《The Chronicles of Dwynveia - a Slimeling LitRPG》 Prologue - The Antechamber Between Life and Death I was drowning. No¡­ that wasn¡¯t quite right. I was definitely submerged in a thick liquid, but¡­ it was comforting and warm like amniotic fluid. I didn¡¯t feel I was lacking air. Did I die and was about to be reborn? No¡­ that wasn¡¯t quite right either. I still had all my memories. How did I get there though? I remembered it being a cold morning in January, Anno Domini 2024, just a mere two months shy of my thirty-fourth birthday. The weather lately has been quite terrible. You know, that ever-so-wonderful combination of there still being some snow all around, cold rain, the temperature being high enough during the day so that the white plague just slightly melts and so low at night that it all freezes up again, turning like the entire ground into ice by early morning? Yeah. That kind of terrible weather. It¡¯s really easy to slip and hurt yourself. So¡­ maybe I did die. Just hit the ground with my head, and bye-bye Lily. Yes¡­ There was a sensation of falling. And then a flash. No¡­ that also wasn¡¯t quite right. Yes, I did slip, and the ground was rushing to meet me. It was A sensation of falling, but it wasn¡¯t THE sensation of falling. That one only came after the flash. After that things were a jumble. I felt some force pulling at me, but not managing to hold on. And what was I doing in that liquid? I tried to move but my limbs wouldn¡¯t listen to me. I still had them but I could feel them¡­ dissolve. There was no pain to it, only a sensation of becoming part of a greater whole. The weird thing was¡­ despite my body slowly ceasing to be my consciousness persisted. Soon, I realised that I wasn¡¯t alone. There were others - a chorus of voices that beckoned me to join them. They promised me a sense of belonging that nothing else could offer. Something I have dreamt of my entire life. Even then I could feel the sheer joy such an existence would entail. They also enticed me with access to a treasure trove of joint memories. A repository of knowledge that far exceeded what the human race would ever have access to. I moved to join them, but then something powerful stopped me. I could hear a sultry female voice say with a giggle: ¡®No¡­ this won¡¯t do at all.¡¯ A presence surrounded me and started pulling away from the great Hive Mind. My body was starting to reform¡­ but I felt I could control it this time. Become what I always wanted. I could feel the presence encouraging me to do it. So I shed some kilograms, accentuated some curves, swapped out the parts I didn¡¯t want with the ones I did and when I was happy with the results the presence took me out of the liquid. I found myself standing naked on a white disk suspended in the middle of pitch black void. Before me stood a slender pale woman with long white hair, and cold blue eyes. Her small breasts were covered by a black bare midriff tank top. Besides that, she was wearing blue jeans trousers and black-and-white sneakers. I also saw pink polish on her fingernails. The woman warmly smiled, pushed her right hip to the side and put her hand on it. ¡®Hello, love,¡¯ she said. I raised my hand in greeting. ¡®H-hi there,¡¯ I replied, my voice much more¡­ womanly than I was used to. ¡®I suppose you are the one who pulled me out of¡­ well¡­ whatever that was.¡¯ ¡®Indeed. My name is Ereshkigal. Well¡­ not really, but you of all people should understand the thing about deadnames.¡¯ I laughed. ¡®I guess so. Pardon me asking, Miss Ereshkigal, but¡­ what happened to me?¡¯ ¡®You didn¡¯t die, if that is what you were worried about. The short version is: your world and mine were passing close to each other, this caused rifts to form and you fell into one.¡¯ That answered one question. ¡®As for the liquid¡­ well¡­ you specifically ended up in my domain and fell into a nest of well¡­ slimes. You know what happened next.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®I couldn¡¯t save your original body, but I was able to reform it out of the slime before your consciousness was irretrievably lost. So good news: you are still you. Bad news: you are no longer human.¡¯ I was a bit disturbed by that revelation, but I wasn¡¯t that fond of my original body to begin with. In fact, for most of my life I felt trapped inside of it, so it didn''t seem to me like a big deal. ¡®I¡¯ll take that over being dead. Or well¡­ losing all my individuality which would amount to the same thing, I guess.¡¯ Ereshkigal nodded. ¡®Indeed. Well¡­ the worst news is: you can never go home again.¡¯ A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. This did hit me like Truck-kun would the Isekai protagonist, which I kinda became. I could feel tears well in my eyes when it was confirmed I would never see my sister or mother again. And that they would never learn what had happened to me. It would break their hearts. And who would take care of my cat? Before I could stop myself I was sitting on the disk weeping. Ereshkigal sat beside me and hugged me. ¡®There¡­ there¡­¡¯ Ereshkigal comforted me. ¡®Let it all out.¡¯ We sat there in silence. Eventually, I felt ready to continue and asked: ¡®W-why¡­ are you so nice to me?¡¯ Ereshkigal smiled. ¡®Because you need help, so why wouldn''t I be? And you would still need it for a while. Right now¡­ you are too weak to survive on Mevara. It¡¯s not your fault. You come from a very different world. Ain¡¯t no much use for fighting skills in an office job after all. I will put you under the care of a man named Zedram. He is an old monk living in a monastery near a village called Jolcir. He¡¯ll teach you the ways of this world and in turn, you¡¯ll help him around the place.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Seems like a fair deal. More than fair even, given you saved my life.¡¯ ¡®Ah. Gratitude. A rare thing nowadays. Anyway, before I send you on your way a couple more things to keep in mind. First, you should keep in mind that it¡¯s best not to advertise that you are no longer a human being. Monster races tend not to be the most popular in some circles.¡¯ ¡®And what am I exactly?¡¯ ¡®You, my dear, are a slimeling. A tenebral slimeling to be exact, one infused by the power of shadow that permeates my realm. You outwardly look human, but your body has some extra properties you may find to be to your liking. You can check what they are on your interface.¡¯ ¡®My what?¡¯ I asked, surprised. Ereshkigal facepalmed and shook her head. Then she snapped her fingers. A message appeared before my eyes, which jumpscared me. Interface initiated Please provide your name ¡®Should have warned you.¡¯ Ereshkigal chuckled. ¡®Anyway - since you are basically reborn here you might as well finish it and get yourself a new name.¡¯ I thought about it and said: ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ It was my online handle, so might as well, since that was how I thought of myself in my free time. Name accepted. ¡®So¡­ Lilyth,¡¯ Ereshkigal said using my new name. ¡®Do you have any more questions?¡¯ ¡®Just one, so far. I imagine Zedram will explain most other things I am wondering about.¡¯ Ereshkigal nodded at me to continue. ¡®Where are we?¡¯ I asked, making a sweep with my hand to indicate the void we were in ¡®I should probably mention that I am the local goddess of Shadow and Death. This is what most call ¡°The Antechamber between Life and Death¡±. It¡¯s the entrance to my domain. I didn''t want to spook you further by talking to you in, you know, the actual land of the dead.¡¯ ¡®I appreciate that,¡¯ I said weakly. ¡®Anyway, I will be watching your progress, so you might get a tour of this place if you manage to impress me. While you are alive that is. I might throw a quest or two your way too. After all, it would be weird if there weren¡¯t a-n-y strings attached.¡¯ I could have sworn there was a heart at the end of that sentence. ''Anyway, I can¡¯t release you into Zedram¡¯s care when you are butt-naked. Not that I don¡¯t appreciate the sight.¡¯ I completely forgot about that. And... did she just flirt with me? Ereshkigal snapped her fingers again and a mirror and a pile of clothes appeared: a green sleeveless tunic, black linen pants with a leather belt, black leather combat boots and a set of modern-looking white bra and panties. I dressed myself, the clothes being a perfect fit, and looked at myself in the mirror. It felt weird to look at the stranger that was reflected there. My shoulder-length hair went from dark brown to raven black with some blue streaks, my skin was almost white and hairless, my face was way sleeker and my nose straighter. The weirdest part was the pointed ears. I didn''t remember adding those when restructuring my body. Ereshkigal must have sensed my confusion as she quickly said: ¡®Oh, I gave you those. They will help you explain why you are so pale. Just say that you have elven blood and most people should leave you alone.¡¯ ¡®Thank you.¡¯ ¡®No problem, love. A quick note about those clothes: They are soulbound so unless they are completely destroyed they will regenerate any damage over time and you can resummon them at will if you lose them. You don¡¯t have to worry about washing them too, but¡­ Ereshkigal snapped her slender fingers again and a backpack similar to the one I had back on Earth appeared by my side. There was a canteen attached to it. ¡®There are some spares there, along with some clothes for cold weather. Plus whatever I was able to save from your old backpack. The canteen is a small bonus¡¯ She beamed at me. ¡®Th-thank you¡­¡¯ I said, once again on the verge of tears again. She approached me and gave me a hug. ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it. Now stay safe, Love.¡¯ She raises her hand again but before she could do anything a set of messages flashed before my eyes: INTERFERENCE FROM GOD-ENTITY: ERESHKIGAL CLEARED . . . . SUBJECT: LILYTH REACQUIRED . . . . RESUMING SUMMONING Then there was another flash and the world went dark. Chapter 1 - Welcome to Dwynveia I woke up with a terrible headache lying on something hard. A set of messages flashed before my eyes. Network connection lost¡­ Reconnecting¡­ . . . The reconnection attempt failed. Looking for alternative networks . . . . . Network found. Welcome to Dwynveia The fuck? I thought through the haze of pain. Oh¡­. Right. Must be the interface thing. This required further investigation, but, first, I had to figure out where I was. So, with an inner sigh, I braced myself and tried to crack my eyes open. The jolt of pain radiating deep into my brain told me it wasn¡¯t the best of ideas. By reflex that was well-honed by regular migraines, I tried to roll on my side to hide myself from the light. What I didn¡¯t count on was the surface I was lying on suddenly ending. I had barely enough time to think ¡°oh, shit¡± before my fall was painfully broken by whatever was beneath. ¡®Ow,¡¯ I muttered, my entire body now hurting. I tried to push myself to a sitting position. This only resulted in me slamming the back of my head into whatever I fell from, as I forgot it was there. ¡®Fuck¡­¡¯ I hissed. I saw a paper doll of myself projected against the upper left corner of my eyelids. Its head flashed red and remained coloured slightly pink, while the rest of the silhouette remained white. After a second or two the marker disappeared. I¡¯ve decided to sit there until the pain subsided. I don¡¯t know how long it took. Ten Minutes? Maybe twenty? Eventually, I felt brave enough to open my eyes again. I cracked one of my eyes open. I didn¡¯t feel any discomfort, so I slowly opened both of them. I blinked away the blurriness and noticed I was in some sort of a dimly lit bricked chamber, though once my sight fully adjusted to the poor light I saw that the walls were built from large stone blocks that wouldn¡¯t be out of place as a building material for mediaeval fortress walls. The floor was made from some kind of polished tiles. On closer inspection though, it seemed their smoothness came more from time and countless feet that walked on them rather than from any kind of a tool. Some of the tiles appeared to still have remnants of paint on them, but in the poor light it was hard to tell what colour it was, and there wasn¡¯t enough of it to even guess what was once painted on them. And as far as I was concerned that particular mystery could be lost forever. I never cared all that much about the history of architecture. While I was looking around I noticed that the backpack I got from Ereshkigal was near me. I must have missed it on my way down. Speaking of which¡­ I didn¡¯t feel like getting up from the sitting position yet, so I twisted and turned to get a good look at the object. Best I could tell, it was a large stone block. It lacked any ornaments and looked to be almost unnaturally smooth like it was carved with modern tools, which felt out of place in this ancient-looking chamber. I had no idea what its purpose was. Was it some sort of an altar? Sarcophagus? Catafalque? Resigning myself to the fact I couldn''t sit there forever, I grabbed the edge of the altar or whatever and pulled myself up. I was still feeling slightly woozy, so I held on to it until I was fully steady. Finally on my feet, I got my first good look at the chamber, though, as it turned out, there wasn¡¯t much to look at. It was a fairly simple rectangular room lit by two torches in wall sconces. The chamber¡¯s centrepoint was the whatever-the-stone-thing-I-woke-on-was. I noticed that there were some blue-white glowing characters etched into the wall beside me. In the opposite wall, there was a closed heavy wooden door with a brass ring knocker. I¡¯ve decided to get a closer look at the glowing letters on the wall as maybe they held some answers. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, it wouldn''t be so simple. The inscription had three lines each written in a different character set which, and I was quite sure of that, didn''t look like any modern script commonly used on Earth. The first line was written in what looked to be some flourishy bastard child of Kanji and the Arabic alphabet. There were all sorts of hoops, lines and dots there, inscribed by someone who clearly had a lot of enthusiasm, but if you followed the main line, eventually the letter just abruptly ended and another complex drawing began. The next one was weirder still, as it appeared to be written in cuneiform, or at least a script very similar to it. I¡¯ve seen pictures of the old Mesopotamian tablets before, but it was years ago, so I couldn¡¯t be hundred percent sure. The last line was, at first glance, quite similar to the first one, but on closer inspection, I saw there were significant differences. The letters/sigils, though lacking flourish, were also very complicated, but the way they flowed felt¡­ right. Despite it being the first time I saw the inscription, I knew that every loop was in the perfect place for it and had an ideal shape, each dot and line was the right size and correctly aligned with the rest of the character. So, we definitely have three different languages here, I thought. Or maybe a single language with three different character sets. I touched letters from the first line with a finger. It was slightly warm. I traced along it and while doing so, I noticed that somehow the flow made more sense when the movement was done right-to-left, though I wasn¡¯t able to tell for sure. Oddly enough, even the first two lines lacked any imperfections, which was unusual for any hand-made work. I was curious what caused them to glow. Magic? Some fluorescent powder? But then, some remnants of it would be left on my finger. I rubbed it against my thumb to be sure. Nothing. Definitely magic then. I saw a blinking red exclamation mark in the upper right corner of my vision. I focused on it and a box with notifications appeared: The following attributes have progressed: Intelligence: +5% (5% total progress to level 17) The following skills have progressed: Insight: +10% (10% total progress to level 18) Linguistics: +5% (5% total progress to level 41) Interesting. So I have skills and attributes now. How do I access them though? My first idea was to think of the word ¡°attributes¡±. A box appeared with a list.
Attributes
Physical Progress Mental Progress
Strength 8 0% Intelligence 16 5%
Dexterity 12 0% Wisdom 12 0%
Agility 7 0% Willpower 12 0%
Endurance 7 0% Cunning 8 0%
Vitality 6 0% Resilience 6 0%
Perception 9 0% Faith 3 0%
Appearance 12 0% Charisma 6 0%
Okay. That¡¯s something. Next, I thought ¡°skills¡± and, likewise, I was rewarded with a list:
Lore - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Insight Novice 17 10%
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Lore - Humanities
Name Rank Level Progress
Linguistics Journeyslime 40 5%
Earth Literature Apprentice 25 0%
Earth History Novice 10 0%
Lore - Sciences
Name Rank Level Progress
Data Analysis Apprentice 30 0%
Mathematics Novice 10 0%
Computing Novice 15 0%
Survival - General
Name Rank Level Progress
First Aid Novice 2 0%
Sense of Direction Novice 10 0%
Crafting - Cooking
Name Rank Level Progress
General Novice 2 0%
A lot of my ¡°real-life¡± skills seemed to have some degree of applicability here. Probably most of them would be useless in the long run, but hope springs eternal. I wondered whether there was a list of all the options I could view. Options? I thought. The following options are available. You can access them by thinking or saying their name: I started to go through the ones I hadn¡¯t seen yet. The Basic Details were bog-standard character sheet stuff.
Basic Details
Name Lilyth Race Tenebral Slimeling
Gender Transwoman Age 33
Level 0 (0/500 exp) Class Corpo
Rank - Perk Points -
I remembered Ereshkigal mentioning I could check my race here. It took me a few tries, but, eventually, I managed to open up its description. Race: Tenebral Slimeling Type: Magical - Outer Being Bonuses: Maluses Pretty cool, I thought and returned to going over my character sheet. I didn¡¯t have any abilities but I did have traits.
Traits
Name Level Progress
Neurodivergence N/A N/A
The Queen''s Raivarian N/A N/A
Entomophobia 08/10 Special
I called up the description of the "Queen¡¯s Raivarian" trait, as I had no idea what it could be. Trait: The Queen¡¯s Raivarian Type: Magical Effects: Allows you to use and understand, both in speech and writing, Raivarian - the common language on the continent of Andermon on Dwynveia. Wait¡­ I thought. Dwynveia? What was the world Ereshkigal wanted to put me on called again? Mevara? So I ended up on a completely different one. Did she intercept me? If so, was she the one to drop me into the slime? Or was it an ¡°Oops, my bad¡± situation? Why lie to me though? I can¡¯t deny that I wasn¡¯t particularly thrilled about the whole thing, but I shrugged. It was what it was. Unless I had a chance to confront Ereshkigal again, any speculation about her motivations was pointless. And ultimately I did like my new body. Plus... Based on the messages she WAS trying to prevent me from ending up here. So¡­ Suddenly a new notification popped up: New Quest Discovered: The Lying Goddess Type: Faction Difficulty: Hard Description: Ereshkigal has lied to you about the circumstances of your arrival. Confront her about it. Objectives: Rewards: Do you accept this quest? Yes/No I immediately declined it. Yeah. No need to rehash that with her. She probably had good intentions. And if not¡­ well¡­ I don¡¯t want to antagonise a goddess of death. ¡¯ Another notification immediately popped up. Secret Quest Completed: Forgiveness Description: You found a capacity within yourself to forgive Ereshkigal for her actions (or at least to give her the benefit of the doubt for now). Rewards: Penalties: So am I just a pawn in some weird great game between cosmic entities? That fucking sucks. Deciding to put that particular issue on the ¡°later¡± pile, I¡¯ve turned my attention to the perk point I got. I asked the interface what I could spend it on. Use of Perk Points That¡¯s¡­ neat. None of my skills are of any use in the current predicament, so I guess I¡¯ll hold on to it. At any rate, it was high time I stopped faffing around and tried to figure out what to do next. First things first, I checked my backpack. It was surprisingly spacious. Inside there were three spare sets of clothes, two hoodies- one bottle green and one lavender, a modern-looking navy blue double-breasted greatcoat, and my notebook and a set of pencils. I was genuinely shocked that all that stuff fit inside, especially the greatcoat. The backpack defininitely was larger on the inside. I looked at it quizzically and a text box appeared in front of my eyes. Item: Backpack of Holding Type: Magical - Bag Rarity: Coven-made - Rare Durability: 50/50 Traits: Oh... Ooooooh. My clothes, as Ereshkigal promised, were all soulbound, but didn''t have any other properties. My notebook and pencils were just regular items, at least by Earth''s standards. The Canteen I got though¡­ Item: Neverending Canteen Class: Utility - Magical Rarity: Very Rare Quality: Good Durability: 40/40 Charges: 60/60 Contents: 2000/2000 ml Effects: Traits: So now I just need to find a neverending snack machine and I¡¯m golden, I chuckled to myself. Food was going to be an issue though. I hoped I could somehow scrounge something up. In a pinch even mushrooms or moss would do, I guessed, but I wasn¡¯t looking forward to testing that particular quality of my body. I was packing my stuff back when an idea struck me then. I should write those symbols down. They may be important. So, I grabbed my notebook and tried to copy the three inscriptions. It took me a few tries to get it exactly right. The process also confirmed my theory that they were written right to left. As soon as I was done, two things happened. First, the writing on the paper glowed and slightly shifted, getting rid of any small mistakes I made. Then the notification icon started blinking again. I opened it as maybe it would explain what just happened. New Skill Acquired: Arcane Writing - Current Level: 1 (50% total progress to level 2) The following attributes have progressed: Intelligence: +10% (15% total progress to level 17) Notice: You have created a very hard magical inscription despite lacking the necessary skills. You have received 1 perk point for this achievement (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) New Quest Acquired: The Three Inscriptions Type: Mystery (Epic) Difficulty: Impossible Description: You have found a set of three inscriptions on the walls of the chamber you were summoned in. Find a way to translate them. Objectives: Rewards: I like how optimistic the interface is about my chances. Then again, I have no idea where to start. The additional perk point is a good get though. If I find a weapon I¡¯ll be able to learn how to use it. I folded the scroll I had created and hid it in the notebook. Another thing occurred to me then. Hang on... I have just created a magical scroll. What if one of the spells written on the wall was a "Fuck-you Fireball" or something? I could have blown myself up out of ignorance. Desperately trying not to think about this anymore, I finished packing and headed to the door. When I touched the door knocker another message box popped up before my eyes, making me jump with a yelp. New Quest Acquired: The Trial of the Champion Type: Dungeon (Legendary) Difficulty: Deadly Description: Greetings, Aspirant! You have been chosen by our spell as a potential champion. While we cannot reveal the details of your quest yet, know that our world is in grave danger and we need all the best and the brightest to help save it. A set of trials awaits you to see if you are worthy and to prepare you for the upcoming task. Good luck! Objectives: Rewards: Well¡­ fuck. Chapter 2 - The Trial Begins I tried my best not to panic but didn''t make too good a job of it. A deadly dungeon? What the fuck?! I took a few deep breaths and steadied myself. I slowly accepted my fate and, expecting the worst, I braced myself and pulled the door open. Nothing immediately jumped out to eat my face, which I took as a good omen. The feeling quickly faded after I saw what was on the other side of the door. The next room was a mostly empty oval chamber, far larger than the one I was currently in. It appeared to be more a case of a natural cave that developed in some reddish brown rock being adapted into a room than something that was purposefully built. On the wall to the left of me, there was another sconce with a burning torch dimly illuminating the chamber. Below it, there was a pile of what looked like broken shelves, next to which a skeleton sat slumped against the wall. Under the right wall lay an overturned table and a chair. I was surprised they were intact, given the state the shelves were in. Finally, I could see an outline of another door in the far wall. Carefully, I stepped into the room, eyes all around my head. When nothing happened, my first idea was to check out the table. After a few steps, I heard the altar chamber door creaking and then slamming shut. I looked back at it and saw there was no handle on this side. No way back now, I thought. As I approached the table, I noticed a cruciform object lying on the other side of it. I hurried over there and confirmed my suspicion that it was a sword in black scabbard. I picked it up and looked the weapon over. It had a simple metal guard, a leather-wrapped hilt long enough that you could comfortably hold the weapon in both hands and a pommel with a dull sea-green gem in it. It didn¡¯t look like any precious stone I knew from Earth, but I was so deep in the interdimensional travel rabbit hole that if I found gems walking around on spider legs I would treat it as normal. The blade looked to be around ninety centimetres long. I unsheathed it and gasped in marvel. The metal was covered in a series of intricate carvings, not unlike those I found on the chamber wall. Upon closer inspection, I saw that they definitely were a similar kind of runes, but once again the script had a different quality to it than the others. This time around the letters were extremely flourishy. At least some of them¡­ the rest were very subdued. I couldn''t make heads or tails of it. Why did I find four different alphabets here in less than thirty minutes? Three of these seemed to be related too in the way Polish, Turkish, English, German and most other European languages all use roughly the same set of characters, but each has their own spin of them. Like the ? in German, ? or ? in Polish or ? in Turkish. In the end, I¡¯ve decided to put that mystery on the ¡®way later¡¯ pile. I had more pressing concerns. Like getting food. Or surviving this shithole. That being said, I did check out the stats of the sword. Item: Inscribed Steel Bastard Sword Class: Weapon - Special - Bastard Sword Rarity: Very Rare Quality: Good Durability: 50/50 Does "special" refer to it having some sort of extra properties OR is it just due to me being able to wield it in two different ways? I wondered. I gave it a few test swings first with one hand and then with both. I had a much easier time with the latter probably due to my Kendo experience. That and I wasn¡¯t the strongest person out there, to begin with. Now that I was armed I¡¯ve decided to allocate my perk points into learning how to use those things. Note: There are two skills that much the description of ¡®Bastard Sword¡¯ Which one do you wish to learn? I thought ¡®Two-Handed¡¯ and felt my mind flood with knowledge of some basic stances, strikes and parries. New Skill Acquired: Bastard Swords - Two Handed - Current Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) I checked my skillsheet and saw that a new table has appeared there.
Martial - Swords
Name Rank Level Progress
Bastard Sword - Two-handed Novice 1 0%
I resheathed the sword and, out of curiosity, decided to check out what the scabbard did, if anything. In video games, they sometimes had cool properties. Alas, this wasn¡¯t one of them funky ones. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Item: Leather Scabbard Class: Utility - Sheath Rarity: Common Quality: Average Durability: 10/10 There were some loops attached to the leather on one side of the sheath, so I took off my pants belt, pulled it through them and then put it back on in a way that the scabbard would be on my left side. I took a few practice steps. It felt awkward to walk around with it and I didn¡¯t like how my legs now felt a bit lopsided, but I supposed I would have to get used to it. I chuckled. There were a LOT of things for me to get used to about the new situation. I just hoped I would live long enough to do so. Business of getting armed taken care of, I''ve turned my attention to my hapless companion and the pile of broken furniture next to them. From my current position, I noticed there was a long thick stick in the pile of broken furniture. My curiosity piqued I walked over there to investigate. I pulled it out and saw that the stick was, in fact, a quarterstaff. Item: Wooden Quarterstaff Class: Weapon - Two-Handed - Polearm Rarity: Normal - Uncommon Quality: Good Durability 39/40 Traits: Sturdy - 50% slower durability loss That trait certainly looks nice. The staff was slightly longer than I was tall. I tried to remember what I knew about using those, but the only thing I could recall was some Robin Hood movie. You know, the scene where Robin and one of the Merry Men duel over a river. I also dimly remembered seeing some trailer of a Polish fantasy movie that I don¡¯t think ever came out. Some scantily-clad chick was using a quarterstaff to beat up some dudes in front of a tavern. That wasn¡¯t a terribly good base to even start trying to figure out how to fight with a weapon. Then, something occurred to me. Don¡¯t you fight with those cotton-swab-looking staves kind of the same way? It¡¯s not like I ever actually trained with those, but I did see way more movies with those. That, and I sometimes playfighted with a broom. So, I grabbed the staff at about quarter-length from each end and did a sweeping motion like with one. It felt really awkward, so I assumed I was doing something wrong. My first thought was to try to find a better way to hold it. After a few tries something clicked and I found a way to hold it that best matched my height and body. From that point, I was quickly able to figure out some basic attacks, though without anyone to train with defending would be an issue. I held the staff in my hand for a moment and pondered whether to take it. After agonising over it for a moment, I decided to leave the staff behind, as I didn¡¯t have anything to help me carry it around. I could remember seeing people in martial arts movies having some leather harnesses that let them strap staves to their backs. Unfortunately, those were fresh out around here, and I didn¡¯t feel like holding this thing constantly in my hands. I stood the staff against the wall, but it immediately slid sideways and clattered on the floor. I shrugged and left it lying there. It wasn''t like I had to keep this place clean and orderly. I turned to examine my silent roommate and knelt by them. The skeleton appeared to be quite old as there was not a single scrap of meat or clothes left on it. Other than that it looked to be in excellent condition. Too excellent in fact, as there was not even a speck of dust on it. None of the objects in the room were dirty, I realised. I would say it was very weird, but, given what happened to me in the past hour, this was barely a blip on the radar. ''I wonder what happened to you,'' I said to them. ''Were you like me? Just another random soul ripped from their world? What happened to you I wonder? Did you see you were in way over your head and decided to wait here for the end?'' The skeleton didn''t respond. I nodded, stood up and started heading toward the exit when out of the blue I heard scraping behind me. I turned around and saw the skeleton was now intently staring at me, red orbs glowing in its eye sockets. ''WHAT THE FUCK!¡¯ I screamed while stumbling back. I tripped over my own legs and fell on my ass. I stared in dread fascination as the skeleton started to slowly rise, its bones quietly chattering. On its way up, it picked up the quarterstaff lying on the floor next to it. Then the bony bastard slowly began shambling towards me. I started crawling back, but I stopped once I felt the scabbard hitting my leg. The sword. I scrambled to my feet and with shaking hands unsheathed the blade and assumed the stance I remembered from the skill increase. It was just in time because the monster was upon me, the staff raised over its skull. It swung the polearm at me with surprising speed. I barely had enough time to raise my sword to block the strike. The staff hit the blade with terrible strength and bounced off it. I could feel pain spreading throughout my arm, but I somehow held on to my sword. My lack of experience was showing, as before I had time to reset my stance the skeleton was already swinging again, this time from the left. I didn¡¯t manage to react and the staff connected with my side with a loud thwack. I screamed in pain. The paper doll once again appeared but I quickly dismissed it. I knew where I just got hit. No need to tell me. At least I don''t have to worry about internal damage, I thought grimly and started backing away from the skeleton. Thanks to that, I barely avoided another overskull strike. I could feel the air movement from the swipe on my face. ¡®Fuck,¡¯ I swore and raised my sword again to parry another swipe from the left. This time I managed to block it, but I couldn¡¯t just keep defending, I needed to attack. The skeleton raised its bony arms to attack me from above again. Hang on, I thought as I watched the staff descend. I somehow managed to deflect the attack with a swing of my sword. I was starting to get the hang of the knowledge I got. The next strike should come from the left. And it did. Despite me knowing about it I wasn¡¯t fast enough to defend against it, which won a painful hit to my hip. I swore again, but at least I had the beginnings of a plan now. That thing is fucking mindless. Just programmed with a specific pattern. I had to act. The next strike would be from above again. I would have a brief window of opportunity to attack afterward. I carefully watched the skeleton raise the staff. As the weapon began its descent, I tried to dodge to the side, but my poor physical condition once again showed its face, as the monster managed to hit me on the calf. ''God fucking dammit!'' I screamed in pain I had to continue with my plan, as I would die if I didn¡¯t. I swung my sword sideways at the skeleton. My blade got between its ribcage and pelvis. My heart sank as I thought I missed, but then my sword hit the monster in its spine and shattered the old bone. The skeleton, now in two parts, collapsed onto the floor. I fell to my knees in a mix of pain and relief. Then, I heard scraping sounds again coming from the direction of the felled monster. While the severing of its spine caused the skeleton to lose control of its legs, its upper half was, apparently, still operational. It was lying on its back and trying to claw itself upright with its bony fingers. ¡®Oh, you motherfucker,¡¯ I muttered and with the rest of my strength dragged myself back to my feet. I limped towards the undead monstrosity, gripped my sword in both hands and drove it into its skull, shattering it with a loud crack. That, finally, did the trick. Level 4 Skeleton has been slain You have received 400 experience points. (400/500 total experience points progress to level 1) I grabbed the quarterstaff that was still gripped by one of skeleton¡¯s hands. Then, I started smashing the bones of the undead monster with it, punctuating each hit with a scream of anger, frustration and pain. Chapter 3 - At the Crossroads After I got all the emotions out of my system I dropped the staff onto what was left of the skeleton and fell back on the floor. I think it was at that moment the reality of my situation fully hit me. I was no longer at home. I would never be back. I have just almost died. There was no guarantee I would survive the next room, or the one after that. I felt tears filling up my eyes again but I fought them. This was no time for a breakdown. ¡®I have to move,¡¯ I muttered to myself. ¡®Yes.¡¯ Now that adrenaline was slowly leaving my system all the injuries were slowly starting to hurt me. I summoned up the paper doll. Several large deep pink circles were covering the places where I got struck by the staff. There were also a bunch of light pink spots where I assumed I had some scrapes I didn''t notice. That thing is really neat for a quick medical check. I briefly considered whether I should check if some of these required dressing, not that I had any bandages, but then I remembered I couldn''t bleed and was immune to disease. My new body is really coming in handy. Out of sheer curiosity, I lifted my tunic, which I then realised felt really damp on my side and checked the spot where the bony bastard hit me. My skin was definitely damaged there, but it looked¡­ weird. My side had this vivid blueish-black discoloration that appeared to be semi-solid. There was also an already congealed streak of black liquid coming out of it. I quickly covered it back with the tunic. Nope, I shuddered, my inhumanness really apparent to me for the first time. Alas, dealing with that trauma also had to wait. ¡®On the bright side, maybe I¡¯ll die before I have to worry about that,¡¯ I muttered to myself and chuckled. I saw my notification button blinking like crazy so I figured I might as well check it out. The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +70% (70% total progress to level 9) Dexterity: +10% (10% total progress to level 13) Agility: +30% (30% total progress to level 8) Endurance: +50% (50% total progress to level 8) Vitality: +90% (90% total progress to level 7) Intelligence +2% (17% total progress to level 17) Resilience: +5% (5% total progress to level 7) The following skills have progressed: Insight: +5% (15% total progress to level 18) Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +30% (30% total progress to level 2) Those are quite substantial gains for such a short fight. I wonder - is this because of me fighting a monster of much higher level, or is some other factor at play here? I rested a bit more, and once I felt ready I gathered myself off the floor, picked my sword up from where I dropped it before the concussive therapy session, resheathed it and started heading towards the exit. I had a slight limp due to my injuries and each step sent a jolt of pain through the left side of my body. Yeah. This would definitely suck. I carefully opened the door and saw a bored-out tunnel with a stone tile-covered floor. There were more of these funky sconces on the walls lighting my path, but I could see these would only take me so far, as the chamber at the end of the corridor was dark. I tried to remove one of the torches from a sconce but it wouldn''t budge. So, I slowly advanced watching my every step. I wasn¡¯t particularly worried about mechanical traps - anything that was actually within the realm of technical possibility would be visible from far away, even in the dim torch light. After all, you can¡¯t hide a wooden beam or a loaded crossbow in a cramped tunnel, even in this shitty light. No, what I was concerned about were magical traps. A trigger plate that causes something to fire a magic bolt straight at your face wouldn¡¯t need much, if any, space I surmised. I finally got to the end of the corridor. By then I was quite far away from the last torch and something weird happened. Instead of being blind, I was able to see everything quite clearly, albeit in a greyish-blue hue. It was like looking through night vision goggles but in a less annoying colour. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Oh right. I have darksight. Without exiting it yet, I peered outside. The passage opened into a spacious chamber that looked to be another natural cavern. While the floor was tiled, the rest appeared to have been adapted from a natural structure. Parts of the wall to the left have been dug out, turning it into some sort of a monstrous half-collapsed stair-looking-three-tiered construction, each ¡°step¡± roughly two metres high. I could climb them in a pinch, between the collapsed bits and the fact that the sides of the steps rather than fully vertical were at a steep incline and had foot and handholds dug into them. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to that though as I knew next to nothing about climbing. It was really hard to tell from my vantage point but I thought I could see a tunnel entrance on the highest tier. The best I could tell whatever-it-was was abandoned mid-project and then deteriorated over time. For one, I couldn¡¯t see any of the finishing touches, for instance, the stone still looked very rough. There were also no fixtures of any kind on it. In contrast, the remaining walls and the ceiling were smoothed out and some of the walls had those sconces I kept seeing on them. There was also a massive probably white crystal hanging from the ceiling, but like with everything else I could not even begin to guess what the hell it was for. The room was a crossroads of some kind, as there were corridor entrances in the opposite wall and the one to the right of me. I could see a crack in the wall next to the entrance in front of me, a small trickle of water coming out of it and forming a small pool of water in the corner of that wall and the one with the staircase. There must have been drainage of some sort in the floor there, as from what I could see, the level of water seemed to be stable. This finding had me very concerned, as it meant there probably was either an aquifer or an underground river slowly leaking into this chamber. God only knew how much damage the water already did to the whole complex, especially if parts of it were wholly man-made. The exit to the right lacked any obvious dangers, so I decided I would check it out next. But first I had to deal with a certain elephant in the room, or rather with ten skeletons lying on the floor. Like anything I¡¯ve seen here so far, there was not even a speck of dust on any of them, but most of them were quite heavily damaged. Some were missing parts of their limbs, and/or had cracked ribs or skulls. There were all sorts of dented and rusty weapons lying by each skeleton and I could see remnants of tattered clothes and armour on most of them. One skeleton was notably different from the rest though. It was short, stocky, naked and, most importantly, undamaged. The skeleton was holding a rusty short sword in its bony hand. A dwarf? I wondered and unsheathed my sword. Slowly, I walked into the chamber. Predictably, the dwarven skeleton started to get up the moment I entered. Deciding not to entertain any of its bullshit, and against the protests of my wounded leg I charged it and kneed it in the ribcage the moment the skeleton was up. Its brittle bones shattered and the monster fell back to the ground. As the undead tried to gather itself from the ground I stomped on its head shattering it. Level 0 Ancient Dwarven Skeleton has been slain You have earned 50 experience points (450/500 total experience points progress to level 1) Level 0? That¡¯s an odd enemy spread. ¡°We never expected you to survive the first room, so we didn''t bother with setting up this one¡±? I shrugged. I would take an easy win. I looked around. None of the other skeletons seemed inclined to come and say hello, so I figured that I might rummage around a bit, and see if anything useful was left. My search proved mostly fruitless. Initially, I approached each skeleton carefully and poked them with a sword from a safe distance, but after a few failed to react, I resheathed my sword and walked around freely. Sadly, the skeletons were either picked free of useful items or never had any to begin with. I was just about to give up when I saw a small glass bottle filled with some liquid hidden under one of the bodies. I picked it up and examined it. Item: Lesser Health Potion Type: Alchemical Rarity: Specialist - Common Effect: Restores a small amount of health I wanted to quaff it immediately, but after a brief consideration decided to save it for later. I might have worse wounds to deal with later. Gotta be strategic with my¡­ two resources. Well¡­ three if you count the canteen. I put the bottle inside my backpack and headed inside the right-side tunnel. Like with the previous one the walls and ceiling were smooth stone, and the floor was covered in tiles. Thanks to my darksight I could see clearly what was in front of me, best I could tell the ability had a range of about twenty metres, so I walked at my normal pace. My leg almost didn¡¯t hurt anymore, so I wasn¡¯t hindered by that either. The tunnel was fairly long - it took me maybe three minutes to cross it. The only interesting feature of it was a burned-out spot on the floor, roughly halfway through. It seemed like someone splattered acid there. I stepped over it and moved on. Eventually, I saw the exit of the tunnel, but to my dismay, I discovered that the chamber it led to was partially collapsed. I wanted to turn around, but then I spotted a closed wooden chest to the left of the pile of rocks that likely blocked another tunnel. Suspicious, I thought, as the chances of there being anything useful in that chest were astronomically low. Come to think of it¡­ it must have been the luckiest chest in existence given how all the rocks have just missed it. Still¡­ I wasn¡¯t in a position to be picky. I could always take the ¡°poke with my sword¡± approach and leg it if it turns out to be a mimic. So, with minor trepidation, I entered the chamber. I made a few steps towards the chest when something hit me from the right side, like a belated visit from Truck-kun. First, there was a brief sensation of flight, and then I bounced a few times off the floor. Finally, my back hit the wall. I wanted to both scream and vomit from pain, but that would waste precious seconds I likely did not have. ¡®Oh, you absolute motherfucker¡­¡¯ I said through gritted teeth and somehow dragged myself to my feet. I looked at the monster. It was a tall, muscular man wearing what I recognized to be the olive drab uniform of the US Army. His skin was pale and waxy and his hate-filled eyes shone with light. This was no mindless monster like the skeletons. It started lumbering towards me. Chapter 4 -Tenebral Stalker The paper doll in the corner of my vision was flashing in deep crimson across the entire torso. The colour didn''t change once the flashing ceased. I would need to take care of this quickly. I quickly unsheathed my sword and charged the creature aiming my slash at its neck. It made a grab at my blade, but wasn¡¯t able to fully stop it. I lopped off half of its hand, but it was enough to deflect my sword from its neck. While I was still trying to recover from the missed attack it punched me in my stomach with its healthy fist, which spread more waves of intense pain across my body. The red on the silhouette¡¯s stomach deepened to the point of being almost black. The soldier followed up with a jab to my side with its other, damaged, fist, but it lacked the oomph of the other strike, as the force of its first strike made me stagger a few steps back. FUCK! This was bad. Very bad. I would probably have a chance for one more attack before I was overwhelmed. I gripped the sword in both hands and ran at the undead monstrosity again. This time, I wasn¡¯t going to do any fancy attacks - I just wanted to run it through. The undead soldier tried to stop me, but it was too slow. My sword penetrated its chest, and the momentum of my run toppled it. I also lost my balance and we both tumbled to the floor. Revenant¡¯s head smashed on one of the rocks lying on the floor and the light in its eyes dissipated. I rolled off the dead soldier and dropped to the floor, where I lay panting. I have survived. Again. A number of notifications flashed before my eyes. Level 3 Lesser Revenant has been slain You have received 300 experience points (750/500 total experience points progress to level 1) You are now Level 1 (250/1000 total experience points progress to level 2) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) You have been assigned a class: Tenebral Stalker Note: This class cannot be changed New Trait Acquired: Hidden Predator New Skill Acquired: Stealth- Current Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) You have achieved rank: Novice As the list was scrolling I could feel my wounds hurt less, my mind becoming clearer and my body less exhausted. The hell? Before I could do anything else my mind was flooded with the basics of sneaking around: how to identify hiding spots, how to walk quietly, these kinds of things. Once the vision ended, I summoned the damage indicator. The shades of red there definitely looked lighter. So what¡­ I really have some health stat I cannot see? I sat up and took off my backpack. It was looking somewhat tattered. Probably from my brief skipping stone manoeuvre. I opened it praying to all gods and demons that the health potion didn''t shatter and to my great surprise there was not even a scratch on the bottle. Does the backpack provide some measure of protection? I wondered. This would require some further testing, but probably not on the only healing item I had. I uncorked the bottle and drank the potion. I expected it to taste like some of my meds, but it had an apple juice-like taste. Immediately, I could feel my wounds knit themselves together and the pain decreased considerably. The colour of the wounds on my silhouette was now dark pink rather than red, which definitely came as a relief. The issue of my imminent demise being temporarily dealt with, but mostly because I didn¡¯t feel like getting up, I¡¯ve decided it was high time to review my ¡°rewards¡± for getting rid of that bastard. First, I opened my notifications. The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +53% (123% total progress to level 9) Your Strength Attribute has increased to level 9 (11% total progress to level 10) Your total health has increased Dexterity: +45% (55% total progress to level 13) Agility: +22% (52% total progress to level 8) Endurance: +64% (114% total progress to level 8) Your Endurance Attribute has increased to level 8 (7% total progress to level 9) Your total health has increased This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Your total stamina has increased Vitality: +140% (230% total progress to level 7) Your Vitality Attribute has increased to level 7 (65% total progress to level 8) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Willpower: +5% (5% total progress to level 13) Resilience: +10% (15% total progress to level 7) The following skills have progressed: Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +63% (93% total progress to level 2) I didn¡¯t feel any different, so I assumed all the health and stamina gains must have happened during combat and I was too distracted with almost dying to see them take effect. They probably saved me. I shuddered at the thought. I wanted to dump both of my perk points into Bastard Swords, but I hesitated. I was too close to levelling the skill to level two. What if the excess progress was lost? So I decided to hold on to the perk points for now. Last, but definitely not the least, I had my class to check out. Class: Tenebral Stalker Type: Racial - Special Description: As a Tenebral Slimeling, you are a born¡­ well in your case transformed predator. This class allows you to tap into that potential. How far will you go along with it¡­ now that¡¯s up to you, isn¡¯t it? Effects at level 1: To be honest, I wasn¡¯t quite happy I couldn¡¯t pick my class, especially since I wasn''t much of asneak-and-murder type of person. That being said¡­ I didn¡¯t have to use it that way. Additionally, that trait had me very interested so I quickly called it up. Trait: Hidden Predator Type: Racial Effects: Your class and race are hidden from third parties. When they check your character sheet they will see values matching your current appearance. Currently: Race: Elf; Class: Adventurer Seriously? Can other people really check my character sheet? In this case, all my objections about this class have been retracted. I¡¯ve briefly considered whether to put at least one point in Stealth but decided against it for the time being. I had to be strategic with those. What if an opportunity to sneak around did not arise for now? I could always allocate these to the skill once I knew I had to use it. At any rate, it was high time I checked whether this whole debacle was worth it. I slowly got up and retrieved my sword from the revenant¡¯s body. The blade was covered in his viscera. I tried wiping it on his uniform, but it didn''t work too well. An idea struck me then. I opened my canteen and poured some water onto the blade to try again. However, the moment a drop of the liquid touched the sword all the gore slipped off effortlessly and the runes carved into the blade started glowing. Confused, I stared at the weapon. ¡®Wuh?¡¯ I muttered under my breath. I started to raise the weapon so that I could examine the inscriptions more closely, but the runes stopped glowing as suddenly as they began. A message box popped in front of my eyes giving me a start. I fucking hate that. New Quest Acquired: The Secrets of the Blade Type: Mystery Difficulty: Medium Description: The bastard sword you found may have magical properties. Objectives: Rewards: I dismissed the window. If the sword was magic, this required investigation, and a priority one too. If I could unlock its capabilities before leaving this shithole the sword could be a major asset. Well¡­ majorer. I would be fucked without it either way. I slowly approached the chest and delicately poked it with the tip of the sword. Nothing. To be sure, I gave it a light tap with the flat of the blade and seeing no reaction, sheathed the weapon, knelt by the chest, mentally prepared myself for disappointment and/or something to jump out and eat my face carefully opened it. To my amazement, not only did the chest not blow up or eat me, but it also had some items in it - a small flask with liquid in it and a dark palm-sized oval stone. Best could I tell, with everything being various shades of greyish blue, the liquid was of a different colour than the health potion. I picked it up and checked what it was. Item: Lesser Stamina Potion Type: Alchemical Rarity: Specialist - Common Effect: Restores a small amount of stamina I immediately uncorked it and drank a few gulps. It tasted like cactus juice. I could feel exhaustion leave my body and my limbs regain strength. It was wonderful. I didn''t even realise how tired I was until then. The stone turned out to be the real get though. The stone had a singular rune on one side of it. The character was wide and very clear. Seemed to be¡­ ¡°stable¡± for lack of a better word. Item: Rune of ¡°Rock Spikes¡± Class: Magical - Earth Arcana Rarity: Extremely Rare Durability: 10/10 Description: Allows the user to learn the ¡°Rock Spikes¡± Spell. Casting the spell without sufficient knowledge of Earth Arcana may lower its effectiveness and/or cause it to fail Spell Effect: Fires three spikes at a target within range. Cost to learn: 1 Perk Point Jackpot! This will be a good use for a perk point. How do I use it though? As it turned out, simply thinking about doing so sufficed. Do you wish to spend 1 perk point to learn the following spell: Rock Spikes? Yes/No? I thought ¡°Yes¡±. The runestone disintegrated into dust and once knowledge flooded my mind. I got some vague visions on how to challenge mana and use the spell¡­ but it felt incomplete. I was missing something vital. You have learned a new spell: Rock Spikes Type: Elemental - Earth - Attack Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) Range: 30 metres Description: Fires three spikes at a target within range. Note: Insufficient knowledge of Earth Arcana You have spent 1 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 1) No time like the present. I extended my hand toward the corpse of the soldier and tried to repeat what I saw in the vision. I finally succeeded on my seventh attempt. There was a flash of light that briefly blinded me and two razor-sharp obsidian spikes flew out of my palm and embedded themselves in the body. I did it. I cast my first spell. Chapter 5 - In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time Once the elation of being able to cast magic passed I realised how mentally spent I was due to the experience. Assuming even failed spellcasting used mana, I must have used quite a lot of my reserves in my learning attempts. Can¡¯t use the spell willy-nilly then. Still¡­ It¡¯s another tool I have now. Feeling better about my chances, I retraced my steps to the central chamber. None of the skeletons felt interested in bothering me, so I cautiously entered the other corridor. It was slightly sloped downwards. Further in I noticed the bare tunnel walls and ceiling give way to actual stone blocks. That¡¯s also where the serious water leaks began, the liquid slowly entering through cracks between the blocks, trickling down the wall and then forming small streams on the floor. I followed the corridor for as long as I could, but soon I wouldn¡¯t be able to progress without actually entering the water pooling on the floor. It didn¡¯t seem like this corridor was fully flooded, at least not yet, but I didn¡¯t really feel like getting wet. Not when I had one more possible choice. Unfortunately, that meant climbing. I¡¯ll spare you the description of my completely inept attempts at getting up that aborted staircase, but after an hour or so I finally made it to the top completely spent, my clothes torn and my body covered with various bumps and scrapes. My previous injuries didn''t make the experience any more pleasant, I must add. I grabbed my canteen and greedily drank from it. Refreshed, I could now examine the tunnel. It wasn¡¯t tall enough for me to walk in, but I could easily crawl through it. It was also sloped upwards which I took as a good sign. I rested for a few more minutes and set off. As I progressed, the incline of the tunnel grew steeper and steeper and eventually ended in an open manhole I could exit through. I found myself in a small cave that seemed to be adapted to be a pantry of some kind. There were multiple racks of smoked fish and all sorts of clay jugs and jars spread around the room. By one of the walls, there was some sort of a wooden contraption with meat hanging off hooks. Some of it looked disturbingly¡­ human. Should have tried swimming, I thought grimly and immediately allocated my last perk point into stealth. Your Stealth skill has increased to level 2 (0% total progress to level 3) You have spent 1 Perk Point (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) The only exit from the pantry that I could see was a crude wooden door with a simple handle, located in the wall to the right of the manhole. There was light coming through the cracks around it, but it wasn¡¯t bright enough to disrupt my Darksight. I could see no lock on the door, so I crept towards it and listened for any noises that could indicate the owners of this place were nearby. Mercifully there was only silence. I grabbed the handle and first tried to pull it, but it wouldn¡¯t budge. That¡¯s a problem. I tried to peer through a crack on the side of the door. Directly staring into the light did hurt my eyes a bit, but once my eyes adjusted I could just see the wall on the opposite side of the¡­ corridor? Room? Other cracks weren¡¯t of much help either, so, just in case, I quietly drew my sword, moved to the handle side of the door and pushed it. The door opened with a terribly loud squeak. FUCKING HELL! I leaned out of the door and looked around. The pantry was located roughly in some sort of a cave tunnel, lit by crude torches. It was hard to tell how long it was though. The path to the left sloped upwards and out of my line of sight, while the other one had a fairly abrupt leftward turn, which made me wonder how natural this place really was. There was no one around and I couldn¡¯t hear any footsteps, at least for now, which I took as a good sign. Hopefully, squeaking doors were normal here. I did some quick mental pathfinding. Let¡¯s see¡­ the tunnel was a ¡°direct¡± extension of the collapsed corridor. It was straight, meaning I exited still in line with that path. I turned right now, so I should be facing the flooded corridor now. So¡­ If I go right now I will be heading back towards the general area of the dungeon. The path to the left is an unknown. It could either be a path to the surface or a hungry pit in the ground. Right it is then. I left the pantry, sheathed my sword and tried to slowly and quietly close the door. To my chagrin, it only resulted in more loud squeaking that made my teeth hurt. I tried to make as little sound as possible while making my way down the tunnel, but I wasn¡¯t hopeful it would amount to much given how much noise I¡¯d already made and how ill-suited my current loadout was for sneaking around. When I neared the turn, I approached the wall as quietly as I could, clung to it, crouched and sneaked forward. I peeked behind the corner. On the other side, there was a pair of beady violet eyes staring back at me. I jumped back with a yelp and fell on my ass. The figure must have been equally scared of me as it also backed away from me. I managed to get a good look at it. The creature was around a metre tall, green-skinned and had pointed ears. Two tusks were extending from its lower lips. The goblin, I realised what he was, had an unkempt mane of sea-green hair and carried a hatchet. The creature wore dirty linen rags bound together with a worn-out leather belt with some pouches attached to it. ¡®Uhhh¡­¡¯ I began, lost for words. ¡®Hello there!¡¯ I raised my hand and waved weakly. The goblin continued to dumbly stare at me. ¡®Hallo Freund,¡¯ I tried, while slowly standing up. ¡®Sprechen Sie Deutsch?¡¯ Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Apparently, the goblin did not, in fact, spricht the fucking Deutsch, because he started shouting something in a language I couldn¡¯t understand and waving his hatchet around. I drew my sword. ¡®We really don¡¯t have to do this,¡¯ I said with resignation in my voice. As it turned out, we did because the goblin started running towards me, his hatchet raised. I assumed the stance now well imprinted in my mind and waited. Just as the goblin was nearing me I realised it had about as much idea about how to fight as I did, so I simply stepped aside and extended my leg. The goblin tried to stop but it was too little and too late, as momentum carried him over the ¡°finish line¡±. He landed face-first on the floor and slid forward. I turned towards him, backed away a few steps and decided to give trying to solve this peacefully one last shot. The goblin gathered himself from the floor and stared at me with hate in his eyes. ¡®It¡¯s not too late to talk this out, my green friend.¡¯ The goblin charged at me again. ¡®Very well,¡¯ I sighed and readied my sword. Just as the goblin neared me I slashed sideways at him. He once again tried to dodge away but I just had too much reach. The sword bit into the side of his neck and stopped on its spine. The goblin stared at me pleadingly, all the hate and swagger gone from its eyes. ¡®I¡¯m sorry,¡¯ I mouthed and ripped my blade out. The creature, apparently only held up by my sword, crumpled to the floor, its blood spraying both me and the wall. It convulsed and then went still. Level 0 Goblin has been slain You have earned 50 experience points (300/1000 total experience points progress to level 2) So, that¡¯s what the life of a sentient being was worth? Fifty XP? Fifty fucking XP? I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream, but there was no time for it, as I heard multiple pairs of footsteps quickly approaching from behind the corner. I walked out to meet them head-on. I saw that two more goblins were rushing toward me, both wearing the same attire as their hapless now-deceased colleague. One of them was completely hairless, had a scar over his left eye and held a sword that was too big for him; the other one which carried a short spear had sea-green hair that looked to have been cut by a knife by someone who didn''t care much about precision and a goatee that likewise seemed to have been trimmed by a spree killer. As I mentally steeled myself for another confrontation, I felt myself go cold inside and time slowed to what almost seemed to be a standstill. This was it. I would need to kill again, as diplomacy was out the window now since I doubted they would be very receptive to someone standing over the still-warm corpse of their friend. It would be self-defence, I kept telling myself. They were the ones attacking me. But I also knew it to be a lie, since it was me who invaded their home, not that I had much choice in that regard. ¡®Sometimes it is just a combination of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,¡¯ I heard a grim and cold voice say. I recognized it. It was a very dark version of my own. ¡®There is nothing more to it,¡¯ It finished. So, should I just accept having to kill sentient beings?¡¯ I asked the voice, considering how insane I must have been for this ¡°conversation¡± to even take place. ¡®It¡¯s this or die.¡¯ There must be some other way. ¡®You are free to look for one. Though, I doubt you have time for that.¡¯ My attention turned back to goblins, who were moving like they were stuck in molasses. ¡®You have to face it. I know you hate the part of yourself that I represent, but you are no longer in a position where suppressing me is fully viable. There are times when you will need to embrace me.¡¯ I don¡¯t like it, I thought defiantly. ¡®You don¡¯t have to. If it helps - remember that they most likely eat humans. What is it that you always say about Russian soldiers dying in Ukraine?¡¯ ¡°I take no pleasure in their deaths. Though it¡¯s better that it is them than Ukrainians¡±. So, you think I should just go with ¡°at least they won¡¯t hurt and eat anyone else¡±? The voice laughed. ¡®No, love. That''s what you think. I am just a voice in your head.¡¯ The time sped up a bit, but it felt slow and sluggish. I nodded to myself and extended my hand towards the victim of a hairstylist. I concentrated and fired off a salvo of three Rock Spikes toward its head. Getting the hang of it. As they flew, I turned towards the swordsgoblin, held my weapon in both hands and awaited the creature¡¯s next move. The spikes pierced the head of the speargoblin putting it out of its hairstyle-related misery. The spell impacted it with enough force that it knocked its head back, almost severing it. The creature fell lifeless to the floor, blood and brain matter flowing out of its wounds. Level 0 Goblin has been slain You have earned 50 experience points (350/1000 total experience points progress to level 2) The goblin¡¯s comrade was so surprised by this, that he stopped running and turned to look at his companion. Big mistake. This was all the opening I needed. I started running towards him, my weapon raised for a downward slash. The goblin heard me, not that I really cared about stealth, because panicked, it started turning back towards me. I got within the strike range and swung my sword down. However, the goblin turning around and starting to raise his weapon to defend made me miss the creature''s body and instead sever its hand at the wrist. The cut-off appendage and the sword clattered on the floor and the goblin clutched the stump screaming in agony. The time snapped back to its normal speed. I didn¡¯t know what to do next. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to finish it off, and yet it felt wrong to let it suffer. And I lacked the tools necessary to help it. Finally, I extended my shaking hand towards it and with closed eyes fired off another volley of Rock Spikes. The creature¡¯s screams were cut short and I heard it collapse to the floor. Level 0 Goblin has been slain You have earned 50 experience points (400/1000 total experience points progress to level 2) The corridor fell deathly silent. Chapter 6 - The Abattoir Instead of feeling some sort of adrenaline rush, I mostly felt numb after the ¡°dust¡± settled. There was one more thing for me to do here, and I wasn''t looking forward to it. I repeated the water trick on my sword, and once it was safely back in the scabbard I knelt by the swordsgoblin and checked whether there was anything useful in the pouches on his belt. One of them held some sort of a figurine, or a charm maybe, woven out of hair. It felt wrong to even consider taking it, so I placed it on the goblin¡¯s chest. It was as much of a send-of as I could provide to the poor creature. The other pouch, however, held something that would be of immediate use to me. It was a small vial filled with an amber liquid. Item: Lesser Health Vial Type: Alchemical Rarity: Specialist - Common Effect: Restores a very small amount of health The other two goblins also had these. I drank them all immediately, which relieved many of my aches. The colour of the wounds on the paper silhouette lightened, and some of the areas were only faintly pink now. A thought then hit me that had I known about these I might have saved the sword goblin. And do what with it then? I couldn¡¯t take it with me, and leaving it here could have caused problems. I could have tried to knock it unconscious then. Though chances of there being an accidental fatality doing that were high. ¡®Sometimes there are no good options, aren¡¯t there?¡¯ I softly sighed to myself. To take my mind off such grim thoughts I pulled up my notifications. Might as well see what I got for¡­ defending myself. The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +98% (109% total progress to level 10) Your Strength Attribute has increased to level 10 (4% total progress to level 11) Your total health has increased Dexterity: +50% (105% total progress to level 13) Your Dexterity Attribute has increased to level 13 (2% total progress to level 14) Agility: +70% (122% total progress to level 8) Your Agility Attribute has increased to level 8 (11% total progress to level 9) Endurance: +150% (157% total progress to level 9) Your Endurance Attribute has increased to level 9 (28% total progress to level 10) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Vitality: +33% (98% total progress to level 8) Willpower: +17% (22% total progress to level 13) Resilience: +3% (18% total progress to level 7) New Skill Acquired: Climbing- Current Level: 1 (62% total progress to level 2) The following skills have progressed: Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +65% (158% total progress to level 2) Your Bastard Sword - Two-handed skill has increased to level 2 (28% total progress to level 3) Stealth: +20% (20% total progress to level 3) Earth Arcana: +78% (78% total progress to level 1) The following spells have progressed: Rock Spikes: +170% (170% total progress to level 2) Your Rock Spikes spell has increased to level 2 (35% total progress to level 3) Huh. So is combat rewarded with faster gains? Meaning what¡­ those that go on killing sprees have the best stats? Not sure whether I like the implications of that. I waved away the notifications and set off down the corridor. I wasn¡¯t terribly concerned with concealing my movements. There likely wasn¡¯t anyone nearby, as they would have gone after me by then and anybody coming from behind me would find¡­ my victims. I saw that I was closing in on another door located in the left-side wall. A dozen or so metres past it there was a four-dimensional crossroads. I decided to check out the door first. As I approached, I started smelling something rancid in the air. The smell got stronger the closer I got to that door and I started seeing blood stains on the stone floor of the corridor. That¡¯s the abattoir, isn¡¯t it? As I was correcting my course to avoid the room, I heard a faint sound coming from behind the door. Someone was crying. I couldn¡¯t leave them alone, now could I? So, I rushed toward the door and pulled the door open. Immediately, my senses were assaulted by a cloud of air smelling of rotting meat, excrement and other things I couldn¡¯t quite identify, though they surely were nothing pleasant or sanitary. I looked around the abattoir. Its centrepoint was a stone table red and brown with blood. There were leather restraints attached to it with crude rusty metal hooks. On the side of the table, there was a quite impressive collection of dull-looking knives and saws covered in crusted blood. Over it there hung various meathooks with rotting pieces of meat still clinging on to some of them. Shelves were hanging on the wall behind the table, on which there were jars filled with various small body parts preserved for reasons unknown. Under the wall to the left of me, there was a massive pile of refuse and offal just crawling with maggots. Well¡­ this place is getting a five-star rating from me. Under the opposite wall, there was a row of three fairly cramped metre-high cages, two of which were empty if you ignore the waste left by their previous occupants. The cage by the trophy wall was occupied by a young girl I estimated to be roughly my height. She had now-dirty sky-blue hair tied into the sad remains of a ponytail. Thanks to this I could see she had slightly pointed ears. The grey tunic and brown pants she wore were torn and filthy. The strangest things about the girl, however, were the thin and quite long flesh-coloured arrow-tipped tail that twitched nervously; and a pair of short black-red horns that protruded from her forehead just below her hairline and curved upwards. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Is she some kind of a demon? I wondered briefly. Truth be told though, I didn¡¯t really care about her potential infernal heritage, if this was even the case. Maybe people with horns and tails were normal here. After all, it¡¯s not that I had much of a reference. The bigger concern of mine was that her arms were tied behind her back with a thick rope and she was gagged with a filthy rag, for which I couldn¡¯t find a good reason. After all¡­ she was already in a cage. Why bind her any further? The girl was looking in my direction, the look in her sea-green eyes pleading with me to rescue her. I rushed over to her cage and started trying to figure out how to open it. ¡®Gonna try to get you out,¡¯ I said with a reassuring tone and smiled. The good news was I quickly found the padlock. The bad news was that it looked very sturdy, so I had no idea how to get past it. I would likely have to find the key, and I didn''t have the first idea where to look for it. Then an idea struck me. It was so obvious, that I had no fucking idea why I didn''t do it in the first place. I looked at the cage again. Yup, the gaps between bars were wide enough that I could easily reach inside. My first move was to remove the girl''s gag. ¡®Took you long enough,¡¯ she said with a bit of understandable annoyance in her voice. Then her expression softened and she added: ¡®Thank you. I¡¯m Aki.¡¯ ¡®Lilyth,¡¯ I introduced myself. ¡®Wish we had met under better circumstances. Anyway, can you try to turn around? I¡¯ll untie your hands.¡¯ Aki nodded and started squirming and twisting around. Eventually, she was in such a position I could reach the rope she was tied with. I frowned upon getting a closer look at her bonds. Whoever bound Aki¡¯s hands really knew how to tie a knot. I felt it would take me too long to undo it. So I did the only thing I could think of and grabbed one of the knives. ¡®Stay REALLY still,¡¯ I told her. ¡®I don¡¯t want to cut you with this. The knife is not exactly sanitary.¡¯ ¡®Sanitary?¡¯ she asked, perplexed. ¡®Any wound from this would likely get infected,¡¯ I explained. She nodded a bit scared and did her best to follow my request as I cut into the rope. A minute of very careful sawing later, her hands were free and Aki was massaging her badly chafed wrists. I frowned upon seeing that. ¡®We need to get you a healing potion, I think, or maybe just some clean bandages. But first¡­ do you know who has the key to your cage?¡¯ The answer came in the form of approaching heavy footsteps. Aki cowered in fear. ¡®Hide¡­¡¯ she hissed. ¡®The Butcher¡¯s coming.¡¯ But it was too late. The light from the corridor was blocked by a massive goblinoid figure. It was maybe two metres tall and incredibly muscled. Honestly, the thing looked like it was coming straight from a body-building competition. The goblin? Orc? wore blood-covered sackcloth pants and a leather apron and was bald. One of its tusks was missing. To my surprise, I saw the goblinoid was carrying two of the smaller ones I killed: the one with the hatchet and the spearfella. There was no point in hiding so I stood straight by the cage and stared the creature down. The goblinoid dropped the carcasses of its smaller brethren to the floor and turned toward me. ¡®Hngh,¡¯ it grunted and continued in broken Raivarian. ¡®Elf, you kill small uns.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a question. ¡®An honest misunderstanding,¡¯ I replied. ¡®They meat now. The camp need meat.¡¯ Cannibals. ¡®You meat too,¡¯ the creature continued. No surprises there. Not that I am ¡°meat¡± anymore. The cramped abattoir was hardly an optimal place to fight, so I had to end this before it really began. ¡®Who are you?¡¯I asked, buying time. ¡®So that I know who killed me.¡¯ I started slowly moving my right hand to the grip of my sword. ¡®Why meat need know this?¡¯ the creature asked but answered me nonetheless. ¡®I Grazzlag. I hobgoblin.¡¯ ¡®Very well, Grazzlag the Hobgoblin. I¡¯m Lilyth. Let¡¯s dance!¡¯ With a quick movement, I pointed my left hand toward Grazzlag and tried to fire off a volley of Rock Spikes toward the creature¡¯s head. My head was assaulted by a sudden piercing headache when I did that which both told me this was the last time I was able to cast the spell for a while and caused my hand to jerk slightly. Two of the spikes missed Grazzlag completely, but one pierced his left shoulder, staggering the hobgoblin. I used the few extra seconds this bought me to draw my sword and charge the creature. Unfortunately, Grazzlag must have been an experienced fighter because just as I lunged at him he backhanded me with his other hand which threw me off my path and caused me to instead crash into the door frame. Before I even had a chance to recover I felt the hobgoblin lift me over his head, and then I flew through the air and crashed straight into the trophy wall, my body shattering both the shelves and the jars of body parts. I must have looked like a porcupine of glass and splinters. I heard my sword clatter to the floor, as my hand, still clinging to it despite all of this, finally let go. The paper doll in the vision was helpfully flashing dark red. So this is it, eh? I thought. I had a good run. Too bad I wasn¡¯t able to save the girl. I briefly looked at Aki. She was struggling with her padlock. I couldn¡¯t blame her. I turned my attention back to Grazzlag. He was leisurely approaching me, one of the larger knives from the table held in his right hand. He leaned over me, grabbed me by my neck and lifted me to the height of his head so he could stare directly into my eyes. There was a wicked smile on his face as he plunged his knife into my chest.
Aki was desperately trying to open the padlock on her cage door with the lockpick she stowed away in one of her boots. The goblins had never searched through those. Their mistake. Just when she almost had it she saw Lilyth fly through the air and impact those awful shelves. This made her lose that sweet spot, but Aki now knowing that the lock could be opened only intensified her efforts. She had to help her new friend. Aki¡¯s heart froze when Grazzlag walked past her cage, but the Butcher was so focused on Lilyth, he paid the blue-haired girl no heed. Just as she felt the lock finally click, the hobgoblin lifted his quarry into the air. Aki watched in slow motion as one of those horrible knives effortlessly entered Lilyth¡¯s chest. NO! She screamed internally and swung the cage door open.
The stab didn¡¯t cause me too much pain. Was I this far gone? Wait¡­ I thought, confused. Shouldn¡¯t I be dead? Oh, right. I smiled despite myself. Being stabbed wasn¡¯t that effective against me. If I was surprised by this turn of events, Grazzlag was utterly astonished. ¡®Why you smile elf?¡¯ He asked and looked at the wound he just caused me. He must have seen there was no blood. ¡®You no elf!¡¯ ¡®What¡­ can¡­ I say?¡¯ I croaked. ¡®Appearances¡­ can¡­ be¡­ deceiving, my¡­ friend.¡¯ Suddenly, something blue flashed in the corner of my vision, Grazzlag screamed, let go of my neck and I crashed to the abattoir¡¯s floor.
Aki crawled out of the cage. Her limbs were stiff and weak from her imprisonment, but she couldn¡¯t worry about that. At least not right now, if she wanted to live. Aki saw the knife Lilyth used to cut her restraints open. She picked it up. Yes, it would do nicely. Shakingly, she got up. Hope arose in her chest when she heard Grazzlag complain about Lilyth not being dead. Aki summoned what strength she had and lunged towards the hobgoblin stabbing him with the knife just below his ribcage. She let go of it and grabbed another from the table. She slashed at the back of the monster¡¯s knee forcing the creature down, screaming. So another knife went into its back. And then another. Suddenly, she saw Lilyth rise in front of the goblin, holding her sword once again.
The abrupt meeting with the ground didn¡¯t help my wounds any, but there was still a job to do. I picked up my sword and rose. I noticed that Grazzlag was now on his knees, panting Aki standing behind him. There was blood coming out of the creature¡¯s mouth. I had no idea how she got out of her cage. I would need to ask her about it at some point. I gripped my sword tighter and kicked Grazzlag in the chest, which sent him sprawling on the ground, which drove the knives deeper into the hobgoblin¡¯s body. I could see the tips of two of them emerge from his torso. The kick almost made me lose my balance, but I managed to steady myself. With the last of my strength, I reversed the grip on my sword and plunged it into his chest, piercing the hobgoblin¡¯s heart. Level 8 Grazzlag the Butcher has been slain You have earned 400 experience points (800/1000 total experience points progress to level 2) The last thing I remember was Aki¡¯s face which showed a mix of relief and concern. Then the floor rushed to meet me, and the world went black. Chapter 7 - The Shaman I awoke to the now-familiar apple-like taste of a health potion. Aki was holding my head up and slowly pouring it into my mouth. I didn''t want to startle her, so I waited for her to finish before I let her know I was awake. When the bottle left my lips, I asked: ¡®Wh-where¡­?¡¯ ¡®When they were carrying me to the¡­ meat room I saw where they were keeping valuable items,¡¯ she answered with a mix of horror and pride in her voice. I pulled myself up to a sitting position and looked around. We were in the corridor just outside the abattoir. Aki was sitting on her heels beside me. She must have dragged me over there. I noticed that she was now wearing a grey wrap cloak over her clothes and had a canvas satchel strapped across her chest. Next to her, two swords lay in brown leather scabbards, as well as six more bottles filled with the amber liquid, and three empty ones. She put the one she just poured into my mouth next to them. I realised there were no longer any wounds on the wrists. Good. I checked my damage indicator. Other than a few light pink areas I was good. Meaning most of these potions must have been given to me. On the other side of my body there was my backpack, now badly torn and with the remnants of the trophy wall embedded into it; and next to it sword. I would need to fix up my backpack at some point. Probably in three years¡¯ time when I was no longer in mortal danger. ¡®I don¡¯t know how to thank you,¡¯ I said. ¡®I would be dead if it wasn¡¯t for you.¡¯ Aki blushed. ¡®It¡¯s me who should be thanking you. You only got hurt because of me.¡¯ ¡®Fair enough. Let¡¯s call it even then, eh?¡¯ She nodded. ¡®I know you might not be the best person to ask that, but where is everyone? So far I¡¯ve seen only three goblins and the big fuck.¡¯ ¡®The men are all left raiding from what I know. The Butcher was left here to prepare a feast to celebrate their return. That¡¯s why I was in that cage. To serve as the¡­ th¡­¡¯ Tears started gathering in her eyes and she couldn¡¯t continue. ¡®I get the picture,¡¯ I quickly interjected. ¡®Are there any other¡­ special dinner guests we should rescue?¡¯ Aki shook her head. ¡®I was the last one. That¡¯s why the raid was organised.¡¯ ¡®I see. So they left a token defence, but could be back any moment, I imagine.¡¯ She nodded, her face paling. ¡®One last question and then we¡¯ll get going: You said all the men were gone. What about the women?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t seen any.¡¯ I nodded and started getting back up. ¡®Can you lead me to that valuables room?¡¯ I asked while getting my gear ready.¡¯I¡¯d like to give it a once-over.¡¯ ¡®I didn''t see anything else interesting there.¡¯ Aki protested. ¡®Still, I¡¯d like to take a gander. One man¡¯s junk and all that.¡¯ ¡®Jank?¡¯ Ah. So the translator is bad with proverbs. ¡®One man¡¯s junk - well¡­ trash is another¡¯s treasure. It¡¯s a saying from where I am from.¡¯ She nodded. ¡®And where is that exactly?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s a long story. Let¡¯s wait until we are in a safe¡­ well a safer place.¡¯ Truth be told, the story wasn''t that long, given how I¡¯ve only been on Dwynveia for like three hours tops, but I didn''t think it was the right time to have the fascinating and ever-distracting discussion on the oh-so-fascinating subject of ¡°I¡¯m technically an alien¡±. Aki nodded, clearly unhappy about the dodge. We divided the remaining potions evenly between ourselves and set off in the direction I was heading in before my detour to the abattoir and headed straight on the crossroad. Aki pointed to a door maybe fifty metres to the right. I am amazed by the sheer size of this place. I have no idea who had the idea of turning a cave complex this extensive into a dungeon, but this person should be given a medal. And then face a firing squad. The treasury, as I began to think of the place, was maybe a three-by-four metre and very cramped room. There were rows of shelves lining all four of the walls covered in various items. In the middle of the room there stood racks with weapons of all kinds. One spot on them large enough to fit two swords was empty. I just hope Aki knows how to fight with those. Next to the racks, there was a massive pile of empty bags. I gave the weapons a cursory glance. I wasn¡¯t looking to replace my bastard sword but maybe there was some sidearm I could grab. Nothing caught my fancy though, so I started to go over the contents of the shelves. A lot of that appears to be the ¡°loot¡± from people who were invited to join the goblins for dinner. Most of these were simply personal effects, the last remnants of lives forever lost down the monsters¡¯ gullets. It didn¡¯t feel right to take any of them, but at the same time maybe if they saved the lives of Aki and me, there would be some meaning to their demise. It was always so easy in fiction. Just click loot and you don''t have to worry about any moral issues. I quickly came across the spot where the girl found the potions. The impressions in the dust were unmistakable. I double-checked whether she didn''t miss any and moved on. From time to time, I would see something that looked interesting, but upon checking what it was I would put it back down. After a while, I got the feeling that the goblins took most of the combat-useful stuff and just left various just-in-case knick-knacks, or perhaps something they could trade with. The only obvious things I could see were an oil lamp, matches and some spare oil I gave to Aki. ¡®I have darksight, so I think you might need this more than I do,¡¯ I told her and explained how to use them. She nodded and began fiddling with her satchel straps to attach the lamp to them since it wouldn¡¯t fit inside. I suggested that maybe she could try attaching one of the straps from the other bags. She walked over to the pile and started going through it. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Other than that, I was beginning to agree with Aki that this was a waste of time when I saw something I could not believe I was seeing: six foil-wrapped bars. No wonder Aki ignored them. They were so out of left field here, it would be like a cavalry lance on the streets of Washington D.C. in 2024. I examined them. Item: Ration Bar Type: Food - Magical Rarity: Coven-made - Rare Effect: Provides enough calories to sustain a person for one day. Does not need to be consumed at once Well¡­ That takes care of the food situation for now. I gave three of them to Aki. Her eyes lit up and she put them in her satchel. I unwrapped one of them and ate half of it. It tasted like a really bland muesli bar, but to me, it was the nectar of the gods. I didn¡¯t realise how hungry I was. This new body never ate anything after all. I gave everything a quick once-over. Nothing else seemed to be of note, so I motioned to Aki that we should leave. ¡®Where do we go from here?¡¯ she asked. I pointed to the corridor on the other side of the crossroads. ¡®It should lead to a dungeon.¡¯ I explained. ¡®I¡¯d rather not risk meeting the raiding party on our way out.¡¯ Aki paled a little hearing this. ¡®A dungeon? Why would you think that¡¯s a good idea? And how do you know about it in the first place?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll explain as we go.¡¯ Since there was no delaying it, I told her how I got to the Goblintown, as I started to call this area - it was as good a name as any. I didn¡¯t skip any details, including me being turned in a Tenebral Slimeling. Why hide it, after all? Aki was surprisingly understanding about it. ¡®I¡¯ve heard of people from another world coming to Dwynveia, though I assumed it was just legends,¡¯ she explained as we passed door after door. We didn¡¯t stop to check out any of them. After a while the corridor turned left, and I started to hear one thing I was hoping to hear - running water. We were nearing the underground river. The problem would be getting to it. The goblins would probably be able to access it since I assumed they used it as their water source. However, there was also the slight problem of me not being sure whether there would be easy access to the dungeon from it. I imagined there must have been, given the structural damage it caused. We¡¯d cross that bridge when it came to it. The corridor ended with a door. I could hear water clearly behind it. This was it! We were almost out! I opened the door and saw it lead to a large square room filled with buckets and remnants of water stains. There was another exit on the other side of the chamber. However, there was another goblin for us to go through first. It looked different from the other ones, for one, instead of rags the creature wore what looked like proper greyish-white rough-sewn linen robes. The creature was probably the oldest member of the race I saw. Its face was wrinkled, it had a nasty scar running across his face and there was a long white beard growing out of his chin. Most worrying of all, the goblin was holding a twisted wooden staff that glowed slightly. Spellcaster, I realised with some dread. ¡®You go left, I go right?¡¯ I whispered to Aki. She nodded in agreement. We drew our swords, but before we could charge the shaman waved his staff and five human-sized skeletons appeared in the room with us. They were unarmed, but this didn¡¯t appear to be an issue, as their hands ended with sharp-looking bony claws. Fuck. I looked at Aki and ran towards the undead my weapon raised. I slashed at one of them and it simply turned into dust the moment my sword touched it. Level 0 Summoned Skeleton has been slain You have earned 25 experience points (825/1000 total experience points progress to level 2) Wuh? My hope went up that this would be an easy fight. Then a massive gust of wind hit me and blew me across the room. I landed on the floor and skidded across it. OH, FOR FUCK¡¯S SAKE. NOT AGAIN.
Aki couldn¡¯t believe it when she saw Lilyth¡¯s flight. Like her friend, Aki has never faced a spellcaster before. This would not be easy. The skeletons were slowly approaching them. Lilyth gathered herself from the floor and said: ¡®I¡¯ll take care of the boney bastards. You deal with the beardo.¡¯ She nodded and started running towards the goblin, weaving between the skeletons. They took a few swipes at her but missed. She lunged at the mage. Aki¡¯s blades stopped a few centimetres in front of the goblin. A yellow force field shimmered where her blades struck. The goblin smiled and swung his staff at her. The hardwood hit her in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her. She staggered back gasping for air.
Just as I finished another skeleton I saw Aki stagger back. The space around the goblin was shimmering yellow. I then saw air gather around the end of the shaman¡¯s staff and another gust of wind propelled the girl across the floor. The girl wasn¡¯t as durable as I was, so I would have to step in. Luckily, the blast of wind placed her far enough from the skeletons that I didn¡¯t have to worry about them hurting her for now. I sighed, gripped my sword tighter and ran towards the shaman. I led with a right-to-left slash, my blade predictability stopping at the goblin¡¯s force field. I could see cracks appearing where I hit it. One, maybe two more hits. The goblin swung his staff at me, but I was ready for it and parried it. I could hear the clatter of bones behind me, so I stepped to the left, barely avoiding a swipe of a skeleton¡¯s hand. That handled, I lunged at the goblin again. The field had definite trouble stopping a thrust from my sword, cracks spreading from the impact point. I didn¡¯t let off the pressure and the magical barrier exploded into hundreds of shards, letting out a sound that reminded me of window shattering. The failure of the field knocked me back right in the path of a skeleton¡¯s attack, its sharp bone claws raking across my shoulder. I gritted my teeth through the pain and leapt towards the shaman again. It was time to finish this.
Aki¡¯s entire body hurt. She wasn¡¯t sure how Lilyth was able to shrug off the damage the goblin caused so easily. Maybe it was due to her being a slimeling. The sound of wood hitting metal brought Aki¡¯s attention to the ongoing struggle. She could see Lilyth engaged in a life-or-death struggle between the shaman and two of the skeletons. There should be more of them. Panicked she looked around and saw the third of the skeletal monsters trying to sneak towards her from the side. She scrambled to her feet and raised her swords. Aki heard the sound of breaking glass and felt magical energy wash over her, but she kept her focus on the skeleton approaching her. She slashed at the creature with both blades, the first attack knocking aside a bony hand the skeleton was raising to attack and the second strike biting into its neck decapitating it. The creature crumbled into dust before its bones could fall to the ground. She heard another sound of wood and metal clashing. She had to help Lilyth.
The bearded fuck blocked my strike. I wanted to jump back and ready for another strike, but something crashed into me from the left and knocked me aside. I felt sharp pain spread across my belly as I was gored by one of the skeleton¡¯s claws. Fucking hell! The shaman cast another gust of wind, but it only grazed me. Instead, the skeleton took the brunt of the attack, the damage sustained causing it to disintegrate. I heard the goblin let out a frustrated shout. No such thing as friendly fire, I guess. I regained my footing and looked towards the shaman. It was staring back at me with hate in its eyes. One of the skeletons was standing next to it, ready to defend its master. I couldn¡¯t see the other one that should be around here somewhere. It must have gone after Aki, I realised with a sinking feeling. I shouldn¡¯t have worried, however, as the blue-haired girl landed next to the guardian skeleton and ended its existence with a slash from one of her falchions. I capitalised on the opening she created for me and charged toward the shaman. The creature tried to stop me, but to no avail, as I didn¡¯t bother with subtleties and ran it through with my sword. Aki ended the fight with a slash of the sword that separated the goblin¡¯s head from its shoulders. Chapter 8 - The Underground River Level 0 Summoned Skeleton has been slain You have earned 25 experience points (850/1000 total experience points progress to level 2) Level 6 Goblin Shaman has been slain You have earned 300 experience points (1150/1000 total experience points progress to level 2) You are now Level 2 (150/1500 total experience points progress to level 3) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) What? No new class bonuses? I guess not every level would have these. Slightly miffed by this, I was nonetheless happy for the rejuvenating rush from the level-up. I looked at Aki. She was wasting no time and was currently looking through the shaman¡¯s body checking for anything useful. I used that time to quickly check my notifications: The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +44% (48% total progress to level 11) Dexterity: +23% (25% total progress to level 14) Agility: +150% (161% total progress to level 9) Your Agility Attribute has increased to level 9 (30% total progress to level 10) Endurance: +87% (115% total progress to level 10) Your Endurance Attribute has increased to level 10 (7% total progress to level 11) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Vitality: +160% (258% total progress to level 8) Your Vitality Attribute has increased to level 8 (79% total progress to level 9) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Willpower: +27% (49% total progress to level 13) Resilience: +13% (31% total progress to level 7) The following skills have progressed: Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +80% (108% total progress to level 3) Your Bastard Sword - Two-handed skill has increased to level 3 (4% total progress to level 4) Earth Arcana: +10% (88% total progress to level 1) Sense of Direction: +5% (5% total progress to level 11) The following spells have progressed: Rock Spikes: +13% (48% total progress to level 3) I immediately put one perk point into Bastard Swords. Your Bastard Sword - Two-handed skill has increased to level 4 (0% total progress to level 5) You have spent 1 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 1) I didn¡¯t get an info dump like with the first point, but I kind of felt my¡­ instincts improve for the lack of a better descriptor. I quickly went over my character sheet to see if there were any obvious ideas on what to do with the other one, as I didn¡¯t quite want to use both of them on my fighting skills.
Basic Details
Name Lilyth Race Tenebral Slimeling
Gender Transwoman Age 33
Level 2 (150/1500 exp) Class Tenebral Stalker
Rank Novice Perk Points 1
Attributes
Physical Progress Mental Progress
Strength 10 48% Intelligence 16 17%
Dexterity 13 25% Wisdom 12 0%
Agility 9 30% Willpower 12 49%
Endurance 10 7% Cunning 8 0%
Vitality 8 79% Resilience 6 31%
Perception 9 0% Faith 3 0%
Appearance 12 0% Charisma 6 0%
Skills
Lore - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Insight Novice 17 15%
Lore - Humanities
Name Rank Level Progress
Linguistics Journeyslime 40 10%
Earth Literature Apprentice 25 0%
Earth History Novice 10 0%
Lore - Sciences The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Name Rank Level Progress
Data Analysis Apprentice 30 0%
Mathematics Novice 10 0%
Computing Novice 15 0%
Survival - General
Name Rank Level Progress
First Aid Novice 2 0%
Sense of Direction Novice 10 5%
Stealth Novice 2 20%
Climbing Novice 1 62%
Martial - Swords
Name Rank Level Progress
Bastard Sword - Two-handed Novice 4 0%
Crafting - Cooking
Name Rank Level Progress
General Novice 2 0%
Crafting - Magical
Name Rank Level Progress
Arcane Writing Novice 1 50%
Arcana
Name Rank Level Progress
Earth - 0 88%
Spells
Name Arcana Rank Level Progress
Rock Spikes Earth Novice 2 48%
Traits
Name Level Progress
Neurodivergence N/A N/A
The Queen''s Raivarian N/A N/A
Entomophobia 08/10 Special
Hidden Predator N/A N/A
I kind of wanted to keep it to level up Earth Arcana to level two once I get the skill, but in the end put it into the Bastards Swords after all. Better safe than sorry. I wasn¡¯t exactly in a position to worry about stupid stuff like ¡°build optimization¡±. Your Bastard Sword - Two-handed skill has increased to level 5 (0% total progress to level 6) You have spent 1 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) This time around I did get a vision of some additional attacks and parries. So what¡­ is this every five levels thing? What if I level it up naturally? I hated that I never got any explainer, but then again if I wasn¡¯t in a life-or-death¡­ well¡­ painful death-or-more painful death situation I would have enjoyed figuring it out on my own. Ah, who was I kidding? I would get frustrated and check the wiki. There must be a Dwynveia Wiki somewhere, mustn¡¯t it? New Quest Acquired: Get access to the Dwikia. Dwynwiki? Something like this. The sound of fingers snapping brought me back to reality. ¡®Hey!¡¯ Aki shouted, waving her hand in front of my face. ¡®Dwynveia to Lilyth. Are you there?¡¯ ¡®S-sorry,¡¯ I muttered. ¡®I got lost in thought. Anything of use on the beardo there?¡¯ ¡®Yup.¡¯ She pointed to several lying on the floor. ¡®All yours.¡¯ I raised my eyebrow at that. ¡®I saw you cast magic, so I think you¡¯ll make much better use of these. I grabbed this for myself.¡¯ She showed me a silver ring with a yellow gem that was now on her finger. I examined it: Item: Ring of Protection Class: Jewellery - Magical Rarity: Coven-made - Uncommon Quality: Good Durability: 18/20 Charges: 2/3 Effects: Traits: Rechargeable - You can channel mana through the object to restore its charges ¡®That¡¯s pretty good.¡¯ I said, happy that she would be safer now. She beamed at me. I crouched by the item pile Aki left for me. There were three of them: A bottle filled with purple liquid; a violet pouch tied with a red string; and some sort of a wooden cylinder. I picked up the pouch first. I could feel something oval inside. Item: Rune Pouch Class: Container Rarity: Specialist - Rare Quality: Average Durability: 5/5 Description: Used to store Magical Runes, coins and other small objects Interesting. I opened the pouch. There was a single rune inside and saw that there was a red flowy mark engraved on it. Item: Rune of ¡°Gust of Wind¡± Class: Magical - Air Arcana Rarity: Extremely Rare Durability: 10/10 Description: Allows the user to learn the ¡°Gust of Wind¡± Spell. Casting the spell without sufficient knowledge of Air Arcana may lower its effectiveness and/or cause it to fail Spell Effect: Fires a torrent of air within a 1x2 metres cone. Has a chance to cause knockback. Cost to learn: 1 Perk Point That must be the spell the shaman was casting at us. For now, I put the rune back into its pouch and moved on to the cylinder. It was made out of lacquered red wood. There was a twist-off cap on one side. Item: Scroll Case Class: Container Rarity: Specialist - Uncommon Quality: Average Durability: 10/10 Description: Used to store scrolls, parchment and maps I opened it and saw that there were three scrolls inside. I took them out one by one. The first one was another Air Arcana spell: Item: Scroll of ¡°Fist of Wind¡± Class: Magical - Air Arcana Rarity: Uncommon Uses: 1 Spell: Fist of Wind Class: Elemetal - Air - Damage Description: Imbues caster¡¯s chosen fist with the elemental power of wind. Striking a target with it unleashes a devastating torrent of wind. Causes knockback. Casting Time: 2 seconds The next one was Water Arcana. Item: Scroll of ¡°Ice Lance¡± Class: Magical - Water Arcana Rarity: Uncommon Uses: 1 Spell: Ice Lance Class: Elemental- Frost - Damage Description: Creates a large spike of ice within the caster''s hand. Casting Time: 3 seconds Those are some spicy meatballs. The last scroll felt very weird when I touched it. I took it out and at that point, intense pain started spreading across my hand. I dropped it with a yelp of pain. Aki ran over to me alarmed. ¡®Are you okay?¡¯ she asked. ¡¯What happened?¡¯ I examined my palm - there were now nasty-looking burns in the place where my skin touched the parchment. ¡®There is something¡­ wrong with that scroll,¡¯ I explained with a grimace. ¡®I¡¯m hesitant to ask this, but could you try to pick it up? Just be careful and drop it the moment you start feeling any feedback from it.¡¯ Aki nodded and carefully touched the scroll. She must have not felt anything strange as she was able to pick it up. Aki unrolled and examined it. ¡®It¡¯s a scroll of Divine Blessing.¡¯ she said. ¡®Let me guess¡­ Light Arcana?¡¯ She nodded. ¡®Yeah. That¡¯s a non-starter for me then. It seems I¡¯m¡­ allergic to it for the lack of a better term.¡¯ She nodded and put the scroll into her satchel. I started packing my share of the loot, taking a moment to see how much punishment my poor backpack could still take. Item: Backpack of Holding Type: Magical - Bag Rarity: Coven-made - Rare Durability: 16/50 Traits: Holding (Minor) - Doubles the capacity (60 litres) of the item (Total Capacity - 120 litres) Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate. The clothes I had on weren¡¯t in much better condition. I looked at Aki - her garb was also soiled and damaged. Yeah. We both need to change. Especially the girl - it can¡¯t be healthy wearing those. Once we were done, I motioned to the exit door. ¡®Shall we?¡¯ The exit led to a stone bank of the underground river. I could see a similar bank on the other side, but there was no way to get across. I tried to figure out where we should go next. If we turned right we would be heading upstream and best I could tell the collapsed corridor. Or would we? I signalled to Aki to give me a moment and did some mental pathfinding again. She used that time to light her lamp. Let¡¯s see. Assuming the turn where I met the goblins was around the staircase room, I then went along the sunken corridor, we turned right and now left again. Meaning¡­ I looked around. ¡®We are currently between the sunken and collapsed corridors,¡¯ I muttered. Aki looked at me confused. ¡®Sorry, just thinking out loud¡¯. I looked left and saw that a short distance away the river turned right at an almost perfect ninety-degree angle. Yeah. No way this place is natural. So, assuming this is an artificial river¡­ What could be the purpose for it? Water source? Sewage? In either case, if we follow it downstream we might get somewhere. Plus¡­ we would be walking along the sunken corridor. ¡®Let¡¯s go left,¡¯ I said to Aki and explained my reasoning to her. She didn''t seem entirely convinced by it, truth be told, I wasn¡¯t either so I went over it again. Wait. What if the sunken and collapsed corridors form the outer sides of a rectangle within which lies the dungeon proper? So, if we go right we would be getting closer to the actual ruin. I raised this possibility with Aki. ¡®So what you are saying - you have no idea where we should be going?¡¯ I laughed. ¡®Never had one ever since I got here. I say let¡¯s try going right and if we don¡¯t see anything interesting we¡¯ll try the other direction?¡¯ ¡®Sounds good!¡¯ Going right turned out to be the correct choice. Eventually, we started seeing the remnants of what looked very similar to the stone blocks that were used to construct walls on the floor below lying on the ground. ¡®Let¡¯s stop here for a moment,¡¯ I suggested. ¡®Why?¡¯ ¡®I think we¡¯re far enough to not be in immediate danger anymore and we both need to rest and refresh a bit. Wait a second.¡¯ I took off my backpack and took out both changes of clothing I had there. ¡®One of them is for you. Wash up the best you can in the river and change. I¡¯ll keep watch. ¡¯ Her eyes lit up. ¡®OH! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!¡¯ She gave me a hug. I sat on one of the blocks and stared into the darkness, the only sounds being Aki splashing the water and humming some tune I didn¡¯t recognize. As I waited I drank one of the healing potions and the mana potion, which turned out to taste like grape juice. It made me feel so much better. I thought for a moment about what to do with the bottles. Then an idea struck me, but it would need to wait a bit. After a few minutes, Aki tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around. She was genuinely beaming with happiness. My clothes were a bit too large for her, but I didn¡¯t think she minded. They were also wet, but there was no surprise there, it¡¯s not like we had anything to dry ourselves with. ¡®My turn now,¡¯ I smiled and approached the water. I took off my tattered clothes and examined my body. Despite all of the healing potions, there were still a number of blue-black semi-liquid ¡°bruises¡± on my skin. None of them were oozing the black stuff, which I took as a good sign. I cleaned myself up and put on a fresh set of clothes. It would dry off eventually, I imagined. I turned back to Aki and said: ¡®All done.¡¯ I detached my canteen and passed it on to her. ¡®You must be thirsty.¡¯ She accepted it with a nod and took a swig from it, after which she offered it back to me. I shook my head. ¡®Keep it for now. I don¡¯t want you to drink the river water and it should refill automa¡­ on its own.¡¯ ¡®What about you though?¡¯ I took out the potion bottles. ¡®I¡¯m immune to disease, so if anything is in the water it shouldn¡¯t hurt me.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she muttered and took another swig. I filled both bottles, emptied one of them, and then refilled it. It wasn¡¯t the best I drank, but it would do. ¡®Ready to go?¡¯ I asked her after I was done packing everything up. But before Aki could answer we heard screams coming from downstream. The raiding party was back. Chapter 9 - Predatory Instinct ¡®The lamp!¡¯ I hissed, but it was too late. The goblins noticed us and started to run in our direction. Aki grabbed it and we began our flight. Soon, we reached the point where the walls became covered by stone blocks again. Goblins weren''t quite catching up to us yet, we had the advantage of distance and longer legs, but sooner or later we would get tired. That or maybe we would reach a dead end. I could already hear them shouting something in their language. Maybe those were curses directed at us, maybe they were inviting us to pizza. I wasn¡¯t quite willing to find out. I was slowly running out of breath when we finally caught our break. There was a hole in the wall. I pointed it out to Aki and we diverted towards it. On the other side, there was maybe a two-metre drop to a partially flooded room. There was a familiar-looking large stone block in the middle. It can¡¯t be. Another one? So¡­ not sure if we will be able to get anywhere through there, and it will be difficult for us to go back. Still, we don¡¯t have a choice. And I have a sneaky suspicion the goblins won¡¯t follow us down there since the drop might be a tad too long for them. It might be so for Aki too, but what can you do? I took a deep breath and jumped down. I landed in the water with a loud splash. It was only knee-high. Pain spread through my right leg when it hit the bottom. I did my best to ignore it and shouted to Aki: ¡®Jump down! I¡¯ll catch you.¡¯ There was some hesitation on her face, but the ever-closing shouts of goblins convinced her to go through with it. She quickly put out the lamp, reattached it to her satchel and leapt toward me. I must say I envisioned it differently when I told Aki I would catch her. I had this grand vision of her falling into my arms and me gently putting her on the floor. I don¡¯t know what went wrong: me standing in the wrong place, Aki jumping in complete darkness or some other factor. The end result was that the girl crashed into me and we both ended up underwater. Still, I achieved what I set out to do - I broke her fall, so I count this one as a complete success. We disentangled ourselves and emerged from the water looking like drowned rats, coughing out water. ¡®Are¡­ you¡­ okay?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®I¡¯m¡­ so... s-sorry. I didn''t mean¡­¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t¡­ worry.¡¯ I coughed back. ¡®I¡¯m¡­ durable.¡¯ The pink on my paper doll said something different, but it wasn''t anything a healing potion couldn''t take care of. I still had two after all. I looked around. The room was identical to the one I was summoned in. Well, almost¡­ I couldn''t see the wall inscription anywhere. The door was on the other side of the altar. I rose to my feet and helped Aki get up. I saw I would need to help her get out of here. I glanced at where her oil lamp should have been. It was gone. ¡®Hang on.¡¯ I whispered to her and knelt in front of her. I checked her side and leg for glass shards but luckily I couldn''t see any. ¡®All good.¡¯ I said and got up. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ she asked. ¡®The lamp is gone. I was checking whether it didn''t hurt you.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ she said weakly. ¡®How will I see now?¡¯ I took her hand. ¡®I¡¯ll lead you until we find another light source. Something must be around¡¯. She nodded. So we started wading through the water. After we passed the altar I heard a noise I didn¡¯t expect to hear. A loud crack I immediately recognized. Someone was shooting at us. I felt a bullet graze my cheek. I pushed Aki to the ground and dragged her towards the large stone block. ¡®Stay down.¡¯ She nodded, her face pale. So she knew what guns were. Good. I peered from behind the wall and looked towards the hole in the wall. Five goblins were standing there. Four of them were lightly armoured, wearing boiled leather jerkins. Three of the creatures were armed with short swords and bucklers while the last one was holding a fairly ornate-looking flintlock pistol. Behind them stood a hobgoblin wearing a metal breastplate, a helmet covering its face, greaves and gauntlets. It was armed with a nasty-looking longsword. He must have been the party''s leader. Maybe even the chief of the entire clan, tribe or whatever the green fucks considered themselves. The ¡®sniper¡¯ was currently scanning the altar room trying to find us. He must have noticed me, as he began zeroing in on my position. He didn¡¯t have a chance to fire though. I fired off a volley of Rock Spikes. While one missed, the other two hit, piercing his throat and one of his eyes. The goblin fell backward and didn¡¯t get up. Level 2 Goblin ¡°Sharpshooter¡± has been slain You have earned 200 experience points (350/1500 total experience points progress to level 3) Boom! Headshot, motherfucker. The hobgoblin chief was less thrilled about the result of the sniper duel because it began to angrily gesticulate and shout at the other three. They looked unhappy about whatever the orders were but obeyed them as they jumped down into the chamber. In response, I climbed on the altar and drew my sword. It was time to dance. I leapt towards them and landed in the middle of the group with a splash. The goblins started circling around me. I raised my sword. The runes on it were slightly glowing from all the moisture. I could see this made the goblins unsure. No. Not see. I could feel it. The little fuckers were afraid. For reasons unknown, this made me happy. Then again, why shouldn¡¯t it? I was in my element and well¡­ they weren¡¯t. Sure, they could see in the dark, but for them, it was just a crutch. They needed light to function. I didn¡¯t, which made me the predator here, while the goblins? They were the prey here. My prey. The corner of my face lifted in a faint smile. I lunged towards one of the goblins. This was going to be fun. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The creature tried to defend itself but it was too slow. My sword opened its jugular. The goblin backed away from me and started trying to stop the bleeding. I was considering finishing it, but for the lack of a better term, I felt a strike coming from behind my back. I effortlessly weaved out of its path. Oddly enough, I stopped feeling any resistance from the water. Did my body adapt to it? I didn¡¯t know, and at that time I didn¡¯t care. One quick slash later the goblin¡¯s sword hand landed in the water. It started to scream from pain and held on to the stump with the other hand. I finished it off with a slash that severed its head. Oddly enough, all the blood made the runes stop glowing. Curious. I would really need to investigate this. Level 3 Goblin Swordsman has been slain You have earned 300 experience points (650/1500 total experience points progress to level 3) My attention turned to the last goblin. It looked absolutely terrified, which only made my hunger for blood grow. No! Some part of me shouted. This isn¡¯t who I am! But the dark part of me was fully in control now. There would be time for niceties and remorse later. For now¡­ the last goblin awaited. The creature must have seen the smile on my face because it began to scream. His friend must have finally bled out because another experience message appeared. Level 3 Goblin Swordsman has been slain You have earned 300 experience points (950/1500 total experience points progress to level 3) The chief must have decided enough was enough because before I could deal with the last morsel, I heard a really big splash behind me. I turned around. Yes. He was the priority target. The morsel could wait. I had another predator to deal with.
Aki was feeling powerless. Once again, Lilyth was risking her life to save her. She wanted to help her new friend. If only she didn¡¯t lose her lamp. When Aki heard the three goblins jump down she thought it was over. But then the monsters began to scream. She stood up and looked towards the fight. She only saw a pair of glowing blue-grey irises she assumed belonged to Lilyth. She had seen how her friend''s eyes looked in the dark before, but the light was much fainter. What was going on? Then the big splash came, and Aki¡¯s heart sank again. Whatever this was, it was big. Very big. Probably as big as the Butcher. She didn¡¯t think Lilyth could handle another hobgoblin on her own. Aki was starting to feel angry at herself. The flame of that anger grew stronger and stronger and soon she couldn¡¯t contain it. It awoke something within her and she felt that if she just reached for it¡­
The big bastard didn¡¯t say anything. It just leapt towards me with its sword over its head and made a downward cut. Once again, I instinctively could sense the monster¡¯s movements and I understood that blocking the attack would be pointless. The creature was much stronger than me. But it was also slower, especially in the water. So I sidestepped and tried to counterattack, but at that time the last goblin found his courage and ran me through my stomach. Most problematic.
Aki¡¯s mother always told her to try to suppress the flame that burned within her. She said that reaching for it would only bring her grief. But she realised the time for that was over. So she brought that flame out and a burning orb manifested over her head washing the room with red light. A message appeared before Aki¡¯s eyes. You have learned a new ability: Abyssal Spark Type: Racial - Infernal Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) Radius: 5 metres Duration: 2 minutes Description: Creates an orb of hellish light above the user. Consumes mana. Yes! Aki thought, though her happiness quickly faded when she saw what was happening. Lilyth was currently impaled through her stomach by a goblin and an armoured hobgoblin stood in front of her. The monsters were currently busy shielding their eyes from the bright light. And her friend¡­ looked different. Lilyth¡¯s face had a blueish hue to it and black lines were spreading around it. She was squinting her eyes to protect them from the light. So that¡¯s what slimelings were. Aki wasn¡¯t afraid though. Lilyth couldn¡¯t help what she was, and so couldn¡¯t Aki. All they could do was to make the best of it. Noticing that Lilyth¡¯s face returned to normal, Aki made her decision, drew her swords and leapt over the altar like her friend before her. It was time to help.
The room suddenly became lit by bright red light. It hurt my eyes hard. I tried closing them but it didn¡¯t help. Where did it come from? Luckily, my assailants appeared to have been equally affected by it which gave me some window of opportunity to act. I felt my new instincts slowly fade away, but before they did so completely I used them once last time to deal with the sword in the stomach issue. I jumped back, which caught the goblin by surprise. It let go of the weapon so I spun around and beheaded it with my bastard sword using the momentum of my movement to aid the attack. Level 3 Goblin Swordsman has been slain You have earned 300 experience points (1250/1500 total experience points progress to level 3) This made the sword move inside of me, which caused me intense pain, but I couldn¡¯t worry about that right now. There was the big bastard to deal with first.
Aki winced when she saw Lilyth move around with the sword inside her stomach. That couldn¡¯t have been comfortable. She hoped her friend would be okay. Aki focused her attention back on the hobgoblin. It had recovered and was preparing to make a lunge at Lilyth who was still turned away from it so wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge in time. Aki had to do something. She quickly examined the monster and saw that its back was unarmoured. She lunged towards the hobgoblin, the water taking away some bite from the attack, and slashed its unprotected skin with both of her swords. The creature growled from pain but didn¡¯t stop. But the brief distraction did give Lilyth time to turn around.
I saw Aki standing behind the monster with her blades dripping with its blood. The hobgoblin apparently wasn¡¯t impressed with whatever the girl did to it because it tried to do another overhead slash. I did the only thing I could think of and tried to move to the side. But¡­ unfortunately, the water resistance was back so I didn¡¯t manage to do so in time. The blade bit into my shoulder. I howled in pain. But Aki, god bless the girl, used this as an opportunity to continue her attack and stabbed the hobgoblin in the back. This stopped it from bisecting me. So, I let go of my sword and used my healthy arm to fire Rock Spikes into its unprotected thigh. They couldn¡¯t miss from this distance and they shredded the monster¡¯s leg, almost cutting it off. The hobgoblin collapsed to the side, letting go of his sword in the process. I grabbed it by guard before it could do any more damage and carefully took it out of the wound. The hobgoblin somehow still was trying to rise and continue to fight, so I fired more Rock Spikes toward its head. Only one of them managed to pierce its helmet but it was enough. The monster stopped struggling and slumped underwater, never to rise again Level 10 Goblin Chief has been slain You have earned 500 experience points (1800/1500 total experience points progress to level 3) You are now Level 3 (300/2000 total experience points progress to level 3) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Aki rushed over to me with a healing potion in hand. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ I muttered and began to cry remembering the murderous instinct that took over me. What have I become? Chapter 10 - The Safe Zone ¡®This might sting a bit,¡¯ Aki said and pulled out the sword from my back. It hurt more than a bit but I gritted my teeth through it. I drank another health potion, this was the third I had to take but thanks to this my health was in the green again, or completely white, as the case may be, which is something I haven''t seen since I got here. So physically I was fine. Mentally though¡­ I didn''t know what to think. Would this happen to me again? Was I a danger to people? Could I hurt Aki? I looked at the girl. We were sitting on the altar and doing our best to recover from the battle. The girl was looking absentmindedly at the hole we entered through. Is she worried about more goblins coming? This was the first time I could look at her in peace and quiet. I realised then for the first time how young she really was. She looked to be in her late teens or early twenties, and already she got almost eaten by monsters. And another was travelling with her. I wouldn''t be able to live with myself if my other side¡­ if I ever hurt her. Best I could tell my instincts didn¡¯t register her as prey, but¡­ what if they only work in darkness? I noticed the notification icon blinking. I opened it, hoping it would shed some light on what just happened. The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +23% (71% total progress to level 11) Dexterity: +15% (40% total progress to level 14) Agility: +64% (94% total progress to level 10) Endurance: +42% (49% total progress to level 11) Vitality: +90% (169% total progress to level 9) Your Vitality Attribute has increased to level 9 (34% total progress to level 10) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Intelligence: +2% (19% total progress to level 17) Willpower: +26% (75% total progress to level 13) Resilience: +14% (45% total progress to level 7) The following skills have progressed: Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +25% (25% total progress to level 6) Earth Arcana: +40% (138% total progress to level 1) Your Earth Arcana skill has increased to level 1 (19% total progress to level 2) Sense of Direction: +3% (8% total progress to level 11) The following spells have progressed: Rock Spikes: +60% (108% total progress to level 3) Your Rock Spikes spell has increased to level 3 (4% total progress to level 4) New trait has awoken: Predator¡¯s Instinct Predator¡¯s Instinct? Was it what took over me? Trait: Predator¡¯s Instinct Type: Racial Level: ??? Effects: ??? Figures. I laughed bitterly. Aki looked at me confused. ¡®Oh, it¡¯s nothing,¡¯ I weakly reassured her. ¡®Just¡­ figuring things out.¡¯ She nodded, concern clearly visible on her. I saw her tail twitch nervously. My heart sank. I can¡¯t let her worry about me. I¡¯m supposed to be the responsible one here. At least, I could take care of my level up. Now that I have reached level one of Earth Arcana, I¡¯ve decided to allocate both my Perk Points into it. But as I was ready to commit them I put them into Stealth instead. Your Stealth skill has increased to level 4 (0% total progress to level 5) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) What the fuck? I didn¡¯t want that! ¡®Oh, but you did¡­¡¯ I felt some inner feeling tell me. ¡®You¡¯ll neeeeed eeeet.¡¯ I doubted I would in the near future, but I didn¡¯t want to argue with myself over a moot point. Screaming at the voices in my head would be crazy. We sat there in silence with Aki for a few more minutes. Eventually, she asked: ¡®Should we get going?¡¯ I nodded in confirmation. ¡®I guess we should.¡¯ I went over to the place where I dropped my sword and retrieved it. Despite the water there being thoroughly coloured red by blood it remained as pristine as ever. I was annoyed by the fact that I was starting to look like an axe murderer, again, despite having just changed, but there was nothing I could do to fix it. There were five bodies in the corridor leading outside of the chamber, bloated from decay and moisture. The corridor was wide enough for us to walk around them, but I was still concerned by the sight. They were all wearing remnants of clothes from Earth: a t-shirt with a band logo here, a mouldy sneaker there, so there was no doubt in my mind. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I was leading our party, while Aki with her helpful orb of hellfire was walking behind me, lighting our way. I felt a weird sense of pride when she explained to me how she learned to summon it. I was all for accepting who you were and doing the best out of it. And yes, I was perfectly aware of the irony. Though her heritage didn¡¯t, to the best of my knowledge, involve viewing other sentient beings as prey. To my concern, the passage must have been sloped downwards, as the water seemed to be getting deeper and deeper. As we entered another chamber, which seemed to be completely empty, we were waist-deep in it. One thing I had to note - the corridor was much shorter than the other I saw before here. The next one looked to be even shorter¡­ and what was that at the end? A spiral staircase? ¡®YUS!¡¯ I shouted and pointed the stairs out to Aki. She joined me in celebrating this find. With renewed vigour we started hurrying over there, but just as we were about to leave the room we were in I felt something nudge my leg. My instincts screamed at me that something was wrong, but before I could react I heard Aki¡¯s scream, a splash and the room went dark. As my Darksight activated I took a deep breath and dove underwater. Despite my ability, it was hard to see what was going on, but I could see Aki struggling against something large, slender and pale. It could have been an illusion but the thing seemed to have three spindly arms. Suddenly, there was a yellow flash and the water around Aki started glowing amber. There was a barely audible roar of anger and rivulets of blood started streaming from where two of the creature''s hands once were. Aki, now free from the monster¡¯s grasp, pushed herself back to the surface. I quickly followed her and emerged to see her coughing out water. Several nasty gashes covered her torso, blood trickling from them. I reached for my sword just in time, as Aki¡¯s assailant surfaced soon after, facing the girl. The girl was also trying to ready her weapons, each movement making her cry from pain. I couldn¡¯t focus on helping the girl, however, as we still had a problem to deal with. The ¡°issue at hand¡± turned out to be about one-and-half metres tall, had the body build of someone who starved to death and had three arms - two in ¡°normal places¡± and one on its back. The normal ones were currently ending in bleeding stumps, while the back one was missing two of its six clawed fingers. I resolved never to give Aki a hug when she was mad at someone and had that ring of hers. The creature, its hairless body completely white, turned towards me and I saw that its face was an almost completely blank oval, the only feature being a lipless mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth. Well¡­ that¡¯s a face only¡­ only¡­ I got nothing. ¡®You¡¯re one ugly motherfucker, aren¡¯t you?¡¯ I said softly and raised my sword, the runes on its blade once again glowing. The creature focused its eyeless gaze on me and then moved it towards the sword. I had no idea why, but I felt that despite not having any eyes or ears the winner of ¡°Punchable Monthly¡¯s - The most punchable face of 2024 contest¡± was still both capable of sight and hearing. Punchy, realising Aki was outside of its reach for now, decided that I was a better target. I don¡¯t know what it was trying to achieve with only one wounded arm, but I wasn¡¯t gonna wait for that. I slashed my sword at it and its head flew off its shoulders. Level 4 Sanguine Drowner has been slain. You have earned 200 experience points (500/2000 total experience points progress to level 4) I rushed over to Aki, who deactivated the force field and was clearly struggling to stay upright. I took her in my arms, retrieved our last healing potion from her satchel and gave it to her. She drank it greedily and her wounds immediately started closing. I held her until she felt comfortable enough to stand on her own. ¡®You okay, kiddo?¡¯ I asked her. ¡®Y-yeah,¡¯ she said unconvincingly. ¡®Let¡¯s go up the stairs,¡¯ I suggested. ¡®We¡¯ll rest there.¡¯ She nodded. My right arm around her back, we approached the stairs and I helped Aki go up. For once, luck was in our favour as nothing was waiting on the top to eat our faces. We emerged in a small square room, entirely built out of the stone blocks I was seeing everywhere. There were dull-looking green crystals in ornate golden sconces. I was about to lead Aki to one of the walls so we could sit down there, but a message appeared in front of my eyes. Greetings Aspirant! Congratulations on making it to the first floor! To reward you we have unlocked a safe zone on the other side of the corridor, where you can rest a bit and resupply! Be on your guard though! Things won¡¯t be as easy from now on! Good luck! If that was easy, I¡¯d hate to see what those chucklefucks consider to be hard. I told Aki about the safe zone and she brightened up. Then, unexpectedly, the crystals on the wall started flickering to life like an old fluorescent lamp. They started to give pale white light that made my skin uncomfortable. No matter. At least we¡¯ll be able to see. I led Aki into the corridor and the crystals there started to light up too. First, a pair surrounding the doors, then next another, and another, until one of them didn¡¯t. The crystals briefly flickered and went dark. After a few heartbeats, they tried to light up again. They reached the maximal luminosity. Went dark again. Started getting bright again. And then they exploded. And after them all the other crystals. I threw Aki to the ground and covered her with my body. When the crystals closest to us exploded I felt white-hot shards pierce my skin and embed themselves inside me. It was the most intense pain I have ever experienced. Must be the fucking¡­ Light Arcana. Still¡­ for Aki¡¯s sake, I endured. The explosions continued in the distance, occasionally interspersed with sounds of rumbling and crashing. Once these finished on this floor, I could still hear them above us and down below. I started praying the whole place wouldn¡¯t collapse on us. Finally, there was a giant explosion down below, very loud rumbling above us and finally silence. We stayed still for a moment, and once I was sure the ceiling wouldn¡¯t be collapsing on us, at least not immediately, I slowly rolled off Aki and climbed to my feet. My stomach still felt like someone stuck a hot poker inside, but the pain was slowly subsiding. I checked the paper doll and the spots were only dark pink, meaning that the shards didn¡¯t do too much damage. I looked around and saw that the corridor was now partially lit by small green fires in places where some of the crystals were, though they seemed to be going out due to lack of¡­ whatever was fueling them. Aki slowly climbed to her feet, shaking from fear, and asked: ¡®Wh¡­ what happened?¡¯ ¡®A cascade failure of some kind,¡¯ I guessed and quickly explained. ¡®Some of the crystals exploded and that caused the others to explode. As to why or how I don¡¯t know.¡¯ I shrugged. ¡®I saw a very large crystal below, which I assume was the big explosion towards the end? As for the rumbling at the end¡­ hopefully not the exit.¡¯ Aki didn¡¯t find this particularly funny. Neither did I, to be honest. I wanted to say something more but a message box once again appeared in front of my eyes. Quest Cancelled: The Trial of the Champion Cause: Connection to the quest source lost. Attempt to reconnect unsuccessful. . . . New Quest Acquired: The Ruined Tower Type: Dungeon (Legendary) Difficulty: ??? Description: The Tower of Trials has at least partially collapsed and whatever magic brought you here has run out, with fairly spectacular results. Objectives: Rewards: Oh¡­ Oh my¡­ Well¡­ On the upside: no more of this champion business! Whatever I was supposed to stop¡­ not my problem anymore. ¡®Let¡¯s go to see if that safe zone still has anything of value,¡¯ I suggested. I opened the door and saw a large square room on the other side. Like the skeleton room below it was covered in pieces of broken furniture. There was a dust-covered skeleton wearing tattered rotten remains of clothes sitting against the wall opposite us. Next to it, there was a small cache visible in the wall. I could vaguely make out some bottles and ration bars inside. Another lucky break,¡¯ I thought, but then my eyes fell on the skeleton. I signalled to Aki to wait and slowly approached the potential jumpscare with my sword drawn. I put the tip of the blade under its chin and flicked the skull off the spine. It landed on the floor and clattered away. Try rising now, you sonuvabitch. The clothing on the skeleton has mostly rotted away, so it was hard to tell who it once was. As I was turning towards the cache I noticed something glittering on the floor. It was a tarnished silver coin. I could easily recognize the person whose profile was on the obverse. The almost-bald head wearing a laurel crown and the handlebar-moustache-and-sideburns combo were a dead giveaway. It was Franz Joseph, the first of his name, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and the ruler of buncha other places. I picked the coin up with a trembling hand and turned it around. There was a crown there surrounded by more laurels and the unit of value of one in whatever currency it was. There was also a date: 1893. How long has this been going on? Chapter 11 - A Few Moments of Peace ¡®So, what¡¯s this coin you keep looking at?¡¯ Aki asked me once we set up camp. Physically, she was looking much better, especially once she drank one of the four healing potions we found in the cache along with two ration bars, but I was still worried about her. I caught her just staring into the distance on more than one occasion and her tail reminded me of that of an overstimulated cat. We were sitting near each other so occasionally I could feel it hit me on my back or rub against my side. I didn¡¯t really mind. I was used to my cat doing it and I had my own stimming behaviour, leg shaking, which I was now desperately trying to suppress. There was no need to unnerve Aki further. ¡®It¡¯s an old coin from a place called from my world called the Austro-Hungarian Empire,¡¯ I responded, encouraged that Aki was trying to take her mind off things. ¡®Is this Oustrou-Haangarien Empire a mighty nation, then? People in my village always said that only the strongest places could call themselves empires.¡¯ ¡®It was once. Not anymore. Twenty-one years after this coin was minted a war erupted. They lost. And that was that for the Empire. It was broken up into the nations that used to form it. Then another war came, and by the time that got done, Austro-Hungary was nothing but a memory. Some remember it fondly. Some don¡¯t.¡¯ I thought for a moment and asked. ¡®Do you have any Empires here? I know nothing about this place now that I think of it.¡¯ ¡®My mom once told me that this whole continent used to be ruled by the Vandarian Empire. It¡¯s gone now too, like your Oustrou-Haangariens.¡¯ ¡®I understand. If you don¡¯t mind me asking: This is the second time you¡¯ve mentioned your mom. Do you want me to take her to you once we are out of here?¡¯ I was hoping that the perspective of seeing her parents again would give the girl some hope. However, when I saw Aki¡¯s expression go blank and heard her answer me in a flat voice I immediately knew¡­ that mistakes were made. ¡®There¡¯s no need. My mom¡­ she died ten years ago.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sorry to hear that,¡¯ I consoled her, really understanding the pain of losing one¡¯s parent. Having already opened that can of worms I figured I might as well get the remaining details. ¡®Any other family?¡¯ ¡®No. My dad left us shortly after I was born. He didn¡¯t know my mom was a demonborn. She didn¡¯t have any¡­¡¯ Aki pointed at her horns and tail and continued. ¡®After¡­ after¡­ my mom passed away, the village elder Matis and his wife Bergia took me in. They were good people and tried to protect me from the villagers. I was hoping to stay there¡­ but a few days ago we received news that some inquisitor was coming because apparently, someone from the village called them¡­ for me.¡¯ Oh¡­ oh no¡­ ¡®You don¡¯t have to¡­ if it is too painful.¡¯ I quickly said, anger swelling inside of me. ¡®No. It¡¯s okay. The el... Matis helped me. He gave me some supplies and set me off on my way. Then¡­ the goblins caught me. You know the rest.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what to say, or if there was anything that could be said. So we just sat there in sullen silence for a few moments. Then Aki asked me with a breaking voice: ¡®Miss Lilyth¡­ why did you ask me those things? Do you want to get rid of me?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ I said, really meaning it. ¡®How could I? No¡­ I was just wondering if your mom wasn¡¯t waiting, worried sick about you. She nodded, tears flooding down her cheeks. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ Aki whispered and then added: ¡®Please don¡¯t leave me.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry kiddo. I won¡¯t.¡¯ I took her into my arms and held her until she quieted down. ¡®Don¡¯t worry.¡¯ I repeated as she quietly sobbed. After a while, Aki asked me: ¡®Miss Lilyth¡­ Can you tell me more about your world?¡¯ I was happy to oblige her. Anything to help her take her mind off things. So I told her stories about the wonders and discoveries. About the pyramids, the Greek philosophers, and the Internet. About the EU, the discovery of the New World, and the race to the Moon. Aki was very interested, understandably so, in Austria-Hungary so I told her of Empress Sissi, Franz Joseph, and the fall of the house of Habsburg. Of course, I had to sanitise a lot of things, as I didn¡¯t think she needed to know about the underlying atrocities of many of those events. I don¡¯t know how long we sat there, Aki ending up nuzzled against me, it was maybe an hour or two, but seeing the girl¡¯s childlike wonder upon hearing tales of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, John Kelly or Bonnie and Clyde brought me so much solace I lost the track of time. I¡¯m not going to lie that it wasn¡¯t heartrending to talk about the home I would never see again, but Aki visibly regaining composure and strength with each story made me swallow the feelings and push on for her sake. Alas, all good things have to come to an end at some point. ¡®I can¡¯t believe those Amereekans and the Bryteesch almost started a war over an animal,¡¯ Aki laughed after I was finished with another story. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®Yeah, what can I say? Our history is full of stupidity. For example, there was this Senator¡­¡¯ As I was about to go into the story about the one time a politician blamed his daughters for him leaving his region during a time of crisis, I suddenly heard something shuffling in the corridor. All the happiness disappeared from Aki¡¯s face, replaced with a look of grim determination. Good. She would need that to get through this, and so would I. I pointed at the orb of hellfire she kept summoned and the girl immediately extinguished it. ¡®Stay here and get ready to fight,¡¯ I whispered, drew my sword as quietly as possible, and crept up to the door. It turned out that the Stealth increase the Huntress (as I started to refer to my predatory side) wanted would prove quite useful. Maybe I should not dismiss her suggestions out of hand. ¡®You¡¯re starting to get it.¡¯ she helpfully chimed in. We closed the door after entering, but I was certain the light from Aki¡¯s orb was still visible outside. It was made out of wood, and not a perfect fit either, so the chances were that whatever was on the other side knew we were here, especially given we weren''t exactly quiet. I glanced at Aki - she was crouched by our makeshift camp, her hands on the hilts of her blades. I silently nodded in approval. I knew she couldn''t see me, but still hoped she would get the vibes I was sending. I was 90% certain I wasn''t psychic, but given everything that happened today, I couldn''t dismiss the possibility, especially after me being able to detect the goblins¡¯ attacks. ¡®It¡¯s air vibrations, you fucking moron,¡¯ the Huntress said clearly annoyed. I didn''t necessarily think this accounted for ALL the cases, but was good enough for the time being. The shuffling getting closer brought my attention back to reality. Since my senses were sharper in the dark I started to hear the little things I wouldn''t normally catch. Whatever was approaching us was definitely bipedal. The shuffling sound was interspersed with sounds of normal steps coming from on side only. And was that some occasional metal clanking? So bipedal, only one leg fully functional and likely either armed or armoured. A zombie maybe? Or one of these revenants? The creature stopped by the door. Something completely out of left field happened then. It knocked. Resisting the question of ¡®Who¡¯sthere¡¯ I looked at Aki whose fingers were now bone white from gripping her swords. Not as okay as I would like then. The knocking came again and a male voice croaked: ¡®h-help¡­¡¯ Million of options ran through my head. A trap? Another hapless soul? ¡®p-please help me¡­¡¯ He? It? wasn''t giving up. I came to a decision. Delicately, I swung the other open and extended my leg. Something staggered inside and tripped over it, falling face-first on the floor. I pounced on its back, landing on something hard, and with my sword held next to the back of its neck examined it. Or rather examined him because the figure lying on the floor was a man. From my perspective, I could only see that he had curly black hair and wore a chainmail. The thing I was kneeling on was a wooden shield. There was something off about him though¡­ his skin didn''t look natural¡­ the dark veins on it¡­ and were his ears missing? My instincts were screaming at me that there was something very wrong happening. Heeding their advice I jumped away from the body yelling: ¡®Aki! Light!¡¯ The orb of hellfire flashed in the room. The ¡®man¡¯ let out an unholy screech. Once my eyes adjusted I saw the figure rise from the floor, unsheathing a sword I didn''t notice it had and taking off the shield from its back. Its movements were very jittery and it felt like there was a certain¡­ lag to them. The figure turned towards me and I saw that its face was just a pale oval with a lipless mouth that had way too many teeth. Well¡­ its second face at any rate, as the original was missing. The creature has burrowed out most of this poor SOB¡¯s skull and nested itself in the hollow. What was left of his body was pale and covered in black veins. There was a nasty bloody gash running across its torso just below the rib line. I couldn''t quite put my finger on why, but just looking at it made my skin crawl. The blood from the wound stained both the chainmail and the belt and satchel the figure wore. I never expected I would say this, but can we go back to the man-eating goblins? I think I preferred them to Punchy McPunchface and Friends. And Mister Hell 2024 there was definitely staring me down. I had no idea how and why the hell light orb hurt it, but some things just weren''t meant to be known, I guessed. ¡®...d-die,¡¯ the thing stuttered hoarsely. Well¡­ I don¡¯t think this thing will die if we¡­ disable the body. So what? Rock Spikes to the face and pray for the best? The thing deflected my projectiles with its shield with alacrity, I wouldn''t have suspected it had based on its previous movements. This would complicate things. I raised my sword and prepared to fight it when the thing unveiled another surprise. A massive fleshy tentacle shot out of the gash on the thing¡¯s stomach and wrapped itself around my torso, squeezing it. What. It then pulled me towards it and I stumbled forward. As I tried to regain my footing the creature lifted itself from its ¡®nest¡¯, breaking off the rest of the poor sap''s skull, and another tentacle shot out from the base of the monster¡¯s head, this time wrapping itself around my neck. I saw three more such appendages going from the creature¡¯s skull into the body. No amount of hentai could prepare you for this.
Aki was watching the weird monster with a dread fascination. She hoped she would never have to see another one after the drowner nearly killed her, but the gods were not merciful enough. Then the creature grabbed Lilyth with two tentacles and this broke the stupor Aki was in. She drew her swords and leapt towards the creature. Her blades easily cut through the two tentacles. The monster recoiled back now that the tension of its attempt to hold Lilyth was gone. Aki did a quick 180 and saw her friend removing the remains of the tentacles from her body. They left some bloody streaks on her clothes and body. The creature was starting to recover so Aki lunged at it again. She deflected a blow intended to hit Lilyth, but the monster followed up with a shield bash that painfully threw Aki to the ground. She saw the creature approach her and raise its blade to skewer her. However, just as the blade descended a shadow appeared between Aki and the monster.
¡®Resistance tank, bitch!¡¯ I shouted after the sword pierced my body. Now that I was quite literally in arms reach of the monster I pointed my palm at its ¡®face¡¯. It made a move to bite me but I was faster. Three obsidian daggers pierced its skull. The body it was controlling slumped to the ground, as the shredded head was propelled into the wall by the force of the hit. Level 6 Sanguine Puppet Master has been slain. You have earned 300 experience points (800/2000 total experience points progress to level 4) I ripped the sword out of my stomach and threw it to the ground. As I helped Aki rise from the ground I said: ¡®I hate those things.¡¯ She smiled. ¡®Me too,¡¯ she replied and pointed at the place where the sword pierced me. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ ¡®My pleasure. We¡¯re a team, aren¡¯t we?¡¯ The look of joy on Aki¡¯s face after I said it was worth to me more than all the experience points in the world. Chapter 12 - The Black Rose The sword and shield the Puppet Master had were nothing special. I briefly considered grabbing the shield, but I was barely getting the hang of two-handed fighting. Complicating my life by switching to a sword-and-board style would probably be more of a hindrance than an improvement. Especially, given the fact I was starting to rely on my agility. Aki was also content with her two falchions, and switching one of them to the arming sword that ¡®dropped¡¯ would be even worse for her than me taking the shield. Falchions were single-edged while the arming sword was double, so she could genuinely hurt herself using it. The satchel was of better use to us: two healing potions we immediately drank, leaving us with three spares; and a coin purse. Inside, there were twenty-five silver coins with one hundred stamped on the reverse and a star on the obverse, and fifty copper coins with ones on the reverse. Aki¡¯s eyes lit up seeing those. ¡®Is that a lot?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Yes,¡¯ she answered and explained the local money to me. The best I could tell from her explanation, those were called either Divines or Lights. The Viscountcy of Ror-Bhyk - the area we currently were located in, used to have its own currency but it was supplanted by the Lights (I refused to use the term ¡°Divines¡±) a couple of decades before. I was quite surprised to learn that there weren¡¯t any countries on the continent, at least not as far as Aki knew. After the Vandarian Empire collapsed a few centuries before, power consolidated around various urban areas and noble estates which led to the emergence of a massive network of ever-squabbling city-states. By now, any idea of consolidation was likely a non-starter because all the previously minor nobles became glued to their ancestral titles. The constant confusion over currency exchange rates allowed the Church of Light to step in and, thanks to the merchants preferring to have a single medium of exchange rather than a few dozen different ones, take over on that front. The city-states rich enough to maintain a currency, which usually became the one used in their region, were less than thrilled, but after their poorer neighbours switched over to Lights they eventually went with the flow. None of them, at the end of the day, were self-sustainable. Lights came in the following denominations: copper ones, silver hundreds and gold ten thousand. There were also apparently fifty thousand, hundred thousand and one million Lights banknotes, but Aki had never seen one in her life. I could understand it, as I imagined the main purpose of those was making travel with vast amounts of wealth much easier than a sack full of gold. In her village, a farm hand could expect to earn maybe two to three hundred Lights per week, which based on her description was barely enough to consider it a liveable wage for one person, since some meals would usually be provided to them at their place of employment. A week''s stay at the local inn was hundred-and-fifty Lights alone without meals, and food would cost you an extra fifty to one hundred per capita. So a single person working on a wealthier farm would probably be able to save up some cash, especially if the owner provided you with a place to sleep as well, but if you were shit outta luck you would struggle to make it from week to week. If you had a family¡­ well¡­ good luck sucker. So to sum up, we ended up with some poor schmucks two-and-half months worth of wages, which would theoretically set us up for a while. This made me consider what we would have to do for a living after escaping the dungeon. I wasn''t terribly looking forward to a life of farmwork, assuming someone would even hire me given I knew fuck-all about it. I could technically look for an ¡®office¡¯ job in the city, but once again my lack of knowledge would prove problematic. I probably knew more about maths than most candidates, but my lack of knowledge about the world would come to bite me. The possibilities then were¡­ unskilled manual labour in the city, whoring, which was definitely out, or adventuring. Assuming that was a thing on Dwynveia. I could also try becoming a city guard or something, I guessed. If they accepted women. ¡®So¡­ Aki,¡¯ I began, hoping she would have some ideas since life as a mercenary and what amounted to a contract killer wasn¡¯t that appealing to me either. ¡®What were your plans after you left your village?¡¯ ¡®I was heading to Ror-Bhyk, hoping to find some work there. But mostly I wanted to see if I could join the Seekers¡¯ Society.¡¯ ¡®The Seekers?¡¯ Aki smiled and intoned with a smile: ¡®Adventures and heroes, travellers and spies, mages and warriors.¡¯ Fools and corpses, I added silently. But still, that meant that we could find work in a pinch. If we survived this bullshit we would be more than qualified, I imagined. Just had to make sure of one thing: ¡®Are you certain this is still something you want? Especially after all¡­¡¯ I vaguely gestured around. ¡®...this?¡¯ I finished. Aki¡¯s expression got cloudy but quickly brightened: ¡®Yup! Becoming a Seeker is something I¡¯ve always dreamed about. To go on an adventure, and not be¡­ well¡­ you know¡­¡¯ A teenage girl ostracised for being born. I nodded for her to continue. ¡®This has been a bit of an eye-opener,¡¯ Aki choked up slightly. ¡®But now that I¡¯ve met you¡­ For the first time since my mom died I don¡¯t feel helpless and at the mercy of others. I know it will be dangerous. But what isn''t? What guarantee do I have that someone won¡¯t summon the Inquisition again? Or there won¡¯t be a monster attack on the place I settle in?¡¯ It is better to die while chasing a dream than to be burnt at a stake, eh? ¡®Fair points have been made. Let''s take the Seekers¡¯ Society by storm then. I imagine few of them will have ¡®survived a legendary dungeon¡¯ on their record.¡¯ The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Aki beamed at me. I threw her the coin purse. ¡®Hold on to this. You¡¯ll probably make a better use out of it than I do.¡¯ The girl cocked her head in confusion. ¡®You know how much food should cost,¡¯ I quickly added. ¡®I don¡¯t.¡¯ When we were back in the corridor, I suggested we should try going to the left. ¡®The Puppet Master came from the right so I think we should try the opposite direction,¡¯ I explained. Truth be told, I didn¡¯t expect the choice to matter all that much, given that the corridor likely established an external boundary of a rectangle, meaning if we followed it we would eventually get back to the starting point. The hope was we would find stairs up before we ran into Mister Hell¡¯s lair. I was proven partially wrong as we actually came up to a fork in the path. ¡®So which is the one that loops in on itself, or is the choice meaningless as they both do?¡¯ I wondered and turned to Aki. ¡®Which one should we choose?¡¯ The girl pondered that for a moment and pointed to the right. ¡®Right, it is then.¡¯ While the corridor didn¡¯t lead to an exit, at least not presently, it proved itself not to be a complete waste of time. We entered a tall cylindrical chamber. There were remains of a staircase attached to the wall and the floor was strewn with its remnants. I couldn¡¯t see any scorch marks on the walls so it''s likely the collapse took place a while ago. Aki pointed to a skeleton partially buried under the debris. Its bony hand was wrapped around the hilt of a long-bladed sword. It was less ornate than my current weapon: the blade lacked any engravings, though the silver crossguard did have leaves and thorny vines carved into it. The sword was slightly longer than my current weapon, and its leather-wrapped hilt, long enough to be held with both hands if needed, ended in a pommel shaped into a black flower carved out of some black polished rock. Another bastard sword? I wondered. I looked around the room and seeing no obvious dangers I slowly walked up to the skeleton and stepped on the arm holding the sword. The remains didn''t protest, so I knelt on one knee and took the weapon from its grasp. Immediately, my mind was assaulted by a maelstrom of confused feelings and pictures: pride, uncertainty, determination; images from someone else¡¯s life; and the feeling of that final dread as the end comes. What the fuck? The sword¡¯s description popped up in my vision. Item: Blade of the Black Rose Class: Weapon - Special - Bastard Sword Rarity: Unique Quality: Good Durability: 49/50 Effects: Traits: Imprint: The day that Tyrric was accepted into the Order of the Black Rose was the proudest in the young knight''s life. The Tower of Trials was supposed to be the place where he would show that his place in the Order was well-earned. Instead, it became his tomb, like for all who dared to enter that cursed place. Oh. So the interface can translate from ¡°Mental Assault¡± to ¡°Lilyth¡±. Good to know. Also, this confirms that people were trying to raid this place. I wonder¡­ were the skeletons down below a part of such a raid? If so¡­ what killed them? None of the things we¡¯ve encountered here so far seemed capable of killing a group of this size. I shrugged. It was likely another thing to look forward to meeting down here. I turned my attention back to the sword. While its properties already looked very good, the weapon, additionally, had an amazing feel to it. The hilt somehow fit my hands perfectly, the sword was wonderfully balanced and after I gave it a few test swings I didn''t want to wield a different sword ever again. Even single-handed slashes felt right. A prompt appeared in front of my eyes. Do you want to bind the item: Blade of Black Rose to yourself? Yes/No? Yes! Item: Blade of Black Rose is now soulbound to you. A belated thought hit me then, how would I carry it? It¡¯s not like it would fit in the scabbard I had. I looked towards Aki who was staring at me with wry amusement. ¡®A girl gotta play with her new toy,¡¯ I explained. A dumb idea then hit me. Why not still try fitting the sword into the sheath? Maybe it would be ¡°stable enough¡± there. I couldn¡¯t even fit it inside, as the blade turned out to be too wide. I was about to put it back, really disappointed, when Aki came up to me and suggested: ¡®Why not put it inside your backpack?¡¯ ¡®Won¡¯t it damage it from the inside?¡¯ I asked, confused. ¡®It¡¯s got Holding on it, doesn¡¯t it?¡¯ I slowly nodded. ¡®And does that have to do with anything?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Have the items inside ever taken damage from anything that has happened to you so far?¡¯ ¡®No¡­ oh¡­ there is a pocket dimension inside, isn¡¯t there? Makes sense.¡¯ ¡®Yup. Just make sure not to put it in a way that won¡¯t damage anything that¡¯s inside.¡¯ Which was easier said than done. I ended up wrapping it in my first set of clothes. They would regenerate themselves in time, and the sword wouldn¡¯t damage any of my hoodies or the greatcoat. You can give up now, skeleton, I thought to the remains of Tyrric and, seeing nothing else of use in the room, we¡¯ve backtracked with Aki to the crossroads. Our senses were immediately assaulted by a smell of decay. I could make out three figures slowly shuffling towards us. One of them was a massive, muscular man with glowing red eyes. The revenant was wearing a familiar-looking green uniform and¡­ no¡­ it couldn¡¯t be. Was that an undershirt with horizontal blue-and-white stripes? ¡®Who else to send but the VDV?¡¯ I laughed under my breath. To his left, there was a half-rotten dark-skinned man wearing remnants of a suit, while to his right there was an equally decaying white-skinned woman in pink yoga pants and a white undershirt. Her hair had mostly fallen out, and the remains of it were white and brittle. ¡®Who keeps creating these?¡¯ I couldn''t help but wonder. If those were the creation of the dungeon wouldn''t they have gone inert once the grid blew up? Was there a necromancer somewhere around here? Chapter 13 - Just a Stress Response I was genuinely curious about the formation the undead took. Was the revenant capable of leading them, or was this the work of the man behind the man? At any rate, we made short work of these with Aki. ''Cover me!¡¯ I told her and charged the undead paratrooper. I dove under his swing and cut off his extended arm. That put me in range of the female zombie. Aki was already there, however, and cut one of the undead''s legs from under it, toppling it face-first to the floor. As I moved on to circle the dead Russian, Aki leapt and impaled the other zombie through its chest. The girl pushed the man off her blades with her leg, while I slashed the Revenant across the back of its knees forcing it into a kneeling position. Aki used that opportunity to lunge in his direction and ran the Russian through his head with one of her swords. Level 4 Lesser Revenant has been slain. You have earned 200 experience points (1000/2000 total experience points progress to level 4) The legless zombie was slowly dragging herself in our direction so I put the woman out of her misery. Level 1 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 50 experience points (1050/2000 total experience points progress to level 4) Aki used that time to finish the man. I was surprised I didn''t get any experience for that one, but ended up shrugging it off as the ¡°EVE Online killmail rules¡± - no offensive actions, no XP fucko, which meant it must have really sucked to level as a cleric here, but then again - that was not my problem. We stood over the site of carnage panting. Aki suddenly whooped. ''Level three!¡¯ ¡®Nice!¡¯ I responded and tried to high-five her but she just stared at me confused. I explained the purpose of the gesture to her. She laughed but returned the high-five this time around. ''What level are you, Lilyth?¡¯ ''I¡¯m also level three. Halfway to level four, which I think is a pretty decent result for uh.¡¯ How long have I been here exactly? I¡¯ve tried to do mental maths, but my interface hurried to the rescue. Current Time: 13:42 CET (14:12 local) Wait. There is a clock functionality on this thing? Oh right. I never did go through those utilities. And holy shit¡­ Is it not even 1400 hours? I knew I wasn¡¯t here for too long, but I had hoped this was my perception of time being fucked. ''Pretty decent result for less than six hours,¡¯ I finished, desperately trying not to think about how many times I have almost died in less than a work shift. Aki looked at me wide-eyed. ¡®You told me you haven¡¯t been here for too long, but I assumed¡­ oh gods. How are you handling this?¡¯ This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡®Still half hoping I¡¯m in a coma and this is just a dream,¡¯ I said. ¡®Probably will take me a while to take it all in.¡¯ Aki came over to me and hugged me. ''I''m here for you if you need me. It''s the least I could do for you. ''Thanks,¡¯ I hugged her back. ''And I am here for you, Aki.¡¯ As we embraced our eyes locked, I became suddenly very aware of how warm and soft Aki felt, not to mention quite happy I was lacking a certain part of the anatomy that would reveal this realization to her, the girl leaned forward and our lips locked. The kiss was short and awkward and Aki quickly jumped back embarrassed. ¡®Sorry, sorry!¡¯ she explained blushing fierce red. ¡®It kinda¡­ kinda¡­¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but notice that her tail was forming a question mark, which was a cat for ¡°in a playful mood¡±, but decided to ignore it. ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ I quickly responded, hoping to defuse the situation. ¡®I understand. We¡¯re under a lot of stress. Some things¡­ just¡­ happen¡­¡¯ We continued back to the crossroads in utter silence. While I was casting furtive glances towards Aki, I noticed she was also desperately pretending not to be looking towards me from time to time, her tail wagging from side to side. Just a stress response. Just a stress response. Just a stress response. Just a stress response. ¡®Was it really?¡¯ the Huntress chimed in, amused. Oh, fuck you. ¡®I don¡¯t think it¡¯s me you want to fuck,¡¯ the Huntress laughed and went silent. Just a stress response. Eventually, we saw a door to our left. It must have been just some room, as the corridor stretched on, way past that. ¡®Should we?¡¯ I asked. Aki said yes, so I tried to open the door, but it wouldn¡¯t budge. It wasn¡¯t locked, none of the doors had a visible locking mechanism, just stuck. I frowned. ¡®Any ideas?¡¯
As part of her level-up Aki picked up a new ability, she was itching to try out. Ability: Lesser Abyssal Bolt Type: Racial - Infernal - Fire - Damage Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) Radius: 30 metres Description: Sends out a hellfire projectile at a chosen target. Consumes mana. Synergies: Knowledge of Flame Arcana may improve the effects of this spell Casting Time: 1 Second She did notice her Flame Arcana skill was slowly rising thanks to the Abyssal Spark she was using to light their way. She would need to be careful about using the Lesser Bolt though. Aki knew her friend¡­ yes¡­ definitely just her friend and nothing more was afraid of fire. Her tail had other ideas about Aki¡¯s feelings towards Lilyth because it just wouldn¡¯t stay still these past few minutes, no matter how much she willed it to behave normally. What did Lilyth say it was? Just a reaction to stress? Yes. That was just stress. She just wanted to have someone to keep her company, make her feel safe and warm and¡­ Focus! Aki chided herself as she once again felt warmth spreading across her body and blood flowing to her cheeks. FOCUS! ¡®Umm¡­ Aki, you okay?¡¯ Lilyth looked at her quizzically. She felt her tail do unspeakable things again so to take her mind off things she just pointed her hand at the door and launched her new spell at it. Her emotions must have had some effect on the spell as, instead of a small fire bolt, a massive fireball flew out of her hand. It impacted the door with a loud boom and set it ablaze. Lilyth scrambled back and fell on her shapely behind. Aki ran over to her. ¡®Are you all right?¡¯ she asked. ¡®Y-yeah.¡¯ Lilyth stammered out. ¡®Just warn me the next time you do something like this, okay?¡¯ ¡®Sure. Didn¡¯t expect it to be¡­ this much. My first time to use this ability.¡¯ ¡®Yeah. First times can be¡­ difficult.¡¯ Aki helped Lilyth back on her feet. It was then that their eyes locked one more time. Almost in sync, they quickly averted their gazes and backed away. ¡®Yup,¡¯ Lilyth said her cheeks becoming slightly blue. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ As they waited for the door to burn down, they stood side-by-side, their fingers brushing against each other from time to time. Chapter 14 - Of Monsters and Demons When the door was nought but ash and cinder, I noticed the reason it wouldn¡¯t open was a shin-high stone block, now slightly melted and glowing from the heat on the other side. The doorframe wasn¡¯t doing so ¡°hot¡± either. Once again, I became slightly terrified of Aki. If her spells could melt stone I would have to really watch out not to get on her bad side. It wasn¡¯t even my new-found vulnerability to fire talking. If I were still flesh and bone getting hit by this would reduce me to ash just as easily. I slowly approached the opening and peered inside, careful not to touch the glowing rock of painful death. The heat near it was unbearable so I backed away quickly. Aki decided to try but with similar results. ¡®Yeah¡­ I don¡¯t think this is a good way to open stuck doors,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®Sorry¡­¡¯ Aki said slightly embarrassed. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. It was still a good idea. You couldn¡¯t have known.¡¯ I did my best to figure out whether there was even a point to wait for the stones to cool off. The chamber was fairly large. The only thing I could see inside was a dusty skeleton wearing mouldy scraps of clothing lying face down by the wall opposite the entrance. ¡®They must have hid here and hoped that whatever horrors lurked here wouldn¡¯t find them,¡¯ I said. Then I noticed that there were deep gouges in the bones looking like they were left by very sharp claws. But how did they happen if the guy was locked here¡­ OH! Aki wanted to say something but I silenced her with a ¡°shhh¡± and pointed to the damage on the skeleton. I could see she didn¡¯t understand what I meant but obliged, slightly unhappy, nonetheless. It was quiet, but then I heard a distinct tapping sound coming from the room. It seemed like it originated from above and to the right of the doorway, but it could have been just the way sound travelled here. The acoustics were not exactly stellar. More tapping came, this time definitely from above the doorway followed by a horrible screech of pain. Something landed on the floor in the other chamber, its head impacting the stone. I briefly caught sight of it being one of the Sanguine before its flesh caught on fire. It let out one last horrifying shriek and mercifully died. As the smell of the creature''s burnt flesh reached us, we averted our gazes with Aki. ''Okay¡­ what just happened?¡¯ I asked, feeling sick from the sight. ''Level 7 Sanguine Lurker has been slain,¡¯ Aki read the notification she got with a flat voice. ''I see. How about we never talk about this again and just continue?¡¯ Aki nodded, her face green. We barely made it a few steps before Aki ran up to the wall and started vomiting. I ran over to her and held her hair ''I didn''t mean¡­ I didn''t want to¡­¡¯ Aki stammered out, tears streaming down her face before she started to heave again. Once she was done I held her close to me and comforted her. ''It''s okay. It''s not your fault.¡¯ ''But¡­ but¡­¡¯ ''We would¡¯ve needed to kill this thing anyway. It wasn''t pretty, but these things hardly ever are.¡¯ I knew Aki would probably have nightmares about this for the rest of her life. The best I could do was assuage her guilt. We sat there in silence for a few moments. ''People are right when they say that us demonborns are monsters¡­¡¯¡¯ she sobbed. ''No, they are not. Never think about yourself this way. None of us are guilty just by the fact of our birth. It''s what we do about it that matters. If someone started to use that spell to set random people on fire for no reason, then yes. That would make them a monster. But it wouldn''t reflect negatively on you.¡¯ ''You''re not afraid of me then?¡¯ ''No. Why would I be?¡¯ That only made more tears flow from Aki''s eyes. ''Th-thank you,¡¯ she blubbered. ''No problem.¡¯ Once Aki recovered, she washed her mouth with the water from the canteen and we set off. She looked like a mess, then again I wasn''t in a much better shape either. As we walked I remembered the Gust of Wind rune I still had in my backpack. ''I was thinking,¡¯ I began. ''If you''d like to use¡­ more humane magic I still have that rune we picked up from the shaman. I was planning on learning it eventually, but I can give it to you if you''d like.¡¯ Aki mulled that over. ''No,¡¯ she refused. ''I think I''ve lost my appetite for offensive magic for the time being. So if you think you can make a better use of it, go ahead.¡¯ I nodded solemnly. ''Gotcha. Don''t worry Aki. Take your time. I can''t use it until I''m level four anyway. So if you change your mind, just let me know.¡¯ Soon afterwards we found another door, this time on the right side of the corridor. As usual, I took point and stood by the door listening. I could make out footsteps on the other side. Two? Maybe three people. One heavier than the others. Much heavier. Why didn''t they respond to the¡­ commotion though? I signalled to Aki to take out her swords. I moved to unsheathe my sword, but stopped and decided to take out the Blade of the Black Rose from my backpack. Since I could prepare, I figured I might as well give my new toy a spin. After a moment of consideration, I¡¯ve decided to leave my backpack outside. It was badly damaged as it was. Once we were prepared I tried to kick the door open. Apparently, the movies lied to me because the only thing it got me was a sore foot. So much for a dramatic entrance. I opened the door normally and saw three Sanguine abominations on the other side. The answer to the question ¡°Why didn¡¯t they come at us earlier¡± became readily apparent when I saw a metal door on the other side of the door, which the three stooges were apparently guarding. Two of them were short and hunched, and like the drowner, looked as if they hadn¡¯t eaten in a year. Each had four arms ending with six sharp claws and there was a row of spikes running along their backs. The third of them could have been best described as the skeleton of a three-metre-tall gorilla wearing a suit of pale white skin. Oh, and it had five extra arms extending from its back: four of them from its upper back, all of them long enough to reach towards the ground; while the last one from its lumbar region. This one split at the elbow into two sub-arms. Like with the smaller toothy stooges, the big one''s eight hands all ended with six claws. All three creatures were looking towards the door, their eyeless faces ¡°glaring¡± directly at me, sticky saliva dripping from the giant''s lipless mouth. And so much for the element of surprise. And speaking of elements, while I perfectly understood Aki''s misgivings about using her newly acquired ability, hell I always found incendiary weapons distasteful myself, if anything ever called for ¡°kill it with fire¡±, it was the big stooge. No, I chided myself. If I fancy myself the girl''s friend I can''t force her to do this. ''Just a friend?¡¯ the Huntress asked. JUST A STRESS RESPONSE. ¡®I''ll take care of the big monster,¡¯ I told Aki. ¡®You deal with the small fry.¡¯ Without waiting for her response I charged in. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. First, I¡¯ve decided to test the ranged attack of my new sword on the big stooge, I was starting to call Larry, making the other two Curly and Moe. At any rate, I pointed my blade at him and channelled mana through it like I would when casting my other spell. This proved to be very draining as I felt mentally spent afterwards. I could maybe get a single volley of Rock Spikes out before I was completely out of mana. Sub-optimal. Colourless transparent energy started gathering at the tip and after a second a ball flew out of it. I could immediately feel myself getting dragged to it, but the further it got from me the pull got weaker. Da hell? Is this a gravity ball? Larry tried to dodge the projectile, but it was too fast and impacted it on his right side. The back arms there were immediately pulled towards it along with the lumber one. The latter one was outright ripped off resulting in a small spray of blood. Larry roared in pain and anger. I could see the right front arm was also being pulled, but the creature managed to keep it in place by bracing it against the floor. The torn-off appendage was pulled into the centre of the orb, where it was instantly crushed beyond recognition. Shortly afterwards the ball dissipated. The back arms must have been pulled out of their joints as they were hanging limply off the monster¡¯s side. I had no idea if Larry sustained any internal damage from this, but the point was probably academic at the moment, as I now had its undivided attention. Despite its blank face being incapable of expression, I could feel the thing was completely hacked off. This is going to be fun. With the corner of my eye I noticed something exploding against¡­ let¡¯s say Curly¡¯s¡­ chest. Happy that the girl managed to get over the previous situation, probably due to the one we were in, I could now fully focus on Larry, and there was a lot to focus on. It attempted to swipe at me with its left arm, the movement was fairly slow so I tried to dodge, but then my decision to use the Blade of the Black Rose bit me. Previously, when fighting I had no extra weight on my left hip and was wearing my backpack. This threw my movement off, which resulted in Larry being able to rake his claws across my side. ¡®FUCK!¡¯ I screamed in pain. The situation had to be dealt with, and I had a crazy plan that maybe would work. I let go of the Blade of the Black Rose and started to back away from Larry. I pulled out my other sword and threw it towards the monster. It moved to deflect it, and meanwhile, I tried to summon the Blade back to my hand. The sword disappeared on the ground with a flash, and it appeared where I wanted it to be. YUS! Larry batted away the sword I threw at it, I could see it left a small on its palm, and the blade landed on the floor where it clattered away. This gave me an opening I needed and, wincing from pain, I charged in between Larry¡¯s arms and slashed at its exposed stomach. The sword slashed across it, leaving a bloody streak, but oddly enough, the attack wasn¡¯t enough to penetrate Larry¡¯s skin. It couldn¡¯t have been that tough, could it? Larry was no fucking rhino. In my state of confusion, I didn¡¯t see the monster reach towards me with one of his arms. Only when I felt Larry¡¯s fingers wrapping around my body I realised that¡­ I may have fucked up.
While Lilyth was busy doing whatever that was to the big monster, Aki found herself trying to get the attention of the two smaller ones. This proved to be very difficult, as everyone in the room, including herself, was at the moment distracted by the weird orb. Only when the thing finally disappeared could the fight begin. ¡°Luckily¡± for her, the two smaller monsters had no interest in being anywhere near the big one at the moment, so they charged towards her instead. Aki knew she would have issues fighting both of them at the same time, so she did one thing she was not looking forward to doing. There was some internal block inside her, but she had to force herself through it, she couldn¡¯t let Lilyth down. So, feeling sick again she extended her arm towards one of the monsters and launched an Abyssal Bolt at it. The flaming projectile impacted the creature in the middle of its chest, despite how badly Aki¡¯s arm was shaking, where it exploded and threw the abomination back. Its ribcage was annihilated, exposing the now-badly mangled organs inside. Mercifully for Aki, the monster did not catch on fire this time. Level 4 Sanguine Hunter has been slain. You have earned 400 experience points (1150/2000 total experience points progress to level 4) She was now able to focus on the other monster, which was very close now. It proved to be a formidable enemy for Aki. It was just as agile as she was, so they led a deadly dance, each leaving scratches on the other, but nothing serious enough to hinder the opponent. So without any other obvious options left, she activated her Ring of Protection once again, using up its last charge. She would need to recharge it at some point. The hunter¡¯s attack started bouncing harmlessly off the energy field allowing her to focus exclusively on the offence. She quickly dove under the monster''s arms weaving a pattern of slashes with her blades. One of them cut off the creature''s outstretched upper left arm at the elbow, the next cut its stomach open spilling the monster¡¯s intestines out and the final one sliced open its jugular. The Hunter still wasn¡¯t down so, as the finale, Aki kicked its legs from under it. It tried to raise itself from the ground, but it quickly weakened from shock and blood loss. Level 5 Sanguine Hunter has been slain. You have earned 500 experience points (1650/2000 total experience points progress to level 4) This problem taken care of, she turned her attention towards the big monster and to her horror saw that the creature was currently holding Lilyth in one of its arms, crushing her, and slowly lifting her towards its now open maw. She started running over there and launched an Abyssal Bolt at the monster. It impacted it on its side, resulting in a massive burn and causing the creature to drop Lilyth to the ground. Aki¡¯s triumph was short lived as she found herself within the monster¡¯s reach. It backhanded her, which launched her into the air despite the protective field. Aki hit the wall with her back, where the barrier promptly shattered, but still protected the girl from damage. She could hear Lilyth shout something, but couldn¡¯t make out what it was, as her head was ringing. Aki was about to rise when she noticed tapping sounds coming from the ceiling. She looked up and saw a Sanguine Lurker hanging above her. She was finally able to get a look at one. The creature had the body shape that all the Sanguine shared. Its one defining characteristic were once again the arms. The left one was normal, while the right one split at the elbow into two. The Lurker was staring back at her, and she felt droplets of spittle hit her face.
I landed on my back. I would need to thank Aki for saving my life again. As I was scrambling to my feet I saw Larry launch her towards the wall. ¡®Oh, you motherfucker!¡¯ I shouted. I was about to attack him again when I noticed a shape hanging above Aki. We must have been so focused on the threats on the ground that we failed to notice one on the ceiling. Aki looked dazed from the impact. I started running towards her and launched a volley of Rock Spikes at the Lurker. I felt a jolt of mental pain, which confirmed my earlier suspicions that that was it for me as far as spellcasting went for now. The obsidian bolts pierced its back and neck. The creature crashed to the ground and died on impact. Level 4 Sanguine Lurker has been slain. You have earned 400 experience points (1450/2000 total experience points progress to level 4) That was when my inattentiveness got me again. I felt burning pain flash across my back when Larry gouged a deep wound across it. The paper doll in my vision was flashing with deep crimson. The force of the attack threw me to the ground. Well¡­ fuck.
Aki saw the Lurker crash to the ground in front of her. That completely broke the out of her daze and she got up to her feet just as she saw Lilyth fall on the ground with nasty-looking cuts across her back. They were oozing black liquid. She noticed the big monster¡¯s claws were covered in it along with something blue that she realised must have been her friend¡¯s slimy skin. Aki dropped one of her swords and dashed towards Lilyth while reaching into her satchel. She got out a healing potion and rolled it on the ground towards her friend, hoping she would still be well enough to drink it. The creature made a lunge at her, but she was able to dodge it narrowly. She fired an Abyssal Bolt at it, the intense mental strain telling her it was her last use of the ability for a while, and it hit the monster in the side of its head, exploding and dazing the creature which gave Aki a moment to go back retrieve her second Falchion. Just as she was picking it up she saw Lilyth roll away from the abomination while struggling to uncork the healing potion. She managed to do it and poured it down her throat.
