire overcame logic, and with a raised blade she rushed into the horde.


    Not exactly the worst idea she had, after cleaning up the horde and taking a break on one of the bodies. The sword gave her a strong advantage, and her armour plus the shield were better than they were, but she still wasn¡¯t good enough to take this many enemies and not get health damage. Though, with one of these Black Orcs being a match for a human Greatsword, and she took 20% health damage, it was actually damn good going.


    ¡°Bloody superhuman is what¡± she muttered, shaking her head. Was she going to lose herself? Grow apart from normal humans now she was strong as a Troll, fast as a horse and as durable as a rockface? Would she grow as Chaos does, as Orcs do? Seeing humans as frail, feeble things that are inferior to her? Ahh, more killing would get rid of this mindset. While the boss of last time was enough to keep her away this time, the inner circle needed cleaning up a bit, and her blade was thirsty.


    ¡°Best get to it then¡±

 Chapter 17

    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You gained 10,500 gold


    You gained Troll Meat


    The inner circle really was worth the effort, it seemed. The Troll she had thought was surprisingly less trouble than she had expected, but then it was just your ordinary Troll. If the boss room was anything like the beastman Boss-room, he would have a Stone Troll or River Troll or possibly even a Chaos Troll - though she doubted that last one. Big Guy that nearly killed her was a young Doombull, after all. Far from an ordinary Minotaur as a Knight was from a peasant. Though not matured and at the bottom rung of his power, he was still a force to be reckoned with. And so too would be a Stone Troll. Creatures that were strong enough to take cannon fire without splitting apart as normal things did. Would her sword break such a thing¡¯s hide? Though she had no desire for it to be a River Troll and get vomited on either. Instead of thinking about that, she went to go find her friend Borrago. She had seen his unmistakable appearance and decided he had come along for some extra cash as much as she had for the fun of it and the exp.


    ¡°Hey big guy! Do you have any recipes for Troll?¡± She asked, grinning to herself.


    ¡°Captain! I didn¡¯t see you around! But, yes, I do indeed! Come over to the cook-pot¡± he waved her over, and she brought out her Troll, which went into the pot along with several other things that Estaria mentally marked down. She wanted to be able to replicate this, if Troll was going to be a constant enemy.


    ¡°They say Troll Meat is good for you, because you can absorb their regenerative capabilities if you eat a lot of it. Trouble is, nobody has killed and eaten enough Troll to find out!¡± Borrago then broke into laughter, which was infectious and pervasive. He was a jolly guy, and probably would remain jolly in the jaws of a Dragon he no doubt intended to eat.


    ¡°I¡¯ll settle for tasting nice. Marching rations leave a lot to be desired¡± she replied, the pot getting a lot of people gathering around it, so Estaria had Troll Stew in the company of many, while Borrago told another tale of his exploits. This, was about the time he broke into a camp with his men to rescue a lost patrol, and after the fighting they found female Beastmen. Surprisingly gentle creatures, they were shy and fled as soon as they had an opening, not a single attempt or even the hint of an attempt at attacking was made. And despite many more treks, he had never seen them again, leading him to wonder if they had been some sort of strange Ungor. Certainly, if the Beastmen had their own women, they wouldn¡¯t have to kidnap so many humans.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    After Borrago finished, people continued to swap stories, and Estaria, just listened, hearing the whole session go from past exploits to boasting to competitive boasting. Who could wrap the biggest lie in the skeen of the truth so that others would believe him? It passed the time excellently, and night fell with no delay. Day followed, and camp was packed up, the Throng and the mercenaries all heading out as to Karak Varn. The Dwarves were full of stories, of tales and expliots. Of Kadrin Redmane and his glorious last stand, of the great Rune Hammer that sits in the depths of the Blackwater, and of the beasts that also lurk there. The talks grew, and Dwarves began a debate of Dwarven culture that the humans were left in the dark about, but followed for the nature of something to do. The march was without incident, and the arrival was met with hallowed silence. Prospectors immediately lined the shores and panned for anything that had been washed up, Warriors gathered with the Quarellers to protect them, and the Mercenaries were split into groups and sent off to different parts of the mountain. While the Dwarves would handle setting up a defensive fort with which to range out from and slowly remove the threat of the enemy from Karak Varn, the Mercenaries were being sent to ensure that any reinforcements from other parts of the mountain or the Underway were stalled so that construction could go unmolested.


    The Dawi had little faith in the steel of the Mercenaries, both mentally and physically, but they decided to let the humans take the brunt of any incoming attacks, and so got to work with ordered discipline that could be hard for any human army to match, splitting into the Fort group, the Mountain Group - which rushed away into the rocky depths to slay any enemy they could find - and the reserve group, that would watch the Umgi and shore up the inevitable cracks. Estaria and her group got the largest gap, a venerable pathway into the Underway. Staring down into that yawning abyss wasn¡¯t the best, and so Estaria decided to see what new trait she could get to ease the tension. While looking there, she saw a new ability for 50 Constitution.


    50 Constitution: Sturdy Skin - gain 10% Armour that stacks with worn armour.


    Would, probably explain why she did so well against the Orcs, health-wise. And to further improve the day, a collection of traits were shown. Each one called ¡°Captain¡¯s Retinue¡±, it seemed to summon a dozen men with specific weaponry. Swords, spears, Crossbows, Handguns, Axes. Right now, the one most required was the Handgunners, so she picked that one.


    Captain¡¯s Retinue (Handgunners) - Spawn a dozen units for 5 minutes, with 30 minute cooldown


    Added to the list of traits, Estaria felt better about what they were doing, which was good because a new pop-up came.


    Defence Mission - Hold The Line against waves of attackers with limited reinforcements. Rewards increase with every three waves repelled. (This mission allows for three sets of Dwarf reinforcements, but each set reduces rewards by 15%)


    So that was how it was. Stay here, kill the enemy, try not to call the dwarves. They were rules she could live by. For other people¡­..well, the great WAARRGHHH!!! That came from the Underway set a kernelof fear in other¡¯s hearts, so she summoned her handgunners and rose her own sword in preperation.


    ¡°For The Empire!¡±

 Chapter 18

    The Greenskins came rushing out of the hole, and a cracking boom of handguns raked their frontline. Her dozen men along with three dozen mercenaries delivered a powerful first strike, the Precision boon that she had given them allowed them to hit more soundly than they would have, and as a result, the first wave was reduced to nothing in a pair of volleys. Estaria had dropped a few hundred spare Nuln-forged bullets into the Mercenaries ammo barrel earlier - they were like droplets of rain to her these days - and so they had ammo for several volleys. And that was exactly what they needed, as she got a pop-up.


    Wave 1 completed. Commencing Wave 2 in 60 seconds


    The wait time was skipped after the handgunners had reloaded, because she didn¡¯t want to run down the clock and lose her men. This next rush held the same Boyz, but in a larger number, and some with shields. The whittling volleys managed to reduce them in number, but there was some skirmish on the front-line with a few surviving Orcs. Waves 3 and 4 went the same way, though more and more Orcs were reaching the frontline. On Wave 5 - designated the Boss Wave - a Boar-riding Biggun came out and Estaria cored his brain with her Hotchland shot. By Wave 6, most of the front line had been replaced with large, Black Orcs, who¡¯s armour reflected the bullets and massive physique soaked any that managed to hit them. It was here that the butchering began. Close quarters in vicious numbers, Estaria brought her sword to many of them, and with a surprising zeal, she was joined by the mercenaries. Men fell to Orc axes, Orcs fell to Human blades, and the bodies mounted up on both sides with alarming speed. In front of them was a minefield of Orc and Human, leading for some treasonous footing that more than one Orc tripped on as he charged the human line.


    By Wave 10, the human line was flagging. Tired, wounded, and thin, it stood against a second Boss Wave, where a Biggun and his Trolls charged the line. This was not going to go well, but Estaria whipped out her pistols and took down the Biggun in a hail of gunfire, before rushing to get stuck into the Trolls.A few Handgunners had managed to survive, and were taking pot-shots, but most were dead or wounded. Summoning her men again, and using the Hotchland strike, Estaria pulled out all the stops and used all her skills to push back the Trolls. It was rough work, and not work she escaped from unscathed. Even with her stamina, the Fatigue bar was encroaching 60% and she was on her Health, luck having been depleted a while back. But with zeal and fury, she managed to push back the last Troll, drive her sword into his skull, and then lean on it. There was no way she¡¯d hold Wave 11. Maybe she should call the Dwarves, and damn the rewards?


    Congratulations - you have completed the Defence Mission


    A much welcome pop-up was seen after the last troll was down, but she really wished it would be more clear. There was no indication that there was only ten waves to do. Still, no use crying over spilled milk, aye? A Dwarf detachment appeared to tell her what she already knew - that it was time to pull back - and Estaria nodded. Gotta get the people that were wounded back to the camp, the dead into the ground, and then talk to the Dwarves some more. There was no chance she was passing up this opportunity to obtain some serious, honest-to-Sigmar Dwarven Equipment. Plus, the head-sized chunk of Gromril might make a few of the Dwarves happy.


    Captain¡¯s Halflings have looted the battlefield You gained 25,000 gold pieces


    You gained 3x Troll Meat


    You have leveled up


    Experience limit reached. Please choose a Job to continue gaining experience


    Secondary job - at level 30, you can earn your secondary Job, giving you access to more traits and skills.


    Relationship with the Dwarves increased. Simple Dwarven craft is now accessible in the Shop


    You have earned a Red Job - Red Jobs are jobs that require certain standing in society. Unlike Orange jobs, they are not objectively superior to normal jobs, but can open doors to new places and equipment that is otherwise difficult to possess.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Estaria got inundated with a host of windows after the defense mission. Reading them and then shutting them down, she bashed it all to the side and helped out with the carrying of the people to the carts kept safely in the rear. Dead for one cart, injured for a second, and everyone was on their way back to the camp. What they saw there was a marvel of Dwarven engineering and robust work ethic. In but a few hours, they had dug in and made a sturdy redoubt that would be able to resist large-scale attacks, and were even starting on stone-work to make it a true Fortified Camp, walls and all. They truly were a magnificent race to be able to do this in such a short time. Pulling in the dead cart and informing the human Organizer of the reason behind it, Estaria headed out to find the Dwarven Commander of the Redoubt.


    ¡°One of the Orcs was carrying this chunk of Rock. It looked like metal, so I was wondering if you could tell me what it is¡± she asked, pulling out the large chunk of Gromril. The Dwarf¡¯s eyes went wide and he quickly took the rock and set it on the ground, beginning a series of tests before returning his gaze to Estaria.


    ¡°This is Pure Gromril. Exactly what we came here looking for. How much do you want for it?¡± He asked Estaria, who just waved her hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a rock to me. So you keep it, make something nice.¡± she said told him. The poor Dwarf¡¯s eyes were about to pop out of his head when he heard that, and quickly it was picked up and taken to a small stone building with a heavy door, clearly some sort of Vault for the Gromril.


    Relationship with the Dwarves increased. Advanced Dwarven Craft is now accessible in the Shop


    Not like she¡¯d be able to afford it right now though, her cash was a little on the slim side. But maybe she could rectify that with a show of skill around the Karak she was going to be lounging about for a while. As if thought summoned the Dwarf, with Traukon at his side, there was the one who tried to buy her sword. A ¡°Level 30 Ironbeard¡± which reminded Estaria to check her own status later.


    ¡°There is not much left for Mercenaries to do, outside of maybe guard duty and some manual labour. Neither of which is a fit job for someone of your standing¡± he exclaimed, before, with vigorous passion, she was bundled into a Dwarven cart that had brought the materials, and was heading back to the Dwarf¡¯s Karak.


    ¡°So, they seem to like you. What did you get up to?¡± Traukon asked, while he sat with Estaria in the back of the wagon.


    ¡°I got a Relationship boost for succeeding in the Defence mission, possibly without calling any Dwarf reinforcements. And then a second one for giving a large chunk of Gromril to the overseer¡± Estaria explained. And well, Gromril was quite important because Traukon¡¯s eyebrows rose.


    ¡°The one from the shop?¡± he asked, to which Estaria nodded. ¡°The 50,000 gold pieces one from the shop?¡± he emphasized, to which she nodded again. ¡°You just gave away 50,000 gold pieces? How much did you even get from the siege?!¡± He demanded, leaning forward in his seat.


    ¡°Just shy of 200 grand. There was thousands of Marauders, and 88 Chaos Warriors there. As well as monsters, and it strips ally as well as enemy ¡±


    Traukon sat back in his seat, and shook his head. It was preposterous that such a thing would happen.


    ¡°Without the system, I probably would never have survived. But I did, and so got stupidly rich and blew a lot of it on stupid stuff. Like the Gromril. And less stupid stuff like my Sword that the guy in front has¡± She said, leaning back.


    ¡°So Orange equipment has Runes? Lost Runes?¡± he asked. Gromril was one thing, but Lost Runes were entirely different.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say for certain. It was 50,000, same as the Gromril, so I never bought a second. But I would say it is a good chance¡± she told him. Traukon looked thoughtful, and then started to mess with his system. Apparently others of the game could see when another was doing it.


    Taking this opportunity, Estaria opened her own and thought for a moment. She had a trait, and if she did her job first, she could unlock new job traits. But at the same time, being able to summon an entire regiment by herself would be fun¡­.decisions, decisions. Eventually, she went with the Job first, and opened the list. The Red Job was at the top, and made Estaria just stare at it for many moments, until a bump in the road jolted her back into thought.


    Greatswordsman


    Why? She hadn¡¯t done anything to earn that title. It was something reserved for those of the highest bravery. She felt bad even thinking about taking it, but take it she did, and added it to the list. Her job changed from Captain to ¡°Empire Hero¡± which was too much flattery for her, so she just blushed and opened her traits. A lot of offensive traits, some defensive traits, and ¡°To Me, My Brothers¡± trait, which summoned 4 Greatswordsmen to her. That was the one that she picked, 4 of the most valorous foot-soldiers in the Empire, armed with their Zweihander and armoured with Dwarf-forged Full Plate, they were a force to be reckoned with. And even 4 of them would be a grand boon to her. Dungeoneering with those would be made almost simple, doubly so because of her buff.


    Second Job Unlocked: Greatswordsman. Traits reduced to one every four levels.


    Ascension of Duty - Report to Altdorf


    New quest, which had no time limit on it, so she decided to just brush it to one side. Most probably due to her new Job, which she still found hard to believe she had. She was just a Handgunner¡­.she wasn¡¯t designed for all of this. So instead, she just bought herself a minor potion of Experience, and pushed the bar over the edge, to level 31. With that done, she leaned back and stared into space. Greatswordsman, chosen bodyguards of the Elector Count, most valued none-Noble soldiers in the Empire. From there, it was a half-step to a Knighthood, were one to carry on such valorous action...That would be something she couldn¡¯t handle. Being Sir Zashira¡­.

 Chapter 19

    Sir Zashira. Ridiculous. Truly ridiculous. There was no way, no chance, and even if there was, she would suck at it. So instead, she looked to Traukon and decided to crack up a conversation.


    ¡°So, how was your Defense Mission?¡± she asked. The game terms seemed a little strange to voice, but also somehow, a point of reality.


    ¡°Ahh, I had an Extermination Mission.Orcs, Goblins, Ratmen. All of them met my Az!¡± He raised the shining half-moon axe, and thrust it into the air.


    ¡°Ratmen?¡± Estaria¡¯s eyebrows were raised in surprise. She had fought them, but thought them mere constructs¡­


    ¡°Aye. Blasted Skaven, they infest the tunnels of the Underway. Warrens all across the Old World and the New. But they are nothing that can¡¯t be solved by Dwarven steel¡± Traukon put the axe down, and then hefted a large, rune-covered hammer. ¡°As  for this, well...Orange Hammer, Thungni¡¯s Hammer. I am no Runesmith but the Runes on it look old. Maybe, we regain knowledge of many runes this day¡± he nodded, and then put the hammer away and grinned. ¡°So, Hero Of The Empire, huh?¡± he asked, his tone teasing. Estaria¡¯s cheeks flushed and her face became as thunder.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got 82 strength, I will punt you¡± she retorted. Thunderous laughter came from Traukon, and then conversation turned to a lighter, more time-passing pursuit, and eventually the caravan arrived.


    Standing out to meet them, was a Dwarf with a long beard and runed equipment. He had an aura of power and it was pretty clear he was the Runelord of this Karak. As for the Karak itself, it wasn¡¯t quite as impressive as she thought it would be. The sight of a fortress city carved into the mountain was impressive, but it was surprisingly small. Possibly a lesser Karak. Still, Estaria only spent a few seconds staring in awe before unstrapping her Sword, and handing it to the Runelord. Traukon appeared before the Runelord could unsheath the blade, and handed over the Hammer as well.


    ¡°An Orc Warboss was wielding this, and so I took it from him, along with his head¡± Traukon lied. Easier than the truth.


    ¡°A most blessed day. Come, enter the Karak! We have meat, ale, and fire for you to rest by!¡± The Runelord exclaimed, gesturing them inside. Estaria entered, and was more amazed than she was by the outside appearance. These Dwarves really did excel at craftsmanship. The carving of the stone was amazing, and the insides were - despite the Dwarves¡¯ stunted size - immense in scope and scale. Inside was a bustle of activity, with Dwarves moving with determination and discipline. There was no meandering, no lost wander, everyone knew where they were going and why. So radically different to a human city.


    Guided to the Main Hall, conversation dimmed as she was seen, but a sharp Khazalid command from the Runelord made the seemingly hostile feel go away, and replaced with one of interest and curiosity. Estaria was plied with the promised meat and ale, the fire roared and Dwarves pulled her into rancorious activity. Great ruckus filled the air between conversation, about what brought her here, how she felt of what she had seen, and then onto her equipment. Two blacksmiths began to boast they were the superior and could make even the pig-iron slab of metal Estaria was wearing a venerable piece of protection. This argument, fueled by ale, became a brawl, and it was one that Estaria - thoroughly drunk off potent dwarven ale - was dragged into once her food and drink was spilled by the fight. All in all, the night was a glorious one. Spectacular, and truly what she expected a Dwarf dinner to be like.


    The morning was not quite so good. There was a thumping in her skull, like  the pounding of an anvil, and she was surprisingly light, the reason for which was her being almost naked.


    ¡°Ahh, she wakes!¡± A bellow came from a meaty Dwarf, and Estaria got herself up to look at him. It seemed the thumping wasn¡¯t so much in her skull as it was an actual pounding of an anvil. Apparently she passed out in a Blacksmith¡¯s forge. While in naught but her keks.


    ¡°Seems like I had a fun night¡± she muttered, scratching her head and standing up proper.


    ¡°Aye. Troargargrum and Elbegg started a fight over who could fix your armour, and then you got dragged into it. After black eyes, all three of your barreled in here, and demanded my Forge. It was a surprise to see a human come in with two dwarves. I placated them by telling them I would set the forge up, but you said you wanted to watch. And then, five minutes later, exclaimed it was too hot, threw your clothes into the forge, and passed out in the corner. The others didn¡¯t return, so I assume they forgot. As for the grindal, they were there when you got here¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The Dwarf had a tone of mirth as he explained what Estaria had done last night, and the woman¡¯s cheeks flushed.


    ¡°Sorry, for the bother¡±  she said, looking about, and then stepping backwards. ¡°I¡¯m¡­.going to go find some clothes¡± she told him, waiting for his nod before taking off like a bullet. Her agility was tremendous, and with her Celerity, she could reach an obscene level of speed, which got her to the quartermaster in short order. ¡°So, do you have any human-sized clothes?¡± she asked. The quartermaster, who had been busy doing his daily work, looked up at this muscular, half-naked human and just stared.


    ¡°Estaria! You run like a horse!¡± came a booming shout from Traukon, who was running very fast for a Dwarf, and carrying a package under his arm. This package, was handed to Es when he arrived. ¡°I heard what happened last night, so I went to go find this. Some Dwarf had a hobby of collecting Elf dresses, and then he got an arrow to the skull, so they were just gathering dust. Strange Dawi, that one¡­¡±


    Estaria was deeply thankful for any clothes, and the package was opened, revealing a beautiful dress, which went on and made the Captain beam with delight. The material was so smooth, and so light, she could really get used to wearing something like this.


    ¡°Definitely not going to be throwing this in the forge. Thank you, Traukon¡± Estaria even gave him a curtsey now she had the dress to do it. It was lost on the Dwarf, however, who just waved.


    ¡°Come on! Breakfast is ready¡± Traukon exclaimed. Estaria put a hand up to the long platon her head, and looked to Traukon.


    ¡°So, how did my hair get like this?¡± It was, to feel,quite the attractive design. And as they passed some reflective stone, she even admired it a little in what passed for a mirror.


    ¡°Ahh, some young Kvinn saw you about and exclaimed she had never worked an Umgi¡¯s hair before. And so you sat down on the floor and let her plat it. And then she went off to tell her friends. Now stop gawking! This Dawi needs food!¡±


    *****


    A hilarious breakfast, if the laughter was any indication. Though, possibly half from the system and half from her own actions, she seemed to have an ultimately positive reputation with this Karak. She had got a title of Azul Umgi or ¡°Dependable Human¡±. Which, knowing them, was actually really flattering. After that, she was left to wander, Elfish dress and grindal in her hair. This wander took her over to the gunsmiths, where she marveled at the pristine craftsmanship of the weapons on show. They weren¡¯t for sale, and Estaria didn¡¯t insult anyone with the offer, but she could look. And hope. That hope was rewarded when she saw one gunsmith not working on guns, but instead setting up in the training grounds, and doing something interesting. Above him on a board, hung the most beautiful pistol she had ever seen in her life. Long barreled, engraved front, Gromril engraving, rifled internals...she spent a long time looking at it before finally going up to the Dwarf and asking. It took him a few seconds to get over the shock of the Umgi appearing, but then he spoke easily enough.


    ¡°Setting up a contest to win my pistol. I don¡¯t want it being bought and sit in someone¡¯s trophy cabinet. I want it used! She begs to see action¡± The gunsmith was passionate, and Estaria nodded, though she did admit the lack of current equipment. ¡°Ack, no worry. Plenty of spare thrunds lying about¡± he then pulled one out from under the cart, and handed it to Estaria. The weapon was a magnificent bit of Dwarf craft, perfectly balanced, smooth finish, and something strange, that she hadn¡¯t seen before.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± she asked, pointing to a strange cap. Having seen that, the Dwarf panicked and tried to grab the gun, but it was held out of reach by Estaria. Seeing no other option, the Dwarf grumbled and then kicked a loose stone.


    ¡°It¡¯s a percussion cap. Firearm addition that helps keep the powder dry and also allows for faster reloading than most firearms. Trying to get all the kinks out of it before I take it to the Engineers. A Dwarf doesn¡¯t take to innovation well, they prefer the tradition of proven things¡± The Gunsmith explained, before sudden surprise as the crack of the firearm rang out, and then Estaria was reloading it. The dwarf spluttered, and there was a second shot, before she nodded. Precision and her Traits might be changing things, but there was still a degree of skill required in firing. Precision would only allow for more accuracy, you still needed to align and gauge distance and drop.


    ¡°Well, if the Engineers won¡¯t accept your Percussion Cap, then you should take it to Nuln. Imperial Gunnery School would love such a thing. Was my dream to be an Ironside, once¡± She smiled, and then handed the gun back.The dwarf seemed thoughtful for a moment, and then handed her a different gun. More dwarves gathered, and the contest began. Here, she saw it was not just the craftsmanship of the Dwarves that was strong, but the skill at arms as well. Their accuracy was something to be respected, even against Estaria¡¯s preternatural ability. But, eventually it came down to the wire and Estaria took the victory, earning the right to own ¡°Troll-Drenger¡±. Which, was stored away in the dress and a happy Estaria left to continue her exploration.

 Chapter 20

    With some self-control, it was a really nice vacation, this Karak. The food was good, the beer was good, the company was good. And the training ground was also good. She tried to convince herself for ten solid minutes that sher was on vacation and wasn¡¯t going to go training every day. And then she went training every day. The ¡®Elite¡¯ Training was difficult, and took her quite a while, especially because she wanted to overcomplete them. The rewards for such were interesting, she was given the choice between plus 3 to a stat, or three medals - which would become six with her Highly Decorated trait - and she picked the medals. They really gave a lot of cool stuff, and her stats were pretty dam high already. Overcompleton gave her experience, which was always good but she was pretty high now, so it wasn¡¯t going that far up with every training. It pushed her over to 32, but the crawl to 33 was slow. She leveled well off the multitude of enemies she fought, but this training was small by comparison. If it wasn¡¯t the End-Times, she wouldn¡¯t be half as leveled as she was.


    Eventually, the final day came, and she was exploring the rest of the Karak, when she saw a most interesting hole. Well, it looked like a hole but to the Dawi it was probably a tunnel. Opening the oft-unused minimap, she saw irritating fog of war. And so went into the shop and bought a map that revealed the whole of the Karak, tunnels included. Down there was pretty extensive, but what was exploration without going into the horrible tunnel system filled with monsters? So she equipped her armour, the backup sword she bought from a smith and her shield, and finally the two pistols, Troll-Drenger and the thing she won from the random box. With those, she stepped into the tunnels, and got a popup.


    Field Dungeon - Expansive dungeon located in the real world, treasures and possibility await. Field Dungeons can possess their own mini-dungeons as well the Field Boss, a mighty opponent that has guaranteed Orange-rank loot


    Estaria¡¯s eyes lit up when she saw that the Field Boss had guaranteed Orange-rank loot. That was definitely something she was going to get, so she opened the shop and bought the advanced map, which would track the locations of allies and enemies. She had experimented with the system in her downtime and the simple map she got - but rarely used - was pretty intuitive when worked on. Blue dots and red dots lit up the tunnel, and one large blue dot showed her the location of her friend, Traukon. So, using her extreme speed, she took off and hunted down the Dwarf, finding him cutting his way through a small crowd of Skaven. They really were real, huh?


    ¡°Estaria? What are you doing down here?¡± he asked, after braining the last rat with his axe.


    ¡°Found the entrance, thought it looked fun, decided to check it out. Is this what you do every day?¡± she asked, looking about the place.


    ¡°Aye. As an Ironbreaker, it is my duty to keep these tunnels as clean as can be. And as a player, killing hordes of enemies every day works spectacularly for leveling an¡¯ looting¡± He nodded, then cleaned off his axe and looked to the map. Dwarves had good sense of direction underground, but a magical all-knowing map that designated enemy locations was more helpful than that.


    ¡°So, ever gone to the Field Boss?¡± she asked, tapping the large red dot with a skull on it.


    ¡°Ahh, that Drengkai. I went there a while back and almost died! A little apprehensive to return, despite a higher level¡± he exclaimed. To be called a Drengkai - Thing that needs killing, in common tongue - meant he really was not happy with how the last fight went. But, Estaria could understand his feelings, she¡¯d still not gone to the B-rank dungeon boss because of how last time went.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we try it together?¡± she asked him, offering something rather novel. This whole other player thing meant she didn¡¯t have to solo play anymore. Traukon looked up, and then nodded at the idea.


    ¡°Aye! Try not to run off like a damned Elgi though. A dwarf is like a rock. Doesn¡¯t move fast, unless rolling down hill¡± Estaria laughed at the idea of a dwarf rolling down a hill, and together they went off to go to the Field Boss. The enemies that they faced were in small packs, and between two mid-level players, didn¡¯t stand much of a chance. And so they followed the map to the Field Boss, which was in the middle of a Skaven Warren. By herself, that might have been a problem, since there were a lot more rats here than outside.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Still, most of them were just slaves and Clansrats, so their only boon was number, and that boon was devastated on the front of two Players. The number was enough to level up Estaria, which was to be expected really. Though they were pretty low level, she had carved through over a hundred ratmen to get here, and then that number again in the nest. Had they all have been larger Clansrats, the two might have struggled to get through the horde, but as it stood, this mini-dungeon lacked the elites to press them proper.


    ¡°Surprisingly long distance, huh? My high Stamina is making long things feel less long because I just don¡¯t feel the trek¡± she commented, sitting about abit to make sure her Luck and Fatigue were at the best possible values before heading in.


    ¡°Ahh, we Dwarves don¡¯t feel the strain of activity at the best of times, but I will certainly admit I can spend all day in here with my Ironbreaker brothers, and then all night here by myself, and have but an hour to sleep an an hour to eat. It is most industrious¡± Traukon made sure none of the sneaky Skaven were playing dead, and then nodded.


    ¡°Even though I could statistically, I don¡¯t think I could mentally handle that kind of activity¡­¡± Estaria shook her head, before moving onwards, and coming to a deep pit. Inside it, was the red-coloured ¡°Gnawsplit The Unbreakable¡± Field Boss. A tremendous mass of horrific flesh and metal slithered in the pit, far beyond anything Estaria had ever seen in her life.


    ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± Estaria demanded, recoiling at the sight. She was rarely so vulgar, but this...thing, was¡­.vulgar to the extreme.


    ¡°An Abomination of the Hell-Pit. We don¡¯t usually see them in the tunnel because it is just too big, but out in the field, it can be a terrifying force to be reckoned with. The Longbeards tell stories of it taking cannon volleys and crushing Steam-Tanks under foot¡± Traukon explained, pulling out one of his throwing axes.


    ¡°And we are meant to do what precisely? I wouldn¡¯t even know where to start!¡± She exclaimed, staring at the mass of flesh.


    ¡°Just hit it, Umgi! It¡¯ll die eventually¡± Traukon then launched his ax and lept into the pit. The axe sunk deep into the creature¡¯s back, and then the fight had started. Great.


    Estaria pulled Troll-Drenger and shot an important looking pipe, which seemed to really piss the creature off since a thunderous roar filled the air as some sort of chemical bile spilled from the pipe. She shot off her second bullet and then, summoning her Handgunners around the edge to provide fire support, jumped in herself, rushing the creature and slashing at what looked to be a leg, summoning her Greatswordsman as well to give her some extra support on the ground. The leg, could have been a fist. Could have been a head. This thing didn¡¯t really have any central biology to make a good idea of where to hit. And to make matters worse, the wound seemed to spit and belch out new flesh to regenerate the damage already done.


    ¡°A regenerating, monstrous creation of science. Lovely!¡± she exclaimed, using her Double Slash to bite deep into the creature¡¯s flank and spill what might be blood. Or just more chemical soup. Traukon was busy hacking, slashing, wacking and generally smiting the damn thing, and didn¡¯t engage in banter at all.


    Though Estaria¡¯s banter was short-lived as the creature swung around and smashed both her and Traukon with it¡¯s massive tail. Between his armour and stocky build, Traukon managed to stay on his feet, and the Greatswords mostly got out of the way, but Estaria tried to leap over it and misjudged the size, so was blown into a nearby wall. After extracting herself from it, she took the oppitunity to reload Troll-Drenger and shoot a few more vital looking contraptions on the thing. The floor was slick with blood by this point, and Traukon¡¯s armour was coated from head to toe. One of the cogs that she shot let out a shrieking grind and then part of the creature¡¯s flesh began to bubble and bloat before bursting in a shower of steam and slime. A volley of bullets from the Handgunners seemed to just, soak into the creature¡¯s flesh, leaving wounds till they popped the bullets out.


    ¡°There is no bath big enough to justify fighting this thing!¡± Estaria shouted, leaping into the air and driving her sword into the mass of flesh that might possibly pass for a head on this damn thing. It had either suffered enough damage or run out of whatever was regenerating it, since her slashes were leaving lasting marks now. Though it¡¯s size was so great that even driving her blade down to the hilt didn¡¯t hit anything vital, she could still do that and then writhe the sword back out, splitting a massive rend across the creature and filling the air with more pus and blood. Ditching the puss-covered slime sword and ordering one of the greatswordsmen to throw her their blade, she caught it and then bought it down with a tremendous slam, cutting into the creatures body and then slashing, the long blade making massive cuts until finally, she hit something that was clearly quite important because the beast let out a roar and swayed - either that or she had just caused one of his three Critical Wounds. Driving the sword downwards, and getting a second volley to rake the beast¡¯s side, she forced the greatsword to the hilt and bisected the organ.


    In it¡¯s death throngs, the creature thrashed, and several of her Greatswordsmen died, their plate collapsing and their bodies crushed under the weight. One great roar from Traukon, and the beast fell, it¡¯s supporting leg cut clean off and no more regeneration to recover. A final whine was drowned out by the Handgunners, and the beast...moved no more.


    ¡°I¡¯m...not even sure an Orange is worth what I just went through¡­.¡± Estaria groaned, as the handgunners faded away, and the greatsword in her hand popped out of reality when the summon timed out.

 Chapter 21

    The first thing that happened after felling the beast was Estaria buying herself a barrel of water from the shop, which she then ripped open and dunked over herself. The raging torrent of water washed away most of it, but she would need a long, hot patronizing of the Dawi¡¯s fabulous flowing baths - Runes of Heat warming water from the mountain and specially crafted channels allowing for varying degrees of water jets to wash a Dwarf clean in a fraction of the time it took to draw and take a bath - before she truly got over that monster.


    ¡°Do you want one?¡± she asked Traukon, who was cleaning his axe before putting it away. The axe, brought up the fact of her own weapon, or lack thereof. Lost somewhere in the slime and she was not going searching for that twenty throne blade. So she bought another one from the shop, simple but elegant. She was getting Ulric¡¯s Fang back soon, but was still in the Underway, and needed something.


    Traukon, shook his head, and then with a flick, showed her the screen his was looking at. There was two options listed here, and the names ¡°Traukon¡± and ¡°Estaria¡± above them, the names yet assigned.


    Double Experience


    Orange Equipment


    Clearly, the guaranteed drop of the Field Boss wasn¡¯t one for each of them, and the other had to take the double exp. While she liked Traukon, she wasn¡¯t just going to give up an Orange-rank equipment for him, and so pulled out a silver piece and tossed it to him.


    ¡°Flip it. If the Emperor shows his face, I¡¯ll get the Orange¡± She told him. Traukon didn¡¯t have much of an objection as he flipped the coin, and then caught it in his hand when it finally came down to land. Estaria peered in, and saw that the city of Altdorf - where it had been minted - was shown. Having lost, Estaria blew out a breath and tapped the Double Experience, confirming it on the box and giving whatever Orange this beast would yield, to Traukon.


    ¡°Cloak Of The Underway. Ooh, like a Dwarf needs any more resilience. Like Gromril itself¡± Traukon¡¯s commentary as he looked up the stats of his new item gave Estaria an idea of what it did, and she was glad for it. Having her friend die on his expeditions through the Underway was not going to help their budding friendship.


    ¡°T¡¯as been a solid outting, Es!¡± Traukon¡¯s booming voice made it clear he enjoyed the ultimate outcome. And Estaria couldn¡¯t complain eve, as she got some welcome boxes.


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    100 Dexterity: Quicksilver Viper - A man may act several seconds past this strike before realizing it has even been struck. Spend cool to launch an ultra-high speed attack that is almost impossible to evade


    Three level ups, from double this creature¡¯s value, and a trait that didn¡¯t seem very helpful but was more for those with fast reflexes, like the Beastlord. She looked over the exp and shook her head softly.


    ¡°I should damn well think so too. Was messier than a Festag Drunkard¡± she muttered to herself, before nodding to Traukon. ¡°Shall hope to never repeat killing a being in such a grotesque fashion, but yes-¡± Estaria flicked over to her traits and looked through them, before her eyes grew with intense glee. ¡°-most solid¡­¡± the trait that she saw was immediately picked, and she couldn¡¯t wait to call upon them and see what kind of glorious carnage could be wrecked by these.


    Storied Brethren - Call a squad of 6 Carroburg Greatswordsmen to your side (this replaces the 4 standard Greatswordsmen)


    ¡°I got a new summon trait, so I am going to go find a small nest of buggers to try them on, then make my way topside. You heading anywhere particular?¡± she asked, stepping out of the gunk and getting up the slope to solid land.


    ¡°Ahh, got my daily route through the Underway to do, then to the feast hall. I shall meet you there, if you do not try to wear your skin away with the flow of water¡± he gave a final laugh, and then headed off ahead of Estaria to his training. Getting under the controlled waterfall until her skin slogged off was an appearing idea, but she sort of needed that skin to survive, so decided against it and just followed the minimap to where a group of Skaven were huddled, gnawing on¡­.Skaven bones. These creatures were so depraved to be cannibalistic. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Estaria snapped her finger, and they appeared, six men in glistening Full Plate, swords twice the length and half again the girth of her own, and sturn grizzled expressions as they faced down the rats. She gave the order, and the blades butchered the rats, a single swing sufficient to cleave them in half, and the twisted weapons that the Skaven called swords would glance and reflect off the Plate that the Greatswords wore. Quickly it became apparent that the Skaven were facing what amounted to indestructible Gods, and so they scurried away, few managing to escape beyond the reach of the blades, and none beyond the reach of Estaria¡¯s guns. These, beautiful men would be such a boon when it came to Dungeon farming. And maybe even boss battles.


    A second snap of her finger dismissed them, and she got a pop-up telling her that dismissal reduced the cooldown to bring them again. That was nice to know, but there were few situations she could think of where she wouldn¡¯t need their full help. Maybe when she was bored or testing, like now? With the one last thing to do, done, Estaria left the Underway, and found all the amenities she needed to get rid of the horrible thing she had just come across.


    ****


    Sat back on the wagon heading towards the Gromril mine-fort, Estaria nibbled on the rations she had packed for the journey, and read the letter - of course, she had to jump through hoops to be able to read it, being illiterate and all. First it was stored in her inventory, and then she selected it in the inventory and read the discription of it''s contents. Hardly worth the effort,The letter was simply a request for her to report to the Major¡¯s office at the earliest convenience, a physical manifestation of her metaphysical quest.


    With that done, Estaria leaned back and thought about the week she had just had.Not only did she get to see what few humans had seen, she had even made friends among the Dwarves and spent a week off just relaxing for the most part. With nobody to talk with and the letter read, Estaria caught a quick nap until they arrived at the Mine, which woke her and she exited, helping the man unload his materials. The Dwarves really had managed to turn this reinforced redoubt into a Shanty-Fort. Barracks, Cook-houses, makeshift Inns and Blacksmiths, and a host of residences. Everything a soldier needed. And the walls, heavy wooden walls, with watch-towers, reinforced with ditches and spikes. While it wouldn¡¯t keep out an army, any incursion less than that would find themselves hard-pressed to make headway.


    It was lovely to see progress, as well as human mingling with City-Dwarf and Karak-Dwarf, a melding pot of culture and culinary taste. Several mercenary divisions had left, and several more had arrived. She did not see the great form of Borrago, so he must have left to return to Altdorf. Which was what she was doing as soon as she found someone to go with. Superhuman maybe, but being in a group meant she didn¡¯t have to fight off every monster, man or beast, that decided a lone woman was an easy target. Still, the bellowing of a Dwarf did attract her to the master of this fort, the man who Estaria had given the Gromril to when she completed the Defense quest.


    ¡°Hey! Nice place you got. Really good work ethic¡± Estaria complimented. The dwarf ceased bellowing for a moment and preened with pride.


    ¡°Gold and Grog keep the Umgi active, and Duty propells the Dawi. It¡¯s a recipe for success here, though we need one for the Tunnels. Damned Rats are growing more numerous every day. Driven out the Greenskin tribes and are just festering. Warrens cropping up every day¡± obviously, he devolved to grumbling, but that grumble did give her a mind to return later if she could¡­


    ¡°Anyone heading to Altdorf?¡± she asked, and was directed to a party of Dwarves, who were planning to return to the city, gather supplies, more Dwarves from the slums, and secure some trade routes that would ease the strain of the Karaks. So she hung around till everyone had gathered their gear and spent her time buying some rations from the shop to add to the group¡¯s supply - always have more food than needed, because chance was always good you¡¯d need it - and then they set out. It was good luck to allow them to pass through to the lowlands of the Empire without incident beyond a few Goblins dissuaded by bullet and bolt. And once in the lowlands, the South had yet to fall under the hold of the Horde, and so it was mostly safe. Very few bandits in this time of activity, for jobs were aplenty. Fortune and Glory to be had. The second part, Glory, was what caused Estaria¡¯s step to jitter with nervous energy as they arrived at Altdorf and she reached the Major¡¯s office.


    He looked up, nodded wordlessly, and finished the line he was writing on some parchment before getting up and gesturing Estaria to follow him. She was then lead into a far grander and more prestigious hall, and placed before none other than Kurt Helborg, The Reikmarshal himself.


    ¡°Ahh, Captain Zashira. I have heard your report, and the reports of others. Including the work in the mountains with our Dwarven allies during your leave, you have been a valorous and commendable asset to the Empire in this dark time¡± he paused for a second, and Estaria was a bit too starstruck to speak, so he carried on. ¡°These deeds have not gone unseen, nor will they be unacknowledged. By the discussion of council and the review of you superiors, you are hereby transferred into the Altdorf Greatswords, and granted the rank of Sargent-Major, seconded under Major Tal. Your new equipment, shall be brought to the barracks that Major Tal shall guide you to¡±


    The voice was stern, to the point, and official. He delivered his speech, and then got back to the discussion he was having with other generals about the Chaos Horde. Estaria, did not linger and instead followed Major Tal to the Greatswords barracks, still stunned all this was happening¡­.

 Chapter 22

    Time blurred as she was taken to the barracks, got settled in and met her senior brothers in arms. This barracks was better than her house, and was more akin to some middle-class house than a barracks. Fine dining room - not a mess hall like most, for Greatswords did not make a mess - quality bedding, additional rooms to meet and play with your brothers. While they were still soldiers and the cards and dice were found, Estaria could also see more intricate games of chess, checkers and the like. Truly, these Greatswordsmen were a cut above the rest. She felt awkward among them, and so retreated early to her bed, rising early and heading over to the Master Smith who had been working on her blade and armour.


    Dwarf-forged Full Plate was too expensive, too time-consuming to be made on order for each individual Greatsword. And so suits were on hand, and adjusted to the height and girth of new recruits. Estaria, looked over the greatsword and instantly knew that despite the reputation attached to it, it was inferior to her blade. Which was to be expected, Orange was the highest rank she had seen in the shop, and damned expensive to boot. Half a million thrones, in real world money.


    ¡°How many swords could you make with half a million thrones?¡± Estaria casually asked. The Master Smith laughed a deep - all Dwarves were deep, but this one was deep even for a dwarf - laugh and looked up.


    ¡°You have a hidden tunnel into the bank of Altdorf? I could make ten thousand swords of the purest steel out of that. Fit to impress a Karak Dwarf, even!¡± The Master Dwarf looked up, and shook his head. Such an amount was absurd.


    ¡°It¡¯s about the market price for this¡± she said, drawing Ulric¡¯s Fang and showing it to him. The Dwarf looked amazed, and studied it intimately for many moments.


    ¡°That would be selling it shortly. I would not put a price on this, it would be like buying a Runefang¡± The Dwarf then looked to the greatsword he was forging, and shook his head. ¡°Ack, and this pile of scrap is no use in comparison!¡± The Dwarf took up his hammer in anger, as if to bash it to pieces and restart his work from scratch.


    ¡°Don¡¯t, worry about that¡± Estaria said, the first word coming out quick, and the rest following after a short delay. ¡°Greatsword is mostly ceremonial. And if you truly want to make a Greatsword comparable to this sword, then I shall finance you. Gather the price of everything you need, and I¡¯ll gift you the coin¡± she told him, before walking up to the Full Plate. ¡°Assuming that takes you more than an hour, how does this work? I¡¯ve never had armour so fine¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The Dwarf was stunned at Estaria¡¯s claim. Even a quick thought would have a blade like that cost him thousands of Crowns and years of work. Still, he focused on what he knew, and showed Estaria the intricacies of her armour. It was quite the chore to get in, one did not have a giant suit of metal without some difficulties in utilizing it. Once in, she got a popup.


    Heavy Armour reduces Agility by 20 when worn


    Not entirely surprising, it was very heavy after all - between the metal and the internal padding to reduce the impact of the metal - and the rivets, while giving some flexibility, lacked the true dynamics of movement. One could move well in it in any given situation, but to wear it for more than a few minutes to show off that range of movement would truly begin to tax. Testing how everything went, rolling shoulders and bending knees, then finishing up with a few swings, Estaria nodded to the Master Dwarf, and picked up the Greatsword, putting it in her sheath.


    ¡°Thank you for the work, Master Dwarf. I shall be in the barracks when not on duty, so come to me with the list when you have made it¡± she then tapped her head, and left his place. Her duty, such as it was right now, was to be Major Tal¡¯s bodyguard. Greatswords were not always designated to guard Elector Counts, most of the time they would guard those of other important positions as well. And being a Sargent-Major, she would lead a large Regiment when the time came to lead it.


    However, while she thought it might be boring to stand around and do nothing but watch him paperwork all day, she was quickly given something to latch on, as he was discussing a recent report with another when she entered.


    ¡°Ahh, Zashira. Good. I was just talking to Captain Holl about this report. Apparently a small Chaos Band has breached the defenses and are pillaging the countryside around Marienburg. Usually we would just sort this out among ourselves, as you are still technically on leave, but there is a name that correlates with yours. The reports claim that the boss of this group proclaims himself to be Zarh, Skull-grabber of Khorne¡±


    That name. Estaria¡¯s eyes widened and she took a deep breath, her hand sliding to stroke the hilt of her blade as if she wanted to slay the very words used to speak it.


    ¡°I shall lead the men in defense of Marienburg and rid the Empire of this threat to it¡¯s prosperity¡± She spoke orderly, but her eyes were alight with the prospect of revenge.

 Chapter 23

    Zarh...Estaria was many, many times stronger than her last time she had met him, but Zarh had had many moons to gain Khorne¡¯s favour and mutate new gifts, plus she didn¡¯t even broach the surface of his skill when they last fought. She would need to prepare. Being dismissed by her Major, she returned to the barracks and began. First, she opened her inventory, and sold off all the crap she had picked up in the Underway. Alchemical reagents didn¡¯t sell automatically, as she could have been an alchemist, or could know a player who was. Still, she just needed the money right now, and so everything got hawked and Estaria was 10,000 pieces richer. Her Halflings really did help with looting, as they carved open every Skaven and took it¡¯s gal-bladder.


    Second, she spent her many medals from the Karak training on potions. Buying one ¡°Greater Potion¡± of each stat - excluding the two duds - drained her medals to 0 and sold out all the potions. Not just the Greater, but the standard and lesser as well. Downing each of them, she tried not to grimace at the conflicting tastes that would drive her pallet into a frenzy. She needed all the firepower she could get right now.


    50 Luck: Lucky Glance - an attack that causes your Luck to deplete will not roll over onto your health


    Dismissing that box as soon as it was read, she then explored a new tab she hadn¡¯t really bothered with so far. It popped up after her Greatsword Job, but never really interested her enough to go get into it. Now, however, she was interested. Opening the ¡°Workshop¡± tab, she examined it, and found it was a thing for upgrading equipment. Even giving them magical properties, but she needed the items or a hell of a lot of money for that. A simple Yellow Enchantment was 30,000 without the needed item. Chucking in her Greatsword to the slot, she hit the upgrade, and turned it from White to Yellow. Then upgrade again from Yellow to Green. And then finally from Green to Purple. The next step required a special item to take it to Orange, but she didn¡¯t have that item, so just had to live with it being a Purple. The first upgrade was 5,000, the second 10,000 and the third 15,000. With it now being a Purple, it now had a higher base damage than Ulric¡¯s Fang, and equal Armour Penetration, and a trait called ¡°Razor¡¯s Edge¡± that could cause Bleeding. Lacked any magical effect though, and was slower.


    Next expenditure was her armour, which went up to Purple. However, unlike the Greatsword, which simply got Razor¡¯s Edge, Estaria was given a choice on which trait she wanted on her armour. ¡°Agile¡± or ¡°Twin-Layer¡±. Agile would reduce the agility mallus down to 10, and Twin-Layer would instead add more armour. She had enough agility to overcome the -20 and so gave it Twin-Layer. She was kind of irate at herself that she had never come here before. Though it was a new addition, she could definitely have used it against the Abomination. Probably would have been a waste though, since she lost her sword and traded the armour in for this plate.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    She wanted to get her two pistols up as well, but she was having money troubles, and that wasn¡¯t good. She could fix them though, and between confidence in her new gear and a burning desire for revenge, Estaria got herself a B-rank dungeon key and entered, clearing the area of all the mobs for best rewards before heading into the dungeon room itself.


    ¡°Oi, Wazzic? O¡¯s dat git?¡± The Warboss asked, pointing at Estaria.


    ¡°I dunno Bozz, S-¡± Wazzic was cut off with a bullet to the eyeball, and then Estaria summoned her handgunners to unload a volley on the Warboss. Blackpowder weapons were great for doing damage to luck, and while there was little health damage done, she could dismiss the handgunners - would only get in the way during close combat - and summon the Greatswords. Finally, giving them the buff, she charged off with them and the Warboss fell pretty quickly to the combined arms. What could get a girl more courage than cleaning a B-rank dungeon like it was a D-rank?


    Total Obliteration - 35000+10000 gold earned. Bozz¡¯ ¡®ead looted


    The dungeon was over, and that was a very tidy sum to get for an hour¡¯s work. Slightly overleveled for that dungeon though, so the experience gains were not that great. With mechanical efficiency and a fiercely focused mind, Estaria opened the inventory and looked at the new item, Bozz¡¯ ¡®ead. It could be sold, or traded for an ¡°Orc Box¡±. So she got an Orc Box, and the random spin gave her a shiny new pistol called ¡°Brain Paster¡±. The name made Estaria chuckle to herself, and then she went back to the workshop. Troll-Drenger was already Green, so it was 15,000 to get that up to ¡°Giant-Drenger¡± and gain the ¡°Two Barrels¡± trait, which was pretty self-explanatory really. Brain Paster was a Yellow, so 25,000 and the ¡°Long Barrel¡± trait, for more damage and accuracy. Finally, jittering with nervous energy, Estaria checked and double-checked her equipment, before finally pacing till the morning came and going out to meet the men gathered for her.


    100 Veteran Swordsmen, and twenty Handgunners were gathered for her to go up to Marienburg and end Zarh¡¯s reign. She tried not to worry about it so much, she had just taken out a Warboss without much trouble. Giving the order to move out, Estaria got on the road and set a firm pace, so they reached where they were going in short order. And there, in front of her, was Zarh and his men, butchering and raiding, and then, spotting Estaria and turning to her.


    ¡°I am Zarh! Skull-gra¡­.wait, didn¡¯t I kill you once?¡± He asked, gripping his gore-slick axe tightly. It was here that Estaria knew where her fears were coming from. A little thing about his head that made this whole fight so much more than simply killing a guy that had once killed her.


    Zarh Ubertrim - Level 36 Skull-Grabber of Khorne

 Chapter 24

    He¡¯d killed her, and many more besides. So letting out a scream that counted enough to activate her buff, and with the vague recollection of something about a plan, Estaria rushed in with her men, her greatsword held tight in her hands. Zarh barked some order in an unknown language and then his men charged against her own line. But Zarh, he stood separate, and there was a nice clear path to hm. Something he would quickly regret as Estaria picked up the pace and then, with the flucity of quicksilver, slid off to one side and raked her greatsword across his side. The shriek of metal grinding metal ripped through the air, and his armour was scored, but not punctured, and his luck damaged more than anything.


    ¡°Are we sure I am the Khornite here?¡± Zarh asked, his tone full of sarcastic humor.


    ¡°You killed me! I think I am justified a little anger, here¡± Estaria replied, pulling out Giant-Drenger and firing off both bullets. Zarh moved in his shield like a whip and both rounds bounced off it. The second volley with Quick Reload also went the same way, but that was fine because then she sheathed her pistol and rushed him again, throwing her greatsword with all the formidable strength she could possess.


    Pressing hard after the inital blow, Estaria placed an armoured gauntlet on the blade and pushed, biting deep into the shield. Though it was a very thick shield, and Es couldn¡¯t puncture it fully before being pushed off, Zarh using the shield to smash her backwards. Her armour soaked a lot of the force, so she only stumbled backwards, but it was still going to be an annoying fight if that shield didn¡¯t go.


    ¡°Bah, you move like a Slaaneshi! This system is devaluing Chaos¡± Zarh exclaimed. He was, when you fought him properly, a very chatty Khornite, it seemed.


    ¡°Chaos deserves devaluing. What does it do except kill people and give them warp-boils?¡±


    This back and forth banter was as much a fight as the actual fight, as important as blade on blade. But the actual hitting him part was important, so Estaria leapt into combat, initially going for a downward strike, but then quickly reangling to bring the force of her leap down on the same marked portion of the shield she had cut into last time. This time she took a larger chunk out of the shield, cracking it at the edges and splitting from the strike. Zarh took this opportunity to strike back while Estaria¡¯s blade was in his shield, and the axe carved a chunk out of her luck bar, then a second as he booted her in the chest. Still, Estaria ultimately came off better, as Zarh looked to his shield and gave a vexed growl before tossing it aside, the limply hanging top half beginning to bend under its own weight, and then split apart as it hit the ground. Drawing out a second axe, the actual fight started there.


    Having dealt with his shield, Estaria could now strike at the man, but his second axe did double his damage potential. The two rushed each other and Estaria¡¯s Double Strike was deflected by the armour, while his two axes struck low and buckled the plate around her hips. Both low on Luck, neither pulled back, and Estaria even threw forward, smashing her helmeted head against Zarh¡¯s, and then using the flat of her blade as a bludgeoning weapon to ring his helmet a second time. It was all very unorthodox fighting, and any trainer would be frothing at the mouth to see it. Zarh was not against such tactics and after recovering his balance he through his entire armoured bulk at Estaria, ramming her off her feet and barely missing an axe strike as she rolled backwards with system-given alacrity.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Hardly the first woman I¡¯ve had on her back!¡± Zarh exclaimed, standing back up and flourishing his axes.


    ¡°Is that why you are so angry? The women see the dagger you¡¯ve got and start to laugh?¡±  Estaria cracked a grin and then hopped up, lashing out one foot to crack against his breastplate as Zarh charged, and throw her backwards, throwing off his charging momentum and putting her well outside his grasp. There she then pushed inwards again, using all her incredible speed to blitz past him and open a hole in the armour - and the leg - that supported him. Blood spilled in an arc, and continued to leak out of the wound, her swords¡¯ ¡°Bleeding¡± effect getting to work.


    ¡°Gonna need that back, woman¡± Zarh exclaimed, turning to Estaria, who felt strange and sort of painful. The source of that was an axe in her side, just above the hip, where Zarh had hijacked her speed to punch through the armour and stick his axe into her side.


    ¡°It¡¯s mine now¡± she replied, pulling the damn thing out. While removing a weapon wasn¡¯t the best of plans for a wound like this, keeping it in would make it far too awkward to fight properly. Tossing the axe far enough away that it would be a struggle to reclaim, Estaria exhaled. Between nicks and glances chipping away small portions of their health, this decisive blow marked a turn-point in the battle. Zarh tossed his axe at Estaria who barely managed to deflect it, before locking blades with the greatsword of his own that he had drawn. Thicker and more viciously serrated around the edge, it was of lesser quality to Estaria¡¯s own. But that wouldn¡¯t stop it from killing her if she was careless.


    Zarh¡¯s brute strength was overwhelming, and pushed Estaria back towards the ground, until she managed to shift her weight and lash a Quicksilver Viper strike, sub-targetted into his groin. The reaction was immediate, and Estaria took advantage of it to get out from under his sword and regain her footing. To recap, she was bleeding, reaching exhaustion, surrounded by the enemy, facing a superior foe, and still couldn¡¯t remember the bloody plan she had made for this whole fight. Though this was normal bleeding, as no popup came to tell her she had the Bleeding debuff. What the difference was, she couldn¡¯t really tell you though¡­


    Zarh recovered from his groin-stun, and his eyes flashed red, the blood flowing from his leg seeming to thicken and stop before a hellish roar erupted from him and he rushed Estaria, a berserk charge with no care but for the slaughter of one¡¯s enemy. Estaria set herself, grasped her greatsword, and then thrust it forward, puncturing his chest plate and driving it deep into his sternum. Not, that that really stopped him as an axe punctured her helmet, sliced open her forehead, and sent her sprawling with the force of the blow. Laying on the ground, after she had finished rolling from the blow, she felt cold, weak, and pretty much like death.


    Critically wounded


    Ahh...so this is what a Critical Wound felt like¡­She felt somewhat bad about the people she had given one to now. Stubbornly, she forced herself up to her feet, and looked to Zarh, who was currently also dying of his own Critical Wound.


    ¡°Gonna¡­.need that¡­.back¡­.man¡± Estaria gasped, fumbling for her sword and pulling it out, only to drop it and have to get it off the ground. There was no reply from Zarh, just a growl of a half-conscious man. Estaria couldn¡¯t see out of her right eye anymore, the blood just pissing out of the wound and pouring down her face beyond her eyebrow¡¯s ability to soak. Gritting her teeth and getting her footing back, Estaria sluggishly lurched towards Zarh. While it was a quick run for most people, for Estaria who was suffering the severe mallus of a Critical Wound, it was like wading through water.


    Zarh responded to her presence with a sudden axe swing, and she felt the wind against her face as she dodged it by a hair¡¯s breadth, and then, with a roar of zeal and passion, swung Ulric¡¯s Fang. The blade¡¯s stats and her ¡°Mercy Of The Wolf¡± buff were sufficient to slice clean through the man¡¯s thick neck and bisect bone. The heavy helmeted head flew off from the force of the decapitation, and thudded loudly onto the ground. Her great rival, dead.


    You have won the duel


    Fatigue at 100%. Activity suspended until Fatigue reaches below 50%


    She could think of better places to pass out than the middle of a Khornite warband. But, her thoughts didn¡¯t matter, she had lost her Furious Zeal ability when her stats got the Critical Wound hit. And so her heavily armoured body hit the ground with a loud crashing thud.

 Chapter 25

    Stiffly, and with a groan, Estaria slowly, pushed herself up. This time she was sure she hadn¡¯t died and reincarnated because she didn''t ache this badly the last time. If she had died, then she wouldn¡¯t be feeling like this.


    Victory in the duel against an enemy faction player allows you to steal all their experience


    That, was pretty amazing actually. And so she was inundated with a host of level up screens. Flicking them away, getting her three traits from the levels - she dreamed of becoming an Ironside, not leading them, so that one was beloved -  one for immunity to fear which was always good, and a final one for more innate armour. Maybe next time she wouldn¡¯t get her arse kicked so badly.


    With that done, she laid back down. The floor felt like it was rolling, her neck felt stiff, and she couldn¡¯t see properly. Not surprising since her head got brained by an angry Khornite Berserker who was also a level higher than she was. Discomfort was to be expected, she was just glad she was still alive. Unfortunately, she was doomed to be interrupted, as there was a clanking sound that woke her up, and then a laugh, like from one of those entitled Bretonnian nobles. Getting back up, she could see a woman holding a lantern and a baton, which  was making the clanking sound on what appeared to be prison bars.


    ¡°Level 50 now? Well, that is beautiful. You are going to be so popular in the arena~¡± the woman spoke with a soft, beautiful voice. And her body¡­.it was impossibly beautiful. Pale, to the point of being white, and with such a skin tone, the raven black hair was all the more striking. She had soft muscular that seamlessly folded itself into her otherworldly elegance. As she slowly paced to the end of the bars, Estaria felt almost entranced by the fluid motion in which she walked, not merely one step following another, but as if water had been given form. This whole appearance distracted Estaria rather perfectly from the fact that she was in a prison cell, and wearing nothing more than a ragged sack-dress besides. ¡°Was right to put that little collar on your neck though¡± she opened the door with a set of keys and walked in, leaving the door wide open in a show of hubris.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Estaria fought, and finally regained control of her head to get over the wondrous appearance, and looked properly. This woman had a hover over her head, telling Estaria that this too, was no ordinary woman.


    Filnon Nightfury - Level 30 Dancer of Khaine


    Her head probably back on, Estaria realized this woman in front of her was one of the storied Druchii, the Dark Elves which plundered and pillaged the sea ways. What was she doing though? Their levels were so far apart Estaria would snap her like a twig. And in fact, was exactly what she intended to do when the elf-woman came closer.


    ¡°I bet you are having a heavy full of nasty little thoughts, hmm? Well, don¡¯t worry, that collar of yours is not just for show¡± Filnon then finished approaching Estaria and crouched down, straddling the woman and planting a kiss on her lips. Estaria tried to move and found herself suddenly wracked with the most pain she had ever felt in her life, her whole body tense and stiff with it¡¯s paralyzing scale. The elf finished her kissing at a leisurely pace, and then stroked Estaria¡¯s cheek, as enamoured by the pain Estaria was in,as she was with her body itself. ¡°Such a messy crop of red hair. We will have to style this properly when I get back. Though the rest of you~¡± hands went down, stroking and teasing Estaria¡¯s body. Her firm muscles,her amply sized chest, the soft, hairless legs. ¡°Surprising, this one. Most of the slaves we get don¡¯t really have much in the way of vanity. And yet you do? I am going to have so much fun with you~¡± the words had some terrifying repercussions. Like this pain, and humiliation, was only the start

 chapter 26 (m)

    ¡°So, are you going to be the kind of pet that needs constant correction, or are you going to be a good Doll who is obedient?¡± Filnon asked, with a tone almost as if she was seriously asking. Though with her hands slid up Estaria¡¯s dress and groping her breasts, it was hard to tell.


    ¡°What¡¯s...the one...who rips out your lungs?¡± Estaria breathlessly asked. Between the intense pain and this wholly new sensation as the woman molested her, it was hard to think properly.


    ¡°That would be this one¡± Filnon then slid a hand down, and slipped it into Estaria¡¯s crotch, her fingers entering her folds without any hesitation or foreplay. Having been a busy bee with soldiering, Estaria had never gotten around to doing anything related to pleasuring herself, or getting pleasured by others. So the sudden rush of emotions caught her wildly off guard. She made a most embarrassing noise and, as the fingers slipped deeper in and began to scratch her sensitive walls in a slightly arousing fashion, she found herself falling forward onto the woman, unable to keep herself up.


    ¡°I know I got a blessing from Atharti, but you are really loving this, huh? What, have you never done anything like this before?¡± Filnon teased, kissing Estaria¡¯s neck and then nibbling it, slowly but surely progressing into an obvious hickey. ¡°Either way, I am so glad I picked you up. Stole you off some Imperial Pirates who had in turn bought you off some shady guy in Marienburg. Humans are so willing to sell off their own kind for profit, huh?¡± Filnon spoke, with a voice of conviction such that Estaria couldn¡¯t refute her words. But why? That¡­.was not an answer she was likely to ever get. Instead, she just felt her body flush with heat, her crotch twitching and her nipples stiff with need. Filnn responded as Estaria desired, as she needed and between the arousing kisses across her neck, the fingers diving deep in her wet womanhood, and some strange sizzling tang come off those said fingers, it was not long before Estaria lost all control over her body and, with her legs turning into jelly, collapsed, her moan deep and passionate, before panting heavily, as if the whole thing had exhausted her. Her crotch was soaking wet and twitching, and she had spilled something on the ground in the throngs of pleasure.


    ¡°Serious talk for a moment. You listening¡± Filnon lifted Estaria¡¯s head up after she collapsed to the ground, and stared into her eyes, until she was confident that the human toy was indeed listening. ¡°This system has changed my head, and I don¡¯t quite feel as...evil as I used to be. But my brothers and sisters have no such change, and so while I am willing to play with your brattiness, they will simply torture you for it. Do not provoke them, do not look at them, do not speak to them. I don¡¯t want to have to drag you home because you looked at an angry Druchii and they decided to relieve you of a few ribs¡±


    With her warning done, Filnon turned and left Estaria in her cage, the door closing behind her.


    ¡°Ohh, and no touching yourself. I¡¯ll know~¡± Filnon then disappeared completely, leaving Estaria in a woeful state. At first, she wanted to disobey ride the wave that had come from Filnon, , but the pain that woman could and indeed would inflict upon her stayed her hand. And so instead, she just stayed on the ground, trying not to cry. But, that wouldn¡¯t help anyone, and so with great force of will, she would just push it to the bottom of her mind and lock it away. Like that time she stepped on Esme¡¯s cat. And just...dealt with the guilt for years afterwards. It didn¡¯t mattre, if she could get out of here, and if she could get her thoughts in order. What she thought, was her Summons. Estaria could be incapacitated, but they could not. And between a dozen Ironsides and 6 Carroburg Greatswords, they could deal with Filnon. So with great effort she got up, leaned against the wall, and her heart plunged into new depths of despair as she saw a new icon.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Broken Supply Lines - Too far into enemy lines, you have been cut off from your men, and can not summon them until supply lines are reestablished or you move closer to your own lands


    So she was alone. In a dank cell, with a collar around her neck that would incapacitate her with the most pain she had ever felt, were she to step out of line. Or were Filnon to find it amusing. Despair filled her and all she could do was just kneel there, unblinking until the door was opened again, and Filnon displayed a collection of restraints.


    ¡°Try not to resist. I¡¯ll just have to smother you if you do and¡­.I don¡¯t really have time for that¡± Filnon fought with herself and eventually came to the dismissive conclusion, walking up to Estaria and clipping a metal belt around her waist. This belt then had a pair of manacles locked to it, and the manacles then locked to her wrists, She could barely move her hands, and her arms were just as restrained when a second set clipped around her elbows. The short-chained anklets were the last addition, and with that, she couldn¡¯t get any leverage to use her incredible strength to free herself. Completely helpless, and at Filnon¡¯s mercy.


    Being dragged by a chain on her collar, she was forced to line up with over a hundred other slaves, though none of them were nearly as bound as she was. She was clearly treated as a dangerous creature. A pit-beast to be used for their amusement, the same as a Troll or Ork. Of course, if she ever got let off this collar, she¡¯d show them just how dangerous she was. But for now, all she could do was wait, and watch. The platform in front of her, in front of all of them, held a man and three Druchii. The biggest one stepped forward when all the slaves had gathered, and began to speak.


    ¡°Every time we bring a new batch of you in, one of you feel like it is a good idea to go and rebel. There is an uprising, buildings are burned, and then you get killed and crippled in the dozens. At first, it was fun sport to splatter your blood against the walls. But now, we are sick of it. It is like an infestation of rats! You don¡¯t put up a good fight, there is nothing to killing you, and we lose assets besides. So we have decided to keep a slave around for every new batch that came in. So you can all hold in your hearts and minds what we do to rebellious slaves¡± the Druchii then nodded to the two by the side of the slave, and then split his gut open with a precise movement. Amidst the blood and screams, they then perforated his bowel and sewed him back up. Watching him change colour, and then throw up bile as the bowel spilled into his blood-stream, watching a pile of black goo grow and screams of crippling agony...some slaves were unable to stomach it, and the stench of bile was mixed with that of puke and urine. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the man collapsed, and did not get back up. A few had fainted but were quickly roused by the Druchii, who forced every slave to watch.


    And then, like it had been a poetry recital, several whips cracked around the shoulders of unlucky slaves, and they were harrowed towards a large, dilapidated prison, where they were tossed into a massive communal cell. Old slaves mingled with new slaves, and the grizzled, vicious looks - Humans were adaptable, but also impressionable, and slaves took on their Druchii master¡¯s traits after a while - bode ill for the new slaves. Estaria was one of the last, as Filnon kept her out for one last kiss, and then to unhook her hands, though the anklets stayed.


    ¡°Try not to get into to much of a mess, pet¡± she then grinned and pushed Estaria into the building. Into what seemed like the mouth of hell.

 Chapter 27 (m)

    Dark, with a stench like a punch in the nose, and an ominous feel. This place certainly wasn¡¯t a nice looking establishment, and most of the slaves cowered near the entrance, waiting for their eyes to adjust before they moved in further to the darkness. But, the creatures within didn¡¯t need to adapt, for darkness was all they knew, and they moved in. The men were attacked, biting and scratching while the women were dragged away into the corner, screaming and flailing as they did. But Estaria, delivered a mighty blow to the man trying to drag her off, and the crunch of bone and splatter of blood gave everyone pause.


    ¡°Enough. Anyone who touches without consent gets to deal with me¡± Estaria warned. SHe could do nothing about FIlnon, but here at least she could bring some order. THere were growls, snarls and half-spoken words of anger, but only one other came at her, and the clatter of his teeth across the floor convinced the rest not to mess with her.


    The next hour was spent sorting everyone out. In true Captain fashion,  Estaria took control and instilled discipline with an iron fist and and overwhelming presence. It was easier to do that than it was to think about why she was dealing with bedraggled rapists instead of her actual men. Though, it was not to last, as an hour later the door opened and Filnon was there, swinging the cuffs around her finger with a broad smile on her face.


    ¡°Finally sorted all that out. Can¡¯t tell you how much of a faff it was to get you in my house¡± she spoke as she walked over to Estaria, cuffed her up, and dragged her out. Through the streets in what she was wearing, and all chained up to boot, was not the most dignified. And, she knew order was going to break down when they realized Estaria wasn¡¯t going to come back. Would they be more vicious for her attempts to fix things? Did it really matter anymore?


    And then she arrived at the home. Not a very large thing, but this whole place was more a clutter of buildings around a dock rather than a true city. It was here she came face to face with a new girl. Cute thing, two Long ponytails dyed pink made quite the shocking display before you noticed the thick heavy-looking collar, sexual corset and swishing horse tail behind her. Legs cut off at the knee and became some sort of horse legs. The legs were muscular and well toned, though the rest of her scantily clad body was slender and demure, somewhat of a clash between inordinately sized breasts with metal studs in, but they really did suit her. And the Hazel eyes almost seemed out of place with the rest of her.


    ¡°Hello Ceal~ How is my little pony?¡± Filnon dragged Estaria up to the woman and gave her a kiss that had the pony girl melting.


    ¡°S-s-she is good, Mistress¡± This strange blend of woman and beast, far more smoothly and far more elegantly than any Beastman she had seen, was clear evidence of the Dark Elves insidious tampering. Filnon hefted one of the woman¡¯s breasts, before looking back to Estaria and grinning.


    ¡°This is your new friend, Estaria. Take care of her like a sister, would you?¡± Filnon asked, kissing what exposed neck was left above the collar. Ceal shuddered with pleasure - clearly having been here long enough to be totally indoctrinated to FIlnon - and nodded, though it was more of a slight head-jerk from the way the collar restricted her.


    Finally, Filnon turned back to Estaria with a grin and addressed the look of askance on her face.


    ¡°I picked up Ceal a few years ago and used her as a pet for all kind of experiments. She was such a good little toy, I decided to keep her at the end of it. Besides, she¡¯s tasty. Though the experiments did leave her with certain, problems¡± Filnon cupped her mouth around one of the nipples and suckled, electing deep moans of intense pleasure from the cute hoofed girl. Estaria wondered what they were, but looking down, the underwear she was wearing was strangely padded. Like the swaddling of young babes yet to control their body¡­..


    ¡°You¡­.aren¡¯t going to do that to me, are you?¡± Estaria asked, really¡­.really wanting to avoid turning out like this bimbo. Filnon finished drinking from the teet and then turned back and shook her head.


    ¡°Na, this girl is special. A little twisted, very masochistic. Half of these modifications were her own desire. I just indulged her because it sounded really fun to do. And it was~¡± Filnon molested Ceal to the sound of moans some more, and then finally walked over and grabbed Estaria, dragging her off by her collar with one hand, and Ceal with the other. Ceal had a strange way of walking, each step brought her knee up to her waist like a trotting horse. Guess it wasn¡¯t just visual¡­


    Taken to a dressing room, Estaria was caught in a whirlwind of motion, and watched as Filnon, with her unnatural elven grace, and assisted by Ceal, flitted about the room, stripping her naked and then painting Estaria¡¯s face, styling her hair with what she could manage with the short crop, and then dressing her in a criss-cross sash of such sheer material she might as well not wear anything. Coupled with the silk underwear that was so tight she was showing everything, even through it. Though she couldn¡¯t deny she did look good, with the blush and red lips accenting her own crimson hair and eyes - the eyes that got her in trouble from cruel children, when she was a child. The silk was also red, though the sash was so sheer colour was hard to see. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°I look like a whore¡± Estaria commented bluntly.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get you in the arena, and arena fighting is as much showmanship as it is murdering the other guy. So you gotta look the part. You have to have an appearance that stands out. And looking at you, you really stand out¡± Filnon¡¯s hands stroked across Estaria¡¯s abs, and something about those fingers made her heart thump. She did mention a blessing...The fingers then slid up, and with sudden alacrity, slipped into Estaria¡¯s mouth. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t pay you for this¡± the fingers - which crackled and sparked as her tongue touched them, an intense taste filled her buds - slid backwards, until they were in the back of her mouth, and Estaria gagged, coughing and spluttering to clear the obstruction. But that look on Filnon¡¯s face made it clear that if she tried to pull them out by breaking the cuffs, the collar was going to have her on her knees.


    So - with whining from the pony in the corner - she struggled, watching herself splutter and spit, face slowly changing colour as she choked from Filnon¡¯s fingers. And the second hand slipped down, playing with her crotch through the silk panties. Between the great taste of her fingers in her mouth, and the tormenting going on, making a wet spot around her tight silken underwear, Estaria was losing mental control of the situation. Possibly due to asphyxiation, but Filnon was clearly well versed in torturing a person without hurting them at all. And Estaria was unable to handle the methods she was putting forward. Just being pushed forward with the inexorable march of an avalanche. Further and further, her vision slowly going gray and her body quickly heating up. The silk panties could handle the release as she finally climaxed. At that moment, she could breath again, but nearly passing out along with the intense orgasmic pleasure was certainly not a state in which she could stay standing, and so she was on the floor, spluttering and gasping deeply. Gods, her panties were soaked, and Filnon would expect her to still go out in them.


    ¡°You might have some reservations about this, but I control your body, mind and soul. Just gotta get used to that fact¡± Filnon whispered in Estaria¡¯s ear, before forcing a yelp out with a harsh spank. ¡°I¡¯ll give you five minutes, then we are going to the arena~¡± Filnon then left with Ceal, and Estaria was ditched on the floor to gasp and pant. The time passed in an eyeblink, and Filnon returned to force her to her feet and drag her over to the arena. The cuffs were taken off, and she was forced into a communal waiting room, where a group of terrified men were standing around, being handed weapons by a bored looking teenaged Druchii. There was already the stench of urine in the air, and the eyes that fell upon her were ones of despair and disgrace. They just saw what Estaria did. A painted whore - her soaked panties didn¡¯t help there at all - here to look good while she died. Though Estaria had no desire to die today. She wondered if she could take command in this outfit, or if this whole look was designed to a point she couldn¡¯t. Estaria wouldn¡¯t put it past Filnon to counter act as many tricks and skills as possible.


    And just to make things worse, a new icon had popped up.


    Religious Oppression: In the land of an enemy God, your God¡¯s touch is far away. Negate bonuses from God¡¯s blessing


    This day was just getting better and better. Losing twenty stats in strength and Constitution as well as the bonus damage for heavily wounded individuals would not go down well. And just to top everything off, Estaria was handed a pair of chains with blades on the end. Apparently called a Wrathflail, the whole contraption looked complex and not something that she was going to be able to wield if she was alone. Surrounded by scared and timid men, she would be better served using her fists. Giving them a few practice swings, she definitely needed to practice with them. Instead, she just held them by the chain near the blade and wrapped that around her fists. Makeshift stabbing weapons, but better than what she had.


    ¡°So, nobody has any experience, I take it?¡± Estaria asked. The ones not too far gone they were whimpering for something incoherent looked at her, and were put off answering by the fact that Es still looked like a whore. ¡°No, that would be too easy, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± she sighed, and then the door opened, and the opposing side¡¯s door also opened. From the other side, a dozen jacked up hounds burst from the gate, snapping and snarling, having been modified by the Elves for better killing. And a dog was pretty good at killing to begin with. The sight was enough to send half the people around her into outright hysterics, though a few others were overcome with fear in another way and rushed wantonly into the horde, swinging their weapon with reckless abandon and being pulled down and ripped open, claws and teeth disemboweling them with vicious intensity. It was this mass of useless bastards that Estaria had to deal with, and deal she did, with quite an invigorating move.


    One hound lept at her and she drove the blade deep into it¡¯s skull with a powerful uppercut, knocking it into the air and then delivering a skull-crushing kick to a second. Around her, men were being ripped apart by the hounds, but that was the idea. They wanted to make her feel weak, to feel powerless against these beasts. And so she would prove otherwise. Turning to the hounds that were mauling the men, she used the blade provided and sliced them open, each strike splitting open a hound. She could do nothing for the ones who were already clawed to the bone, with guts spilling out and throats chewed off, but she could kill. And kill she did, rending these creatures limb from limb until nothing remained. Maybe two, or three of the slave warriors were left, and clearly this was meant to be a butchering rather than any actual fight. Looking around at the crowd, she saw stunned but amused faces. Interested gazes, and a few that wanted that new Babh. Though Estaria was able to pluck Filnon¡¯s face out of the crowd, and those eyes told her she was in for a wild night, the blood-letting had fired Filnon¡¯s desires.


    Chunnerings came from the crowd, as the gate back in was opened, and a bloodcovered whore that was Estaria, was allowed out of the arena.

 Chapter 28

    Back in the pit where she had been given the weapon, she was met with a laughing Druchii who took the chain-blades off her and exclaimed he had never seen a woman use them quite the way she did. There were no more plans for her since she was meant to die for the crowds amusement, but the level of skill she put out could get her slotted in with a few others who were actually going to fight proper. Only, maybe she should change out of her clothes?


    ¡°Filnon dressed me up like this. I assume she had some horrible plan for why, and I don¡¯t want to go against it in case she takes offense¡± she replied, before leaving to the waiting room amidst more laughter from the Druchii. Hanging around the waiting room was probably not the best thing to do. Here, there were true Gladiators and Warriors, blooded and bold. Their broad shoulders, thick muscles and scarred bodies claimed a long and successful history as a Gladiator in this pit. Not the most glorious of pits, but that was how she survived.


    Taking their glares of disdain and debauchery for about a minute, Estaria beat a retreat and returned to the training grounds. Here, Gladiators and Slaves fought each other to hone their skill. It was no fun to see people die to quickly if you were there to watch an actual fight, so them knowing what they were doing was helpful on occasion. Though what she was going to do was questionable. She wasn¡¯t getting a training quest like usual, and those strange flail-weapons were not on the rack to be practiced with. It felt like all she had to do was wander about the place aimlessly. Fortunately, her aimless  wandering was curtailed by the Druchii in charge of this whole thing. Here, he gave her a pair of large, spiked gauntlets to wear and directed her to the gate where a half-dozen Gladiators stood, armed to the teeth and baying for blood. So focused on their own battle meditation and prayers to their own gods, that they didn¡¯t notice Estaria being pushed into their ranks. Just focused on the door, and when it opened, The Foe.


    Men took off at a sprint, charging the gap with reckless abandon and crashing into the gladiators charging at them from the other direction. No beast on peasant slaughter here, but a true and actual fight. Fortunately, Estaria had a weapon that she at least knew how to use, having seen it used by some Chaos Warriors. Forsaking a shield, they would use these fists in an off-hand manner to drive their spiked hands deep into the foe, were they to avoid the attack. A countering weapon more than a weapon to be used by itself, Estaria had enough strength and speed to make up for the inherent problems. Still, she didn¡¯t want to get on the bad side of these big men by taking any of their kills, and lingered at the back, a slow jog to their rabid sprint. And lo, a man on the other side had the same idea.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Far more lithe and smooth than the rest, he walked with a confident gait and a natural ease. He clearly focused more on the precise nature of moving and striking than most Gladiator¡¯s ¡°Superior Force¡± tactic. And to confirm such  tactics, he had a whip, segmented into blades rather than leather. A Weapon that would require skill and precision to hit the enemy, and not kill the wielder in the process.