The healing potion tasted like the nectar of the gods. I could feel my strength immediately return to me. I summoned back my sword as I left it where I fell and moved to face the creature again. I was amazed at Larry¡¯s ability to tank damage. It ate two hellfire balls, a gravity orb-thing, that slash from me, and still looked no worse for wear. Hopefully, between the two of us, we would be able to put it down. Larry was coming out of its daze so I knew we had just moments of free license to act left. So I leapt towards it and slashed it across its right arm. My sword managed to bite into it but deflected off the bone. I quickly backed away, as I could see its other arm getting ready for another swipe at me. In the meantime, Aki was circling it to get to the side where its back appendages were non-functional. We still had no idea what these did, so it was probably for the best. She lunged at its leg, but her blades bounced off its skin. It tried to kick at her, but I used this opportunity to make another slash at its arm, this time from the other side. It didn¡¯t do nearly as much damage as the previous one, but it allowed Aki to dodge the monster¡¯s kick. Larry realised it was in a difficult position so it tried to reposition itself. I suddenly found myself within the range of its back arms which started to make swipes at me, forcing me to back away. As I did that, I began to feel another problem starting to creep in. Fatigue. Realising we really needed to end this quickly, I made a swipe at one of the arms, managing to cut it off at the wrist. The creature howled in pain, making my ears hurt, but still was focused enough to swipe at me with its last remaining back arm. I felt intense pain as its claws dug into my left shoulder. But then something miraculous happened. With another howl of pain, the monster collapsed. I could see Aki standing next to its almost severed right palm, which was now hanging by threads from Larry¡¯s wrist. You go, girl! I thought and turned my attention back to the monster. Its back hand was still making, now ineffectual, swipes at me. I quickly got out of its reach and dashed towards the creature''s neck. The fucking thing still had fight in it as it was trying to drag itself to its feet with just its left arm. ¡®What the fuck¡­¡¯ I muttered. With the rest of my strength, I leapt on its back and stabbed at its neck. My sword bounced off its skin, so I slashed at it. And then again. And again. Finally, I managed to get through and my sword severed its neck aorta. A gout of blood sprayed from the hole. The monster bucked which threw me off it, convulsed and went still. Level 18 Lesser Sanguine Behemoth has been slain. You have earned 900 experience points (2350/2000 total experience points progress to level 4) You are now Level 4 (350/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Notice: Against all odds, you have somehow managed to slay a monster 15 levels higher than you. You have received 1 perk point for this achievement (Current Number of Perk Points: 3) Chapter 15 - Dungeons and Relationships I dragged myself off the floor and looked at Aki who looked even more spent than I was. Fucking level eighteen. Sweet Jesus. We''ve decided that whatever mystery the metal door held could remain mysterious for a while longer. There was a good chance that the secret was ¡°horrible painful death¡± after all, so we gathered our belongings and retreated to the collapsed tower, which was a mostly corpse-free environment we could rest at. As we walked we ended up drinking our two last healing potions. It sucked, to put it mildly, but what could you do? We ended up sitting on some of the more comfortable rocks, bundled in my greatcoat and huddled together. I didn''t think either of us planned for this. It just felt like the natural thing to do. We''ve just been through hell, were spent both physically and mentally and just needed to have another person next to us. I could feel Aki''s tail wrapped across my lower back, its tip occasionally rubbing against my side or left arm. As I was sitting there enjoying the moment, I felt Aki''s breath tickle my cheek. I turned my head in her direction and saw her leaning towards me, looking at me expectantly. Once you do this there is no turning back. I kissed her. This time the kiss was longer and more passionate. I felt her tail tighten around my waist. We didn''t go past that. We were in no shape for that, desperately needed a bath and some fresh clothes. There was also the slight problem of horrible monsters wandering around. But, for now, that kiss was enough. It was a start. Where would it lead, I did not know nor did I care. Neither did Aki, from what I could tell. We had each other right there and then. And that was all that mattered to either of us. We knew we couldn¡¯t rest for too long, so we made the best of it. I told her about the Emu War, which brought tears of laughter to her eyes and she would bring those to mine with the tales of elaborate pranks she would play on other villagers told with a verve and skill of master comedian. We swapped our life stories, kissed some more and, for the most part, behaved like giggling teenagers on their first date, which I think this was. Truth be told, I would have chosen a different venue for that - maybe an ice cream shop or that tea house I liked, but a half-collapsed staircase with a skeleton of dead knight to keep us company would do in a pinch. I just hoped poor Tyrric¡¯s soul wasn¡¯t bound to what was left of his body because I could imagine by now the poor fuck must have absolutely hated our guts by now. Eventually, we realised, it was time for us to get going. So we started to plan our next moves. ¡®Do you think we should check out the metal door?¡¯ I asked Aki. ¡®Or should we go another way? There is no guarantee there is an exit behind it.¡¯ Aki rubbed her chin absentmindedly. ¡®We should check it out, I think,¡¯ she said after a moment. ¡®It¡¯s possible there is something useful there. We do need more supplies.¡¯ ¡®Good point. Did you level up after the fight?¡¯ She smiled warmly: ¡®Yup. Got an extra perk point too.¡¯ ¡®Same. I still can¡¯t believe we managed to kill that thing.¡¯ Aki¡¯s smile faltered. ¡®Let¡¯s just hope there aren¡¯t any more of them¡­¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I nodded solemnly and went back to the topic I intended to talk about in the first place. ¡®What are you planning on spending your perk points on?¡¯ ¡®Probably a level or two in the Lesser Abyssal Bolt. I got it up to level two after the fight, and I think I¡¯ll need to use it more.¡¯ She shuddered. I hugged her closer. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, Aki. If you aren¡¯t comfortable using it willy-nilly just leave it for special occasions. I certainly would.¡¯ She nodded and hugged me back. ¡®Then, I think one more into dual falchions.¡¯ she finished. ¡®It¡¯s level seven, now. ¡¯ ¡®When did you have a chance to check all of that? Am I this bad a kisser?¡¯ She laughed. ¡®No, silly. You¡¯re doing fine, I think. I checked my notifications while you were sorting out your sword situation after the fight. ¡®Ah. Still need to check out mine.¡¯ Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of them. The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +60% (131% total progress to level 11) Your Strength Attribute has increased to level 11 (15% total progress to level 12) Your total health has increased Dexterity: +30% (70% total progress to level 14) Agility: +83% (177% total progress to level 10) Your Agility Attribute has increased to level 10 (33% total progress to level 11) Endurance: +70% (119% total progress to level 11) Your Endurance Attribute has increased to level 11 (9% total progress to level 12) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Vitality: +95% (129% total progress to level 10) Your Vitality Attribute has increased to level 10 (14% total progress to level 11) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your Perception Attribute has increased to level 11 (0% total progress to level 12) Intelligence: +12% (37% total progress to level 17) Cunning: +5% (5% total progress to level 9) Willpower: +80% (87% total progress to level 14) Resilience: +25% (70% total progress to level 7) The following skills have progressed: Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +53% (78% total progress to level 6) Stealth: +8% (8% total progress to level 5) Earth Arcana: +45% (64% total progress to level 2) The following spells have progressed: Rock Spikes: +40% (44% total progress to level 4) The following traits have progressed: Predator¡¯s Instinct: +???% Okay. Now to allocate my perk points. I pulled up my character sheet.
Basic Details
Name Lilyth Race Tenebral Slimeling
Gender Transwoman Age 33
Level 4 (350/2000 exp) Class Tenebral Stalker
Rank Novice Perk Points 3
Attributes
Physical Progress Mental Progress
Strength 11 15% Intelligence 16 37%
Dexterity 13 70% Wisdom 12 0%
Agility 10 33% Willpower 13 87%
Endurance 11 9% Cunning 8 5%
Vitality 10 14% Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Resilience 6 70%
Perception 11 0% Faith 3 0%
Appearance 12 0% Charisma 6 0%
Skills
Lore - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Insight Novice 17 15%
Lore - Humanities
Name Rank Level Progress
Linguistics Journeyslime 40 10%
Earth Literature Apprentice 25 0%
Earth History Novice 10 0%
Lore - Sciences
Name Rank Level Progress
Data Analysis Apprentice 30 0%
Mathematics Novice 10 0%
Computing Novice 15 0%
Survival - General
Name Rank Level Progress
First Aid Novice 2 0%
Sense of Direction Novice 10 8%
Stealth Novice 4 8%
Climbing Novice 1 62%
Martial - Swords
Name Rank Level Progress
Bastard Sword - Two-handed Novice 5 78%
Crafting - Cooking
Name Rank Level Progress
General Novice 2 0%
Crafting - Magical
Name Rank Level Progress
Arcane Writing Novice 1 50%
Arcana
Name Rank Level Progress
Earth Novice 1 64%
Spells
Name Arcana Rank Level Progress
Rock Spikes Earth Novice 3 44%
Traits
Name Level Progress
Neurodivergence N/A N/A
The Queen''s Raivarian N/A N/A
Entomophobia 08/10 Special
Hidden Predator N/A N/A
Predator''s Instinct ??? ???
Nothing obvious to level up came to my mind. For most of my skills, I wouldn¡¯t get full value out of my perk points. To satisfy my instincts I threw one point into Stealth. Your Stealth skill has increased to level 5 (0% total progress to level 6) You have spent 1 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) New purchasable ability available Ooooooh,¡¯ I thought pleasantly surprised and immediately checked it out Purchasable ability: Silent Step Type: Umbral - Magical - Mastery Duration: 30 seconds Description: Reduces the volume of the user¡¯s steps. Consumes mana. Synergies: Knowledge of Umbral Arcana may improve the effects of this ability Cost to learn: 2 Perk Points That did feel useful, but not useful enough in our current mess. I could learn another new thing though. I pulled out the Rune of Gust of Wind. ¡®Last chance,¡¯ I said to Aki. ¡®I¡¯m good.¡¯ she replied. I nodded and a message appeared in my vision. Do you wish to spend 1 perk point to learn the following spell: Gust of Wind? Yes/No? Yes. You have learned a new spell: Gust of Wind Type: Elemental - Air - Attack Description: Fires a torrent of air within a 1x2 metre cone. Has a chance to cause knockback. Note: Insufficient knowledge of Air Arcana You have spent 1 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 1) I could sense my mana recharged a bit, but not enough to test the spell. And well¡­ I¡¯ve experienced what it did on my own body. Which reminded me¡­ ¡®Could you give me your ring, Aki?¡¯ I asked. ¡®I¡¯ll see if I can restore a charge on it.¡¯ ¡®Are you sure? I don¡¯t want to leave you without mana. I can try using my own.¡¯ I pointed to the orb over her head. ¡®We need to keep that thing going. Well¡­ you need to at any rate. If you accidentally completely zero out your mana pool¡­¡¯ Without a word, Aki took the ring off her finger and gave it to me. I focused on it and felt mana pass from my body into the ring. Once again, I felt almost completely spent but not having to worry about Aki as much was worth it. I called up the item¡¯s description to check if what I did worked. Item: Ring of Protection Class: Jewellery - Magical Rarity: Coven-made - Uncommon Quality: Good Durability: 15/20 Charges: 1/3 Effects: Traits: Rechargeable - You can channel mana through the object to restore its charges Smiling, I gave her the ring back. She kissed me on the cheek and slipped it back on her finger. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she whispered. ¡®No problem.¡¯ My mind went back to planning mode. I¡¯ve decided to keep the last perk point in reserve. There was no need to waste it. As for me not being able to cast any spells, I took out the scroll case. ¡®Tell me, does casting spells from scrolls use mana?¡¯ Aki¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡®I don¡¯t know,¡¯ she replied, sounding apologetic. ¡®There were no spellcasters in my village.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s fine, love,¡¯ I responded with a shrug. ¡® Wait¡­ don¡¯t I have that Arcane Writing skill? I pulled up its description: Skill: Arcane Writing Type: Crafting - Magical Level: 1 (50% progress to level 2) Description: Art of transcribing spells onto parchment Effects at level 1: Cost: 66% mana cost of the spell transcribed on the scroll Required Materials: Huh. So I get to use a spell at a third of its mana cost. Do I have enough, though? I had no answers to that. Hopefully, I could use at least one of the scrolls. I hid both of them in the pockets of my coat. ¡®Let¡¯s go check out what¡¯s behind the door,¡¯ I said with a deep sigh.
Maximilian found the quiet in the room his guards were in disturbing. He heard the sounds of fighting, something that definitely was the Behemoth collapsing, and then¡­ nothing. Neither his guards gave him an all-clear, nor did anyone burst into his lab to kill him. He looked at his pocket watch. Half an hour has passed and nothing. He grabbed his gun and slowly opened the door. The guardroom was quiet and empty if you didn''t count the corpses of all the Sanguine that were supposed to protect him. Much good the inhuman little shits turned out to be. ''You just can''t get good help these days, can you?¡¯ Maximilian muttered annoyed. Nonetheless, he was happy that whoever killed the beasts chose not to enter his lab. This would give him time to prepare for their arrival. First, much as he loathed to admit it, he would need to have a word with his ¡°master¡± and demand some more underlings. When his ¡°master¡± deigned to answer him, Maximilian was getting seriously angry. He was at the bastard¡¯s beck and call, and yet the bloody monster didn¡¯t feel it proper to even pretend he wasn¡¯t just some disposable tool for it. There would be reckoning. Yes. Maybe a change of leadership was needed. Worse, due to being kept on hold for forty fucking minutes, he couldn¡¯t enact any of his other contingencies. He would need to improvise when the slayers of his guards came back, which he had to assume was any moment by now. ¡®What is Max?¡¯ his ¡°master¡± finally responded through the magic mirror. ¡®I¡¯m busy as you know.¡¯ He quickly explained the situation. ¡®I see. You will have to deal with the intruders with whatever you have left on the floor. I cannot spare any additional Sanguine at the time. If they went through the Behemoth and had to retreat, I can¡¯t imagine the intruders would prove too much of a challenge for you. You have your own minions after all. Just swarm them or something.¡¯ ¡®But¡­¡¯ ¡®No buts, Maxie. I¡¯ve tolerated you for long enough. Don¡¯t make me regret that. You have your orders.¡¯ His master ended the connection. Maximilian slammed the cabinet on which the mirror stood with his fist. ¡®Goddamn shitty little fucker,¡¯ he screamed in frustration. Still, that was that. He turned towards his creations lying on various catafalques in the lab. The ¡°master¡± was right, though. He wasn¡¯t completely without tools. Before he could do anything, however, he heard someone messing with the door handle. Fuck, he would need to improvise. Maximilian rushed over to the door and pushed it open. Before him stood a pale elven woman and a demonborn girl. Both had their weapons drawn but looked to be utterly exhausted and in a horrible shape. Yes, Max thought, as a plan started shaping in his mind. I can work with that. Now, just to distract them from seeing the lab.
We got back to the Behemoth chamber unmolested. We drew our weapons and I tried to push the door open, but it wouldn¡¯t budge. Suddenly, my instincts told me to get back, which I managed to do in a nick of time before the door burst open almost slamming me in the side. A tall pale man with an aquiline nose and piercing blue eyes, over the left of which there was a monocle, emerged from the inside the room. He was dressed in an immaculate feldgrau uniform with intricate silver epaulettes and twin white lightning on a black background insignia on the right side of his collar and one four dots on the left. Between them, I could see an Iron Cross hanging on the man''s neck. The man''s black boots were polished, and his blonde hair was covered by an officer cap with a totenkopf and the reichsadler holding the swastika. I saw a holster with a gun of some kind on his belt. Truth be told, the only thing missing from the man¡¯s ensemble was the red armband. ''Thank God you are here!¡¯ the Schutzstaffel officer shouted. ¡®You have to help me get out of here!¡¯ Chapter 16 - Maximilian L?we Maximilian frowned a bit when he saw the elf stop the demonborn girl from going forward, and then whispered something that even his magic-enhanced senses couldn¡¯t pick up. He couldn''t really blame them for being wary, now could he? He wouldn''t trust a stranger in a place like this, either. Still, it seemed like they bought his story, as the elf sheathed her sword and the demonborn girl soon followed her example. It looked like the elf was the leader here. Good, thought Maximilian. Now¡­ he had options. His initial idea was just to have the women help him escape, after so many years down here Maximilian was done with this place, and then to dispose of them, but the longer he thought about it, the more possibilities emerged. The problem was his current master. Could he use the women to ensure the inhuman abomination couldn''t ever threaten him again? ¡®What¡¯s your name, friend?¡¯ the elf asked. ¡®Maximilian L?we,¡¯ he responded. ¡®Nice to meet you, Maximilian. I¡¯m¡­ Sindara and this is Aki.¡¯ That pause. Were the names made up? This ¡®Aki¡¯ looked surprised at the names. Yeah. It would be best to dispose of the women, after all. He thought they might make for good lackeys and maybe some ¡®fun¡¯. That ¡®Sindara¡¯ stirred something inside him, that he hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. He didn¡¯t even think it was still possible, not after what his first ¡°master¡± did to him. Still¡­ if this was what allowed him to serve his vaterland better then he happily endured it. The knowledge he gained about life and death would be invaluable to the F¨¹hrer. And if others agreed to undergo the same procedure as he did¡­ yes. The glorious Third Reich would be able to triumph over the lesser races of the world. Maybe they would even be able to conquer this one as well. Nothing he had seen here could withstand the might of the Wehrmacht. ¡®How did you end up here, Max?¡¯ ¡®asked Sindara. ¡®I woke up on a stone altar. Then I was captured and brought here. For what purpose, I do not know.¡¯ Sindara nodded. ¡®We¡¯ve entered here through goblin-infested caves. I¡¯ve seen the altar that you mentioned.¡¯ That would explain his new ¡°master¡± not detecting them earlier. ¡®Do you know where we can find the way up?¡¯ ¡®Y-,¡¯ Max stopped himself. ¡®No. I haven¡¯t left my prison since I got here.¡¯ I¡¯ve almost blown it. I need to be careful. Wait¡­ was that a small smirk on the elf¡¯s face? It disappeared quickly. Does she suspect something? How could she?¡¯ ¡®I suppose we can get to know each other while we search for it,¡¯ Sindara said. ¡®Anything useful in the room you were kept in?¡¯ ''N-no.¡¯ If the elf noticed his hesitation she did not show it.¡¯ ''Let''s go looking for it then.¡¯ ¡®Diese waren schreckliche Monstra,'' Sindara said and pointed at the corpses of the Sanguine as they passed them. ¡®Ja,¡¯ Maximilian replied by reflex. ''I hasse sie. Waren sie schwer zu t?ten?¡¯ ¡®Jawohl, Herr Sturmbannf¨¹hrer.¡¯ Maximilian''s heart sank when he realised what Sindara was just doing. Did the elf just call me by my rank? And where did she learn German? Max turned towards the elven woman and found himself staring down the length of a sword pointed straight at his face. He didn¡¯t hear her unsheath it. His gaze landed on her hip. The blade she originally had was still there. Soulbound weaponry? He wondered. Magic either way. That was going to be a problem. He reached towards the holster on his belt but found nothing but air there. Schie?e. I must have left it by the mirror. No matter. Maximilian had other contingencies, but he would still need time to launch them. The time he now desperately needed to buy. Pumping the elf for information would be useful too. ''Sorry, Hans,¡¯ she said in Raivarian with satisfaction clear in her voice. ¡® Nice try, but no cigar.¡¯ ''How can an elf know German?¡¯ Maximilian asked, too distracted by setting everything up to notice the room had gone dark and he had been seeing through Darksight. ''Appearances can be deceiving, mein Freund. Though I suppose it''s to be expected. You people were all about superficial characteristics.¡¯ ''You''re really from Earth?¡¯ Maximilian still, truth be told, couldn''t believe it. ¡®Isn¡¯t that obvious? Don''t tell me you''ve spent eighty years here and haven''t noticed that magic is a thing here. How did you keep such a youthful appearance? You must tell me what facial cream you are using. Eighty years? No. It can''t be. I know it is hard to keep track of time down here, but it couldn''t have been more than three. At least, that''s what I can tell based on Rivard''s journal and my estimates of how much time has elapsed since Laachersain took over. ''Haven¡¯t you noticed that magic is a thing here?¡¯ he responded, trying to retain a look of confidence. What on G?ring''s sweaty ballsack is happening?
Aki was surprised to see another human being there. Was this well-dressed stranger from Lilyth''s world? She wanted to rush over to him, but the way her¡­ companion tensed upon seeing the man stopped her. Lilyth must have sensed Aki''s intentions because she subtly gestured for her to stop. Then Aki heard a barely audible whisper from her. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ''Follow my lead, and check out the room when I distract him.¡¯ When Lilyth started leading this ¡®Maximilian¡¯ away Aki knew the time had come. She snuck into the room the man had come from. Inside, she found a rather cramped chamber. There were other metal doors to the left and right of the entrance. Most of the room was taken by two rows of six catafalques on which there lay corpses in various stages of decay. Directly to the left of the door there was a bookshelf and what looked to be a very intricate alchemist¡¯s table with a small padlocked chest below it; while to the right there was a dresser with an ornate mirror standing on it. Aki, first, investigated the table, hoping there would be potions there and she wasn¡¯t disappointed. There were several moderate health, mana and stamina potions standing on it, along with a couple she did not recognize. She immediately drank one mana and stamina potion. Feeling rejuvenated, Aki packed as many of these as she could inside her satchel. She would need to give some to Lilyth. Her companion needed these badly. Aki turned towards the unknown potions on the table. Item: Moderate Umbral Caustic Essence Type: Alchemical Rarity: Coven-made - Uncommon Effect: Deals persistent umbral damage to any target covered by it. Item: Sarin Type: Chemical Rarity: Terran - Extremely Rare Effect: Unleashes deadly chemical fumes. Handle with extreme caution. Aki, lost interest in examining the rest of the substances and immediately backed away from the table. What kind of a sick person would make this? Feeling slightly ill, Aki moved towards the dresser. The mirror turned out to be a communication device. Item: Magic Mirror Type: Communication - Magical Rarity: Coven-made - Rare Durability: 24/30 Charges: 54/100 Power Source: Small Mana Crystals Effect: Allows for communication between connected mirrors. Consumes 1 charge per 30 seconds of use. Next to it, there was what looked to be a pistol in some sort of leather sheath. Item: The Lance of Longinus Class: Weapon - Magitek - Handgun Rarity: Artifact - Extremely Rare Durability: 34/40 Charge: 76/100 Ammunition: Small Mana Crystals Effect: Launches a magical bolt of any of the arcana types the user is proficient with. Each shot consumes four charges and a small amount of user¡¯s mana. Lilyth would like this one since she is fighting with a single weapon, I think. Wait¡­ if this Maximilian was a prisoner here, why leave him a powerful weapon? With mounting terror, Aki squeezed the gun into her overfilling satchel and turned her attention to the dead. They were dressed in various clothes she didn''t recognise. Are they all from Earth? One that really caught her attention was a black-haired man, maybe in his twenties, wearing a red coat with some parts dyed dark blue instead: the collar, lapels and cuffs; white pants; and black boots. There was a triangular hat lying next to him. This had a distinct look of a uniform, a silly one, but a uniform nonetheless. Wait¡­ didn¡¯t Lilyth mention some formation called the Redcoats in one of her stories? Yes. They were the soldiers of this Bryteesch Empire. Oh no, Aki thought, fully realising what danger they were in. She rushed to open one of the other doors. Behind it, there were rows upon rows of biers with corpses lying on them. A similar find awaited her behind the other door. Suddenly, she heard a series of soft groans behind her, followed by sounds of cloth rubbing against the stone. Without looking she bolted towards the exit from the room.
¡®What of the war?¡¯ the Nazi asked me. ¡®What happened to the Reich?¡¯ I smirked evilly. ¡®What do you think happened? You fuckers lost. Hitler spent his last days cowering in fear in a bunker while the people of Berlin died for his madness. Instead of facing the Soviets he chose the coward''s way out and shot himself. Your boss tried to fuck off to South America but got captured and also took the easy way out. Your SS buddies were hanged or went into exile. And now, Germany is a peaceful nation, finally working for the good of Europe instead of trying to conquer it. The very word Nazi has become a short-hand for evil.¡¯ L?we got paler with every sentence. Good. ¡®No!¡¯ he shouted. ¡®Those are lies!¡¯ I pressed the Blade of the Black Rose closer to his throat. ¡®If you don¡¯t play nice, I¡¯m going to send you to hell where they are all sucking dicks so you can ask them in person for independent verification.¡¯ I had no intention of letting him live. Even if he wasn¡¯t involved with whoever was running this, I just couldn¡¯t trust him not to do anything funny. I didn¡¯t want ¡°Trusted a Nazi¡± to be written on my tombstone. Plus, you didn¡¯t become an officer of the SS without being a fucking war criminal. I planned to extract some information from him, buy Aki some time to go through his shit, and then deal with him. Of course¡­ there was the standing question of ¡°Will I actually be able to murder someone in cold blood¡± despite all my bluster. ¡®What do you want from me, elf?¡¯ he asked. ¡®The truth for starters. What are you really doing here?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m a prisoner here, I told you! I¡¯ve been kept here for years and experimented upon.¡¯ I¡¯ve always been terrible at telling whether someone was lying to me. That was the part of my neurodivergence I always hated. I was also biased against believing L?we due to¡­ well him being a fucking Nazi, but I couldn¡¯t help but think he was telling the truth there. But¡­ his uniform wouldn¡¯t be this pristine-looking then. It must have been soulbound, still¡­ that didn¡¯t explain how was he still alive after so many years. I looked at him again. Maximilian looked to maybe be in his late thirties. So what? Wouldn¡¯t he be a hundred and twenty in 2024? There was some fuckery involved, but I had no idea what it was. ¡®Who was experimenting on you?¡¯ I pressed. ¡®This monster who introduced himself as Laachersain. He was trying to turn a living person into some special kind of undead.¡¯ A likely story. Though¡­ Maximilian did seem comfortable in the dark. Last I checked Nazis didn¡¯t have darksight. And he had been awfully calm, despite me threatening his life. ¡®Who is this Laachersain?¡¯ ¡®A powerful sorcerer from the same realm as these.¡¯ L?we pointed towards the Sanguine with his head. Why not use his arms? I was about to check what the Nazi was doing when, suddenly, Aki burst out of the room behind the metal door. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ she shouted. ¡®Watch out, he¡¯s the necromancer.¡¯ My body acted before my mind fully registered her words. I jumped back in time to avoid a strike from Maximilian¡¯s fist wreathed in green flames. The Nazi¡¯s eye started glowing viridian, and a ghostly green sword appeared in his right arm. I could hear shuffling footsteps coming from the room Aki just left. L?we beckoned me with his free, still flame-wreathed hand. I could see small skulls popping up in the fire from time to time. ¡®Let¡¯s dance then, Lilyth.¡¯ Chapter 17 - The Revenant I should have killed him when I had a chance, I thought cursing myself. Now, I had to face a sorcerer likely with decades of experience over me and a horde of undead at his beck and call. Not looking good. I thought about the scrolls I had in my pockets. Hopefully, I have enough mana for both. L?we didn¡¯t want to give me too much time to think it seemed, as he immediately launched a green fireball towards me. I somehow managed to catch it on the Blade of the Black Rose, but that gave the Nazi an opening to run over to me and swing his sword at me. The weapon bit into my left shoulder sending shockwaves of pain throughout my body, causing me to scream out from sheer agony. I¡¯ve never experienced pain this intense here, it was even worse than the light magic crystals. The hit area on the paper doll turned deep crimson too. What was going on? Oh. My resistances don¡¯t work against magic weapons. And this likely has some funky effects on it too. Fuuuuuck. I saw that L?we was preparing to follow up with a punch of his flame-wreathed fist, but then the room flashed and he was hit on the side with a ball of hellfire. The Nazi staggered back giving me a chance to act. I focused on the scroll of Ice Lance. I felt my mana flow through it, and my left hand went cold as a half-a-metre-long icicle manifested inside. This did not help with the shoulder wound, but I persevered and rammed it into L?we¡¯s stomach. I collapsed to my knees from pain and exertion but Aki was quickly by my side and fed me a healing potion. My shoulder immediately knit together and my paper doll gave me a clean bill of health again. ¡®Those are all moderate,¡¯ Aki whispered as she handed me stamina and mana potions too. I stuck the stamina potion in my pocket but drank the mana one immediately. My mind felt clear again. It was just in time, as Maximilian managed to deal with his small ice-lance-in-stomach problem. And was coming back at us. His wound was still open, but not bleeding. Was the fuck not human too? I could see the undead slowly emerging from Maximilian''s little hidey-hole of horrors. It was time to test out my new spell then. I pointed my hand at the Nazi''s legs and cast the Gust of Wind spell. It worked, though it clearly lacked the ¡°oomph¡± it should have had, based on what I''ve seen the Goblin Shaman do with it. Still, it was strong enough to cut Maximilian''s legs from under him. I got up and kissed Aki on the cheek. ''Thank you,¡¯ I said. ''Take care of the undead, I''ll keep him busy, until you can join me here.¡¯ ¡®Will do,¡¯ she responded. ¡®Good luck!¡¯ She hurried off to engage the undead. ''So it¡¯s just you and me, Hans,¡¯ I spat at Max. ¡®Stop calling me that, you subhuman bitch!¡¯ he growled at me and charged again. I launched a volley of Rock Spikes at him. Only one of them hit, but it threw the Nazi off his track, so I was able to dodge his charge. ¡®You keep calling me subhuman, Hans, and yet it''s you the ¡®Master Race¡¯ who lost to the Soviets. The picture of Red Army soldiers waving the USSR flag on the roof of Reichstag is one of my favourite pieces of historical photography.¡¯ ¡®More lies!¡¯ he took a wild swing at me. I tried to deflect it but misjudged the timing and the tip of the ghostly blade slid across my stomach. The wound was superficial but still hurt like a bitch. ¡®Believe what you will, Hans.¡¯ ¡®I told you to STOP CALLING ME THAT!¡¯ He charged me again but this time I was ready. I jumped aside and slashed at him the moment he passed me by. My blade raked him across his back causing the Nazi fuck to stumble. I tried to help him by casting another Gust of Wind but the spell fizzled out. SHIT! The casting mishap proved costly, as it gave L?we time to recover and before I could react, he sent another green fireball in my direction. I was too close to him to dodge and it hit me square on the chest. The force of the impact blew me back across the room. As bad as the sword hurt, it was nothing compared to this. It felt like my entire body was on fire causing me to scream like I had never screamed before. The damage indicator was showing my torso very badly damaged. Through the haze of pain, I saw the Sturmbahnfuhrer charge at me. My sword felt impossibly heavy so I had to resort to one final trick almost literally up my sleeve. I focused on the Fist of Wind scroll in my pocket and channelled mana through it. I could feel wind gathering around my right fist. Now, I had to time it right. L?we leapt towards me, his sword pointed to deliver a killing blow. Just as he started descending I punched out. As my hand neared his jaw, I whispered: ¡®This is for the Death Camps, motherfucker.¡¯ The power of the spell far exceeded my expectations. It was powerful enough to launch L?we straight into the ceiling. He impacted it with a sickening crunch and fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I stared at him for a few seconds to see whether he would get up, but after realising Max wasn¡¯t moving, I looked in Aki¡¯s direction. The poor girl was lying on her back slowly getting surrounded by the undead. There was a burning something walking towards her followed by a lot more undead. It seemed that she had misplaced both of her swords, but was that a gun she was holding? That couldn¡¯t be right. Did it belong to the Nazi? Why didn¡¯t he have it on him? Did the fuck forget to take it? No matter the explanation, it was time to help Aki. I dragged myself to my feet using the wall as a support. This was gonna suck. Aki charged into the undead with almost reckless abandon. She hated how she couldn¡¯t fight side-by-side with Lilyth, but she understood keeping the shambling monstrosities away from her¡­ companion was incredibly important. She could still feel traces of Lilyth¡¯s kiss on her cheek. Yes, she would do everything so that they would have a chance to figure out what exactly they were to each other. A pair of zombies was the first to come out of Maximilian''s lab: an elderly woman in a pink robe-thing and a tall tan-skinned man wearing a white sleeveless shirt and blue trousers. Aki noticed that his arms had tattoos of some snake things on them. The man seemed to be the more threatening of the two so she pivoted towards him and rammed the tip of one of her falchions into his temple. The bone gave way and the blade emerged on the other side of his skull dripping blood and brain matter. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Level 1 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 100 experience points (650/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) She ripped the sword out, whirled around and slashed at the woman. The falchion hit the woman just under her nose and deeply bit into her skull. Level 0 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 50 experience points (700/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) At least I should surpass Lilyth in level soon thanks to this, Aki thought with pride. Then it will be my turn to protect her. She tried to retrieve the sword but it got stuck. Before Aki could get the better leverage on it, she saw that more of the undead were almost upon her. Leading them was the man in the red coat. His eyes were glowing red, an unmistakable sign of him being a revenant. Behind him there were more zombies¡­ and was that another revenant? Deciding to abandon the sword for the time being, Aki jumped back and sent a Lesser Abyssal Bolt at the redcoat. It exploded on impact and caused the man¡¯s clothes to catch on fire. That seemed not to deter him all that much as he continued his march towards her, massive cavity in his chest and his skin slowly melting off. Aki felt nauseous seeing that, but there was no time for that. Since she was only left with one weapon an idea struck her. She kept backing away and took the Lance of the Longinus out of her satchel and removed it from its sheath. While it looked utterly alien to Aki who had only seen a few flintlock pistols carried by guards of traders passing through her village, a modern observer, like Lilyth, would recognize it as a large-calibre fairly ornate red semi-automatic pistol with golden filigree. Still, she surmised, the mechanics of its use should have been fairly straightforward, shouldn¡¯t they? Suddenly, Aki heard the sound of something heavy hitting the floor behind her, followed by Lilyth¡¯s howls of pain. Involuntary, she looked in the direction and saw her girlfriend lying on the floor, her chest and stomach glowing green and looking badly burnt. L?we was approaching Lilyth with a murderous expression. He leapt at her, but before Aki could see what happened something hot and hard hit the girl in her temple and knocked her to the floor. Her ears rang and her vision slightly blurred. Aki could have sworn a loud crack came from Lilyth¡¯s direction, but couldn¡¯t tell for sure. She started crawling away from the revenant and rolled over to her back to get a better view of the situation. As she did that, she realised that she lost her other sword somewhere, but somehow managed to hold on to the gun. Another thing occurred to her then as well: the revenant, now a little more than a charred skeleton, was still on fire. Yet, she did not sustain any burns best she could tell. ¡®No descendant of mine will be hurt by her own fire,¡¯ said a warm fatherly voice. Did she just imagine that? She shook her head to focus and pointed the gun at the burning revenant, her hand shaking from strain, and pulled the trigger. A beam of fiery energy shot out of the gun and pierced through what was left of the revenant and two zombies shambling behind it. The power of the impact caused the revenant¡¯s body to disintegrate into cinder and ash, while the shamblers collapsed to the ground, massive smoking holes in their torsos. That thing is good. Level 5 Revenant has been slain. You have earned 500 experience points (1200/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Level 1 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 100 experience points (1300/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Level 1 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 100 experience points (1400/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Aki pointed her gun at another revenant - a moustached man wearing a grey-blue uniform, but before she could pull the trigger, the undead¡¯s head was pierced by a trio of stone daggers. It was thrown to the ground and went still. She looked towards where the spell came from. Aki saw Lilyth leaning against the wall, her torso an oozing mess of black and blue. She looked even paler than usual and seemed she could collapse at any minute. The Blade of the Black Rose was lying useless next to her feet. Lilyth weakly raised her hand and pointed towards something behind Aki. Then she collapsed to her knees. That brought the girl¡¯s attention to reality. She turned and saw that three more zombies were almost upon her. They were positioned in such a way Aki managed to destroy them in two shots. Level 0 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 50 experience points (1450/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Level 2 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 200 experience points (1650/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Level 1 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 100 experience points (1750/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Aki scrambled to her feet and hurried towards Lilyth. Level 3 Lesser Revenant has been slain. You have earned 300 experience points (650/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Look behind you, I willed to Aki after she turned towards me. Focus on the fucking undead, not me. I mustered enough strength to raise my arm. But that was it for me. Strength left my legs. I barely managed to keep myself upright on my knees. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! I tried to get up again, but the strain almost made me black out. However, the ¡®almost¡¯ didn¡¯t last long. I felt my consciousness slipping away from me, likely for the last time. But before that final darkness came, someone took me in their arms and I felt something jammed into my mouth. Apple-tasting liquid started pouring down my throat and after it ran out, another bottle replaced it. Strength once again flooded my body, I opened my eyes and saw Aki¡¯s face over mine, tears flowing down her face. When she saw I was conscious, she hugged me close to my chest. ¡®Thank the gods!¡¯ she cried out. ¡®No,¡¯ I croaked back. ¡®Thank you, Aki.¡¯ That only made her cry harder. I was moving my still somewhat weak arm to comfort her when I saw something approaching us. It was a rotting Asian man in his 50s wearing a white shirt and black suit pants. So, I redirected my arm and gave him a face-full of Rock Spikes. That solved all of his problems. Level 0 Lesser Zombie has been slain. You have earned 50 experience points (700/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) I then weakly hugged her back and said: ¡®We still have some work to do, it seems.¡¯ She helped me up and handed me my sword. I looked around the chamber. There were still around twenty undead in the chamber. I pointed the Blade of the Black Rose towards them to try to take most of them with the gravity attack when balls of green energy burst out of them and flew towards¡­ No, it couldn¡¯t be. He died. I killed him, didn¡¯t I? My heart sank as I realised I never got any ¡°was slain¡± notification. As all of the remaining undead turned to ash where they stood, Aki and I looked towards what I thought to have been the mortal remains of SS-Sturmbannf¨¹hrer Maximilian L?we. He was now levitating slightly above the ground. Two pairs of wings from the green fire extended from his back, and a halo of ghostly viridian skulls surrounded his head. He looked at me with a predatory smile. ¡®Thought I was done for, mein Freund?¡¯ he spat towards me. ¡®Oh no. The fun has only just begun.¡¯ Chapter 18 - The Master of the Undead Learning from experience from the first round against L?we, I decided not to wait for him to make the first move. I pointed the Blade of the Black Rose at him and launched a gravity orb. The Nazi blocked it on the palm of his extended right hand and green flames began to envelop the ¡°ball¡±. I wasn''t sure whether L?we intended to launch it back at me with some extras or just to destroy it. The smirk on his face didn¡¯t make me particularly confident about the latter option. Still¡­ the former possibility gave me an idea. If spells can interact with each other¡­ I launched two volleys of Rock Spikes at him and just as I hoped, the gravitational pull of the orb affected their trajectory making the projectiles curve straight into the direction of L?we''s outstretched arm. Were they moving faster too or was it an illusion? As Lowe¡¯s arm posed a relatively small target, only one of the six spikes hit it, piercing it right through. This proved very effective though, as it broke Maximilian''s concentration. He growled from pain and annoyance and both the gravity ball and the flames dissipated. This gave me an opening to start charging towards him. L?we ripped the spike from the wound, which immediately closed. This brought my attention to the fact that all of his wounds had healed. Effect of what he just did to those undead, I guess? L?we turned his attention back to me, but before he could do anything a beam of hellfire pierced one of his wings from the side and went through his shoulder. The fire on the wing considerably dissipated, but it was clearly levelled out by other wings. ¡®RAAAAAGH!¡¯ he screamed. He turned his attention to Aki, whom I noticed was going for her swords and just fired a shot of opportunity. ¡®It¡¯s my gun you are using, bitch!¡¯ he shouted. ¡®I¡¯ll rip it from your cold dead hands!¡¯ But Maximilian focusing on Aki meant he was not paying attention to me. ¡®Hey, fucko!¡¯ I shouted and lunged towards him. ¡®Forgot about someone?¡¯ The Blade of the Black Rose pierced his side, but before it could do a lot of damage, L?we buffeted with his wings. The resulting hot wind sent me flying. He miscalculated, however, as I managed to hold on to the blade long enough for it to cut half of his stomach open. The Blade of the Black Rose clattered on the ground, fucking off to parts unknown and I skidded across the floor, stopping on the corpse of the Behemoth. At this stage, I¡¯ll learn to fly when by some chance I miss the floor after someone throws me across the room, I sighed to myself and started to get up. I could see that the wound on L?we¡¯s stomach was already knitting itself, but his wings also shrunk considerably. Someone has a limited power source it seems. The Nazi was also realising this, as he raised his right arm and the corpses of the undead that I¡¯ve slain with Aki, well¡­ it was mostly her, disintegrated and the unleashed energy recharged L?we¡¯s wings making them about as large as they were before. He then turned his attention to the corpses of the Sanguine. Oh no, you motherfucker! I launched a volley of Rock Spikes at him. He managed to stop it with one of his wings, but then another shot from Aki¡¯s gun pierced him through his chest. The girl followed with her Abyssal Bolt, but then a greenish energy field appeared around L?we. Learning, are we? I summoned my sword and started running towards him again, my sword raised, but L?we was faster. He managed to complete whatever spell he was casting. The corpses started glowing red and slowly breaking apart into a series of red orbs. Some of them flowed into the Nazi giving him an unhealthy-looking pallor. Blood started flowing from his eyes and his hair turned crimson. The rest of the orbs concentrated in a single spot and morphed into a hulking creature. Unlike your usual Sanguine, it was not looking like someone who¡¯s diet consisted of air. It was maybe two metres tall and its body was naught but thick muscles. The Sanguine looked even more buff than the two hobgoblins I encountered with Aki. ¡®Now it¡¯s two versus two,¡¯ I heard L?we say. ¡®Much fairer, don¡¯t you think, Lilyth?¡¯ I turned back to him. His transformation seemed now complete. His green wings were gone. Instead, he had a single pair of black-feathered wings. The wings tore off the top of his clothes revealing a very slim pale body, covered in bloody splotches. And his now thin hands ended with sharp black claws. I felt myself capable of launching one more gravity orb. Then I would likely be completely out of mana. It was a difficult choice, but I went for Mr. Hyde over there who was starting to look at me with a hungry expression on his non-face. I had no idea how it pulled that off. The plan was to temporarily immobilise it. Any damage it did would be an extra. Immediately afterwards, I resumed my charge towards Maximilian. L?we was ready for it though and jumped aside using his wings to propel himself off the ground. As he flew, he spread his arms and three skulls of green fire appeared between them. He launched them towards me. I barely had enough time to throw myself to the ground. I felt heat as they flew above my back. They impacted the wall opposite L?we where they exploded with a loud bang. After that, I could hear heavy footsteps approaching me. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. This is bad. Where is Aki? As Maximilian was transforming, Aki ran into his laboratory and stopped by his alchemy table. Skipping this ¡®Sarin¡¯ she immediately loaded the dark purple Umbral Caustic essence into her satchel. Aki noticed a second one there, so it immediately joined the other in her pack. She gave the other potions a quick look. A bottle with a silvery liquid caught her eye. Item: Moderate Dragon¡¯s Breath Type: Alchemical Rarity: Terran - Very Rare Effect: Deals fire damage to the target. Results in persistent fire damage. Into the satchel it went. Nothing else seemed useful. Suddenly there was a series of explosions nearby. Aki ran out of the lab and saw Lilyth lying on the ground, some large and muscular Sanguine creature approaching her, and L?we, now some harpy-like abomination, preparing some spell involving fiery green skulls. Aki grabbed the bottle with Dragon¡¯s Breath and started running towards her girlfriend. She threw the substance at the creature, which she now noticed had one broken arm and some of the flesh from its torso was missing. The bottle landed on the monster¡¯s muscular chest where it broke. The substance exploded with a blinding white flash. As Aki was busy blinking away the aftereffects of the flash, she heard the creature start roaring in agony, then there was a series of explosions somewhere on the ceiling followed by load crashing of rocks. When she was finally able to see again, she saw the massive hulk trying weakly to roll on the ground, as the white fire melted its flesh from bone. She put it out of its misery with a pistol shot to its head. Level 8 Sanguine Hulk has been slain. You have earned 400 experience points (2150/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) At that point Lilyth was slowly gathering herself from the floor. She looked a little worse for wear, but otherwise fine. Unfortunately, L?we had also recovered from being blinded. ¡®Together?¡¯ Lilyth asked her. ¡®Together,¡¯ Aki responded. She placed the gun into her satchel and unsheathed her swords. In unison, the battle-forged companions charged towards L?we. The man was starting to prepare another volley of skulls, but at that point they lost a lot of their scare factor. Just as they started flying, Aki and Lilyth jumped aside and continued their run. The ghostly projectiles harmlessly exploded on the floor behind them. Maximilian once again propelled himself off the ground, eschewing the skulls for his ghostly sword. Aki launched another Abyssal Bolt at him. It exploded against his shield. She did not care. That was the plan. As they got to L?we, he swung his sword at Lilyth, who deflected it with the Blade of the Black Rose. Aki used that opportunity to launch a series of slashes at Maximilian. They all harmlessly bounced off his defensive barrier, but the magical field was starting to show cracks. Realising his predicament, L?we buffeted his wings again, pushing Lilyth and Aki back. He used the opportunity to regain distance. Lilyth was first to recover, so she immediately gave pursuit. Maximilian was preparing another volley of skulls. Aki¡¯s companion didn¡¯t give him a chance to launch them though. She strafed to the side and lunged at him, before he could turn towards her. By then, Aki was already running towards them, sheathing one of her swords. She pulled one of the Umbral Caustic essences out of her satchel. Just as Lilyth hit the shield with a sideways slash, Aki threw the substance at L?we. It broke on his shield, but some of the substance still stuck to it, slowly burning through it. ¡®Is there anything you haven¡¯t stolen from me, you filthy mischling?¡¯ Maximilian shouted absolutely incandescent with rage. ¡®Don¡¯t you have bigger problems, Hans?¡¯ Lilyth asked while she slashed at L?we from above. ¡®I TOLD YOU TO ST-¡¯ the Nazi began, but stopped when he realised what was happening. My sword stopped on his shield and started to push through it. ¡®Schei?e¡­¡¯ Maximilian muttered and once again took to the air. But it was too late. Between my attack and whatever acid Aki threw at him, his defensive barrier finally shattered. ¡®NEIN!¡¯ ¡®Ja, fucker!¡¯ I shouted and chased after him. Aki joined me. It seemed L?we was down to his sword, as he did not start any further exploding-skull attacks. I leapt towards him, but he was ready and jumped aside. He wanted to counterattack, but Aki was already there and took his slash on the shield of her own. The shield burst immediately, but she was able to use the Nazi¡¯s confusion to slash at his stomach with her sword, cutting it open. It seemed he still had some healing magic left, as it immediately started knitting itself together, but it was of little consequence. This was now a DPS race and we had more of it. I made another overhead slash and managed to lop off one of his wings. ¡®Try flying away now!¡¯ I shouted towards him with glee. L?we did not share in my happiness, real party pooper I tell you, and enraged, attacked me. As I parried it, Aki used this opportunity to ram her falchion into his side, not that far away from where I hit him previously. Great minds think alike. The tip of her blade emerged out of his other side. Unfortunately, the attack ended in a similar way as mine as L?we hit her with his remaining wing, throwing her to the ground. ¡®Oh no, you didn¡¯t,¡¯ I said, rage gathering in me. ¡®Is the subhuman in love with the mischling?¡¯ L?we taunted me, sensing my emotions. I responded with a sidewise slash. The Nazi got what he wanted though, as he kicked me in my side, staggering me. He wanted to follow-up with his sword, but then a bottle shattered on his head, black oozy liquid splashing all over it. L?we screamed as whatever it was started eating through his skull. It was time to end this. I made a diagonal downwards slash and bisected him from the shoulder to his wounded side. The Nazi let out a final whimper of agony, as the two halves of his body fell to the ground. Level 10 Maximilian L?we has been slain. You have earned 500 experience points (1600/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) I wanted to do some badass one-liner but couldn¡¯t think of anything. So I just flipped off his corpse. With both hands. Chapter 19 - End of the Line Maximilian awoke on a cobbled road. It was the middle of the night. All around him, there were burnt-out ruins of buildings he could vaguely recognize, though it was hard to tell exactly what they had once been as everything was shrouded in thick white fog. Where am I? he thought. Suddenly, he heard something he hadn''t heard for a long time: sounds of gunfire and explosions that were coming from all around him. That got him up and he desperately started looking for cover. Without any better options, he dove into a ruined storefront. The inside of it was so ruined he couldn''t even start to guess what its purpose was. L?we wanted to stay inside for a while, but something beckoned him outside. Try as he might, he couldn''t refuse it. Giving in, L?we left the building and set off in the direction the beacon was guiding him. Soon he started seeing almost translucent corpses lying on the streets: some dressed in khaki, the others in feldgrau. It can''t be¡­ Am I home? He looked around. Yes. The architecture was German, but it somehow felt wrong. Like someone tried to reconstruct it from incomplete information. Before he could investigate this further, the beacon urged him to keep going. As he went on, everything became more distinct, and the feeling of wrongness decreased- the houses were looking more natural, but there was still something off about them. He also started seeing people: German soldiers exchanging fire with the equally Red Army. Old men and teenagers joined the Wehrmacht regulars and fired upon the Bolsheviks from the cover of houses¡¯ windows. So Maximilian was home! And yet¡­ Why did no one notice him? He was standing in the middle of a firefight and no one even took a pot shot at him. The beacon urged him on. So L?we walked past the firefight, he could have sworn some of the bullets passed through him, and as he came across more small battles. A group of Bolsheviks hiding behind a knocked-out T-34 firing on some irregulars hiding in a shop. Suddenly, something zinged past him and the Russian tank exploded, killing the Red Army men. Some of their body parts landed by Maximilian. A Panther tank emerged from a side street, smoke still flowing out of its barrel. It set itself up in the middle of the road to blockade it, but soon afterwards a wing of Russian planes flew over them and dropped a bomb on the armoured vehicle. L?we instinctively threw himself to the ground, but he didn¡¯t even feel the explosions. The beacon urged him on. And so he went. Soon, L?we stopped paying attention to the skirmishes. There was nothing he could do to affect them, anyway. Eventually, he reached his apparent destination. He was standing in front of a network of fortifications and trenches, behind which there was a massive neo-renaissance building. Reichstag. Berlin¡­ L?we thought, shocked. But¡­ how? The thing was¡­ the city did not look like Berlin. He noticed a firefight going on between people inside the building and the Russian soldiers outside. ¡®So the elf bitch wasn¡¯t lying¡­¡¯ Maximilian muttered to himself. ¡®No,¡¯ confirmed a cold imperious voice behind him. ¡®She wasn¡¯t.¡¯ The sudden appearance of another person made Maximilian jump. He quickly regained his composure and turned around. Behind him stood a slender blue-eyed woman with long white hair. She was quite young-looking, yet something about her made L?we very wary. He felt like a fawn standing before a hungry alpha wolf. The woman was wearing a form-fitting khaki Red Army uniform and a wrap-around camo cloak. There was a sniper rifle on her back. ¡®Who are you?!¡¯ he demanded. ¡®Pardon my manners, Maxie,¡¯ the woman said in an exaggerated manner. ¡®I am Ereshkigal.¡¯ Wait¡­ how does she know my name? ¡®Oh. I know everything about you Max. More than even you do.¡¯ There was a predatory smile on Ereshkigal¡¯s face. ¡®And yes¡­¡¯ she continued. ¡®I can read your mind. You don¡¯t have to ask.¡¯ ¡®Wh- What do you want from me?¡¯ L?we asked, terrified for the first time in a long time. Something was wrong. Very wrong. ¡®All shall be made clear in time. Follow me, please.¡¯ In complete silence, Ereshkigal led him past the trenches and soon they reached the entrance to the Reichstag. There was a barricade set up in front of the door, behind which German soldiers were trying to stop the Bolshevik onslaught. L?we recognized one of them. It was himself. His doppelganger was looking haggard, his uniform was torn, but it was him. ¡®How-¡¯ he started, but Ereshkigal cut him off. ¡®...Is this possible? This is one of your possible futures, had you not been brought to Dwynveia. At least the best I could do with the information I had.¡¯ ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ ¡®I mostly had to construct this out of Lilyth¡¯s memories. I still had a record of these from when I helped the poor thing remake her body. A lot of this comes from some video game Lilyth played twenty years before she was brought to Dwynveia and could vaguely remember. Which is why the place looks the way it looks. I filled some blanks with some online tank game she played a lot, and the rest is my invention. I honestly don¡¯t think historical accuracy matters here.¡¯ Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Video games? What? ¡®No¡­ that¡¯s not what¡­¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ you meant the possible futures¡­¡¯ Ereshkigal interrupted him again. This was starting to get on his nerves. He would teach the bitch to respect him. Ereshkigal¡¯s sudden smile told him ¡°No, you will do no such thing.¡± Schei?e. I forgot she could read my mind. ¡®So, you are learning. Good. Anyway, to answer your question: you¡¯ve been a naughty boy Maxie.¡¯ L?we tried to protest, but his mouth wouldn¡¯t open. His body refused to move and he realised the time stopped around him. ¡®Sorry about that Maxie, but it will be faster this way. You see when you came to Dwynveia, in a way you became a part of a domain, and there is almost nothing a Goddess of Death hates more than a necromancer.¡¯ A Goddess of Death? What? Am I dead? Ereshkigal ignored him and continued. ¡®The first place is taken by people who commit genocide, and hey, you check both of these boxes. And, while your nutjob colleagues were outside of my reach¡­ ¡¯ The goddess smiled once again in that terrifying predatory manner. ¡®Since nobody can evade my embrace forever, normally, I have a special punishment prepared for necromancers when they inevitably join the ranks of the dead. You Earthlings have this nice saying: ¡°There is a special room in hell waiting for people like you.¡± Necromancers who end up there have their skin ripped off and their wounds salted. Then once the pain subsides their skin is regrown and the process repeats anew. Forever. I come there to watch when I am having a bad day. Oh¡­ By the way - Rivard is not very happy about how he ended up there thanks to you. He was looking forward to seeing you end up there as well, but he¡¯ll never get that satisfaction. We can count that as a bonus torture for him. People who commit mass atrocities get an extra painful version of this. It really gets drawn out. But, for you mein freund, I had to prepare something special. Which brings us to your punishment.¡¯ Ereshkigal snapped her finger and they found themselves right by the barricade. She resumed the flow of time. They watched the battle continue. Wehrmacht soldiers were getting overwhelmed and eventually, Red Army men started making their way up the stairs. One of them was carrying a flag of the Soviet Union. L?we saw himself being one of the last Germans standing. He killed the Russian carrying the flag, but another man picked it up. The second L?we ran out of ammo, tried to take on the soldier in melee, but ended up impaled on the flagpole. Then the Bolshevik got shot, but the flag remained in Maximilian¡¯s stomach. His stomach, he corrected himself. Maximilian could see the agony on his doppelganger¡¯s face and involuntarily shuddered. I can move again. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Ereshkigal confirmed. ¡®You can.¡¯ Before Max could say anything else, Ereshkigal snapped her fingers again and they found themselves in a trench on a frigid field. Max saw his doppelganger standing in a trench in a winter uniform. He was trying to stop the advancing Russians, but there were just too many of them. Time stopped again. ¡®Welcome to the Kursk Salient. 1943. Which would be a year after you left Earth. This is where Germany really started losing on the Eastern Front. As I said, what happened in the Reichstag in 1945 was only one of your possible futures. Let¡¯s see what happens to you this time.¡¯ The German soldiers were forced to retreat, the second L?we among them. Before his doppelganger could get away though he got shot in the back. He tried to crawl away, but the Bolsheviks were joined by a tank squad. One of them ran over him. Ereshkigal snapped her fingers again and they found themselves standing in a pillbox overlooking the sea. ¡®Normandy, 1944,¡¯ the goddess explained. ¡®The so-called D-Day. Allies are returning to Europe and are here to stay. And speaking of them¡­¡¯ An American soldier with a flamethrower stood at the entrance to the pillbox and fired. Everyone inside, including Maximilian¡¯s doppelganger, was burned to death. ¡®So¡­ is this my punishment? Am I to watch myself getting killed over and over again?¡¯ Ereshkigal laughed. ¡®Oh no, mein Freund. You are not going to just watch. You are going to be the main star. I¡¯m just showing you the highlights.¡¯ L?we paled and felt his bladder loosen. He fell to his knees and started to beg. ¡®Mercy. Have mercy please.¡¯ ¡®Mercy? That¡¯s a curious thing for you of all people to ask for. You never showed mercy to people you persecuted. You didn¡¯t show mercy to other people in the Tower of Trials. You wouldn¡¯t show mercy to Lilyth and Aki. I know what you were cooking up in your lab. And you have the gall to ask me to show mercy to you?¡¯ Ereshkigal laughed coldly and continued. ¡®And speaking of Lilyth and Aki. You see, I had a friend help me design all of this. Turns out, it¡¯s a small universe. Allow me to introduce you to Zekuthran.¡¯ A tall blue-haired man entered the pillbox. He had a pair of black horns curving upwards on his forehead and an arrow-tipped tail. The best Max could tell, the demon was wearing a black US Navy uniform. L?we realised he was paralysed again. ¡®Greetings, scum.¡¯ Zekuthran said, with a hate-filled voice. ¡®As Ere, here, said, my name is Zekuthran. Archpraetor of the forces of the Abyss. I¡¯m also Aki¡¯s grandfather, as I learned in the past few hours. While I haven''t had a chance to meet her yet, I hope to change that in the future. Her dying in battle would be unfortunate, but as a soldier, I would find it understandable to some degree. But since you wanted to use her and then kill her¡­ well¡­ that changes things, now does it? Furthermore, you almost killed Lilyth, twice I believe? The best I can tell, Aki cares about her, so Lilyth¡¯s death would really break her heart. And that¡¯s even worse. So when Ereshkigal asked me for help here¡­ I was more than pleased. Especially, once she explained your disgusting organisation to me.¡¯ ¡®And that¡¯s that, I think?¡¯ Ereshkigal said. ¡®Yup. All I wanted to say.¡¯ ¡®If you want to ever watch, I¡¯ll be happy to oblige.¡¯ ¡®Thanks. I might take you up on this. Anyway, I have my duties to go back to. See ya.¡¯ ¡®Bye, love.¡¯ Ereshkigal blew Zekuthran a kiss and turned back to L?we. ¡®I also have things I will need to get back to soon. And you, if I remember correctly, are due for a visit to a place called Stalingrad, I believe? You Earthlings have the funniest city names.¡¯ The goddess laughed. ¡®No point in wasting more time talking. Try to enjoy yourself. Or well¡­ not. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s only for eternity.¡¯ ¡®No!¡¯ L?we shouted. The only thing to answer him was Ereshkigal¡¯s laughter. Chapter 20 - Caeileera ¡®Good thinking with those potions,¡¯ I told Aki. ¡®Assuming by L?we¡¯s reaction, they came from his stash?¡¯ ¡®Yup. There are still some left there, though there is one I think we shouldn¡¯t take.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s that?¡¯ I asked with a raised eyebrow. I didn''t want to forego any possible advantages. ¡®Something called ¡°Sarin¡±.¡¯ Aki replied with barely contained, and fully justified, disgust. Correction: some advantages should be foregone. Was there no end to this man¡¯s depravity? ¡®Show me.¡¯ Aki led me to L?we¡¯s alchemist¡¯s table and pointed to a bottle with a colourless liquid. Item: Sarin Type: Chemical Rarity: Terran - Extremely Rare Effect: Unleashes deadly chemical fumes. Handle with extreme caution. That''s going to be a problem. I can''t just leave that here. I pondered what to do about it. I could ask Aki to incinerate it, but if that was the wrong way to go about it, she wouldn''t survive the process. Won¡¯t the chemicals eventually go inert? That was a thought. Where to hide it, though? I remembered the flooded corridors we¡¯d gone through. Yeah. That could work. ¡®I¡¯ll take care of it,¡¯ I told Aki and explained my thought process. ¡®Are you sure it is safe?¡¯ ¡®Probably much safer for me than for you. I don¡¯t think my new body would be affected by it.¡¯ I waved my hand around my torso and realised that in the excitement of things I didn''t notice the front of my shirt being gone, courtesy of L?we¡¯s green fireball, exposing my stomach and boobs to the world. Well¡­ that''s not how I would want someone to see me naked for the first time. The problem was¡­ I¡¯ve already gone through three out of four sets of clothes I got from Ereshkigal and I¡¯d rather keep the last one in reserve for Aki. Was I now in for an experience from an Adult Game? Wait¡­ Don¡¯t I have some hoodies in my backpack? I remembered. I would need to retrieve one of them from the bag I left in the corridor outside, once I was done handling nerve gas and walking around blood-filled water, that is. This place really fucking sucks, I thought once the full implications of reflexively accounting for being knee-deep in blood hit me. Why couldn''t I have ended up in someplace nice, like Stalingrad in 1942? Not wanting to touch the bottle with my bare hands, call me excessively careful, I went to retrieve the remnants of L?we¡¯s uniform jacket, grabbed the container through it, and carefully wrapped it around the flask. Quite happy with the results, I wanted to set off but Aki approached me and kissed me on the cheek. ¡®Be careful out there, Lil,¡¯ she said a bit shyly. ¡®Come back to me in one piece, okay?¡¯ Lil? ¡®I¡¯ll do my best,¡¯ I said and put the bottle on the table. I embraced her and kissed her back. Aki giggled and pushed me away. ¡®Just go, silly!¡¯ I noticed her tail was curved into a question mark. My route to the staircase was, thankfully, uneventful. While I couldn''t help but feel that yet more horrors awaited on this floor, we still haven''t found a functional exit after all, it seemed like all residents of this particular sector were pushing up the dungeon floor. As I passed by the corpses of the undead we re-killed with Aki, I briefly wondered whether it would be right to give them some kind of a burial, but decided against it. The only thing we could do for them is a funeral pyre, and we¡¯d need Aki to cast her hellfire bolt to do it, and I¡¯d rather she saved her mana for more useful purposes. Like using that spell on our enemies, or maybe firing that gun of hers, at least I assumed it used mana. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. And speaking of burning things to death, I decided to check out the room we never entered on my way back. The stone looked to have cooled off, and while crossing past the charred corpse of the Sanguine Lurker was a bit of a bummer, what could you do? To my pleasant surprise, the staircase didn''t collapse during the cascade failure. As I wanted to start descending, I remembered I had my greatcoat on. It was slightly charred from my earlier misadventures, but salvageable. The remnants of the shirt I was still wearing still somehow had some durability on them, meaning they would eventually regenerate. The same couldn''t be said about my bra. It was a goner. Anyway, I took off my greatcoat and put it on the floor. It¡¯d get slightly dirty, but it was better than it getting exposed to the water down below. I slowly descended the steps and immediately noticed the water level was higher than it was a few hours ago. The best I could see it wasn''t visibly rising now, which likely meant there was another partial cave-in. Less than ideal, but ultimately irrelevant. It¡¯s not like we would have to traverse this place to get anywhere. With a sigh, I entered the water. I realised I should have also taken off my shoes since they had dried a bit from the last dive and now my feet would be all soggy again, but what could you do? Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. I decided a corner in the altar room would probably be the place to stash the bottle since no one likely would look for anything there. Maybe there were enough loose rocks there to cover it further. As I waded through the water, I noticed that part of the wall in the corridor between the room where we met Punchy McPunchface and the altar room had collapsed, revealing a side passage there. Why did they block it off? I wondered. It would take me some effort but after I was done with chemical weapons disposal, I could probably squeeze myself through the hole in the wall and check it out. The altar room was just as we left it with Aki. Nothing appeared to have taken interest in the corpses of the goblins, but they sure began to stink. I looked around and ruled out using either of the corners by the entrance from the river canal. Someone could wander in, try to loot the corpses and accidentally find the bottle, or worse: break it. Ultimately, I went with the corner to my left. It was the furthest from the hole in the wall, so I assumed it was the least likely to be searched. I unwrapped the bottle from the uniform and, still holding it through the cloth, placed it on the floor. ¡®Good enough, I guess,¡¯ I muttered. Just as I was straightening myself up, my darkness-enhanced senses told me something in the room had changed. ¡®Hello there, cutie!¡¯ someone giggled from behind me in a singsong voice sounding like a violin. I turned around as quickly as possible and saw that an alabaster-skinned slender woman was standing on the altar. She was maybe one-hundred-and-eighty centimetres tall, though it was hard to tell exactly as she was slightly leaning on a glaive, and the black leather high pumps she had on her feet clearly added an extra five centimetres to that. She wore thigh-high fishnet stockings, a black mini skirt and a frilly shirt. Her eyes and shoulder-length hair were blood red; her nose was straight and she had dark lipstick on. Three long pale horns were protruding from the woman¡¯s forehead and a pair of crow-black-feathered wings were on her back. I noticed a matching set of obsidian bracelets on her wrists and a choker on her neck. ¡®You¡¯ve got some nice assets there on display,¡¯ she continued to my great discomfort. My brother would love to see them.¡¯ By instinct, I summoned the Blade of the Black Rose into my right hand and did the best I could to cover myself with my left arm. ¡®Duly noted,¡¯ the woman laughed. ¡®I guess this is unintentional then.¡¯ ¡®It is,¡¯ I answered with a mix of anger and vulnerability present in my voice. ¡®One asshole burned most of my shirt off, and I didn''t want to put on a new one, given where I was planning on going down here. If you haven''t noticed, this place isn''t exactly¡­ sanitary.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯d ask maintenance to clean up here, but I think the last staff member died five hundred years ago, so it might be a while until someone answers that request.¡¯ Five-hundred years? I thought, shocked. What the fuck? ¡®I don¡¯t know why you are hiding these. They look great!¡¯ I realised that in my surprise, I uncovered myself. ¡®Who are you?¡¯ I asked, desperately trying to change the subject from my breasts. I decided against covering myself again. I would need to use both of my hands to fight, and if she was distracted by my boobs, maybe it would be an advantage for me. ¡®Oh pardon my manners, cutie. My name is Caeileera. Pleased to meet you!¡® She did a small curtsy. ¡®Lilyth. We¡¯ll see if this meeting is a pleasure or business.¡¯ ¡®Such hostility!¡¯ Caeileera laughed. ¡®We¡¯ve only just met!¡¯ I pointed to the corpses of goblins. ¡®Those things tried to murder u¡­ murder me despite being freshly acquainted.¡¯ The woman briefly smiled at the correction. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, Lilyth. I just want to talk.¡¯ The way I stared at her after that must have told her everything because she quickly added. ¡®Let me prove that to you.¡¯ Caeileera extended her hand, making me assume a defensive stance immediately. Instead of attacking me, however, the woman just stood there. After a few seconds, I heard a quiet splash behind me. The place where I hid the fucking Sarin, I realized. I turned around and saw the bottle encased in some sort of a translucent orb floating upwards. I reached for it, but my fingers harmlessly bounced off the energy field. The bottle started quickly flying towards Caeileera. ¡®Oh, you fucking bitch,¡¯ I shouted and started advancing towards her as quickly as possible. Before I could even make two steps, however, the flask landed in her outstretched upwards-facing palm. ¡®Such a dreadful thing¡­¡¯ Caeileera muttered with sadness in her voice. A gout of flame shot out of her palm and completely incinerated the bottle, glass and all, in a matter of seconds. Notice: You have assisted in destroying a forbidden substance. You have received 1 perk point for this action. (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) I guess they don¡¯t like chemical weapons here either. ¡®Now do you believe me?¡¯ she asked me expectantly. I sighed. ¡®Talk then.¡¯ Chapter 21 - The Necromancers Lab After Lilyth had left, Aki decided to quickly take care of her levelling situation. She opened up her character sheet:
Basic Details
Name Aki Race Demonborn
Gender Female Age 19
Level 5 (150/3000) Class Duelist
Rank Novice Perk Points 2
Attributes
Physical Progress Mental Progress
Strength 10 7% Intelligence 12 43%
Dexterity 16 82% Wisdom 10 20%
Agility 14 28% Willpower 10 76%
Endurance 10 43% Cunning 12 47%
Vitality 10 87% Resilience 14 14%
Perception 14 0% Faith 12 0%
Appearance 11 0% Charisma 12 45%
Skills
Lore - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Insight Novice 5 67%
Lore - Humanities
Name Rank Level Progress
Dwynveian Literature Novice 2 0%
Dwynveian History Novice 3 0%
Social
Name Rank Level Progress
Acting Novice 15 31%
Survival - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Sense of Direction Apprentice 22 32%
Stealth Novice 1 23%
Acrobatics Novice 10 42%
Climbing Novice 8 32%
Survival - Nature
Name Rank Level Progress
Woodsmanship Novice 6 13%
Herbology Novice 1 4%
Tracking Novice 4 41%
Martial - Swords
Name Rank Level Progress
Falchions - Dual Wield Novice 9 1%
Falchions - Single Novice 2 4%
Martial - Improvised
Name Rank Level Progress
Throwing Novice 7 34%
Martial - Magitek
Name Rank Level Progress
Handgun Novice 1 12%
Crafting - Cooking
Name Rank Level Progress
General Novice 9 54%
Arcana
Name Rank Level Progress
Flame Novice 1 3%
Traits
Name Level Progress
Monophobia 4/10 Special
Duelist''s Flourish 3 12%
Abilities
Name Rank Level Progress
Abyssal Spark Novice 3 12%
Lesser Abyssal Bolt Novice 4 52%
Aki decided to put her two perk points into using her Magitek gun. She quite liked it, as the Lance of Longinus allowed her to support Lilyth from a distance with less risk of accidentally hurting her. After seeing what L?we''s fireball did to her girlfriend''s stomach, Aki didn''t want to put her through it herself. Your Magitek Handgun skill has increased to level 3 (0% total progress to level 4) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) She would need to ask Lilyth who this Longinus was. And for the matter¡­ who L?we was. Her girlfriend seemed to know a lot about him based on their banter. Aki was also very curious about the Haans insult Lilyth directed at him. Aki sighed. She hated not being in the know. When watching them fight, she felt like she was a witness to some ancient feud. At any rate, Aki did not want to waste time while waiting for Lilyth. She figured out she could spend the time rummaging through L?we¡¯s lab, as, so far, she had only had a chance for a cursory search. One thing Aki really wanted to find was more mana crystals for the Lance of Longinus, as she used quite a lot of its charge during the fight. Item: The Lance of Longinus Class: Weapon - Magitek - Handgun Rarity: Artifact - Extremely Rare Durability: 34/40 Charge: 40/100 Ammunition: Small Mana Crystals Effect: Launches a magical bolt of any of the arcana types the user is proficient with. Each shot consumes five charges and a small amount of mana of the user. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Huh? It is now down to five charges per shot? It used to be six. Is this the effect of my being better at using it? Still, Aki couldn''t help but believe that 8 shots wouldn''t amount to much. First, she checked the dresser with the mirror on. There were two drawers and a large cupboard in it. Aki started going through them one by one. The first drawer just contained various knick-knacks, which Aki assumed to be L?we''s personal effects. There was a signed book written in a language she couldn''t even begin to decipher. This was the first time she saw a script from Earth and was amazed Lilyth could even read that. She also found a booklet that had a very realistic image of L?we in it. It was so life-like that if it wasn''t in black-and-white, she would have thought she was looking at the man himself. Other things there included weird button things; coloured cloth rectangles; and a red band with a white circle and a black broken cross. She saw that particular symbol on most of the items in the drawer. More things to ask Lilyth about. The next drawer contained a number of more interesting and seemingly immediately useful items. First, and most important were seven small shiny seven centimetre-long four-sided prisms ending with pyramids. Item: Small Mana Crystal Class: Magitek - Power Source Rarity: Coven-made - Common Durability: 5/5 Charge: 100/100 Traits: Aki checked them all and saw they were all fully charged, so she put them on top of the dresser. She hoped to find some sort of a small bag to keep them in, as they would have trouble retrieving them from her satchel at a moment''s notice. She didn''t want them to get damaged. The next object in the drawer was a golden pendant on a thin strap. She examined it and saw that it could be opened. Inside there was another lifelike black-and-white picture of a human woman. She had long curly hair and was smiling. There was something engraved on the side opposite of the picture. Aki fiddled around with the image side and discovered there was a piece of glass protecting the picture. She managed to remove it and took out the image. She then dropped the two items into the drawer, closed the pendant and put it into her satchel. If this is gold, it could be valuable, she thought. The final item in the drawer was a key. Aki looked at the padlocked chest. Could the key be used to open it? Before checking that she opened the cupboard and saw that it was filled to the brim with alchemical components. Her eyes lit up when she saw that. They could be worth a fortune. But she realised that leaving with them was not in the cards. They had limited carrying capacity and she didn''t want to fill Lilyth''s backpack with stuff that they maybe could sell. As Aki got up, her gaze fell on the magic mirror. She didn''t like it. Something at the back of her head told Aki that it was possible someone could be watching her through that. Was it just paranoia? Still, she didn''t like taking chances. She pulled out the Lance of Longinus and shot the mirror dead centre. Several blue lightning bolts flashed around the resultant hole, and one of them arced into the mana crystals Aki left on the dresser. The girl realised what was about to happen and threw herself on the ground. She wasn''t fast enough and the resultant explosion slightly singed her back and the tip of her tail. ''Ow¡­¡¯ Aki moaned, as her hearing slowly returned. She slowly gathered herself from the floor and looked at the results of her work. All that was left of the mirror were mangled parts of its frame and shards of glass. There was also a massive hole in the top of the drawer and the insides of the first drawer had been vaporised. ''Oops,¡¯ Aki laughed mirthlessly, the fact she just lost all the extra ammo for her handgun dawning on her. I could have just removed the mana crystal from the mirror, she realised. Out of frustration, Aki kicked the mortal remains of the dresser and, feeling horrible about the situation, she walked over the chest. The girl tried the key on the padlock, something inside clicked and it unlocked. Aki slowly opened the chest and found two thick books and a pouch inside. The first tome was an alchemical formulary. Aki¡¯s heart beat harder after seeing that. She had wanted to learn alchemy ever since her mom taught her a bit about plants and herbs before she passed away. Unfortunately, the village herbalist said that ¡°the day she would teach a hellspawn the Art, would be the day the Abyss froze over¡±. Tears started flowing to Aki''s eyes at the memories. She quickly wiped them off. This was no time for them. And who knew? Maybe they would find a teacher willing to take her on in Ror-Bhyk. Rumours said people were more accepting of her¡­ her kind there. If not¡­ well¡­ she could always use perk points to learn it, but based on her experience with learning skills with those, it just wasn''t the same. It was the easy way, and perk points were hard enough to come by as it was, and would be harder with each level. Eager to check the book out, Aki browsed through it. Most of the formulas were written in disciplined minimalist handwriting, but all the later ones were the weird script Aki saw on L?we''s trinkets. She put the book aside, assuming Lilyth would also like to take a look at it. Maybe I can ask Lilyth to help me with this. Upon looking through the second book, Aki realised her girlfriend would be very interested in the second book. It was a journal with entries written by the same two authors as the formulary. Out of curiosity, Aki started reading the first page and frowned. The entry was dated to Year 1327 of the Imperial Calendar. It was now 1643, meaning the entry was made over three hundred years before. How was that possible? Moving on from that, Aki saw that the author was talking about some experiments and their results, but the girl couldn''t make heads or tails out of it, so she closed the journal with a sigh. Maybe Lilyth would understand this stuff better. Aki put both books on the catafalque to keep them out of any potential harm¡¯s way and then picked up the pouch. There was a rune inside of it. Item: Rune of ¡°Necrotic Blast¡± Class: Magical - Umbral Arcana Rarity: Extremely Rare Durability: 10/10 Description: Allows the user to learn the ¡°Necrotic Blast¡± Spell. Casting the spell without sufficient knowledge of Umbral Arcana may lower its effectiveness and/or cause it to fail Spell Effect: Sends a torrent of corrosive necrotic energy towards the target Cost to learn: 2 Perk Point Aki put the rune inside the pouch and placed the bag back into the chest. Yeah. No need to give that one to Lilyth. Everything she saw about her girlfriend suggested she would not want to use that spell, but¡­ why tempt her? Aki checked out the other rooms next. The one to the left actually linked to two more chambers. One contained a sink and a pump-like silver pipe. There was a round metal circle on top of it. Aki turned it both ways and eventually water started flowing out of it. Aki touched it and noticed it was warm. She used the chance to wash her face. It felt so good. She turned the wheel the other way and the water stopped flowing. She examined the pipe more closely and found water and fire runes on it powered by a mana crystal. Feeling a bit guilty, she removed it. Item: Small Mana Crystal Class: Magitek - Power Source Rarity: Coven-made - Common Durability: 5/5 Charge: 32/100 Traits: It would have to do. Wait a minute¡­ it¡¯s possible the crystal from my gun can be charged a few more times too. Removing it took some work, but it was good to figure out this in a calmer setting. Item: Small Mana Crystal Class: Magitek - Power Source Rarity: Coven-made - Common Durability: 5/5 Charge: 40/100 Traits: Okay. Feeling much better about it now. Too bad I will likely have to rely on Lilyth to charge those here. I really envy the amount of mana she has. The last room was L?we¡¯s bedroom. There was nothing special to it - just a bed. Aki really wanted to lie down on it, but there was no time for it, which was a shame since it looked very comfortable. She checked under it, but there was nothing there. Maybe there is time to lie down a bit after all. But then a message appeared before her eyes. Notice: You have assisted in destroying a forbidden substance. You have received 1 perk point for this action. (Current Number of Perk Points: 1) So Lilyth managed to destroy it after all. Figure I might as well go meet her along the way. Aki grabbed the books and headed out. Chapter 22 - Ties of Blood ¡®I came here to ask for your help.¡¯ Caeileera said with sorrow in her voice and fell to her knees. Lilyth cocked her head and gave Caeileera a confused look. She couldn¡¯t blame her. The woman swallowed and continued: ¡®My brother needs to be stopped. This madness needs to end.¡¯ Laachersain wasn¡¯t quite exactly her brother, since they technically weren¡¯t related - they were just spawned in the Crimson Pool as part of the same batch, but it was close enough a term. ¡®Some elaboration is required,¡¯ Lilyth said in a flat voice. ¡®We were summoned here by L?we about a year ago,¡¯ Caeileera began. ¡®He has grown tired of his old master, some man named Rivard, and wanted to take over. Instead, what happened is Laachersain saw what was going on here and usurped the necromancer himself. As you can imagine, L?we was furious about this but with some¡­ coercion¡­ agreed to assist my brother with his plans.¡¯ Caeileera shuddered thinking about what Laachersain did in those days. She has since stopped feeling sorry for L?we but remained disturbed about Laache¡¯s actions nonetheless. ¡®My brother viewed this dreadful man as a valuable resource and utilised his knowledge from this ¡°Earth¡±.¡¯ Lilyth grimaced upon hearing this. ¡®And what is Laa¡­ Lae¡­ your brother planning?¡¯ the slimeling asked, concern apparent in her voice. ¡®I don¡¯t know,¡¯ Caeileera said truthfully. ¡®I was never included in any of these discussions. Laachersain never trusted me enough to view me as anything more than a lackey.¡¯ ¡®And why would that be?¡¯ Here came the difficult part. ¡®I never quite fit among the other Sanguine¡­¡¯ Caeileera started but quickly trailed off seeing Lilyth predictably tense upon the mention of her race. She fully expected that reaction, but it still hurt to see it. ¡®You don¡¯t look like those w- I encountered.¡¯ That correction again. Caeileera suspected Lilyth wasn¡¯t alone, but this proved it. Still, that kind of behaviour told her that if she managed to convince Lilyth to trust her, then maybe she would be able to escape this nightmare and start a normal life. With a sad sigh, she summoned her mask and put it on. She hated the thing. ¡®Better?¡¯ ¡®Eh. Take that thing off, you are much easier on the eyes without it. And stand up for Christ¡¯s sake.¡¯ Caeileera smiled and did what Lilyth asked her to. Then led by an impulse she threw the ugly thing at the wall where it shattered, the pieces falling into the water in a series of splashes. No turning back now. Without the mask, she would never be accepted home again. Still, was it really one to begin with? For the first time in a while, Caei felt free. It was both exhilarating and terrifying. If she misjudged here¡­ No. No ifs. Lilyth raised her eyebrow. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ Caeileera said, feeling a bit ashamed about the display. Lilyth nodded and motioned for her to continue. ¡®Not all of us are monsters. The things you have been fighting so far are closest to what you would see as animals. We all come from the same source, but we are a higher manifestation of it. There are fewer of us, and well¡­¡¯ Caeileera stopped, looking for the right phrase. ¡®You actually run everything?¡¯ Lilyth came to assist her. ¡®Yes. Thank you.¡¯ ¡®No problem. Question: who ¡°manifests¡± you?¡¯ ¡®The ruler of the Pale Badlands. People here call it ¡°The Blood that Devours¡±.¡¯ ¡®Sounds¡­ friendly,¡¯ Lilyth chuckled and visibly relaxed. She actually lowered her sword. The slimeling then shrugged, approached Caeileera and sat on the altar, facing the hole in the wall. Yes! ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Caei laughed back, feeling relieved. She placed her glaive on the altar and sat by Lilyth, doing her best to ensure her boots would not touch the water. ¡®I am amazed you feel comfortable wading through that stuff,¡¯ Caeileera observed. ¡®I don¡¯t,¡¯ Lilyth said matter-of-factly. ¡®Like, the only reason for me going topless is because I didn¡¯t want to get the new set of clothes covered in this stuff. Both she and Caei shuddered at the same time at the mere thought of it. ¡®I really need a bath,¡¯ Lilyth sighed sadly. ¡®Anyway, you were telling me why the Pale Badlands were a perfect holiday destination.¡¯ This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡®It¡¯s not just us Sanguine and our¡­ their lord there. There are also other sentients, usually mortals captured on raids. Most of them can live fairly normal lives there. Some¡­ aren¡¯t that lucky. I always found this abhorrent. I know I wasn¡¯t the only one, but expressing such views is¡­ frowned upon.¡¯ Lilyth nodded. ¡®Which is why you want out?¡¯ ¡®Yes. I can''t save them, but at least I can save myself. Laachersain, and likely others, noticed my reluctance to join in their activities. They never had any concrete evidence to turn me in, but the suspicion was there.¡¯ ¡®Which you are now proving correct.¡¯ Caei smiled weakly. Now¡¯s the hard part. There is also another reason. When I came here¡­ well¡­¡¯ ¡®Well?¡¯ ¡®First, allow me to say something: I know you are a creature from the land of Death and Shadow, making you a subject of Lady Ereshkigal.¡¯ Lilyth cackled like a madwoman, completely throwing Caei off. ¡®I wouldn''t put much stock into that bit,¡¯ she said. ¡®My working relationship with Ereshkigal lasted¡­¡¯ Lilyth broke off as she checked something on her interface. ¡®... around eight hours.¡¯ It was Caeileera¡¯s turn to be confused. ¡®I don¡¯t understand. You can¡¯t be eight hours old.¡¯ Lilyth pointed at the altar. ¡®I¡¯m thirty-three. I just took a slight detour not of my choosing while I was being brought here. Not that the whole trip was my idea.¡¯ ¡®You are a human from Earth?¡¯ ¡®From Earth, yes. As far as the human part¡­ I think I am something else now.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re not like L?we, though.¡¯ Lilyth smiled sourly. ¡®Thank fuck I¡¯m not. Anyway, why does me being me matter here?¡¯ ¡®It likely doesn''t, given what you¡¯ve just told me. A few months ago¡­ in a moment of despair, I started praying. I wanted some god¡­ any god¡­ to help me. I couldn¡¯t keep watching what Laachersain and L?we were doing. And¡­ I was answered by Akh¡¯ret, the god of Life. I was afraid that you being well¡­ you know.¡¯ ¡®I have received no instructions one way or another, and even if I did¡­¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. ¡®A god forbidding you from associating with someone is not a deity worth following, I find. And based on what you are saying, this Akh¡¯ret didn''t give you any dispositions of that nature either.¡¯ Fair point. And it¡¯s not like Lilyth is a creature of Death. Just one of Shadow. Lilyth sighed. ¡®So¡­ As much as I want to trust you, especially since you are the first person here to provide me with some actual answers¡­ Tell me¡­ why should I believe you?¡¯ Caei¡¯s heart sank at that, but she understood. ¡®You have no reason to.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t. But for the life of me, I also can¡¯t see one why you would be lying to me either. You had multiple chances to kill me, and yet¡­ you didn¡¯t. You could have taken the Sarin and delivered it to Laachersain. You didn¡¯t. Instead¡­ the Sarin is gone and we are talking and not fighting. You could have devised some convoluted plan to get me to him¡­ but there would be so many moving parts there, that it wouldn¡¯t be practical. I mean¡­ just knock me out and take me there. Us killing half of your minions along the way would be counterproductive. So¡­ while I can¡¯t say I trust you, I am willing to work with you. For now.¡¯ ¡®Really?¡¯ Caeileera couldn¡¯t believe her ears. ¡®Really.¡¯ Lilyth confirmed. ¡®Thank Akh¡¯Ret.¡¯ Wait¡­ why not just¡­ ¡®Would me sharing the quest I got from Akh¡¯Ret help?¡¯ ¡®Hang on, you can share quests?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ yes,¡¯ then it hit Caei why Lilyth was asking. ¡®Oh¡­ sorry. I forgot you are new here.
A window appeared before my eyes. Caeileera wants to share the following quest with you: The Master of the Tower Type: Divine - Life - Dungeon Difficulty: Hard Description: Laachersain of the Sanguine is a potential threat to the living beings on Dwynveia. His plans must not come to fruition. Objectives: Rewards for your participation: Penalties for your participation Do you accept this quest? Yes/No Well, that does it. I thought ¡°Yes¡± and said: ¡®Welcome on board, Caeileera. Just a few more questions. The first one is quite personal. Your¡­ fangs¡­ do you¡­ well¡­? It felt awkward to just ask, but I had to know. I had Aki to consider. How do I phrase that delicately? ¡®Drink blood?¡¯ Caeileera guessed, sparing me the embarrassment. ¡®I¡¯m not a vampire if that is what you are asking about. While I can¡­ I don¡¯t have to. I can subsist on normal food, just fine. I gather, since you don¡¯t have any blood, that it is your companion you are worried about?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I said, cursing myself for being terrible at hiding things. ¡®The second thing¡­ how did you know I am a tenebral slimeling? And how did you find me?¡¯ ¡®The first one is easy. I can sense you don¡¯t have any blood, and what¡¯s inside of you is slimy. There is also a certain smell about you that all creatures of Ereshkigal have.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®The second one is more complex. L?we had a magic mirror he used to communicate with Laachersain. That mirror suddenly stopped working after Maximilian reported issues with intruders. So I was sent to investigate.¡¯ Aki, I thought in horror. She could be in danger. Did Caeileera¡­ No. She wouldn¡¯t have that quest then. Calm down, Lilyth. CALM THE FUCK DOWN. The Sanguine must have noticed something about it because she quickly added: ¡®I assume it¡¯s your friend who broke the mirror. Don¡¯t worry. I came here the fast way. If Laachersain sends anyone else, it will take them a while to get here.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Still¡­ let¡¯s go to her. I don¡¯t feel comfortable leaving Aki alone in this situation.¡¯ I got up and started wading through the water but Caeileera stopped me. She was standing on a floating disk of light. ¡®Why walk when you can fly?¡¯ she asked with a smile. Chapter 23 - Working Out the Kinks Aki returned to the room they entered the floor in. Lilyth¡¯s coat was lying on the floor there. The girl smiled seeing that. The thing was too bloody comfy to get dirty. Aki hoped she would get to cuddle with Lilyth under it soon. She sat by it and placed Lilyth¡¯s tattered backpack and the books on the floor. She didn¡¯t feel comfortable rummaging through it without her girlfriend around. Suddenly, she heard voices coming from down the staircase. She recognized one of them. It was Lilyth. Who was she talking with though? ¡®...me so fast anyway?¡¯ her girlfriend asked. ¡®I was able to lock on the magic signature of the altar and teleport to it,¡¯ said some woman in a melodic voice. ¡®I did not expect to find you there.¡¯ ¡®Ah. I understand. I see there is a lot for me to learn about magic.¡¯ ¡®Yes. I can teach you some of it if you want.¡¯ ¡®Yeah. That¡¯d be great. So far I only know two spells-'' Aki saw that Lilyth, still understandably half-naked, emerged from the staircase alongside a very tall red-haired woman with three horn-like protrusions on her head and wearing a skimpy black outfit. Aki¡¯s blood ran cold upon seeing her. Why was this skank with Lilyth? Still¡­ Aki ran over to Lilyth, hugged her, and kissed her directly on her lips. ¡®You¡¯re back! I¡¯m so glad you are safe, hon. Who¡¯s your¡­ friend?¡¯ she asked in a pleasant voice while smiling at the woman in the most innocent way possible. Lilyth gave Aki a confused look and said. ¡®Aki¡­ this is Caeileera. Caeileera, Aki.¡¯ ¡®¡°Nice¡± to meet you,¡¯ Aki said, maintaining her smile. ¡®Likewise,¡¯ Caeileera smiled back, though her eyes were saying: ¡°I know what you are trying to do here.¡± If Lilyth sensed anything was amiss, she did not say. ¡®Where did you find her?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®She¡¯s a stray I found in the altar room,¡¯ Lilyth laughed. ¡®She followed me home. Can we keep her?¡¯ ¡®A stray?¡¯ Caeileera asked with indignation in her voice. YES! ¡®My bad,¡¯ Lilyth said, apparently realising her poor choice of phrase. ¡®It¡¯s a common joke phrase at home. When a child would try to convince its parents to keep a pet they brought home, that would be what they said.¡¯ Caeileera looked like she was going to say something, so Lilyth quickly added: ¡®I don¡¯t consider you to be a pet. It was a poor choice of phrase. Just forget it.¡¯ Caeileera huffed but said nothing. Good start, Aki thought to herself merrily. ¡®At any rate¡­¡¯ Lilyth continued. ¡®When I was getting rid of the Sarin, Caeileera appeared on the summoning altar and convinced me to have a short chat with her.¡¯ The tall woman nodded, took over and told Aki her story. The girl involuntarily reached towards her weapons upon hearing that Caeileera was one of the Sanguine, but Lilyth shot her down with a look. The scantily dressed woman seemed to have noticed that, slightly scowled, but continued unperturbed. Caeileera also shared her quest with Aki, as the final proof: Caeileera wants to share the following quest with you: The Master of the Tower Type: Divine - Life - Dungeon Difficulty: Hard Description: Laachersain of the Sanguine is a potential threat to the living being on Dwynveia. His plans must not come to fruition. Objectives: Rewards for your participation: Penalties for your participation Do you accept this quest? Yes/No What the hell is ¡°The Sun that Burns No More¡±? Still... As this was the first quest Aki had ever received, she immediately accepted it. That would also mean she would have to accept the Sanguine woman for the time being. ¡®I gave Caeileera a very short version of what happened to us, while we were heading over here. It will probably be time for more explanations later. Right now, we have to deal with the problem of Laachersain looking for us.¡¯ ¡®Sorry about breaking the mirror,¡¯ Aki said, genuinely embarrassed. ¡®I never expected that it would be noticed.¡¯ It was a bad idea in general,¡¯ Aki thought, remembering the mana crystals and the burns she sustained. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Lilyth shrugged. ¡®You did what you thought was best. I would probably have done that too. Anyway, what is done is done.¡¯ ¡®For now, he probably still thinks that I am on that, which should give us some time,¡¯ Caeileera said. Lilyth nodded and turned to Aki: ¡®Find anything good in L?we¡¯s lab?¡¯ Aki showed her the books and the pendant. Her girlfriend gave the books a cursory review and, per Aki¡¯s suggestion, put them into her bag. This ¡°locket¡± made her frown, however. ¡®Was there a photo here?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®What¡¯s a photo?¡¯ both Caeileera and Aki asked in unison. Her girlfriend sighed heavily and explained: ¡®A¡­ direct image of something or someone. Not sure how to explain it. It¡¯s basically as if you took the image in front of your eyes and preserved it forever just like you see it.¡¯ Something clicked in Aki¡¯s head. ¡®Oh. There was an image of a woman with curled hair here.¡¯ ¡®That tracks. The inscription inside says ¡°For my love''''. Which would mean it was either his lover or his wife. You are right, though. It should be worth a pretty penny though.¡¯ A ghost of something dark flashed across Lilyth¡¯s face, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, so Aki wasn¡¯t sure whether she didn¡¯t imagine it. She really didn¡¯t like how everything related to L?we affected Lilyth. ¡®So¡­ what¡¯s our next step?¡¯ she asked to take her girlfriend¡¯s mind off that. ¡®I don¡¯t know,¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®There was this side tunnel I¡¯ve found below, but I¡¯m not sure whether it is worth looking into. Other than that, I think we should start looking for a way up.¡¯ ¡®I can lead you there,¡¯ Caeileera said. ¡®Though, I¡¯m not sure how passable that is. The explosions from this ¡°cascade failure¡±, as you called it, really did a number on the level above. Part of the reason why Laachersain didn¡¯t send L?we any help after you killed his guards. There is a lot of damage to fix.¡¯ ¡®So we could be stuck here?¡¯ Lilyth asked with genuine fear in her voice. ¡®Not necessarily. As you¡¯ve noticed, there is a network of tunnels surrounding this dungeon. Neither I nor Laachersain did much exploring of these.¡¯ ¡®True enough. We got here through Goblintown. But that gives me an idea. How about we see if the tunnel below is one such tunnel? This would potentially give us an element of surprise. If we go up the main stairs, we can likely run into an ambush.¡¯ Both Aki and Caeileera nodded in agreement. ¡®Can your fancy floating disk hold all three of us?¡¯ her girlfriend asked. Turns out it did and shortly afterwards they found themselves by the entrance to the side tunnel. ¡®Gonna be a tight squeeze,¡¯ Lilyth muttered. She examined the bricks still covering the entrance to the tunnel. ¡®We can probably remove some of them to make more room if this turns out to be worth the effort.¡¯ Lilyth removed all of her gear and placed it on the disk. ¡®Wish me luck,¡¯ she said and started trying to squeeze through the hole. At a few points, Lilyth appeared to get stuck but then her body shifted slightly and passed effortlessly. That''s¡­ eerie. After a minute or so of that, Lilyth was finally through. She blew Aki a kiss and disappeared into darkness. ¡®Ah,¡¯ Caeileera sighed dreamily after she was sure Lilyth was out of earshot. ¡®That body of hers. So¡­ flexible. The things you could do with it¡­¡¯ Aki turned towards her red-faced. ¡®WH-¡¯ she began but the Sanguine bitch cut her off. ¡®Don¡¯t worry pipsqueak. I¡¯m just messing with you. I wouldn¡¯t touch her after you marked your territory so¡­ bluntly.¡¯ ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have to if you didn¡¯t walk around dressed like a whore!¡¯ ¡®Hey. If one has a body they are proud of, why not show it off? Also, unlike you I¡¯m not the kind of a person to throw myself at someone right after meeting them, so¡­ I don¡¯t think either of them realised how keen my hearing was, especially given how quiet everything around here was. Still, they needed to hash this out among themselves. Like it or not: for the time being we were in this together. However, I am starting to worry that¡­ our ¡°date¡± with Aki might have been a mistake. It was the correct choice at the time, I think, but I just hope it won¡¯t cause any more¡­ issues. There was nothing I could do about it anyway, right now, but pray that both of them would still by the time I got back. To my slight dismay, the tunnel was sloped downwards. I wanted to turn back, but¡­ something was drawing me down there. Alarm bells were going off in my head, but I persisted. Eventually, I reached a small cavern with a metal door in the wall opposite the tunnel exit. Still guided by that impulse I approached it and tried to open it. It didn¡¯t budge. I looked around and saw a small rectangle carved into the wall right to the door. Upon closer examination, I saw dozens of small etchings visible in the stone leading to the doorframe. It can¡¯t be¡­ I placed my hand palm-first into the rectangle. I felt a small amount of mana drain from me, there was a flash of yellow light, the etchings on the wall lit up and an audible click came from the door. I opened it and found out that it led to an empty large spherical chamber. It was easily fifty metres in diameter. There was a path leading down from the door, located roughly on the sphere¡¯s equator, to a flat circle at the bottom. What the fuck is this place? I descended down the path and stood in the middle of the circle. More mana drained from me and the chamber lit up like a Christmas tree. There were etchings, thousands of them, all over the walls. They were all glowing in yellow and their pattern reminded me of a circuit board. No¡­ it was a circuit board, I realised. A set of messages appeared in front of my eyes.
CONNECTING WITH THE CONTROL ROOM OF THE FACILITY: THE TOWER OF TRIALS . . . . . . CONNECTION ESTABLISHED . . . WARNING: POWER LEVEL CRITICAL WARNING: SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE SUSTAINED WARNING: ALL FACILITY FUNCTIONS DISABLED WARNING: SANGUINE INTRUDERS DETECTED WARNING: SHUTDOWN IMMINENT . . . SELECT ACTION
  1. STATUS REPORT
  2. GENERATE ITEM
  3. SUMMON SUBJECT
  4. SUMMON CREATURE
  5. VIEW CURRENT AUTOMATION PROGRAMME
  6. CHANGE AUTOMATION PROGRAMME
  7. DISABLE AUTOMATION PROGRAMME
. . AWAITING INPUT¡­ Chapter 24 - The Dungeon Control Room I stared at the menu in disbelief. Feeling some dread, I selected ¡°Status Report¡±. Instead of it printing on my interface a holographic screen appeared in front of me with the requested information. FACILITY: THE TOWER OF TRIALS FACILITY RUNTIME: 534 YEARS, 7 MONTHS, 22 DAYS, 5 HOURS, 56 MINUTES CURRENT AUTOMATION PROGRAMME RUNTIME: 534 YEARS, 7 MONTHS, 1 DAY, 2 HOURS, 10 MINUTES FACILITY SUBSYSTEMS STATUS: MAIN POWER: OFFLINE EMERGENCY POWER: ONLINE (ESTIMATED REMAINING RUNTIME BASED ON CURRENT CONSUMPTION RATE: 10 MINUTES) CONTROL ROOM: ONLINE AUTOMATION PROTOCOLS: ONLINE - WARNING INTERNAL SENSOR NETWORK: OFFLINE MEMORY BANK (PRIMARY): OFFLINE MEMORY BANK (SECONDARY): ONLINE - WARNING: SIGNIFICANT DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED SUMMONING ALTAR (PRIMARY): OFFLINE - LAST SUBJECT SUMMONED SUMMONING ALTAR (SECONDARY): OFFLINE - LAST SUBJECT SUMMONED - 8 HOURS, 41 MINUTES AGO LIGHTS: OFFLINE (CATASTROPHIC FAILURE DETECTED) CREATURE SUMMONING PROTOCOLS: OFFLINE - LAST CREATURE SUMMONED - 254 YEARS 11 MONTHS 5 DAYS 22 HOURS 1 MINUTE AGO ITEM CREATION PROTOCOLS: OFFLINE - LAST ITEM CREATION: 8 HOURS, 21 MINUTES AGO ITEMS REMAINING IN THE CREATION QUEUE: SUBJECTS SUMMONED: SUCCESSFUL SUBJECTS: 0 SUBJECTS STILL ALIVE: 1 ENTITIES CURRENTLY WITHIN THE DUNGEON: ENTITY CATEGORIES DETECTED WITHIN THE DUNGEON (LAST UPDATED: ):
  • HUMAN
  • UNDEAD
  • GOBLIN
  • SANGUINE
  • UNKNOWN
I sank to my knees as the reality of what I was reading hit me. I could feel tears flowing down my cheeks. So Caeileera wasn¡¯t joking. This place has really been summoning people to their deaths for five hundred years. FIVE HUNDRED FUCKING YEARS. I started hitting the floor with my hands while screaming. It couldn''t be. No. It couldn''t be. All of the things I¡¯ve been through. Me not being able to go back home. Me not being human anymore. Is it all because of some forgotten subroutines¡¯ whim? I don¡¯t know how long I stayed there. Eventually, the lights of the room went out as the last of the power of this cursed place finally ran out. Eventually, Aki and Caeileera found me. There was obvious concern visible on their faces. The last thing I remember was me whimpering: ¡®Five hundred years¡­¡¯ Then there was a green flash and I knew no more. I woke up on a shining white disk suspended in the infinite void. The Antechamber Between Life and Death,¡¯ I realised. Am I dead? I got up and examined myself. I looked to be in one piece. I was even fully clothed, and my garments were completely undamaged and unblemished. I almost forgot what that felt like. Mentally, I was also¡­ better. I was still perturbed, but the issue now felt distant. Maybe that is what happens to you after you die. Your issues become less important. ¡®Hello, love,¡¯ said a familiar voice. ¡®I think we need to talk.¡¯ Ereshkigal materialised in front of me. This time around, she was dressed in a magenta hoodie, black loose pyjama pants and fuzzy pink slippers looking like rabbit heads. She was holding two steaming cups with frolicking bunnies painted on them. It took me a moment to register that, but there were long floppy ears on the hood of her sweatshirt. I could be imagining things, but I think there might be a theme here. ¡®I apologise for the attire. I was heading to sleep when you arrived.¡¯ Seeing my slack-jawed expression Ereshkigal quickly added. ¡®What¡­ We gods also need to get our beauty sleep too. I had a difficult day. As satisfying as it was to set up that particular punishment, it required a lot of work on a short deadline. But I won¡¯t bore you with afterlife minutiae.¡¯ They sounded pretty fascinating to me, but I didn¡¯t press the issue. Ereshkigal handed me one of the cups. The liquid inside smelled wonderful. It was the smell of orange tea. ¡®Your favourite, I believe?¡¯ the goddess smiled. I took a sip. You know how you sometimes manage to get a tea that has just the perfect temperature and infusion level? Yeah, it was just like that. The blend also had a very vibrant taste. I was in a tea drinker¡¯s Antechamber Between Life and Death. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡®Follow me,¡¯ Ereshkigal said and gestured towards a shining path that started materialising. There was a metal gate now visible in the distance. ¡®First, I owe you an apology,¡¯ Ereshkigal began as we walked towards it. ¡®If it is about the whole turning-me-to-a-slime thing, then there is no need to,¡¯ I replied and sipped my tea. ¡®I would be dead if that didn''t happen. Unless I¡¯m here because I died.¡¯ ¡®Nope. You are still among the living, hon. It¡¯s just your mind is on a little vacay.¡¯ I nodded, unsure whether to be happy about this or not. ¡®I know what you are going through is not easy, love. Which is why I think I apologise that I have violated your bodily autonomy, since, as you have probably realised by now, the change does have consequences.¡¯ ¡®You mean, how there is a predatory side to me now?¡¯ ¡®Yes. I have no idea what consequences this will have for your human psyche,¡¯ Ereshkigal said sadly. ¡®You mean I can go mad or become a monster?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ the goddess said with genuine regret in her voice. ¡®I don¡¯t think it will ever go this far, but I cannot rule out these completely. What I did to you¡­ was never done before.¡¯ ¡®Like I said, I would likely be dead by now without it happening. I¡¯ll take living longer over being butchered alive by a hobgoblin.¡¯ I shuddered. ¡®At least that''s the first definitely fatal encounter I had?¡¯ I muttered to myself. ¡®Or would it be the small goblins due to me suffering internal damage from the Revenant.¡¯ Ereshkigal waved her hand in front of my face. ¡®Hey,¡¯ she said with what sounded to be genuine worry in her voice. ¡®Focus on the now.¡¯ I took a sip of my tea and tried to concentrate on the exquisite taste. After a moment of processing this in awkward silence, I said: ¡®I think there is not much point in dwelling on future what-ifs either. I have bigger worries right now. Like this Laachersain dude.¡¯ ¡®I know this is a fight not of your choice. But I am glad you are willing to try.¡¯ ¡®I couldn''t look at myself in the mirror if I didn''t. Ultimately, as much as I loathe to admit it, Dwynveia is my home now. Or at least the planet I live on. Speaking of¡­ Was sending me to this Mevara place ever an actual thing?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ Ereshkigal admitted, ashamed. She stopped walking and continued: ¡®Let me start from the beginning. I have been trying to stop the Tower of Trials from claiming Earthlings for decades now. Usually, I failed to even detect them. Those few times I managed to grab someone they would immediately be grabbed by the Tower and end up there anyway. But I was becoming adept at intercepting people, I figured I should start trying new things. The first thing that occurred to me was to destroy the person¡¯s body and remake it, hopefully making the Tower lose track. And I actually thought it worked. But I also had no idea what to do next. So the plan was to put you in a pocket dimension, have someone show you the ropes there until I was sure you were safe and then find you a place on Dwynveia. You know what happened next.¡¯ The goddess hung her head in defeat. I slowly sipped my tea while I listened to Ereshkigal¡¯s explanation. I wanted to be mad at her¡­ but I couldn¡¯t. She was after all trying to save me. Not finding words, I hugged her, trying not to burn her with my mug, and simply said: ¡®It¡¯s all right. Thank you.¡¯ Tears were flowing down her face. ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡­¡¯ she muttered. ¡®Don¡¯t be. And thank you for the explanation. This gives me some¡­ closure.¡¯ She hugged me back, wiped the tears off her face and we continued in silence towards the gate. We were almost there. Then a thought occurred to me. I stopped, brought up the quest log and browsed through it. Finding what I was looking for, I pulled up the quest instructions and frowned. Declined Quest: The Lying Goddess Type: Faction Difficulty: Hard Description: Ereshkigal has lied to you about the circumstances of your arrival. Confront her about it. Objectives:
  • Establish contact with Ereshkigal again
  • Discover the reasons behind her actions
  • (Optional) Break all ties with the Goddess
Rewards:
  • Unknown
  • Approval of ???
¡®What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ Ereshkigal asked. I told her about the quest and the other one I got after declining this one. Completed Quest: Forgiveness Description: You found a capacity within yourself to forgive Ereshkigal for her actions (or at least to give her the benefit of the doubt for now). Rewards:
  • 1 Perk point
Penalties:
  • ??? Disapproves
This brought an expression of worry on her face. ¡®Can you send them over to me?¡¯ she asked and explained the process to me. The scowl on her face deepened as she read those, and then she sighed and said: ¡®The second one is easier to explain. It likely came from the ¡°system¡± behind the interface.¡¯ I thought about it for a moment. ¡®Like the ¡°achievements¡±?¡¯ ¡®Yes. This is a slightly more complex version of one, I think, since it features the relationship malus. There being no benefit also points to the system, as I never knew this happened.¡¯ ¡®The system is sentient?¡¯ I asked. ¡®No clue.¡¯ Ereshkigal shrugged. ¡®It doesn¡¯t communicate directly with anyone. Though in case of ¡°bigger¡± issues it tends to ¡°favour¡± the side interested in preserving more lives. That lit a lightbulb in my head and I sent the notification I got after Caeileera burned the Sarin bottle to Ereshkigal. Notice: You have assisted in destroying a forbidden substance. You have received 1 perk point for this action. (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) The goddess beamed at me seeing that notification. ¡®Yes. Like this one. Though I don¡¯t think those two events are related.¡¯ ¡®So¡­ Do you know who this three question marks thing is?¡¯ ¡®No¡­ It showed as ??? to me as well.¡¯ ¡®God-fucking-dammit¡­¡¯ I muttered. ¡®Alas¡­ even a Goddess does not know everything,¡¯ Ereshkigal said defensively. ¡®No¡­¡¯ I raised my hands in a placating gesture. ¡®When the dungeon half blew up I was hoping I was done with ¡°saving the world¡± bullshit.¡¯ Ereshkigal laughed at that. ¡®Yeah. Turns out the Tower of Trials will come to some use after all. Come¡­ we¡¯re almost there. I have something to give you that might be able to help you with this.¡¯ I sipped my tea dejectedly. It still being perfect helped my mood some. ¡®Why is it named a ¡°Tower¡± anyway?¡¯ I asked. ¡®The fucking hellhole is underground.¡¯ ¡®They didn¡¯t have a better idea,¡¯ Ereshkigal chuckled. ¡®That¡¯s¡­ surprisingly fitting.¡¯ On the other side of the gate, there was a simple wooden room. The only thing there was a small red carpet on which stood a simple armour stand, with four items on it: a layered grey leather sleeveless jacket with a collar that reminded me of flak armour; a pair of grey bracers; an exquisite-looking fur-lined black coat attached to sculpted layered leather pauldrons that seamlessly matched the armour in design; and a dark leather scabbard. I made a move towards the dummy, but Ereshkigal stopped me. ¡®Now, Lilyth,¡¯ she began. ¡®Please kneel before me.¡¯ Unsure about what was happening I followed her instructions. A black blade appeared in Ereshkigal¡¯s hand. She touched me on both shoulders with it, while saying: ¡®For the service you have rendered Dwynveia by stopping Maximilian L?we, I name you Lilyth, my paladin. Go forth and fulfil my will.¡¯ Chapter 25 - The Paladin of Ereshkigal I didn''t know what to say. I wasn¡¯t particularly willing to open my mouth either because the image of someone in fuzzy slippers, PJ pants and a floppy ears hoodie knighting someone was well¡­ you know¡­ bringing unhealthy amounts of merriment to me, which I didn''t want to express given how I was the knightee and the knighter was the Goddess of Death. So, I was thrilled that a system window appeared before my eyes and took my mind off the situation. You have been divinely granted a class: Shadow Paladin Note: This class cannot be changed Note: You retain all the already received bonuses from the class: Tenebral Stalker New Skill Acquired: Umbral Arcana- Current Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) New Spell Acquired: Flickering Lights New Spell Acquired: Quench Torch Instead of the usual ¡°knowledge download¡±, I started to understand my connection with the shadows permeating all of existence for the first time ever. While I would always be more comfortable in darkness, no shadow could exist without light. Finally, getting insight into my nature was¡­ ¡®Exhilarating, isn''t it?¡¯ Ereshkigal asked. ¡®Understanding yourself is always something, eh?¡¯ I could only nod. Did she just read my mind? ¡®Now rise Sir Lilyth, yada yada, whatever.¡¯ Ereshkigal continued, chuckling. ¡®Just get up from the floor and make me proud.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll do my best,¡¯ I said, getting back on my feet. ¡®What was the phrase Marine Recon likes to throw around? ¡°All it takes is all you got¡±? That¡¯s all I can hope for. Anyway, to help you on your quest I have decided to grant you the traditional gear of a full member of the Tenebral Order. Normally, it would take months for you to earn these, but I am a bit short on Holy Knights these days. To be more precise, I didn¡¯t have any until, like, a few minutes ago.¡¯¡¯ ¡®So¡­ all of this¡­¡¯ I gestured at the room and the armour stand. ¡®All of this is just because I am the first to come around in a while that even remotely fits the requirements?¡¯ ¡®Pre-cise-ly,¡¯ Ereshkigal said with a heart clearly noticeable at the end of the word. ¡®I knew you were one smart slimy cookie.¡¯ I didn''t necessarily share Ereshkigal¡¯s enthusiasm, but I didn¡¯t think it was the first time I had been the only candidate for a job either. ¡®So what am I to do¡­ as your knight? ¡®For now, stop Laachersain, then, I guess, focus on building yourself on Dwynveia. Do some quests, clear some delves, you know, have some fun!¡¯ ¡®What? Shouldn¡¯t I be investigating this question-mark thing?¡¯ ¡®Eventually¡­ yes. Right now, you have no money, no contacts, no allies. Nothing. And, I need you alive and well-equipped to run my errands. So take your time. Once you feel ready, or have something worthy to report, go to a village called Lin-Vyme. One of my last priests is running a monastery dedicated to me and the other ¡°old¡± gods. Just speak to my statue there and I¡¯ll be able to talk back to you. ¡¯ I nodded and asked: ¡®Wasn¡¯t Caeileera able to talk to Akh¡¯ret while praying?¡¯ ¡®Yes. But I don¡¯t think you are much of a praying type. Believe me, I don¡¯t mind. Anyway¡­ go check out what I got you.¡¯ I walked up to the armour stand and started to investigate the items there. Item: Shadow Dragonhide Leather Jacket Class: Medium Armour - Torso - Divine Rarity: Unique Quality: Masterwork Durability: 50/50 Traits:
  • Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate.
  • Adaptive - The powers of this item grow along with the user
Item: Shadow Dragonhide Leather Bracers Class: Medium Armour - Arms - Divine Rarity: Unique Quality: Masterwork Durability: 50/50 Traits:
  • Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate.
  • Adaptive - The powers of this item grow along with the user
Item: Cloak of Ereshkigal Class: Cloak - Divine Rarity: Unique Quality: Masterwork Durability: 50/50 Traits:
  • Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate.
Item: Scabbard of the Black Rabbit Class: Utility - Sheath - Divine Rarity: Unique Quality: Masterwork Durability: 20/20 Traits:
  • Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate.
The name of the last item gave me pause. I took the sheath into my hands and saw a drawing of a rabbit¡¯s head stamped into it. I looked at Ereshkigal who was standing right next to me, doing her best to appear innocent. Led by an impulse, I pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head. One of the floppy ears landed on her face. She broke out laughing and playfully punched me in the arm. That finally made me lose my composure and I joined her. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ Ereshkigal began once we¡¯ve both regained our senses. ¡®I just had to. It¡¯s for your Blade of the Black Rose. I¡¯ll get rid of it if you want.¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s fine,¡¯ I responded. ¡®I will be more than happy to carry your sigil into battle. I¡¯m more of a cat person, but rabbits are a close second.¡¯ Sparks of playfulness appeared in her eyes then. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡®Yay,¡¯ she exclaimed and jumped into the air. ¡®All of this will appear in a box next to you in the dungeon,¡¯ the goddess continued. ¡®I don¡¯t think your friends would appreciate you suddenly growing a suit of armour. ¡®Speaking of my friends, what about Aki, though?¡¯ I asked. ¡®I wouldn''t have survived this without her.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ The goddess smiled at me. ¡®She¡¯ll also get her reward. The problem is that I lack the connection with her that I have with you. So, something appropriate is getting arranged for her, but it would need to go through¡­ different channels. I doubt she will be disappointed with it though.¡¯ ¡®Lastly, I also have this for you.¡¯ A black oval object appeared in her hand. She threw it towards me and I barely managed to catch it. Item: Rune of ¡°Fist of Wind¡± Class: Magical - Air Arcana Rarity: Extremely Rare Durability: 10/10 Description: Allows the user to learn the ¡°Fist of Wind¡± Spell. Casting the spell without sufficient knowledge of Fist Arcana may lower its effectiveness and/or cause it to fail Spell Effect: Imbues caster¡¯s chosen fist with the elemental power of wind. Striking a target with it unleashes a devastating torrent of wind. Causes knockback. Cost to learn: 2 Perk Points OOOOH. I immediately popped it. You have learned a new spell: Fist of Wind Type: Elemental - Air - Attack Description: Imbues caster¡¯s chosen fist with the elemental power of the wind. Striking a target with it unleashes a devastating torrent of wind. Causes knockback. Casting time: 2 seconds Note: Insufficient knowledge of Air Arcana You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) ¡®Glad you like it,¡¯ Ereshkigal beamed at me. ¡®Where did you get it? I mean¡­¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t do Air Arcana? I really enjoyed the punch you threw at L?we, so I pulled some strings with Nyx, the Goddess of Air and Storm, to get this. Formally, she¡¯s known as Ter¡¯ius but decided to go by Nyx as she likes it better. There might be a bit of a catch to it, though.¡¯ My stomach sank. ¡®So¡­¡¯ Ereshkigal continued, giving me her most innocent smile.¡¯I may have agreed for her to borrow you from time to time.¡¯ ¡®Wait¡­ so I¡¯m to be some divine errand girl now?¡¯ ¡®Would you look at the time? I¡¯ll let you get back to your quest. Toodles!¡¯ ¡®STOP¡­¡¯ I began, but Ereshkigal snapped her fingers and I found myself back in the Tower of Trials. I was sitting on a bed, once again wearing my damaged clothes. I must have sprung up while trying to stop Ereshkigal. ¡®Oh!¡¯ I heard Aki shout. ¡®You¡¯re awake!¡¯ I felt her pounce on me and wrap her arms around my torso. I hugged her back. ¡®Are you feeling okay?¡¯ she asked me. We''ve found you in a bad state. What happened?¡¯¡® I told her about what I learned in the control room. I could feel Aki tense up when I mentioned this has been for over half a millennium. ¡®Oh my gods¡­¡¯ she stammered out. ¡®This is horrible.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I sighed heavily. ¡®Yeah, it is. What was that green light when you found me with Caeileera?¡¯ ¡®Oh,¡¯ Aki said, slightly embarrassed. ¡®She put you to sleep with a spell. Suddenly, there was a flash and something thunked to the floor. It was a large wooden box. I pulled myself away from Aki which allowed me to get my first good look at her since I left her with Caeileera. She had a black eye and slightly torn clothes. I decided not to comment on that. Nope. ¡®What¡¯s the box?¡¯ she asked and got up. I told her about my meeting with Ereshkigal, of my knighting and the new gear I got. I skipped the part about her gift. It would make for a nice surprise. I also left the rabbit stuff out, for obvious reasons. ¡®Congrats, I guess¡­¡¯ Aki said, unsure. ¡®Yeah. ¡°I guess¡± describes it best. Where did you find a bed?¡¯ I was less than thrilled to learn that it had been L?we¡¯s, but beggars can¡¯t be choosers, I supposed. ¡®Can you give me some privacy, babe?¡¯ I asked her. ¡®I want to change.¡¯ She nodded, but before she lef,t I kissed her on the cheek. First, I checked the spells I got with the class. Spell: Flickering Lights Type: Umbral - Illusion Level: 1 (0% progress to level 2) Effect: Creates a series of flashing orbs within a ten-metre range Duration: 5 seconds Spell: Quench Torch Type: Umbral - Utility Level: 1 (0% progress to level 2) Effect: Puts out a small source of fire within a five-metre range Casting time: 10 seconds Not that useful given the circumstances. Still¡­ The Flickering Lights spell makes for a decent distraction. Next, I went through my notifications. They were screaming at me to go through them for a long time. The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +43% (58% total progress to level 12) Dexterity: +42% (112% total progress to level 14) Your Dexterity Attribute has increased to level 14 (6% total progress to level 15) Agility: +80% (113% total progress to level 11) Your Agility Attribute has increased to level 11 (6% total progress to level 12) Endurance: +80% (89% total progress to level 11) Vitality: +204% (218% total progress to level 11) Your Vitality Attribute has increased to level 11 (59% total progress to level 12) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Intelligence: +20% (57% total progress to level 17) Cunning: +15% (20% total progress to level 9) Willpower: +70% (157% total progress to level 14) Your Willpower Attribute has increased to level 14 (28% total progress to level 15) Your total mana has increased Resilience: +40% (110% total progress to level 7) Your Resilience attribute has increased to level 7 (5% total progress to level 8) New Skill Acquired: Air Arcana- Current Level: 1 (3% total progress to level 2) New Skill Acquired: Water Arcana- Current Level: 0 (5% total progress to level 1) The following skills have progressed: Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +34% (112% total progress to level 6) Your Bastard Sword - Two-handed skill has increased to level 6 (6% total progress to level 7) Earth Arcana: +90% (156% total progress to level 2) Your Earth Arcana skill has increased to level 2 (28% total progress to level 3) The following spells have progressed: Rock Spikes: +62% (106% total progress to level 4) Your Rock Spikes spell has increased to level 4 (3% total progress to level 5) Gust of Wind: +73% (73% total progress to level 2) The following traits have progressed: Predator¡¯s Instinct: +???% Once I level up, there will be plenty of things to spend perk points on. In the box, besides the armour, there was a fresh set of clothes. Thank you, Ereshkigal! I left L?we¡¯s bedroom feeling I looked pretty badass. Outside, I found Aki and Caeileera outside, staring at each other warily. The Sanguine appeared to have changed. She was now wearing an exquisite form-fitting black robe with lace-of-gold embroidering on the cuffs and a red leather stole attached to her belt. Caeileera did keep her boots, choker and bracelets, and I could a bag strapped across her torso. She also had some scratches visible on her face and I could have sworn she was missing some hair. So the discussion was productive on both ends. Good. And hey¡­ they didn¡¯t kill themselves while at it. ¡®Looking sharp, Caeileera,¡¯ I said to the Sanguine. ¡®Right back at you,¡¯ she smiled back at me. ¡®The Pipsq¡­ Aki suggested my outfit was inappropriate given the circumstances.¡¯ I believe the phrase was ¡°dressed like a whore¡±? ¡®Thank you for helping me, both.¡¯ ¡®No problem,¡¯ they both responded at the same time. That made them pause and glare at each other. Still some issues to work out, I see. In the silence, I heard some scratching noises in the distance. They seemed close, but they were too quiet to tell for sure, and then suddenly stopped. Did I imagine that? ¡®Anyway¡­ shall we get going?¡¯ I asked, hoping to defuse the situation. ¡®I want to get a move on before trouble finds us.¡¯ There was a heavy thud just outside the entrance. ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ said a raspy muffled voice from the door to the room. ¡®I am afraid, trouble has already found you.¡¯ Chapter 26 - The Lord-Diagnostician The creature standing in the doorway was huge, easily two metres tall, and could have been described as a six-armed human torso grafted onto a large fleshy insect-like thorax standing on four segmented legs, the ends of which looked very sharp. It lacked the trademark Sanguine gauntness, but it still looked unhealthily thin. The creature¡¯s face apparently wasn¡¯t blank either as I realised it was wearing a mask not unlike the one Caeileera had. It also had messy crimson hair, which also wasn¡¯t exactly a common feature among the Sanguine; and I could see four short horns protruding from its head. ¡®Gaar¡¯rinver,¡¯ Caei hissed. ¡®So you still recognise your own, bitch,¡¯ the creature spat. ¡®I was thinking your traitorous ass would not mention your ancestry to your new ¡°friends¡±. You have such a terrible taste too. A slime and a mongrel.¡¯ ¡®Listen here, you¡­ what are you even?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Other than ¡°one ugly bastard¡±, that is.¡¯ The creature straightened and intoned. ¡®Spare me your taunts, slime. They do not amuse me. I¡¯ll entertain your question though, as mayhaps you don¡¯t realise you are addressing one of your betters. As Caeileera said, I am Gaar¡¯rinver, Lord Diagnostician of the Sanguine.¡¯ ¡®Lilyth, Pal¡­¡¯ I began but the spider wannabe cut me off. ¡®Silence, worm! You are nothing before me.¡¯ ¡®I can see why you wanted to leave, Caeileera,¡¯ I said, ignoring our new pal. ¡®This guy fucking sucks.¡¯ ¡®ENOUGH!¡¯ Gaar¡¯rinver shouted, enraged. ¡®Slime, I am willing to overlook your lack of respect and let you leave if you hand over the traitor to me. If not¡­ Laachersain will reward me handsomely for all three of your heads.¡¯ I moved in front of Caeileera so that I was standing in between her and the monster. To my pleasant surprise, Aki joined me. ¡®Caeileera may be a bitch, but she is our bitch,¡¯ she explained. ¡®Love you too, Pipsqueak,¡¯ the Sanguine replied, clearly moved. ¡®So you choose death,¡¯ Gaar''rinver sighed. ¡®How¡­ disappointing.¡¯ ¡®Odd¡­ that''s what your mom said about you last night,¡¯ I taunted him. ¡®Ignorant fool. You are so haughty and yet so primitive. Our kind has no need for such crude methods of reproduction. Mating like animals in heat. Disgusting.¡¯ He took the bait. Good. The hope was that I could piss him off enough that he would focus on me rather than my companions. I wanted Aki and Caeileera to have as much time to prepare as possible, too. Already I could see my girlfriend positioning herself to flank the ugly bastard. ¡®Maybe if you mated from time to time, you wouldn''t be such a dick. Then again you don¡¯t seem to have one.¡¯ If I read Gaar''rinver¡¯s body language correctly, that one seemed to have really struck a nerve but I never got to hear his brilliant retort. ¡®You-¡¯ he began but then Aki¡¯s Abyssal Bolt struck the side of his head knocking his mask off to the ground, where it broke into several pieces. Unlike with Caeileera, Spooder-Boy losing his mask did not improve his appearance any. The top of Gaar''rinver''s head was mostly human, though one of his eyes was entirely black while the other was white, but instead of a jaw, he had a pair of mandibles. ¡®MY MASK!¡¯ Gaar¡¯rinver yelled in a mix of anger and horror. ¡®You¡¯ll pay for this, you mongrel b-¡¯ I didn''t manage to regain much mana since the fight with L?we, but I had enough for what I could describe as a pro-gamer funny move. I pointed my hand at the shards of the mask and cast Gust of Wind. The torrent easily picked up the pieces and promptly drove them into the wall, the strength of the blow turning the ceramics into fine dust. I heard Caeileera hiss at that. Gaar''rinver slowly turned towards his face a mask of absolutely incandescent rage. Might as well go for broke. ¡®Awww¡­¡¯ I teased. ¡®Is someone angy?¡¯ I got what I was asking for, as Gaar¡¯rinver roared something incoherently, probably that he indeed was angy, and just ran at me. He rammed into me with a surprising amount of strength which sent me flying into one of the catafalques. I hit it with a loud thwack, and I learned that no matter how accustomed you get to being thrown about, hitting very hard objects still hurt like a motherfucker. Before I could get my bearings again, Gaar¡¯rinver was on me. Two blood-red swords appeared in the top pair of hands and the Sanguine raised them so that he could plunge them straight into my head, but then a lance of hellfire pierced his upper shoulder, blowing the arm off. ¡®Forgot¡­ about¡­ someone?¡¯ I croaked as the monster roared in pain. Gaar¡¯rinver was one persistent bastard, as he still wanted to finish me with his other sword but at that point, I had recovered enough to roll away from its flight path. The blood-red sword bit into the stone of the catafalque. Instead of trying to retrieve the weapon, the Sanguine jumped back to avoid a swing from Caeileera¡¯s glaive. Gaar''rinver, panting from pain, must have realised he was at a serious disadvantage fighting against three opponents, so with his lower four hands he waved a complex series of gestures that summoned a web of a few dozen small bloody projectiles. He released them, forcing us to desperately seek cover to avoid the barrage. There were just too many of them, however, as despite my best attempts, I received several hits all across my body. Where the projectiles impacted my armour it easily absorbed the kinetic force, but enough of them struck the exposed parts of my body to do some damage. I saw that Aki received a nasty blow on her shoulder, but as she was to the side of Gaar¡¯rinver she avoided most of the onslaught. Caeileera wasn¡¯t so lucky however and she took the full brunt of the attack just as she was diving behind one of the catafalques. The Sanguine¡¯s wings were pierced in several places and the remaining projectiles struck Caei with enough force to deflect her from her flight path, causing her to hit the next bier in the row. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I saw Gaar¡¯rinver had used the confusion to retreat from the confrontation, so, despite the pain, I scrambled to my feet and chased after him, shouting to Aki to help Caei. I caught up to him in the large antechamber leading to L?we¡¯s lab. He was ready for me, as he launched a smaller burst of projectiles towards me, forcing me to duck. It gave him all the time he needed. ¡®Attend me!¡¯ I heard the Sanguine shout. Three crimson fissures, two small ones and one enormous, shimmered into existence between him and me. A creature emerged from each of them. Two Hunters stepped out of the small ones, while the big fissure sprang another spider-like Sanguine, which while it seemed to be just a ¡°normal¡± monster with just four hands rather than six, was easily half-a-metre taller than Gaar¡¯rinver. Just as I was steeling myself for a four-against-one fight, another much larger fissure appeared. Wordlessly, Gaar''rinver jumped into it, just as another hellfire lance hit him between shoulder blades. Backing away from his summoned monsters, I peeked behind me and saw Caeileera and Aki standing in the entrance to the chamber. The Sanguine was supporting herself with her glaive on her right side and my girl¡¯s shoulder on the other, who was holding the Lance of Longinus in her free hand. Seeing Gaar''rinver was gone, Caei put her left hand on her side. There was a green flash and several of her wounds closed. She¡¯s a healer, I realised. Happy my companions would be fine, I turned back my full attention to the Sanguine, which were slowly circling me. I tried summoning the Blade of the Black Rose into my hand, but nothing happened. Does it being actually sheathed mean I cannot cheese it anymore? My momentary confusion gave one of the Hunters an opening to strike at me. Two of its six-fingered hands slashed across my back. Its claws easily pierced my cloak, but the attack seemed to lack sufficient oomph to get through my armour. Damn. Dragon hide is tough. I did a one-eighty-degree turn and used the momentum to ram my right elbow into the creature¡¯s non-face. I started drawing my sword, but I heard movement mixed behind me. Shit! I needn¡¯t have worried, however. There was a sizzling in the air followed by a loud thud, as the Sanguine Hunter fell dead to the ground. The one before me was starting to recover, but with the Blade of the Black Rose now in my hands, I made short work of it. A quick horizontal slash across its gaunt stomach, and the Sanguine¡¯s body started collapsing to the ground in two pieces. Something weird started happening then, as brown stone spikes began erupting from the monster¡¯s body, its blood spraying all around. By the time both halves of the Hunter hit the ground, the creature looked a bit like a hedgehog. Level 3 Sanguine Hunter has been slain. You have earned 300 experience points (1900/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Oh right, I realised. That must be the extra effect of the Blade. Damn¡­ that¡¯s so cool. Also messy. I turned towards the final, spidery Sanguine. If it was upset by the odds suddenly turning around, it didn¡¯t show it. If anything, the gaunt monstrosity looked slightly pleased. Four tentacles erupted from its back and made a grab at its comrade¡¯s corpses. Upon the touch of the fleshy appendages, the bodies dissolved into a blood-like essence that quickly flowed into the Sanguine spider. Its body began growing and shifting. I ran at it, sword raised for an attack, but the creature batted me aside with one of its tentacles and used its four legs to leap away from our trio. Now that it was temporarily free from our interference, the Sanguine was able to finish its transformation. Its body became slightly bulkier, the torso longer, but most of the extra mass seemed to have been directed towards its limbs. The monster grew an extra pair of legs, probably to help support it, the creature¡¯s tentacles became thicker, and the four arms it had shifted downwards and an extra pair grew above them, each ending with a long bony blade rather than a clawed hand. It just keeps getting better and better, I sighed internally, as Aki and Caeileera joined me. The former appeared to have repacked her gun and drew her falchions, while Caei had her glaive ready. I really need to help Aki figure out the holster. Wordlessly, we charged the creature. Caeileera leapt into the air, pointed her polearm at the Sanguine, and, using her wings to gain extra momentum, dove towards the monster. Aki sent out an Abyssal Bolt towards the spidery bastard, but it effortlessly batted it aside with one of its swords. The creature tried to use the other to strike at Caileera but missed, and the girl was able to embed her glaive between its ribs. Just as she was trying to remove her weapon, the monster swatted her to the ground with one of its tentacles. It wanted to crush her with one of its layered legs, but by that time, I had managed to reach Caei¡¯s side and slashed at the appendage. My blade got in between the chitinous plates and severed the leg. Red ichor began spurting from the stump and the creature howled. Caeileera turned herself around and pointed both hands at the monster. A torrent of flames engulfed it. The Sanguine must have realised it was at a disadvantage, as it charged forward, forcing Caei to end the spell, as we did our best not to get crushed by the monster. As it finished its mad dash and began to turn, Aki lunged at it from the side and cut off another leg from the side that was already missing one, which sent it crashing to the ground. The monster was, however, good at compartmentalising certain things as, unfazed, it wrapped one of its tentacles around Aki¡¯s body and began to squeeze. The girl moaned in pain. Caeileera swore and pointed her hand at the tentacle. There was a flash and one of her flying discs appeared vertically through the appendage, cutting it off and causing Aki to crash to the ground. I nodded my thanks to Caei and started running towards the wounded abomination. It was trying to raise itself using its arms and tentacles to support itself to replace the missing legs. Fuck. That thing is tough. Caeileera was close behind me. Once again she took to the air and aimed her glaive to pierce the monster''s head from below. The creature moved to stop her with its bone blades, but it only caused the Sanguine abomination to lose balance and once again crash to the ground. Caei overshot her target due to this, but she already had a plan. She turned the glaive in her hands and dropped to the monster''s back, driving the polearm below the base of its skull. The blade burst out from its non-face. The abomination shuddered and died. Level 12 Sanguine Brood Guardian has been slain. You have earned 400 experience points (2300/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) Then Caeileera did something I never expected her to do. She roared in victory. Chapter 27 - The Shrine ¡®You do realise you¡¯ve just made a mortal enemy?¡¯ Caeileera asked after taking care of our wounds from the fight. ¡®Gaar¡¯rinver won¡¯t rest until you are dead.¡¯ ¡®Is it over the mask?¡¯ I asked, voicing my suspicions. ¡®Yes. The masks are¡­ well¡­ they¡¯re hard to describe to an outsider. Basically, they are¡­ a mark of our common identity as the members of the court of the Blood that Devours. In essence, they are meant to show that we are all equals - both among ourselves and with the lower Sanguine. All of us sapient ones are supposed to wear these at all times while in public. We can only take them off in private. Losing your mask¡­ is not advisable. The maskless ones are basically outcasts, who tend not to live too long as usually the lower ones will hunt them very quickly. If a mask is broken, kinda like what Aki did by accident, it can be put together by the owner, but it will be forever marked in the places it was damaged at. That alone is a mark of shame, but one of the Crimson Vicars may choose to fix it, usually when the wearer completes some important task. A mask that is destroyed¡­ well¡­ a replacement is very rarely issued. If it happens in combat, the initial condition is the death of the person who broke it. Then well¡­ you need to somehow earn the grace of the Blood that Devours. A mask that is stripped as a punishment will never be restored.¡¯ That made me realise something else. ¡®So when you threw away your mask, you made yourself an outcast among your own people, pretty much forever?¡¯ Aki gasped in shock upon hearing that. I never mentioned that bit to her, as I hadn''t understood the significance of the action. She looked at Caei with newfound respect and asked: ¡®So why didn¡¯t he stay to fight? Between him and the ¡°lower ones¡± he stood a chance against us three.¡¯ ¡®He didn¡¯t,¡¯ Caei explained. ¡®Remember what I said about the lower Sanguine hunting maskless ones on sight? Yeah. He would likely be their first target. In general, I have no idea why he did what he did. A maskless one commanding any Sanguine is a grievous offence. Doing so to regain your honour? That¡¯s almost unheard of. Gaar¡¯rinver pretty much ensured he will forever live in infamy. He probably will still have some allies like his medical cabal, at least until they learn of his sins, but other than that¡­ he¡¯s alone.¡¯ I nodded and said: ¡®So¡­ he¡¯s probably a problem for another day. I don¡¯t think he is still in the Tower.¡¯ ¡®Most likely not.¡¯ ¡®Anyway¡­ you said you knew where the exit from this floor was?¡¯ As we walked, it was my time to answer some pressing questions from my companions. The chief of them being ¡°who exactly L?we was¡±. By the time I finished giving them a brief history of Nazi Germany, Aki was green from nausea while Caeileera somehow got even paler than she was. ¡®Wh-why would someone do such a thing¡­¡¯ Aki stammered out. ¡®Hatred,¡¯ I replied simply. ¡®Did Laachersain know?¡¯ I asked Caei. ¡®I don¡¯t know,¡¯ she answered with a weak voice. ¡®Probably some of it. Whether L?we revealed the full extent of¡­ that, I don¡¯t know. Given how Laach was willing to work with Gaar¡¯rinver¡­ I doubt he would care even.¡¯ Caeileera explained that Spooder-Boy was actually a bit of a LARPer. He and a bunch of other mad scientist wannabees formed a group known as the Cabal of the Perfect Form. They believed that only by merging the lower and the higher Sanguine together they would achieve perfection. This was a somewhat controversial position to take among their people since the Blood that Devours wouldn¡¯t have created two kinds of servants if it didn¡¯t feel they served some kind of a purpose. Furthermore, the title of ¡°Lord-Diagnostician'''' was a self-proclaimed one. The Sanguine didn¡¯t have nobility and the very point of masks they all wore was to mark them as one of equals. So, the Cabal wasn¡¯t particularly popular in the Pale Badlands due to their views being close to actual heresy, and that was before the crazy experiments they did on each other, and the Non-Sanguine who lived there. So Laachersain throwing his lot with them was not a good sign. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I found all of this both fascinating and surprising. Up to this point, I assumed the Sanguine were all like Gaar¡¯rinver. ¡®No,¡¯ Caeileera laughed. ¡®But that doesn¡¯t mean that we¡­ they are all on your side either. Ultimately, the Cabal is tolerated, at least until they cross some red line during their search for perfection, and while the experiments they do are distasteful to many, nobody will intercede on behalf of the Non-Sanguine since you all are viewed as lower life forms.¡¯ We reached the staircase to the next level unmolested. Luckily it didn¡¯t collapse during the cascade failure so we were able to go up without issues. Unfortunately, the corridor leading directly to Laachersain¡¯s lair, which was located on the top level of the dungeon, DID cave in so we would need to go around. On my suggestion, we went to the staircase room where Tyrric and his party met their gruesome demise. I was hoping against hope we would find some extra equipment there, though I assumed the place was likely scoured clean. If anything I was confused why the Blade of the Black Rose was left lying there to begin with. Aki was able to provide the beginning of an answer there. She has heard legends of magic swords sometimes choosing their owners. In essence, if the Blade of the Black Rose did not want to be found by a necromancer, it wouldn¡¯t be. It was also possible that this Rivard guy and L?we were not much for exploring. We never reached our destination. A wall on the crossroads that would lead to it had collapsed revealing a chamber with a tarnished golden statue in the middle. It depicted a tall vaguely female figure. It was hard to tell exactly as it wore heavily tattered once-luxurious robes. There were clear remnants of embroidering on the cuffs and piping, and the collar was long and rigid, ending far above the cowled head of the figure. In its extended left hand, the figure was holding a pair of scales, and in her right, hanging loosely at the woman''s side, a censer. Her face was hidden by the cowl, well¡­ not modelled really, I had no idea why I was starting to think of the monument as a person, and she¡­ it... IT was barefoot. There was something really wrong about the statue and it wasn''t just me that was feeling it. Aki¡¯s tail was wagging like crazy and Caei was muttering something. I looked around the chamber. It was definitely completely unlike anything else I have seen in the tower so far. If anything else, it felt like some mausoleum. There were even empty funerary recesses with¡­ lit candles inside of them. I looked at the foot of the statue and saw more candles and some wilted flowers lying there. There was another exit behind the statue. It looked to be another cave system, but I couldn''t tell for sure. It definitely seemed that there was a drop there. I wanted to get a better look at it, but my gaze kept drifting back to the statue. Was that golden ¡°smoke¡± coming out of that censer before? ¡®Ummm¡­ guys¡­¡¯ Aki said. ¡®Is it just me or do you also feel like the woman is looking at us? ¡®Yeah¡­¡¯ Caei confirmed. ¡®But it can¡¯t, can it? It¡¯s just gold, isn''t it?¡¯ ¡®How about we just go?¡¯ I suggested weakly. ¡®I think the mysterious shrine should be a mystery for another day. Like I don¡¯t know¡­ a day after the sun explodes sounds nice?¡¯ The girls both agreed and we retreated from the chamber, carefully observing it just to be sure. Not willing to come into the vicinity of the creepy room again, we abandoned my idea of heading into the staircase and went in the other direction. As we walked we all got a quest notification: New Quest Acquired: Something that Shouldn¡¯t Be There Type: Mystery (Legendary) Difficulty: ??? Description: Some things are best left forgotten. Objectives: Discover the identity of the mysterious figure on the statue Rewards: ??? Notice: You really shouldn¡¯t do this Notice: This quest cannot be cancelled or declined Chapter 28 - The Fall of Lilyth ¡®Did you also¡­¡¯ I began but Caei and Aki just nodded. ¡®Sooo¡­¡¯ Aki tried to say something but paused unsure. ¡®Let¡¯s worry about that once we get out of here¡­ shall we?¡¯ I suggested. Nobody had any better idea so we continued. I was leading our trio since I was our tank, Caeileera was in the middle while Aki closed our ¡°formation¡±. I saw she was holding her gun. Still¡­ despite me telling the girls not to worry about the issue, my mind was working in overdrive mode because I couldn''t help but think I was overlooking something. One: The shrine appeared to be tended. There were candles lit and a flower offering. The former could potentially be due to magic, the source of which remains undetermined. The latter would likely require someone to place them. Two: The route between the shrine and the Tower has opened today. Current Time: 18:05 CET (18:25 local) The explosions took place around six hours ago and were very loud. Three: It is currently impossible to determine how long ago any potential custodian of the shrine visited it. The original size of the candles and rate of burning remains unknown. The state of the flowers would suggest it has been at least a few days. Four: Surface was accessible via Goblintown. Corollary to points three and four: The surface is likely accessible from the shrine, independent from the Tower of Trials. If two exits (1. Main; 2. Goblintown) exist, there being a third one is very likely. Five: It is unknown what beings, if any, inhabit the theorised network of tunnels between the shrine and the exit. Six: The shrine had deleterious effects on our party. There being a custodian implies not all beings are affected equally. Seven: The status report mentioned unknown entities present in the dungeon. The sensor network likely didn''t function after the cascade failure. It is not known whether the scanning range extended into the shrine. Conclusion: There is at least one potentially hostile unknown entity present in the Tower of Trials. The presence of another route leading to the surface implies there could be more. At least one of them is sentient. Extreme caution is advised. I started to signal for a stop but it was too late. Sounds of heavy footsteps and something heavy being dragged started coming from ahead of us. We readied our weapons, Aki still opting for the Lance of Longinus, and assumed combat formation: me in the front, while my girlfriend fighting at range and Caei as support with a longer weapon in the back. What emerged out of the darkness in front of us was a massive black-scaled lizard that blocked most of the corridor. At least, I thought that was a lizard. It had a fairly short, but a metre-wide snout and two clusters of twelve reptile¡¯ish eyes. The lizard¡¯s paws ended with razor-sharp twenty-centimetre-long claws, and it had two bony crests starting at its head and running down the length of its body. It roared upon seeing us, drops of spittle flying all around and revealing that instead of a normal mouth, it had one that opened like a flower with four petals, the inside of which was covered with sharp teeth. The unfolded flaps revealed another toothy maw flanked by a pair of mandibles. I couldn¡¯t quite place the sound of the creature''s roar. It was a heavily-discovered mix of a lion''s roar and a ship¡¯s fog horn. The sheer volume of it made my entire body hurt and I saw both Caei and Aki wince painfully. It was hard to tell, but I think the entire corridor shook slightly, and dust particles and small pieces of rock dislodged from the stone walls and ceiling. There was smoke rising wherever the spittle fell. That¡¯s definitely not the custodian, flashed through my mind. Aki shot a lance out of her gun, while Caei threw some kind of a crimson lance at it, but both attacks dissipated harmlessly against the monster¡¯s skin. I did regain some mana after the fight and Gaar¡¯rinver, plus I got a small potion from Caei¡¯s stash, but I didn¡¯t think any of my spells would fare much better. ¡®RUN! To the shrine room! There¡¯s another exit there!¡¯ I shouted, realising that there was likely nothing we could do to damage the creature. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. To their credit, the girls didn¡¯t protest. The hungry-hungry croc monster with acidic spittle was a trump card that overruled any possible counterpoints. So we turned and ran. The heavy footsteps soon started following us. As I¡¯ve always said: when in doubt - just leg it. We weren¡¯t that far from the hole in the wall. We quickly entered it, and to our surprise discovered that the statue was gone. Instead, we found ourselves in a large mountainside cavern connected by a wide cracked rock bridge with a massive stone pillar of some kind. What the fuck? I pointed to the bridge and we all sprinted towards it. I saw that it was suspended over a deep chasm. I let Aki and Caei get first on it, while I covered their retreat. Just as Aki stepped on it the wall exploded inwards and the croc burst into the cavern. All of its twenty-four eyes were laser-focused on me. It let out another roar causing the surroundings to shake and what¡¯s worse the bridge cracked some more. Aki stumbled but Caei was there to catch her. ¡®GO!¡¯ I screamed at them, realising that, at least for me, it was likely the end of the line. There was no way all three of us could run away from this thing. But¡­ if I bought them enough time then maybe the two of them could escape. Still was this the right place for it? I had no idea whether there was any way off the pillar. I didn¡¯t want to get myself stupidly killed only for the girls to join me moments afterwards. If we reached a dead end¡­ best to try to fight then. Yes. That was a good plan. Filled with calm, I waited for Caei and Aki to be on the other side before I got on the bridge. I got maybe two-thirds of the way across and saw there were other paths leading away from the pillar. Good. So this would be where I would make my stand. I turned around to face the monster. The croc was at the entrance to the bridge now. ¡®Aki! Caei! I shouted. They turned towards me. ¡®Take care of yourselves for me,¡¯ I continued. ¡®Beat Laachersain and live.¡¯ They started shouting something, but I didn¡¯t listen to them. ¡®Just fucking go!¡¯ Tears were starting to fill my eyes, but I had to be strong. The monster walked on the bridge. The petals of its mouth opened and a long tongue shot out, wrapping itself around my body. I hope I give you indigestion motherfucker. Time slowed. I heard Aki and Caei nearing the bridge. Stupid girls. Then another sound reached me: a loud cracking of stone. I smiled. So they would be able to get away. The bridge gave way and the monster and I plummeted down into the depths below. I looked up and saw both girls leaning over the edge of the broken bridge, shouting my name, tears filling their eyes. Just escape and live. I thought and turned my attention back to my impending demise. Suddenly, I felt the constriction around me loosen. The croc was probably so shocked that it let go of me. It quickly regained its wits and tried to regain its hold on me, but using the Gust of Wind, I pushed it back away from me. I suddenly felt a massive amount of pressure against the front of my body, but I managed to definitely get out of its range. And I think I slowed my fall. Oh right. Wind. I launched another Gust of Wind in the direction of the ground and once again the G-Forces hit me, but I did manage to shed some of my velocity. So I launched another one and another one, the paper doll getting progressively redder with each cast. At some point, the creature must have impacted the ground as I received a notification. Level 44 Greater Corrupted Darhun has been slain You have earned 1466 experience points (3766/2500 total experience points progress to level 5) You are now Level 5 (1266/3000 total experience points progress to level 6) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Notice: Colour me impressed. You have actually somehow managed to kill a monster 40 levels above you. (Though the ground did most of the work.) You have received 2 perk points for this achievement (Current Number of Perk Points: 4) Now live long enough to spend these. I didn¡¯t pay much attention to the message. Still¡­ couldn¡¯t I increase an attribute with four perk points? I knew both Intelligence and Willpower increased my mana but the former didn¡¯t feel like the main attribute for that. So¡­ willpower maybe? Your Willpower Attribute has increased to level 15 (0% total progress to level 16) Your total mana has increased You have spent 4 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) I felt somewhat rejuvenated which meant that it was a good choice. Still¡­ two more casts of the Gust of Wind and I was out of mana. The ground was getting close, and I still felt I was going too fast. So I launched another Gust of Wind. It felt like both my body and brain were going to explode due to this. Almost¡­ there¡­ Just¡­ one¡­ more¡­ Suddenly I heard a giddy female voice in my head and the time visibly slowed down again. ¡®If you swear yourself to me, I will help you survive.¡¯ Who¡­ are¡­ you¡­ ¡®Is it really that important to you right now? Yes or no. You are running out of time.¡¯ I sighed internally. Yes, I thought, praying I wasn¡¯t making some horrible mistake. ¡®Great. I¡¯m sure we¡¯re both going to enjoy this. Still, I can help you channel more mana. You still will only get one shot at this. So make it a good one.¡¯ With the rest of my strength, I¡¯ve decided to try the Fist of Wind, but, rather than use only one of my hands, I pointed both towards the ground and channelled the spell. It felt as if my entire body was on fire, as more mana than I could have imagined went through it and what seemed to be a small tornado blew out of my hands. The last thing I heard before losing consciousness from the strain and G-Forces was the same female voice say: ¡®Good choice. I¡¯ll¡­¡¯ I never heard the rest of it. Chapter 29 - Nyx ¡®LILYTH!¡¯ Aki shouted in unison with Caeileera, as they watched their companion fall to her death along with the monster. Last thing Aki saw of her girlfriend before she disappeared in darkness was her looking back at them, peace in her eyes. Then she was gone. ¡®You have wings!¡¯ A ray of hope appeared in Aki¡¯s heart. ¡®You can save her!¡¯ I¡­ I can''t¡­¡¯ Caeileera sobbed, helplessly, snuffing the fire out. ¡®My wings¡­ they¡­ they are not strong enough.¡¯ That admission only made both of them cry harder. They embraced themselves for comfort and sat there mourning their friend. Level 44 Greater Corrupted Darhun has been slain You have earned 1466 experience points (2316/3000 total experience points progress to level 6) Notice: You took part in killing a monster 39 levels above you. (Though the ground did most of the work.) You have received 1 perk point for this achievement (Current Number of Perk Point: 2) So¡­ that was it. If the monster was dead then so was Lilyth. ¡®N-no¡­¡¯ Caeileera said, voicing Aki¡¯s feelings. The girl thought her heart would break. Lilyth promised her she wouldn''t leave her¡­ Why did she have to do this? Maybe they could have somehow beaten the monster together. She didn''t care about the stupid experience and the stupid perk point. She would gladly go back to level zero if it meant she could have her friend back. Wait¡­ the experience points got split three ways. That meant¡­ ¡®Caei!¡¯ she exclaimed. ¡®We must find a way down?¡¯ ¡®Wh-Why? Do you want to bury her?¡¯ ¡®No¡­ the experience. See how much you got.¡¯ ¡®What does this have to do with any¡­ Oh.¡¯ Caeileera started laughing. ¡®She did it! The crazy slime somehow did it!¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Aki confirmed joyfully. ¡®We need to hurry though. She could be hurt badly.¡¯ Caei nodded and got up, wiping her tears on her cuff. ¡®Let¡¯s go then.¡¯ ¡®Can you fly us down with your disk?¡¯ Caei frowned sadly. ¡®No. The chasm is too deep.¡¯ Spell description appeared in front of Aki¡¯s face. Spell: Floating Disk Type: Gravity - Utility Level: 10 (74% progress to level 11) Effect: Creates a floating hard light disk of up to 2 metres in radius that allows the caster to transport people or objects. Can be maintained Casting time: 1 second Note: Disk must remain up to 2 metres from a surface ¡®If I cast it here and we tried to descend using it we would fall,¡¯ Caeileera explained. ¡®As you saw, I have limited options of doing things the spell wasn¡¯t designed for, but it comes at a cost. That time I used it to cut the tentacle? You know how long I kept the spell going while Lilyth was in that strange room and we had our¡­ discussion?¡¯ Aki nodded. ¡®I could have maintained it twice as long and it still wouldn¡¯t come near to the amount of mana I spent on that cut. Me trying to slow down our descent would drain me out of mana in seconds.¡¯ Boy, aren¡¯t you useless, Aki bit back a retort. She knew Caeileera was trying, but , oh my, was she disappointed with her. ¡®Let¡¯s find a way down, then,¡¯ Aki said instead. I woke up on a cloud floating in what seemed to be an infinite blue sky, if it even could have been considered a sky, given how there appeared to be no ground in sight. Funnily enough, it looked to be a bright day, despite there being no sun anywhere. ¡®Ummm¡­ hello?¡¯ I repeated quite unsure what was happening. Did I die when I hit the ground? Was Ereshkigal just fucking with me? Like I wouldn¡¯t put it past her to create an image of a fluffy cloud heaven. Then again, wouldn¡¯t surviving less than an hour on the job put me on her shit list? So if anything I should be in fire and brimstone hell. Suddenly, a massive dark tornado started to form in front of me and a strong wind began to buffet me. I tried to cover my face, but it was to no avail as the wind was too strong. I saw that the funnel developed a huge head and a pair of disembodied hands. So not the afterlife, then¡¯ I started to cower in fear before the great avatar of the storm. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Out of the blue, there was a girly giggle and someone exclaimed with barely contained glee: ¡®Ha! Gotcha!¡¯ The wind that was threatening to push me from the cloud I was on, abated as quickly as it appeared, and the great storm elemental dissipated. In its place hovered a beautiful elven woman dressed in an all-white suit and a blue shirt. Her dark blue eyes had tiny lightning bolts flashing occasionally inside, and instead of hair she had an ever-shifting cloud formed into a pixie cut. ¡®Sorry¡­¡¯ she said. ¡®I really couldn¡¯t resist messing with you, honey.¡¯ With a flick of her wrist ,the elf conjured a small cloud almost right in front of me and sat cross legged on it. I noticed that the cloud was positioned at such a height that her shapely boobs would be right in front of my eyes. I doubted this was a coincidence. Especially, since the elf was within arms reach of me. I looked up at her face. ¡®My name is Ter¡¯ius,¡¯ The goddess continued. ¡®Or actually¡­¡¯ She extended her hand and touched me on the nose. I felt energy coursing through my body. ¡®Boop! As far as you are concerned, my name is Nyx! Much better. Ere was right, you Earthlings have such cool names for your gods.¡¯ I looked at her in horror. ¡®Wait.. are you guys actually screwing with the translator trait?¡¯ ¡®Ding, ding, ding!¡¯ ¡°Nyx¡± giggled. ¡®Correct! Ere mentioned you were one smart slime, Lilyth. And there is nothing you can do about it, too¡¯ ¡®T.. T¡­¡¯I stammered to say her actual name in clear defiance, but couldn¡¯t so I sighed in defeat. ¡®Nyx it is then. I must say I don¡¯t appreciate this.¡¯ ¡®I imagine you wouldn¡¯t. But imagine being stuck with a name some jackass thought-up ten thousand years ago and spread around as your actual one. So having even one person calling you by a name you actually want is a relief.¡¯ ¡®Ereshkigal did mention something about deadnames before¡¯ ¡®That she did. You must be wondering where you are, cutie. You did swear to serve me, and I need to stake my claim on you, anyway. Can¡¯t have Ere have all the fun with you.¡¯ She touched me on the nose again with a ¡°Boop¡± and a message appeared in front of my eyes. Nyx is now your Patron Deity ¡®Uhh¡­ won¡¯t Ereshkigal mind? I am her Paladin and all.¡¯ ¡®No. We hashed out those details when she came here to pick up that rune. We¡¯ve agreed to have split custody of you. It makes no practical difference as far as you are concerned, though her errands will usually be of higher priority than mine.¡¯ I stared at her with incredulity. ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ Nyx smiled. ¡®Those are going to be F-U-N, unlike the ones she will send you on. Whenever she had her holy knights she would have them clear some dreadful dusty tombs of undead and deal with Necromancers, and such. Mine are so much better! Seeking forbidden knowledge, solving crises, getting cookies from that one bakery I like. And hey, you will get all sorts of perks and benefits from both me and Ere thanks to this arrangement. In fact¡­¡¯ She put her hand on my forehead. More energy flowed into my body and another message popped up in my vision: New Ability has been acquired: Swiftness of the Wind Type: Divine - Air Level: 1 (0% progress to level 2) Effects: Increases the user¡¯s speed (level dependent). Costs mana to activate and maintain. Duration: 1 minute Note: Insufficient knowledge of Air Arcana to utilise the ability to its full potential. That was pretty neat, though . Nyx must have seen something on my face, or maybe she just read my mind because she said: ¡®For now, focus on surviving that deathtrap you are in and dealing with La¡­ Lee¡­ that Sanguine dude. Be sure to find some time to play around with your new ability, too. It¡¯s not much right now, but it¡¯s something. I¡¯ll contact you once I have something for you to do. Also just as a warning, what you did while you were falling and my help¡­ maaaay have had some effects on your body, but would you look at the time! Off you go!¡¯ Before I could react, she jumped off the cloud, hugged me and snapped her fingers. I woke up lying face down on a rocky surface in intense pain all over my body. I could hear the flow of water somewhere nearby and there was a rancid smell in the air. ¡®I fucking hate this place,¡¯ I muttered as I tried to get up, but this only made my pain worse. So I laid there until I felt strong enough to move. I slowly pushed myself to my knees and sat on them. It wasn¡¯t the most comfortable of positions, but it let me get a look around. The ravine I landed in was fairly cramped. There was a small stream flowing through the middle of it, on the end of which laid the badly mangled corpse of the Darhun. Its stomach burst open from the impact, causing its liquified intestines to spill out. Probably the source of the smell. The damage indicator in the corner of my attention caught my attention. It was deep crimson and there were two icons underneath it: a skull and a red elemental symbol of air. I summoned their descriptions. Status: Critical Damage Effects:
  • Physical attributes are reduced by 75% until healed
  • Any further damage may result in death
Status: Elemental Contamination - Air Level: 3 - Severe Effects:
  • Irreversible changes to body structure have occurred
  • Increased effectiveness of Air Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Decreased effectiveness of other Elemental Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Unable to use Earth Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
Note: The level of contamination will revert to 2 - Moderate 13 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes. So that¡¯s what she meant. Something to look forward to when I get a mirror. Oh¡­ I could try that stream. But first¡­ I summoned my backpack. I left it in L?we¡¯s lab. There was no need to carry it with me If I could just summon it at will. Who¡¯s Will, though? I chuckled to myself. Wincing at my every move I took off my cloak, armour and the sword scabbard. I frowned when I saw the Blade of the Black Rose wasn¡¯t there. Oh. I had it out. I tried summoning it but it didn¡¯t respond. Huh. So I just packed my empty scabbard along with the rest of the gear. I was in no shape to fight, so might as well lighten my load. I would leave the backpack here, as I could always resummon it, but I¡¯d have to look for the sword, however, as the weapon not responding was likely a bad sign. I dragged myself to my feet and limped to the stream. I washed my face in the water, but I could not see my reflection. I remembered you needed light for that and I was only seeing via Darksight. It¡¯s weird how quickly I got used to that. With a shrug, I looked around. I saw something lying in the distance upstream. I tried walking there, but felt dizzy and fell face first into the water. I quickly rolled to my side, so as to not drown. Once the chasm stopped spinning I got up, and using the wall as support I limped over to the mysterious object. As I feared, it turned out to be the Blade of the Black Rose, or what was left of it anyway. The weapon broke into multiple pieces, and was probably unsalvageable, as no description was popping. Luckily, I kept the other sword so I wouldn¡¯t be defenceless. Yeah. Being armed would be important, as I doubted any help was coming. If it wasn¡¯t for Nyx I likely wouldn¡¯t have survived this, so I hoped that Caei and Aki just tried to leave the place rather than do anything stupid like looking for my body. The incline of the chasm was mild, but I still didn¡¯t feel like climbing it so I turned around and started walking downstream. Chapter 30 - Varyag The inside of the pillar was very eerie, Caeileera surmised. They managed to locate the entrance hidden by some rocks next to one of the other rock bridges. It was an old stone staircase, so they descended it very carefully. Caei could potentially fix any injuries they sustained, but her mana reserves were not infinite, the healing spells cost a lot of it, and she¡¯d rather keep as much as she could for Lilyth, assuming the slime was still alive. She didn''t voice that thought though. She barely managed to bury the hatchet with the pipsqueak and after seeing the sheer anguish on her face, she didn''t want to put salt into any of her wounds. That and she felt bad enough as it was. Caei didn''t ever feel so helpless as when she saw Lilyth trying to delay the Darhun and potentially pay the highest price for it. Caei knew the slime took the hard but likely the correct choice there. She was under no illusion they would be able to ever defeat it. Still, that didn''t make the fact someone she¡¯d just met, and pretty much forced herself upon, decided to give their life for Caeileera of all people feel any better. They emerged out of the staircase inside of an empty room, built completely out of small ancient-looking brown bricks. It was so unlike the stone blocks of the Tower of Trials, that it was mind-boggling that those two structures coexisted. Or did they? Is it possible those who built the Tower never knew about this place? Caei was incredibly confused about the Tower sometimes. The building seemed alive at times. Like that staircase, Lilyth found her sword in? She was one hundred per centum certain that up until that day that part of the dungeon wasn¡¯t there. She didn''t mention it to Lilyth because she didn''t want to freak her and Aki out. The place was bad enough without the layout occasionally changing. Then there was the mystery shrine. Why did it disappear? Or¡­ why did it appear? Did the Darhun come along with it? What had corrupted it? She shook her head. There was no point in dwelling on that right now. They had a friend to rescue. The level they were in had the most curious layout. It was composed of two large rectangles - one surrounding the other. The outer rectangle was an almost completely featureless corridor, with occasional smaller rectangular rooms built into it. Caei could not even fathom the purpose of these. Were they storerooms? Sleeping Quarters? One of the sides had windows in it, through which the Sanguine could see what looked to be a city square with a fountain in the middle and a blocky tower likely a mirror image of the building they were in on the opposite side. What in the Blood¡¯s name? ¡®I hate this place,¡¯ Aki suddenly said, her voice sounding like thunder in the utter grave-like silence of the complex. So far they were walking in utter silence, so her sudden pronouncement made Caei jump. ¡®This feels more like a tomb than anything else,¡¯ the pipsqueak continued oblivious to the Sanguine¡¯s discomfort. ¡®Y-yeah,¡¯ Caei agreed. The inner rectangle of the floor looked to be a corridor connecting the two longer sides of the outer one. There was a staircase accessible from one of the other walls of the chamber, while the opposite one had four empty deep vertical shafts built into it. Without any better ideas, they descended to the next level, which had roughly the same layout as the first one, just the position of some of the smaller rooms was different. They passed an empty floor after an empty floor. They all had roughly the same plan. After the first three, they gave up on searching these for anything useful and just descended to the bottom. At some point, Caei and Aki started talking about random subjects just to make the air there more oppressive. Their favourite clothes, funny anecdotes, interesting people, anything really. All was fair in keeping the silence away. As much as Caei hated to admit it, Aki was starting to grow on her. There was something adorable about her innocence, a quality she never got the experience in her twenty-five years in the Pale Badlands. There you always had to be on your toes, as you never knew if the person you were talking with wasn¡¯t looking to harm you in some capacity. The ¡°ground¡± floor proved to be different. Instead of the usual layout, the way to the left of them was blocked while to their right there was a stone block behind which there was the exit to the square. There, by the fountain they found another set of stairs, this time leading to a floor that was clearly barracks of some kind, as most rooms had stone bed frames in them, most of them being for bunk beds, but each room usually had one ¡°normal¡± bed in them. What in the Abyss is this place? Caei wondered, not for the first time. Eventually, I reached a point where it was impossible for me to follow the stream, as it entered the rock wall through a hole that was too small for me to fit in. On my way there, I did see what looked like a sidepath that would take me into the stone pillar but would require me to climb on a small rock-and-gravel slide. I wasn''t particularly happy with that option, but backtracking all the way¡­ The slide, it is then. I can always go back if it¡¯s too steep for me to climb. Scaling it took me maybe fifteen minutes, but proved to be easy enough. That being said in my current state, the process has left me utterly exhausted. Luckily, I could just slide down from where I was into a passage, and there looked to be some sort of a chamber lit by faint blueish light at the other end of it. Seems like a decent place to rest. The ¡°room¡± turned out to be a fairly large cemetery. It was pretty surreal looking too. The ground was covered in sickly-looking green grass and there was a nasty-looking fog in the air. The gravestones and occasional mausolea looked ancient and all inscriptions on them had long since faded into indecipherability. The wall to my right had a tunnel entrance in it, but I didn''t feel strong enough to explore it. To be honest, at that point, I wasn''t sure I would ever feel strong enough to do anything again. If I am to die then I don''t think there is a better place for that than a graveyard. My eyelids feeling very heavy, I dragged myself to one of the mausolea and sat against it. How long had I been down here anyway? The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Current Time: 19:40 CET (20:00 local) Almost time for my evening meds, I chuckled. Still¡­ It''s been almost twelve hours of this bullshit. No wonder I am so tired. I don¡¯t thin¡­ I was woken up by the sounds of buffeting wings. I looked around groggily and saw a teal-feathered yellow-beaked humanoid bird figure dressed in a white robe and standing on crow-like feet on top of a mausoleum in front of me. The unexpected visitor was maybe three metres tall and had a pair of majestic grey wings with a wider span than the not-birb was tall. The not-birb¡¯s head was connected to the rest of its body by a long and thin vulture-like curving neck. In its right bird-clawed hand the figure was holding a scythe. It was staring at me with curiosity clear in its red reptilian eyes. ¡®Come to take me away?¡¯ I croaked. ¡®I was hoping Ereshkigal would come herself for me.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not the Grim Reaper,¡¯ the figure said in a surprisingly gruff and raspy voice. ¡®If that is what you are asking about.¡¯ Something must have shown on my face because the not-birb quickly added: ¡®What? Expected me to squawk like a bird? Appearances can be deceiving, my friend.¡¯ He had me there. ¡®Wh- who are you then?¡¯ ¡®You can call me¡­¡¯ the not-birb paused, perhaps for a dramatic effect, or perhaps it was looking for an appropriate word. ¡®... Varyag.¡¯ Ain¡¯t that a word for a Viking? ¡®What can others call you, then?¡¯ I asked ¡®Good catch, Earthling. But the answer to this question is outside the purview of this conversation.¡¯ I sighed and asked: ¡®What do you want from me, Varyag? As you can see, I¡¯m not really in shape to be of any help.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ I just wanted to meet the final champion the Tower of Trials had produced.¡¯ I laughed bitterly. ¡®Some champion I turned out to be. I¡¯m about to join the rest of the poor SOBs who ended up in this god-forsaken place.¡¯ ¡®I think you are doing fine,¡¯ Varyag laughed. ¡®You definitely got much further than any of the Earthlings so far.¡¯ ¡®I definitely got far deeper underground than any of them.¡¯ I looked around the graveyard. The mist appeared to have dissipated. ¡®What- what is this place really?¡¯ ¡®The remnants of an ancient era, far before any on Dwynveia, except maybe the gods, can remember.¡¯ ¡®And yet you knew where this place was.¡¯ ¡®Yes. You can say I am a keeper of this place, and thousands like it all around the world. Ensuring that things that are buried in them remain so. Some of them are quite unruly.¡¯ That made my ears perk up. What did the shrine quest say? New Quest Acquired: Something that Shouldn¡¯t Be There Type: Mystery (Legendary) Difficulty: ??? Description: Some things are best left forgotten. Objectives:
  • Discover the identity of the mysterious figure on the statue
Rewards:
  • ???
Notice: You really shouldn¡¯t do this Notice: This quest cannot be cancelled or declined ¡°Some things are best left forgotten.¡± Is this what the birb is talking about? Once again Varyag must have seen something in my expression as he added. ¡®What you saw upstairs. What you can see here. They are both what were and the shape of what is to come. Some things that let themselves be kept buried were just awaiting the moment their time would come again at last.¡¯ ¡®You did a shit job then, bird-but-not-a-bird.¡¯ If Varyag took offence to the appellation I gave him, he did not show it. Instead, he simply said: ¡®The great cycle of things can only be delayed, never completely forestalled.¡¯ ¡®Would it kill you to be more specific?!¡¯ I shouted in annoyance, which only made me wince from pain. ¡®You are not making a very good case with your vague ominous portents of doom. So cut the crap, or let me die in peace.¡¯ Varyag shook his head. ¡®Unfortunately, I cannot be of more¡­ assistance here. When appointed a caretaker of these places I was bound by magic never to reveal their true nature.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s¡­ convenient.¡¯ ¡®Believe what you will.¡¯ ¡®Okay,¡¯ I sighed in defeat. ¡®You¡¯ve met me, you delivered your vague bullshit, now what?¡¯ ¡®Now¡­ I want to make you an offer.¡¯ ¡®If you want to join me, I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t think you meet the party profile,¡¯ I joked. ¡®We are clearly going for the all-female theme. And you are¡­ well¡­ a bird.¡¯ ¡®As tempting as it may be¡­ No. What I wanted to offer you is - I can send you home.¡¯ That gave me a pause. Didn¡¯t Ereshkigal say that wasn¡¯t an option? ¡®You can do that?¡¯ I asked, careful not to get my hopes up. ¡®Yes. I know your goddess said she couldn¡¯t, but what if she was lying? She had lied to you before and she has a vested interest in keeping you here.¡¯ ¡®The bird does have a point,¡¯ The huntress, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly agreed. Yes. But can we really trust him? ¡®No. But I am happy you are finally listening to your instincts more.¡¯ I turned my attention back to the birb. ¡®What do you get out of this, Varyag?¡¯ ¡®Me?¡¯ the birbman laughed. ¡®Nothing. I just don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair to dump all the Dwynveia¡¯s problems on someone who just got here. You have no stake in all of this.¡¯ I mulled over it. ¡®No. But that doesn¡¯t mean I am the kind of a person who is just going to abandon people to their doom. What did Aki say? I don¡¯t want to be helpless anymore?¡¯ ¡®Very well then,¡¯ the bird shook his head and gripped his scythe in both hands. Varyag readied himself to leap at me, but suddenly a lance of hellfire flew out of the other entrance and missed his head by a few centimetres. Aki. They actually came for me. Why? ¡®We¡¯ll finish this conversation later,¡¯ he said and disappeared in a puff of teal feathers. Aki and Caeileera burst out of the tunnel, and upon noticing me ran over to me. Aki pounced and wrapped her hands around me crying. I didn¡¯t have enough strength to reciprocate, so I only said: ¡®I¡¯m sorry for breaking my promise.¡¯ ¡®Oh, shut up stupid.¡¯ she responded and only held me tighter. Chapter 31 - The First Night Aki pushed herself from me when Caei told her she wanted to take care of my wounds since ¡°I looked to be on death¡¯s door¡±, which wasn¡¯t that far off. I was honestly surprised my body was still holding together. My girlfriend looked at me up and down and gasped: ¡®Lilyth¡­ Your eyes and hair¡­¡¯ ¡®What about them?¡¯ Caeileera started to rummage for something in her satchel, so I quickly checked the time to distract myself from the thoughts of me possibly being some sort of a horribly mutated monstrosity now. Current Time: 21:26 CET (21:46 local) I was out for almost two hours¡­ Caei took out a small mirror. I looked into it and saw that my face was positively haggard looking and¡­ well¡­ there were small lightning bolts occasionally flashing in my eyes and some of my hair turned cloud white. All of it had this cloud-like quality to it now, but nothing to the extent Nyx had. Yet. As Caei was using her healing spells on me, I gave them a brief recap of my misadventures since they saw me fall. ¡®Ah¡­¡¯ she muttered under her breath. ¡®This explains what happened to you¡­¡¯ After she was done and I was almost fully healed - she ran out of mana, and while she still had two mana potions she¡¯d rather save them for now on a just-in-case basis, with my permission Caei helped me disrobe and examined the rest of my body for changes. Aki decided to make herself scarce then, apparently she wasn¡¯t comfortable with Caeileera seeing me naked. I understood her perfectly. Like, I wasn''t terribly happy about the process either, but it would be good to know if my toes or spine turned to cloud. And hey, I did ask her first, but she only got red and refused. ¡®Unless some of your internal structure got changed, I don¡¯t think anything else was affected,¡¯ Caei rendered her final judgement. ¡®Still, check your notifications and stat screen for anything surprising. Might be something there.¡¯ The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +8% (66% total progress to level 12) Dexterity: +14% (20% total progress to level 15) Agility: +9% (15% total progress to level 12) Endurance: +149% (238% total progress to level 11) Your Endurance Attribute has increased to level 11 (69% total progress to level 12) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Vitality: +351% (410% total progress to level 12) Your Vitality Attribute has increased to level 13 (27% total progress to level 14) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Intelligence: +15% (72% total progress to level 17) Cunning: +6% (26% total progress to level 9) Willpower: +12% (12% total progress to level 16) Resilience: +12% (17% total progress to level 8) Charisma: +3% (3% total progress to level 7) The following skills have progressed: Data Analysis: +3% (3% total progress to level 31) Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +8% (14% total progress to level 7) Air Arcana: +435% (438% total progress to level 2) Your Air Arcana skill has increased to level 3 (34% total progress to level 4) Climbing: +15% (77% total progress to level 2) Insight: +30% (45% total progress to level 18) The following spells have progressed: Gust of Wind: +241% (387% total progress to level 2) Your Gust of Wind spell has increased to level 3 (21% total progress to level 4) Fist of Wind: +150% (150% total progress to level 2) Your Fist of Wind spell has increased to level 2 (25% total progress to level 3) New Trait Acquired: Elemental Infusion - Air - Current Level 2/10 The following traits have progressed: Predator¡¯s Instinct: +???% Trait: Elemental Infusion - Air Type: Magical - Elemental Level: 2/10 Effects:
  • Faster progression of Air Arcana-related spells, traits and abilities
  • Much slower progression of Earth Arcana-related spells, traits and abilities
  • Slower progression of all other elemental Arcana-related spells, traits and abilities
  • Physical Signs of Elemental Contamination have become more prominent and take longer to revert
  • Moderate chance of failure of all Earth Arcana-related spells and abilities (can be mitigated by a high level of proficiency in that spell or ability)
Description: Your desperate use of Air Arcana past the physical capabilities and having the Air Goddess inside of you (and not in the fun way) have permanently altered your body. You have become elementally infused with Air energy. Notice: This trait progresses each time you reach level 3 or 4 of Elemental Contamination. The progression of this trait cannot be reversed. Damn. That¡¯s harsh. It still¡­ beats being dead. I figured that I might as well take a quick peek at my character sheet while at it.
Basic Details
Name Lilyth Race Tenebral Slimeling
Gender Transwoman Age 33
Level 5 (1266/3000 exp) Class Shadow Paladin
Rank Novice Perk Points 0
Attributes
Physical Progress Mental Progress
Strength 11 66% Intelligence 16 72%
Dexterity 14 20% Wisdom 12 0%
Agility 11 15% Willpower 15 12%
Endurance 11 69% Cunning The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. 8 26%
Vitality 13 27% Resilience 7 17%
Perception 11 0% Faith 3 0%
Appearance 12 0% Charisma 6 3%
Skills
Lore - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Insight Novice 17 45%
Lore - Humanities
Name Rank Level Progress
Linguistics Journeyslime 40 10%
Earth Literature Apprentice 25 0%
Earth History Novice 10 0%
Lore - Sciences
Name Rank Level Progress
Data Analysis Apprentice 30 3%
Mathematics Novice 10 0%
Computing Novice 15 0%
Survival - General
Name Rank Level Progress
First Aid Novice 2 0%
Sense of Direction Novice 10 8%
Stealth Novice 4 8%
Climbing Novice 1 77%
Martial - Swords
Name Rank Level Progress
Bastard Sword - Two-handed Novice 6 14%
Crafting - Cooking
Name Rank Level Progress
General Novice 2 0%
Crafting - Magical
Name Rank Level Progress
Arcane Writing Novice 1 50%
Arcana
Name Rank Level Progress
Earth Novice 2 28%
Air Novice 3 34
Water Novice 0 5%
Umbral Novice 1 0%
Spells
Name Arcana Rank Level Progress
Rock Spikes Earth Novice 3 44%
Gust of Wind Air Novice 3 21%
Fist of Wind Air Novice 2 25%
Flickering Lights Umbral Novice 1 0%
Quench Torch Umbral Novice 1 0%
Traits
Name Level Progress
Neurodivergence N/A N/A
The Queen''s Raivarian N/A N/A
Entomophobia 08/10 Special
Hidden Predator N/A N/A
Predator''s Instinct ??? ???
Elemental Infusion - Air 2/10 Special
Abilities
Name Rank Level Progress
The Swiftness of the Wind Novice 1 0%
I sent both the trait description and the status to Caeileera. She reviewed them with a slight frown. ¡®We don¡¯t have to deal a lot with Elemental Contamination in the Pale Badlands. In your case, I would recommend avoiding using more Air Arcana until you shed the status. Though I recognize that waiting for a few weeks may not be an option.¡¯ ¡®Yeah. As you saw, I am cut off from Earth Arcana for the next two weeks at least, and my Umbral spells are all stealth-related.¡¯ ¡®I could try teaching you Blood Lance if you¡¯d like. Learning a spell from scratch in a few hours may be possible. Though I¡¯m not sure how viable that would be on the move.¡¯ A thought struck me then. ¡®Honestly, I think we¡¯ve gone far enough for a day. I think we¡¯re all running on fumes at this point. I¡¯ve had the worst Wednesday ever, Aki had spent the past few days in less-than-gentle goblin captivity, and you abandoned your previous life and cast your fate into the hands of complete strangers.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s Wensdei?¡¯ ¡®What we call the third day of the week.¡¯ ¡®Ah. Let¡¯s see what the pip¡­ Aki has to say on the subject. But first dress. I don¡¯t want her head to burst into flames from seeing you naked.¡¯ Ultimately, we all agreed to stop for the night. While it would give Laachersain more time to prepare for us, the point was likely moot anyway since none of us had any idea how long it would take us to get back into the dungeon, assuming a direct route even existed. So it would be best to do it on a fresher head. We had no idea where we should stop though, other than ¡°not at the creepy-ass graveyard¡±. Caei thought the higher levels of the pillar should be safe enough, but water was a problem. We just had my Neverending Canteen between the three of us, and it just wouldn¡¯t be sufficient. So I suggested going back into the ravine due to the stream that was there. The only issue was the rock-and-gravel slide. Climbing it could be an issue. ¡®Will it be a waste for you to drink a mana potion?¡¯ I asked Caei. ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ she asked, her left eyebrow raised. ¡®Would you be at full mana anyway in the morning?¡¯ ¡®No. It would take me at least a full day, maybe more to fully regain it, mana potion or not.¡¯ ¡®Then can I ask you to fly us on the disk over there?¡¯ Caei nodded. ¡®Sure.¡¯ Once we were set up, I gave Caei my notebook and pencil and she walked me through the process of drawing the Blood Lance rune and how to cast it. I would need a lot of practice, but it would give me something to do on my watch. We didn¡¯t especially think there was any ¡°local¡± danger to worry out down there and Laachersain and his minions likely didn¡¯t even know this place existed, there was the question of Varyag and ¡°otherworldly fuckery¡± as I put it. So we agreed for each of us to take a three-hour watch at night. I insisted for the middle one to be mine, given how I did have some chance to sleep and that way both Caei and Aki would get a full six hours of uninterrupted sleep. It took me some arguing, but they eventually agreed. Caeileera would take the first watch, while Aki the third one. To my pleasant surprise, Aki told me you could set an alarm on the interface, so even if one of us passed out, the other could wake up at the allotted time anyway. I really need to go through the utilities menu at some point. I was worried I wouldn¡¯t be able to fall asleep, but after making a makeshift pillow from one of my hoodies and giving the other and the greatcoat for one of the girls to use, I lied down and the next thing I knew was Caei waking me up for my watch. I felt something warm next to me and saw that Aki chose to sleep nuzzled against me, eschewing the coat. I smiled seeing that. I don¡¯t blame her for needing some measure of comfort at night. I would too given the circumstances. It felt bad having to leave her, but what could you do? I thanked Caeileera and got up from the floor. She grabbed my hoodie pillow and the coat and laid down a bit further from Aki. At least one of us has some sense. It took me two hours of the three my watch was supposed to learn the Blood Lance spell. It wasn¡¯t that difficult, but it drained me completely of whatever mana I had managed to regain in the meantime. New Skill Acquired: Sanguine Arcana - Current Level: 1 (3% total progress to level 2) New Spell Acquired: Blood Lance Type: Sanguine - Attack Level: 1 (0% progress to level 2) Description: Creates a large spike of pressurised blood within the caster''s hand that lasts for 5 seconds before dissipating Casting Time: 3 seconds Luckily ¡°dissipating¡± didn¡¯t mean ¡°you get sprayed with blood¡± in this case. It just vanished into a cloud of, presumably, red smoke. With nothing else left to do, my thoughts eventually began to spiral. I saw the memories of the first goblin I killed, his pleading eyes as I ripped the sword out of his neck. The horrors of the Abattoir. The alien version of me that took over during the fight against the Goblin chief. The lower Sanguine. L?we. Why did it have to be me? Was it some kind of punishment? ¡®I just want to go home¡­¡¯ I whimpered. The reality of me being stuck here never hit me so hard as during that lonely dark hour. Until now, I have been running in survival mode. But now¡­ no. I had to occupy myself with something. Anything. I tried to draw something, but my thoughts just kept coming back to the horrors of the day, so I just packed the notebook back with a sigh of resignation. I looked at Aki. She looked so peaceful. Was she built of sterner stuff than I was, or was she just too tired to have dreams? Mercifully, the end of my watch came. I would have let Aki sleep since I was starting to doubt I would be getting any more sleep, anyway, but she did have an alarm set so she woke up with a start. I walked up to her, gave her a peck on the cheek and lay down. It took me some tossing and turning but I did finally regain enough peace of mind to fall asleep. This time, the gods did not spare me, however, and my dreams were filled with images of horrible monsters chasing me down the corridors of the Tower of Trials. And as I run occasionally I would see the goblin and his pleading eyes. Chapter 32 - Y-Ram in the Pillar Despite the nightmares, I woke up mostly rested. Still, I pondered asking Caeileera to put me under with her Sleep spell the next night. It probably wasn¡¯t the healthiest thing to do, but you know¡­ Anything was better than those dreams. Out of a morning habit, I checked the time. I actually reached for my smartphone and had a small panic attack when I did not find it, but then I remembered I was no longer in fucking Kansas anymore, so I called up the hour on my interface. Current Time: 08:07 CET (08:27 local) So it¡¯s officially my second day here. Hopefully, it will be minimally less terrible than day one. Aki figured out how to move her helllight around, so we ate a breakfast of ration bars, sitting around a ¡°campfire¡±. ¡®All we need now is some sausages and it¡¯s a proper camping trip,¡¯ I muttered. ¡®Don¡¯t remind me of real food,¡¯ Caei moaned. ¡®You have no idea how shit the rations we had here were. At least those¡­¡¯ She pointed at the rations bars. ¡®... don¡¯t taste like paper.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m with Caeileera on that one,¡¯ Aki added. ¡®I haven''t eaten proper food since I got captured by the goblins. What they fed us was tasteless sludge with an occasional piece of mystery meat nobody dared touch.¡¯ ¡®Why?¡¯ asked Caei. Aki paled slightly, so I simply said: ¡®Remember where I told you I found Aki?¡¯ Realisation and horror dawned on the Sanguine¡¯s face. ¡®Oh. Ohhhhhhh¡­¡¯ Tasteless sludge is people, I thought grimly. This killed any mood we had for conversation, so we finished the ¡°meal¡± in silence. After we were done and filled empty potion bottles with water we set off. Caei carried us over the pile of rocks and we reentered the cemetery. There, Aki pointed out something I should have noticed a long time ago. ¡®Guys¡­ why do you think there is grass growing here? Aren¡¯t we, like, deep underground?¡¯ I looked at her and simply said: ¡®That is¡­an excellent question.¡¯ We both looked at Caei in the hope she would have an answer. She was our resident mage, after all. The Sanguine shrugged. ¡®Sorry. The best I can do at such short notice is ¡°It¡¯s magic¡±. I was never one for magical theory either, so, unless this is something obvious, I wouldn''t be of much help even if I had more time.¡¯ ¡®Magical grass of mystery, it is then.¡¯ I laughed. Caei led us to the entry point into the pillar, which turned out to be a carved staircase. As she explained to me, apparently there was a network of man-made chambers spanning the entire length of the natural structure. Aki chimed in and called it a whole city built inside of a mountain. ¡®So not so much Iram of the Pillars, as it is Iram in the Pillar,¡¯ I joked, forgetting myself. When I saw their confused looks, I quickly explained that Iram of the Pillars was a legendary lost city mentioned in one of our religious texts. Aki looked at me with her child-like wonder and said: ¡®Could you tell us more about this Y-Ram? Oh! Please! Please! Please!¡¯ Caei rolled her eyes but said nothing. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t know much. But, as we ascended the stairs, I did regale her with some stories of Atlantis. I may have added in some stuff from modern fiction, like that Indiana Jones video game, as they made it more fun. And, hey, despite her earlier disapproval, even Caeileera seemed captivated by these. And thus the structure we were in was dubbed Y-Ram. The next few levels contained rows upon rows of open-topped box-like compartments built from the same stone as the rest of Y-Ram. I¡¯ve seen those in movies before, which only made my brow furrow. Wouldn¡¯t you keep animals in those? There was more evidence to support the ¡°holding pens¡± hypothesis, as there were wide double-chambered floor-level troughs between the box stalls. Each storey in the pillar, as we discovered, had two ways of going up and down - two of the walls had alternating staircases allowing you to go up or down a single level. Why these weren¡¯t just two massive staircases spanning the entire height of the pillar, I had no idea. The other two walls each had four vertical shafts that did turn out to go from top to bottom. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Why are there elevator shafts here? The few levels above the holding pens were even more perplexing: each was a wide-open space crisscrossed with a massive network of deep rectangular indentations in the floor, between which there were stone troughs. Upon a closer inspection, I discovered that each niche was connected to the other with a small circular opening, and all of those were perfectly lined up, as if, saaaay, a long pipe was supposed to be installed there. There were additional round vertical indentations in the floor at each end of a line of troughs. All of which made me wonder, why did we find what was clearly an empty modern hydroponic garden several hundred metres underground. It took them several hours to get up to the top of Y-ram, a bit longer than it took them to go down, but it was to be expected, especially since Lilyth wanted to explore the place a bit. They didn¡¯t find anything, but still, Caeileera was very worried about the slimeling''s reaction to the city. Lilyth did her best not to show it, but it was clear she understood more about the structure than she was letting on. Both Caei and Aki were confused by their findings, but mostly because they didn''t recognize the vast majority of what they came across. In the case of Lilyth, it felt like she was more focused on ¡°why¡± rather than ¡°what¡±. She was now sitting on the edge of the pillar, just staring into the distance, her legs just dangling over the abyss. Every now and then she would absentmindedly kick out with one of them. Caei sat next to her, ¡°accidentally¡± brushing against Lilyth¡¯s shoulder and asked: ¡®A Divine for your thoughts? You seem¡­ distracted. Did you learn something while we were down there?¡¯ ¡®Was I that bad at hiding it?¡¯ the slimeling laughed bitterly, then she started enumerating on her fingers. ¡®Going from the bottom we¡¯ve seen: a cemetery; three floors with animal pens; a multi-level hydroponic plant, think sort-of greenhouses, clearly designed to have a sprinkler system with actual pipes and perhaps UV Lamps installed. By UV I mean artificial sunlight; a mess hall with a kitchen and cold storage; a water treatment plant; what I assume to have been a generator room; a massive storage complex; living quarters designed to house thousands; and don¡¯t forget - a square with two office high rises. All of which were stripped of anything not made of stone. And lest I forget- everything is connected by elevators.¡¯ Lilyth did not elaborate on the last one, but Caei assumed this was tied to the deep vertical shafts they saw. Were they some sort of a transport method? Instead, she asked the more important question: ¡®So this WAS an actual city?¡¯ Lilyth shrugged, and Caei noticed Aki perched almost out of view, trying her best not to appear like she was listening in on them. ¡®Maybe. Here is where I enter the land of speculation. It cannot be just some lost city, not that there would ever be any city that¡¯s ¡°just¡± lost. It would be the simplest solution, but probably the incorrect one. The reason for that is actually simple: it doesn''t add up. What we have here is a pristine marvel of engineering just ready for people to move in. But why did no one do it? This couldn''t have been cheap to build. But then there is a graveyard at the bottom. Who¡¯s buried there? The builders? Some of the inhabitants? So did people live here and abandon it at some point? Once again¡­ I don¡¯t think they did. There would have been some signs of habitation left, even if it was just half-decayed trash. And whatever utility fixtures are present, appear to have never been used to begin with. If pipes or whatever were stripped from them there would be SOME sign of that. Like, I can¡¯t imagine this being done with surgical precision or much care. So it¡¯s more likely these were either never installed, or well¡­ vanished. I can¡¯t fully exclude magic being involved here somehow.¡¯ ¡®Why?¡¯ Caei asked, genuinely curious. ¡®Haven''t you noticed there was not a speck of dust anywhere?¡¯ Caei, in fact, had not, but now that Lilyth has pointed that out¡­ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ she agreed. ¡®That¡¯s the telltale sign of a location with a high concentration of magic.¡¯ Lilyth smiled bleakly. ¡®So: expensive, magical and empty. I can¡¯t imagine any reason why you would magick away the furniture and leave the structure standing.¡¯ Lilyth paused for Caeileera to add something, but she was just as lost as the slimeling here, and the more her friend outlined her line of thought, the less the Sanguine liked what she was hearing. She suggested: ¡®Which is why, I gather, you are more inclined towards ¡®Y-ram was never inhabited¡¯?¡¯ Lilyth nodded and continued ¡®We then come to the proper question, which is not ¡°What happened to Y-ram¡±, but ¡°What IS Y-ram¡±. Or rather: ¡°What was Y-ram meant to be?¡±¡¯ ¡®And that would be?¡¯ ¡®Haven¡¯t you figured it out? You have animal pens, greenhouses, a facility to recycle water there were likely some areas meant to produce items that we missed,¡­ ¡® ¡®It¡¯s a city that can survive on its own!¡¯ Aki suddenly chimed in. Lilyth turned towards the demonborn girl and pointed at her: ¡®Correct! A gold star for the cute girl with blue hair!¡¯ Aki smiled widely and joined them. ¡®So why would there be such a city here?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®And that¡¯s the question I¡¯ve been trying to figure out an answer to. You see¡­ There are two actual whys here: ¡°Why is Y-ram here ¡°and ¡°Why is the Tower of Trials here¡±. Like, it¡¯s weird that both clearly unconnected structures are here underground. Y-ram was built by people closer to mine in technology, perhaps slightly more advanced as I think we lacked the means to even try to build such a thing. The Tower of Trials, other than the control room, is¡­ well¡­ you¡¯ve seen it.¡¯ ¡®A falling-apart decrepit Abysshole that looks like a castle dungeon?¡¯ Aki suggested. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Lilyth smiled mirthlessly. ¡® That would be an apt description.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think the builders of the Tower of Trials knew about Y-Ram,¡¯ Caei added. ¡®Me neither,¡¯ the slimeling sighed. ¡®So why are both places here?¡¯ ¡®A leyline?¡¯ Caeileera suggested. ¡®Laachersain theorised there was one here, given the Tower had been in operation for such a long time. That would be the only source that could sustain it for so long.¡¯ ¡®Then Y-Ram being here would support that theory.¡¯ Lilyth nodded. ¡®Would tapping into the leyline necessitate it being this deep?¡¯ ¡®No.. not really. You would need to be much deeper than this for it to matter, I am told. Once again, not an expert. They could have believed it to be helpful but you can get pretty much the same amount of mana from the surface. ¡® ¡®That settles it then¡­¡¯ Lilyth said with a dead voice. ¡®When I had my ¡°friendly¡± chat with Varyag, the fucking bird said there were many places like this. Then, I assumed he referred to the creepy-ass graveyard. But¡­ now¡­ I realised he meant Y-ram.¡¯ Caeileera felt her heart sink. She remembered what Lilyth had told them about the information the slimeling got from Varyag. She peaked at Aki. The demonborn girl also looked very distressed by what Lilyth had just said and seemed to also be connecting the dots. Her tail was nervously twitching. Then Lilyth made the final pronouncement: ¡®Y-ram was not a city. It was meant to be a shelter.¡¯ Chapter 33 - The Serrated Blades ¡®A shelter from what?¡¯ Aki wondered rhetorically, but I answered nonetheless. ¡®I don¡¯t know, but it must have happened a long time ago.¡¯ I shared the quest I got when I entered the Tower of Trials with them. Quest Cancelled: The Trial of the Champion Type: Dungeon (Legendary) Difficulty: Deadly Description: Greetings, Aspirant! You have been chosen by our spell as a potential champion. While we cannot reveal the details of your quest yet, know that our world is in grave danger and we need all the best and the brightest to help save it. A set of trials awaits you to see if you are worthy and to prepare you for the upcoming task. Good luck! Objectives:
  • Reach the exit of the dungeon
Rewards:
  • Access to the Champion Stash
  • 2000 experience points
  • Next Quest
Caei and Aki hissed upon seeing this. ¡®Seriously?¡¯ the Sanguine spat, utterly flabbergasted. ¡®This is what you are told when you end up here? You said they wanted you to save the world or something but by the Blood!¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­ this was some bullshit,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®And we know this particular danger happened five hundred and thirty-four years ago.¡¯ ¡®Now that I think of it, that¡¯s around the time the Vandarian Empire fell apart,¡¯ Aki added. ¡®The village elder always said it was a couple of hundred years ago, but I don¡¯t know the exact date.¡¯ I looked at Caei for extra input, but she just shrugged. ¡®Sorry, we don¡¯t get taught Dwynveian history. Like, we knew about the Tower, but that¡¯s about it.¡¯ ¡®Fair enough,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®Still, we have to assume Y-Ram was built BEFORE the Tower because I have no idea why you would ever build something in its vicinity. So there was one threat five hundred and change years ago that probably killed an empire. Then there was something that necessitated the construction of Y-Ram and likely other similar structures like it. And the society then was fairly developed then.¡¯ ¡®So we¡¯re talking about at least two situations, likely centuries apart when people thought the world was going to end,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Yes,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®And based on the shrine, we are now likely facing another one. So¡­¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s j-just¡­ deal with Laachersain,¡¯ Aki interrupted with a trembling voice. ¡®I¡¯m not sure we¡¯re¡­ ready for this.¡¯ She sounded on the verge of tears. I didn¡¯t blame her one bit. I was probably so deep in denial, that I was in denial about that denial. I moved to hug her, but, suddenly, I thought I felt something move in the distance. It did not register further, so I shrugged it off and embraced Aki. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, babe. We don¡¯t know if we¡¯re going to need to save the world, just yet. You¡¯re right though. Let¡¯s focus on the present for now. First, we have to leave this place alive. Speaking of which¡­¡¯ I pulled up my ¡°main¡± quest: Quest: The Ruined Tower Type: Dungeon (Legendary) Difficulty: ??? Description: The Tower of Trials has at least partially collapsed and whatever magic brought you here has run out with fairly spectacular results. Objectives:
  • Find the exit
Rewards:
  • 2000 experience points
  • Your life
I tried to share it with Aki and Caei, but I got an error message: Notice: Cannot share personal quests. ¡®Never mind,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®I wanted to share with you guys the quest I got to leave this place alive, but the system said ¡°No¡±. Shame too. Gave two thousand experience points. And I think we¡¯ll need all we can get. That being said¡­¡¯ I told them that Ereshkigal suggested we seek work in Ror-Bhyk and familiarise ourselves with the world. Well¡­ she was only talking about me there, but I think it applied to us in the end. The girls agreed this was the best course of action, as me and Caei knew nothing about life on Dwynveia, Aki, the only one of us with an actual stake in this, had never left her village until recently, and we had next-to-nothing in terms of supplies, allies and for the most part we were homeless.. ¡®How about we settle down in Y-Ram after we are done here?¡¯ Aki suggested after I pointed out the last part. My knee-jerk reaction was to outright shoot the idea down, but the more I thought about this¡­ ¡®Caei, would it be possible for us to set up some means to quickly return here?¡¯ Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Sanguine pondered the question. ¡®Possibly. We would probably need to find a Magitek Engineer to make a portal we could install here. Then it would be just a matter of creating beacons attuned to its frequency, but those are easy enough to make. All of this will cost a fortune, though.¡¯ ¡®Good thing we¡¯re looking for work then.¡¯ I laughed. Caeileera turned to Aki. ¡®Good idea, pip¡­ Aki. I really like it.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ a low-pitched female voice suddenly spat, making my heart sink. ¡®Master Laachersain will definitely be happy about his new base of operations.¡¯ ¡®Indeed,¡¯ another, this time a male one, added. ¡®This place AND the head of a traitor? He should reward us handsomely.¡¯ Suddenly, two fog clouds appeared behind us and a figure stepped out of each of them: the man from the right one and the woman from the left one. If I didn''t know any better, I would have assumed they were twins. They were both clad in dark blue sleeveless vests and linen pants, had utility belts with many pouches and wore simple leather shoes with what looked like rubber soles. Bandoliers of knives were strapped across their chests. The man and the woman had the same height and body shape, so far as a man and a woman can be anyway, and had identical black wings. The only real difference between them was their red hair. The man¡¯s was short and unkempt, while the woman''s was long and tied into a ponytail. It¡¯s possible they had different facial features, but it was impossible to tell due to their masks. In sync, they raised their closed fists, the man his right one and the woman her left one, in front of their masks and crushed something inside of them. A massive crimson portal appeared in the air behind them and an immense Sanguine non-face emerged out of it, and soon the rest of the creature started to lumber out. ¡®Summoning stones¡¯ Caei hissed. Seeing the mass of hands at its back broke me out of my stupor. Behemoth. And one way larger than the previous one. Each of the Sanguine used our surprise to take out four-sided pyramids made from some sort of black barely translucent glass from their belt. Would those be the portal prisms Caei mentioned? I wondered and decided to act. Hopefully, the elemental contamination won¡¯t get much worse. I thrust out both of my hands and cast the Gust of Wind with each of them. I felt the pain of the elemental energy of Air twisting my body further, but I did not care. ¡®Into the city!¡¯ I shouted, as the powerful gale staggered the pair of Sanguine Assassins and knocked the portal prisms out of their hands. ¡®Quick!¡¯ We set off at a dead run. I felt something sharp enter my back and I stumbled forward, but managed to regain my balance and keep going. We got to the entrance. Aki was the first to jump down and Caei soon followed her. I heard my girlfriend cry out in pain, but didn''t have time to worry about her, since she was in good hands and I had more immediate concerns. I decided to cover their descent, and when I turned around I saw that the Sanguine man was towards us. In for a penny, in for a hypercane. I gathered wind around my hand and when he was near me I punched towards him and hit him with a Fist of Wind. My strike hit him dead centre in the chest. I heard loud cracking as his ribs splintered and the man was launched across the pillar, skidded on the floor and disappeared over the edge. ¡®Zvirvil!¡¯ the woman cried out, the portal prisms she had barely managed to gather fell out of her hands to the floor. The last thing I saw before I disappeared into the entry hatch was the Sanguine woman rushing over to where her companion fell into the abyss and the Behemoth slowly approaching us. I landed on the floor below. Aki was sitting by the wall massaging her left foot, with Caei crouching next to her. ¡®The kid landed badly and broke her ankle,¡¯ she explained. I fixed it.¡¯ No ¡®pipsqueak¡¯? It¡¯s a miracle. Instead of making wry comments though, I simply said: ¡®Let¡¯s get going then. We need to put some distance between us and them.¡¯ A notification popped up implying the Sanguine I launched into the air had finally landed. Level 9 Zvirvil of the Sanguine has been slain. You have earned 900 experience points (2166/3000 total experience points progress to level 6) I helped Aki up. She winced slightly, and when she got a close look at me, her eyes got wide. ¡®How bad?¡¯ I asked as we hurried towards the staircase. ¡®Your hair is almost all white and cloudy,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®It¡¯s just the blue part that is left.¡¯ ¡®It was unavoidable,¡¯ I shrugged and called up the status. Status: Elemental Contamination - Air Level: 3 - Severe Effects:
  • Irreversible changes to body structure have occurred
  • Increased effectiveness of Air Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Decreased effectiveness of other Elemental Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Unable to use Earth Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
Note: The level of contamination will revert to 2 - Moderate 20 days, 16 hours and 31 minutes. I winced. That got worse by a lot. Was it the double cast? Probably will get to level four soon If I¡¯m not careful. ¡®On the plus side¡­¡¯ I continued. ¡®I think we only have to worry about one of them. The man¡­ decided to explore the bottom of the ravine¡­ the fast way. ¡¯ ¡®Just to let you know¡­¡¯ Caei sighed. ¡®The woman will do everything to kill you now.¡¯ Yay. More friends. ¡®Let me guess¡­ honour demands it?¡¯ ¡®Worse. Much worse. He and our flyer are members of the Serrated Blades. The Blood that Devours spawns them for a specific purpose - espionage and assassination. They are also the closest thing among the Sanguine to an actual family. Serrated Blades are always spawned in pairs. They train together, eat together, sleep together, fuck together until they are basically a single organism in two bodies. If one of them dies the other¡­ well¡­¡¯ ¡®Goes on a murderous rampage of revenge?¡¯ I suggested. ¡®Pretty much. They won¡¯t rest until you or them are dead.¡¯ ¡®Amazing. And assuming I die, what happens then?¡¯ Caeileera saddened. ¡®Some of them manage to get over the trauma and become teachers in their academy. The others... well¡­¡¯ ¡®I understand.¡¯ We entered the staircase and started running down the stairs. Then Aki, red-faced from embarrassment, asked: ¡®T-they fuck together?¡¯ Caei laughed at that. ¡®Not with each other¡­ probably. But the orgies at the House of the Blades are pretty legendary among the Sanguine. I¡¯ve managed to score an invitation to one of them¡­ probably the best night of my life.¡¯ Aki looked at her wide-eyed. Her face became red like a tomato. I was feeling really lucky I didn¡¯t have any blood when Caeileera laughed: ¡®Hey, Lilyth. Did you know your face becomes blue when you are horny?¡¯ FUCK. Chapter 34 - What Hides in the Dark Deirdee¡¯s first impulse upon seeing Zvirvil fly over the edge was to follow him into the cold embrace of death. She got a good enough glimpse of his ruined chest to know there was no saving him. She was no healer, anyway, and, unfortunately, she still had their orders to carry out. Abandoning them would be the ultimate dishonouring of her bond brother¡¯s sacrifice. She would open the portal to where Laachersain was, and then, once given the leave to do so, she would hunt down the one responsible. Deirdee could already feel her blood boiling, so she prayed to the Crimson God that she would be unleashed soon. Once she regained her composure, under the Behemoth¡¯s silent gaz,e she set up the portal prisms and channelled mana through them. The task was much easier to do when more than one person was doing it, but it was manageable. It took her fifteen minutes to figure it out, but eventually, a shimmering blue hole in reality opened. Four higher Sanguine stepped through it surrounded by a retinue of twelve Hunters. Leading the way was Laachersain, armoured in a bottle green breastplate with golden filigree ornaments. Below it, he wore a simple white cotton shirt, while on his legs he had a pair of dark blue denim trousers and black leather boots on his feet. His neck-long crimson hair was neatly combed, and each of his five horns was painted in a different colour - orange, blue, green, purple and yellow. Deirdee envied him for those. She, like other Serrated Blades, was born without horns to help them better blend in the societies of lower life forms. On his back, Laachersain carried his famed black iron longsword ¡°Demon¡¯s Bane¡±. He was flanked by two three-horned men clad from top to bottom in suits of boiled leather armour. They carried arming swords on their hips and shields on their backs. Behind them walked a man with four horns in an unadorned blue robe, and holding a gnarled sunless wood staff. Somewhat unwillingly, Deirdee knelt before Laachersain on her right knee. ¡®Master,¡¯ she said. ¡®Report,¡¯ he responded curtly. ¡®Where is Zvirvil?¡¯ ¡®Dead,¡¯ Deirdee answered, holding back tears. ¡®The intruders escaped into the pillar. Caeileera was with them.¡¯ ¡®So the bitch is a traitor!¡¯ one of the men behind Laachersain spat. ¡®She¡­ will get what is coming to her,¡¯ their leader said, with a surprising amount of uncertainty in his voice. He will need to be watched, Deirdee decided. Her masters, the real ones in the House of Blades that is, told her that he was already on thin ice, as this project of his was turning into a major resource drain without producing any results. This latest disaster was the best proof of it. She was authorised to handle the issue if need be, but for now, she had to avenge Zvirvil, and to her great pleasure Laachersain gave her the leave to follow them. She hurried towards the entrance to the pillar and disappeared down it. As she did that, Laachersain turned towards the Behemoth and pointed at the middle of the pillar: ¡®Make us an entrance!¡¯
¡®Soo¡­ Caei,¡¯ I said, desperately trying to change the subject, as we descended down the staircase. ¡®I¡¯m not sure why it never occurred to me to ask about this before, but who else can we expect to drop on us? Like, when we met it sounded like it was just you and Laachersain.¡¯ She sighed. ¡®Because it was. He must have called in a lot of favours and probably promised more than he can realistically deliver. Gaar''rinver was likely enticed with L?we¡¯s lab. The Serrated Blades are not cheap to hire. And that Behemoth? No way, a small fry like him would be allowed to use it without someone powerful being involved. Even the Lesser one that guarded L?we was a loaner, I think. Believe it or not, but you actually went through most of our forces by the time you killed L?we.¡¯ ¡®So, that''s why you wanted to join us!¡¯ Aki exclaimed, with some anger in her voice. ¡®You¡­ I quickly interrupted her to prevent another argument. ¡®I understand. You wouldn''t want to throw your lot in with people you didn''t had a good chance of winning.¡¯ ¡®Why are you on her side in this?¡¯ Aki huffed in disbelief. ¡®She¡¯s using us to save her hide!¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s what she told us.¡¯ I shrugged. ¡®We were probably her best bet to break away from the Sanguine.¡¯ ¡®But who is to say she won¡¯t do that again?¡¯ That was a valid point, and I sensed Caeileera tensing. So much for defusing the situation. ¡®She got rid of her mask, remember?¡¯ I asked, also getting somewhat mad at Aki. ¡®Who¡¯s to say it was her real one?¡¯ ¡®Why would she destroy a fake mask before someone who wouldn''t understand the gesture?¡¯ Aki didn''t have an answer to that. Instead, she huffed in anger, went up a couple of stairs and disappeared into the dark floor. ¡®Oh, for fucks sake!¡¯ I shouted after gathering my jaw from the floor and followed after her. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I heard Caeileera slowly breathe out in quiet indignation, but soon I heard her footsteps following behind me. Aki wandered around the dark corridors in almost complete darkness. They didn''t explore this floor during either of their passes through the building, but it was similar enough to all the other ones. Aki decreased the size of her Abyssal Spark so it hardly gave out any light. It was just large enough so that Aki could see what was directly in front of her. She wasn¡¯t hopeful it would hide it from Caeileera and Lilyth who both had Darksight, anyway, but maybe they¡¯d have a harder time finding her. Suddenly, Aki heard their voices in the distance so she extinguished the spark and ducked into one of the ¡°conference rooms¡±, as Lilyth called them. To be sure she would be harder to find, the demonborn chose not the chamber next to her, but the one slightly past it. Aki crouched in the corner by the door, and noticed that there was a strange, slightly pungent smell to the room, but she decided that she would investigate the source after her former companions had moved past her hiding place. After that, she¡¯d get back to the staircase, hide on one of the higher floors from the rest of the Sanguine, and then escape the pillar and find the route to the surface. Screw this Laachersain business. Yes. She¡¯d have a better time on her own. Alone¡­ She felt hot tears running down her cheeks and wanted to sob. Why did Lilyth have to defend Caeileera? Didn''t she see that the Sanguine bitch would go back to her own kind the moment the tide turned? How could she be so blind? Did Caeileera really wrap Lilyth around her finger so easily? How could she be so wrong about the slimeling? How¡­ ¡®Stay your ire, my child,¡¯ a somewhat familiar and gentle voice sounded in her head. ¡®The Sanguine Priestess and the Slimeling are not your enemies here.¡¯ Didn''t I hear it during the fight with L?we? ¡®Yes,¡¯ the voice responded. ¡®That was me. My name is Zekuthran, and I am your grandfather. At least, I¡¯d like you to see me that way one day. I am contacting you through the link our shared blood grants us, though it is a very limited option. Go to Ror-Bhyk and find a merchant named Naevud. He will guide you further.¡¯ The voice went silent. Zekuthran? Grandfather? There was no response. Could she trust him though? Believing strange voices in her head struck her like a bad idea. Then a quest notification popped up. Quest: The Legacy of Hellfire Type: Racial - Personal Difficulty: Easy Description: You were contacted by your grandfather - Archpraetor Zekuthran. He has provided you with guidance on how to establish more permanent contact with him. Objectives:
  • Contact Naevud in Ror-Bhyk
Rewards:
  • ???
Archpraetor? He didn''t mention that¡­ So¡­ was it true? Was this Zekuthran actually her grandfather? Hope started blooming in Aki¡¯s heart, but then it was replaced by fear, as, suddenly, something loudly squelched and cracked behind her. The smell got stronger, too. It was so overpowering that Aki had to fight her gagging reflex. She lit her Abyssal Spark, all her anger at Lilyth and Caeileera forgotten, and looked for the source of the disturbance. She gasped when she saw a massive cocoon-like structure attached by some sort of slime to the walls and the ceiling in the opposite corner. Frozen in terror, she saw a wrinkly thin night-blue arm shoot out from a crack in the side of the monstrous thing. Its sharp talons quested for an armhold and when they found it, another arm shot out and grabbed something on the other side of the cocoon. The wiry muscles of the arms tensed and soon a head emerged from the crack. It was roughly oval in shape. Instead of a normal-looking mouth, there was a toothy x-shaped that took most of the lower half of the creature¡¯s face. On the upper half, there were two bug-like clusters of nine humanoid eyes each, between which there were two nose slits. All eighteen eyes focused on Aki. There was intelligence in them. The creature let out a haunting howl of anticipation. With surprising alacrity, it sprung out of the cocoon and dove towards the girl. She got the briefest impressions of a thin body and a pair of bat-like wings before the monsters tackled her to the ground. Before Aki could react, the creature was holding her by her wrists and its bony feet were pinning her legs down. Shit! She thought. Shit! Shit! Then the creature¡¯s head started getting closer to her face, its lips unfurling like a flower revealing an inner mouth with mandibles to its sides. The creature¡¯s hot rot-smelling breath blew over Aki. So she did the only thing she could think of. Praying her friends were near, she screamed: ¡®LILYTH!¡¯ Just as she was giving in to despair and the creature''s tooth-covered mouth flaps started closing on her head, she heard loud footsteps approaching very quickly. This distracted the monster briefly and it looked back to investigate the distraction. Aki used this momentary relief to headbutt the creature, her horns piercing some of its eyes. As the girl was sprayed with slime and viscera, the creature howled in pain. Its grip on her wrists painfully tightened but then the creature''s weight was lifted off her body as Lilyth and Caeileera grabbed it by the wings and threw it off her. There was a flash of metal and the Sanguine pierced the monster through its chest with her glaive, pinning it to the floor. Then, a long red spike appeared in Lilyth¡¯s hand, and she didn¡¯t even bother throwing it. She just double-gripped it and rammed it into the monster¡¯s head. Level 5 ??? has been slain. You have earned 166 experience points (2482/3000 total experience points progress to level 6) Lilyth¡¯s arms wrapped around Aki and held her tightly. ¡®Are you okay?¡¯ she asked. Aki felt tears gathering in her eyes. ¡®Y-yes,¡¯ she sobbed. ¡®I¡¯m s-so sorry. I didn¡¯t¡­¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry, kiddo,¡¯ Lilyth reassured her. ¡®It¡¯s all right. I understand how you feel. It¡¯s going to be alright.¡¯ Suddenly, a series of loud crashes came from above, followed by a single one far below them. More of these haunting howls sounded throughout the building, including some on the floor they were on. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t be so sure¡­¡¯ Caeileera said grimly. And for once, Aki fully agreed with her. Chapter 35 - The Sanguine Politics As the Behemoth was smashing its way through the floor, Laachersain noticed something shimmering in the corner of his eye. He turned in its direction and saw that where previously was the featureless rockshelf leading to the broken dungeon wall there now was an elaborate candle-lit chamber with a golden statue of a woman in the middle. She was dressed in tattered ornamental robes with a hood covering her face, and there was a pair of skeletal wings sprouting out of her back. In her left hand, she was holding a pair of scales, and in the other a mask she was raising towards her head, or maybe taking it off. No, Laachersain decided. She¡¯s definitely putting it on. He had no idea where that certainty came from, or how he somehow, despite the distance and poor lighting, was dead certain it was one of the masks that the Sanguine wore. His gaze shifted back to the scales and his heart froze. Laachersain could have sworn they were in a neutral position before. Why was one side now lower than the other? He also felt the statue looking at him intently. Then he heard the Behemoth hit the floor again. The sudden sound made him jump and turn away. He looked at the statue again but it was gone, along with the whole shrine. Instead, once again, there was the rock shelf there again. The whole incident lasted what¡­ a couple of seconds at most? Why did it feel so much longer then? And where did the statue come from, to begin with? Did he just imagine it? Another loud thump brought his attention back to reality. He would have time to worry about hallucinations later. Cracks started appearing in the place where the Behemoth was hitting the floor. Laachersain smiled. Maybe this whole mess was salvageable after all. Then all his hope turned into despair as the floor started crumbling way too fast. He tried to recall the Behemoth but it was too late. The floor under the lower one collapsed and the creature disappeared into the resultant hole. He rushed over to the edge of it to see what happened, but when he heard the loud crack as it hit the ground somewhere deep below them, he knew there was no point. It was over before it even began. Still, he had to see. The Behemoth¡¯s body was impaled on remnants of some broken thing maybe seventy metres below them. As a credit to the creature¡¯s immense resilience, it was still trying to get up, but Laachersain could see it was futile, as its spine was broken. Then many somethings in the pillar began to howl in a way that made Laachersain¡¯s skin crawl. Were there monsters in the structure? How did the Slime and her party make it past them then? ¡®That¡¯s another Behemoth you got killed, worm,¡¯ Laachersain heard a voice from behind him. He turned around and saw one of the fully armoured figures standing there. He thought that was Feddrist, but Laachersain wasn¡¯t sure. Feddrist and Esstaardan were retainers of Crimson Vicar Tirrleena. She assigned them to Laach to watch over her investment. ¡®Our Lady will hear about this,¡¯ possibly-Feddrist continued. ¡®Pray to lord Blood that whatever you find here is enough to placate here. If not¡­ well¡­¡¯ The way the armoured man trailed off promised severe consequences. Laachersain knew that there likely was nothing on Dwynveia that could save him. In the past year, he had squandered so many resources that he likely was finished among the Sanguine. He would be lucky if being stripped of his mask was his only punishment. ¡®Come, Esstaardan,¡¯ the this-time-definitely-Feddrist indicated from near the original location of the portal. ¡®Let us return to the Badlands.¡¯ A glass pyramid glowing bright blue appeared in his hand. As the light within it extinguished, a portal opened and, without saying another word, Feddrist and Esstaardan stepped through it taking all of the hunters with them, even the two that were part of the Laachersain¡¯s flock. He fell to his knees in utter despair as the hole in reality closed. As Laachersain was contemplating diving into the hole that Behemoth made and just ending it, he felt a calloused hand on his shoulder. ¡®Nothing says we have to return to the Badlands, my friend,¡¯ Veersavil said in a hoarse voice. Laachersain looked back at the robed man, feeling tears flow down his face. ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ ¡®Caeileera decided to stay here. Why shouldn¡¯t we?¡¯ Exile? ¡®Won¡¯t they come looking for us?¡¯ ¡®Let them come,¡¯ Veersavil shrugged. ¡®They¡¯ll have to find us first. I have no doubt Tirrleena will do her best, but Dwynveia is a large place.¡¯ Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. A possibility of survival outweighs a certain death, Laachersain decided. ¡®Why would you join me?¡¯ ¡®You saved my life,¡¯ Veersavil replied forcefully. ¡®Where you go, I follow.¡¯ Despite himself, Laachersain smiled. ¡®Together till the end then, old friend?¡¯ ¡®Together till the end.¡¯ Deirdee was still on the first floor of the weird structure when the howling began. The pungent smell she noticed upon entering the place started getting stronger then too. Deirdee wondered what the loud crash that precipitated this all was. What did that idiot Laachersain do? Still, there was a hope that the ruckus would mask movements from her quarry. Deirdee drew her long knife from the holster hidden on the inside of the bandolier. The sounds came from somewhere below her, but it always paid to be careful when unknown threats appeared, especially since finding Caeileera and her ¡°friends¡± would not be easy in this maze of rooms. It took her several minutes, but she finally found a staircase and started descending it. She passed through several levels when she saw movement in the corner of her eye on one of them. The Slime? One of the howling things? She didn''t know, and the difference was mostly academic, anyway. She could not leave her back exposed. So, she activated her Silent Step ability, crouched, and snuck through the entrance. There was nothing visible there. Suddenly, she felt something drop on her from above. Claws dug into her shoulders. Before she could do anything about it, she once again saw movement in the corner of her right eye and something tackled her from the right and knocked her to the ground. Her knife fell out of her hand and clattered on the ground. She once again felt something sharp tear into the flesh of her shoulders. She tried to knock away the assailant with her wings, but they wouldn¡¯t listen to them. Something heavy was blocking them. Her body was rocked by a strong movement followed by the most intense pain of her life, as something was torn away from her back. My¡­ my¡­ wing. Then, there was another flash of agony from her back. This time from the other side. Deirdee screamed. ¡®What was that thing anyway?¡¯ I asked, looking at the weird monster. ¡®I only got question marks on the kill notification.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know, ¡® Caeileera said. ¡®Looks like some sort of a ... tooth¡­ horror¡­ thing.¡¯ Her gaze went blank, which I started to associate with viewing the interface. ¡®Huh,¡¯ Caeileera simply said. ¡®I just got this notification.¡¯ She shared it with us. Name: Tooth Horror accepted. I pulled up the kill notification again. Level 5 Lesser Tooth Horror has been slain. You have earned 166 experience points (2332/3000 total experience points progress to level 6) ¡®I don¡¯t like how ¡°lesser¡± implies there are ¡°greater¡± versions of those things,¡¯ I shuddered and kicked the corpse. Then to my great, but still very pleasant, surprise Aki walked up to Caeileera and said: ¡®I think we¡¯ve started on the wrong foot. I apologise for how I have acted. I just felt¡­¡¯ Aki paused for a moment looking for the best word. ¡®Jealous?¡¯ Caeileera suggested, not unkindly. ¡®Jealous,¡¯ the demonborn girl agreed. ¡®It¡¯s just tha¡­¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it, Aki,¡¯ Caei interrupted her. ¡®I know what it is like to feel alone. And it¡¯s not like I am blameless in this¡­ debacle.¡¯ Then, I think hell must have frozen over because they hugged. They might have noticed me just staring at them because Caei quickly said: ¡®You are turning blue again, honey.¡¯ ¡®Yeah. No dirty thoughts, Lilyth,¡¯ Aki laughed. I wasn''t having any, but I just huffed, turned around and started putting on my armour. Still¡­ I am happy they made up. For now. We¡¯ll see how long this lasts. The last thing I had to put on was the sword scabbard. It felt bad I couldn''t use the fun rabbit head one from Ereshkigal. Then a thought occurred to me¡­ Would a divine gift only work for one sword? So, I tried sheathing the sword and lo¡¯ and behold the scabbard changed its shape to fit the inscribed sword. I couldn¡¯t help but think that it did function like a certain part of female anatomy, especially given how phallic swords were, but luckily my friends spared me the commentary. Fully armed and armoured, I turned to girls who were whispering something among themselves: ¡®Shall we go and see what horrors await us here?¡¯ But before Aki and Caei could answer, we heard a woman¡¯s scream of agony come from somewhere above us. It sounded like the female assassin from before. ¡®Should we go help her?¡¯ I asked, genuinely torn on the subject. Chapter 36 - Ripples Deirdee was growing weak from pain and blood loss. She had no idea why her assailants were toying with her. After tearing away her wings they just sat on her, content to keep her where she was. Were they waiting for something? Her question was answered a few agonising minutes later when she heard heavy footsteps approaching her. She looked up and saw a massive hulking muscular figure knuckle-walking towards her. As a Sanguine, Deirdee was used to seeing deathly thin creatures, so seeing something that must have been several hundred kilos of pure muscle was almost incomprehensible. How could anything have such proportions? The monster was pale blue, with a baby blue-shaded stomach. Its thick arms and legs were ending with wicked-sharp-looking claws. The worst part was its head, however. The creature seemed to have two clusters of way too many eyes and an X-shaped mouth. It roared upon seeing her, its mouth flaps unfolding and revealing hundreds of teeth on the inner side of them. The previously hidden second pair of jaws then almost unhinged themselves and widened to the point they could fit a human head inside them. It could have been an illusion but Deirdee thought its gullet was lined with yet more teeth. The pressure on her back disappeared and the hulking beast reached for her and lifted her by the back of her neck. ¡®N-No¡­¡¯ Deirdee whimpered, as her face moved directly in front of the creature¡¯s wide-open jaws. She could see something slithering inside of its oesophagus. ¡®No¡­¡¯ she cried again, tears streaming down her face. ¡®Not like this¡­¡¯ Then, the creatures behind her growled in displeasure and anger. She thought they were indicating they wanted in on the meal, but then two Blood Lances pierced the brute¡¯s head, one embedding itself in one of its eye clusters and the other going straight down its gullet and exiting at the back of its neck. The now-dead monster¡¯s grip let loose and Deirdee crashed to the floor, the pain of this distracting her from the two flashes of lights that lit the room, followed by sizzles and crashing sounds. ¡®Caei!¡¯ a female voice shouted. ¡®Take care of her wounds!¡¯ Caei? That can¡¯t be right. Why would Caeileera be here? Two figures ran past her and she heard sounds of struggle coming from the direction they went. Unholy groans of pain precipitated multiple sounds of things hitting the ground. Then¡­ someone touched her back and blissful pain relief came. Soon, the agony disappeared and she felt strong again. Yet¡­ something was missing. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ Caeileera said with genuine sadness in her voice. ¡®For some reason, your wings aren¡¯t growing back. The wounds just sealed themselves.¡¯ No. No! ¡®Well¡­ all done,¡¯ the woman continued. ¡®Let me help you get up.¡¯ Once she was back on her feet Deirdee looked around the scene of carnage. The still-twitching corpse of the massive brute lay just in front of her, blood and other unspeakable liquids leaking out of its wounds. Behind her, there were corpses of two much smaller winged creatures. One of them had a still smoking hole running through the middle of its chest, while the other had one in its throat. Deirdee felt immense sorrow and despair when she noticed her now forever-lost wings by them. Deirdee wanted to try reattaching them to her back, but then Caeileera guided her gaze away from them. ¡®No,¡¯ she said gently. ¡®Don¡¯t dwell on this.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s the last of them, I think,¡¯ a female voice from down the corridor. She looked there and saw the slimeling and the demonborn girl standing there surrounded by corpses of the winged creatures. Their swords were dripping in blood and viscera. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ the slimeling agreed. ¡®Caei? How is she?¡¯ ¡®She¡­ will recover,¡¯ Caeileera answered, the pause in her reply sounding really ominous. Deirdee¡¯s gaze fell to her discarded knife. Caeileera must have noticed that because she gripped her shoulder tightly and indicated something to the slimeling, who ran over to the knife and picked it up. ¡®Sorry, can¡¯t let you have that,¡¯ she apologised. ¡®At least not for now.¡¯ For now? ¡®What do you mean? I don¡¯t understand. Caeileera must have told you I am bound to kill you. Why did you save me?¡¯ Why do this if I will die by your hand anyway? More tears flowed down her face. Why give me this hope only to tear it away? ¡®I¡­ don¡¯t understand,¡¯ Deirdee repeated and fell to her knees. The slime walked over in front of her, the still dripping bastard sword in her hand. ¡®You needed saving,¡¯ the slime simply responded. ¡®None of us would have felt right if we let you get eaten by these chucklefucks. As for that blood bond of yours¡­¡¯ The slime put the sword by her neck. ¡®Let¡¯s have a talk about it,¡¯ she finished. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡®What¡¯s there to talk about?¡¯ Deirdee asked. ¡®You killed my¡­ You killed Zvirvil¡­¡¯ ¡®I did,¡¯ the slimeling answered matter-of-factly, ¡® For what it¡¯s worth, I was just defending myself. And¡­ well.. You guys started this. Believe me, I feel for you¡­ I also have my loved ones and would want revenge on anyone who killed them. And so probably did the loved ones of everyone you killed. But that never stopped you, now did it? ¡¯ Deirdee wanted to protest, to say that it was different¡­ but was it? Sure¡­ among the Sanguine such close bonds were rare, but that one time they were unleashed on Dwynveia¡­ She¡¯s right. As much as I hate her for it¡­ She¡¯s right. Deirdee always told herself she was just following orders. That she was just a weapon. It made it easier for her. ¡®We can¡¯t turn back time,¡¯ the slimeling continued. ¡®But we can do is stop this particular cycle of violence. Because what? You¡¯ll kill me, but then Aki and Caei will kill you. Or we will just kill you because I doubt either of my friends will idly stand by while you attack me. So¡­ the result for you is ultimately the same no matter what you do. Or we can figure out another way. Together. ¡®But I can¡¯t go home without avenging Zvirvil¡­¡¯ ¡®Why, though?¡¯ Deirdee wanted to respond that her honour demanded it. That Zvirvil¡¯s memory demanded it. But did they? It was like the slimeling said. Zvirvil wasn¡¯t murdered. He died in combat. And the slime had just saved her life. So, could she repay her kindness by killing her? It would also be dishonourable. I will dishonour myself if I kill the slime. And I will dishonour myself if I don¡¯t kill the slime. Then¡­ there is only one option left¡­ ¡®Please kill me¡­¡¯
Aki looked at the scene before realising that she was seeing a major turning point in their lives. No matter what Lilyth chose there would be no going back. ¡®Please¡­ just kill me!¡¯ the assassin''s words once again echoed in the chamber. ¡®It¡¯s the only way I won¡¯t dishonour myself!¡¯ That gave Lilyth a pause, but then she shook her head and lowered her sword. ¡®No,¡¯ she replied firmly, emphasising the point. ¡®Why would I do that? Like I just said, I want to achieve an outcome which doesn¡¯t result in your death. And¡­ we did risk our lives to save you. Even if we didn¡¯t, I will not murder you over some stupid tradition.¡¯ ¡®But why? I have to¡­ I will dishonour Zvir¡­¡¯ ¡®Oh, shut up with the honour bullshit. Think, woman! Would Zvirvil want you to die stupidly, or would he prefer you lived?¡¯ ¡®But I cannot live without honouring his memory¡­¡¯ Lilyth, annoyed, cut her off. ¡®You can do so by living. Honour his memory by there being someone to actually remember him. Because I assume, based on what I¡¯ve heard about your abhorrent realm from Caeileera, no one else will care about his or your passing?¡¯ The assassin visibly sunk. ¡®Lilyth¡¯s right, you know,¡¯ Caeileera whispered to her. ¡®Usually, if you are really close to someone you will remember them in private, but public memorials are in bad taste. Essentially, you are viewed as being sentimental for someone who couldn¡¯t cut it. It¡¯s just easier for you to forget.¡¯ Aki shuddered. Lilyth must have sensed she was on the right track because she continued. ¡®Don¡¯t die for your brother. Live for him. Use this second chance at life we gave you to forge your path. Don¡¯t go down a route that was decided for both him and you before you were even born. Zvirvil was never given a choice on who to become and died without ever considering another option¡­¡¯ The assassin whimpered something. ¡®What?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®That¡¯s not true¡­¡¯ Deirdee cried out. ¡®When¡­ we previously were on Dwynveia¡­ he saw how colourful the markets were and said¡­ that if could he would never leave them. Just watch the hagglers, enjoy the colours and people just bustling around¡­ I think he would have loved to become a travelling merchant.¡¯ That took Lilyth aback. Aki noticed that Caei also looked surprised and filled with sorrow. Are many Sanguine like this? Just wanting to live normal lives? Maybe Caeileera wasn¡¯t some outlier then, but just someone brave enough to finally say ¡°enough¡±. ¡®And¡­¡¯ Lilyth began softly, ¡®What do YOU want to do?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know¡­¡¯ the Sanguine whimpered. ¡®But I want to live¡­ But how can I ever return home like this? They will never accept me back¡­¡¯ Lilyth sighed. She leaned over the assassin and ripped the mask off her face, revealing a cute-looking girl with green eyes, dimples and freckles, and threw it at the wall, shattering it. The assassin made a move to stop her, but all the fight was gone from her. Her girlfriend then dropped the Sanguine¡¯s knife in front of her. ¡®Live or die, that¡¯s fully up to you now. Before you choose, however, ask yourself this - Is it worth dying for a place forcing you to be someone you may not want to be? Can you really call it your home?¡¯ With that, Lilyth walked back to Caeileera and Aki. They turned away to leave, but the assassin interrupted them. ¡®Wait¡­ may I ask you for your name?¡¯ ¡®I am Lilyth, this is Aki. Caei, you know.¡¯ ¡®My name is Deirdee,¡¯ the Sanguine responded and took a deep breath. ¡®I know, I have no right to ask this¡­ but can you help me discover who I am?¡¯ Lilyth looked at Aki and Caeileera. After a brief consideration, Caei nodded her assent. Aki wasn¡¯t sure about it. She looked at the miserable form of Deirdee and her tear-filled eyes¡­ ¡®We¡¯ll have to be careful with her,¡¯ she said quietly. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way,¡¯ Lilyth whispered back and turned towards the hopefully-former assassin. ¡®Very well. Note, that if you cross us this will end poorly for you.¡¯
The conversation Lilyth had with Deirdee left Caeileera shaken to her core. She thought herself one of the few Sanguine wanting ¡°out¡±. What if most of them were like this? Just going through the motions they were never given any choice on to begin with? Were the masks just a way for the Blood to control them? Oh¡­ Akh¡¯ret¡­ What kind of a monster had created them? Suddenly, a quote from Lilyth played in her mind. ¡°A god forbidding you from associating with someone is not a deity worth following, I find. ¡° ¡®And now you really understand what she meant, my child¡­¡¯ the warm voice of the god of Life responded. Akh¡¯ret? There was no response. None was needed. Led by an impulse, Caei approached Deirdee and embraced her. ¡®I am sorry for your loss, sister,¡¯ she said, causing fresh tears to flow from the assassin¡¯s eyes. ¡®But¡­ welcome to your new life. I hope that, eventually, you will find a new family in us.¡¯ Chapter 37 - Divine Waves As Caeileera was welcoming Deirdee into the family. I was assaulted by several notifications that definitely soured this touching scene. Warning: The Blood that Devours has taken notice of you. Further acts of defiance may result in earning its ire. Notice: Ereshkigal approves of your actions Notice: Nyx approves of your actions Notice: Unmet Power has found your actions amusing Notice: ??? now considers you a dangerous wild card. Notice: The Sun that Burns No More considers you to be a potential ally. New quest acquired: The Great Game Type: Personal (Epic) Difficulty: Deadly Description: Despite your short time on Dwynveia, you have managed to get the attention of the Powers that Be. Some of them view you as an ally, while others see you as a hindrance to be removed. That means your days as a free agent are limited. As the Old Gods of Dwynveia lack sufficient resources, sooner or later (preferably the former) you will need to align yourself with one of the other powers to get you and your friend some level of protection. Objectives:
  • Acquire patronage of one of the Powers
  • (Optional) Complete the ¡°Daughter of the Abyss¡± questline
Rewards:
  • 20000 experience points
  • Access to faction quests
Penalties for failure
  • (Likely) Death
Notice: This quest cannot be cancelled or declined Tracker: Powers currently favourable to you:
  • The Old Gods of Dwynveia
  • The Sun That Burns No More
  • Unmet Power
Powers hostile to you:
  • The Blood That Devours
  • ???
  • Unmet Power
Powers neutral/unmet: 4 New quest offered: The Daughter of the Abyss Type: Faction (Epic) Difficulty: Very Hard Description: Despite them feeling at home in Ereshkigal''s domain, Tenebral Slimelings are, actually, native to the Abyss. Due to your good relationship with the gods of Dwynveia and opposition to the Blood that Devours, the Sun that Burns No More wishes to establish a relationship with you. Objectives: Contact Naevud in Ror-Bhyk (Ask Aki for details) Rewards: Place at the court of the Sun that Burns No More Do you accept this quest? Yes/No Notice: Declining this quest will have consequences both for you and for Aki Notice: Completing this quest line will affect your relationship with other powers Wait¡­ Why would this have consequences for Aki? Oh¡­ it¡¯s about THAT Abyss. I did a mental shrug and thought: ¡°Yes¡±. Not gonna ruin things for Aki. Sadly, that means I really AM becoming a divine errand girl. Hopefully, this ¡°Sun¡± will be as hot as Ere or Nyx. Though knowing my luck, and given that its name reminds me of a certain bloody fuck, this one is probably an actual eldritch abomination. Using the slight lull, I checked my notifications Level 9 Lesser Tooth Abomination has been slain. You have earned 450 experience points (2782/3000 total experience points progress to level 6) Level 4 Lesser Tooth Horror has been slain. You have earned 400 experience points (3182/3000 total experience points progress to level 6) You are now Level 6 (182/3500 total experience points progress to level 6) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) New Spell Acquired: Shadow Weapon Level 5 Lesser Tooth Horror has been slain. You have earned 250 experience points (432/3500 total experience points progress to level 7) Level 6 Lesser Tooth Horror has been slain. You have earned 600 experience points (1032/3500 total experience points progress to level 7) The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +25% (91% total progress to level 12) Dexterity: +10% (30% total progress to level 15) Agility: +6% (21% total progress to level 12) Endurance: +80% (149% total progress to level 12) Your Endurance Attribute has increased to level 12 (24% total progress to level 13) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Vitality: +10% (37% total progress to level 14) Intelligence: +12% (84% total progress to level 17) The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Cunning: +3% (29% total progress to level 9) Willpower: +24% (36% total progress to level 16) Resilience: +1% (18% total progress to level 8) Charisma: +20% (23% total progress to level 7) The following skills have progressed: Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +28% (42% total progress to level 7) Air Arcana: +34% (68% total progress to level 4) Sanguine Arcana: +30% (33% total progress to level 2) The following spells have progressed: Gust of Wind: +46% (66% total progress to level 4) Fist of Wind: +34% (59% total progress to level 3) Blood Lance: + 60% (60% total progress to level 2) I called up my character sheet to see if there was anything obvious to level.
Basic Details
Name Lilyth Race Tenebral Slimeling
Gender Transwoman Age 33
Level 6 (1032/3500 exp) Class Shadow Paladin
Rank Novice Perk Points 2
Attributes
Physical Progress Mental Progress
Strength 11 91% Intelligence 16 84%
Dexterity 14 30% Wisdom 12 0%
Agility 11 21% Willpower 15 36%
Endurance 12 24% Cunning 8 29%
Vitality 13 37% Resilience 7 18%
Perception 11 0% Faith 3 0%
Appearance 12 0% Charisma 6 23%
Skills
Lore - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Insight Novice 17 45%
Lore - Humanities
Name Rank Level Progress
Linguistics Journeyslime 40 10%
Earth Literature Apprentice 25 0%
Earth History Novice 10 0%
Lore - Sciences
Name Rank Level Progress
Data Analysis Apprentice 30 3%
Mathematics Novice 10 0%
Computing Novice 15 0%
Survival - General
Name Rank Level Progress
First Aid Novice 2 0%
Sense of Direction Novice 10 8%
Stealth Novice 4 8%
Climbing Novice 1 77%
Martial - Swords
Name Rank Level Progress
Bastard Sword - Two-handed Novice 6 42%
Crafting - Cooking
Name Rank Level Progress
General Novice 2 0%
Crafting - Magical
Name Rank Level Progress
Arcane Writing Novice 1 50%
Arcana
Name Rank Level Progress
Earth Novice 2 28%
Air Novice 3 68%
Water Novice 0 5%
Umbral Novice 1 0%
Sanguine Novice 1 33%
Spells
Name Arcana Rank Level Progress
Rock Spikes Earth Novice 3 44%
Gust of Wind Air Novice 3 21%
Fist of Wind Air Novice 2 25%
Flickering Lights Umbral Novice 1 0%
Quench Torch Umbral Novice 1 0%
Shadow Weapon Umbral Novice 1 0%
Blood Lance Sanguine Novice 1 60%
Traits
Name Level Progress
Neurodivergence N/A N/A
The Queen''s Raivarian N/A N/A
Entomophobia 08/10 Special
Hidden Predator N/A N/A
Predator''s Instinct ??? ???
Elemental Infusion - Air 2/10 Special
Abilities
Name Rank Level Progress
The Swiftness of the Wind Novice 1 0%
Given how I was getting more and more Umbral Spells and had bonuses for them, I put both perk points into Umbral Arcana. Given how much shit I was in, it was time I started looking at things like maximising my advantages and exploring what this new body of mine could do. I had allies now, so my instincts told me it really was high time for that. ¡®Finally,¡¯ the Huntress sighed. ¡®Remember - you have a pack and a mate you are responsible for. ¡¯ Could you not call Aki ¡°my mate?¡± ¡®Sorry. Mates.¡¯ What? The Huntress went silent. What the fuck was she implying? Your Umbral Arcana skill has increased to level 3 (0% total progress to level 4) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) Last, but not least, I checked out my new spell. Spell: Shadow Weapon Type: Shadow - Enhancement Level: 1 (0% progress to level 2) Effect: Imbues wielded weapons with Shadow Energy. Can be maintained. Casting time: 1 second That will be useful. Especially now that the Blade of the Black Rose is gone. I turned back towards my pack and mates and packmates. ¡®Any ideas where we should go next?¡¯ Caeileera pointed at the big monster.
Deep beneath Lilyth''s growing party in the depths of the warehouse complex, a full nest of the Tooth Horrors finished manifesting. This was not the original intent of their mistress, but sometimes your hand gets forced. And ultimately the mongrel spawn of the Abyss was right: the shelter would, indeed, serve as a perfect base. Another wrinkle in the plan was the need to deploy one of her strongest pawns. This was solely out of the need to eliminate Lilyth from the game before the slimeling became an even greater threat. The Blood might be willing to observe the Earthling a bit longer, but the mistress of the nest was not. Her powers have greatly waned in the period she was non-existent, and they would take a very long time to fully recover. And that meant all six of the intruders had to be disposed of. So, in the centre part of the nest, where the hatchery would eventually be, a special cocoon was manifested. It opened silently and a man fell out of it. Elias Ross stretched his numb limbs as he got up from the floor. He was once a handsome man, with neatly cut blond hair, a goatee and sparkly blue eyes, which is something that allowed him to charm his way into many sinners'' houses. Now his skin was pale and sallow, his hair shoulder-long, grey and unkempt and his beard reaching his sternum. His eyes were bone white as if covered by cataracts, and yet he could see quite clearly. Elias¡¯s all-black clothes - a shirt, pants, coat and Boss of the Plains hat have fared surprisingly well over the years. They were a bit wet from their stay in the cocoon, but other than that there were no tears or damage on them. Elias had only one piece of clothing of a different colour on him - his still-pristine white priest collar. The man reached beneath his coat and unholstered the gun he had hidden there. It was his old plain large-calibre six-shooter, but some modifications happened to it, thanks to the mistress. Its cylinder, rather than bullets, held mana crystals - each infused by a different kind of Arcana. Elias could switch between them at will, and each would result in a bolt of different mana energy being fired. The gun¡¯s barrel also became slightly wider and longer to accommodate the necessary magical circuitry. Images of four Sanguine, a Demonborn and a Slime flashed in Ross¡¯s head. Those were his targets. ¡®Yes, mistress,¡¯ Ross muttered, his voice still hoarse, ¡®Thy will be done. The sinners will be punished.¡¯ Chapter 38 - Know When to Fold Them Our first idea was to check out where the big monster came from. This led us to discover a much larger cocoon, but no other clues. ¡®I think it is time we call it quits,¡¯ I said, tired. ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ Aki asked, with a weird mix of hope and disbelief in her voice. ¡®You want to leave the monsters down here? Laachersain and that Behemoth are blocking our way out, too¡­¡¯ ¡®I see no other options,¡¯ I said. ¡®There are likely hundreds of these monstrosities if not thousands. I don¡¯t see us facing them AND Laachersain, because let¡¯s be honest¡­ we are undersupplied and underequipped for this. What¡­ Caei has one mana potion left and that''s it?¡¯ Deirdre chimed in then: ¡®I also have one health and one stamina potion.¡¯ ¡®Our cup runneth over¡­¡¯ I sighed and pointed at Caei. ¡®She¡¯s our only healer. Once she runs out of mana and we divide that healing potion four ways¡­ ¡¯ All three of them winced, and just like that it was decided. First, we went to one of the windows and checked what the loud crash from before was. As it turned out, Laachersain used the Behemoth to break through the ceiling in the exactly wrong place and the beast fell to the square below. Its body was currently being swarmed by dozens of monsters large and small and was being rapidly stripped to the bone. That convinced us that getting the fuck out of Y-Ram was the correct move, as there was just no way for us to live through this, and a major problem has just solved itself. We couldn''t see Laachersain and his party anywhere, and frankly, we did not care enough to look for them in the pillar. If they wanted to go exploring, they were more than welcome to do it. I was starting to suspect though, that the Sanguine was smart enough to see what was down here and just nope out of here as well. Per Deirdee, their party was just four higher Sanguine and a dozen Hunters. They probably stood a better chance than we did, but, from what she told us, Laachersain was likely in deep shit over the Behemoth. It belonged to someone named Tirrleena and she decided to send two of her men to look over it. ¡®Wait!¡¯ Caei exclaimed, shocked. ¡®Laachersain borrowed a Behemoth from a Crimson Vicar?¡¯ Wouldn''t this be an equivalent of him taking the Air Force One for a joyride and crashing it? ¡®Some explanation for us who didn''t grow up among blood monsters?¡¯ Aki asked, mildly annoyed. To my amazement, Caei actually looked embarrassed. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ she said and explained. ¡®Crimson Vicars are basically high priests of The Blood. They are the most powerful members of our¡­ the Sanguine society.¡¯ ¡®No need to correct yourself, ¡®I reassured her. ¡®You only left them yesterday. It will take you a while to stop thinking in terms of ¡°us¡±. Assuming you ever will. And hey you are still a Sanguine. Just no longer a part of their society.¡¯ She gave me a curt nod and looked at me with a puzzled and sad expression. ¡®Is this how it is for you? You will always think of yourself as an Earthling?¡¯ ¡®The common term we use for ourselves is Terran. But yes. Terra, Earth is where I am from. It will always be my homeland. For you and Deirdee it¡¯s the Pale Badlands. And for Aki¡­ I imagine her village first and foremost.¡¯ Tears started gathering in her eyes. That wound would take a while to heal. I sighed. ¡®We are all a bunch of lost souls, aren¡¯t we? Looking for our place in a world we don¡¯t understand.¡¯ ¡®I guess we are,¡¯ Caeileera chuckled. And that''s how we started calling ourselves ¡°the Lost Souls¡±. ¡®So the Vicars?¡¯ Aki pressed, wiping tears off her face. ¡®Right,¡¯ Caei continued. ¡®Tirrleena is one of the Inner Circle. They are a semi-formal group of Vicars with whom the Blood actually communicates.¡¯ ¡®All the requests to use the Serrated Blades by other Sanguine also need to be approved by them, as we¡­ they¡­ are primarily meant to serve the needs of the Blood.¡¯ Which would explain why it got pissed at me for getting Deirdee to leave. I still haven''t told anyone about the notifications I got. I was planning to talk with Aki about Naevud during some quieter period. I was conflicted about whether to tell people about the Great Game, but I decided I would have to. If there were to be assassins coming for us, which would likely mean Deirdee¡¯s former colleagues, they needed to know. Anyway, long story short Deirdee and Caei explained that Behemoths were relatively rare in the Pale Badlands and highly prized. As taming one was insanely hard, only high-level Sanguine attempted to do it. There were less than a hundred Lesser Behemoths in ¡°private¡± hands, and only the Crimson Vicars commanded normal ones. Only a few Greater Behemoths were ever seen, and none in living memory. Legends had it that they were easily over seventy metres tall. I had a sneaky suspicion the Blood was keeping these for ¡°special occasions¡±. We got to the ladder leading to the top of the pillar. Sadly, we could only climb them one by one, so I went first. Being the most durable person in the party and the only one wearing armour had its downsides. Luckily, nothing was waiting to bite my head off, and soon we were all up back where we started. I looked at the collapsed bridge and frowned. ¡®How do we get back?¡¯ I asked and looked at Deirdee. She shrugged. ¡®We came through there,¡¯ she pointed at the rock shelf where we saw the shrine. ¡®You were actually already here. We flew over you to cut off your escape and sprang up on you.¡¯ I noticed her voice became really mechanical, then started cracking and tears appeared in her eyes. I waved her off to stop. ¡®I understand. Any other ways?¡¯ She motioned with her head in agreement. ¡®There is another entrance on the top level. Laachersain and his party were guarding it. We had matching pairs of portal prisms. If you were spotted we would summon the other. Why couldn¡¯t anything be easy? It took us five hours to find the route to the top level of the dungeon. The caves here were a real maze. By the time we reached the ¡°entrance¡± we were thoroughly bonded by our absolute hate for the place. We also spent the last hour walking in absolute silence because our morale was low. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®Finally!¡¯ Aki huffed upon seeing the hole in the wall. ¡®Look alive, people,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®We don¡¯t know what¡¯s there¡­¡¯ ¡®Look alive?¡¯ Deirdee asked. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Lilyth, but I have no idea how I would look ¡°not alive¡± right now¡­¡¯ ¡®My bad,¡¯ I responded, thoroughly tired by the cultural disconnects. ¡®It¡¯s military slang for ¡°be ready for trouble¡±¡¯ They seemed somewhat dejected but assumed some semblance of readiness. So instead of looking alive we got looking ¡°mostly dead inside¡±. I didn''t blame them, as I probably didn''t look any better. The Old Gods must have been with us, because the floor was completely devoid of life. Laachersain must have taken all his forces with him, I decided. After a few minutes of walking, we made it to Laachersain¡¯s ¡°Throne Room¡± as Caei called it. It was a simple square chamber with some faded tapestries depicting some battles on the walls and a small frayed red carpet on which there indeed stood a throne. Or rather, a block of stone carved in a ¡°spooky¡± chair, with skull relief on the headrest, and, you guessed, armrests ending with actual skulls. This looks like something a teenage edgelord would do. There was another exit on the other side of the chamber, a large dark wooden desk just stacked with papers against the wall to our right and two beds against the other. I pointed at the spooky chair and asked Caei, ¡®Whose¡­¡¯ ¡®Not Laachersain¡¯s, if that is what you are asking,¡¯ she interjected, a bit too quickly. ¡®It belonged to Rivard.¡¯ I briefly blanked out on the name. Oh, right. L?we¡¯s master. So a necromancer edgelord. Of us four, only Aki seemed to feel anything else than a second-hand embarrassment, and rather than fear it seemed to be a mix of curiosity and awe. ¡®This Rivard must have looked so imposing on this¡­¡¯ she said softly. Then she sat on it. ¡®Wow!¡¯ she gasped. ¡®This is so fun!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but laugh seeing this. I knelt on one knee, bowed my head and said: ¡®What is thy wish, Dark Lady Aki?¡¯ A wicked smile crossed her face. ¡®This is something we will need to discuss in private, my loyal servant.¡¯ ¡®As you command.¡¯ I responded solemnly. ¡®I¡¯ll hold you to it!¡¯ she giggled and climbed down from the throne. I looked around and saw that Deirdee and Caeileera were doing their best to ignore us and were looking at something on the paper-covered desk. We approached them. I saw that the papers were some sort of alchemical formulae, written in two distinct handwritings, one of them clearly L?we¡¯s as everything in it was in German. On top of the pile lay a pair of Sanguine masks. Caei and Deirdee were looking at them stunned. ¡®Laachersain¡¯s, I presume? I asked. ¡®At least one of them,¡¯ Caei confirmed. ¡®Not sure who owned the other.¡¯ ¡®Probably Veersavil,¡¯ Deirdee added. Caeileera sighed. ¡®Yeah. It would be him. Laach and Veer go back a long way. My brother saved his life at some point, and Veersavil swore his loyalty to him. Over time they became very close friends, but some debts run deep.¡¯ I grunted in acknowledgement. ¡®You were right then, Deirdee. Laachersain IS finished among the Sanguine it seems.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®And it seems he chose exile instead of facing the music back home. Tirrleena will likely still go after him, her image demands it, but if Laach is smart they¡¯ll never find him. ¡®You would be surprised what us Blades can do,¡¯ Deirdee disagreed. ¡®But it would take a lot of effort, and the Blood is unlikely to agree to that, as there are rumblings of something big happening in the near future¡­¡¯ The Great Game, I thought, terror spreading through my body. ¡®H-how near?¡¯ ¡®You never know with the Blood,¡¯ Caei answered absentmindedly. ¡®The gods operate on different timescales.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Deirdee said. ¡®Could be tomorrow, could be in ten years. There was a¡­ purpose to our latest deployments, though it didn¡¯t seem to be concrete¡­ yet.¡¯ ¡®So¡­ nothing immediate then,¡¯ I sighed in relief. The quest did indicate we had some time. And nothing Ereshkigal said implied urgency. If she¡¯s involved in the Game, she would likely warn me. Then I did something I never expected to do. I prayed. Oh, Ereshkigal¡­ guide me. Help me protect my friends. There was no response. Which was an answer of sorts. Not unexpected. The Gods help those who help themselves. No one said it would be easy. I¡¯ll proceed according to her latest orders then. We need to prepare. And for that¡­ we need money. I sensed approval coming from the distance. So, she WAS listening. I turned my attention back to my companions, who were discussing what to do with the papers and the masks. ¡®I wonder¡­ why were they placed on the papers?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Probably a message,¡¯ Caei explained. ¡®¡°Those are the results of my work.¡± Or something along this line. In essence, this would be a signal to other Sanguine that they should review this, and if they are satisfied, return the masks to them. ¡®Could also be one for you, Caei,¡¯ Aki suddenly added. ¡®¡°You were right¡± or ¡°I¡¯m abandoning this life too.¡±¡¯ The Sanguine bit her lip and her eyes got wet. ¡®Maybe¡­¡¯ she whispered. ¡®Let¡¯s burn the papers,¡¯ I said to them after a moment of silence. ¡®As for the masks¡­ you take them, Caeileera as a memento, or to give it back to Laachersain if we ever meet him again. Or just throw it out.¡¯ ¡®No¡­¡¯ Caei said. ¡®I¡¯ll¡­ keep them. I think I finally found my calling.¡¯ I looked at her surprised. ¡®I want to break the society of the Sanguine. I want us to begin living¡­ like people, but¡­ I think the casting off should be a conscious decision. I can¡¯t break them behind his back.¡¯ She looked at Deirdee awkwardly, but the former assassin shook her head. ¡®Things were decided for me my entire life, and, while I am not happy that even this last most important one was also made for me¡­¡¯ She looked at me with a mix of resentment and sadness and continued. ¡®...I don¡¯t think I could have continued with the mask still there. And I¡¯ll happily help you make your dream happen. Because I do finally want to start making my own choices and become myself.¡¯ Yeah. This wound will take a while to close. Caeileera wordlessly packed the masks into her bag, we stepped back and then the Sanguine pointed her hand at the papers and a torrent of flames emerged from out of it. Quest Completed: The Master of the Tower Description: Laachersain has abandoned his plans and the research conducted in the Tower was destroyed. Rewards:
  • 500 experience points
  • 1 Perk Point
  • Approval of Akh¡¯Ret
  • Approval of Ereshkigal
  • Rune of Shadow Bolt (Umbral Arcana)
Rune pouches dropped before me, Aki and Caeileera. Did we forget to share the quest with Deirdee? But then a violet-and-green backpack dropped before her. There was a note attached to it. To start a new life - Akh¡¯ret Just as Deirdee moved to investigate the divine gift, I sensed movement in the corridor we came from. ¡®Get¡­¡¯ I began to shout, but then a bolt of fire hit me in the side. Chapter 39 - Elias Ross The shot staggered me into Aki more out of surprise than its strength. We managed to retain our balance and the attack didn''t even hurt me all that much, despite it clearly being Flame Arcana-based. The damage indicator thingy only turned mildly pink as well, meaning that my armour must have absorbed most of the hit. I looked towards where the shot came from. I could see a figure wearing a hat standing in the darkness. It was holding what looked to be a revolver. It slowly adjusted its aim towards where I currently was. I realised the gunman was likely sent by one of the Powers. Probably the triple-question-marks thing. Something changed in me then. It became crystal clear to me that the person I was had died when my original body did. I was something else. Someone different. When the Huntress first took over, I was afraid. Now¡­ I realised there was nothing to be afraid of. This wasn''t some beast imposing on me. It was me. I was the Huntress. I was the beast. And it was high time to embrace it. I had friends to protect. I looked at the divine assassin. Sorry, motherfucker. Not today. Rage awoke inside of me. We were so close to the exit. We were so close to safety. I was so done with this dungeon and its bullshit. And if the gods want to make an enemy of me, they will regret it. They may be divine, but I am one thing they are not: a Terran. And we don''t take anyone''s shit. I started to slowly walk towards the assassin, my eyes boring into where I thought his were. This must have confused him, as he didn''t fire immediately. His mistake. I sensed my friends wanting to follow me, but I signalled them to stop, and to their credit, they listened. This broke the assassin out of his stupor and he fired off a shot. I took it straight onto my chest. Predictably it wasn''t strong enough to penetrate the armour, not just yet, anyway, and that way I wouldn''t have to worry about the girls getting hit. You are not hurting my friends. It¡¯s you and me. The revolver must have had a long recharge rate. Too bad. I gathered wind around my hand. My body was just another tool. If it got even more contaminated by Air so be it. The assassin must have sensed someone because he started to step back. But it was too late. The strength of my attack sent him flying into the wall behind him. I was now far enough from Aki¡¯s abyssal spark that I was able to get a good look at him. The assassin was an old and dishevelled priest. Upon him impacting the wall his hat flew off, and he dropped the pistol. His body slumped to the floor. I drew my sword and cast Shadow Weapon on it. The runes on the sword glowed and shifted to match those I recognized to be of Shadow Arcana. Interesting. I leapt at the priest and led with an overhead strike. The priest had enough fight in him to roll to the side. He scrambled to his feet, extended his right hand to the side and a glowing dark sword appeared in it. Not waiting for my reaction, he lunged towards me. Thanks to my enhanced senses the path of his strike seemed painfully obvious. Yes. You may be a fellow Terran, but you are still a baseliner¡­ No. There is something inside him. The influence of his patron? Need to be careful. I riposted with a sideways slash, that he easily parried. We exchanged a series of blows. It was becoming painfully obvious that we were evenly matched. He was a much better swordsman than I was, but my enhanced senses made up for my deficiencies. He must have also realised this, as five glowing violet orbs appeared, creating an arch leading over his head from one of his shoulders to the other. A sudden impulse told me to duck, and this allowed me to barely avoid the barrage. The priest used this to his advantage and kneed me in the head. The strike threw me to the ground. Goddamn it. The assassin raised his sword and wanted to run me through, but then a Blood Lance hit him in the side and staggered him to the side. Caeileera. The priest roared in pain. It was then that two flaming blades lit the darkness. Aki. She leapt at him, crossing her arms and slashed at him in a scissor-like motion. He dodged to the back, but then there was a puff of smoke behind him. Deirdee. The former assassin thrust her dagger upwards, it easily entered his flesh and emerged on the other side of his body. Another Blood Lance impaled the priest in the chest. Aki slashed at his neck with his right arm. Her flaming falchion easily bit into his flesh but stopped on the bone. She ripped her sword out and the priest fell to the ground, so Aki switched the grip on her blades and thrust them into his eyes. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Level 20 Elias Ross has been slain. You have earned 500 experience points (2032/3500 total experience points progress to level 7) No perk points? I guessed because we four-wayed him Aki ended her spell, resheathed her sword and helped me get back up. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ I said. ¡®All of you.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re a team, remember?¡¯ Aki said with a smile. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Caeileera said. ¡®Not sure what came over you.¡¯ ¡®I guess, I just got mad,¡¯ I answered, mostly true. ¡®I just wanted to get out of this shithole, and then this fuckwad entered, all in white.¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s wearing black,¡¯ Aki said, confused. ¡®Another of your Earth sayings?¡¯ ¡®A joke from my land. No matter.¡¯ Suddenly, light flew out of Ross¡¯s body and formed into an orb just hovering a metre over the corpse. ¡®A vestige,¡¯ Caeileera whispered in awe. ¡®What¡¯s a vestige?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Some creatures or people with strong enough presence leave them. Rumour has it that it is because of them being rejected by the afterlife. It¡¯s an incredibly rare occurrence.¡¯ ¡®So this is his soul?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®I don¡¯t know,¡¯ Caei shrugged. ¡®I only heard legends about this.¡¯ I looked at Deirdee but she just shook her head. I extended my hand towards the orb and looked at my companions. They didn¡¯t protest so I took it. A vision flooded my mind. I found myself standing on the streets of some old west town. I looked around and saw all the staples of the western movies. A saloon, a sheriff¡¯s office, a church¡­ Suddenly, I heard a shriek of horror out of one of the houses, followed by a series of gunshots. I rushed over there, but I moved like I was covered in molasses. The door to the house opened and I saw a much younger version of Elias Ross emerge. He was covered in blood. The vision ended and I found myself back at the dungeon. An item description appeared before my eyes. Item: The Last Remnant of Elias Ross Type: Vestige Rarity: Unique Effect: Crush the item to learn the ¡°Shadow Barrage¡± spell. Imprint: This is what is left of the tormented being that was Elias Ross. Perhaps now, the souls of his victims will know some peace, even though their families will never get full closure. Victims. Plural. Who would have ever expected a priest to be a serial killer? I looked around. My companions were staring at me curiously. ¡®You okay?¡¯ Deirdee asked. ¡®You spaced out there.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s nothing,¡¯ I replied. ¡®Just an imprint.¡¯ I crushed the orb before they could ask to see it. No need for them to know. You have learned a new spell: Shadow Barrage Type: Shadow - Attack Range: 10 metres Description: Forms a spell-level dependent number of orbs around the head of the caster, which can then be launched in the direction of their choosing. (Current number of orbs: 1) Note: Insufficient knowledge of Umbral Arcana Might prove itself to be useful. ¡®Aww¡­¡¯ Aki said disappointed. ¡®I wanted to see it too.¡¯ ¡®Believe me¡­¡¯ I responded. ¡®You didn¡¯t.¡¯ Caeileera gave me a knowing look. Some things were better left unknown. Aki pouted. I knelt by Ross¡¯s body and searched through it. The only thing of value I found was a silver cross. Upon picking it up, my mind was assaulted with feelings of strong faith and hope, mixed with intense pain and suffering. Item: Elias¡¯s Cross Pendant Type: Memento Rarity: Unique Imprint: This pendant, that helped young Elias Ross get through many difficult events, is permeated with his childhood¡¯s faith. Eventually, the way he positioned his victims'' bodies became a cruel mockery of the sacrifice the item represented. I threw the pendant to Aki, who deftly caught it. A few short moments later, she dropped on Ross¡¯s body. I nodded in approval. ¡®Did you see¡­¡¯ she began asking but stopped when I shook my head. ¡®I just heard it.¡¯ I simply added. Aki¡¯s attention turned towards Ross¡¯s gun. ¡®Probably the murder weapon,¡¯ I said. ¡®At least it used to be¡­ before it got turned into a magitek item.¡¯ Aki walked over to it, picked it up and placed it next to the cross. Then she set the body on fire with her abyssal bolt. ¡®Let¡¯s just get out of this place,¡¯ she said to Caeileera. I couldn¡¯t agree with her more.
The mistress of the hive could barely contain her rage. That fool Ross didn¡¯t even manage to kill one of them. This was a major setback. It would be a long time until she found a suitable replacement. But¡­ like all the powers ,she was used to waiting. Such was the nature of the game. Still¡­ it was not a complete loss. The hive was coming up nicely and soon she would be able to leave her mark on Dwynveia again. And then¡­ she would take care of the meddlesome slime. Yes. Chapter 40 - The Path Ahead Aki threw me my rune pouch. I emptied its contents onto my palm. Item: Rune of ¡°Shadow Bolt¡± Class: Magical - Umbral Arcana Rarity: Extremely Rare Durability: 10/10 Description: Allows the user to learn the ¡°Shadow¡± Spell. Casting the spell without sufficient knowledge of Umbral Arcana may lower its effectiveness and/or cause it to fail Spell Effect: Fires a shadow bolt at a target within range. Cost to learn: 1 Perk Point I checked my contamination status. The timer increased by a few hours. So I can probably manage a cast or two a day without issues. Still¡­ I popped the rune. New Spell Acquired: Shadow Bolt Type: Shadow - Attack Level: 1 (0% progress to level 2) Range: 30 metres Description: Fires a shadow bolt at a target within range. Note: Insufficient knowledge of Umbral Arcana You have spent 1 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) Never hurts to have some extra oomph. Gonna be level seven soon enough. I¡¯ll dump my perk points into Umbral Arcana then. I was starting to feel good about my offensive magic capabilities. It really sucked that I was locked out of Earth Arcana for at least three weeks, but what could I do? It wasn¡¯t like I could just get rid of the contamination. I saw that Deirdee went back into the throne room and was looking through the backpack she got from Akh¡¯Ret. There were tears in her eyes. ¡®Are you okay?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Y-yes.¡¯ she answered absentmindedly. ¡®What¡¯s inside?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll tell you later.¡¯ Caeileera led us to the exit. With every step my anxiety grew, as I expected something to jump out at us. But the only thing that greeted us was the silence of the corridors. It felt like we were walking through a tomb. I guess this really is one, now. A final resting place for far too many people. None of them deserved this. But¡­ finally, the nightmare is over. I made a silent promise to my fellow Terrans. I will not let your deaths be in vain. I will find those responsible for this mess and make them pay. And I didn''t mean the builders of the Tower. Eventually, I started smelling fresh air. Was it true? Was I really out of this hellhole? That put a spring into our walk. One last turn¡­ and there it was. The exit. It was getting dark outside, but I could still see outlines of some shapes. Probably the moon was already out. Or is there more than one moon? I was on an alien planet after all. I couldn''t make any assumptions. But I was starting to feel excited. Was I the first Terran to step foot on the surface of Dwynveia? Something told me that L?we was likely the one to hold that honour, but he didn''t count. He was dead anyhow. Fuck that guy. Finally, I stood at the threshold of the dungeon. A notification appeared before my eyes: Quest Completed: The Ruined Tower Description: You made it. What else is there to be said? Rewards:
  • 2000 experience points
You are now Level 7 (532/4000 total experience points progress to level 8) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. I dismissed those and looked outside. It was still light enough for me to see that the door of the dungeon exited into an overgrown mountain hollow. There were still some moss-covered house ruins visible in the thick foliage. I assumed this was where the builders of the Tower had once lived. And all that shall remain of us will be scrap iron and the hollow, mocking laughter of history. Behind the entrance to the valley, there was a forest with leaves that were bright blue and orange. And I don¡¯t mean autumn orange. No. They were safety-vest orange. To my right, I could see the sun setting behind the mountain range, I would need to figure out where east and west were here, and in front of us, high above us, the moon was already visible. Well¡­ what was left of it, anyway. A large chunk of the satellite was missing and the pieces of it were trailing not that far behind it. This looked like the moon was frozen in time mid-explosion. The sight was quite haunting. What happened here? I wondered not for the first time. But the mysteries of the blown-up moon and why its pieces didn''t fly away could wait for another day. Or maybe it could be someone else¡¯s problem altogether. I took a deep breath and got my first smell of this new world. There was a certain sweetness to the scent. And hey¡­ for once in my life, I would be able to enjoy nature without having to worry about my allergies. Maybe this won¡¯t be so bad after all. We stepped out and as the grass crunched beneath my feet, I felt relief I hadn¡¯t experienced in ages. I turned to Aki and asked: ¡®Which way to Ror-Bhyk?¡¯ She looked at where the broken moon and the sun currently were. Then she pointed to the right. ¡®That way,¡¯ she said. ¡®At least, I think that it¡¯s the right direction. Traders heading to Ror-Bhyk were always going that way. ¡®It¡¯s a start, then,¡¯ I chuckled. ¡®How about we stop for the night in one of the ruins and head out in the morning?¡¯ Aki and Caei nodded, clearly as tired as I was. Perhaps even more since I no longer had flesh. Deirdee, however¡­ seemed troubled. ¡®I think this is where I will say goodbye, my friends,¡¯ she said, suddenly. I looked at her surprised but then nodded. She continued: ¡®My whole life I had my choices made for me. If I stay with you, that won¡¯t change. So¡­ for the first time, I want to choose my own path.¡¯ ¡®Very well,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®I can''t blame you, now can I? Also, I think I can guess what was in the backpack then.¡¯ ¡®Yes. Akh¡¯ret knew my heart, I think. So I was given plenty of supplies, some maps and even one of these canteens you have.¡¯ She turned to Caei. ¡®Sorry, I won¡¯t be there to help you for now.¡¯ Caeileera laughed. ¡®No. You are doing what I want all Sanguine to be able to do: Be free.¡¯ They hugged. ¡®Be safe out there,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®You sure you want to head out now?¡¯ I asked, genuinely concerned. ¡®It¡¯s getting dark.¡¯ ¡®Not a problem for us, isn''t it?¡¯ Deirdee said. ¡®No. I think that if I don¡¯t go now, I will always find an excuse not to go.¡¯ ¡®Just a word, then,¡¯ I said and led her back into the darkness of the dungeon. There I told her about the game and how people would be after us. ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ she said. ¡®I have a feeling the statue lady is more interested in you than me. As for the Blood¡­ I assume it would be coming after me regardless.¡¯ Pain must have shown on my face because she quickly twisted the knife. ¡®Actions have consequences, Lilyth.¡¯ ¡®I know. Still¡­ it¡¯s never easy. I won¡¯t ask you to forgive me. I did what I thought was best at the time.¡¯ ¡®For all it is worth, I don¡¯t blame you for either of your actions. When you killed Zvirvil, you were saving your friends, and when you broke, my mask you saved me. But forgiving you for this will take time.¡¯ There was nothing left to say so we returned to the others. Caei and Aki gave me a quizzical look. ¡®I¡¯ll fill you in later,¡¯ I simply said, making both of them mildly unhappy. It¡¯s hard to find the right time to deliver the portents of doom. Aki took out the money purse. ¡®I think we should give Deirdee her share of money,¡¯ she said. The former assassin started protesting. ¡®I didn''t do anything. By the Bl¡­ the gods: I was trying to kill you all.¡¯ ¡®You still threw in your lot with us,¡¯ I insisted. ¡®And hey¡­ you can''t start a new life without money, can you?¡¯ Aki started counting out the money and frowned. ¡®What¡¯s¡­ twenty-five hundred divided by four?¡¯ she asked, a bit embarrassed. ¡®Six hundred and twenty-five,¡¯ I said, after doing some quick calculations. Aki thanked me and counted out the money. Deirdee accepted it and moved to stash it inside her backpack, but I stopped her and handed her the rune pouch that had housed the Shadow Bolt rune. The former assassin murmured something in gratitude. ¡®I¡¯ll be off then,¡¯ Deirdee said once she was done packing. Caei hugged her again and so did Aki. I simply offered the former assassin my hand and said: ¡®You¡¯ll always have a place among us.¡¯ She shook it and replied: ¡®If our paths cross again, I might take you up on that.¡¯ And with that, she turned away and started heading towards the entrance to the hollow. Lebewohl, I thought. After Deirdee turned left, away from Ror-Bhyk, and disappeared from our view, I turned to Caeileera. ¡®What about you Caei? Gonna stick with us?¡¯ ¡®Why are you asking?¡¯ she asked a bit aghast. ¡®You wanted me to help you stop Laachersain. While¡­ I don¡¯t think either of us did anything to achieve that outcome - it still happened. So I don¡¯t know what your plans are now.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll stay with you if you will still have me.¡¯ I nodded with fake solemnity and said: ¡®We will¡­¡¯ I began and threw a glance at Aki. ''If my Dark Lady doesn''t mind, that is.¡¯ ¡®Oh, stop it with the Dark Lady stuff!¡¯ she laughed. ¡®I don¡¯t have the throne anymore. And no. I don¡¯t mind. Happy to have you with us Caei!¡¯ ¡®Thank you, my Dark Lady,¡¯ I responded with a mischievous glint in my eyes. ¡®Ass!¡¯ A similar glint appeared in Caei¡¯s eyes. ¡®Thank you for accepting me¡­ My Dark Lady.¡¯ Aki huffed at both of us and then we all broke out laughing. Yes. This new life won¡¯t be that bad. Chapter 41 - The Nature of the Game A tall, broad-shouldered man stood on a shelf on one of the mountains overlooking the entrance to the Tower of Trials. He had unkempt spiky blond hair and light olive skin. There was stubble on his cheeks and the topaz-like irises of his eyes were glowing. His toned arms were visible, as he wore a simple yellow jersey tank top with black collar, shoulder pads and wide armhole binding. On his legs, he had matching olive green cargo pants and dark leather combat boots. From his position, the man could see a trio of travellers sitting around a campfire in the clearing. His senses allowed him to hear them perfectly, but he paid no heed to their words. There was no need to pry. And it is not like they would have anything interesting to say anyway. Not like a certain someone who was doing its best to pretend it wasn¡¯t standing behind him. ¡®I told you that you can¡¯t sneak up on me, eh Varyag?¡¯ he said and turned towards the bird creature. Varyag bowed and said: ¡®My lord.¡¯ ¡®Join me.¡¯ When Varyag was standing next to him, the man pointed at the group below. ¡®Most interesting specimens, don¡¯t you think?¡¯ he asked. ¡®A Terran slimeling, the granddaughter of Archpraetor Zekuthran and a rebellious Sanguine. Who would have thought that the dungeon would have finally produced results and how marvellous they would be.¡¯ ¡®There was also a fourth,¡¯ Varyag added in a flat voice. ¡®Ah¡­ the assassin. Yes. We¡¯ll see what happens with this one.¡¯ ¡®My lord¡­ are you sure letting them live is the right idea?¡¯ ¡®Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡¯ ¡®Lord Crystal¡­¡¯ ¡®Ah yes. The fractal likes his rules¡­ Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll handle him, if need be, though I doubt that he will be able to resist seeing what this one can do, as¡­¡¯ ¡®But my lord¡­¡¯ This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Energy crackled in the man¡¯s eyes. ¡®You dare interrupt me?¡¯ Varyag realised his mistake and bowed deeply. ¡®No, my Lord. I am sorry.¡¯ ¡®Good. Remember¡­ you are vital to us, but can be replaced if need be. Never forget that.¡¯ ¡®I won¡¯t.¡¯ There was a hint of resentment in Varyag¡¯s voice but it was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. The bird would obey. Or die. ¡®As I was saying, the point about getting rid of the slime is moot anyway.¡¯ ¡®How come?¡¯ Varyag asked, genuinely confused. ¡®What is the phrase the Terrans like? Lilyth has unknowingly thrown her hat into the ring. It¡¯s been a while since there was a mortal participant in the game. And we¡¯ve never had a Terran join. I am curious how this will affect the outcome. They are an ingenious bunch after all.¡¯ ¡®She joined? How?¡¯ The man laughed. ¡®She swore vengeance on us. That was enough it seems. All things considered, this one is shaping out to be the best cycle we¡¯ve had in a while. My daughters are returning, and now the Terran. Simply marvellous.¡¯ ¡®My lord, I insist¡­¡¯ ¡®There are to be no further attempts at the slime or her companions. Present or future ones, understood?¡¯ ¡®I never¡­¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ don¡¯t you think I know about your attempt in the catacombs below Y-Ram? Good try, I¡¯ll admit. Don¡¯t pull that one again though, or there will be consequences. Now what is your point that you are so desperate to get across? ¡¯ ¡®Thank you, my lord. What I am trying to say is¡­ the Terran may result in the balance of power being shaken outside the acceptable parameters. When lord Crystal created me, I was tasked with maintaining it. The consequences of this may be¡­ dire.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ you are worried about one of us being killed?¡¯ The man said with mock concern in his voice. ¡®How touching.¡¯ The mortals below had put out the fire and gone to sleep. The granddaughter of Zekuthran was lying next to the slime. Varyag bowed his head. ¡®Yes, my lord. There is no telling what the Terran will be able to do at a high enough level. She has already managed to disrupt the plans of Lord Blood, who, incidentally, is not happy about this.¡¯ The King who Commands the Ocean laughed mirthlessly. ¡®He¡¯ll have to get over it. Such is the nature of the game.¡¯ THE END OF BOOK ONE Chapter 42 - The Village of Dan-Hem Arcarius hated this assignment. He really did. He became a Temple Dragoon to protect people and not, like he was currently doing, chase after some helpless demonborn girl around the countryside in the absolute backwater that the Viscountcy of Ror-Bhyk was. Alas, orders were orders. and his, and those of two others from his order, were to guard Inquisitor Vanek, and if there was ever a worse man for the job, Arcarius couldn''t think of one. He was suffering from what Lilyth would likely describe as a terminal case of ¡°holier than the pope¡±. The man was a fanatic, strict and uncompromising. Vanek was one humourless bastard too - even the most innocent of jokes would result in a stern rebuke from him, and Light help you if the joke was bawdy or religious in nature. One of these days the Inquisitor would suffer ¡°an accident¡± and Arcarius just hoped he was reassigned by then. He didn''t want to die protecting Vanek from the results of his idiocy. Which is why he was less than thrilled to be looking at the sullen faces of the villagers staring back at them with murder in their eyes. The good Inquisitor apparently failed to realise that his decision to hang the village elder would not be well received by the locals. Matis. His name is Matis. When they first arrived in this village to take the girl into custody a few days before, they discovered that the demonborn was, to the fury of Vanek, already gone. Someone had warned her about the Inquisitor¡¯s coming and that was that. Arcarius hoped they would set off in ¡°pursuit¡±, find nothing and then go home. They weren''t the fastest of travellers, thanks to Vanek¡¯s insistence on travelling in his Darhun-drawn carriage, despite this being literally the least practical mode of transport given their current location. They were near the border of the Northern Wildlands, meaning that flat roads were very rare here. It would be much faster to travel on foot, but as ¡°the holy vestments of the priest couldn''t be sullied by dirt¡± this was ruled out quickly. No one dared to suggest to Vanek that maybe he should ditch the white-and-gold robes for something more practical on the road. A quick investigation revealed that the demonborn girl was staying at the village elder¡¯s house who took her in after her mother died, so he was deemed to be the likely culprit. The idea of someone ¡°tainted by the Abyss¡± being buried in the ground horrified Vanek enough that after dealing with the poor kind old man they would be ritually burning the freshly exhumed corpse and carrying out cleansing ceremonies on the whole village. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. And so the three of them stood, dressed in their dark blue scale mail armour with green tabards adorned with the twelve-pointed silver star of their order, their swords drawn, before the hastily-built gallows while Vanek prattled something about the benevolence of Light and how every sinner must be punished and that the taint of the Abyss should never be tolerated. Based on the expressions on the villagers'' faces we are the ones that are not tolerated, he thought morosely. One of them though, a short scraggly man, looked not so much angry, but incredibly ashamed. If I were to guess that would be the person who caused this whole mess. It won¡¯t surprise me if the village elder is not the only person who will end up with their neck in the noose today. The only question was whether the man would do the deed himself or would his neighbours get him first. Vanek finally shut up. Arcarius risked a look back. The Inquisitor was currently standing next to the village elder, and the contrast between them was never more apparent. Vanek was a tall and thin man in his early twenties, wearing his ceremonial robes with lace-of-gold embroidered cuffs and collar and a golden stole. He was clean-shaven and had neck-long raven-black hair and emerald eyes, which matched the jade on his silver diadem. The village elder was maybe sixty, with a bald spot on his head and short grey hair on his temples. His face was weathered by age and wrinkled and his brown eyes were filled with sorrow. He wore, now badly damaged, a simple light blue shirt and grey trousers. He was standing barefoot on a simple stool taken from his own kitchen with a thick rope around his neck. Why do I feel those garbs should be worn the other way around? What right does Vanek have to wear clothes likely worth more than all of the village elder¡¯s possessions? Why should a man who served his community for years and whose only crime was taking in an orphan girl, die wearing just rags? For the first time in his life, Arcarius questioned whether he was on the right side, and as heretical as the thought was he hoped that this Aki was far away from her home. Chapter 43 - A Stranger in an Insane World I woke up with Aki lying next to me. She had one of her arms wrapped around me and I could feel her breath tingle me on the cheek. I turned my head towards her and saw her looking back at me. ¡®Hello, sleepyhead,¡¯ she said, and slightly puckered her lips. I kissed her. ¡®Hello,¡¯ I responded, after we parted from each other. Despite being glad for me to wake up with her next to me, me. I couldn''t help but wonder whether this was how she spent her watch. We¡¯ve done the same three hour shift division we did last night below Y-Ram - Caei first, Me second and Aki last. Nothing ate my head, so the point is academic anyhow. I did tell them about the Great Game the previous night, and both my companions seemed worried, but ultimately we agreed that there was nothing we could do about it for now. We would deal with the dangers as they came. Aki was happy though I would be seeing Naevud with her though. Caeileera volunteered to come with us too, so it seemed we were all #teamSunthatBurnsNoMore. What I didn''t tell them, however, was that I got a quest update for the Great Game quest before going to sleep last night. I checked it again. Warning: ??? has sworn vengeance on you and your party Notice: Unmet Power (b) has taken interest in you This confirmed the serial killer priest was one of the servants of the statue lady. That did not bode well. This Unmet power (b)... What is it? I pulled up the quest description. Quest: The Great Game Type: Personal (Epic) Difficulty: Deadly Description: Despite your short time on Dwynveia, you have managed to get the attention of the Powers that Be. Some of them view you as an ally, while the others see you as a hindrance to be removed. That means your days as a free agent are limited. As the Old Gods of Dwynveia lack sufficient resources, sooner or later (preferably the former) you will need to align yourself with one of the other powers to get you and your friend some level of protection. Objectives: Acquire patronage of one of the Powers (Optional) Complete the ¡°Daughter of the Abyss¡± questline Rewards: 20000 experience points Access to faction quests Penalties for failure (Likely) Death Notice: This quest cannot be cancelled or declined Tracker: Powers currently favourable to you: The Old Gods of Dwynveia The Sun that Burns No More Unmet Power (a) Unmet Power (b) Powers hostile to you: The Blood that Devours ??? Unmet Power Powers neutral/unmet: 4 Yup. There were now two Unmet Powers on my side. What was really scaring the living shit out of me, though, was that apparently an extra power seemed to have joined the game. Previously there were ten of them. Now there were eleven. Yeah. There is no reason for the girls to know about that but. Maybe the extra power will end up friendly. ¡®You okay?¡¯ I heard Aki ask, bringing me back to reality. Good going, Lilyth. You are cuddling with a girl and all you can think of are Eldritch Abominations. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ I said, desperately looking for an excuse. I had none, so I just kissed Aki again, rolled over towards her and reciprocated her hug. That seemed to have placated the girl. The sound of Caeileera clearing her throat interrupted us. ¡®I don¡¯t want to impose, ¡°lovebirds¡±, but we are still right next to a dungeon,'' she said wryly. That was a good point. We took ¡°a bit¡± of a risk by staying in the ruins, but they did offer us enough cover and who would suspect we didn''t go far? Maybe this Ross guy was her only servant. So to Aki¡¯s displeasure I started to get up. We ate a breakfast of ration bars, we were running low on those so getting supplies was high on the priority list, and washed them down with what water we had left, which was ¡°my¡± neverending canteen. Back in the dungeon, I bestowed it unto Aki as I didn''t necessarily have to worry about any microorganisms, and likely some of the toxins, possibly present in the water we could find underground. Being made of jelly had its upsides. Caeileera also had no issues with the local water, but I had no idea whether it was because there was nothing wrong with it or whether her being a magical being spawned by an Eldritch Abomination meant she didn''t have a compatible biology to be affected. Assuming the concept even applied to her. She could also literally be ¡°magic¡±. Come to think of it¡­ Was I even a biological entity anymore? Wasn''t I just a liquid shadow jelly with a human soul grafted onto it? The more I thought about it, the more I realised Caeileera and I weren''t that different, at least in principle. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I miss living in a sane world. After our ¡°breakfast¡±, we started planning our next move. ¡®How far away are we from Ror-Bhyk?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Isn¡¯t it marked on your map?¡¯ It never occured to me to check it. Hell, I even forgot the interface had a mapping module. I brought up the list of options. The following options are available. You can access them by thinking or saying their name:
  • Basic Details
  • Attributes
  • Skills
  • Abilities
  • Traits
  • Statuses
  • Map
  • Notifications
  • Quest Journal
  • Utilities
Oh, right. There it is. Along that utilities screen I never checked. So before I forgot again, I did the latter. I would have hated myself if there was anything useful there. Available utilities
  • Clock
  • Alarm
  • Notepad
  • Access External Network (No connections)
Access external network? What? A tooltip appeared: Allows the user to connect to a previously linked magical network (ie. Ward Posts, Magical Defences) and command it. Current Number of Linked Networks: 0 Huh. I opened the notepad and added a note there to look into that further. I was happy about the functionality as it would let me use my actual notebook for important things. Like drawing. Or researching runes on my sword. Or trying to figure the ones from the wall. Damn¡­ I was actually looking forward to doing something that wasn''t ¡°Just surviving¡±. Still¡­ those ¡°fun¡± activities were low on the list of priorities which looked like this:
  1. One - Get Water
  2. Two - Get Supplies
  3. Three - Get to Ror-Bhyk
  4. Four - Find Paying Work
  5. Five - Find Naevud
Oh right. There was also the unsaid point Zero - Stay Alive. Still¡­ First thing first, I checked the map. What appeared before my eyes was a satellite-grade image of the hollow we were in. What. The. Fuck. I could only zoom it in to an extent, but holy fuck. Were there actual satellites in the sky? I would need to pay more attention to the night sky. I zoomed out and there it was - a pin labelled Ror-Bhyk in the middle of nothing to the west of us. I gauged the distance to be maybe thirty kilometres based on the little map scale thing in the corner of my vision. So paper maps are still useful, given how this tells me fuck-all as to how to get there¡­ ¡®Can you share maps?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Can¡¯t see why not¡­¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Can you try, Aki?¡¯ She didn''t know how, so we walked her through the quest sharing process and tried to apply it to the map instead. It worked and a new area appeared on the map to the south-east of us. It was a small village called Dan-Hem, its immediate surroundings and a route west, which then sharply veered off towards the mountains surrounding the hollow. Where the goblins caught her. Still I did find what I was looking for. There was a river by Aki¡¯s village and it shouldn¡¯t be that far to the south of us, probably across the forest or in the middle of it. We could likely then follow it west to the next village, assuming there was one, where we could get supplies. ¡®Are there any villages between here and Ror-Bhyk?¡¯ Aki¡¯s brow furrowed as she thought and did some mental calculations. ¡®Traders mentioned a place called Zel-vyme, but I¡¯ve never been there, so I have no idea where that is.¡¯ What was the place Ereshkigal told me to go? Lin-vyme? Is ¡°-Vyme¡± kind of like ¡°-Burg¡± or ¡°-Stadt¡± on Earth? Maybe this was some sort of a translator weirdness where it didn''t translate proper names? I just realised I was in a wet dream of someone who finished social studies. A whole new world to examine, languages to learn, cultures to explore¡­ If only there weren''t face-eating monsters that eat faces around¡­ I outlined my general travel plan to my companions, they agreed that it was as sound as it could be and we packed up and set off. When we left the cover of the ruin and the mountains I found myself in the direct sunlight for the first time since I got here. You see, the day was fairly warm so I eschewed my coat, hoodies and armour and just walked around in my sleeveless tunic and pants. They repaired themselves enough that they only looked mildly tattered and most of the dirt covering them was gone. Soulbound items were very useful. So when the beam of light touched my exposed arm I experienced absolute agony I haven''t felt since the L?we¡¯s fireball hit me in the chest. I screamed and holding my arm I instinctively backed into the shadows, where after I fell on my backside and just started to wait for the pain to stop. Caei and Aki were immediately by my side asking me what was wrong. ¡®My¡­ arm¡­ it¡­ feels¡­ like¡­ on¡­ fire¡­¡¯ I half groaned and half cried. Caei quickly examined it. ¡®It definitely looks red, but there is no other visible damage,¡¯ she said. Still, she cast some spell and with a flash of green light the pain immediately stopped. ¡®Soothe Pain,¡¯ she explained. ¡®What the fuck happened?¡¯ I asked, badly shaken. ¡®Honestly¡­ I have no idea.¡¯ Caeileera began and exchanged worried looks with Aki.¡¯If I were to make a guess, however, it is tied to you being made of literal shadow.¡¯ ¡®You mean, this will always happen when Lil is out in the sun?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®This is completely out of my field of expertise,¡¯ Caei shrugged, earning a reproachful look from my girlfriend. ¡®There is no sun in the Pale Badlands, nor do we have shadow creatures.¡¯ Wait¡­ no sun? ¡®One way to find out I guess¡­¡¯ I sighed. I got up and with major trepidation extended my arm into the sun again. This time it still hurt, but not as badly. Interesting. I retracted my arm and extended the other one. I hissed when I agony started again, but as I was prepared for it I simply backed away and Caei wordlessly cast Soothe Pain again. ¡®Apparently, my body will need to adjust to direct sunlight. Hopefully, it is a one-off process.¡¯ Might as well get it over with. I undressed, earning worried looks from my companions. ¡®By the Blood,¡¯ Caei swore. ¡®Not that I mind, but what the hell are you doing?¡¯ ¡®Something I will likely regret,¡¯ I muttered and stepped into the sunlight. I was right¡­ that wasn¡¯t the smartest thing to do. Chapter 44 - The Best Disinfectant When I regained consciousness, I was lying on the ground in the shade of the mountain, most of my body covered by my coat. I saw that the damage paper doll was once again visible in the corner of my vision and that it was wholly light pink. Aki and Caei were sitting by my side. ¡®You¡¯re awake!¡¯ My girlfriend exclaimed. ¡®Thank the gods!¡¯ She gave me a hug, which sent waves of pain down my entire body. She saw me wince so she quickly let go. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ she muttered. ¡®I was just so worried.¡¯ ¡®N-no problem,¡¯ I muttered through gritted teeth. ¡®What happened? The last thing I remember is stepping into the sun.¡¯ Caeileera opened her mouth to speak but I silenced her with a gesture. ¡®Actually¡­ I don¡¯t think I want to know.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t blame you,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®Just don¡¯t do that again.¡¯ ¡®Noted. Which is why you are not going to like what I¡¯m going to do next.¡¯ Me neither. ¡®Please, don¡¯t!¡¯ Aki exclaimed. ¡®It could kill you!¡¯ Was it that bad? I slid off my coat and saw that my entire body was reddened like my arm previously. I winced seeing that. Well¡­ it only took me three days to get full-body burns. ¡®Yeah¡­ For once, I¡¯m gonna do what the doctor ordered.¡¯ Caeileera nodded and went to retrieve my clothes. ¡®I¡¯m sorry for making you worried,¡¯ I said to Aki while Caei was away. ¡®Again.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t do something this stupid ever again,¡¯ Aki said with barely-contained anger and stalked off. ¡®Someone is in the doghouse I see,¡¯ Caei said when she handed me my clothes. ¡®Can¡¯t say I am not mad at you too. What by the Blood were you thinking, you idiot?¡¯ I began to dress and answered: ¡®That it¡¯s better to rip off the bandaid quickly.¡¯ Realising those were not a thing here I added: ¡®It is a kind of wound dressing you can glue to your skin to deal with small wounds.¡¯ ¡®You Earthlings and your inventions,¡¯ Caei laughed with a bit of wonder in her voice. We tried to get moving again. Every slimy cell of my body protested when I moved to test how my skin would react to sunlight this time around. To my relief, it only resulted in minor discomfort. Hopefully, this means my ¡°skin¡± is slowly adapting to light. I lifted my tunic and exposed my belly to the sun. Likewise, I only felt minor discomfort. ¡®How is it?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Not that bad,¡¯ I said and let go of the tunic. Oh, sweet relief. And with that, we set off. The longer we walked the worse I felt. I kinda knew my shadow powers would be diminished in sunlight, given how other light sources had that effect too, but I never suspected it would be this crippling. I expected to be down to baseline human, but my movements felt somewhat sluggish; there was the constant discomfort wherever the sun touched my exposed skin; it seemed my eyesight was a bit worse and you know that feeling of one of your ears being clogged? Yeah¡­ my whole body felt like that. What the fuck? I focused on the paper doll and saw a new status icon there. It was a smiling sun. Yeah. Fuck you too, buddy. Status: Exposed to a Hostile Environment Effects: Agility reduced by 25% Endurance reduced by 25% Perception reduced by 50% Description: If you haven''t figured it out by now - you are nocturnal. In time, you will adapt to being out during the day, but you will never be at 100%. Fucking hell. I opened up my stats and there it was.
Basic Details
Name Lilyth Race Tenebral Slimeling
Gender Transwoman Age 33
Level 7 (532/4000 exp) Class Shadow Paladin
Rank Novice Perk Points 2
Attributes
Physical Progress Mental Progress
Strength 12 0% Intelligence 16 87%
Dexterity 14 37% Wisdom 12 0%
Agility 7 (11) 36% Willpower 15 44%
Endurance 8 (12) 62% Cunning 8 29%
Vitality 13 67% Resilience 7 21%
Perception 5 (11) 0% Faith 3 0%
Appearance 12 0% Charisma The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. 6 23%
Damn. That is dire. Still, I will need to allocate the perk points at some point. And why is my strength at 12 with 0% progress? Did I hit some sort of a soft cap? I checked my notifications. The following attributes have progressed: Strength: +9% (100% total progress to level 12) Your Strength Attribute has increased to level 12 (0% total progress to level 13) Your total health has increased Note: You have reached the natural limit your body can reach on its own. Further increases of Strength will require the use of perk points or dedicated training regimen. Dexterity: +7% (37% total progress to level 15) Agility: +15% (36% total progress to level 12) Endurance: +38% (62% total progress to level 13) Vitality: +30% (67% total progress to level 14) Intelligence: +3% (87% total progress to level 17) Willpower: +8% (44% total progress to level 16) Resilience: +3% (21% total progress to level 8) The following skills have progressed: Insight: +7% (52% total progress to level 18) Bastard Sword - Two-handed: +60% (102% total progress to level 7) Your Bastard Sword - Two-handed skill has increased to level 7 (1% total progress to level 8) Air Arcana: +16% (84% total progress to level 4) The following spells have progressed: Fist of Wind: +14% (73% total progress to level 3) Huh. I mean that makes sense. It¡¯s not like I have muscles. Being made of jello does have its limitations. Maybe if I increase my overall body mass? But not sure how permanent that would be. Getting myself distracted over my stats was not the smartest thing to do as I missed a root protruding from the ground, tripped over it and face-planted on the ground. ¡®Ow¡­¡¯ I muttered, as I tried to gather myself from the ground. Aki rushed over to me. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ she shouted. ¡®Are you okay?¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I lied. ¡®Was just lost in thought.¡¯ ¡®Seems to be a theme today,¡¯ Caeileera said with more of the unusual wryness in her voice. ¡®Either you think too much, or too little.¡¯ She was right. I needed to focus. I was in an unknown place. Ereshkigal only knew what horrors lurked here, and the forest was, for lack of a better term, eerie. There was no animal activity there to speak of. No bird singing. No buzzing of bugs. Nothing. ¡®Sorry for making you worry, guys,¡¯ I said with genuine remorse. ¡®I¡¯ll try to do better. Speaking of - is it normally this quiet here?¡¯ Caei looked surprised by the question, but before she could say anything Aki answered: ¡®Yes. There are parts of the forest where no animal goes. No one knows why.¡¯ So there doth be fuckery afoot. ¡®Anything bad ever happens in these?¡¯ I asked. Aki shook her head. ¡®People from my village often went to these if they wanted to be alone. It¡¯s a good place to think.¡¯ She threw me an amused look. ¡®Though you might want to avoid them.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I chuckled and started getting up from the ground. ¡®I guess I should.¡¯ As we resumed our journey I walked up to Caei and asked. ¡®You okay? You feel¡­ off.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s¡­ Deirdee,¡¯ Caeileera answered after a moment. ¡®I¡¯m worried about her.¡¯ ¡®I understand,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®I know it is my fault she is gone, but I can only hope we meet her again someday.¡¯ Caei grunted an unhappy acknowledgement. ¡®I¡¯ll get over it¡­ eventually,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®I guess she did what she thought was best?¡¯ ¡®Yup,¡¯ I said and added with a reassuring tone: ¡®She¡¯ll always be welcome with us though. Even if she just popped up now, I would welcome her with open arms.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she said and gently brushed her hand against mine. I did my best to ignore it. ¡®Are you okay though?¡¯ she asked, changing the subject. ¡®You don¡¯t look so good.¡¯ I shared the status with her. She hissed upon seeing it. ¡®Do you want to stop until it is darker? She asked with genuine concern. I shook my head, even though every cell in my body screamed ¡°yes¡±. ¡®I don¡¯t want to force you and Aki into a nocturnal life,¡¯ I said. ¡®I¡¯ll get used to it. Eventually.¡¯ Caei nodded. ¡®Let us know if you ever change your mind. We can always figure something out.¡¯ ¡®Yeah. Will do.¡¯ We got to the river without any further incidents. It was a pretty nice spot too. A small clearing surrounded by the blue and orange trees. The day was fairly pleasant too. Maybe twenty-three or twenty-four degrees, with a pleasant breeze blowing. If I was still human this would be a perfect spot for a date, I thought mournfully. Set up a blanket and a basket of tasty snacks and all three of us could sit here and enjoy ourselves. Alas, it is not to be. Then it hit me¡­ All three of us? Aki suggested we should all wash up, which while it didn¡¯t help me with impure thoughts, did sound like an excellent idea. My last bath was in that river next to Goblintown, which right now felt like a lifetime ago, even though it was just two days. I told the girls to go first, as I felt too tired and needed to rest, which was perfectly true. I found myself a shaded spot in the shadow and sat against the tree there. It felt so good. The problem while walking through the forest was that it was hard to escape from the sun as I would constantly be passing spots through which light shone. And if that was bad, if we ever had to walk through a place without cover, a sunlit plain for instance, we would have to figure something out. Still, it was time for me to finally use up my perk points. I pulled up my skill list.
Skills
Lore - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Insight Novice 17 52%
Lore - Humanities
Name Rank Level Progress
Linguistics Journeyslime 40 10%
Earth Literature Apprentice 25 0%
Earth History Novice 10 0%
Lore - Sciences
Name Rank Level Progress
Data Analysis Apprentice 30 3%
Mathematics Novice 10 0%
Computing Novice 15 0%
Survival - General
Name Rank Level Progress
First Aid Novice 2 0%
Sense of Direction Novice 10 8%
Stealth Novice 4 8%
Climbing Novice 1 77%
Martial - Swords
Name Rank Level Progress
Bastard Sword - Two-handed Novice 7 1%
Crafting - Cooking
Name Rank Level Progress
General Novice 2 0%
Crafting - Magical
Name Rank Level Progress
Arcane Writing Novice 1 50%
Arcana
Name Rank Level Progress
Earth Novice 2 28%
Air Novice 3 84%
Water Novice 0 5%
Umbral Novice 3 0%
Sanguine Novice 1 33%
Spells
Name Arcana Rank Level Progress
Rock Spikes Earth Novice 3 44%
Gust of Wind Air Novice 3 21%
Fist of Wind Air Novice 2 73%
Flickering Lights Umbral Novice 1 0%
Quench Torch Umbral Novice 1 0%
Shadow Weapon Umbral Novice 1 0%
Shadow Barrage Umbral Novice 1 0%
Shadow Bolt Umbral Novice 1 0%
Blood Lance Sanguine Novice 1 60%
Traits
Name Level Progress
Neurodivergence N/A N/A
The Queen''s Raivarian N/A N/A
Entomophobia 08/10 Special
Hidden Predator N/A N/A
Predator''s Instinct ??? ???