    ¡°Ahh, to mar such a beauty. Send down by my feet, and I-¡± the man started to speak. It was a nice voice, and the attempt to persuade Estaria to just give up was not lost on her, but she ignored it and closed the gap with her inhuman speed, delivering a spiked punch to his torso, and then using Second Slice to slap on another. Blood spilled and bones broke, and his frenzied attack in response did not land very well. Instead, using them as they were intended, Estaria shifted her body away from the bladed whip and then delivered a punch that drove the spikes into his neck. The man did not get up from that one. And having dealt with him, she was allowed to linger in the corner, standing near his corpse with gore dripping from her fists, and deal only with the one or two Gladiators so driven by ego or bloodlust that they would come to try and fight her despite the way she had dealt with that man. From the reaction of the crowd and the way he moved and handled his weapon, the man was not unknown, and her crushing defeat of him had drawn eyes and startled hearts.


    Eventually, her ¡°team¡± were victorious, and the crowd broke into vigorous cacophony, so many topics it was hard to keep track. Though the little whore was the main one on people¡¯s lips. Where had she come from, who owned her, were there going to be more fights with her today, what could she get to fighting. If it was any other place, she¡¯d feel good to be popular, but here was not exactly a place she wanted to get known for anything. The Druchii had a habit of playing rough with their toys, and then just getting new ones like a spoiled nobleman¡¯s brat when that toy broke from all the rough place. Of course, in the crowd, not talking to anyone, just smirking to herself, was Filnon. A look of satisfaction and delight. Neither emotion was good for Estaria¡¯s well-being or continued  nature as not having been molested by a horny Druchii¡­


    Getting ushered back in with the rest of the Gladiators, Estaria was pulled to one side by Filnon not ten minutes after she had found a bench to sit and start pondering her life from this point on and how she was going to keep her head together. Sex and Killing would quickly have a way with anyone¡¯s head, to drive them to the darker side of human mentality. Surprisingly, the Druchii didn¡¯t immediately start to suck her face off, and instead, just talked.


    ¡°Well, look at you, making a name for yourself the first day you get here. If I was a more paranoid woman, I would think you are trying to get away from me~¡± Filnon gave a teasing wink, and then carried on. ¡°So, you¡¯ve broke the whole thing for today. They are going to be shuffling it around and then make something tomorrow for you to do and if you pass that, which of course you are going to, then it¡¯s on to fame and glory¡± she held out her hand and pointed the the horizon with vigor. It was here, that Estaria realized what Filnon wanted. More than sex, she wanted fame and power in Druchii society. And Estaria, was exactly how she was going to get it...

 Chapter 29

    Getting dragged back to Filnon¡¯s house put Estaria on edge, because she felt there was only one thing going to happen here, in her sanctuary. This was reinforced when Filnon gave her a passionate kiss and dragged her off to the bed. But then, she got shocked when Filnon simply cuddled in and went to sleep. Her touch made Estaria¡¯s skin crackle with pleasure, but something strange about this soft, passionate intimacy after what she had previously displayed was confusing and disjointing. Estaria found herself unable to think properly, and had a fitful sleep that saw her wake up wet and tired.


    ¡°You¡¯re soaking the bed. Worried about the fight?¡± Filnon asked, turning to her and stroking her sweaty face.


    ¡°N-no. Why¡­are you just¡­-¡± Estaria asked, her stuttering, staggered voice giving Filnon plenty of time to pre-empt her.


    ¡°Why am I not vigerously and horrifically molesting you?¡± Estaria nodded at that, and Filnon let out a laugh. ¡°Do you want me to?¡± she asked, her tone filled with mirth and laughter.


    ¡°N-no! Just, that¡¯s what you said you were going to do. That, that I was yours and you were going to take advantage of that fact¡± she exclaimed, stammering through her argument.


    ¡°You are mine. I own every part of you, which means I get to do whatever I want to you. And if that means a night hugging you like my own giant teddy bear, or dressing you up and taking you out for dinner, or ravaging you in the middle of the street with you dressed up like Ceal, then I will¡± Filnon explained, before kissing her pet¡¯s lips and dragging her into the shower. Estaria spent a moment wondering why every race except her own had these intricate falling water devices for getting cleaned up.


    Of course, Filnon didn¡¯t waste any time using the shower for recreational purposes while washing herself and Estaria, and the poor Captain came out of there flushed with more than the heat. Filnon then got Estaria dressed up again, and kissed her cheek.


    ¡°If you make a splash, I¡¯ll get you a new uniform. Something cute~¡± Filnon then gave her a spank on her ass and they were off to the Arena. Without, all the chains. Maybe they were just show-off or something. Druchii culture was confusing. In some parts, at least. In the part of, ¡®kill a lot of things so they like you and your owner will be nice to you¡¯, it was pretty simple to understand. And so that was the part she was going to show off now. The arena boss gave her the spiked gauntlets again, and then waiting for the gates to open, she pulled up her inventory.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The fights of yesterday had given her some materials to work with, things to sell. And that was good because all her money had been stolen. Probably by Filnon. It all came to just over 5k, which went on upgrading the gauntlets. Unlike before - or probably like before, she didn¡¯t really pay attention - the appearance of the weapon changed. Thick leather straps bound the gauntlets, studded for increased durability and impact. The spikes grew slightly bigger and much shinier, made from steel rather than iron. It looked like a more dangerous weapon than before, all told. Which was good, dangerous was exactly what she needed. Especially when the door opened and she saw the opponent they had put her against. A Druchii warrior, in full battle armour, with a broad shield and a vicious looking blade. Orange rank foe as well, so not just anyone. Not something that would have been all that hard with her proper gear, but she was decidedly sans gear right now.


    The Druchii gave a salute to the Master of town, and Estaria spared a glance towards Filnon, who was looking on with anticipation and excitement. Flicking her eyes back to the warrior, she clenched her new gauntlet fists and took off towards him. The shield and armour would make him pretty hard to deal with, even with the new weapon she upgraded. It would need to be a Purple for sufficient armour penetration. Though it was fast, so she could use that to her advantage. Druchii were naturally faster than most, and even weighed down as he was, the warrior was still of the same level as Estaria.


    Though there was a difference. His armour against Estaria¡¯s lack, and his blade vs her fists. The lack of range the fists gave was mitigated by Es given her strength and speed, capable of easily moving in and out of the range of her attacks. The Druchii was fast, and Estaria had to put her all into the fight to avoid his sword, and even then her luck took a few hits, but they were hits that she gave the Druchii in return. The shield was quickly ditched when he realized that Estaria was to quick to use it properly, and the fight was a flashing whirl of motion. Druchii followed it seamlessly, but the human slaves in the audience were left in confusion, able only to get a general gist from audio cues.


    The armour proved tough for her, since it was well forged and her gauntlets were hardly armour piercing. She had to get in deliver a precise strike and then slip out before he could catch her with his sword, and even then, it was only the 100 precision trait that gave her enough AP to be worth a dam. Without that, it would be like hacking down a building with a knife. It was this risky fighting style that led her to getting the luck bar a bit to low for her liking. But by the time it was there, she had already started to punch his health down. Armour like that was reducing her damage, but it was still enough that she was able to make some progress. Finally committing to the bit, Estaria rushed in and threw down. First she hit his Groin with a Quicksilver Viper, but he had stun resistance and managed to soak that. However, the Second Slice that came right after destroyed his groin. That one had him hunched over in agony.


    Taking this moment to aim - melee was harder than ranged for her - she drove a brutal uppercut to his head, the spike of her gauntlet driving through his eye and delivering him death in a most instant fashion. The crowd was silent for a moment, and then erupted into cheers. They just wanted a good specticle here, and Estaria had given them just that. Besides, she was hardly without rewards of her own with this fight and the others she had gone through the day before. While exp was hard to come by, it was all mounting up.

 Chapter 30

    Exitting the arena with gore dripping from her gauntlets, she handed the weapons back and then stood around eyeing the other weapons. She wondered if she would be given different weapons each time, or if she would be able to stick to one. It would be no fun to see her flailing¡­.or maybe it would, these Druchii were strange.


    Some twenty minutes into this examination, Estaria suddenly found herself needing to catch a running Filnon, who jumped into Estaria¡¯s embrace. When someone jumped at you, you had the choice to catch them or get hit by them, so Estaria caught Filnon. Which, of course, gave the Druchii the perfect platform to kiss Es¡¯ lips with intense passion. Stumbling back against the wall, Filnon took this opportunity to passionately suck face. Which, Estaria couldn¡¯t deny, felt really good. Annoyingly good. She wanted to stay pissed and angry at this woman, and yet there was a tiny something that wasn¡¯t present with her around, and it made Estaria feel more comfortable than she had been in a while.


    Thinking back on it now, she had had a growing feeling of discomfort in recent weeks. It was subtle, so while she was having fun with the Dwarves, she didn¡¯t even notice it, but when she returned home, there was a niggling little itch that she could remember feeling. At first she brushed it off as nerves for the promotion and attack of Zarh, but if anything, being around FIlnon should make her nerves worse not better. Sliding back into reality, there was happiness on Filnon¡¯s face, and Estaria felt her tongue caressing Filnon¡¯s own. CLearly, in her introspection, she had been put on autopilot and played along with the Druchii¡¯s whims.


    ¡°Ahh, that was fantastic. Kiss needs work, but we¡¯ll get to that~¡± Filnon teased, stroking Estaria¡¯s blushing cheeks. ¡°So we¡¯ve got the day off. Arena has cleared their schedule for a few days. While they might fit you in to a few small things to entertain the crowd, they are reaching out to further sponsors. You killed a Bleaksword Lordling just now, so people are impressed~¡± Filnon finally got down from Estaria¡¯s muscular arms and let her catch her breath and come away from the wall.


    ¡°Lordling huh? Great. Who have I pissed off with his death?¡± Estaria asked, not really getting into the same passion as her Mistress.


    ¡°Lady Silven Darkhold, but more because she was planning to assassinate the man and now her work is in ruins. Don¡¯t have to pay the assassins or cover up his assassination though, so the pros outweigh the cons¡± Filnon shrugged. This was society, it seemed.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°So, I¡¯m free for the day then. Guess you want to drag me to your bed¡± Estaria said dryly, her face deadpanned. Though as if to emotionally mirror Estaria, Filnon¡¯s face lit up with a cheeky grin.


    ¡°Ohh my, so needy of a pet. Well, I guess I have time~¡± Filnon exclaimed, taking Estaria¡¯s hand and dragging her off to the house.


    Though what she was planning, was very misleading. Possibly intentionally, that was her thing after all. Instead of hot and heady sex, Estaria instead got a new outfit. Red leather that was sultry and provocative without being outright lewd like the last one. It left open enough to entice, but covered enough to leave a lot to the imagination. Teasing with the scent of wine rather than simply giving you the bottle. And finally, after the red satin heels, there was the obligatory ear nibble, and Filnon whispered.


    ¡°So, you going to accept your place in society and kiss my feet, orr..~¡± she softly caressed Estaria¡¯s ass while asking, and the red-clad slave grinned broadly, having just thought of a great trick.


    ¡°Of course¡± Estaria then crouched down, sliding her fingers down Filnon¡¯s smooth leg, and grabbed her ankle, picking her up by it standing up, bringing her foot to her lips, and giving it a quick kiss before letting it go. Filnon yelped as she was suddenly picked up and upended, but gracefully regained her footing after being let go.


    For a few seconds she just stared wordlessly, and then with a snort, she collapsed into laughter. Infectious laughter, it turned out, because Estaria couldn¡¯t help but start giggling herself. After a quick bout of laughter, Filnon changed seamlessly into an amused grin and rose her eyebrows.


    ¡°But seriously, I am spanking your ass for that later. Your whole butt is gonna be red when I am done with you~¡± She exclaimed, clipping a leash around Estaria¡¯s collar and dragging her out. Es wasn¡¯t sure what that meant. If she wanted to cause pain, the collar could just do that...maybe is was more a playful thing than actually wanting to cause the pain? The Druchii really was incomprehensible. Double incomprehensible when Estaria was dragged to a nice looking establishment and taken inside. Filnon got them a table for two, and sat her slave down, nibbling on the baskets of bread.


    ¡°Wow. You weren''t kidding about the taking me out to dinner part. Makes me worried about the being ravaged in the streets part¡± Estaria looked at the bread, and then took one for herself.


    ¡°Ohh, don¡¯t worry. If I ever do get to that part, you won¡¯t have a mind to worry. It will be distracted, on other things~¡± Filnon grinned, and the promise was one that made Estaria blush.


    The rest of the night, was surprisingly nice considering she was a slave in enemy territory. They ate and flirted and talked about things. Filnon boasted to the slave serving them about Estaria¡¯s accomplishments, bragged about her plans for the future, and got royally drunk. The night ended with Estaria having to carry Filnon back to her house and tuck her in for the night. It was there, looking at Filnon¡¯s sleeping form, that something strange and unbidden blossomed in her heart. Maybe it was because she was the only Player in this city, but despite everything, Estaria felt comfortable around Filnon. And, that was quite the disturbing thought¡­.

 Chapter 31 (m)

    Filnon was not there in the morning. Nor, did Estaria see her for quite a while in fact. She went about her duty in the arena - mustering as much pride and arrogance as she could to tell them that she wasn¡¯t going to be executing prisoners because it was no challenge and she deserved better than that - and over the weeks, she got famous for it. People all across the city and beyond came to watch her, some even came to fight her.She would be told beforehand if the fight was one to the death or just to the first who surrendered, and then they would clash. Fortunately, she still got exp when they surrendered, otherwise they really would have felt like a waste.


    Some month and a half into the fighting, Estaria had dragged herself through five levels, mostly due to quantity rather than quality. There were not many good quality people to fight out here. She picked up ¡°Gromril Skin¡± trait for further improved armour, since this leather outfit was lovely but not exactly protective. Saving money for the fists she used in the arena to push them up to Orange and make the fights even easier on her, she was dragged from her thoughts when a Filnon burst through the door and stared at Estaria, who was in her Home Gown - a sultry and enticing mimicry of the Imperial Nobleman¡¯s Maid - and doing some tidying up. She had been doing a lot of thought about the woman who owned her, and eventually decided - backed by the ever increasing love of slaughtering people in the arena, and ever decreasing opinion of the creatures below her in power, if not stature - that she was going to do what was so requested a long time ago.


    Estaria walked up to Filnon while the Druchii stood in the door, looking tired and a little dazed. Then, getting on her knees, she bent down and kissed the foot of her Mistress, before looking back up.


    ¡°Welcome home, Mistress¡± the flutter in Estaria¡¯s heart was pretty present now. Around Filnon was the only time she felt like a normal being again. Out there in the arena, she felt like a bloody reaper, and in the streets she felt like a callous God. For her part, Filnon simply smiled and reached out a hand to pat Estaria¡¯s head.


    ¡°Took you long enough¡± came the haughty and prideful reply. Filnon truly believed it was only a matter of time before Estaria gave herself over fully, and it only took so long because they hadn¡¯t seen each other in a while. As if preparing for this day since the first meeting - which was probably right - Filnon took Estaria by the hand and led her over to the large mirror, where she took off the collar and stroked the bruised flesh. It was a tight thing, and the hard metal on flesh was not gentle with constant contact. While this was a point where Estaria could escape, there was little point in ruining the one place that she fit in for the sake of some misguided notion of freedom. Freedom to die alone was no freedom at all. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    While Estaria was looking at herself in the mirror, Filnon came up behind her and attached a new collar, one of velvet and leather, stiff but flexible and soft. Keeping her head in proper upright posture without restricting her ability to move around if she needed to. Druchii craft really was superior to human, after all. Next, came a corset, black with red trim, which did the same thing, forcing her to hold her body upright and well postured, but not hampering her ability to flex and move if needed. And finally, Filnon started to play with Estaria¡¯s breasts, groping and pinching the nipple, rolling it around and electing moans of pleasure from her pet. Estaria felt like putty in Filnon¡¯s hands, and could only sink into the enjoyment of Mistress¡¯ touch after it had been absent for so very long. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and was only dragged back to reality when she felt three sharp needles piercing her two nipples, and the clitoris that had popped out in response to the stimuli. While Estaria made a strange noise of pain warring with the pleasure, Filnon slipped in three cute silver bars, which gently glistened in the candle light.


    ¡°Finally. Entirely. Mine~¡± Filnon¡¯s whisper came through Estaria¡¯s ear, and made her shiver with delight. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see just what that entails¡± Filnon then took Estaria to the bed, and laid her down on it, climbing on top and gently stripping her of her clothes before taking off her own, and riding her toy¡¯s crotch, indulging in the pleasure of the act as much as the sounds of enjoyment from her slave. ¡°One final thing. Hold out your tongue¡± Filnon ordered. Estaria looked at her through lust-glazed eyes, and obeyed. The sharp stabbing pain of a needle was quickly felt, and her tongue had a new stud in it, which seemed something that Filnon enjoyed. Maybe she liked her slaves with all these piercings in them. Maybe she just liked to mark her pets and make everyone see that this one was hers.


    Though there was practical use for them as well, as Filnon displayed when, grinding against Estaria for a bit more to ignite her passion, she moved up the bed and covered Estaria¡¯s face with her wet crotch. From there, Estaria used her new stud to give her Mistress a most passionate climax. And after several more hours of ¡°i have really missed you¡± sex, they went to sleep in each other¡¯s arms. A most fantastic end to the day for Filnon. And a surprisingly enjoyable end for Estaria. It was a shock that life could be good after everything that had happened, but here it was.

 Chapter 32

    Filnon woke in the morning to see Estaria already up, and playing with Filnon¡¯s hair gently.


    ¡°Morning~¡± Filnon was exuberant after the night¡¯s activities, but Estaria seemed more subdued. Almost, melancholy. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did I not do it hard enough last night?¡± Filnon teased. But, Estaria shook her head softly.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just...I woke up this morning thinking about the people I am never going to see again. My men, and Borrago, and Dawi. And my father. Gods, I should have tried to get along with him better. Of course, the immediate after thought was no I shouldn¡¯t, bastard can rot. Left me and my mother to fuck off on some treasure hunting expedition that just netted him a bad case of scurvy and some lung disease. But the rest are still important. I have lived with them, fought with them, seen them bleed and some of them die under my command. And the worst part about it is I can¡¯t seem to muster any more emotion than you would watching a mouse crawl across the floor. Less, even. A mouse is at least interesting. I feel, hollowed out. And the only time I don¡¯t feel like I am alone, surrounded by chittering cattle, is with you.  I think, that is why I jumped into this. Not because I wanted to or because I thought I was ready, but because I was worried that something would happen. That you would get bored waiting or sell me off to someone and I¡¯d never again be anywhere that could fill that hole¡±


    Estaria then saw the glimmer of amusement in Filnon¡¯s eyes and scowled. ¡°I¡¯ll be the one spanking if you say anything¡± she growled. Filnon seemed to find this most amusing and laughed, but said nothing and let Estaria carry on. ¡°What am I, if I can¡¯t care for my own race? If I can¡¯t care for any people outside of those who are playing this deranged game that was made for a reason nobody can find out?¡± Estaria finished, just staring off into the distance.


    ¡°Mmm, I can¡¯t say I have noticed, but that is pretty much how we feel all the time. Druchii are such proud creatures that they all think themselves the best, and everyone else is below them. Maybe that is why I don¡¯t notice the same change as you. Because it isn¡¯t a change. But only you can answer your questions, Es. Don¡¯t rush into an answer like me because it is an answer. Make sure you want it¡± Filnon didn¡¯t seem too upset at the idea of Estaria not wanting to be her slave, and rather just accepting it because it was something there, immediate and viable.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Then, Filnon got up and started to dress. Which, was strange. Her giving up the chance for morning snuu.


    ¡°Where have you been, anyway? It¡¯s been a long time since you were home¡± Estaria spread out over the bed more and looked over at Filnon while she dressed.


    ¡°Ohh, just some Druchii politics. Nothing for you to worry about¡± Filnon replied, finishing her dress and heading to the door. ¡°Though I will try to be home tonight. You¡¯ve given me a taste for the finer things in life and I can¡¯t go back now¡± Filnon blew a kiss and then left, leaving Estaria to lie on the bed and wallow in existential dread. But that was hardly a helpful thing, so she got up and washed herself, and then dressed herself, and applied the makeup that Filnon wanted her to wear. That part of things, she had no problem with. It was the, more intimate and personal thing she had jumped on last night that was the worry. She really was afraid it was too much too fast.


    After that, she decided to go walking around the town. She might be able to find someone that she cared about that wasn¡¯t a player, out here. So she went for a walk and came across a sight that was quite offensive. One of the slaves was being assailed by a low-level Druchii taskmaster. The whip biting into her flesh and cutting her like a blade. Her screams and the blood being spilled should have driven her to action. To rush in and save the human girl from this Druchii. But, she just felt she was watching two animals fight in the wild. No personal stake in either, not even feeling related to either of them. Still, Estaria sighed and walked up regardless. She didn¡¯t need a stake to stop it, and didn¡¯t need to feel like she should be stopping it to stop it. Though the action was emotionally futile, it was the same as throwing bread to the ducks.


    Not that the Druchii took it very well. He turned as she put a hand on his shoulder and slapped her face. Famous Slave was still a slave after all. But that didn¡¯t change how she felt, and she slapped him right back, splitting his lip, busting his nose, and scattering teeth across the ground. The girl sobbed something that might have been a thanks or an apology or a death threat for foolish action, and then ran off. Estaria retreated as well, but felt a cold shiver that had nothing to do with the weather. If she couldn¡¯t feel for the people when they were in distress like she just was, then how was there any hope for people who were just trying to engage normally? She had, to beat this. Had to surmount the insanity that was coming from the game system, or she¡¯d no longer be human. Just, a crazed thing that kills...

 Chapter 33 (m)

    Returning home and dressing - it was a ritual she wasn¡¯t going to break now - Estaria looked to the mirror. It was a terrifying thing that stared back, a tall, muscular woman in a parodied maid uniform, with eyes that blazed with the power of a young God. But acceptance of lesser creatures started with acceptance of self, and so she needed to accept the changes that had happened, both physically and mentally. She still thought herself the same as them, and maybe that was where the disgust came from. One was not disgusted with a dog for being weaker than a human, so maybe she could cultivate some disconnect that might help her tolerate their presence. This morbid introspection continued until there her Luck bar went down rather a fair margin.


    The man who did the stabbing growled as his sneak attack missed, but flicked his large knife from one hand to another anyway.


    ¡°Your Mistress has pissed off the wrong people. So we are going to leave her a nice little present to remind her of her place¡± the man then took out a second large knife and grinned, his eyes glistening with a sadistic glee. ¡°Though, it would be a shame to waste such a thing before we have properly tried it out. So don''t worry about that. We''ll get some use out of ya¡± he threatened. To Estaria just gave him a stare. And then slipped in and threw a punch. This man was a quick bastard though, and he managed to avoid it, ducking down and lashing out with his blades, slicing her uniform up and grazing her skin.


    Poison Negated by high Constitution


    Well, that was certainly fortunate. Being poisoned now would not lead to anything good, espeically after the man had just threatened to do something very untowards. Taking a focused stance and watching the man, Estaria chipped large chunks off his luck with quick blows and then scurried back, though all Druchii were as fast as a shark and she got clipped and nicked, eventually having no Luck at all. Deciding to risk it to get a clean shot, Estaria shifted inwards and lashed a Quicksilver Viper kick to his jaw. A clattering of teeth and splattering of blood covered the ground as her blow damn near ripped his jaw off. The man staggered and stumbled from the blow, but kept his feet. Which was quite the impressive feat. And then, battered and disgraced by this human slave decided to catch her wholly off-guard and rushed at her, driving his blades deep into her skin, and only a last-second twist meant he avoided any of her organs. Two blades in her was not a comfortable feeling, but, he was within arms reach.


    Estaria moved just after she had twisted to avoid his blades, her hands crashing against his ears, a blow so hard his skull popped like an egg and blood leaked out of every orifice it could find. The man had a mangled but stunned look on his face, and just sort of held the upright position for a few seconds before slumping down. Bleeding. Pain. Not a new thing but the poison was still messing with her head even if it was resisted enough to not have any Status effect. She kept the swords in, because that was basically battlefield 101, never yank out what has been put in unless the medic is right there. Better yet, let the medic yank it out, it''s what he is trained for after all.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Estaria¡¯s mind went into a realm of bleak red rage and for a moment, she let it play out the fantasy of burning the city to the ground and placing every head on a spike so they would know the extent of her wrath. But, eventually, she reigned it in. She couldn¡¯t do such a thing, and only her unbridled fury and the poison in her bloodstream made her think otherwise. Ohh, Filnon would probably not like what they had done here at all, but this would not be something Estaria enacted by herself. It wouldn''t be something shecould. Even with her levels, the Druchii were just so superior to a human she was on equal footing with them rather than the drastic overwhelming she would be againsy your average human. It was only their endless debachery and backstabbingsilent war that kept the world from being totally conquerered by the Druchii. Maybe they thought world conquest would be boring, or some crazy Druchii plan.


    Sitting up, she ached from his rough treatment, and the blood from her wounds was staining what was left of her uniform. She didn¡¯t know if it was the shock of the situation or the System messing with her head, but she felt more worried about how to get the stains out than what had just happened. Maybe she didn¡¯t want to think about it and just pushed it to one side, maybe the system had the same idea. Maybe she was just going to die here and had accepted death in the form it decided to come. That last one was proven a falsehood when Filnon burst in, blades dripping with blood and a look of tempered fury on her face. She froze when she saw Estaria, blood sliding out from her wounds onto the floor, and a slowly paling complextion from the bloodloss. Estaria had a horrified thought that she had been defiled, wounded by an enemy and disgraced by her foe, so Filnon would no longer want her. Would drop her back in the slave pen for whoever wanted to claim such a worthless slut of a thing. Her terrified mind told her she wouldhave no more of Filnon''s passion, no more of her love. Just treated like a Druchii slave, bent over and taken by force at any moment,and would be fighting in a dirty pit in the ground. Filnon, for her part, just stared for a few seconds, and then dropped her blades and staggered over, collapsing in front of Estaria and looking at the blades.


    ¡°I was too late¡± she whispered, her voice hoarse and strained with sadness. It was this voice that made the idea of it being more shock and disbelief than anything the most applicable. Because when she heard Filnon¡¯s voice, Estaria broke down, into hysterical relief-laughter. Estaria and Filnon sat there together for only a short time, before Filnon gave Estaria a small pill to swallow, and the world went a very lovely shade of black. With this sudden unconsciousness, a box wentunnoticed, but undeterred.


    Exalted Offering Of Khaine gained

 Chapter 34 (m)

    Estaria was jolted half awake by something she wasn''t fully awake to comprehend, and then brought gently awake by the natural flow of sleep. Her wounds had been patched up very well - either Druchii medicine or the system, but there was barely anything visible to tell she had been wounded - and the bed was a nice sort. Nicer than back in the city they had been in. Sliding out of the sheets and heading over to the wardrobe, she rummaged through it and pulled out a new maid uniform. Sure, it was not the best thing to wear after having just been attacked and narrowly avoiding getting raped by a sadistic monster in it, but this one was cute. It was more stately, less sultry. The skirt reached her ankles and it covered her body like a proper Maid should. Though, it seemed to be made out of some strange, shiny material that crinkled and crackled as she pulled it on. It was tight, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable. More like a supporting kind of tight. Finally, a pair of white gloves glistened in the light, and she pulled them on, up to her elbows. The feeling was definitely unique, but one she could learn to love. And the smell was a surprisingly¡­.arousing one. Damn Druchii and their sexy clothes...Turning back, and catching sight of this shiny maid uniform in the mirror, she was suddenly hit with the situation. Filnon¡­.had saved her life.


    Before, Estaria had jumped into Filnon¡¯s arms because it was the only safe harbour in a world of storms, the only thing that made sense to her, the only thing that wasn¡¯t repulsive and disgusting to behold. But it was not true love, it was simply avoidance, simply running from the issue. But this...her heart was beating faster, and the latex dress rubbing her in all the right places whenever she made the slightest move. The idea that Filnon actually cared for her, actually loved her was...intense. And as her body warmed up and a wet spot appeared on her silk panties, she felt the passion return for the Druchii woman. The whole situation with Filnon was a precarious one, that was filled with doubt and lacking confidence, and propagated by the superhuman psychosis of the system. But here, and now, was real feelings for her. Real love for the woman who supported her, protected her, gave her a home and a life and a feeling of being wanted. A woman who cared for a slave enough to save her life rather than just letting her die and get a new one¡­


    Hands went unbidden to her breasts, and crotch. Groping and rubbing, she watched in the mirror as her every action fueled her pleasure, and then watching it in repeat fueled it even more. Estaria¡¯s gasp of pleasure became moans as the wet patch in her panties grew, and grew. Teasing her erect nipples through the tight fabric, she pulled on the nipple rings and yelped as the painful pleasure raged through her system. Needing more, she lifted the skirt up and dropped her panties, the shiny glove slipping into her wet crotch and giving her a whole new experience. She couldn¡¯t help letting out a loud moan of pleasure as the material turned her from wet to soaking. Her fingers slipped in and out, going deeper and harder with every thrust. Her back arched against the bedpost, her eyes closed and breath going out in gasps. She felt so hot, so breathless. Her gloves were dripping and pooling into her panties, and her overwhelming need was growing and growing. But not¡­.not peaking. However hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t get off, couldn¡¯t push herself to that final edge. It was maddening. And she couldn¡¯t stop. Just, kept, driving herself further and further up with no release. She was going to die or go mad or go mad and die if she went any further, but she couldn¡¯t stop herself. Every part of her body was acting independently of itself now and all she could do was be lost in the pleasure.


    ¡°Cum for me, Ma Klath ae Kheir¡± Filnon¡¯s words suddenly entered Estaria¡¯s ears. As enthralled in the moment as she was, she didn¡¯t hear the woman approach, only heart her speak as if she appeared from thin air. And so with an intense shudder, she was racked with a violent orgasm that had her on her knees, gasping for breath like she was going to pass out soon. And then a gentle hand on her head, stroking her hair gently. ¡°Mmm, lovely~¡± Filnon would slid to the floor and pull Estaria into her embrace, smiling gently. ¡°So, looks like you found the new uniform. And, had fun with it even¡± Filnon teased. Estaria¡¯s glazed eyes looked over and even half-lidded with sexual fatigue and the rest rolled back into her head, she was glaring at the woman. ¡°Hey now. You are the one who started all this. I just helped you along since it seemed you were struggling¡± ever the Tease, Filnon would torment her shiny little Maid in every possible conceivable way. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Where did you even get it?¡± Estaria asked after she had recovered enough to ask questions.


    ¡°I got an alchemist friend. He picked up these cool new plants from Lustria and decided to experiment with them. This is what he came up with. From his experiments, it rubs you all the right ways and keeps a slave in constant heat. And as you saw, it¡¯s effects on sensitive flesh is¡­.considerable. I got the first set but you¡¯ll be seeing more girls like you dressed up like this in the future¡± Filnon finished, gently kissing Estaria¡¯s neck. The idea of being constantly in heat in this place was...not a good one for Estaria, but she latched onto something else instead.


    ¡°That...sounds like it takes a while, how long was I even out?¡± Estaria asked. Though, she had no frame of reference what happened when Zarh took her out, so it could be that even she took a few days to recover from wounds like what she took.


    ¡°Three days, though we did sedate you to ensure that you didn¡¯t get up and start running around again like the crazy little toy you are. I won¡¯t have my property damaging itself, so of course I am going to take care of you¡± Filnon kissed the top of Estaria¡¯s head and somehow managed to be endearing and condescending in the same sentence. Treating Estaria like a beloved teddy bear that was nice to hug at nights. Though somehow, given the rest of the Druchii race, Estaria didn¡¯t seem to mind¡­.And then, Filnon reached down to play with Estaria¡¯s still engorged clitoris, rolling it in her fingers and tugging on the stud in there. Estaria lost all ability to think, and was just moaning putty in Filnon¡¯s hands as she played with the girl, pushing her to the brink of the orgasm before her hand went away and just left the woman whining for release.


    ¡°But onto more serious matters. You aren¡¯t allowed to play with yourself without my permission. I¡¯ll let you off this time because I caught the end of it, but you are still going to get some punishment for your disobedience~¡± Filnon¡¯s voice was filled with elation, and Estaria took on an abashed and slightly worried look. Whatever this woman had planned would not be good¡­.


    * * * *


    Gods above, the woman had a strong hand. Getting dragged down the main street of a new place by her collar¡¯s leash, Estaria tried her best to walk normally, but it was hard. Her ass was a mass of sore flesh from where Filnon¡¯s paddle had cracked against it, and she did not spare her the supernatural strength of the system. Of course, Gromril Skin soaked a lot of the force, but it still stung like crazy. And the tight underwear she was forced into, made of the same material as the dress, was just making things worse, pressing mercilessly against the sore ass. All in all, she waddled down the street like some deranged animal. And the underwear had the added disadvantage of doing exactly as advertised and rubbing in all the right - or wrong, depending on how you saw it - ways. All in all, the walk was murder for her, and all her focus went on just keeping one foot in front of the other and not collapsing to her knees. It was cruelty in the extreme, and when she finally got to stop and have a rest, she was thankful for all of about three seconds before noticing that there were a lot of people around her. But the most intimidating one was the one that Filnon was looking at. A black nameplate above her head ¡°Crone Hellebron, Blood Queen of Har Ganeth¡±. The amount of power this woman would have to have, to appear Black to a level 55 was¡­.astounding. And her beauty was immense as well. Estaria found herself enthralled by the sheer waves of power and otherworldly beauty she was putting out.


    ¡°Lady Hellebron¡± Filnon bowed, and then tugged Estaria to the forefront. ¡°This is my slave, Estaria. She is the one Italked about. An excellent pit fighter...among other things¡± Filnon smirked. The Druchii around her chattered among themselves, but Hellebron came over and began to stroke Estaria¡¯s body, playing with her body the way Filnon would when wanting to rile Estaria without giving her anything. The nipple rings were tweaked, her ass groped - to a strangled cry of pain from Estaria - and the skirt flipped to stroke the smooth folds of her wet crotch. Finally, with all her checks done, the wet fingers were forced into Estaria¡¯s mouth, and she suckled on them, blushing deeply at the humiliation but so far aroused that it turned her on to be used like this. And then her mouth was free of the choking fingers, and she coughed, gasping for breath.


    ¡°This one is firm, and delectable, her clothes strange and her manners good. Leave her here for the night, and we shall return her to you in the morning. There, we will speak about having her in my glorious arena¡± Hellebron spoke in Druhir, not sullying her tongue with the speeches of man. But, Estaria had been around it enough for the System to have translated. Still, she didn¡¯t speak, and kept her eyes on the ground. What being left here for the night entailed couldn¡¯t have been anything good, but Filnon accepted anyway, and that was that. Estaria was left to whatever fate these sniggering Wych Elves wanted to do to her¡­.

 Chapter 35 (m)

    Wow. Or Ow. Estaria wasn¡¯t sure which one to go with right now. It was certainly a mind-blowing experience, along with blowing a few other things at the same time. Girls knew how to party, that was for sure. Somewhere along the line she had lost her uniform and the toys in it were used to torment her for hours on end before she finally, graciously was allowed a few seconds reprieve. Passionate cruelty beyond any human measure was their thing, after all. Somehow, among the activity, she had gained a new buff, and looking around at the statues and cauldrons about her, it certainly looked like a temple.


    Exalted Blessing Of Khaine: +120% bleed damage.


    The Bloodied Knife: +60% Weapon Damage


    Lord Of All War: Gain level 1 proficiency talents in all weapons


    A raw, overwhelming amount of damage, and extensive bleed enough that she needed to look into getting a bleeding weapon. Giving it a quick read she flopped her head back on the ground and panted. Even a woman who had her stat is Stamina and Constitution could not match three dozen enthusiastic Wyches and their Queen. But, she did not wish to look weak, and so she pushed herself up and looked about for some clothes. But there were not, which was pretty typical. Her body had cuts and nicks and bruises, very subtle bite marks about the place, but nothing too drastic, so she was fine. A Lion did not balk at the gaze of an Ant.


    ¡°No¡± Estaria told herself, giving her a stern glare and denying that mindset. A thousand times a thousand denials might see something happen of it, after all. Or maybe it wouldn¡¯t, who could tell.


    Deciding to hold off on going out for a moment, she opened her inventory and browsed. Her money was doing nicely again, and the arena fights were bringing in a lot of tokens for her. Though, 100 tokens was a far thing even with her Highly Decorated talent and fighting every day. Wondering if she should buy a weapon, the idea was eventually discarded because she would just be given a weapon if needed. Instead, she bought herself a simple cloak and wrapped it tightly, exiting the strangely empty temple-like place.


    The guards reached to her intrusion, but then took a look of confusion as they realized she was coming out, and not in. Contemplation took a few seconds but eventually they let her go. It was hard to mistake the broad collar around her neck as anything other than the mark of a slave, after all. In this, she was similar to the Druchii, as both saw the other as eminently beneath them. Only, Estaria was trying to kick the habit, and the Druchii were snorting contempt off a hooker¡¯s ass. So she wandered. Her posture was a bit slouched due in part to the rigors, and her corset had gone somewhere she could not follow, so there was no aid from that front. At least her head was held high and straight by the collar. Most surprisingly for Druchii, nobody did or tried to do anything. There were stares of varying degrees, looks of lust and desire. Plenty of appearances as if there were plans in their heads, but nobody took her in the streets.


    It was fortunate, and so she headed to Filnon¡¯s house with little problem, and groaned as she walked in.


    ¡°I hope this place has a bath. I am sore in places that should not exist by the rules of nature. They certainly have an appreciation for the female form, at least¡± Estaria exclaimed for Filnon to hear, wandering into the main room to see Filnon sat at a table with the inhumanly beautiful Hellebron. There was not a hair out of place, not the slightest smudge of her makeup. Every inch of her well-exposed body was glistening and perfect. Seeing her here reminded Estaria of last night, and she wasn¡¯t sure if getting to her knees was more collapsing from the way of remembered pleasure or something she thought she needed to do. But, she bowed her body so her eyes were looking at the floor, because the collar would not allow her head to go down to far.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°You may rise, girl. I do not know where Filnon found you or what magic you used, but in the throngs of passion, Khaine whispered the deepest secrets of blood into my ear, as the Brides danced within the Cauldrons. The long search for Eternal Youth has finally and most pleasurably climaxed. And I owe your Mistress well for such¡± Hellebron spoke. That goddamned voice was near-hypnotic in its beauty, and Estaria closed her thighs off as she was beginning to leak again just from her voice. Not even sure she could stand at this moment.


    ¡°My little toy is a well-trained slave, Hellebron. She could not possibly stand in the presence of someone like you¡± Filnon spoke, either to stoke her own ego or to help Estaria with an excuse to stay on the ground.


    ¡°Mmm, this training I sampled well last night. And may sample again. I admit to being somewhat beyond restraint these days. It has been long since I retained my youth this long¡± Hellebron¡¯s words drew Estaria¡¯s eyes to the Queen¡¯s own, and with a crooking finger, brought Estaria to the foot of her chair. There, the silky smooth foot was raised pushed into Estaria¡¯s face, filling her nose with its intoxicating aroma and silently commanding. Estaria reached out with her tongue and began to lick the sole, suckling the toes and rubbing her face up and down it. She never thought such pleasure could come from such a simple act, she was truly lost in the light of Queen Hellebron¡¯s foot. It drew out an eternity, and then finally, it was taken away and Hellebron left her to her need and desires without even a backwards glance at the wound up toy.


    A few seconds after Hellebron had left, Filnon stole a vigorouskiss and then smirked at Estaria¡¯s face.


    ¡°Mmm, tasty¡± she teased. The kiss and quip brought Estaria back to the world at large, and she realized what she had just done.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Estaria demanded, feeling somewhat disturbed that she had taken such pleasure in a person¡¯s foot.


    ¡°Hellebron weaves enchantments around slaves she enjoys the presence of. Undying admiration is something she gets off on¡± Filnon explained, helping Estaria up and taking her over to the bath.


    ¡°You¡­.don¡¯t do that, do you?¡± Estaria asked, her eyebrow raised in suspicion.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got aphrodisiac skin, but everything you feel is the result of old fashioned manipulation¡± Filnon shamelessly admitted it and even laughed at Estaria¡¯s splutterings as they went to the bath.