Elemental Infusion - Air 2/10 Special
Abilities
Name Rank Level Progress
The Swiftness of the Wind Novice 1 0%
I put one in Umbral Arcana and one in Bastard Sword. Your Umbral Arcana skill has increased to level 4 (0% total progress to level 4) You have spent 1 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 1) Your Bastard Sword - Two-handed skill has increased to level 8 (0% total progress to level 8) You have spent 1 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) While everything in me screamed against using either of the skills right now, Air Arcana was also out due to me still having at least three weeks on the timer. Status: Elemental Contamination - Air Level: 3 - Severe Effects:
  • Irreversible changes to body structure have occurred
  • Increased effectiveness of Air Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Decreased effectiveness of other Elemental Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Unable to use Earth Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
Note: The level of contamination will revert to 2 - Moderate 20 days, 4 hours and 52 minutes. I hated how limiting it was. It left me with only Sanguine Arcana to use during the day and¡­ and¡­ The next thing I remembered was Caei waking me up, her clothes wet and her hair dripping water. We really need to get some towels. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ I said. ¡®I must have dozed off.¡¯ ¡®No problem,¡¯ she responded with concern. ¡®I understand. If you think¡­¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ I waved her off. ¡®I¡¯ll be fine.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think you will,¡¯ Caei sighed. ¡®But your choice. Anyway¡­ it¡¯s your turn.¡¯ She helped me get up, and I walked to the river. Washing up was an awful experience, as my naked body was fully exposed to the flaming jackass in the sky. Still¡­ It felt good to be clean. After I was done, I dressed up in a cleaner pair of clothes. I considered putting my greatcoat on, but it was too warm for it. So more suffering it was. I shook my head and, at Aki¡¯s and Caeileera¡¯s urging, I took the lead to set the pace. Being under the cover of the forest helped some. I was seriously considering asking them to wait until the evening after all, but suddenly there was a loud crack and I felt something punch me in the shoulder. It hurt slightly but wasn''t anything to write home about. It also barely registered on the damage indicator. Did someone just shoot me? That''s not a very nice thing to do. I touched the place where I thought I was shot and lo¡¯ and behold there was a hole there. ¡®Cover it with your hand,¡¯ the Huntress urged me. ¡®Play the part of being shot.¡¯ Good point. My worries about being a terrible actor disappeared when the wind moved some of the leaves and a beam of light shone over the wound. I screamed. Chapter 45 - The Red Mask When the crack of the gunshot came, Caeileera took the glaive off her back. She saw that Aki reached for her swords rather than the gun. Good. The girl knew that it would be bad to use fire here. Suddenly, Lilyth screamed. She noticed that their leader¡¯s left arm was hanging loosely by her side, while she was pressing her right on the shoulder. Caei wanted to rush over to her but Lilyth stopped her with a gesture of the ¡°hanging¡± arm. She just hoped the slimeling knew what she was doing. Her decisions that day have been¡­ questionable. Then, suddenly, a deep angry voice came from behind one of the bushes. ¡®Light damn you, Tarvil. I told you not to hurt any of them.¡¯ There was rustling of leaves from around them mixed with cracks of broken twigs. Slowly seven men emerged from the cover of trees and bushes and surrounded them. Most of them wore ragged clothes and carried dented swords and spears. One, a wiry malnourished-looking young man with dirty scraggly orange hair and a weedpatch of a beard was busy reloading a simple flintlock pistol. There was a cutlass at his side. That must be Tarvil, she decided. Next to Tarvil stood a muscular man with a shaved head, carrying a long sword. They appeared to be the ¡°honour¡± guard for the man she assumed to be their leader. He was actually a semi-imposing figure and the only one who had properly maintained equipment: a blue brigantine and steel helmet and an arming sword-and-shield combo. There was a demonic red mask painted on the latter which matched the one the man wore. Caeileera could have been biased but, it had nothing on the ones Sanguine had. It was clearly just a man with long fangs, slanted eyes and a pair of wooden horns. Aki looked more terrifying than this, and she was an innocent-looking cute girl. ¡®I¡¯m sorry for my man there,¡¯ the Red Mask said. ¡®This was meant to just be a warning shot. Don¡¯t worry, we will pay for the healing potion. Tarvil will be happy to pay it from his share, right Tarvil?¡¯ ¡®Y-yes,¡¯ the boy stammered out. ¡®S-sorry, boss.¡¯ ¡®See, M''Lady? No harm, no foul. So ask your companions to lower your weapons and no more healing potions will be necessary. Tarvil couldn''t believe his rotten luck. He seriously didn''t want to hurt the elf. Just a shot over her head like the boss ordered. Now, he would lose most of the Divines he would get from selling them. At that rate, the Red Masks would never accept him. ¡®Lower our weapons?¡¯ the elf asked, clearly in pain. She was a pretty thing. A bit shorter than he was, her hair long and like a cloud with a blue streak. The wet green tunic and brown pants were clinging to her in a very revealing way. She was a bit pale, but hopefully, the boss would let him and the boys put some colour into her. Her companions were drop-dead gorgeous too. The glaive wielder was taller than the elf, though almost just as pale and had three horns protruding from her forehead in a crown-like manner, while eyes and hair were blood-red. She wore black robes, with some gold embroidering that must have been worth a fortune, and a red stole. She also had a pair of crow-feathered wings. What is she? The last member of the group was a young demonborn girl. She had sea-green eyes while her tied-into-ponytail hair was sky blue and there was a pair of short black-and-red horns curving up from her forehead. She wore the same clothes as the elf, with the exception of also having a grey wrap-around cloak. Her thin arrow-tipped tail was twitching nervously, but there was a visage of grim determination on her face. ¡®Yes,¡¯ the Boss answered the elf¡¯s question. ¡®There is no need to fight. I promise we mean you no harm¡­¡¯ He paused and looked at her injured shoulder. ¡®No more harm,¡¯ he corrected himself. ¡®Come with us peacefully and I promise you will be treated well.¡¯ Tarvil thought something flashed in the elf¡¯s eyes but it could have just been a light reflection. ¡®And prithee tell me, kind sir, what dost thou intend of us?¡¯ the elf asked, almost incomprehensibly. What? ¡®Oh¡­ there are establishments where women such as you would be most welcome, I merely wish to offer you work in one. Surely it beats dying in an ambush, or getting wounded and dragged there anyway?¡¯ Then a thought struck Tarvil, and hope sprung in his heart. Maybe his rotten luck was turning after all. He pointed at the girl and asked: ¡®Hey, boss. Isn''t she the one the Inquisitor is looking for?¡¯ The man in the Red Mask, Tarvil had never learned his name, looked at the demonborn and studied her. ¡®I think you may be right. In which case I really must insist you lower your weapons. The Inquisitor may take exception to us if we bring her damaged, so surely you must understand we will ensure you cannot interfere.¡¯ Resignation appeared on the elf¡¯s face but was quickly replaced with a look that chilled Tarvil to the bone. She looked like a predatory animal. Then Dolman, the man with the longsword, pointed at the elf¡¯s shoulder. ¡®Uh¡­ why isn''t the elf bleeding?¡¯ Tarvil looked at it and saw that there indeed was no blood. Suddenly, a flash of red caught his attention. A crimson something was gathering in the palm of the elf¡¯s hand. And it was then that the very bad end to what looked to be a promising day began. Tarvil tried to utter a warning but it was too late. With speed he thought impossible, the elf threw what turned out to be a lance of blood at the boss. The projectile impaled him through the throat and the Red Masked man dropped dead on the floor. The winged woman capitalising on the elf¡¯s success weaved with her glaive towards Wilf and Matis, opening the stomach of the former and cutting off the left hand of the latter. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Why didn''t they move? Why am I not moving? The answer was simple. They were almost all green. Except for the Boss and Dolman, none of them had ever been in a fight. At least not one like this. A knife fight in an alley of Ror-Bhyk did not compare to this. Matis dropped his axe and grabbed at the stump, screaming from pain and shock. Robard regained his wits then and charged at the elf. She didn''t even need to draw her weapon. Something gathered around her arm and she punched at him. Her fist seemed to have carried the power of a hurricane as a massive gust of wind was emitted on impact and Robrido flew at one of the trees, his chest a gory mess. The impact finished the job and what slumped to the ground was less a man and more a fleshy bag of broken bones. Magic, Tarvil finally realised. He felt a warm stream of urine go down his leg. Nobody had said anything about facing magic users. This was also apparently enough for Dolman as the muscular man turned tail and ran away screaming, leaving only Tarvil and Gennensen on the field. No. It was just him, as when he was looking at Dolman his last companion ended up with blades of the demonborn¡¯s swords lodged in his chest. The realisation that no one else was left finally broke him out of the stupor. Tarvil started to turn around but then he realised that the robed woman was missing. Suddenly, he noticed that something was blocking the sun above him, and then there was searing pain in his stomach. ¡®Caei!¡¯ someone faraway shouted. ¡®Get the last guy! Alive!¡¯ Tarvil looked down and saw a long piece of wood protruding from his belly and he himself was at an angle. He tried to right himself, but something was coming out of his back too. He gripped the shaft with his hands and tried to pull it out but it was stuck. Oh. His problem was solved when the robed woman dropped from the sky next to him. Tarvil saw her grab the glaive and start pulling it out. He raised one of his hands pleadingly and weakly croaked: ¡®Don¡¯t¡­¡¯ This Caei paid him no heed. The most agonising few seconds of his life followed, after which his body fell sideways to the ground. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was bloody fleshy snakes emerging from his stomach. When he woke up, he was standing on a white disk surrounded by darkness. All of his friends were standing next to him: Wilf, Matis, Gennensen, Robrido and¡­ a clean-shaven man with short blonde hair. Must be the boss, he realised. But where are we? Suddenly there was a puff of smoke in front of them and out of it a slender woman with long white hair emerged from it. On her feet she had black high-sole shoes and knee-high red-black striped socks protruding out of them. The woman also wore a short black pleated skirt and some sort of shirt with a hood. There was a long-eared animal in the middle of this peculiar piece of clothing. Weirdest of all, the stranger¡¯s nails were painted pink. She waved at them in a friendly manner. ¡®Hey boys!¡¯ she shouted happily, though her smile reminded Tarvil of a wolf pleased to see its prey. Dolman was running faster than he had ever run in his life. He had to get away. He had to! There was no way he was fighting magic users. NO WAY! Suddenly something hard hit him in the back and pushed him to the ground. ¡®Sorry, hon,¡¯ he heard a woman say. ¡®A valiant attempt, though.¡¯ NO! NO! NO! He tried to get up but someone was standing on his back. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ the woman continued. ¡®We have questions for you.¡¯ They waited in silence and after a few minutes, two sets of footsteps started approaching. ¡®Get off him, Caei,¡¯ Dolman heard the elf say,¡¯ I¡¯d rather speak to this chucklefuck face to face. And good catch.¡¯ Chucklefuck? ¡®Aww¡­ Thank you, Lilyth,¡¯ this Caei responded. ¡®I always relish a good hunt.¡¯ The weight disappeared from his back. ¡®On your feet!¡¯ the elf - Lilyth ordered. Dolman obeyed. Maybe he would get out of this alive if he worked along with them. The demonborn and Caei flanked him, while Lilyth stood in front of him. He noticed that she was no longer covering the bullet hole and the inside was blue and black. What in the Abyss? ¡®Let¡¯s start by you introducing yourself,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I¡¯m Dolman.¡¯ ¡®So Dolman¡­ tell me about this Inquisitor.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know anything!¡¯ he cried. The elf drew her sword and put the tip of it on Dolman¡¯s throat. ¡®Why don¡¯t I believe you?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s true! We heard rumours that there was an Inquisitor around, looking for some demonborn girl. Apparently, the boss was warned about his coming by someone he knew, but he was the one handling the details.¡¯ ¡®The boss would be the one in the red mask? What¡¯s his name?¡¯ ¡®Yes. Kiren. I was the only one of us who knew¡­ please¡­¡¯ The elf processed the information for a moment. ¡®Any more of your friends around?¡¯ ¡®No!¡¯ he denied truthfully. ¡®It was just the seven of us!¡¯ She pressed the sword slightly and Dolman felt pain and a bead of blood trickle down his throat. ¡®I¡¯m not lying!¡¯ ¡®Anything else we should ask him?¡¯ Lilyth asked her companions. There was a brief silence and then this Caei asked in return: ¡®No. And do you seriously just take him at his word?¡¯ Oh no¡­ ¡®No. But I doubt we¡¯ll get more useful answers from him. On my¡­. where I¡¯m from we kinda figured out that torture doesn¡¯t work.¡¯ A certain sadness appeared in Lilyth¡¯s eyes. ¡®Now what do we do about you?¡¯ She lowered her sword giving him hope, but she continued: ¡®Normally, I am a strong believer in second chances, but every instinct tells me I should remove you from the equation, Dolman. You know about Aki. You know what we look like. You were hanging out with someone willing to sell us to a whore house.¡¯ A pained expression ran through her face. ¡®I¡¯m sorry,¡¯ she said and then she swung her sword sideways across his throat. Dolman tried to scream but the only thing to come out was gurgles. He did not know how long he was lying there holding his throat. The world became indistinct and grey. Am I dying? ¡®Yes,¡¯ a deep voice said. ¡®But I can save you. All you have to do is¡­ serve.¡¯ Chapter 46 - A Royal Offer I felt nauseous. I just executed a defenceless man in cold blood. I knew I was right¡­ but fuck me if that wasn¡¯t a murder. For Ereshkigal¡¯s sake¡­ there are provisions in the Geneva Convention against this stuff. I staggered forward and supported myself on one of the trees. This guy was evil this guy was evil this guy was evil ¡®You okay?¡¯ I heard Aki ask. ¡®No,¡¯ I answered curtly. ¡®You did the right thing,¡¯ she said and put her hand on my shoulder. ¡®You did it for me. Thank you.¡¯ I nodded weakly. ¡®Let¡¯s just get away from here¡­¡¯ The further we got from the scene of the massacre the better I felt. Well¡­ at least mentally. Physically¡­ the sun was still in the sky. After two kilometres, I thought we¡¯d walked far enough and called for a halt. ¡®Can¡­ can we wait until it¡¯s darker?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Sure thing!¡¯ Caei and Aki said, clearly happy with me. We set up an impromptu camp and I hid in the shade. Aki went up to me and snuggled against me. Caei looked at us longingly. I caught Aki¡¯s attention and pointed towards the Sanguine with my head. She looked at Caei, mulled it over and finally nodded. The Sanguine couldn''t have looked happier. She walked over to Aki, gave her a peck on the cheek and sat at the other side of me. I embraced both of them which proved slightly problematic due to her wings. Eventually, we found a position comfortable for all three of us. Caei was lying on her side facing me, her head on my lap. From time to time I gently stroked her hair with my hand. To my surprise, Aki chose to position herself on the same side of me as the Sanguine. They even intertwined their fingers. Once again I felt whole. We weren¡¯t lovers. Not yet, anyway. Just three friends who found each other and were brought together by a shared struggle and need for intimacy. I now had people to fight for. And I would gladly do so. ¡®Serve you?¡¯ Dolman asked, confused. ¡®Wh- Who are you?¡¯ The bandit then realised something. I¡¯m speaking. But my throat was cut. He was still on the ground, yet he no longer felt¡­ tethered. Dolman raised his arm and saw that the ghostly afterimage of it detached itself from the flesh and blood still on the ground. And it was that simulacrum that was responding to his commands. ¡®Perhaps, I should have been clearer,¡¯ the voice continued. ¡®Your body has died, but your soul still hasn''t passed to the Realm of the Dead, yet. I stopped it. For now.¡¯ That gave Dolman a start. He got up and looked around in fear. He was alone in a grey world. His dead body, a sad little thing, was lying on the ground. It almost felt like not him anymore. ¡®The Realm of the Dead? The priests have always taught those are pagan lies. That we would be at the side of the Light after our death.¡¯ ¡®If the Light deemed you worthy, yes. And guess what. You aren¡¯t. Few are. Those unworthy of Light''s attention are discarded and left at the mercy of the Bitch-Queen of the Dead. And let me tell you¡­ she will ensure scum like you really regret everything you¡¯ve done before you are allowed to reincarnate.¡¯ A vision appeared in his mind of his recent companions. The sight and their screams engraved themselves on the core of Dolman¡¯s soul. He fell to his knees. ¡®No¡­ no¡­¡¯ he started to cry. There was a crack and a man dressed in a sleeveless yellow shirt with black winding and greenish pants appeared in front of him. He was tall and muscular with slightly brownish skin. He had blonde neck-long hair and stubble on his cheeks. Dolman realised this man was the only thing that had colour here. Why? ¡®I can help you avoid this, the stranger continued.¡¯ All you have to do is to enter my service.¡¯ He extended his hand. Dolman looked at it. If he didn''t accept it he would spend the rest of his existence in suffering. But didn''t he deserve it? His death changed his perspective on his actions. Is this what our victims felt? He heard the screams of his comrades again. He took the man¡¯s hand. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡®Good,¡¯ the man said and snapped the fingers of his other hand. Dolman found himself back in his body. The world once again regained colour. He felt itching on his throat as his tissues knit themselves together. The man, the King Who Commands The Ocean, he realised, his king now and forever, was standing over him with an extended hand. Dolman took it again and his master helped him get up. ¡®Welcome to the team, Dolman,¡¯ The King Who Commands The Ocean said, ¡®We have a lot to do. Serve me well and you will be rewarded.¡¯ ¡®I want the elf,¡¯ he responded. ¡®I want her to pay.¡¯ ¡®Forget the elf, Dolman,¡¯ his new master laughed. ¡®I can offer you much¡­ much more. We must have all dozed off. I was the first one to wake up and saw that Aki joined Caei with her head on my lap. They were cuddling against each other. Not wanting to disturb them, I just sat there, content with my life. I looked at the sky. It looked to be late afternoon. I was starting to feel somewhat better, but it was still far from perfect. I could go on though. I felt stirring on my legs and I saw Caei with her eyes open. ¡®Hello, sleepyhead,¡¯ I softly said to her. She smiled at me and I ran my fingers through her hair. ¡®I see you¡¯ve resolved your issues with Aki,¡¯ I said with a smile. ¡®Yes,¡¯ she smiled back. ¡®We¡¯ve agreed to share you if you are up for it.¡¯ ¡®I was afraid I would eventually have to choose between you. This will probably need some figuring out, but I am willing to try. And I don¡¯t mind you two¡­ you know.¡¯ ¡®We have this bit figured out, I think.¡¯ I looked at them. ¡®That you do,¡¯ I chuckled. Caei managed to get up without disturbing Aki and tiptoed to my side. She leaned forward for a kiss and I obliged her. She was a much better kisser than Aki, but probably that was due to the experience. There is this phrase ¡°sealed with a kiss¡±, and I think that kiss sealed our arrangement. We stayed there for an extra hour until the sun began to set. Aki eventually woke up and we simply lay down on the ground there, me and her on our backs and Caei on her side facing us. I recognized this would likely become our regular sleeping arrangement. We just held hands and talked. Maybe a smooch here or there. Eventually, it was time for us to go. As we gathered our stuff I checked my status timer. Status: Elemental Contamination - Air Level: 3 - Severe Effects: Irreversible changes to body structure have occurred Increased effectiveness of Air Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits Decreased effectiveness of other Elemental Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits Unable to use Earth Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits Note: The level of contamination will revert to 2 - Moderate 20 days, 3 hours and 25 minutes. It actually went down by an hour compared to what it was in the morning. Good. I used the Swiftness of the Wind to counteract my decreased agility, so I was happy I didn¡¯t screw myself too much. At this rate, the ¡°three weeks¡± will take two months. I checked my notifications, though I quickly deleted those for the kill without reading them. I did not want to see what the execution netted me. I was happy to see that my experience points went up by three hundred and fifty in total. The following attributes have progressed: Endurance: +10% (72% total progress to level 13) Intelligence: +2% (89% total progress to level 17) Willpower: +4% (48% total progress to level 16) The following skills have progressed: Air Arcana: +20% (104% total progress to level 4) Your Air Arcana skill has increased to level 4 (2% total progress to level 5) Sanguine Arcana: +15% (48% total progress to level 2) The following spells have progressed: Fist of Wind: +14% (87% total progress to level 3) Blood Lance: +30% (90% total progress to level 2) The following abilities have progressed: The Swiftness of the Wind: +10% (10% total progress to level 2) Yeah. Now that I am no longer in constant danger, I imagine the gains will slow down. Not that I mind. ¡®Are you sure you are fine with us travelling during evenings and nights?¡¯ I asked my girlfriends after we started walking. ¡®Yup!¡¯ Aki said. ¡®We want you to be comfortable too. And in case of danger, you need to be at your best, too.¡¯ ¡®I concur,¡¯ Caei added. ¡®We got lucky with those bandits today, but sooner or later we can run into someone that¡¯s¡­ less easy to deal with.¡¯ I didn¡¯t think of that. Some leader I am. ¡®Noted. And sorry for what I did this morning¡­ This is all new to me. Including¡­¡¯ I waved around. ¡®At most, I have been responsible for myself and my cat. So¡­¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it, hon,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®We were just worried about you.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll try not to give you more reasons to.¡¯ We covered an extra seven kilometres that evening as we found the road and began following it. As we walked signs of habitation became more frequent: side trails into the forest, some markers, some trash here and there. That meant we would soon be likely approaching another village, possibly Zel-Vyme, and that posed challenges given that the Spanish Inquisition was on Aki¡¯s trail and we couldn¡¯t just waltz in. Caeileera was a hot goth vampire from a dimension of blood, so I¡¯m not sure how local clergy would look at her. Other than my hair being a cloud, I was mostly normal-looking, so I would likely be the only one going in. And that meant we would need to plan this carefully. Chapter 47 - The Temple Dragoons The apple-thing was delicious. Of course, it wasn''t one - it was called Hvilv and was purple. Its taste was a weird mix of grape and pineapple. But it looked like an apple, so a fucking apple it was. It was a pleasant cold and cloudy day, so between that and my greatcoat I wasn''t in complete agony, so I really could actually enjoy myself. Zel-Vyme was a complete shithole by the twenty-first century¡¯s standards, but it had its charm. It was a sort of a rundling built around the main road heading to Ror-Bhyk. Luckily for me, thanks to this everything we needed was easily found and I didn''t need to show my absolute ignorance of mediaeval villages to the locals. Our plan was simple: I would go to the village, pick up some food and scout out the situation. Aki and Caei were hiding a couple of hundred metres into the forest. There was a general store and some merchant stalls. First I checked the store and to my immense relief, they had the local equivalent of travel rations. They were probably overpriced, fuck, the fifteen I got cost me three hundred lights but it spared the issue of ¡°asking for stuff I¡¯ve never seen before and pretending to know what I am doing¡±. Aki did coach me about what was what, but my jelly ass was used to picking up veggies and fruits at the produce section at a local supermarket where I could just pick and choose. I did frequent some fruit and vegetable stores, but at least I knew what I was buying. Not to mention: how much should I buy? I did use the knowledge I got from Aki to pick up some fresh fruit like the hvilv. I also bought some green berry things called t¡¯uaries which, apparently, were named after R¡¯as-T''uar - the god of Earth. I haven''t met him yet. The oddest thing I saw on the way to the store was a kitschy white-and-gold ornate lizard-drawn carriage parked by the inn. There was some sort of a star motif on its side. The lizard looked kind of familiar. Suddenly, a flashback hit me of the big monster that almost killed us in the Tower of Trials. What was its name? Darhun? This one was nowhere near as large as the big fuck in the dungeon. It was maybe cow-sized? Its scales were greenish-bow, though the ones on its belly were beige. Its short snout also seemed to open normally and looked very boopable. This Darhun also didn''t have more eyes than it seemed appropriate in a civilised society and the two blue it had were filled with a certain playfulness. All in all, the thing was absolutely adorable. Alas, I had suspicion as to the owner of the carriage, and I didn''t want the Inquisitor to notice me because I stopped by to pet his lizard. Maybe just one boop¡­ No, must resist booping. The looks the locals gave the carriage were¡­ interesting. There was outright hostility and resentment in them. More than once I heard someone whisper ¡°Dan-Hem¡± and ¡°They¡¯ll pay for it¡±. And so the day went. All in all, it was a pretty successful supply run. Alas, just as I was headed towards the exit from the village, the whole thing went tits up. ¡®Hey, elf!¡¯ I heard someone shout in a gruff voice. I thought it was addressed to someone else, so I kept going. ¡®Hey, ELF!¡¯ the voice repeated, clearly angry and much closer. Just when I was remembering I looked like one, I felt someone grab my shoulder. ¡®HEY- ¡® the stranger began again, but I was already whirling around ready to defend myself. The sudden move made the man lose his grip which allowed me to back away. I put my hand on the hilt of my sword clearly indicating that my assailant would not have an easy time with me. I eyed the man. He was very tall, taller than Caei even, and had the body build of a soldier - all muscles, very little fat. This gave his clean cheeks a bit of a sunken look which, along with his shaved hair and pasty complexion, made him look like someone busy dying of something nasty. He had a nasty scar under one of his eyes, and his nose looked to have been broken at some time in the past. There was not a bit of warmth in his brown eyes, which were boring into me as if I had just killed the man¡¯s entire extended family and his dog. He wore a dark blue scale mail with a green tabard with the same twelve-pointed star that was painted on the carriage. There was a sword at his side and a shield on his back. I saw that two similarly attired men were some distance away. One had long brown hair and a short beard, the other a blonde flattop. They were by the stall where I bought the fruit. The merchant was looking at me intently. Motherfucker¡­ Unfortunately, the bald loser did not seem to read the mood very well. ¡®Why did you ignore me, elf?¡¯ he spat at me. ¡®And you are?¡¯ I asked and just stared at him dispassionately. I really wasn¡¯t in the mood for his bullshit. ¡®I am the one asking questions here, elf.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s one weird name. I would have changed it at some point.¡¯ If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. It took him a moment to process that one. His face got red when he understood. ¡®I am Ser Vylf of the Temple Dragoons, cur. I will not let you disrespect me, cur.¡¯ The brown-haired man must have noticed that something was up as he began to rush over to us. ¡®Have you considered that by being nicer to people, ser Vylf, they would be more respectful to you as well?¡¯ I felt proud of myself that I managed to deliver this in complete monotone while keeping my dead stare directed at him. Vylfie was not appreciative of my advice as he grabbed his sword and started to unsheathe it. But before it came to blows, his companion was by his side and stopped him. ¡®It¡¯s okay, Vylf,¡¯ he said. ¡®I will handle this.¡¯ ¡®But she-¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll talk about it later. Now go and help Halveck!¡¯ ¡®But -¡¯ ¡®I am still your superior officer, Vylf. That was an order.¡¯ Vylfie gave me a look that promised vengeance. I smiled at him innocently and waved him goodbye. ¡®I am sorry for Vylf,¡¯ the brown-haired man said. ¡®He is new to our order and overeager. I am Arcarius.¡¯ I eyed him. He was actually pretty handsome. There was definite kindness to him, and great sorrow in his grey eyes. ¡®L-,¡¯ I began but quickly corrected myself. ¡®I am Sindara.¡¯ Arcarius furrowed his brow upon hearing that but he said nothing. ¡®How can I help you, ser Arcarius?¡¯ I asked quickly, trying not to draw any more suspicion to me. He laughed warmly. ¡®Just Arcarius is fine, Lady Sindara.¡¯ ¡®Drop the lady part then.¡¯ ¡®Your wish is my command. And to answer your question: You don¡¯t look like a local, so we think you may be able to help us with our search. We are looking for a demonborn girl. Her name is Aki.¡¯ He provided me with a fairly accurate description of her, during which I did my best to keep my face still. ¡®Why?¡¯ I asked to buy myself more time to think up a convincing story, doing my best to keep the voice steady. ¡®She is wanted by the Inquisitor for questioning. That''s all you need to know.¡¯ Wait¡­ what was the stuff SovCits kept yammering on about? ¡®And pardon me for asking this, but do you and your friends have jurisdiction here?¡¯ He looked at me confused. What was the noble in charge of this place? Ah¡­ ¡®Last I checked these are the lands of the Viscount of Ror-Bhyk. Are you his men?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ Arcarius answered, a bit unsure. ¡®My order is sworn to the Church of Light.¡¯ ¡®So surely you must have authorization from him? I can''t imagine the good Viscount would be happy if some strangers were harassing his subjects.¡¯ Arcarius got pale as if he had just seen a ghost, which told me I was on the right track. ¡®Is the Viscount even aware you are here?¡¯ I twisted the knife even further. He didn''t answer. Tsk, tsk. ¡®However, this is not an issue here,¡¯ I said. ¡®I have not seen any demonborn heading towards this village.¡¯ ¡®Th-thank you,¡¯ Arcarius stammered out, only half registering my answer. I wonder where his mind is at. Did they do some no-no? Then it struck me. That¡¯s what the people were being hostile about. The Inquisitor and his party committed some atrocity in Aki¡¯s village. And this fuck at least had enough shame to feel guilty about it. ¡®Can I go?¡¯ I asked, barely concealing my new-found hostility towards the man. He waved me away and I hurried off out of the village. The discussion with Sindara, if that was her real name, left Arcarius very disturbed. No¡­ that wasn¡¯t the right word¡­ not disturbed¡­ I was so afraid of Vanek I did not¡­ I haven''t¡­ All those people¡­ No¡­ What they did in Dan-Hem was monstrous¡­ what he did¡­ they were just defending themselves¡­ weren¡¯t they? He decided not to mention the vagueness of the elf¡¯s answers or her identity to Vanek or his companions. ¡°Sindara¡± was right. They had no business here. Still¡­ how would he convince his party about it? Who was he kidding? Vanek would be implacable. So¡­ What should he - Arcarius do? What could he do? Break his oath and leave? Keep it and stay with a madman? No¡­ he couldn¡¯t. Who knew what atrocity he would have to commit next? The blood of those at Dan-Hem would forever stain his hands¡­ but¡­ maybe he could make up for it. He went back to the inn where Vanek was staying. He went there fully wanting to execute the man. But with each step towards his room, his resolve wavered. No¡­ he couldn¡¯t kill someone in cold blood. Ashamed by his cowardice he returned to his room. He took off his tabard and looked at it. I shamed it the moment I allowed Vanek to execute Elder Matis. Then I let the blood of innocents stain it. And now I lack the resolve to make up for my transgressions. I have no right to wear it¡­ He needed to think. Killing Vanek would be the vengeance for the dead. He would likely die too, but Halveck and Vylf would still be around. And what would stop another Vanek from coming here? He stopped himself from following that line of thought. It was heresy. It was treason. And yet¡­ it rang true. He needed to think. He left the tabard on his bed and went outside. His feet carried him into the forest, where he wandered aimlessly, his thoughts a jumble. Yet¡­ it seemed that every step seemed to lead him away from the village and his old life. Suddenly, he heard two females talking in the distance. What? But before he could go to investigate, he heard a crack of a branch behind him and a cold touch of steel on the side of his neck. ¡®Tell me, Ser Arcarius of the Temple Dragoons,¡¯ he heard Sindara say. ¡®Is there any reason I shouldn¡¯t kill you?¡¯ Chapter 48 - The Secrets of the Forest Arcarius felt no fear. If he was to be punished, so be it. He turned to face this Sindara. He looked her deep in the eyes. There were little flashes of lightning in them from time to time. ¡®There isn¡¯t one,¡¯ he said. ¡®But I want to thank you.¡¯ ¡®What for?¡¯ Sindara asked and cocked her head. ¡®For opening my eyes.¡¯ The next moments were a bit hazy in Arcarius¡¯s memory. Sindara said something he didn¡¯t catch, there were sounds of movement behind him, a green light flashed and the next thing he knew it was evening and he was lying on the forest bed. Did they knock me out? Why spare me? Arcarius dragged himself from the ground and looked around. He was alone. He considered going back to Zel-Vyme and acting like nothing had happened. What would he do then, though? Vanek would not relent. Go back to the headquarters? They would hang him for being a deserter. ¡®There you are!¡¯ he heard Halveck shout from the direction of Zel-Vyme. ¡®We¡¯ve been looking for you Arc.¡¯ Arcarius turned to face him. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ he said. ¡®I went on a walk and lost track of time.¡¯ ¡®Come on back then. The Inquisitor wants to head out first thing tomorrow.¡¯ Maybe I can curb some of his worst excesses at least, and then report him to the Grand Master. And if another Dan-Hem happens, I¡¯ll kill him myself. This I swear on the Light. ¡®I¡¯m still not sure leaving the guy alive was a good idea,¡¯ said Caei after we left the unconscious Arcarius far behind us. When we noticed him wandering around, I snuck up behind him. It was pretty easy, the guy was so distracted that a tank could run him over, especially once we baited him. I caught his attention and then Caei used the Sleep spell on him. ¡®Don¡¯t get me wrong,¡¯ I shrugged. ¡®I don¡¯t like the idea either, but in my world killing cops is probably the worst thing you can do. Because his buddies WOULD come after us.¡¯ ¡®Cops?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Oh¡­ Police¡­ Law Enforcement¡­ Militia? I have no idea what the local equivalent here is.¡¯ We looked at Aki. ¡®I think in Ror-Bhyk, they have City Watch,¡¯ she responded, somewhat unsure. ¡®In Dan-Hem, Elder Matis handles most disputes, and there are three militiamen he can call upon. Usually, they break apart bar brawls.¡¯ Why do I have a feeling at least some of them are dead? ¡®About that Aki¡­¡¯ I told my suspicions about something terrible happening at Dan-Hem. I felt bad about it, but it was still her home. Predictably, she didn¡¯t take it well. ¡®It¡¯s because of me¡­¡¯ she cried. ¡®No,¡¯ I refuted her. ¡®It¡¯s because of the asshole who denounced you to the Inquisition.¡¯ Caei gave her a reassuring hug and threw me a ¡°you¡¯re sleeping on a couch¡± look. ¡®Thank you for telling me,¡¯ Aki said once she finished crying. ¡®Do you want to go there?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Check if everyone you cared about is okay?¡¯ ¡®No¡­ no,¡¯ she said. ¡®I¡¯d rather not know¡­¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Let me know if you ever change your mind.¡¯ Aki went on ahead of us. Caei slowed down to talk with me in private. ¡®Why did you tell her this?¡¯ she asked. ¡®I didn¡¯t want to keep it from her. If she found out from another source and discovered I was keeping it from her¡­¡¯ She sighed. ¡®There was really no good option here?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯d rather she learned from a friend.¡¯ Caei took my hand in hers. It was a response enough. We¡¯ve decided to head northeast from Zel-Vyme and bypass Ror-Bhyk for now, as we didn¡¯t want an encounter with the Spanish Inquisition. Once we figured we were far enough past the city we would head South and try to find a river crossing, and from there head to another city-state. Hopefully, the fuckers after Aki wouldn¡¯t get the same idea. That meant finding this Naevud guy would have to wait. We walked for several hours, and as the sun was beginning to set, we found the crater. At first, we thought it was just a clearing in the forest, and it was one after¡­ a fashion. ¡®What the¡­¡¯ I muttered upon seeing a hole in the ground that when I checked my map later turned out to be one hundred metres in diameter and ten metres deep. The bottom was overgrown with grass and there was an odd tree there or two, but there was no mistaking what it was. A meteor crash site? I wondered. ¡®I¡¯ve never seen anything like it¡­¡¯ Aki said, amazed. ¡®What is it? Caei¡¯s expression seemed neutral but she was eyeing the crater up and down. ¡®Looks to be an impact site,¡¯ I said and explained how those usually formed on Earth. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®I¡¯ve heard stories about stars falling to the ground,¡¯ Aki said with barely contained excitement. ¡®I never believed them. Can we explore it? Can we? Can we?¡¯ I was planning on doing that anyway, so I agreed. ¡®THANK YOU!¡¯ Aki shouted and hugged me. We carefully walked around it, looking for any clues as to the reason behind this mystery. Aki wanted to go down to the bottom, but Caei said the walls of the crater were too steep for her Floating Disk spell to safely work. Truth be told, I think we were all disappointed by that, but our spirits were lifted when I noticed there was another clearing slightly to the northwest from where we came from. As we walked there, Caei saw a third one roughly equidistant from the crater and the second clearing. All in all, we have discovered a total of three craters. They were roughly the same shape and size, which pointed at the same cause behind all of them. Our maps confirmed they formed almost a perfect triangle, which meant that the chances they were a natural occurrence were basically zero. What could have caused them though? Magic? Artillery? Magical Artillery? Orbital Strike? I suggested we should acquire some rope and try to descend these, but none of us knew how to rappel. Still, I entered a note with the craters'' approximate location in my notepad. I really wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery. We decided to walk a couple hundred metres from each of the sides of the triangle to check whether there would be some clues there. We came in from the south, so our first destination was to the east. After maybe two hundred metres we came upon a long and even gully running through the forest bed. That¡¯s not a gully, I realised after coming closer. That¡¯s man-made. I hurried over there and crouched beside the ditch to get a better look. Its walls were perpendicular to the ground and just high enough so a grown man could crouch behind them and lean out when needed. A trench. ¡®What in the world? What the fuck is a trench doing here?¡¯ I could see remnants of wooden supports still somehow allowing this segment of the trench to retain its shape, though I slowly backed away from the side and signalled to the girls they should do the same. There was no telling how stable this thing was. ¡®So you are saying a battle was fought here?¡¯ Aki asked after I finished explaining this. All of this must have felt like a wonderful journey of discovery to her. Personally, I was just feeling an ever-increasing dread. Not wanting to risk getting dirty, we followed the trench from the ground level. Large parts of it collapsed and I could see sinkholes where once some dugouts were. After half an hour or so, we gave up as there wasn¡¯t anything useful to be found. We started to head back towards the craters. Caei and Aki were discussing the findings in excited voices, while I was trying to figure out what to check out next. So¡­ I have a trench and three craters. Let¡¯s look at this from a trench warfare perspective. You would only build one where you expected to defend. The problem is¡­ from which direction? The craters could be no man¡¯s land, I guess? Or they could be from a strike at the logistics and/or artillery emplacements. Based on the size of the craters it was an overkill either way. Maybe some dread machines that got blown up? But that wouldn''t explain the triangle pattern. The sky was almost completely dark, so I checked the time. Current Time: 19:27 Local Time The clock is no longer showing me time on Earth. Interesting. Probably because I stopped caring. Even though me and Caei had Darksight, and Aki had her Abyssal Spark spell, I wasn¡¯t terribly keen about exploring a fucking battlefield at night. There was this, likely irrational, fear of UXO and landmines here, and, more sensible, one of various pitfalls. So I suggested we give it half an hour more and stop for the night. I really didn''t want to leave the place unexplored. As luck had it, we discovered another trench maybe twenty minutes away from the craters, confirming my theory that we were walking through a former no man¡¯s land. Luckily no poison gases were used here, given how a forest was growing here. Then again, I would probably take mustard gas over orbital bombardment. At least you could protect yourself against the former. This being a no man¡¯s land also meant we were likely walking on top of a graveyard. That thought made me shudder. How many people have died here? I wondered. Like with the previous trench, we started to follow it, to see if I could find any clues as to its history. We were about to stop for the day as it was almost completely dark when I heard a rustling of leaves from the other side of the trench. I realised that it was the first noise not made by us I¡¯d heard in a while. The battlefield was another of these pockets of quiet. I scanned the treeline, but could not see anything. Aki and Caei also didn¡¯t seem to have seen anything. I wonder¡­ Do all of these pockets hide secrets like this? Then again Aki would have mentioned it¡­ unless the one near Dan-Hem was never found. Not every relic from an ancient time would be as spectacular as this. Something also could be hidden underground, like Y-Ram. Just as I was about to turn back, I saw something unusual in the trench below. There was a small pile of white rocks lying on a heap of detritus. I confirmed I would have an easy way to get back out of the ditch and jumped down. I crouched next to the heap and examined my findings. Those were fairly decently preserved small bones. They looked human, making me think those were once someone¡¯s fingers but my level of forensic knowledge could have been described as ¡°has watched a lot of Bones and CSI¡±, which, if social media was to be believed, made me a world-class expert on the issue. At least that''s how Anti-Vaxxers operated so why should I be any different? ¡®What did you find?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®Just some bones,¡¯ I said, a tad disappointed. I turned around to get back to them when I saw that there was an entrance to an uncollapsed dugout a bit further from us. I motioned to my companions to get down to me, in case any fuckery was afoot. Something must have made that noise. We carefully walked to the entrance and Aki moved her Abyssal Spark inside so that all three of us could get a look. At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary there. There was a quasi-bed/cot dug into each wall, with some room underneath it, likely for personal belongings, plus in the middle of the room there was a table and three chairs. They were all in amazingly good sh¡­ Oh, fuck. ¡®Magic,¡¯ I hissed. Caei nodded. ¡®Is it safe to enter?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t risk it,¡¯ I said. ¡®While those were meant to provide cover during bombardment, I have no idea how stable this is. And what the spell is doing.¡¯ ¡®I could support the ceiling with the Disc,¡¯ Caileera said. ¡®It should provide some extra breathing room at least.¡¯ ¡®Go ahead then,¡¯ I shrugged. A tense minute later Aki emerged out of the dugout with a disappointed expression. ¡®Nothing,¡¯ she said. ¡®Still, it was fun to check it out.¡¯ ¡®So it was still worth it,¡¯ I said with a smile. ¡®Let¡¯s find a place to camp.¡¯ We were very careful during our watches that night. That rustling had me spooked. To be sure, we chose a place outside of the pocket of silence. But nothing came at us. During the day we returned to the dugout and, pushing our luck, this time I entered it. It was another cloudy day so the outside was survivable for me, but, that being said, the inside of the underground chamber felt like paradise. The visit was more out of sheer curiosity than anything. I always wanted to visit one of these. Having also found nothing, I left the dugout and checked my map, as something was bugging me. The trench line we were currently exploring was positioned in a way that it roughly defended Ror-Bhyk. Meaning¡­ the attackers came from the direction the other emplacements were. Having nothing better to do we went that way and after two hours of walking found something even more perplexing. It was a massive red brick structure. The central part was three storeys tall with a four-storey wing on each side. There were biforas evenly spaced on each floor, each likely indicating the location of a room. A large black double door was in the middle of the central structure. The building was in poor shape: glass was missing from the windows, there were several holes in the walls and I could see that parts of the roof were missing. It honestly looked like the building was shelled at some point. But one thing that was still intact was a sign over the entrance which read: ¡°Akh¡¯Ret¡¯s Mercy Hospital¡±. Chapter 49 - AkhRets Mercy If I still had body hair, it would stand on end upon seeing the hospital. This place felt wrong, and not just because I visited a mediaeval shithole village the previous day. There was something about that building that felt wrong. There was a certain aura to it. Made even worse by the fact we were in another pocket of silence. This time the quiet felt oppressive. I turned to Caei. ¡®You¡¯re a follower of Akh¡¯Ret, aren¡¯t you?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Any hints from him?¡¯ She shook her head. ¡®You know the Old Gods don¡¯t work this way.¡¯ That was true. For all the help I got from Ereshkigal, she did not provide much in terms of ¡°practical advice¡±. ¡®I think we should check it out,¡¯ Aki suddenly said. We both turned towards her surprised. ¡®Could there be items there from your times?¡¯ she asked. I furrowed my brow and thought. ¡®Maaaybe. It¡¯s a hospital. There could be medical supplies there. Not sure whether they would still be good, god knows how old this place is, but¡­ it¡¯s worth a try, I guess.¡¯ ¡®There could also be some Life Arcana runes there,¡¯ Caei added. ¡®I could use more spells.¡¯ That was a very valid point. As far as I understood, our healer only knew three spells from that particular arcana: Soothe Pain, Sleep and Lesser Heal Wounds. All of them were useful but had their limitations. Like¡­ I wondered whether the reason Caei was unable to restore Deirdee¡¯s wings was because she lacked the correct spell. ¡®Let¡¯s do this then,¡¯ I sighed and started to put on my armour. Despite their apparent weight, the doors opened smoothly and effortlessly. Predictably, the first room we could see was a reception. There were some chairs under the walls, a gurney and of course, the receptionist¡¯s counter in the middle, behind which there was a double wooden half-glass door, though both windows have long been shattered. The floors were covered in badly damaged wooden panels and the walls were painted white, with some faded writing on them. I could see open passages to the left and right of the entrance. And, perhaps most importantly, a skeleton wearing body armour and a helmet was slumped against the counter. There was a hole in his forehead, and on its lap, there was¡­ a magitek gun, which looked to be something between a larger submachine gun and a carbine. It was around eighty centimetres long and had a folding stock and a pistol grip. The handguard was part of the upper receiver and had those weird long holes drilled into it, while the barrel was short and had a muzzle break. Do they have to worry about recoil with these? The magazine was straight, which I guess made sense, given it was meant to hold mana crystals. The whole weapon was painted black, but there were gold lines carved into it, which I was starting to suspect to be magical circuitry. Finally, there was a carrying handle on top of the thing with iron sights built into it and a leather sling at the bottom. Eyes around my head, I started making my way towards the soldier, when a message popped in the centre of my vision. New Quest Acquired: Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy Type: Dungeon (Historical) Difficulty: Hard Description: You¡¯ve discovered ruins of a hospital dating back to some ancient era of Dwynveia. There are secrets to discover here, but is the reward worth the price? Objectives:
  • Discover the secrets of the hospital
Rewards:
  • 2000 experience points
  • 1 Perk Point
Of course. Nothing can be easy. I sighed and picked up the gun. Item: The Storm Class: Weapon - Magitek - Carbine Rarity: Artifact - Extremely Rare Durability: 24/40 Charge: 60/150 Ammunition: Medium Mana Crystals Effect: Launches a magical bolt of any of the arcana types the user is proficient with. Each shot consumes fifteen charges and a small amount of mana of the user. Pretty nice. The gun fit nicely in my hands, it was a bit heavy, but nothing I couldn¡¯t handle. It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t been waving a sword around. I found the magazine release button and clicked it. Inside it, there was just one mana crystal, but there were spots for three. Item: Medium Mana Crystal Class: Magitek - Power Source Rarity: Coven-made - Common Durability: 5/5 Charge: 60/150 Traits: Rechargeable (limited) - You can channel mana through the object to restore its charge. (1 recharge remaining) Fourteen shots. I slammed the mag back into its place. ¡®Like handling long and hard objects?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®What can I say?¡¯ I laughed. ¡®I like big guns, I cannot lie.¡¯ That made both my girlfriends cackle. ¡®Can I see it?¡¯ Caeileera asked. ¡®I think it¡¯s yours, anyway.¡¯ I said and handed her the carbine. ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ she asked. ¡®You haven¡¯t gotten any loot so far,¡¯ I shrugged. ¡®That¡¯s not how it should work,¡¯ she protested. ¡®I saw how your eyes lit up upon seeing it.¡¯ ¡®I just don¡¯t want you to think I am hogging everything.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry, if I want something I will tell you¡­¡¯ She checked out the gun, like I did. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡®This thing I don¡¯t.¡¯ Caei passed it to Aki to examine who then gave it back to me. ¡®Very well,¡¯ I said and slung the carbine across my chest. It will be hard to fight with it and the sword, but I¡¯ll figure something out. Still¡­ a gun will make exploring this place easier. That handled we¡¯ve had to decide where to go next. The first idea we had was to check the open passages. The route to the right led to the general access bathrooms. We entered the female one first and, to my surprise, I discovered that the plumbing there worked. Apparently, you could use mana crystals to power water and fire runes to create functional sinks and showers. Aki told me L?we had one too, but she pillaged it for ammo for guns. I threw her an incredulous look of ¡°Why the fuck would you ruin a perfectly fine sink?¡±, but, ultimately, I understood her reasoning. Ammo was more important than running water in that hellhole. The bathrooms were what you would expect. Three stalls and two sinks. The floor was covered in ceramic tiles and the walls were painted in what was once yellow paint. We used the latter to refill our water supply, and in my case, wash my hands and face. It was something I really needed. I missed being able to brush my teeth, but I don¡¯t think mine were real. So it was just the freshness in my mouth that I was craving. Oh, the little things. There was nothing else of note in either of the bathrooms. The other passage held two doctor¡¯s offices, probably once meant to handle outpatient cases. One of them was converted into an infirmary of sorts, with two cots covered in dried blood inside. The other still seemed to have retained its initial purpose. It was furnished in a very familiar way. A desk with a chair on both sides, an examination cot and a bookshelf. The only thing missing was a PC. Inside the desk, we found a Large Mana Potion, which we gave to Caei, no questions asked. The other thing of note was a ledger of some sort. It contained a general list of patients treated by the doctor in the office, along with occasional notes, and seemed to have covered the last year or so of the hospital¡¯s operations. I sat down on one of the chairs and started skimming through it. 2/10/1126 Patient #1 - Jerra of Millir Farm Physician: Hakon Vaan Lohren Symptoms: Runny Nose, Cough, Low-Grade Fever Diagnosis: Common cold Treatment Prescribed: Bed rest, Fluids ¡®Aki?¡¯ I asked. ¡®What year is it?¡¯ ¡®1643 Imperial Calendar.¡¯ she answered. ¡®Why?¡¯ I did quick mental maths. ¡®This is from 1126 IC. The Tower of Trials started operating in 1109. So¡­ this structure dates back to the fall of the Vandarian Empire. And so must the battlefield.¡¯ I could tell by their faces that to my companions these were just mostly meaningless factoids. I sighed internally and went back to the ledger. It was mostly run-of-the-mill stuff, like colds, sprains, and diseases I didn¡¯t recognize, though some did have Earth equivalents, so I ended up skipping most of it. Midway through the ledger, in April of 1127 or whatever the fourth month was called, I found something interesting 16/04/1127 Patient #5 - Helian Farthus of Ror-Bhyk. Physician: Hakon Vaan Lohren Symptoms: Tissue necrosis, Muscle atrophy, Brain fog, Light sensitivity Diagnosis: Unknown Treatment Prescribed: Admitted to the hospital Note: This is the third case of the mysterious sickness we¡¯ve had in the hospital. The previous two cases have died with neither healing potions nor Life Arcana having any effect. The disease does not appear to be contagious, which is a small mercy. Investigation into the causes of the mysterious pathogen is being carried out by the Doctors from the Royal Medical Institute, as a few isolated cases have also occurred in other parts of the Empire. I couldn¡¯t find the previous two cases, maybe they were ¡®treated¡¯ by a different physician. The ledger seemed to only cover cases by Doctor Vaan Lohren. I needn¡¯t have worried as in the coming months more and more cases of this mysterious disease have been diagnosed, with it receiving the nickname of the ¡°Smiling Death¡±, due to the rictus grin the victims often developed during the final stage of the disease due to their lips rotting off. In July of 1127, Jerra of Miller Farm appears to have made a return. 28/07/1127 Patient #37 - Jerra of Millir Farm Physician: Hakon Vaan Lohren Symptoms: Tissue necrosis, Muscle atrophy, light sensitivity, Brain fog, High level of aggression Diagnosis: Smiling Death Treatment Prescribed: Patient Restrained. Sergeant Gend of the 273rd Royal Infantry Division executed the patient. Note: Jerra was admitted with 3rd stage Smiling Death symptoms. While arrangements were being made to find a bed for her, she suddenly experienced a sudden burst of energy and pounced at Dr Sainyr. She inflicted severe lacerations on his face and then vomited on it. The action appeared to have been deliberate. Soldiers from the 273rd caught the patient and attempted to restrain her. She broke free and attacked one of them, Private Hafnr, and caused severe damage to the soft tissues of his stomach. Once again, Jerra attempted to vomit on the wounds but three further soldiers finally managed to restrain her long enough for the good Sergeant to ¡°put her out of her misery¡± and ¡°prevent further damage. Private is expected to make a full recovery. Doctor Sainyr has lost his right eye and will likely have permanent scars on his face. Then, a few days later: 01/08/1127 Patient #12 - Augustus Sainyr Physician - Hakon Vaan Lohren Symptoms: Rapid-onset tissue necrosis, Rapid-onset muscle atrophy, Very high level of aggression. Diagnosis: Smiling Death Treatment Prescribed: Patient executed Note: Dr Sainyr has initially displayed no symptoms of the Smiling Death. Suddenly, he started to change. His face began to rot on our eyes and his muscles began to disappear. When he made moves to attack he was shot by the soldiers from the 273rd. His body was incinerated. After this, Hakon recorded more cases of aggressive patients over the next two weeks, until someone decided enough was enough. 19/08/1127 Patient #17 - Seria of Lim-Vyme Physician - Hakon Vaan Lohren Symptoms: The usual Diagnosis: Smiling Death Treatment Prescribed: Patient executed Note: Soldiers from the 273rd, acting on their new orders, shot Seria upon observing her suffering from the Smiling Death. Body incinerated. 21/08/1127 Patient #9 - Wylam Hafnr Physician - Hakon Vaan Lohren Symptoms: Lacerations, Burns Diagnosis: N/A Treatment Prescribed: Patient healed with magic Note: Private Hafnr sustained wounds during the cleansing of Miller farm. No survivors among the inhabitants Eventually, the number of patients with the Smiling Death dropped to zero, and the hospital resumed normal functioning, though the number of patients was noticeably lower. Then it skyrocketed due to a sharp increase in cases of ¡°combat wounds¡± in October of 1127. Several pages from the second half of the month were torn out, leaving only the last entry of the journal. 27/10/1127 Patient #4 - She walks Physician - Hakon Vaan Lohren Symptoms: She walks Diagnosis: She walks Treatment Prescribed: She walks Note: She walks Lilyth¡¯s addendum: She walks I closed the Ledger and packed it into my backpack. It felt like a vital piece of some puzzle. Aki and Caei looked unhappy and bored with me spending a better part of an hour going through the records. I had to wave them off numerous times. ¡®Couldn¡¯t you have done it after we were out?¡¯ the Sanguine asked. ¡®Nope,¡¯ I replied, gave them a short version of the events and concluded with: ¡®There is no way I am entering an abandoned hospital without researching as to why it was abandoned.¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­¡¯ Aki muttered, very perturbed by the story of the hospital¡¯s final days. ¡®I¡¯m not so sure we should enter it, after all¡­¡¯ ¡®Ya think?¡¯ I spat. Unfortunately, our decision to ¡°Fuck this shit and go home¡± was cut short when we discovered a sickly green sigil on the exit door, which clearly read: ¡°Sorry fuckos, but you can''t check out of here just yet.¡± This was further reinforced by the quest update we got: Quest Updated: Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy Type: Dungeon (Historical) Difficulty: Hard Deadly Description: You¡¯ve discovered ruins of a hospital dating back to some ancient era of Dwynveia. There are secrets to discover here, but is the reward worth the price? Objectives:
  • Discover the secrets of the hospital
  • Find the source of the magic preventing you from leaving
Rewards:
  • 2000 3000 experience points
  • 1 2 Perk Points
¡®Well¡­ fuck,¡¯ I muttered. Chapter 50 - The Slime Shield Aki was staring at the sigil, her mouth agape. Only Caei seemed to have maintained some sort of composure, but how much of that was a facade was up to anyone¡¯s guess. Out of curiosity, I touched the sigil, but I didn¡¯t even get the ¡°it¡¯s not gonna be so easy, chucklefuck¡± electric jolt. ¡®Get ready,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®This is gonna suck.¡¯ I unslung my carbine and slowly approached the double door leading to the rest of the complex. I hid behind the door frame and peeked through one of the broken windows. On the other side, there was a wide corridor with blood-splattered black-and-white diamond-shaped tiles on the floor. The walls were dirty white with red streaks on them. And was that a bloody handprint? There was an overturned gurney lying on its side a few metres from the door and angled towards us from the wall to the right. It probably was meant to be some means of cover, but whoever it was protecting was long gone, and, based on the sheer amount of blood, didn''t get to live happily ever after. I could see a staircase on the other side of the corridor, which was one of the places where it split, the other being roughly in the middle of its length. There were doors on either side of this section of the passage, which led me to suspect this being the case in the other one as well. Based on the size of the building the side corridors were likely longer than the main one. Luckily, the doors were on double-action hinges, making it easy for me to open them. Unluckily said hinges should have been oiled half a millennium before. In the quiet building, the squeak sounded like two ships edging themselves. It made my teeth hurt, and likely rang the dinner bell for every monster in the hospital. ¡®Ouch¡­¡¯ Aki winced. ¡®Get in, quick!¡¯ I ordered while holding the door open. They complied and I followed in behind them letting the door close on its own with more painful screeching. I motioned the girls to take cover behind the gurney, while I covered them from the left side of the corridor. I saw Aki draw her gun and nodded in approval. And it was just in time as I heard scratches and shuffling coming from the corridor to the left of us. I moved to the right wall and trained my gun at the corner, becoming painfully aware of how the only time I ever fired one was during a parish fair years ago. And that it was a BB gun. And that I was a shit shot. Having thus properly motivated myself, I waited. Aki slightly leaned out from behind the gurney, while Caei was still hiding, her glaive lying on the floor not to stick out. We didn¡¯t have to wait long. An emaciated figure dragged itself on elongated boil-and-sore-covered arms ending with slender fingers with four joints each, each digit ending with a long diamond-hard nail. Its head was nothing more than a half-rotten thin-flesh-wrapped skull, with its nose and one of its eyes missing, the other shining with sickly white light. Only clumps of the monster¡¯s hair remained, and what was left hung loosely from flaps of flesh. The whatever-the-fuck-it-was must have noticed us, as it turned its head towards us, revealing that its lips and left cheek were missing, revealing rotting yellow tissues of its mouth. It then rotated its skull by two-hundred-and-seventy degrees and with a bone-crunching twitch turned its thin body upside down. With another snapping sound, its arm joints reversed themselves allowing the creature to keep dragging itself towards us. It let out a hiss mixed with a death rattle out of its mouth. ¡®Nope,¡¯ I said and fired my carbine at it. My lack of experience has shown there. First, I expected it to fire a lance, like in the case of Aki¡¯s pistol. Instead, it fired off a single bolt of shadow energy like the serial killer¡¯s gun. It also had a bit of a kick, which surprised me due to it being well¡­ magic. So my shot only slightly nicked him on the arm, blowing off a piece of flesh but not much else. Before I could adjust my aim, Aki fired off a shot which entered the monster¡¯s body through its left shoulder and exited from its right side. The creature didn¡¯t appear terribly impressed with our attempts and kept dragging itself towards us. I adjusted my aim and attempted to shoot at its head. I shot wide as it moved out of the way of the shot. Lead the target, you fucking moron, I chided myself. The creature once again contorted itself around and when it was back in its natural shape, it pounced on the ceiling and started to skitter across it towards us with surprising alacrity. Aki, who just fired another lance into thin air fell on her shapely behind and started backing away. I started to move back as well in order to get a better shot at it, but decided ¡°fuck it¡± and extended my arm to fire off a Shadow Bolt, but I was too late. The monster pounced off the ceiling towards me, tackling me to the ground. I could feel its stinking breath on my face. It leaned back in a move that told me it wanted to vomit at me. Shit shit shit Before it could finish this, however, it was hit on the back with a Blood Lance. The monster hissed in pain. WHAT THE FUCK. HOW DURABLE IS THIS THING. Still, it was enough to let me throw it off me. What I didn¡¯t see, was Caei¡¯s attempt to skewer the thing with her glaive. So¡­ I ended up shishkebabed. It wasn¡¯t the most pleasant of experiences. I screamed in pain. Caei, upon realising what just happened, looked absolutely horrified. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Used to having sharp things inside my body, I extended my shaking hand towards the monster and fired off a Shadow Bolt. The impact threw it at the wall, but that still wasn¡¯t enough. Aki was the one to finish it off with her Lesser Abyssal Bolt. The ball of hellfire hit the fucker on the head causing it to explode like a watermelon. Level 15 Rotting Thrall has been slain. You have received 500 experience points (1382/4000 total experience points progress to level 8) Before I could celebrate our victory, Caeileera ripped out her glaive from my body causing another wave of pain that nearly caused me to black out. Her arms were quickly around me and she began healing the wound she caused, apologising profusely. ¡®I¡¯m soooo sorry,¡¯ she cried. ¡®At least¡­ some penetration occurred in our relationship,¡¯ I joked. ¡®On a more serious note, don¡¯t worry. It happens. And¡­ Thanks for the save. I have no idea what that thing was planning to do to me.¡¯ Aki looked a tad jealous so I hugged her once Caei was done with me. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. I owe you one too here.¡¯ That seemed to have somewhat placated her so I pecked her on the cheek. It¡¯s challenging to keep two girlfriends happy. I was planning on keeping my carbine for those ¡°just in case¡± occasions, but it was clear this was an ¡°engage at range¡± situation. So the first priority became finding more ammo. I once again offered the gun to Caei, as I had more offensive spells than she did, and this time she accepted. The first door we checked out was the one on the right. It turned out to be a cleaning supply closet. All of the stuff inside was centuries past ¡°best used by¡± date, so we ignored it. There was a broom there we could use as a makeshift whacky-stick, but you know¡­ why? The other door was more interesting as it led to a hospital room that was converted into an armoury. That turned out to be very thoroughly ransacked. We did find two Medium Mana Crystals which I gave to Caei and a Small Healing Potion I took for myself, given how I was supposed to be the¡­ slimeshield again. Just as I left the room there was a loud bang and something fast flew past my face. I activated the Swiftness of the Wind and jumped behind the gurney. I peeked out and saw a¡­ soldier standing there aiming at me with a rifle. He wore a steel blue uniform, black metal body armour and a black steel helmet. His face was covered with a brown gas mask with two glass lenses and a circular filter in front. The man had a sheathed long knife attached to his belt on his right hip, and some pouches on his left side. The rifle itself had a wooden stock and handguard, while the barrel and the receiver were made of metal. It had a straight and fairly beefy box magazine right in front of the trigger. Before I could act, the soldier fired again, the bullet pierced the gurney but it along with my armour blunted the force enough for it not to be too much of an issue. It still hurt like a bitch, but was not life-threatening. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ I heard Aki shout. ¡®Cover me! I shouted back. She leaned out of the door frame and fired off a lance of hellfire from her pistol. That caused the soldier to seek cover. That gave me enough of a window to fire off a Shadow Bolt at the bastard to further suppress him, jump over the gurney and, still relying on the Swiftness of the Wind, charge at him. Aki sent another lance at the soldier. The beam pierced his leg causing him to stumble. I leapt towards him with my sword raised for an overhead strike. He parried it with his rifle. He tried to kick me, but it seems he forgot he was wounded in the leg, as he crashed to the ground. I wanted to ram my sword into his head, but he rolled away, causing my sword to impact the tiles and to my dismay crack in the middle. Motherfucker. I wasn¡¯t terribly gentle on the sword these past few days. This included me using it as a projectile during a battle with some Sanguine. The fight against Ross and his magic sword wasn¡¯t easy on it either. I haven¡¯t been paying too much attention to its durability, because¡­ what could I have done about it? Still¡­ that was the first weapon I found here and it felt like an old friend dying. The notification I got sealed the deal. Quest Failed: The Secrets of the Blade Description: The sword was destroyed. Even if you manage to get it fixed, the magic it had won¡¯t get restored. I dismissed it. I had an enemy to deal with. I dropped my useless blade to the ground and turned towards the soldier, who was scrambling to one of his knees. I sent a Shadow Bolt at him but the projectile hit him on the armour, which only rattled him. He pointed his gun at me, and before I could do anything, pulled the trigger. At that close distance, the bullet just ripped through my stomach and exited on the other side of my body. I doubled over from pain and the little paper doll flashed deep red where I was hit. He was ready to shoot me again, but then a lance from Aki¡¯s pistol pierced him through the side. That threw off his aim and the bullet hit the wall instead. The man wasn¡¯t done yet, if anything, he barely noticed the hit, and was already readjusting his aim. I pounced at him and tackled him to the ground. His rifle clattered to the floor and the soldier, almost mechanically, started to reach for his knife as I was getting ready to punch him. Wind energy started to gather around my fist, but the short delay was all that the fucker needed. He kneed me in my wounded stomach, breaking my concentration as stars flashed in my vision, and used the extra few seconds to ram his knife into my chest. He must not have expected this only slightly inconveniencing me as he stared dumbfounded at me in the ¡°why aren¡¯t you dead¡± way. I used this to punch him in his gas mask-covered face, causing him to let go of the knife. I ripped it out of my body and rammed him into his forehead, causing the soldier to finally go limp. Level 20 Sierra Squad Revenant has been slain. You have received 1000 experience points (2382/4000 total experience points progress to level 8) I collapsed on top of his body and started to sob, happy to have survived another brush with death. Chapter 51 - Situation Normal ¡®Pardon me asking you this, Lily,¡¯ Caei said while caring for my wounds.¡¯ ¡®But to take a page from your book: what the fuck just happened?¡¯ ¡®I have no idea,¡¯ I smiled weakly. ¡®There were soldiers stationed here and apparently some of them were turned undead¡­ by something. Or. Someone.¡¯ She walks. ¡®Soldiers?¡¯ Aki asked absentmindedly while examining the rifle. ¡®This gun¡­ I¡¯ve never heard about anything like this. I¡¯ve seen some caravan guards for rich traders carry¡­ Moosekets? I think they were called. But¡­ this¡­¡¯ I extended my hand and gestured for her to pass the gun to me. Item: Caiverhold Armouries M1107 Class: Weapon - Semi-automatic - Rifle Rarity: Mass Produced - Thought Lost Durability: 12/50 Ammo: 4/20 Ammunition: 7.92x57 mm CA The fucking thing was heavy. I found the magazine release and checked what was inside. Yup¡­ normal cartridges. I took one out, threw it towards Aki, and gave another to Caei. ¡®As keepsakes¡­ I guess,¡¯ I shrugged and passed the gun over to the Sanguine to examine. ¡®Will we be taking it?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®It could fetch a pretty sum,¡¯ I thought out loud. ¡®Assuming we can find someone to buy it.¡¯ ¡®Won¡¯t you be using it?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Your sword broke. ¡® ¡®No¡­ I don¡¯t think so. I have no idea how to use or maintain it. I might shoot myself or one of you. Hard pass.¡¯ I grabbed the knife. ¡®For now, it¡¯s this for me,¡¯ Item: Standard-issue Combat Knife Class: Weapon - Daggers - Combat Knife Rarity: Mass Produced - Extremely Rare Durability: 24/50 ¡®You sure?¡¯ Caeileera began arguing, but I cut her off. ¡®Yes,¡¯ I answered curtly, but it was not enough. Both Caei and Aki read to me the riot act about putting the team and myself in needless danger by doing ¡°the sunlight¡± thing again, this time with weapons. I ended up accepting the Storm and ammo for it back. They were right. I asked Caei about ¡°what she¡¯d do¡±, and she shrugged and said she still had Blood Lances. She was close to level nine anyway, so once she levelled she could use the perk points to learn a new weapon skill¡­ say semi-automatic rifles. I nodded. I tried to hide the M1107 in my backpack, but it was too large. The carrying strap from the Storm was also too short. Caei shrugged, put her glaive on its carrying strap, since it was nearly useless in the confined space, and decided to carry the rifle in her hands. We found an extra magazine in one of the carrying pouches the soldier had. I helped Caei change it, but chambering the round was outside of my capabilities. I did find the safety though and put it on. Caeileera agreed this was probably the best option as we really didn''t want anyone to get hurt by accident. I also switched the crystal in my carbine to one with full charge and two recharges. While we were going through the soldier¡¯s belongings, I discovered that they had a unit patch with what my brain read to be the local equivalent of the letter S, even though I could clearly see it as a different character. Normally, this was not an issue with written text as I saw it in the Latin Alphabet, but this was stylized, so the translator trait must have borked out. This is probably where the ¡°Sierra¡± stuff comes from. In one of his pockets, there was also his military ID, identifying the deadder as one Corporal Iannis Tzerlin, formerly of a place called Vihrrin. It also confirmed we were dealing with the 273rd Royal Infantry Division here. Interesting. I can''t help but notice that Vihrrin doesn''t follow the same name naming convention as the places here in Ror-Bhyk. Perhaps a different region of the Old Empire? I yearned for a moment to look into all the linguistic mysteries of Dwynveia, but, alas, I had bigger issues. As a last action, I attached the knife to my belt. Next, we moved to where the thrall came from. On the left, there was an open double door which led to a large hospital room with multiple beds and cots strewn around. All of them were empty, and some were covered in blood. The opposite room presented similar findings. At the end of the span, there were wooden French doors leading to the other wing, but they were chained and padlocked. On the other side, there was just more of the same. Like, I wasn¡¯t sure what I was expecting¡­ a nice mansion lobby? It occurred to me we could probably break the lock easily, but I wasn¡¯t that willing to do it just now, especially after I saw the tail of some large creature disappear into one of the side passages. Nope. Caei and Aki also saw it, so we quickly hid from sight. The corridor split two ways there. The left one led to a dead end, and one last room, the other way also held a single door and looped back onto the staircase. Left it is. The room there was a small office of some kind. With just a chair, a desk and your standard-issue skeleton in rotten remnants of clothes lying on its side under the wall. There was a hole in his forehead and a dried blood streak on the wall leading from say¡­ his exact height to where his skull currently was. I wonder what happened to him. On the desk, there was a broken radio station, a lamp and a sheet of paper. The paper was what looked to be a partial final report of one Lieutenant Argyv Kishin. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Date: 24/10/1127 Location: Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy Hospital, Ror-Bhyk area Reporting Officer: Lieutenant Argyv Kishin, 273rd Royal Infantry Division Sergeant Gend is reporting that his men are complaining of an increase in the incidence of auditory hallucinations among his men. The only common theme among them is that it is always a woman calling to them. Sometimes she promises great boons, sometimes she issues threats. Doctor Vaan Lohren has no theories about the possible cause. Men are getting ¡­waffles at the store. I gave the late Lieutenant a salute: ¡®Message received, LT. At ease.¡¯ Aki and Caei gave me confused looks but said nothing. ¡®Apparently, more people were going crazy,¡¯ I explained and added the document to the ledger. I don¡¯t know why, it could have been video game brainwashing, but keeping those records felt important. Just as we were turning to leave I heard¡­ something from the outside. It was very quiet, very echoey¡­ but still there. I raised my finger to ensure everyone stayed quiet, but there was no repeat sound. ¡®What¡¯s happening?¡¯ Aki whispered. ¡®Heard something. No idea what.¡¯ They nodded and we carefully exited the room, me first. There was nothing there though. I slowly approached the corner and looked around, but once more¡­ nada. Still on our toes, we approached the final room of this section of the floor. With Aki covering my back, I pushed the door open. I was immediately hit by a faint smell of decay. Inside, well¡­ I didn¡¯t get a look as something jumped out at me and tackled me to the floor. The Storm fell outside of my hands. It was a half-rotten man wearing a tattered steel blue uniform. His face was mostly gone, leaving an exposed skull and bits of flesh. It started to punch me in the face, but that was something that barely fazed me at this point. I grabbed the knife and stabbed him in the side of the head. To my shock, this time this failed to disable the undead. I moved to strike him again, but there was a loud bang and a bullet tore through the monster''s chest. I used the chance to imbue the knife with umbral energy and once more skewered its head. Level 14 Rotting Thrall has been slain. You have received 700 experience points (3082/4000 total experience points progress to level 8) I pushed the monster¡¯s dead body off myself and got up. I saw Caeileera standing there holding the rifle, her hands a bit shaky. ¡®Thanks,¡¯ I simply said. ¡®Not what you expected?¡¯ ¡®T-the way it kicked¡­¡¯ she stammered. ¡®I could have hit you¡­ again¡­¡¯ ¡®You¡¯ll get used to it, I guess.¡¯ There must have been a round already chambered. No way she figured that out on the fly. Suddenly, Caei had shown much-increased competence in using the rifle. She seemed much more at ease holding it and did a number of fast motions to ensure it was ready to fire. And that would be the level-up. Hopefully, we can find enough bullets for her to be able to use it for a while¡­ Then again, maybe someone will be able to manufacture them. Like¡­ making bullets cannot be that hard, can it? Spare parts will be much worse to get. I checked the room the monster was in, but there were only a few cots there. Did they just lock this poor bastard in here and leave him to rot? As I was turning around to leave I heard the distant indistinct sound again. Is something stalking us? I thought after waiting for it to repeat. We slowly walked past the corner and slowly went back to the main span. When we were back near the staircase, I noticed a floor list: B1: Morgue GF: General Ward, Nurse¡¯s Station F1: Doctor¡¯s Offices, Lab F2: Administration, Director¡¯s Office. Nurse¡¯s station? There could be some supplies there. Where is it though? Probably the second section of the main corridor. I hoped it wasn¡¯t one of the rooms we¡¯d already checked and was converted for military purposes. No. It would be closer to the middle of the ward, wouldn¡¯t it? We did find the station, but it was empty. Our search of the rest of the floor also proved to be fruitless. On two occasions I¡¯ve heard the distant noises again, but once again nothing came out of them. The entrance to the ¡°East¡± Wing wasn¡¯t locked, but for now, we¡¯ve decided to skip it. With minor trepidation, we ascended to the floor above. It turned out to have a much simpler layout. Just a simple corridor forking at the end. The floor was covered in faded and half-rotten carpet, while the walls were once painted yellow I thought. There were two rooms on either side of the corridor. The first one on the right was labelled ¡°Dr. A. Sainyr¡±, while the one on the left was ¡°Dr. D. Brind¡±. So they never found someone to replace poor Augustus, I guess. His office was our first destination. And that¡¯s where things went very wrong. As usual, I was leading the way. Just as I opened the simple wooden door I felt something behind us. The door to Doctor Brind¡¯s office swung open and hit the wall with a loud thwap. ¡®Ge-¡¯ I started to shout, but it was too late. I just saw the figure of another undead soldier standing at the door with a shotgun trained at us. Caeileera presented the biggest target, so he fired at her. She took the full brunt of the strike on her back and wings. I heard her cry out in agony. I activated the Swiftness of the Wind and eschewing any form of subtlety, just pushed through my comrades and charged the motherfucker, gathering wind around my right fist. ¡®Caeeeei!¡¯ I heard Aki shout, through a haze of rage. Before the soldier had a chance to do anything else, I was upon him and punched him dead centre on the chest, sending him flying into the opposite wall. I unleashed far more wind energy than I expected, but at that time I did not care. Before he could even hit it, I moved to draw the knife from its holster and just as he hit the wall with a loud crunch I pounced towards him and sank the knife deep into his skull. Level 20 Sierra Squad Revenant has been slain. You have received 2000 experience points (5082/4000 total experience points progress to level 8) You are now Level 8 (1038/4500 total experience points progress to level 9) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) I turned back to my companions and ran over to them with my backpack in my hands drawing out the Lesser Healing Potion from it. Caei was lying facedown on the floor, breathing raggedly, her back and wings an absolute mess of damaged flesh. Aki was kneeling by her side, tears streaking down her face. I could see some minor scratches on her, where some of the pellets hit her, but it was nothing to worry about right now. I stopped dumbfounded. How were we supposed to give Caei the healing potion? ¡®H-help me turn her head,¡¯ Aki said, seeing my confusion. My first aid training made me question the validity of the action, but well¡­ healing potion. Any accidental damage would probably heal. Very carefully, we turned Caei¡¯s head towards us and slowly poured the potion down her mouth. Her breathing calmed down slightly, and the flesh on her back began to knit itself together. It wasn¡¯t much, but at least the bleeding stopped. ¡®Let¡¯s carry her inside,¡¯ I said and, making sure we wouldn¡¯t cause our fallen friend any more discomfort, we moved her into Sainyr¡¯s office and put Caei on the floor there. While we carried her, I could hear her mutter. ¡®I don¡¯t want to die, I don¡¯t want to die¡­¡¯ ¡®You won¡¯t,¡¯ I reassured her. Not caring about anything, I rummaged through the dead doctor¡¯s office but there was nothing. It must have been cleaned out after his death. ¡®Guard her with your life,¡¯ I told Aki, realising what I had to do. Aki simply nodded. ¡®I can help you save her,¡¯ I heard the Huntress say. ¡®You just have to¡­ let go.¡¯ Chapter 52 - The Sierra Squad Let go? ¡®Yes¡­,¡¯ she purred. ¡®Just let me take the steering wheel for a while.¡¯ My heart sank. But I knew this was the one right move. I kissed Aki goodbye and held Caeileera¡¯s hand for a moment. I didn''t actually expect to come back. Still¡­ I had to try. My hope was that at least Aki would somehow be able to get out if everything else failed. If she can take Caei out of here, all the better. Once I was out of the room, I thought to the Huntress. Let¡¯s do this. It was not easy to let the Huntress take over. The rational part of my brain was fighting her. Eventually, I heard her say: ¡®Close your eyes and listen to the world¡­¡¯ I followed her instructions. After a few seconds, I started hearing and sensing things I wouldn''t be able to normally. The subtle echoes of air passing around me, the distant skitter of something, Caei¡¯s irregular heartbeat and fear. The existential terror of impending death. This is what sent me over the edge. I grew to really care for the Sanguine over these past few days. The thought of her dying was¡­ unbearable. Yes. There would be hell to pay for this. I left the carbine by the door. It would only slow me down. I activated the Swiftness of the Wind. I stopped caring whether this would send me over. There was no time to waste. My first destination was Brind¡¯s office. I literally ripped the drawers out of their desk in search of medical supplies. Papers went flying all around. I was equally ungentle with the cabinets. The time for subtlety was gone. I charged into the next office. This one once belonged to our good friend Hakon Vaan Lohren. A Thrall was waiting for me there. I slid under it as it paused, raising the knife so the monster gored itself on it as it jumped. I finished it with a Shadow Bolt to the head. Level 13 Rotting Thrall has been slain. You have received 1300 experience points (2382/4500 total experience points progress to level 9) Some remnants of sanity I still had wondered whether this was once Vaan Lohren, but the Huntress dismissed that as irrelevant. ¡®History-later. Caei-now.¡¯ Noted. Vaan Lohren¡¯s office also proved of no help. Are all of the healing potions gone? The commotion I was making drew another of the Sierra squad bastards in. Before he could do anything I cast Gust of Wind at him and, as he stumbled, threw a Blood Lance at his chest. I finished him off by smashing his head into the wall with a Fist of Wind. Level 18 Sierra Squad Revenant has been slain. You have received 1800 experience points (4182/4500 total experience points progress to level 9) I¡¯ve decided to find the lab next. There, I did find a clue - a note was attached to the door of the reagent cabinet. Empty - check if anything is left in the East Wing. I ran downstairs jumping over a step or two at the time, before bolting towards the entrance towards what I thought was the East Wing. I burst the door open and started bounding down the corridor. I noticed a sign with the phrase ¡°Burn Ward¡±. This span had the single doors, so likely those were the sick rooms. Nice that the place had a uniform layout. As I was approaching the corner turning towards the side of the main span where I thought the nurse¡¯s station was I heard the faintest of clicks. That was enough. I had too much momentum to quickly shed it, so I dropped to a slide, and slipped under the barrels of a submachine gun and a pump-action shotgun. Sneaky bastards. I scrambled to my feet and once again wanted to start with the Gust of Wind. Unfortunately, the shotgun bastard already managed to train his weapon on me and fired. Most of the pellets banged off harmlessly of my armour, those that hit my exposed flesh hurt like a motherfucker though. It wasn¡¯t enough to stop me, but slowed me down enough that the submachine gun fucko caught up and opened fire. The moment I saw, I dove to the ground, not fast enough to save myself from some bullets hitting my back, and cast the Gust of Wind at their legs, knocking both of them down. The back indicator on the paper doll flashed red, but I ignored it. I leapt back to my feet and pounced at the fucks, holding the knife in reverse grip in one hand and wind gathering around the other. I slammed the shotgun guy on the head with the Fist of Wind crushing it into bloody chunks. Level 19 Sierra Squad Revenant has been slain. You have received 1900 experience points (6082/4500 total experience points progress to level 9) You are now Level 9 (1582/5000 total experience points progress to level 10) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 4) I was starting to feel low on mana. The Fists of Wind were quite draining on me, especially, combined with the Swiftness. Maybe I would find a mana potion. If not¡­ there was still the knife. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I turned towards the submachine guy who was already gathering up from the floor, his own knife in hand. ¡®Give me the perk points,¡¯ the Huntress commanded. Nice of you to ask this time around. Granted. New Skill Acquired: Combat Knife - Current Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Your Combat Knife skill has increased to level 3 (0% total progress to level 4) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) I approve. ¡®Thought you would.¡¯ What followed was a complex dance of thrusts, cuts, dodges and parries. Thanks to my enhanced speed and reflexes, I could mostly keep up with him, but he definitely was a more experienced fighter. So I had to even the odds. I cast Shadow Weapon on the knife to increase its damage output and set out a Shadow Bolt at his head. This gave me enough of a distraction. I slid across the floor behind him and hamstrung the bastard. As he collapsed to his knees I ripped off his helmet and buried my knife in his skull. Level 21 Sierra Squad Revenant has been slain. You have received 2100 experience points (3682/5000 total experience points progress to level 10) All of my spells suddenly ended. And that was that for my mana. At least the one I could use without really fucking myself up. And it was a really bad time too, as two more Sierra squad members burst out of the room that I thought was my destination. Another fucker with a pump-action shotgun and a really big bastard with a light machine gun. So that''s it. ¡®Not if I have anything to say about it,¡¯ the Huntress laughed. ¡®Brace yourself. This will hurt.¡¯ She didn''t lie. Using my connection to Nyx and Ereshkigal, she started to channel raw Umbral and Air energies through my body. I could feel myself being restructured as it happened. I rose slightly from above the ground and concentric yellow and black circles appeared beneath my feet. The big fuck opened fire but I extended my hand and a bolt of lightning shot out, turning both the bullets and the gun into ash. I extended both my hands with wrists clasped together. A black ball of energy with crackling lightning formed and a beam of arcane fury shot out incinerating my enemies into nothing. Then, as the energy left my body, the real pain began. It felt like parts of me were burning away, while others kept shifting around. This can¡¯t be good. I crashed to the ground and landed on my knees. The two knives I forgot about clattered to the ground next to me. Instead of long straight blades, they now had curved ones - one shining with black light, the other with yellow. Level 22 Sierra Squad Revenant has been slain. You have received 2200 experience points (5882/5000 total experience points progress to level 10) You are now Level 10 (882/5500 total experience points progress to level 11) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Level 25 Sierra Squad Greater Revenant has been slain. You have received 2500 experience points (3382/5500 total experience points progress to level 11) Notice: You have eradicated the Sierra Squad almost single-handedly. For this feat, you have received 2 perk points. (Current Number of Perk Points: 4) I picked them up. Item: Sol Class: Weapon - Daggers - Combat Knife Rarity: Unique Durability: N/A Traits:
  • Soulmade - Created out of a piece of the user¡¯s soul. Cannot be destroyed. Can be resummoned if lost.
  • Elementally Infused - Lightning - Attacks have a chance to inflict additional Lightning damage. Higher levels of Air Arcana knowledge will improve the probability of the effect occurring. (Currently unavailable)
Item: Luna Class: Weapon - Daggers - Combat Knife Rarity: Unique Durability: N/A Traits:
  • Soulmade - Created out of a piece of the user¡¯s soul. Cannot be destroyed. Can be resummoned if lost.
  • Elementally Infused - Shadow - Attacks have a chance to inflict additional Umbral damage. Higher levels of Umbral Arcana knowledge will improve the probability of the effect occurring. (Currently unavailable)
I frowned seeing the ¡°currently unavailable¡±. I looked at the damage indicator, now deep red, and saw multiple new status icons. As I wanted to take a look at them, the Huntress once again spoke to me. ¡®Get up. ¡®You will have time to lick your wounds later. You have a friend to save. There is little more I can do for you, here. If there are no potions here¡­ I don¡¯t think much more can be done.¡¯ I sighed. There, indeed, was a job to do.
Despite her putting on a brave face for Lilyth, Aki was terrified. What happened to Caei¡­ could that just have happened to her as well? Was it just sheer luck that it was not her lying there instead? She grabbed her girlfriend''s hand. This seemed to have brought Caeileera some degree of comfort as her breathing got easier. She hated just waiting there, being unable to do anything, but what else could she do? Lilyth was right. Someone had to stay there with Caeileera. If anything happened to her while they were out¡­ no. She could not bear the thought. Aki could hear Lilyth rummaging through the other rooms. Then there were sounds of struggle. Followed by rummaging. And more combat sounds. Then someone, she guessed Lilyth by the sounds of the footsteps, ran towards where they were hiding. Hope sprang in Aki¡¯s heart upon hearing that, but the Lilyth passed by the door and started descending down the stairs. What in the Abyss? Only silence answered her. She felt helpless. The only thing she could do was comfort Caeileera and wait. And she hated waiting. It reminded her of those few days she spent as a prisoner of the goblins, waiting to join the other prisoners as the monsters¡¯ dinner guests. Images of that horror started flooding her. She began to sob softly. Some of the longest minutes of Aki¡¯s life later, distant cracks of gunfire sounded but were quickly cut short. Then¡­ the weirdest thing she has experienced happened. The air became electrified with magic. It was brief but noticeable. What¡¯s happening? Someone help us. Someone help me. Please Lilyth¡­ help us. A message appeared before her eyes. Notice: The Sierra Squad has been eradicated. For your contribution to this, you have received 500 experience points. (3172/3500 total experience points progress to level 7). What? Lilyth killed all of them? How? Hope started to blossom, in Aki¡¯s heart, but then she heard scratching and dragging sounds from behind the door. Another of these monsters. She gripped her pistol tightly and aimed it at the door. The beast began hitting it but was interrupted by a loud gunshot, sounding like the gun that hurt Caei. A second gunshot quickly followed, followed by a gentle knocking on the door. ¡®Aki¡­¡¯ she heard Lilyth¡¯s tired voice. ¡®It¡¯s me¡­ I got it.¡¯ The door opened and Aki could not help gasping upon seeing Lilyth. Her friend changed. Her hair was now a small evershifting cloud that remained Aki of some hairstyle she sometimes saw men wear, though theirs did not have lightning flashes going through it, the irises of her eyes became gold, and there were stripes of liquid darkness under her eyes and triangular stripes of it starting at her jaw bones and ending in the middle of her cheeks. Her arms were covered in some snake-like shapes that oozed shadow. In the right one, she was holding the gun that looked like the one that hurt Caei, and in the other, there was a large healing potion. She offered it to her and said: ¡®Give it to Caei, I think I need to rest.¡¯ Then Lilyth just collapsed on her face. Chapter 53 - Just a Slime Caeileera woke up lying on the grass under a blue sky. The air was fragrant with the smell of blooming flowers. A feeling of peace and contentment filled her. Am I dead? she wondered. ¡®No,¡¯ A warm male voice said. ¡®Not yet. And based on the Terran¡¯s actions¡­ I doubt this is quite the time yet.¡¯ She recognised it. It was Akh''ret. ¡®My lord!¡¯ she said and sat up. She looked around and saw she was in a garden, by a patch of blue flowers and a well-man wearing blue trousers that had an apron and braces, a red chequered shirt and a straw hat. His tanned face was wide and fatherly, with dark hair and stubble, and warm brown eyes with wrinkles under them. The man was doing something in the flower patch. He ripped out some plants that did not match the flowers and put them into a plastic bucket next to him. ¡®No need for that ¡°my lord¡± business, my daughter. You can help me with the flowers though, if you want.¡¯ He offered her a trowel. She took it and started to help him expand the flower patch. This was the first time she had ever done it, but the god patiently explained everything to her. ¡®Why have you brought me here, my Lord?¡¯ Caei asked eventually. ¡®Because we need to talk, my daughter,¡¯ Akh¡¯ret sighed sadly. ¡®Talk?¡¯ ¡®Yes. About what''s coming.¡¯ ¡®The Great Game?¡¯ ¡®So, the Terran told you. Good.¡¯ ¡®Why are you calling Lilyth that?¡¯ ¡®Because that is what she is in the grand scheme of things, Caeileera. Lilyth is an outsider here. Never forget that. And that is causing problems both for her and for you. She, and by extension you and Aki, are starting to gain notoriety among the powers. The latest stunt that she pulled¡­One does not get to rip power directly from gods and escape attention.¡¯ ¡®Lilyth did WHAT?¡¯ ¡®You know how she survived the fall?¡¯ ¡®Yes. Ter¡¯ius allowed Lily to channel her power.¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ Lilyth somehow managed to do that on her own. Both my sister and Ter¡¯ius were surprised, to say the least.¡¯ ¡®Oh no¡­ is Lily in¡­¡¯ ¡®Trouble? No. Not with them. She would have died if she hadn¡¯t done it. And I can''t be mad given how it was used to save you, my daughter¡­ but¡­ there is a price to be paid. Her body took a lot of damage in the process, and her ability to use magic has been permanently¡­ impaired.¡¯ ¡®Oh no¡­ she did that for me?¡¯ ¡®Yes. Lilyth might try to hide it from you so as not to make you feel bad about it¡­¡¯ Caei smiled sadly and sighed: ¡®She¡¯s like that. Yes. Why tell me about it though?¡¯ ¡®To make you understand that she will need your and Aki¡¯s help to heal. Despite what she may claim otherwise.¡¯ ¡®I will do my best,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®That¡¯s all I can count on, my daughter. Now off you go. The Terran is back.¡¯ When Caeileera disappeared, Akh¡¯ret returned to his flowers. Still¡­ he was hoping he was doing the right thing.
When I regained consciousness I felt something moist falling on my face. I opened my eyes and saw Caei and Aki leaning over me, tears in their eyes. ¡®You¡¯re¡­ fine,¡¯ I said, seeing the Sanguine up and about. ¡®That¡¯s a relief.¡¯ Caei shook me and shouted. ¡®Don¡¯t ¡°you¡¯re fine¡± me, you fucking idiot! You could have died. Have you seen the shape you are in?¡¯ ¡®A small price¡­¡¯ It was Aki¡¯s turn to get mad at me. ¡®A small price? You barely look human¡­ elven¡­ you know!¡¯ I checked the statuses I got. Status: Magic Burnout Effects:
  • Unable to use magic
  • Unable to use mana-based abilities
  • Unable to use magical effects of items
Note 1: This status cannot be removed through any means Note 2: This status will expire in 59 days, 23 hours and 2 minutes Status: Elemental Contamination - Air Level: 4 - Critical Effects:
  • Irreversible changes to body structure have occurred
  • Increased effectiveness of Air Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Unable to use elemental-based Arcanas
Note 1: Level of contamination will revert to 3 - Severe in 42 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes Note 2: Further exposure to Air elemental energy may be fatal Status: Elemental Contamination - Umbral Level: 3 - Severe Effects:
  • Increased effectiveness of Umbral Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Decreased effectiveness of Life Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
  • Unable to use Light Arcana-based spells, abilities and traits
Note: The level of contamination will revert to 2 - Moderate in 21 days, 11 hours and 24 minutes. Interesting. The Umbral Arcana one is less severe. Is it due to me being what I am? I checked my traits. There was, as I suspected, no Umbral infusion, but the Air one jumped by two levels and there was a new side effect there as well. Trait: Elemental Infusion - Air Type: Magical - Elemental Level: 4/10 Effects:
  • Faster progression of Air Arcana-related spells, traits and abilities
  • Slower progression of all other elemental Arcana-related spells, traits and abilities
  • Unable to use Earth Arcana-related spells, traits and abilities
  • Physical Signs of Elemental Contamination have become more prominent and take longer to revert
  • Small chance of failure of all other Elemental Arcana-related spells and abilities (can be mitigated by a high level of proficiency in that spell or ability)
Description: Your desperate use of Air Arcana past the physical capabilities of your body and having the Air Goddess inside of you (and not in the fun way) have permanently altered your body. You have become elementally infused with Air energy. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Notice: This trait progresses each time you reach level 3 or 4 of Elemental Contamination. The progression of this trait cannot be reversed. Trait: Arcane Connector Scarring Type: Magical - Malus Level: N/A Effects:
  • Unable to use Arcanas other than Umbral and Air
  • Slower progression of magical skills, abilities and spells
  • Increased difficulty of learning new spells
  • Increased perk point cost of learning spells from runes
  • Small chance of failure whenever you cast a spell
Description: You have burned out your connections to other Arcane sources. Only your direct connection with Ereshkigal and Nyx saved your ability to use magic at all. You are no longer capable of learning or using spells, abilities and traits tied to Arcanas other than Umbral and Air. Notice: This trait cannot be removed. That sucks. Still¡­ I spent my entire life without access to magic, eh? It will be just back to the old me for a while. ¡®I¡¯ll be fine in no time!¡¯ I lied. ¡®Don''t worry.¡¯ ¡®Stop bullshitting us, Lilyth!¡¯ Caei shouted. ¡®I spoke with Akh¡¯ret. He told me. Show us.¡¯ I winced at that. ¡®No need to worry¡­¡¯ ¡®Show. Us,¡¯ Caei insisted. ¡®We¡¯re in a fucking dungeon, I remind you.¡¯ ¡®Very well¡­¡¯ Both Aki and Caeileera¡¯s expressions were horrified upon seeing the results of my misadventures. ¡®What¡­ What happened?¡¯ the Sanguine asked. So I told them. Everything. ¡®After the¡­ magic stuff I went to the room the big bastard was in,¡¯ I finished. ¡®It was mostly a military depot, but there were some potions there. I could only grab the one because my backpack wouldn''t respond to the summoning. I guess I now know why. That''s also where I found the shotgun. I spent the four perk points I had on learning it. And that''s that.¡¯ Caei sighed. ¡®I guess, I can''t be too mad at you for going to these lengths to save me, but for fuck¡¯s sake Lilyth, start finally thinking about your own needs and safety too!¡¯ ¡®I will try¡­¡¯ I said weakly. It was clear neither Aki nor Caei bought it, but such was life. ¡®Be sure you try hard,¡¯ the Sanguine stressed, and then, to my surprise, kissed me. ¡®And this is for saving me.¡¯ Our first priority was getting more supplies. We went to retrieve my backpack from where I left it on the ground floor and headed to the nurse''s station/armoury. The room was a bit more spacious than those in the Main Wing, but not by much. The only remnant of the original purpose of the room was a small cabinet that contained potions under the wall opposite the entrance. To the left of the entrance was a desk with another broken radio station - I wasn¡¯t sure what people here had against the radio, and some papers I still had to review. Under the wall opposite the desk, there was a pile of wooden crates with weapons and ammo. This is where I found my shotgun - a long-barrelled weapon with a wooden stock and fore-end and a leather carry strap. Item: Vandarian Royal Arms Model 9 Class: Weapon - Pump-action Shotgun Rarity: Mass Produced - Thought Lost Durability: 49/50 Ammo: 4/6 Ammunition: 12 Gauge I had to stock up on ammo though. There were plenty of boxes of it, along with ammo for Caei¡¯s rifle, submachine guns, pistols and, I kid you not, two more light machine guns. Those had long barrels, bipods, side-mounted pan magazines and, as most weapons I¡¯ve seen here, wooden stocks. As Caei and Aki were looking around, I simply loaded a couple of twenty-five shell boxes for my shotgun into my backpack. I initially chose it over the pistols and other weapons because I felt I needed something with decent enough stopping power. I did now pick up a pistol, a nice little nine millimetre with diamond pattern anti-slip surface on the grip and grooves on the slide to facilitate easier chambering, and a few extra clips and hundred-bullet boxes. My backpack was almost full then. I also saw a nice bandoleer so I could have ready access to ammo for the shotgun. While Caei and Aki were busy restocking potions and ammo, I leaned back against the desk and checked my notifications. New Skill Acquired: Pump-action Shotguns - Current Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Your Pump-action Shotguns skill has increased to level 3 (0% total progress to level 4) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) Level 14 Rotting Thrall has been slain. You have received 1400 experience points (4782/5500 total experience points progress to level 11) The following skills have progressed: Dexterity: + 73% (110% total progress to level 15) Your Dexterity attribute has increased to level 15 (5% total progress to level 16) Agility: +64% (100% total progress to level 12) Your Agility attribute has increased to level 12 (0% total progress to level 13) Note: You have reached the natural limit your body can reach on its own. Further increases of Agility will require the use of perk points or dedicated training regimen. Endurance: +84% (156% total progress to level 13) Your Endurance attribute has increased to level 13 (28% total progress to level 14) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Vitality: +54% (121% total progress to level 14) Your Vitality attribute has increased to level 14 (10% total progress to level 15) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Intelligence: +16% (105% total progress to level 17) Your Intelligence attribute has increased to level 17 (2% total progress to level 18) Your total mana has increased Wisdom: +5% (5% total progress to level 13) Willpower: +67% (115% total progress to level 16) Your Willpower attribute has increased to level 16 (7% total progress to level 17) Your total mana has increased Cunning: +17% (46% total progress to level 9) Resilience: +15% (36% total progress to level 8) New Skill Acquired: Woodsmanship - Current Level: 1 (15% total progress to level 2) New Skill Acquired: Dwynveian History- Current Level: 1 (47% total progress to level 2) The following skills have progressed: Combat Knife: +75% (75% total progress to level 4) Pump-action Shotguns (20% total progress to level 4) Air Arcana: +81% (83% total progress to level 5) Umbral Arcana: +30% (30% total progress to level 4) Sanguine Arcana: +15% (63% total progress to level 2) The following spells have progressed: Shadow Bolt: +60% (60% total progress to level 2) Gust of Wind: +30% (51% total progress to level 4) Fist of Wind: +114% (87% total progress to level 3) The following abilities have progressed: The Swiftness of the Wind: +159% (169% total progress to level 2) Your Swiftness of the Wind ability has increased to level 2 (34% total progress to level 3) ¡®How are you feeling?¡¯ Caei asked me, while I watched Aki play around with the light machine gun. The girl really loved these kinds of novelties, so when she saw the treasure trove of ¡°artefacts¡± in the room she immediately started rummaging through it. I did not mind, the girl deserved to have some fun, though I was wondering whether this one was more than she could chew, as between the gun and ammo the whole thing must have weighed some like twelve or thirteen kilograms based on what I knew about these things on Earth from Wikipedia. ¡®I should be the one asking you this,¡¯ I responded, playing absentmindedly with the strap of the bandoleer. The look Caei gave told me everything. ¡®I¡¯m fine¡­ I guess,¡¯ I quickly corrected myself. ¡®At least no different.¡¯ She nodded. ¡®You probably can¡¯t feel it, but there is a lot of ambient magic in the air. What you did¡­ it wasn''t smart you know¡­¡¯ ¡®I do, and¡­ I understand why you were mad at me too. Hell¡­ I would be furious at someone who did cowboy bullshit like this.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t appreciate that you did it for me¡­ just¡­ I am worried about you. Aki is too.¡¯ ¡®I know and I hate myself for it. It¡¯s just that.. that¡­ I¡­ have no idea what I¡¯m doing. What should I do to prevent you two from getting hurt. If I make a mistake and one of you dies¡­ ¡®It¡¯s not your fault I got shot, you know. It was just pure bad luck.¡¯ ¡®Perhaps. But if I chose the other room first¡­¡¯ ¡®You are just a woman. You had no way of knowing. You can¡¯t carry the burden of everything. You can share it.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know how,¡¯ I said and hung my head in shame. Caei took my hand in hers. ¡®We¡¯ll figure it out,¡¯ she said firmly. ¡®Together.¡¯ Chapter 54 - The Tales of Rot One note on the desk immediately caught my attention. Date: 25/10/1127 Location: Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy Hospital, Ror-Bhyk area Reporting Officer: Sergeant Drev Gend, 273rd Royal Infantry Division There was a mutiny among the men and Lieutenant Kishin was executed in his office. I¡¯ve rallied the few loyalists, we took whatever ammo we could find and stashed it in the Nurse¡¯s Station in the Burn Ward. If push comes to shove, we can blow them and us up. I¡¯ve lost track of Vaan Lohren. His being the last doctor in this place makes this a major issue. Hafnr says he saw him heading into the west wing when the fighting broke out. We need to break him out of there, both for our sake and his. I¡¯m leaving Corporal Yavir and Privates Hafnr and Qart to keep watch over our stockpile. On the morale: The hallucinations are getting worse. Some of the men are getting convinced that those aren¡¯t just hallucinations. It¡¯s becoming difficult to maintain morale. More than once, we¡¯ve had to restrain someone who wanted to go to one of the restricted areas. I hope relief comes soon. I immediately started looking for one with some more updates. There was one report from Private Hafnr. Date: 26/10/1127 Location: Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy Reporting Officer: Private Hafnr Sergeant Gend and his team haven''t returned since yesterday. I am starting to think the rebels were right to break the radios. Most of the time the only thing we hear is static. Then¡­ her voice comes. Relief will never come. If Sarge doesn''t come back in a few hours we will try to make a break for it. Gods help us. She comes. Into the ledger these went. I had no idea whether those would ever be useful again, but something told me it wouldn''t hurt to keep them. When we started to pack up, Aki asked: ¡®Can we take this thing?¡¯ she pointed at the LMG, her tail in a playful question mark position. ¡®If you want to carry it, why not?¡¯ I shrugged. Caei and I were already fully loaded. So was Aki between her swords, pistol and the Storm she ended up carrying. ¡®I can summon the disk,¡¯ Caei said. We probably could put all the heavier stuff on it.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s a¡­ a good idea, actually,¡¯ I concurred. ¡®Won¡¯t mana be a problem though?¡¯ ¡®It shouldn''t be. We¡¯ve found five mana potions - three normal ones and two greaters, so I should be good for a while.¡¯ I nodded. Then something hit me¡­ ¡®As much as I adore the idea of us having this thing, I don¡¯t think it will be practical in our situation.¡¯ ¡®How come?¡¯ Aki asked, a bit apprehensive. ¡®Those things are very difficult to handle,¡¯ I explained. ¡®I saw you weren''t having a good time picking it up.¡¯ She nodded. I approached the gun and picked it up. ¡®Oh, sweet Jesus,¡¯ I muttered, feeling its weight. While I was in much better shape than ever before, carrying a metal object of this size and weight wasn¡¯t easy. I extended the bipod, nearly dropping the gun due to having to hold it in one hand for a moment and set it up on one of the crates. ¡®Now do this during combat,¡¯ I panted. Aki looked absolutely dejected, but she nodded. Then, I continued. ¡®Those things are also incredibly difficult to maintain. Barrels wear out quickly, so you need to replace them quite often. Ammo weighs a fuckton. And well¡­ once you set it up somewhere, you are stuck there with it.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ she muttered. Hating the fact that she looked as if I had just killed her puppy in front of her, I suggested. ¡®We can still take it. If we ever have to defend some point, or kill something that is slow or can''t move then this thing will be very useful.¡¯ ¡®THANK YOU.¡¯ Aki shouted and hugged me. ¡®You ended up giving her what she wanted,¡¯ Caei whispered as we loaded the thing on her disk. ¡®I tempered her expectations,¡¯ I answered quietly. ¡®That and I felt like a complete monster for crushing her dreams.¡¯ Caei laughed. ¡®Apparently, you are not the only one here who likes big guns.¡¯ ¡®So you are the odd one out?¡¯ ¡®I never said I didn''t like them, did I?¡¯ She winked at me, which made me feel really tempted to test that shapeshifting ability of mine at some point. ¡®You are getting blue again, Lilyth,¡¯ Caei giggled. Fuck. Apparently, Sergeant Gend¡¯s team, or whoever killed them, stripped this floor of anything useful. We discovered another exit from the building, though it was barricaded with broken furniture. We didn''t feel like dismantling it, especially after we noticed the faint green glow of another sigil behind the barrier. As we moved away from the blocked door, I heard the distant scratching, again. It was fainter than before and seemed to be coming from somewhere towards the West Wing. ¡®Hearing things again?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®Maybe,¡¯ I conceded. ¡®I have no idea whether this is my hearing, the hallucinations people here were experiencing or just space madness. At any rate, so long as nothing jumps out to eat our faces, I don¡¯t think there is anything to worry about. That being said, the scratches seem to be coming from the direction of the West Wing. You know¡­ the one with the big monster.¡¯ ¡®I suggest then that we don''t investigate this,¡¯ Aki laughed weakly. ¡®And I think that''s an excellent suggestion,¡¯ Caei seconded her. I wanted to make a joke about me going there, but I stopped myself. Wouldn''t be smart. Unfortunately, we couldn''t explore the other floors of the ward as the staircase had collapsed. By the look of it, someone blew it up for whatever reason. There were also elevators there, but those were non-functional due to lack of power. The list of floors did raise some questions for me though. B1: Generator Room GF: Burn Ward F1: Cardiology F2: Pulmonology F3: Gastrology ¡®Sooo¡­ Caei¡­,¡¯ I began as we started heading back to the main building. ¡®Explain something to me. There is healing magic. There are healing potions. Why did a hospital need to exist?¡¯ I would need to recheck Vaan Lohren¡¯s ledger, but those were rarely used. ¡®There are a lot of factors,¡¯ she answered. ¡®For one, you haven''t seen a lot of Dwynveia, so your perspective may be skewed, but let me assure you - actual mages are rare. Most people who use magic do so by using abilities, and believe me not a lot of people get access to these. Then you get people like you or Aki - those who learned some spells by chance. That''s even a more select group. Of those, only a few dedicate themselves to the full pursuit of magic. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡®Ah,¡¯ I simply said, understanding dawning on me. ¡®And let me guess - Life Arcana is not exactly popular?¡¯ Caei nodded sadly. ¡®I imagine in the days of the Vandarian Empire they did have a magical academy or two that would teach it. But those days as you can see are long gone.¡¯ ¡®Can¡¯t people learn healing magic from runes?¡¯ Aki asked. Caei laughed bitterly. ¡®Yes. But that costs perk points. And healing spells are very hard to use right. Even the simple one I have needed me to reach level thirty in Life Arcana to use.¡¯ Thirty. Aki was looking at her wide-eyed. ¡®It¡¯s pretty advanced magic. Far more advanced than the Fist of Wind that the stormhair over there keeps throwing around. What¡¯s your level in Air Arcana anyway?¡¯ ¡®Almost five,¡¯ I said, realising I was probably walking in a trap. Caeileera furrowed her brow. ¡®And that''s after your latest bullshit¡­¡¯ I could see gears turning in Caeileera''s head. ¡®How the fuck were you able to use it as much as you did? You can''t be at the required level for it.¡¯ I checked. Spell: Fist of Wind Type: Elemental - Air - Attack Level: 3 (51% progress to level 11) Description: Imbues caster¡¯s chosen fist with the elemental power of Wind. Striking a target with it unleashes a devastating torrent of wind. Causes knockback. Casting time: 2 seconds Note 1: Insufficient knowledge of Air Arcana Note 2: Currently unavailable I was, in fact, not at a high enough level. And that ¡°Currently unavailable¡± hurt more than I expected it did. I liked that spell. I really did. ¡®Makes sense,¡¯ Caei said after I shared the spell with her. ¡®It looks to be at least a level ten if not twenty spell. View Arcana levels as ¡°how good your connection with the source of magic is and how well-versed you are in using it¡±.¡¯ Finally! An explanation! ¡®Then the goddess of Air being my patron and me being well¡­¡¯ I pointed at my hair and eyes. ¡®Right. Probably makes up for the difference. Anyway, learning healing magic is a difficult path. And if situations you can¡­ you need to know what you have to fix. Healing Potions are good for wounds. They will not heal a disease. And likewise, if someone''s issue is caused by internal damage, but has symptoms like a disease, using anti-sickness spells will not work.¡¯ ¡®Makes sense. If someone has a helicobacter pylori infection, healing the ulcer only solves a small part of the problem.¡¯ ¡®A what?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®Ulcers are caused by a disease?¡¯ Caei added. Well¡­ fuck. We got back to the Doctors'' offices. It was finally time for me to go over through the documents there. Caei and Aki fully accepted that. They realised that we needed as much information as we could get given the general fuckery going on around. That and we at this stage were curious about what the fuck happened here. My first destination was the dead thrall from Vaan Lohren¡¯s office. There was some sort of an ID on it, but it was most illegible. The letters that were visible though didn¡¯t seem to match ¡°Hakon Vaan Lohren¡±. I had Aki and Caei check to ensure the translator wasn¡¯t borking out again. It wasn¡¯t. So Vaan Lohren¡¯s corpse was possibly somewhere in the West Wing. I did find something interesting though. Apparently, Vaan Lohren started using one of the hospital paper pads as a diary. Staff Notice - 15/10/1137 From: Hakon Vaan Lohren Administrator Zi Lind has been acting more erratically lately. Just yesterday, she was looking for Brind, despite the fact Cel died three weeks ago when the field hospital he was delegated to was hit by a mortar. Lieutenant Kishin has issued a standing order to all personnel that all orders from the administrator need to be run by him first. Staff Notice - 22/10/1137 From: Hakon Vaan Lohren The Administrator was not seen in a few days. Her office is locked. Sergeant Gend tried to break in to ensure nothing bad had happened, but the door seemed impregnable to damage. Even bullets and bolts from The Storm did nothing. Kishin said he can only spare one man to guard the door ¡°just in case¡±. The reports of hallucinations have been getting worse since Teliar went missing. I am getting worried. And something keeps calling me to the West Wing. This told us we could probably skip going through Brind¡¯s office. The office opposite Vaan Lohren¡¯s belonged to Doctor Kaifa. And hey¡­ for once I thought we found the owner. What was left of them, anyhow. There was a humanoid-shaped patch of liquid rot on the floor before the desk. The figure was badly contorted, as if it was in great pain before it died, and was short, maybe a metre and a half tall, and stocky. ¡®A dwarf?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Most likely,¡¯ Aki said with a slightly shaky voice. Suddenly, a pair of eyes opened in the rough area where they should be on the figure''s head and looked at us and we heard a weak female voice say: ¡®H-help me¡­¡¯ Then its voice got stronger and distorted and shouted: ¡®She is here! She is here!¡¯ The woman broke out in a mad laughter. We looked at each other, slowly backed out of the room, and closed the door behind us. ¡®This never happened,¡¯ I said, to my companions¡¯ eager approval. There were six more offices on the floor. Only the one belonging to a doctor named Zi Jaler contained something useful - their journal. 12/10/1137 Today, when I was doing my rounds in the Mental Ward, one of the patients started shouting something about a woman standing at his bed at night. I¡¯ve spoken to the nurses having their shift there - none of them had to visit his room that night. When asked what the woman looked like, the man stated only that she was wearing robes with a cowl concealing her face. I¡¯ve prescribed him a higher dose of sleeping meds and asked Gerrick to run another psych eval on the patient to ensure his issues didn¡¯t get worse. 13/10/1137 We¡¯ve received news today that Laenjin¡­ that is Doctor Caiver has died today after the truck carrying him came under enemy fire. Teliar said we would have a memorial for him tomorrow. She hasn¡¯t been herself lately too, I¡¯ve heard her laugh and cry at random. I think the stress of the war and losing so many of our colleagues might be getting to her. The impact of the news and the story from yesterday must have impacted my imagination as I could swear I heard footsteps coming from an empty corridor. 14/10/1137 Gerrick is dead. The man who experienced the hallucinations attacked him and broke his neck. One of Kishin¡¯s brutes then shot the patient ¡°in the interest of security¡±. Brunvar¡¯s husband also died today. He stepped on a landmine. She has locked herself in her office and just keeps crying. Hakon is delivering her meals as his office is opposite hers. Teliar was seen wandering naked around the East Wing. When Sergeant Gend intercepted her she broke out of some daze and remembered nothing. I keep hearing distant footsteps. But when I investigate them, there is nothing there. Others keep reporting the same thing. Sometimes they also mention scratching sounds, or a woman whispering. Let this nightmare be over. 16/10/1137 There was a woman standing over me when I was trying to get some sleep at night. I can swear it. 17/10/1137 Brunvar has stopped accepting her meals. Hakon is getting worried but keeps leaving them in front of her door. The whispers are getting worse. 19/10/1137 I haven¡¯t seen a meal plate in front of Brunvar¡¯s office today. When I asked Hakon about it, he seemed to have forgotten who she was. He suddenly recalled it when I pointed the door to him, but she immediately faded from his memory the moment his gaze left the door. I find myself forgetting about her too. It¡¯s only thanks to this journal that I am able to keep my thoughts about her straight. The next few entries focused on more and more people experiencing the hallucinations and Zi Jaler¡¯s increasing memory problems. The journal ended with: 23/10/1137 She is here. She is standing behind me. There was a streak of something black beneath that entry. With serious trepidation, we¡¯ve decided it was time to visit the office of the Administrator. Well¡­ it was that or the morgue. And the latter option was even LESS appealing. We ascended the steps feeling we were headed to our deaths. ¡®Maybe the door will still be locked?¡¯ Aki said with hope in her voice. ¡®I don¡¯t think we are this lucky,¡¯ Caei laughed bitterly. Whatever could be said about Teliar Zi Lind, and we didn¡¯t know much about her other than her catching a mild case of ¡°bonkers¡±, the woman definitely liked luxury. The waiting room in front of her office was exquisite. Well¡­ at least in the past. Marble floors, columns, a plush couch and some armchairs - all heavily damaged and partially rotten. I had no idea how that was possible with fucking marble, but we made sure not to step on those particular spots. We also got a good look at the administrator as a portrait of an elven woman was hanging on one of the walls, and the armchairs were positioned in such a way you had to look at it. ¡®She wasn¡¯t a vain bitch, wasn¡¯t she?¡¯ Caei asked absentmindedly. Assuming this wasn¡¯t artistic licence, Administrator Zi Lind was quite a looker. Short brown hair, peach-coloured skin, large green eyes, a straight nose, dimples and an exquisite pair of pointy ears. Alas, Caei was right. We weren¡¯t lucky. The wooden double doors leading to the administrator¡¯s office were slightly ajar. Fuck. Readying our weapons we approached it and I nudged them open with the barrel of my shotgun. Once again the administrator¡¯s taste has shown itself here: a dark marble desk, a golden chandelier, a row of dark wooden bookshelves filled with books on one of the side walls, the other just covered in trophies, awards and diplomas and a large window behind the desk. The floor was covered in something that once was an expensive-looking red carpet, in the middle of which was a large circle of rot with five sickle-like spiral arms extending from out of it. I want to say I didn¡¯t expect something like this to be here, but it would be a fucking lie. What DID come as a surprise was a pair of long black semi-liquid skeletal arms that shot out of the centre of that floor ornament the moment we entered the room. They grabbed the edges of the spiral and out of the puddle came a large quadrupedal skeletal creature. Its hind limbs were digitigrade and its head looked disturbingly hominid. Oh, fucking hell. Chapter 55 - The Administrators Office ¡®No,¡¯ Lilyth said and pointed the shotgun at the monster. ¡®Bad dog.¡¯ What¡¯s a dog? Aki wondered. Probably some creature from Lilyth¡¯s world. She pulled the trigger. The projectiles it launched impacted the creature but caused no visible damage. They did successfully direct the monster¡¯s attention towards Lilyth. The creature crouched and pounced towards her, but her girlfriend appeared to be ready for this as she started to move to the side and extended her hand as if she¡­ Oh no¡­ Don¡¯t tell me she is going to¡­ Lilyth screamed in pain and put her hand on her chest as if she was having a heart attack. Her move turned into an uncontrolled collapse, which mostly took her out of the monster¡¯s path anyway. It caught her on the leg with its hind paw, which sent Lilyth sprawling and caused the undead beast to tumble forward. This also screwed up my jump big time. While luckily, I managed to avoid most of the creature¡¯s pounce; it caught me on the leg with its hind paw. This threw me off my flight path and sent me sprawling. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ Aki shouted and sent out a Lesser Abyssal Bolt at the creature. The hellfire projectile impacted it on the side, exploded and blew away most of its ribs on the side. Encouraged by this ,Aki launched another spell and aimed it at the monster¡¯s hind legs. ¡®Don¡¯t let it touch you!¡¯ Lilyth shouted, clearly in agony and holding her leg next to the place where she got hit by the abomination. Aki¡¯s ability struck true and destroyed the monster¡¯s left hind paw. To finish it off, she pointed the Lance of Longinus at the monster¡¯s head and fired. The skull shattered and the creature started to dissolve. Level 12 Lesser Rot Hound has been slain. You have received 1200 experience points (4372/3500 total experience points progress to level 7) You are now Level 7 (872/4000 total experience points progress to Level 8) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Hiding her elation from the level up, she started rushing towards Lilyth. Her girlfriend needed help.
Sweet Jesus. Reflexively trying to cast a spell was not the smartest thing to do. A choking burning pain started spreading through my chest. Then, as I fell to the ground, it honestly felt a bit like a fire elemental was sitting on my chest. As it slowly passed, I began to register that part of my leg had dissolved after the bloody thing nicked me. That somehow hurt less than the chest pain but was no less agonising. So it was a great relief that Caei hurried over to my side and started to take care of my wounds. I felt immense relief when the pain subsided and the part of my body that was destroyed started to grow back. I broke out in tears and said: Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡®T-Thank you,¡¯ ¡®What happened to you there?¡¯ she asked with genuine concern. ¡® ¡®I forgot I couldn''t cast spells,¡¯ I sobbed. ¡®Felt like a heart attack.¡¯ Aki joined us and knelt by my side, grabbing my hand. ¡®I¡¯m going to be so useless¡­¡¯ I said. ¡®It¡¯s going to be fine,¡¯ Aki said and smiled. ¡®I¡¯m sure of it. Just don¡¯t go casting any more spells.¡¯ To my great dismay, we¡¯ve discovered that the Administrator either destroyed most of her paperwork or it was stolen by someone. All the drawers were pulled out from the desk and empty. The books on the shelves were of no immediate use to us too. They were mostly medical handbooks and treatises, and Caeileera did grab some of those for herself. One VERY valuable find was a Life Arcana textbook from the Imperial Academy of Magic. Caei¡¯s eyes lit up seeing it, and I didn¡¯t blame her one bit. We also ended up grabbing some books on alchemy for Aki. After we left the dungeon, she did mention her interest in it to me, so I was more than happy to oblige her on the front. Once we had a moment, I would need to go through the stuff from L?we¡¯s and Rivard¡¯s lab with her. I ended up dumping most of the ammo from my backpack on the floating disk and packing up the books instead. Those were far more important to us in the long term than the weapons. Unfortunately, but also unsurprisingly, the bookshelf was fresh out of any books on stuff actually interesting me - this being history, language, or even fucking novels. Well¡­ there was one history book, but I did a safety check on it and found out it was written in the dry, unimaginative way a lot of these are written in. So I ended up entertaining myself by throwing it in the middle of the rot spiral. It dissolved in a very fun way. Some part of me was screaming about ¡°valuable cultural artefacts¡±, but I think I was doing Dwynveia a favour by getting rid of it. No sane person would ever read that anyway. ¡®We now have a choice,¡¯ Lil sighed once they were done looting. ¡®The Morgue or the West Wing.¡¯ ¡®You keep mentioning how a visit to the morgue would be bad,¡¯ Aki queried. ¡®Why? What''s a morg?¡¯ ¡®A place where you store the dead.¡¯ ¡®Ooooooooh.¡¯ she said with wide eyes. ¡®It is a difficult choice, isn''t it? ¡®Yup.¡¯ ¡®I vote for the West Wing,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Let¡¯s get this over with.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ her girlfriend sighed. ¡®I don¡¯t think there is a point in expending resources there.¡¯ ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Aki said. ¡®But what if the answer is there? The writings of the elf doctor mentioned people were forgetting some things. Like that¡­ room. What if they forgot about this morg?¡¯ Lilyth seemed very confused for a moment. ¡®Zi Jaler,¡¯ Aki suggested, realising the source of Lilyth¡¯s uncertainty. The slimeling nodded in thanks. A shadow crossed her face, mixed with an expression of doubt. ¡®That is a¡­ very valid point, actually.¡¯ she said after a while. ¡®Yeah. Worth a try. I think.¡¯ ¡®I guess so,¡¯ Caei reluctantly agreed. She remembered Caei saying that Lilyth should not carry all the burden. They thought she didn¡¯t hear them when they were whispering in the armoury and Aki did respect their privacy, but she couldn¡¯t help actually being able to hear them. Caeileera was right, but wasn¡¯t it partially their fault? They did just dump all the responsibility on her, or rather Lilyth assumed it and they didn¡¯t protest. Aki was happy that someone was there to make all the difficult decisions, but could she really complain about being helpless then? And Caei¡­ her point of view seemed to be, ¡°We¡¯ll help you to carry the burden¡±, but she didn''t seem to consider the more important question of ¡°Should Lilyth be the one to carry it, to begin with¡±? And¡­ I had to face it: going into this hospital was my idea. It was high time I got us out of it. Chapter 56 - The Morgue ¡®Did Aki just take over?¡¯ I heard Caei whisper to Lilyth, as we headed downstairs. ¡®Apparently so,¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. ¡®I was always a better follower than a leader, so I really don''t mind. You have to try hard to do a worse job than I did.¡¯ ¡®Then why didn''t you step down?¡¯ I stopped and asked. ¡®It never occurred to me,¡¯ Lilyth answered ashamedly. ¡®And then you started to trust me¡­ and I guess I just felt responsible.¡¯ I sighed and said: ¡®Don¡¯t worry. I still trust you. I think Caei does too.¡¯ The Sanguine nodded and added: ¡®Don¡¯t beat yourself over it. You did your best.¡¯ Lil looked relieved. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she said and bowed. ¡®I¡¯ll do my best to ensure you keep trusting me.¡¯ And like that, it was done. I officially became our leader. ¡®Can I still ask either of you for advice?¡¯ I asked, a bit unsure. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Lilyth answered instantly. ¡®I¡¯ll happily help you, however I can.¡¯ ¡®Same,¡¯ Caei added. ¡®First question then: what can we expect in this morgue? I mean room-wise.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve never been in one,¡¯ Lilyth answered. ¡®But I have seen them in movies, think of a theatre play that is hmm¡­ captured in a series of pictures and then played?¡¯ It''s hard to describe it. And I¡¯ve read some commentary on these. Usually, you would expect doors for these to be locked. Depending on whether they were doing autopsies here, so cutting open corpses to see what killed them, there would be tables for these. Some locked drawer things you could store corpses in. Probably a mortician¡¯s office with some chemicals and embalming fluids.¡¯ ¡®Would those lockers be openable from the inside?¡¯ I followed-up. ¡®I don¡¯t think so. There would be no reason for them to. But that''s pure speculation on my end.¡¯ ¡®So any undead would potentially be locked with no way to get out?¡¯ Caeileera asked. ¡®Potentially,¡¯ Lilyth reluctantly agreed. ¡®We don''t know what happened there towards the end.¡¯ Caei frowned and crossed her arms. ¡®You seemed to make a big deal out of the place. The few morgues I have seen were ¡°open¡±, kind of like L?we¡¯s lab. What you describe is a far cry from that.¡¯ I crossed my arms with annoyance. What else did Lilyth gloss over? ¡®Uhh¡­¡¯ she stammered out. ¡®I guess I just assumed it would be bad and preferred to err on the side of caution?¡¯ Caei put her hand on her face. I could sympathise. I really did. A plan started shaping up in my head. Now for the hard part, I thought, as we stood in front of the door to the morgue. It was behind a metal door, as Lilyth suggested. It was opening our way it seemed, so I had to adjust what I originally intended. Caei stood on the side of the door with the door handle, while Lilyth and I were a few steps away from the entrance our guns pointed inside. My initial idea was to stand on the opposite side of the door, but it was not to be. I nodded to Caei and she pressed the door handle. The door moved so she swung it open the best she could. Lilyth slowly walked in and looked around. I still wanted to rely on her durability, as shitty as it made me feel to deliberately put her in harm''s way, so she would serve as our scout for the time being. The room was quite similar to what I imagined based on Lilyth''s description: a floor covered in black and white tiles, white walls, one with two rows of four small metal doors, a single normal wooden one in the opposite wall, two metal tables in the middle with a large lamp over each of them. There were also cloudy glass tubes I¡¯ve kept seeing around here on the ceiling. As the room was empty, Lilyth opened the wooden door and immediately collapsed to her knees. The shotgun fell out of her hands and clattered to the ground. ¡®No!¡¯ She shouted and hit the ground with her fists. ¡®No! No! No! No!¡¯ Each ¡°No¡± was punctuated with another hit. What could have upset her so¡­ Oh. Oh no¡­ Dread filling my heart, I rushed over to her side and confirmed my suspicions. The room was a small sleeping area with a couch, a small bookcase, a metal cabinet and a table. By the couch, there was a dusty skeleton with a rusty gun between its teeth and a hole at the back of its skull. And there on the table¡­ were healing potions. None of what she did was necessary. I put my hand on her shoulder. ¡®You couldn''t have known¡­¡¯ I said, trying to comfort her. ¡®If¡­ if¡­ I hadn''t dismissed this place¡­ god-fucking-dammit!¡¯ Caei hurried over to us, extended her hand towards Lilyth and raised her eyebrow. I shook my head. The Sanguine nodded and knelt by Lilyth. She hugged her. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, honey,¡¯ she said. ¡®You saved me. That''s all that matters. As Aki said, you couldn''t have known. Hey if it was me I would have skipped this room too. Like I said, I too assumed there would be undead here.¡¯ You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Lilyth nodded sadly. I joined them and took her hand in mine. ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ I comforted her. ¡®It¡¯s just two months and you¡¯ll be back to being able to cast magic. In the meantime, I¡¯ll help you train to fight with those knives of yours.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®I appreciate it. And in the meantime¡­ I¡¯ll try not to be a further burden.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re not one,¡¯ Caei rebuked her. ¡®Never think of yourself this way. You made some errors, but hey¡­ we¡¯re still here. We¡¯ll figure it out.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, guys. I appreciate it.¡¯ ¡®No problem,¡¯ I gripped her hand harder. ¡®Thank you for getting us this far. I¡¯ll take it from here.¡¯ She looked at me with a mirthless smile. I handed Lilyth her shotgun back. ¡®Let¡¯s get out of this place,¡¯ I said. She nodded, grim determination returning to her face. As Caei turned to gather the potions, I didn¡¯t think Lilyth handling these would be good in her current state, my attention turned towards the small metal doors. I wanted to see what was inside. I couldn¡¯t hear anything inside so I reached out towards one of them, but suddenly Lilyth appeared by my side and grabbed my hand. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t,¡¯ she simply said. ¡®Why?¡¯ I wondered. ¡®I can¡¯t hear anything inside.¡¯ ¡®That doesn¡¯t mean nothing is inside of there. Those doors could be fairly thick, so it is possible we just can¡¯t hear if something is being really quiet. Hmm¡­¡¯ She got lost in thought for a moment and then knocked on the door of the drawer we were standing by with the butt of her rifle. The clunk of it did confirm Lilyth¡¯s suspicions about the thickness of the door. Hmm¡­ Nothing happened, so Lilyth hit the next door over. I jumped when something started hitting on the door below it from the inside. ¡®And there it is¡­¡¯ Lilyth muttered. ¡®Should we kill it?¡¯ I asked. ¡®I think we should,¡¯ Caei suddenly said. ¡®It knows we are here.¡¯ ¡®I open the door, you shoot it?¡¯ I said to Lilyth. ¡®Makes sense,¡¯ she responded. ¡®Though¡­ hmm¡­ give me a sec. Stand back just in case.¡¯ ¡®Wait!¡¯ Caei shouted. ¡®No more as you put it ¡°Cowboy bullshit¡±. What do you want to do?¡¯ ¡®I want to open the door above to see what we are dealing with space-wise,¡¯ Lilyth explained with a sigh. ¡®And I almost did it again. Fucking hell¡­¡¯ ¡®Go ahead, though,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®That¡¯s a good idea.¡¯ Lilyth smiled weakly and pointed at the far corner of the room. ¡®Stand over there. If there is a rotting corpse, it¡¯s enough that one of us gets hit with the air inside.¡¯ That never occurred to me. When we were at a safe enough distance, Lilyth took a deep breath and, with some difficulty, swung the door open. No cloud of rot hit her, which I took as a good sign. ¡®Empty,¡¯ she confirmed, so we approached her and looked inside. I was disappointed when the compartment turned out to be what it sounded like from Lilyth¡¯s description. It really was just a cabinet thing with an extendable metal cot. And there was no visible way to open them from the inside. Lilyth suddenly laughed. ¡®Now that I think of it¡­ It really does make sense for there not to be those here.¡¯ She kicked the door of the cabinet with the monster inside. That caused it to try to get out with even more fervour. ¡®Let¡¯s still kill it,¡¯ I said. Lilyth nodded and positioned herself by the door. I tried to open it and understood the difficulty my girlfriend had with it. By the Gods! Finally, the door opened a bit and an arm shot out of the compartment and started clawing towards Lilyth, who was standing just barely out of range. She just stuck the barrel of the shotgun through the crack and pulled the trigger. And then again when it turned out the creature survived the first attack. The hand went limp and I let go of the heavy door. The way the metal compartment amplified the already loud sounds of the shotgun made them all wince slightly. ¡®And that¡¯s that,¡¯ Lilyth said with indifference in her voice. ¡®On the plus side, I hit level eleven.¡¯ That reminds me I have perk points to spend. Later though. ¡®How are you feeling?¡¯ I asked Lil, as we walked towards the entrance to the West Wing.¡¯ ¡®Pretty crap,¡¯ she admitted. ¡®I¡¯ll get better. Eventually. Right now, I am reminded of a quote: ¡°The truth, Walker, is that you''re here because you wanted to feel like something you''re not: a hero¡±.¡¯ ¡®Who¡¯s this Walker?¡¯ I was genuinely curious. ¡®A character from a story. He and his squ¡­ party are sent to a city affected by a disaster just to scout out a situation. Walker decides to play the hero, instead and ends up pretty much dooming every survivor. This is what the ¡°bad¡± guy tells him during the final confrontation. Though the only thing Walker ends up confronting is the heinousness of his actions. While I don¡¯t think I am as bad as he was, I was pretty much on the same trajectory, and already ended up paying for it dearly.¡¯ ¡®It was a valuable lesson though.¡¯ ¡®That it was. So what¡¯s the plan after we get out of here?¡¯ That question took me aback. I didn¡¯t consider that yet. ¡®We¡¯ll figure it out, once we get out.¡¯ Lilyth nodded. ¡®One problem at a time, I guess.¡¯ We need to recover. Lilyth especially. Tyr-Mel maybe? It will take us far away from the Inquisitor and we can find work there. A decent option. Still¡­ as Lil put it. One problem at a time. We reached the door to the West Wing. I dismissed the Abyssal Spark and the corridor became dark. ¡®Can you guys see anything on the other side?¡¯ I asked, hoping their Darksight would show them more than my eyes would. Lilyth suddenly tensed and listened intently. ¡®More of the distant noises?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Yes,¡¯ she confirmed. ¡®Coming from¡­ above I guess?¡¯ This mental ward, maybe? I looked at the padlock. We never found a key for it. ¡®Hellfire,¡¯ Lilyth suggested, as if reading my mind. ¡®I think it¡¯s hot enough to burn through it.¡¯ Yes. That would work. Damn¡­ she makes for a really good advisor. It¡¯s probably one of the things she considered before. I aimed my hand at the padlock and fired off an Abyssal bolt. It exploded on impact and vaporised the lock. It also shattered the glass in the door and blew a decent chunk of wood away. Unfortunately, the explosion also set parts of the entrance on fire. I grabbed the canteen and used the water from it to put it out. Caei assisted with some of the water bottles, as she had them easily accessible. ¡®Oh, for fucks sake, Lilyth!¡¯ she shouted. ¡®I thought Aki would use the gun.¡¯ Lil retorted. ¡®Then you should have said so!¡¯ Caei spat. Note to self: Always ask Lilyth to elaborate on her ideas. We swung the smouldering door open. It was time to enter the West Wing. Chapter 57 - The West Wing Aki There was something oppressive about the air in the West Wing. It made me doubt my decision to leave most of our extra gear outside. We just packed what was necessary, and what we would want to take in case we needed to run away fast. I was sad about having to leave the light machine gun, but Lilyth was right. The thing was too heavy and impractical for our purposes. The idea to take all the stuff was initially good, but it was before we realised we had to go into the West Wing. Our packs were close to bursting, but what other option did we have? This Wing had a slightly different layout than the main building and the East one. There were two rooms accessible from the side corridors by the entrance and the intersection in the middle looked to be three-way rather than four-way, as we originally assumed. The part of this span of the corridor behind the crossing also seemed to be behind another door, which we didn''t notice when hiding from the big monster. I decided we should check out the side corridors here first. This place was something called ¡°Trauma Ward and Anesthesiology¡±. The first part I understood, but this ¡°anesthesiology¡± thing sounded like some kind of magic. I asked Lilyth to go in front of me and Caei. I would have to figure out if there is a specific term for that on Earth. It seemed they had terms for everything there. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t be as complicated as the helicoubaackt thingie that caused oolsyrs. I could only half-follow Lilyth¡¯s explanation of what that was. I think, though she would never admit it, Caei had issues with understanding this whole ¡°jerm theory¡± too. It did fill in some blanks for me though, like Lilyth¡¯s insistence I drank from her canteen rather than other water sources. I never really got sick - maybe those jerms didn¡¯t like my Abyssal heritage, but I couldn¡¯t blame her. I¡¯ve seen what bad water could do to a person once. A boy in Dan-Hem drank from a puddle of water in one of the pockets of quiet. You could hear his screams from the other end of the village. Not much was left of him by the morning. Then again, I doubted water on Earth could do that. I would have to ask her. Anyway, when we were by the first door of the two I stood at a difficult choice. Do we enter? And if so¡­ how do we do it? There was that big monster somewhere around. We didn¡¯t want to draw its attention by making too much noise. So using guns was out. But we needed someone to keep watch in case something sneaked up at us from the main corridor. Caei was our only healer, but we did have those potions in case she got wounded again. And Lilyth was definitely a close-range fighter, even before she lost her magic. So¡­ Lil on the rooms with knives, and Caei watching the main corridor with her glaive? I would serve as the backup for them in case either of them needed help. Yup. That sounded like a plan. Lilyth Having been made the official point man¡­ woman¡­ slime? by Aki, I had to admit that, so far, she was doing a much better job than I ever could. I would do my best to support her and that was that. I didn¡¯t lie when I told Caei that I was a much better follower than leader, and based on the royal mess I¡¯ve made. All in all, the whole situation made me reconsider a lot of things. Slowly realising my days of relying on magic to get by were somewhat over, I realised I would need to play to my actual strengths to get by. And what were those? I was durable, had armour and a natural affinity for sneaking. The last one I had been neglecting hard, so I used the two perk points I got for the level up to bump my Stealth skill to level six. Level 12 Rotting Thrall has been slain. You have received 1200 experience points (5982/5500 total experience points progress to level 11), You are now Level 11 (482/6000 total experience points progress to level 12) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2) Your Stealth skill has increased to level 6 (0% total progress to level 7) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) I would probably need to pick up this Silent Step ability I had unlocked for purchase for those two I would get if we get out of here. Purchasable ability: Silent Step Type: Umbral - Magical - Mastery Duration: 30 seconds Description: Reduces the volume of the user''s steps. Consumes mana. Synergies: Knowledge of Umbral Arcana may improve the effects of this ability Cost to learn: 2 Perk Points Note 1: If purchased cannot be currently used This made me wonder whether I was actually missing out on some class skills and features due to me completely ignoring the ones I had, but that one required investigation. It kind of felt like a waste to buy that ability now, since I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it for two whole months, but it would be one of those ¡°just in case¡± things after I recover from the burnout. Boosting Stealth proved to be the right choice when Aki asked me to investigate the rooms. I drew one of my knives, I went with Luna, and slowly approached the door. I listened through it but could hear nothing but the breathing of my companions. There was a bit of a pungent smell in the air though. I slowly pressed on the door handle and pushed the door open. It opened silently and I peeked inside. Nothing immediately jumped out to eat my face and the room was deathly silent. Though the smell got stronger¡­ ugh. I crept inside and looked around. There was a body mid-decay lying on a cot by one of the walls. That made me pause. It shouldn¡¯t be here. Even in places preserved by magic, actual fucking corpses decayed normally. That meant¡­ Whatever the undead fuck was, it wasn¡¯t moving. Meaning it was probably lying in wait. For someone to approach. I wanted to sneak up on it¡­ but no. No more playing cowslime. Carefully watching it, I backed out of the room. Aki looked at me. I raised one finger and pointed in the rough direction where the undead was. Then I indicated Caeileera¡¯s Glaive. Aki nodded and whispered to Caei, who jumped upon hearing her name, barely suppressing a yelp. She looked at us questioningly. I repeated my gestures. She then pointed in the vague direction of the other end of the room. It was hidden from me by the door. And I didn¡¯t check. Fuck. Get it together you fucking moron. I shrugged. She simply nodded, apparently content that at least I didn¡¯t do anything rash. Which was a really low bar to climb. She carefully approached the door, wrinkled her nose at the smell, looked where the undead was and stabbed it with the end of her glaive. A low groan reached us so she stabbed it again. She then backed out and pointed at me and the other end of the room. Then she went to resume her station. ¡°Finish your job, you fucking idiot,¡± I thought she was saying. I nodded and peeked behind the door. There was just an empty cot there. One more room to go. Aki I would have to talk to Lilyth about those hand gestures she was using. They were really intuitive, so we would need to establish a little more complex system to help communicate better when having to stay silent. Are those something she learned on Earth, I wonder? Or is she coming up with them on the fly? I was also happy to see her thinking as a team member. I thought that she really needed to have direction given to her to excel. She was still learning, but that was true of all of us, wasn¡¯t it? When Lilyth finished checking the other room which proved to be empty, I heard some growling coming from the distance, followed by slow and heavy footsteps. Lilyth didn¡¯t wait to act, she pointed at my Abyssal Spark and the room she just finished checking and then she rushed to Caei who was slowly backing away and pulled her in my direction. We barely managed to close the door behind us, when the footsteps entered the side corridor we were in. The room had this stale dusty quality to it. In sunlight coming from the sigil-blocked window, I saw there were two skeletons with us in the room. They were both slumped against the wall and had holes in their foreheads. More executions. What happened here? Were those people killed by the traitors? Were these some of the traitors? The bodies had no clothes on them, they had long since rotted away, so it would probably remain a mystery. I remembered our situation when I heard loud sniffing coming from just outside the door, followed by a long and deep growl. The monster was just outside. Then, to my horror, I heard a wet and raspy voice. ¡®Where are those tasty morsels? I know they were here. I am sooo hungry.¡¯ Chapter 58 - The Magical Diseases Ward As we sat there waiting for the monster''s next move, I started to wonder whether allowing Lilyth to hide us here was the right decision. Should we have stood there and fought it? It was big, but we¡¯ve fought big things before. Well¡­ a big thing. The Behemoth. There was also the Darhun, but we couldn¡¯t do much about it. And didn¡¯t Lilyth do some crazy stuff there too? Does she want to die? I hope not. I didn¡¯t want her to. I liked her. Really really liked her. Caei too, despite her being a bitch at times. Still¡­ with the Behemoth, we had space to manoeuvre there. We didn''t have it in the corridor, nor did we have it in the room. There was a good chance the monster wouldn''t be able to get in here too, at least not in full. A head maybe or a paw? And that would be vulnerable to an attack from us. The monster sniffed around again and growled: ¡®She promised¡­ she promised¡­¡¯ I signalled all of us to go stand by the window to ensure we wouldn¡¯t get accidentally hit if the monster decided to check out the room after all. But before we could make a step, the monster sniffed again and slammed on the door. ¡®Are you inside of that room, little morsels?¡¯ Lilyth hurried me and Caei to get behind her, while she stood there with her shotgun held in trembling hands. There was another slam. And another. And then nothing. I wanted to let out a sigh, but Caei¡¯s hand clasped on my mouth. The hospital was so quiet you could hear a needle fall. What the? Then there was a somewhat distant sound. Something clattered. It couldn''t have been¡­ The stuff we left! Did something stumble on it? There was heavy rustling outside the door and the monster stomped away. I was too terrified to breathe out. I tried to walk up, but Lilyth stopped me with a gesture. She faintly shook her head. I pricked up my ears. There¡­ It sounded like the monster went into the Main Wing. Then¡­ even without listening carefully, I was able to hear what was happening. There was a loud roar, a sound of something splattering on the wall and then silence. Which was immediately broken by the monster¡¯s rasp: ¡®Oh, little morsels! Where are you?¡¯ But our luck continued and the monster stomped away into the main wing. ¡®Now!¡¯ I whispered and we left the room. Abandoning all exploration, we hurried to the main corridor and went down it, abandoning all ideas of formation. I resummoned my Abyssal Spark, though I kept it very small. It would still mark my position, but I had to risk it. Me stumbling in the dark WOULD be a bigger problem. I really envied Lilyth¡¯s and Caei¡¯s Darksight. I would need to look into whether there was a spell or ability that would grant you that. I would need to research that, once we got back to civilization. At the moment we had bigger concerns, like finding a place to hide from the monster AND solving our ¡°we can¡¯t leave¡± problem, but I had no idea where we would be able to do either of the things. When we approached the door at the crossing, I saw that it led to some place called ¡°Intensive Care Unit¡±, another thing I would need to ask Lilyth about. Do we hide there? Or do we go further down the corridor? None of the papers Lilyth read mentioned this place, though it¡¯s possible we missed some. It¡¯s not like she had a chance to read everything. I thought the Morgue was the right place, but no. All it got us was potions. Right turn it is. There at the end of the corridor was another staircase. I moved my Spark to the floor listing and quickly read it. B2: Magical Diseases Ward B1: Magical Diseases Ward GF: Trauma Ward, Anesthesiology, ICU F1: Nephrology F2: Doctor¡¯s Offices/Psychology F3: Mental Ward I could hear the stomping again and it was getting closer. My gut reaction was the Mental Ward since the earliest mention of ¡°Her¡± was from there¡­ but then¡­ Didn¡¯t the Thrall want to vomit on Lilyth? And then there was the Rot Hound¡­ Oh¡­ Oh no¡­ I think the Smiling Death was never truly gone¡­ I quickly pointed at the ¡°B2¡±. Lilyth raised her eyebrow in question. Not the time! This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it So I did the fastest thing I could think of. I put my fingers at the corners of my lips and spread them in a smile. Understanding dawned on her face. The monster was almost at the crossing, so we started to descend down the stairs as quickly and quietly as we could. I was praying the thing wouldn¡¯t notice my Spark. Goddamn lack of Darksight. ¡®I know you are somewhere here, little morsels,¡¯ the monster rasped when we were barely out of sight. ¡®There is no escaping me. I will find you.¡¯ Then the monster began to cackle madly. For whatever reason, the staircase didn¡¯t go down to the second basement level so when we got down to the first basement floor, Lilyth pointed to one of the rooms near us. I nodded. Not caring about subtleties, she ran over to the door and opened it. She motioned us to follow her. It was a doctor¡¯s office. She closed the door behind us and whispered: ¡®Fuck me¡­¡¯ Caei shushed her, but she waved her away. ¡®If that thing has that keen a hearing we¡¯re royally fucked anyway.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®A really quick breather and we move on,¡¯ I said. ¡®This will likely be the first place it checks.¡¯ Caei then turned to Lilyth. ¡®Thank you for your quick thinking up there. You saved us.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®I didn¡¯t,¡¯ Lilyth shook her head and said something that echoed my earlier concerns. ¡®What saved us was whatever tripped on the gear up there. I just got us from one trap to another.¡¯ ¡®The idea was still good,¡¯ Caei shrugged. ¡®And it worked. Take the praise when given, Lily.¡¯ Was it good though? Would I have made a different one? No. I guess not. I would have hidden us too. Probably much slower than her though. Damn. This is hard. ¡®Fair enough.¡¯ Lilyth replied. ¡®How much time do you think we have?¡¯ I asked both of them. Caei just looked at Lilyth, who shrugged and said: ¡®Insufficient data.¡¯ Caeileera stared at her daggers, though this time I thought it was a bit unfair. Lilyth, completely unperturbed, started counting on her fingers: ¡®We know next to nothing about it: it has a tail, is strong and can speak. What we don¡¯t know is: how big it actually is; what¡¯s its primary means of locomotion; whether it can climb the stairs or scale the walls of the elevator shaft; and where its lair is. The list goes on.¡¯ ¡®Locomotion?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Movement. We know it has legs. But does it travel on two or four? Or maybe more. This will affect a lot of factors.¡¯ Yup. Insufficient data did suffice here. ¡®Let¡¯s get going then,¡¯ I decided. Lilyth cracked the door open and looked around. ¡®Clear,¡¯ she whispered. I need to talk to her about the phrases she uses. Like, I get what ¡®clear¡¯ means, but in situations like this it can get us hurt. And will probably get Caei off her back. ¡®Where do you think the other staircase is?¡¯ I asked. ¡®The logical place would be the other end of the corridor,¡¯ Lilyth answered. ¡®I don¡¯t have the faintest idea why this is set up the way it is, though. Defensive purposes maybe? ¡®Or the second level was built later,¡¯ Caei suggested. That seemed to have given Lilyth an idea as she crept up to the elevator shaft, carefully opened the door to it and peeked inside. She then did the same with the other one and went back to us. ¡®It ends here too,¡¯ she reported. ¡®The cabins look to be on the ground floor, so unless the monster has some other way down here, it went up first. ¡®That does give us some breathing room,¡¯ I said. ¡®Not much,¡¯ Caei retorted. ¡®Remember, the thing at least partially relies on its sense of smell. It will probably lose our scent soon.¡¯ Lilyth nodded in agreement, so I asked her to quickly lead us down the corridor where we thought the staircase down would be. I wondered whether we should check the other rooms, but decided against it, as I didn¡¯t want to deal with magical jerms. ¡®Are we sure whatever we are looking for is down there?¡¯ Lilyth asked when we found it. ¡®I¡¯m not saying your logic about it being the Smiling Death is bad. It¡¯s more¡­ I¡¯m not sure whatever powers would necessarily be on the lowest floor. It could be here. ¡®Or in the Mental Ward or in one of the areas we can¡¯t access in the East Wing,¡¯ Caei replied. ''We have to start SOMEWHERE.'' ¡®Let¡¯s start at the bottom,¡¯ I decided, hoping I didn¡¯t doom us all. The lower floor was different. Much different. It looked like several rooms next to the crossing were demolished, leaving a wide-open space there, with another, much larger rot spiral. Each of its ten arms ended with a pinion with a glowing sickly green crystal at the top. Several corpses wearing those blueish uniforms were lying by the spiral. An elf, a few dwarfs and a human. A few bodies, mostly humans, in dirty white coats were also there. Lilyth saw something lying on the floor as she knelt by it and picked it up. It was a large teal feather. ¡®Varyag,¡¯ my girlfriend spat. My heart sank. Was he trying to kill us? ¡®This is it then,¡¯ I said instead. Lilyth and Caei nodded. ¡®The crystals?¡¯ the latter suggested. ¡®They look to be ritual anchors. The bodies will get up the moment we approach most likely though.¡¯ As it turned out, Caei was wrong. A skeletal arm, much larger than that of the previous Rot Hound, emerged from the centre of the spiral. As if on cue, the undead began to shift and groan. Lilyth readied her shotgun with a soothing chk-chk sound, while Caei readied her glaive. ¡®Let¡¯s do this then,¡¯ the slimeling said with a grim smile. Chapter 59 - The Greater Rot Hound Varyag Varyag perched on a branch of one of the trees overlooking Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy and watched the unfolding events. He couldn¡¯t see inside per se, but his magical senses gave him the next best thing and he had a fairly decent idea of what was happening. He could barely contain his glee. He won. No matter the outcome. Either the Terran would die, or, even if she lived, she likely was permanently out of the running due to her stupidity. Sure¡­ she could somewhat recover, but as a shadow of her former self. She ceded her position to the Granddaughter of Zekuthran too. Now¡­ this one needed to be watched. There was only one wrinkle in the results. Lilyth¡¯s incompetence did cause the demonborn¡­ to fully embrace her family heritage. Varyag dared not to piss the Archpraetor off. He was not someone to cross. No. The one hope was that she would meet her demise here as Varyag trying to arrange more accidents after this one¡­ would end poorly. Suddenly there was a crack of lightning and someone joined him on the branch. ¡®Hi there, birdie,¡¯ a carefree melodic voice said. ¡®Whatcha watching?¡¯ ¡®Ter¡¯ius,¡¯ he said with fake and forced politeness in his voice. ¡®So nice of you to join me. Some mortals wandered into the Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy. I am observing their progress.¡¯ ¡®And here I thought you were told, by his marine imperiousness not to try to mess with Lilyth.¡¯ ¡®Where did I break his order?¡¯ ¡®Stop bullshitting me, Varyag,¡¯ Nyx¡¯s voice thundered. ¡®I know you woke up the Hospital.¡¯ ¡®I did no such thing,¡¯ he protested, indignantly. ¡®I was merely tending to my domain and recharging the guardian spells.¡¯ ¡®Which you happened to do just as Lilyth and her friends were about to leave?¡¯ ¡®An unfortunate coincidence,¡¯ he shrugged. ¡®It being beneficial to my ends doesn''t mean I arranged it. ¡®You know no one is going to believe that.¡¯ ¡®What you believe and what you can prove are two different things, Ter¡¯ius. And judging by the fact it is you screaming at me and not his Majesty¡­¡¯ He failed to add it was likely due to Lilyth no longer being of interest to him. She was tested and she failed. Nyx sighed. She looked at the teal-feathered birdman and showed him her tongue. ¡®You were always such a sore loser,¡¯ Varyag laughed. ¡®Wanna watch with me?¡¯ Instead of answering Nyx summoned a cloud and sat on it. ¡®Might as well,¡¯ she pouted. Aki ¡®Caei!¡¯ I shouted. ¡®Lil! Take care of the undead. I¡¯ll handle the Rot Hound.¡¯ They didn''t wait long. Lilyth almost immediately opened fire and Caeileera plunged into the rest with her glaive. Most of them looked to be revenants, so my girlfriends should make short work of them. I drew the Lance of Longinus and fired at the Rot Hound, which was still only half out of the spiral. The lance of hellfire hit it on the rib and disrupted the rotten bone a bit but didn''t look to have pierced it. Shit! Is this due to it still being in the spiral? Or is it more durable? I tried with Lesser Abyssal Bolt next, but it likewise had no effect. I frowned and decided to wait until it emerged. I took a quick glance at my comrades. Caei and Lilyth were currently deep within the ranks of the revenants. The slimeling dropped her shotgun in favour of her dark knife. She was carving a path for herself with it. Caei was supporting her from the distance with her glaive. A howl sounding like strong wind passing through rocks brought my attention back to the Rot Hound. It was now fully out of the spiral, and, boy, it was one ugly bastard. The skeleton-looking incarnation of rot was maybe a metre and a half tall and three metres long, though a third of that was a bony tail. Like the beast from the Administrator¡¯s Office, it was walking on all fours, well¡­ all eights?... with front legs looking like human arms and those in the back were these weird three-segment ones, I¡¯ve seen on some animals. At each side, the monster also had a pair of limbs ending with bony scythes, that it likely used to support itself. The Rot Hound¡¯s skull easily rivalled that of a Lesser Behemoth in size, its jaw was unhinged and there was some black miasma inside of it. Don¡¯t be afraid. Don¡¯t be afraid. I fired the gun at the monster¡¯s skull. It hit it on the side of the jaw and blew a small chunk out of it, dislodging it from the joint and causing it to hang in an almost comical lopsided way. It had the added bonus of causing the miasma to dissipate. I followed up with a quick shot to the other joint, but the lance flew wide and created a small hole in the wall behind the monster. The Rot Hound looked at me with its empty eye sockets and let out a wet-sounding rattle. A drop of rot dripped from one of its teeth to the ground. I holstered my gun and drew my Falchions. The monster began lumbering towards me, picking up speed as it went. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. As good a moment to spend my Perk Points as any. Your Falchions - Dual Wield skill has increased to level 12 (0% total progress to level 13) You have spent 2 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) As the last move, I cast Flaming Weapon on my swords, causing them to burst out in flames and burned one charge from my Ring of Protection. A shimmering yellow energy field appeared against me. Spell: Flaming Weapon Type: Elemental - Flame - Enhancement Level: 1 (60% progress to level 2) Effect: Imbues wielded weapons with flames. Can be maintained. Casting time: 1 second Item: Ring of Protection Class: Jewellery - Magical Rarity: Coven-made - Uncommon Quality: Good Durability: 15/20 Charges: 2/3 Effects: Creates a force field around the user that lasts for 5 minutes or until destroyed (This consumes 1 charge) Traits: Rechargeable - You can channel mana through the object to restore its charges. So I can eat three hits total before I have an issue. This will not be pleasant. As the monster neared me I slid under its left, my right, armleg and slashed at its chest, breaking parts of its ribs. Wherever chunks of ¡°bone¡± hit the protective field, it sizzled. Not good. The monster moved to hit me with its chest. I wanted to step back out of the way but got stopped by one of its scythe limbs. Shit! I forgot about these! The Rot Hound started to crush me between its limb and ribcage but stopped on the energy field which cracked and exploded, causing more damage to the monster''s ribcage and the leg I was trapped on. Using the opening, I spent another charge of the ring and jumped back. This would be so much easier if I didn''t have to worry about touching the thing. Or stepping on the rot spiral. Or crashing into those pinions. I¡¯m starting to get why Lilyth swears so much. As the monster turned towards me, I spun around in the opposite direction and slashed at its armleg with my right falchion. My burning blade bit into it with enough difficulty I was afraid it would get stuck there. So the plan was to use the momentum from my charge and circle the limb in a quick movement in the hope I would be able to sever it completely. It would have been so cool if it worked. Unfortunately, the Rot Hound had¡­ other ideas and as I was continuing my movement, it moved the limb back. Which caused me to lose my grip on the blade and made me tumble uncontrollably under the creature''s body. As I crashed, I bounced off the creature¡¯s scythe limbs, which made the protective field explode and further affect my flight path. At some point, I must have dropped my other sword, because when I finally stopped after crashing into one of the pinions, it was no longer in my left hand. I tried to get up, but my legs wouldn¡¯t listen to me. I looked down and saw my falchion, luckily no longer on fire, protruding from my stomach. Oh. There it is. ¡®Aki!¡¯ I heard someone shout from a great distance. Come closer, I wanted to say, but couldn¡¯t muster the strength. I can barely hear you. I tried to raise my right hand, but it was too heavy, so I dropped it back down after merely raising it a few inches. I must have moved it slightly to the side too, as instead of ending down on the floor it ended up in something wet. And sticky. And burning. I began to scream. Caeileera Caei¡¯s heart sank when she saw Aki tumble across the floor. What did the pipsqueak get herself into? They had just finished with the Revenants and were about to go help her when that happened. ¡®Aki!¡¯ Lilyth shouted and turned towards me. ¡®Go help her! I¡¯ll distract the big fucker.¡¯ Caei wanted to protest and call Lilyth reckless again but then Aki began to scream like she was on fire, so Caei just bit her lip, nodded and rushed towards the girl, circling around the spiral of rot and the monster. Stay alive, you stupid jelly. We need you. I need you. Aki was in bad shape. She looked to have lost a lot of blood and was holding her right arm by the forearm. When Caei saw why, she gasped. Aki¡¯s right hand was rapidly rotting away to the bone. All flesh was gone from her fingers, and the palm was slowly blackening. Oh no. She summoned the Floating Disk under Aki and carefully began to raise it. In the meantime, she cast Soothe Pain on the girl to at least make her suffer less. Carefully she removed the girl¡¯s left hand from her right arm and placed it by her side. Then she put the right one away from her body. When Aki was more comfortable, Caei looked around for a place to hide and treat the girl. They were near an entrance to a corridor, so she went there with the disk following behind her and rushed into one of the rooms. One good thing - it was empty. She landed the girl on the floor and began treating her. First things first - the sword. She grabbed a Greater Healing Potion from her bag and placed it by the girl¡¯s head. Next, she put her right hand on Aki¡¯s stomach by the wound and removed the falchion with her left. She immediately cast Lesser Heal Wound to stop the bleeding. Next, she poured the Greater Healing Potion into the girl¡¯s mouth. The wound on her stomach fully healed¡­ but the right arm was now a problem. Neither the spell nor the potion seemed to have any effect on it. If anything, more of it had rotten away, as now the rot had spread past her wrist and most of the hand was either bone or bits of black flesh. I was hoping it would be like with Lilyth. Either the stuff from the spiral is more potent, or the slime is more resistant to it. ¡®I will need to remove part of your right arm,¡¯ she said in a flat voice. Aki¡¯s eyes went wide with shock, but then she nodded and steel returned to them. Caei raised her glaive. ¡®I¡¯m sorry,¡¯ she muttered and swung the polearm down. Aki¡¯s scream would haunt Caeileera for the rest of her days. Chapter 60 - Even the Best-laid Plans... Zekuthran Zekuthran was beyond furious. What in Sun¡¯s name was the fucking birdman thinking? Did he seriously believe the plausible deniability bullshit he told Nyx would fly? With him? Varyag must have forgotten that Zekuthran as merely an agent of the Sun That Burns No More was not bound by the same rules his master was. He only followed them because of the treaty his liege signed. A treaty that has now been violated by the stupid bird. He realised that Lord Sun might have a different perspective on the matter, as unlikely as it was. Still¡­ Sometimes it is better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. ¡®Thank you, Ere,¡¯ he finished the magical contact with the goddess. ¡®I appreciate the heads-up.¡¯ ¡®No problem, hon,¡¯ the goddess blew him a kiss and ended the spell. Zekuthran took a few deep breaths to calm himself and summoned his second-in-command Eurydon. The demon entered his office. He was a middle-height man with two ten-centimetre long curved black-red horns coming out of his forehead, cropped bottle green hair and violet eyes. Eurydon, like all demons also had a thin fleshy tail, in his case, it was heart-tipped. He wore the standard double-breasted black uniform of the Abyssal Legions with a flame pin on the right side of his collar, indicating his rank of a praetor and a sun on the left side marking him as a member of Lord Sun¡¯s personal legion. On his shoulders, there were epaulettes with five silver bars. Eurydon stopped in front of Zekuthran¡¯s desk and knelt on his left knee with his right fist over his heart. This was the traditional ceremonial salute among the Legions, though for the past few decades, it had been slowly replaced with a two-fingers salute which previously had been reserved for situations where expediency was more important. Zekuthran couldn''t blame Eury though, they went back centuries and the ritual was heavily ingrained in both of them. So the Archpraetor responded by standing up and putting his right fist over his heart. He then resumed his seat. ¡®You¡¯ve summoned me, my Lord,¡¯ Eurydon said, remaining on his left knee. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Zekuthran curtly responded. ¡®Gear up and tell Arandor and Tevilla to do the same. Heavy Assault Kit. ¡¯ Eurydon looked up and asked: ¡®My Lord?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re deploying to Dwynveia on a rescue op. Actually¡­ grab Savri too. The place is Rot infested.¡¯ ¡®But Lord Sun¡­¡¯ Eurydon protested. ¡®I¡¯ll handle our liege, don¡¯t worry. I am not ordering this as the Archpraetor. Let¡¯s call this a personal favour for Zekuthran the Demon.¡¯ ¡®Your granddaughter?¡¯ Zekuthran nodded. ¡®Then you need to say no more, my Lord,¡¯ Eurydon proclaimed, cold steel entering his voice. ¡®We will make whoever threatens the family of the Blade of the Ashen Storm pay for their insolence.¡¯ Lilyth The Rot Hound was terrifying. But such was my lot. I had to buy Caei enough time to heal Aki. Between the three of us, we could probably take it. Probably being the keyword. So, as I ran towards it, I drew my other knife. I had no idea of how to fight with two knives and barely could do so with one, but going at the thing with just Luna felt¡­ inadequate. ¡®Let¡¯s dance, motherfucker,¡¯ I said, holding both knives in reverse grip. The monster was turning towards the broken form of Aki, so I had to catch its attention first. I saw the wound Aki¡¯s falchion left in its front arm. It was slowly sealing itself. The girl¡¯s sword must have fallen out of it. No¡­ I saw it lying on the ground. Most of the blade was missing and what was left was rusted almost beyond recognition. In the corner of my eye, I noticed the Storm lying by the wall. Aki must have lost it during her tumble. Once Caei gets back she can use it to help. I don¡¯t think her glaive or rifle will amount to much against that thing. Then again, neither will Sol and Luna. We really need Aki for this one. I dashed towards the damaged leg. To my great surprise and delight, Sol actually bit into the wound and reopened it. That caught the bastard¡¯s attention, so I immediately jumped back to avoid a punch from its other armleg. Hit and run is the way to go here. I really wish I had access to the Swiftness of the Wind. I pounced at the extended limb of the Rot Hound and sank the blades of the knives into its elbow joint. To my dismay, I couldn''t remove them in time, as I had to avoid attack from the other arm. Fuck, I thought when I saw the Rot Hound take its arm out of my immediate reach. I need those! The blades suddenly reappeared in my hands. Wuh? I jumped back and quickly peeked at Luna¡¯s stats. Item: Luna Class: Weapon - Daggers - Combat Knife Rarity: Unique Durability: N/A Traits: If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Soulmade - Created out of a piece of the user¡¯s soul. Cannot be destroyed. Can be resummoned if lost. Elementally Infused - Shadow - Attacks have a chance to inflict additional Umbral damage. Higher levels of Umbral Arcana knowledge will improve the probability of the effect occurring. (Currently unavailable) Oh. Right. Those aren¡¯t bound to me. Those literally ARE part of me. I wouldn''t quite call it a game-changer but being able to pull the same bullshit with these as with the Blade of the Black Rose¡­ Yeah. That would really come in handy. With renewed vigour, I resumed my attacks. Thanks to hit-and-run tactics, I was mostly able to force the Rot Hound to react to me, rather than the other way around. The problem was¡­ the knives really lacked sufficient oomph to inflict meaningful damage on the fucker. And despite my best efforts, I was accumulating damage faster than it was. A burn on my cheek here, a nasty nick on my hip there. It wasn¡¯t that bad if you ignored the agonising pain, but it was slowing me down. Based on my experience with fighting the undead, which I was like seventy per cent certain applied here as well, we had to destroy its head for it to definitely stop. I was lacking the reach to pull it off, though. I briefly considered throwing the knives at the monster and just resummoning them, but I had no idea how many times I could do it before the burnout was done with my bullshit. Getting a pseudo-heart attack while fighting this thing struck me as mildly problematic. So those things stayed in my hands. On the plus side during the fight, we managed to knock over and shatter six out of the ten crystals. Meaning¡­ if push comes to shove we could just leg it soon. In fact¡­ Yeah. Retreating was the only option here. There was just no way we could kill that thing without risking more severe injuries. There was also the big monster to contend with. We could not fight it if we were too fucked up by the world''s worst dog here. So¡­ keeping the monster always in my sight, I started circling the spiral towards the pinions with crystals still on them. Of course, the already bad plan almost immediately went tits up when the monster was hit with a Blood Lance on the side. Caei! Unironically, the spell did more damage to the creature than I had for the past few minutes as it shattered some of its ribs and¡­ was that a cracked vertebra? It was too hard to tell. Alas, Caei actually dealing damage to the monster meant that she became the primary target for the monster. Maybe Aki though¡­ Wait. Where is Aki? Oh no. I hope she was not hurt too badly. Still¡­ I had to get the Rot Hound¡¯s attention back on me. So, it was likely the time to pull another crazy stunt. The problem was I had no immediate idea what, as whatever I could do was so monumentally stupid even I considered it to be crazy. Still, I had to try something. My attention turned to the Rot Hound''s vertebra I thought Caei had cracked. It was time to graduate from ¡°cowboy¡± to ¡°hold my beer¡±. Caeileera Caei left Aki under the effect of the Sleep spell. The poor girl was in no shape to fight. Despite the Sanguine¡¯s best attempts at healing and an extra potion, the normally vibrant girl was ashen-faced and weak. Caei had to remove Aki¡¯s arm from the middle of the forearm down. All that the magic was able to do then was heal the wound over with a skin flap, which at least confirmed no rot-infected flesh remained. The girl would likely need a prosthetic. She had heard of magic restoring missing limbs before, but based on what happened with Deirdee it was not any magic that Caei possessed. Hopefully, the books from the Administrator''s library would hold the answer to that question, though likely not within any timeline practical for the girl. She thought about taking Aki¡¯s pistol, but it felt wrong to keep the girl fully defenceless. She didn''t know how to reconcile it with Aki being left asleep, but this was more in case she and Lilyth died and the girl woke up. I closed the door. That should keep Aki safe. When she got back to the spiral room she saw that most of the crystals were broken and Lilyth was currently doing her best to keep the monster at a distance. Damn. She actually didn¡¯t get herself killed. Welp¡­ Time to help her with killing that thing. She cast a Blood Lance and it hit the Rot Hound on the side, breaking several of its ribs. This must have hurt it, as the massive thing lost interest in Lilyth and started turning towards her. Oh. She looked around and saw the Storm lying by the wall to her right. She would need to grab it. ¡®Caei!¡¯ she heard Lilyth suddenly shout. ¡®I need a perch. Cast that disk of yours near the monster¡¯s ribcage.¡¯ ¡®What the fuck are you planning to do, you fucking idiot?¡¯ ¡®Hopefully? To kill that thing.¡¯ Caei sighed and cast the spell. She then hurried over to get the Carbine. As she did that she watched Lilyth get a running start. Don¡¯t tell me. ¡®NO!¡¯ she shouted but it was too late. Lilyth jumped on the disk and used it as a boosting spot to leap over the Rot Hound while stabbing it in its spine near the point her Blood Lance hit it. To Caei¡¯s immense shock, the bone broke and the monster collapsed on the ground in two halves. What didn¡¯t surprise her, however, was that Lilyth didn¡¯t plan on what came next. So she eyeballed her reckless friend¡¯s flight path and conjured a second disk there. Lilyth hit it face first, but it was a good learning experience for her. And hey. It stopped her from plummeting into the rot. Her attention was brought to the Rot Hound when she heard scraping on the floor. The beast was trying to drag itself towards her. ¡®Persistent little bugger, aren¡¯t you?¡¯ she asked and threw another Blood Lance towards its skull, shattering it and causing the monster to start to dissolve. Level 45 Greater Rot Hound has been slain. You have received 1500 experience points (2576/5000 total experience points progress to level 10) Lilyth recovered and immediately got back to the task of destroying the crystals. Caei, after picking up the carbine, helped her. The Sanguine was surprised Lilyth didn¡¯t ask about Aki, but she surmised she wanted to secure the area first. Once the last gem was gone, the rot spiral began solidifying and after a moment turned into likely harmless detritus. The air in the room became less oppressive too. They¡¯ve done it. They¡¯ve really done it. This was further confirmed by the quest update that popped up. Quest updated: Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy Type: Dungeon (Historical) Difficulty: Deadly Description: You¡¯ve discovered ruins of a hospital dating back to some ancient era of Dwynveia. There are secrets to discover here, but is the reward worth the price? Objectives:
  • Discover the secrets of the hospital
  • Find the source of the magic preventing you from leaving
  • Leave the hospital alive
Rewards:
  • 3000 experience points
  • 2 Perk Points
Lilyth ran over to her and asked: ¡®How¡¯s Aki?¡¯ Caei saddened and started saying: ¡®She¡­¡¯ But before she could finish they heard heavy stomping coming from the direction of the staircase. ¡®Found you little morsels,¡¯ the big monster said in its raspy voice. Chapter 61 -... Dont Survive Contact With the Enemy Lilyth Of course, the big fuck had to find us. Push comes to shove, I¡¯ll hold it back, while Caei extracts Aki and then try to leave myself. I didn''t know what happened to the girl, but it couldn''t have been good based on the Sanguine''s reaction. What emerged was a roughly draconid centaur-like figure that could be best described as ¡°something that would be born after a threesome between a lower Sanguine, Chiron and a dragon¡±. The creature was about three metres long, though the upright human half made it difficult to tell exactly, and if you considered the creature¡¯s tail, it was closer to four, maybe four-and-a-half. Its smooth, glossy skin was ashy grey, though here and there I could see patches of black scales. The pseudodragon''s lower four limbs were almost fully human though, though much wider with twisted spindly toes that ended with claws rather than nails. The ¡°human¡± half was nearly as appealing: sickly thin with a ribcage so prominent you could use it as a xylophone. Its arms were once again almost fully human, though as with its feet, the hands were twisted and ending with claws. There was a pair of short vestigial wings on its back, but the most disconcerting was its head, however. It had a long snout and a lipless mouth with a lot of sharp rotten teeth visible, and, in the Sanguine fashion, it had no eye sockets. ¡®Any idea what that thing is?¡¯ I asked Caei. ¡®Ugly,¡¯ she let out a terrified laugh. ¡®A chimaera of some sort? Maybe.¡¯ I sighed. ¡®If things will look bad for us, grab Aki and leave.¡¯ Caei, to my shock, didn''t protest. ¡®Let¡¯s hope it doesn''t get to that point, then,¡¯ she said and fired at the creature with the Storm. Nyx ¡®Hahahaha,¡¯ the stupid bird laughed. ¡®And that would be a wrap, I think.¡¯ Nyx could barely contain her smile. He really didn¡¯t know. Suddenly, a magic circle formed on the ground with a sigil of a sun in the centre. There was a flash of red light and five helmeted figures in grey uniforms and black body armour appeared on the grass in front of the hospital. Two of them were holding magitek carbines, one a bow with a glowing green bowstring, one a staff and one a sword. ¡®That would indeed be a wrap, birdie,¡¯ she giggled and showed Varyag her tongue again. ¡®What?!¡¯ he exclaimed, as the demon strike team entered the hospital. ¡®How would Zekuthran learn of this?!¡¯ ¡®Why¡­ Ere told him, of course¡¯ Nyx laughed. ¡®Didn¡¯t you know they were friends?¡¯ Of the fuckbuddy kind. But the birdman doesn''t need to know this. ¡®But that''s against the rules!¡¯ ¡®Hey!¡¯ It was Nyx¡¯s turn to fake indignation. ¡®They were just setting up an evening together when Lilyth and her friends got trapped there.¡¯ Or is it Aki and friends now? Poor thing. I hope Zeke will be able to set her up with a new arm. ¡®You know¡­¡¯ she continued, all mirth gone from her voice. ¡®An unfortunate coincidence, bird.¡¯ The last word was accented by the crack of lightning. ¡®Face it, Varyag,¡¯ a cold forceful voice said from behind them. ¡®You just lost.¡¯ Nyx turned around and saw that his marine imperiousness was standing on the branch now as well. ¡®You did the one thing I told you not to do,¡¯ he continued. ¡®I was going to let it slide if it worked. As you said, you covered your bases pretty well. Your mistake was assuming Zekuthran would do the same. Did you seriously think he would stand idly by when one of us tried to murder his granddaughter even as ¡°collateral damage¡±? I have barely managed to convince the Sun not to treat it as an outright declaration of war.¡¯ ¡®Why would Lord S¡­¡¯ ¡®Because you just fucking tried to murder a descendant of his top general and her two paramours, you fucking birdbrain. That''s both an actual violation of the rules AND a personal insult against Zekuthran. And since I let you live the last time you tried this, that''s on me as well. So now you¡¯ve managed to completely derail my plan, and end centuries-old Abyssal neutrality because believe me - Legions of the Abyss will now be free to act in some capacity and impugn MY honour. For your actions, I sentence you to¡­¡¯ The King Who Commands The Ocean never got to finish his sentence as Varyag disappeared in a puff of feathers. ¡®And lo the great Guardian of the Cycle ran like a bitch,¡¯ Nyx said with barely contained glee. The King shrugged and sat on the branch near Nyx. ¡®Not gonna chase after him?¡¯ she asked. ¡®Nah. I¡¯ll leave that to Zekuthran. This might placate him a bit, and if not, at least distract him for a while.¡¯ Nyx lowered her cloud to his level and conjured a bowl of popcorn. She offered it to the King, who absentmindedly took some kernels and ate them. Nyx¡¯s attention turned back to the struggle inside of the hospital. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The grand finale is about to begin,¡¯ she thought while throwing the kernels of popcorn into her mouth. Hang in there, guys. Help is almost there. Caeileera Caei was starting to partially understand Lilyth¡¯s attitude. She wanted to protect them. She really did. She could do it in a healthier manner, but¡­ it was time I started to play my part in this too. The only reason she pulled the crazy ¡°jump over the monster¡± move was because I attracted its attention. I would have ended up just like Aki if that thing touched me. I shuddered at the thought, remembering the speed Aki¡¯s hand decomposed. Thank you for saving me from that, you stupid jelly. It¡¯s time I pay you back. The Storm was much different in handling than the rifle. I briefly considered using the semi-automatic, but no. Magic would likely be more useful here. Seeing the bolt from the carbine leave nought but a scorch mark on the creature¡¯s skin made me reconsider. The creature started lumbering towards me, so I dropped the carbine and jumped to the side using my wings to boost myself a bit. Being finally able to manoeuvre here is so nice. ¡®You can¡¯t escape me, flying one,¡¯ the monster rasped. ¡®I shall feast on your supple flesh.¡¯ ¡®Feast on this, you Jurassic Park reject!¡¯ Lilyth shouted in response. I heard the crack of a shotgun blast, making me remember the one that almost killed me¡­ an hour ago¡­ and saw that Lilyth picked the gun up and opened fire. The pellets had even less of an effect on the creature as it didn''t even deign to notice them. So with a huff, Lilyth dropped the rifle and drew her knives. Meanwhile, I landed and, still out of the monster''s reach, started to retrieve my glaive. I realised it was still stained with Aki¡¯s blood. That made tears flow to my eyes. It¡¯s not fair. Such a young girl should not have to go through¡­ that. I wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeve and gripped the glaive tightly. The monster suddenly roared in pain. I saw that Lilyth had sunk her knives into the chimaera¡¯s side. She ripped them out and ducked to avoid the monster¡¯s backhand. Her girlfriend then jumped to the side and slashed across one of the monster''s legs. ¡®Aaaaargh,¡¯ the chimaera roared in pain. ¡®You¡¯ll pay for this, shadowy one!¡¯ ¡®Sorry, I left my debit card in my other pants,¡¯ Lilyth mocked. ¡®Can I offer you a knife in the back instead?¡¯ Why does she keep taunting¡­ Oh. She is keeping its attention on her, isn''t she? And what the fuck is a debit card? I leapt towards the back of the chimaera, now thoroughly focused on Lilyth, intending to skewer it with the blade of my glaive. The monster must have sensed me somehow as it swiped with its tail at me. I used my wings to dodge it by boosting myself over it. Unfortunately, Lilyth too focused on dodging the swipes of the monster¡¯s clawed hands to see me, stabbed it in the side with her knives. This caused the chimaera to buck and, as a result, swing its tail upwards. It hit me on my ass and flung me straight on the chimaera¡¯s lower half¡¯s back. The monster started bucking like a mad animal then and threw me off. Straight into the path of its rear legs. Fuck! It kicked me straight in my stomach, blowing the wind out of me. I was flung at the nearest wall and impacted it with two loud cracks. Agony spread through my wings, joining the intense pain now also present in my belly. The world started going darker and¡­ Lilyth ¡®Caei!¡¯ I shouted involuntarily, seeing my friend flung at the wall. No! Fuck. If only I didn''t stab it then. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! ¡®You will soon join your Kai, shadowy one,¡¯ the big fuck cackled. ¡®And then I will find the last little morsel too. I threw one final glance at Caei. She was unconscious. Hopefully. Blood coming out of her mouth and broken bones jutting out of her wings told me that the clock was very much fucking ticking. I gave the monster my full attention and a sense of calm fell upon me. It would be over soon. One way or another. Now, I just had to focus. I dashed towards the chimaera, slipped under its arms and started slashing it across the side. It strafed away from me then, causing me to lose my balance. I managed to regain it, but not before the bastard zeroed in on me. It charged me, but I managed to dodge it. Barely. As I tried to scramble away from it, I thought I heard shouts and running from somewhere above. More of these? That distraction gave the monster enough time to hit me with another backhand. The surprise strike combined with my unsure stance threw me face down to the ground. Fuck. ¡®Got you, shadowy one.¡¯ I rolled away from its attempts to stomp me into a puddle and scrambled to my feet. ¡®Still in the fight, horsefu-¡¯ Apparently, the horsefuck had a different idea, as he rammed me, sending me flying at the wall. Shit! Shit! Shit! Before I could impact the wall, I suddenly saw something black flicker in the corner of my eye and the next moment a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around me. And we came to an almost gentle stop as my saviour landed on his two feet. ¡®Gotcha,¡¯ a firm male voice said. ¡®Who dares?¡¯ the horsefuck roared. I looked towards it and saw it charging towards us but then a barrage of three emerald energy arrows hit it in the side and sent it sprawling. ¡®Your doom,¡¯ my saviour replied and gently let me down on the floor. He then started barking orders. ¡®Sav! Aran! Get the Sanguine out of here! Eury! Tev! Find my granddaughter!¡¯ Granddaughter. No. It can''t be. I looked my saviour up and down. He looked to be maybe a head taller than me. He wore a grey digital camo field uniform with a black leather flak jacket over it and a Kevlar-looking helmet. He was quite handsome and looked to be in his mid-thirties and had very familiar-looking sea-green eyes, a pair of curving black-and-red horns and I could see a few stray blue hairs coming out from under his helmet. The final proof I needed was the thin arrow-tipped tail the man had. Aki told me about him around the campfire after we got out of the Tower of Trials¡­ was it only two days or so ago? I pointed to where I saw Caei come from. ¡®A-Aki is somewhere there,¡¯ I stammered out. Eury and Tev ran over there immediately. ¡®Thank you, Lilyth of Terra,¡¯ Archpraetor Zekuthran said with a gentle smile. ¡®Can you still fight?¡¯ I looked at the horsefuck which was starting to gather itself from the floor and nodded. ¡®Then let¡¯s finish it.¡¯ Chapter 62 - A Deal With a Demon Zekuthran readied his sword. I noticed it was a falchion much longer than those Aki wielded, but still clearly recognisable as one. The weapon lacked adornments other than a black metal basket hilt shaped like a ribcage. Some things just run in the family, I guess. The Archpraetor must have noticed my look because he asked: ¡®Expected something fancier?¡¯ ¡®Kind of,¡¯ I replied. ¡®But there is also beauty in simplicity.¡¯ ¡®Good answer.¡¯ We turned our attention back to the horsefuck. ¡®You go left, I go right?¡¯ Zekuthran suggested. ¡®Works for me,¡¯ I answered and dashed towards the beast. The chimaera thing swiped at me with its right hand but I ducked under its claws and plunged Luna into its side, and then using the knife as a handhold, I changed the direction of my move, slid under its belly and slashed across it with Sol. I then resummoned Luna into my right hand. By the time Zekuthran, was by the monster and was fending off its claw attacks. Even to my filthy casual eyes, it was clear to me he was toying with the monster. Taking advantage of the fact the beast was distracted by the Archpraetor, I plunged the knives into its lower half''s back and used them to get up on it. Giddy-up motherfucker. The creature tried to throw me off like it did with Caei, but it had less luck as I actually had a good grip on him. I then ripped Luna out of his back and slid it deep between its ribs. With that as a handhold, I lifted myself to a half-stand and plunged Sol deep into where I thought his neck artery was. The creature let out a roar mixed with a gurgle. I took out the knife and a fountain of blood spurted out of the wound. The chimaera began to swa,y so not caring about the knives I half-jumped half-fell off its back. The creature collapsed to the ground and Zekuthran used it as an opportunity to finish it off by extending his hand and letting out a jet of flame that incinerated the creature and melted the tiles underneath it. Level 40 Chimaera (I think) (Maybe) has been slain. You have received 1000 experience points (3432/6000 total experience points progress to level 12) It¡¯s over, I thought and felt like crying. Sweet Jesus. I am alive. Then something struck me. Aki. Caei. I gathered myself from the floor and started looking for my girlfriends. Caei must have been already taken out of the hospital as the only things left where she hit the floor were blood and a few black feathers from her wings. As for Aki, I saw Eury and Tev, which I then realised were a man and a woman, emerge from the direction I sent them towards. One of them was holding the girl¡¯s legs while the other had their arms wrapped around hers. My heart sank when I saw how pale she was and¡­ Oh no. Her right arm ended in the middle of the forearm. I ran over to the demons and asked: ¡®How is she?¡¯ ¡®Pretty bad,¡¯ the woman said. ¡®Though Savri should be able to get her back on her legs.¡¯ ¡®Thanks, Tev,¡¯ Zekuthran replied, relief clear in his voice. ¡®Take my granddaughter outside. We¡¯ll join you with my slimy friend in a moment. After we have a little¡­ chat.¡¯ Here it comes, I thought grimly. Another dressing down. ¡®How could you let this happen to Aki yada yada yada¡¯. But you know what Zeke? Fuck you. Aki and Caei are free to call me out for my bullshit. You, however, show up at the last moment and play the concerned grandfather. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. But to my surprise instead of shouting at me, Zekuthran knelt before on his left knee, put his right fist on his chest and said. ¡®Thank you for keeping my granddaughter safe until now, Lilyth of Terra. It is a debt I will never be able to fully repay you.¡¯ I cocked my head in confusion. ¡®N-no problem, I guess.¡¯ Zekuthran laughed seeing my expression, and started getting up from the floor. ¡®Expected me to get mad at you? What for? You went above and beyond.¡¯ ¡®But I made a massive mess of things.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Zekuthran agreed with a sigh. ¡®But that still far exceeds any expectations I could have of someone in your position. My friend, you are an office worker who has spent the past few days surviving against horrors unheard of in your world. That in and of itself is an impossibly difficult task. You taking care of other people during all that¡­ that''s something very few would manage.¡¯ ¡®Uhhh¡­¡¯ I stammered out. ¡®I never considered that. It¡¯s been a long few days.¡¯ ¡®I can imagine.¡¯ ¡®Thanking you is not all I wanted to talk with you about. I want to make you an offer.¡¯ I indicated for him to continue. ¡®I know Lord Sun has set a path for you to fully associate yourself with us, and this is something I cannot and would not override.¡¯ I nodded, a bit disappointed. But, in the end, I understood. Earning trust took time and effort. ¡®But the problem is¡­ after today you will be seen as being firmly in our camp, but at the same time you will lack any benefits and protection associated with this. So¡­ this is where my offer comes in - I can induct you and your friends into our legions as a pathfinder unit.¡¯ Pathfinder? Didn''t Aki mention them? Oh right, those were Seekers. ¡®What would that entail? I am sorry to bring this up, but I am also an agent of two goddesses. There could be a conflict of interests there.¡¯ ¡®I would never dare to steal you away from Ere and Nyxie. Don¡¯t worry. It wouldn''t affect your life that much. Occasionally we would require your services, but ultimately you would be free to act as you were before. In exchange, you would get some access to resources from us. Not as much as full legionaries or full ¡°citizens¡± of the Abyss - this you have to earn, but still much more than you would normally have access to.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s the catch?¡¯ I asked with a slight frown. ¡®Why would there be a catch?¡¯ ¡®You are offering us a lot for not all that much in exchange. Like, based on what you would have us do is what you already could get us to do. Just do not tell us it is ¡°extra¡± work. You really get nothing out of it and we get everything.¡¯ Then it hit me. ¡®Wait. You do get one thing. Our loyalty from the very beginning. Right now we are free agents. We are tied to you but ultimately the only one that matters in the grand scheme of things is Aki. Her turning away from you would be bad for you. She also serves as a good potential hostage. It¡¯s possible she and I could potentially ¡°break up¡±. If I accept you get a bodyguard you can order around and can never say no. And I know you could kill the chimaera yourself. But no. You wanted to see me fight. And I apparently passed that test, since you would never have offered this otherwise.¡¯ ¡®Ere told me you were smart,¡¯ the Archpraetor responded and turned back to me. ¡®I was wondering whether you would figure it out. Yes. I want you and the Sanguine to be bodyguards for my granddaughter.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Then I am sorry ¡°Zeke¡±, but you can shove your offer up your tailed ass. I appreciate you saving us, but I will not become your minion. Not now. Not ever. I will stay with Aki out of loyalty to her. Not you.¡¯ An expression of fury crossed Zekuthran¡¯s face. I wondered whether this was a mistake, but that only made me angrier. ¡®You dare-¡¯ he started, but I interrupted. ¡®I dare. You play some high and mighty caring grandfather but all you are is a monster no better than all these gods of yours just toying with human lives. You disgust me, you asshole.¡¯ Suddenly, Zekuthran''s expression changed and he beamed at me. ¡®Oh¡­ thank the stars that Aki has a good friend such as you.¡¯ Wat. ¡®You were still testing me, you douchebag, weren¡¯t you?¡¯ He laughed at that. ¡®Yes. I am so sorry about that. I wanted to see what kind of a person you were. Now I know Aki will be as safe with you as possible. What''s more: those resources I told you about are yours to use so long as you don¡¯t directly oppose the interests of the Abyss, and so is the status of Pathfinders - this is actually a sort of civilian institution. Kind of an Adventurer¡¯s Guild, or as they call it here - Seekers. Basically, you and your friends will be ¡°chartered¡± by the Abyss as mercenaries. You will be granted access to some contracts from us, but you are under no obligation to accept them. I might throw something special your way though, now and then.¡¯ ¡®No strings attached?¡¯ ¡®No strings attached.¡¯ Why don''t I believe you? ¡®I would say I would have to wait for Caei and Aki to okay this as well, but I don''t think there is anything to be okayed here.¡¯ ¡®Indeed. If you don¡¯t want any of this, you don¡¯t have to use it. It will always be there. It¡¯s the least I could do. And I will have a personal gift for you, I think, but I will need to arrange things in the Abyss.¡¯ ¡®Will it be delivered to this Naevud guy?¡¯ Zekuthran laughed. ¡®Not exactly.¡¯ Chapter 63 - Running Out of Mercy Aki I woke up lying on the grass under a slightly cloudy sky. Wuh? Where am I? I looked around and saw that I was¡­ outside of the hospital. We did it! A quest update notification I got confirmed that. Quest Completed: Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy Description: Against all odds you and your party survived the horrors of the hospital. Rewards: 3000 experience points 2 Perk Points You are now Level 8 (1372/4500 total experience points progress to Level 9) Your total health has increased Your total stamina has increased Your total mana has increased You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 4) There was a pretty pink-haired woman with orange eyes in grey clothes and black armour kneeling beside me. She had a pair of horns, a bit longer than mine, and an arrow-tipped tail. There was a wooden staff ending with an emerald gem and a black helmet lying next to her. I saw that she was doing something to my right¡­ Oh. So it wasn¡¯t a bad dream. My hand is really gone. I felt tears gathering in my eyes. The woman must have noticed my stirring because she said: ¡®Oh. You are awake. I¡¯m Savri.¡¯ She gave me a smile and waved to me. ¡®A-aki. Nice to meet you.¡¯ ¡®Nice to meet you too, Aki. You were in pretty bad shape. Your Sanguine friend did her best to patch you up, but it¡¯s possible it wouldn''t be enough. Don¡¯t worry. You will be fine now.¡¯ ¡®My hand¡­¡¯ Savri shook her head. ¡®Gone. If your friend didn''t amputate it, you would be dead by now. Don''t worry, the boss will probably get you a replacement.¡¯ The boss? ¡®Can¡¯t it be regrown by magic?¡¯ ¡®No. I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s a common misconception held even by some Life mages, but there is a limit to what you can achieve with magic. You can reattach limbs, yes, but not regrow them.¡¯ Wait. Didn''t Caei¡­ oh. So she could have¡­ Poor Deirdee. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®Which brings me to your Sanguine friend. I am sorry to dump this on you right away but she will need a lot of your support.¡¯ My heart sank. ¡®Oh no ¡­ what happened to Caei?¡¯ ¡®Let me explain. And don''t worry - I will tell her the same once she wakes up. The wings of the Sanguine are very complex and delicate structures. And, for whatever reason, shockingly resistant to healing magic. I assume this is another of the Blood¡¯s sick games.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¯ ¡®Her wings were shattered pretty thoroughly during the fight against the dragon-horse thing. This alone would make it difficult to heal them. Like they would likely remain completely non-functional. But then they began¡­ to rot. The chamber wasn¡¯t exactly sanitary. I had to remove them.¡¯ Tears began flowing freely from my eyes. Caei would be devastated. ¡®I know this will be a poor consolation,¡¯ Savri shook her head. ¡®But you are all lucky to be alive. If the boss didn''t receive the intel you were there¡­ By the time we got there, your Caei friend was barely clinging to life, and your slime was on her way to join her soon.¡¯ ¡®Is at least Lilyth okay?¡¯ I asked, feeling a thorough sense of despair and dread. ¡®I didn''t get a good look at her, and I will have some questions about what I did see, but she is alive. When Tev and Eurydon brought you out, they said she was currently discussing something with the old man.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s a relief,¡¯ then I asked her about one of the things I was wondering about. ¡®You seem to know a lot about healing. Where did you learn so much about this? ¡®It¡¯s my job,¡¯ she laughed. ¡®I¡¯m a combat medic. I deal with this stuff on a regular basis. Also¡­¡¯ She showed me her hands, which were covered by black leather gloves. She took the left one off, revealing that instead of flesh, her arm appeared to be from silvery metal. ¡®A reminder of a dungeon,¡¯ Savri explained. ¡®Works almost as good as the old one. Even better in some regards since you don¡¯t have to trim your fingernails.¡¯ She flexed her fingers to show me that it, indeed, was fully functional. ¡®We¡¯ll probably get you a similar one.¡¯ Hearing that saddened me and I said: ¡®I don¡¯t think I can afford it.¡¯ ¡®You are basically royalty, kid,¡¯ Savri laughed. ¡®Do you really think the old man won¡¯t foot the bill for that?¡¯ ¡®Wait¡­ My grandfather is here? He¡¯s the boss you keep talking about?¡¯ ¡®Yup. He should be out soon.¡¯ By the time Lilyth and the Archpraetor emerged, Caei woke up and we were sitting there comforting each other. She was in a pretty sorry shape too. There were multiple rot burns on her skin, and there blue splotches in places where her armour was destroyed. When she saw us she wanted to run over to us she got intercepted by Savri, whom I decided I liked, and taken to the side. Instead, my grandfather approached us. ¡®Aki,¡¯ he began. ¡®Caeileera of the Sanguine. Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Zekuthran. We¡¯ll have time to get to know ourselves properly later. For now¡­¡¯ He told us about the ¡°rewards¡± he discussed with Lilyth. He did also mention something about her proving herself to be a good and true friend, though I am not sure I liked his tone and expression when he said that. I think he was hoping that wasn¡¯t the case. Something was telling me I shouldn¡¯t fully trust him. I would need to extract the details from Lilyth later. When we were no longer within Zekuthran¡¯s immediate reach. He could have been my grandfather, but this was only because we were related. The Archpraetor was also in the service of an entity not unlike this Blood. For now, I was happy to accept his hospitality. Getting a replacement hand was certainly nice. That Pathfinder status was also interesting. I still wanted to become a Seeker though, since I did not want to have to rely on my grandfather¡¯s goodwill. Yes. We would take a few days to recover. And then it would be back to Dwynveia. Lilyth returned to us after a few minutes. Savri was with her. By then Zekuthran has returned to his soldiers to start making arrangements. Most of Lilyth''s physical injuries were healed. ¡®Your dumbfuck friend should be fine,¡¯ Sav explained but quickly corrected herself. ¡®Correction: They should be fine if they don¡¯t do any more brain-dead things. So if I were you, Akster, I would start making funeral arrangements.¡¯ Savri winked. Yup, I really liked her. ¡®Her hair should eventually return to normal,¡¯ she continued. ¡®Though the shadow markings are likely here to stay. They will just stop oozing darkness.¡¯ ¡®I always wanted to have tattoos,¡¯ Lilyth laughed weakly. ¡®That¡¯s the spirit!¡¯ Sav chuckled and patted Lilyth on the back. ¡®And hey, those are some gorgeous patterns you have there. You really lucked out there. Just make sure you don¡¯t try your luck again.¡¯ She turned to me, gave me a conspiratorial wink and walked away. Lilyth then joined me and Caei and hugged us. ¡®Thank gods, you two are alive. I¡¯m sorry to hear about your wings, Caei. And your hand, Aki.¡¯ We hugged her back and just sat there in silence happy to have each other again. I realised then that while Zekuthran may have been related to me by blood Lilyth and Caei were my real family now. And it was clear to me they felt that way too. Our moment was interrupted by my grandfather who told us that the preparations for the return trip were finished. It was time for me to see the land of my ancestors - the Abyss. Chapter 64 - The Citadel of the Sun Aki ¡®I wonder what Deirdee is up to?¡¯ Caei asked idly while looking through the window at the courtyard below. We were in the apartment the three of us shared in the Citadel of the Sun, a giant obsidian fortress that housed both my grandfather¡¯s legion and the god of this realm - The Sun That Burns No More. Lilyth said the place looked like a cigurad, whatever that is. I guess it¡¯s some building with multiple levels that get smaller the higher it gets. The highest level was occupied by Lord Sun, and the one below him by my grandfather, his staff and the god¡¯s priesthood. Our apartment was in the middle of the central level. It was a fairly large room with a bed that could fit all three of us, a wooden table where we ate most of our meals, a couple of dressers where we stored our things and a bookshelf. There was nothing in terms of adornments, but there was a bathroom attached to it with a bathtub, sink, toilet and what made my slimy cutie almost orgasm from sheer joy - running water and a shower. The Abyss itself turned out to be a massive disappointment. The place was a massive network of caves all lit by some reddish orbs hanging on ceilings. ¡®Leading a happy and fulfilling life?¡¯ Lilyth suggested. She was lying on our bed and staring at the ceiling, her hands behind her head. I think of the three of us she hated the Abyss the most. Or rather, as she explained, it was not the place that was the problem, but rather us not being able to leave it. ¡®Don¡¯t get me wrong, babe,¡¯ she said the previous night when the three of us were cuddling in bed before we went to sleep. ¡®I find it extremely ironic, and not in the Alanis Morissette way, that the safest and happiest place I¡¯ve been so far on Dwynveia is the local equivalent of fucking hell, but a gilded cage is still a cage.¡¯ The discussion almost immediately then derailed into who Alanis Morisette was, but the phrase Lil used there stuck with me. A gilded cage is still a cage. Were we really inside of one? Lilyth has been incredibly paranoid from the moment we made our first steps in the Abyss, and after almost three days of mostly being stuck in a single room, I was fully on board with her. For one, we weren''t allowed to wander around on our own, and the locations we could visit were extremely limited. One time, Lily asked if there was a library in the citadel. She was told that yes, and if she said what she was interested in they would bring it to her. It was brief but Lil¡¯s eyes narrowed and she simply said: some novels would do in an even voice. While the guard was gone I tapped Lilyth¡¯s notebook and she wrote: ¡°I can¡¯t trust anything they bring me. Because it won¡¯t be what I want to learn but what they want me to learn.¡± Caei, who was also interested in the library, nodded with disappointment clearly visible on her face. The notebook was the first of Lilyth''s ¡°paranoid measures¡±. When we first got to our room and started unpacking Lilyth tapped the windowsill with her pencil. When she had our undivided attention she put her finger on her mouth, which I understood meant ¡°hush¡± and started writing. ¡°Don¡¯t talk about anything important (inc. our plans) while we are here. They are likely spying on us.¡± Caei raised her eyebrow and asked for the notebook. They passed it between each other for a while as they ¡°conversed¡±. Caei: ¡°Spying? How.¡± Lilyth: ¡°The room is likely bugged.¡± Caei: ¡°Bugged?¡± Lilyth (after facepalming): ¡°On Earth, we call listening devices ¡°Bugs¡±. Those are small machines that can be used to listen and/or watch some location from afar. In this case it could be spells.¡± Caei¡¯s eyes got wide and she wrote: ¡°Haven''t considered that. You really think Zekuthran would listen in on his granddaughter and her lov us?¡± Lilyth: ¡°He is not Aki¡¯s grandfather. He just happened to fuck her grandmother. There is a difference.¡± Aki: ¡°I agree. Why was he angry?¡± Lilyth: ¡°Elaborate.¡± Aki: ¡°He said you''re a good friend but wasn''t happy.¡± Lilyth (after an exasperated sigh): ¡°You asshole grandfather was ¡°testing me¡±. He said I passed his little tests, but I think he actually hates that I saw through his bullshit and was trying to salvage the situation.¡± Lilyth then summarised the conversation. Caei hissed when she finished reading it. I felt anger rise in me too. I had to bite my tongue not to speak up. Caei (shaky handwriting): ¡°You are right. We can¡¯t trust him.¡± I simply nodded in agreement, as I got tired of writing with my left hand. Being ambidextrous had its uses but I didn''t have enough practice with my right hand and tried writing with the left one maybe twice before. Lilyth: ¡°Good. Caei can you burn these?¡± Caei wordlessly opened the window, took the paper sheet into her hand and burned it with her Flame Tongue spell. That sordid business handled we just lay there on the bed and comforted each other. The hospital cost us a lot. Caei''s wings, my hand and Lilyth''s ability to use most magic. Poor Caeileera was absolutely devastated. The wings were her pride and joy. So we just let her cry it out with us. And then cry some more. And cry. Eventually, she fell asleep and we just lay there with Lilyth to keep her company. She didn''t get to sleep for long, however, as a demon came to our room and told us to get ready for a ¡°welcoming dinner¡±. I think the only reason it happened on a remotely friendly foot was that Lilyth was too focused on helping me with my food to bicker with Zekuthran. It was humiliating to be no longer able to handle it on my own, but it would take me time to relearn how, so I really appreciated her. Once Caei was done eating she changed with Lilyth so that our slimy girlfriend could eat. We mostly made small talk with my grandfather that evening. After we were done eating he commented ¡°It was good I had such good friends.¡± I could sense Lilyth wanted to say something nasty, so I kicked her under the table and she got the message. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The second day was when our limitations became really apparent. We were told to stay in our room. The only places we could go were the doctor¡¯s office and the kitchen. The first we were brought to anyway for ¡°check-ups¡±. In my case, they checked how I was healing and took the measurements of my arms. Apparently, the healers here were also very interested in Lilyth and examining her elemental contamination. She had other ideas and when one particular doctor, called Kavel I think, was too insistent on running tests on her, she allowed him to come closer to her and summoned one of her knives and put it really close to his crotch. The doctor scrambled away from her as if she was a poisonous animal and called for the guards. The two demons who burst in were really perplexed by the sight as we were searched for weapons before entering and nothing was found. ¡®I have my ways,¡¯ Lilyth shrugged and hung the knife on her belt. ¡®Tell Doctor ¡°Can¡¯t fucking understand the word ¡®No¡¯¡± over there to mind his own fucking business and that knife will stay on my belt.¡¯ ¡®I will have to insist you give it to me,¡¯ the guard said impassively. ¡®It will be returned to you when you return to your room. I understand your feelings ma¡¯am, but we¡¯d rather avoid any incidents.¡¯ With a wide smile, Lilyth gave him the knife hilt first. The guard took it but it immediately vanished from his hand and reappeared in Lilyth''s.¡¯ ¡®Oh,¡¯ the guard said. ¡®I¡¯m afraid you will have to come with us, ma¡¯am.¡¯ Lilyth shrugged and followed them, a smile not leaving her face. When she was led back to our room later, by then me and Caei have already returned, she said that he managed to wrestle a concession out of my grandfather that the doctors would ¡°respect her boundaries¡±, and in exchange she would wear a small bracelet that would limit her ability to summon soulbound items. It would be removed from her when we would be leaving the Abyss. She hushed us and then showed us the arm where the bracelet was. She then effortlessly slid it off her hand due to her flesh shifting to account for that. Seconds later she slid it back on and gave us a shrug with an innocent smile. She then wrote in her notebook: Lilyth: ¡°I doubt they forgot about this or didn¡¯t think I would figure it out in less than three minutes. Probably a face-saving measure for them to give the doctors a false sense of security¡±. Caei: ¡°And to give you a rule you will have to break.¡± Lilyth (frown): ¡°That too. Good point.¡± We didn''t get to eat dinner with Grandfather that evening. Apparently, he was busy with his duties. You would think Lilyth¡¯s the one who is a demon, I thought as I was slowly drifting away to sleep in the warm embrace of my girlfriends. ¡®She lacks grace but means well, my friend,¡¯ a suave female voice said. This made Aki jump, disturbing Caei and Lilyth, but she waved them off as she realised what was happening. Let me guess¡­ Lady Irmen? ¡®Correct,¡¯ the goddess of Water laughed. ¡®How did you guess?¡¯ Lilyth serves Ladies Ereshkigal and Ter¡¯ius so I can''t imagine why they would contact me instead of her. ¡®Half-right. You are missing one possibility though, Aki. Nyxie and Ere could have had something to tell you.¡¯ Ah. That makes sense. So how can I help you, my lady? ¡®It¡¯s me who wants to help you. You are in the nest of snakes and the only one here without any protection. And I find myself in need of a champion.¡¯ Why contact me now? The timing of this is¡­ suspect, to say the least. ¡®You¡¯ve been listening to Lilyth. Good. What she lacks in grace and common sense she makes up in knowledge. The world she is coming from is complex. Far beyond anything either you or Caeileera ever had a chance to experience. For them, the constant risk of surveillance is a fact of life.¡¯ Surweilens? ¡®Sorry, spying. But yes, you can usually trust her advice on this.¡¯ Than¡­ wait, you didn''t answer my question. ¡®I can see we are going to get along just fine. To answer you: we were observing you but chose not to act due to your interest in your heritage. None of us expected you to end up here so quickly. So we decided to interfere. And yes. It is unfair of us to meddle in the lives of you mortals. But we can''t always get what we want. So I want to warn you - if you ever meet the Sun, and I suspect you will quite soon, your days as a free agent are over.¡¯ What do you mean? ¡®Can you imagine ever refusing a god to his face? I suspect Lilyth would try and suffer the consequences, but would you? She would probably insult him too. Me¡­ I¡¯m not sure. Why is Lilyth like this? ¡®She is from a world with different customs, though her use of insults is just her being herself. I¡¯m not gonna lie to you: Lilyth was only looking to align herself with one of the powers to protect you and Caeileera. Not because she wanted it. She would happily follow you into the service of the Sun, but she would be unhappy there because Lilyth is the kind of a person who will never play nice with any god. That possibly includes us. Which is why we play nice with her - we need her help. And we need your help, Aki, if you will grant it.¡¯ But what about the Great Game? Don¡¯t we need protection? ¡®You do. But who says it needs to be from us gods? Trust in yourself, Aki. Trust in your companions. Trust in other mortals.¡¯ It¡¯s weird to hear a goddess say that. ¡®Our six always wanted to aid you. Help you find your place. Not to rule over you. We will always be there when people need us.¡¯ That''s¡­ sad. ¡®Such is life. And such should be the lot of gods. The only rules we establish are those to prevent or punish your worst impulses. I am fine with you fishing for food and even for trophies so long as it is within reason. I am not fine with hunting sea animals specifically for the value their bones or fat have. Or destroying unique structures that took hundreds of years to form and cannot be fixed.¡¯ I understand. Won¡¯t Lord Sun and my grandfather mind? ¡®This I cannot say. They are fine with Caeileera being aligned with Akh¡¯ret and Lilyth with Ere and Nyx. So why should you be different? And their existing patronages make them into potential allies for the Sun rather than subjects.¡¯ Why you and not Lord Gin¡¯ig, though? ¡®Because you will need guile to get by. And that''s my area, as are your combat style, and interest in alchemy. You can always ask him for support. I won¡¯t mind. And so long as you don''t pull a Lilyth you should be fine with using both fire and water. What we would be establishing would be more of a mentoring arrangement. Of course, you would have duties as a champion, but nothing too bad. Ironically, Gin¡¯ig would be a perfect match for Lilyth with how reckless and impetuous she is.¡¯ I see. Very well. I accept. Irmen is now your Patron Deity ¡®Perfect. Try to stay safe. I will contact you once you get out of the Abyss, as I fear I may have overstayed my welcome. Be seeing you. And that''s how we got to that morning of the third day. I was going to respond to Lilyth¡¯s comment about Deirdee, but someone knocked on the door. I opened it and saw our usual guide. ¡®Miss Aki,¡¯ he began. ¡®You are expected in the medical wing.¡¯ When he saw that Lilyth and Caei started moving towards the door he shook his head. ¡®I was told to just bring Miss Aki. Don''t worry. It¡¯s about getting her a replacement hand.¡¯ This soon? ¡®Lead on, then! I said happily. Chapter 65 - Making More Friends Caeileera After Aki left Lilyth lay down again and picked up the book she was reading. Pretty bored, I joined her and asked: ¡®What¡¯s it about?¡¯ ¡®A crime-solving monk,¡¯ she answered and then muttered under her breath: ¡®I guess some things are universal.¡¯ ¡®Can I read it next?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Uhh¡­ sure.¡¯ Lilyth pointed to the four other paperback novels the guards brought them. ¡®I think one of them is also from this series. I don¡¯t think they need to be read in any particular order.¡¯ Following her advice, I picked it up and started reading it. The plot was interesting. There was a murder in the town the monk - some loser devoted to the Light named Lokin lived in. He started looking into it because of the dead guy being the brother of one of the initiates. Why the local guards weren''t investigating it was a question I couldn''t find an answer to. There was also a subplot about a widow in town seeing an angel. The mention of the angel got me thinking about my wings again and before I knew I began to cry again. ¡®What¡­ is the b¡­¡¯ Lilyth began to joke but quickly caught herself and embraced me. ¡®It¡¯s going to be alright. We¡¯ll get through it.¡¯ I hugged her back and we just sat there. After a while, I became aware of how close to me Lilyth was. I looked at her. She was this close to me. And we were alone. Is it okay if I do this without Aki here? No. I don¡¯t think so. At least not initially. So instead we just lay there next to each other and Lilyth, on my request, told me stories from Earth. I wasn¡¯t interested in actual history, just legends, novels and fables. So she told me of the thing they called isekai. Apparently, it was a genre of stories where the hero ends up in another world, sometimes directly and sometimes reincarnated. ¡®I guess your experience doesn''t really match those stories,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®Not quite. Still, I somehow managed to get together with two beautiful women, so it counts as something eh?¡¯ She pecked me on the cheek. It was the drop that broke the dam. I kissed her back and before we knew it we were taking off our clothes. After we were done, we lay there panting. Lilyth wasn¡¯t the best lover I ever had, but was willing to learn, and she still knew how to make me tick. Her being able to switch equipment also made it more fun. And that''s all I needed. Realising we needed to clean up before Aki returned, we went to shower. When we returned dressed in fresh clothes we saw Aki staring at the mess we¡¯d made. ¡®Did you two¡­¡¯ she asked but then saw our horrified expressions. Oddly enough, she began to laugh. ¡®Oh my gods. You two should see your faces. This is what we agreed to, didn''t we?¡¯ ¡®We¡­ ummm¡­ didn''t know how you would react¡­ ¡®Lilyth stammered out. ¡®I don''t think we ever discussed this part.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not going to say I¡¯m not disappointed a bit, but then again¡­¡¯ As she was saying this walked over to us. I saw that she now had a black metal magitek replacement for her right arm. That was fast. To my surprise, she wrapped her hands around our necks and dragged the two of us to bed. ¡®... Let¡¯s make up for me missing out, eh?¡¯ Aki finished with a smile. Much later, I lay there staring at the ceiling, spent but happy. Aki¡¯s naked form was lying on me, while Lilyth was sleeping next to us. ¡®I think we wore her out,¡¯ Aki whispered to me. ¡®I doubt she minds.¡¯ I laughed. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Aki laughed and kissed me. Aki We lay there until the guard came to take us to dinner with Zekuthran. We quickly cleaned ourselves up and followed him. To my surprise, Savri was with him. She was dressed in casual clothes: A short-sleeved white shirt, a black skirt and slippers. Grandfather had grace enough not to comment about how completely dishevelled the three of us looked. His only reaction was a slightly raised corner of his mouth, quickly replaced by a frown. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡®I was going to let you stay here for a few days but circumstances have changed. You will leave the day after tomorrow. Savri here will join you and ensure your new hand works properly.¡¯ ¡®Meaning what?'' Lilyth asked. ''Savri¡¯s to spy for you and if Aki steps out of line she is to break her new hand, motherfu¡­¡¯ ¡®Terran, if you know what''s best for you, you will be silent.¡¯ He didn''t answer the question, did he? ''Tomorrow, Lord Sun wishes to speak with you, ¡®Zekuthran continued. ¡®After that I want you gone. I promised you a gift, Terran. Given the change of circumstances and your behaviour, this is no longer an option.¡¯ Lilyth shrugged and showed him the middle finger of her right hand. ¡®Love you too, Zeke.¡¯ ¡®Enough! Your insolence-¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes. Will not be tolerated. You are throwing us out anyway and since¡­ this Sun of yours wants to see us, you can¡¯t do shit. Meaning, you are the one who has a problem with us. Not him.¡¯ I thought Zekuthran was so mad his head would explode. ¡®Guards!¡¯ he shouted. ¡®Take the slime to a prison cell. She will stay there until the meeting with our lord. Then return her to it until she and her party are about to depart.¡¯ They moved to grab Lilyth, but she simply stood up and followed them. While she was leaving she raised her right hand and showed Zekuthran the middle finger again. I noticed the bracelet was no longer on it. Grandfather lost this one, didn''t he? Apparently, he didn¡¯t have anything else to say to us because he dismissed us and sent us back to our room. He told the guards to bring us some food. ¡®Lilyth just made us a new ¡°friend¡±, didn¡¯t she?¡¯ Caei whispered. ¡®No,¡¯ I shook my head. ¡®Zekuthran was never on our side, to begin with, I think. Savri Savri couldn''t believe the scene in the dining room. While Lilyth crossed the line multiple times, that was not the Zekuthran she knew. She had never seen him lose his temper like this. Lilyth totally outplayed him and she wasn¡¯t even trying to do that. She just treated him like what¡­ a normal man, she realised. Not the Archpraetor, not the Blade of the Ashen Storm, just a man. And him not denying Lilyth''s accusation¡­ Such an action would be against her oath as a healer. What happened to you, boss? That was a mystery for later, however. For now, she rushed after Aki and Caeileera. ¡®Can I join you for dinner?¡¯ she asked. ¡®I think we need to talk.¡¯ The Sanguine didn¡¯t look pleased about it, but Aki nodded. ¡®We are to travel together after all, aren¡¯t we?¡¯ she said, resigned and angry. ¡®First,¡¯ she began after they sat around the table, ¡®please allow me to apologise, at least on my end. None of that was my idea. I was informed I was to join you at the same time you did. If the Archpraetor wanted me to do things Lilyth suggested, I was not aware of that. Yet. I don¡¯t expect you to believe me, but that¡¯s the truth. What I will do¡­¡¯ Caeileera stopped her with a hand gesture brought over the notebook and tapped on it. Oh. They are afraid the old man is spying on them. Savri: ¡°What I will do is help Aki gain full control of her new hand. After that¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Caeileera: ¡°I¡¯ll be watching you. Just so you know. I imagine Lilyth will be too.¡± Savri: ¡°I understand.¡± Aki: ¡°Sorry you got dragged into this.¡± Savri: ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to Zekuthran. He didn¡¯t used to be like this.¡± Aki: ¡°What was he like?¡± Savri: ¡°Smart. Fierce. Unmovable.¡± Caei: "Not brought into an impotent rage by someone insulting him?" Savri: ¡°No. He said something about circumstances having changed. What was he talking about? Do you know?¡± Caei: ¡°No clue. The only thing out of the ordinary was well¡­ Lilyth being Lilyth at the hospital wing.¡± Savri: ¡°I heard about that. Pretty funny.¡° Aki: ¡°I think it might have been me. Lady Irmen contacted me last time. Warned me about Lord Sun. Offered to mentor me in guile and leadership. I accepted.¡± Savri: ¡°Oh no. Palace rumour was Lord Sun was pissed at him over how he handled the matters at the hospital. You pledging yourself to another god WHILE HERE is a massive black mark against him if the rumours are true.¡± Aki: ¡°Oh my. Lady Irmen warned me¡­¡± Caei (having taken the notebook from Aki): ¡°You were right to take her deal. Fuck your grandfather. And not in a fun way.¡± Savri: ¡°What happened over at the hospital?¡± Caei: ¡°Zekuthran wanted to turn Lilyth into his minion, have us join something called Pathfinders in your legions. She refused. He claimed it was just a test and she passed it and Pathfinders are, in truth, an Adventurer''s Guild. Savri: ¡°It wasn¡¯t. And they are not'' Pathfinders are a scout branch of our legions ¡° Caei: ¡°Motherfucker.¡° Savri started to reply but then someone knocked on their door. Caeileera quickly grabbed the papers and burned them. ¡®Enter!¡¯ Aki shouted after she was done. The door opened and Eurydon entered the room. There were two guards with him. ¡®You¡¯re already here, Savri,¡¯ he said. ¡®That makes it easier.¡¯ Savri¡¯s heart sank. Did Zekuthran decide to kill them all? No¡­ he wouldn''t defy Lord Sun, would he? She could see Aki and Caeileera had similar thoughts as they tensed and looked ready to go down fighting. Eury made a worried expression. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ he said. ¡®I mean you no harm. This was poor phrasing given the circumstances. I was asked by Lord Sun to bring you all to his chambers.¡¯ Chapter 66 - The Sun That Burns No More Aki The three of us looked at Eurydon confused. Caei still didn''t seem to have believed him. It was Savri who finally voiced our thoughts. ¡®But the Archpraetor said that¡­¡¯ Sav began but Eurydon cut her off. ¡®Are you implying that Lord Sun has to abide by the Archpraetor¡¯s wishes, Master Sergeant?¡¯ ¡®No, sir.¡¯ Savri replied with a stiff salute. ¡®I was merely confused as I assumed the Archpraetor was voicing Lord Sun¡¯s commands, Lord Praetor.¡¯ I was surprised at Sav¡¯s sudden demeanour change from casual to professional. I would have not been able to do it. Eurydon simply returned her salute and said: ¡®Very well. Follow me, Sav. I am to bring you too.¡¯ ¡®If I may ask, sir¡­ why?¡¯ ¡®I was told by Lord Sun to bring you. I dared not question him. Right now it would¡­ inadvisable.¡¯ Savri nodded and we all went to meet a god. Eurydon led us there alone. The entrance to the god¡¯s chambers was imposing. It was a massive metal door with scenes of a shining figure slaying both monsters and men alike. To the left of the entrance, there were three red plush armchairs positioned around a round wooden table. To the right, there was a blue couch. Lilyth was lying on it, her feet on the armrest. I noticed that her clothes were bloodstained and there was a hole in her shirt around where her heart would be. ¡®Someone didn''t get the memo that I don¡¯t have internal organs,¡¯ she explained, seeing my gaze. ¡®I delivered it in person.¡¯ One of her knives flashed in her hand. ¡®Someone tried to kill you?¡¯ Sav asked horrified. ¡®Try being the keyword,¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. ¡®I assumed they wanted to stage an escape attempt. Unfortunately for them, the only thing that ended up on the floor was the guy''s intestines. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. He¡¯s getting treatment. A life mage arrived a minute later with the guards and started healing him. I assume he was sent to ensure I would be alive to meet the Sun. I don¡¯t think the guy bought my story that the man just fell down some stairs, though. ¡¯ ¡®We might need to install a bannister on those,¡¯ Eurydon, who until now had been silent, said. ¡®Someone else could get hurt. And, while I understand the futility of the measure, can I ask you to leave those knives outside here?¡¯ Lilyth nodded and left them on the table. ¡®No problem, Praetor Eurydon.¡¯ Her sudden politeness took us all a moment to register. ¡®Who are you and what have you done with the real Lilyth?¡¯ Caeileera asked. ¡®I give people as much respect as I think they deserve. Praetor Eurydon is the only person in power here so far that did nothing to aggravate, deceive or insult me. At least as far as I know. So why should I be the one to start a fight?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sure you being almost assassinated by the one you pissed off before I took over handling you had nothing to do with it,¡¯ Eurydon gave us a forced smile and pushed the door open. ¡®But thank you, I suppose. Now. Our Lord awaits.¡¯ He pushed the door to the chamber open. What awaited us on the other side was a dark featureless room with a white stone floor. In the middle of the chamber, there was a throne that looked to have been carved of the same rock. Before it, a man sat on his feet with his eyes closed. His skin was almost liquid with blue and red light substances constantly shifting inside of it. His hair was so long it reached the floor and was deep purple with pinpricks of light showing up here and there, and then disappearing. The god was handsome, with slightly feminine features and a small straight nose. The Sun¡¯s ears were pointed and glowed slightly with white light. He wore dark blue pleated wide pants, a light blue front-wrapped shirt with wide sleeves and an open black vest. In front of him, there was a sheathed curved longsword with an ornate handle and a handguard that looked to be some rune. The man was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. ¡®Greetings, my friends,¡¯ the man said with a warm melodic voice and started to rise, picking up the sword with his left hand. His skin solidified to a light red colour, and he opened his eyes revealing the irises to shine with purple light. We all, including Eurydon, knelt before him on one knee. ¡®Rise,¡¯ the Sun continued. ¡®Eury, you may leave us.¡¯ The Praetor bowed and left, closing the door behind him. ¡®What¡­ not what you expected?¡¯ the Sun That Burns No More said to Lilyth who was staring at the deity quizzically. ¡®I don¡¯t know, Lord Sun. My theory was you were like¡­ a neutron star with a face or something.¡¯ I looked at Lilyth in confusion. What is a nootron star? Caei similarily had no idea what our girlfriend was talking about. Savri seemed more absorbed by her god than anything else. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. To my surprise, the Sun laughed at Lilyth''s statement. ¡®I can see how you could reach that conclusion. Though judging by your companions¡¯ expression you will have some explaining to do. Again.¡¯ Lilyth sighed and said: ¡®I don¡¯t think there is enough alcohol in the world for that one.¡¯ The god suddenly stopped being next to the throne and appeared a few feet in front of Lilyth. She flinched slightly but said nothing. The slime just began staring at the deity impassively. ¡®I am sure you will figure something out. Humour me about something else, for I would like to know your heart. Why are you so¡­ deferential towards me? Based on what I¡¯ve seen of you this seems out of character.¡¯ ¡®I have been, probably truthfully, accused of recklessness. But that does not mean I am stupid, my Lord.¡¯ ¡®You are a reckless woman, Lilyth. Yes. But apparently not incapable of learning.¡¯ The god moved on to Caei, who was next in line. ¡®Ah. Caeileera. The Blood¡¯s defiant daughter. Did you know you are the first of your kind to visit the Abyss in over two thousand years?¡¯ ¡®I did not, my Lord,¡¯ she gave him a curt nod as she took a few steps back not being able to take in his presence. ¡®And how does my home compare to the Badlands?¡¯ ¡®I cannot say, my Lord. We haven''t been able to see much.¡¯ ¡®Fair enough,¡¯ the Sun laughed mirthlessly and walked up to Savri. The girl looked absolutely terrified. ¡®Savri. I am so sorry you had to get caught up in all of this. Don''t worry. We will find a solution to this problem.¡¯ Then things started happening at a pace that left me and Caei paralyzed with fear. The Sun started to reach for the hilt of the sword with his right arm. Lilyth, who must have sensed something was wrong, once again acted without thinking. The moment the god began his move she pounced towards Savri and tackled her to the ground milliseconds before the blade swept the place where her neck just was. I saw the corner of the god¡¯s mouth rise. Oh no. He was letting her do it. ¡®You dare defy me in my own chamber, Terran?!¡¯ he exploded at her. ¡®If by defiance you mean ¡°not letting you kill an innocent woman¡± then you can go fuck yourself, sunny boy.¡¯ No. ¡®You will pay for your insolence, slime!¡¯ The Sun¡¯s left arm turned into a semi-liquid tendril and extended itself towards Lilyth. She tried to scramble away, but, this time, the god did not let her get away. The tentacle wrapped itself around her throat and lifted Lilyth so that she was face to face with the Sun. No. There was no fear on Lilyth¡¯s face. She looked into the god¡¯s eyes with abject indifference. ¡®Did you ever wonder why Varyag was so insistent on killing you?¡¯ ¡®I guess it is because I told him that he cannot join our girls-only club. Not sure if that is Aki¡¯s policy though. Ignoring Lilyth¡¯s joke, the god continued. ¡®What Varyag is afraid of is not you. It¡¯s the concept you represent. You are an outsider. You do things no one should because you don¡¯t know any better. Even if told not to do something, you still would likely try. In essence, those few of you Terrans who live on Dwynveia are a living embodiment of the phrase ¡°Hold my beer¡±. So he¡¯d rather see you removed.¡¯ ¡®And you are in cahoots with him,¡¯ she said. ¡®No. But I happen to agree with him.¡¯ No. ¡®I understand,¡¯ the look of resignation I knew very well by now appeared on Lilyth¡¯s face. ¡®Do you really, mortal? DO YOU?¡¯ Lilyth did not answer him. ¡®Bah,¡¯ the Sun spat. ¡®Any last words?¡¯ No. ¡®A request actually. Hold my beer, motherfucker.¡¯ Lilyth My knives appeared in my hands just as I hoped. ¡®What?¡¯ the Sun asked, confused at my words. I immediately stabbed the limb that was holding me with Sol and¡­ ¡®RAAAGH!¡¯ the god screamed in pain and let me go. A few drops of his starmatter blood splattered on my arm and started burning me, but at the time I had bigger issues. I immediately pounced towards him and plunged the blades deep into his stomach. The god staggered back and dropped the sword he was holding. I wanted to leap towards him to finish him off, but the god snapped his fingers, and, with a flash of light, we found ourselves standing on a stone block platform apparently floating over some bubbling dark blue liquid. There was a glowing circle underneath our feet. I looked around and the whole chamber was built out of the same stone blocks as the platform. On the walls, there were two sconces with torches lit inside of them. I could see a single exit out of the place - a wooden door in one of the walls with a bridge of light leading to it. A series of notifications popped up in my vision. Warning: The Sun That Burns No More views you as a massive threat. He currently believes you dead, but any actions noticed by the Abyss will have dire consequences. Notice: The Madness That Dwells Outside welcomes you into its realm. Prove its interest in you was well-deserved. Succeed and you will be rewarded. Fail and the stay of your execution will be revoked. Quest Cancelled: The Daughter of the Abyss Type: Faction (Epic) Difficulty: Very Hard Description: Due to your actions you are no longer welcome in the Abyss. Serious style points though, sister. If there ever will be a ¡°Fuck-up Hall of Fame¡± what you just did will end up there. Mad respect. New Quest Acquired: The Labyrinth of That Which is Betwixt Type: Delve (Legendary) Difficulty: Deadly Description: You really shouldn''t be here. Objectives:
  • Survive
  • Find the exit
Rewards: ??? Well¡­ Fuck Chapter 67 - The Labyrinth of That Which is Betwixt My quest failure message wasn¡¯t as snarky as Lilyth¡¯s but it still hurt. Quest Cancelled: The Legacy of Hellfire Type: Racial - Personal Difficulty: Easy Description: Due to your acceptance of the patronage of Irmen and the severe deterioration of your relationship with The Sun That Burns No More that resulted from it, all the previous offers and gift promises from the Abyss have been rescinded. Still, good riddance. ¡®Okay¡­ what just happened?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Best I can tell the Sunny motherfucker wanted to banish us¡­ somewhere we would have died.¡¯ Lilyth guessed in a dead voice. ¡®Then this Madness thing intercepted us and put us here. Ereshkigal did the same¡­ same thing when I first ended up here.¡¯ ¡®Ah,¡¯ Savri sighed, clearly still in a daze. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, Sav,¡¯ I reassured her. ¡®You¡¯ve been¡­ through a lot.¡¯ ¡®That''s the understatement of the millennium,¡¯ the demon said with a forced smile. ¡®Why would Lo¡­ the Sun want to kill me?¡¯ ¡®You knew too much,¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. ¡®Or, it was some sort of sick game. Or both. Or neither.¡¯ Suddenly, my girlfriend staggered and collapsed to her side holding her left arm. ¡®Lily!¡¯ Caei shouted and ran over to her, with Sav, who snapped out of her shock, close on her heels. I forgot Lilyth was also nearly killed by a god. And she somehow wounded him. I quickly followed the healers and saw that Lilyth had nasty-looking burns on her left arm. ¡®Got splattered with his blood. Other than that, I guess I am just tired.¡¯ Caei motioned to me and took me to the side while Sav started healing Lilyth''s wounds. ¡®I don¡¯t think it¡¯s ¡°just fucking tired¡±,¡¯ she whispered. ¡®In the past¡­ what¡­ half an hour there was an assassination attempt against her AND then the mess with the Sun happened. She¡¯s not fine. We need to get out of here quickly.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think that''s possible,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®Still, We should take a moment to gather our wits.¡¯ We returned to Savri who was almost done with Lilyth. ¡®How is she?¡¯ ¡®Physically - she¡¯s mostly fine,¡¯ the demon replied. ¡®I think so, at least. Burns from divine blood are outside my area of expertise. Or anyone¡¯s really. She¡¯ll likely have scars there that even her regenerative abilities won¡¯t be able to fix. Mentally though¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡¯ ¡®Thanks,¡¯ I said. ¡®And how are you doing? You were just thrown out of your home. And nearly killed.¡¯ ¡®I think I am still processing it. I will need a stiff drink soon though. To confirm: can I stay with you if¡­ when we get out of here?¡¯ ¡®We would never leave you alone. Not after this.¡¯ ¡®Thanks,¡¯ she smiled and then looked me over with a furrowed brow. Then, can I talk with you in private about something while I remember?¡¯ We walked to the edge of the platform and Savri whispered to me. ¡®So¡­ I¡¯ve been wondering¡­ You three are together, yes?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I replied, confused. ¡®Is that a problem?¡¯ Savri raised her hands in an apologetic position. ¡®No. No. Don¡¯t worry, Akster. Not my business. Prefer men myself. What I want to ask is¡­ Lilyth can shift down below, yes?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I confirmed, remembering the fun the three of us had just a few hours before. ¡®Have you been doing this with her for a long time?¡¯ ¡®No. Today was our first time. I¡¯m not sure I follow, though.¡¯ ¡®Let me be straight then - are you taking any protective measures?¡¯ ¡®Against wha¡­ ¡® I began, but then it hit me. ¡®Oh.¡¯ Savri laughed. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. I can teach you a spell to ensure you don¡¯t get any unwanted passengers, and¡­¡¯ She touched my stomach in the rough area of my womb. I nodded. There was a green flash. ¡®There. That should take care of it.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ I blushed. ¡®Don¡¯t mention it.¡¯ We rejoined Caei and Lily who were just sitting there huddled together. I joined them and Sav just sat near us. After a few minutes, Lily suddenly spoke softly. ¡®I think we should get going. I don¡¯t trust this platform.¡¯ ¡®Worried it will fall down?¡¯ Sav asked, alarmed. ¡®Yeah¡­¡¯ We all sprung to our feet and turned to the bridge of light. Lilyth stopped us with a gesture. ¡®Caei? Can you carry us over on your disk?¡¯ She silently cast the spell. It was getting crowded with four people on it. When we were nearing the door Lilyth stopped us again. She examined the door and frowned when she looked at the hinges. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s a pull door¡­¡¯ the slime muttered and turned to Caei. ¡®Lower us to just above the bridge. Aki, you are the fastest. Open the door. The rest of you get ready to jump.¡¯ Caei looked at me for confirmation. I gave her a slight nod. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t tall enough to comfortably reach the handle. So the honour fell to Caei who was the tallest of us. She opened the door, revealing a dark stone corridor on the other side. The bridge immediately started flickering. Lilyth pushed Caei inside the corridor and waited for us to jump inside. Then she leapt herself. Just as her feet touched the stone, the bridge disappeared and the platform plummeted to the strange liquid below. We all collapsed to the floor. ¡®How¡­ did you know?¡¯ Sav asked. ¡®Two reasons,¡¯ Lil responded sadly. ¡®One, the message I got from the Madness thing. In English, the word ¡°you¡± is both used for singular and plural. At first, I assumed it was the latter. But¡­ that room just screamed ¡°trap¡± to me, because I¡¯ve seen stuff like this before. Meaning¡­ most likely that room and maybe the whole delve was designed to fuck with me.¡¯ ¡®Remember, you are not alone here,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®We¡¯ll figure it out together.¡¯ ¡®I hope so,¡¯ Lilyth sighed heavily. ¡®I really hope so.¡¯ I could see she was barely holding it together but then Sav got up and leaned over Lilyth. ¡®ON YOUR FEET, SOLDIER!¡¯ she shouted with a ferocity I didn''t think possible from the usually nice medic. Lilyth, to my surprize, listened. ¡®WE ARE IN A SITUATION THAT REQUIRES ALL OF US TO BRING OUR A GAME! YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF WHEN YOU ARE DEAD! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?¡¯ Lilyth gave her an energetic salute. ¡®Good,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®Aki, I am taking the overall command over this shitshow until we get out of here.¡¯ ¡®Yes, Ma¡¯am,¡¯ I said. ¡®DON¡¯T CALL ME ¡°MA¡¯AM¡±, RECR¡­¡¯ Savri started shouting at me but caught herself and laughed. ¡® Sorry, Akster. It will take me a while to stop being Master Sergeant Savri Adzhenair.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think you should, Sav,¡¯ Caei suddenly said. ¡®At least not in situations like this.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, I think Sav is the one here with the most combat experience,¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. ¡®Your decision though, Aki.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Having an experienced battle leader does make sense.¡¯ ¡®There is also another factor in favour of Savri,¡¯ Lil added. ¡®I don¡¯t think she¡¯s a frontliner. I mean I¡¯m one, and so are you, babe. Caei mostly fights from range, I think. So Sav coordinating us doesn''t cut our offensive power.¡¯ I remembered the hospital. Lilyth was right about that. ¡®You''d be surprised how good a swordswoman I am,¡¯ said Savri. ¡®But yes. These days I mostly heal.¡¯ Caei then asked: ¡®Would it make sense for me to focus on learning more offensive magic then?¡¯ ¡®Can¡¯t see why it would hurt,¡¯ I said. ¡®I suggest we divide any new runes we find the following way: Lilyth gets Air and Shadow, I get Water, Sav Life and that leaves Caei with Fire, Earth and whatever else.¡¯ ¡®Caei can get Life runes too¡¯ Savri said. ¡®I know most of the spells I need.¡¯ ¡®Personally, I¡¯d like to request that if we ever find any Light runes we fucking destroy them,¡¯ Lilyth said unexpectedly but not unreasonably, as I still could remember how she reacted to just touching a scroll of Light magic. Nobody protested the request. ¡®What are your orders then, Master Sergeant?¡¯ my slimy girlfriend asked. ¡®Let¡¯s first look at our resources. Lilyth, I know you have those daggers of yours, do you have anything else?¡¯ Oh. I forgot we lost everything. This will be hard. Good that Sav is here. ¡®Not right now. Still, almost two months until I regain access to my spells.¡¯ ¡®Noted. You are on point, then. Aki?¡¯ ¡®I have my Abyssal Spark and Lesser Abyssal Bolt abilities.¡¯ I was maintaining the former out of habit now. It barely consumed any mana these days. ¡®Caei?¡¯ ¡®Of immediately useful stuff? Blood Lance and Flame Tongue. Plus basic healing magic, but we¡¯ve got you for that now I think.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t have much in terms of offensive magic, though, Sav confirmed. ¡®Mostly healing and support spells. Aki: your primary task will be to cover Lilyth with the Abyssal Bolt. Caei: you will stay back and throw Blood Lances at other targets. We¡¯re in a delve so hopefully some weapons will drop.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s a delve, anyway?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®I remember hearing Ereshkigal mention these before.¡¯ ¡®Ah. Forgot you are new here. Delves are like dungeons except rather than having naturally existing monsters, they have ones that are basically magical constructs. Once the creature is killed, the magic can transform into items. No one knows how they work and why. They tend to ¡°appear¡± in random abandoned locations and are considered a good, if very risky, source of experience points and loot. Destroying the anchor that maintains the delve also tends to have good rewards.¡¯ ¡®Pretty nifty,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Any other questions?¡¯ Sav asked. When it turned out we had none, she simply said: ¡®Okay, kids! Move out!¡¯ Chapter 68 - Making Assumptions The next chamber wasn''t quite what we expected. We assumed it would have been something like the entrance. You know¡­ some stone chamber with some traps or monsters. Instead, the door at the end of the corridor exited into a luxurious massive entrance hall to a building, with white marble floors and wood-covered walls. Before us, there was a wide staircase and I could see wooden double doors to the sides. A chandelier lighted the room and a red carpet went from where we are to the staircase and up the stairs. I could see another double door on the first floor in the wall opposite the staircase, and there were more exits to the sides there as well. Everywhere, there were paintings of well-dressed people in some grass-covered areas. ¡®What the fuck?¡¯ Lilyth asked, voicing all of our thoughts. ¡®Seconded,¡¯ Savri spat. ¡®The Madness seems to be quite literal,¡¯ Caei added, a bit in shock. ¡®We really shouldn''t be making any assumptions here.¡¯ A golden envelope suddenly sparked into existence in front of us and gently fell before my feet. At the same time, there was the sound of the door slamming behind us. We turned around and saw that the door we entered through had disappeared and was replaced by another set of double wooden doors. Caei tried to open them but they wouldn¡¯t budge. There were windows on each side of them, but her Blood Lances and my Abyssal Bolts wouldn¡¯t even leave a scratch on them. Though given all we could see outside was a dark forest I don¡¯t think leaving would be such a good idea. ¡®Guess we are stuck here,¡¯ Caei sighed in defeat. I picked up the envelope and opened it. Inside there was a handwritten invitation. You are cordially invited to attend the Main Event in the dining room on the second floor of the mansion. There are four door keys hidden somewhere in the building. Be warned though: whether you arrive as the main guests or the main course is entirely up to you. ¡®I hate puzzles and looking for stupid shit.¡¯ Lilyth groaned. ¡®Oh, c¡¯mon,¡¯ I protested. ¡®Puzzles are fun.¡¯ ¡®I suggest we find this dining room,¡¯ Caei said, bringing us back to reality. ¡®Just in case we need to run quickly to it.¡¯ Lilyth agreed with her and added: ¡®I suggest we look for the keys in the ground floor rooms first. I imagine there might be some stair-related fuckery happening later on. Would be bad if it happened when saaay a face-eating monster that eats faces was chasing us.¡¯ We couldn''t dismiss that as a possibility. ¡®A face-eating monster that eats faces?¡¯ Caeileera laughed though. ¡®Isn¡¯t that a bit redundant?¡¯ ¡®It could be a vegetarian face-eating monster,¡¯ Lilyth retorted. ¡®Then it wouldn¡¯t be eating faces, now would it?¡¯ ¡®That¡­ is a strangely valid point,¡¯ Savri said, uncertain. ¡®I am both amazed at and terrified by how your mind works, Lilyth.¡¯ And that was all that needed to be said on the subject. To further make us doubt her sanity, Lilyth then approached the stairs and started poking them and the carpet with one of her knives. ¡®Worried about mimics?¡¯ Sav asked, amused. ¡®Those are a myth.¡¯ ¡®Have you ever seen a mimic confirm that, Master Sergeant?¡¯ Lil responded. ¡®Or, maybe you are a mimic trying to convince us that your kind doesn''t exist.¡¯ Savri put her hand on her face and shook her head. ¡®Just so you know, Lilyth,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®If you are going to insist on testing that hypothesis I am going to take one of those knives and shove it so deep up your ass it will come out of your mouth.¡¯ I could tell she was dead serious. ¡®Yes, Master Sergeant,¡¯ Lilyth replied while sheathing her knife. ¡®I was just joking, Master Sergeant.¡¯ ¡®Good.¡¯ ¡®Damn,¡¯ Caei whispered to me, amazement clear in her voice. ¡®I really wish Sav was with us earlier.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I laughed quietly. ¡®I¡¯ve never seen anyone able to cow Lilyth into submission that easily.¡¯ ¡®Either speak up so that the rest of the class can hear you, or stop whispering.¡¯ Sav suddenly told us. ¡®Yes, Master Sergeant!¡¯ we straightened up and said as one. Maybe Lilyth is not the only one here who is cowed. There were four round indentations in the double doors by the staircase, two in each slab forming a vertical line. Every depression had a square hole in the centre. ¡®So the question is: Does the sequence matter?¡¯ Lilyth mused, while carefully examining the indents. ¡®A lot would depend on are these keys identical, or is there some well¡­ key¡­ difference between?¡¯ ¡®Aren¡¯t you getting ahead of yourself?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Let¡¯s first get at least one key and then worry about where to put it.¡¯ ¡®Just thinking out loud,¡¯ Lilyth explained. ¡®I think the sequence does matter,¡¯ I suddenly blurted out, not quite sure why. I looked around. Two paths above, two below. Two depressions above, two below. Could that be it? I outlined my thoughts to my friends. ¡®Makes sense,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®Good thinking, Akster.¡¯ Our first choice was the doors to the left of the entrance. Lilyth stopped us and went to examine them on her own. ¡®Push doors,¡¯ she said. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t be trapped then. Caei said. ¡®Unless there is something above them,¡¯ Lilyth pointed out. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t those need to be slightly ajar for that to work?¡¯ ¡®Some string that will break when we open them?¡¯ Caei frowned. ¡®Possible. Or someone could have fucked with the handles, I guess.¡¯ ¡®You should stand on the stairs,¡¯ Lilyth suggested. ¡®Safer for you that way.¡¯ I signalled that we should follow her suggestions. When we were at a safe distance Lilyth took one of her shoes off, stood to the side of the door and pressed the handle with the sole. When nothing happened, still using the shoe, she pushed the door open. Nothing, though the corridor on the other side was fairly dark. Lilyth walked away from the wall and looked at whatever was on the other side. She then crouched and looked up. She then moved to the side and slightly tensed, though when she started putting the shoe back on, we started to get down but then she shouted for us to stop. ¡®Stay there. I think I can see something, though it¡¯s too bright here for my darksight to work. Need to check the other door with something else.¡¯ We obeyed and Lilyth took one of her knives. She held it by the spine, walked to the side of the secondary door and pushed it open with the handle. There was a soft twang sound, a flash of metal and something impacted the floor with a loud crashing sound. ¡®Pretty ingenious,¡¯ Lilyth said as if nothing had happened. ¡®There was a slack thin rope on the other side. Probably some fancy material or divine fuckery. Opening the primary door stretched it. If I were to guess this was a secondary mechanism. The primary got released when I opened¡­ well the primary door. When I pushed the secondary, the rope broke and quite a heavy-looking blade fell down. Give me a moment.¡¯ Lilyth peered in without leaning past the threshold. ¡®Too dark. Aki, I need you. Can you send your Abyssal Spark inside?¡¯ ¡®Need to get closer,¡¯ I replied. ¡®Stand on the other side of the door, then. DO NOT lean in.¡¯ ¡®What are you checking for, Lilyth?¡¯ Caeileera asked. ¡®Secondary traps.¡¯ she answered matter-of-factly. ¡®That would be evil,¡¯ Savri said. ¡®And that¡¯s a problem for our ¡°gracious hosts¡±, how exactly, Sav?¡¯ Caei asked. The demoness raised her trigger finger, opened her mouth to speak, lowered the finger, and raised it again.¡¯ ¡®I got nothing.¡¯ she finally said. When approaching Lilyth, I got a good look at the blade from the trap. It looked heavier than I was and somehow managed to hit with enough strength to embed itself in the marble floor. ¡®Gods¡­¡¯ I gasped as I imagined it hitting one of us. Lilyth gave me a dead-tired look and began examining the corridor. ¡®Looks safe enough,¡¯ she finally pronounced and stepped over the blade. I wanted to stop her, but she was our pointslime. It was her job. ¡®Aki?¡¯ she suddenly asked. ¡®Need some more light on the floor before me.¡¯ ¡®Afraid of pressure plates?¡¯ Caeileera asked without a hint of amusement. By then both she and Sav got down and got to see the blade. ¡®Ayup,¡¯ Lilyth replied and lay down on the floor to get a better look at the corridor. ¡®Officially consider my comment on mimics retracted,¡¯ Sav apologised. ¡®As Caei said we really shouldn''t be making any assumptions here. Had you asked me about¡­ a trap like this I would have also said that no such thing would be here, because, frankly, building such a thing should be impossible.¡¯ ¡®Based on your description of how it was set, this looks as to have been set up less like a trap and more a challenge to be overcome,¡¯ Caei thought out loud. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®This is something I¡¯ve noticed about the bridge room too. This isn''t some mansion. We need to stop thinking about it as a real location. This is a house of horrors designed specifically to torment us. To torment me, as I suspect, because I know exactly what kind of a design this is. This is a video game.¡¯ ¡®Holy shit,¡¯ Sav unexpectedly said. ¡®You¡¯re right¡­ This crap did seem familiar.¡¯ Lilyth cocked her head in confusion. ¡®How do you know what video games are?¡¯ Savri went pale. ¡®I¡­ uh¡­¡¯ she started stuttering, but seeing her obvious discomfort Lilyth waved her off. ¡®I suppose this doesn¡¯t matter right now and at this stage, nothing should surprise me about this world, anyway.¡¯ The look in her eyes did say that we would return to this conversation. Still, Lilyth gave us a brief explanation of what video games were. Savri did come to her to help with some of the terminology. ¡®So, essentially, Caei summed up, what you are saying is that the challenges and puzzles in those are set up in those not because they should be possible, but rather because the practicality of those is irrelevant?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Lilyth confirmed. ¡®This is why you sometimes need to find some plate with an animal head to open a door. Or you get arrow traps in the walls.¡¯ ¡®I mean you can set a magical variant of those,¡¯ Caei shrugged. ¡®All you need is a Rock Spikes spell and some magical circuitry.¡¯ A look of pain crossed Lilyth''s face. I remembered she was able to cast that before the fall down the pit incident. ¡®Then it means the string holding the blade was really the only one there. There is no trace of the other here.¡¯ Oh right. Earth Arcana allows for that too. It¡¯s probably some ¡°gravity¡± effect like Caei¡¯s floating disk. Or Lilyth''s Blade of the Black Rose. ¡®Magic traps are the worst,¡¯ Savri spat. ¡®Most wouldn''t bother setting them up because they require a lot of mana to work. But a temporary set-up designed by a god?¡¯ She shuddered. ¡®Assuming, there even are more traps,¡¯ I added. ¡®Reverse psychology?¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®Have one magic trap and then nothing else because the one would keep us on our toes forever. I think nothing would stop this Madness thing from just spawning one if we got lax. Because well¡­ god.¡¯ ¡®So we can¡¯t make any assumptions, except we have to or it will bite us?¡¯ Caei mused. Hang on, I thought as something started gnawing at the back of my mind. ¡®Psychological Warfare,¡¯ Savri added, sounding resigned. ¡®The best or the worst kind of warfare depending on which end of it you are.¡¯ Lilyth laughed. ¡®I wanted to become a lecturer at my uni at one point. I would design the most fucking evil multiple-choice tests ever. Thirty questions, twenty-nine of them with A as the correct answer and the last with B.¡¯ ¡®You are one sick fuck, Lilyth,¡¯ Sav chuckled. ¡®You know that, right?¡¯ ¡®What are multiple-choice tests?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Oh, a question where you are given multiple answers and have to choose the right one. There being a pattern in answers like A-B-C or god forbid A-A-A really trips people up in stressful situations when you have, say, a time limit. So having an exam where most questions have A as the correct answer and the last one has B would break people because it would make them doubt EVERY single answer. Especially, if you have a crazy low time limit and your future sort of depends on it. Fifteen minutes for thirty questions is not a lot of time.¡¯ Then it hit me. No. They wouldn''t¡­ would they? The invitation¡­ no. Led by an impulse I went back up the stairs and tried just opening the doors. I heard Caei and Sav call after me, and I realised I was pulling a Lilyth but I had to know. As I feared, the doors weren''t locked. ¡®Motherfuckers,¡¯ Caei spat. ¡®Seriously, really? How did you know, Aki?¡¯ ¡®¡°We shouldn''t be making assumptions¡±. The biggest one we made? That the doors were locked. The note never said they were. Just that the keys were hidden. And we never checked them, did we?¡¯ Lilyth was staring at me slack-jawed. ¡®I fucking hate this place,¡¯ she grumbled, and based on Caei¡¯s and Sav¡¯s expressions they were rapidly developing a hatred of it too. Chapter 69 - The Promise On the other side of the door, there was a room with decor similar to the one we were in. In the middle, there was a long black wooden table with four chairs, two on each of the longer sides. The table was covered in boxes. There were five large square flat ones in the centre of it along with some translucent bottles from some strange material that were filled with dark liquid. Next to them lay a stack of four plates, forks and knives, another bottle this one filled with something red and tall glasses. There was also a pink ribbon-tied green box lying on the table in front of each of the chairs. They were labelled with our names. Mine and Lilyth¡¯s boxes were fairly large and long; Sav¡¯s was medium-sized and rectangular: while Caei¡¯s was small and square. My two girlfriends were to be seated on one side, while I and Sav on the other. ¡®Is that what I think it is?¡¯ Savri turned to Lilyth, pointing to the stack of square boxes. There was a mix of hope and disbelief in ¡®I think it is.¡¯ my girlfriend said with an expression of pure ecstasy. ¡®By the gods, I thought I would never have had a chance to eat this stuff, again.¡¯ ¡®Me neither.¡¯ ¡®Aren¡¯t you worried this stuff could be poisonous?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Only in the way it is unhealthy,¡¯ Sav shrugged. ¡®Eh,¡¯ Lilyth chuckled. ¡®This stuff IS worth dying for.¡¯ ¡®Indeed.¡¯ Sav agreed. ¡®So, dig in my friends. For this is the food of the gods.¡¯ ¡®I am seriously confused,¡¯ Caei said, echoing my thoughts. ¡®What is it?¡¯ I asked. Sav opened one of the boxes. I immediately started smelling the warm and rich fragrance of baked pastries with meat, cheese and some vegetables. ¡®Oh, god,¡¯ Lilyth cooed. ¡®It smells so good.¡¯ It really did. I started salivating. ¡®This is pizza,¡¯ Sav finished. ¡®What¡¯s this dark stuff?¡¯ I asked, pointing at the liquid, as Lilyth poured some of it into a glass. It was¡­ fizzing and foam formed on top. ¡®Off-brand diet soda,¡¯ Lilyth answered, took a sip and sighed in pleasure. ¡®Tastes like the real thing.¡¯ ¡®It does?¡¯ Sav asked, her mouth filled with food, so it sounded like id daf. She immediately swallowed and poured herself some.¡¯ ¡®Oh my god¡­¡¯ she gasped. ¡®I missed this stuff soo much. I had to try some. This pizza stuff was really good, so this had to be too. I ended up preferring the non-diet variant though. ¡®Is this food from your world?¡¯ Caei wondered with a satisfied expression. ¡®By the gods, I must visit it someday.¡¯ She then let out a loud burp which caused her to have a horrified expression, but Sav and Lilyth only laughed. We soon joined them. By the time we were almost finished, it was my turn to burp which only caused the merriment to resume. ¡®Should have warned you,¡¯ Sav said, wiping tears from her eyes. ¡®This stuff is carbonated.¡¯ ¡®Filled with gas,¡¯ Lilyth quickly added. ¡®It causes the fizzing. But then it has to leave your body¡­ somehow.¡¯ Once we were done with the round of laughter this observation brought on, Lilyth asked Sav ¡®So, where did you have a chance to eat pizza, Sav?¡¯ ¡®I guess no point in hiding it,¡¯ she said. ¡®You are not the only one who took a tour of another dimension. Unfortunately, I got to return from there.¡¯ Unfortunately? ¡®And that''s all I needed to know,¡¯ Lilyth said, a mournful expression on her face. ¡®And don¡¯t worry. I understand. I really do. If you ever need to talk I am here. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Sav muttered, tears glistening in her eyes. Thank you...¡¯ I could see there now formed a very deep link of a shared experience between her and Lilyth. Should I ask Lilyth about the ¡°unfortunately¡± part? And if I do¡­ will I ever really understand it? Why would you be sad about returning home? ¡®This is the part that Isekai stories always get wrong¡­¡¯ Lilyth muttered and then she changed the subject. ¡®Let¡¯s check out the boxes, eh?¡¯ We purposefully ignored them before eating in case whatever they contained forced us to abandon this wondrous feast. This was honestly the best food I¡¯ve ever eaten. Lilyth suggested we open them one by one, just in case. I agreed and went first. My box was really heavy and inside there were¡­ two falchions and matching sheaths for them. They looked just like my old pair but they gleamed with magic light, one with white and the other with blue. Item: Siren Class: Weapon - One-handed Sword - Falchion - Divine Rarity: Unique Durability: 50/50 Traits:
  • Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate.
  • Elementally Infused - Water - Attacks have a chance to inflict additional Water damage. Higher levels of Water Arcana knowledge will improve the probability of the effect occurring.
Item: Yuki-onna Class: Weapon - One-handed Sword - Falchion - Divine Rarity: Unique Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Durability: 50/50 Traits:
  • Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate.
  • Elementally Infused - Ice - Attacks have a chance to inflict additional Ice damage. Higher levels of Water Arcana knowledge will improve the probability of the effect occurring.
Do you want to bind the items: Siren and Yuki-onna to yourself? Yes/No? ¡®Woooow,¡¯ I exclaimed seeing the descriptions and thought ¡°Yes¡±. Items: Siren and Yuki-onna are now soulbound to you Caei¡¯s contained a rune. She immediately used it. ¡®What was that?¡¯ Savri asked. Caeileera stood up and extended her arm to the side. Red light started gathering there and a glaive of blood formed. ¡®Create Sanguine Weapon¡¯, she proclaimed proudly. ¡®Usually, only personal guards of the Crimson Vicars are allowed to learn this spell. And I never even heard of a rune of this spell existing.¡¯ There was awe in her voice. Next, it was Lilyth''s turn. She took out a bastard sword in a dark leather scabbard with this ¡°rabbit¡± thing stamped on it. The very recognizable black flower at the end of the leather-bound hilt. ¡®A Blade of the Black Rose?¡¯ ¡®The Blade of the Black Rose,¡¯ Lilyth corrected. ¡®It¡¯s the same sword I lost down below Y-Ram. It is still soulbound to me and Tyrric¡¯s soul is imprinted on it.¡¯ I giggled at the memory of the poor knight and what he had to endure. Lilyth handed me the weapon as proof: Item: Blade of the Black Rose Class: Weapon - Special - Bastard Sword Rarity: Unique Durability: 50/50 Effects:
  • Small chance to imbued with the user¡¯s dominant arcana type on strike (doesn''t consume mana)
Traits:
  • Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate.
  • Focus - can be used a spell focus to channel a chosen arcana type to launch a ranged attack (consumes mana)
Imprint: The day that Tyrric was accepted into the Order of the Black Rose was the proudest in the young knight''s life. The Tower of Trials was supposed to be the place where he would show that his place in the Order was well-earned. Instead, it became his tomb, like for all who dared to enter that cursed place. ¡®Who¡¯s Tyrric?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Some poor fuck next to whose skeleton we made out with Aki back in the Tower,¡¯ Lilyth laughed. ¡®Let me guess: long story?¡¯ Sav asked mirthfully. ¡®Not really,¡¯ Lilyth shook her head. ¡®We just had one too many ¡°I can¡¯t believe we survived¡± moments with Aki and it kinda happened. The chamber where Tyrric was just happened to be one that was reasonably monster corpse-free.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think Sav knows the full story about the Tower,¡¯ I realised. ¡®Or Y-Ram.¡¯ ¡®Now that is a long story,¡¯ Lilyth confirmed and began giving Sav the short version. Parts of that still made me sweat with fear at the memory. ¡®You know¡­¡¯ Sav said when Lil was done. ¡®That explains A LOT.¡¯ She paused, took another sip of the soda thing and continued. ¡®Those Tooth Horrors have me worried, though. Leaving a monster nest underground is probably not the best thing to do. I¡¯m not saying it was wrong for you to retreat there. But we might have to pass it along to someone with more military power. Us four won¡¯t amount to much.¡¯ We couldn''t dispute that. ¡®It¡¯s a massive shame we¡¯ve lost all the books you retrieved from Rivard''s and L?we¡¯s lab. And that spell scroll of yours. I would have loved to help you go through those.¡¯ ¡®Oh no¡­,¡¯ I cried out. ¡®All the books on alchemy and that formulary¡­¡¯ Lilyth gave me a reassuring smile. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, hon. We¡¯ll figure out how to teach you alchemy.¡¯ She blew me a kiss which made me smile back at her. Our attention went back to more immediate concerns. ¡®What I wonder about is: how is this blade even here?¡¯ Lilyth continued. ¡®It broke into a million pieces down below.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think that''s a problem for a god,¡¯ Caei pointed out. ¡®I keep forgetting about them,¡¯ Lilyth sighed heavily. ¡®Life without the divine was so simple. Anyway¡­ Sav¡­ your turn.¡¯ Savri¡¯s gift contained a large magitek handgun that had a boxy look to it. ¡®They certainly didn''t cut corners on this one,¡¯ Lilyth, I assume, joked. Savri understood her and I guess that''s what mattered in the end. Still¡­ I was less than thrilled about it. Amazing. We had one person we could barely understand at times. Now we have two. And the worst thing is - they understand each other. ¡®Reminds me of the gun I had¡­ out there,¡¯ she mused and pulled something else out. It was a smooth metal box with some sort of an indentation on top. There was a small white packet attached next to it. Savri went pale again. With shaking hands, she took the packet and opened it. There was a needle inside. Lilyth must have realised what was happening as she quickly got up and walked over to Savri. She took the needle in one hand and the demoness¡¯s hand in the other. ¡®Never did that before,¡¯ she said. ¡®Just do it,¡¯ Sav replied weakly Lilyth sighed and pierced her finger, which made the demoness wince. ¡®Thanks,¡¯ she still said. Lilyth nodded and without a word returned to her place. I could see a look of complete confusion on Caei¡¯s face which probably mirrored my own. ¡®DNA lock,¡¯ Lilyth explained, clearly lost in thought. ¡®At least that''s what I suspect this is.¡¯ ¡®What the fuck is Dee¡¯enei?¡¯ Caei asked. Before Lilyth could reply, a metallic voice said something I couldn''t understand, though Lilyth judging by her raised eyebrow did. Once again, the ¡°why¡± of it was the question for her instead. We all turned our attention back to Sav. There was now a glowing sigil surrounding the indentation. The demoness whispered something I couldn''t hear, but the magic in the air felt¡­ different. Wrong. Then another sigil appeared on the box and Sav cast another spell. This time it was Life Arcana and it cleared the air of wrongness. ¡®Someone really wanted to ensure only you would be able to open this,¡¯ observed Lilyth. Savri nodded weakly and with her hands once again shaking lifted the lid of the box. She stared at the contents in shock. Then tears started flowing from her eyes unbidden. She took out a translucent flat fist-sized crystal on a golden chain. Inside it there was a black feather, it looked different from the ones Caei had on her wings. I noticed a piece of paper was somehow attached to the crystal. Sav ripped it off and read it. This only made her cry harder. ¡®Is everything okay?¡¯ I asked, seriously worried. ¡®Yes,¡¯ she blubbered. ¡®I just thought I would never see this again. This is the last reminder of my previous life. But he¡­ my guardian angel somehow brought it to me¡­¡¯ But that''s impossible,¡¯ Caei protested. ¡®It¡¯s been what¡­ two hours since we left the Abyss? Three? I doubt the word has even spread about the incident.¡¯ ¡®That never stopped him.¡¯ Sav smiled and put the necklace on. ¡®He would always find a way around this kind of stuff. Oh gods, he didn''t abandon me here.¡¯ She then whispered softly. ¡®He was always watching over me.¡¯ Lilyth then approached her and put her hand on Sav¡¯s shoulder. The demon got up and whispered something into my girlfriend¡¯s ear. Lilyth immediately nodded. There was no hesitation in her movement. ¡®If there is a way, I will not rest until I help you find it,¡¯ I heard her whisper back. ¡®This, I promise.¡¯ Chapter 70 - The Steward of the Labirynth Once Savri felt good enough, we gathered our things and headed to the next room. It contained four curtain-covered stalls labelled with our names. On the other side of the room, there was another door with a balcony over it. I couldn''t see any way for us to get there. Maybe Caei¡¯s Floating Disk? I was sure the door I could see in the wall behind the balcony was locked though, as there was a sign in the middle of the room with ¡°Go inside your stall and take items from there. You will receive further instructions afterwards.¡± Seeing no other viable option, we followed the instructions. To my pleasant surprise inside the stall, I found a fresh set of clothes, a large satchel, a canteen and a bag with five hundred divines inside. I immediately took the opportunity to change. I was still using Lilyth''s soulbound clothes she lent to me in the tower. The new set was pretty nice too. A black tunic with short sleeves, blue linen pants and some heavy-looking leather shoes. There was also a new brown wraparound cloak included and, funnily enough, a red sash. The satchel turned out to be a minor magical item and the canteen was one of those neverending ones. Item: Satchel of Holding Type: Magical - Bag Rarity: Coven-made - Rare Durability: 50/50 Traits:
  • Holding (Average) - Triples the capacity (60 litres) of the item (Total Capacity - 60 litres)
  • Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner¡¯s natural healing rate.
Item: Neverending Canteen Class: Utility - Magical Rarity: Very Rare Quality: Good Durability: 40/40 Charges: 60/60 Contents: 2000/2000 ml Effects:
  • Can hold up to 2 litres of water
  • Refills 200 millilitres of water per hour (this consumes 1 charge)
Traits:
  • Rechargeable - You can channel mana through the object to restore its charge
Inside the satchel, there were some ration bars, a change of clothes and three potions - one of each of healing, mana and stamina. I quickly changed into the new set, sash included, and given how I had a moment of privacy ,I decided to allocate my perk points. I used them to learn Water Arcana as, given my new-found patronage, I figured it would become useful in the long term. New Skill Acquired: Water Arcana - Current Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2) You have spent 4 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0) I quickly checked my character sheet and was satisfied with the progress.
Basic Details
Name Aki Race Demonborn
Gender Female Age 19
Level 8 (1372/4500) Class Duelist
Rank Novice Perk Points 0
Skills
Lore - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Insight Novice 6 59%
Attributes
Physical Progress Mental Progress
Strength 10 56% Intelligence 13 12%
Dexterity 17 12% Wisdom 10 45%
Agility 14 90% Willpower 11 15%
Endurance 11 65% Cunning 14 3%
Vitality 11 2% Resilience 14 82%
Perception 14 0% Faith 12 16%
Appearance 11 0% Charisma 12 78%
Lore - Humanities
Name Rank Level Progress
Dwynveian Literature Novice 2 0%
Dwynveian History Novice 3 75%
Social
Name Rank Level Progress
Acting Novice 15 31%
Survival - General
Name Rank Level Progress
Sense of Direction Apprentice 22 32%
Stealth Novice 1 23%
Acrobatics Novice 11 89%
Climbing Novice 8 32%
Survival - Nature
Name Rank Level Progress
Woodsmanship Novice 6 13%
Herbology Novice 1 4%
Tracking Novice 4 41%
Martial - Swords
Name Rank Level Progress
Falchions - Dual Wield Novice 12 15%
Falchions - Single Novice 2 4%
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Martial - Improvised
Name Rank Level Progress
Throwing Novice 7 34%
Martial - Magitek
Name Rank Level Progress
Pistol Novice 4 1%
Crafting - Cooking
Name Rank Level Progress
General Novice 9 54%
Arcana
Name Rank Level Progress
Flame Novice 2 56%
Water Novice 1 0%
Spells
Name Arcana Rank Level Progress
Flaming Weapons Flame Novice 2 65%
Abilities
Name Rank Level Progress
Abyssal Spark Novice 6 18%
Lesser Abyssal Bolt Novice 5 20%
Traits
Name Level Progress
Monophobia 4/10 Special
Duelist''s Flourish 4 59%
I still had some catching up to do. Thanks to her Sierra Squad stunt, Lilyth was level twelve now and Caei was level ten, I think? And here I sat stuck at level eight. Later, I would learn Sav was level twenty-six, which dwarfed even Lilyth and sort of made me feel really good about my situation. We all had a lot to learn. When I emerged from my cabin, I saw that Sav was already out. I saw she was dressed in blue pants from some material I didn¡¯t recognize, a black shirt, a brown leather jacket and black fingerless gloves. She had her gun holstered on one hip, a satchel on the other and wore the feather pendant on her neck. Lilyth was next. She got a replacement for her dark blue comfy greatcoat and black pants from the same material as Sav¡¯s, and like the demon, she had her sword on one hip and a satchel on the other. Caei was the last to emerge. She wore a black frilly short-sleeved shirt, red pants and a blue cloak with pauldrons. She still had her choker and bracelets on. ¡®I see they went with the sexy sorceress look for you, Caei,¡¯ Lilyth laughed. ¡®They knew my tastes to a tee¡¯ she smiled briefly, but then frowned. ¡®I¡¯m not sure whether I am comfortable with that, though. I mean you guys got normal clothes.¡¯ ¡®I think they just went with our preferences,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®This is what I wore in the other world when I wasn¡¯t in combat gear.¡¯ ¡®Ah,¡¯ Lilyth said and briefly unbuttoned her coat, revealing a black sleeveless tunic underneath it. ¡®That does explain that shirt then. Just need some bracers to complete the ensemble. And maybe bandages to hide the ¡°tattoos¡±.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll figure something out when we get out of here,¡¯ I reassured her. Suddenly, we heard the sound of someone opening a door with a key and someone, or rather something entered the balcony. The figure looked human above the waist. It was quite handsome: brown eyes, neatly trimmed black hair and a five o¡¯clock shadow. It wore a white shirt, a red tie and a black suit jacket. Below the waist, however, was a chitin-covered spider-like abdomen with four legs coming out of it. There was a pair of translucent bug wings on its back. The mere sight made my skin crawl. ¡®Greetings mortals,¡¯ the creature said, its voice deep with a buzzing quality. ¡®I am the Steward of this Labyrinth and you can refer to me as such. In the name of my mistress The Madness That Dwells Outside, allow me to once again welcome you to our home. I apologise for your abrupt arrival here, but it was a now-or-never situation, you must understand. If we didn''t intercept you, the four of you would be taking a bath inside of a volcano.¡¯ I had no idea what those were but judging by Lilyth''s and Sav¡¯s reaction it wasn''t anything good.¡¯ ¡®Ah, pardon my manners, Miss Aki and Miss Caeileera. I forgot you two may not be familiar with those. In terms you may understand, volcanoes are hollow mountains filled with unbelievably hot molten rock. Mere contact with the air above the substance would be fatal, as you may be aware, Miss Aki.¡¯ I remembered the Sanguine I accidentally cooked with my Abyssal Bolt. I still felt sick at the thought. The idea of a similar fate awaiting me felt both fitting and horrifying. Fire was a horrible way to kill. I had to use it out of necessity, but now that I thought about it I was very happy it was Lady Irmen who decided to be my patron and not Lord Gin¡¯ig. Maybe I could ask Lilyth and Caeileera to teach me some of their spells until I get some water. ¡®I hope my mistresses¡¯ gifts were up to your liking,¡¯ the Steward continued. ¡®Those were as a reward for passing the challenges so far and doing so marvellously in the second challenge, Miss Aki. This room¡­ contained your final reward as well as a certain recompense for the items that are forever outside your reach now. We couldn''t retrieve them without raising suspicion, you understand. And we would be terrible hosts if we let you out of here without a divine to your name and, in the case of Master Sergeant Adzhenair, without even a proper pair of shoes.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, Lord Steward,¡¯ Savri replied and bowed. ¡®You are welcome, dear. You should be at your best during the Main Event and given its nature, you may not be able to retrieve these items afterwards. Now, before we begin do you have any questions for me?¡¯ ¡®What will be our objective, Lord Steward?¡¯ Lilyth, silent up to this point, asked. ¡®An excellent one, miss Lilyth. There is a portal here. Find out where it is. How to do that is up to you.¡¯ ¡®Where exactly does this portal lead?¡¯ Caeileera followed-up. ¡®An island to the east of Tyr-Mel. You will be able to hire transport to the mainland there.¡¯ ¡®What would have happened if we looked for the keys?¡¯ I voiced the question bothering me. ¡®Why, you would have found them. They would be completely useless, but that was an acceptable, if much harder, way to complete the challenge.¡¯ I was going to say something but Lilyth interrupted. I thought she was going to say something stupid, but her question chilled me to the bone, though not as much as what followed. ¡®Lord Steward, if I may, is this, all of this because of what happened¡­ what I did in the Sun¡¯s chamber?¡¯ ¡®Ah,¡¯ the creature laughed warmly. ¡®I was wondering whether you would realise you can ask me about anything and not just the event. But, by the gods of Dwynveia and the Outer ones, why do you think I am the right person to answer this question? Or that I was even allowed to?¡¯ ¡®Who would be the better person to ask this question then, Lord Steward?¡¯ Lilyth responded with a question of her own, though I could hear certain apprehension in her voice. ¡®Why¡­ that would be me, Lilyth of Terra,¡¯ we suddenly heard a cold female voice that could best be described as silence that took the shape of words. A tall black-haired woman dressed in a long dark blue dress emerged on the balcony. There was something¡­ off about how she looked. Her fingers were slightly too long, reminding me of spider legs and her yellow eyes looked human enough, but had this¡­ reptilian quality to them and the more I looked at her the more it seemed her hair was moving on its own from time to time. Sometimes some of it parted revealing a glowing red eye, which then disappeared only to emerge somewhere else next. Other times a toothy maw would appear there instead. And sometimes it was just¡­ a nothing. No¡­ not skin, not air - just pure nothing. There was ¡°an isn''t¡± there. It¡¯s hard to describe. Because how do you describe something that doesn''t exist, and yet you somehow know that there is this hole in the very fabric of reality? It was hard to avoid looking at it too. Because even if you averted your sight from her hair, sometimes the woman would blink and when she once again opened her eyes, the same ¡°nothing¡± was there. So there was no mistaking it: before us stood a goddess: The Madness That Dwells Outside. And yet¡­ it wasn''t her that terrified me. No¡­ it was the expression on Lilyth''s face. As much as we complained with Caei about Lilyth''s irresponsible behaviour she still came through for us and gave us strength. And yet now our girlfriend, a woman who a scant few hours before stared down another god out of sheer spite was showing one emotion I never expected her to. Defeat. Chapter 71 - The Madness That Dwells Outside ¡®My lady,¡¯ Lilyth began with a weak voice. ¡®Thank you for gracing us with your presence. If I may request one thing: If you think I have offended you in some way feel free to punish me however you want. Just don¡¯t hurt my friends. They are not responsible for my actions.¡¯ ¡®Finally learned your place, mortal?¡¯ the goddess laughed. ¡®What makes you think I am a fair deity?¡¯ Lilyth visibly shrunk. ¡®Nothing, my lady. Which is why this is a request. If you want me to beg on my knees, I will. Just don''t hurt my friends because of me.¡¯ She thinks this is all her fault, doesn''t she? ¡®Why do you think this is a punishment, little mortal?¡¯ ¡®I attacked-¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t care about what you did to old Sun. He was playing stupid games, and so he won his stupid prize. And don¡¯t get into your head that hurting him makes you special. It doesn''t. You are a nobody and chances you will be able to repeat your feat are non-existent. As a Terran, you are an agent of chaos, but by no means unique. There are currently over one hundred of you living on Dwynveia and all of you are capable of what you did. If you didn''t go through what you went through in the Tower, you would not be worth our attention. But you ended up entangled in our games and it makes you a factor to consider. None of your companions are special either. Aki is only relevant because of her grandfather. Caeileera¡¯s goals are noble but don¡¯t matter in the grand scheme of things, and Master Sergeant Adzhenair, Savri¡­ well¡­ I¡¯ll respect your secrets. You, my dears, are all nobodies and would remain such if given the chance. But, I don¡¯t think that option was ever on the table.¡¯ ¡®So why bring us here, my Lady?¡¯ Lilyth cried out. ¡®Why not just let the Sun kill us?¡¯ ¡®Because I wanted to see how the four of you would handle my, as you put it, my House of Horrors. Don¡¯t worry, I like the name. My rules are simple. Amuse me and you get rewarded. Fail and you will be forgotten.¡¯ ¡®So my Lady, does this mean that once we complete this ¡°Main Event,¡± we can just leave and, based on us being ¡°nobodies,¡± just try to lead normal lives?¡¯ ¡®You can certainly try. No guarantees you will be able to. Now, get going - there is a portal waiting for you on the other side of the door.¡¯ Wait¡­ ¡®My lady,¡¯ I asked. ¡®Is it the same portal your Steward said we were supposed to find? Or is it some other gate? The goddess laughed. ¡®Ah. Those are some excellent questions.¡¯ ¡®This is the Main Event, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ I continued. ¡®The objective was to find the portal no matter the means. You telling us where it is, counts. Assuming this is the same portal. Unless¡­ hmm¡­ could the criteria be to find any portal? The goddess clapped her hands and hooted. ¡®Very good, Aki! Very good, indeed. You will make a fine protege of Irmen, and constant vigilance and paranoia will get you far here as well. There was only one portal here. Its location was up in the air though. And yes. This was the Main Event. What could be grander than a meeting with me, after all? The first part was the meeting with my steward. Had you failed it¡­ well¡­ then this door would instead lead to an absolute gauntlet of horrors. You were given tools to prevail against those, but it was¡­ less of a certainty.¡¯ ¡®If you are seeking amusement, My Lady,¡¯ Lilyth spoke once again. ¡®Then why not have us run those anyway? It surely must be more amusing to see us fight and die.¡¯ ¡®Because you are capable of asking questions like this, my slimy friend. The meeting with the Sun almost broke you, but that spark of defiance is still within you. And don¡¯t sell yourself short, Lilyth. You prevailed in the hospital, so you could have well succeeded here. The other reason is that I can get hundreds of you mortals to run and die around here. There is no shortage of desperate fools who will happily risk their lives and limbs for my table scraps. People who are capable of thinking their way through issues¡­ Now, you are a rarer bunch. I gave you this fairly easy set of challenges because the way you solved them proves I can expect you to provide me with more amusement in the future.¡¯ The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®Wh-what do you mean my lady?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Are we to return here?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps. If you will ever require knowledge or some boon you may always return here. Entertain me, and if it will be within my power, I shall grant it. And if someone ever decides to throw you into a volcano again¡­ I might make you my playthings as well.¡¯ ¡®So wait¡­ this was your version of us playing ddakji?¡¯ Lily asked. ¡®In a way¡­¡¯ the goddess chuckled. ¡®Though to be fair, I have no idea who would win in such a contest given how you never played it, and I suck at it. Also, Lilyth, I see that, as Sun so aptly put it, you are not incapable of learning. It would be a shame not to ¡°strike the iron while it is glowing hot¡±. Allow me to share some harsh truths with you. This is not the first time we''ve met, nor I suspect it will be the last. You see¡­ you are an agent of chaos and for better or worse, I foresee you doing some great and valuable things for Dwynveia. But the problem is: You always end up making a massive mess of things, so I need to reset you so you can maybe do some good. But no matter what I try you just end up making a different tragic mistake. I see now, however, I have been doing it the wrong way. I always change the variables a bit, but you are the one constant. So, I will be changing my plans a bit since this version of you might not be beyond salvaging. My original idea was to, as usual, let you play it out till the end and watch you suffer the consequences. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t make you remember them¡­ this time, as you are in such a perfect state right now. Cowed enough to know your place, but still defiant enough to want to challenge the status quo. So letting things run their natural course would likely ruin it since I want to see if making the learning stick will make a difference.¡¯ ¡®What do you mean, my lady?¡¯ I asked, feeling a deep pit in my stomach. ¡®It¡¯s not going to be anything bad. Don¡¯t worry. At least not for you. There is a version of the world that exists where Lilyth never went through the Tower of Trials and the four of you never got entangled in the Great Game. But¡­ you aren''t exactly the same people there, nor is the world the same. What I am going to do is create a split timeline of that reality and replace the versions of you four, with well¡­ you. You will keep your memories, and get the relevant bits from your other lives. I can¡¯t promise your bodies will be the same, but I will let that be a surprise. Not all of you will keep your existing ones, and some of those of you who do may see some adjustments that will let you maintain your identity in the new world¡¯. Wait¡­ what? ¡®You can do that?¡¯ Lilyth asked, mouth agape. ¡®Yes. You see my child¡­ and you are not going to remember this bit, I am not just a normal god, not that there is such a thing. In fact¡­ My name is a mistranslation that I never bothered to correct as it leaves me to my games in peace. I am not the Madness That Dwells Outside. It¡¯s better rendered as ¡°The Chaos From Which All Was Born¡±, Anyway¡­ I hope this time your run will be different.¡¯ She raised her hand and snapped her fingers. We found ourselves standing on a beach overlooking a large lake. I looked at my companions. The biggest immediate change I¡¯ve noticed was Caeileera - she had her mask back. She let out a sudden laugh of joy, threw off her cloak and her wings unfurled from her back. ¡®They¡¯re back! And I can hide them!¡¯ I looked down feeling hope, but it was quickly quashed. My right hand was still missing, so apparently that was one bit Lady Madness didn''t bother to fix. I still wore the same clothes she gave me so I knew that I outright kept my body. Savri looked the same too, as for Lilyth¡­ I did my best to restrain my laughter. Caeileera was nowhere near as nice. ¡®What the fuck, Lilyth¡­ I didn''t know you were one of those¡­¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve been to some events where those ears of yours would make you really popular!¡¯ joked Savri, which made me start laughing too. Lilyth took one of her knives and checked her reflection. She gasped in horror and dropped it. ¡®Your ass too,¡¯ I pointed out, tears streaming from my eyes. You see¡­ Lilyth was now sporting a cute pair of triangular ears covered in orange fur that extended way above her head, and which were covered in orange fur, which matched the colour of her hair. Her eyes changed colour from steel blue to bottle green. My slimy cutie was now also sporting a truly marvellous orange tail with a white tip. At first, it seemed to be ghostly, but then it solidified into an actual tail. It was still flickering in and out of "existence", so I assumed Lilyth could control it to some extent. Her appearance made me laugh so hard at the sight I barely registered a notification I just got. System Update Completed There would be time to worry about that later. All that mattered then was that my girlfriend¡­ was now a kitsune. Bonus Story 1 - The Wrath of the Gods It has been a long, but, ultimately, fruitful journey. When Tray had first proposed the trip to Cathen island to look for treasure he read about in some old journal, most people thought him mad. Now that he returned with a ship filled with items from that old temple devoted to one of the Pagan gods¡­ yes. He would show them all. Maybe the money from this expedition would fund a trip to one of the other locations the journal mentioned, especially since Tray now had a crew that trusted and believed him. Too bad that Halain had to die, but the kid would not just listen to reason. He tried to stop them from taking artefacts from the temple, calling that sacrilege. It got to the point that Merv had to¡­ silence him. A brutal, but necessary measure, and nothing bad had happened in the end. If anything, they had favourable winds and perfect weather all the way home. The only snag was that just now, as they were in sight of their home port, all the wind died and the sea became perfectly calm. It was infuriating too, as they were so close that Tray could swear he could see people milling about in the port. So it came as a great surprise when, despite it being a clear day, Tray heard a thundercrack. It was nearby, too. ¡®Hello there, boys!¡¯ said a female who sounded both cheerful and absolutely incandescent with rage. He turned towards the source and saw a beautiful elven woman dressed in a blue shirt, and white jacket and pants. She had short hair that seemed to be made out of clouds. Her sky blue eyes were cold, and he could see occasional flashes inside them. Most perplexingly, however, she was sitting cross-legged on a cloud. ¡®Who are you?!¡¯ he shouted. ¡®How did you get on my ship? ¡®While I go by a different name these days, I believe you lot may know me as Ter¡¯ius, which I believe should tell you all you need as far as the other question goes. The Pagan goddess of Air. No. It can¡¯t be. She shouldn''t exist. And yet, there she was. The temple wasn¡¯t devoted to her, though, so maybe¡­ ¡®T-to what do we owe the pleasure, M-my lady,¡¯ Tray said doing his best to keep his voice steady. To his terror, he noticed that storm clouds began gathering in the sky. ¡®You¡¯ve been a bunch of naughty boys, I heard,¡¯ she said with a smile. ¡®Killing your crewmate. Looting a temple of the ol¡¯ firehead, said crewman dying while trying to stop you.¡¯ The goddess¡¯s smile got fainter and the tone of her voice colder with each word. ¡®Luckily, the murderer is here so¡­¡¯ She pointed her hand at Merv and a ball of lightning shot out of it. He tried to run, but the projectile pierced his chest and the man fell dead on the deck. Artes, always the first to take action during crises, drew his sword and moved to charge at Ter¡¯ius, his weapon raised. ¡®St-¡¯ Tray began but it was too late. There was an ear-splitting boom and a massive lightning bolt struck from the clouds and engulfed Artes¡¯s body. Tray could briefly see the man¡¯s body disintegrate, and when the lightning dissipated, there was nothing but a pile of ash remaining. ¡®Did he seriously decide to swing a metal object while in the presence of the goddess of Air and STORM?¡¯ Ter¡¯ius said in disbelief. ¡®I would say I was doing some poor woman a service by ensuring he wouldn''t be having any descendants, but well¡­ it¡¯s not like a different fate would have awaited him if he didn''t do that. So I guess¡­ A for effort.¡¯ There was a gust of wind and Artes¡¯s ashes were carried away overboard. Before Tray could say anything, he noticed that Gelyt, a lad just eighteen years old, decided to try his luck swimming to the shore. ¡®Oooh,¡¯ Ter''ius winced. ¡®I wouldn''t do that if I were you, kid.¡¯ Gelyt ignored her, and, just as he was over the railing, a greenish liquid tentacle shot out of the water and wrapped itself around the kid, holding him in the air. He started to scream as his flesh began to melt. A massive¡­ green liquid thing with a zig-zag of a mouth emerged from the water, then. The boy¡¯s screams of pain were replaced with those of sheer terror. The tentacle suddenly disappeared and the monster snapped Gelyt from the air, and Tray and his men could see him almost instantly dissolve inside of the creature. Only his bones remained, which the beast spat out before disappearing below the sea again. One of Gelyt¡¯s femurs landed next to Tray. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®Wh-what the fuck was that?¡¯ someone asked with a breaking voice ¡®An acid elemental,¡¯ Ter''ius explained. ¡®Irmi usually doesn''t like having those appear in the ocean, they are bad for the environment, you know, but sometimes exceptions need to be made.¡¯ Tray fell to his knees. ¡®W-we¡¯re sorry, Lady Ter''ius,¡¯ he begged. ¡®We¡¯ll give everything back.¡¯ ¡®And then some other idiot will think they can get away with doing that too, this time thinking they could just cover their tracks a bit better. No. Usually, when I¡¯m running errands as a divine messenger, I just deliver the messages. But from time to time¡­ we need to send one, and you, my friends, are that message.¡¯ The Goddess hopped off her cloud and started walking on the deck. A lightning bolt formed in her hand and formed into a sword with a cross guard. ¡®You see,¡¯ she continued, ¡®We are not all that big on being worshipped, that''s more of the Light¡¯s thing. But sometimes our followers do insist on building us temples, and well¡­ use their own possessions and resources to do so. That''s a very heavy gift for us to receive. So, when someone decides to take or destroy something that was freely offered, that''s disrespectful to both us, and, more importantly, those who made those sacrifices.¡¯ ¡®But no one has lived on that island for decades!,¡¯ someone, Rolt, Tray thought, blurted out. There was a whooshing sound mixed with crackling, followed by a heavy thud. Tray saw Rolt¡¯s severed head roll into the corner of his vision. ¡®And that is where your friend was wrong, which is why this lesson is necessary. That temple was one of the last remnants of the civilization that was once devoted to Gin-ig. You know¡­ the monument to their existence. You think this would make us care less about it?¡¯ ¡®Why not smite us immediately, then?¡¯ Tray asked steeling himself for a blow that didn''t come. ¡®An excellent question, Tray. I would say there is hope for you, but there isn¡¯t. Not anymore. The reason why we almost let you get home is simple¡­ That way we can ensure there are witnesses. Part of my job here was making sure you get the best winds for that. People in the port will see something happening to your ship. You know¡­ one they know went treasure hunting in old temples. It will drift closer to the shore, and, eventually, someone brave will board it, see what happened here, maybe find a survivor, some bauble devoted to Gin-ig and well¡­ it won¡¯t be that hard for them to connect the dots. The story will spread and our holy sites will not be bothered for a while. Until another object lesson is needed.¡¯ ¡®So why are you here, and not lord Gin-ig?¡¯ Tray asked. ¡®We¡¯re in the middle of the sea. That''s Irmi¡¯s domain, and to some extent mine too, so it¡¯s a joint effort between the two of us. You could always say that the last thing that had happened to you was being tag-teamed by two goddesses. Three if you count Ereshkigal. A lot of mortals would die for that opportunity. Anyway, my part here is almost done. The one who will be attending you now is Phosi. Say hi, Phosi.¡¯ The ship rocked and a green liquid arm with a hand easily the size of a grown man emerged from the sea and grabbed the starboard railing. An acrid, sweet smell filled the air. Tray could see wisps of smoke from where the monstrous hand touched wood. The ship almost overturned when this ¡°Phosi¡± used the railing to support itself. Tray and most of his men managed to grab onto something, but two sailors weren¡¯t that lucky and fell into the water. He caught a glimpse of them disappearing down the gullet of the acid elemental. A crack of wood brought his attention back to the monster dragging itself onto the ship. The claws of its other hand were now digging themselves into the deck and a massive head slowly emerged from behind the railing. It was roughly female in appearance, though very gaunt, and the greenish liquid it was composed of gave it a sickly appearance. The long wet-looking ¡°hair¡± wasn¡¯t helping the impression. Its ears had a frill and a fishing pole-like antenna that ended with a small yellow light protruding from just below its hairline. The worst part, however, were her eyes. They shone with red light and were filled with malice and hunger. ¡®Hi, my tasty snacks,¡¯ it laughed in a gurgly distorted voice. ¡®Phosi here is a sconryoll, a kind of a water spirit,¡¯ Ter¡¯ius explained, once again sitting on a cloud. ¡®She¡¯s a real sweetie once you get to know her, but has a bit of a grudge against sailors, so I hope you will forgive her a bit of rough treatment. Now, I have dinner with some friends to attend, so I¡¯ll be heading out.¡¯ She turned to Phosi. ¡®Be sure not to play with your food too much, honey. And try to leave one of them alive. No biggie, though, if you get too excited. Are we still up for karaoke night? ¡®Yes, Nyxie,¡¯ the monster smiled, revealing a toothy grin. ¡®Awesome! Bye, love!¡¯ There was another crack of thunder and Ter¡¯ius disappeared. The sconryoll began dragging itself onto the deck. The rocking it caused resulted in Tray losing his grip from the mast. Before he could hit the water, however, a tentacle shot out from under the monster and wrapped itself around him. He felt intense pain as it started burning his flesh. It lifted him so that he was eye to eye with Phosi. As Tray stared into the face of death, it struck him that maybe he misunderstood those warning him against this trip. Maybe, they didn''t think the temple wasn¡¯t there. No¡­ they were afraid that it was. Phosi¡¯s mouth opened far wider than it should have been possible. A long tongue lolled out and licked his face, which only intensified his agony, as he could feel his eyes melt. He was quickly put out of his misery, though, as the monster threw him into her mouth. The last thing Tray heard in that world was the panicked screams of his men. Chapter 72 - Getting Bearings in a New World ¡®So¡­ let¡¯s sum up¡­¡¯ Lilyth sighed after we were done laughing at her misery of being turned into a Kitsune and had time to gather our wits and figure out what and who we were now. It was now dusk and it was getting cold. I was sitting with Lilyth huddled under her greatcoat, Caei was next to us wrapped in her cloak, and Savri sat opposite us with her jacket zipped up. We were still at the beach we ended up at after we were sent to this version of Dwynveia. We decided to stay there until the morning so that we could figure out things in peace as the spot we were at was secluded and surrounded by trees. Thanks to the memories I got from the other me, I knew we were at the shore of Lake Talicthma, which, confusingly enough was located west of Ror-Bhyk in this version of Dwynveia, whereas I remember people saying it was east of Tyr-Mel in mine. Lilyth suggested that, while the question was mostly academic in nature, it is possible the lakes didn¡¯t change locations but were just named differently. I didn''t think that was the case, as I had never heard about a lake near Ror-Bhyk, while the other me was aware of it, but it''s possible the merchants just didn''t mention it. Once again, I cursed my lack of knowledge about the local geography, but as Lilyth pointed out, it didn''t matter where the lake was in my world. ¡®I arrived here four days ago rather than seven,¡¯ Lilyth continued. ¡®My other self arrived here in September of 2024 rather than January, meaning I am technically thirty-four now, and I have a whole library of new pop culture references you guys won¡¯t get. In this timeline, I was saved by Nyx rather than Ereshkigal. And my favourite trickster goddess decided it would be more fun for me to be well¡­ this.¡¯ ¡®She was right,¡¯ Caeileera laughed. Lilyth¡¯s fox ear twitched in irritation. ¡®I can use magic again, so don¡¯t push it, Caei.¡¯ ¡®Does someone need to be scratched behind her ear?¡¯ It was Sav¡¯s turn to tease her. ¡®Maybe you will be less cranky then.¡¯ Lilyth let out a sigh of indignation, the top of her head turned blue for a moment, we could see her ears decrease in size, and she reformed as the elf we knew and loved. Not as much as the kitsune that is. To my dismay, her tail also disappeared. ¡®This form sucks as much as my new memories suggest, but still, it is waaay better than standing in my old body was.¡¯ ¡®So that¡¯s not going to be a problem, then?¡¯ Caei asked, clearly also disappointed that Lilyth was no longer in the fox form. ¡®You can walk around in sunlight normally?¡¯ ¡®Yup. For as much as I am displeased with what Nyx did to me, she made me into a blue slimeling rather than a shadow one. The problem is¡­ I can''t use magic when not in kitsune form. But in it, I am more powerful. Not by much, but still. She changed back to the fox form. Her tail remained ghostly for the most part. We still have not figured out how it worked. Not that we tried all that hard, given we spent most of the time laughing. And speaking of, Caei snickered after seeing the transformation and Lilyth glared at her. ¡®How do you think Nyx will react to this?¡¯ I asked, genuinely concerned. ¡®You know¡­ us being different people. We got another chance after all. No need to immediately anger the gods. This time really through no fault of our own. ¡®She already knows,¡¯ Lilyth answered and took off a pendant I didn''t know she had from her neck. It was shaped like a triangle with a line going through it. ¡®Nyx gave that to the other me. It lets us communicate. She got a heads-up from Lady Madness. She will visit us at some point in the near future to meet these versions of us, but for now, she wants us to get our bearings, as she¡¯s working on some educational project with Irmen, so she wouldn''t have time anyway. At any rate, I ended up in a cave instead of a dungeon this time around. Got to Zel-Vyme where I met the Temple Dragoons, then while on the road again saved Aki from some river goblins and we went towards Ror-Bhyk to look for work. The other Sav was headed there too, as she was wandering around Dwynveia to find a way to get back to the other world, this time after having decided to abandon the Abyss on her own. I guess she was looking for that cave? I remember the same inscription I saw in the tower being there, so it might be worth it to go there at some point. And Caei¡­ you are a member of a Yakuz¡­ a crime syndicate in this timeline.¡¯ ¡®The Yamaoka Clan, yes. Sent here to investigate some rumours.¡¯ ¡®That you still need to tell us about.¡¯ Sav said. ¡®All that you said is that we should under no circumstances cross the leader of the Tyr-Mel branch, Ren-sama, even though you are unsure why. ¡®This is based on the emotional response I have from my other self,¡¯ Caei pointed out. ¡®She was absolutely terrified of failing her. And what happens to people who cross the clan¡­ is not pretty. She¡­ I¡­ did some of that.¡¯ She looked on the verge of tears. I got out from under the coat and hugged her. Is her teasing of Lilyth a means of coping with that? Laugh at the misfortune of others so that you don¡¯t think about your own? ¡®It was some other Caeileera,¡¯ Lilyth said firmly. ¡®You are not her.¡¯ ¡®How will I get out though?¡¯ she cried out. ¡®We¡¯ll figure it out,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®It¡¯s never easy to detach yourself from groups like this, but there is always a way.¡¯ ¡®Won¡¯t they start questioning that I am acting differently? ¡®Like I said, we¡¯ll figure it out,¡¯ our girlfriend smiled reassuringly. ¡®It¡¯s possible the best solution would be for you to disappear.¡¯ ¡®Yamaokas have a long reach.¡¯ ¡®But not infinite. There is another option that I hate to bring up, but it is a possibility. We can all end up on Yamaoka¡¯s payroll. Hear me out. What the past few days taught me is that we need access to allies and resources. We can only achieve so much on our own. I¡¯m not saying we should join them. Fuck, I wish we could figure out a way to avoid that which would resolve Caei¡¯s situation and not result in us being on a kill-on-sight list of a Yakuza, immediately after we managed to get out of the previous bullshit.¡¯ None of us had a counterargument to that. In fact¡­ I let out a heavy sigh. ¡®Let¡¯s not forget Inquisitor Asshole and his three toadies. They are still coming after me. So it would not just be the Yamaokas on our trail.¡¯ ¡®You can try to live a normal life, but there are no guarantees.¡¯ Caei said wryly. ¡®So what¡­ I go back to the Yamaokas and act like a person I am not?¡¯ ¡®It would be unfair of us to impose that on you,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®And if you say ¡°no¡± we will respect that.¡¯ I turned to Sav. ¡®I know Lilyth made a promise to you, that I think we should all honour. But¡­ this is not your fight. You¡¯ve been with us for a few hours and should feel under no obligation to go into this.¡¯ Lilyth and Caei nodded in agreement. ¡®No,¡¯ she shook her head. ¡®I am sticking with you three love birds. I have nowhere else to go. You guys really need some adult supervision and well - that foxy idiot over there saved my life.¡¯ She pointed to Lilyth. ¡®You guys are all that I have left, so where you go I go. ¡® ¡®Thanks, Sav,¡¯ Caei sobbed. ¡®I appreciate that.¡¯ ¡®No problem, hon. And believe me¡­ I know what you are going through.¡¯ At that moment, I realised I understood the exchange between Lilyth and Savri from the labyrinth. They were both ripped from their lives and thrown into worlds utterly alien to them. Savri managed to make a life for herself in the other one, and then she ended up back here. Why wouldn''t she want to go back there? There was nothing here for her anymore. I too had no reason to go back to the other Dwynveia. The two people I cared about were here with me. The only way I would travel to a different world was if they came along. And would there even be a point to that then? Led by an impulse I then asked something that would become our¡­ motto in a way. ¡®Together till the end?¡¯ ¡®Together till the end,¡¯ my friends solemnly agreed. Based on some suggestion implanted by Lady Madness, neither Caei nor Sav got immediate access to the full memories of their other selves due to the immense spans of time they covered. In the case of Caei, it was five years and for Savri it was three. I was surprised Lilyth didn''t get the same treatment, but she simply shrugged it off: ¡®Before I ended up here, my life was happily devoid of notable events. Just a few days from those eight months weren''t really skippable. I was more shocked that the Madness even bothered to give me any new memories from Earth, to begin with. I don¡¯t need memories of my daily grind of home-work-home, because for the purposes of me finding my place here, those are utterly meaningless, and the rest are a nice bonus. I am happy I was given those, but it was a bone she didn''t need to throw towards me.¡¯ Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I also got really lucky. The other me had about the same life as I did. I kinda envied her to some extent because she avoided a certain mistake with a young and dashing guard from a caravan that passed through the village a few months before. That one was really embarrassing and luckily didn''t result in any¡­ long-term consequences. , What did I ever see in that guy? Yuck! ¡®However,¡¯ she continued, ¡®my new self was told an interesting thing by Nyx that filled out some blanks I didn''t know existed. Remember how I told you the fucking bird offered to send me back home?¡¯ We all nodded. ¡®So¡­ it was trying to get me killed.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ Sav asked. ¡®Apparently, there are two things that make passing through rifts back and forth difficult. One you don¡¯t have to end up in the same place and time.¡¯ ¡®This I knew,¡¯ Sav sighed sadly. ¡®When I returned here only a few years passed for me. Here¡­ it was three hundred. So I know returning to my friends is a pipe dream. But I have to try, especially after I got that message.¡¯ ¡®By the gods¡­¡¯ Caei gasped. ¡®Be happy you didn''t end up in the past,¡¯ Lilyth said wryly. ¡®That''s an option too.¡¯ ¡®But how does that get you killed?¡¯ I asked. ¡®The dimension¡­ universe¡­ whatever in which my Earth resides exists in a realm run by an entity called ¡°She Who Is The Void¡± that hates magic. To the point should anything from here get there¡­ it will disintegrate. Which would probably explain why Terrans can¡­ well¡­ you know.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ Caei said. ¡®So had you accepted his offer you would just¡­ die?¡¯ ¡®Yup. So, it¡¯s good I didn''t trust that thing.¡¯ So what Ereshkigal told Lilyth really is true. She literally can¡¯t go home. Some selfish part of me felt joy and relief at the prospect. Now I didn''t need to worry about losing her. And I hated myself for it. ¡®I wonder, Lilyth¡­¡¯ I began after we sat in silence for a while. ¡®In your memories of me from here¡­ do I have one hand¡­ or both? Because mine are still a bit of a jumble on that front. I see myself fighting the goblins, but sometimes it feels like I have one of them, and sometimes it feels like it¡¯s both.¡¯ ¡®Both,¡¯ she said almost without hesitation. I could feel tears welling in my eyes. It just wasn¡¯t fair. ¡®Why do you think I didn''t receive the body of the¡­ other me. You two got healed. Why wasn¡¯t I?¡¯ Lilyth and Caei didn''t know how to answer. They looked ashamed of themselves, which wasn¡¯t my intent. I was mad at the goddess, not them. Sure, I envied them¡­ ¡®Perhaps the Madness thought there was nothing to fix, Akster,¡¯ Sav said carefully. ¡®I mean¡­ you are still fully functional. I certainly don¡¯t feel any worse due to my missing hand.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Sav. That was insensitive of me.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t stress about it. I understand your feelings. It has been what¡­ slightly over two days since you lost your hand? It will likely take you months to get over it. I¡¯m here if you want to talk.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, Sav.¡¯ To their credit Lilyth and Caei said nothing. Then again¡­ they both paid a price for their replacement bodies. Despite how adorable fox Lilyth looks, that was another major body modification done to her without her approval. And Caei¡­ dear gods. I think she would gladly lose her wings again if she didn''t have to remember¡­ that woman. Ultimately, I don¡¯t know what price I would have to pay. One, I would likely lose my abyssal abilities. Two¡­ would it really be my body then? The more I followed that line of thought the more I realised that I just wanted my hand back, but not necessarily the body of the other Aki. I liked this body. This was the body my mom gave birth to. This was the body that went through the horrors of the Tower of Trials and the Akh''ret¡¯s Mercy. This was the body I had sex with Lilyth and Caeileera. Why would I want any other one? ¡®I wouldn''t worry about it too much, Aki,¡¯ Caei said in a sad tone. ¡®I think Lilyth is the only one with a new body.¡¯ She lifted her shirt. ¡®The other Caeileera had a scar running across her stomach. A remnant of a sword fight. She never learned Life Arcana, so it healed naturally leaving a nasty scar.¡¯ Her stomach was completely unblemished. Just like when I saw it earlier today. ¡®But your wings¡­¡¯ Lilyth frowned. ¡®I think they might be just for show.¡¯ Caei sighed sadly. ¡®The other¡­ me couldn''t hide them.¡¯ ¡®Oh no¡­¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I¡¯m so sorry, Caei.¡¯ Was Lady Madness that cruel? To give the poor girl hope and then rip it away? ¡®Give it a try,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®Lady Madness literally created a separate timeline for us. I don¡¯t think giving you new wings even compares in difficulty to that. So it came as a pleasant surprise to us when Caei discovered that she could once again fly. I¡¯ve never seen her so happy before. When she landed her face went blank for a bit and she reached into her satchel and pulled out a sheet of paper. She scanned it and passed it over to me. It read: ¡°It¡¯s not healthy for flesh and blood beings to switch their bodies, so consider this a favour from me. Also tell your friends: I may not always give you the full truth, but I will never lie to you. And Aki: I never give people false hope.¡± I passed the sheet along. I was creeped out by the direct address. How did she know what I would think? And now I had confirmation that it really was unfair that¡­ Oh. It is not a gift. It is a favour. She wouldn''t use that phrase if she didn''t intend to call it in one day. Yeah. I¡¯m good. I wondered if Caei realised that too, but I would ask her about it later. I didn''t want to ruin the one happy thing that happened to her since meeting with Zekuthran. ¡®I love how she excluded me in the first sentence,¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®It had already happened to me once, that I know of, so might as well do it again?¡¯ I was initially confused, but then I realised what she was talking about. I only knew Lilyth the slime. But she was a human once. ¡®Then again it confirms what I was suspecting. I don¡¯t have any internal organs.¡¯ ¡®We knew that, why¡­¡¯ Caei started and then trailed off. ¡®You don¡¯t have a brain, do you?¡¯ Sav confirmed. ¡®And not just in the ¡°You are an absolute moron¡± kind of way.¡¯ I thought it was the heart¡­ not the brain. ¡®Yup. So that means my memory must work differently than yours, fleshbags.¡¯ She chuckled. ¡®Watch it with the bigotry,¡¯ I said, feigning indignation. ¡®If you want this fleshbag to ever sleep with you again.¡¯ ¡®Duly noted, my Dark Lady,¡¯ Lilyth responded with a curt nod of her head. ¡®So it is safer to move your memories then?¡¯ Sav asked. ¡®Probably.¡¯ ¡®So what do we do now?¡¯ Sav asked after we mulled our situation over for a while. ¡®Up to Caei,¡¯ Lilyth said and I agreed. She hung her head. ¡®Will you guys hate me if I say we should have nothing to do with the Yamaoka clan?¡¯ she asked sadly. ¡®No,¡¯ we said in unison. ¡®We would never force you to do something that would cost you your soul,¡¯ Lilyth added in a reassuring tone. ¡®Why then did you bring up the option of us joining them?¡¯ she asked in an accusatory tone. ¡®Because it was an option,¡¯ Lilyth calmly responded. ¡®If you wanted to stay with them and we didn''t bring up that we were okay with it to some extent, we would be having this exact conversation too. Welcome to the world of impossible choices, honey.¡¯ Savri smiled sadly. ¡®I don¡¯t envy you,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®I agree with Lilyth. That option should have been on the table, as distasteful as it may be.¡¯ Caei nodded. ¡®Then let¡¯s just¡­ go our own way. ¡®It is decided then,¡¯ I said, with finality in my voice. ¡®Thank you, guys,¡¯ Caeileera started sobbing from relief. I wanted to comfort her but she shook me off. Instead, she picked up the mask she had lying on the sand next to her and got up. She walked up to the treeline and grabbed a rock. Then, with both items, she went to the edge of the water, asking Lilyth to join her. I decided to follow them. I realised what Caei was doing and wanted to be with her. She lay the mask on the sand and smashed it to pieces with the stone. Then, Lilyth cast the [Gust of Wind] spell and the remnants of Caei¡¯s old life once again ended up in the water. There was a lot of significance to the gesture, as it not only reaffirmed her breaking off all ties with the Pale Badlands. Caei also told us that the other her kept wearing the mask at all times while with the Yamaokas. So it was a huge part of her identity with them. ¡®Even in bed?¡¯ I asked when she first brought it up. ¡®What makes you think I¡­¡¯ Caei started but trailed off seeing the looks we gave her with Lilyth. She sighed and continued. ¡®Lady Madness was gracious enough to spare me the exact details, but I am fairly certain I never took it off. That much I remember.¡¯ ¡®I have no idea how the men could get it on with you wearing that mask,¡¯ Savri laughed. ¡®Like¡­ instant turn-off.¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t see it from behind,¡¯ Lilyth answered. ¡®Also having been a man, all I can say is - it doesn¡¯t take much to get us going.¡¯ ¡®Can we stop discussing the other me¡¯s sex life please?¡¯ Caei asked, seriously embarrassed. ¡®What can I say, babe,¡¯ Lilyth said with a smirk. ¡®Payback is a bitch.¡¯ Caei groaned. ¡®So given how there are four of us, how do we handle watches?¡¯ I asked when it got dark. ¡®¡®Two hours each?¡¯ ¡®No need,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®I know a warding spell that will wake us if anything large enough crosses the perimeter. I wouldn''t normally rely on it, but given how we are in a reasonably civilised area, it should be fine?¡¯ ¡®I think all of us could use a full night of sleep,¡¯ Caeileera agreed. ¡®I know we have distinct memories of it,¡¯ Caei began, when the three of us were snuggled together later that night, ¡®But the world where the three of us were just strangers feels¡­ so unreal.¡¯ The memories we had ¡°implanted¡± were strictly separate from our own. They felt like a separate pocket you had to reach into to retrieve them. They felt¡­ fainter too, but they were still our memories, so as I mentioned to my friends, it was sometimes hard to differentiate between them. Like I had two distinct sets of memories about meeting Lilyth. One in the Tower and one in the forest. I knew the first set was what happened to me, but both of them were true. So I knew exactly how Caei felt, we all did. I think Lady Madness did her best to ensure we wouldn''t go insane, but¡­ it would still take a while to get used to it. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, Caei,¡¯ Lilyth, who this time was between the two of us, said and pressed the Sanguine close to her chest. ¡®We are here and are not going anywhere. Your other life is a bad dream that will fade away into nothing.¡¯ ¡®I hate the other me so much,¡¯ she sobbed. ¡®I know, babe,¡¯ Lilyth cooed. ¡®I know. I rolled over to my side to hug them both and, soon, we all drifted off to sleep. Chapter 73 - On the Road Once More I was woken up by a sensation of something furry tickling my arm. I opened my eyes and saw that it was morning, already. I looked around and discovered that Lilyth was lying on her side, her back facing me. That meant the tickling was¡­ I looked down. It indeed was her bushy tail. I had no idea why she was embarrassed by it. It was so majestic. I wished my own was like that. I stroked it delicately and found out the fur was silky smooth. So soft. Led by an impulse, I reached out towards Lilyth''s head and scratched her behind her ear. The fur there was equally soft. I heard her softly moan from obvious pleasure. Something to keep in mind for alone time, I laughed to myself and stopped. Instead, I just snuggled against her. I was woken up by Lilyth''s stirring. She must have awoken too, so I wrapped my hand around her body. ¡®Good morning,¡¯ I whispered. She slowly, so as not to wake up Caei, rolled over towards me and embraced me. While she was still moving, I noticed a curious thing. The moment she would crush it her tail turned ghostly to not get damaged. This I really envied. I couldn''t count how many times I snagged mine on something, or accidentally pulled it while asleep. It was very resilient because as mom put it ¡°it was magic¡±, but it still hurt. Lilyth kissed me, and we just lay there absorbing each other¡¯s presence. ¡®That thing tickles you know,¡¯ Caei yawned. ¡®Oh¡­ sorry,¡¯ Lilyth said, her face turning blue. ¡®It¡¯s not unpleasant tickling, mind you. And that fur¡­ oh my.¡¯ ¡®I know, right?¡¯ I responded, deciding against mentioning the ear thing for now. Let that be a surprise. While we ate, I remembered the System Update notification. I brought the subject up and the others got it too. Sav already went through hers and said that it was ¡°leaner¡±, whatever that meant. I checked the interface and discovered that in this reality it was very different: The following options are available. You can access them by thinking or saying their name:
  • Basic Details
  • Weapon Proficiencies
  • Arcanas
  • Spells
  • Abilities
  • Traits
  • Statuses
  • Notifications
  • Utilities
I went through all of the available options.
Basic Details
Name Aki Race Demonborn
Gender Female Age 19
Level 8 (0% progress) Perk Points 0
Patron Deity Irmen Title -
Weapon Proficiencies
Name Rank
Falchions Novice
Falchions - Dual Wield Novice
Thrown Weapons Novice
Magitek Handguns Novice
Arcana
Name Rank Level Progress
Flame Novice 2 56%
Water Novice 1 0%
Spells
Name Arcana Rank
Flaming Weapons Flame Novice
Abilities
Name Rank
Abyssal Spark Novice
Lesser Abyssal Bolt Novice
Traits
Name Rank
Monophobia Moderate
Sense Magic Minor
Duelist''s Flourish Novice
Most of the stuff I had was there, just with less detail. My [Duelist¡¯s Flourish] trait was different. Trait: Duelist¡¯s Flourish Type: Class - Legacy Level: Novice Effects:
  • You have a higher chance of developing new abilities and traits if you fight in a stylish and nimble way.