    * * * * *


    Manipulation? Manipulation?! Bloody, Druchii bitch! Not even a trace of shame in her face or voice when she said that. Estaria stood in front of the gate the day after Hellebron had visited and seethed with irritation. The gate then opened and Estaria rushed out, not giving the Gladiators in front of her more than a few seconds to react to the rocket that was rushing towards them.


    ¡°She thinks she can just admit to such a thing and get away with it? That i am just going to accept that?!¡± Estaria vented her frustration and anger on the bodies of those arrayed against her, and didn¡¯t even give much thought to what she was doing. ¡°Well of course I am! Just because you know you have been manipulated inside, doesn¡¯t mean you immediately leave again. I love her, I want to be with her, forever. But the sheer brazen cheek to just admit it like that is what pisses me off¡± Estaria then turned to the last man who had since dropped his weapons and wet himself in a sobbing hysteric. Looking up to the stand where the presiding judge sat, she saw the order for his death, and executed him in stellar fashion to the cheering adoration of the crowd. Es had thought that the feelings for Filnon had come hard and fast, but put that down to her loving embrace and the dawning of disgust for the lesser creatures around her. The idea that she had been whispering honeyed words and making silent strokes across her mind while Estaria¡¯s mentality was weak and malleable never occurred to her. And she was happy with that not occurring to her. But Filnon just had to go and ruin that for whatever reason.


    ¡°That woman is a nightmare¡­¡±

 Chapter 36

    Exiting the arena, the Druchii that was there waiting for her was not Filnon, but instead one of the Wyches from that time with Hellebron. It made Estaria¡¯s cheeks flush indignantly, but she held her posture - mostly because of the collar and corset, but a bit because of her own actual holding of the posture - and looked to the Druchii as she approached.


    ¡°So, the other day wasn¡¯t exactly conversation material, but hi. I¡¯m Rorralre. I was in the crowd where you fought on your first day, and you were a lot of fun so I decided to follow you here, back home. Your use of the Wrathflail was¡­.inventive. But you could be quite glorious if you learned how to do it right¡± Rorralre stepped right into Estaria¡¯s personal bubble and started playing with her exposed flesh while speaking to her. Though, there wasn¡¯t really anything to it. Lacking the aphrodisiac skin and passionate emotions from Filnon or the magic charms of Hellebron, Estaria just felt like a little puppy was yapping at her and jumping up on her leg. Still, she wasn¡¯t one to brush off help of any description, and so just smiled softly. Druchii were somewhat volatile and she was a slave, so they had to be handled with care.


    ¡°Thank you, Miss. I would be pleased to have your aid in this¡± Estaria gave a bow and then was dragged off to the training grounds, because apparently the Druchii meant right now training. It was good, Rorralre somehow managed to be quite the teacher while prioritising her own amusement and self-satisfaction. Or Estaria was just good enough to strain out the bits of help due to her stats and her Level 1 Proficiency blessing. Either way, it was something that she could use to help herself. The Wrathflails, once she learned how to use them, were pretty fun to use. The chains allowed for quite the range and freedom of movement, and added to her stats, she could see herself painting a beautiful picture of violence with these once she had a few lessons in their use. It was telling, that her views of weaponry were how showy and magnificent she could be with them, rather than their practical usage, but went in Nuln - or, when enslaved in Nuln and forced to put on a show for your very survival - and all that.


    Very little spectacular - another telling point, as daily murder and blood-letting wasn¡¯t spectacular these days, just a part of the norm - happened in the next few months. She starved Filnon of sex for a few days to show her annoyance, but when that reached its limit, Filnon dragged Estaria to the bed and gave her a night of passionate lovemaking. It was very strange, to engage in such acts rather than just be used like a toy, but a part of her mind wondered if Filnon realized what was happening. That while she had been manipulating Estaria to fall in love, Filnon was also falling for her own act, and becoming ensnared by her own trickery. Training with Rorralre went well and Estaria grasped the fine workings of the Wrathflail, which after a few sessions became a signature weapon for her. The fights grew in scale and her exp gains grew accordingly. She moved past splattering helpless people and got on to fights that actually challenged her, even with her God¡¯s blessing. Even pushed into half her health by a trio of Druchii called the Sisters Of Slaughter. Though she kept them alive in the end, the exp gains were a very good amount.


    As her level grew even higher, Estaria wondered about this system. How did it still have mobs that were of a scale. This wasn¡¯t a dungeon, so these beings were true, living creatures. Were there really people that, by sheer stint of ability, could match her? It was amazing to think about, but she could not come with a true answer herself. She became a great household name of the Arena, The Sickle of Khaine, for how well she caused gratuitous arterial spray. Her bleeding talent helping on that front. It was quite flattering for them to title a Human Slave by the name of their God, but when you saw her splatter the arena with a Warboss¡¯ blood and do it with such panche and grace, it was hard to resist the notion that she was touched by Khaine.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Eventually, after getting out of the arena one day, Estaria got a new quest. The xp had mounted up to make her level 75, and the six traits had been spent on some interesting religious traits, among others. She never really felt overtly religious these days, but they looked fun, and the third one gave her a cool trick to let her cause bleeding with whatever she had to hand. Synergied well with her high Bleeding buff from the Exalted Blessing.


    Apotheosis - Khaela Mensha Khaine


    -Gain Exalted Blessing Of Khaine


    -Gain Religious Prophet talent


    -Travel to The Har Ganeth Temple


    The first two were marked as complete, but going to the Har Ganeth Temple would be difficult. Even though she was famous in the city, she was still a slave, and some of the older Hags disliked her for prompting the young and foolish to believe her blessed by their God. So she turned to Filnon, who¡¯s beauty and power had grown to a point she heard whispered that Malekith himself felt threatened by her. Owning Estaria had acted as a ability to gain a copy of the exp that Estaria earned, though unmodified by her human trait and reduced further from it¡¯s second hand nature. So she was a level that made Filnon snicker every time she looked.


    ¡°Mmmistress~¡± Estaria rolled the word teasingly, walking up to her and sliding arms around her waist, kissing her neck as she did so to ease her lover into the right frame of mind. ¡°I just got this strange quest to go to the Har Ganeth Temple. And I don¡¯t want to cause a fuss just going, so do you mind taking me?¡± Estaria asked. The smile on Filnon¡¯s face was a good sign, and when Estaria was suddenly pinned to the floor and kissed deeply, it was an even better one.


    ¡°Ohh, sounds like an interesting quest~ Colour me intrigued¡± Filnon kept Estaria on the floor for a few more seconds, before getting her shoes and the leash and dragging Estaria over to the temple.


    Once there, the guards glared at them, but while they could fend off the slave well enough, it was hard to argue with a Wych favoured by Hellebron herself, so they let her in begrudgingly. Once she stepped onto the temple grounds, statues around her began to weep blood, and the cauldrons bubbled and roiled. The Wyches looked over and saw Filnon arrive just as the strange portents started, and rumors immediately began. Though Estaria¡¯s eyes were on the new update to the quest.


    -Enter the Cauldron


    As if Estaria even needed to ask which one, it was lit up with a shaft of light. Though from the lack of reaction, Es assumed only she could see it. Informing Filnon of this, she was brought over to it, and then  before anyone could try to stop her, jumped in. Whatever this quest did to her would be worth the trouble to smooth things over later. But then, she was caught off-guard, and soon began to think there was no later. Nothing was happening, and she was just falling in this sea of blood. Drastically, she turned backwards and tried to swim out, but for all her strength and all her speed, she got nowhere. How could a simple cauldron be so big? Thrashing in the blood, she flailed and clawed at the liquid, but to no avail. Her body slowly began to grow weak as she was drowning in the cauldron. Vision grayed, and then finally...finally, she could thrash no more, and the darkness took her into its embrace. It was beyond torture, to drown in a place that had a macabre degree of comfort inherent.

 Chapter 37

    Dying sucked. Especially when you did it twice in your life. Estaria was definitely in no hurry to repeat the process of Zarh. But, despite that, reality intervened on her desires and drowned her in an endless pool of blood. Which was why it was even more confusing when she suddenly erupted from the cauldron, spraying blood everywhere as she rose, her head thrown back dramatically and her hair flicking copious blood across the temple. She was covered in blood from head to toe, her lungs burned with the need to breathe, and yet she had never felt better in her life. A pop-up told her precisely why, and she laughed, deep and hysterically.


    Apotheosis - Khaela Mensha Khaine Complete. Job Earned - Child Of Khaine


    The third job, and now her title. ¡°Child Of Khaine¡±. With it came ¡®Birthed Of Blood¡¯ making her immune to bleeding, and ¡®Womb Of Warfare¡¯ which gave her a crazy Level 4 proficiency in all weapons, and refunded any Proficiency traits. And finally a ¡°Divinity Mode¡± that would give her triple damage and triple bleeding for two minutes. Well, she wasn¡¯t getting out of this cauldron easily, so she decided to spend the traits here and now, getting a quality of life trait for cheaper stuff from the shop, two traits to enhance herself, and one Captaincy trait, because she was really neglecting that of late. Though, she didn¡¯t really lead people in the arena on a reliable basis, it would still help for when she did.


    After the system had been catered to, Estaria looked up to the lip of the cauldron. Her ascension had splashed a great deal of blood out, and now she was floating in blood, still too far for her to put her feet on the ground, but also far enough from the lip that it would be a difficulty in jumping out of the water to grab it. On ground, she could make it easily, but blood was thicker than water, and it made it very difficult to try anything. After a few minutes of contemplation, a rope was dropped over the side, and a Witch peered over. Estaria smiled at her and grabbed the rope, climbing out of the cauldron and standing naked and blood-soaked on the platform. Her clothes had disintegrated in the cauldron, which was really sad because they made her look lovely.


    Surrounding the cauldron were Executioners, Witches, Dreadlords and Hag Queens - most notably Hellebron herself. It felt like quite the procession and she wasn¡¯t sure if they were here to watch or to arrest her.


    ¡°Hi¡­¡± Estaria said awkwardly, wiping some blood from her face, and letting it drip onto the floor.


    ¡°There are those who call you blessed by Khaine. Touched by his bloody hand, a leader of those who would praise him. I have no idea how a Human came to be so blessed by our Lord, but we must accept these signs, for they can not be refuted by any but the greatest of fools¡± Hellebron spoke. A Witch to her side began to translate into Common, but Estaria waved her off, telling her she understood the language. More shock and amazement filled the air, as well as some well-hidden disgust over her tainting their language with her knowledge. Though, there was something else as well. A feeling that had changed. No longer did she look down on the Druchii as things far beneath her. The feeling had become different. As if they were her flock of sheep for her to guide and nurture. She was, after all, the child of their God. Why should she not look to their aid?


    ¡°You honour me, Queen Hellebron. I will endeavour to be worthy of such praise you give me¡± Estaria bowed deeply, and then smiled to her. This, could be the start of a warm relationship.


    ¡°Come, Girl. Attend me¡± Hellebron ordered, and a popup appeared on Estaria¡¯s screen as she did so.


    Magic Resisted due to High Wisdom


    She was using that damned glamour again. But, Estaria would act as if it had worked, because otherwise would cause offense she did not wish. And so Estaria walked over and bowed her head gently.


    ¡°How might you wish me to serve you, Queen Hellebron?¡± Estaria asked, a voice filled with passionate love for all her creatures.


    ¡°On your knees. Kiss my foot and proclaim your loyalty and fealty to me, exclusively and entirely. I shall see to it that you are treated worthy of the station of my personal Slave¡± Hellebron¡¯s request was thick with pride and ego, her eyes burning with a slavering delight, as if she knew that Estaria would already do as commanded.


    Magic Resisted due to High Wisdom


    For Estaria¡¯s part, she was mostly amazed that Hellebron was laying it on this thick. Maybe she wanted the acknowledgement and sheer social accum that would come from being the owner of Khaine¡¯s Human. Everyone would flock to Hellebron because she owned the one favoured by Khaine, and through Estaria, would Hellebron raise to supplant Morathi, and maybe even Malekith himself.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, My Queen. I can not disrespect she who raised me from the mud to be who I am today, where I am today. While I respect your authority and will always be at your service, my owner is Filnon Nightfury¡± Estaria¡¯s words silenced everything. There was not even the sound of breathing as Hellebron looked to the blood-covered slave girl and wrangled with what to do with her. Slaughter her here and now in front of everyone? That, would be too brash, too tacky, and would lose her a lot of support among the followers of Khaine. This human creature already held a revolting amount of sway over those who followed Khaine. With furious self-control, Hellebron exhaled, nodded, and left the temple without a word.


    Glad to not be butchered on the spot, Estaria stood around for a bit, talking to the Druchii who would converse with her, and administering blessings to those who asked. She wasn¡¯t entirely sure what she was doing there, it just felt natural. The System didn¡¯t tell her she had done anything metaphysical, so maybe it was just their belief. Or something outside of the System. Still, eventually with the blood drying on her skin and her hair starting to tug on her head, skin starting to prickle and itch from the drying blood pinching her, she excused herself and went to Filnon¡¯s house. Her Druchii lover was ecstatic to see her, but understood the desires of a large and hot bath, followed by an equally long and hot shower to get all the blood off her. Eventually it all ran off and she was clean again, though her eyes were changed. A striking crimson, the precise colour of blood, stared out. This was the touch of her God, it seemed.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Finishing up and grabbing a bath-robe for modesty¡¯s sake - hilarious considering what she had done with her Druchii lover till now, but she still thought it important - Estaria stepped out and looked to Filnon, before the two shared a passionate and loving embrace.


    ¡°So. Why Khaine? I was born in the Empire, I was raised on Ulric. If anything, Ulric should be my God¡± Estaria finally got it off her chest, while stroking Filnon¡¯s hair.


    ¡°No idea. I didn¡¯t even know this thing was a possibility. Do you think everyone can get this kind of quest?¡± Filnon asked. It was a great question that left Estaria wondering.


    ¡°It is possible. But, for now, trouble. The cauldron dissolved my clothes, and my collar¡± Estaria let go of Filnon to take a seat nearby, and bit her lip.Filnon definitely had some horrible sexualized outfit to replace what she had lost, but the collar was a worry. It seemed custom made.


    ¡°Mmm, as much as I would love to say the Child Of Khaine does not wear a collar, I don¡¯t want to try what might come of it if you roamed around without one¡± Filnon then blushed lightly. Actually blushed, which was confusing and terrifying. ¡°But¡­.I did, get something last week. Hoping that one day you would ask me to be more than just my slave¡± Filnon¡¯s voice took on a warm, romantic tint, filled with emotions entirely new to the Druchii. She went to the cupboard and took out a box, that was opened to reveal a beautiful set of rings, one silver and one gold. And a collar encompassing the two. But this thing was magnificent. A bright amber and ruby blend made a stunningly unique light show, and the gems studded around it glittered in the light, none more so than the large ruby at the front. It looked like some jewelry a noblewoman would wear more than a slave collar. The only thing tipping a person off about that was the ring in front of the ruby where the leash could be hooked and two smaller rings to clip on manacles. ¡°I have been feeling most strange thoughts of late. I want you as more than just a slave, more than just a lover. I want you...every part of you, to be mine. I¡­.will, you marry me?¡± Filnon asked, looking to Estaria. There was silence as the shock settled in, and Estaria comprehended what had just been asked. This¡­.this...was real. She was actually asking her for marriage. To marry her, to be married to her. To have Filnon as her wife. To be married...her head was spinning in circles, unable to grasp anything resembling a proper thought in her head.


    The hesitation caused Filnon¡¯s heart to sink, and she shut the box, tossing it to one side.


    ¡°It was a stupid idea. Why would you marry me?. I kidnapped you from your country and tortured you, manipulated you into loving me, destroyed your life for my own gains¡± Filnon¡¯s eyes welled out with tears, and shook her head, suddenly blitzing past Estaria and leaving before the new Child of Khaine could catch up. Druchii always were more advantaged in the art of speed and agility. Especially when she was of comparable level to Estaria¡¯s own. Then she was gone, and Estaria was on her own. Despite every word of what Filnon said being true, it was not something that Estaria thought about these days. Sure there was the bad times, but Filnon didn¡¯t have to treat her the way she did. She could have just treated Estaria like the slave she was and nobody would have batted an eye. Despondent and lost, Estaria turned to the system, knowing that it would provide some solace and ability to burn some time.


    She had a truly immense amount of tokens from the daily fights in the arena, and so she opened the vigor rewards and scrolled down to the red-backed option that she had seen a long time ago. Instead of it being locked, however, she saw it staring back at her with a deep and foreboding glare. Even the name, ¡°Orphaned Child¡± was not something she wanted to mess with, but tapped it anyway.


    Orphaned Child - A woman makes a Widow, but children make Orphans. While young, Khaine still smiles upon this blade, and it shall take it¡¯s owner through many a bloody battle


    The stats were incredible, and she had never seen a Red item before, thinking that Orange was the highest, and so she definitely bought that for 150 tokens. Extracting it from her inventory, it took the form of a pair of Wrathflails, glowing ominously with the incredible power. It had Bleeding, and ¡°Rivers Of Blood¡± special effect that would half the time taken for bleeding to proc damage. Along with her Hemorrhaging special ability from her Exalted blessing, things were going to bleed to death pretty quickly. The chains at which the bladed flail was attached to were longer than the usual wrathflail, and the heavy but well balanced weight ensured impetus when thrown, making them a decent mid-ranged throwing weapon, and allowing her to control a large swath of the battlefield. The next purchase was Khaine¡¯s Talon from the Sharpshooter Rewards, which was tapped.


    Khaine¡¯s Talon - None are beyond the reach of the bloody-handed God Of War, and this weapon ensures such. All beings, no matter how close or how far, will fall to the ever changing nature of this projectile weapon.


    Another Red weapon, this was a hand crossbow with the ¡°Mutable¡± effect, allowing it to twist between hand crossbow, Heavy Repeating Crossbow, and Bloodbane Longbow. The Bloodbane Longbow was a mighty thing that required 70 strength to draw and restricted attack speed in return for massive range, damage and armour penetration. It was comforting to have some ranged weaponry in her hands again after so long, so it got put away in the inventory, along with the Orphaned Child. But then, as if the damn System was mocking her, the gold shop had a new item called ¡°Bride Of A Thousand Witches¡±, the same name as her trait. It infuriated her, made her want to go out into the city and chase down Filnon whatever it cost. Made her turn green with regret and curse the world for not giving Filnon any way to deal with the love she was feeling now. She smashed the table in anger and tossed it¡¯s bits against the wall before finally turning back to look properly at the shop, and sighed. Anger would get her nowhere, despite the outburst she had just had. So, kind of regretting trashing the table, she tapped the item and it even flickered up with a picture.


    The dress was¡­.magnificent. She was instantly stricken by it, and it was bought right then and there, her arena fights having a very nice nest egg to splash out on. It¡¯s stats were considerable for just a White, and so she put it through the Workshop. Increasing it from White to Orange, and then hovering over the button to turn it into a Red. It would be a crippling expense, and even her cash flow would be wiped out by the 120,000 gold that was required for the upgrade. But, eventually, she hit the button and upgraded it. The traits for upgrade appeared before her, and she considered which ones would fit.


    Captivating - The beauty of such a dress is unparalleled, and no being can look upon it without being drawn into it, snapped out only by pain and the threat of death. Enemy stats are reduced by 20 until Health damage is dealt.


    Bride Of A Thousand Witches - An Eponymous trait, This dress is tied intricately to the Witches of Khaine, and brings out the greatest of abilities there in. Enhances Witch Dance.


    Steelsilk Weave - Harvested from special spiders, Steelsilk is a most durable fabric, able to turn aside blades and arrows as a breastplate would. Add 30% armour.


    Paternal Love - Khaine grants a hand towards his child, so they might spread their fame and his name to all. Regenerate 1% of health a second while in bloody combat.


    The traits were all good traits. Regeneration was always helpful against enemies, but Captivating would help her strip a foe of their Luck. Of course, she couldn¡¯t make a decision without knowing what Witch-Dance was, and so she moved boxes to get to where that one was detailed and tapped it.


    Witch-Dance: The style of all Witch Elves, this form is a mobile prayer to Khaine as much as a combat style. Every step, and every cut and every twist sings to Khaine, and blades find their target with unnerving ease. While in this style, gain 30% armour piercing and increase nearby Witches stats by +10 when you make a kill.


    Was she going to steal the style of the Witches and piss off Hellebron even more? Yea. Yea she was. So the traits where picked. Bride Of A Thousand Witches and Paternal Love were added, and finally she equipped it. As soon as it was worn, she felt an emboldening comfort to it. Like the warm embrace of a loving father. The fabric was so smooth, and there were some faux blood stains that seemed to add to the style of the dress. A pair of blood red gloves finished the outfit, and then Estaria picked up the collar from the box and put it on. She wasn¡¯t going to let Filnon storm away, out of her life. That was not how Khaine worked, nor would any of his kin ever work like that.

 Chapter 38 (m....ish?)

    Bursting out into the streets like a storm, Estaria strode with purpose. The younger and more zealous of the Druchii stepped out of her way, for they could feel the searing heat of her determination and dared not stand in the way of the Child of Khaine when she looked as she did. The dress flowed off her like a royal regalia, and statues wept blood at her passing, potents that could not be ignored. Of course, with age comes arrogance to stand to the Gods themselves and believe yourself superior. So it was that on her search she was accosted by a Dreadlord in front of her, a sneer on his face and a look on his face that screamed his intentions. To better himself in the eyes of all Druchii by belittling one so highly regarded.


    ¡°Ahh, it is wonderful to run into you, Sickle. I am holding a party and we are short of slaves to service the guests. You are required, so if you would just follow me¡± He spoke as if every word was a foregone conclusion, but Estaria did not have time to play into his ego, and so decided to let him down gently. Responding with a curtsey that fired his blood, Estaria smiled warmly.


    ¡°I am sorry, My Lord. I am currently under orders of my Mistress, Filnon Nightfury. As much as I hate to refuse the requests of a Druchii noble, I can not undermine her authority under any circumstances. So, if you will excuse me¡± Estaria gave him another dipping curtsey and then heading back on her journey.


    Any other place in the Druchii continent, and she would see herself be dragged to this party and tortured half to death for the sheer disobedience. But this city was kept to the most stringently tyrannical rules of any Druchii city, and anything the Dreadlord wished to do would have to be in the shadows, lest he get executed. All he could do was seethe in rage as Estaria walked past him, his plans backfiring as people talked behind him and around him. But Estaria did not care for that, as she was following the trail of her beloved Mistress. The minimap was very helpful there, as it detailed where Players were, so she caught up to Filnon, and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her as she rushed through the streets.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Unhand me!¡± Filnon hissed, her tone full of vitriol and fire. But when she saw it was Estaria, her breath caught in her throat. And then the dress, and the collar. It was all too much for the woman, and she just broke into tears, falling on Estaria, who hugged her gently. She didn¡¯t judge. Without this dress, she would probably be the same. Sobbing in the house without an idea of how to help Filnon. But, there was a power in these clothes, from the God who now called her daughter.


    There were no words given, no words taken, just the comfort of love. Estaria brought Filnon back to the home after she had cried herself out, and they simply fell asleep in the warm embrace of each other. Come the morning, Filnon wanted to pretend it all didn¡¯t happen and just return to how life was before. But Estaria was having none of that, and got up, dressing in her Bride¡¯s uniform, and trapped her in a hug.


    ¡°Is that any way to treat your newly wed wife? Just jump up of a morning and ignore her?¡± Estaria asked, kissing Filnon¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Ahh~ Es...I...didn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t, want to force you into anything¡± Filnon was so unsure of herself, it was rather disconcerting. So Es took the initiative.


    ¡°Then let me dampen your fears. You did not force me to wear this collar, you did not force me to get this dress. You did not force me to rush out and find you in the streets, to comfort you when you were down, and to bring you back here. It was all my choice. As is what I do now, Filnon¡± Estaria then picked Filnon up, and dropped her on the bed, fighting with the protesting Druchii and getting her hands chained up in the manacles. Filnon realized what was going to happen and gave Estaria a glare.


    ¡°You let me out of this right now or I will-¡± she was cut off when Estaria slipped the large ball of rubber into her mouth and attached the straps around the back of her neck. And finally the thick strip of cloth blinded the Druchii.


    ¡°Now, on the topic of forcing things. I think I owe you a little payback for when I first arrived, don¡¯t you?¡± She teased. ¡°My. Darling. Wife¡± each word was followed by a kiss, and they implied much more was going to happen to Filnon before the day was out.

 Chapter 39

    What stamina~ she had. Filnon fought and squirmed as a Mistress would when their pet had tricked them into such a situation and was now playing most vigorously with them. And Estaria rolled with her, teasing her, pushing her to the edge only to pull her back and make her groan with need and desire, and then repeating the who process all over again. It took a long time and several long-awaited releases of her needy desire before Filnon stopped responding, breathing lightly and barely twitching. Finally, she had driven her lover to unconsciousness. Her wife. So beautiful...How would she look in that maid uniform that Es had since lost? How would she look dressed up in Es¡¯ old leathers. How would she look in a wedding dress, walking down the aisle?


    ¡°Perfect¡± Estaria whispered, kissing Filnon¡¯s head and then unchaining her and removing all the restraints. Cleaning up the mess and tucking her in, Es went out to the Arena. With normal slaves were told when and where they were fighting, famous warslaves like Estaria had a freer reign of things, as they brought great revenue and entertainment to the city.


    ¡°Estaria! Great timing.I was just about to send a message. Someone has requested you in the arena, set up a fight and everything¡± The arena manager exclaimed, walking over to check her out and make sure she was all ready. ¡°Paid a lot to the arena to make this happen, and we are set to have a fortune on bets and admission fees. So get out there and entertain the crowd¡± he exclaimed. Estaria was of such fame and skill that her weaponry was her own business these days. Which was good, because that allowed her to try out her new toys. Standing at the gate, she used the hotkeys to quickly equip her Orphaned Child and Talon Of Khaine, and activate Witch Dance. Though it only worked with melee weapons, she didn¡¯t want to forget to activate it in battle. She gave it some thought for a moment and then decided that the first one out of the gate would be one she take down with the Longbow. And then the repeater for a few shots before putting it back in her inventory and using her Blades.


    Though she was surprised to see who was arrayed in front of her. Storming out of the gate with impressive discipline and heavy armour, were Executioners. A dozen of them with their long blades, coming for Estaria without a second¡¯s hesitation. Not something that was going good. Even with her armour penetration, Executioner Armour was strong stuff, and so she sub-targetted the foot of the lead guy. The arrow struck hard, and his movement immediately ceased, causing a stumble from the run speed suddenly being stopped and being knocked over by the man behind him crashing into him. A second arrow went to another Executioner¡¯s torso, and then she had to put the Talon away and ready her flails. They fit beautifully into her hands, felt so right, and so strong. Launching one of the flails at the Executioner on the left trying to flank her, he managed to dodge the blow enough for it to take a chunk out of his armour rather than him. The second flail was whipped outwards, the chain rattling as the bladed edge took a large piece out of the Executioner¡¯s luck bar.


    But, even as she recovered her flails and got to a second attack, she was forced into a whole new form by the way the Executioners attacked with magnificent synchronicity. Blades flowed and blood spilled, luck depleted and Estaria claimed the lives of two of the Executioners, Critically wounding a third before she was forced to back out, using her System-enhanced speed to out-pace them and retreat. Bloodied and panting, she was a little above 50% health. Executioners were, after all, some of the best warriors in the whole kingdom, and armed equally. Her health was slowly crawling back up, but it would take a minute to get there. She could give them the runaround, using her Talon or her Flails to keep them at range, or wait for a few of them to bleed out the rest of their hp¡­.


    It took about eight seconds for her to cross the arena, and a few more for the Executioners. Her Flails made bleeding go twice as fast, and they lost stats while bleeding, so it would be slower. She spent four of them in contemplation, then drew her Talon again and stuck an arrow into the chest of the Executioner with the least health. He dropped dead, Overwhelming dealing enough damage for it to put him down despite the critical wound. The second draw waited till the Executioner was nearly on top of her, and then launched into his eye socket, splattering him across the ground. Leaping towards the next closest, she kicked him in the chest and pushed off him, flying into the air and swapping out her weapons again before throwing both of them to the man she had just kicked over. Titan¡¯s Arm classed thrown Wrathflails as Throwing Weapons, and took the rest of his health. Four down. This fight was going to be a long fight. Her trickery would be less tricking as time went on, and she¡¯d have to rely more on sheer martial power¡­.


    After afightof a length so great she could not keep track, Estaria was left, surrounded by corpses of the fallen. Blood soaked everywhere on the grounds, and within it was the reflection of beings attending to Estaria¡¯s reflection in the blood. Waiting for the arena gate to open, Estaria put her weapons away and walked through it, heading home. She was glad Filnon was not around, because that would be an exhaustion she couldn¡¯t handle on top of this one. The woman was probably somewhere else planning Estaria¡¯s punishment. That thought made her smile. It was, after all, the reason why she had done it. Getting herself a bath to clean off the blood, Estaria had dinner and went to bed. Hopefully, she wouldn¡¯t be dropped with a dozen super-soldiers tomorrow. That was almost cruel of them. Of course, Estaria didn¡¯t think anything of it, just that they wanted a spectacle, and she obliged them, as she always had since the very first day she got here.


    Tomorrow came very quickly. She passed out in the bed with record speed, and woke up looking at Filnon. Though, not in the bed. No, she was strapped to some strange frame, a large bar across her mouth preventing her from talking. Arms tied into a helpless position - with chains enhanced by Magic so she could not break them - and her body ensnared with a harness. A pair of strange boots pushed her feet into an unstable position, and a corset pressed against every breath she took. Something else was strapped about her head, and these two large chunks blocked out most of her vision, preventing her from seeing anything around her. A large, thick collar with metal struts prevented her from turning her head, and the whole thing was quite, surprising.


    ¡°Morning~ You woke up just in time¡± Filnon exclaimed, sticking something thick and long up Estaria¡¯s ass. The bar gag forced her cry of surprise to sound more like that of a horse¡¯s whinny. ¡°I decided to take a vacation at my friend''s resort, and she trains Warhorses for a very esoteric underground arena. I thought it was perfect for you to learn how to be one. She heard about you and really wanted you in her stable¡± Filnon finished getting Estaria all tacked up and then went out of Estaria¡¯s view, and cracked a leather crop against her ass.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    This, was really out there. Estaria had expected something in retaliation, but this...was a lot. Though, Filnon was probably just falling back on what she knew how to do, as a way of dealing with the feelings she had for Estaria.


    ¡°Now, forward prance¡± Filnon ordered, and Estaria obeyed, her feet walking in a very strange stumble-walk. Not only were these boots off balance, but they were heavy as well, heavier than any footwear she had ever had. Only her agility prevented her from falling completely.


    Staggering out of the door, she was able to see this estate was not just something that Filnon cooked up to carry on the play with Estaria. Dozens of women were prancing about, some with very confident steps, others stumbling over their own feet and collapsing into the mud. Some were naked but for their tack like Estaria, and the more confident ones, that seemed to be going around watching over and helping out the younger ones, were in a full cover of coloured clothing, everyone of them having a tail coming out of their ass, like Estaria. And the boots were stylized like hooves. Immediately, Estaria¡¯s mind went to Ceal, and her eyes bulged with shock at the idea of what she was going to become.


    ¡°Now, don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll not be a lactating pony like Ceal was, but you will learn to be a good pony for my friend. Don¡¯t disappoint me, Estaria Nightfury~¡± Filnon whispered the last bit in Estaria¡¯s ear, and it made her shudder. Such acknowledgement of their relationship, in such a situation was a most deeply confusing but equally arousing feeling.


    A woman in black leather, carrying an ominous crop and walking with unparalleled confidence came over to Estaria, and grinned, hand reaching out to stroke her ass and abs.


    ¡°Mmm, Filnon. You truly have brought me a treat today¡± the woman told Filnon, smiling warmly at the bound up Es.


    ¡°Of course, dear. You deserve the best¡± Filnon replied, kissing her cheek and then heading into the house. The woman with the crop stroked it down her back, and then cracked it against Estaria¡¯s ass.


    ¡°This crop shall be your new Lord and Master. It will guide you, shape you, assist you. Punish you and reward you. Now, let¡¯s meet the rest of them, shall we?¡± The Druchii woman then lead Estaria into the field where the other ponies were prancing.


    Estaria¡¯s thoughts of this being a day or two were thrown out of the window as the weeks passed. She was taught how to prance, how to move like a Pony, and given a blue-clad ¡®Sister¡¯ who would guide her and teach her. The pony was called Rosencrans, though most referred to her as Blue from her clothes. She didn¡¯t have a bit-gag, but whinnied anyway, and would bite Estaria if she made any mistakes. Though they were few because Estaria was a stubborn girl who learned quickly just to show Filnon that she would take this punishment and make it her own. Filnon would sometimes come out and take her on walks, and other times would just watch her in her morning routine or play with some pony while Estaria watched. At night, Estaria slept in the stables on a bed of hay, snuggling in with Rosencrans for comfort and a sense of community. Days would blur into a soup of extreme activity, prancing and cart pulling, learning crop signs and commands, how to behave and how to gallop when the situation called for it. She fell a few times in the early days, knocked over by rival ponies who wanted to preen and catch the eye of Mistress and her friends.


    After basic training, and long after Estaria had given up questioning if Filnon was going to leave her here for more than just a week or two - long after Estaria had admitted that Filnon was just so superior to Estaria in this whole dominance and submission thing - Estaria was given a more focused curriculum. One that made her a true Warhorse rather than just a Pony. Blue was here again, and the two often practiced with each other as Estaria was going through the training. Sometimes Blue¡¯s superior experience and understanding would let her win the spar, and she would take what she was owed, seemingly enjoying Estaria¡¯s whinnies and nickers that came from such claiming. Though these became more distant as Estaria progressed, and it was more often her taking from Blue, under the watch of her wife. There was a really strange sense of hedonistic pleasure from doing it where her wife could watch.


    Passing all the courses and acing the final tests, Estaria was given a new tack that looked identical to Blue¡¯s own. It was the tack of true-blood Warhorses, who had finished all their trials and tribulations. Estaria and Blue shared their first proper kiss as the bit-gag was taken away, and then Estaria was shipped off to the underground arena. Here, she was given serrated hooves with weights to turn them into true weaponry rather than just boots. The fight with the screaming Berserker did not last long, as Estaria was an immense warrior before her training as a Warhorse. Blood spilled, the crowd cheered, and there was a deep sense of pride as she whinnied and bowed to the crowd. She was a proper Warhorse now, and could prance about the open field with her sisters, aiding the young things that needed help just keeping their balance in the mud.


    Filnon came to her after the fight, and kissed her passionately. There was a glimmer in her eye, and the caressing hands toyed with the tail-plug.


    ¡°Mmmm, you know, I nearly decided to just hang up my boots and come work here as a Trainer forever. Leave you like this the rest of your life. You look so good in this tack. But, I can¡¯t do that, unfortunately. A girl has to get back to work. But you are never going to lock me to the bed again, are you?¡± Filnon asked, booping Estaria¡¯s nose. The look in her eye and the pointed question clued Estaria in on the legality of speaking rather than just making horse noises, but it had been a long time, and she had to spend a few moments remembering how to do that.


    ¡°This..¡± Estaria¡¯s voice cracked and she coughed, working to get her voice back properly. ¡°This, whole thing¡­.has been because of that?¡± Estaria asked incredulously.


    ¡°Mmmm¡­.85%. Keli did ask me if I could let her have you in her stable. That time just let me have a most apt excuse to bring you here without any guilt. But on the serious note, yea. Don¡¯t, ever try that again, darling. Or I might just keep you in the tack forever~¡± Filnon then lead the pony back to the house, and got her out of her tack. After so long in it, it was strange to be out in the open again. And Estaria¡¯s feet stood somewhat naturally on the balls now. Though Filnon had thought of this and brought a pair of lovely platform heels that were slopped and shaped perfectly for her to comfortably wear.


    ¡°I¡¯m...going to miss Blue. We spent a long time together¡­¡± Estaria said, mostly to herself, before following Filnon back to the carriage, and home.


    Har Garath was abuzz with activity, and their return was called for by none other than the Witch King Malekith. Word had reached him of this woman, and of the claims of kinship with Khaine. So he wished to test this. Estaria was brought into the arena, and on the other side, the gate did not open so much as explode as a massive Manticore burst out of it. Larger and more vicious than it¡¯s normal kin from black magic and alchemy, the creature stared down Estaria and it¡¯s tail swished with violent desire.

 Chapter 40

    Well, a Manticore. That was interesting. Pitting one aspect of Khaine against the other, was it? Well, ok then. Estaria first activated her Witch Dance, for when she was going to get into melee. And then, pulling out her Talon, she shot an arrow from her Bloodbane Longbow, and the creature deflected it with it¡¯s tail, making a noise that could easily be a laugh. So it was going to be like that, huh? Flipping her Talon intoRepeaterCrossbow mode, she sprinted towards the beast and unleashed a volley of arrows, spread about so it¡¯s tail had to work to deflect them. A few even hit the body, but didn¡¯t sink very deeply. Still, it allowed her time to get into position and grab the base of the creature¡¯s tail. With her mobility, she kept up with it¡¯s attempts to shake her off, and hacked at it with her Orphaned CHild. It took a few attempts, but the flailing of the tail helped her and she was eventually able to tear the tail from it¡¯s body and throw it away. Bleeding from the stump of the tail, Estaria flipped over the swiping paw, used her Quick Load to fill the Crossbow box and filled it¡¯s back with bolts. Dam thing had a lot of health to it, and some strong armour to boot. But that was fine. All the more for her to murder.


    Crossbow in one hand and one of her flails in the other, she struck an imposing figure for the creature in front of her. It roared it¡¯s displeasure and rushed at Estaria. Quickly putting the Talon away and drawing her second blade, she leapt into the air and broke into a spin, flails whirling with a subtle scream of death before they bit into the back of the Manticore and sliced it deeply from the top of his head to the bottom of his back. Blood flushed everywhere, but the creature¡¯s terrible fury was not to be satiated and it lashed out, smashing her in the chest with it¡¯s back foot and blowing her away, out of range and away from any follow-up attack. And the damn thing was still less than three-quarters of its health.


    Apparently there was a good reason why several SIsters of Slaughter teamed up on this thing, and whyit was used as a mount for the Lords. There was only one thing left that she could do, if she didn¡¯t want to drag this out for a few hours. Taking a breath, she activated the Divinity Mode with a thought, and the changes came immediately. Her hair¡¯s lovely soft red turned a deep crimson and took on the texture blood. Her dress¡¯ stylistic bloodstains encroached on the entire dress and turned it pure red, but the most obvious change was the horns that grew out from her head, and her eyes, growing pale and losing all features. The Manticore let out a hiss and stomped, but did not charge towards Estaria, merely circling her.


    A strange new aspect of this was that there were lines moving across the Manticore. Through the back, these lines were moving outwards, a darker and more ominous colour to the lines that exited through his back. It was there she realized, the lines she was seeing was the creatures¡¯ blood. It¡¯s veins, arteries, and blood flow laid bare for her. Not only was her damage and bleeding buffed, but also she was given clairvoyance into where to most precisely strike. And they were not where she would expect at all. The throat had surprisingly slim blood-flow, so cutting that would do little. But there was a large cluster of veins and arteries in it¡¯s underbelly. If she could get there and split that open, it¡¯d die in short order from blood loss. But she needed some way to get down there. A slide under it and slashing the vein with her blades would be good, but dangerous and risky. If it caught her or dropped or she didn¡¯t slide properly, she¡¯d be at it¡¯s mercy. Though¡­.yes, that would work. Estaria smirked and rushed her foe, blades ready to taste the creature¡¯s blood.