To my surprise, Irmen was still listed as my patron. Did Lady Madness let her know too? ¡®Yes, my child,¡¯ I heard her say. ¡®Go to a largish body of water in a secluded spot after Nyx visits you. Take your friends too.¡¯ Yes, my Lady. The connection went silent. I went to quickly skim my character sheet again. Yes, the only big difference was that my class was missing. No, there was one more¡­ ¡®What¡¯s ¡°Title¡±?¡¯ ¡®The memories of my other self say that it is¡­ how people know you around here,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®If you get enough notoriety people will start talking. My ¡°Title¡± is ¡°Riftseeker¡±, because my quest is apparently something the populace views as ¡°Romantic¡±. I can¡¯t say I am exactly pleased by this, but given how the other Savri wanted nothing to do with either your douchebag grandfather OR The Sun¡­ I¡¯ll take that. Also, in her memories, I can see that perk points can only be spent on getting new spells, traits and abilities. No buying skills, proficiencies or levelling anything you already have. ¡®Fair is fair,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Good thing I got that [Silent Step] ability for those Perk Points we got from clearing the hospital. I still had two points left from the level up and they are gone. And so is any excess level progression.¡¯ ¡®Look at the bright side¡­ you can use magic again,¡¯ I smiled. ¡®Not all of it,¡¯ she shook her head. ¡®Just Umbral and Air. My arcane connectors are still on the fritz. I guess those are tied to the soul.¡¯ ¡®You are joking,¡¯ Sav said, genuinely astounded. ¡®Tell me you are joking.¡¯ Lilyth said nothing. ¡®Sister, all I can say is that you really know how to fuck up. Managing to damage your own soul is not easy.¡¯ ¡®Just channel the power of gods through your own body and add water,¡¯ my girlfriend sighed. I wrapped my arms around her. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. We still love you.¡¯ That earned me a weak smile. I think we all need a break. ¡®So what is our destination?¡¯ Sav asked after we were done eating. ¡®We could go check out the cave Lilyth mentioned, and then head to Tyr-Mel.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s hit the nearby village first,¡¯ my slimy cutie suggested. ¡®If we are headed there we will need some parchment and writing utensils. Tyr-Mel is out of the question due to Caei, and I would stay away from Zel-Vyme or Ror-Bhyk, as we can''t be sure whether the Inquisitor will still be there. We could bypass Tyr-Mel and head south, I guess? It¡¯s still the safest of two destinations, I think. ¡®Won¡¯t people recognize Caei in the village too?¡¯ I wondered. Lilyth turned to Caei: ¡®Am I right that the image you have in the clan is ¡°tall pale crimson-haired woman with a creepy mask, wings and wearing sexy outfits ¡±?¡¯ ¡®Sounds about right,¡¯ she slowly replied, a weird look on her face. ¡®So, we are good then,¡¯ Savri said. ¡®You no longer have that mask, you can hide your wings while we are there, and while I wouldn''t call your outfit modest, it¡¯s still within the norm. ¡®You should have seen the goth outfit,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®It¡¯s still imprinted in my memory.¡¯ Her tail wagged happily. ¡®Anyhow, Savri continued, undeterred. ¡®I guess we could cut Caei¡¯s hair, but there is no way we can pass her off as a man.¡¯ She pointed to Caeileera''s bosom. ¡®At least not with the stuff we have,¡¯ she finished. ¡®Still, we should be able to avoid detection either here or in Tyr-Mel. Assuming we don''t spend too long there.¡¯ ¡®So¡­ Sav¡­ Special Forces or Intelligence? Lilyth asked her after we finished packing up our stuff. ¡®The former,¡¯ she replied proudly and then sighed. ¡®Working for the latter. What clued you off?¡¯ ¡®The triple-locked container with a DNA lock was the biggest clue.¡¯ ¡®How do you know that this isn''t a standard security precaution where I was?¡¯ ¡®Tell you what, Sav,¡¯ Lilyth responded with a confident smile. ¡®I will become your servant for a week if, at no point during your stay there, you didn''t meet anyone who reused their passwords or wrote them down on something they kept by their computer. I¡¯ll throw in an extra one if you weren''t one of them.¡¯ I was going to protest Lilyth''s crazy idea, but then I saw Savri¡¯s defeated expression. ¡®It¡¯s so much easier to just change the number at the end,¡¯ she laughed. ¡®I would never do it for work stuff, but my personal accounts¡­¡¯ ¡®Can you translate from People-from-another-world to Raivarian, please?¡¯ Caei asked in mild annoyance. It took us a couple of hours to find the road to the village, which gave them plenty of time to further confuse us with their explanations. All the talk about the jenetiks made me ask Sav something that was bugging me. ¡®Will Zekuthran know if I start using my Abyssal abilities?¡¯ ¡®No. He¡¯s not omniscient¡­ what makes¡­ don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¯ Savri trailed off and let out a curse string that even made Lilyth blush. ¡®And here I thought my opinion about the motherfucker couldn''t get any lower,¡¯ Sav said after she was done. ¡®So¡­ Zekuthran had a bit of a reputation. I assume you are aware of the phrase ¡°go whoring¡±?¡¯ ¡®My grandma wasn¡¯t a wh¡­¡¯ I started fury building inside of me at the mere suggestion, Savri interrupted me raising her hands in a placating gesture. ¡®Not saying she was, Akster. Calm down. You see¡­ the story was that Zekuthran was too good to pay for sex AND he had a fetish for human women. So he would take a few of his buddies, go to Dwynveia and while they did a brothel run, he would find some poor girl who didn''t know any better, promise her the moon and then disappear after he was done.¡¯ Lilyth and Caei looked sick after hearing what Sav just said. I was just furious. ¡®I assumed those were just stories. Like there were hundreds of those going around the palace. But it gets worse¡­ you see¡­ we demons live for centuries. I may not look like it, but I am thirty-nine, so I am very young by our standards. Not sure how old your douchebag of a grandfather is, but since, he founded the legions he must easily be over a thousand years old. So¡­ it¡¯s inevitable when you live for so long that some of your flings¡­ well¡­ you know. This ties to another palace rumour about him. Apparently, he had a scrying device of some kind that let him know whenever¡­ a descendant of his became a person of interest. Let me guess, he contacted you shortly after you developed your powers?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I spat. ¡®My mom warned me about doing that¡­ but I assumed this was about people hating me even more.¡¯ ¡®And it likely was,¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®Based on what Sav said chances your mom or grandma knew about the device are minimal.¡¯ ¡®Yup,¡¯ the medic agreed. ¡®So basically, Zekuthran''s device let him know you started using your powers. You used your [Abyssal Spark] yesterday and didn''t receive any messages from him?¡¯ ¡®At least not yet,¡¯ I confirmed. ¡®I want to say you are in the clear, but can¡¯t do that with any degree of certainty. I have no idea how the scrying device works, conditions that would cause it to trigger or whether it would even work on you you, since you are not related to this Zekuthran.¡¯ ¡®If he does contact you, it is not like he will know you know,¡¯ Caei pointed out. ¡®So we can just string him along.¡¯ ¡®I really want nothing to do with him,¡¯ I protested. ¡®When he first contacted me, I was happy to know I still have family.¡¯ ¡®And then reality hit you like a car¡­ riage,¡¯ Lilyth sighed sadly. ¡®You do have a family still. And I am not talking about us. You said that the village elder and his wife took you in and did right by you. So they became your parents. Your new dad and mom.¡¯ ¡®I never thought of them like that,¡¯ I said, the idea made me sad, as I couldn''t deny the truth of Lilyth''s words. They may not have been my mom, but they really were my family. ¡®I hope I get to see them again,¡¯ I said. ¡®Since we¡¯ll be heading to Tyr-Mel¡­ let¡¯s go to Dan-Hem. I want to show them I am fine and have friends. Even if I am not the same Aki they remember.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll be happy to meet them,¡¯ Caei said and we all agreed. As we were slowly nearing the settlement, I realised one thing. At no point during the day, Lilyth changed out of her fox form. And now that she did, there was something I wouldn''t expect from her given her attitude yesterday: sadness. So, she actually likes that form. ¡®Lilyth,¡¯ I began, talking slowly to find the best wording. ¡®I don¡¯t think it matters in which form you go in.¡¯ ¡®But what will people¡­ I mean, I would never want to¡­¡¯ ¡®Go in as the fucking fox if you want,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®I don¡¯t think you will particularly stand out, among two demons and me. It¡¯s okay for you to like it.¡¯ Lilyth debated this internally, then with a face overflowing with joy turned back to the kitsune form. ¡®Good girl,¡¯ I laughed when I saw that she was wagging her tail happily. If before today you asked me: ¡°What would make Lilyth actually enjoy her life on Dwynveia¡±, her being turned into a kitsune would not even make the list. ¡®What¡¯s the big deal about that, anyway? I asked. Lilyth said and explained. ¡®Earth really is a weird place,¡¯ I said. ¡®Why would people care about someone dressing as an animal?¡¯ ¡®Social conventions rarely make sense. So when you guys started¡­¡± ¡®We were just teasing you, silly,¡¯ I said. Wait. People in Dan-Hem used the same excuse. The look on Lilyth''s face made me realise she had heard it in the past too. ¡®No, sorry,¡¯ I said feeling remorseful. ¡®It was insensitive of us. I realise it was a bit of a shock to you too.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Sav added. ¡®It was one of those ¡°really funny when it happens to other people things¡±, but I think we pushed it too far.¡¯ Only Caei looked initially unrepentant, but then she sighed and said sounding disgusted at herself: ¡®At no point, you were unaccepting of us or mean to me over my situation, so I think we¡­ I owe you the same.¡¯ Lilyth simply nodded in acknowledgement, clearly somewhat distressed. A moment later she brightened up. ¡®I can''t say it didn''t hurt a bit, but then again I am not exactly without sin, as far as this stuff is concerned. So let¡¯s just treat this as a learning opportunity. For all of us.¡¯ Just before we entered the village and, seeing how utterly miserable Caei was due to having to hide her newly regained wings, Lilyth decided, in her own special way, to be our girlfriend¡¯s knight in the slimy armour. While still out of sight, she went back to the elf form. ¡®Why?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Misery loves company. Feels wrong to be happy about my body when Caei needs to hide what makes her happy.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ our girlfriend said to my surprise, sounding genuinely grateful. ¡®¡®It¡¯s weirdly comforting.¡¯ ¡®No problem. So long as you have to hide, I will stay this way. As long as it doesn''t put us in danger. Or you ask me to change.¡¯ Caei looked genuinely tormented by guilt upon hearing this. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she muttered. ¡®I think I finally understood Lilyth,¡¯ Sav whispered to me. ¡®Why she is¡­ how she is. You and Caei are the only things she has here to live for. Oh. ¡®Which is why she is willing to die to keep us safe?¡¯ ¡®Yes. That''s very unhealthy. But also not something we can do much about. You are her only anchor here. She needs to start feeling at home here. Build a life for herself. Develop other connections. Find a purpose. So other than just giving her shit for her idiocy, we should help her channel that energy towards other purposes. Otherwise¡­ she could grow resentful. And so could we.¡¯ ¡®But how?¡¯ I asked, helpless. ¡®She promised to help me find a way back to the other world, though I think we both realise that it is a fool¡¯s errand. The message I got from my guardian angel was that it¡¯s possible, but the answer lies in Vanderstadt, the old capital. That place is a death trap. He is also looking for a route on his end, but can''t make any promises whether he''ll find it, or will be able to get my friends there. Still, that''s a start. Then¡­ well¡­ she needs to find something she wants to achieve for herself. Not just help us with our issues.¡¯ ¡®Now that I think about it, I don¡¯t think she had a single normal day here so far.¡¯ ¡®Doctor¡¯s recommendation then: Let¡¯s go someplace far away from here and settle down for a bit. Not saying we should get a house or anything, but you know¡­ spend a few weeks at an inn, find some work, and then decide what''s next.¡¯ ¡®We all really need a break,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®But Lilyth''s most of all, I think.¡¯ Of course, as life usually had it, that would not be so simple. Chapter 74 - It Always Starts In a Tavern Caeileera The village, called Len-Cas, was not much. A few dozen lime-covered houses that could use a fresh coat of paint, an inn and a general store. It was located on the shore of Lake Talicthma, so there were two main sources of income for the villagers: fishing and unloading river barges. The closeness to Ror-Bhyk - it was a few hours of journey away, meant that very little commerce typical for merchant towns developed. There were three warehouses and a fairly large wharf, and that was about it. Lilyth suspected that one day it could be absorbed into Ror-Bhyk if the city grew large enough. It seemed insane until she pointed out that there were far larger urban areas on Terra, the place she was from had over two million people living in it, which I think would be several times the population of the Viscountcy and its bordering polites and still was only the nineteenth largest city on the continent. Sav backed Lilyth on that point, saying that the potential for Ror-Bhyk to eventually expand to that size was there and that she also saw ¡°megacities¡± with a population of tens of millions in the universe she was in. Then Lilyth mentioned a place called Toukjo on Terra, which, if you counted its immediate surroundings, had about as many people living in it as the entire country she was from. It was then that I realised for the first time how much was lost with the collapse of the Vandarian Empire. I didn''t mention it, but I disagreed with both Lilyth and Savri. The potential for Ror-Bhyk to grow to the sizes they talked about was indeed once there but died with the old Empire. So long as the continent wasn''t unified again, only stagnation awaited people living here. While I felt helpless to change it, I began to understand why Lady Madness called my goals meaningless. It was because the only thing I could achieve was to free a few Sanguine, who would be the first and only members of our ¡°new¡± kind. Sure, no member of my species ever died of old age, but¡­ we would stagnate like civilization on the continent and we would just be free to be hedonists outside of Blood''s reach. Maybe a better solution would be to fix our sterility somehow? Actually allow us to become a species that could grow and evolve with every generation? I also realised then that, now that I had people to live for, I didn''t want my immortality anymore. As impossible as it was, I would happily trade it for the ability to have children. It wouldn''t necessarily have to be with Lilyth, but the idea of persisting long after she and Aki were gone both terrified and saddened me. And deep down, I knew that the other me felt the same. I couldn''t help but wonder who made her feel that way. It was early afternoon so we decided to stop by the inn to get a warm midday meal. Our trio was sick of the ration bars at that point, and Sav said something about ¡°hating the idea of having to eat only the fucking emarees again¡±, so I assumed she was on board with that too. We would also stop by the general store later to pick up some food, though Lilyth griped that the only things available would either be salted or smoked fish, and she would take the ration bars over either. ¡®You know¡­¡¯ Aki shook her head in dismay. ¡®I never expected to say that but I do hope they also have the ration bars available.'' ¡®Our luck has been terrible so far,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®So I wouldn''t hope for it.¡¯ ¡®The one MRE we always hated was the chicken enchilada,¡¯ Savri said with a semi-dreamy face. ¡® Fucking things tasted like mouldy cardboard. We used to joke that instead of shooting at the enemy we should just cut off their food supply and just send them a transport of these. We would get shot for war crimes but at least any siege would be over in a day. My point is that if I had to choose between the enchiladas and just the possibility of salted fish made in a place like this¡­ it would be a very difficult choice.¡¯ The inn looked like many of the buildings the other me had seen before. A few long common tables and two small private ones. The establishment was surprisingly busy for the time of the day. It wasn''t even noon, and there were already ten people there. Weirdly enough, only a few of them seemed to be locals. Before I could get a good look, however, I heard Savri whisper something. ¡®Two by the window. Plus the guy next to the half-harpy woman.¡¯ Half-harpy? ¡®The lone dude by the door,¡¯ Lilyth added. ¡®I think.¡¯ I wanted to turn and look but, I heard Sav softly say: ¡®Trouble. Act naturally.¡¯ That lasted all of five seconds, until I heard an all-too-familiar cheerful female voice calling to me. ¡®Leera! There you are! I was waiting for you!¡¯ The dam broke and memories of my time among the Yamaokas started flooding in, or rather¡­ my time with one person from the Yamaoka clan. The late-night walks, the stolen moments, the shared secret. The passion burning so strong I would have never suspected myself to be capable of. The dreams of a future together. Yes, I knew that voice very well. It was the voice of a woman that wanted to make the other me hers no matter the consequences. And that second Caeileera¡­ wanted it. I looked towards the woman. There by the counter stood a tall young half-elf half-harpy, wearing a green wraparound cloak, a brown satchel, a baggy blue shirt and black pants. The clothes were concealing but I would recognize her body everywhere. Her short white hair with long sideburns, black eyes with yellow irises, too-long fangs, long pointy ears with unassuming earrings, and fingers with slightly claw-like fingernails. Yes. There by the counter stood a woman a part of me wanted like nothing else in the world. The one the other me intended to marry. There by the counter stood¡­ Ren Yamaoka. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. A smile bloomed on her face upon seeing me look at her, but it shortly turned into a frown. ¡®Leera¡­ who are your friends?¡¯ she asked, perplexed. ¡®And¡­ what happened to your wings?¡¯ I wanted to call out to her, but before I could, I heard the clatter of items falling to the floor and the scuffle of my friends reaching for their weapons. There was a twang of a crossbow bolt being loosed. I saw it embed itself inside Rennie''s stomach, red blood blossoming around it. Two more twangs followed in quick succession. One impacted the man standing next to Rennie in the throat. I recognized him to be Ulrech, one of Ren¡¯s personal guards. The short and unassuming black-haired man started slumping to the floor, drowning in his blood. At the same time, I felt something hit me in the centre of my back. The force of the impact pushed me to the floor. I tried to get back on my feet, but my legs wouldn''t listen. Someone was calling my name and there was all of the Blood''s rage breaking out around me, but I paid it no heed. My gaze fell on Rennie and the bolt in her stomach. She was looking at me pleadingly. The last thing I remember was me trying to drag herself towards her. Then there was a green flash and merciful oblivion took me. Lilyth ¡®Caei!¡¯ I heard Aki shout as I saw our girlfriend fall to the floor, a crossbow bolt in her back. ¡®Aki!¡¯ Sav shouted. ¡®Help Lilyth! I¡¯ll handle the wounded.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m good!¡¯ I responded, drawing my knives. ¡®There are only three of them.¡¯ The door to the inn crashed open and two more ran in, swords drawn. Now that I could get a good look at them, I noticed they all wore mildly blue shirts and had drab hooded cloaks. The latter tipped us off to begin with, but until then I did not realise they were actually some sort of a coherent unit. ¡®I¡¯ll still manage,¡¯ I shrugged. ¡®You really think you can take on the six of us girlie?¡¯ one of them shouted. Six? I heard a twang and something hit me in the side. One of the cowering patrons turned out to be another of the assassins. I started turning into the kitsune. ¡®I know the odds are a bit unfair, but unless you have twelve more guys, I don¡¯t think there is a way to even them out,¡¯ I said, and my transformation mostly complete, activated [Swiftness of the Wind]. Oh, how I missed that feeling. My first target was the crossbow boy. He was staring at me wide-eyed, clearly both terrified and confused. A [Shadow Bolt] to the head ended both issues. See? I thought as his body crumbled to the floor, the man¡¯s face an unrecognisable mess. I can shoot bolts too, fucko. Mine are better too. I turned my attention to the remaining five bozos, who suddenly felt really unsure about themselves. The other three crossbowmen dropped their weapons and started drawing their swords. I took the moment to take out the crossbow bolt from my side. I handed it to one of the other patrons. ¡®Be a dearie and hold on to this,¡¯ I said with a smile. The scared man didn''t react, likely due to how surreal the whole scene was. Eh. You need some reason to go to therapy. Wait. Do they even have therapists here? That was a question for later. There was trash to take out. The bozos were currently slowly advancing towards me, seriously off put by what just happened. Well¡­ that would be the least of their concerns. I leapt towards the guy with a crossbow and questions. His buddies tried to stop me, but to their misfortune in my current body, while I didn''t have as sharp reflexes as I did in the previous one while in the dark, I still had way better reaction time than any of them. Being able to feel air vibrations and [The Swiftness of Wind] were a bitch to deal with if you were just a baseliner. So I easily batted aside their attacks and sank Sol into the philosopher¡¯s stomach. Suddenly, the man started convulsing and I could feel electricity coursing through his body. Oh right. My knives can do that. One of his buddies was coming to his help, but I summoned wind around my other hand and backhanded the man with the [Fist of Wind]. I hit him dead centre in the chest, and the force of the spell sent him flying into one of his tables. Three down. Three to go. One of them was slowly moving towards the exit. I realised it was one of the crossbowmen. No. I think not. Since the other two still had some fight left in them, I cast [Shadow Barrage]. An orb of shadow energy appeared over each of my shoulders. I launched them at the crossbowman and gave my full attention to the remaining two bozos. Seeing me cast yet another spell was what broke them. They clearly did not expect to fight a mage here. Hey¡­ maybe don¡¯t go around assassinating people if you don¡¯t want accidents to happen? I started summoning wind around my hand and pounced on one of them. He tried to parry my attack with a sword, but all that resulted in was the strength of the attack ripping the weapon out of his hand and impaling him through his chest. The last guy used that as an opportunity to run me through my back and out of where my sternum would be. ¡®That was a new shirt, you know,¡® I said with mild annoyance, one of my ears twitching ¡®It will regenerate, but I really hate it when you chucklefucks ruin my clothes.¡¯ ¡®Wh- what- What are you?¡¯ the man stuttered out and backed away, letting go of his sword. That makes things easier. I turned around slowly to ensure the sword wouldn''t move around too much in my chest. Not the most pleasant of things. ¡®That¡¯s a long story, my friend,¡¯ I answered without bothering with any edgy one-liners. Instead, I summoned another [Shadow Barrage] and launched them towards him. He tried to run, but the spell was faster. And that was that. Well¡­ not quite. Another blue-shirt bozo burst out from the kitchen, sword drawn, and made a move to attack the harpy woman, but paused after he noticed that all of his friends were dead. Savri, seeing the opening, simply drew her gun with the practised cool of a commando and shot him through the throat. Then she returned to trying to save the woman, slowly nudging Aki to get back to helping her, because my girlfriend was staring at me slack-jawed. I wanted to assist them, but Sav shouted at me to guard them. And so, one of the more difficult waits of the past few days began for me. Chapter 75 - Ren Yamaoka Ren When Ren woke up, the sun was already setting. She was lying in an unfamiliar bed in a simple room that had this ¡°cheap inn¡± quality to it. Dirty lime-covered walls, sparse furnishings and a terrible smell. She noticed that next to her bed there was an absolutely gorgeous demon sitting backwards on the chair and looking at her. She had shoulder-length pink hair and orange eyes. The demoness also had black-red horns that curved upwards from her forehead and an arrow-tipped tail that was twitching nervously. She wore blue pants, a brown leather jacket, a black shirt and fingerless gloves. In her right hand, there was a boxy-looking gun, and the left one seemed to be made of some silvery metal. She recognised her as the woman who tried to save her. ¡®If you weren''t clearly a demon, I would have asked if I died and went to heaven,¡¯ she croaked, eliciting a smile from the medic. ¡®Haven¡¯t heard that one before,¡¯ she laughed. Ren tried to push herself upwards. She immediately felt dizzy and fell back on the bed. ¡®I wouldn''t move around too much just yet. You¡¯ve spent a lot of time under magical sleep so you might feel woozy and weak for a few more minutes. It will pass.¡¯ ¡®Why the gun then?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ you almost got assassinated.'' ¡®How long was I out?¡¯ she asked seeing through the window it must have been late afternoon. ¡®Five hours give or take. You took a nasty hit in the stomach. Nothing Life Arcana couldn''t fix, but such things always take a toll on the body. I would take it easy for a day or two. As for the unspoken ¡°Where are we¡± the answer would be: the same inn. The owner let us use these rooms after we saved his establishment and likely his life.¡¯ ¡®Is Ulrech in one of the other rooms then?¡¯ she asked with major trepidation. ¡®The man that was with you? I¡¯m sorry. There was nothing I could do for him. He¡¯s gone.¡¯ It was a heavy blow. He was a dear friend. ¡®But you know magic¡­¡¯ she protested, the grim reality of the situation finally starting to set in. ¡®There are limits to that, I¡¯m afraid. It was a choice for me between him and you, and had I chosen him I would likely lose you both. Battlefield triage is a bitch sometimes.¡¯ There was sadness in the demoness''s voice. ¡®And Leera?¡¯ ¡®Up and about. Leera suffered a nasty hit in the back. If I wasn¡¯t there, she would likely never walk again.¡¯ ¡®Wh-Who did this?¡¯ she asked, cold anger filling her body. ¡®Some very dead men.¡¯ ¡®So¡­ that wasn¡¯t a dream.¡¯ ¡®No, ¡®Savri shook her head. ¡®When her friends are in danger, Lilyth doesn''t hold back.¡¯ ''But there were so many of them.'' ¡®Six. Well¡­ seven, but I took care of the last one. There were probably three more but they must have decided that discretion was the better part of valour. I don¡¯t blame them. Seeing a battlemage in action is always terrifying, especially if you didn''t have much contact with magic before. One who can seemingly shrug off damage like Lilyth can.¡¯ She shuddered. ¡®I¡¯m Savri, by the way.¡¯ It can¡¯t be. ¡®THE Savri?¡¯ The demon got really flustered. ¡®This will get some getting used to.¡¯ Ren heard her whisper. Savri then smiled and said aloud: ¡®I guess I am. Not many pink-haired demons named Savri running around.'' I got saved by Riftseeker Savri. ¡®I¡¯m Ren,¡¯ she said. ¡®But I guess you know that.¡¯ ¡®I do, Miss Yamaoka, but l took an oath to help people, so I did just that.¡¯ ¡®An admirable stance, but I fail to see how it meshes with you sitting here with a gun.¡¯ ¡®Prophylaxis,¡¯ Savri grinned widely. ¡®The best way of preventing a crossbow bolt in your chest is to ensure it doesn''t get fired.¡¯ ¡®When you put it that way¡­¡¯ Ren laughed, but then got serious again. ¡®Still¡­¡¯ ¡®You really shouldn''t stress about it. Once you become my patient, who and what you are is completely irrelevant. What happens afterwards is out of my hands, but I wouldn''t worry about it either. My friends are a decent bunch. Unless you act against them, I believe they are willing to ¡°live and let live¡±, based on what I heard them say. As for me¡­ let¡¯s just say I wasn''t a saint in the past.¡¯ ¡®I understand. If I may: Where did you meet my Leera?¡¯ Savri sighed. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡®You just had to ask. I don¡¯t blame you, but I was enjoying our conversation. The short enigmatic answer would be: it¡¯s a very long story. The longer and much clearer answer would be: let me grab Lilyth, because it¡¯s a very long story and it is mostly hers to tell. I hope we will get to talk again soon, Ren.¡¯ An orange-haired woman with long triangular ears entered the room. She had a white-tipped puffy tail and green eyes and was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and blue pants almost identical to Savri. She noticed that there was a ragged diamond-shaped hole in the middle of the tunic that slightly revealed one of the woman¡¯s breasts. ¡®So, you turning into a kitsune wasn¡¯t a blood loss-induced hallucination,¡¯ she began. ¡®¡®No,¡¯ Lilyth shook her head. ¡®Though I don¡¯t blame you for thinking that. This is a¡­ recent development that hasn''t sunk in just quite yet.¡¯ ¡®I guess this ties to the very long story Savri mentioned.¡¯ ¡®That would be correct Ren-san. I¡¯m Lilyth. Nice to meet you, and all that. You know¡­ I had this whole spiel prepared to show you how ruthless and dangerous I am, but I don¡¯t think I can go through with it convincingly enough. I am not a good enough actor, and I know too little about your world to improvise. So I suppose let¡¯s just have a quick chat where we establish some common grounds.¡¯ Lilyth turned the chair around and sat on it. ¡®What happened to your shirt?¡¯ she asked genuinely curious. ¡®Got run through with a sword. The shirt is soulbound so it will knit itself together, but it¡¯s pretty annoying as it''s brand new.¡¯ The statement made Ren laugh. ¡®You know¡­ most people would have¡­ other complaints if that had happened to them.¡¯ ¡®What can I say? It happened to me at least two¡­ no... three times already. I¡¯ve honestly lost count. You get used to it after a while.¡¯ ¡®This I have to hear.¡¯ ¡®The first time it happened was when I was in a goblin camp. There was one big hobgoblin named Grazzlag the Butcher. Nearly died that time but mostly from other injuries. The second was an assassin sent after me by a douchebag demon. Alas, he wasn¡¯t informed that this particular method would be ineffective, so he ended up¡­ falling down some stairs. I wonder if they managed to clean up the floor after his guts spilt on it. He got better. I think. And the third one was today. I also nearly got bisected shoulder to hip once, took a necrotic fireball on the chest and shot through the stomach with a semi-automatic rifle at point-blank range. There were also a lot of minor injuries.¡¯ ¡®You lead¡­ an interesting life, Lilyth,¡¯ Ren said, unsure whether to believe her. ¡®My life has been perfectly normal and boring. This is just the past eight days. Eight days. It can¡¯t be. Not even magic¡­ ¡®What are you?¡¯ she asked, afraid for the first time since Lilyth walked in. ¡®You know¡­ the guy who ruined my shirt asked me the same question. Unlike him, you will actually get an answer.¡¯ So, Lilyth told Ren her story about being a human from Terra and being summoned to Dwynveia against her will. That was common enough. Her being saved by one of the Old Gods was also something mentioned, albeit rarely. But then, Lilyth started telling her about the Tower of Trials, the Great Game of the Gods, the Akh¡¯Ret¡¯s mercy hospital, the confrontation with The Sun That Burns No More, who apparently was trying to kill them, but Lilyth was awfully vague about the details, and their rescue by The Madness That Dwells Outside. She found some of the details hard to believe. What really perplexed her, however, was that Caeileera played an integral part in the story, which was impossible because Ren last saw her¡­ what¡­ two days before? And yet, according to the timeline the Kitsune gave her, Leera was in the Abyss at the time. But then came the big reveal¡­ of how this all happened on a different version of Dwynveia and that this¡­ Caeileera was not her Caeileera. The one she loved was removed from the world by Lady Madness. No. That''s impossible. ¡®So, you see. This Caeileera is my friend and my lover. Well¡­ mine and Aki¡¯s. But some part of her is also your Caeileera. She needs time to sort things out on her own. The time she is unlikely to have now due to, well¡­ the woman she loves to some extent almost being assassinated. So we are going to have to do things the hard way and you will get to talk with her in a few moments. Ren¡¯s heart leapt at the mere suggestion. Maybe I will discover that what Lilyth said was incorrect. Though truth be told, she doubted that. What reason would the Kitsune have to craft a lie this elaborate? ¡®And here, I think,¡¯ Lilyth continued, ¡®I will need to make something clear. Hurt Caeileera and I will drag you to the Viscount of Ror-Bhyk in the proverbial chains.¡¯ Who does she take me to be? ¡®A dangerous criminal,¡¯ a voice inside of her head said. ¡®What makes you think that my family doesn¡¯t have some deal with the Viscount?¡¯ Ren asked, ignoring what she assumed was her conscience. ¡®It¡¯s irrelevant. Because I know how things work. A branch leader in the infamous Yamaoka Clan being turned in to the Viscount by a bunch of nobodies? One of them being her¡­ confidante? Something tells me the Viscount keeping you under lock and key would improve your life expectancy. Because if there is one thing your world doesn''t tolerate, it is weakness.¡¯ Ren winced. If her opponents wouldn''t move in on their turf due to this, her own family would remove her from the post for a screw-up this big. But there was something the slimeling didn''t consider. ¡®So¡­ I either play nice or get sent to the Viscount?¡¯ ¡®Precisely. As you saw down below there¡­ when it comes to the safety of my friends I don¡¯t fuck around. And you Ren-san¡­ You are dangerous.¡¯ I like her. But well¡­ need to make a point. ¡®Why not kill me yourself, then? That¡¯s one sure way of protecting your friends from the wrath of the Yamaoka clan. Because, sure, I might get killed later, but before that, I could make your life a living hell. What then? Don¡¯t forget there is also my family to contend with. One piece of the puzzle you are likely missing is who my grandfather and father are. His name is Yashiro Yamaoka, and he is the head of the clan. My father, Kenji, is his firstborn son, and while I am only his firstborn daughter, my brother, Kojiro, manages our business in Ror-Bhyk. They will likely see this as a massive slight against the honour of the clan and go after you.¡¯ The kitsune had no answer, so Ren broke out laughing. ¡®By the gods, you are a rare kind of a fool, Lilyth. Lots of fools want to be heroes. You are a woman who wants to be a hero but convinced herself she doesn¡¯t. You are so out of your depth when dealing with me, it boggles my mind that you are even trying. Lilyth still seemed to be too shocked to answer. ¡®You are lucky, then, that I like fools because I am one too. And we are both fools for the same reason. Love.¡¯ She paused for effect and continued. ¡®I understand then why you are so protective of her. If your tale is true, and it¡¯s too insane to be not, then she must be¡­ horribly confused right now.¡¯ ¡®Aki is with her right now, trying to keep her sane,¡¯ Lilyth said, slowly gathering her wits. ¡®All I can ask, no¡­ beg of you - don¡¯t hurt her. Let her figure this out on her own. She was the one who wanted to speak with you and I don¡¯t feel it would be right of us to keep her away. Aki and Sav agreed with that too.¡¯ ¡®Thank you for that,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®There is nothing to be thankful for because we are not the ones who matter here. I certainly don¡¯t, and neither do you, Sav or Aki. The only person who matters here is Caeileera, I think we can both agree on that.¡¯ Ren nodded. She really could not dispute that. ¡®Knowing the woman I love is no longer here is a bitter pill to swallow, but I agree it is not about any of us. Don¡¯t worry, I would never dream about hurting Leera. Even if she is not exactly the same one as mine.¡¯ ¡®Thank you. And for better or worse¡­ I am sorry both for your loss and for us starting on the wrong foot.¡¯ Ren smiled. ¡®No problem, Lilyth. You did it to protect the woman I love, even if it was from me. How could I hold it against you?¡¯ Ren meant it too. In Lilyth¡¯s position, she would have done exactly the same thing. ¡®Thank you. I¡¯ll send Caei in.¡¯ Chapter 76 - A Second Chance At Life Caeileera I felt immense sadness upon seeing Rennie¡­ no Ren Yamaoka lying in bed. I was starting to think coming to speak with her so soon was a mistake, but what else could I do? We were almost assassinated. By the Blood¡­ the other me would likely have died in that ambush along with Ren. ¡®Leera,¡¯ the elf smiled upon seeing me. ¡®Or should I call you ¡°Caei¡±? ¡®Either will do, Ren,¡¯ I responded, perhaps colder than I should have. This will not be easy. I walked up to her bed and sat on the chair beside it. I took Rennie¡¯s hand in mine. ¡®I¡¯m so happy to see you safe,¡¯ I said. ¡®Likewise. I owe your friends a great debt.¡¯ She paused. ¡®You really aren¡¯t my Leera, are you?¡¯ I shook my head. I lifted my shirt and showed her my stomach. ¡®I know she had a scar here.¡¯ She caressed the place where it was on the other me¡¯s body. ¡®Yes. You know she got it defending me from some upstart? I nursed her back to health myself.¡¯ The memories of these events flashed in my mind. The pain. The feeling that started to kindle then. ¡®Now I do,¡¯ I said. ¡®When Lilyth told me I would get to see you, I imagined this moment differently. That there would still be my old Leera somewhere there. You sure look like her, but you are a stranger. You walk differently, talk differently, smell differently. By the gods, your wings are missing too.¡¯ ¡®They are just hidden. I got¡­ an improved version from Lady Madness after I lost mine.¡¯ ¡®I can¡¯t imagine how painful that was for you. Leera loved to fly.¡¯ And to my shock, the great Ren Yamaoka started to weep. ¡®I¡¯m going to miss her so much,¡¯ she sobbed. I started crying too. I didn¡¯t know why. Maybe I was mourning the Me-That-Could-Have-Been. I heard the door open and Lilyth peeked in to check in on us, but I waved her away. She retreated with an apologetic gesture and closed the door. ¡®You have good friends, you know,¡¯ Rennie said after a while. ¡®They really care about you.¡¯ ¡®Yes, Rennie.¡¯ She smiled at the pet name. ¡®I think I want to be your friend too,¡¯ she said. ¡®And theirs.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯d like that too.¡¯ I answered. ¡®I don¡¯t know if I will care about you the same way she did, but I know what she saw in you¡­ and¡­¡¯ ¡®I understand. I know my Leera is gone. Like I said, you are closer to being her twin sister. The same on the surface, but completely different on the inside.¡¯ ¡®Not that different. The more of her life I see, the more I realise that had my life gone the same, I would have made the same choices. Had I not met my friends¡­ I might have ended up following a similar trajectory eventually. I forced myself on them out of desperation. They had every right to turn me away, and I almost ended up breaking Aki and Lilyth apart because I couldn''t keep my hands to myself. The pipsqueak almost died because of it. I thank Akh''ret every day that they decided to keep me around.¡¯ Rennie smiled. ¡®Leera was like that too. Passionate, impulsive and with a ¡°me-first¡± attitude. She managed to acquire quite a reputation in the Ror-Bhyk branch of the Clan before we started meeting in secret. Then she started changing. I am ashamed of the things I sometimes asked her to do. Both before and after¡­ you know. You don¡¯t do something like that to a person you love.¡¯ ¡®She always forgave you,¡¯ I said. ¡®I know,¡¯ Ren began weeping again. ¡®I never deserved her and I don¡¯t deserve you and your friends.¡¯ ¡®And yet here we are,¡¯ I said, gripping her hand tightly. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡®Here you are,¡¯ she agreed. ¡®Why did you come here, anyway?¡¯ I asked when she quieted down. ¡®How much do you know about the reasons I sent you here?¡¯ ¡®Just that I was to investigate some rumours.¡¯ ¡®So¡­ there are legends about an old River Goddess living on the Island in the middle of the lake. I never paid them much heed, as no one was able to find her. But then¡­ stories started circling around that people saw her. So I wanted Leera to investigate them. Because¡­ maybe the Goddess would marry us together. Then¡­ maybe my family wouldn''t object.¡¯ My heart broke at that and more tears flowed to my eyes. Rennie¡¯s too. ¡®I even asked Kaede to come here¡­ because¡­ oh no. Kaede.¡¯ The name triggered one of my memories. Kaede Yamaoka was Ren¡¯s cousin. She never had much interest in the ¡°family business¡±, and just travelled around.¡¯ ¡®Could she be in danger?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Yes. If people tried to assassinate us, they could be after her too.¡¯ I decided then. If it was fate¡¯s will that I got entangled with Ren Yamaoka, so be it. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ I shouted. My girlfriend immediately rushed in, reaching for her sword. Sav followed close behind her. ¡®It¡¯s fine,¡¯ I deescalated the situation. ¡®Remember when you said that if need be we could involve ourselves with the Clan business?¡¯ ¡®Yeees?¡¯ she asked carefully. I saw Aki enter the room now to check out the commotion. ¡®Is that option still on the table?¡¯ My friends look at each other and then at Aki. She gave a hearty nod. ¡®What needs to be done?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®I¡¯m sorry to say that, Ren, but the Yamaoka Clan is likely in for a rough time,¡¯ Savri sighed after Rennie finished explaining. ¡®If someone felt confident enough to assassinate you, a potential ¡°heir to the throne¡±, your¡­ confidante and your cousin basically under the eye of your brother, that means¡­ they feel confident to either take over or¡­ well¡­ deal with the issue, as your grandfather would not let this slide. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Rennie sighed heavily and gave Lilyth a strange look. ¡®I am not fool enough to not realise that had¡­ the switch not happened, I would be now very dead, and so would Leera and likely Kaede. After that, a war would start. Still will, I think.¡¯ ¡®You could have survived,¡¯ Aki, ever the optimist, pointed out. ¡®Unlikely,¡¯ Ren laughed bitterly. ¡®There were at least seven of them. As you saw, we are less¡­ resistant to crossbow bolts than your slimy foxgirl friend. And then we would be at the mercy of the Dread Queen, I now realise. I can''t help but think she would not take my career choice well.¡¯ ¡®She¡¯s very nice,¡¯ Lilyth protested. ¡®Last I checked, you weren''t in the leadership of a criminal organisation,¡¯ Rennie laughed bitterly. ¡®Knowing the Dread Queen actually exists really changes your perspective on things.¡¯ Lilyth raised her eyebrow. ¡®I thought people here were aware of the existence of gods.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not that simple. I can assure you that most mortals go through their lives with minimal, if any, contact with the divine. Being aware gods are there and knowing someone who actually met them are two different things. Even my Leera had never met the Blood That Devours.¡¯ ¡®I didn''t as well,¡¯ I said. ¡®It only spoke to the Crimson Vicars.¡¯ ¡®Exactly,¡¯ Rennie sighed. ¡®So¡­ I never had actual certainty. Especially, with all the Church stories about the Old Gods being superstitions going around. It was easier then just not to think about that stuff. Knowing that you actually stood at the entrance of the afterlife and spoke with the Dread Queen¡­ you know¡­ forces me to acknowledge I am probably not in for a good time after I die. Neither was my Leera. We did some¡­ very bad things.¡¯ The air in the room suddenly got very cold and Lilyth''s eyes began to faintly glow with violet light. ¡®Well¡­¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®Now that you know that, it is not too late to change.¡¯ ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ she asked, all colour draining from her face.¡¯ ¡®You were given a gift most mortals never get - a second chance at life. What you do with it is up to you, but note that you are at a crossroads. Right now, you are in a situation where you can freely choose to walk down two very different paths as stories of your assassination will spread, and many will think you are dead. Whether they will see you come back to life and, if so, under what circumstances¡­ Now those are interesting questions, aren''t they, Ren Yamaoka?¡¯ The temperature in the room returned to normal. And Lilyth swayed on her legs. Aki caught her and led her to the chair. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Lilyth whispered, looking more tired than I have ever seen her be. What just happened? ¡®That answers one question,¡¯ she laughed bitterly. ¡®What¡­ what question¡­¡¯ Rennie squeaked, looking absolutely terrified. ¡®Back in the Tower, thanks to solving¡­ a problem¡­ Ereshkigal named me her Paladin. I guess the boss lady just came by to tell me I still have the job. All it takes is all I got, eh?¡¯ I had to admire Ren¡¯s composure. Being told we were visited by the Goddess of Death was¡­ quite something. Her doing so specifically to give her a warning¡­ I would have probably immediately completely broken down if I were the intended recipient, which is why I was pleasantly surprised that Rennie lasted a whole thirty seconds before beginning to scream in terror and clawing at her face. We tried restraining her, but then Lilyth, with what was left of her strength, dragged herself from the chair and put her hand on Ren¡¯s shoulder. A feeling of comfort filled the room, and I saw Lilyth¡¯s eyes had a faint glow to them again, though weaker than before. ¡®Don¡¯t misunderstand my Lady, sister,¡¯ she said. ¡®She came down here to give you a warning, yes. But those are only given to those who yet can still change their ways. You are not beyond redemption. Not yet. It will take you a long time to atone for your misdeeds, but it can be done.¡¯ Lilyth then collapsed back to the chair, completely spent. ¡®We can try to help you, ''Aki, who was mostly silent during this whole mess, said. ¡®For better or worse, it looks like you became part of Caei¡¯s life. Together till the end.'' Savri nodded in agreement and said: ¡®As I told Ren, In my past, I also did things I am¡­ not proud of. So helping her might put my conscience at ease a bit.¡¯ ¡®So there you have it, Ren,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®If you want you are welcome to join our little group of fools and lost souls.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Rennie said, smiling. ¡®I hope in time I will prove myself worthy of being able to call you my friends.¡¯ ¡®I hope so too,¡¯ Aki smiled. ¡®Now, let¡¯s go save this Kaede of yours.¡¯ Chapter 77 - Onwards to Julbar Aki Ren told us that they were supposed to meet with Kaede on the island, which, I learned, was called Julbar. I asked Savri to go to the wharf and check if someone had ferried the girl there already, and to get us some supplies and new clothes for Ren. Her previous set was drenched in her blood so it would not do. Per our new friend, Kaede had recently come back to the Yamaoka estate which prompted the clan leader to speed up her plans. Instead of waiting for Leera to find out if the river goddess was actually there, they would all meet up on Julbar and look for her together. If she wasn¡¯t there then Kaede would perform the ceremony instead. It would be less formal, but as far as Ren was concerned the second best option. So as Rennie was preparing to go, Kaede went ahead. After Sav left, I asked Caeileera to help me gather our things. We left Lilyth with Ren because being Lady Ereshkigal''s voice completely wore her out. I was getting seriously worried about her. So it came to me as no surprise to find Lilyth fast asleep in the chair when we came back, and Ren watching over her instead. This made me trust the former clan leader because she didn''t use it as an opportunity to escape or to harm my girlfriend. Instead, she just looked at Lilyth lost in thought. ¡®You know guys¡­ ¡®she whispered. ¡®I was wondering why would you guys go this far for a stranger. Especially one you know to have done horrible things in the past. But then I realised¡­ you are all basically strangers to each other. Lilyth told me you¡¯ve been together for what¡­ eight days? And yet you seem well on your way to becoming an actual family. I did a quick mental math. ¡®Yeah, this is the eighth day we¡¯ve been together. Second with Sav. As for the bad things you have done¡­ I don¡¯t know. I think everyone deserves a second chance. But¡­ I just don¡¯t know. Something in me just screams against giving you one, but turning you in just after we saved your life also feels wrong.¡¯ ¡®Thank you for your honesty,¡¯ Ren smiled sadly. ¡®I don¡¯t expect to be ever forgiven. You do realise you will be outlaws due to helping me though?¡¯ ¡®I am already one,¡¯ I said, rage building inside me. ¡®I was chased out of my home because some douchebag demon is my grandfather. Lilyth says that the Inquisitor does not have legal authority to do anything to me, but I doubt it would matter if he caught me.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®He probably couldn''t do anything to you in the city. But outside of it¡­ who¡¯s to say what really happened? Even inside the walls of Ror-Bhyk¡­ people have a tendency to look away. For all it matters¡­ I am sorry this happened to you.¡¯ ¡®I doubt people would handle me differently if they discovered what I was,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Leera didn''t have issues mostly due to average people not being aware of what a Sanguine is. I doubt Temple Dragoons or the Inquisition would have¡­ similar issues. She stayed away from Ror-Bhyk and Tyr-Mel whenever we got a whiff of them showing up. Oh¡­¡¯ Ren looked on the verge of tears again. ¡®I just realised,¡¯ she continued. ¡®Another reason I Went here now was due to an Inquisitor coming, apparently looking for a demonborn girl. That''s you, isn''t it?¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Fate is a cruel mistress,¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®I heard¡­ things got bad in your village after you left.¡¯ Oh no. ¡®We suspected as much, based on Lilyth''s interaction with one of the Dragoons, but don''t know the specifics,¡¯ Caei answered in lieu of me. ¡®If you wish, I can tell you. But it will not be easy knowledge.¡¯ I have to know. ¡®P-please tell me.¡¯ Ren asked me to sit down on the bed. I did. ¡®So¡­¡¯ she sighed heavily. ¡®The way this was relayed to me is that the Inquisitor was furious you got away. He¡­ he¡­ hanged the village elder since he suspected it was him that tipped you off. There was a riot during the execution and some of the villagers were killed trying to save him. I am so sorry.¡¯ Each word from Ren felt like a stab in my heart. No. No. No! The last thing I fully remember from that moment was tears flowing to my eyes and Caei shaking Lilyth awake. Then things were a blur. I remember Lilyth embracing me, the warmth of her body, her whispers that it wasn''t my fault. I think that at some point Caei joined. But, when my memories returned it was just Lilyth with me in the room we used to hide our gear in. We were sitting on the bed there, and Lilyth had her hands wrapped around me. ¡®Why did Matis have to die?¡¯ I sobbed. ¡®Because he was capable of one thing the Inquisitor wasn¡¯t: love,¡¯ Lilyth said, her voice tearing up. I saw she had been crying too. ¡®I don¡¯t think I ever hated anyone as much as the Inquisitor,¡¯ I said. ¡®I don¡¯t blame you one bit, babe,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®He will get what''s coming to him. I promise you.¡¯ ¡®Thank you. I want to be the one that does it. For Matis.¡¯ ¡®For Matis,¡¯ Lilyth agreed and kissed the top of my head. So we just sat there for a while, me nuzzled against Lilyth, either in silence, me telling her about Matis, talking about us or just crying together. ¡®I¡¯ve been wondering about one thing,¡¯ I said after another period of silence. ¡®What if our Caei also chooses Ren?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think she will, but if that happens we must respect her choice. That''s the hand we¡¯ve been dealt with and we shouldn¡¯t blame Caei for making that choice if she does make it. And hey¡­ It¡¯s not like they will leave us.¡¯ ¡®No, I guess not. And we still will have each other, won¡¯t we?¡¯ ¡®Together till the end, Aki,¡¯ Lilyth smiled and I kissed her. A few minutes later Sav came in to check in on us. I saw that she had slightly puffy eyes too. ¡®How are you guys doing?¡¯ she asked. ¡®As well as it¡¯s possible given the circumstances,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®The fucker will pay,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, Aki. We¡¯ll get him.¡¯ This only made me want to cry more. My friends were willing to jump straight into the fire to avenge a man they didn''t know. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡®W-why¡­¡¯ ¡®Because we care about you, Aki,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®And you cared about Matis. That''s enough. The blatant injustice of this does not help the Inquisitor, either.¡¯ Sav nodded vigorously. ¡®We all feel like this. Even Ren began once Caei told her about Matis being the one who took you in after your mom died. Anyway, I did get confirmation that an elf matching Kaede¡¯s was taken to the island yesterday. I arranged transport for us but we need to get moving, as it is getting dark and the story about us had a lot of time to make rounds. So sooner or later someone might come by to finish the job.¡¯ Pull yourself together, Aki. It¡¯s showtime. ¡®I¡¯ll cast some protection spells on Ren to ensure no one snipes her,¡¯ Savri continued. ¡®But we still need to be careful since they are not¡­ fool-proof.¡¯ ¡®Wouldn¡¯t they be afraid of attacking us, given what happened in the tavern?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s irrelevant from our perspective. We have to assume they will attack.¡¯ I shook my head. ¡®I have so much to learn.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s fine. You are nineteen, I believe, and thrust into a situation waaay over what should be expected of you. That''s what I am here for, I guess. Lilyth too to some extent, though I am sorry to say that, sister: you don¡¯t know as much about this stuff as you think you do.¡¯ ¡®Ren told me the same thing,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I guess I really need to learn some humility.¡¯ ¡®An epiphany a lot of people really could use,¡¯ Sav said wryly. When we got back to the room Ren and Caei were in, we saw they were sitting on the bed holding each other. It was clear they too were crying. Upon seeing us enter, Ren got up, walked over to me and hugged me. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Aki,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®Had I known¡­ I would have tried to be gentler.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think there is a gentle way of breaking news like this,¡¯ Sav sadly whispered, shaking her head. Caei was the next to hug me and then it was time for us to get going. I would have more time to mourn my dad later. On a brighter note, Savri was able to get us some food that wasn¡¯t preserved fish. Hardtack and cheese weren''t the best kind of food, but would do in a pinch. Unfortunately, the only clothes that Sav could get for Ren on short notice was a featureless grey robe. We probably wouldn''t be able to get anything better for her until we got to a larger town. We left the room to let her change in private. ''Did you ever have to break the news, Sav?¡¯ Lilyth asked after closing the door. ¡®Once. Me looking like something that tortures condemned souls in the afterlife meant I was spared that duty. ¡®I can imagine,¡¯ Lilyth shuddered. ¡®The one time I volunteered for that was for this one guy from my squad. I knew his wife, and me and Paul¡­ Captain Rykers - my squad lead, we would hang out with them. So¡­ it felt fitting that we tell her. Just seeing us without Serge broke poor Jane. Then we delivered the hammer blow.¡¯ ¡®How did he die?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®If I may ask?¡¯ Savri was silent for a moment and then let out a barely audible whisper: ¡®The Lady of Bones took him. A lot of good people died that day and¡­ we never got the bitch.¡¯ We didn''t press Sav for details about that incident. It felt like a story she needed to tell, but she was not ready for that. Once Ren was done dressing there was one last question to consider. ¡®Do you know how to fight?¡¯ Sav asked her. ¡®I have some archery training, but that''s about that.¡¯ Savri handed her Ulrec¡¯s arming sword. ¡®We are fresh out of bows so this will have to do.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know how to use it¡­¡¯ Ren protested. ¡®Lesson One: Pointy end goes into the enemy stomach,¡¯ Master Sergeant Adzhenair shut her down. ¡®I can teach you more later. I imagine our resident slimeshield could use some pointers too, so you will have a sparring buddy. I¡¯m less versed in dual-wielding falchions or glaives, but I will figure out a way to get my hands on you and Caei, Akster.¡¯ ¡®But¡­¡¯ Ren still wasn¡¯t having it. ¡®No ¡°buts¡±, cupcake. We are happy to help you but you WILL need to carry your weight around. Especially if we ever get separated. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?¡¯ Savri¡¯s tone suggested that the question had only one correct answer. Ren saw it too, so she nodded. ¡®Good. Let¡¯s go, then.¡¯ Luckily, no one bothered us on the way to the pier. The ferryman, a balding middle-aged man with brown hair and a goatee, was grumbling about it getting late, but an extra one hundred Divines shut him up. I could see Lilyth, who was sitting next to me in her elf form, struggling to stay awake during the boat ride, so Sav sighed: ¡®Drink a stamina potion. We need you on your legs for a while yet. It should give you an energy boost for a few hours. Even in your¡­ state, I wouldn''t recommend doing that too often.¡¯ Lilyth wordlessly took hers out of her pack and drank it. Almost immediately, some life returned to her, but even I could see that it was less ¡°regained strength¡± and more ¡°adding in a twig to keep the fire going.¡¯ I really hated the state Lilyth was in. ¡®You guys Seekers?¡¯ the ferryman asked. ¡®I heard what had happened in the tavern.¡¯ ¡®Something like that, yes.¡¯ Ren answered. I couldn''t help but notice she and Caeileera were holding hands. I could feel a small pang of jealousy seeing that, but we agreed with Lilyth to give our girlfriend as much space to figure this out as she needed. And, ultimately there being some level of affection between the two, was not unexpected. And friends hold hands too. Lilyth must have felt my distress, perhaps my tail betrayed me again because she took my hand into hers. I wished we were alone because I really needed a hug. ¡®Never heard of an all-female party,¡¯ the man said. ¡®But then again, we don''t have a lot of Seekers up here. ¡®There are a few parties like ours down south near Caiverhold,¡¯ Rennie deftly answered. ¡®More work there.¡¯ ¡®Gotcha Lassie. Come all the way up here to seek out the River Goddess, eh?¡¯ We looked at each other, not sure what to answer. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Ren answered, without waiting for our input. ¡®Can you tell us more about her?¡¯ ¡®Only know the few legends you likely already heard. I¡¯m not a local mind you, I grew up in the Principality of Denyr to the south of Ror, so I only know what I heard when I moved here. ¡®Humour us, please.¡¯ ¡®Very well, lassie. Not much else to do, anyway. So the River Goddess, her name supposedly is Kersea, has been seen as a sort of protector of Julbar since the days of the Old Empire. You know¡­ protecting the place from evil, granting wishes that kind of stuff. At the centre of the island, there lay a mountain, where the spring for the large stream they have there is. Supposedly, there is some cave there in which the River Goddess resides, but if it''s true I have no idea where. Never put much stock into the legend anyway. Always been a worshipper of the Light, though to each his own I say. Anyway, some man from Pik-Cas, the village we are heading to, said he had found it and spoke with the goddess, which is probably the reason why the rumours started spreading around again. But¡­ thing is he is saying the goddess is only willing to speak to him and he will be relaying her wishes to the people.¡¯ ¡®All this for a charlatan,¡¯ Lilyth shook her head sadly. I saw Ren¡¯s face grow gloomy and realised that my girlfriend was addressing her and not the ferryman. Our new friend must have noticed that too. ¡®Wish, I had better news for you lassie. Should I turn her around?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ I said. ¡®We still have our friend to find.¡¯ ¡®Sure thing.¡¯ We spent the rest of the journey in silence. The ferryman dropped us off on the small wharf they had in Pik-Cas, then said his goodbyes and set off home. I didn''t blame him for not wanting to stay, as Len-Cas looked like Ror-Bhyk in comparison to it. Even I thought this place was a backwater, as the ¡°village¡± was just a few falling-apart wooden huts. The only building that appears to have seen any sort of maintenance was the two-storey high tavern the walls of which were lime-covered and seemed to have been actually painted at some point in the past five years. ¡®I hope I didn''t overstep my bounds, Ren said once we were out of the ferryman¡¯s earshot. We gave each other confused looks. ¡®You didn''t,¡¯ I said. ¡®None of us could handle this as well as you did, I think.¡¯ ¡®I think what my Dark Lady is saying is ¡°Thank you for volunteering to be the party diplomat¡±, ¡®Lilyth smiled and squeezed my hand. ¡®We accept.¡¯ I really couldn''t put it better myself. ¡®So you are the one in charge!¡¯ Ren exclaimed. ¡®I was really confu¡­¡¯ She trailed off seeing the mildly amused expression on Lilyth''s face. ¡®Used to be,¡¯ she said. ¡®Was really bad at it.¡¯ ¡®So it must be you, Savri.¡¯ ¡®Nope.¡¯ she laughed. ¡®Only in battle.¡¯ ¡®Leera couldn''t lead a column on a straight road¡­ so¡­¡¯ My friends all pointed at me. ¡®We are still kind of trying to regain the flow, I think,¡¯ I shrugged. ¡®But she just¡­¡¯ ¡®...said you were now our diplomat. It¡¯s because you are not just the best person for the job, you are also the only person among us capable of doing the job.¡¯ Ren was looking at us in a mix of shock and horror, the thought of ¡°what have I gotten myself into¡± painted on her face. She would fit right in with us. Chapter 78 - Choices ¡®So, any suggestions where do we start looking for Kaede?¡¯ I asked when we all gathered in one of the two rooms we hired. It was fairly cramped, with just enough space for a double bed, a small table and two chairs, but it would have to do as we didn''t want to discuss this stuff in public. We were sitting in a rough circle. Ren and Sav took the chairs, while me, Caei and Lilyth sat on the bed. The problem would be sleeping arrangements. The original idea was for us three to sleep in one of them, while our two new friends would sleep in the other. To my pleasant surprise, it was Caei who suggested that. Afterwards, she took me and Lilyth aside and explained that while she and Ren would likely remain very close, neither of them was interested in renewing a relationship the half-harpy had with Leera. My heart leapt at that. Lilyth also seemed pleased by the result, though stressed that our girlfriend shouldn''t rush into things. ¡®I¡¯m not rushing into things, hon,¡¯ Caei smiled. ¡®I¡¯m staying just where I like it.¡¯ Unfortunately, my hope for a quiet night of rest together was quickly dashed when Sav looked around the tavern and said the rooms weren''t secure enough for us to do so. Or rather - they would be if it wasn''t for Ren. ¡®We have to assume our arrival didn''t go unnoticed by whoever is hunting her,¡¯ she explained. ¡®Since the windows of our rooms overlook the ¡°street¡± someone could climb in through them. We are not high enough that a bunch of sturdier crates or some basic climbing gear won¡¯t do the trick. Hell, someone could even be boosted to reach them.¡¯ So we would be all sleeping in the same room and keeping watches. Or at least this night me, Caei and Sav would, and then we would rotate. There was no point in having more than three people on watch, and Lilyth needed a full night of sleep and Ren was too new to our business. ¡®In the morning we can ask around here,¡¯ I continued our planning session. ¡®I suppose we could also try looking for the River Goddess, but given no one really knows where she is¡­¡¯ ¡®There is one person that knows,¡¯ Lilyth protested in a mildly amused tone. ¡®Didn''t you listen to the ferryman? First name: Some; Last name: Man.¡¯ ¡®I suppose we can view that as a ¡°last desperate resort¡±,¡¯ Caeileera shook her head. ¡®Nothing else comes to my mind unless there is some Yamaoka hidey hole here that Leera wasn¡¯t aware of.¡¯ ¡®Not that I know of,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®We don¡¯t move cargo along the Ror River, at least not by ourselves. Savri¡¯s expression said she wasn''t buying it, but Caei quickly came to Ren¡¯s defence. ¡®It¡¯s true. Larger stuff is hidden in crates covered with legitimate goods and ¡°imported¡± by shell companies. So it travels on normal barges and is delivered straight to Ror-Bhyk. Smaller stuff is carried in person.¡¯ ¡®The contraband we carry tends to be less noticeable, too. We don¡¯t engage in drug trade either, so customs officials are more willing to be ¡°lenient" about our goods, assuming they even notice them. It¡¯s very easy to hide poison in the transport of saay¡­ wine. Even if that wasn''t the case we wouldn''t have used Julbar for an outpost. This place is an insignificant shithole. Any increase in lake traffic would cause¡­ questions.¡¯ Poison? ¡®Huh¡­¡¯ Sav said. ¡®Consider me humbled.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ve been at it for over six hundred years, Sav. Believe me, we know our business.¡¯ ¡®That reminds me¡­ I¡¯ve been wondering about something, Ren,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®It¡¯s a bit of a personal question: Your name and surname both suggest you have a Terran origin. Kaede is also a Terran name. And yet¡­¡¯ Are we just gonna ignore the poison bit? ¡®I¡¯m not human? ¡®she smiled. ¡®I suppose I shouldn''t have hoped you would miss that bit. Yes. The clan was started by a Terran, but There hasn''t been a fully human Yamaoka since the clan was founded. Shinji Yamaoka, the man who started it all, married an elven woman, and their descendants mostly kept to the elven side of things due to their longer lifespans. My dad was one of the few exceptions since he fell in love with my mom, Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan - one of the minor harpy houses. They had me and here I am.¡¯ ¡®Um¡­,¡¯ I interrupted. ¡®Could we circle back to the whole poison bit?¡¯ ¡®Ah,¡¯ Ren looked really embarrassed. ¡®Well¡­ one of the services the clan offers is¡­ well¡­¡¯ ¡®Assassination,¡¯ Sav finished for her. ¡®Fortunately, the contracts for that went through my brother,¡¯ Ren blushed. ¡®I was deemed ¡°too delicate¡± to handle such business.¡¯ ¡®And what did you do?¡¯ I asked pointedly. ¡®There are two brothels in Tyr-Mel I was in control of.¡¯ Lilyth and Sav threw her a look at that. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. All women were there willingly. It was one of the rules that Shinji set, and we follow religiously to this day. In fact¡­ Some of the assignments I had Leera do involved punishing transgressors of that rule.¡¯ Caei nodded at that. ¡®Other than that: minor smuggling, once again the big stuff went through Ror-Bhyk, protection schemes, muscle for hire¡­ and in a few cases¡­ ¡® ¡®Making examples,¡¯ Caei finished sadly. ¡®Brutal ones.¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ Ren squeaked. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡®Well¡­ It could have been worse¡­¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®But then again it explains why Ereshkigal thought you were redeemable. Thank you for telling us.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®And sorry for bringing it up. I know it¡¯s not been easy living with that stuff.¡¯ ¡®I hated it¡­ true. But¡­ it was getting easier.¡¯ ¡®You are out now,¡¯ I smiled. ¡®I think it¡¯s good we cleared the air about this.¡¯ ¡®I agree,¡¯ Ren smiled sadly. ¡®You have no idea how much of a relief it is.¡¯ ¡®The problem is¡­¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Once we save Kaede, assuming she needs saving, what do we do about the rest of your family? As Sav pointed out and you agreed a gang war is about to start. I assume I speak for everyone here that we¡¯d rather sit this one out?¡¯ We all nodded our assent. ¡®Helping you is one thing, ¡® Caei chimed in. ¡®Even I would feel uncomfortable, you know¡­¡¯ Ren sagged in her chair. ¡®I haven''t thought this far ahead. After the visit from the Dread Queen¡­ my mind¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I tried not to think about it.¡¯ ¡®You are scared out of your mind,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®It¡¯s normal.¡¯ ¡®You know¡­ when I woke up this morning¡­ I didn''t expect the day to go like this¡­ One moment I am looking forward to a romantic trip with Leera and the next¡­¡¯ ¡®You lost everything and can¡¯t go back to your old life without horrible consequences,¡¯ Lilyth suggested. ¡®Find yourself hunted?¡¯ I added. ¡®Realise you no longer fit with your own people?¡¯ Caei proposed. ¡®There is suddenly way too much divine nonsense in your life?¡¯ Sav sighed. ¡®All of the above, I guess,¡¯ Ren laughed bitterly. ¡®As for my family... I¡¯d like to check in on my parents, I guess. My brother is in our Ror-Bhyk compound, so I suppose that''s a no-go.¡¯ There was a sharp intake of breath from Caei. Some memory from Leera about the other Yamaokas? ¡®If you want we can try,¡¯ Lilyth said, sadly. ¡®You would never forgive yourself for not trying. I know I wouldn''t.¡¯ I forgot Lilyth had a family in the other world. Some girlfriend I am. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®You had siblings?¡¯ Sav asked. ¡®Out there?¡¯ ¡®An older sister. I really regret not talking with her more.¡¯ Sensing Lilyth''s distress I hugged her. I also pulled Caei in, as she seemed... distressed. ¡®I understand why you volunteered so quickly for me then,¡¯ Sav sighed. ¡®If you want, I¡¯ll try to figure out some way to get us into the compound. Or at least near it. But planning this kind of stuff was never my strong suit. Usually, Paul, Sonya and Francis would handle this side of things.¡¯ I could see hope return to Ren¡¯s eyes which is why I really hated what I was about to say next. ¡®We¡¯re not going to Ror-Bhyk. It¡¯s too risky. Sorry, Ren.¡¯ Everyone looked at me in surprise, so I continued. ¡®Earlier we deemed going there to be too dangerous. If anything the risk even got greater. Because we now have to avoid the Inquisitor AND the mysterious assassins. Probably getting spotted by the Yamaokas wouldn''t be too great either given how both Ren and Caei want out. We also have to consider the possibility of Ren¡¯s brother or the clan as a whole being responsible for the assassination attempt, to begin with. So I will have to pull rank here.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m with Aki on this one,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Yamaoka compound in Ror-Bhyk is well-secured. If someone can take down that, the five of us will amount to nothing.¡¯ ¡®But Lilyth¡­,¡¯ Ren started protesting, but Caei cut her off. ¡®She¡¯s just one woman. And I think we should stop using her as a battering ram. She¡¯s our friend. I care about her and I don¡¯t want her to risk her life for ¡°Crimson¡± Kojiro. Fuck, I don¡¯t want us to risk our lives for that murderous rapist bastard. Oh¡­ you think you were bad, Ren? You¡¯ve never had the pleasure of seeing your monster of a brother in action. The day Leera was moved from his service to yours was the happiest in her career in the Yamaokas.¡¯ Tears started flowing to Ren¡¯s eyes and she stormed out of the room. A moment later we heard the door slam in the other. I wanted to hurry after her, but Sav stopped me. ¡®Give her a moment,¡¯ she said. ¡®You just told her you are willing to let her brother die.¡¯ I felt nauseous. ¡®Maybe¡­¡¯ I tried ¡®No maybes,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®You made a hard call. That¡¯s your job as a leader.¡¯ I looked at Lilyth who simply sighed: ¡®What Sav said. It doesn¡¯t feel right, but that¡¯s life.¡¯ I felt really queasy, but I didn¡¯t manage to make it past the door before the remnants of the last ration bar ended up on the floor. Lilyth was by my side in a moment and led me back to the bed. Caei and Sav left the room to give us space. ¡®Take it easy, babe,¡¯ she said and wrapped her hands around me. ¡®I feel like a monster,¡¯ I cried. ¡®Don¡¯t,¡¯ she said. ¡®But you¡­¡¯ ¡®Yes. I feel for Ren. I would happily help her, but you are right¡­ We owe ¡°Crimson¡± Kojiro nothing. Hell¡­ we owe Ren nothing. We are already taking great risks for the sake of her and her family. In a way, it is a relief.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know¡­ even helping her with this feels wrong.¡¯ I cried. ¡®Like¡­ I like her¡­ but there is something wrong¡­¡¯ ¡®If you don¡¯t want to do it¡­ we can just leave,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®And let the Yamaokas rot. Believe me, I hate the idea of helping them as much as you do. ¡®What about what Ereshkigal said?¡¯ ¡®That Ren has to atone? She never told me to help her do it. The best thing possible for Ren would be to tell her family to go fuck themselves and leave them. They made their own bed. She wants out? Fine. She doesn''t have to come with us. If you don¡¯t want that to happen, then you have the right to say no. We have the right to say no. We can point Ren to the nearest soup kitchen and call it a day.'' ¡®But Caei¡­¡¯ ¡®Can make her own choices too. And she doesn¡¯t have a right to force us to do something that will cost us our souls. If the choice here is between ¡°Make Caeileera happy¡± and ¡°Make you happy¡±, I will choose you every time.¡¯ ¡®And I you.¡¯ I smiled weakly. Lilyth kissed me, and, to her credit, said nothing about my mouth tasting like vomit. Chapter 79 - A Breath of Fresh Air Aki Let¡¯s just say we didn''t end up just kissing. After I rolled myself off Lilyth panting I said: ¡®You have no idea how much I needed that today.¡¯ ¡®Happy to oblige,¡¯ Lilyth smiled wickedly. We quickly dressed and left the room. We only found Sav sitting in the corridor. There was a faint smile on her face and she wordlessly cast the spell on me. ¡®I really need to teach you that one.¡¯ ¡®Was it that obvious?¡¯ I asked, blushing. ¡®Thin walls,¡¯ Sav shrugged. ¡®There are many ways of stress relief.¡¯ I was mortified, and judging by Lilyth''s expression so was she. ¡®Believe me, I¡¯m not judging. Seen it all. I would be lying if I said I didn''t have my share of stress fucks in less than discrete places.¡¯ ¡®Where¡¯s Caei?¡¯ Lilyth asked, trying to change the subject. ¡®With Ren. Trying to explain things to her. Let''s just say your session of mutual stress relief wasn¡¯t the only thing we overheard and we don''t disagree with you. Though I think Caei thinks we should still help Kaede while we are here since at least she didn''t want anything to do with the Yamaokas.¡¯ ¡®Buuullllshieet,¡¯ Lilyth retorted. ¡®Per what Ren said, Kaede would still check in with the Yamaokas from time to time. Likely to get money.¡¯ ¡®I think so too, but I didn''t want to voice it to Caei in the current situation. Not without you two being here.¡¯ ¡®But wouldn''t that¡­¡¯ I said but trailed off. ¡®Kaede is just as bad as the rest of them, isn''t she?¡¯ ¡®Ren doesn''t see it that way, but yes,¡¯ Sav confirmed. ¡®For the record, I am not against giving Ren a second chance, but the mission parameters really went from ¡°help her¡± to ¡°save her entire fucking extended family¡±.¡¯ Since my head cleared a bit, I considered the issue again. ¡®Yeah. She can come with us. It would feel wrong to leave her at this stage, and knowing that Kaede is in danger¡­ I couldn''t sleep at night if we left her. That''s the line. If she disagrees¡­ well¡­ she is on her own.¡¯ Then we heard Caeileera¡¯s moan of pleasure. ¡®Those walls really are thin,¡¯ Lilyth said in an amused tone. Caeileera I entered the room Ren was in, desperately trying not to listen in on Lilyth and Aki. They needed as much privacy as I could afford them in these circumstances. Truth be told, I wished I could join them, but given I was part of the problem right now¡­ it wouldn''t be right. No. I would have to resolve the Ren situation, first. She was lying face down on the bed crying her eyes out into a pillow. I sat next to her and put my hand on her shoulder. She didn''t react. ¡®Ren,¡¯ I said softly. ¡®Leave me alone, you liar,¡¯ she sobbed. ¡®You and your friends hate me.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t,¡¯ I said. ¡®And they don¡¯t either. But¡­ you are putting us in a difficult spot. Helping you is one thing¡­¡¯ ¡®But my family is a different thing?¡¯ ¡®Yes. We didn''t sign up to save them.¡¯ ¡®But leaving them¡­¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not an easy decision and one we can''t force you to do. But¡­ you can''t force us¡­ force me¡­ to help them. Especially not Kojiro. The things he did¡­ what Leera went through with him¡­ no. He assumed that me liking sex meant I was always willing and¡­expected things. I didn''t remember until¡­ you mentioned wanting to help him. And¡­ that''s not the worst thing he did. Leera was lucky.'' ¡®I heard the rumours about him. I didn¡¯t want to believe them, so I never asked Leera to confirm them. So¡­ I really need to break contact with my family?¡¯ ¡®If you want out¡­ yes. If you want to stay with us¡­ with me¡­ yes. How do you imagine a meeting with them would go? Would they let us leave?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®I guess not.¡¯ I took her hand into mine. ¡®I understand how you feel. When I abandoned the Sanguine¡­ when I broke my mask¡­ it was a dice roll¡­ but I don¡¯t regret it.¡¯ Sounds of Aki climaxing reached us through the wall, breaking the tension. Ren laughed at that. ¡®I would have never expected her to be this loud.¡¯ ¡®She¡¯s a fierce one,¡¯ I smiled. ¡®And I am happy she¡¯s part of my life.¡¯ ¡®I can see why.¡¯ Ren¡¯s expression grew cloudy. ¡®It will be a bitter pill to swallow¡­ but you guys are right. What was it that the Dread Queen said? That whether I return to life is an interesting question?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡®Then I have the answer. Ren Yamaoka is dead. I am just Ren now.¡¯ I took her hand into mine and squeezed it. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®Then welcome to your new life, Ren.¡¯ She sat up and I hugged her. Then our lips met and nothing else mattered. Aki ¡®They sure are going at it,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®You don¡¯t mind?¡¯ Sav asked. ¡®Weirdly enough, no¡­ If it was Lilyth I would, but Caei¡­¡¯ ¡®Same here,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I don¡¯t think Ren and Caei becoming ¡°friends with benefits¡± was avoidable given the circumstances. ¡®I just don¡¯t want her in the bed with us,¡¯ I confirmed. ¡®You are a weird bunch,¡¯ Sav chuckled. ¡®But in a good way. After a while, Caei and Ren emerged from their room. Lilyth quickly gave them a thumbs up to say we were okay with what just happened. Caei sighed in relief. ¡®Sorry¡­ it just happened.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ I said. ¡®It was a long day for all of us. We discussed this and you and Ren having a thing on the side is okay with us. Just you know¡­ not while the three of us are having alone time.¡¯ Caei looked at Ren who said: ¡®Fine with me¡­¡¯ then it hit her. ¡®Does this mean I can stay?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I said and explained the conclusions we reached with Lilyth. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®Though¡­ I don¡¯t think looking for Kaede is right given the circumstances. It might cause¡­¡¯ ¡®...You to want to go back,¡¯ I finished for her. ¡®Very well. Though¡­ leaving her out to dry¡­¡¯ ¡®I have a compromise,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Let¡¯s look for the River Goddess. If we see Kaede along the way¡­ Ren doesn''t have to meet her. We''ll just know she¡¯s safe.¡¯ Our new friend nodded. ¡®That could work, yes.¡¯ ¡®And it will put my conscience at ease.¡¯ I agreed. ¡®And I want to see this River Goddess too. Like, I wonder¡­ is she Irmen?¡¯ Suddenly, there was a thunder crack and a woman said in a giggly voice. ¡®Nope! Irmi has nothing to do with it.¡¯ I looked around and saw an absolutely gorgeous elven woman sitting on the windowsill of our room. She wore a blue shirt and white jacket and trousers. Her hair was just like Lilyth¡¯s used to be - short and looking like a cloud. There were lightning flashes in her piercing dark blue eyes. ¡®Hi, beauties!¡¯ she continued. ¡®Sorry to interrupt you. I¡¯m Nyx - the patron of this cute idiot over there.¡¯ She pointed at Lilyth who looked paler than usual. ¡®Lady Nyx,¡¯ I began and wanted to kneel but the goddess stopped me. ¡®Please, don¡¯t. We really don''t like the supplication thing. You can also drop the Lady stuff if you want. I don¡¯t care.¡¯ ¡®Yes¡­ Nyx¡¯ I said, feeling really uncomfortable. ¡®You¡¯ll get used to this while dealing with Irmi. Don¡¯t force yourself right now.¡¯ She jumped down from the windowsill, walked over to Lilyth, who I just noticed was absolutely terrified, and hugged her. Oh gods, she is afraid of her own patron after the meeting with the Sun and the Madness. Can''t say I blame her. My girlfriend initially froze, but soon eased up and started crying. Eventually, she hugged Nyx back. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, pumpkin. It¡¯s okay now. You and your friends are safe now. Everything is going to be a-ok.¡¯ the goddess comforted her. They just stood there for a few minutes. When my girlfriend calmed down, Nyx slowly detached herself from her and indicated we should all sit around the table. There were only two chairs so Caei offered herself to bring one from the other room, but the goddess stopped her. ¡®That¡¯s sweet of you, Caeileera, but being the goddess of Air has its perks.¡¯ A small cloud appeared in the room and Nyx sat on it cross-legged. ¡®See?¡¯ she laughed. ¡®I must say, My Lady,¡¯ Savri began,¡¯ and, pardon the pun, but you are a breath of fresh air after our meetings with The Sun and Lady Madness.¡¯ Nyx giggled. ¡®This one always cracks me up. And I can''t help but notice you omitting the honorific when referring to Ol¡¯ Pulsar.¡¯ ¡®He tried to kill me, so he can go fuck himself.¡¯ ¡®Good. I think we are going to get along just fine, Master Sergeant.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve been wondering about something, Lady Nyx,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Why does everyone refer to Savri by her rank? It doesn''t strike me as something you gods would particularly care about.¡¯ ¡®Because few things in the multiverse are as terrifying as a pissed-off Sergeant, sweetie.¡¯ ¡®Just Savri or Sav will do, My Lady,¡¯ the demoness said with a smile. ¡®I¡¯m off-duty now.¡¯ ¡®You drop the ¡°My Lady¡± nonsense, I drop the rank. Deal?¡¯ ¡®Yes, L¡­ Nyx.¡¯ ¡®See? You can do this, Sav! I believe in you!¡¯ ¡®Nyx¡­ you mentioned having an educational project with Irmen¡­¡¯ Lilyth said carefully. ¡®Ah. That. It went pretty well I think. You may soon hear stories about a ship, likely with no survivors, that was beset by monsters shortly before entering port in Fal-Mel. The ship suffered heavy damage and no sign of the crew was found other than some acid-burnt bones.¡¯ ¡®Those stories are exaggerated?¡¯ Lilyth asked. Nyx only smiled. ¡®Those stories are exaggerated, right?¡¯ Lilyth repeated. ¡®If there is a survivor, the jury is still out on that one, they may be saying something about it being divine punishment,¡¯ the goddess simply said. ¡®So this educational project was, in fact, an object lesson?¡¯ Savri asked, frowning. ¡®Yup.¡¯ ¡®What did they do?¡¯ Lilyth asked with an edge in her voice. ¡®Looted an old temple to Gin-ig.¡¯ ¡®Ah,¡¯ Lilyth sighed in relief. ¡®Stupided themselves to death then.¡¯ Yup. No sane person would do that. ¡®Glad you understand,¡¯ Nyx smiled. ¡®Was worried about your reaction.¡¯ ¡®Yesterday taught me a lot of humility. And well¡­ even on Earth that messing with temples is looked down upon at best.¡¯ ¡®Oh, gods,¡¯ I heard Ren mutter. I realised then that this was the first thing she said since Nyx appeared. The goddess waved towards her. ¡®Hi, Rennie,¡¯ she said with a smile. ¡®Don¡¯t worry¡­ I won¡¯t hurt you. We reserve smiting for special cases. You¡¯ve been a naughty girl, unfortunately not only in the fun way, but it''s not too late for you to fix things. Stick with my idiot and her friends and you¡¯ll be fine, assuming she doesn''t make too much of a mess this time around. ¡®Y-yes, Lady Nyx.¡¯ The goddess leaned towards Ren and booped her on the nose. ¡®Rooting for you, kid. Fingers crossed.¡¯ Ren laughed nervously. ¡®In fact¡­ ¡® Nyx reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and took out a pendant. I noticed it was the same as Lilyth''s. ¡®This will let you contact me whenever you want. Consider this a sign of my patronage. Because, girl, you will need all the help you can get and that''s what those are for.¡¯ She handed the pendant over to Ren who put it on. The goddess then smiled and snapped her finger and a massive plate filled with multiple flatbreads wrapped around all sorts of vegetables and meat. They smelled positively divine and made my mouth water. The inn had no kitchen so all we had to eat were our rations. Along them, a bunch of those delicious sodas and some plates and glasses appeared. ¡®Now!¡¯ Nyx said with a great pomp. ¡®Let¡¯s celebrate! Who¡¯s up for some tacos? Chapter 80 - A Dinner with a Goddess ¡®You know what, Lilyth?¡¯ Caei said with a content expression. ¡®It really sucks we can''t visit Terra. The food there¡­¡¯ ¡®We have those at home,¡¯ Sav said, likewise positively in heaven. ¡®Not the Abyss. The other world. You can come with me if I find a way there.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t tempt me,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®Once you have access to a real kitchen, ask either of those two to shoot me a message,¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®I¡¯ll send you the recipe. Those were all made with Dwynveian ingredients.¡¯ ¡®No wonder I didn''t recognise anything in the filling,¡¯ Lilyth mused. We spent the dinner mostly in friendly banter. Nyx turned out to really be a breath of fresh air. Flirty, a bit mischievous, but otherwise¡­ a really nice person. I loved Nyxie¡¯s stories about the goings-on in the realm of Air. There was this pair of storm elementals that constantly kept pulling pranks on each other. For example, one would add sulphur to the clouds on the territory of the other, which was the equivalent of peeing on their porch. Then the other would respond by leaking the location where the first one was supposed to have fun or do some important task to sirens or fire nymphs and leaving a portal to that location open ¡°by accident¡±. Nyx would be forced to handle the clean-up and occasionally invite one of the unexpected guests to take a tour of her chambers. She gave us a wink at that. I understood then why Lilyth said that Ereshkigal was nice. She probably was like this too when not doing god things. ¡®What¡¯s Irmen like?¡¯ I asked Nyx after we finished laughing at one of her anecdotes. ¡®I will leave that for you to discover, Aki,¡¯ Nyx smiled warmly. ¡®She¡¯s your patron, so I don¡¯t think I should be giving you a wrong impression. I¡¯ve known Irmi for aeons so my perception of her will be very different to one you will get. Hell¡­ this has been going on for so long that all of us gods have a semi-cordial attitude to one another. Like¡­ I may not like The Blood, but I will still work with it on occasion if the situation calls for it.¡¯ ¡®Antagonising someone whose favour you may need in a thousand years is not worth it?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Pretty much. Normally, I wouldn''t be telling you this, but since you bunch know about the Game it won''t hurt.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s why you were on good terms with the Sun?¡¯ Lilyth asked gloomily. ¡®No. He seemed to have the same attitude towards mortals as we did. Based on what happened to you, this will now change. We¡¯re handling this discreetly, of course. You guys are now our people, even you, Savri, and we owe you our loyalty first and foremost.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Lilyth replied. ¡®You have no idea how much this means to me.¡¯ ¡®Likewise,¡¯ Sav added. ¡®You know¡­¡¯ Ren said. ¡®When you appeared here¡­ I didn¡¯t quite expect you to be this¡­ nice.¡¯ ¡®Expected I was here to smite you?¡¯ Nyx laughed. ¡®Nothing you did warrants that. If we took to smiting mortals for every major no-no they did¡­ there wouldn''t be many of you left. Instead, we leave that stuff to Ere. You mortals always can change. Taking that away¡­ would not be fair of us.¡¯ ¡®Then what about that ship?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®That¡¯s one of those¡­ exceptions. In essence, we need to maintain a certain¡­ reputation. As you may have noticed we don''t want to be worshipped. But some people don¡¯t get the message, or just feel a need to. So¡­ any temple or shrine they build is something that was freely and willingly made. Same with any offerings inside. It¡¯s a huge responsibility for us, and we don''t leave it unrewarded. One of those rewards is preserving those sacrifices the best we can. As such, if anyone chooses to defile those¡­ examples need to be made, something you should understand well, Rennie.¡¯ ¡®You really aren''t that different from us mortals, are you?¡¯ she asked. ¡®That¡¯s our role. If we are to guide you we must understand you.¡¯ ¡®So what is your guidance, Nyx?¡¯ ¡®Consider what Ereshkigal relayed to you. You can easily walk away from your old life. But you can also choose to return to it in some capacity. None of us can or will force you to abandon your family. It is a choice you have to make, and already did from what I can surmise. I really cannot tell you what to do. I will be with you no matter what, with one exception. You can probably guess what it is. ¡®Reject this chance and go back to my old ways?¡¯ ¡®Precisely. I don¡¯t expect you to be perfect. But things that happened when you were making ¡°examples¡±...¡¯ Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡®I understand. So if I want to meet my family again it would have to be under circumstances that won''t result in me getting tied up in the family business again.¡¯ ¡®E-xa-ctly,¡¯ Nyx smiled and turned towards us. ¡®For you, I have a request: if Ren figures out that way and it doesn''t put you in danger you would find unacceptable, please help her.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll do our best,¡¯ I answered. ¡®Excellent. As for you Lilyth¡­ Ere told you to form a connection with the land. This still applies. If you want, go find the River Goddess, as you planned to do. Investigate what she is like, and, if necessary, handle the situation appropriately. This should be a fun team-building exercise.¡¯ ¡®Will do, Nyxi¡­ Nyx.¡¯ Was Lilyth about to call Nyx with a pet name? ¡®There we go!¡¯ the goddess beamed. ¡®There is the slimy cutie I like.¡¯ ¡®If we discover the spirit or whatever is benevolent are we free to leave it be?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Now there is a smart vampire,¡¯ Nyx said proudly. ¡®Such a course of action would be acceptable, yes. Whether you will do it, is up to you.¡¯ The answer left me confused. ¡®By didn''t you just say to Ren that you wouldn''t tell us how to handle a situation?¡¯ ¡®Hey, I didn''t say anything about ¡°are there any rules against this?¡± questions, did I, sweetie? Usually, the golden rule is ¡°if you have to ask, the answer is no¡±, but ¡°Can we just leave a harmless entity and a local faith around it alone¡± is one of those edge cases where getting guidance is actually useful. We are not a particularly jealous bunch. Me especially.¡¯ She gave us a wink and giggled, causing a wave of heat to spread through my body. ¡®Don¡¯t worry about Mr. Some Man,¡¯ Nyx continued. ¡®Irmi is going to handle him if you confirm his story to indeed be bullshit. She won¡¯t hurt him, but a lesson in humility will do him some good.¡¯ Lilyth shuddered. ¡®You needed that thwack, Lilyth,¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®I know¡­¡¯ she answered. ¡®Good. Love hanging out with you, but unfortunately, duties call. Places to be, people to do. You two have your pendants so feel free to contact me if you need some help. Don¡¯t worry about the hour. It¡¯s my job to help you. Do bear in mind there are two exceptions. The answer to any question about how to handle the situation will be ¡°Use your best judgement¡±, as stated before. So far, the four of you have been doing fairly well. The second is, and I suspect you wouldn''t be asking that anyway, Lilyth, is any question about history and whatnot will be answered with ¡°go find out on your own¡±. Other than that I am open to discussing anything and everything. And I do mean everything.¡¯ She winked at us, again. Is she seriously¡­ no. Focus Aki. No dirty thoughts about the hot goddess. Focus. ¡®Yup. Even that Aki,¡¯ she laughed. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll respect your territory. But if you ever need an extra do give me a holler.¡¯ None of us would ever consider such a thing of course. At least that''s our version of the story and we are sticking to it. Lilyth, her face blue which must have contrasted how red mine, Caei and Ren¡¯s were, simply said. ¡®I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡¯ ¡®Good. And I see you are not just quite as straight as you claim to be, Savri.¡¯ The medic who I¡¯ve just noticed was slightly blushing, became red-faced with embarrassment. ¡®I have no idea what you are talking about,¡¯ she said weakly. ¡®It¡¯s okay to experiment, kiddo,¡¯ Nyxie laughed. ¡®Anyway, gotta run. Aki, take care of my slime and harpy for me. I have plans for them. Ta-ta, lovelies!¡¯ There was another crack of lightning and Nyx disappeared. Savri just shook her head. ¡®And here I thought being in the Fourth SOC was crazy enough.¡¯ ¡®I remind you that until a week ago my biggest concern in life was filling out spreadsheets,¡¯ Lilyth said. We were all so tired that after the meeting with Nyx, we decided to risk it and just all sleep through the night. Lilyth and I would be sleeping in one room, which pleased me immensely, while Caei, Ren and Sav would be in the other. The medic, for some mysterious reason, decided to sleep on the floor. This was weird because she could easily fit in with the other two on the bed. I wanted to ask why, but Lilyth stopped me with a shake of her head, so my sentence came out like this: ¡®Why won¡¯t¡­ we make you a bedroll out of our cloaks?¡¯ ¡®That would be nice, yes,¡¯ Sav replied. The medic cast the [Ward] spell on the room so she would get warned if anyone wanted to enter. That would leave me and Lilyth in a potential danger, but there was nothing we could do about it. The spell ended up on the ¡°must-learn list¡± for all of us who could learn it. Ren was particularly excited about that since she never thought she would meet a mage, much less learn actual magic. If Lilyth was disappointed she would be left out if she didn''t show it. ¡®It¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t two branches of Arcana that are open to me,¡¯ she said when I asked her about it when we were lying snuggled in bed. ¡®Still, it must hurt.¡¯ ¡®To some extent yes. But that''s life. The older you get the more at ease you become with certain limitations of your body. And hey¡­ it does encourage us to be a team.¡¯ ¡®That it does,¡¯ I said and nuzzled against her. ¡®As for why Sav wants to sleep on the floor¡­ she¡¯s likely very horny after the show the four of us gave her and confused due to Nyx. And well¡­ she still likely wants to be faithful to Paul, at least that''s who I assume her boyfriend was, so she¡¯d rather not risk it.¡¯ Our conversion then drifted to more casual stuff and then both of us fell asleep. Chapter 81 - An Unexpected Development Waking up with Lilyth next to me is something that would likely never stop bringing me happiness. I really liked Caei, and would happily be with her for the rest of my life, but she¡¯d never be like Lilyth to me, and best I could tell it was mutual. I noticed that she changed into the kitsune form overnight and since she was lying with her back towards me, I wrapped my hand around her chest and scratched her behind the ear with the other. Time to test this one. The results were great for both of us. When we were cuddling together afterwards, still feeling the rush after our morning exercise, I said: ¡®You know¡­ I¡¯ve been thinking.¡¯ ¡®What about?¡¯ Lilyth asked, her hand caressing my stomach. ¡®About what we said yesterday. You know¡­ us choosing ourselves over others.¡¯ ¡®I guess that one warrants a follow-up.¡¯ ¡®What do you think it means?¡¯ ¡®That means, my love, that we are developing serious feelings for each other.¡¯ My love, my heart began beating faster. ¡®Promise me we¡¯ll get married someday,¡¯ I said, led by an impulse. I don¡¯t know how much time we have left. We can die at any moment. I¡­ want this. I really do. ¡®I promise¡­ In fact¡­¡¯ Lilyth got up from the bed and then knelt in front of me on one knee: ¡®Aki of Dan-Hem, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?¡¯ ¡®Yes, silly,¡¯ I said. ¡®So¡­ how are marriages actually done on Dwynveia?¡¯ Lilyth asked after we finished kissing. ¡®The Church of Light usually does ceremonies, but if you aren''t keen about that¡­ that''s pretty much it, I think. What did you expect?¡¯ ¡®Back home we tend to have massive ceremonies and reception parties. And some formalities, but I don¡¯t think it matters here. Let me ask Nyx.¡¯ I waited for a moment. ¡®She says that sometimes a priest of theirs would say the formulas, though since she is fresh out of these, she would be happy to do it for us if we wanted, but we should get Caei on board first.¡¯ ¡®How do we do that?¡¯ I asked her. ¡®I have an idea.¡¯ And when she explained it, I agreed to it without hesitation. We ate breakfast with the rest of the girls. We still had enough leftover tacos and oddly enough they were still as warm as they were yesterday. ¡®Back when Ereshkigal named me her Paladin she got me an excellent tea,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®It also never got any colder. So probably if gods give you food it stays good.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry guys¡­ what happened between me and Ren yesterday,¡¯ Caei told us after we finished eating. ¡®We discussed it and that was a one-off thing. I don¡¯t know what came over me¡­¡¯ ¡®Ren by the sounds of it,¡¯ Lilyth joked to the annoyance of them both. ¡®No stress. We are happy you feel that way, though. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®Thank you. That really takes a great weight off my chest. That other me in my head is so annoying.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s why we understand the situation,¡¯ Lilyth confirmed. We''d be monsters if we were like ¡°We know you have someone who was madly in love with Ren in your head, but want you to ignore it.¡± The same applies to you, Ren. You were in love with Caei. Your mind may say she is not Caei, but your heart¡­ and loins¡­¡¯ ¡®As Nyx said yesterday, we really can¡¯t expect you to be perfect here,¡¯ I added. ¡®Take it at your own pace.¡¯ ¡®And that''s not because we don¡¯t believe you can be faithful, Caei,¡¯ Lilyth quickly said. ¡®It¡¯s because we care about you and don¡¯t want to torment you by imposing strict rules here.¡¯ ¡®Still, I will do my best,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®As will I,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®I don¡¯t want to c- intrude.¡¯ ¡®Umm¡­ and speaking of being faithful, we also have something to confess,¡¯ I said. ¡®We kinda¡­ got agreed to be married with Lilyth.¡¯ ¡®Wow!¡¯ Ren exclaimed. ¡®That''s great guys!¡¯ A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Caeileera seemed less pleased. ¡®I¡¯m happy for you guys, I guess that explains¡­¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ I quickly stopped her. ¡®We discussed this with Lilyth, and Nyx sees no issue. We both knelt before Caeileera ¡®Caeileera of the Sanguine, we cannot imagine our lives without you. Will you do us the honour of becoming our wife?¡¯ Caei was positively stunned. We took her completely by surprise. Tears of joy began flowing from her eyes. ¡®I never¡­ I didn''t¡­ Oh, guys, you have no idea how much this means to me. Yes!¡¯ ¡®You three continue to have the weirdest relationship I have ever seen,¡¯ Sav said, shaking her head. ¡®But I wish you kids luck. Gods know you deserve some happiness.¡¯ ¡®That they do,¡¯ Nyx, said after arriving with a thundercrack,¡¯ said. ¡®You all do, kiddos, and I¡¯ll be happy to help you all along the way. Anyway¡­ Aki, Lilyth and Caeileera would you stand before me, please? We complied. ¡®Do you, Aki, take Lilyth and Caeileera as your wives?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I said, happily. ¡®Do you Caeileera, take Aki and Lilyth as your wives? ¡®I do,¡¯ She said still crying. ¡®Do you Lilyth, take Aki and Caeileera as your wives? ¡®I do!¡¯ Lilyth smiled. ¡®I now pronounce you wives.¡¯ She booped us all on our noses. ¡®I would say ¡°Now go fuck¡± but I think it would not be considerate for the other two. So I guess you can now kiss the other two brides and the goddess. If you want.¡¯ She gave as a wink. We laughed and did. The kiss with Nyx was weird but not unpleasant. Quite electrifying, in fact. Afterwards, Ren and Sav gave us hugs, and that was that. I was now married. To two women. By a goddess. In a crappy inn room. Not what I expected when the day started. ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s go see Irmen,¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®She wanted to meet you, yes? Might as well tag along since I am here.¡¯ The inn was empty when we got down. It was just the innkeeper. ¡®By the Light, you are a rowdy bunch,¡¯ he said in annoyance. ¡®Thought I wouldn''t get a wink of sleep. And women shouldn''t¡­¡¯ ¡®... let you finish that sentence, mortal, if you ever want another boat of yours to be able to leave port,¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®Who are you?¡¯ The innkeeper shouted. ¡®How dare you¡­¡¯ ¡®You may know me as Ter¡¯ius, mortal,¡¯ Nyx thundered. ¡®So believe me I will dare.¡¯ There was a thundercrack at the last word. The room visibly darkened as storm clouds gathered over the island, blotting out the sun. The man looked pale like a ghost. ¡®T-t-th-th-th-¡¯ he stuttered in a weak voice. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Nyx said with another thundercrack. ¡®So when I say that women can do whatever they want, they really can do whatever or whoever they want.¡¯ ¡®Y-yes, l-lady T-Ter¡¯ius,¡¯ the innkeeper squeaked. ¡®Glad we understand ourselves,¡¯ the goddess beamed at him, and while the sky remained overcast the clouds seemed less oppressive. ¡®You know, Nyx,¡¯ Lilyth began after we left the building,¡¯ I really hope I will never get on your bad side.¡¯ ¡®So that means all the intended recipients of the message received it,¡¯ the goddess smiled. ¡®Don¡¯t worry¡­ in your case the message here was ¡°we are on your side. But remember - you will inevitably encounter less lenient gods¡±. Believe me, I wouldn''t have bothered with any of you, none of us would if we thought you were the kind of people capable of truly irking us off.¡¯ ¡®Thank you for your trust then,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®And don¡¯t worry¡­ I learned my lesson.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s see how long that holds once you meet a god you don¡¯t want to bone¡­¡¯ Lilyth¡¯s face grew blue with embarrassment. ¡®I don¡¯t, I mean¡­ I¡¯d never¡­¡¯ Nyx giggled and said: ¡®Gotcha!¡¯ We asked around if anyone had seen Kaede, to appease our consciences more than anything, and the answer we got was that she went towards the mountain immediately after making it to the island. ¡®Do you mind us looking for her, given what we discussed yesterday?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®No,¡¯ the goddess answered. ¡®Not at all. There is a difference between ¡°Don''t become a gang leader again¡± and ¡°Don¡¯t warn a woman against incoming danger¡±. Care needs to be taken in this case for Ren¡¯s sake but that''s it. But don¡¯t treat this as an obligation from me. Other than the tasks you get from me and the others, I will never require you to risk your lives. And even for those if it gets too dangerous feel free to run away.¡¯ ¡®And I don¡¯t suppose you know where she is?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Even if I did, I would not be able tell you where she is or help you find her. But I don''t. We are not omniscient, Caeileera. We know more than you think, but less than you¡¯d expect, and truth be told we have neither time, ability nor the inclination to track every single mortal. I wish I could tell you more, but god rules. As I told Lilyth I cannot provide you much with terms of world knowledge.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve been wondering about something, Nyx,¡¯ Savri said after we resumed our journey. ¡®Why am I the odd one out? With regards to the patronage, I mean.¡¯ ¡®None of us thought you would be interested given the circumstances of your recent departure from the Abyss, and your overall goals.¡¯ ¡®Initially, you would be right¡­ but after meeting with you¡­¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll be happy to take you on. Any of us would be.¡¯ ¡®But most of the magic I know is Life¡­¡¯ ¡®That matters less than you think. Aki knows barely any magic, Lilyth mostly Umbral, Caeileera a complete mix and Ren absolutely nothing. This is more about¡­ personal development and helping you meet your objectives. The reason it was Irmen who chose Aki is because she wants to be a good and cunning leader. Plus a graceful fighter. That''s the area Irmi is best suited to. As you may have guessed, Caei wants the Sanguine to become¡­ more of an independent species. That''s where Akh¡¯ret will be the best. But since your overall goal is to ¡°Leave Dwynveia¡±... None of us will be any better at helping you than the other.¡¯ ¡®And you don¡¯t mind that?¡¯ ¡®Why would we? You left your loved ones there. The only one who can call you a fool for wanting to return to them is yourself. We will be sorry to lose you, of course, but we cannot stand between you and your happiness.¡¯ ¡®Will you take me on then?¡¯ the medic asked in a breaking voice. ¡®It will be my honour, Savri Adzhenair.¡¯ Nyx produced another pendant and gave it to Savri. Then, being herself, she booped her nose. Chapter 82 - Irmen We walked along the beach for maybe half an hour before we found a secluded cove. ¡®Irmen?¡¯ I asked when we were hidden from sight. The waves became intensive and a figure started to rise from the water. She was pretty short and had yellow skin, which was well accentuated by the woman¡¯s dark blue sleeveless dress that split into four drop-shaped petals around the figure¡¯s waist. The sections seemed to be made from dark water, as were the edges of the armholes. The woman¡¯s green eyes reminded me of a lizard which was further reinforced by the bright orange scales on her sideburns and the wrists of her tattoo-covered arms; the gills on her neck and a red-frilled tail. The woman''s shoulder-length hair was bright bluish-grey and ended in small icicles, while her ears ended with a red frill instead of the helix. However, what caught my attention the most was the glowy thing on an antenna that sprouted from her forehead. I just felt like I needed to approach it. ¡®Oops,¡¯ the woman let out an embarrassed laugh. ¡®Forgot to turn that thing off.¡¯ The strong urge to go towards her disappeared. I looked around and saw that most of my friends also just broke out of a trance. Only Lilyth seemed unaffected by the lure altogether. ¡®Interesting,¡¯ the woman said. ¡®And unexpected.¡¯ ¡®You aren''t the only apex predator here, Irmen,¡¯ Lilyth replied coldly. ¡®Duly noted,¡¯ the goddess said. ¡®I¡¯m really sorry about the incident.¡¯ ¡®Why would you need a lure to begin with?¡¯ my wife asked. ¡®For the thrill of the hunt, of course,¡¯ Irmen said. ¡®In a way, I thank you for giving me a valuable lesson here, Lilyth. Had we met in the wild without any context the fight could go either way.¡¯ ¡®Even knowing the context, had you actually intended to hurt my loved ones¡­ I cannot guarantee the lessons I received recently would stick.¡¯ ¡®And I would expect no less of you. The point you should have taken from those incidents should have indeed been ¡°not go out of your way to piss people off¡±, rather than ¡°not defend yourself¡±. As futile as it can usually be.¡¯ ¡®In this particular instance, I think not pissing you gods off should decrease the times I will need to defend myself from you to a minimum.¡¯ ¡®Well said. Then allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Irmen. It is my pleasure to meet you all: Aki of Dan-Hem, Lilyth of Terra, Caeileera of the Sanguine, Savri of the Abyss and Ren of the Yamaoka clan. Though as I understand, all of those should have ¡°formerly¡± added to them. And I believe congratulations are in order for your recent marriage.¡¯ The goddess stepped out onto the beach and hugged all of us. We all replied with a mixture of ¡°nice to meet yous¡± and ¡°hello theres¡± and in the case of our trio ¡°thank yous¡±. ¡®I see you managed to bag Savri, Nyxie,¡¯ Irmen said with mild dismay after we finished the greeting ritual. ¡®I was hoping I would manage to get her.¡¯ Nyx showed the goddess of Water her tongue. ¡®Wait¡­ you were having a contest over me?¡¯ Savri asked, horrified. ¡®Don¡¯t ask questions you may not like the answers too, sweetie,¡¯ Irmen said. ¡®I¡¯m going to have to insist, Lady Irmen,¡¯ Savri said in a tone that brooked no dissent. ¡®Whenever one of you mortals with talent, but no obvious allegiance appears on our radar we tend to have a soft race to see who manages to pledge themselves first. ¡®Is that so?¡¯ Savri asked. ¡®The idea of gods vying for my attention is flattering.¡¯ ¡®Quite. But since the relationship is partially transactional, greater things may be expected of you than saay Ren or Aki. ¡®Understandable.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®It¡¯s going to be fun.¡¯ ¡®Nyx, your ideas of fun involve food and sex,¡¯ Irmen chided her. ¡®And where is the problem in that?¡¯ Good question. ¡®It gets boring after a while.¡¯ ¡®Hey¡­ I never said you can¡¯t spice it up with a book night, a long walk, karaoke or stargazing. I¡¯m happy to do all the things.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s another problem.¡¯ ¡®You two bicker like exes,¡¯ Lilyth observed. ¡®It was a phase!¡¯ Irmen exclaimed before clasping her mouth with her hand. ¡®That you seemed to enjoy very much,¡¯ Nyx said with a shit-eating grin. ¡®La-La-La, can''t hear you.¡¯ ¡®You know I am always up for another ¡°phase¡±.¡¯ ¡®What would Taros think?¡¯ ¡®That vaer mother should loosen up and have some fun? ¡®Vae sounds like a reasonable person,¡¯ Lilyth said. Irmen looked at us horrified, as she just remembered we were there. ¡®Is there anything I can do to make you forget this conversation ever happened?¡¯ ¡®Nope!¡¯ we all said in unison. Irmen grumbled something about making us all walk into the lake, but then she sighed. ¡®I¡¯ll think about it, Nyx. Been feeling lonely lately with Taros on Dwynveia.¡¯ Nyxie beamed at her. ¡®Who¡¯s Taros?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®This is the second time you''ve mentioned them. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡®Taros¡¯s mine son. Even though vae assumes that I don¡¯t know about him being like your slime friend. I believe vae is currently with your friend Deirdee.¡¯ ¡®Wait¡­ isn''t Deirdee still a Serrated Blade in this timeline?¡¯ Caeileera asked. ¡®Uhh¡­ it¡¯s complicated.¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®Lady Madness switched them too, didn''t she? Caei asked with mild resentment in her voice. ¡®Meaning this Taros isn''t actually your Taros.¡¯ ¡®Vae will always be my Taros,¡¯ Irmen said. ¡®But don¡¯t worry. This was handled in a way that neither of mes or vaems was hurt.¡¯ ¡®Why would Lady Madness go this far?¡¯ Irmen pointed at Lilyth. ¡®Deirdee got tied into the mess that idiot left behind so she would not live long if she stayed there on her own. Thus Madness decided to help her. ¡®Can we stop calling Lilyth that?¡¯ I protested. ¡®No need to keep twisting the knife.¡¯ ¡®Finally standing up for your lover,¡¯ Irmen smiled. ¡®Good. You need to understand my child that even by our standards of ¡°seen it all¡± what Lilyth did was beyond stupid. ¡®It¡¯s okay, Aki¡¯ she sighed. ¡®I deserve it.¡¯ ¡®No, you fucking don¡¯t.¡¯ Caei said with emphasis. ¡®Sure, you did some very stupid things, but none of us¡­ including Nyx and Irmen was there to stop you until you reached the point of not being able to continue on your own and Aki stepped up. I was more than happy to let you keep hurting yourself.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®We are all to blame for the mess. Like the hospital is all on me since it was my idea to go there, to begin with. And nobody should blame you for what happened in the Tower since I don¡¯t either Nyx or Ereshkigal ever bothered to give you a list of things to not do.¡¯ We moved to Lilyth''s side with Caei and stared at Nyx and Irmen with defiance. ¡®You told me to trust in other mortals. And I do. I trust Lilyth will do her best to get us through whatever danger we will end up in next or die trying. So I will not allow anyone to talk bad about her mistakes anymore. Not if they did nothing to prevent them.¡¯ Instead of fury, I saw a different emotion emerge on the goddesses'' faces. Shame. ¡®That was very well said, Aki,¡¯ Irmen said. ¡®And I apologise to you, Lilyth. All the name-calling in the multiverse won¡¯t change the past, nor will lessen the gravity of your actions. The gravity you know understand, I can see. Never forget it.¡¯ Lilyth gave Irmen a solemn nod. ¡®You will make a great leader one day, Aki. Willingness to stand up for one of your own no matter what is an important quality to possess.¡¯ ¡®Were you just testing me?¡¯ I asked, feeling resentment building inside of me. ¡®No. We are not perfect Aki, as much as it is hard for me to admit it. Once again, I apologise and I am honoured you accepted my patronage offer. A god can hope for no better student than one willing to stand up to them.¡¯ ¡®I think it is an honour for both of us.¡¯ ¡®Excuse me, Irmen,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Will we be able to meet up with Deirdee?¡¯ ¡®Eventually. She and Taros were headed towards Tyr-Mel, but made no commitments either way, as to their overall direction now You see¡­ my son is a travelling musician, and Deirdee joined vaem as a dancer.¡¯ ¡®Ohhh¡­¡¯ Caei said. ¡®That¡¯s kinda fun actually.¡¯ ¡®That it is. But this kind of life does not lend itself to ¡°stay in one place¡± or ¡°go chasing after people¡±. ¡®I see. I¡¯m just happy she is safe and has a friend.¡¯ ¡®Which speaks volumes about you, my child,¡¯ Irmen smiled. ¡®I have to ask though,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Even though, I will likely regret it. How did I ruin Deirdee''s life? Other than getting Blood pissed at her.¡¯ ¡®You put her in the crosshairs of The King Who Commands The Ocean, my dear.¡¯ ¡®Ol¡¯ rockface managed to get to her before his marine imperiousness could,¡¯ Nyx added. ¡®But it was a close call.¡¯ ¡®So the King is real¡­¡¯ Savri whispered. ¡®And I see you are full of surprises, Savri Adzhenair,¡¯ Irmen said. ¡®The only reason you would even suspect his existence was if you had access to Primaeval Arcana.¡¯ ¡®Just one spell,¡¯ Savri said. ¡®That shield thing I used on Ren. Got really lucky and a rune for it dropped for me in a Delve.¡¯ ¡®Score!¡¯ Nyx hooted. ¡®Kingie will be so pissed I grabbed you before he could.¡¯ ¡®Who is that King?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Another Water deity like you, Irmen?¡¯ ¡®After a fashion,¡¯ she smiled. ¡®He rules over the primordial ocean of magic - the source of ALL magic.¡¯ ¡®And this guy was after Deirdee?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®No,¡¯ Nyx shook her head. ¡®He wanted Lilyth. Deirdee was just a means to an end for him.¡¯ Lilyth sunk to her knees hearing that. ¡®I really have a penchant for ruining people¡¯s lives, don¡¯t I?¡¯ she asked. ¡®Is there anyone I have met here whose life I didn''t ruin by the sheer virtue of meeting them?¡¯ ¡®You didn''t ruin ours, my love,¡¯ I said. We wouldn''t be here if it wasn''t for you. And I wouldn''t agree to be with you if I thought you ruined my life. ¡®Yup,¡¯ Caei added. ¡®Aki would have been goblin chow, Ren would have been assassinated, I would be still stuck with Laachersain and L?we, and Deirdee would still be a disposable tool for The Blood. I think the only person whose life wasn¡¯t markedly improved by meeting you was Savri?¡¯ ¡®It was,¡¯ Sav corrected her. ¡®Maybe the circumstances didn¡¯t look like it, but I am happy to be here.¡¯ ¡®Sure our lives became¡­ interesting,¡¯ I said. ¡®But the good outweighs the bad.¡¯ Lilyth got up and said: ¡®Then I will make sure it stays this way.¡¯ ¡®I think we may have misphrased how we broke that news.¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®We don¡¯t fault you for most of the choices you have made. In the case of Deirdee, it was the choice between killing her OR saving her. Your sins were hubris and acting like there would be no consequences for anything you did. But enough about that.¡¯ ¡®Wait¡­ the message from Ereshkigal wasn¡¯t just meant for Ren, was it?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®It was for me too. Nyx turned to Irmen. ¡®Pay up. I told you it wouldn''t take her long to figure it out.¡¯ Irmen grumbled something, took out a leather bag that was somehow hidden under her dress and threw it to Nyx. ¡®You betting over me aside¡­ what would you gods even have TO bet?¡¯Lilyth asked. The goddesses looked at as and with dead voices said: ¡®Mortal souls.¡¯ Then, likely seeing our horrified expressions, they broke out laughing. ¡®You guys are so easy to mess with,¡¯ Irmen said between gales of laughter. ¡® ¡®Don¡¯t worry¡­¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®It¡¯s just runestones with spells.¡¯ She took one out and threw it to me. It was a runestone of [Water Bolt]. ¡®You can learn it once you get a perk point,¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®You need some Water Arcana spells, I imagine.¡¯ ¡®You are muscling in on my territory, Nyx,¡¯ Irmen growled. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t have bet against my prot¨¦g¨¦ and then lost, hon.¡¯ Irmen grumbled something. ¡®I can give it back if you want Irmen,¡¯ I quickly said. ¡®No¡­ It¡¯s fine. We never specified what we could or couldn''t use these for when betting. That and if the roles were reversed, I would likely want to rub that in Nyxie¡¯s face too.¡¯ Nyx smiled wickedly and it was clear she wanted to say something, but Irmen stopped her with a raised finger. ¡®Yes, yes, I can rub anything I want against your face.¡¯ ¡®Awww¡­¡¯ Nyx pouted. ¡®You are no fun.¡¯ ¡®Hey¡­ not saying I¡¯m not up for it. Just that fun is best left for funtime.¡¯ ¡®Yay!¡¯ Nyx exclaimed. Ren laughed at that. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ she quickly said. ¡®It¡¯s just that I often had to have ¡°work now - fun later¡± conversations with Leera.¡¯ ¡®Nothing to be sorry about, Rennie,¡¯ Nyx said. I noticed Caei turned red. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, sweetie,¡¯ I told her and took her hand. ¡®We accept you for who you are.¡¯ ¡®And who said it was just Leera?¡¯ Ren asked with an innocent smile. That made us all laugh. Chapter 83 - The Lumizu ¡®Anyway, I do have a wedding gift for you, dear,¡¯ Irmen said after we calmed down. A small and furry creature with a long snout, floppy ears and a small lure hanging from its forehead emerged onto the beach. Its fur was white with blue semi-liquid stripes, while its two tails appeared to be fully made of water. It was absolutely adorable and I fell in love with it instantly. ¡®Oh my god!¡¯ Lilyth exclaimed. ¡®A water doggo!¡¯ I took the creature into my hands, raised it to chest level, and hugged it. It licked my face causing me to squeal. ¡®That¡¯s a lumizu,¡¯ Irmen explained with a smile. ¡®A minor water fae, which is indeed like dogs from your world. Nurture her, and she will prove itself a strong companion.¡¯ ¡®What do we feed her?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Lumizu just love fish. But they didn''t need to follow a specific diet. Joys of being magic.¡¯ Lilyth approached me and scratched our new pet¡¯s head. It let out a happy arf and started purring. ¡®Some cat there, too,¡¯ Lilyth said and yielded room to Caei who also wanted to examine our new friend. ¡®I know we¡¯ve only had her for a few moments,¡¯ Caei said, while carefully petting the happy lumizu.¡®But if anybody hurts that thing I will launch a crusade to make their life into a living hell.¡¯ Everyone burst out laughing at the seriousness of the statement. Even the furry creature seemed amused. Though it was hard to tell given how happy it always seemed to be. ¡®I was thinking we could name it after my mom,¡¯ I said. ¡®Her name was Veenaya.¡¯ ¡®Veenaya it is,¡¯ Lilyth said and Caei gave a hearty nod, still enamoured with the creature. ¡®I have one more gift for you, but I think you need free hands for it,¡¯ Irmen said with amusement in her voice. Caei eagerly extended her hands and I handed Veenaya over to her. My wife squealed from joy and hugged the little creature. ¡®I never had a pet before,¡¯ she explained, holding our lumizu closely. ¡®I always heard that Dwynveians liked keeping them, but not us in the Badlands. Unless you count the lower ones. Which I don¡¯t. You are not like those horrible monsters, are you?¡¯ She kissed our new family member on the head. Veenaya let out another happy arf and, still purring, nuzzled against Caei. Ren and Savri slowly approached her and carefully petted it. ¡®Can I hold her?¡¯ Ren asked. Caei seemed a bit conflicted at first but passed Veenaya to Ren, who immediately hugged the lumizu. ¡®It¡¯s so fluffy.¡¯ Irmen and Nyx couldn''t resist laughing at my companions¡¯ cuteness overload. My patron approached me and gave me a pendant. This was a simple downwards pointing triangle. ¡®I guess you know what this is for. Caeileera? Got one from Akh''ret for you. Like Ere, he can¡¯t really show up on Dwynveia without bad things happening.¡¯ She handed my wife a pendant shaped like a triple spiral. Wife. That phrase was really starting to grow on me. My whole life I was dreaming of some handsome prince coming to Dan-Hem, falling in love with me and taking me to live with him in his palace. The handsome prince turned out to be a pretty and foul-mouthed princess from another world. I was already gone from Dan-Hem when we met and we are technically both homeless. And then a second princess crashed into our lives. I was really starting to wonder what my mum would think about this whole mess. I couldn''t help but think that she would need a lot of time, and likely alcohol, to get used to me now sharing my life with two women. That I¡¯ve known for less than two weeks. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Caei replied to Irmen, bringing me back to reality. We will have time to worry about our terrible decision-making skills laters. Though I doubt it. I love both Lilyth and Caei. Now we just need a place to settle down and live a normal life. Or at least a quiet place where we can celebrate properly. I hate living on the road. ¡®Now,¡¯ Irmen continued, ¡®I know you have a difficult and dangerous path ahead of you, Aki. So I imbued your pendant with additional power. You can use it to send Veenaya back to the realm of Water whenever you think the situation calls for it. It will be a while until she will be of use in combat, assuming you want her to fight alongside you to begin with. I¡¯ll fully understand if you won¡¯t.¡¯ I found the idea of putting our little fuzzy bundle of joy through hardship abhorrent. I booped her on the nose. ¡®No, I don¡¯t think we will,¡¯ I said ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Caei shuddered. ¡®No way ¡® Lilyth looked especially horrified by the idea and simply shook her head. She did mention having this ¡°cat¡± thing before. Lil reached out to Ren and took Veenaya from her. She buried her face in our lumizu¡¯s fur. Just before she did, however, I noticed the glistening of tears in her eyes. I can¡¯t imagine how much must she be missing it. We really are all she has here. Ren wanted to ask what was going on, but Caei shook her head. I walked up to Lilyth and hugged her and Veenaya. I could hear my wife¡¯s sobs that she was desperately trying to stifle. Caei soon joined us. ¡®You have us now,¡¯ she whispered. ¡®I know we can''t replace the family you lost, but we are building a new one.¡¯ Veenaya let out a supporting arf. Or maybe she was just happy her three new mommies were near her. ¡®Thanks, guys,¡¯ Lilyth muttered and lifted her head. I wiped the tears off her face. She looked very embarrassed by this. ¡®Don¡¯t feel ashamed by your grief, daughter of Terra,¡¯ Irmen said. ¡®This is a wound that will take a long time to heal.¡¯ Stolen story; please report. ¡®You can rely on us whenever you need it,¡¯ I said. ¡®You don¡¯t have to carry your woes alone.¡¯ ¡®You have us now,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®Now and forever.¡¯ ¡®And you have me,¡¯ Lilyth said in a shaky voice. ¡®If there were finer marriage vows, I have yet to see them,¡¯ Irmen said. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Nyxie laughed. ¡®You three goofballs will work out just fine.¡¯ Then she got serious. ¡®As a goddess, I cannot tell you what you should do. But as a friend¡­ leave this island. Go rest. I don¡¯t think searching for either Kaede or the River Goddess would be healthy for any of you right now. You¡¯ve all been through a lot of trauma.¡¯ ¡®I concur,¡¯ Irmen said sadly. ¡®I can take you to the mainland if you want.¡¯ ¡®Can we?¡¯ Lilyth said, addressing Ren. ¡®I have no right to demand you do this,¡¯ our new friend responded. ¡®It doesn''t feel right, but¡­¡¯ She sighed and continued. ¡®The more I think about this the less this whole thing makes sense¡­ how did the assassins know I would be in that tavern?¡¯ ¡®Who knew about you heading here?¡¯ I asked. ¡®I told my household I was headed to Ror-Bhyk. The only people who knew my real destination were well¡­ me, Ulrech and Kaede¡­¡¯ ¡®Could someone have overheard?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Possibly¡­¡¯ ¡®How much in advance did you announce your trip?¡¯ Lilyth asked gravely. ¡®A day?¡¯ ¡®A bit shitty timeline to set up an ambush¡­¡¯ Sav said. ¡®Unless this was a trap to begin with.¡¯ ¡®You think we were lured here?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®The only option that makes sense. The question is¡­ by whom?¡¯ ¡®The charlatan must be in on it¡­¡¯ I said, realising the harsh truth. ¡®And so probably is Kaede¡­¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®Why else would there be this many assassins here the exact moment you were in that inn?¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­ I was maybe there for an hour? And those men were already there¡­ ¡®The call is coming from the inside of the house,¡¯ Lilyth muttered. ¡®And we made enough ruckus to let everyone know we were here,¡¯ Sav furrowed her brow. ¡®Why lure you here though? Why go through such an elaborate ruse? Wouldn''t it be simpler for Kaede and her friends to lure you somewhere¡­ else? Sure we are in the middle of absolute backwater, but still Ror-Bhyk is what? Half a day away? Assassination this flashy would get attention quickly.¡¯ ¡®Unless Ren wasn¡¯t the primary target¡­¡¯ I said, catching on to what Savri was saying. ¡®But¡­ what¡­¡¯ ¡®The River Goddess,¡¯ Lilyth interrupted me. ¡®Two birds one stone. That or something related to her¡­¡¯ She trailed off and turned towards Irmen and Nyx. ¡®If there was another Y-Ram-like installation here you wouldn''t be able to tell us, would you?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ Nyx shook her head sadly and then smirked. ¡®Nor, can I confirm whether I am aware of any other potential sites¡¯ existence or location.¡¯ ¡®Ah,¡¯ Lilyth smiled. ¡®Irmen, hypothetically, had you thought your friend needed vacation, but there was a chance they needed to take care of something important, would you ask them to take a break?¡¯ ¡®No, had I been aware of the task,¡¯ Irmen smiled. ¡®So I would suggest we go look for the River Goddess,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Our marriage was already blessed by two deities. Might as well go for three.¡¯ ¡®You sure about that?¡¯ Nyx asked. ¡®Plausible deniability bullshit aside, you do suspect this is a trap.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Lilyth nodded sadly. ¡®But given what we found inside Y-Ram¡­¡¯ I shuddered, remembering the teeth horror. ¡®Or Akh¡¯ret''s Mercy¡­¡¯ Caei added sadly. ¡®Those old sites are a problem. Having someone find them and use whatever was inside¡­¡¯ ¡®Back into the field, then?¡¯ I asked with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Please no. ¡®I cannot forbid you, but I would still strongly advise against it,¡¯ Nyx shook her head. ¡®You barely survived either of these places. Hell, you would have died in Akh¡¯ret''s Mercy if it wasn''t for Zekuthran, and Lilyth doing a very stupid thing.¡¯ ¡®I would have to concur here,¡¯ Irmen said. ¡®Let me put it this way¡­ the chances the five of you will survive entering such a place are very low, and that''s with two high-level individuals in your group. Chances a group of no-names will make it past the first room¡­¡¯ She didn''t need to finish. ¡®Can¡¯t they release something?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Unlikely. Remember why you couldn''t leave the hospital?¡¯ ¡®Ah. So whoever enters won¡¯t be able to leave?¡¯ ¡®If they trip the security system¡­ no,¡¯ Nyx said with a sour expression. ¡®We¡¯ll take you up on your offer, then, Irmen¡­¡¯ I said to my patron. I noticed a hint of the smile on the goddess¡¯s face. ¡®Everyone on board with that?¡¯ she asked. ¡®I want to find Kaede and shake the truth out of her,¡¯ Ren sighed, angrily. ¡®But¡­ yes. Let¡¯s get out of here. I¡¯m not dumb enough to go deeper into a likely trap. Or a dungeon for that matter.¡¯ None of my other companions offered any protests either. ¡®Splendid,¡¯ Irmen smiled and clapped her hands. Some of the lake water rose into the air, shaped itself into a boat and then froze. ¡®Might be a bit cold, but you¡¯ll be on the other side in no time,¡¯ the goddess explained and then called out, ¡® Phosi!¡¯ A figure emerged from the water. It looked like a woman made out of a greenish liquid. She had clawed hands, an antenna with a lure and frilly ears, a telltale sign of her being associated with Irmen though her wet hair, glowing red eyes and somewhat unhealthy appearance made me think of a drowned corpse instead. Phosi eyed us with curiosity and then focused on Lilyth. She leaned over her and smelled her with loud sniffs. ¡®Curious,¡¯ the creature rasped. ¡®You have the smell of a man about you. Yet¡­ you look like a woman. What are you?¡¯ ¡®I am both,¡¯ Lilyth explained. ¡®And neither. And everything in between.¡¯ ¡®Stop lying, mortal,¡¯ Phosi hissed, hatred filling her voice. ¡®Easy there!¡¯ Irmen shouted. ¡®They are friends!¡¯ ¡®Phosi is a sconryoll,¡¯ Nyx quickly explained. ¡®A vengeful spirit born out of a woman who committed suicide after being seduced by a sailor.¡¯ ¡®I apologise, Phosi,¡¯ Lilyth said and bowed. ¡® I was unaware of this being a pain point for you. I was born a man, but it never felt right to me. So I turned into a woman when given a new body. But since I am a shapeshifter, what I am below depends on what my wives want.¡¯ ¡®A tortured spirit,¡¯ Phosi hissed. ¡®Luckier than most. Still a man at heart, I think. But since Irmen and Nyx vouch for you¡­ I will trust you, but note that I will be watching you. And if you hurt any of your wives or friends¡­ you better steer clear of any large bodies of water, because I will find you and then end you, Lilyth. ¡®If it comes to that¡­ I will seek you out myself.¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®It is a promise, then,¡¯ Phosi smiled predatorily. We said our goodbyes to Irmen and Nyx. While the former was content enough with hugs, the farewells with the latter did involve more kissing, which may or may not have been initiated by me this time around. Given the wicked smiles Lilyth and Caei gave me, they had the same idea. The big surprise was Savri giving her a peck on the mouth. ¡®She is really good at getting what she wants, isn¡¯t she?¡¯ Savri remarked as we were crossing the lake. ¡®I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible for a woman to remain straight whenever Nyx gets involved,¡¯ Phosi remarked. ¡®Not that I saw you complain, Savri.¡¯ ¡®I just wanted to see what it was like,¡¯ she protested red-faced. ¡®That¡¯s how it always starts, sister,¡¯ the sconryoll laughed. Chapter 84 - The Chieftain and the Admiral ¡®Where do we head now?¡¯ I asked after we said our goodbyes to Phosi. ¡®The way I see it we have two options,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®We either head South to Lin-Vyme¡­ or East to Tyr-Mel.¡¯ ¡®There is a monastery to the Old Gods in Lin-Vyme,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®We could likely spend a few days there.¡¯ ¡®I believe Ren¡¯s family home is that way too,¡¯ Caei added. ¡®I didn''t want to bring that one up,¡¯ our new friend said, sadly. ¡®I thought it would be difficult for me to convince you guys to go check in on them.¡¯ ¡®Gives me the sales pitch,¡¯ I told Ren. She visibly brightened. ¡®It¡¯s a countryside estate next to Lake Heligst. A few guards. It¡¯s just my mom there most of the time, as dad keeps touring our other compounds. If there was one family member I would like to check in on¡­ it would be her.¡¯ ¡®Promising,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Define few?¡¯ ¡®While it is only mom I believe it¡¯s just three people. One of the rules of the game is ¡°no touching family members if they aren''t involved¡¯. And my mom never wanted to be.¡¯ ¡®Meaning if anyone is making a move against your family, she is vulnerable,¡¯ Savri noted. Pain and sorrow showed on Ren¡¯s face. ¡®If there is one family member I can ask you to help me save¡­ let it be my mom.¡¯ We looked at each other. ¡®Lead on,¡¯ I said. The journey to the estate took us two days. It was both tiring and restful at the same time. It was nice not to have to worry about people wanting to kill us for a few days. We managed to catch up on a few things too, like Savri finally teaching me that [Contraception] spell or her starting to train Ren in basic sword fighting. While they were sparring the first night, with Caei observing, I noticed that Lilyth and Veenaya were nowhere in sight. After a minute or so, I found her sitting on the forest floor against a tree, her back turned towards the camp. Veenya, completely spent by the difficult day, was curled into a ball next to her. Lilyth smiled upon seeing me approach and patted the ground on the opposite side of her from our lumizu. Veenaya briefly woke up hearing this, let out a happy arf upon seeing me, and then went back to sleep. ¡®I can¡¯t imagine how tired she must be,¡¯ I said sadly, as I sat down next to Lilyth. ¡®She¡¯s taking it much better than my cat. Poor thing spent a few days hiding after I adopted her. It took her a while to accept me. But then¡­ well¡­ I sometimes called her a furry barnacle. These are small marine creatures that spend their lives attached to some hard surface. Rocks, ships, large sea animals. So my cat¡­, she¡­she would often sleep for hours just hugging my leg.¡¯ There were tears glistening in Lilyth''s eyes again. She quickly wiped them away and I gave her shoulder a squeeze. ¡®Did you know that on Earth it is very rare to see stars if you live in a city?¡¯ she said after a moment of silence. That was a sad thing to hear. I loved looking at the night sky. ¡®It¡¯s too bright, you see,¡¯ she continued. ¡®All the artificial light that our civilization required robs of this beauty. It feels weird to realise I had to quite literally go to another world to be able to see them again.¡¯ I lay my head on her lap and looked up. ¡®Do you think that one of them is where your home was?¡¯ I asked. ¡®I certainly wish it was there. It would make this alien sky slightly less foreign.¡¯ She began to absentmindedly stroke my hair. ¡®It is still weird to think that there are untold numbers of these,¡¯ I said. As we were walking that day, I finally got around to asking what this whole nootron star thing was. The sheer despair on Sav¡¯s and Lilyth''s faces told me they hoped I had forgotten about that one. My wife was right when she said there wasn¡¯t enough alcohol on Dwynveia to explain that subject. I knew she and Sav were already likely incredibly oversimplifying things but it still felt insanely complicated. The gist I got was that: Dwynveia was actually orbiting our Sun and not the other way around. Every star was a similar object and that nootron stars were stars that ran out of wood to burn¡­ or something. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Lilyth smiled. ¡®The splendour of the universe will never stop being breathtaking for me. I realise now that I am luckier than every single other Terran from my time.¡¯ ¡®Because you got to see other words?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Yes. But mostly because that gave me a chance to meet you.¡¯ I smiled and raised my head a bit so that we could kiss. ¡®Can you tell me something about the constellations you have here?¡¯ she asked afterwards. So I showed her my favourite ones and told the stories associated with them. My favourite was the Dragoon, named after an ancient warrior who fell in the defence of his village. He did so because his wife and young son were still there and couldn''t leave. So the man single-handedly stopped the entire enemy force but was mortally wounded in the process. He died in the arms of his wife and the gods were so impressed by his sacrifice that they shaped a monument to him in the sky. I always found this one to be incredibly romantic. ¡®I hope you aren''t mad at me and Savri for ruining that one for you,¡¯ Lilyth, who was listening to me in rapt attention, said ¡®No, you didn''t,¡¯ I quickly denied. ¡®Mom always said those were just stories. Though¡­ after she died¡­ I always hoped one of the stars was her looking at me from the afterlife.¡¯ That brought an expression of sadness to Lilyth''s face. ¡®We are not that different of a people then,¡¯ she said. ¡®Back home one of the ideas for the afterlife is this place called heaven. Good people who die supposedly go there. Due to its name, it is often associated with the sky and clouds. So dead relatives are often said to be looking down on us from the above. It does make it easier, you know¡­¡¯ ¡®Want to hear more about the constellations?¡¯ I asked, desperate for a change of the subject again. ¡®Sure!¡¯ Lilyth said with relief visible on her. One constellation that caught Lilyth''s undivided attention was the Admiral. The legend had it that he was in charge of a force from an island he was the ruler of. After years at war, they were beset by various hostilities until he was the only one left. The only thing that kept him going was his love for his family. When he got home though it turned out that every single person on an island died when a necromancer invaded it. Furious, the Admiral went after him only to be killed by the revenants of his wife and son. ¡®This reminds me of a myth from home about a man named Odysseus,¡¯ she said afterwards. ¡®He was¡­ a chieftain of an island called Ithaca. He went to fight in a war and helped to end it after over ten years. His entire crew stupided themselves to death on the way home, he pissed off a lot of major gods, got raped for years by two minor goddesses and then finally managed to get home after twenty years of being alone. His wife, still somehow faithful after that long a time, had a problem with a bunch of freeloader suitors. So he killed them, almost caused a civil war in the process and then got killed by his son by the first goddess who raped him. ¡®I¡¯ll take the undead version,¡¯ I said. ¡®Less rape and murder.¡¯ ¡®To make it even more fun, then that son married Odysseus¡¯s widow. And Telemachus, Odysseus firstborn, then married the rapist. What can I say? Greek mythology was really fucked up. ¡® ¡®No kidding,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®Yeah. Retellings tend to make these stories¡­ more¡­ uh¡­ less¡­ rapey.¡¯ ¡®I can imagine. Though it makes me wonder¡­ how was the story of the Admiral changed?¡¯ ¡®Yeah. Probably your parents wouldn''t give you the brutal version, assuming they knew it. Still¡­ I kinda want to get to the bottom of this one.¡¯ My ears perked up hearing that. ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ ¡®We have two¡­ very similar stories. At least on the surface. The travels of Odysseus have been fully mapped. Ithaca is a real island. So¡­ I wonder if a similar record exists for the Admiral.¡¯ My heart skipped a beat. Could it be¡­? ¡®You want to look for the Necromancer¡¯s Island?¡¯ I asked, feeling excited. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Lilyth smiled and caressed my cheek. ¡®Even if its location is known I still want to figure out the connection between the Admiral and Odysseus.¡¯ ¡®You have no idea how much I love you right now,¡¯ I said genuinely giddy. ¡®I always dreamed that after becoming a Seeker I would find some legendary location. So this will be a wish come true!¡¯ Lilyth leaned down and I kissed her. ¡®We¡¯ll need to get the others on board,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Plus this likely won¡¯t be cheap. But hey¡­ it is something to work towards.¡¯ ¡®So what¡­ we check in on Ren¡¯s mom and make our way to the coast?¡¯ I asked. Lilyth shook her head. ¡®We should first find a large town or a city and look for an as detailed as possible written account of that story. For one, we need to know which coast to head to.¡¯ ¡®I guess it would suck to go to a porttown only to discover it was the wrong one,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®I guess we should also find some paying work and a place to stay for a while.¡¯ ¡®That too,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®I have no idea what we could do to earn money though.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll figure something out,¡¯ I said with more confidence in my voice than I felt. We first brought up the possibility with Caei when we went to sleep later that evening. Initially, she didn''t seem particularly excited about the prospect of taking to the seas but said that the idea of potentially finding some secret knowledge there did seem intriguing. ¡®Won¡¯t it all be necromancy, though?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Could also be alchemy, like the journals you found from this Rivard guy,¡¯ Caei explained. ¡®And it is possible that there will be other magic there.¡¯ ¡®Sounds good,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Could be some wicked Umbral arcana spells. Or Life¡­ I guess.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Not gonna turn down an opportunity to potentially study ancient magic.¡¯ ¡®Yay,¡¯ I hugged her tightly. ¡®Thankyouthankyouthankyou.¡¯ She hugged me back and kissed me. ¡®How about the three of us go for a late-night walk?¡¯ Caei suggested with a wink. And that was all the convincing we needed for that trip. Chapter 85 - Vacations End In the morning we brought the journey up with Savri and Ren. ¡®Wait¡­¡¯ Savri said, mildly amused, after we finished. ¡®¡®Is your honeymoon idea seriously looking for a haunted island?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ You can¡¯t spell necromancer without ROMANCE,¡¯ Lilyth replied deadpan. That made us all laugh. ¡®Normally, I would call you mad but given the Odysseus connection Lilyth brought up¡­ I am more than a little curious,¡¯ Sav continued. ¡®I had only fairly minimal connection with ancient human culture in the other world so I probably wouldn''t have caught it¡­ but it does seem worth investigating. It also confirms one thing. The universe I was in¡­ appears to be some variant of the universe your Terra is from.¡¯ ¡®So this time, I was the one quicker on the uptake,¡¯ Lilyth said, proudly. ¡®You mentioned Paul and Serge. Those are Terran names.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ ¡®Wait¡­¡¯ Caei butted in. ¡®Why aren¡¯t you¡­ more¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ excited about that?¡¯ ¡®Why would I be?¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. ¡®It¡¯s not my Earth. It is A variant, but I have no idea whether the only difference in 2024 is the presence of magic OR if me and my family never existed. So it might as well not be there as far as I care. Plus, well¡­ even if it was exactly the same, I have you and Aki now.¡¯ Veenaya let out an impatient arf. ¡®And Veenaya, of course,¡¯ she corrected herself. The lumizu started purring and rubbing itself against Lilyth¡¯s leg. My wife picked her up and hugged her, bringing an expression of pure joy to Veenaya¡¯s face. How smart is she exactly? ¡®At any rate, I¡¯m in,¡¯ Savri said, bringing us back to the topic at hand. ¡®Might be some clue there on how to get back home. So¡­ Together till the end.¡¯ We looked at Ren. ¡®I owe you guys my life¡­¡¯ she began and then choked up. ¡®But¡­ it¡¯s not easy¡­ t-to¡­¡¯ ¡®We know¡­¡¯ I said. ¡®Still¡­¡¯ she continued. ¡®Maybe¡­ t-this¡­ is wh-... What¡­ what I need¡­¡¯ Ren paused for a moment to steel herself for what she was about to say. ¡®Together till the end,¡¯ she pronounced, officially becoming one of us at that moment. Veenaya let out a happy arf. ¡®Wanna go see a spooky island too, eh?¡¯ Lilyth asked her. The lumizu responded with another arf, nuzzled against her and started purring again. ¡®Did you just communicate with her?¡¯ Ren asked, very confused. ¡®I have no idea,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I used to talk with my cat. Argue too. She would win most of the time. I never quite figured out whether she actually understood me or just reacted to external stimuli. In any case, animals are hella smart in their own way, so I wouldn''t put it past a magical one to be sentient to some extent.¡¯ Veenaya arfed in a ponderous way. ¡®See?¡¯ From their end, Savri and Ren were able to provide us with some details about our quest. The demoness said that even before she ended up in the other world she did hear about some expeditions to find the island, but a lot of those never returned. Ren confirmed no one had found the island in the meantime, at least to her knowledge. There was a book on mythology in the estate, though, which gave us an extra incentive to go there. Ren also said she would be able to provide us with some starter capital as she did have some money stashed away there. Most of her funds were in Tyr-Mel, however. Still, between what we had now and what she could get for us, we would end up having over ten thousand Divines, which was a fortune. More if her mom chipped in. ¡®Still likely far short of what we¡¯ll need,¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®That¡¯s what¡­ ten weeks of food and board?¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­ we likely need five times as much¡­ for starters¡­¡¯ Sav said. ¡®What memories I have from my other self that relate to sea travel¡­ hiring a ship ain¡¯t cheap.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think we are in the market for hiring here¡­¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®Remember, our little adventure has a reputation of being a one-way trip. No sane ship owner will help us with this.¡¯ ¡®So¡­ buy a ship and find someone crazy enough to sail it for us?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Seems like it.¡¯ Ren answered. ¡®The last one might be easy,¡¯ Caei mused. ¡®We can probably arrange this through the Seekers?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ve got a plan, then,¡¯ Lilyth beamed. ¡®Now, let¡¯s go see Ren¡¯s mom!¡¯ It was late evening by the time we got to the shores of Lake Heligst. The sun had almost set and, since it would still take us a few hours to get to the estate, we decided to spend the night in the woods and head there in the morning. Understandably, Ren was less than pleased with this but conceded that force marching there while it was dark was probably a bad idea, as the situation was further complicated by the fact that of us five only Lilyth and Caei could see in the dark. Ren had some vesteejel [Darksight], as Lil described it, thanks to her harpy heritage, but it wouldn''t be of much help. As such, we would need to rely on my [Abyssal Spark] to see, which in turn would likely alert any potential enemies we were coming. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡®I¡¯m just worried sick about my mom,¡¯ Ren sighed sadly. ¡®We understand,¡¯ I smiled sadly. ¡®If it was my mom, I would also want to get there immediately. We just have to pray nothing happens there until tomorrow.¡¯ Caei found me as I was playing with Veenaya. Lilyth mentioned a game called fetch during our rests today and our Lumizu just loved it. Who could have suspected that throwing a stick could bring something this much joy? There was clearly something on my wife¡¯s mind so, to Veenaya¡¯s immense displeasure, I paused the game. I indicated to the ground and we sat against a tree close to each other, with our lumizu rolling into a ball next to Caeileera. Calling me a traitor, eh? ¡®I wanted to thank you, you know,¡¯ Caei began, her voice breaking slightly. ¡®F-for everything. For including me in your life. For choosing to stay with me despite¡­ Ren.¡¯ I hugged her. ¡®There is nothing to thank me for, Caei. I care for you. Lilyth does too.¡¯ ¡®I know¡­ it¡¯s just¡­¡¯ I kissed her. ¡®There is no just,¡¯ I stressed. ¡®We want you in our lives. Never doubt that.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she whimpered. ¡®Did you know that before you two I¡­ ¡°me¡± I¡­ was never in a relationship? All I had connecting me with other people was sex. I enjoyed it. I still do¡­ but¡­ it feels shallow now.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s how your people are, isn''t it?¡¯ ¡®Yes. I think The Blood wants us to be¡­ like that. It is easier to control people when they can¡¯t form bonds.¡¯ ¡®You are out of there now.¡¯ ¡®Yes. Thanks to the two of you.¡¯ ¡®Thanks to Lilyth, more like,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®I distinctly remember us coming to blows¡­ skank.¡¯ ¡®That we did¡­ pipsqueak,¡¯ she joked back. I took her hand in my artificial one. I never could quite get used to the slight differences in touch between that one and my flesh and blood one. Still¡­ being able to feel the warmth of Caeileera''s body with it¡­ was enough. ¡®We¡¯ve come a long way since then,¡¯ I smiled. ¡®I think I can now freely say¡­ the day I got to meet you and Lilyth¡­ that was the best day of my life.¡¯ ¡®Mine too.¡¯ Caei took a deep breath. ¡®What I want to say¡­ is that I love you, Aki. I love Lilyth too.¡¯ ¡®And I love you too, Caei,¡¯ I confessed. ¡®No matter what.¡¯ We embraced. ¡®But not like, Lilyth,¡¯ she said without a hint of bitterness in her voice. ¡®No,¡¯ I admitted. ¡®I¡­¡¯ This time Caeileera was the one to interrupt me with a kiss. ¡®It¡¯s okay. I just wanted to clear the air about that. You can''t help the way you feel.¡¯ ¡®I hope one day I will share as strong a bond with you, as I do with her.¡¯ ¡®And we will. In our own way.¡¯ We kissed again and after we parted Veenaya chose to remind us that she was there with a happy arf. We looked at her suspiciously with Caei. The lumizu with a happy expression on its face began to nuzzle against us and purr. ¡®Yeah¡­ she definitely knows what is happening,¡¯ Caei said. Veenaya arfed doing her best to look completely innocent. Since we were near a ¡°potentially hostile area¡±, as Savri aptly described it, we decided to set up watches again, rather than just relying on the [Ward] spell. So it fell to Caei to wake us up at around three in the morning. ¡®Guys!¡¯ she half-whispered, half-shouted. ¡®Wake up!¡¯ The sky was cloudless and the moon was out so I could see the expression of worry on her face. ¡®What¡¯s happening?¡¯ I heard Sav say, while sleep was still trying to reclaim me. ¡®Lights on the lake,¡¯ my wife explained. That was enough for Lilyth who disentangled herself from my arms and sat up. ¡®Pretty unusual time for a boat ride,¡¯ she muttered groggily. ¡®Thanks, Captain Obvious,¡¯ Savri grumbled, as she was gathering her things. ¡®That¡¯s Paladin Obvious, Master Sergeant,¡¯ Lilyth laughed. Savri muttered something I couldn''t quite hear, though my wife clearly could as she responded. ¡®Even with me being a shapeshifter I don¡¯t think that one is quite possible, Sav.¡¯ ¡®Bite me¡­¡¯ ¡®Sorry, happily married.¡¯ Savri huffed in exasperation and started heading towards the lake. I slowly began to gather myself too. The last to rouse was Ren, likely due to her being unused to this kind of life. Then again, she did travel. Maybe they just didn''t set up watches. It¡¯s not like either version of me didn''t sleep on the road alone before meeting Lilyth. When our new friend realised what was happening she jumped up as if she was on fire. ¡®I gather from this reaction that late-night water traffic is, indeed, unusual here,¡¯ Lilyth said while stretching. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Ren answered grimly. ¡®Few are brave enough to sail on the river at night, lights or not.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s grab our things then,¡¯ I ordered my friends. ¡®I think we need to get moving.¡¯ After a few moments, we joined Caei and Savri observing the lake. There were eight lights visible in the distance. From our perspective, four of them formed a cross that was flanked by two lines of two lights each. ¡®Three boats, I think?¡¯ Savri observed. ¡®The four lights are a large one and the remainder are probably smaller escort vessels.¡¯ ¡®I think you are right,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Not very stealthy buggers, now are they?¡¯ ¡®Assuming it is them,¡¯ Caei pondered. ¡®Maybe we are jumping to conclusions here.¡¯ She looked at Ren who shook her head. ¡®Like I said, we don''t move cargo on the river on our own.¡¯ ¡®I can¡¯t think of a different reason why you would be sailing in formation at this time of night, then,¡¯ Sav sighed. ¡®River patrol?¡¯ I weakly suggested. ¡®No,¡¯ Ren shook her head. ¡®It¡¯s them.¡¯ There was a dreadful finality to that statement. Our brief vacation was over. The time to fight had come again. Chapter 86 - The Slow and Insidious Killer Aki The beginning of our journey was painfully slow. We didn''t dare use any light source so Caei and Lilyth had to lead us almost by hand. Still, I had tripped and fallen on more occasions than I would have liked. Our two resident healers refused to use any healing spells because of the green light they emitted, so by the time we could see I was hurting all over my body and could feel a wet trickle of blood from a gash on my forehead, I got when a branch got entangled in my horns. Stupid lack of [Darksight], I thought for probably the hundredth time that night. But, finally, after three hours the blessed dawn came at last. During our trek we did our best to follow the ship lights, only losing sight of them when the foliage was too thick, though it was easy enough to find them again once we had a clear enough view of the lake again. In a hushed voice, Ren confirmed that best she could tell they were headed in the rough direction of where her mom¡¯s estate was. They were, obviously, much faster than us, so they reached their destination first. So for a while, we got to watch the boats be stationary with some lights bustling around them. More torches? Then all the lights, except those on the boats, got extinguished and the vessels began to head back. Interesting. ¡®Late-night delivery?¡¯ Lilyth whispered. ¡®Looks like it,¡¯ Sav agreed. ¡®Of what though?¡¯ ¡®Soldiers?¡¯ Ren asked with worry in her voice. ¡®Would be more stealthy, I imagine,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®The boats wouldn''t almost immediately head back, either,¡¯ Savri added. ¡®Unless they have a pre-determined pick-up time, which wouldn''t make sense during an open land attack. Like¡­ what¡­ is Ren¡¯s mom going to radio in for air support?¡¯ ¡®My mom can fly, you know,¡¯ Ren said sourly. ¡®But¡­ I think you are right. There isn''t much in terms of defences there and with three guards¡­ you wouldn''t need that much effort to conquer the place.¡¯ She sounded like she wanted to cry, but then something seemed to have occurred to her. ¡®They left too quickly!¡¯ There was a clear relief in her voice. ¡®The boats were there for what¡­ thirty-forty minutes?¡¯ ¡®More or less,¡¯ I confirmed. ¡®It¡¯s a fifteen-minute walk from the house to Mer-Cas - The small fishing village at the shore. The best I can tell they landed further down the shore. So it would take them half an hour maybe to get to the estate?¡¯ ¡®So unless they are doing some pointless commando bullshit¡­ that either wasn''t them after all OR something else is happening,¡¯ Sav sighed. ¡®Fuckery doth be afoot, I think,¡¯ ¡°Guess who¡± said. ¡®We¡¯d better hurry to the estate.¡¯ After what happened with the Sun and Lady Madness, Lilyth swore less than she used to, so it felt weirdly comforting to hear her do it again. I associated that with her being determined and confident. It took us two more hours to get within visual distance of Mer-Cas. The village was nothing like Pik-Cas or Len-Cas. It looked actually well-off with lime-covered brick houses with thatched roofs. I guess the nearness to the Yamaoka estate paid off for them. ¡®I suggest we scout the village out,¡¯ I said and then sighed. ¡®Lilyth¡­ I hate to ask this of you, but can you go in there in your elf form? I think you are the only one of us that won¡¯t immediately stand out. My wife nodded without hesitation. ¡®As my Dark Lady commands.¡¯ Lilyth The village fucking reeked of fish. It wasn¡¯t nearly as pungent as the other two shitholes, but sweet Jesus. I didn''t bring that one up to my friends and wives before, but my sense of smell was also quite keen in this body. Coming from one where it was mostly gone due to damage my allergies inflicted on it¡­ it was pretty unbearable. But, alas, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Mer-Cas looked to have maybe a hundred people living it, and they seemed to be reasonably well-off. I could also see that there was a slightly different fashion here than in the rest of Ror-Bhyk. Instead of it just being what could be generously collectively described as ¡°mediaeval peasant garb¡±, I could see some people, likely the village ¡°upper classes¡± wearing waistcoats, breaches and other fairly luxurious clothing articles. Both the massive wealth disparity AND the odd mix felt pretty bizarre, but then again it explains why no one batted an eye on our merry band of misfits having someone dressed like a sultry sorceress and another person looking like a cyberpunk cop. I didn''t see any obvious ¡°pump me for information¡± people, but on the flip side, nothing seemed off either. I was worried that even despite me looking like a regular if pale elf, I would still cause some commotion, but no. People didn''t spare me a second glance. I then remembered that the Yamaoka family was almost all elves, so probably a lot of my ¡°kin¡± passed through here. I settled on approaching a bald old man sitting on the porch of his house in a rocking chair and smoking a pipe. There was a certain sharpness to his brown eyes, which was further accentuated by his aquiline features. ¡®Hey there, old timer,¡¯ I began with a friendly wave. ¡®Hello there, lassie,¡¯ he responded. ¡®Haven¡¯t seen you around.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m just a traveller. I heard in Ror-Bhyk there was a village here, so I figured I might stop here for supplies.¡¯ That story wasn¡¯t my invention - Ren and Savri established it and in my most humblest of opinions it fucking sucked. The man frowned. ¡®Gonna have to disappoint you there,¡¯ he sighed. ¡®We don¡¯t do much in terms of trading. All of our excess food is bought by the estate. They are giving us good money and not enough outsiders show up here to warrant setting something aside for you.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s a shame. So I will need to head to Lin-Vyme to stock up then. ¡®Unfortunately. If you are hungry you can check Aldvil¡¯s inn.¡¯ The old man pointed to a prominent wide building and continued: ¡®He should be able to fix you a meal. Maybe even make you a packed lunch, but not much more.¡¯ I was getting hungry so maybe a breakfast wouldn''t be that bad an idea. Assuming, it wasn''t smelly fucking fish. I always had this thing where I could only eat food that smelled well because I associated taste with smell. So I¡¯d rather eat fucking grass than the local fish, which was something I could unironically do now. I would need to test this someday. Likewise, I had this sneaking suspicion I could just push food into, say, my arm and digest it that way. Another field for experimentation. I thanked the old man and made my way towards the inn. Even if they didn''t have anything remotely palatable, maybe I could learn more information there. The need for information became even more pressing when I noticed two gentlemen in familiar-looking blue brigandines standing behind one of the houses. Didn''t the chucklefuck in the red mask wear one of these? Friends of his, maybe? The assassins wore blue too, didn''t they? I sense a connection. I also had a hazy memory of the Temple Dragoons wearing blue, so it made me wonder whether there was some connection there as well or whether there was some weird cultural thing present here that warriors should wear blue. But that was a mystery for another day. Right then I had bigger worries, like the Red Masks in the village. As I walked, I did my best to look inconspicuous as I slowly scanned my surroundings. It soon became very obvious to me that someone was following me from some distance. While they could have also been headed to the inn¡­ their footsteps seemed to be fairly heavy and there was a faint metallic jingle to them. It made me wary. While I had my sword on me and could summon my daggers I had a feeling a group of men-at-arms who were on to me would be a much more difficult enemy to solo than a bunch of assassins I took by surprise. Then again¡­ why would they be sus of me? Chances the word of what happened in Len-Cas spreading here this quickly and it being associated with me are non-existent. The chucklefuck we met was a slaver though¡­ Well¡­ I¡¯d like to see them try. The inn was completely empty of other patrons when I entered it. Its interior reminded me of a mediaeval version of a roadside diner I saw in many movies as there was a single long table in the open space, as well as two booths with wooden benches and smaller tables inside. The only people inside were the innkeeper and, I guessed, his wife. The man was a short and jovial-looking middle-aged man with a prominent bald spot. What hair remained on his temples was completely grey. His wife was younger than him being, best I could tell, in her mid-thirties, and at least a head taller than him. Her mousy blonde hair was tied into a ponytail. Both of them had blue eyes and wore simple, but well-tended clothes and white aprons. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The short king and the tall queen, eh? The couple was standing behind a counter with multiple stools in front of it. They waved to me with friendly smiles, so I approached them and sat on one of the seats. ¡®Morning, lass,¡¯ the man - Aldvil said. ¡®Haven¡¯t seen you around.¡¯ ¡®Just got here a few minutes ago,¡¯ I smiled. ¡®We usually don¡¯t get many visitors here, so any unfamiliar face is always welcome here,¡¯ he grinned. I noticed he was missing one of his upper lateral incisors and was really overdue a visit to a dentist, but it kind of only added to his charm. ¡®What Aldie means is that your money is always welcome here,¡¯ his wife added with a mock chiding. ¡®Though it is indeed nice to see someone new. I¡¯m Gerra and this is Aldvil by the way.¡¯ ¡®Sindara,¡¯ I responded using my alias. ¡®Nice to meet you.¡¯ ¡®The pleasure is all ours, lass,¡¯ Aldvil said. ¡®So what can we get you?¡¯ ¡®Some food and water would be nice,¡¯ I replied. ¡®Whatchu got?¡¯ ¡®We can get you some warm porridge, bread and cheese.¡¯ Gerra said. ¡®Sounds good! How much?¡¯ ¡®Gonna be twenty divines.¡¯ Aldvil smiled. That sounded like a bit of a highway robbery, and judging by his wife¡¯s expression it was, but then again I couldn''t blame them for trying to fleece a traveller, now could I? Like that was a standard practice all over the multiverse it seems. I put the requisite sum on the counter, Aldvil pocketed it and Gerra went to prepare my meal. ¡®Is it normal to see this many armed men around?¡¯ I asked while we were waiting. ¡®No,¡¯ Aldvil shook his head. ¡®When lord Kenji arrives there is his personal guard around but they tend to keep to the estate. These men arrived with Lord Kojiro this morning.¡¯ Isn''t that Ren¡¯s monster of a brother? Well¡­ fuck. This is bad. I did my best to keep my face expressionless. ¡®Heard about him, eh?¡¯ the innkeeper noted. Fuck. ¡®I¡¯ve come here from Ror-Bhyk. I heard mentions of him once or twice.¡¯ ¡®I understand. Lord Kojiro has a¡­ reputation, so I guess that''s no big surprise.¡¯ There was intense disgust on the innkeeper¡¯s face. ¡®You¡¯d do best to steer clear of him, lassie,¡¯ Aldvil continued. ¡®A pretty young lady like you has no business meeting him.¡¯ ¡®I am not as young as I appear to be,¡¯ I said with a weary smile, ¡®But I appreciate both the compliment and the warning.¡¯ ¡®My pleasure, lassie,¡¯ the innkeeper smiled. As we briefly stayed silent I noticed that my tail hadn¡¯t entered the inn so far. Was I wrong about him? No. There¡­ at the very edge of my hearing¡­ I could hear someone breathing just beyond the entrance to the inn. Listening in on us, eh chucklefuck? I wasn¡¯t terribly concerned about my own safety, since, in the end, I could probably take three men. In a fight. The innkeeper, though¡­ He already shat on Kojiro. Best not to make him say things he might regret in the future. That also meant that what was likely the best source of information became useless, but Kojiro¡¯s sudden arrival¡­ it was enough to make me seriously worry about what was about to happen in this area. At any rate, the rest of my conversation with Aldvil was on various light subjects, mostly surrounding the village. I did confirm the main industry here was fishing, but there were also some fields and animal farms here that provided produce and meat, though both mostly happened on the lands belonging to the Yamaokas. After a few minutes, Gerra returned and brought me my food and water on a wooden platter. I thanked her and took it to one of the tables inside the booth. There was a semi-pleasant fish smell to the porridge, but fucking hell did the taste not reflect that. It was somehow both tasteless and had this bitter oily aftertaste to it. I wasn¡¯t the world''s best cook, but Sweet Jesus I couldn''t make something this bad if I tried. Dipping bread into that unholy abomination of a dish did help a little because the bread had an actual taste to it and killed the oiliness. No wonder the girls orgasmed about Earth food. Spending your entire life eating this bullshit is a fate worse than death. As I was drowning in food-related misery my tail finally mustered up the courage and entered. Like the other two bozos, he wore a blue brigandine. He had short, cropped bronze hair, green eyes and a neatly trimmed beard. Aldvil threw him a wary look, but the man just patted the sword on his belt. He went straight to my table and sat opposite me. ¡®Sorry¡­ these seats are taken,¡¯ I said, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. ¡®By whom?¡¯ ¡®Someone called ¡°Not you¡±.¡¯ An angry look crossed his face but was quickly replaced with a pleasant smile. ¡®I understand,¡¯ he said in an even tone. ¡®May I just trouble you for a moment of your time?¡¯ ¡®And if I say no?¡¯ He patted his sword and answered in the same tone: ¡®I will have to insist, then,¡¯ ¡®I have one of these too,¡¯ I pointed to the Blade of the Black Rose which I lay next to me on the bench after I sat down. ¡®Mine¡¯s longer.¡¯ ¡®But combat is such a risky endeavour. Wouldn''t you want to talk instead?¡¯ ¡®If I agree, will you fuck off and let me eat in peace after we are done?¡¯ ¡®Depending on the results, but you have my promise that if we fail to reach a desirable outcome¡­ I will leave you be.¡¯ Desirable for whom, chucklefuck?¡¯ ¡®Very well, then.¡¯ I sighed. ¡®Speak.¡¯ ¡®Allow me to introduce myself first,¡¯ the chucklefuck began. ¡®My name is Xyrus and I represent the interests of Lord Kojiro Yamaoka.¡¯ He extended his hand just over my bowl of porridge and I not so much saw, as felt tiny particles falling from his sleeve into the bowl. Seriously? Trying to roofie me? Well¡­ A for effort I guess. Assuming it would have no effect on me, I decided to pretend I didn''t notice anything and just shook his hand. ¡®Sindara,¡¯ I responded curtly. ¡®Mind if I eat while we talk?¡¯ ¡®I was just about to offer that you do that.¡¯ Sure you were, fucker. I took a sip of the porridge and whatever it was that he added, it did improve the taste of the porridge. There was this¡­ faint hint of ginger to it now? ¡®So what it is that you wanted to talk about, Xyrus was it?¡¯ I asked and took a few more spoons of the porridge. ¡®Yes. So¡­ as I understand, you travel alone. I can''t help but point out that the road is a very dangerous place for a lone young woman.¡¯ ¡®Sure¡­ you never quite know who the person you meet on the road is. I appreciate your concern, good ser, but I¡¯ve been fine on my own so far.¡¯ ¡®At some point, you are going to run out of luck. You can''t be alert all the time after all and you have to sleep sometimes.¡¯ ¡®And that is a concern of yours¡­ how exactly?¡¯ ¡®I merely wish to convey the invitation of Lord Yamaoka to you. He has seen you enter the village alone and wonders whether you would be willing to join his entourage for a while.¡¯ ¡®And where are you headed?¡¯ ¡®Lord Yamaoka is currently touring all the houses of his family. I am sure one of those is near your destination.¡¯ ¡®I was planning to leave after this meal, so unless Lord Yamaoka does too¡­ that is going to be a hard no from me.¡¯ The man made a surprised expression. I could see that things were not going according to his script. What the fuck was in that powder? Some shit that makes you more susceptible to suggestions? It shouldn''t affect me because there is nothing to affect but¡­ I am starting to think that I should have been¡­ less cavalier about such things. ¡®I understand,¡¯ Xyrus replied finally. ¡®We all have our schedules. If you change your mind you can find me in the village.¡¯ He gave me a friendly nod and left. Huh? He actually left? What the fuck? I did a quick mental inventory of my body and felt fine. Was I freaking out about nothing? I finished the bread and cheese, not touching the porridge any more. When I was giving the dishes back to Aldvil I suggested: ¡®Maybe pour the porridge out somewhere. I think I saw that man add something to it.¡¯ ¡®Good catch,¡¯ Aldvil said with a dark expression. ¡®If you don¡¯t feel safe I can let you out back.¡¯ ¡®Thank you.¡¯ When I emerged into an empty back alley my relief was almost palpable. I thanked the innkeeper again and went on my way. The good feelings lasted maybe until ten seconds after Aldvil locked the backdoor, as Xyrus rounded the corner and entered the alley. I turned around and saw one of his friends block that way out. Fuck. Fuck. I tried to transform into a kitsune, but to my unpleasant surprise, nothing happened. This cost me precious seconds that allowed Xyrus to close the distance between us. He lunged at me and grabbed my wrists in an iron vice-like grip of one of his hands. He then pushed me onto the wall and blocked my mouth with the other. I tried transforming again but I just felt a massive wall suddenly present between myself and my magic. What the fuck, I thought as panic began setting in. NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo¡­ ¡®Oh¡­ is something not working, Sindara?¡¯ the man smiled coldly. ¡®Or should I say¡­ Lilyth? We know about your tricks so¡­ we took precautions. Fuckfuckfuck I tried kicking him but he effortlessly stopped it with a knee to my stomach. It felt as if he hit me there with a metal bat. I tried struggling some more, but then two more of his buddies emerged from behind the corner. ¡®I am very sorry,¡¯ he said, sounding anything but. He passed me to his two buddies, one of whom immediately gagged me. ¡®Lord Kojiro insisted on meeting you, though I hope he lets us take good care of such a prime piece of ass, as well. And I assure you. You won''t think my sword is too short after we are done. And then¡­ we¡¯ll find and take care of your friends.¡¯ Nooooo¡­. Chapter 87 - The Nightmare Savri Ren¡¯s mother¡¯s house was pretty impressive, looking more like a two-storey plantation house than your usual Ror-Bhyk aesthetic. It was built from polished green bricks, with a temple front supported by seven white-marble columns and a gallery overlooking the courtyard. There were several canvas tents set up in front of the building, and the whole compound was surrounded by a two-metre-tall brick wall. Is the place under military occupation? Are we too late? Her questions were answered by a three-man patrol of men dressed in blue brigandines emerging from behind one of the corners of the fence. One of them was carrying a bolt-action rifle while the other two had swords sheathed on their belts. Them being able to spare even one of these on a patrol is a bad sign. Bolt-action rifles were really expensive, even in the places where they were produced, as rifled barrels were hard to come by in sufficient amounts. By reflex, Savri unholstered her gun. She was fairly certain the men couldn''t see her from her perch in the tree branches¡­ but you don¡¯t survive in special forces without a healthy dose of paranoia. Easier to holster the gun than panic draw it during a fight. They had been waiting for a Lilyth for an hour before Akster asked her to scout out the area. Savri hated sitting around and waiting so she readily accepted the assignment. And truth be told¡­ the former commando was probably the best suited of their little family to do it. Lilyth and Caeileera had all the subtlety of a carrier strike group, Aki was worried sick and had absolutely no experience in scouting missions, and Ren was a level zero pampered gang leader. The girl had potential¡­ but Sav would need to put a lot of work into shaping her into a decent fighter. Her worries, fortunately, were proven wrong and the men simply passed her by, not even sparing a glance in her direction. How do you tell a pro from an amateur? Professionals look up. Deciding she had seen all that she could, Savri waited for the patrol to definitely be out of earshot and started to make her way to the bush thicket the rest of her friends were hidden at, making sure to locate the escape tunnel entrance Ren mentioned. It was pretty well hidden under a large brush so it took her a while to find it. In general, the foliage was fairly sparse in the area surrounding Mer-Cas, so the whole errand took her way over two hours. ¡®Lilyth is not back yet?¡¯ Savri asked when she saw that her friends were even more worried now than when she left them. ¡®No,¡¯ Akster shook her head, looking close to panicking. Sav didn¡¯t blame her one bit. By her estimation, it had been at least three-and-a-half hours since the kitsune left on her scouting mission, and a quick check on the interface said that it was closer to four. ¡®What could be taking her so long?¡¯ ¡®Maybe there were¡­ complications,¡¯ Sav said and told them about the camp and the men she had seen. ¡®Blue brigandines?¡¯ Caei asked to confirm. ¡®Yeees?¡¯ Savri wasn¡¯t sure where the Sanguine was going. ¡®Did they wear red masks by chance?¡¯ Aki squeaked. ¡®No.¡¯ ¡®Wait!¡¯ Ren shouted. ¡®You¡¯ve met a Red Mask?¡¯ Aki relayed to them the story about the bandits they met in the forest shortly after leaving the Tower of Trials. Ren got paler with every word. ¡®You know them, I gather?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®The Red Masks are a recent player in the game. They appeared down South near the Holy City about two years ago and their influence has been spreading like wildfire. They have upset the power balance in many cities, though best I can tell they never outright took over. The Red Masks just want¡­ influence and people. They haven¡¯t been seen this far north, or so I thought until now. I haven''t heard about them moving in force either.¡¯ Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡®And now they have taken over this place,¡¯ Caei muttered. ¡®Assuming it is them.¡¯ ¡®It must be,¡¯ Ren grimaced. ¡®They all wear blue with¡­ well¡­ red masks.¡¯ ¡®The assassins also wore blue,¡¯ Sav noted. ¡®Fuck,¡¯ Caeileera swore. ¡®Ren¡­¡¯ Aki began with a breaking voice. ¡®We need to find Lilyth. I am so sorry, but we cannot¡­ I cannot¡­¡¯ Ren shook her head. ¡®There is nothing to apologise for. Knowing my mom, she would not let me live down abandoning a friend to save her. She would be right too. Lilyth helped save my life and is in danger because of my request too. From a more practical perspective¡­ if the Red Masks are here in force¡­ we need her. They are already occupying our estate, so storming it unprepared won¡¯t help my mom. Aki nodded, relief clear on her face. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she whispered. Aki We entered the village ready to fight, though all we saw were the locals. One of them, a completely bald elderly man called out to us. ¡®Lady Ren! I did not expect to see you too today.¡¯ ¡®Waljey!¡¯ she replied with a wide smile. ¡®It¡¯s been too long. What do you mean by ¡°me too¡±?¡¯ ¡®Your lord brother was here today.¡¯ ¡®Kojiro is here?¡¯ Rennie repeated in a shaky voice. ¡®Yes, my lady,¡¯ the old man confirmed. ¡®Lord Kojiro and his men arrived this morning and I would assume he is with your lady mother right now.¡¯ ¡®No¡­¡¯ Caei whimpered. ¡®No¡­¡¯ A cold pit opened in my stomach. This has gone from bad to worse in an instant. ¡®H-have you seen an elf with a blue streak in her hair this morning?¡¯ Ren asked, trying to regain her composure. ¡®Yes,¡¯ the man nodded. ¡®She said she was looking for supplies and I directed her to Aldvil¡¯s inn. Is she a friend of yours?¡¯ ¡®Yes. Have you seen her afterwards?