    Off to the other side of the cluster, Estaria rushed past, leaping over the claws that swatted out at her and then with an elegant twist, threw her main-hand flail at the creature¡¯s hind leg. Titan¡¯s Arm and Witch Dance came together to penetrate it¡¯s hide down to the bone, and then as she landed, Estaria threw her flail at it¡¯s foreleg as well. Slicing both of them open so deeply forced it off balance, and it fell over to its side with a pained, angry roar. And then, with unparalleled acrobatic ability, Estaria jumped over the creature and turned, throwing both of her flails and severing the cluster, spilling a massive gout of blood across the arena. Finally, she landed gently on the arena, and the Manticore struggled to its feet just to collapse and die as blood-loss finished it off. Wrapping the Orphaned Child¡¯s chains back around her, she flicked the blood from the blades and gave a most theatrical bow to the screaming audience. She couldn¡¯t see how the Witch-King looked, but she hoped he liked it. He was kind of the boss of literally everyone she had ever seen here. So him being impressed, was a good thing to aspire to.


    As it turned out, he was more than simply impressed, as she was accosted by a pair of his Black Guards and taken into a carriage in which Filnon already resided, and they were off.


    ¡°Good job I don¡¯t have anything important at home¡± Estaria commented, watching the city of Har Garath disappear into the distance.


    ¡°You are going to have to behave, Estaria. Naggarond is no place to tread lightly. Hellebron keeps a tight leash on her people, but in Naggarond, it is entirely the opposite. Malekith weeds out the weak and the unfit by allowing pure anarchy in his city¡± Filnon warned, her voice grave. Though, Estaria turned around and just smiled.


    ¡°That means I can slit some guy¡¯s throat because he groped my ass?¡± Estaria asked, her smile cheeky and broad.


    ¡°Tsk, should have known you¡¯d take that away from my warning. Though I guess I was being overprotective to worry in the first place. I didn¡¯t make you my wife because you are a good cook¡± Filnon got up from her seat and came over, kissing Estaria deeply.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Mmm~ Though I am not terrible. Hardly a gourmet chef, but I¡¯ll keep ya fed¡± Es replied after the kiss. Filnon looked surprised as such a reveal, and so she carried on. ¡°Back in the Empire¡­¡± there was a moment of sadness there, but the warmth of her wife reminded her of who she was now. And what. There was no point in despairing over a past long gone. ¡°There was a guy in my unit called Borrago Beast-Eater. That man was a good cook, and I picked up some tricks from him¡± she explained.


    ¡°Well, I might just put you to work cooking for me some time. Nothing but an apron, your collar, and a special stone~¡± Filnon teased, and then Estaria felt something slip through her underwear and start buzzing away softly.


    ¡°Ohh~ F-F-Filnon¡­~¡± Estaria¡¯s thighs rubbed together, and the Druchii took full advantage of the current feelings to make the carriage ride a very enjoyable one.


    Arrival at Naggarond was met with fanfare at the return of the King, and then Filnon and Estaria were brought out. The beauty of Estaria¡¯s dress, and the innate draw that Khaine worshippers had towards her drew the eyes of most, even as she got down on her knees by the side of Filnon. Malekith announced that Filnon was a new member of his court, and that Estaria was a Gladiator that fought in his name. Estaria looked at Filnon from her kneeling position, and the Druchii just shrugged lightly. Malekith commanded, and others obeyed, that was that. After the announcement, Estaria was taken to a beautiful mansion. Slaves scurried about, tending to the upkeep of the house, and a large matronly Druchii appeared to introduce herself as the Governess of this Dark Abode. Everyone on Malekith¡¯s council had a Dark Abode, overseen by a Governess. She would ensure all the Slaves kept in line and did their job without issue. The eyes of the woman glanced to Estaria at that comment, but she was a good girl and just bowed her head to the Governess. Estaria was not here to cause trouble that she didn¡¯t need to cause, even if she wasn¡¯t going to back down from it if it came.


    What being Malekith¡¯s Gladiator entailed became evident. While she was still put in fights for the entertainment of the crowd, she was also a new execution method. Dreadlords and Beastmasters and other Druchii who had displeased the Witch-King or had been left holding the stick after a scheme that got them on the wrong side of his displeasure found themselves in the arena with Estaria. And she was not kind to them. The Witches of Naggarond became much tighter to Malekith¡¯s reign and commands after the first one found themselves in Estaria¡¯s arena, and she refused to fight them. Saying that her honour, her pride, her very existence would not allow her to fight against a Witch, as she was bride to them all. The Black Guards threw her in a cell for that one, to await the Witch-King¡¯s command, but someone must have talked him down as she was ¡®merely¡¯ strapped to a frame and lashed three hundred times. No Witch wanted to force Estaria to undergo that again, and so everyone worked thrice as hard to ensure she did not have to. This didn¡¯t keep them out of her arena, as there were so many who were furiously enthusiastic to cross blades with Khaine¡¯s Chosen Mortal. But none of the fights were fatal, nor were they ever intended to be.


    Estaria saw Filnon less, as she had new duties on the council of Malekith. As such their sessions when they did see each other were thrice as passionate, and she soothed her stresses whenever they brewed up. With all the death, all the fighting and all the killing, her experience grew and grew. As high a level as she was, she was inundated with traits after buying ¡°Chain Queen¡± to further her flails. And so when it came time for the next four, she bought some rather frivolous purchases, mostly because they were interesting but also because she liked the puns. Strange purchases, since she was meant to have all the weapon proficiencies. But maybe this was exotic enough to not be unlocked until now or something.


    Bladed Heel - While as effective a combat strategy as slathering yourself in poison and trying to hug the enemy, there is certainly no more theatrical weapon. - Can Equip Bladed Heels.


    Need Heeling - The few who decide to get such a weapon in the first place are quickly brought to frustration beyond handling by the many issues. Inability to balance, inability to keep the blade sharp, and difficulty making a hit in the first place. But passionate pursuit reaps rewards. - +20% damage, +30% Luck Damage


    Agony Of Dafeet - Scrapping one¡¯s heel down a person¡¯s shin can be enough of a deterrent even with that heel isn¡¯t a sharpened steel blade. And that¡¯s before mentioning the ability to line up a kick and put the blade through someone¡¯s throat. - +40% damage, +50% Luck Damage


    Sole Food - The people in the world that can claim mastery of such strange, esoteric weaponry can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And you, are one of them. Capable of sinking a bladed heel into your enemy¡¯s chest before they even realize your heel is bladed. +60% damage, +70% Luck Damage. 400% Luck Damage on first strike.


    Of course, such traits needed her to play about with the Workshop to see where she was even going to get bladed heels. Eventually, she managed to upgrade the heels Filnon gave her to Orange, and then introduce a large chunk of Gromril into the item slot when upgrading it to a Red. This, allowed her to make a pair of heels that had a Gromril blade in the retractable heel. Anything she hit would send the heel back into its casing and reveal the blade. She could also force the blade out to use it as a backup weapon if she needed or wanted to. The heel had ¡®Self-Sharpening¡¯ so the blade would not go dull, and ¡®Throat-slasher¡¯ to increase damage when using a Sub-Targeting for the head. The name was excellent as well. Killer Heels made her giggle and admire all the puns surrounding this thing. It took her a day or two to get to proper grips with the heels, but after that, the crowd loved it when she would pull them out.


    Then, finally, after so very long of spilling blood for the Witch King, came Death Night. Unlike the frenzied, unbridled hedonism of Har Garath, Naggarond had a more restrained way of this night. Ceremonial sacrifices, a Feast for the Nobles - Filnon strong-armed Estaria¡¯s presence at the feast - and then stylized and cinematic fights in the arena, some as replaying history, and others showcasing mythological events. At the culmination of this, came Eldanesh vs Khaine, the mythological origins of the Sword Of Khaine, which Druchii fought for, over the centuries. Having already been in a different fight, Estaria was surprised to be pulled back into the Arena to fight as Khaine. Clearly, people were really taking this ¡°Mortal Chosen Of Khaine¡± thing seriously. Which was actually, really nice to see. It was good to get recognition. But then came the fight, and walking out in the ceremonial regalia of Khaine, she saw the opposition. Dressed as Eldanesh, with a replica of the Sword Of Khaine, Estaria couldn¡¯t make out their features, but she was aided by their name tag.


    Filnon Darkfury - level 84Dancer Of Khaine

 Chapter 41

    What were ...no, she wasn¡¯t even going to ask that. She was told that the opponent wouldn¡¯t be a Witch because in the end, Khaine kills Eldanesh, and they wanted realism. So she agreed. And with the way Filnon was dressed up, Estaria would have no way of seeing who it was. Damned outfit she wore had the same issue. So, instead, she drew her Talon, and shot an arrow at Malekith. His Black Guards were certainly on point, but the Bloodbane Arrow went through the guard¡¯s shield and into the man¡¯s chestpiece. Between shield and Chestpiece, there was enough armour to stop the arrow, but it pinned the shield to his chest, which looked fun. His guards shot back crossbow bolts, but they were unable to hit someone as swift as Estaria. She replied with Bloodbane Arrows, and Malekith¡¯s Black Guard escorted him from the Arena as arrows began to fell his guards. The crowd, seeing what was going on, suddenly exploded into uproar. Some leapt to the floor to strike at Estaria, some leapt to the floor to protect their Chosen from those who would defile her, and some just booked it out of the Arena, wanting no part in what was happening.


    With every one of Malekith¡¯s guards dead or routed, Estaria looked to Filnon. Her Witch followers were fighting off those who would see her marred, and so she got a free path. Stripping out of the outfit they had given her, she donned the Bride Of A Thousand Witches, and stopped, staring into her lover''s eyes with all the fury of a God Of War.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if this is a political play, an accident, or something more. I will get to the bottom of this¡± she exclaimed, before heading onwards, to the gate on the other side of the Arena. Filnon said nothing and just followed, though the emotion that she seethed with made it seem as if she definitely agreed with Estaria about what they had just done. Estaria waited long enough for Filnon to strip and get into her Witch-Suit, and then she donned her weapons, a pair of beautifully elegant swords with strange things around the hilt. There was no desire to ask questions though, only grasp the Talon firmly and head out into the streets.


    True Pandamonium greeted them. The Witch-King had stormed past, his Black Guards clearing the way and cutting down anyone who did not move in time. People who had scattered from the Arena told panicked versions of what had happened, Witches who were chasing down Malekith supporters told a different version, and the city erupted, ripping itself in two. Estaria¡¯s class and traits ensured fanaticism in those who worshipped Khaine, and so they drove themselves against those who supported Malekith and would try to cast down their Chosen. And so as Estaria and Filnon walked through the streets, they crossed rivers of blood. Surprisingly, no military reprisal though, but the reason for that became clear when they came to Malekith¡¯s Tower and saw the garrison of Naggarond arrayed in front of them. Crossbow bolts came at them like rain in a storm, from armoured slits and towering walls. Filnon charged the shield wall blocking their entry to the only way through without scaling the massive walls, and Estaria left her to that. The strange hilt flicking out small daggers to distant foes as those close to her were cut in half. It occurred to Estaria that she had never seen Filnon fight, and now watching this most pristine Witch Dance, this most flattering prayer to the Bloody-Handed God, it was really nice. Estaria didn¡¯t even bother dodging the crossbow bolts, just letting them miss and graze as they chipped tiny bits off her Luck and the poison they were dipped in resisted by her Constitution. It was at points like this that Estaria really felt like a God, and such Godhood could hardly be refuted.


    Having taken her fill of watching her Wife, Es put away the Talon and took out her flails, leaping high into the air and using their chains to latch onto the battlements of the walls, swinging herself up and decapitating a few Crossbowmen in style. The Talon returned and her own Crossbow reaped a heavy toll, firing dry and then being reloaded in an eyeblink to fire again. The men of the Tower in front of her cared nothing for their allies, and they were cut down when errant bolts missed Estaria from Luck or distance. Eventually the walls were cleared, and she leapt from them to land next to Filnon, who was finishing up her own butchery. The Tower Archers were pissing Estaria off, so she grabbed a few spears from the fallen men at the front and launched them to the general position, Titan¡¯s Arm causing the weapons to smash themselves to splinters on the nigh-impregnable tower. Though from the cries of anguish, metal splinters did find their way through the slits. Still, it wasn¡¯t good enough, so she had to give up her goals to kill like that and instead march forward. The doors were shut, barred and massive, even Estaria¡¯s kicks and sword blows did nothing but scratch and cause surface damage. There was probably other entrances to this place, no Druchii built any building with only one entrance. However, Estaria was in no mood to go exploring, and so she signalled Filnon to retreat, and opened the shop. Scrolling through, she pulled out a man-sized barrel of Dwarven Gunpowder, and lit the fuse, retreating with Filnon to behind the outer walls.


    Such a barrel shook the very ground itself, it¡¯s roar heard by every being in the city, even above the cacophony of bloodshed. From their position near the outer walls, they bore witness to a tide of slaves spilling across the city. Either they had been freed or revolted when they saw the war, and nobody was safe from them. They struck out at everyone, and so the Battle Of Naggarond became three-sided. Though the battle did cease for a few moments when the gunpowder went off. Quickly resumed however, a city-shaking explosion was not enough to keep Druchii from the slaughter.


    A massive scar in the earth and the Tower greeted Filnon and Estaria as the came out from the walls, the splattered remains of the servants carrying munitions was seen across what little floor remained. Though, it did it¡¯s job, and nothing barred their entrance, so they did so and ascended the floors, slaughtering Crossbowmen that they found and what soldiers were found running to their posts. It had taken some ten minutes to get to the tower, and another ten to butcher their way into it, so the Druchii were still preparing, though they were beyond the stage of panic. As shown when a detachment of Dismounted Cold One Knights rushed them on the third floor, pinning them down while more reinforcements came. Militia and Veterans alike, the two Players spent some time on their butchery before the floor was slick with blood, and bodies piled high. The few Druchii that remained decided that climbing over bodies to get to their foe would do nothing but get them killed, and so they turned back to tell their Commanders what had happened. Though none reached their destination, as Estaria¡¯s bolts took them in the back.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    The advance was inexorable, and the doors were neither as big or as thick as the front gate, and so Estaria was able to topple them. The path of butchery led them to the throne room, where Malekith sat on his throne, a glistening banner above the throne itself. The twenty Tower Masters surrounded him, the rest of the Black Council beyond them, and two hundred Black Guard between them and the two Players. A thick throng that even Estaria and Filnon would have to force their way through at great expense. The only two of the thirty Dreadlords - the rest either too cowardly to come here when the chaos started, or elsewhere in Naggaroth - that stood in front of the Black Guard, were Kouran Darkhand, Captain of all Black Guards, and Emir Soulflayer, the most prominent commander of the Druchii forces. The Dreadlords gripped their weapons with varying degrees of determination, but the Black Guards were steadfast and unwavering in their resolve. Even as Estaria stepped forward, blood-drenched and blades dripping with the life-blood of innumerable Druchii. And Malekith sat on his throne, a true emblem of arrogance in the face of Cataclysm.


    ¡°What was-¡± Estaria started, before a thunderous bellow rocked the chamber.


    ¡°You do not address me, Slave!¡± Malekith silenced Estaria, fury and authority enough for her to return to Filnon¡¯s side. Estaria was well trained to obey Druchii, and Malekith was hard for the most stubborn of Dreadlords to disobey - not that any survived very long if they did.


    ¡°Then I shall address you, King Malekith. Was it incompetence, or malice that set me against my wife?¡± Filnon asked, her tone somehow respectful while also scathing, giving all due courtesies even as the words stabbed at him.


    ¡°I will brook no threat to my rule. I am the embodiment of Khaine. I am the Chosen of your God. I am The Witch-King! This is not something I shall allow a mere Slave to supplant! I allowed her to act only so I could ensure that I had every follower of her in my hand, so I could crush them all at once. You were meant to be the centerpiece of this purge. The instigation of it¡± Malekith spoke, his voice firm and absolute in it¡¯s confidence.


    ¡°You think I would strike down my Wife? I wouldn¡¯t have married her if I was just going to kill her later on¡± Filnon retorted. She seemed to have no fear of reprisal and no worry of offense. After all, how could you offend someone more than blowing their doors off and massacringtheir men?


    ¡°My spies have erred in the depth of your possession. You may leave, I shall not pursue punishment upon you¡± Malekith waved his hand, and felt that, was that. Filnon would obey and he could have Estaria put to a most grisly death.


    ¡°And besides-¡± Estaria started, and then the thunder rang again.


    ¡°Silence, Slave!¡± Malekith boomed, standing from his throne and pointing as he roared. Estaria took a step back, and then forward again with a most heinous smirk.


    ¡°Ohh, I am so going to kill you¡± She grasped her Flails, but Malekith acted before, grasping the Winds of Magic and throwing a Dhar-born Doombolt at Estaria, to rend her flesh and shatter her bones.


    Though it was not to be, as Filnon stepped forward and unbound the spell, leaving it to dissipate into nothing. The Witch-King snarled, seeing his Sorcerous Might matched by the Druchii. He could do nothing before Estaria spoke again, and with eyes and focus on Filnon, he did not shout her down.


    ¡°Though I will have him first. Unless you believe you can not handle a single female slave in a cute dress¡± she pointed to Kouran with her blade, who snarled. All Druchii were proud, and they grew prouder as they grew older. Kouran was very old, and thus very proud. The implication behind Estaria¡¯s words rankled him in a way he would not abide, so he turned to the men behind him.


    ¡°I shall gut anyone who interferes¡± he spoke. Plainly, simply, without embellishment. His eyes glanced across the Black Guard, the Tower Masters, the Dreadlords. It was even possible they flicked to Malekith himself for the briefest of moments. And with that order given, the fight commenced, sudden and brutal. Estaria was ready for him, but he still moved faster than any Druchii she had ever seen or fought. Faster than she thought Druchii could move, bedecked in armour as he was. The halberd came a hair¡¯s breadth from hitting her as she moved, and then her blades flashed and joined the fight.


    Hex resisted by High Wisdom


    The Box popped up in her off-vision as she threw the strike, which was good. Getting hexed would suck. Though, it seemed an innate thing to him, since he did not stop the fight to gut the one who hexed her. He reflected the flail, but Estaria brought the second one around, the speed at which they responded to her commands like lightning due to Chain Queen. Wrapping the flail around the shaft of the halberd, she yanked it from his hands and sent it skidding across the floor. He did not miss a beat, however, and drew his sword even as he was losing grasp of his halberd. The fight continued, back and forth across the floor as they did. He was the greatest warrior Estaria had fought, along with being the most conniving guttersnipe she had ever laid eyes on. It was a perfect combination, and Estaria thought to alternate methods of victory when her luck bar began to run out. Eyes darted about the place and then she found exactly where she was going, and moved towards it. He pursued without hesitation, giving her no room to maneuver or push against him. Estaria used her Flails perfectly to ensure that he thought he was pressuring her. And then when she was in position, she threw one of her flails and then bounced the other one off the ground, into an angle he could not reach without leaving himself wide open.


    Kouran moved with incredible speed and flawless grace, crumbling into a roll and skidding so that he would appear behind Estaria. He then rose upwards with his blade, and sliced a deep cut in her back, spilling surprisingly little blood but making a clear blow. The first clean blow of the fight. The taste of victory lasted a few seconds, as Estaria spun and booted him in the chest, with the force of an adult Cold One. What was meant to be solid wall at his back crumbled away from the force of his impact, and the shattering window sung through the hall. Blown cleanly out of it, Kouran had no chance to catch a handhold and just enough time to laugh at the irony of dying exactly the same way as he had killed his predecessor,before plummeted hundreds of feet to his death on the cold, merciless ground with an unheard but not less sickening crunch. Estaria¡¯s regeneration started to regain the lost health, and all was well. That trump card was why she let him score such a blow in the first place. And then she turned back to the rest of the people arrayed in front of her.


    ¡°So then, who¡¯s next?¡± she asked, a broad grin on her face. And for the first time in history, the Black Guard wavered in their determination.

 Chapter 42

    The Black Guards and Tower Masters stood shocked as Estaria walked back to Filnon. Emir rushed Estaria while she was wounded, and was sharply dispatched in a whirlwind of steel by Filnon before he had gotten a dozen paces. That stunned everyone even further, and there was the clinking of steel as surprised steps were taken backwards. Estaria, however, seemed focused on something in front of her, something Filnon could see as her status screen.


    ¡°Is this the best time to do that?¡± Filnon whispered, keeping her eye on the men who were to apprehensive to move forward, but not wanting to move back any further and incur Malekith¡¯s wrath.


    ¡°There was a lot of guys. Plus these two we just got, and something something sharing all the exp. I got these pop ups for Master Traits, some ultimate traits relevant to each of the three classes. Might be helpful in this sea of people¡± she explained, before returning her gaze to it. A lot of exp from this, as to be expected. They had gone through several hundred people and two Bosses. So right now, she was just on the right side, of level 120. Filnon started some conversation with Malekith to distract them, but Estaria was focused on her screen, so while she heard the words, she didn¡¯t comprehend them and lost half the conversation. The two Master Traits, for Captain and Greatswordsman, were very interesting things indeed.


    Fire Support - Off-Map Artillery is launched on command, bombarding the enemy with fire and steel. This trait gives access to ¡°Sunmaker¡± Rocket Battery ¡°Hammer Of Witches¡± Grand Cannon volley, or ¡°Sigmar¡¯s Fury¡± Helblaster Volley Gun battery 40 minute cooldown.


    Blackguard¡¯s Jackboot - The Ostland Black Guard are added to your retinue, a Dozen men with their own rations tucked into their Jackboots, allowing them to roam far from stable supply lines in aid of their commander. These summons can ignore ¡®Broken Supply Lines¡¯ debuff. 5 minutes duration, 20 minutes cooldown.


    They really were nice. How could a girl say no to artillery and strapping men with mustaches? Sunmaker would be excellent at unarmored or lightly armoured infantry, Hammer Of Witches would go well to take down monsters, and the Volley Gun would be good for armoured infantry. That and the Greatswordsmen could be summoned anywhere she desired, meant she was never alone or left wanting for support.


    ¡°Hell of an ironic name though¡± Estaria muttered, snapping her finger and decimating the tightly packed Druchii Black Guard with a salvo of rounds. Smaller than full-blown cannonballs, they were larger and faster than any handgun round, and so punched through the shield wall of the Black Guard and their armour. Suddenly being raked by unseen artillerybroke the discipline of the Black Guard, and they frantically charged into combat. Malekith growled and took the opportunity to send in the Tower Masters and Dreadlords as well, hoping to overwhelm them with numbers. Even stepping down from his throne and drawing his blade. In response, a terrifying black gas erupted from Filnon, and filled the room. The shrieks of agony, and the grislysounds of murder ripped through the air, and when the gas had dispersed, the line of Druchii was decimated.


    Malekith looked on, shocked at such powerful Dhar Magic being used by a Witch Elf, and the rest of the Black Guard were finished off by a wind of Blades slicing through armour and flesh. Once the magical mayhem had finished, Estaria gave Filnon a sideways glance.


    ¡°You know how it is. Level 100, shedload of traits. I got some Magic-boosters¡± Filnon replied, before Es laughed. Her darling wife was a walking bomb even more than she was. It was kind of terrifying to think that the two of them could wipe out an entire country, given time. Though the Dreadlords looked to themselves before anything else and had vanished to save their own skin, the Tower Masters were a different story, and so Estaria grabbed her blades and summoned her Ostland men.


    ¡°Malekith is your king, I¡¯ll leave him to you¡± Estaria said, and then rushed to the Tower Masters. It was true, so Filnon used one of the not Once-A-Day spells to enhance herself, and then moved towards the Witch-King.


    ¡°You could have just talked to me. I was never going to be a threat, Estaria was never going to be a threat. We would be loyal till the end. And you ruined that with your paranoia¡± Filnon then kicked off the ground and struck out with her blade, which crackled with Dhar power as it scored Malekith¡¯s armour. His blade, The Destroyer, tried to unbind her enchantment with every blow against the blades, but Filnon had exceptionally potent magic, and a trait to make casting swifter than normal, so even when it did go down, she simply put it back up immediately.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°What else have you ruined for the Druchii, in your arrogance and self-absorbed narcissism? Did the Asur even betray you?!¡± Filnon¡¯s fury filled her voice, and Malekith responded with a mighty strike from his shield. Not that it did anything, as Filnon danced around it like a leaf in the wind, and then broke his arm by locking it up with her sword and twisting it into a horrific angle. His armour¡¯s durability working against him as it did not break away under the force, but provide an unyielding surface to snap. From there, the fight turned against him, every blow was turned aside and Filnon, who had given up trying to cut through the armour, was smashing him with bludgeoning blows and breaking his body. Eventually she knocked him off his feet when the hilt smashed into his face and buckled it. Filnon ripped the mask away from his face and drove her sword into his scarred face, stabbing it again and again, until a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead, love¡± Estaria spoke softly. Snapping out of her stabby rage, Filnon looked at the corpse below her. The Witch-King, the ancient Druchii Overlord, had fallen. It was easy, as if Fate itself was guiding her blades to slay him.


    ¡°Right. Sorry¡± Filnon said softly, getting lifted up by Estaria, and looking Malekith. The generic loot was divided in half and split between them, but Estaria let Filnon get all of Malekith¡¯s gear. He was her king and her kill.


    Faction Leader Killed! Choose your reward:


    1: Experience


    2: Item


    3: Trait


    The box popped up in both of their sights, since they shared rewards. Estaria, really interested in what these Master Traits were, and so hit the Experience, and got dropped with enough exp to push her to 130. The new Master Traits were available, but she didn¡¯t take the Khaine one. It would give a weapon called the ¡°Wailing Doom¡± for 5 minutes. Though, Estaria was happy with the weapons she had, so picked the Captain trait that would double all summons including the amount of Artillery she shot. With 24 Black Guards, 12 Carroburg Greatswords, 24 Fireloques, and Artillery, she was a damn monster. Definitely going to try some S-rank dungeon some time with all this. Exp was suddenly a need she had, because these Master Traits were awesome. And speaking of, Filnon seemed to have decided to go a different path, as she now wore a cloak around her, which gently swayed as if in a breeze.


    ¡°Hurricane Cloak. 100% resistance to ranged attacks¡± Filnon told Estaria after the questioning look.


    ¡°I got the experience. My summons are boosted to be a bloody army. 52 units and double salvo artillery¡± Estaria then sat back on one of the seats, and exhaled deeply. Her fatigue was at 74%, and while the gap between percents was pretty broad these days, that was still close to losing a lot of her shit. ¡°What do we do now?¡± Estaria asked. An actual question, since she wasn¡¯t sure how Druchii society would handle them slaughtering the Witch-King.


    ¡°Well, I, for one, need a vacation¡± Filnon exclaimed. Estaria¡¯s bulging eyes and look of ¡®Can I survive jumping out of that window¡¯ made Filnon laugh lightly. ¡°No, no, not to the stables. I got a quest, and have been gathering the bits for it for a while now. But I need to go somewhere I¡¯ve never been nor do I know how to get to. I¡¯m pretty sure that...Middenheim? Is an Empire city?¡± Filnon finished. That, surprised Estaria more than the first one.


    ¡°Yea¡­.greatest Fortress in the Empire. Home to the Grand Temple Of...wait, do you think our Gods got mixed up? That, you were meant to be Khaine and I was meant to be Ulric?¡± Estaria suddenly asked. It would make sense as to why a human had an Elven God, after all.


    ¡°Considering you had to go to Khaine¡¯s Temple in Har Garath for your quest, I would say yes...But, I have no idea how this whole thing was made in the first place. So maybe someone slipped up¡± Filnon then shrugged, and held out her arm for Estaria to link with, and together they headed out of the tower.


    ¡°Do...I need to cover up...or hide my appearance?¡± Filnon asked Estaria.


    ¡°Singular Druchii are not a complete rarity in The Empire. Generally, those too bored or those who fucked up and would die if they returned come to The Empire as mercenaries. We¡¯ve got Ogres and Norscans and Dwarves and all manner of things as Sellswords, so The Empire just accepts them. So, you¡¯ll fit in pretty well¡± Estaria replied, but then thought for a moment and stroked her collar. ¡°Only, slaves are illegal, so we might need to find me a proper ring¡± Estaria then smiled. The idea of having an actual ring she could show off to people who would understand it a lot better than the large ring around her neck, was a nice one. And her heart was really aflutter with the idea of returning home. Butterflies in her stomach and a nervousness she did not feel while facing down two hundred of the most skilled killers in all of Naggarond.


    ¡°I¡¯ll sort something out. Maybe we can stop by one of your chapels and get an Empire Wedding. That would be novel, huh?¡± Filnon then kissed Estaria¡¯s blushing cheeks and took her through the city, and to the docks. The fighting had calmed as the Witches claimed victory, and a lot of the Captains had returned from floating out to sea so as to be out of range. It was in one of these ships that Estaria and Filnon caught a ride. As hated as Druchii slavers and raiders were, there were always smugglers and pirates willing to trade with them, and so they set a course for one of the hidden troves near Norden. This was it. As the ship got underway, Estaria stared into the horizon. The impossible, had become possible. Estaria, was coming home.

 Chapter 43 (New Arc!)

    Back in Empire Lands, her Broken Supply Lines went away. Though, she did gain Religious Suppression. Not surprising, considering she was now blessed by Khaine. Immediately after, she got a new ping that designated her as a walking temple or some such, and thus her religion could not be suppressed, and the debuff vanished. Which, was nice. And another nice, was when Filnon came out with an absolutely beautiful ring. Gromril and Obsidian worked together to give it a glorious shine on half the ring, and a deep black hue on the other half. The stone on top was small and unseeming compared to the material of the ring proper, but it was hard to really compete with that. Plus the Obsidian gave her a 10% chance of unbinding any spell that targeted her before her Wisdom would kick in to resist it. Save before a Save was good, even if it was slim. Of course, knowing that Obsidian was a magic repellant, made Estaria create the Black Aegis in the Workshop, an Orange-rank breastplate made out of Obsidian she had bought in the shop. Worn under her dress, it added an extra 20% to the magic resist. Having seen Filnon take out everyone with her Dhar, Estaria was enlightened to the dangers of magic, and decided she really needed to protect herself from hostile mages.


    Pulling in at the cove, they were surprised to find it empty, abandoned. This was a popular cove, the Norscans who didn¡¯t just raid for everything came here to trade, as did the Druchii, Pirates, and all manner of sea traders. Exploring the cove revealed that it had been empty for a few months now, and they didn¡¯t simply move coves, as a lot of gear was still around. Rotten wood, rotten food, moth-eaten fabrics, rusted metal, broken carts and makeshift buildings filled the cove, stark evidence of their swift retreat and no return since then. Walking outside some, there were no bodies or signs of battle, which meant they just ditched it.


    ¡°How strange. Maybe the Empire was getting too close? Rival band perhaps? Not that we were really looking for the smugglers to begin with, but this is hardly a simple cove¡± Estaria commented, mostly to herself before finally looking up to her wife. ¡°Come on. Middenheim is a few hours down the road for us. We can get there and finish your quest¡± Estaria said. Filnon nodded, and the two set off, leaving the Druchii to be sad that there were no smugglers to sell to and not even anything worth stealing in the den. The unnerving feeling increased as they ran down the great paved road. No traffic, no people, no sounds¡­There was a thought of what could have happened here, but it wasn¡¯t one she wanted to entertain. It was a horrible thought, made worse by the idea that if Estaria were here, she would have had the power to stop it. Put her on top of a castle''s walls and she would slaughter the entire army with her weapons. But, the feeling she had was confirmed like she had just swallowed a stone when they came up to Middenhiem. The great Fortress of the North was shattered, it¡¯s walls pocked with holes, half-rotten skeletons littering the place in incredible number, and a mutated Giant stood, guarding the shattered gatehouse and twisted by the powers of Chaos.


    This was the seat of her faith. Even though she was the daughter of Khaine, she still worshipped Ulric. The same as Filnon, would still worship Khaine long after her completion of Ulric¡¯s quest. And so to see it debased filled her with such fury that she would blend all things in her city to a fine paste. A click of fingers saw the giant take a massive cannonball to the face, and a second to the throat. Imperial Great Cannons were tremendously powerful artillery, once decapitating a Dragon. So the Giant had no chance, and fell with a resounding thud.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°Es? Why-¡± Filnon didn¡¯t get any further than that before Estaria was running in through the gates, Talon in hand. The noise had drawn some cultists out to see what the disturbance was, and Estaria stuck a bolt in their eye with her crossbow, drop-kicking the last one and putting her heel-blade through his head. Her damage was so high she could just shit on their Luck bar and wipe out their health in one shot.


    Her Crossbow was reloaded and a second lot of cultists filled with bolts, before she was rushing onwards, towards the temple. She splattered cultists and marauders alike on her run, and once she arrived, she was shown the corpse of a massive creature. Thrice the size of a house, and just as wide, the thing had it¡¯s skull caved in by a force like a dozen cannonballs. More cultists came, better skilled and better equipped, though they died just the same, and Estaria ran around the creature¡¯s massive corpse, sticking a bolt in the back of one of the Cultists with a staff, channeling the Winds. Several others were also channeling the same, and got the same treatment, before a large, heavily armoured man turned around and looked to her.


    ¡°You lost, human! This is-¡± four bolts went into his face before he even got halfway through his monologue, and then she looked up at the temple. The Flame was still lit, and the body of the Sorcerer that had fallen back from the bolts was swiftly being covered in Horfrost. Walking slowly gently, she analysed the invisible border by how much of his body was getting frozen, and then stuck her hand through it.


    She immediately drew it back and hissed in pain as her hand turned blue, ice already forming on it for being sat there less than a second. Something had happened here, and they had activated the final defense measure, to protect the holy relics within the Temple. Filnon arrived, catching up to Estaria, and saw her hand.


    ¡°Shit, what happened?¡± Filnon asked, frantic and worried.


    ¡°The Priests have activated Winter¡¯s Bulwark. A dozen Priests of Ulric sacrificed themselves in the main chamber, and their blood awakened this barrier. Strong enough to freeze a giant in seconds, cold enough to hold back even a Dragon¡¯s flames. The problem is, it doesn¡¯t care if you are friend or foe. You freeze all the same¡± Estaria looked up at the temple, and closed her eyes. If this had been activated, there was more than just a horde. Archeon had truly descended upon Middenhiem for them to make this ultimate sacrifice.


    ¡°No more chill than Naggaroth¡± Filnon said. Estaria¡¯s eyes snapped open and saw Filnon¡¯s hand through the barrier, not suffering at all.


    ¡°I guess that proves who¡¯s favour you have. Go on. I¡¯ll clean house¡± Estaria had a furious flame burning in her eyes, and Filnon did not want to interfere, so kissed her lips and nodded, heading into the Temple, and climbing into the Great Flame where Estaria had given her first offering, so long ago. Knowing from experience that this would take a while, Estaria¡¯s eyes turned back to Middenheim proper. It was time to purge Chaos from her City.

 Chapter 44 (Old)

    donec pretium vulputate sapien nec sagittis aliquam malesuada bibendum arcu vitae elementum curabitur vitae nunc sed velit dignissim sodales ut eu sem integer vitae justo eget magna fermentum iaculis eu non diam phasellus vestibulum lorem sed risus ultricies tristique nulla aliquet enim tortor at auctor urna nunc id cursus metus aliquam eleifend mi in nulla posuere sollicitudin aliquam ultrices sagittis orci a scelerisque purus semper eget duis at tellus at urna condimentum mattis pellentesque id nibh tortor idYou might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

 Chapter 44 (New)

    Death came to Middenheim, and the roads ran red with Chaos Blood. Word spread by way of screams, but all they could do was cower in fear of what was coming. Middenheim was a maze, and frantically running through the streets would just lead you into a dead-end and make you easy prey for the creature that stalked the city. Though some managed to escape the city, it was not due to their own skill, but rather because Estaria let them go. She wanted every warrior in The Empire to come to her, so she might butcher them. But it was not to be, and she sat on the ruins of the gate waiting for enemies to come until the sun set, and the sun rose again. She thought about going into an S-rank dungeon and farming some exp, but didn¡¯t want to be late for Filnon appearing. So she just hung around, staring out into the world until there was a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°Well, that was an experience¡± Filnon exclaimed, taking a seat next to Estaria. ¡°The fire was...hot. But not scalding hot, just really uncomfortable hot. It was certainly interesting¡± she continued, and then looked to Estaria, who looked wistful and somewhat saddened by the state of her country, staring at some sort of system-born map in front of her. **¡°I also came to a realization in the flame¡± Filnon looked to Estaria, and kissed her gently. ¡°I am going to have to go back to Naggaroth. Once they are done killing themselves to establish the new order, they will turn to the rest of the world, and The Empire has lost...I don¡¯t know how much¡±**


    Filnon was interrupted at this point by Estaria, who had finished with her map.


    ¡°About 55% of The Empire, along with Altdorf. Marienburg and Talabheim are besieged. With Middenhiem destroyed, Talabheim is the greatest Fortress in The Empire now¡± Estaria explained, a morose voice as she looked at the near-death of what had been her home most of her life.


    ¡°And so you don¡¯t need Druchii raiders on every shore taking advantage of that. So I need to return to Naggaroth and take control. Become the Witch-Queen and get everyone into a semblance of order. But, I would never ask you to leave your home in a time like this. **And second but, it¡¯ll take them a few weeks to get the killing over and done with. So, just forewarning**¡± Filnon then snuggled into Estaria, trying to warm her up and drive away the morose feelings she had, looking at the map.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I was alone. But don¡¯t worry, this place has a lot to do. I shall probably have no time to think about your leaving¡± Estaria gave a smile to Filnon, and then they kissed. But a flame lit so carelessly can only grow, and so they did a lot more than kiss, which they took into one of the more sturdy houses. **Having been drained by the Ascension, Filnon slept in beyond Estaria. Who, after dressing, left to explore the city and see the damage, letting Filnon slumber.


    The place was damaged, but not beyond anything that hardworking Empire Labourers could repair. And when she got to the Gatehouse, she saw that someone had arrived, and was just sat there with such deep confidence they did nothing but wait. The woman¡­.man¡­.person? At the front moved like quicksilver, their movements flowing from point to point with an inhuman grace as they rose a wine glass to drink, or plucked a grape from the makeshift Pavalion that had been constructed.** And their beauty was unparalleled, though Estaria did get a popup while looking.


    Hex resisted by High Wisdom


    The androgynous Slaaneshi still looked absolutely beautiful, but apparently there was some sort of hex on their appearance. As Chaos had a want to do. Only Khorne could fight fair, everyone else needed some kind of bullshit to make up for their limp-wristed ineptitude.


    ¡°What a most delectable being~ I can almost forgive you of your transgressions against my men. Come to me, dear¡± the person¡¯s voice was soft like silk and so easy to lose yourself in, were you an average human. Though, Estaria was bored and still kinda horny, so she got off her gate and walked over to the Slaaneshi. It reached out a hand and stroked across Estaria¡¯s face, so smooth and enarmouring. The kiss that followed was a little drab compared to what Filnon could give, but wasn¡¯t terrible either.


    Poison resisted by High Constitution


    The second pop-up spurred Estaria to action, and she got a faceful of blood coughed from the woman as she drove one of her flails into the Slaaneshi¡¯s kidney.


    ¡°Ohh. That¡¯s a bit more than foreplay¡± The Slaaneshi groaned, before Estaria split her body in half with her blades. Why she didn¡¯t just shoot them in the head was a question lost on Estaria. Maybe she wanted to be more theatrical and engaging with her killing, an ingrained habit for so long as a Gladiator-Witch.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Forces weakened sufficiently, Boss Location revealed


    That...was a new popup. Did she miss some sort of tutorial about something or something? Something something, maybe? Estaria had never looked at the message log because she knew what she was doing, but she opened it up now and scrolled through it. Sure enough, there was something she had missed. When that came through she was not sure, but got to reading it anyway.


    Territory Mode: A game mode activated when your home territory is occupied by an enemy force. The Map is given an overlay with colour-based threat levels and the state of every Province Capital, Standing, Besieged, or Destroyed. A Green province indicates that it is stable and functioning. A Yellow province indicates it is in danger, it¡¯s production is hampered and enemy presence is common. A Red province indicates that it is ruined, production and stability have been crippled and the enemy is present in large numbers. If a Province Capital falls, the Province is instantly turned Red. Losing the Kingdom Capital will reduce all Provinces to Yellow. Provinces may be reverted to Yellow or Green by taking action against the enemy. Inspiring the remaining populace, killing enemy troops, securing resources, rebuilding and reinforcing castles and redoubts, and improving the Rally Point.


    A Red Territory is considered ¡®Owned¡¯ by the enemy, and must be reclaimed by reducing the threat level to Yellow, at which point the Boss of the Province will be revealed. Killing the Boss will return the Province to the ownership of the natives. Clearing enemies out of the Province Capital and surrounding area will allow using the Province Capital as a Rallying Point, and rebuilding if it has been destroyed.


    A Rallying point gets a spawn of units every day, which may be increased through upgrading the Rally Point. If a neighbouring Province or is Red, you may suffer attacks from this Province.


    A Province Boss possesses a great deal of fortifications, and many minions. Attacking their location immediately is ill-advised. Additional activity against the Province Boss will weaken their hold on the region and make a final assault more tenable.


    Well, that was a bigg¡¯un. Though, if there was a chance to use this System to aid her country, then Estaria would take it. Elated and reinvigorated by the idea that she could save this place by her own hand, that it was not too late for them. First thing she did was find the new Territory Mode menu and select Middenhiem. It being the Capital, it took a fair bit of gold to rebuild, and several days to complete. There were some other items that were required for it to be built, but lacking them just increased the gold cost. And as she had a metric ton of gold, that didn¡¯t bother her, so she started that. As soon as it was bought, scaffolding, raw stone and other building materials appeared, along with the sounds of sawing and hammering. She wondered how the system-spawned soldiers would interact with the real soldiers, but that was a problem for later. Right now, she needed to go kill the Boss. Sure, it said he had a lot of people and she should wait, but Estaria was not that kind of girl, and so rushed off to his location.


    Winter¡¯s Bulwark was probably why they didn¡¯t set up shop in Middenheim, but they were set up in the next best place, Dietershafen. Right on the coast of the Sea Of Claws, it was a perfect place to get reinforcements from Norsca, and was a strong fortress in it¡¯s own right. Arriving outside the gate, there was a shining pillar of light outside Dietershafen, and standing on it gave her a popup box.


    Start Siege?


    Hitting yes, she got a new screen.


    Siege of Dietershafen: Mozz The Mighty vs Estaria Nightfury. 2,600 vs 1


    Estaria missed the first half because seeing her name made her heartbeat quicken. Before, it was all just a dream and words, but seeing it in her system made it feel so...immutably official. The Hellcannon bombardment that was coming out of the sky was also immutably official, and so Estaria took off towards the walls at a sprint, leaping up as she reached the walls and wrapping her blades around the battlements to give her a boost and landing on the walls. Though, the tight compact nature of the walls and the thick throng of the enemy troops prevented her from truly using her Wrathflails to their full extent, she could still kill with the blades in close quarters. Snapping off her summons, the Sunmaker Rocket Battery lit up the walls with an inferno, her Greatswords came with blades swinging, and a roar of power and passion empowered them further. Too close quarters for her Handgunners right now, but she would sort that out in short order.


    Men fell by the dozens, blood soaking the walls as she carved through them. Backed by Greatswords, the bodies covered the walls. And then, the Greatswords popped out of existence, the summon time up. Her luck was down, her health slowly chipping away with every strike, and there was still a horde of them. Clambering over their dead, axe and sword cut at her, and though she regenerated every second, she was taking more damage than she could regenerate, and it was slowly dipping towards a dangerous level. A quick glance to the troop counter told her she had killed some three hundred and eighty men on the walls. Which, was barely anything compared to nearly three thousand. Bloody system was not lying when it said that it was ill-advised to just charge in. She had spent so long just carving through people with impunity, she had gotten a feeling of invincible divinity. But, even though she could kill these in a single shot, she didn¡¯t have the sustained AOE to hold up against mass combat. Last time she was supported by Filnon, and didn¡¯t face numbers even remotely like these.


    With a vicious curse, Estaria flipped backwards, off the walls and out of combat. Retreating some, she summoned her Handgunners to give some covering fire, and fled from the battle. Seemed like she was going to have to do this the proper way. No system-assisted cheating for her this time.


    Siege of Dietershafen failed. Casualties - Mozz The Mighty 600/Estaria Nightfury 0 (52 summons)

 Chapter 45

    Estaria hated losing, but if she was going to lose, she¡¯d prefer a loss she got to walk away from, and not outright dying or nearly dying. Both incidents something that Zarh could claim responsibility for. This loss, at least, let her return to Middenheim, and see Filnon, who had woken since her absence and was playing with a large hammer. Beautifully made, and looking like it was designed for her alone, the thing really enticed Estaria for an unknown reason, and so she approached her to talk about it.


    ¡°Where did you find the hammer?¡± Estaria asked, bounding up to her wife and encompassing her in a hug.


    ¡°Hey love~ I found it clutched in the hands of a dead Chaos guy. It was lighting up my Minimap something fierce, and so I went over to see what this beacon was, and found a dead guy with a Hammer. It¡¯s rarity colour is Black. I¡¯ve never seen one of them before, the workshop only goes up to Red, which makes me wonder what the hell I¡¯ve just picked up¡± Filnon explained, looking over the happen and flipping it around in her hand.


    Estaria looked over it herself, and then memory bloomed and she took a step back in surprise, before getting super close with an excited grin.


    ¡°That¡¯s Blitzbeil! It¡¯s an heirloom from the ancient days of the Empire, gifted to the first Ar-Ulric by Ulric himself¡± Estaria exclaimed, visibly drooling over such a glorious weapon.


    ¡°You think..because I am the Bloodkin Of Ulric, this Hammer is special in my hands?¡± Filnon asked, somewhat apprehensively. She was never a Hammers sort of girl, but if this was a God-given relic like the Sword of Khaine, then that made it dangerous beyond measure.


    ¡°It could be. I mean, Black is a rarity that can¡¯t be bought or earned. Maybe everyone has their unique weapon that ties in with their God?¡± Estaria pondered, but that was for later. Right now, she needed to hook her city back up and get it running before any retaliation came.


    Filnon also decided it was something for later, and put the Hammer in her inventory, and then sneaking up behind Estaria and whispering in her ear.


    ¡°New system thing, I see. Territory Mode, huh? That where you were this morning?¡± Filnon asked. Estaria¡¯s cheeks flushed and she furiously looked at the screen in front of her.¡±Our little Estaria saw the Siege mode and thought ¡®yea, I¡¯ll be able to do that¡¯ and rushed off to go attack a castle by herself¡± Filnon continued to tease, and Estaria eventually became so embarrassed she couldn¡¯t focus and just turned around and picked Filnon up.


    ¡°Nope! Back to bed with you! Sleepy Filnon!¡± Estaria shouted, echoed by Filnon¡¯s laughter. Marching off to the mostly intact building they had spent the night in, Estaria dumped Filnon on the bed and tightly tucked the quilt around her. ¡°Lots of sleep needs doing!¡± Estaria then rummaged in the shop for some leather straps to tie her down.


    ¡°If it makes you feel any better, it was something I was planning to do as well. But I saw you were there and thought you could handle it. And when you were coming back with it less than handled, I came to realize the scale of what we were up against¡± Filnon pacified Estaria, who stopped her frantically embarrassed actions and just looked abashed. Escaping from her bed-based bindings, Filnon kissed Estaria, and then gestured to the city.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°We are going to go about this properly. Which means..¡±


    Filnon Nightfury has donated 400,000 gold to the treasury


    Filnon Nightfury has been assigned to Architecture. Build times reduced


    ¡°I count as a Hero unit in your city, so I get to do cool stuff to help you out. There are a few unique buildings I can make but most of the building comes from the owner, which is you¡± Filnon had clearly been looking over this system while Estaria was on her ill-fated siege. ¡°Though, I have been curious. A lot of literature is damaged in the temple, but...I feel I should know more about the God I am representing if I am going to, represent him¡± Filnon looked to Estaria, who had come out of her embarrassment and gave a smile. She was not the most religious, but the stories and legends fascinated her, and so she knew most of them. So, Estaria took Filnon outside, and began to tell the tale.


    ¡°It is said that Ulric once walked the land, a Living God for his tribe. The most savage warriors in the ancient world, they cut a bloody swath looking for a homeland. And eventually, came across a giant mountain, which Ulric squashed flat with his fist. When the tribe reached this place and saw a great flame burning, they named it Faustschlag, which is really creatively, Fist-Strike. Here they swore to build the greatest of temples in honour of Ulric¡± At this point, she paused and nodded to the Temple of Ulric.


    ¡°And how real is this tale?¡± Filnon asked, looking at the mountain and the temple. Seeing such a grand edifice made it easy to believe that a God had flattened the mountain for it to be built.


    ¡°Irrelevant. It doesn¡¯t matter if Ulric really did walk the earth and flatten mountains. You tell a man that Ulric is watching him, judging him, awaiting him in the Afterlife. That He expects strength, honour, ruthlessness towards one¡¯s enemies, self-reliance and courage from his followers and is angered by dishonourable displays of weakness and cowardice. And that man will fight furiously for his God. I saw it myself, with Middenhiem swordsmen facing down a horde of Norscans with no trace of fear, just savage anticipation for the fight to come. Whether or not Ulric exists is not the point, it is his impact on people¡¯s lives that matter¡± Estaria gave her views on religion, to which Filnon looked somewhat surprised at.


    ¡°So what does Khaine do? I can¡¯t see how a guy that demands you sacrifice your own race to him is helpful to the race¡± Filnon asked. After killing the Witch-King and seeing everything unravel before her, and then becoming the Bloodkin of Ulric, Filnon was in a crisis of faith.


    ¡°He¡¯s your excuse. With him, you are honouring your God and being diligent servants. Without him, you are just butchering people for your own pleasure. Khaine allows you to kill without repercussion, because everyone worships Khaine, and if you cry foul for any sacrifice, then you are a heretic, and the next one to be sacrificed. Does he exist? Does he want sacrifices? It¡¯s not an answer you are going to get from Him, because Divinity and Mortality are like the Earth and Sky. Wherever this game system has come from, it doesn¡¯t put me in contact with the God I am the daughter of¡± Estaria finished, looking up into the sky after delivering some heavy theological concepts that would get her burned at the stake if anyone but Filnon heard them.


    ¡°An interesting view of Gods. Admittedly, having never met them or seen them, it is easy to think them creations to motivate and inspire, or to excuse action¡± Filnon pondered, before shaking her head.


    ¡°This is all too heavy for me. Going to go kill something with my new hammer-axe. And don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take care of myself¡± Filnon gave Estaria one last kiss and then headed out to go kill something. It was a great way to clear one¡¯s head of things, after all.

 Chapter 46

    Filnon returned some hours later, thoroughly contented with what she had just gotten up to with her axe-hammer. The hours had been spent by Estaria pondering about weapons of divinity. The ones she knew of were the Hammer Filnon had now and Ghal Muraz, Sigmar¡¯s Hammer. And when drunk, Dawi used to swear by The Axes Of Gangrene, or something like that. There was still a day till Middenhiem was repaired, but Estaria didn¡¯t want to do anything in case the city got attacked and Filnon had to defend by herself. A Field Dungeon some forty miles away was different, since Filnon had incredible running speed and would get a popup if Middenhiem was being attacked. But, Estaria wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d get that in the dungeon.


    So instead she sat around and waited, watching the horizon for a reprisal that never came. Of course, the ruins of Middenhiem weren¡¯t exactly the first place to check for a lone woman who could pull people out of thin air. And when you couldn¡¯t run at a crazy high speed, this Province was a big one. Which meant nothing was coming today. Filnon came back and for the first time in a long time, they just sat together and watched the sun rise. It was romantic, and it was subtle, which was nice on both parts. Considering how their relationship started, and how much system-assisted bullshit and psychological fuckery went into it, it really wasn¡¯t something that should have survived. And in any other situation, it wouldn¡¯t have. The System had changed her mind as much as it had changed her body. But it had also changed Filnon. Would Estaria have fallen for her if she was still as Druchii as when they first met? The gentle slide was very gentle and hard to spot for anyone looking in, but she was different now.


    When Middenhiem was finished, she got a popup along with audio. Which, was new. She didn¡¯t think this thing had ever done audio before. A great deal of information was vomited into her eyes. Production, Garrison, Upkeep, Building Slots, Defensive Strength, Rally Chance - a chance to have people turn up and add to the pool - How much it contributed to incursion defenses in raw numbers and how much it contributed in percentage as well as the synergies that her class gave her. She felt like if she tried to look over it all she¡¯d go mad and end up a gibbering wreck fed soup by Filnon. One glaring through she did notice, however, was a change in name.


    Estaria Nightfury, Wolf Emperor Of Middenland


    ¡°Great. Just make me a monarch why don¡¯t you. Starting the Age Of Three Emperors all over again. Which is about right. That was the last time an Everchosen was here¡± Estaria spoke mostly to herself, and mostly to the screen, before shaking her head. She¡¯d deal with that later. Right now, she just needed her city up and running. And that wasn¡¯t going too badly. There were a fair amount of people around now, a garrison of some six hundred men. Not a great deal for a castle this size, but that was the level 0 garrison. Instead of looking at everything at once and trying to learn it, she chunked the screen and picked up the perk boons first.


    National Boons:


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.Middenland - A wintery land of fierce men and staunch religious devotion, Middenland produces arguably the greatest melee troops in the Empire. However, due to the religious beliefs, ranged weaponry is shunned and looked down upon. Spawn Middenland Swordsmen instead of Swordsmen. 0.5x ranged troop spawn.


    Ruler Perks:


    Captain A Captian inspires men to glory, and thus pulls in more than the average man - 1.5x troops recruited a day


    Greatswordsman Greatswordsmen are a rarity in the world, but they do flock around a brother, opening avenues the average man would have to work thrice as hard to even know - allow Greatswords to be recruited outright


    Child Of Khaine Blood shall sing to the Blood. Wyches follow the Child, and are easy to call in number when required - Religion not Dominant, perks negated


    Oof, that was sad. Estaria couldn¡¯t get the White Wolf Templars that Middenhiem was famous for because she was Khaine instead. Bloody person messing with the system denying her awesome knight people. Still, no point crying over spilt blood, and so she moved on to the building slots.. One slot was open with three others locked behind increasingly expensive costs. But, Estaria was crazy rich and Filnon had donated a great deal of money to the treasury. So she bought all the slots and looked through the buildings she could buy. Eventually picking up the four.


    Improved Garrison - Larger rooms, better organization, and greater funding allows for a larger garrison in the castle. Increase Garrison count from 600 to 800


    Swordsmen Barracks - A place for the backbone of the army to lay their head, this basic barracks allows for the housing of Swordsmen. Spawn 60 Swordsmen a day for use in the expedition army or defense


    Wall Emplacements - Emplaced weaponry built into the walls to allow for some counterfire while under siege. Create wall-mounted cannons for counter-artillery


    Firing Range - training and storage for ammo of most projectile based weaponry is found here. Spawn 60 Huntsman a day for the use in expedition army or defense.


    The defense of the city was important, but also getting some troops down would help her if anyone came to attack. Plus, with a good enough army, she could probably leave here to go elsewhere or run a dungeon for the exp and or money. With Filnon on construction, they would all take a day to be finished, so it seemed Estaria was sat around here some more. People would be coming in soon though. Nearly a hundred Middenland Swordsmen and thirty archers a day. Soon - ish, at least - she would have an army with which to take back Norden in the proper manner, not the terrible failure manner of last time.


    * * * * * * * * *


    At the same time as Estaria was playing about with her building minigame, the Chosen Of Sigmar, Valten, walked into the throne room of Nuln. The Elector Countess Emmanuelle von Liebwitz was most happy to shelter The Emperor after Altdorf was razed, which did nothing for the rumors that the two were copulating in secret. Still, it mattered not to him, only that Karl Franz survived. The Empire needed the man, now more than ever. And that was why he marched into the room now.


    ¡°Your Majesty! My Blessing of Sigmar has alerted me to a strange new portence! Middenhiem has been reclaimed, by a being calling themselves The Wolf Emperor!¡± The large man¡¯s powerful voice boomed across the hall, ensuring he was heard above the chatter of the courtiers and the talk of minor nobles. Karl silenced the room with a wave, and looked up to Valten, with mixed emotions.


    ¡°While it is good news that Middenhiem is reclaimed, the name sparks memories of great discourse. Take a detachment of Reiksguard and head to Middenhiem at once. Bring me news of this Wolf Emperor. The person themselves, if at all possible¡± He ordered. Valten nodded, and left immediately, to Middenhiem, curiosity as much as duty driving his steps.

 Chapter 47

    There were no audio cues for the buildings being completed, so Estaria made her own. Not sleeping built up fatigue, but with her stamina, it barely rated a sidebar, so she just stayed up and explored the city, learning its warren of streets like the back of her own hand until the tick completed. She got a day¡¯s work of spawn for it being completed, so the castle had a total army of little over 900, and emplaced artillery to boot. Unless a massive horde dropped, Filnon should be able to hold down the fort. So Estaria announced her desires for Filnon to hang around and protect the place against anyone who might want to come break everything, and then got down to making some more buildings.


    Garrison Kitchen - while the Messroom will feed the men, there is nothing quite like a well equipped kitchen and skilled chef to keep the men¡¯s morale up and inspire new volunteers. For the less fortunate, it is the only chance of a decent meal they will get. Increase Garrison from 800 to 1000


    Improved Firing Range - Superior butts, better stands and a wider variety of weapons allow for the training of even more projectile soldiers than before, giving a great volume of fire on the field than before. Spawn 50 Handgunners a day for use in the expedition army or defense


    Improved Emplacements - Larger cannons and attached Swivel Guns for more precise targeting of units, the walls bark with greater fury when the enemy comes to attack. Demi-Cannons improved to Field Cannons. Creates Swivel Guns.


    Improved Swordsman Barracks - Increasing the size of the barracks, and upping the quality allows for a better class of swordsman than the peasantry pulled from the field and handed a sharp stick. Spawn 20 Trained Swordsmen a day for use in expedition army of defense


    A few more upgrades and she¡¯d be confident in besieging Norden with her men. That would be a thing. As a Captain, she led at most a hundred men, but if the upgrades kept coming, she¡¯d lead at least a thousand. And wouldn¡¯t that be cool? Last thing she did here, was buy a Dungeon Key and then use it, getting transported to the S-Rank dungeon, and finding herself standing in front of a great brass fortress. 10,000 Khornite Warriors stood in disciplined rank and file, lining the left and right with broad shield and long spear. Not¡­.that they seemed to be what she was here for. They didn¡¯t move to attack, or indeed try anything like that. Just stood there and watched her.


    Taking the hint, she followed the line through into the brass fortress, and there, on the throne, was a cat girl. Not the monstrous Beastmen of Drakwald, but a beautiful woman with cute feline ears and a tail. Dressed in something that looked to be a facsimile of an Imperial Noble¡¯s maid, but coloured in red and black, the woman seemed the epitome of demure service.


    ¡°Nyaha! A beautiful woman to play with!¡± the cat girl spoke, leaping up from her throne and speaking with a strange tone, like she had spilled so much blood it tainted the words she spoke.


    ¡°I feel sorry for you. One on One is a death sentence¡± Estaria replied, pulling her flails out and spilling them.


    ¡°D¡¯aww, such a good looking woman in a good looking dress with some excellent weapons, and I have to kill them? Tsk, this place is the worst¡± The cat girl flirted with Estaria and flicked her tail in an irritated manner.


    ¡°Are¡­..you...sure you are a Khornite?¡± Estaria asked, not entirely sold on that fact.


    ¡°Slaanesh has certainly tried to bring me over to her side. But he doesn¡¯t really put in that much effort. More like a token effort to let me know that she is well prepared if I ever want to go over to his side¡± the cat explained. There was certainly some confusing bits about this cat girl, but Estaria gripped her blades, ready for anything.


    ¡°Though, I will admit, I feel strange. Like I have been dragged from my Universe and copied for the sake of this place. I don¡¯t remember existing before you arrived¡± the cat girl spoke. That, gave Estaria pause. Were these dungeon creatures self aware? Did they know of their own existence?


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just the fact that they are copying an exceptionally powerful Daemon Prince that makes me think all this. Though I certainly lost some power in the change¡± the woman then looked to Estaria properly, and gave a broad grin.


    ¡°I am sorry, where are my manners? I am the First Executioner of Khorne, Daemon Princess Elouviana Zashira¡± Elou then gave a curtsey and flicked her tail. If the idea of self-awareness caught Estaria off guard, then the name had her recoiling back a step.


    ¡°Zashira?! But...that¡¯s my name! Or, was before I married Filnon¡± Estaria¡¯s exclamation rang through the hall, and stunned Elou in the same breath.


    ¡°Really? Hmm, cool¡± Elou recovered much quicker than Estaria did and broadened her grin. ¡°Our universes seem similar, my dear Zashira. Maybe you are this universe¡¯s me. That makes this fight even more exciting!¡± Elou then drew her greatsword from her back, and grasped it in both hands. The edge seemed to have some sort or shimmer, something tiny going up the edge of the blade. ¡°Scarlet Rose. Or, a copy of Scarlet Rose, at least. I am weaker than I should be, and so the blade that is my soul has the same level of power. Still, should be fun¡± she slid her fingers up the sword, and then pulled it in, pointed it at Estaria, and charged at her, explosive speed and power ripping the floor apart and just missing Estaria¡¯s chest, her Luck bar taking a large hit from that one blow.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Estaria moved backwards, an action of extreme physical dexterity as she activated Witch Dance and her Divine Form. But there, she was shocked by what she saw. There were no lines of blood on the woman, and instead, a strange shroud of crackling energy surrounded her. It was like she couldn¡¯t bleed  - and it made some sort of sense, since Daemons of the Blood God Khorne probably weren¡¯t all that susceptible to bleeding - and her dress was armour. 130% of armour. Estaria had no idea what she was going to do for this fight, even with all her penetration, she was fighting a powerful warrior who would soak 65% of all her damage...The only saving grace was that she had no luck bar, but that was a minor grace at best, given her strength.


    Still, no point complaining! Estaria threw herself into the melee, and then twisted suddenly, an amazing show of bodily grace as she landed on her hands and lashed out at the cat-girl with bladed heels sub-targeted to the head. It was going to be a clean shot before something crackled and the blades scraped across some sort of invisible armour it could not penetrate. Letting herself collapse to avoid the incoming blow, Estaria rolled away and threw one of her chains at the cat. Who seemed to have as much dexterity as Estaria did. A helpful little popup informed her that Elou was using Exalted Blade Art - Shattering Specter and then the blade smashed into Estaria¡¯s chest, damn near crushing it with the girl¡¯s strength, and scraping against her dress. It felt like there were tiny blades moving very fast along the edge of the sword. Ingenious idea, she might see if she could find an engineer to work it, if any of them survived.


    Not one to simply roll over and die, Estaria manipulated the chains of her thrown flail and threw the weighted handle of the flail into Elou¡¯s head, landing with a satisfying crack, even as Estaria tumbled into a heap on the ground. No real health damage thanks to her luck trait, but she was now out of luck. Elou gave Estaria only enough time to stand, and was on her again, blade ready to bite deep. Estaria threw her Flails to the floor, and then manipulated them to ricochet into the cat girl. The result was Estaria losing the tip of her shoulder to the cat¡¯s blade, and Elou having large gashes opened up in both sides. Quicksilver Viper was then coupled with Double Slash, and two blows into the cat¡¯s chest kicked her away. Still, even though she had taken the woman off her feet, there felt a need to at least reciprocate the time that was given to her.


    Elou recovered quickly, some catlike reflexes showing it wasn¡¯t just how she looked but actual genetics. Hopping on the spot for a few seconds, she moved in, more subtly and gracefully this time, like a snake. Transformative Patterns in her movement making it impossible to track where she was going until she was right in front of Estaria. Blocking the Sword with her flails, she pushed with all her might, but the Cat Girl was obscenely strong and matched her, only giving ground when Estaria¡¯s bladed heel opened up her shin. Losing the lock, Elou was pushed back and took a large blow to her health when both flails sliced her face up, two fatal cuts across her face ruining that innocent beauty. Though, they didn¡¯t seem to be quite as fatal as they were meant to be on this Cat.


    A wild swing of the cat¡¯s blade made Estaria have to slide back out of it¡¯s range, and gave Elou a few seconds to recover, and then give a new grin.


    ¡°Ohh, you are good, aren¡¯t you? I haven¡¯t felt this good since I fought that Grey Knight Killian¡± there was a laugh at the memory, and then two large red bat wings spread out from Elou¡¯s back. Not wanting to give her any time to do any sort of form, Estaria used all her force to rush in and strike at Elou. The crackling forcefield blocked her blow, however, and she got another helpful popup as Elou opened Estaria¡¯s chest from hip to shoulder with her sword and enough force to launch her off her feet.


    Exalted Blade Art - Yang Sunrise


    Critically Wounded


    Crashing back into the ground as she took the blow, Estaria felt the cold, clammy claws of Morr as she took the critical wound. It was certainly not something she wanted to feel again.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got good killing arts, my dear. But your true Skill is lacking. Just killing people might suffice for the simple creatures, but when you start to look above the mortal creatures, you¡¯ll find you need a lot more than just that¡± Elou told Estaria. And then cocked her head a little. ¡°Not...that this world seems to have anything above the mortals for the most part. Not like my home at least. That seems kind of unfair¡± Elou commented, shaking her head and returning her sword to it¡¯s readied position and Estaria climbed up with some difficulty.


    ¡°Not even sure the system supports Blade Arts. I¡¯ve never seen them¡± Estaria replied, a pained grunt evident in her voice.


    She could use her summons to get the advantage, but there was a feeling that she didn¡¯t want to do that, and instead fight by herself, whatever that might lead to. So instead, she made a plan, and in a few moments, executed it. Critical Wound took her down, but not below her stat-dependant traits, which was good. Human Exemplar and halving Critical Wound Penalties really did go well together. This woman in front of her had such a damage output it was insane, those Exalted Blade Arts crippling in their ability. There was only one hope. Estaria gave a sudden and reckless rush towards Elou, throwing one chain and then manipulating it so it wrapped around the sword. Dragging that out of the way, she threw her other flail and buried it deep into Elou¡¯s chest. With that down, and her hands throbbing with the pain of holding a blade that was in constant vibrating motion, she yanked the cat towards her and opened her throat with her bladed heel, getting the damage to finish her off past her critical wound with Throat-Slasher trait of her shoes and Titan¡¯s Arm damage increase of throwing weapons.


    The cat rolled from the force of being dragged, and then with a last gurgled laugh, died.


    S++ Dungeon complete. Noble Victory - Historical Dungeon Key obtained. 1,300,000 gold gained. Elou¡¯s Memento Mori.


    That was insanely difficult, as the dungeon receded around her and she got the Critical Wound cured. Though over a Million Gold was an incredible reward, it was sorely earned. SHe had no idea what the ++ meant, she hadn¡¯t seen that in any other of the dungeons. So she opened her screen and tapped on the S-rank key.


    S-rank Dungeon Key: The highest rank of dungeon, the Key randomizes on use between S, S+ and S++, each with increasing difficulty and rewards. S++ scale to the level of the user, and grant level-dependant gold rewards.


    Staring at the screen for a moment, Estaria looked with her mouth wide open with shock. Elouviana was scaled to her level, which meant she needed to be Weakened to be a level 130?


    ¡°Nope. Just nope¡± Estaria exclaimed, at the idea of thinking how strong the real Elou would have been. Instead, she just went to bed. Sometimes her brain needed the rest, even if her body didn¡¯t.

 Chapter 48

    Waking in the morning, Estaria snuggled FIlnon for a bit and then dropped the rewards from her dungeon into the city treasury, which unlocked some construction feat.


    Exceptional wealth - Money is no object, for your coffers overflow and attract contractors from all over. Building times can be halved for double costs


    That was good. Money really was no object these days, so she just dropped most of the cash into the buildings currently undergoing construction. And then she opened her inventory, and looked at the item she had gotten from the dungeon. Other than the historical dungeon key. That was something for later. She did convert 300,000 gold into Thrones though.


    Elouviana¡¯s Memento Mori - A tiny tooth of Scarlet Rose, chipped in the battle. It possesses the power of the cat girl¡¯s skill, and allows superior feats of arms when used. Selling price 2,000,000 gold.


    The price of this item was incredible, but that was to be expected, really. It was a level 130 item from a woman that nearly killed Estaria. But, the idea of learning anything from that cat was better than the money she could get, so Estaria used it instead, and got a new box that was a box to brighten up her day.


    Exalted Blade Art - Torrent Of Blood: A style created to have a most dramatic finishing move to better make a fight more enjoyable to watch, this allows the user to achieve victory in a most Khorne-tastic way. When a Monster is at least 50% health, the use of this technique will instantly kill them in a massive flood of blood.


    Instantly killing beasts was quite the act. Though what would it cost her to use, was the question. That was something to find out later, though. When she was facing an actual big monster that required her to use it.


    ¡°Any plans for today?¡± Filnon asked, crawling on top of Estaria and lazily kissing her about the place. Estaria carried on doing system stuff while Filnon played. The army she had was growing slowly. Another week and she¡¯d be able to hit Norden properly. She didn¡¯t need to equal the 2600 garrison man for man, just have enough at her back to cover her.


    ¡°Ran an S++ dungeon yesterday. Was surprising for it to drop that Plus Plus on me, but I got through it. Historical Dungeon is unlocked now. Might run that, see what it¡¯s all about. If anyone comes, I¡¯ve left some Thrones out. Apocalypse doesn¡¯t stop people charging money for goods¡± Estaria was a bit irate at the last part, but it was true, the world could come to an absolute end and people would still want money before they did anything.


    Estaria spent a few more minutes playing with Filnon before getting up and dressed. One last nod to her wife and she used to key to send her to the Historical Dungeon. It was different to a normal dungeon as she got a screen in front of her before anything was made.


    Will History be changed, or flow the same? A Historical Dungeon has objectives rather than a mere clearance plan. The Main Objective is required to win the Dungeon, Optional Objectives will grant rewards. Divulgent Objectives are key points in which History can be changed or safeguarded, but are otherwise the same as Optional Objectives. Completing the objectives will grant rewards at the end of the run. Completing all the Optional Objectives will grant a superior reward.


    Pretty complex, but considering what she had to do to get one, she wasn¡¯t all that surprised. Getting into the dungeon proper, she felt the chill in the air. Stood atop a battlement, looking out to a massive Chaos Army, she got her objectives.


    Main Objective: Protect Kislev from Chaos


    Optional Objective: Prevent the Destruction of the Palace Of Ice


    Optional Objective: Protect Aogmuric Shatterbasher


    Optional Objective: Slay Horvic the Bondgrinder


    Lots of killing to be done. Not that she minded. The three were pointed out to her in the giant army, but there was not a lot of people up on these walls. Some Kislevites, and a large amount of Dwarves stood ready to fend off the enemy. The cacophony was many times greater than the siege of Middenhiem, and she found herself quite taken back by the size and weight of the throng. Front and center were the Norscans, men of little to no armour who would use their overwhelming number to rush through the storm of javelin, axe and bolt, and throw up the ladders on the walls for their greater kin, which were behind them.


    Estaria decided to take the first move on that one, and with a snap of her finger, the shriek of rockets came over head, and lit up the night with raging flames as the rockets detonated. Phosphor warheads burning through flesh and bone the same way it burned through the ice and snow. The fires burned on and on, as the phosphor was far different to simple gunpowder and stuck to the corpses of the men, extinguishing as the melted snow quenched it, only to burst back into flame when it was rapidly dried by the heat of nearby fire. Truly, this chemical was a vindictive thing, and Estaria suddenly felt thankful that it wasn¡¯t wide-spread in the world. The Norscans were caught off guard and staggered from the heat of the flame as much as the sudden nature of the artillery, and backed away from the wall of flame. Some tried to kick snow over it, but that proved ultimately futile until a tremendous giant came along and booted a small avalanche, smothering the flames effectively with the sheer mass of ice and snow.


    After that shock, the Norscans roared and charged the walls, Estaria used Witch Dance, and summoned her Handgunners to add to the volume of Dwarven Thunderers, and more Norscans were cut down. Not that it did much, as the human tide simply climbed over the fallen bodies and rushed for the walls. Giving her shout to increase the stats of all the men around her, she used her repeater Crossbow to target the Norscans carrying the ladders, hoping to stagger or slow down the advance. Eventually, it became totally useless, as the Giant of Giants took it¡¯s house-sized club and smashed a hole in Kislev¡¯s walls so wide there could be no stopping the tide coming through it. That, was Horvic the Bonegrinder, apparently. Her first target.


    Turning on her Divine Mode, she shot a few Bloodbane arrows at it, but the health didn¡¯t drop more than a few fractions. Not that she really expected it to. Leaping from the walls and throwing her flails at the creature, she swung on this and soared upwards, towards the large bloodline on his throat. Giants, while large creatures, shared some human physiology, so it made sense that he would have a bloodline on his throat. The giant slapped itself, trying to splatter Estaria and she climbed up the Giant, but her swift manipulations of her chains and the slow movements of the massive hands prevented him from managing to catch her while she flew. Not, that other creatures had the same issue.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Some flying bat creature crashed into her as she was climbing his torso, and it¡¯s claws nicked and scraped her while mauling, carrying her away from the giant who was bleeding from nicks so small they looked to be mosquito bites. Fighting a creature in the air with no footing at all was a surprisingly new experience, and she could not manage to get a proper angle on killing it, and so eventually took it out with a Hochland Long Rifle shot, felling the beast ...and her. Flown out from beyond the walls, Estaria managed to hook her chains into the neck of a nearby Chaos Giant and stop her from falling. The first flail ripped out of his neck when she jerked to a stop, but the second, thrown quickly after the first split, gave her enough leverage to stop all falling. From here, she recovered her first flail and swung herself upwards, out of the way of the Giant¡¯s club, launching her first flail towards a large bloodline at the apex of the swing. It hit well, and with a gesture from her hands, the chain ripped the flail off to one side, severing the bloodline and spilling copious GIant Blood onto the ice. It tried to cover it¡¯s wounds, but multiple neck punctures and not a massive slice across the throat caused it to take enough Bleeding damage that it quickly collapsed onto the ground. Estaria landed with a thump, and grinned madly.


    Seeing a woman dressed like a bride, land on top of the giant she had just slaughtered was not something the Norscans were prepared for, mentally. And suddenly getting hit by a charge of Greatswordsmen didn¡¯t help either. All of a sudden, they were in a fight for their life as great men and Great Swords cut them down, slashing into the horde arrayed in front of Estaria. Though, she really did need to get back to the walls. Couldn¡¯t just leave them like this, and wait to get surrounded by Norscans. Taking off and leaving her Guardsmen to distract the Norscans, she ran back to the breach, leaping and slaying as opportunity dictated, and finally getting back into Kislev proper. The Bonegrinder was busy grabbing people off the walls and eating them, so Estaria came up behind him and, spinning herself into a frenzy, made a makeshift mimicry of Elouviana¡¯s blades, her Orphaned Child slashing at all in her considerable range, ripping through flesh and muscle of the Bonegrinder¡¯s heel.


    A thunderous bellow of pain rocked Kislev as Estaria recovered from the spin and pulled her blades in. Losing the support of the heel¡¯s tendon, the Giant stumbled, and Estaria used all her force and dexterity to leap as high as she could, throwing her blades into his thigh and pulling herself in. Both bladed heels sinking their rather futile six inches into the creature¡¯s flesh. As well strapped as the shoes were, this allowed her to dangle by the blades long enough to tear out of the monster¡¯s flesh. Her bleeding buffs and special targeting of the Bloodlines had done quite the fair amount of damage, both direct and over time. Not really knowing she was going to get a time to use it so soon, but thankful for it, Estaria gathered her flails and pushed herself up to a ¡®Standing¡¯ position. The force ripped her heel blades out of the monster¡¯s flesh, but she only needed a second to activate;


    Exalted Blade Art- Torrent Of Blood


    A solid 80% of her Cool was consumed when the skilled was used, but it certainly lived up to the name, as Estaria was blasted away, high pressure blood drowning her as it all rushed from the tremendous creature. It seemed her perks that prevented her from bleeding didn¡¯t prevent her from drowning in blood. Though that was certainly a macabre thought such that she never thought about it until now. Still, between the blood flowing down the streets and Estaria managing to fight the current, she burst from the blood¡¯s surface and took a deep breath, in time to watch the Giant take out half of Kislev as it fell backwards. That was one objective done. The other two would be simple enough. Protect as dwarf and prevent any other Giants from breaking the big object in the middle of the city.


    Getting back up on the walls after the creature fell, the ladders were up and the her Fireloques were using their handguns in a manner they were most famous for. Though Estaria was well positioned here, every man who showed his head lost it, and allowed the archers to get back to archering,  here was not the only place she was needed. The breach in the wall and other parts of the wall holding ladders would soon swarm them regardless. Was really not going well, all she could do was hope to hold out long enough for her artillery to retick and launch more rockets to try and rout the norscans.


    Fortunately, some ten minutes into the fight, when she was on her second set of summons, a loud battlehorn ripped through the cacophony of the battle.If she had her history was right, this was the moment that Magnus von Bildhofen, later dubbed Emperor Magnus The Pious, arrived with his army. Though, The Empire was great for missing bits out, so she wasn¡¯t that confident that Magnus¡¯ arrival scattered The Chaos Horde immediately. So she stayed where she was, by Aogmuric¡¯s side, protecting him from Chaos as he swung his Az with all the great dwarven might in him. This plan didn¡¯t go very far however, because of a new objective that popped up in her sight.


    Divulgent Objective: Dwarven Breakout Attempt


    That one caught Estaria off guard. She had only heard of this from oral tradition, and there was no mention of a Dwarven breakout. Were they going to fail and die if she didn¡¯t go over there and help out? Was it already happening or had it already happened? That last one was answered when Aougmuric spoke out to the Dawi.


    ¡°The Umgi are here! We should meet up with them and push this Chaos Horde out of Kislev!¡± his voice carried across the walls, and was met with roars of agreement. Enacting a fighting retreat, the Dwarves gave ground to the Chaos invaders, and Estaria decided to help out by bombarding the bottom of the ladder with her phosphor rockets. The ladders themselves fared little better than the men now bubbling away as their skin melted off, and quickly collapsed, rendering such avenue of ingress inert. This helped the dwarves get off the wall and make it through the city, meeting only token resistance, as the Kislevites and the dwarves were clashing all over the city. Getting to a hidden Postern, they slipped out of the castle and ran straight into a large Chaos Force mobilizing to fight with Magnus. The dwarves would not be able to handle this force, and Estaria had spent her summons on the wall, so they were cooling down for a few more minutes. Not to be dissuaded by sight though, Agomuric and his Dwarves charged into the Chaos line.


    Estaria, grinning at the inspiring nature of Dwarven Courage, jumped over the small Dwarves and drop kicked the Aspiring Champion on horseback. Landing in the middle of the enemy force, she used her heels as much as her flails to spill blood across the field in copious amounts. Chests caved in, throats slit, skulls cut in half, and other methods of creating a field of bodies that mounted up by the second. Being pushed from the woman in the middle and the Dwarves slowly encircling them, there was not much hope for the guys, and they slowly reduced in number until there was nobody left. There was a cheer, and then without missing a beat, they moved off to reinforce Magnus¡¯ forces. While Estaria and the Dwarves had caught one group, there were many more coming from around Kislev, and Magnus¡¯ army was surrounded by the buggers when they arrived.


    Estaria took out her Talon and started to fire off crossbow bolts to thin the herd, but with only a little Cool left, she had to reload manually. That meant she only got a few shots off before they were in combat and Estaria was spilling blood again. It was strangely comforting, despite the exertion. Magnus saw the Dwarven reinforcements and pushed his men forward with such inspirational words even Estaria felt emboldened. Adding her own buff to Magnus, the men roared with renewed passion and pushed twice as hard into the Chaos Warriors. Though one person would ruin that, and that was a large, rotound thing lumbering towards Magnus, it¡¯s halberd sweeping men aside as it lurched forwards. Nurgle really was disgusting, with what he did to his followers. Estaria sort of didn¡¯t want to go kill him and get that yuck on her blades. But she did anyway. Jumping to the sky and hoping from shoulder to shoulder, her traits letting her not break the shoulder of the man she landed on to get to the Nurgle Champion that was charging towards Magnus and his fated battle with Asavar Kul, the Everchosen.