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ the old man shook his head. ¡®Thank you, Waljey,¡¯ Ren answered and pointed us towards the inn. The innkeeper had even direr news for us. Apparently, Kojiro¡¯s men took interest in Lilyth, or Sindara as he called her using her cover name, and some guy named Xyrus apparently even tried to drug her. Aldvil let Lilyth leave through the back door and didn¡¯t see her again. This was where the trail ran cold. Based on the timeline we could piece together Kojiro¡¯s men left the village shortly after my wife was last seen again. Which left us with one horrible conclusion. ¡®They got her¡­¡¯ Caei cried. Sav readied her gun. ¡®So let¡¯s make them regret that.¡¯ Lilyth I don''t know how much time it took for the Nightmare to end. First, I was brought before Kojiro who informed me that he initially wanted to kill me, but on second thought decided that I would be joining him as his ¡°attendant¡±, instead. I responded by spitting in his face, which was¡­ a mistake. He only laughed, said that ¡°sometimes you just had to break them in¡± and that he ¡°relished the challenge¡±. After he was done he passed me to his men and assured me this would happen whenever I displeased him in some way. I don''t know how many of them there were. I lost count around twenty as I was fairly certain some of them returned for seconds. More than once. The exact number of people did not matter in the end. They were all fucking dead. They f¡­ messed with the wrong woman. Xyrus made sure I remembered every single one of his five goes. His demise would be especially painful. When they were finally done I was dropped naked, in absolute agony and covered in¡­ their¡­ juices¡­ into a tent and bound to a stake so I couldn''t escape. I have no idea what made them stop as I fully checked out at some point as my reality was just an endless barrage of dicks. So when my mind finally reconnected to the real world I realised that in my current state, I had two options. One, since the drugs they gave me, and more were force-fed to me during the Nightmare, made me sleepy, very sleepy, I could just try to sleep it off. The other option was to wait. Not for a rescue. I prayed my friends would stay away. It was enough that I had to go through that. If Aki and Caei¡­ were¡­ next¡­ it would kill me. What I was planning was to wait for the drugs to wear off and start making my escape. Yes¡­ I had to resist the drowsiness. If the drugs wore off while I was asleep¡­ if they came back to give me more¡­ No. No. No. I¡¯d rather die than go through that gauntlet again, a thought that made me realise that if Kojiro came for me to service him again¡­ he would get what he wanted out of that event. I would no longer resist. It wasn''t worth it. So if I wanted to avoid becoming his personal toy¡­ I had to escape or die trying. I was not planning on letting that bastard put his hands on me again. Nope. I never felt more alone than when I was waiting. The drugs even stopped the interface from working so I had no sense of time. All the while, I was assaulted by the memories of my clothes getting torn off, their hands on my body¡­ the feeling of them inside me¡­ the taste of¡­ me being sprayed¡­ nonono. After what seemed like forever the wall inside of my head began to crumble. It took me a moment but eventually, I was able to contract my hands to the point I was able to get out of my bindings. I tried standing up but felt woozy, so I sat back down. After an interminable minute or two more, I was able to, carefully get back on my feet and some time afterwards I tried summoning my knives. This was another mistake though. I felt agony spread through my body and my last thought before I fell unconscious again was: No. No¡­. Chapter 88 - Storming the Estate Aki There was a weird irony in the fact we had to assault Ren''s mom¡¯s house to save Lilyth given that we originally wanted to rescue her so that she would help us in the attack. I would find it amusing if it wasn''t for the fact that it was the woman I loved that I was thinking about. And that¡­ no¡­ I couldn''t think what was likely happening to her right now. I had to focus on ensuring the fu¡­ bastards paid for that. Best not to use that word in this context, nope. ¡®I am still surprised the entrance to this place wasn¡¯t guarded,¡¯ Caei muttered, as we were traversing a tunnel that was meant as an escape route from the estate. ¡®I wouldn''t be so sure,¡¯ Savri whispered back. ¡®It¡¯s just that one exit wasn¡¯t guarded. The other likely is. If there were prisoners inside I would be more concerned about them getting out, rather than people getting in, given how well-hidden that entrance was. It¡¯s an internal security risk too. If there are traitors within your organisation you wouldn''t want them to know where the escape route exit is.¡¯ ¡®I think you are giving Kojiro too much credit here,¡¯ Ren countered. ¡®He¡­¡¯ ¡®It doesn''t matter,¡¯ Savri cut her off. ¡®Good infiltration planning rule? Always plan for the worst-case scenario you can think of. Getting sloppy gets you killed.¡¯ Or worse, I shuddered. Though I suspected this was due to some mistake she had made, I had no intention of ever asking Lilyth about the details of her capture or what happened to her¡­ during it. I brought this up with the rest while we walked to the tunnel and they heartily agreed. It didn''t matter. No mistake ever warranted¡­ that. We mostly walked in silence. Savri walked first, her gun drawn and my [Abyssal Spark] lighting the way. We weren''t terribly concerned with getting spotted down here, given how any likely watchmen would need to have sources of light as well. Of the mortal races only harpies possessed [Darksight] and, per Ren, it would be insanely hard for one to fit inside the tunnel due to their wings. I asked her: ¡®What about your mom, then?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps, I misspoke.¡¯ she corrected herself. ¡®A harpy can enter this place and move back and forth. But any sort of movement that would require agility is right out.¡¯ I couldn''t dispute that. The main reason Sav was leading us was that she could still easily fire her gun in there. Eventually, we reached the exit of the tunnel. It was a door hidden inside an empty wine cask. I ended the spell and after a few tense seconds, Sav managed to get the handle to move and slowly pushed the false ¡°bottom¡± open. ¡®Clear!¡¯ she whispered to us, and we all filed in. I looked around but saw no light beaming in through the slight cracks in the wood. Ren walked up to Savri and guided her hand to the bits she would need to press in order to open the entrance from the inside. After our new friend was safely back with us Savri began to follow her instructions when we heard voices of multiple men getting closer and a light of a torch became visible. ¡®Maan, the ass on that elf,¡¯ one of the men said. ¡®I hope the boss will let us play with her a little more.¡¯ ¡®You and me both¡­¡¯ the other laughed. ¡®Maybe we can get her as a regular service girl.¡¯ They are talking about Lilyth, I realised and rage began building inside of me. I wanted to burst out of the cask and shove those words down their throats along with my swords, but I was stopped by Caei¡¯s trembling hand gripping my shoulder a bit too tight. ¡®Eh¡­¡¯ The first sighed. ¡®It¡¯s probably either the boss or Xyrus that gets her. Like the fucker got so many goes with her, while most of us only went once¡­¡¯ ¡®He did catch her¡­¡¯ By the gods¡­ Then Savri uttered the words that were the music to my ears. ¡®Sorry, guys. Change of plans.¡¯ Savri It was her idea to go in quietly, as she wanted to avoid open confrontation, but hearing what she had just heard¡­ Every single one of them dies. She cast [The Toughness of Rock], followed by [The Swiftness of the Wind] and [The Grace of Water]. ¡®What was that?¡¯ the first dead man asked, likely noticing the cascade of brown, yellow and then blue light beaming out of the cask. Eschewing any form of subtlety, Savri then kicked the false lid open, jumped out and with two clean shots took down the Red Masks. She heard a sword get unsheathed behind her, but a bright flash of red light followed by screams of agony ended that problem. Sav turned around and saw Aki just seething with rage looking down on a badly burned man writhing in pain on the ground. Sav, to the immense displeasure of them all put the man out of his misery. ¡®The longer he screamed, the higher the chance people will hear him,¡¯ she explained. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Aki, very reluctantly, nodded her assent and drew her falchions. ¡®Let¡¯s find the rest of them,¡¯ she said through gritted teeth. ¡®A moment!¡¯ Savri said and quickly checked on her interface what they were dealing with. Level 1 Red Mask has been slain. You have received 100 experience points (200/13500 total experience points progress to level 27) Level 2 Red Mask has been slain. You have received 200 experience points (400/13500 total experience points progress to level 27) Level 1 Red Mask has been slain. You have received 50 experience points (450/13500 total experience points progress to level 27) They were just grunts though. Gods only know what the officers are like. They heard more voices coming from upstairs. ¡®Get ready!¡¯ she shouted. Caeileera The time since Lilyth went missing felt like a bad dream. What we just heard confirmed that it was a nightmare - one that she had to live through. This is why I felt absolutely no remorse as my [Blood Lance] pierced the throat of one of four men who rushed downstairs. Aki took one down with another [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] and Sav shot the third in the face. The final one was surprised by what just happened long enough to allow Aki to descend on him with her falchions. She sunk them into his chest, then ripped out one of them and with a savage slash cut off the man¡¯s head. Good. We ascended the stairs and looked around. We were at the ground floor landing of a staircase. ¡®Let¡¯s split up,¡¯ Savri said. ¡®You guys check the upper floor, Ren and I will search this one.¡¯ ¡®Shouldn¡¯t we stick together?¡¯ I asked. ¡®No. This will allow us to cover more ground. And we don¡¯t have all that much time, I think. Lilyth may be durable, but I am afraid¡­¡¯ She didn''t need to finish. Lilyth could be in a critical condition. ¡®Gotcha. That way we have at least one healer in each group.¡¯ ¡®Indeed.¡¯ We wished each other luck and ascended the stairs. Two more of the sons of bitches were headed our way. Another [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] and [Blood Lance] stopped them in their tracks. We began going through each room. Most of them didn''t contain anything of note: bedrooms, the library Ren mentioned, and a dining room. In one of them¡­ there were corpses of four people in nice-looking clothes, as well as three men in armour. The guards. None of the corpses looked like a harpy, or at least what I assumed to be one. So, hopefully, that meant Ren¡¯s mom was alive. If we were lucky they were keeping both prisoners in the same place. ¡®She¡¯s not here,¡¯ Aki said with some relief. ¡®Let¡¯s keep looking! Hang in there Lilyth! We are coming! Xyrus What the fuck was happening? One moment he was relishing what happened to the elf bitch and the next the house was filled with sounds of fighting and the screams of dying men. His men. ¡®And I believe our short acquaintance will soon come to an end, ¡°Ser¡± Xyrus,¡¯ the harpy bitch said in a mocking tone. ¡®Don¡¯t count on that, birdcunt!¡¯ he shouted back to her as he drew his sword and faced the door. ¡®Do you seriously think you and those two lackeys of yours can stand a chance against whoever just cut his way through the rest of your so-called ¡°men¡±?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ he said curtly, which shut the whore up. Xyrus did feel good about his chances. He was level seven and had [Power Strike] and [The Strength of a Giant] abilities. Those gave him a really good edge in close combat. So when the blue-haired demonborn girl carrying two falchions and the three-horned pale woman with red hair burst into the room he assumed this would be a piece of cake. Then the demonborn shot a red firebolt out of her metallic red hand which impacted Girlen¡¯s head causing it to explode in a spray of boiling blood and tissue. Moments later a crimson lance thrown by the pale woman pierced Dirwi¡¯s chest. Spellcasters, he realised as blood drained from his face. ¡®Ah¡­ you must be the poor elf¡¯s friends,¡¯ the harpy said with satisfaction in her voice. ¡®That¡¯s Xyrus. He brought her here.¡¯ The expression of pure hatred and rage on the women¡¯s faces made him empty his bladder. They know, he realised, but that only strengthened his resolve. He gripped his sword tighter and moved to lunge. Maybe he could just knock them out, bring them b- Xyrus didn''t get to finish that thought, as the demonborn girl shot out another red fireball, which hit him in the right shoulder, blowing the arm clean off and cauterising the wound. What¡­ Before he could react, the girl tackled him to the ground ramming her blades into his stomach and sticking one of her knees into his crotch. As intense pain started spreading throughout his body, the last thing Xyrus saw in the mortal world was the fist of the demonborn¡¯s metal hand descending on his face. Then there was a crunch and he found himself standing on a white disk floating in the infinite nothing. What happened? Am I dead? Xyrus examined himself and saw that all of his wounds were gone. Even his arm was back. Did I dream about losing it? He recalled the pain he felt. No. I don¡¯t think I did. Xyrus looked around, but there was no one around to answer his questions. Then the air in front of him shimmered and a tall and pale white-haired woman materialised. There was nothing but contempt in her blue eyes. With some dread, he realised she wore a dark blue greatcoat and indigo pants. The same clothes the elf wore before we undressed her¡­ but how¡­ ¡®Hello there, Xyrus,¡¯ the woman seethed, interrupting his line of thought. ¡®Let¡¯s have a chat.¡¯ ¡®W-who¡­ who are you?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll get to that. When, a few hours ago you were speaking with Lilyth in the tavern, she told you that you never knew who you met on the road. That wasn¡¯t just an ¡°I don¡¯t trust strangers¡± message. It was a warning. You see¡­ Lilyth is a dangerous woman. And what is worse for you¡­ she has very, and I do mean very, dangerous friends. And I am not talking about the girls who delivered you here.¡¯ Xyrus wanted to respond but the woman approached him, gripped him by the throat, effortlessly lifted him with one hand and began squeezing. ¡®Now that we have established this, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ereshkigal. The woman you have kidnapped and raped is my paladin and, boy, I am going to have so much fun with you.¡¯ Chapter 89 - Rescuing the Rescuers Ren She couldn¡¯t believe the change that happened in her friends. She was furious too, but if yesterday someone told Ren the, seemingly, ever-cheerful Aki would go absolutely berserk, she wouldn¡¯t have believed them. So this is what ¡°together till the end¡± means: a family that takes care of themselves no matter what. And the fact that I know they would do the same for me¡­ I hope I will never prove myself unworthy of that trust and commitment. She looked at Ulrech¡¯s sword. No. This won¡¯t do. ¡®Savri,¡¯ she said. ¡®Follow me. I¡¯ll show you where the armoury is.¡¯ The demon¡¯s orange eyes lit up. The ornate metal door leading to the room was still locked when they got there. Probably, Kojiro didn''t trust his men with the contents. There was quite an arsenal there, as her father spent a small fortune on firearms. Those raping bastards getting their hands on it¡­ Ren shuddered at the mere thought. She took a keyring out of her bag and carefully opened the door. Savri whistled upon seeing the contents: swords of all kinds, rifles, pistols, axes, maces, even a polearm or two. There were also stands with armour, but they didn''t have time to put any on. The one thing that Ren was looking for was a wooden box with golden filigree ornaments showing a harpy hunter. She unlocked it with another key from the ring and opened the lid. Inside there was a well-made black composite recurve bow, a string and a pair of archery gloves. Item: Bow of the Bloody Perch Class: Weapon - Bow - Recurve Bow Rarity: Artisan - Rare Durability: 50/50 She put on the gloves and quickly strung the bow. Then she grabbed a quiver and slung it across her back. ¡®Can I see it?¡¯ Savri, who just helped herself to an arming sword, asked. Ren handed it to her. ¡® ¡®A friend in the Abyss was a good archer,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®Was always more of a sword and gun person, but I always appreciated archery. Seems well-made too.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s a sort of family heirloom,¡¯ Ren explained. ¡®It belonged to my great-great-grandfather from my mom¡¯s side and was passed down the generations. Mom brought it here after she married dad. It was supposed to go to Kojiro, but he never had any interest in archery, so I was trained in using it instead.¡¯ ¡®It will be an honour to fight alongside someone wielding such a storied weapon, then,¡¯ the demoness smiled. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ ¡®I hope you don¡¯t mind me taking this,¡¯ Sav pointed to the sword. ¡®You are helping me retake the place, so, as far as I am concerned, anything you want to take from here is yours.¡¯ ¡®I will put it to good use, I promise.¡¯ There was nothing but cold malice in that statement. Ren could relate. The old clan rite to earn such a bow was to hunt down a monster of some power. There was no better time for her to start using it then. There were plenty of monsters to hunt here. The fact she was such a monster until recently sickened her to no end. It will take me a lot of time to redeem myself. But¡­ this will be a good start. Sounds of shouts and running started coming from the corridor. ¡®More of them. Get ready!¡¯ Ren nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring and held her breath. Two men with swords in their hands burst into the armoury. She hesitated briefly. It¡¯s so much more difficult when it is your hands that need to get dirty. Then the words of one of the men from the wine cellar echoed in her mind. ¡­while most of us only went once¡­ She loosed the arrow. It pierced the man¡¯s chest. Savri disposed of the second one. ¡®Good shooting,¡¯ Savri noted, as she finished off the man Ren shot with a magic bolt from her gun. ¡®Let¡¯s keep going.¡¯ Savri She didn''t want to tell this to Aki and Caeileera, but part of the reason Sav asked them to check the upper floor was that she suspected that Lilyth was either somewhere on the lower one or inside the camp. Nyx damn her, if she was going to let them see her in the state she was likely in. And speaking of¡­ Nyx? ¡®Yes?¡¯ the goddess answered with urgency in her voice. ¡®Did you find her?¡¯ How did you¡­ ¡®The link she had with me went dead a few hours ago¡­¡¯ Oh no¡­ Is she¡­ ¡®No. Not as far as I know. Ere didn''t see her in¡­ her realm.¡¯ Why didn''t you tell us¡­ ¡®I can¡¯t, ¡®Nyx sounded like she was crying. ¡®We can''t show that much preferential treatment to you mortals, even our champions, as it tends to cause far more damage in the long run; or interfere too much because we don¡¯t want to limit your ability to make choices. Do you know how much pain it is to know someone you care for is in danger and you can¡¯t do anything?¡¯ I do. Thank you for your candour. I suspected it was something like that. ¡®D-do you know what happened to her after she went missing?¡¯ Savri gave her the short version. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡®F-find her,¡¯ Nyx said after a long pause, her voice breaking. ¡®And make them pay.¡¯ The last thing Savri heard before the link broke was Nyx¡¯s loud sobs. Lilyth I woke up to the sounds of running around and shouts. What¡¯s going on? I thought groggily. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was still alone in the tent. Then I heard the most unexpected and amazing sound of the day - gunfire. I hope you all die, motherfuckers. I felt much better so I slowly gathered myself up from the ground. I still felt a bit unsteady but regained my balance soon enough. Bracing myself against the pole I was tied to before I tried summoning just Luna. It made me feel slightly woozy but the blade appeared in my hand. The interface was still on the fritz, but now I was armed. Also, I was naked and covered in a crust of¡­ man juices, so the first order of the day would be to find something to cover myself with. Every step hurting me, I slowly crept out of the tent and found myself in the middle of absolute chaos. I was in what looked to be a military camp set up in the courtyard of a¡­ was that a fucking plantation house? It had columns and everything. Why can''t I remember it from when I got here? My memories of the time between my capture and the¡­ Nightmare were hazy to the point of non-existence. I couldn''t even remember what Kojiro looked like. I still remember the feeling of his hands on my body and¡­ other things as he forced himself on me¡­ but not his face¡­ why? Another gunshot brought me back to reality. I shook my head to clear it. There will be time for such mysteries later. I dove into the next tent and saw that it was one of the tents my rapists slept in. I quickly rummaged through it and found a coarse and too-big-on-me white linen shirt. It will have to do, I thought while slipping it on my body. It felt wet and sticky in the few places where the cum of my abusers didn''t dry up yet, but it was the least of my concerns, as I heard more gunfire and what sounded like¡­ magical blasts? By then I felt good enough to summon the second of my knives - Sol. Now, fully armed and emerged from the tent and saw that there was currently a small fire exchange going on in the courtyard. Two rifle-armed men hidden behind a stack of boxes were firing at Savri and Ren, armed with a bow she got¡­ somewhere. The girls were taking cover in the doorway so they couldn''t see three more Red Masks that were slowly creeping towards them hugging the walls of the house, one from the left and the rest from the right. I noticed two more dead bandits lying on the ground in the no-man¡¯s land. I was gripped by intense gratitude and fear. They came for me¡­ still, two against seven weren''t good odds. Let¡¯s even them out a bit. Savri I knew the rifle-holding bastard would be a problem, but there being two of them¡­ She wasn¡¯t sure whether she could take them from that position. Eventually, they would run out of ammo or she would break through their cover, but every second increased the chance of extra Red Masks appearing, which is why the sight of a black-haired figure dressed only in a white shirt slowly limping towards the riflemen brought her hope. Lilyth! I need to get their undivided attention. She cast [Primaeval Shield] on herself, leaned out of cover and fired several shots at the riflemen. One of them managed to fire a potshot at her that impacted the shield with enough impact to shatter it, the resultant shockwave throwing Ren to the floor and mostly obliterating the round. Still, Savri¡¯s attack achieved its intended effect, and the men were too busy hiding from the onslaught to pay attention to much else. She was going to continue attacking when Lilyth''s hoarse shout reached her. ¡®Savri! Flanks!¡¯ Shit! she thought and jumped back barely fast enough to avoid getting her face skewered with a sword thrust. She still felt the sting of a cut on her cheekbone. Fuck! Two men with swords drawn burst into the building. A third one soon appeared behind them. She jumped back again and tried to raise her gun to fire, but the first swordsman knocked it out of her hands with another slash. It was a short-lived triumph, however, as an arrow entered the side of his head and he crumpled to the floor. Savri used the window of time Ren bought her to draw her sword and lunge towards the remaining two men. To her great surprise, the half-harpy joined her, apparently not confident enough to use her bow again. She proved to be a useful distraction, and Savri, being a superior swordswoman, easily dispatched one of the men and together with Ren killed the second. ¡®Fucking hell,¡¯ she swore. ¡®We owe Lilyth big time. Again.¡¯ Sav turned towards the door to go help the slimeling with the other too when they saw some dark shape drop from the sky. Caeileera I had to pull crying and screaming Aki away from Xyrus¡¯s body. She pulverized his skull into a fine paste of viscera and bone and looked like she would just keep going. ¡®It¡¯s okay, Aki,¡¯ I said. ¡®You can stop now. He¡¯s dead.¡¯ I had to resist the urge to spit on his corpse. That seemed to have snapped Aki from the rage-fuelled haze she was in. Her gaze first focused on what was left of Xyrus and then on her blood-covered hands and body. Realising what she had just done, she vomited our meagre breakfast all over her clothes and the floor in front of her. Then she began to wail and cry. ¡®I gather then you are aware¡­¡¯ I had a female voice begin to say, but I cut her off. ¡®Yes.¡¯ I had no issue recognising the woman in the room, as I could clearly see the family resemblance between her and Rennie, though her birdlike features were far more prominent. They had the same pointed ears and black-and-yellow eyes and, of course, the biggest indicator of the origin was her white-and-grey feathered wings, which matched the white colour of her hair, which, just like her daughters, was cut short with long sideburns. Rennie wanting to imitate her mom¡¯s hairstyle was kind of adorable. When she was taunting Xyrus, I noticed that the woman''s fangs were slightly longer than Ren¡¯s, and now I could see that instead of curved fingernails, the woman''s digits ended with actual, though neatly trimmed, claws. Her clothes were far more informal than I would expect from someone at her station, as she wore a simple pair of green shorts and a black short-sleeved shirt. ¡®Thank you for the rescue, my friends. Though I imagine I wasn¡¯t your intended target. I am Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan,¡¯ ¡®Ren¡¯s mom, we know,¡¯ I said wearily. ¡®You know my daughter?¡¯ ¡®Yes. She is here¡­ somewhere along with another friend of ours looking for our elven friend.¡¯ The woman began to cry. ¡®Thank the gods. I was worried that¡­¡¯ She didn''t manage to finish as a gunfight broke out outside. We cowered near the floor level to avoid stray bullets. ¡®I guess that answers the question of where my daughter is,¡¯ Ireela said, barely masking her terror. ¡®She¡¯s with Savri. If anyone can get her through this alive it is her.¡¯ Then I heard the voice that brought back hope to me, even if the message immediately stripped it away. ¡®Savri! Flanks!¡¯ ¡®L-l-lilyth!¡¯ Aki blubbered and then looked at the sorry state she was in. ¡®Pl-please, Caei. I can''t let her see me like¡­ like this.¡¯ Yeah. Time for me to step up. I think it is time to let Aki just be a nineteen-year-old for a while. ¡®Sure thing, honey,¡¯ I reassured her and turned to Ireela. ¡®Could you please take care of my friend while I go help finish this?¡¯ ¡®It will be my pleasure,¡¯ Ireela nodded. ¡®And please¡­ keep my daughter safe.¡¯ ¡®I wouldn''t have it any other way.¡¯ As I exited the room onto the balcony, I heard Ren¡¯s mom tell Aki: ¡®Come, dearie. Let¡¯s get you washed up and changed.¡¯ Outside, I saw my missing wife engaged in hand-to-hand combat against two of the Red Masks armed with rifles. She was losing. Her movements were sluggish and it was clear she was in over her head. I cast [Create Sanguine Weapon] and as a glaive formed inside my hands, I unfurled my wings and dove towards the fight. I ran through one of the men, which gave Lilyth an opening to stab the other into his jugular. The bandit crumpled to the ground, trying in vain to stem the bleeding. I finished him off with a cut from mg glaive. I turned towards Lilyth and immediately saw that she was covered in bruises all over her body. I moved to hug her but she stopped me. ¡®I wouldn''t.¡¯ She indicated to her body and upon a closer look I realised that she was covered in¡­ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ was all that I could say, as I averted my gaze to give her some sense of modesty. ¡®Oh. ¡®she agreed wryly. Chapter 90 - The Hunt for Kojiro ¡®I think it should be somewhere that way?¡¯ Ren said as we looked at the lake¡¯s twisty coastline. We were chasing after Kojiro. We¡¯ve learned from Ireela, ecstatic to see her daughter safe and sound, that the bastard had left the estate shortly after they were done with Lilyth for the morning. The idea of him just using her like that and then discarding like a broken toy¡­ You¡¯ll pay for that, motherfucker. We had a quick debate on what we should do, given how we were two party members short, and it was decided that Lilyth and Aki would remain at the estate under the care of Savri, while Ren and I would try to find her monster of a brother. Ireela was less pleased by that prospect, but we didn''t care about her opinion on the matter. We stopped first at the village to check whether Kojiro passed through there on his way out. As we learned from Aldvil, he hasn''t been seen in Mer-Cas since that morning. He was also very relieved to learn that we found Lilyth alive and said he and his wife would go check up on her later. While in the village, Ren also stopped by the village elder, a man named Baial to arrange some help in clearing bodies from the estate, though I think the news about Ireela''s staff being massacred broke him. Rennie later explained that they were all people from the village, so Baial personally knew every single one of them. Then she whispered that one of the guards was his son-in-law and one of the maids was Waljay¡¯s granddaughter. Ren made sure to deliver that piece of news personally. She tremendously respected the old man and the woman was her childhood friend, so it only felt right that she was the one to deliver the news. Waljay, tearing up, thanked Ren for the news and asked that we make Kojiro suffer for what he did. It struck me then that Jukya, as the girl was called, likely wasn¡¯t just killed by the Red Masks, though I didn''t recall seeing any outward signs of that. Both women there were fully dressed. Maybe she lucked out. That was a fucked-up thing to think about someone who was murdered in cold blood¡­ but¡­ I would take quick and easy over go through what Lilyth did and only then being¡­ Focus, Caei. FUCKING. FOCUS. After delivering the ¡°happy¡± news to the village, and wishing this horrible day was over, we chose to go look for the landing site of the ships we saw in the night. That felt like a lifetime ago now. The wonderful time when one of my wives wasn¡¯t gang-raped and the other a broken and terrified mess. Ah¡­. The wonderful time of¡­ I checked my interface clock. The wonderful time of ten hours ago. I didn''t blame Aki one bit for finally snapping. I was barely holding it together too at that point; if you opened a dictionary on ¡°not fine¡± you would just see a picture of Lilyth there, and I had a very strong suspicion that Savri and Ren weren''t doing all that much better either. We need a fucking break and we need it now. I was really grateful to Nyx and Irmen for convincing us to call the search for Kaede off. Having seen what I had seen in the estate, I was no longer sure whether she was involved in the assassination attempt. It was the only option that made sense¡­ but why would a woman support those people? In either case, fuck that bitch. Later on, when I discussed the subject with Lilyth, she muttered something leperds eating people''s faces, and explained that people supporting groups working against their interest was shockingly common on Terra and that you couldn''t fix stupid. All I can say is that the longer I was away from the bubble that was the society of the Sanguine the more I understood why Lilyth swore so much. It may not have been the best place to live, but it was somewhat predictable. Coming back to our hunt, the shores of the lake were actually pretty woody once you got far enough away from the estate and the village. The path was also pretty uneven and windy, leading to us having issues figuring out where we should go. ¡®How well do you know this area?¡¯ I asked Rennie. ¡®This far from Mer-Cas? Not very. Mom never liked me hanging out here, and I had very little reason to sneak out here. There is nothing here and I never had much interest in boys as you know. Dodged a bullet there, it seems.¡¯ The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡®Believe me,¡¯ I said weakly. ¡®The vast majority of them aren¡¯t even remotely this bad. And sex with them can be fun if they know what they are doing. That being said¡­ I think I am also good on that front after today.¡¯ For that matter, I didn''t feel like having sex at all for the foreseeable future. ¡®It¡¯s surprising to learn you actually like it both ways,¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®Leera has never shown any interest in men, so I assumed you were the same. I guess I now know why¡­¡¯ She laughed bitterly. ¡®You know¡­ I have to keep reminding myself that Leera and I are technically the same person. Whenever you tell me about a habit of hers or something she would do or say, I think to myself ¡°This is what I would do as well.¡± Then it hits me that in this world, I did do it.¡¯ ¡®That must be an insane headspace to be in,¡¯ Rennie smiled weakly. ¡®Though I get it. I cannot decide whether you are the best or the worst thing to have happened to me. Whenever I see you, I have a reminder that the woman I love is gone forever. But¡­ you are the only reason I am still alive and for the first time in a long time, I actually feel good about myself and I get to meet you and y- our friends.¡¯ Happy she is warming up to us. ¡®I am happy we got to meet you. Weirdly, I am very happy Leera is in my head. Because I got to make a new friend. An actual friend. Back home the only people in life were the occasional fuckbuddies, a ¡°brother¡± I hated and well¡­ the horrible monsters we call our brethren.¡¯ ¡®A brother?¡¯ Ren asked, surprised. ¡®I never heard Leera mention any family.¡¯ ¡®Because I don¡¯t¡­ didn''t have any family until recently. Laachersain¡­ well¡­ we came from the same ¡°litter¡± for the lack of a better word. The Blood spawns us as adults in groups of six. Imagine your first memory being emerging completely naked, save for those fucking masks, from a pool of blood, along with five strangers. And this being the Pale Badlands, it only gets worse. So much worse.¡¯ Ren looked queasy. ¡®A pool of blood?¡¯ ¡®Small pond really. There are whole lakes of it in some places, larger than this one.¡¯ I pointed to Lake Heligst. ¡®I heard stories about there being a whole sea of it somewhere, but I never felt like looking for it. No one did.¡¯ ¡®And that answers why Leera never talked about home.¡¯ ¡®It is a sad life that she led, all things considered. First, twenty years in the Badlands, then her exile from there, being Kojiro''s toy¡­ the first time she felt happy in her life was after meeting you. And then she would die because of it.¡¯ I saw that Ren was misting up. ¡®By the gods¡­¡¯ she whispered. ¡®So¡­ in her name¡­ allow me to say this. Thank you, Rennie. Thank you for making the last few years of her life happy.¡¯ That broke the dam, but hey¡­ it was as good a time for a quick rest as any. Note to self: Don¡¯t discuss sensitive subjects while on the job, I thought to myself as we resumed our ¡°hunt¡± five minutes later. Sav would probably never let me live that one down. She¡¯d be right of course. I think I really owe Lilyth an apology. What I did was just as stupid as what she could do. Hell, if Kojiro or his men heard Ren¡¯s crying we¡¯d probably be fu-... scr-... in a very bad situation. Ren did try to suppress it, but good going, Caei! You made a woman some part of you is still deeply in love with cry while you are both in mortal danger and should be as quiet as possible. So we spent the rest of our trek in awkward silence. Neither of us wanted to risk starting another conversation. It was all for nothing, however, as after a few more minutes we saw a large covered boat emerge onto the lake from some hidden spot. We hurried to catch up to it, but we were far too slow. By the time we got out of the trees, the boat was outside the range of my spells. Ren wanted to shoot at it with her bow, but I stopped her. There was no point. Even if she managed to hit the boat, chances were it would only bring down return fire on us. And so we could only watch as the vessel got smaller and smaller. Eventually, I sighed: ¡®Let¡¯s go find where it was docked. Maybe they left some clues there. After a few minutes, we found a small water-filled cave which was converted into a docking bay by building a wooden wharf inside. The only thing we found there was a sealed letter addressed to Rennie. She opened it with shaking hands and got paler with every word she read. Then she turned red and handed the message. I skimmed it over, then crumpled it and set it on fire with [Flame Tongue]. ¡®Don¡¯t let him get to you,¡¯ I told her, utterly without conviction. The message opened a well of fear I never thought existed inside of me. It was the terror that Leera felt whenever she heard Kojiro''s footsteps. The letter read: Ren, Tell Leera and the elf I will be back for them. And then I will make you watch. See you soon, sister, Kojiro Chapter 91 - The Initial Fallout Savri She wasn''t surprised to see Lilyth recoil at her touch when she tried to heal her. They were currently in the bathroom on the upper floor of Ireela¡¯s house. Luckily they managed to locate all of Lilyth''s gear, so she was able to retrieve one of her spare sets of clothes. The one she wore today needed to be thoroughly washed several times before Lilyth would wear them again. The spares were currently waiting for her to finish her, probably very long, shower. Still¡­ she needed medical attention first. ¡®With your permission,¡¯ Savri said softly. Lilyth gritted her teeth and nodded. Sav delicately put the fingers on the back of Lilyth''s hand. Her friend once again tried to retract it but stopped herself and closed her eyes. Sav resumed the contact and with a soft green glow sent healing magic into her friend¡¯s body. All the bruises slowly disappeared and after a short while, no more damage was visible on her body. Next, Savri moved her hand slightly over Lilyth¡¯s womb area. Her friend closed her eyes and gave her a weak nod. Once again Savri touched her as delicately as possible and cast the [Contraception] spell. Just to be sure, she recast it two more times. She knew it was irrational¡­ but, for Lilyth''s sake, she had to make sure absolutely nothing survived. She briefly wondered whether the slimeling could actually get pregnant but then again¡­ with stuff like this Savri took no chances, which, sometime later, Nyx would confirm to have been the right decision as Lilyth could create fully functional analogues of the female reproductive system. She removed her hand and said: ¡®All done.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Lilyth whimpered. ¡®My pleasure. I¡¯ll let you take that shower now.¡¯ Savri turned to leave but was stopped by Lilyth''s hand on her shoulder. ¡®Can you please stay? I don¡¯t want to be alone.¡¯ That broke the wall of Sav¡¯s cold professionalism and tears began to flow down her face. ¡®Sure thing,¡¯ she whispered. ¡®Sure thing.¡¯ Aki I was grateful to Ireela for the fresh clothes she got me. They were actually Ren¡¯s, but our new friend did not mind. She understood. The ones I got from Lady Madness would need washing. This wasn¡¯t strictly necessary due to them being soulbound, but I saw that Lilyth was having similar thoughts about hers. Though her expression implied that burning them was also an option she was seriously considering. They were badly torn and stained¡­ from her ordeal. Hell¡­ even I wanted to burn them. After I got dressed, I remembered having a spare set in my bag, but Rennie told me not to stress it. ¡®We all went through a lot,¡¯ she smiled. ¡®I think we have bigger worries than this.¡¯ Before going to take care of Lilyth, Sav gave me a quick check-up, and declared me in dire need of ¡°a hug¡±, ¡°few weeks of rest¡± and something called terhapi. It sounded like some herb, but I would need to confirm that with her later. Caei was happy to provide me with the first thing on the list. The remaining items would take time, especially with how lonely I felt while one of my wives was receiving medical attention and the other was hunting for a monster. I am not proud to admit that I was praying to all the gods that the hunt would fail. I did not want either Caei or Ren to end up in Kojiro''s hands. So for a while I just sat there with Ren¡¯s mom, watching the men from the village remove the bodies. I wanted to help, but I was told by one of them that it was ¡°not something a young girl should do¡±. Then the families of Ireela''s staff came for the bodies of their loved ones and even watching proved too much. I thought I would never hate anyone more than the Inquisitor¡­ but then Kojiro happened. Both were monsters¡­ but at least Vanek only killed people. A total of twenty-one Red Masks died during the battle. I was told by Ireela that Kojiro also had four lieutenants with him, but the five of them left after they had discarded Lilyth into that tent. That monster had twenty-five other men rape her. By the gods¡­ The more I learned about what Lilyth had been through¡­ the more I hated myself for asking her to¡­ ¡®It¡¯s not your fault,¡¯ I heard Irmen say in a hollow voice, ¡®You couldn''t have known.¡¯ That didn''t stop me from breaking out crying again. It took two hours for Lilyth and Savri to return. We were sitting in the dining room then, unsure what else we could do. I looked Lil up and down and while she did look better, her dead eyes said it was only a superficial improvement. By then Ren and Caeileera also were already back, bringing news about their failure. My wife felt bad because it was her fault that they got away, and I had to do my best not to show how happy I was about that result. I could see something else was really bugging them, but they refused to elaborate. I moved to finally hug my slimy cutie and then something weird happened. Savri raised her hand to stop me but Lilyth shook her head and Savri relented. Lilyth walked up to me and wrapped her hands around me. I reciprocated but I felt my wife tense briefly when my hands touched her body. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she whispered. ¡®Thank you so much.¡¯ Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. She then repeated the procedure with Caei and Ren. From the outside I could see how much discomfort touching us caused her. What have they done to you, my love? ¡®At no point, you should touch her uninvited,¡¯ I heard Savri whisper to me. ¡®In general, give her as much space as she wants. It will likely take a very long time for her to recover.¡¯ Lilyth then turned towards Ren¡¯s mom, who was just sitting there grief-stricken. ¡®I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve been formally introduced. My name is Lilyth.¡¯ ¡®Ireela of the Bloody Perch clan. Let me thank you for saving my daughter''s life.¡¯ ¡®My pleasure, I guess,¡¯ Lilyth said, a bit unsure. ¡®For things that happened here¡­ I can only beg your forgiveness.¡¯ What? ¡®I¡¯m not sure I follow¡­¡¯ Lilyth shared in my confusion. ¡®You are not responsible for your son¡¯s actions and I was here on Rennie''s request, so since I don''t blame her¡­ I can''t blame you.¡¯ ¡®But¡­¡¯ ¡®I will not absolve you of your guilt, Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan,¡¯ Lilyth said in her ¡°paladin voice¡±, though I felt no presence of Ereshkigal this time around. ¡®Nor will I punish you for this.¡¯ ¡®The cruellest of options then.¡¯ Ren¡¯s mom sighed. I offered Lilyth a chair and she sat down. ¡®How are you feeling?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®Fine, I guess. At least as much as I can¡­ given¡­ you know.¡¯ I realised that in the end¡­ I had to know¡­ ¡®How did you¡­¡¯ ¡®I made a mistake and paid a heavy price for it,¡¯ she cut me off and told us about what happened in the tavern. ¡®I think it was Zalikh root,¡¯ ashen-faced Ren said when Lilyth was done. ¡®It blocks you from using magic when ingested. It¡¯s rare and quite pricey¡­ but I guess that wasn¡¯t an issue for my br¡­ Kojiro. Probably, they mixed it with the usual stuff that ensures a woman¡­ won¡¯t resist.¡¯ I felt cold fury rise inside of me once more. Kojiro would burn. ¡®So I was right,¡¯ Lilyth said meekly. ¡®But also horribly wrong. That''s actually a great weight off my chest. Thank you, Rennie.¡¯ ¡®I think it was a stupid risk, but that''s in hindsight, ¡®Sav shook her head. ¡®I don¡¯t blame you one bit. Like¡­ if I knew I was immune to most¡­ normal substances I would have also kept my cover. If anything it would be a good way to surprise your assailant. Truth be told¡­ I wasn''t aware that Zalikh root was a thing. Now that I know¡­ ¡® She shuddered. ¡®I guess sometimes even a seemingly right decision can have horrible consequences.¡¯ Lilyth sighed and began to cry. I felt an urge to go to her side but what Savri said stopped me. But then I saw the pleading in Lilyth''s eyes. I slowly approached her and offered her my hand. She took it and squeezed it tightly. Ren moved up a chair for me and moments later Lilyth was crying into my shoulder while hugging me tightly. Delicately, I wrapped my hands around her. ¡®There there, my love,¡¯ I cooed. ¡®You are safe now. I am not going to let anyone hurt you.¡¯ That only made Lilyth sob harder. Caeileera I never felt more useless than when I saw Aki¡¯s weak attempts at trying to comfort the woman we both loved. I wanted to rush to Lilyth¡¯s side too, but I¡­ couldn¡¯t. Because whenever I tried a new memory of the abuse Leera suffered at that bastard¡¯s hands surfaced. The feelings of intense self-hate, the guilt that she was responsible for what she was going through¡­ what I was going through because of how she¡­ how I am. There was also fear there. Both her and mine. Of what he would do to her if she refused. And now I knew¡­ and the relief I felt that Leera avoided this fate¡­ only filled me with more shame. As did wallowing in self-pity while my wife just¡­ So it was of great relief when eventually after calming down a bit, Lilyth indicated she would let me into her space too. So an hour later three of us were sitting on a couch in the library, Lilyth between me and Aki. Initially, she was very reluctant to come between us and I think she suffered a minor panic attack when we did sit down, as she began hyperventilating, sweating and whimpering. When Aki tried to comfort her, Lilyth batted her hand aside and said: ¡®Please¡­ please don¡¯t touch me¡­¡¯ Her reaction and the utterly anguished expression on Aki¡¯s face would haunt me for weeks to come. So.. we waited until Lilyth calmed down and simply said¡­ ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡­ it¡¯s just¡­ it¡¯s just¡­¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t be,¡¯ Aki interrupted her forcefully. ¡®We can leave you be for a while.¡¯ ¡®Please stay¡­ I don¡¯t want to be alone¡­ I don¡¯t¡­. That''s when the memories¡­ Please don¡¯t leave me¡­¡¯ So we just sat there with her, in awkward silence until Lilyth regained some semblance of composure. She then asked me what I thought was the most difficult question I ever had to answer: ¡®When you called him a ¡°murderous raping bastard¡± before¡­ You meant that he did that to you too, didn''t you? To Leera?¡¯ Aki took a sharp breath of air. ¡®Y-yes¡­¡¯ I weakly stuttered out. ¡®It wasn¡¯t anything like this¡­ but¡­¡¯ Lilyth just wrapped her hands around me and we both cried. ¡®I¡¯ve been wondering, my love,¡¯ Aki began when that particular batch of tears ran out. ¡®Why haven¡¯t you changed into the fox form?¡¯ ¡®I can¡¯t,¡¯ Lilyth sobbed. ¡®I¡¯ve lost all ability to use magic. Even my interface stopped working. Back when I broke out my first attempt to summon my daggers knocked me out¡­ I thought¡­ I thought¡­ then¡­ that was it¡­ I lost¡­ and I would be¡­ his¡­ toy¡­ f-forever¡­But then¡­ wh-when the f-fighting b-broke out I-i mana-managed to d-do it. So¡­ the d-drugs are s-slowly¡­¡¯ I hugged her. Losing actual control over her body¡­ losing her powers¡­ will this Nightmare never end for her? ¡®It will,¡¯ I heard Akh¡¯ret¡¯s gentle voice. ¡®At least this part will, though it will likely be a few days, if not weeks before she can safely use magic again. Zalikh root is a terrible poison for magical creatures, as it disrupts their very self. And she was given a very high dose. A few more in a short time and it¡¯s possible she would have died.¡¯ And just as I thought that I couldn''t hate those people any more than I already did¡­ ¡®Quite. Also, as much as I don¡¯t want to say this, be prepared that some of the damage might be permanent. Both mental and magical.¡¯ I¡­ I suspected as much. Is there anything I can do? ¡®Be with her. Help her and Aki. Though the girl might never admit it, this burden may be too much for her to bear alone.¡¯ Chapter 92 - Ren of the Bloody Perch Clan Ren Her reunion with her mom was much harder than Ren thought it would be. Their first meeting, shortly after the battle for the estate had ended, was a mix of joy and torment. They were very happy to see each other safe, but Ren¡¯s impending hunt for Kojiro soured the mood pretty quickly. While, at that point, Ren felt absolutely nothing about the perspective of confronting her brother, her mom was painfully aware both of what her son did, but also that it basically meant her children would be going to war against each other AND that she would have to choose one of them and still possibly lose both. Ren could clearly see that Ireela wanted to ask that they spare Kojiro and that it was taking every fibre of her being to suppress that. Gods damn you, Kojiro. Her mom¡¯s attempts to mask her relief upon learning about the mission¡¯s failure would almost be comical if not for the grimness of the situation, though her other friends having pretty much the same reaction definitely softened the sting of their failure. Even Lilyth, who had the biggest axe to grind against him, seemed immensely happy that their mission ended without any combat. Then again, the idea we could die, or worse, was probably weighing heavily upon her. Ren wasn¡¯t quite sure what to think of her own involvement in what happened to Lilyth. She didn¡¯t quite buy it that the slimeling didn¡¯t blame her for what happened to her. It was her idea to come here, wasn¡¯t it? If she shut down Caei¡­ Oh right. She would have to blame Caei then too? And Aki for sending her to Mer-Cas? And the girl¡­ Fuck me. Ren could see clearly as day that Aki was deeply infatuated with Lilyth, so she couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine what the poor girl must have felt since they learned of her wife''s capture. Why, brother? Why? Why did you have to do this? One positive that came out of that was that all the conflict Ren felt about cutting off all ties with her father¡¯s side of the family was now over. Experiencing the pain and anguish their victims felt first-hand would do that. What kind of a monster am I? The Yamaokas pride themselves on having ¡°some¡± standards. Like, we are the lesser evil as there are lines we won''t cross¡­ that''s very small comfort to people we deem acceptable targets. ¡°We may have assassinated your kid, but look at the bright side - our brothel workers are there out of their free will¡±. I mean that does make us a ¡°lesser¡± evil, but the bar for that is so low you would need the blessing of R¡¯as-T''uar to dig it out. She felt physically sick whenever she thought about the number of lives she potentially destroyed. The usual bullshit we told ourselves was that we were providing others with services they needed anyway, so why let the others profit from them when it could have been us? It should have been nobody. When I gave the girls the poison example¡­ I neglected to mention that it was me who arranged that. I never thought about who it would be used on. They were buying and I was selling. ¡®I can see I have done you a great disservice, Rennie,¡¯ she suddenly heard her mother say, great pain present in her voice. She was still sitting in the dining room, her face hidden in her hands. Ireela had left with the rest to show them around, and Ren did not notice that her mother was back. ¡®It¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t go willingly into the ¡°family business¡±,¡¯ she sighed back. ¡®Maybe that is true, but I don¡¯t think you fully understood the ramifications.¡¯ Ireela moved a chair next to her and sat down. Ren, completely spent, simply hugged her mom and wept for a moment, while Ireela wrapped her hands around her. ¡®There¡­ there¡­ I would say it¡¯s over, but I would be lying, wouldn''t I?¡¯ Ren simply nodded. ¡®When¡­¡¯ her mother continued and stopped immediately. After a heavy sigh, she continued: ¡® When¡­ you went into the family business, I thought you would be safe thanks to that. That¡­ by putting you in Tyr-Mel, was father was doing you a favour as you wouldn''t be in as much of a spotlight¡­ I should have protested.¡¯ ¡®Here I am now, Mom,¡¯ Ren said gently. ¡®I am out now and never going back.¡¯ Ireela hugged her tighter. ¡®Thank the gods¡­ when Kojiro told me that you were assassinated¡­ I thought my heart would break. That''s how he got in you know¡­By bringing the news about you¡­ Seeing you here now¡­ I am glad that it was a lie.¡¯ Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡®It wasn''t,¡¯ Ren said, sad she would need to break her mother''s heart even more. ¡®Not completely. I almost died in that tavern. If it wasn''t for my friends¡­¡¯ Her mom tensed. ¡®H-how¡­¡¯ she stammered out. ¡®A crossbow bolt into my stomach.¡¯ Ireela moved her hand onto it and felt around. ¡®But you are fine. There is nothing there¡­¡¯ ¡®Savri knows healing magic. She couldn''t save Ulrech though.¡¯ ¡®Oh no¡­ That poor man¡­¡¯ Ren pointed to the sword on her hip. ¡®That¡¯s his. I think his family should get it.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll arrange that,¡¯ her mom nodded. ¡®Along with some stipend for them. The family always takes care of their own.¡¯ ¡®About that¡­ It¡¯s not just the family business I am leaving. It¡¯s the family. I am just Ren now.¡¯ Her mom took in a deep breath and then nodded. ¡®No, Rennie,¡¯ she exhaled. ¡®Not ¡®just Ren¡¯. There is a second family you are a part of by blood. You may no longer view yourself as Ren Yamaoka, but I hope that doesn''t mean you won''t consider being Ren of the Bloody Perch clan.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯d like that, yes.¡¯ Ren visited the clan stronghold a few times and always enjoyed her time there. They were good people, for the most part. Much better than her old family.¡¯ ¡®What about you?¡¯ she asked. ¡®What about dad?¡¯ ¡®Your father and I¡­ haven¡¯t been on best of terms for a long time. Whenever he had to choose between the family business, or me¡­ The former won. Every single time. I still love him¡­ which is why I haven¡¯t left yet¡­ but now that I have to choose between you and him¡­ I choose you.¡¯ Ren hugged her mom tighter. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ ¡®You are all that I have left, Rennie. I have failed you once. I will not do so again.¡¯ Savri came back a few moments later. She dropped into one of the chairs and let out a heavy sigh. ¡®How are they?¡¯ Ren¡¯s mom asked. ¡®I left them in the library on the couch. They are trying to¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ be together, I guess. Probably the best thing they can do for themselves right now. I¡¯ve seen cases like Aki''s before. Ideally, she should see a professional, but since they don¡¯t exist on Dwynveia the next best thing would be a few weeks of rest. Lilyth¡­ fucking hell¡­ there is a lot of damage there. Some of it hasn¡¯t set in yet. I can¡¯t even speculate¡­¡¯ She hid her face inside her hands. ¡®Give me a moment,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®I still need to do a check-up on your mom.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ Ireela said. ¡®They were gentle on me. Probably the last kindness Kojiro offered me.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ okay. Just let me know if you need help. I still have enough mana to heal most wounds.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, but I¡¯m fine.¡¯ ¡®Very well.¡¯ Savri lifted her head and Ren saw smeared blood on her cheek. ¡®Forgot about that,¡¯ the medic sighed and put two fingers on her cheek. There was a flash of green light and the cut disappeared. ¡®Be right back,¡¯ she sighed and went to wash up. When she was back, Ireela asked a question that was bugging her. ¡®Excuse me, but are you THAT Savri?¡¯ ¡®The one and only,¡¯ the demoness chuckled. ¡®Rennie told me that you were the one who healed her after she... Thank you.¡¯ ¡®You have no idea how happy I am that I was able to help SOMEONE these past few days.¡¯ ¡®I can imagine¡­ being a healer must be a difficult calling.¡¯ ¡®It is¡­ The worst cases are the ones where you have to choose. Those¡­ decisions haunt you at night the most. Holding someone¡¯s hand so they don¡¯t die alone, helping victims of atrocities¡­ Those always cost you a piece of your soul. Especially if it''s someone you know¡­ There was this guy in my squad called Frank Ville. He was a real asshole, we would always rib him for it, and, I am ashamed to admit it, but I used to fantasise about throwing him from the air¡­ overboard. Then the Perimedes mission came. Poor Frank got ripped in half by¡­ I guess this doesn''t matter. I was with him to the end. Held him. Assured him it would be fine. All the while feeling horrible about how we treated him. What I wanted to do to him. He was an asshole. But he didn''t deserve that.¡¯ Ren and Ireela covered their mouths in horror. ¡®H-how do you handle this?¡¯ she asked. ¡®I mean¡­ I¡­ wouldn''t¡­ I can''t¡­¡¯ Savri let out a humourless laugh. ¡®Believe me¡­ when the situation calls for it¡­ you can. Never doubt that. And you do it for those you can save. A life you managed to save, outweighs those you couldn''t.¡¯ They sat there for a moment in heavy silence. Ren¡¯s mom finally broke it. ¡®I¡¯ve also been thinking¡­ and decided that this house also now belongs to you and your friends, Savri. As I understand you all need a place to stay, and this doesn''t even begin to cover my debt of gratitude to ¡¯ Ren was shocked by the offer. She was all for it, but¡­ ¡®Won¡¯t Dad mind?¡¯ she asked. ¡®I have no intention of asking him for permission. Chapter 93 - Tears of a Goddess Leaving her mom and Savri to talk, Ren went to take a shower. By the gods, did she ever need one, like she did now. That and a change of clothes. That robe Savri got for her in Len-Cas was both uncomfortable and in dire need of washing after this long on the road. So when she stopped by her room to grab some clothes, Ren was happy to see that her room wasn''t ransacked. She was worried that Kojiro would destroy everything as an extra fuck you against her, but maybe he was too busy murdering the people living here and raping poor Lilyth. The chamber was large and its focal point was a king-size sleigh bed with a really soft mattress and soft green sateen bedclothes. The walls were painted blue and there was a magical chandelier hanging off the ceiling. Other than the room had everything a growing-up girl needed: a wardrobe, a small bookcase, a vanity, and some comfy armchairs. There were also a lot of ¡°Ren touches¡± all over. Her plushie collection, a guitar she tried to learn to play, The painting of the lake some travelling artist gave her as a courting gift. She did not have the heart to turn the man down. The poor soul had spent hours painting that for a woman with a marked lack of interest in men. Luckily, she didn''t have to, as her father found out about that and had one of the guards explain to the artist that Kenji Yamaoka would never let his only daughter marry someone like him. Oh, how she would have loved to shove her marriage to Leera into his face. While she never cared for the artist, ultimately her father had no right to throw him out, so she initially hung that painting just to annoy him. Over the years it grew on her, and whenever she looked at it, she wondered whether the poor man had managed to find a woman who would appreciate him. Not for the first time she found herself wishing him the best of luck and regretting not giving him a chance. Maybe over time, I would have grown to love him. Then again¡­ perhaps his getting thrown out was the best thing that had happened to him given what happened over the past few days. Ren sighed, took out a grey shirt, blue wide-leg pants and a green jacket out of the wardrobe and went to shower. The stream of hot water released all the tension she felt since that crossbow bolt hit her. Ren felt tired. She was so exhausted, in fact, that instead of rejoining her mother and Savri, she went back to her room to lie down for a moment. She missed her bed so much. It was so comfortable. Ren couldn¡¯t relax, however. Her head was still filled with a maelstrom of thoughts about her brother and the battle for the estate. I killed two people today. Why do I feel nothing? Shouldn''t I feel sick? Am I this far gone? Monsters or not¡­ I took their lives. Then again, how different is it from ordering people to make ¡°examples¡±? Those people are just as dead. If anything¡­ Those two men I killed today had far more merciful deaths than the others. Oh, Leera¡­ why did you let me do this to you? Why did I not see the truth until I lost you forever? ¡®Because you are only a mortal, Ren,¡¯ she heard Nyx say. There was a thundercrack and the goddess appeared next to her on the bed. Ren saw that Nyx¡¯s eyes were puffy and her cheeks wet from tears. I guess even a goddess can be affected by an event like this. Ren sat up and offered her a hug. Nyx gladly accepted. There was no flirtiness to it¡­ just a need for comfort. ¡®How is she holding up?¡¯ her patron asked after a few moments. ¡®She¡¯s pretending she¡¯s doing much better than she actually does.¡¯ ¡®I suppose that is on-brand for her,¡¯ Nyx sighed and lay down on the bed. Ren followed her. ¡®Pardon me for asking this, Nyx¡­ but why me? Why not talk with Savri or, well¡­ Lilyth?¡¯ ¡®Lilyth is with Aki and Caeileera. I don¡¯t want to intrude on them. Not yet. Savri needs a drink, while you Rennie¡­ you need a friend.¡¯ The goddess paused for a moment and then sighed. ¡®And so do I.¡¯ ¡®I guess it is hard to have someone you care about go through this.¡¯ ¡®You are right¡­ I really don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t know what to think of all this. Some part of me still can¡¯t believe a champion of mine¡­¡¯ ¡®She can¡¯t be the first¡­¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not that simple. While there is often very little we can do to help you guys in your darkest moments, there is one thing we always do¡­ be with you. And here¡­ I couldn''t. Lilyth had to face this alone.¡¯ ¡®Isn¡¯t that true of most women¡­ in her position?¡¯ ¡®Yes. It pains me that I can¡¯t be with them either. It is the same with you mortals in a way. You can''t save everyone, but if there is one person you can¡­ but some external force prevents you¡­¡¯ The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®I understand. Sorry, I didn''t mean to¡­¡¯ ¡®No problem¡­ These rules we gods have to follow¡­ are weird from a mortal standpoint. But they are there for very good reasons.¡¯ ¡®It is weird to think of a god as powerless.¡¯ ¡®We limit ourselves because we love you, mortals. If we don¡¯t¡­ bad things happen. And¡­ remember when in the tavern you told Lilyth you were never quite sure we were there?¡¯ That''s because we prefer it that way. It lets you maintain your autonomy. There are of course¡­ exceptions, like looting a temple, but those are very few. In a way, my patronage over you was guaranteed the moment Ere, in no uncertain terms, spelled some things to you through Lilyth.¡¯ ¡®Because I learned there were eternal consequences to my actions?¡¯ ¡®Precisely. In a way, Ereshkigal gave you a very strong disincentive for certain activities. Meaning, that your every choice is viewed through the lens of ¡°Will this anger her¡±.¡¯ ¡®So you agreed to guide me¡­¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡®But what about that Innkeeper?¡¯ Nyx laughed. ¡®Oh, him. He can go fuck himself. If there is anything I can''t stomach it is misogynists¡­ people who hate women.¡¯ ¡®I guess my brother is one of them.¡¯ ¡®Yes¡­ so when Lilyth became my champion, or you for that matter, it placed certain obligations on me as a recompense for limiting your choice range. Guiding you is one of them, and so is¡­ making sure you aren''t alone when the worst happens, like what Lilyth had to go through today.¡¯ Nyx began to sob. Ren, unsure what to do, took the goddess''s hand into hers and squeezed it. ¡®Th-thank you,¡¯ Nyxie sniffed. ¡®Like you said, we both needed a friend, and if it is some consolation, I want to thank you for saving me, from both myself and my family. If it wasn''t for you and Ereshkigal¡­ I would eventually become as lost as Kojiro.¡¯ Nyx gave her a tired smile through her tears. They lay in bed for a few more moments and then went to rejoin the others in the dining room. Ireela was surprised by the unexpected guest. ¡®And who might you be?¡¯ she asked. ¡®I didn''t hear you come into the house. ¡®Mom, this is Nyx,¡¯ Ren replied, realising it sounded like she was introducing a fiancee. ¡®Hiya!¡¯ the goddess said with a weak wave. ¡®You may have heard of me under a different name. I used to be called Ter¡¯ius.¡¯ ¡®As in the¡­ the¡­¡¯ Ireela stuttered. ¡®Nyx is my patron deity, mom,¡¯ Ren explained, this time sounding like she was telling her mom she was gay. Seeing her mother''s expression she gave her a very quick version of how this happened. It didn''t help one bit. Ren should have probably skipped the bit about getting contacted by the Dread Queen. And Lilyth being her Paladin. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan,¡¯ Nyx said. ¡®It gets easier with time.¡¯ ¡®I doubt that.¡¯ Then something occurred to her. ¡®How do you know my name?¡¯ ¡®Goddess,¡¯ Nyx smiled. ¡®Right¡­ Sorry.¡¯ ¡®No need to apologise. That''s a lot to process.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s an understatement of the week, I think. Lilyth I think I must have drifted off for a moment, because when I was woken up by the knocking on the library door I found myself lying down on the couch, my head in Aki¡¯s lap. I looked up and saw my wife¡¯s worried face, though my giving her a tired smile turned that frown upside down, as they say it. I can¡¯t make her worry like this anymore. As I slowly got up, I saw Caei walk up to the door and open it. ¡®What¡¯s up?¡¯ she asked. ¡®Someone is here to see Lilyth,¡¯ I heard Savri¡¯s voice. Who¡­ That question was answered when I saw Nyx standing in the corridor. She looked absolutely devastated. ¡®Nyxie!¡¯ I called out to the goddess, as I got up to my feet. Then the most Nyx thing ever happened as she burst into the library and tackle hugged me. ¡®I¡¯m s-so so-so-rry,¡¯ she cried, as my brain tried to process the sudden invasion of my personal space. Her touch didn¡¯t bring discomfort though. If anything, there was a weird feeling of serenity to it. I also felt¡­ a pop in my very essence, for lack of a better term, and I shuddered with something that was a mix of a full-body orgasm and the sensation of an oxygen-starved body being able to finally breathe. ¡®A-are you okay?¡¯ horrified Nyx asked. ¡®Yes,¡¯ I said and reciprocated the hug. She squeezed me tighter. Then she squealed. ¡®My link! My link to you is back!¡¯ I searched inside of me. Yes¡­ there was a faint tug of magic where there was nothing before. I didn¡¯t even realise it was gone. Sweet Ereshkigal¡­ what have they given me? ¡®Poison,¡¯ I heard her sad and gentle voice. ¡®Terrible poison for someone like you.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t actually asking her, but it was comforting to realise she also didn¡¯t abandon me. ¡®I know,¡¯ she said. ¡®And always remember that neither me nor Nyx will ever leave you, my child. Now rest. You will need to be at your full strength for the trials likely yet to come.¡¯ All it takes is all I got. Ereshkigal didn''t respond, but I felt immense regret coming through the link. Chapter 94 - Difficult Questions Lilyth ¡®Thank you for the explanation,¡¯ I told Nyx after she finished apologising profusely for not being with me and not helping me. ¡®But¡­ It was due to factors beyond your control. If I didn''t stupid myself into the situation, you wouldn''t need to help me.¡¯ ¡®You couldn''t have known¡­¡¯ ¡®I forgot this place was nothing like Earth. Making assumptions that it worked the same almost ended with me being Kojiro''s concubine.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not your fault¡­¡¯ ¡®It is, and I hate that all of you are trying to absolve me of it.¡¯ I said the last bit louder than I intended and the looks of hurt on everyone''s faces told me I had said too much, bringing yet more guilt flooding into me. So it came as a surprise when I felt Aki¡¯s hands wrapping around me and her crying. ¡®Don¡¯t say such things, my love. Don¡¯t.¡¯ ¡®Yes, ¡®Nyx agreed. ¡®Aki is right, you know. To put it in terms you will understand: In this body, you could eat a sandwich with rat poison and death cap and wash it down with two litres of battery acid laced with arsenic and all that would happen to you is heartburn.¡¯ ¡®Plus, even if you didn''t eat, there are good chances they would have given it some other way,¡¯ Savri added. ¡®You getting stabbed with a knife covered in that stuff would likely be as bad.¡¯ ¡®Unfortunately true,¡¯ Nyx concluded. ¡®The moment you were spotted, chances are, you weren''t getting out.¡¯ I hid my face in my hands. ¡®Oh, gods¡­¡¯ I whimpered. ¡®Oh, gods¡­¡¯ Caeileera ¡®It will take her a while to forgive herself,¡¯ Savri whispered as we watched Nyx, Aki and Lilyth sit together and cry. I know that I wouldn''t be able to for a while either.¡¯ ¡®Leera always blamed herself whenever Kojiro¡­¡¯ I paused. Savri just shook her head. ¡®You don¡¯t have to finish if you don''t want to. I don¡¯t need to know more than that. Just another reason to kill that bastard. Still, I guess if you need to talk or a drink, I am here.¡¯ ¡®About that¡­¡¯ I told her about the message from Kojiro. Savri got red-faced and let out a long litany of swear words. ¡®Don¡¯t let him get inside of your head,¡¯ she finally said. ¡®And we¡¯ll make sure he can''t get into any other parts of you either. So I guess¡­ we need to figure out our next steps.¡¯ I heard her stomach growl. I then remembered we hadn¡¯t eaten anything since Lilyth¡­ left. Despite all the fear, pain and sorrow I felt, I realised I was hungry too. ¡®Step one: dinner, I guess,¡¯ I chuckled wryly. Nyx treated us to food again, since she was down here anyway. It was something called laza¨½a and it was absolutely delicious. Lilyth remarked it was one of her favourite dishes back on Terra. This brought a faint smile to Nyx¡¯s face, which told me the choice wasn¡¯t an accident. ¡®You¡¯re a Terran?¡¯ Ireela asked. ¡®What I learned from family history here implied to me there were only humans living there.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s a long story¡­¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®I guess we would need to tell you anyway.¡¯ By the time we were done Ireela''s expression said that she regretted asking that question. I lived through most of that and it still felt insane to me. ¡®I guess that at least answers the question I was going to ask about sleeping arrangements. Unless you have some other ideas?¡¯ Aki pointed at Lilyth with a movement of her head. My jellybean thought about it and very reluctantly nodded. ¡®No,¡¯ I finally said to Ireela. ¡®One for us three and one for Savri.¡¯ ¡®Gotcha. Don¡¯t take it the wrong way, but I find the idea of three women being married¡­ a bit too much. At least for today. Not that it is any of my business, or that I should be judging given who I am married to. Tell me though¡­ who actually agreed to do that?¡¯ Nyx gave her a friendly wave and said: ¡®Not an easy day for any of us, though I think that''s all the difficult revelations for today that I know of.¡¯ Nyx was, in fact, wrong. You see¡­ Ren had never told Ireela about her being a lesbian, though this one is on the harpy since she had to ask. ¡®So tell me Rennie¡­ you seeing anyone? Not that I want to pry, but if you have a boyfriend there they may be in danger.¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ Ren shook her head. ¡®I have no one in Tyr-Mel.¡¯ ¡®How come? You are a beautiful girl, surely there must be plenty of men vying for your attention.¡¯ ¡®There were¡­¡¯ ¡®And none of them were good enough? I find that hard to believe¡­¡¯ This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡®I am sure some of them were nice¡­¡¯ ¡®Then why?¡¯ ¡®Because I like girls¡­ mom.¡¯ Perhaps due to it being the sanest thing she had heard the whole day, Ireela took it with grace. ¡®There goes my hope of having grandchildren.¡¯ After the dinner, we said our goodbyes to Nyx, who promised Lilyth she would drop by every now and then to help her get through this, and then it was time to get serious again. ¡®Do we know where Kojiro went?¡¯ Savri asked. The question seemed to be directed at Lilyth and Ireela. My wife simply shook her head and, based on her expression, bit back a nasty response. I could imagine what it was. Ireela on the other hand did have something to contribute. ¡®They didn¡¯t discuss any specifics near me,¡¯ she said, a bit apologetically. ¡®But from what I could overhear Kojiro sounded like he was planning on being back today, or tomorrow at the latest.¡¯ ¡®What gave you the impression?¡¯ I was curious. ¡®He and Xyrus were talking about Lilyth and checking on whether the ¡°lessons sank in¡±.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know what you did to him, sister,¡¯ Savri said, sounding queasy. ¡®But he sounds like a man with a grudge.¡¯ ¡®As I understood his gloating,¡¯ Lilyth responded weakly, ¡®Kojiro is mad at me for saving Ren. Someone must have witnessed the fight in the tavern and given him enough deets to post lookouts.¡¯ ¡®Why would he hate you so much, Rennie?¡¯ Ireela asked, ashen-faced. The answer seemed obvious to me. ¡®It¡¯s because of Leera, isn''t it?¡¯ I asked, feeling dirty. ¡®You took her away from him.¡¯ ¡®If he found out you two were together¡­¡¯ Aki mused. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Savri agreed. ¡®Ren stole what he thought was his property and, in his eyes, made Leera betray him.¡¯ ¡®Which would explain the note,¡¯ I finished before I could catch myself. ¡®What note?¡¯ Aki asked. Fuck. Savri was the only person I told about it. We decided with Rennie to leave this bit out when making our report. ¡®You are not going to like this¡­¡¯ I began, and with a silent nod of approval from Ren, told my friends about the message we got from Kojiro. This, finally, proved too much for Ireela who put her hand on her mouth and bolted towards the toilet, but judging by the sounds in the corridor, didn''t make it that far. Ren ran out to check in on her. She returned a few minutes later. ¡®I took my mom to her room and brought her some of her favourite whiskey,¡¯ she explained, finally breaking the silence that fell upon the room. ¡®I guess I am the lady of the house for now.¡¯ ¡®Is there any militia in the village?¡¯ Sav asked her immediately. ¡®No clue. I could go find out.¡¯ ¡®Please do. I don¡¯t think the five of us will amount to much if more of them come.¡¯ ¡®We did win,¡¯ Aki pointed out. ¡®Against a disorganised enemy who had no idea we were here. That''s over now. I would have died today if it wasn''t for Lilyth of all people.¡¯ My jellybean¡¯s cry of ¡°Savri! Flanks!¡± echoed in my mind. So that was what this was about. Even despite everything, Lilyth still fought along with us. ¡®My plan is as follows,¡¯ Savri continued. ¡®Ren goes to the village and sees about getting us some help. I will go over the things of our friends to see if there is anything of note that would aid us in further planning. Aki and Lilyth, I don¡¯t know, go cuddle or something, just don¡¯t get in my way, and Caei - you keep watch over them.¡¯ ¡®B-but¡­¡¯ Aki began to protest. ¡®Akster¡­ you need rest. Go get it. We don¡¯t know what''s in store for us later today so I need you both to be in as good a shape as you can. SO. GO. GET. SOME. REST.¡¯ There were no further complaints from our end. Sav¡¯s search didn''t amount to much. There were no documents that she could find, but she did find a couple thousand Divines which we decided to divide equally between the families of Ireela''s staff and Lilyth. My jellybean tried to refuse, but Savri''s death glare made her relent. ¡®You are a victim here too, so it¡¯s only right you get recompense,¡¯ she said. On top of that, we gave her Xyrus¡¯s money pouch. Sav led with its origin causing Lilyth to accept it without a word. Ren was more successful. She returned to the mansion with Baial, Aldvil and Gerra. The latter two were ecstatic to see Lilyth okay. ¡®Hey there, lassie,¡¯ the innkeeper smiled. ¡®When your friends came looking for you we got really worried. Then we heard about the battle and now that Renn¡­ I mean Lady Ren¡­¡¯ ¡®Rennie is fine,¡¯ the former crime boss said with a wink. ¡®So when Rennie came down to speak with Baial about the militia, we decided to tag along.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Lilyth muttered. ¡®You have no idea how much I appreciate it.¡¯ ¡®I was mad at Aldie for not escorting you after¡­ you met that dreadful man,¡¯ Gerra snarled. ¡®Be glad he didn''t,¡¯ Lilyth said weakly. ¡®There were four of them and they were specifically ordered by Kojiro to capture me, so chances are¡­ Aldvil wouldn''t have fared all that well.¡¯ Gerra paled and covered her mouth with her hand. ¡®Then¡­¡¯ the innkeeper began but his wife stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. ¡®No. Whatever you want to say¡­ Don¡¯t.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Lilyth repeated. ¡®Let¡¯s just say¡­ be glad for your wife''s sake that we got rid of them. No one¡­ no one should endure what I did here.¡¯ ¡®Which brings us to what brings us to the subject matter at hand,¡¯ Baial interrupted his face a mix of sorrow, pain and disgust. ¡®Yes¡­¡¯ Aldvil nodded. ¡®Sindara was it?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s Lilyth, actually,¡¯ my wife answered apologetically. ¡®Sorry for lying to you. Sindara is just a¡­ name I use when I don¡¯t want people to know who I am. Not that it did me much good today.¡¯ ¡®Lilyth then. And don¡¯t worry, I understand. It is a wise precaution,¡¯ the innkeeper smiled reassuringly. ¡®I discussed this with Baial and we both agree that no man should let the others defend their family while he has strength in his arms. So a lot of men volunteered to reform our militia.¡¯ ¡®Reform?¡¯ Savri asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡®Yes. Ever since the Yamaoka family moved in here, the area has been peaceful, so over the decades the number dropped from a dozen or two to just two. You don¡¯t need much more to keep peace in an area of this size.¡¯ ¡®But now that has changed,¡¯ Baial took over. ¡®So even before Ren came down we were making arrangements. With Kojiro gone rogue, this place is no longer safe and we cannot rely on you five to protect us. So most men, and some women, volunteered to a new militia.¡¯ ¡®The old goat was initially against us serving,¡¯ Gerra said. ¡®But after the rumours of your ordeal began spreading, Lilyth, and now that they are confirmed¡­¡¯ ¡®As you put it, no woman should be forced to endure that,¡¯ Baial said ashamed. ¡®So I am not going to stop anyone from wanting to fight against people who commit these kinds of heinous actions.¡¯ ¡®How did the rumours start?¡¯ Savri asked with a furrowed brow. ¡®I don¡¯t think anyone from the village saw Lilyth before¡­ she cleaned up.¡¯ ¡®Lord Kojiro had a reputation,¡¯ Aldvil said. ¡®It was just stories, but enough to make anyone wary. Then, Lilyth arrived and she disappeared after interacting with his men. It didn''t take long for people to connect things.¡¯ ¡®Ah¡­¡¯ Savri said. ¡®Let¡¯s keep those as rumours,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®To protect my friend¡¯s privacy. Hopefully, they will die out.¡¯ ¡®Fat chance of that,¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®This one is going into history books. I¡¯m going to forever be the woman whose rape caused the first battle of Mer-Cas or something.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s just hope it¡¯s the first and only,¡¯ Baial sighed. Chapter 95 - The Morning After They didn¡¯t return that night, at least as far as we knew. Baial and Aldvil organised watches in the night so that us five could rest. Given how much of an early we had and what happened since I could have kissed the men for suggesting. In general, the new militia agreed to take on the heavy lifting and just have us as a backup. ¡®It¡¯s our home,¡¯ Aldvil said. ¡®You five have done enough for now.¡¯ ¡°For now¡± being the key phrase. The militia would need some serious training, and while the two guys they had, knew something it was clear they wouldn''t amount to much in the long run. Sav agreed to fill in until we found a suitable tutor. There was a potential candidate, a retired soldier living in Lin-Vyme, but it would need to be either Ren or Ireela who went to recruit him, and that required escort. Sav would need to stay due to the urgency of forming a coherent fighting group. Ren volunteered, saying that if she is to become her mother''s heir at some point she should start building connections too. Lilyth said she would happily tag along due to there being a monastery dedicated to the old gods there, and that Ereshkigal told her to visit it at some point. Since the two of them would need a minder, I graciously agreed to go with them. This decision was by no means dictated by my girlish joy about the prospect of seeing that monastery myself. At least that''s the official version. Don¡¯t question it. ¡®Are you sure, Lilyth?¡¯ Sav asked. ¡®I mean¡­ I can sit here, get worried and do nothing or actually do something useful,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Having something to take my mind off things and all.¡¯ ¡®Just be warned,¡¯ Baial said. ¡®I have heard rumours about there being some disturbances in the local graveyard.¡¯ ¡®Something we will likely need to look into,¡¯ Lilyth said with a shrug. ¡®I doubt this soldier will be willing to leave home while it is in potential danger.¡¯ ¡®Probably, yes,¡¯ Sav agreed. ¡®Just be careful.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry. The lesson I got today on overconfidence is sticking for a while.¡¯ ¡®What if it is the undead?¡¯ pale-faced Ren asked. ¡®Your point being?¡¯ I retorted. ¡®Believe me, sister,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®It¡¯s not the undead that are the problem. It¡¯s what animates them. At least usually. But I doubt we are going to see the fucking Sierra Squad there.¡¯ ¡®The what?¡¯ Baial asked. We gave him the short version of our misadventures in Akh''ret''s Mercy. ¡®That explains¡­ a lot about today,¡¯ Aldvil said after a moment of stunned silence. ¡®It¡¯s been an interesting few days, what can I say,¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. After some more discussion, a decision was made that Aki would go instead of Ren. Our new friend would give us a letter to prove we did indeed represent the estate but didn''t feel too well about the prospect of potentially facing the undead. She sounded really upset about getting cold feet about that. ¡®Sister, at no point you should feel bad about not wanting to go monster hunting,¡¯ Lilyth reassured her. ¡®We grew blase on the subject because we were forced into it.¡¯ ¡®Also don¡¯t think we actually want to do that,¡¯ Aki added. ¡®That¡¯s more of an ¡°unpleasant chore¡±.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Lilyth laughed. ¡®Do the dishes, take out the trash, slay a giant monster made of Rot, dust off the floor.¡¯ ¡®The bigger question is: are you and Ren going to be okay, Sav?¡¯ Aki asked grimly. We ultimately decided we would be leaving three days hence. It was a compromise we reached after Savri theorising that they would likely be back either today or tomorrow because we would have too much time to dig in otherwise, and Lilyth''s retort that: ¡®Savri¡­ stop thinking like a commando for a moment. Those are not even soldiers. They are bandits LARPing as an army. I seriously doubt they considered things like the eight-to-one ratio and ¡°it¡¯s hard to attack an entrenched enemy¡±.¡¯ Savri facepalmed and grew red-faced from embarrassment. ¡®And that''s why I usually handled tactics and not strategy.¡¯ We turned to Ren. ¡®Any ideas?¡¯ I asked. ¡®You are the subject matter expert on ¡°How to Kojiro¡±.¡¯ ¡®He was always pretty¡­ impulsive,¡¯ Ren said with obvious discomfort. ¡®So I guess he would attack sooner than later?¡¯ That decided it then, and after finishing our discussions we said our goodbyes to Baial, Aldvil and Gerra. We spent the rest of the evening decompressing and then went to bed. When I woke up early the next morning, Lilyth was nowhere to be seen. Rather than in the middle, like usual, she spent the night to the left of me, while Aki was to the right. Even though, it was nice to be between them for once, turning my head and seeing that there was an empty space where I expected the sleeping form of my jelly to be was very distressing. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Her even staying in the same bed as us was difficult initially, no surprises there, so I just hoped that she decided to sleep on the floor or something. I looked around, and not finding her anywhere, grew seriously worried. Veenaya was also missing. While our lumizu had spent most of yesterday safely in the realm of Water, we summoned her back after the planning session, so her having gone somewhere was more perplexing than worrying. Where could she be? That question was answered when I saw that the room door was slightly ajar. Did Lilyth leave it open? I exited into the corridor and saw that the library door was also open and that the magical lights were lit inside. As the house was still silent, I tip-toed across to the open portal and peeked in. I felt immense relief upon seeing Lilyth lying on the couch, book in hand and Veenaya curled up into the ball on my jellybean''s stomach. My wife must have heard me, as she turned her head towards me and waved. I sometimes hate those keen senses of hers. I entered the library and Lilyth sat up to give me some room. Veenaya was not pleased about the sudden end to her nap, but she quickly relocated herself to my jellybean''s lap. ¡®Couldn¡¯t sleep?¡¯ I asked Lilyth as I sat next to her. ¡®Managed to fall asleep a few times, but I always saw¡­ them,¡¯ she replied weakly. ¡®Eventually, I decided I wouldn''t risk waking you up with my struggling, so I just came here to read. Veenaya''s been keeping me company.¡¯ Lilyth scratched the ball of love behind its ear. ¡®You should have woken me up,¡¯ I said seriously. ¡®I could have cast the [Sleep] spell on you. As I understand, you don¡¯t dream while under its effects.¡¯ ¡®Might take you up on that. Though, I don¡¯t want to get addicted to it.¡¯ ¡®Addicted?¡¯ She told me about the things called ¡°sleeping pills¡± on Terra and how difficult it would sometimes be for people to stop taking them. I heard there are herbs like this on Dwynveia too. I didn''t consider that magic could have the same side effects. ¡®Maybe it doesn''t. But would you be willing to risk it?¡¯ ¡®I guess not. Still¡­ once or twice won¡¯t hurt.¡¯ ¡®Probably not. Still, I am likely to have nightmares about this for the rest of my life.¡¯ She shook her head. ¡®I might as well get used to them.¡¯ Lilyth looked absolutely miserable so I just wrapped my hands around her and held her. Eventually, she fell asleep with her head in my lap. I couldn''t help but feel immense sadness at how uneasy and vulnerable she looked. I remembered the woman I met in the Tower of Trials. They looked like two different people now¡­ To see her reduced to such a sorry state¡­ in what¡­ eleven days? Yes. Today is her twelfth day here. Hopefully, it will be the start of a new happy chapter of her life. She suffered enough. We all did. It was very clear that that time around the sleep wasn¡¯t particularly restful either though she would slightly calm down whenever I put my hand on her shoulder. It didn''t help for long, however, and just as I was drifting off again myself Lilyth woke up screaming. ¡®It¡¯s okay,¡¯ I whispered to her. ¡®It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m here. You are safe. That restored some peace of mind to my poor jellybean, though she still looked tired and terrified. Probably not today then. We ended up sitting there cuddled with Veenaya next to Lilyth. ¡®I guess she thinks I need her the most,¡¯ my wife smiled and petted the lumizu which purred happily. She''s not wrong. ¡®There you are!¡¯ I heard Aki shout from the door. ¡®When I woke up alone¡­ I got really worried.¡¯ Oops. ¡®That¡¯s on me, I think,¡¯ Lilyth apologised. ¡®I couldn''t sleep so I came here to read. Caei found me here after she got worried and I guess we lost track of time.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think either of us wanted to wake you,¡¯ I added. ¡®I didn''t consider how it would look to you, my love.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ Aki was visibly saddened and turned towards Lilyth. ¡®How are you feeling? ¡®I¡¯ve been better,¡¯ my jellybean admitted. ¡®Now all of my favourite people being here does improve my mood though.¡¯ Aki smiled at that and joined us on the other side of Lilyth. Veenaya used that as a pretext to move on my jellybean''s lap again. Lilyth scratched the little beastie under its chin. We soon joined her in petting the lumizu, which looked as if it was in heaven. A few minutes later, Ren entered wearing a matching comfy-looking light green shirt and pants. ¡®Is that a pyjama?¡¯ Lilyth asked with a raised eyebrow. We were all sleeping in our shirts and undergarments since we lacked proper night clothes. ¡®Yes,¡¯ Ren said with a smile. ¡®If you want, I can get your measurements and try to arrange some for you. My treat.¡¯ ¡®How can we say no to such a generous offer?¡¯ Aki beamed. ¡®We need more clothes in general,¡¯ Lilyth observed. ¡®So I think a shopping trip might be in the cards sooner rather than later.¡¯ ¡®There is a tailor in Denyr to the south that I get all my stuff from,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®The ones in Ror-Bhyk tend not to have the best materials. Though I don''t think a two-week trip is viable right now.¡¯ ¡®Ror-Bhyk it is then,¡¯ Lilyth said with a shrug. ¡®I imagine it will be cheaper there too.¡¯ ¡®That will have to wait too, I think. Remember, Ror-Bhyk is Kojiro¡¯s turf.¡¯ ¡®Fuck,¡¯ I spat. ¡®Tell you what,¡¯ Rennie said. ¡®When I send an order for your pyjamas I will also ask them to make some clothes for you. Really basic stuff like shirts, pants, underwear and whatnot. Just so you have some spares. Then once our issues are solved, we can go on a proper shopping trip. How about that?¡¯ It sounded like a splendid idea, so we all readily agreed. ¡®Awesome,¡¯ Rennie beamed. ¡®Now come. My mom made us some breakfast. Chapter 96 - Sand Witches The breakfast turned out to be slices of bread smeared with butter and covered with various toppings like cheese, vegetables and meat. ¡®I¡¯d never thought I would ever see a sandwich here,¡¯ Lilyth said with genuine awe in her voice. Sand witch? I knew there was probably more to this, but Aki¡¯s brain didn''t fully engage yet. ¡®Wait¡­ what do witches have to do with this?¡¯ she asked, horrified. ¡®Is the meat¡­¡¯ That caused both Lilyth and Savri to burst out laughing. ¡®Mystery meat is people!¡¯ Lilyth said, barely managing to ho?d onto her seat. ¡®PEOPLE!¡¯ ¡®Oh my gods, Akster,¡¯ Savri guffawed. ¡®You should see your face.¡¯ Ren and Ireela were just staring at us, confused. ¡®It¡¯s just meat from terilla, sweetie,¡¯ the latter said. ¡®Don¡¯t worry.¡¯ I vaguely remembered terillas being large furry rodents, and as I discovered that morning - bloody delicious. ¡®Could you two clowns explain the witch business then?¡¯ Aki, now red-faced, snapped. ¡®Sorry, my love,¡¯ Lilyth said after she finally caught her breath. ¡®Witches have nothing to do with it. It¡¯s named after a ruling noble of a place called Sandwich on Earth.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ Aki muttered, anger giving place to embarrassment. ¡®Ohh¡­.¡¯ This sudden change caused all of us to start laughing and after a moment Aki joined in too. A deep sense of belonging filled me then and in that moment, all felt right in the world. Judging by her expression, Rennie felt that way too. The rest of the breakfast passed in a merry atmosphere of banter, story-swapping and general fooling around. Even Lilyth, despite everything, looked to be in high spirits. Ireela, even though she looked like she felt really out of place there, would occasionally join in as well. I could swear I also heard her whispering to Ren that she was happy that her daughter had finally found true friends. Unfortunately, as life usually goes, all good things have to come to an end. Just as we were drinking our post-breakfast tea, there was a knock on the door. Ireela went to check what it was about because she was the only one fully dressed. It was one of the villagers who agreed to guard the mansion at night. Ireela getting new permanent staff was on our ¡°things to arrange¡± list, but far down it, so a few of the locals agreed to fill in the most pressing roles. I think the man outside was called Gazal¡­ Gezal¡­ or something. He was a pretty little thing, just shy of his twenty-first birthday, green-eyed and red-haired. He was trying to grow a beard but failing miserably at it, which only added to his charm. ¡®Ah, Jazzel,¡¯ Ireela said, seeing him and walking outside, closing the door behind her. That''s what it was. We carried on our banter in slightly hushed tones until Ireela came back a few moments later. ¡®There is some food set aside for you and the rest in the downstairs kitchen,¡¯ she said. ¡®Help yourself.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, Lady Ireela,¡¯ Jazzel replied and went to eat. ¡®Baial and Aldvil are waiting for us in the downstairs salon,¡¯ Ren¡¯s mom explained. ¡®The night was quiet but we must plan our next steps, so go get dressed. There is work to do.¡¯ She didn''t sound pleased by that, but that was life. There was a surprise waiting for us in our room, or rather waiting for Lilyth. There was a large box emblazoned with the rabbit sigil next to our bed. ¡®Interesting,¡¯ my wife said and went to open it. Inside we found a layered grey leather jacket, a black fur-lined cloak and pauldrons and bracers that matched the armour. There was a note attached to the armour: For a job well done with Ren. May they serve you well. -E The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡®My old gear!¡¯ Lilyth hooted, rapt in joy. ¡®I thought I would never see it again!¡¯ To my and Aki¡¯s slight confusion, she, after dressing, also began putting her armour on. ¡®Those are my vestments of office,¡¯ my jellybean explained after seeing our quizzical looks. ¡®As we are meeting the local officials it feels¡­ right to wear them.¡¯ ¡®You look great in those too,¡¯ Aki happily chimed in. ¡®A dark knight¡­ knightess?¡¯ ¡®A dark knight for the Dark Lady,¡¯ Lilyth winked at her. ¡®We have our dark witch with us too.¡¯ Me? A witch? I think not! I threw a pillow at her. ¡®A dark sorceress,¡¯ I corrected her. My jelly gave me a low bow and said, with a shit-eating grin said: ¡®I apologise for this grievous insult, my lady. It shan''t happen again.¡¯ ¡®I certainly hope so,¡¯ I replied, barely keeping a straight face. We came down to the salon a few minutes later. The rest was already waiting for us. The Needless to say, Lilyth''s appearance raised more than a few eyebrows. ¡®Where did that come from? ¡®Ren asked. ¡®I¡¯ll tell you later in private,¡¯ Lilyth replied. ¡®Are you knight, Lady Lilyth?¡¯ Baial queried. ¡®Yes, Elder Baial. I am a paladin in service of She Who Welcomes All.¡¯ The two men grew pale and began to tremble. ¡®Y-you s-serve t-the D-dread Q-q-q-ueen?¡¯ The village elder squeaked out. ¡®You have the right of it and fear not. My lady is a gentle goddess and my presence here is a mere coincidence.¡¯ ¡®It did coincide with the village being attacked, L- Ser Lilyth,¡¯ Baial retorted. ¡®If there were any background machinations they were not done by my Lady.¡¯ The Madness, however¡­ ¡®I can¡¯t believe Kojiro would mess with the servant of the Dread Queen,¡¯ Aldvil said, still clearly shaken. ¡®I am a woman like any other. My status offers me no extra protection than any other knighthood would. I merely appeared in uniform as this is official business and it feels proper to have my allegiances known and I expect no special treatment on account of them.¡¯ It also means that if Baial and Aldvil want our help they will need to do so in a way that won¡¯t go against the interests of the Old Gods. We are still a part of the Great Game, aren¡¯t we? ¡®Regrettably, all mortals are, my child,¡¯ Akh''ret said. ¡®Be it as playing pieces or souls to gather. Which of those is better is arguable, but you still are on the losing end either way.¡¯ That''s discouraging. ¡®Which is why we keep a lot of that hidden from you mortals. Ignorance is bliss as they say it on Terra.¡¯ My link with Akh''ret went dead and I turned my attention back to the conversation. Lilyth Baial and Aldvil confirmed that nothing unusual happened that night. Then, we moved on to planning the day¡¯s events. Savri agreed to go over the potential militia recruits with the village elder. While the final decision would be on the permanent trainer, assuming we could get them, she could still turn away any obvious bad fits. Aldvil then suggested we go see the place where Ren and Caei saw the boat leave. Good point. That place needs to be watched. Who would have thought the old innkeeper would actually have good tactical ideas? Hang on¡­ Would it make sense for him to suggest that? It was weird¡­ Don¡¯t be paranoid, Lilyth. Aldvil never did anything suspicious, you slept for maybe fours total since Caei woke you up yesterday and got raped like fifty times total in that time. Not every man is a threat. Not every man is a threat. But how would Xyrus know I was leaving out back? Windows. Crack in the door. And who let Kojiro know Ren and Caei were coming? Plenty of people were aware of the battle. Someone could have run and tipped him off. Aldvil never did anything suspicious. Not every man is a threat. Not every man is a threat. ¡®Why don''t I tag along with you guys?¡¯ I said in as pleasant a voice as possible. Just in case. Not gonna let Ren and Caei alone with him. Not every man is a threat. But that doesn''t mean he isn''t. Caeileera Lilyth''s offer to go with me and Ren was a bit of a surprise. I thought she would rather stay in the house, that would have been the smart thing to do, but I guess what she said about not wanting to sit around and wait still applied. Aldvil also seemed happy about the suggestion. Why, though? Is this about just having an extra sword with us, or Lilyth being a servant of Ereshkigal? Wasn''t he concerned about her just yesterday? Maybe he thinks it¡¯s a sign she is now better, but¡­ Aki decided to stay with Sav. I would have preferred it if she didn''t go deathly pale and began breathing faster at the mere suggestion of her going with us, but it was good to see she had more sense than Lilyth. Then again the bar for that is very low. I knew that was unfair of me, not to mention hypocritical, since I would likely try to act like nothing had happened too, I know Leera did, but can you really blame me for worrying about this stupid jelly of mine? Chapter 97 - A Deal Sealed With a Kiss Caeileera On Lilyth''s suggestion, we went as she put it ¡°armed for a berr¡±. Those were apparently some large and dangerous predators from Terra. I was even convinced to put on some armour from the estate¡¯s armoury. It was a simple jack of plates that felt awfully uncomfortable, but as Lilyth put it ¡°so would a blade in my stomach¡±, which was difficult to argue against. I also took a normal metal glaive. It would slow me down even more, but once again Lilyth had an irrefutable argument of ¡°keeping my ability to use magic a secret¡±. After what had happened to her that would be an excellent trump card to hide. This was further augmented by my conversation with Savri that both of us should avoid Zalikh root at all costs. ¡®We are both highly magical beings,¡¯ she explained. ¡®I mean you were literally created by a god. So maybe the drug won¡¯t be as debilitating on us as it is on Lilyth, but why take chances?¡¯ She promised to have a separate chat about that with Aki along with some more general safety advice. I asked her to give it to me too at some point. ¡®A bit ashamed to admit it, but someone drugging my food was not a risk I was that aware of previously.¡¯ ¡®Doesn¡¯t happen in the Badlands?¡¯ ¡®Not that I am aware of. In general, I don¡¯t think such substances are present there at all. Recreational drugs¡­ sure. Stuff that is outright poisonous? No.¡¯ ¡®The Blood actually has standards?¡¯ ¡®I think it is more a case of ¡°giving a bunch of bored hedonists the tools to poison each other is not the best of ideas¡±. ¡®When you put it that way¡­¡¯ At any rate, Ren settled for a gambeson. She also took her bow and a simple arming sword. As she had her armour already on, Lilyth simply attached the Blade of the Black Rose to her belt. I had to give it to Aki - Lilyth looked beyond amazing in her full paladin regalia. Ren suggested offering some equipment to Aldvil who was waiting on us before the house but Lilyth shook her head at that. So I am not the only one who is wary here. Ren saw that she was outvoted so she dropped the matter. ¡®He seems nice,¡¯ Lilyth explained. ¡®But I don¡¯t know enough about him to trust him with a weapon around you. That and he likely doesn''t know how to wield one.¡¯ There was likely more to that, but I decided to not press it. Those were good enough reasons. For now. As we walked towards the cave, I noticed Lilyth frequently casting furtive glances at Aldvil. What are you suspecting? Then, just as we were nearing it, she stopped us. ¡®Can you hear it?¡¯ she said, nervously around. At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. There was nothing to hear. The forest was quiet. Oh. There was no chirping of birds in the blue and orange canopies of trees, no rustling of leaves, no buzzing of insects. Nothing. ¡®A pocket of quiet,¡¯ I hissed. This caused understanding to dawn on Ren¡¯s face, quickly replaced by nervousness. I could get that. The pockets were unnerving at first, but having passed through many of those in the past two weeks I really stopped caring about them. Most of the time you didn''t even notice them. By the gods¡­ I didn''t catch it the first time around we went through here. After Akh''ret¡¯s Mercy, I developed an attitude of, to paraphrase my stupid jelly, ¡°It¡¯s not the pocket of quiet that''s the problem - it is what causing it.¡± That being said, I doubted that there was anything scary here. We were close to Mer-Cas, so any issues would have likely manifested by now. Unless it¡¯s the cave? But I didn''t see anything odd there. Maybe Lilyth will spot something. Still, it is probably not the worst idea in the world to do a full sweep of the area once we are done with the Kojiro business. If we are to live here it would be nice to know that there are no Rot monsters nearby. Then Aldvil said something quite baffling. ¡®I don¡¯t understand what''s the big deal. The place is just quieter than the rest of the forest.¡¯ Lilyth''s eyes narrowed. ¡®Been in many of these before?¡¯ she asked. ¡®No,¡¯ he replied. ¡®I heard rumours of one being here, but never understood the hassle around these.¡¯ ¡®Then you are a braver man than most, Aldvil of Mer-Cas,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I¡¯m from Denyr, actually,¡¯ he corrected her. ¡®I met Gerra when she and her family visited some relatives in Denyr and ended up settling down here after marrying her.¡¯ Surely he must have passed through at least one pocket during his courtship then. Probably multiple times. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Lilyth then caught my gaze and looked down. I noticed her having casually placed her hand on the pommel of her sword. Then she tapped the hilt three times with her finger. She then paused and repeated the gesture. Tap tap tap Tap tap tap Tap tap tap Three taps. Her hand is on her weapon. Tap tap tap Tap tap tap Tap tap tap Three enemies? More? No. She wouldn''t have taken that break then. But how¡­ They must have [Silent Step] then. Those idiots. They don¡¯t know about her hearing. If this wasn¡¯t a quiet pocket she likely wouldn''t have caught them. I take back everything I thought about her hearing. Still¡­ we were surrounded. I nodded my understanding to Lilyth. ¡®We are planning on taking a trip to Denyr one of these days, so maybe you can recommend some places to visit,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s keep going.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Aldvil agreed. ¡®It¡¯s not far now.¡¯ And how would you know that, good sir? Lilyth moved up to walk to the left of him and I saw one of her knives manifest itself in her hand. With a quick movement, she grabbed Aldvil and pressed the knife to his neck. ¡®If you know where our destination is, why have us go with you here?¡¯ she growled echoing my thoughts. ¡®L-lucky guess?¡¯ he stammered out. ¡®And the three men lurking around are here by sheer luck too?¡¯ ¡®Who said there are just three of us?¡¯ said a voice I knew all too well, despite having never seen the man. A total of ten men stepped out from behind the trees holding crossbows. They all wore blue brigandines, and all but one had red demon masks on. The face of the one who wasn¡¯t masked¡­ brought the worst nightmares back. Unlike his sister, the man mostly took from the elven side of the family. He had normal-looking cold blue eyes and his teeth likewise had normal proportions. The only signs of his harpy heritage were his long white hair and slightly curved fingernails. What probably was his most distinguishing characteristic, however, were the three parallel scars on his right cheek. They were a remnant of his first attempt to force himself on Leera. ¡®Kojiro,¡¯ Ren spat. ¡®Happy to see you too, sis,¡¯ he laughed. ¡®Told you I would be back soon. ¡®Now, Lilyth, I have no idea how you were able to tell that even three of my men were around, but I imagine you will tell me once we get to know each other better. And, Leera! So good to see you! I don¡¯t know what happened to your wings, but happy to see them gone. They always got into the fucking way.¡¯ He laughed and continued. ¡®Now¡­ I would release my man over there, Lilyth. Those crossbow bolts are covered in Zalikh so I would come with us willingly. I don¡¯t want to damage you.¡¯ A strange thought occurred to me then. That''s the wrong leverage, you idiot. Threaten us, not her if you want Lilyth to comply. Nonetheless, Lilyth sighed and let Aldvil go. I could see the sheer terror in her eyes. Whether it was for us or just herself, I did not know. It didn''t matter anyway. ¡®Now¡­ drop your weapons all!¡¯ Kojiro commanded us. I want to tell you how we attacked them and fought our way out, but we complied as we saw the utter futility of resistance. They had us. Once our weapons were safely in the hands of our captors, our hands were tied behind our backs, we were gagged and led to the cave to await our fate. Lilyth Nononononononononono Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck It can¡¯t end like this! It can''t! But¡­ when I saw one of the Red Masks approach us with a leather pouch shortly after we were put into a small chamber and our legs were tied, I knew that was it. I recalled it from the Nightmare. They kept Zalikh in it. This is the end then. But why do Caeileera and Ren have to go through it too? They don¡¯t deserve it¡­ I realised then that Aki and Savri would get caught next, which only increased my despair. Nonononononono. I would do anything to protect them. ¡®Anything?¡¯ I heard Ereshkigal¡¯s voice and time slowed down to a crawl. I saw her manifest next to the man with the pouch. She was dressed in a black tank top and jeans. Anything! I repeated. ¡®There is a way then. But¡­ I cannot guarantee you will survive it.¡¯ What is it? ¡®Remember what happened when you were falling down that ravine and Nyx channelled her power through you?¡¯ Yes. Can you do that? ¡®I can do something better¡­¡¯ she said sadly. ¡®I can actually imbue you with part of my power for a few moments. This will¡­ have consequences. One, like I said, you could die. Your soul being in the state it is and you still being scrambled by yesterday only increases the likelihood. Two, you will become permanently bound to me. This is a bond far deeper than patronage or paladinship. You essentially become mine. Forever.¡¯ Like marriage? She chuckled. ¡®I believe you are taken. But no, this is more akin to thralldom. I become the owner of your soul. That means no more do-overs with Lady Madness since you must stay in the same ¡®reality¡¯ as I do. After you die - you will not be able to pass on and you will remain my servant. And, though I have no intention of ever doing that, I will be able to actually force you to do things. It¡¯s nothing dramatic like overriding your free will, but potentially at any point I can make every single microsecond of your life feel like an eternity of absolute agony.¡¯ I pondered it for a moment. What about my patronage deal with Nyx? Ereshkigal tapped her chin with her nail. ¡®I could dissolve it if I so desired, but I won''t,¡¯ she finally said. ¡®You and her are a good fit for one another.¡¯ So I am selling my soul to you then? ¡®Yes.¡¯ Aki. Caeileera. I am sorry. We have a deal then¡­ my mistress. Ereshkigal then approached me, crouched in front of me and planted a kiss on my cheek. Deal sealed with a kiss, I thought and then I felt Umbral energy filling my very essence. Chapter 98 - Kojiro Yamaoka Caeileera As the man with the pouch approached us I was trying to position my palm in a way that would let me burn away my bonds. I would likely get hurt in the process, but it was preferable to being drugged and at Kojiro''s mercy. Just as I was ready to use [Flame Tongue], I heard Akh''ret''s voice. ¡®Wait.¡¯ I was going to protest but then the room got cold and the shadows grew taller. I noticed that I could actually see the man''s breath misting up. I don''t think I ever was that cold. And then¡­ the temperature plummeted even further and I felt a massive magic spike from where Lilyth was. What has she done this time around? ¡®What she thought was necessary,¡¯ Akh¡¯ret stressed. ¡®Be warned. She may not survive it.¡¯ No. No. No. No! The man with the pouch stopped and was staring at Lilyth. I looked there too and saw my wife glowing with black light. I saw liquid darkness spreading on her arms and face, dissolving her bonds. She raised to her feet and I saw her hair was now long and white and her eyes turned ice blue. Four wings that looked like void-made-manifest sprouted from her back and a mortuary sword of pure shadow appeared in her right hand. The final touch was the dark halo over her head. ¡®And lo¡¯ my sweet sister got herself an angel again,¡¯ Akh¡¯ret sighed in a tired voice. Ereshkigal is your sister? ¡®It¡¯s complicated. But yes. Now, hush. Once the room is clear, free yourself and Ren. The more you help Lilyth the shorter she will need to maintain that form.¡¯ Lilyth pointed her sword at the bandit. ¡®Caryl of the Red Masks,¡¯ she said in a voice that sounded like crackling snow. ¡®Your time has come.¡¯ The man tried to run, but my jelly was faster. In a blink of an eye, she was past him, her weapon held to the side in both hands. Caryl whimpered something, tried to take a step and then fell to the floor in two halves. ¡®Now!¡¯ Akh''ret shouted. As I cast [Flame Tongue], agony spread across my arms but I didn''t let go. Soon my bonds were gone I cast [Soothe Pain] followed by [Lesser Heal Wounds]. The relief was instantaneous. I pulled my arms in front of me and saw a web of white scars on my forearms. A small price to pay. I took out my gag and started to untie Ren¡¯s hands. ¡®Quick,¡¯ I told her, as we started hearing screams from the rest of the cave. ¡®We need to help her.¡¯ Rennie nodded. Kojiro ¡®Godsdammit!¡¯ he shouted to his men. ¡®It¡¯s just one woman. Fucking kill her!¡¯ It was a shame, but it couldn''t be helped. This Lilyth was too dangerous to be left alive. At least he could keep Leera as a consolation prize. Still¡­ Halveck would likely have his head for this. This whole mess cost Kojiro nearly thirty men, and something told the man that the number could easily rise. Then all hope turned to dust when the fucking elf batted aside the incoming crossbow bolts with one of her wings. FUCK! Lilyth then almost pounced at the two men who shot at her and beheaded them with a single slash of her sword. FUCK! Maybe they could salvage this. Two men were sneaking up behind her. Then there was a flash of something red in the air and a lance of blood impaled one of them through the neck. What the? Leera and his whore of a sister ran out of their makeshift prison. The Sanguine was holding a glaive that also looked to be made of blood, while Ren was holding a sword she must have stripped of Caryl¡¯s body. With a downward slash, Leera cut off the hands of the other man, while his sister finished him by running him through with her sword. FUCK! He had only four men left. Though a scream cut short a heartbeat moment later told him that that number dropped to three. Technically, there was Aldvil, but the innkeeper would be useless in a fight. Time to run, Kojiro thought as dread filled him. This wasn¡¯t supposed to go like this. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. His decision to retreat was further reinforced when the cave was filled with the smell of burning flesh and Daclir¡¯s screams of agony. Kojiro involuntarily looked his way and saw that the man was running towards the water. While on fire. He made it, but it was far too late for him. Hoping the remaining two men would buy him enough time, Kojiro turned around only to see Lilyth already standing there. ¡®Kojiro,¡¯ she said in a voice sounding like the grim spectre of death. He tried to raise his sword but Lilyth grabbed his wrist and squeezed with enough strength to splinter every bone there. The traitorous son of Kenji Yamaoka screamed in agony. Then Lilyth grabbed the back of his neck and sunk her sword into her stomach. She pulled it out only to stab him again. And again. And again. Once for every man that raped her, he realised as his consciousness slowly faded away, but whatever foul spell was on the sword - it didn¡¯t let him die until Lilyth plunged the blade into him for the last time. He found himself standing on a platform of pure white surrounded by an infinite void. A white-haired woman was standing in front of him. ¡®Hello, Kojiro,¡¯ she said with sick satisfaction in her voice. Ren While Lilyth was ¡°busy¡± with her brother, she and Caei took care of the final two men from Kojiro¡¯s group. If not for the circumstances, Ren would have been ecstatic about having made level one. She actually had a perk point to use too! There would be time to celebrate later, though, for now, they had to get away from here. The only other person in the cave with them was Aldvil. He slowly emerged from one of the side chambers. ¡®Is it over?¡¯ he asked in a trembling voice. Ren felt no pity for the man. He sold them to Kojiro, but she had no idea what to do about him. The same couldn''t have been said about Lilyth who began slowly walking towards him, like a predator would do to a cornered prey. ¡®Aldvil of Denyr,¡¯ she said in that terrifying voice of hers. ¡®I almost forgot about you.¡¯ The innkeeper dropped to his knees and began to beg. ¡®No! You don¡¯t understand! Kojiro! He threatened Gerra, said they would do unspeakable things to her if I didn''t comply.¡¯ ¡®But you were willing to let him do the same to everyone in the village,¡¯ Lilyth retorted. ¡®Just to save her.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t you think I know that? Wouldn''t you have done the same?¡¯ And that''s the wrong question. You are quite literally talking to someone who, if I understand Nyxie correctly, willingly sold her own soul to Ereshkigal to save us. ¡®No,¡¯ Lilyth shook her head. ¡®Because I know my loved ones would never forgive me if I did that. Do you think Gerra will do so for you?¡¯ And that''s the other part of it. All fight went out of Aldvil who simply stared at Lilyth, now standing in front of him, pleadingly and whimpered: ¡®Please¡­ Please¡­ Please don¡¯t¡­¡¯ Lilyth raised the hand in which she was holding the sword. Then something flew through the air. Caeileera I barely managed to tackle Lilyth to the ground before she executed Aldvil. That man disgusted me, but I realised that Lilyth likely wouldn''t forgive herself for that after she came to her senses. If she came to her senses. ¡®Enough, my love!¡¯ I shouted at my wife as I wrapped my hands around her. ¡®That¡¯s enough! We¡¯ll punish him differently. Come back to me please!¡¯ The weird cold aura surrounding Lilyth disappeared and her hair returned to normal, and most of the liquid darkness receded from her body, leaving only the complicated web of snake-like lines on her arms, stripes under her eyes and three small triangles of it running from her jawbones to the middle of her checks. Her wings and sword also dissipated from existence. Unfortunately, Lilyth''s eyes remained blue. I liked the green, dammit. ¡®Caei?¡¯ Lilyth said weakly. ¡®What¡­ What happened? The last thing¡­ I¡­ She looked around and saw the carnage all around us. ¡®So it wasn''t¡­ a dream¡­ what¡­ what¡­ have¡­ I¡­ d-¡¯ Lilyth didn''t finish the sentence and went limp in my arms. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ I screamed and shook her. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ ¡®She¡¯s still alive, my child,¡¯ I heard Akh''ret once more. ¡®Just unconscious. Get her in a safe place. That took a lot out of her.¡¯ Oh, thank you! I thought as relief filled me and I began to sob. Thank you. Ren went to the village to get some men to help us carry Lilyth back to the estate. I stayed in the cave guarding my wife and Aldvil. It didn''t surprise me to see Aki with her, once Rennie returned. She wrapped her hands around our jellybean and began to weep. Giving her some privacy I walked up to Kojiro''s badly mangled corpse and kicked it in the head. More than once. Once I took out my pain and frustration I walked up to Rennie and asked: ¡®What are we doing about him?¡¯ ¡®I thought about it and confirmed it with Mom and Baial.¡¯ She whispered the solution into my ear to ensure that Aldvil wouldn''t overhear us. It wasn¡¯t the best idea, but ultimately not my choice. Once the cave was clear of others, Aki went along with Lilyth, we approached the traitorous innkeeper. He looked at us with fear in his eyes. ¡®Aldvil of Denyr,¡¯ Ren began,¡¯ by the power vested in me by Elder Baial of Mer-Cas and Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan, I find you guilty of treason and sentence you to exile. You are to leave immediately. Should you be seen again in Mer-Cas you will be executed.¡¯ ¡®But¡­ food¡­ water¡­¡¯ the man sobbed. ¡®My wife¡­ ¡®I am sure your new friends had supplies with them. You are welcome to them. As for your wife¡­ given your allegiances, you are too much of a threat to be allowed to roam free. Elder Baial is with her, explaining the situation. But to show some mercy¡­ Do you have any destination in mind?¡¯ He thought for a moment. ¡®D-Denyr, I don¡¯t know where else to go.¡¯ ¡®Very well then. I will pass this on to her. Should she wish to join you there, that''s up to her.¡¯ We stayed in the cave to ensure Aldvil would take nothing of actual value, we did find a lot of Divines on the bodies, and then once he was away, we started heading home. Home. What a nice thing to have. Chapter 99 - The Rise of The Tenebral Order As you can imagine, Gerra had no intention of joining her husband in exile. Learning that the man you loved was willing to sell everyone you ever knew to a psychopath to ¡°save¡± you, had quite a chilling effect on people. Ireela, also quite understandably, was devastated by Kojiro''s death. He might have been a psychopathic serial rapist, but he was also her son. So, to let her grieve, Ren took over running the household for the time being. The day following the battle in the cave, funerals were held for Ireela¡¯s household staff. Ren and her mom also held a separate small ceremony for Kojiro. He was buried in an unmarked grave not that far from the entrance to the escape tunnel. Savri agreed to help with the manual work, but otherwise, none of us attended the funeral. Xyrus¡¯s body for his crucial part in the events was hanged from a tree near Kojiro''s grave. This one had a full attendance from us. The remaining Red Masks were thrown into a mass grave and covered in dirt. No rites were held for them. It had been two days since the battle and Lilyth still hadn¡¯t woken up. We were getting seriously worried about her, though our patrons repeatedly assured us that she would likely recover. I frequently spotted Aki lying next to her in the bedroom we put her in, holding her and weeping. Sometimes I joined her, but otherwise, I left the girl to her grief. I had a lot to process myself, and looking at the unconscious form of Lilyth was only intensifying the immense guilt I felt. We are both aware with Ren, that had Lilyth not sold her soul to Ereshkigal, we would likely spend the rest of our lives as Kojiro''s slaves, our only purpose being to satisfy him and his men. Unfortunately, both Akh''ret and Nyx confirmed that we wouldn''t be able to do anything to help Lilyth regain control over her soul, though Ereshkigal unless the circumstances really warranted it, had no intention of ever actually using the power the contract gave her and would treat Lilyth the same as she did before, so long as she was alive. It¡¯s not that bad of a deal then. ¡®It¡¯s still something my sister hardly ever offers to mortals. Consigning yourself to an actual eternity of servitude is not to be undertaken lightly. Consider this - you and Aki will eventually die. Lilyth will have to exist forever without you at some point.¡¯ Unless¡­ ¡®That is an option. Yes. I am fairly certain my sister would figure something out. But¡­ a decision not to pass on would likely be final.¡¯ I will keep that in mind. I didn''t want to tell it to Akh''ret, but I had already decided. It didn''t take Aki long to come to the same conclusions either after I told her about the possibility, as when that night, after falling asleep, I suddenly found myself lying on a white disk in the middle of nowhere, she was right next to me. And, to my surprise, so were Ren and Savri. ¡®Don¡¯t you think I discussed this with Nyx?¡¯ Rennie said, seeing my confusion. ¡®She might have slipped something to me too,¡¯ Sav admitted. ¡®But why?¡¯ I suddenly heard Lilyth''s voice. I saw her standing next to a beautiful white-haired woman with blue eyes. She was wearing a black skirt and a pink hoodie with floppy ears. Both she and Lilyth were holding steaming cups. ¡®What my friend here means: are you four sure?¡¯ Ereshkigal corrected her. ¡®Especially, you, Savri. Once you agree, your quest is over.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ we all said as one. ¡®Perfect,¡¯ the goddess smiled and snapped her pale fingers. Lines of blue-white energy flowed from her to us for a few seconds, and I felt a small tingle at the back of my right hand. Examining it I saw a glowing rabbit¡¯s head there. It soon faded to nothing. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®I told you, they wouldn''t leave you here alone,¡¯ Ereshkigal said to Lilyth, who looked genuinely moved. ¡®Exactly,¡¯ I said. ¡®You did this for us. It would be rotten of us to leave you here alone for all eternity.¡¯ Aki tacklehugged Lilyth, though Ereshkigal managed to grab my wife¡¯s cup beforehand. It was enough of an agreement with my general sentiment. Savri and Ren soon joined her. And so did I.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, guys,¡¯ Lilyth sobbed. ¡®You have no idea how much this means to me.¡¯ ¡®Hopefully, none of you will need to start your stay here soon,¡¯ the goddess said. ¡®Enjoy your lives for as long as you can.¡¯ A sword materialised in her hand. I recognized it to be the physical version of the sword Lilyth used during her fight against Kojiro. ¡®There is one more formality we need to do. All of you kneel, please.¡¯ We were then all named knights of the Tenebral Order. ¡®Wait¡­ do we all serve now under Lilyth?¡¯ Savri asked with dread in her voice. ¡®Fuck, no,¡¯ Ereshkigal laughed nervously. ¡®I barely managed to rebuild this thing. I know that Lilyth considered herself the Grand Master by default, which I never bothered to correct, it¡¯s not like she told about her position to anyone other than you four, Baial and Aldvil. You guys are equal in my eyes. Whoever you say is in charge is in charge as far as day-to-day stuff is concerned. I¡¯m keeping Lilyth as my voice, as she is the most durable of you five. Other than that, however, you kids organise yourselves, is up to you. All gear and other fun stuff you will have to earn. That being said, I do owe you all a reward for saving that slime of mine. You will find them next to your beds when you wake up. Any questions?¡¯ Ren raised her hand. Ereshkigal pointed her hand at her. ¡®Go ahead, Rennie,¡¯ ¡®So¡­ umm¡­ My Lady¡­¡¯ ¡®Just call me Ereshkigal in private.¡¯ ¡®Yes. So¡­ Ereshkigal¡­ when you¡­ spoke¡­ t-to m-me¡­¡¯ ¡®Ah. I told you to improve. Yes. You are doing well. I definitely wouldn''t have considered you a candidate if you weren''t. Keep at it.¡¯ I raised my hand. ¡®When we were in that cave, just before Lilyth turned, were you there?¡¯ ¡®Perceptive little vampire,¡¯ the goddess smiled. ¡®Yes. Normally, I don¡¯t show up in the world of the living, because well¡­ you saw what happens, but since I was planning to offer Lilyth part of my power, I decided it wouldn''t hurt.¡¯ ¡®Thank you.¡¯ Ren raised her hand again. ¡®What happened to Kojiro?¡¯ Ereshkigal pointed at the infinite void. ¡®I dropped him there. By now he should be past the point of even me being able to retrieve him. I rarely resort to this one. Basically, he will spend eternity falling through the endless void, completely helpless to do anything.¡¯ Ren paled. ¡®Never ask a question you may not like the answer to, sweetie,¡¯ Ereshkigal smiled coldly. ¡®It¡¯s a special fuck you for what he did to Lilyth.¡¯ ¡®I understand.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t feel bad about considering this unjust or whatever. Whatever feelings you have towards me regarding this are fine too. Punishments are something I will never involve any of you for that very reason.¡¯ ¡®What will our duties be then? Either now or then?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll get that. This one may take a while and I can tell Aki has a question she wants to ask, but has trouble mustering the courage to.¡¯ ¡®C-can I see Matis or my mom?¡¯ my wife asked, tearing up. ¡®No,¡¯ Ereshkigal said sadly. ¡®Your mother had recently passed on after she learned you have found a new family. She knew now that you were safe. Relatively at least. As for Matis¡­ he is still here, but seeing him would destroy you, so I cannot allow it. The souls of the living and the souls of the dead should never mix.¡¯ Aki nodded and did her best to swallow up her tears. ¡®Feel free to mourn, Aki,¡¯ Ereshkigal said, seeing her reaction. ¡®It¡¯s only mortal.¡¯ ¡®Ereshkigal, if I may?¡¯ Savri spoke up, and after the goddess nodded for her to continue adding. ¡®What do you mean by ¡°passed on¡±? We don''t stay here after death?¡¯ ¡®No.¡¯ That was apparently all the answer we would get on this subject, which was kind of disappointing, but then again we just all collectively signed away right to experience whatever it was, so maybe it was for the best. Seeing we were out of questions, and after we comforted Aki a bit, Ereshkigal smiled and said: ¡®Why don''t I give you a tour since you all are here?¡¯ Chapter 100 - Caeileera, the Vampire We were all pretty stoked to see Ereshkigal''s kingdom. A path appeared leading to a large metal gate. ¡®Before we go, however, why don¡¯t I get you all something to drink?¡¯ the goddess asked with a smile and pointed to the cups she and Lilyth were holding. Whatever my jelly was drinking smelled insanely good. Lilyth gave us all encouraging looks so we all readily nodded. ¡®Splendid,¡¯ the goddess clapped her hands, leaving the cup she was holding floating in the air. A tray appeared on which our drinks were. Oddly enough, the goddess didn''t ask us what we¡¯d be having. And one of those smelled¡­ No. No. No. Unaware of my growing distress the goddess started handing out the cups: ¡®Savri, for you have black coffee, no milk and sugar. Ren¡­ I believe you like black tea, so have some proper Terran stuff. Aki, I think you will like cocoa. While Caei¡­ I believe your kind likes blood, yes?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t even paying attention. I was just looking at the red liquid. So enticing. So¡­ With all the strength of my will, I knocked the cup out of Ereshkigal''s hand. Something weird then happened. The cup and all the liquid spilling out of it froze in mid-air, and so did all my friends. The only things still moving were me and Ereshkigal. I looked at her, but instead of rage at me for daring to strike her, all I saw on her face was concern. ¡®What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ she asked. ¡®I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t drink blood,¡¯ I spat. Normally, I can control myself¡­ but a cup of it¡­ just ready to drink¡­ it¡¯s too much.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll be honest, Caeileera, ¡®Ereshkigal crossed her hands. ¡®You are the first of your kind I¡¯ve ever interacted with. All I know in that regard is that your kind can do it and that it¡¯s really enjoyable.¡¯ I looked around in despair but my friends didn¡¯t move. ¡®I stopped time,¡¯ the goddess answered the unasked question. ¡®They can¡¯t hear us. So if this is something you''d rather they not know, then they won¡¯t learn it. If it is too private I will also accept you not telling me. Is there some social convention I am not aware of, or some ethical considerations from your end? This blood is not from anything if that is your concern.¡¯ What was I supposed to tell Ereshkigal? That blood gives us the best high one of us can ever experience? That it is so addictive that it only takes a few ¡°doses¡±, sometimes only just one, to turn you into a bloodthirsty monster that needs to be put down? That I barely escaped that fate myself? The effects of blood drinking were so devastating that even absolute monsters like Gaar¡¯rinver never tried once. After all, it is hard to do ¡°research¡± when you are in search of ever larger doses of someone''s life essence because the previous ones stopped working. ¡®It¡¯s¡­ too enjoyable,¡¯ I said with a heavy sigh. ¡®I tried it once. Nothing ever compared to it. It was a few years ago. If it wasn''t for a friend¡­¡¯ ¡®Then I apologise for even making the offer, and for calling you a vampire. I¡¯ll pass it to others not to call you that way either.¡¯ She bowed. ¡®Thank you. What about¡­¡¯ ¡®The rest? Tell them when and what you want. To explain away this, say something about you not wanting to drink the blood of living creatures or something to that effect. ¡®Will do. And I apologise for striking you, my Lady.¡¯ ¡®There is nothing to be sorry about. I made the mistake of offering booze to a recovering alcoholic.¡¯ ¡®I appreciate it, my Lady,¡¯ ¡®Call me Ereshkigal, or Ere.¡¯ ¡®Yes, Ere. Before you¡­ unpause time can you tell me what you mean about me being the first?¡¯ ¡®None of the other Sanguine ever ended up here. You are all the creation of The Blood, meaning it controls you. Even after your death.¡¯ ¡®Wait¡­ really?¡¯ I was taken aback by this. ¡®What happens to our souls then?¡¯ ¡®This is something only The Blood knows, but, given what you have just told me and everything else I know about that thing, it can''t be good.¡¯ Oh no¡­ If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I furrowed my brow. ¡®Won¡¯t it be mad once it learns that I signed off my soul to you then?¡¯ Ereshkigal laughed melodically. ¡®Believe me, Caei, it knows and it¡¯s pissed. The Blood tried to contact me over fifty times in the time since it happened.¡¯ I was beyond terrified. What have I brought on us? ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ Ereshkigal smiled. ¡®I¡¯ll smooth things out. Just need to remind that thing of certain hard truths of life. Anyway¡­ shall we get back to it? If so, just pose yourself roughly in the way you would if you were knocking that cup out of my hand?¡¯ I did and as the cup disappeared into the void I did my best expression of ¡°What have I done?¡±, looked with contrition on Ereshkigal, who looked mildly irked and said: ¡®I¡¯m sorry, my lady. I find drinking blood tasteless.¡¯ ¡®You should have said so,¡¯ she chided me and then shrugged. ¡®How about I get you some cocoa instead?¡¯ Aki¡¯s drink smelled wonderful, so, choking back tears, I simply nodded. Thank you. As we walked down the path sipping our drinks - the cocoa thing was indeed amazing, I heard Aki ask Lilyth: ¡®So have you been here for the past few days? I¡­ we¡¯ve been worried. Then seeing you there with Ereshkigal¡­¡¯ That was a good point. We appeared in the afterlife and here was Lilyth. ¡®Sorry for making you worried,¡¯ Lilyth shook her head sadly. ¡®Though it wasn''t on purpose, I assure you. The last thing I remember is Caei tackling me to the ground. Then I woke up here half an hour ago and learned from Ereshkigal that two days have passed.¡¯ ¡®That one is partially on me,¡¯ the goddess admitted. ¡®I¡¯ve decided to keep you under for a while. You being conscious and alone here wouldn''t be healthy in your mindset. Alas, my duties tend to be time consuming so I wouldn''t be able to keep you company and I didn''t think you staying with strangers would be good either.¡¯ ¡®You could have let her wake up,¡¯ I pointed out. ¡®No. No, I couldn''t. What I did with Lilyth is waay deeper than what I did with you. In your case, I merely bound your essence to mine. As for Lilyth¡­ to give her that, I had to put part of my divine self into her.¡¯ ¡®Lilyth is a demigoddess now?¡¯ Ren asked incredulously. ¡®No,¡¯ Ereshkigal sighed and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. ¡®The best way I can describe it - she can now manifest my power into the mortal realm. Kinda an avatar after a fashion?¡¯ ¡®Or an angel,¡¯ I pondered, remembering what Akh''ret said. ¡®A mix of the two,¡¯ the goddess admitted and then quietly muttered: ¡®I also need to tell m¡­ Akh''ret to stop using that word about my people.¡¯ ¡®That being said, if I never have to use that power again it is going to be too soon,¡¯ Lilyth shuddered. ¡®What did it feel like?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Imagine the greatest cold you have ever felt, but you are not just experiencing it - you are it body and soul. Everything becomes¡­ hazy. The lines become blurred and you no longer see colour, it is just shades of grey, with one exception - red. The deeper the red the more evil you realise the person is. The need to remove those people¡­ those stains upon reality becomes a painful urge. And the worst part is¡­ you know. Who they are. What they did. Why do they deserve it.¡¯ ¡®Does this mean you s-¡¯ I began, worrying my jelly saw what exactly Kojiro did. What Ren did. What I did. ¡®She did,¡¯ Ereshkigal cut in. ¡®But I took the liberty of¡­ removing those memories when you were unconscious, Lilyth. I hope you don''t mind.¡¯ My wife covered her lower face with her hand. ¡®Mind?¡¯ she whimpered. ¡®You probably did me the greatest favour there is. Thank you.¡¯ ¡®I can¡¯t have you breaking down on me, hun,¡¯ Ere smiled. ¡®That applies to you all really. So my quest for you is thus: once Lilyth can travel again, go pick up that militia trainer and investigate the graveyard rumours. Nothing happened that would indicate to me that it is that urgent, but I¡¯ll let you know if anything changes. After that¡­ take a few months off. Seriously, you all need it. I imagine events will conspire to make that impossible but at least try to rest.¡¯ ¡®Shouldn¡¯t we head to Lin-Vyme immediately?¡¯ Sav asked. ¡®Just in case it really is serious?¡¯ ¡®You certainly can, ¡® Ereshkigal conceded. ¡®Pray tell me though¡­ How many of you would be heading there?¡¯ And so thanks to Sav, Ren and I got volunteered to go to Lin-Vyme. Savri had to stay and keep training the militia. We couldn''t also leave the settlement undefended. Aki said she wouldn''t be leaving Lilyth''s side and given how it likely would be several days until she could fight¡­ I would happily stay with them too, but Ren, thanks to the pink-haired teacher¡¯s pet planting that seed in her head, got really worried about the monastery town and since I couldn''t quite leave her alone I offered to go with her. While I didn''t mind spending more time alone with Rennie, despite what that stupid jelly of mine had said - there was little romance in actually dealing with necromancers. If they were your type though¡­ would it mean you are a necromancer romancer? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Lilyth''s weirdness was rubbing off on me. Then again¡­ is it really that bad? When Savri realised what she had done, she looked really sorry. ¡®My bad¡­ I wasn''t thinking,¡¯ she whispered to me as we continued our trek to the gate. ¡®I forgot how understaffed we were now.¡¯ ¡®Hopefully, nothing bad will happen,¡¯ I whispered back. ¡®If it looks dangerous, retreat and come get us. We¡¯ll come to help you, other commitments be damned.¡¯ ¡®Will do,¡¯ I responded fully intending to do that. Chapter 101 - The Realm of Shadow The gate opened silently, revealing a road leading into a dark valley. I could see vague outlines of houses and a large building there, but it was hard to see, exactly as between us and it there was a forest, quite unlike one I had seen before. The trees and shrubbery were glowing in a myriad of colours. Here and there I saw fleeting signs of the movements of some animals. ¡®Welcome to the realm of Shadow,¡¯ Ereshkigal said and made a flourishy bow. ¡®Not what I expected,¡¯ Lilyth said in genuine awe. I looked at her and saw that the shadow ¡°tattoos¡± on her skin were also shining in a faint blue light. ¡®This place is genuinely making you radiant, jellybean,¡¯ I joked to her. ¡®Wuh?¡¯ she said and finally noticed the glowing of her body. ¡®At least I won¡¯t need to use artificial lighting to read at night.¡¯ ¡®Will make sex easier too,¡¯ I added which caused everyone but Lilyth to burst out laughing. Though seeing her obvious discomfort we stopped almost immediately. Oh. Right. ¡®Sorry, Lilyth,¡¯ I said, feeling like a monster. ¡®I forgot.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ she waved my apology away. ¡®Life goes on, eh? Can¡¯t expect you to walk on eggshells all the time. I just need some time.¡¯ It took us maybe two hours to reach the settlement, but it was probably the most spectacular walk of my life so we hardly noticed the passage of time, as the magical light show that was the forest was truly breathtaking. I was fairly certain it was Ere¡¯s doing, but from time to time some animal would come out of the forest and approach us. Some of them, like a black-furred feline creature with a tail similar to the one Lilyth had in her kitsune form, even let us pet it. It was so fluffy and pleasant to touch. There were three short green-glowing stripes under each of its eyes, and three more running the length of its back. ¡®That¡¯s a nesumi,¡¯ Ereshkigal explained. ¡®Cuddly little creatures.¡¯ The creature took an immediate liking to Ren and ended up climbing onto her shoulder and just staying there. ¡®Apparently, you¡¯ve got a new owner, Rennie,¡¯ Lilyth laughed. ¡®Seems so,¡¯ Ren smiled as she nuzzled her head against the furry creature which chirped happily. ¡®Can I keep it?¡¯ Ereshkigal shrugged. ¡®Can¡¯t see why not.¡¯ ¡®Yay,¡¯ Ren hooted and the nesumi chirped along. ¡®I¡¯ll send it over to you once you wake up. Talk with Nyx about the pet safety thing.¡¯ ¡®Why not you, if I may ask?¡¯ ¡®You have a better link with her. Well¡­ that and its black fur is going to drive her nuts with those white suits of hers.¡¯ That caused Lilyth to burst out laughing. ¡®Now that''s an evil genius thing if I ever heard one.¡¯ Ereshkigal let out an overexaggerated maniacal laugh which had us all bending over from laughter. The small town we reached had architecture similar to Akh''ret''s Mercy with buildings built out of red bricks. The big highlight was again the strands of multi-coloured lights hanging everywhere, making me think we never left the forest. ¡®Wow¡­¡¯ I gasped. ¡®Welcome to Zevhr,¡¯ Ereshkigal said. The rest of the visit was spent on her giving us a tour around the town. We saw the most important things there and met some of the people. Shadowlings, while grey or purple-skinned, wore all sorts of colourful clothes. We also met one person none of us, and by that I mean our original trio expected to meet - none other than Teliar Zi Lind, the former administrator of Akh''ret''s Mercy. Before we entered her clinic, she was a local doctor, Ere warned us not to bring up the events at the hospital. Not only was the dungeon still undisturbed on this Dwynveia, but Zi Lind died there and as part of the deal with Ereshkigal- did not remember the final days. Like Lilyth''s memories of the battle against Kojiro, she just vaguely knew what happened but without specifics. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The room we entered was sparse and sterile. A bookshelf with medical manuals, some anatomical pictures hanging on the walls, a cot, a privacy screen, two chairs and a desk. Behind it sat a figure I wouldn¡¯t recognize if it wasn''t for Ereshkigal''s warning as Teliar Zi Lind didn''t quite look like she did in her portrait. Her hair, rather than being short and brown, was blonde and reaching to her back. Then again, she could have dyed it here, and it growing longer was perfectly natural. She wore glasses over her emerald eyes and was dressed in black pants, a blue sweater and a white coat. ¡®Hey, Telly,¡¯ the goddess waved towards her. ¡®Hi there, Ere,¡¯ the elf replied with a smile. ¡®Who¡¯s this?¡¯ ¡®Just some friends I¡¯m showing around. A bit earlier, they signed up to join us here eventually.¡¯ ¡®Oh, that¡¯s splendid!¡¯ Teliar clapped and approached us. ¡®Swearing myself to Ere was the best decision of my life¡­ well¡­ death really, but what does it matter?¡¯ She then noticed Aki¡¯s artificial hand. ¡®Oh my, dearie, what happened there?¡¯ Given what Ereshkigal told us earlier we weren''t quite sure how to respond. ¡®A¡­ dungeon¡­ mishap,¡¯ Aki stammered out eventually. ¡®Ah, okay,¡¯ Teliar went red-faced. ¡®Sorry, that was insensitive of me to ask someone I just met about something so traumatic. It was just professional curiosity.¡¯ She bowed. ¡®Once again, I am sorry for prying,¡¯ she repeated. ¡®It- It¡¯s fine,¡¯ my wife responded. ¡®I¡¯m Aki, by the way.¡¯ ¡®Oh, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.¡¯ Teliar had nice things to say about all of us. She complimented my hair and crown of horns, Savri¡¯s eye colour, how cute Ren looked, which was further enhanced by the nesumi she was currently carrying, and Lilyth''s shadow markings. All in all, I never expected someone dead for five hundred years to be quite this chipper. It quickly became quite clear that the purpose behind the meeting with Teliar was to show us what kind of duties we could expect, which was helping Ereshkigal administer the realm of Shadow since the part devoted to Death was her main concern and we wouldn''t be of much use there due to us being mortals. Still, we would be joining quite an exclusive club as before our five only twelve other people swore themselves to Ereshkigal. ¡®They are all spread across the Shadow realm,¡¯ the goddess explained. ¡®I cannot promise you will always be together, but given your unique arrangement I will have a system in place for you to meet as frequently as possible. Probably at least several evenings a week, but well¡­ stuff happens.¡¯ That seemed more than fair. ¡®I have not yet decided what your duties will be. I hope you still have long and fruitful lives in front of you, so your skill sets will grow. I have some ideas as far as Lilyth, Ren and Savri go, but I am curious where you will go next.¡¯ ¡®Probably an early grave,¡¯ Lilyth said mirthlessly. ¡®Let¡¯s hope it doesn''t come to that, hon,¡¯ I elbowed her in the side. ¡®I plan to stick around for a long time so I am keeping you with me until the end.¡¯ ¡®There is no inherent reason any of you can''t live forever, or at least for centuries,¡¯ Ereshkigal shrugged. ¡®The more magic imbued you are, the slower your ageing process is. How old do you think Zekuthran is?¡¯ That is an excellent question. Fucker looks thirty. ¡®A couple of centuries?¡¯ Lilyth wagered. ¡®No,¡¯ Savri shook her head. ¡®He and Eury founded the legions. That was¡­ about two thousand years ago? And he wasn¡¯t young then either. Our collective jaws dropped. ¡®That fucker is over two thousand years old?¡¯ Lilyth exclaimed in disbelief. ¡®Closer to three,¡¯ Ereshkigal said. ¡®That¡¯s waaay past the demon life expectancy, which is already crazy long.¡¯ ¡®Why did my mom die at thirty then?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®She was his daughter.¡¯ ¡®Unfortunately, his magical blood seems to have skipped a generation. Believe me, kiddo - most demonborns aren¡¯t indistinguishable from full-blooded demons.¡¯ Another good point. ¡®Oh¡­ so I got lucky and my mom didn''t?¡¯ Aki was absolutely dejected by the realisation. ¡®Unfortunately,¡¯ Ereshkigal said. ¡®Genetics are a lottery,¡¯ Lilyth sighed as she wrapped her hands around Aki. ¡®Yup,¡¯ Savri agreed with a sombre look on her face. Teliar looked like she wanted to ask something, but thought better of it. ¡®I think that''s enough for the day,¡¯ Ereshkigal said. ¡®I¡¯ll send you all back now. We¡¯ll continue our tour later. Lilyth, you should be able to wake up now.¡¯ She pointed at Aki with her chin and my wife nodded. ¡®You¡¯ll probably be very weak for a while yet, so take it easy. Ren, Caei if you still insist on going¡­ good luck, and remember - there is no shame in retreat.¡¯ We all nodded, Ereshkigal snapped her fingers and I found myself awake with sobbing Aki next to me. I hugged her tightly. Lilyth soon entered, supported by Savri on one side, and Ren on another. She looked terribly pale, even by her standards, and was sweating profusely. Our friends helped her to the bed and sat with us there, as we comforted Aki. Chapter 102 - Chirpy The two of us set off towards Lin-Vyme in the morning. It would take us about a day to get there, so the sooner the better. Neither of us got much sleep, I spent a long time with Lilyth trying to comfort Aki. The revelations about her mom took a heavy toll on her. Then after our blue-haired bundle of sorrow finally fell asleep, Lilyth had trouble sleeping due to nightmares. I suggested the [Sleep] spell, but Lilyth simply said: ¡®I was under the effects of it enough for now.¡¯ I would probably be against that too after two days of it, so I dropped the matter. One small blessing was that the nightmares did seem less intense that night, so it was probably time slowly healing wounds there. Ren had a different problem - the nesumi. He was so fascinated by its new home that Ren spent half the night following him around the house, ensuring it didn''t get in trouble. The nesumi¡¯s curious nature almost ended up with him getting named Nosy, though, ultimately Ren settled on Chirpy, which was short for ¡°Chirpy Little Motherfucker¡±. He earned that name due to how he would wake her up with chirps and nuzzles whenever she fell asleep. I felt this was a bit hasty of her and after a while, she would go with her first idea. Ren wanted to leave him at home, but Nosy refused to even consider this as an option and would just climb back on her shoulder whenever she put him down on the ground. Ireela was initially less than pleased with her daughter''s new pet, but she quickly warmed up to Nosy. Veenaya''s reaction wasn¡¯t as positive and both creatures were wary of one another. So when, after the mother and daughter said their goodbyes, our lumizu started rubbing her body against Ireela''s legs I couldn''t help but think this was her way of marking her territory. This will be an interesting relationship. Despite our relative lack of sleep, we made good time at least in the first half of the day. By three in the afternoon, none of us had much strength left, so we took an early rest. In the two days since the battle I did learn the [Ward] spell, so we both got a full night of sleep. Even Nosy seemed tired, so he just curled up into a ball next to Ren''s head and fell fast asleep. As I lay down on a bedroll, we found a bunch with the Red Masks which we washed and decided to use, I realised this was the first night in two weeks I would spend with neither Aki nor Lilyth around. It felt¡­ weird. I got so used to them being right there. I missed them, as for the lack of a better term I felt¡­ incomplete. So this is what it is like to have people you care about. I looked at Ren. She seemed to be asleep. What do I do about you, Rennie? We didn''t talk much today, but I still enjoyed my time alone with her. I promised my wives I wouldn''t have any repeat ¡°offences¡±, but I think they knew me better than I did. How low their opinion of me in that regard must be? Is it though? Perhaps they just understand, as that weirdly profound slimy moron of mine said, that if you end up with memories of someone who was madly in love with Ren they can''t expect you to ignore it. You cannot kill such feelings in a few days. Or ever maybe. Perhaps they understand that Leera will live in me forever. What do I do about it though? Do I just go for it? Should I ask them again to see if nothing changed? I lay there for a while, trying to fall asleep, when I heard Ren¡¯s whisper: ¡®You awake?¡¯ I sat up. ¡®Can¡¯t sleep, eh?¡¯ I asked. ¡®I just feel so alone¡­ I remember going camping with Leera and¡­ just¡­ just¡­¡¯ If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. While the memories of those days surfaced, Ren began to sob. Oh, gods¡­ I will figure it out with Aki and Lilyth later. Right now¡­ Rennie needs me. As it turned out the closeness of another person was something we both needed, and we soon ended up drifting away with Ren in my arms. I want to say we slept the entire night holding each other, but about three hours later the Chirpy Little Motherfucker started demanding attention. Unfortunately for him, unlike Ren, I knew the [Sleep] spell, so there were no further interruptions that night. Unfortunately for me, however, was that, judging by the dark looks I got from him all morning, Chirpy, like Veenaya, was more intelligent than he looked. His gaze promised vengeance, though some chin scratches and food from Rennie appeared to have placated the beastie. He even let me pet him. However, I couldn''t shake the feeling that the nesumi was just biding his time. ¡®It¡¯s going to be much harder than we both thought, eh Rennie?¡¯ I asked to address the behemoth in the room.¡¯ ¡®Yes¡­,¡¯ she said absentmindedly and looked up at me from the ability book she was staring at blankly. It was the thank-you gift she got from Ereshkigal. We all got stuff we liked. I got a [Rock Spikes] rune, which would have to wait until I got a perk point, Sav a mana crystal that would let her start constructing a magical staff and Aki and an ¡°Introductory Guide to Alchemy¡± and some basic equipment and reagents. She took a deep breath, held it for a moment and slowly exhaled. ¡®I also don¡¯t know what to do about us,¡¯ she continued. ¡®I know you have Lilyth and Aki. I know you are not her. But¡­ when I see you¡­ when I talk with you¡­ when I touch you¡­¡¯ ¡®I am her. Just a bit different. In my case it¡¯s similar. I know what Leera saw in you. I see it too, and I know it is me-me thinking those things. I love Lilyth and Aki. But I love you too, Ren. I don¡¯t think there is much point in denying that.¡¯ ¡®So what do we do?¡¯ I moved to sit by her side and took her hand in mine. ¡®We take it day by day and see what happens.¡¯ She leaned in and we kissed. Not that we planned to go much further, but all mood was broken when Chirpy chose this as a perfect moment to enact his revenge. He jumped on Ren¡¯s lap and started twirling around and swatting me with his tail. Then he curled up there and started nuzzling his head against her belly. I could swear I saw him sticking his tongue at me when we briefly locked eyes, but it could have been an illusion. I couldn''t help but laugh at the little creature¡¯s brazenness, and Ren soon joined me, as she petted the clingy nesumi. ¡®Can I see the book?¡¯ I asked once I regained my senses. Ren handed it over and its description popped up in front of my eyes. Item: [Deadeye] Ability Book Class: Magical - Handbook Rarity: Extremely Rare Durability: 10/10 Description: Allows the user to learn the [Deadeye] Ability. Ability Effect: Allows the user to see where their attack will hit. Practice with the ability improves the accuracy of its predictions and may result in additional information being displayed. Cost to learn: 1 Perk Point ¡®Damn, that''s good,¡¯ I said as I handed the book back. ¡®You really think so? I wasn''t sure whether my one perk point was worth it.¡¯ ¡®Oh, it is. Believe me. Being able to easily predict where I am going to exactly hit would be so useful.¡¯ I stood up and summoned a [Blood Lance]. Then I almost immediately threw it at a tree some distance, maybe thirty metres, away. It barely nicked the trunk, before splattering on the ground. Then I summoned another one, took a painfully slow moment to aim and then threw it. This time the projectile hit only slightly away from where I intended it to land. ¡®As you could see¡­ when I didn''t aim the spell barely hit it, while aiming it took me what¡­ ten seconds? In combat that''s an eternity.¡¯ ¡®And that''s against a stationary target, while you yourself stood still¡­¡¯ Ren mulled it over. ¡®Yeah. I can see why Ereshkigal selected this one for me.¡¯ She focused on the ability book for a moment and the tome crumbled to dust. Some of it fell on Chirpy who shook himself clean, making sure most of it fell on me. That thing is definitely holding a grudge. As I patted myself clean I saw that Rennie¡¯s eyes flashed white briefly. ¡®That¡¯s so cool,¡¯ she exclaimed. ¡®A crosshair appeared in front of my eyes. Can''t wait to test it out!¡¯ ¡®What happened to the Ren that was afraid to fight the undead?¡¯ I asked. ¡®That Ren got captured by her brother and was only rescued when a traumatised woman sold her soul and her lover burned herself to free herself.¡¯ She took my hands into hers and looked at the crisscross of scars covering my forearms. ¡®I don¡¯t like that Ren,¡¯ she finished. ¡®I don''t want to be her anymore.¡¯ Chapter 103 - Taverns Are Bad Luck We reached Lin-Vyme in the early evening that day. The settlement consisted of a stone monastery located on top of a hill and a small town at the foothills. As we were both tired, our first destination was an inn called ¡°Under the Fierce Darhun¡±, though I think the sign painter made the lizard look, at most, ¡°somewhat angry¡±. It was also absolutely adorable. Ren initially suggested that given our allegiances we could try getting a place to sleep at the monastery, it was dedicated to the Old Gods after all, but I shot it down. Going there without Lilyth¡­ felt wrong. I wanted it to be our special moment to share, so ¡°Under the Fierce Darhun,¡± it was. As it was slowly getting late the inn wasn¡¯t quite full, but most of the tables were taken. ¡®I hope there are rooms still available,¡¯ I whispered to Rennie. ¡®I think most of those people are locals, so we should be good?¡¯ she responded, a bit unsure. As it turned out two of the three rooms available were indeed vacant, so a few minutes later we were putting our things down in one of them. The innkeeper, a dark-haired young man named Malth, looked at Chirpy with suspicion but we assured him that the nesumi was well-behaved. The little beastie nodded along solemnly as we covered his furry ass, which only increased the proprietor¡¯s suspicion. But, eventually, he relented. ¡®Just so you know,¡¯ he warned us,¡¯ I will bill you for everything he destroys, you have to clean up after him and if he is loud in the night I will throw you out.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ I told him. ¡®He won¡¯t be an issue, right, Chirpy?¡¯ I threw the nesumi a warning look, and he eagerly confirmed what I said with a vigorous series of nods. Someone doesn¡¯t like being under the [Sleep] spell, eh? ¡®That¡¯s a weird-ass cat you¡¯ve got there,¡¯ Malth shrugged. ¡®It¡¯s almost like it understands what we are talking about.¡¯ Chirpy looked offended by being compared to your run-of-the-mill housecat, but Ren, who was holding him in her hands, squeezed him tightly, which made him assume a neutral expression. ¡®It¡¯s just an illusion, don¡¯t worry about it,¡¯ Ren said with a diplomatic smile. Once we were done unpacking we went down to get ourselves something warm to eat and to try to find out some information. Our first priority was figuring out the cemetery problem. We would figure out the former soldier thing later. Unfortunately, it indeed likely wasn¡¯t a massive problem, as none of the conversations we tried to eavesdrop on while eating the slightly overcooked terilla stew even remotely touched upon it. So with heavy hearts, we had to take a more direct approach. As we were giving back our bowls to Malth, Ren asked: ¡®We heard there were some disturbances in the local graveyard. Could you tell us more about them?¡¯ ¡®You girls, Seekers?¡¯ he asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡®Eh, none of my business, I guess. It¡¯s probably nothing. Over the past few weeks, some folks have been seeing a figure wandering around the cemetery at night. Town militia tried to find them, but they came up empty-handed. There were some animal carcasses found in the forest too, but they had parts of them carved out by knife, so the theory is that likely some vagrant has settled down around here somewhere.¡¯ ¡®So all the travel here for nothing,¡¯ Ren said with disappointment in her voice. ¡®Who knows? Maybe you girls will get lucky and find them. It would definitely put some minds at ease.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®We might as well try. ¡® We thanked him and turned in for the night. To his credit, Chirpy did behave himself, it also meant that once Ren woke up and her naked form rolled off me in the morning, he glomped her and demanded attention. ¡®So much for a romantic lie-in,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®I guess we have a cuddle partner,¡¯ she chuckled while petting the little critter. We managed to steal an extra half an hour for ourselves and then it was time to get moving. As Ren ordered us breakfast I wondered, not for the first time, how would Lilyth and Aki react to us deciding to get together. My mind was definitely a weird place these days. And I did notice that with my wives around I could control myself around Ren. Alone¡­ Is it because they make me a better person or am I just hiding my true self? Or is it the other way around? Am I the real me while with them? This led me to another question: What IS the real me? I spent most of my life in a place where having a real you was asking for trouble. Then just as I started getting a sense of self I ended up with memories of another me in my head. One that was starting to have this figured out. Who am I? What am I? ¡®What you are, my child,¡¯ I heard Akh''ret''s voice, ¡®is a, mostly, blank slate. Ask yourself not what you are. Ask yourself who you want to be.¡¯ I don¡¯t know. ¡®And that¡¯s a start. You have an objective then, Caeileera.¡¯ If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. And what do I do about my¡­ romantic issues? ¡®Not really my department. Try Nyx. Though from my perspective you are doing fine. Neither of your significant others seems to mind the current arrangements. All of them understand your¡­ unique predicament, and you loving one of them more than the others¡­ is normal in such relationships.¡¯ I felt immense relief when I heard that sentiment from Akh''ret. That¡¯s¡­ something I needed to hear, I think.¡¯ ¡®Always here for you, my child. Now go. Ren is giving you strange looks.¡¯ I returned my attention to reality and saw that indeed she was back at our table with some bread and cheese and was staring at me with concern. ¡®Sorry, Rennie,¡¯ I quickly said. ¡®I got lost in a bit of an¡­ internal dialogue.¡¯ ¡®Ah,¡¯ she nodded in understanding. While Lilyth was unconscious we all agreed to limit the number of people knowing about our relationships with the Old Gods to a minimum. Baial agreed to keep quiet, he didn¡¯t want to piss off Ere, and so did Ireela who apparently wanted to forget that the visit from Nyx ever happened. There was also the question of Aldvil, but any talk about the events in Mer-Cas would also involve him likely having to answer some VERY difficult questions. ¡®Did you figure anything out, Caei?¡¯ ¡®Yeah. It answered some questions on... well¡­ me and you and the girls.¡¯ ¡®Afraid of their reaction to us?¡¯ ¡®That too¡­ but I was mostly concerned about my feelings being¡­ unequal if that makes sense.¡¯ ¡®It does, don¡¯t worry. But Lilyth¡¯s and Aki¡¯s feelings are also unequal. So are mine, I guess. From my end, I am fine with sharing you with them.¡¯ That made me laugh, despite myself. ¡®¡¯Sorry¡­¡¯ I quickly waved her hurt expression away. ¡®This whole mess started when I agreed with Aki to share Lilyth with her, as we didn¡¯t want any drama. Now I am the one being shared.¡¯ That made Ren laugh too. ¡®I can see the irony.¡¯ Just as we were finishing the meal, the door to the inn opened and a figure I never expected to see here entered. It was a tall and broad-shouldered brown-haired man wearing dark blue scale armour and a green tabard with a silver star on it. A temple dragoon. What was the fucks name? Arca¡­ something. I looked at Ren who was staring at the soldier in horror. ¡®Act naturally,¡¯ I whispered to my girlfriend. Easier said than done. The man looked around and noticed us almost immediately. His eyes narrowed and he started approaching us. Shit! Shit! Shit! The question was¡­ did he recognize me for what I was or was it Rennie he was after. I readied myself to summon my glaive when he raised his hands in a placating gesture. ¡®Please, don¡¯t be afraid,¡¯ he said quietly. ¡®In fact¡­ I want to warn you. There will be an Inquisitor coming here soon. He might not look kindly upon someone of your kind, miss.¡¯ ¡®My kind?¡¯ I asked carefully. ¡®You are one of the Sanguine, aren¡¯t you, miss? I can tell that even if you are missing your wings and mask.¡¯ ¡®Maybe,¡¯ I said weakly. ¡®At any rate, I don¡¯t know what your story is, from my perspective, you are a woman enjoying her breakfast with her friend. The Inquisitor¡­ may see it differently, so I would suggest you make yourself scarce for a while. Go on a long walk and come back in a few hours. We are stopping here for breakfast and then we will be moving south to Denyr.¡¯ ¡®Thank you. We¡¯ll take you up on that, Ser¡­¡¯ ¡®Arcarius. Nice to meet you, miss¡­¡¯ ¡®Caeileera,¡¯ I said quickly. ¡®Thank you again.¡¯ ¡®My pleasure. Now¡­ if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to order some food.¡¯ This guy really isn¡¯t all that bad. If he wasn''t involved in the death of Aki¡¯s adoptive dad¡­ fuck. He just likely saved my life, so in my books that evens it out. ¡®Go grab our stuff,¡¯ I whispered to Rennie. ¡®I¡¯ll go out and wait for you below our window and help you get down. Our window overlooked a back alley, so I assumed we should be fine. She nodded, and I hurried outside. It was just in time because down the street I saw a Darhun-drawn carriage surrounded by two more Temple Dragoons and some soldiers in purple livery I didn''t quite recognize. Luckily for me, only two of the unknowns were looking in my direction, the rest were focused on some house, and that pair either didn¡¯t know I was a Sanguine or just couldn''t see me well enough to tell. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck After a few heart-pounding moments when I expected to hear the sounds of heavy boots running towards me, I found myself under our window. I summoned a [Floating Disk] and raised myself to be able to look inside. I saw Ren still gathering our things, so I knocked on the window. That made her jump with a yelp. ¡®By the gods, Caei!¡¯ Ren scolded me when she gathered her wits. ¡®You almost gave me a heart attack!¡¯ ¡®Hurry!¡¯ I responded. ¡®There is an armed party on the main street.¡¯ ¡®Fuck!¡¯ she spat, opened the window and gave me what she had already gathered. She quickly scooped up the rest and climbed through the opening. Only then did she notice she was standing on a glowing disk. ¡®Damn,¡¯ she said in mild awe. ¡®I really wish Leera knew magic. That stuff is so useful.¡¯ ¡®Yup,¡¯ I smiled and quickly lowered us to the ground. ¡®Where now?¡¯ Rennie asked as we hurried to put on our packs. ¡®Wait¡­ where¡¯s Chirpy?¡¯ I ignored her question for a moment. ¡®With Nyx.¡¯ That was a relief. As annoying as the critter could be, he was growing on me. ¡®Let¡¯s go to the cemetery,¡¯ I said. ¡®We can probably hide there, and try to figure out the problem.¡¯ ¡®Wouldn¡¯t it be better to leave this to the Inquisitor?¡¯ ¡®No!¡¯ I spat with more vitriol than I intended. ¡®It¡¯s not just any Inquisitor, you see. It¡¯s THAT Inquisitor.¡¯ ¡®What d¡­¡¯ Ren trailed off, as her confusion gave way to understanding. ¡®Oh.¡¯ ¡®Yes. If we don''t deal with this quietly, who knows how many innocent people could die.¡¯ Chapter 104 - Anika I want to say that the twenty minutes that it took us to find the graveyard were the most terrifying in my life, but after the past few weeks, I am not sure they would even be in the top ten. Top five of this week, maybe? First place would definitely be our capture by Kojiro. Oh wait¡­ The Sun tried to kill us this week too. Nevermind then. But you can see why the competition for that top spot is fierce. Damn. I am really mentally turning into Lilyth. Then again perhaps her brand of insanity is what we need to live through this. The differences between the rich and the poor were clearly visible in the cemetery. Most of the graves had simple wooden markers on them, many of them faded; far fewer had stone ones. There were also two ivy-covered crypts. I could see a two-winged metal door built into the hillside, which implied to me that there could have been a mausoleum dug into the hill. The whole graveyard was surrounded by a polished two-metre tall stone fence, and there were occasional trees growing here and there and the centre of the cemetery was marked by an angel statue. It was kind of creepy to look at. The blank face and weirdly proportioned limbs¡­ I shuddered. The necropolis pretty much marked one of the ends of the small town, as I could see the blue and orange trees of the forest behind the wall on the other end of the graveyard. ¡®So where do we start?¡¯ Ren asked, uncertainty clear in her voice. ¡®Umm¡­¡¯ realising how much out of my depth I was, I tried to think up something on the go. ¡®Let¡¯s look around? Maybe something obvious will pop up at us?¡¯ ¡®No offence, Caei,¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®But I now realise we are probably the two worst members of our merry band to¡­ do this.¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t say. Unfortunately, the best person for this wouldn''t be able to come with us, anyway. I guess Lilyth or Aki would maybe have some ideas? My jelly especially given her background.¡¯ And so, with no better options, we walked around the cemetery and found nothing. I tried to remember if that crime-solving monk mentioned anything, but no, just some vague mentions of him finding tracks and things like that. Most of my memories of that book have been drowned by what happened next anyway. ¡®The mausoleum, maybe?¡¯ I suggested. ¡®It¡¯s the one place one we haven''t searched,¡¯ Ren said and started approaching the door. ¡®Huh¡­¡¯ she muttered upon examining it and drew her sword. ¡®What¡¯s up?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s slightly ajar. I don¡¯t remember it being open.¡¯ Yeah. I passed by it a few times. It was fucking closed. I made a move to cast [Create Sanguine Weapon], but Rennie stopped me. ¡®No magic in the open with that fucker around,¡¯ she chided me. ¡®I really need to start carrying a backup again,¡¯ I spat. I left the glaive I took on our trip with Aldvil back in Mer-Cas. ¡®Probably a good idea,¡¯ Ren agreed. ¡®The more I think about it, the more I realise that we need to keep our magical stuff and abilities under wraps.¡¯ I remembered the Zalikh root and what happened to Lilyth. ¡®Probably a good idea,¡¯ I shuddered. ¡®Anyway, I¡¯ll pull them open and you get ready.¡¯ The door opened almost silently, so someone must have oiled the hinges recently. Pretty odd. You would expect a place like this not to be visited frequently. Unless¡­ someone is living here and doesn''t want to be seen. Even weirder was the smell, in addition to the expected dusty tomb scent, there was a faint aroma of rotting meat in the air. The fuck? There was nothing on the other side of the door that I could see, which made me even more worried. I could see that Ren wanted to go in, but I stopped her. ¡®Easy there, hon. Let me lead. I can see in the dark better than you.¡¯ ¡®You are also unarmed,¡¯ she pointed out. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡®You know¡­ I really am starting to understand Ere¡¯s point about waiting till Lilyth was up.¡¯ ¡®We would have missed the Inquisitor then.¡¯ ¡®True,¡¯ I shrugged and moved to enter the mausoleum, but I stopped. Think like Lilyth, Caei. Would she just walk in? No. My jelly and the others would likely suspect a trap. At least Savri would. What did Lilyth do in the Labyrinth? I motioned for Ren to back away and then carefully examined the entrance from every angle. No tripwires. Nothing seemingly hanging from the top. I looked further down the corridor. It was maybe thirty metres deep and had three entrances to individual tombs on each side. There was an altar to what looked suspiciously like Ereshkigal at the end. Looks clear enough I thought and took a few careful steps inside while constantly observing the ceiling. The memory of the heavy blade in the labyrinth was still too fresh in my mind. I motioned for Ren to follow me. As we got further in, the scent of rot was getting stronger. Even Rennie, who apparently was oblivious to it so far, could smell it now. ¡®By the gods, what is this horrible stench?¡¯ she whispered in disgust. ¡®I think we found the source of the disturbance.¡¯ I cast [Create Sanguine Weapon] and readied myself. ¡®It could be whoever is carving up the animals,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®Why go in armed?¡¯ ¡®Do you honestly think someone alive would be able to stay in this stench for prolonged periods of time?¡¯ I already felt like vomiting and it¡¯s only been a minute. Ren¡¯s queasy expression told me everything I needed. We followed the stench, which was easier said than done, and discovered that it was coming from an open tomb. There were four large sarcophagi there and there were multiple recesses in the walls, most of which were already sealed. And there, right in the centre of the chamber, was the source of our olfactory torment - a small pile of offal. ¡®Well¡­¡¯ I began but the words died in my throat. FUCK! I realised. It¡¯s bait! ¡®Get back!¡¯ I shouted to Ren who was looking at me confused. ¡®It¡¯s a¡­¡¯ ¡®...Trap?¡¯ I suddenly heard a raspy female coming from the direction of the entrance. ¡®Hardly. That being said if you are adventurers or something, I would consider a career change because you two are not going to last long.¡¯ I turned and saw a woman wearing a tattered sleeveless shirt that I thought was white once and a dirty pair of torn parts leaning against one of the walls. She had curly black hair and wore glasses. There was something¡­ off about her skin, though I couldn''t quite tell what exactly, as thanks to my Darksight I saw everything in greyish-blue. The answer still came from my other sense, one that didn''t really come in handy all that much. All the Sanguine have something called Bloodsmell, though the name doesn''t quite describe it. Basically, if I focus on something I can tell whether they are good ¡°food¡±. That was how I was able to tell Lilyth wasn¡¯t an elf. This ability has pretty much atrophied in me like it did in all the Sanguine who don¡¯t drink blood, but it was still there. So when I focused my Bloodsmell on the strange woman I was able to immediately say she wasn¡¯t as human as she appeared. When one of us looks at Lilyth they don¡¯t smell anything, because she doesn''t have any blood. This woman did, but it was dead¡­ rotten¡­ I don¡¯t know how else to describe it. This scent was one I was very familiar with. It was the smell of the undead. I pointed my glaive at the woman and growled: ¡®Explain yourself now, undead bitch!¡¯ I heard Ren hiss. ¡®Well¡­ that ruins the surprise,¡¯ the woman shrugged. ¡®Can we talk this out outside then? My sense of smell may not be the best nowadays, but that meat pile is still strong enough to disgust me.¡¯ What? Neither I nor Ren moved. Seeing our hesitation, the woman said: ¡®If I meant you harm I would have just killed you when you were so focused on my bait and I wouldn''t have offered to go outside where you have more freedom to manoeuvre or can just run away.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s just hear her out,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®Lead on then¡­ whoever you are,¡¯ I sighed in defeat. ¡®Anika,¡¯ she responded. ¡®Anika Anderson.¡¯ ¡®Caeileera,¡¯ I said automatically. ¡®And this is Ren.¡¯ ¡®Pleased to meet you,¡¯ Anika answered curtly and started walking towards the exit. I dismissed my spell and followed her with Ren in tow. Once outside, I saw Anika have a very familiar discomfort reaction I saw a certain special someone of mine have. Though she seemed a little worse for wear. I also managed to get a good look at her and found out that her skin was greyish with this waxy quality to it, and her pants were, in fact, those geens Sav wore. Interesting. ¡®Don¡¯t like being outside?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s mildly uncomfortable, at first. How can you tell?¡¯ ¡®A friend of mine had similar reactions.¡¯ ¡®Ah, okay.¡¯ We were approaching one of the crypts when suddenly I felt Ren yank my arm. ¡®We should go! Her too!¡¯ she almost screamed with barely contained panic in her voice. ¡®What¡¯s¡­¡¯ I began, but then I heard it. I was so focused on Anika that I zoned out, but I could hear the sounds of heavy footsteps getting closer. Many of them. ¡®The Inquisitor,¡¯ I hissed. He found us. Chapter 105 - Look Whos Back! ¡®What Inq-¡¯ Anika began, but I shushed her. ¡®Run now, questions later,¡¯ I spat. ¡®But where?¡¯ Ren asked. I pointed to the stone fence opposite the entrance. As the fence was taller than any of us, Anika asked: ¡®You sure you can climb that?¡¯ We didn''t answer with Ren, as we were already at a dead run. I heard her cursing a streak that would make both Lilyth and Savri proud, but to her credit, Anika quickly caught up to us. It also became clear she was in much better shape than either of us as she made a running leap and quickly scaled to the top of the wall. She then extended her hand down and helped Ren climb after I boosted the half-harpy. Once my girlfriend was over the wall, Anika tried to help me too, but I simply shook my head, unfurled my wings and flew over. It was just in time too, as at the apex of my flight I heard the shout of: ¡®There! A Bloodspawn! We must not let her get away.¡¯ As I disappeared behind the wall, I saw that the man who was shouting was wearing white-and-gold robes. I hid my wings the moment my feet touched the ground. Anika then pointed deep into the forest. ¡®There. I have a hideout in that direction.¡¯ We started running, listening for the sounds of the pursuit, but those never came. What? Still, I didn¡¯t want to slow us down, so this question ended up on the ¡°for later¡± pile. Anika led us through the uneven ground of the area, I am fairly certain we passed through some spots multiple times and eventually, we stopped at a small cave. ¡®Here,¡¯ she said slightly panting. ¡®Didn¡¯t¡­ know¡­ the¡­ undead¡­ could¡­ get¡­ tired,¡¯ I wheezed, gasping for breath. Ren just collapsed onto her knees and vomited from exertion. ¡®I don¡¯t think I am fully undead,¡¯ Anika shrugged. ¡®Or at least a normal one if there is such a thing.¡¯ We waited for Ren to recover and then went inside the cave. ¡®Why weren¡¯t they chasing us?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Because the Inquisitor lacks the authority to order it,¡¯ I heard a familiar voice coming from the cave entrance. I looked over there. It was Arcarius. Fuck. I summoned my glaive, but he made no move to attack us. I then noticed he didn¡¯t have his armour, weapons or tabard. What¡¯s going on? By then Ren recovered enough to draw her sword and join me. Even Anika took out a dagger from somewhere. ¡®Listen¡­ I mean you no harm,¡¯ he said. ¡®Allow me to explain myself.¡¯ ¡®Talk quickly,¡¯ I spat. ¡®We need to get going and I can¡¯t risk our lives on you stalling us here.¡¯ ¡®Fair¡­¡¯ The short version was: Arcarius screwed himself by warning us. Malth, unaware of the situation, mentioned us to the Inquisitor when he overheard them talking about the undead issue. He then pointed out that the former Temple Dragoon talked with us and that I left immediately afterwards. They entered our room, found nothing there and Arcarius was arrested by his buddies for treason. They left him guarded by one of the Viscount¡¯s men, who promptly let him go the moment the Inquisitor was out of sight because the Dragoon broke no law the man was charged to uphold, and letting him die because he had the audacity to warn a woman about that whackjob wouldn¡¯t sit right by him. Arcarius then fled into the forest and followed us after hearing us run. ¡®Ah, so Lilyth was right about you guys,¡¯ I said. ¡®Lilyth?¡¯ the dragoon responded quizzically. ¡®Who¡¯s that?¡¯ What was that stupid pseudonym Lilyth uses?¡¯ ¡®You may know her as Sindara.¡¯ ¡®Ah¡­¡¯ the knight sagged. ¡®Her. I owe her thanks. She opened my eyes to certain thi¡­ you know her?¡¯ ¡®She¡¯s my¡­ friend.¡¯ ¡®Can you take me to her?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, Caei,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®I have no idea what¡¯s going on, but I agree,¡¯ Anika added. ¡® I don¡¯t¡­ trust him.¡¯ I hid my face in my hands. What should I do? ¡®Let¡¯s take him with us,¡¯ I said. ¡®You should go with us too Anika. We can provide you with some shelter for now. I don¡¯t think I have the authority to make long-term decisions on this, especially on this guy.¡¯ This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. I pointed to Arcarius. ¡®But Aki¡­¡¯ Ren started to protest but stopped the moment she realised she said something she shouldn¡¯t have. ¡®And now you have limited our choices to killing him or taking him with us,¡¯ I pointed out. ¡®Can someone explain to me what¡¯s happening?¡¯ Anika demanded. ¡®Short story?¡¯ I replied. ¡®He and his whackjob zealot buddies came here to hunt down a friend of mine for the crime of having a demon as a grandfather. She managed to get away, so the Inquisitor hanged her adoptive father as punishment for taking her in. Then I believe there was a minor massacre?¡¯ Anika covered her mouth with her hand. ¡®The only reason I am inclined to leave him alive is because he saved me and Ren from the same fate,¡¯ I finished. All strength left Arcarius. ¡®So you know¡­¡¯ he said. ¡®If you want to kill me for that¡­ I won¡¯t fight back. I deserve much worse for what happened in Dan-Hem.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think we should be the ones to decide your fate,¡¯ Ren finally said. ¡®If anything that right should belong to Aki, or rather¡­ to the Viscount.¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ me and my friends were exiled for that,¡¯ Arcarius said with pain in his voice. ¡®So I don¡¯t think I will have much luck on that front.¡¯ ¡®Very well, then,¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®Come with us, we''ll decide whether to turn you in at home.¡¯ ¡®Very well,¡¯ he nodded. ¡®Let it be that way.