    Her Heel Blades were the first, slicing it¡¯s bloated back up and following up with her Blades. The thing didn¡¯t bleed so much as belch pus and maggots. She snapped a Hotchland rifle to the Champion¡¯s head and followed up with her flails opening his disgustingly obese gut, flipping backwards as it exploded in a shower of bile and large insects. Still, as robust and resilient as Nurglings were, Estaria did a lot of damage, and the bleeding brought it down to its knees, where Estaria took the damn thing¡¯s head off and let Magnus duel in peace. Despite the Dwarves, the Chaos Horde was of a magnitude unrivaled by any that had come before it, and weariness was setting in, attrition growing as the fight went on. But, just as things were turning bad, the nearby hill was covered in Kislevite Lancers and Empire Knight Orders. The relief force sent to Praag had returned, and with horns, drums and screams, they teemed down the hill, smashing into the Chaos Horde and shredding it with lance and axe and hoof. Finally, the cavalry charge broke the morale of the horde, and the Everchosen staggered, between the choice of running or staying. And Magnus took advantage of that hesitation to drive his weapon through the chest of Asavar, ending the reign of the Everchosen. The clean up did not take long at all, and that was the end of it. One final fight, and the world flashed white.


    Historical Dungeon complete.


    All Optional Objectives complete. Double Experience gains.


    Gained The Nemesis Crown.

 Chapter 49

    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    You have leveled up


    Back in reality, Estaria got a load of level up boxes, and apparently the xp from the S++ dungeon had been added to the Historical Dungeon gains and doubled from that. There was a lot of background information she had never read because it was really thick and long. Still, that was for later, right now she opened the inventory and looked over this crown thing. It¡¯s description seemed to flicker a little, as if battling with the screen. Maybe it was just really powerful?


    Nemesis Crown - the Crown of the greatest of all Kings, The Nemesis Crown is a sign that the wearer is the one to rule the whole world, and it¡¯s power is such that this is far from a dream. A legend that shall never die will be born from the wearer of the Nemesis Crown. Increase stat cap to 200


    Well, that was nice, wasn¡¯t it? Double points for it being a dainty little circlet rather than some gaudy and terribly ostentatious crown. Misleading name, or an interesting critique on the fact that a true leader needs little in the way of ornament? Either way, it was hers now, she so put it on, and smiled softly to herself. She wouldn¡¯t pop them right away since Human Paragon had already ate up most of her extra none primary stats pushing to 125, but she¡¯d get there eventually, and it would be good. However, as soon as she put it on her head, the box warped and twisted, changing to be a new description


    The final work of Aleric The Mad, this crown of Pure Warpstone is embossed with the Master Rune Of Ages. In his madness, he sort to make a rune more powerful than any that had come before, but obsession clouded his mind, and the Master Rune Of Ages would instead twist the wearer into a vessel for the evil intent, seizing on the slightest drop of nightmareish emotions to turn the wearer into a terrifying being who would rend the world asunder!


    The description was certainly...intimidating, and Estaria was about to pull the thing from her head and sell it so that it would be gone from the world forever, but then she got another popup.


    Hex reduced by high Wisdom.


    Hex dramatically reduced by high Wisdom


    Hex nullified by high Wisdom


    Seeing that this cataclysm of an item had gone so far as to trick her by changing the system page, only to get nulified by her stats was hilarious. And now, she got both super-powered power stats, and a cool circlet to go along with Filnon¡¯s Circlet Of Iron. What more could a girl ask for? Aside from Level stuff that she looked over. New Master Trait list came, and one, the Khaine one, stood out beyond all others. It shimmered like freshly spilled blood, and Estaria had picked it before realizing she had reached out for it.


    The Right to Wield: It Calls


    That was that. No boons, buffs, perks or gains. Just ¡®It Calls¡¯ and that was that. Why the hell did she pick that? It was a god-damn waste when she could get the other one and bring in something called ¡°Bloodwolf Ulricsson¡±. But, it was cool, it looked flash, so she would let it go for now, and look to City Stuff. Spending the next few days walking about the city, completing Dynamic Quests to reduce the cost - not that she needed it - and build time - that was what she was going for - of the buildings that were being made. By the end of the week, it was all nice and shiny. The one she liked the most was the wall emplacement.


    Experimental Wall Emplacement - The Grand Cannons and Swivel Cannons are upgraded with Dwarven Engineering and additional Cannons are added at key points to increase the volume of fire. The Bright Tower is also made to house Sigmar¡¯s Fury, an immense 36 barrel Hellblaster Volley Gun crewed by Leadbelcher Ogres, for normal humans can not pull it¡¯s large crank to reload. The Barrels are enchanted by Lore Of Metal wizards to be able to sustain the exceptional heat put out by it¡¯s firing, so it is not liable to overheat like it¡¯s smaller brothers.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    When that was made, Estaria wanted to be invaded, just to see a 36-barrel Hellblaster turn the invading army to jelly. One pull of the trigger put out more rounds than an entire squad of Handgunners, and were twice the size of normal bullets as well. Added onto that was the Bladesman Academy that would produce Academy Bladesmen, a super version of Swordsmen. Her usual Swordsmen had upgrade paths that required them to be involved in actual fights to go through though, so they would just be normal swordsmen.


    All in all, the army was doing pretty well, the City was booming, and in four days, the Great Temple Of Ulric would be rebuilt. Not, that Estaria could have built that, she was denied such by her religion, but having Filnon as a hero let her pull it up. She was debating the social ramifications of building her religious building and pulling in Witch Elves. That, was probably something for much later. After yesterday¡¯s hectic questing all day, Estaria was spending today lazing in the very rare Middenland Sun. She wanted to be at least 80% of the enemy garrison to be confident in her sieging. Plus, she had no idea what kind of things she needed to do about leaving a garrison afterwards. Plus losses, upkeep, income, invasions, events... she got overwhelmed every time she thought about the scale of what she was doing.


    But, her rest was interrupted when she was woken by a very loud man outside the gate.


    ¡°I Seek the Wolf Empress!¡±


    The power of it woke Estaria from her half-sleep and had her glance over. Filnon was out again, raising her level to be equal to Estaria¡¯s. The exp sharing had a distance limit, and so when she roamed far enough afield, Estaria got nothing from it. And she was happy to sit around the city or just sleep while Filnon regained the iconic pride of her race and became the same level as Estaria. So all that was left was her. The man was big, broad shouldered and was riding an Elven Steed. The glistening Ithilmar barding of the steed competed with the highly polished Gromril armour the man himself wore, and the twenty Reiksguard that flanked him pointed him out to be at least an Elector Count of great renown. So, Estaria lept from the walls and landed softly, walking to some twenty foot from him were she could see his name. And she got more than just that, as the plate told her much about him.


    Valten Lachenbad - level 97 Exalted Son Of Sigmar, Hero Of Emperor Karl Franz


    That¡¯d explain the gettup and gear. Sigmar¡¯s Player would certainly get a great deal of influence in The Empire. And from this distance, she could see two hammers hanging from his waist. One was immediately recognizable, as Ghal Muraz, The Skullsplitter. The Hammer of Sigmar, and every Emperor that came after him. The other one, was harder to recognize, but Estaria got it with a flick of the system, as Kadrin Redmane¡¯s Hammer. What that meant was lost on her, but it must have been special to stand aside Ghal Muraz.


    Of course, while she was staring at him, he was staring at her, and his reaction was notable. His eyes bulged and he shifted back on the saddle, before leaning forward and dismounting entirely, striding over to her.


    ¡°A hundred and forty? How did you manage That? I can think only the A dungeons, maybe the S, but their difficulty is such I can do but one on an off-day due to the strain. Already died once in an S, and the debuff is like a harsh fever¡± Valten spoke suddenly, and quickly. Far from that powerful voice he had displayed before, now interest and excitement warred with the need to keep a calm tone.


    ¡°Ahh, yea. No, it¡¯s not something you¡¯d enjoy. This is no dungeons and safety nets. I¡¯ve been a Gladiator in the Druchii Arenas for some two years now. Then me and my wife went and did things to get more levels¡± Estaria wasn¡¯t sure if she should tell others about how Malekith met his fated end at the end of Filnon¡¯s blades. Valten¡¯s face softened as he heard that, and then he sighed, stepped back, and to his Reiksguard.


    ¡°Break camp, we stay for the night¡± Valten ordered, before looking back to Estaria.¡±How is the city?¡± His voice was again slightly more excited than the stern command of before.


    ¡°Feel free to bring the men in and see it yourself¡± Estaria replied, opening the gate and bringing in the Reiksguard. There was surprise and awe from them, having heard Middenhiem was razed to the ground by Chaos, but here it stood, firm and defiant against the North, as it had always been. Of special note was the giant Hellblaster that stood atop The Bright Tower.


    ¡°That¡¯s a big gun¡± Valten muttered, staring at the thing in awe and trepidation. Put that thing in the field and it could shred a frontline with impunity.


    ¡°Very expensive thing. Some 180,000 gold to get it made without the materials. Me and my wife are a few mill up, but the price of these city upgrades is going to put dents in that¡± Estaria spoke casually, but Valten looked on with amazement. Apparently, Estaria was beyond the average level of Player with what she had gotten up to. He had died in an S, but Estaria had - with great effort - completed the S++.


    ¡°You are here for a reason, and I doubt it is to talk to me about my accomplishments, since you knew not of them before you got here¡± Estaria decided to pull attention away from her abnormal growth and focus on what he was doing here.


    ¡°Ahh, yes. I saw Middenhiem reclaimed by The Wolf Empress, and told The Emperor about it. He commanded me to come here and find out what it was all about, and to bring you to him if at all possible¡± Valten explained. It was a good reason for his presence, so she nodded.


    ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t want to be absent long, so we can go now¡± Estaria said, heading to the gate and setting the army to defense to increase the garrison in case of an attack.


    ¡°Nuln is three days away by horse. Though my steed can make it in one day and one night, that is still something we should wait for the morning for¡± Valten replied.


    ¡°Nuln? That¡­.is something for later. I can do it in one day. You want me to carry you?¡± Estaria asked, smirking. Celerity and an absurd Agility stat did make her the fastest thing in the world, pretty much.


    ¡°Althandin benefits from some traits I have picked up. I dislike using them in full view, as they may draw attention. But, if you are running by my side, then attention we will bring¡± Valten exclaimed, heading to the gate.


    ¡°We won¡¯t attract attention anyway. None-players are inclined to just sort of, shrug and carry on when we do our stuff¡± Estaria told him, taking off her heels and fitting some proper boots. As much as she loved her heels, they were not fit for cross-county running.


    ¡°You know, I have wondered about that. Though, just thought myself lucky most just accepted what I could do as Sigmar¡¯s Exalted¡± Valten replied, mounting Althandin and, with Estaria by his side, taking off light a bolt of lightning into the horizon.

 Chapter 50

    ¡°So you''re telling me they don¡¯t notice?¡± Valten asked, as they arrived at Nuln, having cleared the distance at a gallop, speeds faster than any Valten had seen. Not that it was easy, Estaria¡¯s Fatigue was at 74% from the run.


    ¡°Yea. I could heft a Great Cannon over my shoulders and walk into the Throne Room, and they would ask why I was bringing a Great Cannon into the Throne, but not a single one would be compelled to bring up the point that I was carrying the damn thing¡± Estaria replied, walking lazily into the Throne room. After such a sprint, she was feeling a bit haggard. It would go away with rest, but until she got that rest, she was going to feel that single percent away from losing stats from fatigue.


    ¡°Well that is handy. I can¡¯t tell you how much more I could get done if I wasn¡¯t hiding the upper limits of my System-assisted powers¡± Valten took the lead, entering the Throne Room ahead of Estaria, and approaching the table where a collection of people stood. The Countess had little care for things outside of Nuln, and so had no War room, forcing The Emperor¡¯s retinue to adapt the Throne Room for that purpose.


    ¡°My Lord Franz, I bring to you the great Scion of Ulric, Savior of the North, Defender of Middenhiem, Mother of The Snow Dens. The Gods hands are shown in the world. This is news both bold and grim¡± Valten spoke. Estaria cocked an eyebrow and looked to him for all the titles he spouted with such conviction and confidence, like she actually had them.


    ¡°I see the titles do not include the one that worries me, Valten¡± Karl replied, looking up from the table and staring at Estaria. She really didn¡¯t look like any of those titles, in this wedding dress of sorts, and wearing heels. He didn¡¯t need to know about the breastplate or blades in the heels or the rest of the armory she could pull out at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°The trouble of Augury, My Lord. Though the populate called her so, she does not claim it herself. Nor do they realize the gravity of such title. I¡­¡± Valten faltered when he saw Estaria¡¯s Death Glare at one of the nobles. ¡°Ahh...Sorry, My Lord. Estaria has been absent for a while, she has not heard of the new policy about Vampires¡± Valten spoke, the topic shifting as Estaria was suddenly brought into the new culture of the Empire. Though one of the Greatswordsmen looked up and at Estaria, she wasn¡¯t looking, and so he simply returned to his post.


    ¡°The Auric Treaty was made after Vlad Von Carstien saved The Emperor in the skies above the Auric Bastion. Afterwards, a Daemon was killed trying to assassinate and impersonate the Ar-Ulric, and we realized this was going to be the worst invasion we have ever fasted. The Auric Bastion had fallen, Daemon Assassins were coming, and a new Everchosen had broken through Kislev. So we made a treaty with the Sylvanian Vampire Counts. They are an official territory of the Empire, have a vote on the council, and a Runefang. In exchange, they do not attack civilians for blood, or raise the dead unbidden. Any man who wishes to serve the Empire beyond death may volunteer. A few other things worked out between diplomats, but the short version is, they are on our side against Chaos. The Dwarves are apprehensive, but they have always been slow to accept change, and haven¡¯t pulled out of any support already given, so we will let them come to terms in their own time¡± Valten spoke about the Undead at length, and then finally, he was silent.


    ¡°Well, so long as they are here officially and it¡¯s not some magic glamour tricking everyone into thinking he is human. As for the other issue, I have no claim on your Throne, Emperor Franz. My loyalty is yours, as it has always been¡± Estaria said. What has the world come to, that they were allying with vampires? She looked about the rest of the people, but considering the scale of the people here - only Valten and the Counts - it made sense that only Vlad was around. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°With Middenhiem returned to us, we can lead an assault with our Unified Forces to Altdorf, clearing out the reavers there and having the Imperial Engineers Guild repair the walls. Taking the city won¡¯t be a problem, from our scouts it has been abandoned for many months now. But keeping it for the length of time required to repair will be the issue¡± Karl spoke, clearly letting Estaria stay here for now, taking her oath of loyalty at face value, and treating her as a defacto Countess. She was currently the woman in control of Middenland¡¯s capital, after all.


    Before anything else could come of it, however, the doors opened and another woman entered, escorted by some guards.


    ¡°Isabella? What is wrong?¡± Vlad flitted from the table to the woman¡¯s side, and there was great love in the man¡¯s eyes. Even a dead heart could beat, it seemed.


    ¡°A Mad Priest attacked me in the streets!¡± Isabella replied, her voice haughty and confident beyond measure. But Vlad, just gave her a look which made her squirm a bit.


    ¡°Did you bite him?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I...needed to protect myself¡­¡± Isabella¡¯s voice dimmed to a cuter, less narcissistic tone. And under Vlad¡¯s glare, she broke. ¡°Maybe, a little? But he is still alive¡± The last bit was hastily added, but Vlad still sighed.


    ¡°The Vampire Wars taught me I will get nowhere throwing myself against the Armies of the Empire. We must be allied with them to prosper. And this alliance relies on us showing we can be better than what they think of us¡± Vlad spoke, his words filled with passion and the speech really worthy of an Elector Count of The Empire.


    ¡°This alliance is two-sided, Vlad. I shall speak to the people later today, so that they show their best side¡± Karl spoke, walking up to Vlad. There was a tight bond there, as one would expect from a man who had saved his life. Maybe this whole Vampire thing would work out in the end.


    ¡°You two should go out somewhere. Seeing a Vampire in love will turn some heads and wreck some preconceived notions. Caught me off guard¡± Estaria spoke up. Isabella looked to Estaria and her eyes glittered, flitting over with vampiric speed to stroke the dress.


    ¡°This is fantastic! Where did you find such a dress?¡± Isabella looked up at Estaria, and it really looked like she wanted to either eat her, have sex with her, or both.


    ¡°It¡¯s a secret¡± Estaria gave a wink and then fluttered eyelashes, flirting silently with the Vampire as if on instinct, before looking to the rest.


    ¡°I must return to Middenhiem now. The Province is still in Chaos hands, and I have a lot of work before I can fix that problem¡± Estaria told the crowd, reaching out to stroke Isabella¡¯s cheek. Flirting for control and position was a response she had learned in Naggarond, and not something she could shake, especially not when faced with a woman as beautiful as Isabella. The gathered people nodded and Estaria left, back to Middenhiem. She made sure her Fatigue was at zero, and made a more leisurely pace so she didn¡¯t have such a high level when she turned back up.


    ¡°Anywhere fun?¡± Filnon asked, as Estaria pulled up outside the gates and stood down the men.


    ¡°Met the Emperor. Tacit approval to carry on being the owner of Middenland and whatever else I can get my hands on, proviso of talking about it after the invasion. Which, will most probably lead me to giving everything back, honestly¡± Estaria gave the footnotes, and then kissed her wife. It was nice to be home. Home, meant she could kick Chaos Ass. ¡°Damn...forgot to tell Valten about the dungeons¡± she suddenly cursed, clicking her tongue in vexation.


    ¡°New player about then?¡± Filnon snuggled her head into Estaria¡¯s shoulder as she asked.


    ¡°Mmm, Sigmar¡¯s. So, he is good, here¡± Estaria then picked Filnon up, and headed to the bedroom. She needed some wife time, after so long away.

 Chapter 51

    Spinning her Wrathflails, Estaria looked over the screen in front of her, detailing the men she had at her disposal. Some 3200 men stood ready for her to march, and the Garrison was 2000 men, along with the formidable artillery support. She really wanted someone to attack just so she could see Sigmar¡¯s Fury fire and waste a while line of infantry in a single roar. But, that was really for later, because right now she had to go reclaim Dietershafen, and then from Dietershafen...you know, looking at the map, if she was going to be marching an army of men rather than being a flitting super-bug, it would be smarter to hit Salzenmund, then Dietershafen, so Salzenmund could protect her from anything coming from Shoten and Norden. The risk there, was Salzenmund was the capital of Nordland. Good place to branch out and take the heat of Middenhiem, but the enemy would probably be much bigger. Could her men handle that? She herself was a blender of epic proportions, and when supported by the men she would be able to kill a lot of people.


    Plus, taking Salzenmund and Shoten would give her the famous Nordland Woodsmen, to track and scout the region for any Chaos Warriors who might try to reinforce the place. And once Nordland as a whole was under her belt, she could use the Naval ports to reclaim the Sea of Claws and get a path to Marienburg, allowing trade and troop transports up from the North without marching them halfway across the chaos-infested Empire.


    ¡°Ahh! Life was so much easier when it was just ¡®Stab The Guy¡¯!¡± Estaria exclaimed, leaning back on the wall and sighing deeply.


    ¡°Mmm, but you weren¡¯t Elector Countess of Middenland then, were you? Better positions, means more stringent requirements¡± Filnon replied. Which, was sound logic. She commanded more than just herself, so life was not going to be easy. ¡°A singular life is simple. But two hundred lives all together, is a complexity¡±


    ¡°And this sudden bout of really enlightened cool stuff is coming from¡­?¡± Estaria asked, eyes still closed, enjoying the lap of her wife.


    ¡°I need to return to Naggarand soon. The worst of the blood shedding is going to be over soon, and people are going to be either making a grab for the throne now their rivals are dead, or breaking off from Naggarand to become Princes of the Sea. And I need to be there to stop both, or the world is going to be even messier than it already is¡± Filnon spoke and Estaria¡¯s heart grew heavy. It was true she needed to go, and pacifying Naggarand would not be a simple thing, so she would be gone a long time. But, that didn¡¯t mean it was something she wanted.


    ¡°So, I am going to come with you to Salzenmund, and once you take over that city, I¡¯ll take a ship to Naggarand and claim the Druchii¡± Filnon finished, stroking Estaria¡¯s hair some. Estaria opened an eye and saw the deep, complex emotions of Filnon¡¯s face. It was just as hard for her to do this as it was for Estaria to see her do it. So there was no time for complaint or voicing her own issues. She would just do.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get to it¡± Estaria jumped up, flicked her army to follow her, made sure that there were plenty of support caravans and ladders - she didn¡¯t have anything here to build siege - and then opened the Dogs Of War menu to bolster her forces. Free Companies were cheap but ablative fodder she didn¡¯t need. What she wanted, was something proper. And so her eyes fell on the Marksmen of Miragliano. That company would definitely shore up her weak ranged compliment, and so she bought it. It was a great expense, 10,000 gold for 200 crossbowmen, but they were widely renowned for their skill, and should be good in the fight. She thought about getting some of Golgfag¡¯s ogres, but she had a very strong front line, and that was not something she needed.


    Arriving outside Salzenmund after a few days of marching - the size of her force kept away small reavers, and larger forces were far from Middenheim in the still contested parts of the Empire, and the Marksmen gave first-hand experience to the few that stalked them that they were cleanly in range of a crossbow bolt - Estaria hit up the siege button and prepared for the fight that was coming.


    Siege of Salzenmund: Tarval Spinebreaker vs Estaria Nightfury and Filnon Nightfury. 10,000 vs 3,400


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    Nearly three times her own men was an issue, but with Filnon by her side, she could do this. Support was the most important thing here. Estaria was well capable of killing a lot, and with Filnon by her side, that lot came a much higher lot.


    ¡°Get in and kill the Champion, that should send the men into at least a leaderless clump¡± Filnon told Estaria, before channeling a great deal of the Winds and filling Salzenmund¡¯s walls with a deep black cloud, from which screams and sickening noises of bodily mutilation came from. Not wanting to lose the momentum, Estaria send the three-ball volley of Great Cannons summon into the city¡¯s gate and blasted them off their hinges. Giving everyone near her the buff and then charge order as the clouds dissipated and Filnon rushed into combat, her blades cloaked in a black aura, the fight began.


    Filnon barreled into the men at the gate, and Estaria gave her the summons she had to support her until the main force got to the gate. And then, with great acrobatic capabilities, Estaria leapt over the forces at the gate, soaring over them and taking a few potshots with her crossbow. Not something she did in the last siege because part pride and part not wanting to trap herself in a city filled with guys who wanted to kill her. But, now she had support at her back so it wasn¡¯t so much of a problem. She darted into the city, opened a few throats of people in her way, and then got to the inner ring. Here, the Champion had kept his Warriors in the inner ring for that decisive moment they could charge out and crush the enemy, killing the general himself.


    The issue with this is that Estaria came to him right now, and his Warrior was not expecting the General to run through the city to come stab them all. An attempt to block her didn¡¯t go well, as her blades, enhanced by Witch Dance, were sharp enough to cut through the armour of the warriors. Added in with her bleeding buffs, she left a trail of bodies on her way to the courtyard. And there, was the Champion, surrounded by his Chosen. Massive axes, viciously serrated and nearly as big as large man. They would be interesting to fight, and probably worth good exp as well.


    ¡°Your fight is with me, creature. Unless you feel so brave and strong you need to hide behind the shields of your men¡± Estaria¡¯s taunting was not just for the sake of taunting, but activating a skill to make him need to fight her. And it worked, he gave the order that everyone else stood down and then ran at her, very fast for a man in some sixty kilos of metal. So Estaria counter charged and leapt into the air, her bladed heel coming out and kicking out at his chest. Between her strength and it¡¯s luck damage on first strike feature, she took out pretty much his entire bar. Though he was huge, and his armour alone weighed more than Estaria did, so she didn¡¯t knock him over, but did cause his charge to come to a staggering halt. Estaria then kicked him in the head and used that to pull the heel blade out of his armored breastplate and flip backwards, landing a good twenty foot from him.


    She could have just pinned him to the ground with an arrow and peppered him with her bow till he died, but there was a touch of respect for Chaos Warriors after Elou¡¯s fight. She wanted, to fight them properly. To give them a good death. Launching one flail at his head which was blocked by the shield, she pulled that back and threw a second on an arcing shot, twisting around his shield and smashing him in the helmet. She then rushed in while he stumbled, and jumped into the air, adding in a kick to his head and sending him crashing to the ground.


    ¡°You know, I don¡¯t even know your policy on surrendering. Or¡­.now that I think of it, our policy on you surrendering¡± Estaria commented, looking to the man on the ground. He was in no mood for a chat however, as he lurched up and swung his massive axe. Estaria sprung backwards, landed crouched, and then threw herself back at him, letting her chains dangle some and then breaking into a rapid spin.


    The scream of steel on steel was echoed by the daemonic scream of the warp-forged armour he was wearing, but the Wrathflails carved through that and there was the squelch of flesh before the Champion spluttered his last and collapsed. She hadn¡¯t expected the Chosen to run away after she did that, killing the Champion just spurred them on more because her head was even more valuable now. Though, the Champion was mutated beyond their abilities, so Estaria dispatched them pretty quickly, blades in throats was always a good tactic for stuff like this. And once the Command squad had been dispatched, Estaria returned to the city proper.


    It was a big mess, the fighting had devolved into a hundred roving mobs of swordsmen like the latter end of Middenhiem¡¯s siege. Some lured Norscan Berserkers into ambushes from the men on the walls, other fought in the streets. Filnon was on one of the larger towers, her booming voice leading the men. Estaria decided to follow her guidance, and with that oversight, the last of the Chaos warriors was dispatched.


    Siege of Salzenmund succeeded. Casualties - Tarval Spinebreaker 8500 (1500 fled) /Estaria Nightfury and Filnon Nightfury 2700 (52 summons)


    The Siege had done a serious blow to the men, but now with two capitals, things were looking up for Nordland. And down for Estaria, as Filnon decided not to draw out her departure and headed to the docks as soon as the siege was over. Estaria was there for a final kiss, and then she was gone, off in her little boat to become the Witch-Queen of Naggarand. The necessity of it did not make it weigh any lighter in her heart. This was not going to be a few weeks or a month absence. She was going to be gone, as long as she was gone. And that idea was hard.

 Chapter 52

    Estaria tried to get over her despair at Filnon leaving by taking over Dietershafen with the remaining soldiers and a very large group of mercenaries, humans and ogres and dwarves alike. But, it didn¡¯t really work, and so she sat in Dietershafen for a few days after. Just, staring out to the sea. She flicked through the building options without really looking at them, and just stared. Filnon had been there for a long time, and while they had a very creepy starting, something that anyone on the outside would be really confused, put off and possibly disgusted by, this system had messed with her head and made it really mean something to her. Chalk that up to another part of her lost humanity. Still, on the fourth day, she was brought out of her emotional pit by an imperial fleet coming up the Sea of Claws. Large Greatships backed by Bretonnian Galleons, the force was considerable, and probably the largest that could be gathered by The Empire. What it was doing here rather than reinforcing the front of the embattled Empire, she didn¡¯t know,but that was a question for later.


    Running out to the docks, she watched them pull in and seem somewhat surprised. Which,was to be expected, considering that she had only just taken this place a few days ago. The men coming off the ship were not Empire though, not all of them. A decent number of mercenaries to be sure, but most of them were armed and armoured very differently to Empire troops. And then, standing at the top of one of the Bretonnian gallons, Immediately recognizable, he looked beyond mortal. Power gleamed off his ornate armour, and the name above his head was coloured such that he was of equal level to Estaria. Stepping off and approaching Estaria, it became clear who he, and the people he brought, were.


    ¡°I am Sir Vallai De Luc, of Bordeleaux. I have been sent as a relief force to reclaim the North. But it seems, I am late to this duty¡± The man, tall as a Norscan, looked upon Estaria, and took her hand, placing it to his helmet. ¡°May I know the name, of such a beautiful woman?¡± he asked. The flirting did play a bit on her ego, but not quite enough to really pull her out of her despair. That, came a second later.


    ¡°Estaria!¡± the voice was booming and powerful, and the man who had shouted it was no less so. Thundering down the docks, his full plate making a clanking cacophony as he arrived and swept Estaria off her feet, laughing and spinning with her. Shocked and stunned to see who was doing such a thing, it turned out to be her friend and companion in the siege of Middenhiem, the great human mountain that was Borrago Beast-Eater!


    ¡°Borrago¡± Estaria¡¯s voice was soft, and she gave a slight smile. She could remember how she felt about him once, but now it was like coming home from campaign to meet your pet. That was better than what she had feared, so she¡¯d take it and try to get better as the day went. ¡°Sorry, Sir De Luc. This is my friend and once sergeant, Borrago Bellari, known to most as Borrago Beast-Eater. It has been two years since we have seen each other¡± she explained, getting put down by the giant man. ¡°As he most loudly exclaimed, I am Estaria. Estaria Nightfury, Elector Countess of Middenland. A great many titles have been given, such as Scion of Ulric, Savior of the North, Defender of Middenhiem, Mother of The Snow Dens, Terrifying slaughter monster, and that crazy thing with the flails.The last two coming from our Chaos adversaries¡±


    The Grail Knight smiled at the last two titles, and then waved his arms to the ships still pulling into the shore.


    ¡°We are the Northern Liberation Union. Empire soldiers lead by Sir Borrago here, Bretonnian soldiers by me, and the undead forces by Count Acula, have come to free The North and pull Chaos warriors from the Southern battleground. I will admit to being wary of the Vampires. But your Emperor Franz decrees them allies, so I shall stand by them¡± De Luc explained, which was always good. Estaria¡¯s screens told her that roughly twenty thousand men had come aboard for this goal. Added to Estaria¡¯s slowly growing forces, and they could take the North by storm. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°Excellent. I welcome you to Nordland, Sir Vallai De Luc. The previous Elector Count was put to sword, so I am the closest there is to authority here. Chaos Reavers have stripped the place, but the castle itself still stands, we can occupy the War-room there, and discuss our plans¡± Estaria then turned, her dress billowing gently in the wind as she moved.


    On her way to the War Room, she spoke with Borrago, and learned of his life since her absence. He had been commended from the siege, and after Estaria¡¯s ¡°death¡± at Marienburg, his company had been merged into several other companies to make an Army. From there, a large contingent of Beastmen came from Drakwald to raid the Empire, and Borrago was part of the forces to fend them off. The fighting was harsh, but they managed to fend them off, with Borrago tackling a Minotaur off its hooves to save the commander of the forces. He had taken a wound that, for weeks looked like it might cost him his eye, but fortunately recovered. Added to his earlier commendation, he had been promoted as Estaria was, to the Greatswords, where he served with great pride and valor in multiple fields of battle. The most notable was the siege of Altdorf, were Archeon himself came to the walls. The army was tremendous, and notably a giant Troll, twice the size of normal Trolls. There was some conflict in the camps outside Altdorf between this Troll and a man of great grace and beauty. Nobody could hear the words, but they did see the argument escalated to the point the Troll picked the man up and bit his head off. A watchman made a glib comment about effective ends to an argument, and everyone was in uproarious laughter. The Troll in question was killed later as the Imperial School of Engineers launched a rocket at him as he stormed into the fortified yard. The rocket exploded the creature into chunks that spread across the yard and the substance they had made the rocket out of clung to every chunk and burned it to a crisp.


    Archeon, for his part, battled Valten on the walls of Altdorf. Borrago did not see it as he was with The Emperor, pushing back the enemy from the School of Engineers, but there were mixed reports of what happened. Some say that Archeon jumped from the walls when the battle turned against him. Others say that Valten knocked him from them with Ghul Muraz. Either way, Chaos retreated, but left the city half-razed and unable to stand against any reprisal. So they emptied all the valuables and departed to Nuln, where they currently stood planning the defence of the Empire. It was nice, for Estaria to catch up on what had happened. Gave her a grounding in the place that she had felt somewhat lacking. The conversation was great, and the arrival at the War Room was swift for her. Count Acula had met them on route, but Sir De Luc and the Count were growing in inhospiliable behaviour as they walked, which added some tension.


    Arriving at the War Room, they gathered around, and the Count was the first to speak.


    ¡°We engaged some Chaos vessels on our way here, and my ship was damaged, losing some supplies. We will need to replace them soon if my men are to make a difference¡± The count spoke. He was surprisingly...civil. And spoke normally. And didn¡¯t burst into bats or flames for doing so. Estaria really had a lot of perceptions of the undead that were being challenged here.


    ¡°Before you attack the peasantry for your unholy needs?¡± De Luc responded, surprisingly uncivil. But maybe Undead didn¡¯t count for civility.


    ¡°My needs are no difference to yours or any living creature. We merely take a different part than is normal¡± Count Acula responded. Didn¡¯t help to soothe his temper, as a gauntleted fist was clenched and he stepped towards the Vampire.


    ¡°You would compare me to a vile abomination as yourself? I shall see your head on a pike, Vampire!¡± De Luc moved towards Acula, but found himself blocked by Estaria¡¯s hand on his shoulder. A very firm and powerful hand.


    ¡°You can¡¯t fight here, this is the War Room. Calm yourself, De Luc¡± Estaria told him, staring him down before getting down to tactical planning. There was still tension in the air, but with Estaria, she managed to prevent blows from being thrown, and they actually created a proper plan for the Counter-Invasion of the North. Estaria adding her strength and forces to the Northern Liberation Union was something that was a boon, and allowed for more ambitious plots than before. The warriors of Chaos would not know what had hit them, and losing the North would cut off their supply lines and open their flanks to assault. It was great, and only something that could be done by the grace of the Bretonnian and Sylvanian allies. Mercenaries alone would not have cut this, and Estaria would have taken a long time to free the whole North by herself.

 Chapter 53

    The North, was liberated. The thundering hooves of the Bretonnian Knights crushed roving bands of Chaos pointed out by Nordland woodsmen, the Empire, Bretonnian peasants, and Vampire forces stormed castles and freed provinces, and Estaria, looked in with delight. They were truly working together, in a real alliance. Everyone was wary of the undead to begin with - it was like a Chaos Champion coming and saying he wanted to fight alongside them- but that was slowly eroded as they fought with valour by the side of the living. Trust built on the battlefield was always the strongest kind of trust, and the Vampires even partook in food they did not need or enjoy, to further a camaraderie and give them a grounded sense of normality. Watching a count neck back a stein of ale and sing jaunty songs with the drunken soldiers was an impressive sight. Something Estaria never thought she would ever see. Their true dietary requirements were handed tactfully, on animals and late at night on humans that had given permission to support them. Few realized that a Vampire had even visited them, for they were subtle and executed small magic to heal the incisions left by fangs.


    Eventually, Estaria had to drop the recruitment of the cities, since the upkeep of all the buildings was getting intense, and the Chaos Raiders to the south was dropping trade income to a point that it could not sustain anything. While Estaria had a lot of money, and the constant sieging and fighting and bloody slaughter she had engaged over the next three months had pushed her to the next milestone of 150, she was hemorrhaging gold at a rapid rate, and she rarely had the time to run risky S-rank dungeons for the required money. So in the end, when everything was over, she was only leading a 6,000 man army back South, letting Count Acula leave a large garrison of undead in the cities of the North. She had also picked up the trait to have a permanent pet called Bloodwolf Ulricsson, a wolf that had a blood-red fur coat, and the ability to morph into a massive horse-sized creature that Estaria could ride into battle.


    On the topic of troops, the Bretonnians and Empire soldiers had taken serious blows over the course of the campaign, and they led 2,000 between them. Though Count Acula had a mighty force of some 35,000 men from the Chaos soldiers and Empire soldiers who had given permission to be resurrected and keep on fighting. It was truly as massive army that marched back down south. Archeon had heard of what was happening, and decided to meet them on the open field and decide this all. There had been correspondence between Emperor Franz and the Northern Liberation Union on tactics for the fight. A ridge overlooking the valley in which Archeon had gathered his forces was a great place to set up her archers, and from there charge down on Franz¡¯s signal. De Luc chafed at the idea of following the commands of anyone who wasn¡¯t his King, but Estaria convinced him it was tactical, nothing more.


    Arriving at the ridge, Estaria stood on the battlefield overlooking 100,000 warriors. On the other side, was Karl Franz and Vlad Von Carstien. Together, they had brought 30,000 men of their own from every part of the South. Still, together they were outnumbered a considerable margin, and this fight would have the entire Empire at Archeon¡¯s mercy were they to fail it. But failure was not going to be what happened today. They would fight, and they would win, and this Everchosen would face the same fate as every other Everchosen. Estaria crested the ridge, looked over the enemy, and clambered aboard Bloodwolf, joining the thin but determined line of Bretonnian Horsemen. Handgunners and archers lined up on the ridge and prepared, ready for the signal from The Emperor across the field to begin the charge. From their vantage point, they saw the Empire forces rush into the fray, hearted the roar of artillery and magic, and then the order was given. One of the Mages of the Bright School launched a great fireball into the sky that exploded into many smaller fireballs. With that signal, the Bretonnians began the charge, backed by the thunderous barking of handguns behind them and the whistling of arrows over head. The Hammer of Bretonnia hit hard, smashing into the Chaos line and beginning the butchery. Estaria leapt off Bloodwolf after the initial impact and let him go wild as she began her own killing. Not very well versed to horseback.


    A Manticore flew overhead and grabbed some Knights in it¡¯s talon, puncturing armour and spilling their blood. Estaria looked to it and threw her Flails to it¡¯s underbelly, spilling blood all over the battlefield. However, it took off with great fury when it was hit, and Estaria was caught off guard by the force, having her flails ripped from her hands and having the creature fly off with them before faltering and dying from blood loss, some quarter of a mile away from her. Suddenly unarmed, Estaria retreated backwards, using her Heelblades to take potshots at anyone nearby. Once behind the line of infantry who had charged behind the cavalry, Estaria opened up her inventory and pulled out the gauntlets she had used at the start of her run in Naggarond. She had kept them as sentimental, never thought that she might have some use for them in such a dynamic situation. Another thing that caught her offguard was the trait Chain Queen mutating into something else when she equipped the gauntlets as her primary melee weapon.


    Headripper Uppercut - a tremendous blow take the man clean off his feet, and maybe even his head clean off his body, should the user put in enough strength. Spend Cool to deal 200% damage to the head and knock them off their feet. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    The trait was put to good use as a Khornite Berserker barreled through the Men-At-Arms and swung for Estaria with a roar of violence. First, Estaria used Quicksilver Viper to throw off his stride and swing, and then the new skill. Crouching low, she threw herself into the air and smashed her fist against his chin. True to it¡¯s name, the man¡¯s head ripped off and flew into the sky before landing with a crash. Slipping by his body to lash more jabs and right hooks at any Norscan in range, she found new enjoyment in this. Much shorter range than her flails, there was a much more dynamic feel to fighting with her fists, and more satisfaction to feel their head go crunch under your fists. Heh, maybe she¡¯d keep these till she got bored of them, stick them in the Workshop for better stats. Not that that was really needed, with her Strength.


    Eventually she got put up against a Giant, and that climbing trick she did last time wouldn¡¯t work again, so she activated her Divine Form and sliced open it¡¯s bloodlines, using her Exalted Art to wash the battlefield with his blood when she had dealt enough damage. This, was beauty. The thousand sounds of battle, the feel of the enemy¡¯s blood on her body, the tingling feeling of stealing a dead person¡¯s luck to add to her own bar...it was all overwhelming sensory feedback. At this moment, she could really understand why Slaaneshi would chase things like this. Eventually, she got into a clearing, and through that lull she was able to watch Valten cross blades with Archeon. Both of them monstrous combatants, and the force of blows rocked the ground. But, it was not all glorious. Unseen by Estaria, a winged woman with horns and blood-red armour soared down from the sky, and with her cursed spear, blew the heart from Karl Franz¡¯s chest. The Emperor stood stunned for a few moments, before with a great roar brought the Runefang down and decapitated the woman with a final breath, dying gloriously with the blood of his foe on his blade.


    For Estaria¡¯s part, she was too caught up in the whirlwind of blood she was causing. Khaine wasn¡¯t exactly her God persay, but she was still heavily tied to him, and so splattering blood was good fun. However, all good things must come to an end, and as Estaria butchered through the Chaos horde, backed by men to her fore and her aft, eventually the two armies met and expanded outwards, putting to the sword all that would stand against them. Archeon might have had the numbers advantage, but the Knights of the Empire, of Bretonnia, and the Undead were relentless, as was the artillery support and the rockets that Estaria periodically launched. Finally, the last of them was cut down, and there was victory. Estaria ran over to Valten, who was sat panting on the ground, looking rather unsatisfied.


    ¡°Coward fled through a portal just as I was preparing to finish him¡± Valten exclaimed, shaking his head.


    ¡°Well, his army is dead to the man, and he has fled twice. I doubt he will find much support from The Gods or the people of Chaos. He bares no threat¡± Estaria replied, sitting down next to Valten. The man¡¯s next comment was lost as a powerful, magic-enhanced voice filled the battlefield.


    ¡°Men and Women of the Empire. I have grown to respect you over these past few months. You are a greater people than I could have imagined. My long-dead heart swells with pride to have fought with you, and this is why I offer a hand. Join me, in my Eternal Empire, and I shall see you all rewarded!¡± Vlad Von Carstein''s speech filled the battlefield, and weary soldiers looked up. Confusion on their face as to what he was even talking about. The Reikmarshal approached him, and while Estaria was unable to hear the words spoken, they were clearly words of heated distrust and hatred, as the crack of a pistol rang out, the Reikmarshal aiming to put a bullet through Vlad¡¯s head. It was reflected by a magical shield, and then Vlad tore the Reikmarshal¡¯s neck to shreds and drank him down to the last drop. Then turning to the rest, and seeing the vile repulsion and furious hatred on the faces of everyone present, spoke again.


    ¡°You will not stand with me, who has aided you in victory. Then, you will serve me in death!¡± Vald¡¯s voice bellowed across the field, and with the lifting of a staff, the dead rose. Over ten thousand undead creatures clambering to their feet and striking the exhausted Empire forces. Estaria reacted quickly, punching the ones closest to them into the ground, and then looking to Valten.


    ¡°Fucking Vlad! He¡¯s betrayed us! We need to get out of here, back to Nuln!¡± Estaria exclaimed. But, her vision was filled with popup boxes.


    Altdorf is under attack


    Wurdbad is under attack


    Avahiem is under attack


    Wissenburg is under attack


    Talabahiem is under attack


    Hergig is under attack


    Bechafen is under attack


    Salzenmund is under attack


    Wolfenburg is under attack


    Middenheim is under attack


    Eicheschatten is under attack


    Stunned by what she was seeing, she was bowled over by a Norscan Zombie and had to be saved by Valten¡¯s hammer.


    ¡°It¡¯s happening all across the Empire. The Capitals are all under attack. He was waiting for this moment¡­¡± Estaria¡¯s voice was hoarse and hollow, realizing the scale and enormity of what was happening.


    ¡°Get out of here! Youhave to survive, to come back later! If every capital is under attack, you may be the last Elector Count in The Empire! You need to survive!¡± Valten barked, smashing zombies apart with Ghal Maraz and the Dwarven Runehammer. Estaria heard his words, and responded before thought, her legs carrying her away from the battlefield as tears ran down her face. Vlad had planned this meticulously, and everyone had fallen for it. The Empire, was no more. The Vampires, had won.

 Chapter 54 (m)

    ¡°Haaa...ahhh¡­.uhahhh~¡±


    The pleasured moans were nearly as good as the woman rocking on him, and with the exhaustion of teasing him for the past hour and a half just because he paid for two hours was enough to make him explode into the womb of the woman in front of him. Milking the man for every drop, she finally leant down and gave him a quick teasing kiss and sliding off for sweaty post-coitus cuddles.


    ¡°Ahh...stay here forever¡± the man said, cuddling softly.


    ¡°In the bed? I do have other work to do¡± the woman replied, a coy smile on her lips.


    ¡°I meant in this tavern. I have never had a girl like you, and if I am forced to do so, it shall be unsatisfying for both of us. And Migel Of Sartosa leaves no maiden unsatisfied¡± the man exclaimed, laughing heartily.


    ¡°And Keli of noneofyourbusiness would never leave a man before he weeps white tears~¡± Keli replied, sitting up and flicking her hair out.


    ¡°So it is agreed. You are never going everywhere, and I shall be back tomorrow for more¡± Migel exclaimed, getting up and looking for his clothes.


    ¡°Tomorrow, huh? You have the stamina for that?¡± Keli teased, pressing her bare breasts to his back.


    ¡°Ha! For a woman of your calibre, Migel of Sartosa has the stamina of a hundred men! Though, I do need to get back to the office. Apparently I hire apes in human form, and without my oversight they regress to their primitive instinct and fling poo about the office. The cleaner has told me he shall quit if the office is covered in poo one more time, and he is a good cleaner. He wields a mop as I wield a sword¡± finally dressed, Migel took Keli¡¯s hand, and kissed it. ¡°Till the morrow, my fair Keli¡± and then he was gone, leaving Keli in the room.


    Gathering her undergarments and heading to the waterflow closet, she opened the valve and let the water fall over her. It was just like that thing she had back at Traukon¡¯s Karak. And somehow, inspired introspection. Having fled from The Empire in the face of Vlad¡¯s betrayal, she had just run, and run, and run. And eventually, she found herself in a city called Miragliano. The Mighty Principality Of Miragliano. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, she had stashed her equipment, got some simple clothes and changed her name from Estaria to Keli. From there, she managed to get a job in a tavern, and then later as a whore to the brothel upstairs run by the brother of the man who owned the tavern. She had been here two years now, and every week she had to listen to the two brothers argue about who was paying her what and what work she had done where. Eventually she just started having sex with both of them, which really went a long way to easing the tensions between them. It was a few months ago that Migel came in and was smitten with her skills in the bedroom and fluid movement out of it. He wanted to teach her how to wield a rapier and have her as a Maiden of Metal in his mercenary company, but she was not in that life anymore.


    Keeping up with news of The Eternal Empire, she heard that Vlad consolidated his position, and every one of the Elector Counts were Vampires. Others looked on suspiciously and reinforced their borders, but nobody had the firepower to invade an entire country of undead creatures. Miragliano did not care for the problems over there, they had problems with rats of their own. Skaven came out of the marshes whenever they wished, and Miragliano was so prepared that they had professionals designed to catch rats of all sizes, in all places. It was an interesting place, and the rat-catchers were doing their job well enough that she didn¡¯t run into any Skaven when she went out into town. Finishing up in the shower and drying herself off, she got into her barmaid uniform and out on the floor. Grabbing a tray of ale as instructed and taking it over to the table. One of the men tried to slap her ass, but she shifted out of the way of the hand and grinned.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Gotta pay before you can touch~¡± she teased, grinning. Unfortunately this guy was a toothless pirate type and didn¡¯t like being told no.


    ¡°Captain Manka loots wha'' he wants when he wants. ''n no wench will tell ''im otherwise!¡± the man spoke. Keli gave him a deadpan stare. Everyone here liked to talk about themselves in the third person. He tried to stand for a more forceful grope and found Keli¡¯s hand around his throat, pinning him to the chair.


    ¡°Sounds like a lovely policy. Maybe I should try it. Take your clothes, your pride, your crew, and your ship. Captain Za sounds much better, no?¡± Estaria tormented, smirking to the man as his crew bellowed with laughter, and a few mock-toasted ¡®Captain Za¡¯.


    ¡°Keli! Stop beating up the customers and take this stew to the dwarves on table 3!¡± the burly man behind the bar shouted.


    ¡°D¡¯aww, but I thought beating up the customers was my selling point¡± Keli replied, letting him go and taking the stew where it was meant to go. Rushed off her feet today, because as soon as she put that down, she was called in again.


    ¡°Guy for you, Keli! I sent him up to your room¡± he exclaimed. Guys were always good since she got well paid for them, but most of that went to supporting Tatiana. Cute little bartender who came in a few months ago, looking for a job to support her two sisters after dad died and mum fucked off.


    Getting to her room and opening the door, she saw a slender, well-dressed man standing around. Everything was fresh and locally bought, but the hastily shaved beard gave a subtle indication that he had traveled quite a distance. Maybe a mercenary, an adventurer, or a wanderer. She had turned off name tags a long time ago to avoid suspicion of knowing people¡¯s names and occupations at a glance.


    ¡°Ahh, Estaria. Lov-¡± the man didn¡¯t get much further than that because Estaria moved like a lightning bolt. Arriving right in front of her, she kicked his legs out from under him and twisted him while falling to point his face to the ground, and then sat on him. ¡°Yep...definitely Estaria¡± the man groaned, as Estaria pinned his arms to the floor with her knees. Turning on the nameplate system, she saw who he was without his asking.


    Mattrim Alavi - Level 101 Son Of Ranald


    ¡°Tsk. What does a Trickster want with me? And how did you find me?¡± she demanded, not holding back her dislike. Ranald was a sneaky being, and his priests were no less so for their lack of divinity.


    ¡°I was hoping to talk to you. And as for finding, I guess you could just say..¡±  he flashed a grin at Estaria ¡°...I got lucky¡± The man thought he was funny, so Estaria dug her knee into his back some more. ¡°Ow! Besides! You are in one of Ranald¡¯s temples. That made it easier!¡± he exclaimed, not squirming to keep the knee from pushing to much harder.


    ¡°Ok, we are talking. Do it quickly¡± Estaria demanded, trying to restrain the urge to murder hi,.


    ¡°Vlad¡¯s ambition is going to come to a head, and when it does, he will come for the last living Elector Count. And I want you prepared for when it does, so you can stop him¡± he told Estaria, keeping his body loose.


    ¡°Vlad is sending tens of thousands of his minions into the Badlands and the Warrens all over the Empire, and into the Northlands. The Old World has never been at such peace. Why would I interrupt that?¡± Estaria asked. Or rather, demanded. This guy was suspicious.


    ¡°Maybe he never will, but a gambler always hedges his bets. Can I at least help you be prepared for if it does come? And if it never does you can just have a fun thing in your inventory?¡± he asked. There was no harm in that, and Estaria had gotten a few levels from the massive horde in which Vlad betrayed them, so her main stats were at the 200 limit that Nemesis Crown gave her.


    ¡°Fine. What is this hedging of your bet?¡± Estaria asked, crossing her arms and doing her best to loom.


    ¡°Getting you the Sword Of Khaine¡±

 Chapter 55

    He was certainly good at talking people into something, at least. As soon as she heard about the Sword of Khaine, she was stunned, and with some smooth chin-wag from him, she was on a ship, dressed to the nines and sailing off to some island he had prepared. He was good, andsmooth, and generally the kind of person Estaria wanted to punch simply for the reason of being so good and smooth. The cocksure gambler that always had the right cards and the right woman. Still, it did her in, and so she couldn¡¯t do anything but wander about the ship and think. Coming this close to the island of the High Elves made Estaria think about Filnon, which was never a good thing because she was a big part of what made her run away. Estaria wanted to survive, to see Filnon again, but the shame she felt after running had prevented her from going to see her wife. Prevented her from even acknowledging her, because to acknowledge Filnon¡¯s existence was to acknowledge her running. She should have stayed and fought. Should have charged the line and took Vlad¡¯s head from his neck, should had crumbled his legions to dust and scattered his entire family to the wind for their betrayal. And yet, she let Valten dictate the pace, a pace most cowardly and mentally harrowing.  This carried on until it made dock on a strange, foreboding and darkened island. It did not help that her mental state was already weakened by the claws of the past years trying to drag her down and make her answer for what she had done to her countrymen, make her give them back the life she had stolen from them with her fleeing, and with her lack of return to them. Though, the dark magic and general feeling of unease was only added to a hundred fold when she saw a beautiful woman standing some thirty feet from the shore.


    Departing shakoly from the boat, this beautiful woman stormed up to Estaria and violently slapped her across the face.


    ¡°Two years! I heard nothing from you for two years! The Empire collapsed, filled with cadavers and Vampires, all the Electors dead or turned, and I had to sit here worrying myself sick every single day!¡± Filnon¡¯s voice was shrill with emotion, and her eyes brimmed with tears. There was unparalleled relief that Estaria was still alive and well, but beyond that there was intense rage that she had not come to Naggaroth or even just sent a message. Estaria looked up, her bride¡¯s uniform flitting and glowing thrice as bright in the unholy light of the Blighted Isle, and then she broke down, into hysterical tears, racked with sobs that nearly brought her to her knees.


    ¡°All your work, to save my Empire. All that work, to protect me and my people, and I failed! It was my fault, I couldn¡¯t do enough to keep them alive. I couldn¡¯t stop Vlad taking over, I couldn¡¯t stop my countrymen from being butchered by undead monster. They all died because I didn¡¯t stay to protect them and just ran away like a coward! I wasn¡¯t¡­.I couldn¡¯t¡­..¡± Estaria was cut off by Filnon suddenly pulling her into a tight hug. However angry she was that her wife had not come to her for the support she needed, there was still a great deal of love for the woman,and there always would be, until the day they both rotted in the ground.


    ¡°Ahh, foolish girl. I don¡¯t care about your failures, I care about you. I could have given you somewhere to stay, or all the support you needed to reclaim your Homeland, whichever you desired. You thought I would judge you for what happened? That is not what love is¡± Filnon spoke, stroking Estaria¡¯s hair until she managed to stop her crying. Two years of avoiding the truth, of running from it and denying it, had come to a head here and crashed on her with reckless fury. And she could not weather it, but in her fortune, Filnon was here to support you.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°I have heard tell that the Druchii are trying to move away from their Malekithian roots. It is interesting to see such claims true¡± a woman spoke. Beautiful as Filnon, dressed with overwhelming elegance and a safe harbour in the storm of darkness that was this isle, Estaria could not help but feel relaxed around her. Contented by her presence even in such a place of doom and gloom as the Blasted Isle.


    ¡°Estaria, this is Alarielle, The Everqueen. She is the Co-ruler of the High Elves, alongside the Phoenix King. Mattrim brought us here because he said he was going to be bringing a new age to the world. It being here, obviously means he plans for the Sword of Khaine. And it being you, obviously means he intends for you to draw it. But, there is something we must warn you¡± Filnon took Estaria¡¯s chin and looked into her eyes, ensuring that she was most focused and paying attention to every word that was said. ¡°The Sword Of Khaine is a corruptive influence on everyone. It is a dangerous tool far beyond any other artifact in the world. Do not draw it lightly¡± She warned, and then stepped to one side. ¡°We can¡¯t go any further without risking corruption by the Sword of Khaine. You must make this journey with Mattrim. While it will certainly attempt to corrupt him and probably succeed, we Elves are more susceptible to it due to ancient history. I will be here when you get back though, so don¡¯t worry¡±


    Hearing all that Filnon had to say, having her support, and the strange comfort of Alarielle, Estaria could march forward. The rock on her back was still their, and it still weighed a great deal, but it was not something that she was shouldering alone anymore. It was something that she had support with, and so she could move under it¡¯s weight without having to drown in sex and alcohol and bar room brawls just to ignore the existance of the rock. It was there, and she would deal with it in time. Taking a chistel to her emotional baggage and cut it away, until she found absolution. Maybe she never would, maybe the rock would resist all efforts, maybe she¡¯d never get rid of it and forever be trapped in a state of despair for those that had died for her. But, at the same time, maybe she would. Maybe she could be better, for them,


    ¡°You look like you are going through some heavy shit¡± Mattrim commented, looking to Estaria. She pulled out of her mindset to look at him, slightly less of a scowl this time and she spoke to him, slightly less of an aggressive tone as well.


    ¡°A little, yea. But, I will be better when we reach the destination¡± Estaria replied, pushing onwards faster than she had been dawdling and forcing poor Mattrim to run to keep up. Eventually, they did arrive, and standing at the altar, she saw the mighty weapon in front of her. Felt the waves of power and bloodlust coming off it and...cocked an eyebrow, turning her head quizzically.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a sword¡± she muttered, looking to Mattrim.


    ¡°Mmm. Looks more like an Ashandarei¡± Mattrim said. Which didn¡¯t help Estaria¡¯s confusion at all, so he spoke again. ¡°I am guessing you are seeing something different, huh? Ashandarei is a sort of, quarterstaff with a curved blade on the end. Not quite a spear, but more like, a sword staff? Very interesting weapon, mostly found in this small area of the Old World called Nippon¡± Mattrim explained, shrugging with a grin at Estaria¡¯s stare. ¡°I travel a lot¡±


    Leaving the man and walking up to the ¡°Sword¡± of Khaine, Estaria stroked her hands across the firm but supple Dragonleather of the gauntlet, and the studs on the knuckles that looked to be made of molten lava, but were as solid and sharp as any metal, pricking her finger when she grazed across it. Two gauntlets, laid on the pedestal, whispered gently to her to pick them up and wear them. So she did, pulling them on and feeling how they conformed to her fists, melding to her so they were the most perfect weapons in all creation. Then she got a popup.


    Curse Of Khaine Activated


    Wisdom Negated by Divine Power, Hex Successful.

 Chapter 56

    ¡°The Sword Of Khaine is a relic beyond any other. A Weapon of the God that sits at the apex of existence. Mere descendence does not entitle one to wield the blade without paying the pride. Grasp every day beyond this with pride, and thank every being that will listen that you are more than a mere descendant¡±


    The booming voice in Estaria¡¯s head filled her entire being when she put on the gauntlets, and she was taken in front of a beiny of fire and fury, a dripping red hand clenched around a massive blade of terrible potency. And then, she was back in the real world, the Blighted Isle, specifically. Filnon stood over her, watching and waiting for any sign.


    ¡°Ahh...what happened?¡± Estaria asked, her head still ringing with the booming voice of the huge guy she had just seen.


    ¡°You just collapsed after putting the gauntlets on. It¡¯s been less than a minute, but it was still somewhat worrying¡± Filnon replied, helping Estaria to her feet. Getting her balance and sight back, there were a few notifications waiting for her in her tray, where they went when she was doing something or wasn¡¯t able to have a popup in her face. She had a debuff called Curse Of Khaine but with the "Right to Wield" perk, it was reduced to nothing. Fortunate tht she picked that one up. Or divine provodence, she did feel drawn to it after all.


    Exalted Blade Art - Call Of Blood: The sword of Khaine calls to his portfolio and it answers with abloom. The use of this Exalted Blade Art causes the blood of the surrounding dead to condense around the user, becoming slashing blades to slaughter all who would come against the wielder.


    Exalted Blade Art - God-Smiter: The Sword Of Khaine has tasted the blood of Gods, and remembers the flavour intimately, always eager for a second helping. Negate Divine Protection


    The Red Tide - An Enlightened Ritual that can be used with the Sword Of Khaine. Expending your Resource creates a ritual zone, the more resource spent, the larger the zone. Every being killed within this zone is added to the altar at the center, and once the altar is kicked over by the one who started the ritual, a massive tide of boiling blood surges in the direction of the kick, traveling ten feet and being 3ftx3ft for every ten beings killed within the zone. This tide can be halted by large objects like houses and walls, but flows over ditches and moats without issue.


    Those were certainly impressive...The Red Tide would really add to her ability to fight the hordes of the Undead...if she needed to fight the hordes of the undead. This wasn¡¯t going to be used in some sudden crusade against them just because she had Khaine¡¯s weaponry.


    ¡°Thank you, for being here, Filnon. I¡­¡­.I can¡¯t come back yet, there is something I need to finish. Something personal to me, but I will be back once it is done. I promise you this¡± Estaria took FIlnon¡¯s hands and kissed her lips passionately, lovingly, before turning to Mattrim and leaving the Isle before Filnon could say anything to convince her to stay. Because she would, and most probably succeed if Estaria let her say anything. These past two years had been a horrible blur, and now she was woken from that stupor, it was hard to focus on the duty she needed to do.


    The Vampires were a problem, however much she tried to claim they were not. Leave them and FIlnon would eventually find them coming to kill or turn Estaria. So she had to go make a deal with Vlad to ensure that didn¡¯t happen. And make it a deal that he listened to rather than one he broke at his convenience. Maybe show him she wasn¡¯t to be messed with? Threaten him with the Sword of Khaine? Sicc a no doubt angry Filnon at him and let her burn off her stress of having Filnon basically run away from her. That last one was doubtful, Filnon was no fool. She knew why Estaria departed so quickly.


    And on the topic of departing, Estaria needed to return to Miragliano, and get her stuff and her wolf who she departed without. GIve Tatiana some money to tide her over for the rest of her life. She was close with that one, found her struggle to be beautiful. Same circumstances as Estaria, but with two sisters to support as well. So it was there they returned first, and Estaria tried to sneak back into the brothel like nothing had happened. Fat chance of that though, as Bloodwolf came bounding up and took her off her feet, licking frantically as he did.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Damn mutt had been nothing but trouble since you left. Whining about the place, not raising so much as a growl to the troublemakers, and barely even eating his food. Where did that pomp man take you, anyway?¡± Barkeep asked, coming over. Estaria recovered to a sitting position and petted the wolf gently.


    ¡°He took me to see his parents. Wanted to impress me with gold and jewels and the talk of marriage. But, I ain¡¯t no trophy¡± Estaria replied, finally getting free of the fluff to stand up and get her uniform back on.


    ¡°Well, good. Migel has been in the stocks every day since you left, fighting any man who tried to decry you. There¡¯s another I can see trying to marry you, though for much different reasons¡± Barkeep told Estaria, and then returned to the bar and poured some ales for a table of dwarven mercenaries. Estaria liked dwarves, and her ability to speak Kazalid didn¡¯t hurt relations either, so the day ended with merriment and drunk dwarves taking two whole casks of ale before leaving satiated and happy. Though the night was less of merriment, as Estaria was assigned to be the personal waitress of this noblewoman who had come in the other day. The Noblewoman had business to take care of during the day but needed someone to cater to her in the night, as was the want of these noble women.


    The problem was not the job, Estaria got a really cute silk uniform, long skirt and apron as that was apparently the required outfit for all the woman¡¯s servants. The problem was who she was serving. Entering into the room with a tray of tea and dinner, she immediately froze for a few seconds as she saw some vampire countess drinking from Tatiana. Her brain froze and whirred at the same time as she watched the scene, and eventually one of them won the war for motion and she sprung across the room, her fist brained the creature and splattered it across the nearby wall. Tatiana slumped from her grasp but then suddenly jolted and looked at Estaria.


    ¡°Wha..?¡± She looked very confused and, understandably for someone who had just had a lot of blood sucked out, very weak.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. A pest got in, but I dealt with it¡± Estaria replied, looking to the shriveled corpse of the vampire. They dissolved into mush pretty quickly, and then from mush to ash. Morr was not to be denied, and he took everything from you once you had died a second time. It also helped prevent Vampires from just constantly resurrecting the undead.


    ¡°No..Well, yes but, no. Who are you?¡± Tatiana asked, staring at Estaria. The question was a strange one, but she came to an idea quickly as to why it was said.


    ¡°Hmm, what¡¯s the last thing you remember?¡± Estaria asked gently, supporting her and gathering the surviving tea and food from the tray to give her something.


    ¡°I...me and my sisters were heading to Miragliano. Some, old family friend lives here and was going to get us a job. We¡­...we got here, and this handsome man came to meet us and then¡­.nothing¡± Tatiana stared into the distance, trying to remember and failing.


    ¡°Sounds like you were a Thrall. Well, you got a job, at least. Working at a tavern. It¡¯s decent, supports your sisters¡± Estaria explained, letting her get up and brush her skirt off.


    ¡°Well, th-thank you. I, need to go see my sisters now¡± Tatiana then turned to the door, and paused for a moment. ¡°Umm¡­¡­¡­...where do I live?¡±


    ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll take you there¡± Estaria replied, standing up and heading out.


    Sorting out that fiasco and making sure to get Tatiana off sick tomorrow so she could recover from the blood loss, Es retreated to her room. First of all, she buggered with her workshop. Sure, Sword of Khaine was a God Weapon, but what would happen if she tried to work with it? Setting the ¡°Sword¡± as the item to be worked with, she then dragged in her Killer Heels as a reagent. It autoset a few others in her inventory, which helped keep the cost down - for a relative degree of down, at least - and the end result was her heels were now added into the Khaine weapon, making it sword and heels. A bit of madness then took over, as she threw in the Bride of A Thousand Witches dress as well. That one wiped out her money entirely, but created an Item Set. Equipping all three items with one and giving good boons to boot.


    Item Set - Khaine¡¯s Regalia: Stride With Style. This Item Set is the collection of Khaine¡¯s effects that glow with prominence even in the halls of the Gods, looking down on even the most opulent of dresses with a haughty sense of pity for their inferiority.


    With that done - and happy, because new items were always good - Estaria quit her job and gave Barkeep some compensation for quitting without notice, and turned her eyes to the Eternal Empire. Tatiana being a thrall meant they already knew she was here, and that meant the vampire was most purposefully sent to her specifically. Vlad was, for whatever reason, calling her out. And she would oblige.

 Chapter 57

    Rolling into the Empire was quite a shock for her. The sun was still out, but there was darkness in the sky that blanketed it from end to end and made it impossible for anything more than a dirty, filtered light to get through. She was running too fast to get a proper look around, but the place definitely seemed deserted. She blitzed by entire ghost villages, and while she saw plenty of undead minions, there were scant few living beings, and certainly not that she saw while on her way to Altdorf. The gates were shut, but Estaria found it pretty easy to scale the walls by punching handholds in the rock and launching herself upwards to the ramparts, and then dashing into town before the zombie sentries could react to her presence. No doubt Vlad knew she was coming, but that was her plan.


    Bursting into the Throne room, Estaria would come face to face with the Eternal Emperor. By his side, the lovely consort, and three scantily clad maidens by their feet, in a daze, and chained to the thrones.


    ¡°Estaria~ Lovely to see you again. Have you come to finally take me up on the offer for a night on the town?¡± Isabella asked, gently coaxing one of the slaves up and nibbling gently on her neck.


    ¡°You thinking eating someone in front of me is a good first impression?¡± Estaria asked in return, her eyebrow cocked. Vlad looked to his wife, and she let the slave go.


    ¡°Better first impression. I have brought you someone. I hope you like it, and that it encourages you to think on my offer of joining me¡± Vlad spoke, and in came a Count. Minor, from the outfit and lack of proper confidence, he seemed nervous, and the nerves increase three-fold as he looked to Estaria. And the same scale was mirrored in Estaria, if in a different strain.


    ¡°Karl¡± Estaria¡¯s voice was hollow and without any emotion, which seemed to make him even more nervous. Her father was never a man to be nervous, he embodied his namesake with passion and vigor, for every time he came upon an obstacle, he proclaimed he would not disgrace the name of the Emperor, and pushed on again. Maybe reuniting with the daughter he abandoned was too much for this, though.


    ¡°Estaria. I...you¡¯ve grown well¡± he said, lacking any confidence in himself or this meeting.


    ¡°So you think turning my father into an undead is going to win me over?¡± Estaria asked Vlad, flicking her eyes in his direction.


    ¡°You surprise me with your tolerance. I fully expected you to say I turned him into an abomination¡± Vlad commented, admiring his nails for a moment.


    ¡°He was already an abomination. You just made him immortal¡± Estaria cut her father down - metaphorically, at least - with her savage words.


    ¡°My, you are a venomous one, aren¡¯t you?¡± Isabella asked, tittered softly. ¡°We are so going to get along~¡±


    Hex resisted by high Wisdom


    ¡°Save you tricks for a weaker willed woman, Isabella. I am here to deal with you and your Vampires. I don¡¯t want to be looking over my shoulder the rest of my life. I want you to leave me alone, and I want the deal to be solidified enough that you aren¡¯t going to break it at the first convience¡± Estaria demanded, her presence filling the Throne Room.


    ¡°Ahh, that is for later. If not your father, I have another for you. I always have backups, after all¡± Vlad spoke, ignoring her request and bringing in a second minor Countess. Estaria¡¯s Wisdom immediately penetrated the glamour, but she then turned that off so she could see who it was, more than just a rotten corpse animated by dark magic. And then, when she saw who it was, her breath caught in her throat. The world rolled and she shuddered, her body shaking uncontrollably as she looked into the woman¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Estaria. I know your father has made mistakes in the past, but we have sorted that out. Come, let us be a family again.¡± Her mother held out her hand, and Estaria just stood there. Face drained of blood, heart thumping harder than she thought it could ever thump. And then a sudden, purity. A clarity that was beautiful. This purity was beyond anything Estaria had felt before, but she knew exactly what she was going to do with it. Shooting forward like a lightning bolt, Estaria punched a hole through Isabella¡¯s chest, killing her instantly and leaving a gap where her heart used to be. Not that it lasted very long as the body soon rotted away after that. First growing aged and worn, and then slowly dripping away into a corpse, and from there a skeleton. Finally, a few seconds afterwards, the skeleton dissolved, leaving nothing.


    The suddenness, and scale of the violence enacted shocked everyone. The hall was deathly quiet, and then, from the depths of hell itself, a scream. A scream of pain, of hatred, of despair and every negative emotion the mind could comprehend. The scream was coming from Vlad, seeing his beloved Empress dissolving from the world.


    ¡°You should not have touched my mother¡± Estaria whispered, looking to Vlad with eyes of blood. It looked like a vessel had popped and was now filling her eyes with blood, covering her sclera with the crimson red, and moving in on her irises and pupils as it reached them. Vlad, was not one to hang around and watch the fantastic ocular art, however, and flitted from his throne, crashing into Estaria and barreling them both through the walls of the throne room. A super-powered tumble tore through the palace, both throwing any strike they could before Estaria got a strong kick in and blasted him out into the street. Free of him, Estaria released the pent up emotions in her with an immense roar, shaking the very windows surrounding them.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Bloody Reparations - Fury unseen in the mortal plane, on top of the boon owed for defeating the Master of the Third Legion, Elouviana Knightsbane, Khorne grants the Purity of Hatred, so that one might enact most terrible vengeance.


    Lovely. Well, Khorne was watching the fight, which was fitting. Vampires lived on blood, and Estaria was the Child of Khaine, the Bloody Handed God.


    ¡°You vapid, mongrel! You could have been my greatest general, but now I will keep you alive for a thousand years just to torture you for the soul of Isabella!¡± Vlad climbed out of the wreckage of the building he had been put through, and seemed flushed with power, gliding an inch off the floor and crackling with energy. Estaria wasn¡¯t so hot on the idea of going near that nimbus, and so drew Khaine¡¯s Talon and launched off an arrow.


    Divine Entity, damage negated.


    The popup was certainly surprising as the arrow clattered off his energy. How did Vlad become a Divine Entity? Though she was strong, she had yet to be classed that high. But then she saw it, his regalia. The Robes, the Staff, the Books, the Crown, and the silhouette of a great Black Pyramid above him. Vlad had, after taking control over The Empire, claimed the full inheritance of the Great Necromancer, Nagash. Added to his own and given The Empire to use as a staging ground for sucking more power from The Winds than had ever been done, he became a thing beyond mortal ken. Maybe not a true God like Ulric or Khaine, but honestly, at his power level, that was merely semantics. Bloodwolf came from the shadows, intent to fight the monster with his Master, but Vlad¡¯s staff crushed it¡¯s skull with a single swing, spilling it¡¯s blood across the flagstones and killing it in an instant. Estaria would have been worried, had she not got a popup telling her that Bloodwolf would be back in twenty four hours.


    ¡°I am a God, you understand? A GOD! Your weaponry can not hurt me!¡± Vlad shouted, raising his staff menacingly.


    ¡°Then what¡¯s that?¡± Estaria asked, pointing to his shoulder, where a thin trickle of blood flowed with almost mocking sloth, and dripped onto the floor. ¡°It might not look it right now, but these gauntlets are the Widowmaker. Doom of Aenarion, Talon of the Lord Of Murder, and most relevantly at this point. God-Slayer¡± Estaria smirked at that last one, as it pricked Vlad¡¯s heart with fear. Invincibility had a way of making one overconfident, and when danger finally came, it dawned in fire. Vlad wasn¡¯t going to take his death lying down, however, and so thrust his staff at Estaria. The wave of necrotic energy was small and contained, but she got the sense that it was not something to be hit by, Obsidian and high Wisdom would not save her from that. So she moved, like the twin-tailed comet across the sky, she moved through the streets of Altdorf, and then back, her fists clenched and making most impressive impact on Vlad¡¯s face, added to with Second Strike. Though the man, through magic or divinity, was more stable on his feet than the mountains themselves, and he barely shifted from the blow.


    Seeing his magic too slow, Vlad brought the staff around and struck out at Estaria, grazing her head as the woman barely avoided it, and with great bodily control, flicked a kick at him while she was twisting out of the way. It was avoided with vampiric agility, but Estaria was not done, planting her hands on the floor and twisting, lashing bladed kicks that he was forced to avoid. In the middle of this, she used Quicksilver Viper along with Second Strike and opened a large cut on his face. Taking advantage of the distraction of the blade biting into him, she span and threw her entire bodyweight and the momentum of the spin. That, was enough for him to be taken off his feet and blown across Altdorf, Estaria¡¯s superhuman strength adding incredible force to the strike. Not, that Estaria had the chance to rest or think. As Vlad was blown away, a tremendous Terrorgheist crashed down. Twice the size of a normal dragon, it had hundreds of Ghouls on it¡¯s back, and they were intent on feeding on the woman below them.


    The unfortunate part, was that despite the Terrorgheist¡¯s size and strength, it was an ant getting involved in a fight of beings so far beyond it no metaphor would suffice. Leaping and rolling into a spin, Estaria carved it¡¯s head into meat chunks, and blended the Ghouls with impunity, before looking back at Vlad, who had regained his footing and was back for more.


    ¡°Did you send these?¡± she asked.


    ¡°The whole Empire rallies to my defense. I will drown you in bodies if that is what is needed!¡± Vlad replied, holding his staff firmly and glaring at Estaria.


    ¡°I would say, it¡¯s quite a blunder¡± Estaria then held her arms out, and the massive tides of blood gathered around her, gathering into a tremendous, serrated blade that whirred with potency. A perfect match of Elouviana¡¯s beloved blade. It swung to Vlad, who flitted out of the way with arrogance confidence, and then a smaller, secondary blade cut him deep in his arm. It was here he was alerted to the wave of blades heading in every direction. The massive chainsword was just a distraction, and had since dissolved into an omnidirectional ocean of bladed blood. Vlad slammed his staff into the ground and channeled his full might into a shield of the Winds. It felt like an eternity in a sea that wished to flense him down to his bones. But eventually, the assault stopped, and the blood lost cohesion and fell away. Gasping, Vlad had his shield shattered by an incoming Estaria, and barely reflected the punch with his staff. Having been thrown off balance, Estaria threw herself off balance further and used the momentum to kick him in the face, cartwheeling back to a standing position after the blow.


    Estaria then turned, as Vlad rounded to attack her. Grasping one of her Bloodbane arrows, she threw herself towards him, driving the arrow towards his face. The Count recoiled, unsure if it could hurt him but not wanting to lose an eye to find out. Estaria then threw herself forward, flipping and crashing her foot into his skull and driving it into the ground. Rolling back, she crouched and tensed her body. Vlad rose from the ground, buoyed by the Winds and struck at her, the bladed edge of his staff driving forward and punching through Estaria¡¯s chest, as her fist, charged by ¡°Headripper Uppercut¡± smashed into his chin, and made good on it¡¯s name, tearing the Vampire¡¯s head from his body and launching it into the sky, so high that Estaria could not see it.


    The change was immediate, the dark filter of the sunlight dissolved, and the evening light brightened the world again. Estaria had slightly different issues however, and pulled the staff from her chest. It had scrapped her heart, and despite her durability, the staff was that of Nagash. She stood there for over a minute, letting her regeneration close the wounds that were screaming at her, until she stood high and regal again. Her breastplate had been punctured, the dress below it as well, which was obvious, couldn¡¯t have gotten to her heart if it didn¡¯t. Fortunately, it was over a cut, not a full penetration, and so her regeneration dealt with it. Estaria tossed the breastplate away, and collapsed. With Vlad dead, the bloodline would falter and the sudden scorching sun would take all those out in it. Those of his brood would die, those who were not, would lose immense potency as the power that came from him was now gone. Morr claimed hundreds of thousands of souls across the Empire, which might break something, but at this moment, she wasn¡¯t bothered. It was all, over.

 Epilogue

    With all her earthly concerns sorted, Estaria returned to Naggarond, and took her position with Filnon. Having less than 5% of the population left, The Empire was a deadlands for a few years. But eventually, colonists of all races flocked to it. The Wood Elves took over the forests, cleansed of Beastmen by the undead. The Dwarves and Humans took the lowlands, and more exotic races were splattered about the place, definite colonies sparse, most taking to the cities already made. The Empire - Now the Union Of The Living, to further spite the Vampires - became the greatest melding pot of culture in the World, with even Orc mercenaries being granted some land for services rendered in the Sylvanian War. Loud, Barbaric and Warlike, these Orcs were not savage like their cousins, and gained wealth through the many wars still to fight.


    Estaria herself, joined with every raid that Filnon took part in, which was most of them. The Orcs and the Skaven had taken massive damage from the Undead Hordes, but many campaigns were held to ensure they remained in their weakened state. Filnon and Estaria¡¯s beautiful dance of death carved through the Last Great Wargh, crushing the main battle line with a great tide of boiling blood and beheading a giant Orc by the name of Grimgore Ironhide. Thus ended the Orcs incursions out of the Badlands for over fifty years. Though, time is an enemy none can overcome, and as it passed, Estaria grew older, and older. The tales of the Wolf-Rider and her Queen Of Catastrophe wife spread across the Old World and eventually the New. The Druchii¡¯s new reputation as exceptional mercenaries went with it, and the culture changed over the decades. Old Dreadlords died in battle or through poorly fated rebellions against the new Witch-Queen, and were replaced by New Dreadlords. Though, everything comes to an end eventually, and a hundred years after Estaria¡¯s climatic battle with Vlad, she received news from The Empire.


    A new man out of the Chaos Wastes, Zariel Montoya, had finally bested Archeon, The Raving Madman Of The Wastes. From here, he took the man¡¯s equipment, and lead a new attack on Empire lands as the fifth Everchosen. The now ancient matron of blood was gearing up to go, when Filnon arrived in her room.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°You can¡¯t go. You are too old, you¡¯ll never survive a fight like that¡± her voice had a keening edge of desperation to it, but the gnarled Estaria simply rose a wrinkled hand and gave a smile.


    ¡°The Daughter of Khaine was never going to die in bed, Filnon. She must die in blood and fury¡± Estaria wiped the tears from Filnon¡¯s cheek, and looked to Bloodwolf. His fur was far more gray than red these days, and he moved with none of the grace he once had. But then, neither did Estaria.¡±I am far older than any human has the right to be, and my body is just aches and difficulties trapped in the memories of days where I moved like lightning and struck with the force of thunder¡± Estaria spoke, and then headed for the door.


    ¡°Then I come with you¡± Filnon spoke, not so much a suggestion as an order with the forceful power of a Queen behind it. There was no stopping that tone, and so the Druchii navy set sail. Meeting the Everchosen in battle was the glorious end that Estaria thought it would be, and a fitting end to her life. Though her stats were low in relation to what they had been at her peak, she still showed why she was to be feared, still earned the reputation of The Wolf Rider one last time, before she fell to the ground, and did not rise, heralded by one final box in her sight.


    You have died:


    Estaria Nightfury. Elector Countess of Estaland, Daughter of Khaine.


    Final level - 201


    Final stats;


    Strength: 200


    Stamina: 200


    Constitution: 200


    Dexterity: 200


    Agility: 200


    Precision: 200


    Intelligence: 200


    Wisdom: 200


    Luck: 200


    Leaderboard scoring: 1st.


    Reincarnate? Y/N