¡¯ It was almost midnight by the time we were back home. We decided not to risk it and basically force-marched all the way back to Mer-Cas. Anika agreed to come with us, she had no better place to go, though we agreed to wait to swap our life stories until the whole gang was back together, so we grabbed her meagre possessions, basically just some basic supplies and spare clothes. Arcarius was surprisingly well-behaved and has shown no willingness to escape or act against us. He even helped us carry things, and he didn¡¯t seem to mind Anika¡¯s diet which consisted of raw flesh. As the girl explained, ever since she became what she was - it was the only thing she could eat that would actually nourish her. ¡®Is it human?¡¯ Arcarius asked with furrowed brows. ¡®Eugh, no,¡¯ Anika replied in mild disgust. ¡®It¡¯s some forest animal. Eating that stuff is disgusting as it is and I would never kill a person to eat them.¡¯ That answer satisfied him, so as hard as it was for me to admit it then - I was slowly warming up to the man. He seemed like a good guy, who ended up in a fucked-up situation. So during one of our short rests, I proposed something to Ren and she agreed that we could try. It would solve one of our problems then and not bring any more risk than we were already under. ¡®So¡­ Ser Arcarius,¡¯ I began, ¡®The place we are headed to happens to be in need of a master-at-arms. Would you be capable of filling that role?¡¯ ¡®Aren¡¯t you thinking about imprisoning me?¡¯ he asked. ¡®We are, but depending on how Aki reacts to you we may try to put in a good word with the Viscount, or rather first don¡¯t put any word in with him if you know what I mean.¡¯ ¡®Why would you do such a thing?¡¯ ¡®Funny story there¡­¡¯ Arcarius and Anika took that bit in relative good graces. Or rather the former did, because the latter couldn''t give less of a damn due to her¡­ difficult living situation. But needless to say, I was happy Ireela was the first one to come down, because it let me run upstairs and warn Lilyth and Aki about the more problematic of our guests. ¡®Oh, him,¡¯ Lilyth simply said, after I gave them the short version of my interactions with the former Dragoon. They were sitting with Aki in our bedroom. Lilyth was sitting in an armchair and reading one of those monk novels, while my blue-haired cutie was playing with Veenaya. Aki was silent for a moment after I finished and then nodded. ¡®I need to speak with him,¡¯ she finally said. ¡®Don¡¯t do anything rash, hon,¡¯ Lilyth warned her. ¡®I won¡¯t,¡¯ she responded in a dead tone that didn''t give me much confidence in her assertion. ¡®At least, I don¡¯t think so.¡¯ Aki handed Lilyth a cane and helped her get up. From what I learned, Lilyth had only managed to get out of bed that day and was still very weak. We met Savri in the corridor, waiting for us. ¡®Sorry for eavesdropping,¡¯ the medic said. ¡®I wanted to know what to expect.¡¯ Though, apparently whatever she managed to listen in on, didn¡¯t quite prepare her for what was about to happen. Because, as we descended down the stairs I heard Anika shout in disbelief: ¡®Savri? Is that really you?¡¯ The medic turned towards her and looked as if she had just seen a ghost. ¡®Anika?¡¯ ¡®You know each other?¡¯ I asked. Before either of the women could answer, Aki rushed down the stairs, ran towards Arcarius, who just stood up to greet us, and punched him in the face with enough strength to send him sprawling on the floor. ¡®This is for Matis,¡¯ she shouted, and then fell to her knees and began to cry. Savri ran up to the side of the Dragoon and began examining him. She cast a short healing spell and then got up. ¡®I think she broke your jaw,¡¯ she said to him with a degree of malice in her voice.¡¯ ¡®I fixed that enough so you will recover, but not enough that you won¡¯t be sore for a while.¡¯ As she did that, I helped Lilyth to Aki¡¯s side and we tried to comfort her, but she waved us away. ¡®I-I¡¯m fine,¡¯ she whimpered. ¡®And thank you, Sav. If you want, you can fully heal him. I don¡¯t hate him. Not him.¡¯ Savri complied and helped the man up, though Arcarius immediately knelt on one knee before Aki and said. ¡®Aki of Dan-Hem, I apologise for what happened to your adoptive father. I know my words won¡¯t bring him up and I will offer no excuse for my actions then. What we did was vile and unjust, and I don¡¯t think there is much I can do to atone for it.¡¯ Aki nodded. ¡®Thank you, for what it is worth,¡¯ she said. ¡®I can¡¯t say I forgive you, but¡­ my grudge is with the Inquisitor. Not you.¡¯ Arcarius rose and went back to his seat on one of the couches. ¡®With that solved, tomorrow I¡¯ll take you to Baial and figure out if he¡¯ll take you as the master-at-arms. I think I¡¯ll rather avoid Lin-Vyme for now.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, Lady Ren,¡¯ the dragoon replied. ¡®I think Vanek is already gone from there, but it¡¯s probably best to avoid the town for a while. ¡®If not, I can probably take you in as a guard,¡¯ Ireela said. ¡®I¡¯m looking for a few new ones.¡¯¡¯ ¡®I think you and Anika were supposed to explain how you two know each other?¡¯ I brought up. ¡®Not much to say, really,¡¯ Sav said. ¡®We were part of the same squad. What happened to you, Ani?¡¯ ¡®The same thing that did to you,¡¯ the undead said. ¡®One moment, I am on the Myrmidon, we get attacked, the hull gets breached, Z¡¯an makes that rift for you, and well¡­ before it closed I maaay have tried to catch you. Next thing I know, I am on some altar with that Nazi fuck standing next to me.¡¯ That got the attention of our trio. ¡®Did you say ¡°Nazi fuck¡±?¡¯ Lilyth asked to confirm. ¡°Was his name Maximilian L?we by any chance?¡¯ That took Anika aback. ¡®How do you know that?¡¯ she asked. ¡®Funny story there¡­¡¯ Lilyth laughed nervously. Chapter 106 - A Lazy Morning ¡®If I was still capable of having headaches, I would probably need half a bottle of painkillers,¡¯ Anika said with a tormented expression on her face. Arcarius looked even worse. ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡­ gods, dungeons and riftlings¡­ that¡¯s a lot to take in,¡¯ he said. ¡®Try living through that,¡¯ Lilyth retorted. ¡®And we skipped a lot of bullshit,¡¯ I added. The list included among other things: our latest dealings with Ereshkigal, most of the stuff about in-person meetings with Nyx and Irmen in general, Lilyth hurting the Sun, most of what happened to her with Kojiro, the very existence of Deirdee, Varyag and a lot of other crazy stuff. ¡®And what''s your story, Anika?¡¯ Lilyth asked to change the subject. ¡®How did you get from captive to a Nazi fuck to almost killed by Inquisitor Motherfucker?¡¯ The story was surprisingly straightforward. He kept her in captivity doing experiments on her, eventually turning her into what she was now. ¡®This nifty interface thingie says I am a gh?l,¡¯ Anika explained. ¡®I understand now why you missed it so much, Sav. Anyway, apparently whatever L?we wanted, he didn''t get it from me, as he quickly lost interest after I turned. He even had his revenants deliver my meals rather than doing that himself. One of them fucked up and left the door open. I escaped and just wandered around for a while. Then I came across Lin-Vyme, and the rest you know.¡¯ ¡®I understand,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I assume you want revenge?¡¯ ¡®Yup. I want to shove his balls down his throat.¡¯ ¡®I think we can help you? If you don¡¯t mind waiting a bit, that is. None of us are in shape for this right now.¡¯ ¡®No sweat,¡¯ Anika smiled. ¡®I¡¯m a patient woman.¡¯ ¡®Citation needed,¡¯ Sav joked. At least I thought she did. I had no idea what citations were. Of course, judging by her chuckling, Lilyth did. This meant that the list of people in my social circle who speak in Otherworldbullshit grew by one. This is really getting out of hand. ¡®I¡¯m sorry,¡¯ Ireela interrupted, ¡®but unless we have anything important to discuss, can we resume this in the morning? I checked my interface. It was nearly two o¡¯clock. To drive the point home, Ireela pointed to Aki who dozed off. We agreed that it was a fine place to take a break. Savri and Arcarius helped Lilyth back to our room. In the meantime, I took a shower I really needed. By the time I was done, Aki was sleeping soundly in our bed. Our. I looked at Ren¡¯s room. There is also a second option. After today, I don¡¯t feel like leaving Rennie alone. Lilyth was still up, so I whispered to her: ¡®Mind if I spend the night in Ren¡¯s room? I don¡¯t want to leave her alone after today.¡¯ ¡®Sure,¡¯ Lilyth said with a smile. ¡®I guess you figured out things with her?¡¯ ¡®Mostly,¡¯ I admitted, fearing her reaction. Lilyth gave me a warm smile, catching me off guard. ¡®We can discuss this in the morning, but to allay your fears a bit - Aki and I are still fine with you having a relationship with Ren. We spent a lot of time discussing it while you were gone and we still realise that you and her are a thing we can''t really prevent.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m so sorry,¡¯ I said, trying to hold back tears. ¡®I still love you guys, it¡¯s just¡­¡¯ ¡®You love Ren more.¡¯ ¡®Y-yes,¡¯ I bit my lip. ¡®It¡¯s not like the three of us are having what you would consider a normal relationship. So you have our blessing. Split the time between us and her as much as you want.¡¯ ¡®Thank you.¡¯ We were so tired with Rennie that we both immediately fell asleep. Still, it was nice to have her next to me. Chirpy didn''t push his luck this time around too, since I could see he was rattled after his visit to the realm of Air. I wonder what Nyxie did to him. Unfortunately, we didn''t get to rest quite yet, as, I imagine, a short time after we fell asleep the two of us found ourselves in the Antechamber Between Life and Death with Ereshkigal waiting for us. She was wearing one of those pyjama things, pink too, and had rabbit-head slippers on. ¡®Hi, girls!¡¯ she waved to us. ¡®I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ we both replied. ¡®There are some things we also need to discuss! First some rewards, though. Ren, whatcha want? I can give you a Perk Point, the [Silent Step] ability or some basic spell.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll take the ability,¡¯ my girlfriend answered after a moment¡¯s consideration. ¡®Magic I can learn at some other point, I am still low-enough level that Perk Points will not be hard to come by, while that ability¡­ I can see some immediate uses for that.¡¯ ¡®Good choice!¡¯ Ere smiled and put her finger on Rennie''s forehead. She glowed briefly and then exclaimed: ¡®That¡¯s so cool!¡¯ ¡®Put that to good use, kiddo,¡¯ Ereshkigal responded in a cheerful tone and turned to me. ¡®I imagine a perk point for you, Caei? Unless you can think of something of roughly equivalent value.¡¯ ¡®That [Deadeye] ability would be nice,¡¯ I answered half in jest. ¡®I thought you would like that one, but I am afraid this task didn¡¯t quite rise to the level I would be comfortable throwing it your way.¡¯ ¡®One of the Great Game rules?¡¯ Ren asked. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡®Ayup. Rewards must be earned.¡¯ ¡®Then what did I¡­¡¯ ¡®You¡¯ve made good progress in your attempt to turn your life around. That''s good enough for me.¡¯ Ah. Yeah. Lilyth got her gear back for the same thing. ¡®The perk point then,¡¯ I said, just a tad disappointed. A message popped up before my eyes: You have received 1 Perk Point (Current number of Perk Points: 1) ¡®Cheer up, Caei,¡¯ Ere quickly said. ¡®Do well on your next task and you will get it or something of equal value.¡¯ I felt my excitement rise, but then it died the moment I realised what that task would be to warrant such a reward. ¡®L?we?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Yes. Stop him and whatever he is planning. Take your time to recover though, first. This time I insist. If this becomes urgent, I will let you know, but you really lack numbers for this one.¡¯ ¡®Lilyth and Aki managed to kill him on their own previously,¡¯ I pointed out, less to argue and more to prod Ere for more details. ¡®I acknowledge that, but you have no guarantees that this Maximilian L?we will be as ¡°easy¡± to defeat as the one in the Tower, and, I remind you, he almost managed to kill Lilyth and Aki then.¡¯ Then a thought struck me. Oh fuck. L?we had a master, an old Necromancer named Rivard. The whole reason I came to Dwynveia was because the fucker needed help in disposing of him, and it took the combined forces me, Laachersain, L?we and our Sanguine ¡°troops¡± to finally put him down. If he didn''t do that here¡­ or if my brother was around¡­ or some other Sanguine¡­ Like, I knew that Crimson Vicars were interested in their work¡­ Fuckity fuck fuck. ¡®You understand the problem now,¡¯ Ereshkigal said, not even bothering to hide she read my thoughts. ¡®The story of this Maximilian L?we is completely different from the one you knew.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®Well¡­ I¡¯ve realised that our task will potentially be quite¡­ difficult,¡¯ I answered. ¡®Yeah. I think we will take as long as we can to rest and prepare.¡¯ ¡®Good,¡¯ Ereshkigal nodded. ¡®And one last thing. Anika.¡¯ ¡®Is it a problem that she''s a gh?l?¡¯ Ren tried to confirm. This was something I was worried about too. I wasn¡¯t quite sure if Ere was on board with her being around us. ¡®No. Essentially, she is in the same category of creatures as Phosi. Mortals turned into monsters against their will, so while I in principle believe that all undead should be destroyed as they are created by desecrating bodies of people, doing that to someone like Anika would still be murder. She¡¯s still mostly the same person that she was, but please be careful around her. While gh?ls are on the milder end of the spectrum and usually can fit in society, there can still be¡­ issues. I wouldn''t be worried about her eating one of you, she can possibly get overcome with bloodlust in battle and potentially go feral until she calms down.¡¯ ¡®Won¡¯t a [Sleep] spell solve that?¡¯ ¡®Remember you have to touch her, and in the heat of combat that might be somewhat difficult. Also: just so you know, Life Arcana won¡¯t hurt her.¡¯ ¡®I never thought it would,¡¯ I protested. ¡®You didn''t. A certain someone¡­ might.¡¯ ¡®Lilyth?¡¯ I asked, defeated. ¡®They have silly conceptions in her world. At least from our perspective. Anyway, I¡¯ll let you two lovebirds sleep.¡¯ Ereshkigal snapped her fingers and we found ourselves back in our bed. Chirpy, curled up in a ball, looked up at us weirdly, yawned and went back to sleep. We cuddled together with Rennie and followed his example. To no one''s surprise, it was nearly noon by the time me and Ren woke up, though most of our growing group slept in. Savri, due to her duties, was up the earliest. I had no idea how she did it. So, when I dragged myself to the dining room I only found Lilyth and Anika, wearing clothes Ireela found for her, sitting there. They were both drinking tea and talking. ¡®Hi, Caei,¡¯ Lilyth waved to me. ¡®Morning,¡¯ I replied and yawned. ¡®Where¡¯s Aki?¡¯ ¡®Watching Sav doing the militia drills. Arcarius is with them.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Anika agreed. ¡®So the two of us were having a meeting of the no-longer human club.¡¯ ¡®Turns out, we surprisingly have a lot in common,¡¯ Lilyth laughed. ¡®Alas, the one thing I thought we did was a false positive. Anika mentioned yesterday waking up on an altar. I arrived on Dwynveia the same way, but it turned out to be some old temple they were using as a base rather than the Tower of Trials.¡¯ ¡®They?¡¯ I asked, feeling dread. ¡®Pale, wrong number of limbs, look to have never eaten anything, rather short on facial expressions, rings a bell?¡¯ Lilyth said with a sour look on her face. ¡®Fuck,¡¯ I spat. ¡®Lilyth had the same reaction,¡¯ Anika sighed. ¡®Though I assumed they were some weird undead until I spoke with her. She left the explanations about them to you.¡¯ Not sure if I should strangle her or thank her.¡¯ ¡®Figured you would be the best person to give her the Talk. And before you ask, the Necromancer was the only person she saw,¡¯ Lilyth added. ¡®Oooh, ¡°the Talk¡±,¡¯ Anika laughed. ¡®Does the story involve banging?¡¯ Definitely ¡°strangle her¡±. ¡®Unfortunately, no,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®They are monsters from the same place, as I am. Meaning some of my brethren are likely there. However, I think we should wait with a more detailed explanation for some planning session. We should all be here for that.¡¯ ¡®Noted,¡¯ Anika nodded. ¡®Also those things, with some exceptions, aren¡¯t terribly hard to kill,¡¯ Lilyth added almost as an afterthought. ¡®Yeah, I agreed. ¡®We should make a relatively short work of these.¡¯ Unless a Crimson Vicar is involved. ¡®Why are you talking about such dreadful subjects so early in the mooooorning,¡¯ I heard Ren yawn behind me. ¡®Sister, it¡¯s noon,¡¯ Lilyth said with a shrug. ¡®Oh.¡¯ ¡®You had a difficult day yesterday, which is why we didn''t wake you up. Truth be told, I¡¯ve been only up for an hour or so.¡¯ Chirpy quickly followed in after Rennie and, immediately, jumped onto Lilyth''s lap and started demanding attention, which my wife happily provided. ¡®Furry traitor,¡¯ my girlfriend grumbled and then asked ¡®Where¡¯s my mom?¡¯ ¡®In the village, ¡®Lilyth responded, not stopping petting Chirpy. ¡®She went to talk over our new master-at-arms with Baial and to arrange to cater for Anika¡¯s special dietary requirements. And speaking of, there are some sandwiches left for you two in the kitchen, by the way.¡¯ ¡®How thoughtful,¡¯ I smiled and my stomach growled in agreement. I was famished, okay? ¡®Thank you for taking me in,¡¯ Anika said as we ate. ¡®I recognize someone like me can be a bit much.¡¯ ¡®No problem,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®I mean, it just kinda happened, but the more the merrier.¡¯ ¡®How did you know we were coming, anyway?¡¯ I asked between bites. It was something I''ve been wondering about for a while now. ¡®Oh, that,¡¯ Anika replied with an innocent expression. ¡®I lured you in. Or rather¡­ I tried to lure in some adventurers. I assumed I couldn''t waltz into the local guild or whatever and post a job ad that said: ¡°Hi, help me hunt a necromancer that turned me into an undead.¡± So, I had to get creative. I¡¯ve been doing the vague ¡°Oooh, undead might be here¡± bullshit in the hope someone would come. My original plan when you two came was to sell you a story that ¡°I have seen signs of necromantic activity and maybe we could join forces.¡± Of course, my luck being what it is, the first two people I met could tell what I was immediately and I attracted the attention of the Inquisition. Fucking hell¡­ How could you do that, anyway?¡¯ I sighed and explained my Bloodsmell to her. ¡®So that''s how you and the assassin duo could see through my ¡°just an elf¡± schtick,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Wait¡­ you too?¡¯ Anika asked. ¡®Yup,¡¯ my wife replied and bumped fists with her. The merry atmosphere of the late breakfast was ruined when a few minutes later Ireela burst in with Aki, Arcarius and Savri in tow. ¡®There¡¯s a potential problem,¡¯ she panted from exertion. ¡®A runner just came to the village. The Viscount of Ror-Bhyk is coming, with an armed party. He¡¯ll be here in an hour or so.¡¯ Ohhh, shit. Chapter 107 - The Viscount of Ror-Bhyk Lilyth Seeing the panic on the faces of Ren and Caei told me everything. They assumed the Viscount was coming for them, or likely, just for Ren. I didn''t think Ireela was guilty of any crimes, other than having bad taste in men, I wasn''t sure how much Caei¡¯s identity was known around the block and it was too soon for him to have learned about Arcarius. Yeah, Ren it was. I grabbed my cane and stood up, to the great displeasure of Chirpy. He sunk his claws into my legs but he could suck my resistance to physical damage. I still felt very wobbly I looked at Aki and she didn''t seem to be doing too hot either, though I wasn''t sure if it was due to her fear for herself or the rest of us. ¡®So¡­ the question is¡­¡¯ Savri said, defeated. ¡®Do we stay or do we go? We can escape via the tunnel and just head off¡­ somewhere.¡¯ ¡®I vote for running,¡¯ I said without hesitation. ¡®They are likely coming for Ren, and maybe Caei. I don¡¯t think we can fight them, which leaves us with precious few options.¡¯ My friends looked at me in confusion. ¡®What?¡¯ I asked. ¡®This is not a fight we can win. What the fuck do you expect to happen? We have two, potentially three, fugitives with us, an undead and two demons. At this stage, we are all either outright wanted by the law or ¡°just¡± accessories to crimes. Let''s not forget about that. We are fucked. Utterly.¡¯ And that was all that needed to be said, really. Half an hour later our entire party was standing with hastily packed bags at the entrance to the escape tunnel. ¡®It feels so wrong to run,¡¯ Ren sighed, sounding to be on the verge of tears. ¡®And even worse to drag you all with me.¡¯ ¡®We all went into this with our eyes open,¡¯ Aki pointed out. Ireela approached her daughter and squeezed her shoulder. ¡®Don¡¯t blame yourself, Ren,¡¯ she said sadly. ¡®All the guilt for this is on me. If I stopped you¡­ if I stopped your father¡­¡¯ ¡®No time now to cry over spilt milk,¡¯ Savri said. ¡®We need to go.¡¯ ¡®About that¡­¡¯ said a male voice I didn''t recognize. It was muffled as if it came from¡­ The entrance to the escape tunnel opened and five men wearing chainmails poured out from there. They all had broadswords in hand. Behind them emerged a blue-eyed blonde elf in a¡­ was that a fucking full plate armour? He had a bastard sword still sheathed on his side, but his hand was on it. All men had purple tabards with a white two-headed bird sigil embroidered on them. ¡®Going somewhere?¡¯ Elfy McElfface asked. ¡®Just came here to enjoy some wine,¡¯ I answered, pushing myself to the front of the group. I did my best to signal to the rest to try to leave. I had no chance of running away, so I might as well hold those guys back a bit. ¡®Armed to the teeth and packed to go?¡¯ ¡®There are some rodents of unusual size living down here. You drop your guard for a minute and there goes your leg. And if those things ever unite¡­ we may need to leave quickly.¡¯ ¡®So¡­¡¯ Ren picked up the thread,¡¯ we are very happy you are here, gentlemen. With your help, we will be able to finally beat that scourge. Strength in numbers and all that.¡¯ Judging by the expression on Elfy¡¯s face he wasn¡¯t buying it. ¡®Enough!¡¯ he snarled. ¡®Stop wasting my time, woman!¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ I said with an innocent smile. ¡®Why would I?¡¯ That gave the man a pause, and some of his men did their best to suppress a snicker. Poorly. ¡®Stop mocking me!¡¯ Caeileera Lilyth''s distraction was working. The elf and his men were so focused on her that they didn''t notice us slowly inching away. ¡®I can¡¯t see a reason why,¡¯ Lilyth retorted again ¡®You guys are the trespassers here.¡¯ ¡®We are here on Viscount¡¯s orders!¡¯ the elf growled. ¡®And did the Viscount obtain a court warrant for you to be able to barge in here?¡¯ What''s a warrant? Apparently, the soldiers didn''t know either. ¡®I have the Viscount''s orders! That''s all I need!¡¯ ¡®Oh, so the executive branch of the government is violating the separation of powers, now? How can you bypass the judiciary like this?¡¯ I have no idea what she is talking about. But gods do I love her for it. ¡®I¡¯ve had enough of your mockery, woman. Men¡­ Get the Yamaokas. If the elf won¡¯t step aside, kill-¡¯ ¡®Captain!¡¯ one of his men interrupted him, pointing towards us. ¡®They are escapin¡¯!¡¯ Was worth a shot. Several things happened then. A quick glance told me that Anika and Ireela made it to the bottom of the stairs. The gh?l gave me a quick nod and began to lead Ren¡¯s mother up the stairs. At the same time, Savri pointed out my girlfriend to Arcarius. The dragoon grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the exit as well. ¡®What are you waitin-¡¯ the elf began but stopped when he saw Lilyth swing her cane towards his head. He ducked just as Lilyth''s legs gave way under her weight, resulting in her barreling into him and both of them ending up sprawled on the floor. The worst possible thing happened then. The elf¡¯s head hit the edge of the barrel stand and the nasty crunch told me he wouldn''t be getting up. A deathly silence then fell upon the cellar that lasted for several heartbeats. Then¡­ all hell broke loose. The five men from Viscount¡¯s army lunged towards Lilyth, but one of them was hit in the side with a bolt from Savri''s gun and another with a [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] from Aki. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. And just like that¡­ we all really became fugitives. Sighing heavily, I extended my hand and fired off [Rock Spikes] towards another of the guards. Two of those were stopped by his chainmail but the third pierced him through the mouth and came out through the back of his head, spraying the barrel behind him with gore. The remaining two men looked really unsure now. ¡®Step aside, or you will join your friends!¡¯ Savri warned them after a short stand-off. I started summoning my glaive, just in case, but then Anika and Ireela barreled down the stairs followed by the sounds of heavy boots. ¡®More of them!¡¯ Ren shouted as she drew her sword. The two guards were invigorated by the sudden reinforcements. We all, except Lilyth who looked to be in shock, resigned ourselves to a last stand and started assuming a circle formation to protect Ren and her mother, but before the battle could resume a strong male voice shouted. ¡®ENOUGH! As the Viscount of this land I order you - everyone lower your weapons.¡¯ I looked towards the man and saw that the noble was a brown-haired human, maybe in his mid-thirties. He had a neatly trimmed circle beard and sad blue eyes. I saw that he was dressed in a green doublet and black pants. When none of us moved, the Viscount pushed through his men, looked at the scene of carnage and said: ¡®I think there has been a tragic misunderstanding.¡¯ In the end, it turned out that only two of the soldiers died. The elf, and the guard that I hit. Savri was able to heal the other two, but they would have burn scars for the rest of their lives. The whole mess did indeed turn out to be a misunderstanding - between the elf and the noble, though based on the information we¡¯d get later - this was really on the former. Essentially, the Viscount sent him to the escape tunnel to intercept us if we tried to leave and keep us in the house in case we got scared. The elf - Captain Tril, understood it as ¡°arrest us¡±, while the noble just didn''t want us to needlessly run away when he didn''t have anything bad in mind for us. Still, judging by the hostile glances we were getting, we wouldn''t be very popular with the Viscount''s men. As Lilyth put it when we knocked out Arcarius ¡°killing law enforcement is a bad idea¡±. The fact we would not be punished for the deaths of the two men only made it worse for us, but after it came to light that we really were only defending ourselves, the guards reluctantly admitted that Lilyth only swung her cane after Tril ordered them to kill her, the hostility lessened slightly. The sudden confession came after the noble pointed out that they were supposed to stay outside of the house, so putting all the blame on the elf, especially stuff we could corroborate, became advantageous for them. After that mess was handled, we all gathered in the upstairs¡¯ salon to have an actual audience with the Viscount. ¡®Before we begin, my lord,¡¯ Ireela restarted the conversation. ¡®If you could satisfy my curiosity: you chided your men for trespassing, and yet I can¡¯t help but notice you are guilty of the same sin.¡¯ ¡®I apologise for that, my Lady,¡¯ the noble replied. ¡®When I saw you and your friend run away upon seeing us, I understood that something was very wrong, so I felt that if I didn''t intervene, a tragedy could occur. I was too late, it seems.¡¯ ¡®What brings you to my home then, Viscount Caiver?¡¯ ¡®I hear your friends stopped a bandit invasion on my lands, so I¡¯d like to hear a first-hand account of that. Before we get to this though, I have one extra matter to clear up. Ser Arcarius, I believe I told you and your¡­ companions that if I ever saw you on my lands there would be¡­ unpleasant consequences. I also distinctly remember having my men escort your party to the border. Since you specifically never struck me as a person that would violate such an order, would you care to explain to me why are you suddenly here, when, by all accounts, you should be still under the care of Sergeant Milten?¡¯ ¡®Allow me to answer in his stead, my lord,¡¯ Rennie quickly interjected. ¡®Ah¡­ miss Yamaoka,¡¯ the Viscount smiled. ¡®If you are involved I am even more curious as to the course of events.¡¯ Ren gulped and said: ¡®So, by the request of Elder Baial, me and my friend,¡¯ she pointed to me,¡¯ ventured to Lin-Vyme in search of a master-at-arms. Baial heard there was a retired soldier there who could be a good fit for the position. Yesterday, when me and Caeileera were eating breakfast, Ser Arcarius entered the inn and warned us about the Inquisitor¡¯s coming.¡¯ The Viscount eyed me. ¡®And why would that psychopath have any interest in you, my dear? Other than him being a madman that is.¡¯ ¡®I originate from the Pale Badlands, my lord,¡¯ I admitted. ¡®Ah, that would explain it. Continue please, miss Yamaoka.¡¯ ¡®Yes, my lord. So when the kindness of Ser Arcarius came to light he was imprisoned for this great crime by the monster he was following. As I understand, he somehow got away from his captivity and we ran into him while in the forest near Lin-Vyme.¡¯ ¡®Well said, Miss Yamaoka,¡¯ the Viscount nodded in approval. ¡®I feel that some details are missing¡­¡¯ I could swear he threw Anika a side glance then. ¡®... but I am willing to let the matter rest. Just answer me this question, Ser Arcarius - will I hear from my men that your ¡°escape¡± involved any injuries?¡¯ ¡®Not from my end. I cannot speak as to what happened after I left.¡¯ ¡®Very well then. Ser Arcarius, on account of you having a conscience and using it to save some of my¡­ subjects, I hereby lift your exile.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, my lord.¡¯ The Viscount nodded and stood up. ¡®So¡­ now we can properly begin. Allow me to officially introduce myself. I am Viscount Wilhum von Caiver, lord of Ror-Bhyk and all of its land. I wasn¡¯t a frequent visitor here, so I plan to stay here for a few days. I will be speaking with you all tomorrow, but today I have just two short matters to attend to. Then I will leave you to rest, as I can see some of you need it.¡¯ He vaguely gestured towards Lilyth who was sitting on a couch, staring blankly into some far-off point in space, and continued. ¡®First, Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan, please kneel before me.¡¯ ¡®My lord?¡¯ Ren¡¯s mom asked with apprehension in her voice. ¡®All shall be shortly explained.¡¯ Ireela, reluctantly, followed the Viscount¡¯s instructions. ¡®I hereby make you my vassal and give you Mer-Cas and its surrounding lands in fief. Rise now as Baroness Ireela of Mer-Cas.¡¯ That took us all aback. What? Ireela tried rising to her feet but lost her balance halfway through. Luckily, the Viscount managed to catch her. ¡®Thank you, my lord,¡¯ she said. ¡®It¡¯s quite a thing to spring on someone. ¡® ¡®I can imagine,¡¯ the noble smiled. ¡®We will hold an official ceremony in Ror-Bhyk in about a month, I think. I¡¯ll send a runner to tell you the exact date.¡¯ ¡®If I may, my lord, why?¡¯ ¡®It recently came to my attention that your husband¡¯s family has lost a lot of its power base on my lands. So¡­ I have made sure to¡­ finish the process. All the holdings of the Yamaoka Clan in Ror-Bhyk have been seized or will soon be. That includes your daughter''s compound in Tyr-Mel.¡¯ Ren winced at that. ¡®If there are any items of personal importance there that you would like to have returned, please provide me with an itemised list. I reserve myself the right to veto any or all of these. There is also this¡­¡¯ ¡®He took out a rolled-up document from his sleeve. ¡®As you are now the heiress to the Barony, it would not be proper for you to be¡­ a wanted criminal. So¡­ as a thanks for your role in saving the Viscountcy you have been issued a conditional pardon for your actions. If I ever hear of your involvement in the family business again this goes away.¡¯ Ren fell to her knees, tears streaking down her face. ¡®Thank you, my lord. I will not disappoint you.¡¯ He took out a second document and gave it to me. What? ¡®The same applies to your¡­ confidante.¡¯ Ohhh. Right. ¡®Thank you, my lord,¡¯ I curtsied. He nodded, and then his expression grew grim. ¡®And now we move on to the less pleasant part of today''s visit. Baroness Ireela, I would request you sit down for this. Same for you, Ren.¡¯ What''s going on? Once both women were seated the Viscount continued. ¡®You may not be aware of it, but you and your husband shared a relationship of mutual respect and we have worked together on¡­ occasions. So, I say this with a heavy heart, but when we were raiding your son''s compound we found him in one of the cells. I¡¯ll spare you the details, but unfortunately my medics, despite their best efforts, were unable to save him, and he died soon afterwards. I am so sorry. Chapter 108 - The Funeral Will this stream of anguish ever end? I thought as I watched Ren and Ireela cry their eyes out, doing their best to comfort each other. Did Kojiro''s depravity really know no bounds? ¡®Are you asking rhetorically, or do you seriously think that a man who left a letter in which he threatened to rape you in front of his sister would find murdering his own father distasteful?¡¯ asked a voice in the back of my head. Good point. After the Viscount left, we have been mostly wandering listlessly around the house. Nobody knew what to say. Was there anything left to be said? Ireela tried to get the Viscount to stay, she would be a bad host if he slept somewhere else, but he insisted. ¡®I will leave you to your grief. I also promised the nice lady at the inn I would be staying there with my wife, and I¡¯d rather not rob her of the boast that the Viscount once stayed there. Let me know once you¡¯ve held the funeral. I¡¯ll rejoin you then.¡¯ As Ren and her mom wanted to be together, I helped Aki with Lilyth that evening. My jelly took her killing of the elf very badly. I think she just wanted to stun him, but what happened happened. Truth be told, I wasn¡¯t feeling terribly good about killing that guard either. The man was just doing his job and I stole his life. But at least I meant to kill him. I was protecting the people I love. ¡®He also had loved ones,¡¯ that annoying voice said. ¡®He was providing for them.¡¯ The Viscount said they would be cared for. ¡®And that makes it all right.¡¯ Needless to say, I didn''t sleep all that well that night. At some point, both Lilyth and I just gave up, the poor jelly still had nightmares, and we went to the library to sit and talk. It ended with us eventually drifting off in each other¡¯s arms. Her presence is definitely comforting. I wasn''t planning on going to the funeral, assuming it would be a private affair, but Rennie asked me to join her. To my shock, all the others were there too. ¡®He was Ren¡¯s father,¡¯ Lilyth explained. ¡®That¡¯s enough of a reason.¡¯ As Kenji was well-loved here, most of the village gathered in the local cemetery for the ceremony. No one from the Viscount¡¯s entourage attended, which, per Lilyth, wasn¡¯t that surprising. Mutual respect or not, the Viscount couldn''t be seen honouring a crime boss. So we just stood there with Lilyth and Aki holding hands and watching as another piece of Ren¡¯s world crumbled. ¡®Can we go to Dan-Hem after the Viscount leaves?¡¯ softly-weeping Aki asked. ¡®Just the three of us. I want to see home. Talk with Bergia. Visit my mom¡¯s grave.¡¯ ¡®Of course,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®It will be an honour.¡¯ ¡®Aye,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®Just the three of us. Like the old times.¡¯ Lilyth, standing between us, squeezed our hands tightly. And here I worried it would be difficult for me to manage all of this. And yet¡­ maybe it won¡¯t be that bad. After the ceremony, including a truly heartrending part where a procession of people gave Ireela and Ren their condolences, the four of us, so me and the three women I loved, found ourselves sitting on a wooden bench in the small garden behind the house. I was holding Rennie close to me, while Aki and Lilyth were sitting next to us, also cuddled together. Chirpy and Veenaya were running around near us, the best I could tell, playing tag. Or maybe it was some sort of an epic battle that involved them switching who was chasing the other. You never quite knew what was what with those two, but it looked like they were having fun, so I guess it didn''t matter what exactly they were doing. ¡®You know¡­ I wasn''t on the best terms with my father,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®I hated him for how¡­ how¡­ he would always try to control me. Like there was this painter¡­¡¯ She told us a story about a man who was courting her that her father ended up throwing out. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡®But weren''t you not int..¡¯ Aki began, but Lilyth cut her off. ¡®Not the point, sweetie. The problem isn''t that Ren wasn¡¯t interested. It¡¯s that her father didn''t consider she could be.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ Sorry, Ren.¡¯ ¡®No problem, Aki. In fact, I must thank you and Lilyth because I always had trouble describing why exactly I was pissed off here. My marriage to Leera always had this hidden¡­ ¡°Fuck you, Dad¡± aspect to it. And well¡­ now he is gone. And so is she.¡¯ Ren began to weep again, so I held her tighter. After she calmed down again, I heard Aki¡¯s speak in almost a whisper. ¡®I¡¯ve been thinking, Rennie. We were planning to go to Dan-Hem after this, well me, Lilyth and Caei. Do you want to come with us?¡¯ ¡®I concur,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®A change of scenery could do you some good.¡¯ ¡®And¡­ well¡­ I was viewing that as a family trip, but you are now a part of that too.¡¯ My heart beat harder at that. ¡®I¡¯d like that, yes,¡¯ Rennie smiled through her tears. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ ¡®You are important to Caei, Rennie,¡¯ Lilyth smiled. ¡®So you are important to us.¡¯ And so we managed to give Ren some joy during that sad day. While we were resting in the garden, Ireela was arranging things with the Viscount. I think she was happy to have something to do to take her mind off things. ¡®I wonder if we are going to meet Lady Malika,¡¯ Aki mused. ¡®Who¡¯s that?¡¯ I wondered. ¡®Viscount von Caiver¡¯s lady wife,¡¯ Aki explained with a smile. ¡®I heard she was a demonborn too, so ever since I heard about her I always wanted to meet her.¡¯ ¡®I can''t see we can''t go meet her, even if she doesn''t join the Viscount,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®She¡¯s here.¡¯ ¡®Will they just let us in?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®Daughter of a Baroness, remember?¡¯ Ren pointed to herself with a thumb. ¡®That will take a while to get used to, Rennie,¡¯ I gave her a peck on the cheek. I was hit then with that strange sense of belonging. I was surrounded by people who loved me and whom I loved in turn. Apparently, our pets decided to temporarily drop the pretence of not understanding us, as they stopped their game, came over to us and looked at us expectantly. ¡®Yes, you two are coming too,¡¯ Aki laughed. The two critters let out happy noises, and then Chirpy touched Veenaya¡¯s head with his paw, chirped and ran away with our lumizu in hot pursuit. We couldn''t help but laugh at the display. ¡®I don''t think life will ever be boring with those two,¡¯ Aki said once she caught her breath. Then a mischievous grin appeared on her face and she slapped me on the shoulder. ¡®Tag, you¡¯re it!¡¯ She then bolted away and, after a moment of confusion, I couldn''t help but chase her. Ren and Lilyth just looked at each other and joined in. I hadn¡¯t had this much fun in a long time. Maybe ever. Whenever Lilyth was ¡°It¡± we had to slow down to accommodate her still needing a cane, but I could see she was also having a lot of fun. In fact, a weird variant developed when the other two people would try to protect her from the current ¡°It¡±. We were so engrossed in the game that we didn''t notice at first that we had an audience. They only made themselves known when Aki tripped while trying to catch me and we ended up both on the grass laughing. ¡®So those are the heroes of Mer-Cas,¡¯ the Viscount chuckled. We looked up and saw that he, Ireela and a woman I first took to be Savri were standing in the doorway to the house. She had the same tail, horns, pink hair and orange eyes as her, but for the life of me, I couldn''t ever imagine Savri wearing a gold-embroidered black sheath dress, or any dress for that matter. ¡®Sorry to interrupt, kids,¡¯ Ireela said sadly, ¡®But the dinner will soon be served and we have guests.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t bother changing,¡¯ the woman, whom I realised was likely Lady Malika, added. ¡®You look perfect the way you are.¡¯ While Aki was looking at her awestruck, I could see a bit of curiosity in the eyes of Lilyth and Ren. She definitely isn''t demonborn. That''s a full-blooded demon, if Ereshkigal''s words about the rarity of cases like Aki are to be believed, and I can¡¯t think of a reason why she would lie. ¡®Savri never mentioned having a sister¡­¡¯ I heard Lilyth whisper to Ren. The resemblance is there. We gathered ourselves and headed inside. We wanted to introduce ourselves, but we were asked to wait with this, not to ruin the surprise, which only made us more suspicious. Everyone was already in the upper-floor salon when we arrived there. Ireela clapped her hands and said: ¡®Guys, we¡¯ll be joined by the Viscount and his wife for dinner and the rest of the day.¡¯ ¡®Yes, allow me to introduce myself,¡¯ the woman said in a singsong manner. ¡®I¡¯m Malika.¡¯ Savri looked as if she had seen a ghost. ¡®Mom?¡¯ she asked. Chapter 109 - Lady Malika Caeileera Mom? MOM?! This was further underscored by Savri almost flying from her armchair and into her mom¡¯s open arms. ¡®Mom!¡¯ she repeated. ¡®Hi, Savri,¡¯ Malika responded, tears flowing down her face. ¡®You have no idea how much I missed you, my daughter.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m so sorry,¡¯ the medic wept. ¡®For disappearing. For not looking for you when I came back. I j- just thought that after three hundred years¡­ it would just open a lot of wounds¡­¡¯ ¡®You have nothing to be sorry about. You are my daughter, and I will love you¡­ always.¡¯ That completely broke Savri down. ¡®Let¡¯s give you two some privacy,¡¯ Ireela said and led them to Sav¡¯s bedroom. I saw that Aki was also on the verge of tears so I nodded to Ren and Lilyth and led her to our room. Lilyth Truth be told, the scene almost made me break down too, but I think at that point I was out of tears. There was just emptiness inside. Still, when Ren joined me after I sat down I was happy for her presence. ¡®You know¡­,¡¯ the Viscount began. ¡®If Vanek was to be believed, you would think that the young Aki, hell¡­ all demons, were these horrible monsters.¡¯ ¡®I know one or two who are utter dicks, but that''s a personal problem I feel,¡¯ I said. ¡®Though I can''t imagine Inquisitor Motherfucker was happy to learn you were married to Lady Malika.¡¯ The Viscount laughed. ¡®Wish I thought of that one. Yeah¡­ his arguments kind of died when I introduced him to her. I¡¯m sorry to say that Ser Arcurius but I really wanted to just hang the four of you for what happened in Dan-Hem.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s no problem, my lord,¡¯ the former Temple Dragoon said, shame in his voice. ¡®What we did was murder, pure and simple. Lilyth here opened my eyes to that. Now that I have met Aki¡­¡¯ He simply shook his head. ¡®Rare to see a man of honour these days. In your case, I am glad I didn''t execute you.¡¯ ¡®Thank you, my lord. I promise not to disappoint you.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t,¡¯ the Viscount nodded and turned to Anika. ¡®My dear, I am sorry to be blunt, but since we will soon be eating dinner I know about your¡­ affliction. I have seen beings from your kind before, so there is no need for you to hide if that is something you wanted to do.¡¯ ¡®I understand, my lord,¡¯ Anika, looking slightly taken aback, responded. ¡®But I will still eat separately. I find my diet¡­ unpleasant and I¡¯d rather not disgust you with me eating what I have to when I have trouble stomaching it myself.¡¯ ¡®I understand. Then I will not force you. You deserve your privacy.¡¯ ¡®Thank you. If I may¡­ me being a gh?l is not a problem?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know¡­ have you eaten any of my subjects?¡¯ the Viscount smiled. ¡®Uhh¡­ no.¡¯ ¡®Then it is not. I welcome people of all races here in Ror-Bhyk so long as they follow the law.¡¯ ¡®My lord, if I may¡­¡¯ I began. ¡®I am a bit¡­ out of touch with local politics. Where does the prejudice against demonkind come from?¡¯ ¡®Religious doctrine,¡¯ Arcarius answered absentmindedly before catching himself. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, my lord.¡¯ ¡®No need to,¡¯ the Viscount shook his head. ¡®You are the expert here. Please continue.¡¯ ¡®I wish I wasn''t, but¡­ according to the Church, demons were all spawned by an evil devil, and should be all eradicated before they corrupt the pure races. Same with visitors from other realms like the Pale Badlands.¡¯ ¡®They got the part about The Sun, ri¡­¡¯ I muttered and then trailed off, realising I said something I REALLY shouldn''t have. ¡®I can see your story will be more interesting than I imagined, miss Lilyth.¡¯ ¡®You have no idea, my Lord,¡¯ Ren said weakly. ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ he gave us a reassuring smile. ¡®I have some¡­ questions¡­ but those can wait until after dinner. Normally, I wouldn''t pry, but since it involves Savri¡­ well¡­ I want to know the kind of people the daughter of my lady love runs with. You must understand.¡¯ Caeileera We spent the dinner in a reasonably pleasant atmosphere. It was hard not to notice the wary looks Lilyth and Rennie were giving the Viscount, though the man himself seemed oblivious to them. After the meal we retired to the salon, it was time for our meeting with the noble. ¡®So my friends,¡¯ the Viscount began. ¡®Explain to me, please how did a riftling, a ¡°fugitive¡± from Dan-Hem and an enforcer to the Yamaoka clan meet my step-daughter. I would also appreciate you illuminating me on why at least two of you four are not the same people who existed here until a few weeks ago, or do you honestly expect me to believe that an orphan girl from a poor village suddenly acquired an Abyss-forged artificial hand and learned magic? Normally, I would shrug it off. Maybe you¡¯ve been in a dungeon, but then we have Caeileera. A person I have very good intelligence about, and both of those happen to mention you always wearing a certain mask and having wings. And do you know what none of the reports ever talked about, my dear? You being able to use magic.¡¯ This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Fuck. ¡®This alone would be interesting, but then we have the incident in Len-Cas, where two people who should have nothing in common with each other were acting like friends. They were also with two more people who were massive mysteries. My step-daughter and¡­ well¡­ miss Lilyth. Stories of Riftseeker Savri have been reaching my ears, but you, my ¡°elf¡± friend appear to be a powerful mage, and yet¡­ the first mention I have of you is from Zel-Vyme. Your mystery deepens further by you possessing a Blade of the Black Rose¡­ which you eschew in favour of knives that are also magic, and that armour of yours¡­ that''s dragon leather, isn''t it? So¡­ please explain to me¡­ who the fuck are you people? Oh¡­ I would also appreciate you telling me how it is that you have been seen hanging out with the goddess of Air?¡¯ Oh, boy. ¡®Are you sure you want to know the truth?¡¯ Lilyth asked with an evil smile. ¡®Yes,¡¯ The Viscount said. ¡®The whole truth?¡¯ ¡®Yes! Out with it woman!¡¯ ¡®Very well. Warnings were given. Here we go¡­¡¯ The only bit we skipped was Lilyth hurting the Sun. There was a wicked satisfaction in giving the noble exactly what he wanted. We were also able to provide him with plenty of evidence for our claims. I could tell that by the time we got to our stay in the Abyss, the Viscount really regretted not heeding Lilyth''s warnings. Learning one of your subjects is a direct descendant of Zekuthran the Asshole will do that. And then we got to the meeting with Lady Madness, one of the most dreaded deities in existence. Malika took in the news that this Savri wasn¡¯t her Savri surprisingly well. ¡®You are still my daughter,¡¯ she simply said and hugged her. Since we were getting to the bit about Kojiro¡¯s atrocities, Ireela excused herself. Since that part also involved Lilyth becoming the angel of Ereshkigal and us swearing ourselves into her service, let¡¯s just say that the Viscount was as white as a sheet of paper by the time we got to my and Ren¡¯s trip to Lin-Vyme. ¡®And there you have it,¡¯ Lilyth said with a pleasant look on her face. ¡®Miss¡­ no Ser Lilyth,¡¯ the Viscount said, barely controlling his voice. ¡®I knew you were setting me up when you warned me, but all I can say is¡­ you win this round. If I may have one request¡­ can I see that that sword of yours?¡¯ ¡®Aki, if you could?¡¯ Lilyth asked. Lilyth ¡®Exquisite¡­¡¯ the Viscount sighed in awe upon examining my sword. ¡®And this really is Tyrric¡¯s sword.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯ve heard of him?¡¯ I asked furrowing my brow. ¡®He¡¯s an ancestor of mine, not directly related, but he was¡­ I won¡¯t bore you with genealogy.¡¯ He resheathed the sword, handed it back to me and said: ¡®This is a fine blade. Use it well.¡¯ I was surprised at the relief I felt. ¡®I was afraid you were going to say it is some family heirloom and you want it back.¡¯ ¡®You earned it fair and square, Lilyth of Terra,¡¯ he smiled. ¡®And if I understand you correctly, there should be a copy of it somewhere around here?¡¯ ¡®I wouldn''t recommend going to retrieve it though. God only knows what horrors are down there.¡¯ ¡®Yes. And it is best not to wake those that are asleep. Though I think it might be prudent to launch an expedition to that Y-Ram of yours and deal with the Tooth Horrors. Though this is a subject for later¡­ and judging by your and your friends'' expressions - much later.¡¯ I looked at Aki and Caeileera. I imagined the sheer terror I saw on their faces was also visible on mine. ¡®I think this L?we character takes priority,¡¯ he said. ¡®I will keep feelers out for him.¡¯ ¡®You are helping us?¡¯ Ren asked in confusion. ¡®Why wouldn''t I? He is a threat to my lands too. While ideally, I would like you to set off after him immediately, I do recognize that after you¡¯ve been through over the past few weeks that really would do more harm than good. You, my friends, are a valuable asset and to squander your potential would be a waste.¡¯ The world suddenly began growing grey and hazy again and I could feel the temperature drop. I could feel that everyone suddenly grew tense and a cloud of immense fear descended upon the room. My lady was here. ¡®Bear in mind, Wilhum von Caiver, that as members of the Tenebral Order, we must maintain neutrality. We will assist you in matters of general importance, but in cases of¡­ political differences we must maintain impartiality.¡¯ While the Viscount was initially mad at me for addressing him directly, his anger gave way to terror once he realised what was happening. ¡®Our Lady welcomes everyone equally after all, which is something that every man should remember, be they commoner or a noble, and pity the man who defies her will. After all¡­ a meeting with her could be just around the corner¡­¡¯ The world regained colour and focus and I felt utterly exhausted. ¡®Sorry, hon,¡¯ I heard Ereshkigal''s voice. ¡®But it is best to nip some ideas in the bud.¡¯ All it takes is all I got. ¡®Unfortunately.¡¯ Caeileera There was a difference between the visits from Ereshkigal Rennie received and the one that the Viscount just did. Hers was a warning, his was an outright threat. And it could have been an illusion, but when Lilyth told him about how you never knew when you would die, a ghostly image of a woman appeared behind the noble¡¯s seat, wrapped her hands around him and caressed his chin. Is that a thin layer of ice where she touched him? ¡®I-I-I will keep that in m-mind¡­¡¯ the Viscount stammered out. ¡®I¡¯ll make sure he does,¡¯ Lady Malika said as if her husband had just been told to remember to brush his teeth before bed. I looked at her in confusion. ¡®Hey¡­¡¯ she reacted with a smile. ¡®You kids aren¡¯t the only ones who had dealings with gods, and they taught me one thing¡­ you should never cross Ereshkigal. Anyway¡­ I am satisfied with my daughter''s companions. Are you, Willie?¡¯ ¡®Y-yes,¡¯ the Viscount was desperately trying to regain his composure. ¡®S-so¡­ t-the r-reason¡­¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll handle that Willie. Thank you.¡¯ I can see who is wearing the pants in that relationship. Then again¡­ given how she at least must be around four hundred years old at¡­ Malika turned towards Savri. ¡®So, I didn''t want to overwhelm you at first, but Willie and I wanted to ensure you and your friends weren¡¯t a threat¡­ I mean you are. By the gods, you are a danger to everyone around you, but your intentions are good. So¡­ Savri¡­ would you like to meet your baby brother? Zaiven is two and¡­¡¯ Malika was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal. Aki, who was comforting Lilyth, was looking at Savri¡¯s mom with genuine admiration. ¡®CanIseehimcanIseehimcanIseehimcanIseehim,¡¯ she gabbled. Chapter 110 - Family Planning Malika¡¯s expression told me that not bringing the subject up with Savri in private was a mistake. She sighed and said: ¡®Yes, Aki¡­ you can come too.¡¯ ¡®Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!¡¯ Aki squealed again. Damn. I haven''t seen such youthful enthusiasm in her. Aki''s staying here these past few days really benefited her. Savri looked equally terrified and happy about a new family member. The Viscount went with them, and soon it was just me, Lilyth and Ren cuddling on the couch. ¡®I just hope Aki doesn''t get ideas after this,¡¯ Lilyth muttered. ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Lilyth is worried Aki will want to have kids after this.¡¯ ¡®I hope not,¡¯ I laughed nervously. Chirpy used that moment to jump on my lap and start purring to get attention. ¡®I think he is saying that he is the only kid you will ever need,¡¯ Ren laughed. ¡®Well, fur babies are inherently superior,¡¯ Lilyth added with a weak smile. ¡®I admit I want children,¡¯ I said after a moment of thought. ¡®But¡­ in the abstract¡­ if that makes sense. Like the idea of having them is appealing, but actually taking responsibility for one¡­¡¯ ¡®I get that, don''t worry,¡¯ Lilyth smiled. ¡®Especially, since you can''t. Personally, I never wanted children.¡¯ ¡®I never considered the subject,¡¯ Ren admitted. ¡®And, since I have no interest in men, the discussion would be mostly theoretical.¡¯ ¡®Maybe Lilyth could¡­¡¯ I began but they both cut me off with a ¡°NO¡±. ¡®No offense Ren,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®It¡¯s not that you aren''t¡­ I just find the idea of having sex with you just to impregnate you repulsive.¡¯ ¡®None taken,¡¯ Ren said with relief. ¡®Right now, my eyes are only for Caei. But¡­ I¡¯d like to keep this option open for some day.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll have to think about it. Right now¡­ the very idea of sex makes me shudder. So¡­ might affect my judgement a bit.¡¯ Oh right. ¡®I wonder¡­ if that is not too personal¡­ can you actually?¡¯ Lilyth thought about it for a moment, and then her expression went blank. ¡®I asked Nyx. She says I can.¡¯ Ren gasped in shock. ¡®Then¡­ you could have¡­¡¯ ¡®Less could and more would, if I understand the mechanisms correctly,¡¯ Lilyth said with a dead expression and in a monotone. ¡®My body is¡­ weird. A lot of its management happens on a subconscious level. Basically, if I maintain my full female form then¡­ subconsciously I would create organs¡­ necessary to make me female. More efficient too. If Savri didn''t sterilise me, I wouldn''t know I have to consciously stop certain things from occurring. Meaning you would likely have a niece or a nephew on the way, since¡­ he was¡­ the first.¡¯ We both covered our mouths in horror with Ren. But Lilyth wasn¡¯t done yet. Her voice now got really quiet too. ¡®Though since Zalikh fucked up my ability to shapeshift¡­ if you didn''t rescue me¡­ assuming the poison wouldn''t kill me first¡­ I could have easily become an incubator. Just existing to service Kojiro and bear him children. I doubt I would resist much either. The one lesson I got¡­ it was enough.¡¯ ¡®Oh, gods¡­¡¯ Rennie whimpered. ¡®So¡­ you know¡­¡¯ Lilyth said in a, likely fake, chipper tone.¡¯ Thank you for saving me.¡¯ One thing Leera would have avoided, I thought morosely. After a minute or two of awkward silence, Lilyth picked up the conversation. ¡®So¡­ I¡¯ve been thinking¡­¡¯ ¡®I have regular nightmares which start with you saying that¡­¡¯ I joked to lighten the mood. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡®This one shouldn''t be that bad, I think,¡¯ Lilyth said with a faint glimmer of a smile. Since we are headed to Dan-Hem anyway, could we take a small detour and visit the cave the other me appeared in?¡¯ Yeah. That''s not that scary. ¡®Sure,¡¯ I answered. ¡®Why, though?¡¯ ¡®This could be a longshot, but I want to see if there is anything there that will help me restore my magic, or, at least, give me access back to the interface.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s still gone?!¡¯ I asked in disbelief. ¡®Yup,¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®I check every hour or so. Not even a flicker.¡¯ ¡®What about your other magical abilities?¡¯ I asked, now seriously concerned. This isn''t Lilyth wanting to go sightseeing. This is Lilyth asking for help. ¡®I can summon my knives,¡¯ she answered and one of them appeared in her extended hand to prove the point. ¡®Haven¡¯t really tested anything else.¡¯ ¡®Not even transforming into Kitsune?¡¯ I was confused. ¡®I know you like that form.¡¯ She grew gloomy. ¡®I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m scared. After what happened to me in that tent¡­ I am scared. I don¡¯t want to feel that pain anymore.¡¯ ¡®Why not try with me here?¡¯ I suggested. ¡®I can cast [Soothe Pain] if anything goes wrong.¡¯ Lilyth stayed silent for a long time. Then she gave me a weak nod. The [Soothe Pain] only seemed to have made what happened to Lilyth worse. So¡­ panicked, I cast [Sleep] on her. Arcarius and Anika, alarmed by Lilyth''s screams of pain, burst into the room. With their help, we lifted her from the floor and carried her to the bed. When my wife finally woke up an hour later, I immediately rushed over to her to apologise but she simply said: ¡®It¡¯s okay, Caei. I agreed to do it. It was a good idea.¡¯ That didn''t make me feel any less horrible. We decided not to mention anything to Aki. Anika and Arcarius agreed to keep our confidence. Ireela, locked in her room, missed the whole incident. When Aki came back an hour later she noticed that something was off, but dropped it after Lilyth explained her idea. I got seriously scared when Aki also suggested trying it, but Lilyth simply said she did and it didn''t work. My relief was almost palpable. Aki then moved on to oohing and aahing over Zaiven. Savri was also in good spirits, but she lacked Aki¡¯s¡­ immense enthusiasm. When our happy gang was back together for supper we mentioned our travel plans to the rest, and only Ireela seemed mildly distressed by them, as Arcarius was planning to move into a house in the village soon to be closer to his future men, so she would be alone in the house with Savri and Anika. The demon said she would need to talk with her mom the next day because the two of them wanted to spend more time with each other. In the end, Malika agreed to stay with us until it was time for the official ceremony of making Ireela a baroness. As she put it ¡°Some time in the countryside would be good for Zaiven too.¡± The Viscount took his wife¡¯s decision in stride. Ireela, while initially nonplussed about the plan as she wished that Ren would stay with her, fell head over heels with the kid, so it was clear she would spoil him rotten. My personal feelings about Savri¡¯s half-brother were mixed. I never interacted much with children before this, or at all really, and now that I had a chance¡­ I didn''t quite understand why Aki was that excited about him. He was just a small human with orange eyes. I brought¡­ my ¡°neutrality¡± up with Lilyth in private and she said: ¡®Makes sense, really, if you think about it. I don¡¯t think you have ¡°maternal instinct¡± or whatever. Don¡¯t feel bad about it though. It¡¯s a mechanism your species never needed.¡¯ I was confused so Lilyth asked if we could bring Savri into the conversation, as she probably could explain it better. I reluctantly agreed to that, it was her brother we were talking about after all, but Lilyth suggested I talk in abstract and use Aki as a comparison. ¡®What¡¯s up?¡¯ the medic asked when Lilyth led her in, but then she got confused. ¡®When Lilyth said she wanted to talk in private about a delicate matter, I assumed it was tied to her experiences. How are you involved, Caei? Worried about a weird rash down there or something?¡¯ ¡®Uhhh¡­ what?¡¯ I asked, confused. ¡®Like if you caught something nasty, I can treat it with no questions asked. You would need to direct your other sexual partners for the same treatment to me too, though.¡¯ Seeing my thoroughly confused expression Lilyth broke out laughing. ¡®It¡¯s not about STDs, Sav,¡¯ she finally said. ¡®The what?!¡¯ ¡®Sexually transmitted diseases,¡¯ Sav sighed. ¡®You can get sick through sex?¡¯ I was horrified. ¡®Oooooh-kay¡­¡¯ Sav sighed. ¡®Let¡¯s discuss what you two wanted to discuss and then I will give you a check-up, just to be sure, and then the Talk.¡¯ ¡®Soo¡­ uh¡­¡¯ I said. ¡®I seem to lack Aki¡¯s enthusiasm when seeing children. She acts like she has just seen the cutest thing ever, while I just see a small human. Lilyth said this is due to me not having ¡°maternal instinct¡±, but well¡­ wasn''t sure how to explain it.¡¯ ¡®Not all women react with her¡­ enthusiasm,¡¯ Savri admitted. ¡®But, I think Lilyth is right. Due to your species being directly spawned by a god and without the capacity for reproduction¡­ in simple terms - The Sanguine can''t have children so you never had any reason to develop attachment to them.¡¯ ¡®You mean I am¡­ we are defective?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ the medic shook her head. ¡®Just different. To use Lilyth as an example - she was born in a male body despite mentally¡­ spiritually¡­ being a woman. Doesn''t make her defective. Plus her reaction to Zaiven can charitably be described as ¡°indifference¡±.¡¯ I didn''t notice that. ¡®I don''t like children,¡¯ my wife admitted. ¡®Never did. Hope you don¡¯t mind me saying that, Sav.¡¯ ¡®At least you are honest about it. And, honestly, if Zaiven wasn¡¯t my half-brother I would probably have the same ¡°Yes, moving on¡± reaction as you did.¡¯ Lilyth turned to me: ¡®Also Caei do remember: just because you lack the natural ¡°oooh baby¡± response doesn''t mean you can''t grow to love them. It¡¯s just¡­ a bit harder. You are closer to me in that regard than to Aki. And that''s fine. Also¡­¡¯ Lilyth told me about her struggles as a tortured spirit and how she tried to make the best of it. What it cost her. ¡®So it doesn''t matter what you were born with or without,¡¯ she concluded. ¡®What matters is what you do with it. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ I said and hugged her. Chapter 111 - The Non-Spooky Cave Caeileera Lady Malika moved into the estate the same evening. The Viscount stayed one more day and then left towards the city. As we weren¡¯t sure how much time we had we set off for Dan-Hem two days after that. By then, Lilyth was back to full strength and could move without any extra support. Her magic was still gone. When, the day after the noble left, the two of us were talking alone, Lilyth said that she was slowly starting to consider the possibility of it being gone for good. I didn¡¯t want to agree with her just yet, but I had to acknowledge something was likely very wrong. By then it had been ten days since the battle with Kojiro and there being no change was worrying. Akh¡¯Ret did warn that some of the effects would be permanent and that was before whatever Ereshkigal did to her. There was also a certain bitch named Caeileera who asked Lilyth to check whether her powers returned. I knew Lilyth would never blame me for this, but I still felt horrible about the whole thing. The way she screamed¡­ This was only made worse by the fact that a weird bond formed between me and Lilyth where we just felt safe with one another - a feeling of comfort none other could provide us. We just¡­ understood. I also was, finally, able to focus on growing my relationship with Aki and it was over the weirdest thing - her interest in alchemy. Lilyth really tried to do it, bless her slimy heart, but I could see her struggling with it. It¡¯s not that she was too dumb for it, far from it, but¡­ some things in alchemy ran counter to her life experience so much that it broke her brain to consider them. For example, healing potions - you could create them using melkorath tree extract. The substance was semi-difficult to obtain and there was some magical component to it we all took for granted. Not Lilyth though - for her it was just a, to quote, ¡°just fucking tree paste¡± because that¡¯s how it worked on Terra. ¡®It¡¯s not like we didn¡¯t have herbal medicine over yonder,¡¯ she explained. ¡®Some of it even worked. But there is a difference between ¡°aloe vera helps you heal burns and deal with inflammation¡± and ¡°melkorath extract can be distilled into a magical liquid that heals your wounds¡±. There¡¯s a difference between seeing that in video games and actually in action.¡¯ Still, Lilyth happily volunteered to be a test subject, because ¡°she could probably survive if anything went wrong¡±. It was painful to see her stab herself in the arm so that there would be a wound to heal, though not as much if any of us did it. Aki was initially hurt by Lilyth¡¯s lack of faith in her, but quickly changed her tune after she saw how sick our volunteer got after her first attempt. We decided to wait with the second one until after we got back from Dan-Hem. On the flip side, I didn¡¯t know that Lilyth could actually turn this shade of green. So we all learned something new that day. The other lesson was that probably someone other than Aki should be cooking for our little family. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the end of it, as we decided to call Savri for help. So the final thing I learned that evening was that I had never actually seen her mad. After the dressing down the two of us got, Aki decided to limit her experiments with alchemy to simple and safe stuff for now, my dictionary was enriched with several new swearwords, Chirpy began giving the medic a wide berth and I heard Malika say one time that she didn''t know whether to be proud or terrified of her daughter. ¡®For someone allegedly at the loss of words, Savri sure had a lot to say to you,¡¯ my jelly joked after she felt strong enough to talk. ¡®I¡¯m so soorry!¡¯ Aki said probably for the thousandth time that day. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. You meant well. Though I agree with Sav that maybe¡­ less risky projects are a better place to start.¡¯ ¡®I just wanted to make something useful for us!¡¯ ¡®You will. You just need some practice. And we all learned something useful too from this. I mean, if we ever need to poison someone we¡¯ll know what to make.¡¯ Aki punched Lilyth in the shoulder. ¡®Not funny!¡¯ ¡®Why not?¡¯ I asked, innocently. ¡®I think you could make a decent living as a poisoner.¡¯ Aki harrumphed and stormed out of the room. Lilyth and I looked at ourselves and broke out laughing. Our blue-haired cutie quickly got over her indignation once Lilyth got out of bed, looking only slightly green. This in turn made Chirpy unhappy as he found out that bedridden people are perfect to cuddle against. Lilyth said that she felt strong enough to get up an hour before, but the furry asshole looked so cute and comfortable she didn''t have the heart to disturb him. I threw Chirpy an annoyed look but my wife simply said that she did the same with her cat, which only caused the furball to look like he had been vindicated. He then started rubbing against Lilyth''s legs, which only caused her to lift him and hug him. Chirpy then looked back and poked his tongue at me. Motherfucker. Oh no, you furball. I will not yield before you. So I approached Lilyth and kissed her, squeezing Chirpy between us. He let out an annoyed meowl and jumped down. After we parted Lilyth asked: ¡®Not that I mind, but are you seriously jealous of a glorified housecat?¡¯ The nesumi let out an indignant chirp. Teeheehee! Then something occurred to me and I told Lilyth about it. ¡®You think Chirpy is trying to come between you and the people you love over you casting a [Sleep] spell on him?¡¯ she asked in disbelief and looked at the blasted furball. I have never seen him trying to look as innocent as he did now. Lilyth shrugged and pulled me towards the bed. ¡®Let¡¯s see how he likes this then.¡¯ Chirpy, clearly defeated, left our brief make-out session halfway through. Victory had never tasted so sweet. The closer it got to our trip the less we actually wanted to go. Even Lilyth didn''t seem that willing to go try to restore her powers, though I can imagine the cause for that particular change of plans started with ¡°C¡± and ended with ¡°aeileera¡±. Still, it was something we had to try to do. Certain ¡°Nazi Fuck¡± had to be stopped. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. We estimated the whole trip would take us between two and three weeks. It was a surprise to Lilyth to learn that a week on Dwynveia lasted six days rather than seven like on Terra. I had no opinion on the subject as we just tracked days and years in the Badlands. If I had my maths right it was currently two-hundred-and-twenty-fifth day of the third sixth year of Vicar Tirrleena. Each of the inner-circle Vicars got a twelve-year period named after them before it rotated to the next one. As there were only four of them at the time the whole rotation technically was supposed to last forty-eight years. It rarely did. So despite it being Tirrleena¡¯s third turn she actually held the position for about sixty years, which was way above the average of thirty, and ever since she got her position there has been quite an attrition in the ranks of the Crimson Vicars. Did I mention that she was quite influential with the Serrated Blades? At any rate, our first stop was Zel-Vyme as we wanted to pick up some more fresh travel supplies. We did have a small stock of travel meals between what remained from the stuff we had on our way to Mer-Cas and what we found on the Red Masks, but there was a clear difference between eating fresh food and preserved meals. Especially after spending a while eating Ireela¡¯s cooking. Discovering that Ren was almost as good a cook as her mom only made getting proper supplies more essential. Given how our previous visit to Zel-Vyme was under less than pleasant circumstances, it was weird to casually enter the village the evening of the second day of our trip but to say our group turned some heads would be an understatement. Rennie handled all the formalities in the village because she was the most normal-looking of our little bunch. Said formalities may have included giving the innkeeper an extra five hundred Divines as a just-shut-the-fuck-up-and-serve-us fee. Funnily enough, it was Lilyth of all people who caused this. While she had arm ¡°tattoos¡± covered up, there was little we could do about the patches of liquid darkness on her cheeks. They had mostly ¡°dried up¡± by then, but there was still this slight¡­ ooziness to them. Aki was furious about that and said so when we went to our rooms to unpack, but Lilyth, while also upset, simply shrugged and said: ¡®I¡¯m just happy it¡¯s not you or Caei that got hit with that.¡¯ My stupid, silly, jelly. When will you start caring about yourself? Lilyth We spent the night in the inn and set off towards the cave in the morning. I could see neither Caei nor Aki were happy with me shrugging off the bigoted innkeeper, but what else could you do? It was either that or sleep outside and I got too used to beds of late again to pass up an option to sleep in one. At least for me going following the road was¡­ weird since I had two distinct sets of memories of going the other way and I had to dive into one that wasn¡¯t mine to get directions. There was also a difference in terrain layout between what we remembered and what was here. That caused a very weird sense of¡­ I don¡¯t know deja vu? Cognitive dissonance? Being absolutely bonkers? ¡®Correct me if I am wrong, guys, but that side path at the foot of the mountains wasn¡¯t here ¡°before¡±? I asked the next morning when we reached the mountains surrounding the hollow where the Tower of Trials was. It wasn¡¯t much of a path, actually, just an area cleared of trees. The area was still very eerie though as there was a ¡°border¡± where the forest just¡­ ended. ¡®I distinctly remember there being a forest here,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®But I also¡­ don¡¯t.¡¯ ¡®Same¡­¡¯ Caei admitted. ¡®Why does it matter?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®Because our destination is up this path,¡¯ I explained. ¡®And the idea of heading into a place you can swear didn''t exist a month ago and is clearly magical¡­¡¯ I pointed at the no-more-forest line. ¡®... doesn''t fill me with confidence.¡¯ Ren looked at the forest and I could see her eyes widened. ¡®I didn''t notice that.¡¯ ¡®We are also in a pocket of silence, but for the life of me I cannot remember if it was here before.¡¯ We looked at ourselves with Aki and shook our heads. ¡®No clue,¡¯ I said. ¡®Neither me nor the other-me were paying attention to such details.¡¯ ¡®Same here,¡¯ My wife added. ¡®Those can sneak up on you, can they?¡¯ Ren sighed. We all agreed, sent our pets to a safe place as a precautionary measure, and started heading down the path. It took us maybe half an hour to get to the cave. The place looked surprisingly non-spooky, but it clearly was not natural, as few natural formations would have a mostly even-looking corridor leading to a circular chamber of smooth stone, in the middle of which stood a summoning altar identical to the one I woke up on what seemed to be an eternity before. It was just a simple stone block, but I involuntarily shuddered seeing it. Under the wall to the right of it, there was a simple wooden chest the other me found some starter equipment in and behind it the very reason we came here too: three slightly glowing lines of magical runes - one flourishy, one almost perfect and the cuneiform bullshit in the middle. ¡®Any change?¡¯ Caei, clearly nervous, asked. ¡®No,¡¯ I sighed in response. ¡®Let¡¯s take a look at the script, I am going to copy it¡­ again and then we will go.¡¯ I lost my original magical scroll along with the rest of our gear in the Abyss. ¡®Hurry then!¡¯ Aki stressed. ¡®Gonna need you both, actually. You know areas of magic I don¡¯t, so you might see things I would miss. That turned out to be the right idea as Caei was able to identify two of the three scripts. ¡®The top one is in the language of Fire, while the bottom is Life. I have no idea what they are saying though. I won¡¯t even bother asking Akh''ret whether he could translate because I know he won¡¯t.¡¯ ¡®So what''s the middle then?¡¯ I asked. ¡®That Primaeval Arcana Sav uses maybe?¡¯ Caei ventured a guess. ¡®Can I see?¡¯ Ren asked but had no more clue than the rest of us did. ¡®Why are they glowing?¡¯ ¡®There is some faint magic to them,¡¯ I explained. ¡®If you touch them they should be slightly warm.¡¯ ¡®You sure it¡¯s safe?¡¯ she asked. ¡®Should be? When I touched these back in the Tower nothing bad happened. See?¡¯ I did and traced one of the life runes with my fingers. It was as if the electric current ran through my body. It wasn¡¯t painful though¡­ there was joy to it. A message popped up in front of my eyes. Interface reinitialised. Yes! I wanted to pull my hand away but it was stuck there. The runed began glowing brighter. I started yelling to the others to run but it was too late. There was a flash of light and we all found ourselves standing in a dimly-lit room with a drab mustard-coloured floor covering and white, water-stained walls. There was a cheap worn-out wooden door in one of the walls. A message appeared in front of my eyes Entering: The Extrinsic Corridors Type: Dungeon(Legendary) Difficulty: Medium - Deadly (depending on the path taken) Description: You find yourself in a place that only exists in the dark cracks in the fabric of reality. Objectives:
  • Find an exit
  • Survive
Rewards:
  • 5000 experience points.
Well¡­ fuck. Chapter 112 - The Extrinsic Corridors Aki ¡®What the fuck did you do?¡¯ Caei screamed at Lilyth. ¡®Nothing!¡¯ she protested. ¡®Just touched the Life letters! ¡®Why the fuck did you do that then?¡¯ ¡®Nothing happened the last time!¡¯ ¡®Didn¡¯t you recently get a lesson about¡­¡¯ Caei began but caught herself. ¡®Uhh¡­ sorry.¡¯ ¡®No problem,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Yeah. Assuming things is bad. Tell me though¡­ would you have assumed touching glowing letters on a wall would yeet you outside the fucking reality?¡¯ That stopped Caei. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®It¡¯s like saying we shouldn''t enter ruins because we don¡¯t know if we will be able to l¡­ oh.¡¯ ¡®G-guys¡­¡¯ Ren whimpered, but got ignored. ¡®Bad example,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®But I see your point. Sorry, Lilyth¡­ it¡¯s just you know¡­¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t touch strange glowing letters,¡¯ Lilyth conceded. ¡®Lesson learned.¡¯ ¡®Guys!¡¯ Ren repeated more forcefully. ¡®Yes?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®Can¡¯t this wait?¡¯ she asked. ¡®I¡¯m not sure I follow,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Wait for what?¡¯ ¡®Until we leave this godsforsaken place!¡¯ there was now panic in her voice. ¡®That would be the sane thing to do, yes.,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®But if you haven''t noticed, we don¡¯t do sane much. ¡®Better to get it out of the system now,¡¯ Lilyth added. ¡®Rather than have it erupt when something is trying to eat your face.¡¯ ¡®At least that''s what we¡¯ve always done,¡¯ I said. ¡®Especially when the issue at hand is someone, usually Lilyth, doing something¡­ unreasonable.¡¯ ¡®Who¡¯s idea was it to enter Akh''ret''s Mercy again?¡¯ Lilyth replied with venom in her voice. ¡®Let¡¯s not rehash the past,¡¯ I waved my hand dismissively. Seeing we didn''t calm down Ren, Lilyth quickly added: ¡®This one shouldn''t be this bad, Rennie. We might get lucky and end up on the medium difficulty paths.¡¯ ¡®What medium difficulty?¡¯ I asked, genuinely confused. I pulled up the notification again to make sure I didn''t miss anything. Entering: The Extrinsic Corridors Type: Dungeon(Legendary) Difficulty: Very Hard - Impossible (depending on the path taken) Description: You find yourself in a place that only exists in the dark cracks in the fabric of reality. Objectives:
  • Find an exit
  • Survive
Rewards:
  • 5000 experience points.
Yeah. Just says Very Hard. ¡®The notification I got gave me the difficulty range as ¡°Medium to Deadly¡±,¡¯ Lilyth explained. I told them what mine said. ¡®Hard to Deadly,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®¡¯Impossible,¡¯ Ren said with a pale face. ¡®Huh,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®So it doesn''t count us as a party but as individuals? Weird.¡¯ ¡®It still averages at Deadly,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®And we should treat it as such.¡¯ ¡®Small comfort,¡¯ Ren whimpered. ¡®Can¡¯t promise we will be fine but we¡¯ve faced worse odds,¡¯ Lilyth reassured her. ¡®We survived a fight against a god after all.¡¯ ¡®Because another god saved us,¡¯ Caei pointed out dryly. ¡®Don¡¯t oversell our meeting with the Sun. We got lucky. Same in Akh''ret''s Mercy. ¡® ¡®The Tower of Trials was all us,¡¯ Lilyth retorted. ¡®On the battlefield luck is half the equation. And hey¡­ now that I know I can hurt gods I am not gonna hesitate push comes to sh¡­ fuck.¡¯ Ren stared at Lilyth wide-eyed. ¡®You can WHAT?¡¯ Lilyth summoned her daggers. ¡®Those puppies ended up saving my life when the Sun was about to behead me.¡¯ We gave her the full account of our misadventures in the Abyss. ¡®That explains what Irmen said about the fight going either way. And why did you feel ¡°comfortable¡± threatening her.¡¯ ¡®Was less a threat and more¡­ ¡°Not gonna let you hurt us without me at least trying to defend us¡± thing. Listen, Ren. I will do my best to get you¡­ get us through this. The same can be said about Aki and Caei. We might not be exactly a functional bunch¡­ but we don''t fuck around.¡¯ We nodded in agreement and I noticed that determination returned to Ren''s eyes. Caei looked at Lilyth: ¡®Now that I think of it¡­ you getting your notification means your interface is back?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Lilyth said happily. ¡®One positive about this whole mess.¡¯ ¡®Does it say why you can''t use magic?¡¯ Lilyth''s gaze lost focus as she reviewed it. ¡®It says I have just minor elemental contamination. Nothing¡­ wait¡­ my race shifted to Shadow Kitsune? The fuck?¡¯ This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡®Does this mean you can''t stand in the sun in your Kitsune form?¡¯ I asked, seriously worried. ¡®No? At least, I think it doesn''t? I felt no discomfort while walking around outside. The description just says that my power boost applies only to the Umbral Arcana, but it is stronger due to this.¡¯ That does feel like a fair trade. ¡®Can you try transforming?¡¯ Caei asked, a bit uncertain. Lilyth pondered the question for a moment. ¡®I am not sure whether that is a good idea,¡¯ she finally said. ¡®On one hand, I might get my magic back. On the other hand¡­ I might get ano¡­ an attack, which may knock me out for a good while. And even if I do get my powers back¡­ not sure how well they will work. If I end up having a¡­ seizure during battle¡­ could be bad. I don''t really trust my judgment lately, though. Still, if you think it¡¯s worth a shot¡­¡¯ Lilyth looked at me for a decision. She wanted to say ¡°another¡±, didn''t she? So she tried. How much is this genuine concern on her end and how much it is fear of more pain? Her arguments do make sense¡­ but¡­ what if push her and it ends up like in Mer-Cas? Her going there was my idea¡­ As Lilyth pointed out, both ideas had risks to them¡­ if I chose the wrong one again¡­ no¡­ Caeileera I watched Aki¡¯s growing panic with despair in my heart. She looked at me pleadingly. I didn''t particularly blame Lilyth for not making the call. It¡¯s what we wanted. What I just screamed at her for doing. And like it or not¡­ this was a strategic decision. So it is either me taking the reins or passing the buck back to Lilyth. I am as shit a leader as she is. I looked at Ren. She was too terrified to be of use. Maybe it¡¯s just that call that I make? That line of thought caused me to realise there was a compromise solution. One that still likely involved inflicting pointless suffering on Lilyth¡­ None of us wants this one on their conscience. ¡®I think you should try, Lilyth,¡¯ Ren finally said. ¡®I guess we are safe enough here that if you have another attack¡­ we can wait it out.¡¯ ¡®Even if this works,¡¯ I picked up the thread,¡¯ you don¡¯t have to use any of your magic if you don''t want to.¡¯ ¡®Unless the situation calls for it, then she will feel obliged to try,¡¯ said that nagging voice at the back of my head. ¡®Very well,¡¯ Lilyth said and sat on her knees by one of the walls. She closed her eyes, and by the way she clenched them moments later, I could tell she was bracing herself for pain. Then¡­ the top of her head turned to slime and started reforming as her fox ears. Her tail also started sprouting out too. She grimaced in pain, but when I rushed to her side she waved me away. Shortly afterwards, her kitsune form solidified, but her fur was dark grey rather than orange. Still adorable though. ¡®Fucking¡­ hell¡­¡¯ she muttered. ¡®That was not pleasant¡­¡¯ ¡®What¡­ what h-happened?¡¯ Aki asked. Lilyth waited a moment to collect herself and said: ¡®The transformation was working well enough until whatever part of my Kitsune form began connecting with magic. Then¡­ difficulties occurred, but I managed to push through them.¡¯ She tried to get up, but lost her balance and had to use the wall as support. Aki rushed to her side and helped her rise. ¡®Thank the gods¡­¡¯ Ren muttered. ¡®No, thank you,¡¯ I whispered to her. ¡®For¡­¡¯ ¡®... Being a cold bitch?¡¯ Rennie finished for me. ¡®Don¡¯t mention it. I wished I would never have to resort to that particular trait of mine again, but sometimes ruthlessness is the only way you can progress.¡¯ I looked at Aki who was with Lilyth and still looked close to tears. Yeah. She''s in no shape to be in charge right now. Or maybe ever again. That leaves me¡­ and Lilyth. I eyed Ren. There is a difference between leading an organisation and a party in combat. I sighed and approached Lilyth. ¡®I will need your help to get us through this.¡¯ ¡®Not the best idea to put a person who doubts their judgment in charge,¡¯ she said. ¡®I just need your brain,¡¯ I said. ¡®Back at Lin-Vyme, I found myself thinking ¡°What would Lilyth have done in this situation¡±. So your advice will be invaluable, I think.¡¯ Lilyth nodded. ¡®You have it then.¡¯ I turned to Aki. ¡®You don¡¯t mind?¡¯ She shook her head with verve. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she whimpered. ¡®Lilyth, are you feeling up to go?¡¯ She straightened and said: ¡®Just a moment, need to check something.¡¯ Lilyth When I tried transforming I felt as if¡­ I turned on my internal Wi-Fi, but the network connection kept dropping. Since it finally worked eventually, the issue most likely was with the device. I rechecked my character and found a new status on it. Status: Arcane Instability Type: Magical - Malus Level: N/A Effects:
  • Moderate chance of failure whenever you cast a spell or use a mana-based ability (The chance of failure will decrease in time to the base level)
  • Moderate chance of spell and mana-based ability effects being unpredictable (The chance of failure will decrease in time to the base level)
Ah. That explains it. I took Caei aside and sent her the status. ¡®Fuck,¡¯ she muttered. ¡®So you have my brain and my sword,¡¯ I said. ¡®But my magic is¡­ less of a given.¡¯ My Dark Sorceress pondered this for a moment and nodded. ¡®Better than nothing, so it will have to do.¡¯ Caeileera After Lilyth finished putting on her armour we moved to inspect the only door leading out of the room. ¡®Can you try listening whether there is anything on the other side? I asked my jelly. She nodded and put her ear on the door. When after a minute of her not moving I got impatient and wanted to ask if something was wrong she silenced me with a hand gesture. So another minute passed. And then another. Finally, Lilyth stepped away from the door and drew her sword. ¡®Can¡¯t be sure,¡¯ she said quietly, ¡®but I think I heard some distant movement. Hard to tell.¡¯ ¡®How far was it?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®At the edge of my hearing, which is about¡­ I don¡¯t know I am not a sonar.¡¯ A sonar? ¡®A device used to detect objects underwater,¡¯ Lilyth quickly explained. ¡®You can use it to measure distances by sending sound signals. Something I cannot do.¡¯ Ah. Terran technology will never cease to amaze me. I nodded to others and we all readied our weapons. At my signal Lilyth slowly pushed the door open, revealing what looked to be a maze of disjointed wall segments. Like with the room we were in, the floor was covered in ugly covering and the place looked heavily water-damaged. ¡®I don¡¯t like that,¡¯ Lilyth muttered. She carefully pointed at how the walls were positioned, making sure her arms wouldn''t pass through the threshold. Being paranoid, eh? ¡®See, it is hard to get a clear line of sight anywhere.¡¯ Meaning something could be hiding ten metres away from us and we wouldn''t know it. ¡®Stay quiet, all,¡¯ I said. ¡®We¡¯ll need to rely on Lilyth''s hearing.¡¯ Ren and Aki nodded. Lilyth simply gave me a thumbs-up. I pointed to her to proceed, but the moment she stepped through the doorway I felt some force push me outside. Judging by their surprised yelps, so did Aki and Ren, and we all ended up stumbling out into the other room. Another message popped up in front of my eyes. Leaving: Safe Room Entering Zone: The Hunting Grounds Difficulty: Very Hard Description: As you¡¯ve noticed you found yourself in a place where you will be hunted. Objectives:
  • Find the exit
  • (Optional) Eliminate all threats
Rewards:
  • 2000 experience points
  • Extra rewards if the optional objective is completed
The door shut behind us with a loud thunk. Fuuuuck. Chapter 113 - Shrieklins Caeileera ¡®What the¡­¡¯ Rennie began, but Lilyth silenced her with a hand on the shoulder. She then pointed towards one of the segments to our right and then tapped her cheek twice, scratched her chin, tapped the chin three more times and then shrugged. Seeing my confusion she repeated the set of gestures. Tap tap scratch tap tap tap shrug Two, maybe three enemies? To confirm I showed her first two fingers, shrugged and then three fingers. Lilyth nodded. We really need a more formalised set of gestures. Lilyth then pointed first at me, Aki and to the left of the wall segment, then at herself and Ren and to the right. Makes sense, I thought and gave her a thumbs-up. Ren and Aki simply nodded and we began approaching the hiding spot of the enemy weapons at the ready. We were maybe halfway there when a piercing shriek that felt like it would split my head sounded from the direction we were heading towards. They know we are here. Four shapes darted out from behind that wall segment. A brief thought of ¡°so much for Lilyth''s hearing¡± crossed my mind, but I quickly quashed it. For one, this really was not the time; and two¡­ until that moment I heard absolutely nothing, so me bitching about how someone got the number of monsters I would not be otherwise even aware of wrong would be¡­ well¡­ a dick move. Lilyth once tried to explain to me how her hearing exactly worked, and what I understand was that thanks to her being able to use her entire body, what was uncovered anyway, to hear she was much more sensitive to sounds. Or something. Which is probably why the shriek made her look far more uncomfortable than any of us were. The monster began to try to flank us, which allowed me to get a good look at them. They looked vaguely goblinoid with their green skin and aquamarine hair, but that''s where the resemblances ended. The creatures¡¯ mouths were filled to the brim with sharp teeth, and they also had yellow black-slitted eyes that gave them this reptilian quality. Their limbs, sharp-clawed arms and digitigrade legs were also wrong, being spindly and long, far longer than any limbs had business being. What the fuck are those things? ¡®I think those are shrieklins!¡¯ Ren shouted, answering my silent questions. ¡®Killing first, taxonomy later!¡¯ Lilyth barked. What do taxes have to do with anything? Lilyth The shrieklins or whatever were aptly named. I was sensitive to sounds before I got a body with much keener hearing than my old flesh bag. More concerning was that it apparently was their means of communication. I wasn¡¯t sure if the others noticed it, but I was ninety per cent sure that only one of the monsters shrieked, meaning it was giving a signal to the others. Something else was bothering me about it though, but I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it. One thing I really regretted was that I didn¡¯t manage to get any sword training while I was at the estate. It has been a while since I actually used the thing but I couldn¡¯t imagine facing those creatures with my knives. So¡­ with minor trepidation, I tried activating [The Swiftness of the Wind] and to my pleasant surprise, it worked. I raised my sword and dashed towards one of the monsters, it tried taking a swipe at me, but it was too slow, so I dove below its extended arm and with a sidewise cut sunk the Blade of the Black Rose deep into its stomach. Sensing one of its buddies trying to jump me from behind, I ripped the sword out and tried turning around but didn¡¯t manage to before the creature''s claws raked me on my unprotected shoulder. I hissed from pain. The creature¡¯s success was short-lived, however, as an arrow pierced its throat spraying me with the shrieklin¡¯s blood. Two down. I took stock of the situation. One of the monsters was charging Aki, she fired off a [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] at it, but it jumped to the side and kept on charging. My wife then lunged towards it, weaved under its arms, cut off one of them and sunk her other falchion into its chest. Three. No wonder this place was listed as easy. Then what was bothering me reared its ugly head. I heard faint movement coming from behind us. Looked over there and eight more of the ugly bastards trying to sneak up on us. ¡®Watch out!¡¯ I yelled and started running towards my companions. The shrieklins, realising they¡¯ve been made, let out a series of piercing howls that caused me to stumble forward from pain. Shit! Shit! Shit! Caeileera Just as I lopped off the head of the last of the monsters with my glaive, Lilyth shouted her warning. I turned around and seeing what was behind us, instinctively unfurled my wings and used them to leap backwards from the approaching shrieklins. As I flew I fired [Rock Spikes], felling two of the creatures. Ren, also backing away, fired off another arrow, but it lodged itself between the ribs of one of the monsters, throwing it off, but not killing it. That was enough for Aki, who finished it off with a [Lesser Abyssal Bolt]. She then, her falchions at the ready, dove in between the monsters, cutting her way through them. I expected Lilyth to join her, but when I looked towards my jelly I saw her on her knees holding her head clearly in pain. Ah. The shrieks of the other group were almost unbearable for me, can¡¯t imagine what it was for her. ¡®Cover Aki!¡¯ I ordered Ren and dove towards Lilyth, casting [Soothe Pain] the moment I was within arms reach. ¡®Thanks!¡¯ my wife shouted in clear relief and scrambled to her feet. I saw her point one of her hands at a monster as she ran to help Aki, but nothing happened, which was confirmed by the quiet ¡°fuck¡± I heard from Lilyth. My wife also proved too fast for Ren to account for, as one of her arrows lodged herself in her left shoulder. Ooops. To her credit, Lilyth did her best to minimise the effects of it on her charge and quickly joined Aki in fighting the monsters. I could see her wince from pain occasionally, but she pushed through it, and between the two of them, all the monsters were soon lying dead or dying on the floor. Only then, Lilyth ripped the arrow out from her shoulder with a grunt, walked over to Ren and gave it to her with a weak: Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®Yours, I believe.¡¯ ¡®Sorrysorrysorrysorry,¡¯ Ren apologised profusely. ¡®No worries,¡¯ Lilyth said and sat down against one of the wall segments. I moved on to help her but she pointed towards Aki who was panting and holding a wound at her side. I could also see other wounds on her body, some of which looked pretty bad too. Shit! Get your head in order, Caei. I hurried over to Aki, began with [Soothe Pain] and then started healing her wounds. It drained quite a bit of my mana, but soon my blue-haired cutie was all good. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she said and gave me a hug. Aki then took out a mana potion from her satchel and handed it over to me. We don¡¯t have many of those, do we? Still, I accepted it and drank it, following it up with mine, which almost brought me back to a full tank. Still, no more attack spells for me. I went over to Lilyth, but I could see she relocated to a wall segment away from the scene of carnage, and that there was an empty health potion bottle next to her. An unopened mana potion was standing next to it, with a clear implication I should take it. After stowing it in my bag, I sat down next to her and soon the other two joined us. ¡®If that is easy, I can¡¯t imagine what hard looks like,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®You have it as ¡°easy¡±?¡¯ Aki asked in disbelief. ¡®It¡¯s ¡°Very Hard¡± for me.¡¯ ¡®Same,¡¯ I confirmed. ¡®¡°Hard¡±,¡¯ Ren said, to everyone¡¯s surprise. ¡®Probably because I know [Silent Step]. I can technically sneak through here, I guess?¡¯ ¡®Makes sense,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®I¡¯m higher level, also know [Silent Step], and can hear those things. Though whatever assigned that difficulty level didn¡¯t account for how debilitating those screeches would be.¡¯ Her eyes went blank as she checked something. ¡®Yeah. It was updated to ¡°Hard¡±,¡¯ she said. ¡®Wonder why¡­¡± ¡®You just said¡­¡¯ I began but Lilyth shook her head. ¡®No. Here¡¯s a thing, Caei. We are all given individual difficulty ratings here that update in real-time. I have never seen that happen before.¡¯ Neither have I, come to think of it. ¡®So you are saying something is watching us?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®Only explanation I can think of.¡¯ ¡®It also wants us to work together,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®I think. Why give us individual ratings otherwise? We made relatively short work of these together. Alone though¡­¡¯ ¡®Work together or die alone, fuckos,¡¯ Lilyth laughed mirthlessly. ¡®At least, you lot. I have decent chances of making it through here on my own.¡¯ I punched her in the arm. ¡®Not funny,¡¯ I said. After that, we sat there for a moment in silence until Ren whooped. ¡®Level two!¡¯ ¡®Did I give you a lot of experience points?¡¯ Lilyth joked. ¡®Uh¡­ no¡­ why would you¡­¡¯ she got red-faced and flustered. ¡®She¡¯s joking,¡¯ I explained. ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ Ren said. ¡®Can you punch her for me?¡¯ ¡®My pleasure,¡¯ I answered and we all broke out laughing. Once we calmed down, I quickly checked my stats.
Basic Details
Name Caeileera Race Sanguine
Gender Female Age 25
Level 10 (87% progress) Perk Points 0
Patron Deity Akh''ret Title -
Almost there. Aki clearly had the same idea as she also let out a triumphant shout. ¡®Level nine!¡¯ She then took out the rune she got from Nyx and learned the [Water Bolt] spell. ¡®Damn, I wish I was as high a level as you guys,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®You¡¯ll get there,¡¯ Lilyth said with a warm smile. ¡®Catching that adventuring bug, eh?¡¯ ¡®I think so,¡¯ Ren smiled back. ¡®I don¡¯t know¡­ I feel better after levelling. Stronger.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, it does that to you,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®You should hit level three as soon as we find the exit, I think.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ yes!¡¯ Ren whooped again. ¡®In general, I think we all will be several levels higher once we actually leave,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Maybe we¡¯ll catch up to Sav some.¡¯ ¡®Family that levels together stays together,¡¯ Aki joked, making us all laugh again. ¡®Rennie,¡¯ Lilyth began after we all caught our breaths,¡¯ You said you recognised these things. Notifications confirmed they were what you thought they were.¡¯ ¡®Shrieklins...,¡¯ Ren said with some disgust. ¡®They are¡­ what happens to goblins when they go feral. A few generations down the line they adapt into¡­ predators.¡¯ Lilyth raised her eyebrow at that. ¡®I know the answer is likely ¡°Magic¡±, but I think I am legally obligated to point out that evolution doesn''t work this fast.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s the mechanics behind the system, yes,¡¯ I confirmed. ¡®As you have experienced, levelling affects our bodies a bit. So it is possible to¡­ direct those changes. Some of the Lower Sanguine subvariants you¡¯ve faced in the Tower are created like that.¡¯ Lilyth nodded. ¡®I suppose it¡¯s how I became a Shadow Kitsune. And I guess it answers one piece of the puzzle about the fight against L?we.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ right¡­¡¯ Aki nodded. ¡®He turned himself into¡­ a half-Sanguine? Something like that?¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Probably. I have no idea what he did there. Would be funny if it was what Gaar¡¯rinver and his creepy friends were after.¡¯ ¡®Or terrifying, since they could be working together here,¡¯ Lilyth pointed out. ¡®True dat. We¡¯ll probably learn when find him.¡¯ ¡®And speaking of danger, we really need to get you some armour, hon,¡¯ Lilyth turned Aki. ¡®Probably some leather?¡¯ ¡®Maybe something sexy,¡¯ I joked. ¡®Good idea. Though probably it won¡¯t be as sexy as Lilyth walking around with her boobs out in the Tower of Trials.¡¯ Aki said, with a smirk. ¡®Oh, yeah,¡¯ I remembered. ¡® That was an amazing way to meet someone.¡¯ ¡®I think you skipped that bit in your stories,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®Do tell it, please.¡¯ ¡®Not much to say,¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. ¡®Remember when I told you about me taking a fireball to the chest?¡¯ Rennie nodded. ¡®This was L?we¡¯s doing. Nearly killed me too. After that, I didn¡¯t change immediately because I had to wade through blood-stained water and I didn¡¯t want to ruin yet another set of clothes immediately.¡¯ ¡®You left out the part about how this happened during the first half of the fight, so you fought L?we topless after he transformed,¡¯ Aki said with a lecherous smile. ¡®Alas, the power of boobah did not compel him,¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®Still, I know two people who were not immune.¡¯ ¡®Probably would work on me too,¡¯ Ren whispered dreamily. ¡®We can check that,¡¯ I said seductively and raised my top. ¡®Your wish is our command,¡¯ my companions said all at once and we all guffawed. Chapter 114 - Lost and Found Aki As fun as it was to bond over adventuring and boobs, it was time to get going. ¡®Do you think there are more of them here?¡¯ Caei asked Lilyth as we gathered our things. ¡®Probably,¡¯ she said. ¡®The quest didn''t update about that part being completed.¡¯ ¡®Should we hunt them down?¡¯ I asked. Those rewards do sound nice. ¡®No,¡¯ Caei shook her head and pointed at my torn clothes. ¡®Those things are dangerous, sneaky and can think. So I don¡¯t think any reward is worth risking it.¡¯ ¡®We might still run into them,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®But otherwise, I agree. It would be a pointless risk.¡¯ She pointed in the vague direction of the corpses and continued. ¡®There were twelve of them in the hunting party. God only knows how many are ¡°back home.¡±¡¯ I didn¡¯t consider that. The five I dove between almost tore me to shreds, so if there are more¡­ From what I gathered their shrieks were debilitating to Lilyth meaning I could not rely on her to be able to back me up. Well¡­ not while we were fighting the shrieklins, at least. Maybe the next batch of monsters won¡¯t cause her extra agony. She has suffered enough during her stay here. I never mentioned it to her, but the way she thrashed at night frequently woke me up. I could only hug her then and pray it soothed her. So with that in mind, I agreed it would be best to forfeit the extra rewards. They were not worth the extra pain. Not for me, not for Lilyth, not for any of us. We should just find the quickest way out of here and leave. ¡®That stuff could help us survive,¡¯ Ren, who turned out to be quite a risk-taker, said. ¡®Normally, I would agree with you,¡¯ Lilyth retorted. ¡®But we are operating under less than ideal circumstances. To put it bluntly - we don''t have resources for a side trip. Our stocks are I believe two health and stamina potions and one mana potion? Between that and Caei¡¯s spells, we don''t have a lot of healing available and we don''t know how long we will spend here.¡¯ ¡®Sometimes you have to spend¡­¡¯ Ren began but Lilyth cut her off. ¡®Not while dealing with severe scarcity. At least not of those resources. It¡¯s not money we are gambling with - it is our lives, and I can''t guarantee I will be able to protect you.¡¯ I could swear I heard her whisper ¡°Or survive myself¡±, but I could have misheard her. She''s afraid. Lilyth''s actually afraid. For us. For herself. I looked at Caei and noticed she was also looking at our slimy cutie with concern, which told me I didn''t mishear her. I don¡¯t think any of us feel up to this. I don¡¯t think we can. But we have to. ¡®Tell you what, Ren,¡¯ I said. ¡®If an opportunity presents itself and it is not an obvious suicide we will try. But we are not deliberately looking for trouble.¡¯ Ren wasn¡¯t happy about that, but tough luck. I looked at Caei, who gave me a nod of confirmation. It was time again for me to get my game on. ¡®Lilyth¡­ where do you think the exit is?¡¯ I asked, agreeing with my pale beauty that Lilyth''s brain could get us through this. ¡®Logically?¡¯ my wife responded. ¡®The opposite side of the room. Practically? I have no idea, there is no guarantee it''s even a door. Could be a ladder or a staircase hidden somewhere here.¡¯ She indicated at the maze of wall segments. ¡®Also, this place is designed for people to get lost. It will be very easy to get turned around here.¡¯ ¡®Doesn¡¯t look that complicated from here,¡¯ Ren said. She was right, but I felt Lilyth had an answer for that. She did. ¡®Because we are at the entrance to the maze so we can see where the exits are. Once we lose sight of those it will get complicated. Without a point of reference sooner or later all of those wall segments might soon feel the same.¡¯ Judging by the expressions of my other companions, none of us have even considered that. ¡®All this while there are monsters prowling around¡­¡¯ Ren muttered. ¡®No. You guys are right. It will be difficult enough to find the exit. No need to look for trouble in this place because we might never find the way back.¡¯ If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡®We may still find it,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®Lilyth, you have something to write with, yes?¡¯ ¡®Some paper sheets and a pencil, yes. Want me to make a map?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ I shook my head. ¡®That would be too inconvenient I think. But I was thinking we could try marking the walls?¡¯ Lilyth took out a pencil and scribbled on the wall. It was barely visible at a glance. ¡®It is something,¡¯ Caei said with a shake of her head. ¡®But I think the pencil will need to be sharpened long before we run out of the walls to mark. I was going to propose using weapons, but then it struck me it was a dumb idea. Unless¡­ Lily, your knives cannot get damaged, yes?¡¯ Lilyth summoned one of them and slashed at the wall, frowned and then made a perpendicular cut forming a cross. It wasn''t ideal, but that made the grooves somewhat more distinct. ¡®Better than nothing,¡¯ I said. And with that, we set off, and everything Lilyth said came to pass. A few dozen metres into the maze the wall segments started getting really dense and we quickly lost all orientation. I can''t even count how many times we turned a corner thinking we found a new route, only to discover the markings on the wall. ¡®I swear we¡¯ve been through here three times before,¡¯ Ren complained. ¡®Then we would have marked the corridor we entered through,¡¯ I said. ¡®Unless Lilyth forgot to mark that again,¡¯ our archer grumbled. ¡®You are free to start using the pieces of your soul as a piece of fucking chalk any time now, sweetheart,¡¯ my wife bit back. ¡®Girls¡­ girls¡­¡¯ Caei sighed, annoyed. ¡®Calm down, we are enough on edge as it is. Lilyth just forgot. It is easy to do it here. It is also on us to remind her.¡¯ That somewhat defused the situation and the quarrel was quickly forgotten after we heard the high-pitched shriek of one of the monsters, which only made us hurry down a corridor we thought we hadn''t gone down yet. I made sure Lilyth marked it down, just in case. This wasn¡¯t the first time we heard the shrieklins somewhere in the distance. After the first few times, Lilyth mentioned she heard them scurrying around from time to time, but the acoustics in the maze sucked so much that it was hard to tell where they were. An argument ensued about whether our Kitsune should have warned us about those, but ultimately we decided it didn''t matter. Hearing faint footsteps of monsters we knew were somewhere there was no cause for alarm. Lilyth did promise to say if she heard them getting close, but so far it hasn''t happened. Or perhaps she stopped caring. The mix of monotony and being on edge was wearing us down mentally and the tempers were high. The ¡°Did Lilyth mark the corridors¡± argument wasn¡¯t the first time some of us came to blows. After we were a safe distance away, meaning we hadn''t heard a monster for a few minutes, I called for a rest. ¡®I wonder why they haven''t found us yet,¡¯ Caei said after we all sat down, each one of us in their own space. ¡®Been thinking about that for a while now,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®The best option for us would be that they aren''t actually looking for us.¡¯ ¡®You think that''s possible?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®Yes. We slaughtered their hunting party. So they might not be aware we are here, or they are afraid to come after us.¡¯ ¡®I wish that was the case,¡¯ I said while stretching. ¡®Could very well be. Then there are the possibilities that they are either as hopeless as us at navigating this place, or we¡¯ve just walked in circles enough that we confused the living shit out of them.¡¯ That made me involuntarily chuckle. ¡®Sorry,¡¯ I said. ¡®Just the mental image of the monsters just wandering around here aimlessly just as we do¡­¡¯ ¡®Karl!¡¯ Lilyth intoned in a raspy voice. ¡®I told you we should have taken the left turn! Now we¡¯ll never get back home!¡¯ That made us all laugh. Then Lilyth got serious and finished her list. ¡®The final option is that they are herding us somewhere.¡¯ This time, Caei was the one to giggle. ¡®I am just laughing at my brain worms because I thought that if the shrieklins are trying to do that they could be doing a better job.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Ren said dreamily. ¡®We would finally get somewhere.¡¯. ¡®First time in history when people wander into a monsters¡¯ nest and react with ¡°fucking finally,¡¯ Lilyth said in a deadpan way, which only caused more sweet tension-relieving laughter. Ren then moved on to Lilyth and hugged her. ¡®Sorry for being mad at you,¡¯ she said. ¡®No problem,¡¯ Lilyth said as she reciprocated. ¡®The same from me. I think we all want to get out of here.¡¯ A few more rounds of hasty apologies later, we were once again sitting there huddled together, joking, laughing and just happy about the presence of others. As we set off again, Lilyth turned to Caei. ¡®Question¡­ Is the glaive the only weapon you can make with your spell?¡¯ ¡®No¡­¡¯ the pale beauty answered with a furrowed brow. ¡®I just had no reason to create anything else, why?¡¯ ¡®Follow up first, do you need to wield it or can you hand it over to someone else?¡¯ ¡®We would need to check for that. What are you going on about?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ since we can''t find an exit, I was thinking we should start making our own paths instead.¡¯ OH! Genius! ¡®You mean¡­ just knock down the walls to get to places where we want to go?¡¯ Caei asked with renewed hope. Lilyth nodded and we decided to give it another hour before we tried since mana conservation was still an important factor. To my immense disappointment, we didn''t get a chance to show the maze who¡¯s boss as we found the one thing we had been looking for. The exit. It was a simple wooden door with a metal handle, but to us, it looked like the gates to heaven. ¡®You know¡­¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I never thought I would say this, but if you could give a door a blowjob I would happily get on my knees before this one.¡¯ Judging by the expression on Ren''s and Caei¡¯s faces they shared the sentiment. This door would have quite a harem between the four of us. Chapter 115 - Behind the Doors Aki Our spirits were further boosted when upon opening the door a message appeared in front of our eyes. Leaving Zone: The Hunting Grounds Entering Zone: Crossroads Difficulty: N/A Description: Choose your destination carefully. Once you cross the threshold - there is no going back. Notice 1: For clearing the previous zone without completing the optional objective, you have been rewarded with 2000 experience points. Notice 2: This is a safe zone. You can rest here without worry. The room itself was nothing special. It was square-shaped, had the same drab decor as the previous two chambers and had a door on each wall. Still¡­ It was an oasis for us. As I discovered all of my friends levelled upon getting here, Ren getting to level three, Caei to eleven and Lilyth to thirteen. We didn¡¯t celebrate those milestones, however, as we were so exhausted after trekking through the maze for hours we took the offer of safety at face value. Caei cast [Ward] just in case, and we just sat down and huddled together against one of the walls. We promised ourselves that it was just a quick rest and that we wouldn''t fall asleep, which is why when I woke up two hours later and saw my three other companions still fast asleep I was so mad, I just nuzzled against Lilyth and continued my nap. So¡­ warm¡­ ¡®I wondered why you three are the way you are,¡¯ Ren said after we all woke up and were eating a meal. ¡®Don¡¯t take it the wrong way, but none of you three seems the type to be in this kind of a relationship. And yet¡­ I realise now why you decided to make it work somehow. Being trapped in a dungeon¡­ it changes you, doesn''t it? When we were wandering that maze¡­ with those monsters around, unsure if there was even a way out¡­ I realised that this really was no grand adventure like they tell you in stories. I had no idea if we would find a way out if there even was one, and this was just the first hurdle, wasn¡¯t it?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®My first experience here was just like this one. One moment I am heading to work, the next I am standing before Ereshkigal before being yoinked into a hellhole like this place. Alone. With no friends. No idea what was going on. The first friendly face I found was a girl waiting to be butchered and eaten by goblins. That girl also happened to have blue hair, horns and a tail.¡¯ I laughed at that. ¡®One of the reasons I took to you so quickly was because you were one of the few people to treat me normally. It took me a while to realise it was because you had no idea what people here looked like.¡¯ ¡®I would have treated you normally regardless,¡¯ Lilyth smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek. ¡®I know that now,¡¯ I giggled. ¡®But yeah,¡¯ Lilyth continued. ¡®You are never the same after an experience like this. Me and Aki happened because we almost died one time too many. I was hesitant about going through with this¡­ but in hindsight, I regret nothing.¡¯ ¡®Glad to hear it, darling,¡¯ I said. ¡®Honestly, before meeting you I was mostly interested in boys. I found a few girls attractive, but¡­ boys it was. So¡­ if we met under different circumstances I don¡¯t think we would have been together.¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®So you know¡­ this is a relationship born out of an accident and shared trauma.¡¯ ¡®And then I dropped in on Lilyth expecting her to have answers to my problems,¡¯ Caei chimed in. ¡®She did, as it turned out. And after everything, me and Aki just decided our jelly meant so much to both of us that it wasn''t worth ruining it by fighting. Not after what we¡¯ve been through. Then we¡¯ve been through more. And more.¡¯ ¡®And this is where I come in, I guess,¡¯ Ren laughed. ¡®Yes,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®Though I think this is where we close the expansion of our little messed-up family.¡¯ My friends all nodded. ¡®Before coming here I was single for ten years,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Suddenly, I have two wives and am friends with the girlfriend of one of them. That''s plenty enough for me.¡¯ ¡®I think I am in the same boat,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®Other than sleeping with one caravan guard, something I now regret, I was alone too.¡¯ ¡®Me too,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®I had plenty of lovers. But no one I ever loved. Or who loved me in return.¡¯ Ren just shook her sadly. We knew. ¡®So¡­¡¯ Lilyth picked up the thread. ¡®We didn''t know what the future would bring, so we lived in the now. We were all broken but found people who made us whole and whom we, in turn, make whole too. And now you are a part of that, Rennie, because Caei, a very important piece of that fucked-up puzzle, wouldn''t be complete without you.¡¯ ¡®You are such a wordsmith, my love,¡¯ I giggled. ¡®I fucking love you for it.¡¯ ¡®And I fucking love you too,¡¯ Lilyth responded and we kissed. Even while we are in danger, so long as she, Caei and Ren are here I am happy. I was initially surprised by my inclusion of Ren there, but it just felt natural now. It wouldn''t be the same without her. Caeileera I was happy to see both that Aki has somewhat recovered and that Ren went from ¡°unwanted pet that came with a girlfriend¡± to ¡°family¡± in the eyes of my wives. It¡¯s not that I didn''t understand their initial hesitance towards her, it¡¯s just¡­ I guess it is hard to see things their way when you have memories of loving her. All things considered, as time passed I was actually more and more grateful for the memories I got from Leera. It wasn''t about Ren, either. No¡­ it was about me. After I met Lilyth and Aki I did my best to suppress who I was previously, a process that started a long time before in the Badlands, while Leera had no such incentive and grew as I would had I¡­ no. To know that the course of your life really hinged on one person coming to your aid in a pivotal moment¡­ it is hard. Still¡­ understanding who I was now and who I would have become otherwise did give me a weird wide perspective on myself and where I want to go. That some things were not worth suppressing, while things I thought fine should have been instead, letting me be true to both of myselves. As my lady swears-a-lot said, I wouldn''t be complete without Ren there, so as the four of us sat there in a circle holding hands I could have not been happier. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Then the moment passed and it was time to get back to dungeoneering. The first problem was choosing where should we go next. The notification told us to choose carefully, but that was easier said than done with our selection being three identical doors. The answer to that conundrum came with Ren touched one of them and yelped. ¡®Death!¡¯ she screamed. ¡®There is death on the other side!¡¯ We rushed to her side and she explained that a feeling of existential dread overcame her the moment she touched the wood of the door. ¡®Interesting,¡¯ Lilyth muttered and approached the door. She looked at us and upon me and Aki nodding our assent, Lilyth carefully prodded it with her finger. She quickly recoiled. ¡®There is something¡­ very wrong there,¡¯ she said. ¡®But familiar¡­ a sensation of flutter of wings.¡¯ Aki tried next and retreated with a wince. ¡®Tooth horrors,¡¯ she snarled. ¡®I would recognize that¡­ everywhere¡­¡¯ Lilyth hugged her. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. We won¡¯t let those things touch you again.¡¯ Led by sheer curiosity, I poked the door with my finger and a wave of different sensations flooded me. The smell¡­ the sounds¡­ ¡®That¡¯s a ¡°no¡± to that door,¡¯ I said. ¡®The other two could be worse,¡¯ Lilyth pointed out. ¡®Those at least we fought. And assuming this is a path to the exit¡­ we could end up in Y-Ram. Which would put us next to our destination.¡¯ ¡®And in the middle of a nest of those things,¡¯ Aki protested. Lilyth raised her finger wanting to say something, lowered it, raised it again and then simply said: ¡®Forget I ever suggested that. ¡® Due to her being the lowest level and having the strongest response to the sensations from the doors, Ren ended up becoming our kaenaeri, which were those small birds used in Terran mines to check for toxic gases. I was horrified upon learning about this barbaric practice, but Lilyth simply shrugged and said that better than a bird dies than twenty people. I had no support on that one from either Rennie or Aki, as the former pointed out that it is also a practice on Dwynveia and the latter said that even in Dan-Hem you sometimes heard stories about mining disasters from passing merchants, so she found the practice acceptable if it saved lives. ¡®I¡¯m just not okay with us using Rennie as a disposable tool,¡¯ I finally protested. Rennie took my hand in hers and squeezed it. ¡®It¡¯s necessary, sweetie,¡¯ she said with a smile. ¡®I will feel better if you are there with me.¡¯ I knew she was doing it for my benefit than hers, but I thought she appreciated my support when the other two doors had the same effect on her. ¡®Sorry, Ren,¡¯ Lilyth apologised as I hugged my shaking girlfriend tightly, ¡®I was hoping that¡­ some of those would prove less horrifying for you than the others.¡¯ ¡®That would have been the choice then?¡¯ she confirmed. ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡®Then it was worth it, but I guess ¡°Impossible¡± really means ¡°Impossible¡±.¡¯ ¡®That means I¡¯m next?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®Since I am the ¡°second weakest¡±?¡¯ ¡®Aki,¡¯ Lilyth said firmly. ¡®I think you are the strongest of us all. But whatever runs this place values other things¡­¡¯ Level is a shit way to measure people, isn''t it? And Lilyth is undervaluing herself. Most people would have been catatonic after what Kojiro did to her, but yeah¡­ Aki has steel inside her. Aki I didn''t think Lilyth''s reassurance was necessary, it wasn''t her or anyone¡¯s fault I was considered the second weakest of us all, but it was welcome nonetheless. Just like her offer to hold my hand, especially after I was assaulted by feelings of horror and decay upon brushing my fingers against the wood of the door. My first thought was of the Rot¡­ but no. It was different. When the psychic attack subsided I realised Lilyth was holding me. ¡®You okay?¡¯ she asked. ¡®Now¡­ yes¡­ thank you¡­¡¯ ¡®That bad, huh?¡¯ Lilyth said and put her hand on the door. She immediately recoiled back. ¡®Yeah. We can strike this one as an option. I have no idea what''s there, but it is bad.¡¯ ¡®What did you feel?¡¯ I asked. ¡®All I felt was¡­ decay.¡¯ ¡®That was¡­ a part of that, yes. I also heard multi-limbed creatures skittering¡­ screams¡­ and dripping.¡¯ Yeah. Screw this path. Caei came over to us and with a ¡°might as well¡± decided to check it out. She held onto the wood for a surprisingly long time, though I could see she was really uncomfortable. ¡®Those weren''t screams,¡¯ she said finally. ¡®It was laughter. Of a thing with many mouths. Then it started beckoning to me. Promising me things. Fortunately, everything I ever wanted is right here.¡¯ ¡®You know¡­ I think the tooth horrors are starting to sound like a fine adventure,¡¯ Lilyth said. The memories of the time I was caught by one of them flooded my mind. The helplessness I felt as it pinned me down. It paled in comparison to the dread this path exuded. Something must have shown on my face because Lilyth quickly said: ¡®Before we decide on that option, let¡¯s check what is behind door number three, eh?¡¯ That one was also scary, but not like the previous door. I got a feeling of corpses. Energy¡­ flesh¡­ lots of flesh¡­ tasty¡­ I quickly retracted my hand. ¡®Something with a taste for meat is there. And a lot of bodies.¡¯ Lilyth went next. She was touching the door for a good minute or two before finally saying. ¡®My instincts went haywire there, so I did my best to push through that just like Caei did before. Let me put it this way¡­ while the Huntress has mostly fucked off since the hospital and I thought she was gone altogether after I got a new body she decided to rear her head and tell me that whatever we were feeling there¡­ it was the top of the food chain. And¡­ that there were many things there that also outranked me.¡¯ Caei didn''t learn anything else. ¡®So our options are¡­¡¯ Lilyth began counting on her fingers: ¡®Tooth horrors, an eldritch abomination and an apex predator my instincts are telling me not to fuck with, but isn''t inherently insurmountable because the three of us got useful information out of interacting with its imprint.¡¯ ¡®I think the predator thing might definitely be the easiest of the three,¡¯ Ren, silent up to this point, added. ¡®You were only able to decipher the tooth horror thing because you met those before, but otherwise received no useful information. You even got more information out of the second door.¡¯ Ohh¡­ shit. ¡®Have I ever told you I loved you, Rennie?¡¯ I said. ¡®We got so fixated on that one because we knew what it was so we assumed it was the easiest option.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®That¡¯s a big ¡°you are the best¡± award from me too.¡¯ And just like that it was decided. Chapter 116 - Undead Disposal Technician Lilyth Everything inside of me was screaming not to go through that door. The girls were right though. We got the clearest reading from the lair of the apex predator. Assuming that was the difficulty indicator, which it might as well not have been, though we lacked any better one. Sometimes, you just have to roll a dice. So with a shaking hand, I opened the door and saw that it exited onto a wide path made out of stone bricks inside of a tunnel lit by torches. The fuck? ¡®Last chance to change our minds,¡¯ I said. Seeing my hesitation, Aki just rushed past me, so with no other choice, I followed her. A message popped up before my eyes. Leaving: Crossroads Entering Zone: The Deep Corridors Difficulty: Medium Description: Many things lurk along the Deep Corridors. Make sure you don¡¯t become their dinner. ¡®I love how all we have to go on is ¡°Don¡¯t get eaten, chucklefucks¡±,¡¯ I said once we have all crossed the threshold and the door slammed shut behind us. ¡®Medium difficulty for me, by the way. ¡®Also Medium,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Hard,¡¯ Aki chimed in. ¡®Impossible,¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®So¡­ Very Hard for the group as a whole?¡¯ I suggested. ¡®Probably,¡¯ Aki confirmed. ¡®Don¡¯t let those ratings get you down, Rennie. They mean nothing. Both the Tower of Trials and Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy were listed as Deadly. We made it through those.¡¯ Barely. Biting back a retort to Aki, I quickly added: ¡®I think whatever assigns those bases their rating only on¡­ hard factors. What level you are, what abilities you have and so on. It doesn''t view you as a person as a whole and as we¡¯ve seen with my sensitivity to sound¡­ it gets things wrong. So¡­ Ren the low-level archer might not have the best of chances. Now¡­ Honourable Ren of Mer-Cas, Ren the Badass who stole Caeileera''s heart twice¡­ she''s a different person altogether. She has her lady love and friends from the Tenebral Order by her side.¡¯ I saw that life returned to Ren¡¯s eyes. ¡®Now let''s go find the way home!¡¯ I shouted trying to sound more confident than I actually was. One thing I quickly noticed was that the corridor curved slightly to the side as if it was taking us away from the others. There was also a possible incline to it, but this I was less sure about because it was so minimal I might as well have imagined it, and also because any sort of sloping would indicate the presence of a flat frame of reference which may not have existed. And yet¡­ as I looked at the corridor before me it felt as if I was ascending the world¡¯s least noticeable helix. This place loves screwing with your head it seems, or maybe just my sanity deteriorated to the point that I started seeing things. My merry train of thought was stopped when a few minutes later we came across the bodies. There were seven of them and they looked human, but I noticed an elf or two among them. The weirdest part was that they wore urban camo fatigues and black body armour. They weren''t decomposed, but, given how we were in a place that didn''t exist as we understood the concept, the question of ¡°Do bodies decompose here¡± was very open. It could have also been the effects of magic. What keyed me to the possibility of their being fuckery afoot were two things. One, there were no visible wounds on them and hardly any blood anywhere. Two, one three of the corpses were holding weapons. The guns of the rest lay conveniently within easy reach of their owners. I halted my companions with a raised hand, pointed to the corpses and whispered my observations. ¡®What do we do?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®You guys retreat,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®I can survive getting shot if it comes to that.¡¯ Aki looked like she wanted to protest, but simply nodded. ¡®Just don¡¯t die, my love,¡¯ she said. Or I will kill you.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll do my best.¡¯ I kept watching the corpses while my loved ones backtracked. Once I felt they were safely enough away I summoned my daggers. The next step was activating [The Swiftness of the Wind]. I got lucky again and it worked, which couldn''t have been said for [Silent Step]. I just felt it drain a lot of mana, but nothing happened. Fuck. So doing my best to be silent I slowly snuck towards the corpses. That didn''t seem to have activated them, which I took as a good sign. One of the ¡°discarded¡± weapons, a boxy carbine thing, was lying close, so I leaned forward and grabbed its strap. I braced myself for all hell to break loose, but it didn''t. I examined the gun using the interface but it was of no help. Item: Unknown Firearm Interesting. So either the interface doesn''t know what it is or just won¡¯t tell me. Since I didn''t feel to be in imminent danger, I managed to find what I thought was the magazine release. Instead, the gun whirled to life and a display appeared to the side showing characters from an alphabet I couldn''t recognise. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Neither Latin nor Raivarian, eh? Where are these fucks from then? I turned the gun off for further study later and slung the strap across my body. Cautiously, I took the other three guns lying on the floor and slid them across the floor away from their previous wielders. By then, one of the few ¡°normal¡± physiological reactions I had left - sweating left me completely drenched. I feel like an EOD technician trying to disarm a fucking nuke. I was surprised none of my activities caused the bodies to rise. Are they actually dead, then? I gave them a more thorough once-over. I still couldn''t see much in terms of wounds, but I did see that some of their veins had this metallic-black sheen to them. Dafuq? Two of the bodies also had dried-up blood on their chins, which was probably where the blood on the ground came from. Vomiting blood¡­ poison? Disease? I looked back at soldiers grasping guns. None of them lay close enough to one another that I could handle two at the same time if need be. Which left me with a very difficult choice. Do I stab one through the head and pray it doesn''t wake the others, or rip the gun out of his grasp in the hope it just wakes him? A fucking blue wire versus red wire choice. I remembered the gun I picked up. I took it into my hands and examined it again. It was pretty heavy, no surprises there, and a bit unwieldy due to its boxiness, I was used to more sleek shapes, but otherwise had all the required bits in the right places. There were three problems, however. First, I didn''t know if the gun had a safety, or if the designers just called it quits after giving it an off-switch. This, in turn, made me question the whole design. I was no soldier, but even I knew you wanted your weapons to be as infallible as possible. Grunts having to pray that the, likely fragile, electronics didn¡¯t break, meant that either there was more to the guns than my lay-ass could tell OR this was someone¡¯s brilliant idea that made them a prime target for fragging. Second, and perhaps the simplest, was the recoil. I didn''t know how much it had. And lastly, the noise the gun produced. There was a likelihood it would either wake up all of them or attract the attention from things we wouldn''t want to meet. Fucking hell. If Sav was here, she would likely scream at me that I was not considering other things, so¡­ let¡¯s just say I was hoping I would live long enough for her to be able to scream at me. One extra thing I did consider was the backstop. Namely, if I had to fire that thing I would need to do it in the opposite direction from my companions. That did introduce the problem of ¡°then those fuckers would shoot in their direction¡±. That definitely struck any possibility of me using that gun unless under the most dire of circumstances, since I had to draw enemy fire AWAY from the girls. That narrowed the number of armed corpses to check out to one - a pretty handsome elf male. Such a waste¡­ I thought involuntarily. Focus, you idiot. No horny. The pretty boy was the furthest corpse from the rest of the party, so I carefully stepped over all the other bodies and kneeled by his side. And now I must make a choice. Do I penetrate his head or pull the phallic object he has? Well¡­ a girl can do multiple things to men at the same time. I moved to the side so I was next to his shoulder. Holding my knife over his head in my right hand, I reached towards his gun with my left. I must have gotten a bit too close towards him, as the moment I touched his gun his eyes, so far blank, turned towards me. Like to look a girl in the eyes as she grabs your gun, eh? I thought as I plunged my knife into his skull. He shuddered and went still. My triumph was short-lived, however, as I heard the other undead fuckers shuffling and groaning. I turned towards them and saw that one of them, having simply rolled over to his belly, had his gun trained on me. I didn¡¯t manage to jump to the side before the zombie pulled the trigger and a burst of three rounds penetrated my stomach exiting out of my back, probably making a large exit hole. The bullets hit me with enough force to throw me back. As my sight darkened and numbness spread through my body I saw him shuffle to his feet, only to stop and collapse after his head was penetrated by an arrow. Aki My heart stopped when I heard gunfire and saw Lilyth collapse. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ Caei screamed and started summoning a [Blood Lance] but her throw went wide. The undead that shot our wife started to get up, but it was quickly put down by Ren who held her bow at the ready the entire time Lilyth was disarming the monsters. She quickly nocked another arrow and shot a zombie that was turning towards us, gun raised. She missed and gunfire sounded. I braced myself for pain, but the bullets missed me. Ren wasn''t that lucky as she yelped in pain and fell to the ground holding her side. ¡®REN!¡¯ I shouted. ¡®Aki!¡¯ Caei, who I noticed was bleeding from a graze on her arm shouted. ¡®Go h-hel¡­ I- I-¡¯ She didn''t need to finish. I began sprinting down the corridor, just as the zombie fired again. I felt a sting on my cheek but didn''t stop, raised my hand and fired off a [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] at the monster. The orb of hellfire was far more intensive than any I have ever fired before and the soldier basically exploded the moment it touched him. Feeling searing pain from where the burning pieces of the undead touched me I drew my swords and lunged towards the four remaining undead, some of which were already in the process of picking up the guns Lilyth took away from them. They never got the chance as a pissed-off Demonborn girl beats zombies in the game of rock-paper-scissors. The last one didn''t even manage to fully collapse before I was already rushing towards Lilyth, reaching into my satchel to find my Healing Potion. Lilyth looked terrible. There was a large hole inside her stomach, but to my great relief, judging by the rapid movement of her chest, appeared to be still alive, if unconscious. Can take gunfire better my ass. I opened her mouth and began pouring the liquid down her throat. The joy I felt the moment I saw the gaping wound start to fill out couldn¡¯t be put into words. The potion didn''t heal it completely, but Lilyth appeared to be in less pain, as her ¡°breathing¡± stabilised. I took her hand in mine and waited for several forevers for ashen-faced Caei to arrive. I could see her hands were covered in blood, both Ren¡¯s and her own. She immediately knelt by Lilyth''s side, placed them next to the wound and with a flash of green light began to heal our wife. As she did, I heard Ren approach. I looked towards her and saw that she was looking weak and was still holding her now-scarred side. Caei probably didn''t want to waste mana on [Soothe Pain] or healing her completely. The half-harpy sat by me and we both watched Caei work. It took me a moment to realise all three of us were weeping. ¡®All done,¡¯ Caei said in a tired voice after a while. She immediately took out a mana potion and downed it in two gulps. I looked at Lilyth and saw there was now unblemished skin where the wound was previously. Stains from the blueish liquid that was Lilyth''s ¡°blood¡± were still visible in a few places, but she would likely reabsorb them. The same couldn''t be said for the blue-red mess that was on Caei¡¯s hands. I opened my water flask and offered to pour some water over them. She nodded in gratitude and then wiped them on a shirt she took out from her bag. ¡®Thanks,¡¯ she panted. ¡®Let me take care of you now.¡¯ The moment she said it I was flooded by pain from the graze and burns I got. ¡®Please¡­¡¯ I whimpered. Chapter 117 - Climbing Up The Tech Tree Lilyth I was very surprised to wake up still in the tunnels with the tear-and-blood-stained faces of Aki, Caei and Ren in front of my eyes. The moment she saw me open my eyes, the first embraced me tightly and began to weep even harder. It took me a moment to regain enough control over my limbs to hug her back and began to cry from fear and relief too. ¡®H-h-how is everyone?¡¯ I asked after a while. ¡®Alive¡­ thanks to you,¡¯ Caei admitted. ¡®Ren got shot in the side, but I managed to heal her. I got grazed in the arm; Aki¡­ barely avoided a bullet to her head and suffered some burns from her magic.¡¯ I winced hearing that. ¡®Did you take out a bullet from Ren¡¯s wound?¡¯ I followed-up. ¡®Went clean through. Could have been worse.¡¯ ¡®Sorry¡­ if I¡­¡¯ I began but Ren cut me off. ¡®Stop! We would be dead if we didn''t listen to you, Lilyth. You not managing to completely mitigate the threat is not a mark against you, you stupid jelly.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®We had to deal with just two of them instead of all seven, so that''s a win.¡¯ ¡®Exactly!¡¯ Aki cried. We sat there for a moment as I mulled it over. ¡®Glad everyone is alive,¡¯ I said, finally. ¡®And how are you feeling?¡¯ Caei asked, pointedly. I took a brief stock of myself. ¡®Mostly fine,¡¯ I answered. ¡®A bit weak.¡¯ ¡®I am no expert on slimeling health,¡¯ Caei laughed weakly,¡¯ but given the size of the hole you had in your stomach most would be in a far worse state, so I will take ¡°mostly fine¡± as a good outcome.¡¯ ¡®What are those guns?¡¯ Ren asked as we were going through the battlefield. I have never seen¡­ stuff that can fire this quickly. The interface just says ¡°Unknown Firearm¡±. ¡®I have no idea what those are,¡¯ I freely admitted. ¡®They fire in three-round bursts though. Basically, one pull of the trigger shoots out three bullets.¡¯ Ren¡¯s eyes widened at that. ¡®That¡¯s¡­¡¯ ¡®... pretty standard tech where I am from.¡¯ I finished for her. ¡®I wouldn''t be surprised if such guns were being designed around the fall of the Vandarian Empire given how they had light machine guns.¡¯ I told her about the one we found in the hospital. ¡®That¡¯s fucking terrifying.¡¯ she summed it up. ¡®Yup. Which is why I wanted you away. If those guns were set to full auto we¡¯d be dead. ¡®Full auto means they would be able to fire every single bullet they had?¡¯ Caei confirmed ¡®Indeed.¡¯ The three most important women in my life shuddered. ¡®You know, Lilyth¡­¡¯ Aki began. ¡®I had serious doubts about letting you investigate these guys alone¡­ As far as guns go, anytime you, Sav, or, I guess, Anika say something I will follow it no questions asked.¡¯ ¡®Same,¡¯ Ren and Caei confirmed. ¡®Why didn''t they react to you until you touched that one guy, though?¡¯ the latter asked. ¡®Your guess is as good as mine, darling. Maybe shoddy programming?¡¯ I told them about the pre-set attack patterns that the skeleton I fought right after arriving in the Tower of Trials had. ¡®Yeah¡­ they acted pretty competent after you woke them up,¡¯ my Dark Sorceress confirmed. ¡®So¡­ what¡­ someone didn''t want them to activate unless disturbed? That seems¡­ weird.¡¯ ¡®Probably I managed to get past other triggers somehow,¡¯ I speculate. ¡®Maybe whoever programmed them didn''t know slimelings were a thing.¡¯ ¡®Why would this matter?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®You recently got a good look inside of me,¡¯ I answered. ¡®Tell me, did you see anything there?¡¯ ¡®Just goo¡­¡¯ Caei answered in lieu of her, and then it appeared to have clicked because she quickly added: ¡®You think it is because you are, for lack of a better term, magic?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ the thing I felt¡­ it was interested in flesh¡­¡¯ Aki whispered. ¡®Exactly,¡¯ I confirmed. ¡®It was part of the imprint I felt too. So¡­ it is possible they didn''t activate because I didn''t register as ¡°food¡±. This is just speculation on my end though. The pieces fit, but¡­¡¯ ¡®... We¡¯ll probably never know,¡¯ Ren finished. We found several interesting things on the soldiers¡¯ bodies. The first were grenades. They were kinda boxy with indentations for easier gripping, but still had the familiar-looking spoon and pin. I would have preferred to discover them in some other way than seeing Aki mess with one. When my mind finished processing what I had just seen and let out a weak ¡°meep¡±, I yelled at her to stop. ¡®Why?¡¯ she asked with a slightly hurt look, probably because I didn''t bother with niceties. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡®Those are thrown explosives and you were making good progress arming them.¡¯ To say she went white as a sheet of paper would be an understatement. Her hands began to tremble, so I simply took the grenade from her and placed it under the wall in the direction we came from. I nodded then to Caei to take Aki aside and we finished searching with Ren. Fortunately, only two of the soldiers had grenades on them, so the two extras we found ended up next to the one Aki was playing with. What my friends weren¡¯t aware of, however, was that there were actually a total of four grenades we found. I just hid one of them in my satchel when no one was looking as a just-in-case thing. The next time we came upon something suspicious, I would be sending Ambassador Pineapple to meet them. Assuming I didn¡¯t blow myself while doing that. I also was wary about using what was likely high explosives in a tunnel, but I was hoping that it being a magic tunnel meant it wouldn¡¯t cave in on our heads. ¡°Rocks fall, everybody dies¡± would be a shit ending to a promising relationship. Ren looked pretty white by the time we were done searching the corpses but kept her composure. I couldn''t get any paler than I already was, so I am just going to claim I was cool as ice the entire time. And, hey, no one can prove I wasn''t. The other thing of note was the three handheld radios that didn''t get damaged in the fighting. It took me twenty minutes of fiddling but I managed to figure out how to turn them on, set them to the same channel and send messages. ¡®Wow¡­ this is so cool!¡¯ I heard Aki¡¯s voice from the speaker on mine. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I confirmed. ¡®Those are going to be very useful. We just need to figure out how to keep them charged home. Over.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s over?¡¯ Caei asked from the third handheld. I explained to them the use of ¡°over¡± and ¡°out¡± in radio communication. ¡®Ohh¡­ that makes sense,¡¯ Aki replied and then quickly added: ¡®Over.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯ll get a hang of it, sweetheart. Now let¡¯s stop wasting battery power and regroup. Over and out.¡¯ It was difficult to choose which of us should get the radios, but, finally, Ren said she would go without one. ¡®I probably won¡¯t surprise on my own, so I will need to stick with one of you no matter what.¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t have to pull a Lilyth and sacrifice yourself, Rennie,¡¯ Aki protested. ¡®Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ she said. ¡®I just¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ don¡¯t feel good about my chances on my own.¡¯ ¡®You are with me then,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®Should we need to separate, I¡¯ll stick with you too! ¡®I¡¯m with Caei then,¡¯ I replied and we set off. ¡®Did Aki just annex Ren?¡¯ I whispered to Caei, as we walked. ¡®I don¡¯t know,¡¯ she whispered back. ¡®I don''t think so, but I will need to check later if my girlfriend just became our girlfriend.¡¯ ¡®Yeah. Let''s focus on getting out of here alive, my love.¡¯ Caeileera Though I was slightly weirded out by Aki stealing Ren, the idea of pairing up with Lilyth made me more than a little excited. Ah. Just the two of us together, slaying monsters, having wild sex afterwards. That would be the life. Then I remembered the massive hole in her stomach. This is a stomach that should be kissed and caressed and not damaged. So¡­ maybe not slaying monsters. Just a lot of wild sex. I promised myself that once we were out I would give Lilyth¡¯s belly the love and care it deserved. I needed something to look forward to. The fight against the soldiers was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. Not because I could die, but because the three of the closest people to me almost did. I knew Ereshkigal would let us visit them whenever, but it would not be the same. No. I wanted Rennie, Aki and my jelly warm and next to me. The sight of them getting shot¡­ And I wanted to cry whenever I thought about the graze my blue-haired cutie had on her cheek. A few centimetres to the right¡­ and no more Aki. I am not cut out for this. I glanced at Lilyth and saw that there was less certainty in her step. To be fair, I wasn''t feeling that hot about our chances either. We were down to one healing potion and my, now meagre, mana reserves. Another fight like this¡­ and it¡¯s possible some of us wouldn''t be coming back home. For that reason, I was now carrying one of the guns we found. We used one of them to teach me how to shoot, and Lilyth managed to extract spare magazines from the others. The fact I had to rely on a strange gun I barely knew how to use terrified me, but it was either that, Ren''s sword or bare-knuckle fighting. I really need to start carrying a real weapon everywhere. I left the metal glaive back in Mer-Cas because we assumed we wouldn''t need it and it was pretty cumbersome to travel with. That meant I was in for some sword-fighting lessons with Master Sergeant Savri Adzhenair. I floated the option of me keeping the gun, but then Lilyth showed me one of the bullets. It was a brown rectangular cuboid made out of some papery substance. On one side there was a hole rimmed with some translucent material called ¡°plasteek¡±. I could see the bullet-proper hidden inside of it. ¡®Do you think we will find someone capable of manufacturing¡­ whatever bullshit this is?¡¯ I suggested that maybe if we showed those to Savri or Anika they would have an idea what those are and maybe how to make them, to which Lilyth retorted with: ¡®And how about the replacement parts for the gun? It seems to be at least partially reliant on electronics and sure as shit no one here will be able to make those for centuries.¡¯ That pretty much ended that discussion and the gun would up a mantlepiece once we couldn¡¯t use it anymore. I did point out that those communication thingies would have the same problem, which Lilyth begrudgingly agreed with, but I, in turn, couldn''t dispute her argument that if we were to dedicate significant resources to try to keep some high-tech thingamabob usable, the reideeous were a better choice. ¡®It¡¯s possible we might be even able to manufacture local replacements,¡¯ she finished. ¡®I do recall seeing radio stations in Akh''ret''s Mercy, so the technology was once present. The question is - what happened to it.¡¯ This has more and more promise. ¡®Though, if possible, I¡¯d rather keep those working,¡¯ my smart jelly continued. ¡®Since those were issued to soldiers, chances are they feature some kind of encryption. Basically - the message gets scrambled and cannot be deciphered without knowing the sequence. So if anyone ever intercepts the messages they will not be able to understand them.¡¯ ¡®You know¡­¡¯ I finally said in awe. ¡®Nothing shows the massive gap between our worlds as the fact you describe frankly miraculous-sounding inventions like it was ¡°nothing special¡±. I took out my communicator. ¡®From my perspective, this is a magic box that lets me communicate with you over distance by pressing a button. Now you tell me about capacities it has that I didn¡¯t even consider as an option. The power this gives us¡­ By the gods, I will do everything in my power to help you keep those working. ¡¯ ¡®Thanks, my love,¡¯ Lilyth said, took my hand in hers and squeezed it. I gave her a peck on her cheek. ¡®Wanna hear something cool?¡¯ she asked and told me about numbers stations. They were those massive reideeou towers that were used to transmit seemingly random sequences of letters and numbers, some of which were long-running mysteries on Terra. There were dozens of theories about them from defence systems to sending out assassination orders. ¡®I wonder if there are any on Dwynveia,¡¯ I mused. ¡®Wait¡­ what?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®You did say that the technology is there and that anyone can listen in on messages sent using it,¡¯ I explained. ¡®So¡­ if some group has access to reideeou, they may just have one of those number stations to transmit coded messages without anyone knowing.¡¯ ¡®You know¡­¡¯ Lilyth sighed. ¡®I wish you didn''t say that. I have enough causes for nightmares as it is.¡¯ The full implications of what I just suggested hit me then. ¡®Yeah¡­ it¡¯s a thought I wish never crossed my mind.¡¯ Chapter 118 - Monster Caeileera Luckily, at the time we had more immediate concerns than the potential existence of continent-spanning cabals capable of instant communication. One of those was the large and dark cave the corridor we were walking down exited to. The chamber was strewn with stalactites and stalagmites and the air was almost unbearably damp and smelled of decomposing leaves. There were two exits from the cavern - a dark corridor in front of us and¡­ something I couldn''t quite see to the right, though I noticed that there was¡­ some weird viscous substance leading to that entrance. A hive? ¡®Radios on,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®What¡¯s up?¡¯ I asked as we readied the devices. ¡®I want to go and scout out what''s behind the entrance covered in webbing or whatever that is.¡¯ Aki, whom I just remembered couldn''t see what I could, asked: ¡®Could you please explain what''s going on?¡¯ After we described what was in the chamber, my blue-haired cutie said: ¡®We¡¯re not going into the spooky room.¡¯ ¡®Wasn¡¯t planning on heading inside,¡¯ Lilyth explained. ¡®I just want to check if something that can eat our faces is there. If it sees us as we are sneaking towards that corridor¡­ our faces will get eaten.¡¯ I hate how much sense she makes here. So, with really heavy hearts, we agreed on Lilyth''s idea with certain modifications. ¡®I hate it,¡¯ Ren muttered while we were waiting for our jelly to complete the first prong of the plan. ¡®Hate what?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®Plenty of things to hate here.¡¯ ¡®The wait. And how Lilyth puts herself in so much danger for us. Again. And this place.¡¯ ¡®I agree with you on all three and more.¡¯ We were sitting in the corridor a bit further from the entrance, as we didn''t want whatever was hiding in the darkness to overhear us. ¡®Check, check, check,¡¯ Lilyth''s whisper came from the speaker of my radio. Aki turned off hers to minimise the noise and conserve power. ¡®This is Caei,¡¯ I responded quietly. ¡®Over.¡¯ ¡®The exit corridor is clear. Should I scout out where it leads? Over.¡¯ I looked at Aki and Ren. We didn''t consider that before. They both nodded. ¡®Make it quick. Over.¡¯ ¡®We need to somehow get more of those,¡¯ Ren sighed. I told her about what we discussed with Lilyth. ¡®There¡¯s an elven Magitek engineer in Ror-Bhyk,¡¯ she responded. ¡®She might be able to help us. On the cheap too.¡¯ ¡®Why?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®She got tricked into working for the Ghosts. They are a rival organisation to the family business. Kojiro was trying to recruit her for his own purposes¡­¡¯ ¡®She¡¯s got shit luck people-wise, it seems,¡¯ Aki whispered. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Ren laughed. ¡®I think I am hogging the best three people in Ror-Bhyk and it is only downhill from there.¡¯ ¡®I think Lilyth can hog you if you ask her nicely enough,¡¯ Aki laughed. Ren went red-faced and said: ¡®S-she said she wasn¡¯t interested in hogging anyone right now.¡¯ ¡®That means you are going to need to be very persuasive,¡¯ I teased her. ¡®B-b-ut¡­ I mean¡­ she¡­ I¡­ you¡­ I mean¡­¡¯ I had to bite my tongue then not to start laughing. ¡®We¡¯re just messing with you, don¡¯t worry,¡¯ I quickly said. ¡®But you know¡­ if you need a good hogging it can probably be arranged.¡¯ ¡®Yup,¡¯ Aki smiled. I know we are joking¡­ but why do I want Lilyth to say no to this? And why is it her I¡¯m jealous for and not Ren? Or is it that while I inherited the love the other-me had for Rennie, but me-me has fallen head over heels for this stupid jelly of mine? At times I am grateful for Leera¡¯s memories¡­ at others¡­ they are a curse. One realisation dawned on me then. Is this why I am¡­ two different people depending on whether Lilyth and Aki are around? Their closeness makes it easier for me to suppress Leera¡¯s influence on me? So I knew what Leera wanted. And what did I want? To be with Lilyth. I didn''t mind Aki and Ren being part of the equation. I loved the pipsqueak. I loved Ren. But I LOVED Lilyth - written in capital letters and with a heart instead of an o. And that thought made something inside of me click for the first time. I really feel whole now. Lilyth If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It could have been my frayed nerves but as I traversed the corridor I felt watched. Plus I kept hearing things, or rather¡­ there were changes in silence. It¡¯s hard to describe, but imagine the sounds in the room travelling a certain way one minute and then slightly shifting the next one. I probably wouldn''t even noticed it if I wasn¡¯t in utter silence, as thanks to [Silent Step] I was able to move quietly. As weird as it is to admit it - I wish I could have my Tenebral Slimeling body back for like¡­ an hour. Whatever was trailing me wouldn''t be to pull any bullshit on that one. Assuming there is something to begin with. I suspicion was growing inside me that there was¡­ but I wasn''t quite sure yet. That was until I reached the split in the corridor. This will be a choice we will have to make when we all get here. I don''t think my unwanted companion expected me to stop here as rather than keep roughly the same distance it¡­ stumbled a bit before coming to a stop. Gotcha, motherfucker. I pretended to consider which way I should be going and listened for movement. At the same time, I summoned a knife into a hand where I thought it wouldn''t be able to see it. Then it happened. A soft movement towards me. A brief exhalation of air. I deactivated [Silent Step] and tried activating [The Swiftness of the Wind]. It worked, which confirmed that I had better chances of using magic when I was limiting myself to one thing at a time. This is going to suck, I thought as I struggled to pinpoint the location of my ambusher. When I was mostly certain, I rapidly turned around and threw my dagger toward them. A roar of pain told me I struck true and a tall creature materialised in front of me. Actual invisibility? Fuck. That''s bad. There must have been still some magical effect on it as it looked like a roughly humanoid multi-coloured somewhat two-dimensional patch of screen distortion. It was as if a TV had lost all coherence and instead of your favourite show, you could just see parabolic strips. Its sharp-looking claws were very real though and had the legally-mandated number of dimensions, which only gave me a bigger headache when I tried to process what exactly I was looking at. I don¡¯t even¡­ what the fuck¡­ There was one easy solution to that issue. Since I couldn''t identify what it was, I would have to just make sure it self-identified as dead. I summoned both of my knives and leapt towards it. By then, the creature had mostly recovered from the shock of being wounded and lunged at me as well. Even looking at its movements broke my brain, not that I had one, because the creature would flicker between two and three dimensions as it moved. It would be perfectly ¡°normal¡± as it took a step or moved an arm, only to turn flat when standing still. So you have to ¡°exist¡± when you move. No wonder the Huntress wanted to nope the fuck out of here. How do you kill something that doesn''t¡­ isn''t¡­ fucking hell¡­ Needless to say, my confusion caused a massive lapse of concentration for me, leading to a painful gash on my unprotected stomach. FUUCK! I needed to focus. How did I wound it the last¡­ Oh. I couldn''t see it. So¡­ with some trepidation, I closed my eyes and let my other senses guide me. I heard the creature lunge at me, and ¡°felt¡± the trajectory it would take. It reminded me of my mad dash in Akh''ret''s Mercy. The Huntress pulled off the same thing. Was I always capable of that then? My thoughts raced as I dove out of the way. I wasn''t quite fast enough, but, luckily, the creature''s claws harmlessly slid across what was left of my armour. Yes. I need to get it fixed. Hearing where the monster¡­ well the other monster landed, I quickly pounced towards it with my knives ready. Let¡¯s see who the actual predator here is, bitch. I slashed at where I thought the whatever was and its roar told me I struck true. So, I followed up. Once. Twice. Each stab and slash was punctuated by shrieks of pain. Finally, my blades only met air and milliseconds later I heard something hit the ground. Not taking any chances, I stabbed downwards and heard the beast¡¯s final yelp and the sounds of its shuddering. I opened my eyes and saw that the vague two-dimensional outline of the creature''s body was now slowly dissipating on the ground. I spat at it, which rewarded me with it returning to being three-dimensional again. A fitting final ¡°fuck you.¡± Genuinely curious, I checked my notifications. I saw that there were actually two new ones. Level 14 Distorted Sprite has been slain. You have received 1400 experience points (3200/7000 total experience points progress to level 14) I groaned in pain when it hit me why the creature was named that way, and moved on to the other notification. New Trait Unlocked: [Instinctive Fighting] Type: Racial Rank: Novice Effects:
  • Unlocks purchasing of abilities that further enhance senses and embrace your nature as a monster
Description: Your identities as a human and a slimeling are slowly beginning to merge. To put it bluntly - you have accepted that you are no longer human. I have been reliant on the capabilities of my body more and more lately, haven''t I? Hell¡­ I wished to have the Tenebral body once again. More notifications flooded me then, all of them regarding abilities and traits allowing me to further embrace my monstrous nature and reject my humanity. There were dozens to choose from, for example: New Purchasable Ability Discovered: [Rapid Shapeshifting] New Purchasable Ability Available: [Enhanced Acoustic Processing] New Purchasable Ability Discovered: [Visual Acoustic Prediction] New Purchasable Ability Discovered: [Active Acoustic Location] As I had to warn the others about the sprites or whatever, I decided to go through them and figure out my budding identity crisis later. I was about to dismiss the notifications and radio Caei when one of them caught my eye. [Enhanced Acoustic Processing]? Ability: [Enhanced Acoustic Processing] Type: Racial Duration: 1 minute Description: Allows you to improve the keenness of your hearing by using mana. It will make locating things easier, but I don¡¯t recommend using that with shrieklins around. It will hurt. A lot. Cost to learn: 1 Perk Point Then I¡¯ll become the monster¡­ I thought and bought the ability. I immediately deactivated [The Swiftness of the Wind] and turned the [Enhanced Acoustic Processing] on. I hadn''t noticed any changes at first, so I walked over to the wall and tapped it with the hilt of my knife. I swore I could track how the sound spread around the tunnel. Fuuuuck. That''s good. I didn''t have time to play around with myself though. Praying I didn''t dawdle too long, I deactivated my new toy and turned on the radio. ¡®Caei?!¡¯ I asked, urgency in my voice. ¡®Are you guys fine?¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ came the response. ¡®Did something happen? Uh.. over.¡¯ ¡®Got attacked by an invisible monster. Watch out. Those fuckers are tricky. On my way to you. Over.¡¯ I didn''t know how to describe those things to her, so I didn''t bother. I waited for her response. And waited. But it never came. Panic creeping in, I shouted into the radio again. And again. But no response came. What did happen, however, was a brief sensation of something lunging at me. FUCK! I thought as I felt the claws of another sprite sink into my back. Hold on, girls! I¡¯ll be there soon. Chapter 119 - Energy Spiders Caeileera ¡®Got attack-¡¯ Lilyth responded, but her message cut off. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ I shouted. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ When no response came, I resisted the urge to smash the radio against the wall and instead shouted to my companions: ¡®We¡¯re going after her!¡¯ Aki and Ren, both terrified, simply nodded and started preparing for battle. Weapons at the ready we charged down the corridor. When we entered the big chamber, Aki lit her [Abyssal Spark] to ensure she and Rennie could see. This turned out to be a mistake, as the action caused something I didn¡¯t previously realise to be there to roar in pain. I looked towards the source of the noise and saw a large six-legged insectoid monster, with a humanoid upper body emerging out of one of the ends of the thorax. It was all wrong though. The creature didn''t have much in terms of a physical body. Its skeleton was made out of pure lightning-like energy. That frame was orbited by pieces of meat, and there were occasional bands of some strange glowing metal, probably serving as armour, encasing the ¡°body¡± at regular intervals. The monster¡¯s hands ended with metallic claws. While I was scared of the creature, I saw that Aki and Rennie were close to panic. This was further amplified by the emergence of further ten more smaller arthropods that appeared to ¡°just¡± be huge spiders, their bodies looking quite like that of the big monsters. Realising we were quite likely completely screwed I raised my gun and pulled the trigger. That broke Ren and Aki out of their terrified stupor and they started firing at the monsters as well. Two bursts from my carbine felled the large monster and the creature collapsed into a pile of meat and metal that soon reformed as two smaller, but still Darhun-sized spiders. The same division happened to one of the beasts Aki¡¯s [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] killed. I realised that even more creatures started pouring out of their lair. ¡®Run!¡¯ I shouted and opened fire once again. Lilyth Having dealt with the second sprite quickly, now that I knew how to fight them it was a relative cakewalk, I started running back towards my loved ones. I didn''t make fifty meters before I heard a sound I was dreading to hear. Distant gunfire. Fuckfuckfuck! I sprinted down the corridor and was soon greeted by the sight of Caei, Aki and Ren retreating towards me, firing at¡­ what I now realised was the reason for my instincts going haywire. Big spiders. Very big spiders. Made of energy. And meat. And metal. Spiders. As primal fear began to rise inside of me and I began to sweat profusely, I had to fight the urge to turn around and just run away, leaving the girls to rot. I tried to move forward, but couldn''t. That would put me closer to those things. ¡®No,¡¯ I squeaked. No. Shouldhavewentwiththetoothhorrors. Shouldhavewentwiththetoothhorrors. Then I saw one of the spiders lunge at Caei, knocking her down to the ground. Her rifle clattered away from her. My panic was replaced by rage-fueled protective instinct. Oh no, you motherfucker. You will not hurt my beloved. I charged the monster, drawing the Blade of the Black Rose. I saw that Caei was doing her best to fend off the monster, but it was much stronger than she was. Aki and Ren couldn''t help her as they had worries of their own, having to deal with the onslaught of more of the beasts. The sight almost gave me a pause, but I pushed through it and reached Caeileera at the last moment. Just as the spider was about to bite her throat with its metallic fangs I lopped its head off. I immediately started pulling Caei, now covered in a pile of meat and metal to her feet. It was good that I did that, as the bits of the monster began to reform. What. ¡®Can you walk?¡¯ I asked Caei when she was upright again. ¡®I- I think so,¡¯ she replied weakly. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. She wanted to pick up her gun, but I stopped her. ¡®Forget it!¡¯ I shouted. ¡®We need to go!¡¯ Caei nodded. She tried to take a step, but her right ankle gave out under her. I caught her and threw her arm around my neck while wrapping mine around her back to support her. ¡®Aki!¡¯ I yelled. ¡®Ren! We are leaving! Run!¡¯ The girls, doing their best to keep the ever-increasing number of spiders at bay, nodded, turned around and began their escape. I deactivated [The Swiftness of the Wind] and began to retreat with Caei, firing off [Shadow Bolts] at any monster that got close. They worked maybe two times out of three, but it had to do. We were making good progress, but Caei was clearly in pain and was steadily slowing down. My extensive use of mana throughout the day was also making itself known and I felt I wouldn''t be able to keep up casting spells much longer. Especially since I could feel that some of the [Shadow Bolts], be it successful or not, drained far more out of me than they should have. Shit. ¡®I¡¯ll hold them off,¡¯ I said to her. ¡®Heal yourself and run.¡¯ ¡®B-but¡­¡¯ she began to protest, but I interrupted her with a kiss. ¡®I have no intention of dying, Caei,¡¯ I said after I parted from her ¡®Just want to give you enough time to escape and I¡¯ll join you.¡¯ Caeileera My heart torn to pieces, I followed Lilyth¡¯s instructions. Why does she have to save me again? Why? Finally able to walk again, I shouted to Lilyth I was done and began to run. Live, my love. Live! I kept glancing at Lilyth and saw she was also retreating but much slower, giving me a head start. She would be overwhelmed soon, as there were dozens, nay, HUNDREDS of the spiders bearing down on us. Then Lilyth looked back at me, nodded and reached into her satchel. I saw her pull something out, yank at it and then roll the item on the floor. Then she turned tail and apparently activated [The Swiftness of the Wind] given how fast she ran. I picked up my pace too. When Lilyth runs away from something, IT IS TIME TO GO. Aki and Ren, who were a fair distance away from us, also must have come to the same conclusion as they didn''t stop. It was good too, as the corridor was lit by blue light, I heard a loud crack and a wave of heat and pressure washed over me and knocked me to the ground. Lilyth, who was slightly behind me, ended up next to me shrieking in pain. Then came a deafening series of crashes and rumbles behind us and we were covered by a cloud of dust. I saw Ren shoot arrows at something and Aki soon followed with a [Lesser Abyssal Bolt]. Then having likely run out of mana, she ran over with her swords drawn. I tried pushing myself to my feet but my limbs felt like wet noodles. It took me a moment to regain my strength, but by then it was over. The surviving few monsters were dead, and the corridor had caved in, blocking any more from following us. Aki ran over to me and handed me our last healing potion. I downed it immediately and felt immediate relief on my back. ¡®How bad is it?¡¯ I croaked. ¡®You had some burns,¡¯ Aki admitted. ¡®Lilyth though¡­¡¯ My attention immediately turned away to the love of my life and saw her writhing in pain, her body damaged and covered in burns. And this is why I got the potion. Still dazed by the explosion I crawled towards Lilyth and began healing her. It took every drop of my mana, but I managed to get us all to working order. Ren and Aki sustained some wounds during the fight, but it was nothing I couldn¡¯t deal with quickly. My body was still sore, but the best I could tell sustained no permanent damage. ¡®What did you do?¡¯ I asked Lilyth once she was cognizant again. There was no accusation in the tone. She saved us. Saved me. ¡®I may have used one of the grenades that we found on those soldiers,¡¯ she admitted. ¡®Though I misjudged what the fuck it was.¡¯ ¡®Meaning?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®I assumed it was a fragmentation grenade. Basically, one using the force of the explosion to send shrapnel into the bodies of things. I have no idea what that was, though.¡¯ ¡®Remember when you screamed at me for playing with one of those?¡¯ Aki asked, white-faced. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ ¡®No problem. I know it was a bit hypocritical of me, but I took it just in case. I thought we would meet more undead soldiers.¡¯ ¡®And we found something worse,¡¯ I sighed and kissed her. She smiled weakly. ¡®On the plus side, I am level eighteen now. Turns out¡­ blowing up a legion of monsters has its perks.¡¯ I checked my notifications. And saw that between the large monster, simply called ¡°The Hive Praetorian¡± and the few smaller ones referred to as ¡°Energy Spiders¡±, from lesser to greater, I was level fourteen now. Ren made it to level eight and Aki to level twelve. ¡®What happened to you, by the way?¡¯ Lilyth asked. ¡®You stopped responding to my radio calls. I thought you were in danger. I mean you were, but¡­¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s¡­ unrelated,¡¯ I replied and gave her our side of the events. ¡®Oh¡­ It cut me off in the worst place possible,¡¯ the love of my life laughed. ¡®I wonder what happened?¡¯ We did a radio check and all of them worked. ¡®Was it due to the flat motherfuckers?¡¯ Lilyth wondered and told us about the creatures that flipped between being flat like a painting and ¡°normal¡±. ¡®I guess it is irrelevant now,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®Not really,¡¯ Lilyth retorted. ¡®There could be more of those here if we ever get separated again¡­¡¯ She mentioned there being a fork in the road. ¡®No,¡¯ I shook my head. ¡®We are no longer splitting up. If this was fucking normal difficulty for you, I dread what else we will find here.¡¯ When we got to the fork in the road we simply flipped one of our coins and went left. That turned out to be the correct choice, as soon we came across another door. With a shrug, we entered it and ended up in a room made of metal. There were some, likely steel, tables and chairs there. The biggest feature, however, was the window¡­ or rather what was outside - a seemingly endless light-specked void with a massive green orb surrounded by a series of beige rings suspended some distance away from us. What in the Badlands is that? Chapter 120 - Kappa-3 ¡®It¡¯s¡­ so beautiful,¡¯ Aki gasped in childlike wonder. Ren could only nod along, an expression of awe on her beautiful face. I looked at Lilyth seeking answers, but all I saw on her face was confusion. No. It was disbelief. ¡®How?¡¯ she simply asked. ¡®What is it?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Where are we?¡¯ The answer came in the form of notification. Leaving Zone: The Deep Corridors Entering Zone: Space Station Kappa-3 Difficulty: N/A Description: Congratulations on making it through the Deep Corridors. Your path has been locked in now. Proceed when ready. Notice: This is a safe zone. You can rest here without worry. No¡­ it can''t be¡­ ¡®We¡¯re in space?¡¯ Aki asked my unvoiced question. ¡®Then is that a¡­¡¯ ¡®A gas giant with a planetary ring system,¡¯ Lilyth explained, absentmindedly. ¡®Those are massive rocks forever orbiting it, though it is possible they might form a moon someday. Though¡­ I doubt it. Remember where we are.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s fake then, isn''t it?¡¯ Ren asked, bitterly. ¡®I am afraid so.¡¯ Lilyth confirmed, melancholy in her voice. ¡®Why make it then? Why create something so¡­ so¡­ beautiful if it is just a mirage.¡¯ ¡®That might be on me,¡¯ Lilyth shook her head. ¡®I am the fun police here. If I didn''t say anything you wouldn''t have known. I waved her apology away. ¡®Don¡¯t know about the others, but I¡¯d rather know the hard truth than live a lie.¡¯ Aki and Ren nodded their agreement, though they both looked immensely disappointed. We started exploring our new shelter. As we discovered, there were six main areas on the station: The room with the entrance, now called ¡°the office¡±, three sleeping chambers with four beds each, a mess hall, bathrooms, a place filled with all sorts of strange devices Lilyth called ¡°the control room¡± and the observation room - an unfurnished chamber where the only feature was a massive window pointed at the gas giant. We found the exit, a metal door, labelled as such, in something Lilyth called ¡°the airlock¡±. Alas, there was no food on the station, but there was functional plumbing meaning we could both shower and drink to our hearts'' content. This was especially important in the case of Ren, as she didn''t have one of those Neverending Canteens, so the water supply was an ever-increasing worry of ours in the dungeon. Now, at least, that problem was partially solved. Lilyth''s point about the place being fake was reinforced when we didn¡¯t find any machinery required for life support. This was something she had to point out because none of us would have ever noticed that on our own. This was made even weirder when she said that we shouldn¡¯t have been able to walk there. There was no gravity in space. Artificial gravity was something, at best, only theoretical without magic. ¡®That being said, I would strongly advise against testing the hull integrity,¡¯ she stressed. ¡®Explosive decompression is not a nice way to go. A quick one though.¡¯ It was weird to know the place was fake but to treat the dangers as real, but the grim spectre of gruesome death was a powerful argument. Once we were done exploring, Lilyth examined the machines in the control room a bit closer, but, to my pleasant surprise, decided not to fuck around with any of them. ¡®The buttons aren¡¯t labelled in any script I know, and I know better than to mess around with possibly vital machinery.¡¯ ¡®Who are you and what have you done with Lilyth?¡¯ I asked, not for the first time. She looked mildly annoyed by my comment. I really need to cut back on giving her shit. As Aki proved with the grenade¡­ ¡®I agree that I am out of my depth with magic, but we are pretty much in my playground here,¡¯ Lilyth countered. None of us had an answer to that. I just remembered the explosion. And the sight of Aki playing with the device¡­ I shuddered. We decided to spend the night on the space station. The few hours of sleep we got in the other safe zone weren''t even nearly enough to keep us going much longer. Well¡­ that and the fact we were all almost out of mana and had no potions left. A night¡¯s rest wouldn''t be nearly enough to refill my and Lilyth''s pools, but beggars couldn''t be choosers. As it would be easier for us to defend ourselves if the message about this being a safe zone turned out to be untrue, we chose to sleep all in a single bedroom. There were enough beds for all of us there, but neither was wide enough to fit more than one person. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. To my distress, when I woke up in the middle of the night due to a nightmare, I discovered that Lilyth was missing from the bed she chose for herself. I found her sitting in the observation room just looking at the planet below. The majesty of it was truly breathtaking. Still¡­ my jelly shouldn''t have snuck off here alone. ¡®There you are,¡¯ I began, trying to control my tone. ¡®I was getting worried.¡¯ ¡®Couldn¡¯t sleep,¡¯ she said. ¡®Should have let you know, I guess.¡¯ ¡®I am here now,¡¯ I smiled and sat next to her. She absentmindedly took my hand into hers, making my heart beat stronger. ¡®You know, Caei,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®My entire life I dreamed about going to space. First, I got ripped away from the planet with the technology to do that. Not that I could ever afford it, but the potential was there. Still, I did get to visit another planet and have sex with two hot alien chicks, so I thought it wasn¡¯t that bad. Then I learned about the universe Sav spent a few years in¡­ and I thought maybe we could visit it¡­ fly around on a spaceship. You know¡­ had hope of fulfilling that dream again. This died due to Kojiro. So now¡­ all I have is a view of a planet that may not exist out of a window from a fake space station.¡¯ Something inside of me ached when listening to this. To have all your hopes and dreams completely dashed¡­ it¡¯s not fair¡­. ¡®It¡¯s a beautiful view,¡¯ I said the only words of comfort I could think of. They sounded hollow even to me. ¡®That it is,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. Then why does it matter that it¡¯s not real? You still got to experience what you wanted. That¡­ that is as real as it gets.¡¯ ¡®I guess you are right,¡¯ she finally conceded, moved a bit closer and lay her head on my shoulder. ¡®I¡¯m glad you are here to experience this with me. That makes it more¡­ more¡­ fun.¡¯ We sat there for a moment in silence, just basking in the majesty of space. ¡®You know¡­ ¡®she began in a sad tone. ¡®Ren was right about the whole ¡°not being built for this¡± thing. At least as far as I am concerned.¡¯ My stomach sank at that. Here it comes. The rejection. ¡®But she was also wrong. Just because I wasn¡¯t originally built for that, doesn''t mean I couldn''t grow into it.¡¯ What? ¡®Don¡¯t think I haven''t noticed the looks you¡¯ve been giving me lately when you thought I wasn¡¯t looking. And¡­ I must admit I have been untrue towards you, Caeileera of the Sanguine. You see¡­ There was massive turmoil inside of me as far as you and Aki were concerned and I was happy I didn''t have to choose between the two of you. But¡­ that was the easy and lazy option because it didn''t resolve the conflict inside of me. And¡­ then Ren happened¡­ at that point, I was developing serious feelings towards Aki. So I thought¡­ maybe Caei will choose Ren and¡­¡¯ ¡®... The issue would solve itself?¡¯ I asked bitterly. ¡®Yes. This is why I have been untrue towards you. Instead of confronting the feelings towards you that were slowly budding inside of me¡­ I chose the coward''s way out. So¡­ back then¡­ in Julbar¡­ when forced to choose I would have chosen Aki. Now¡­ I would have fought for you tooth and nail. So¡­ let me say this openly: I love you, Caeileera of the Sanguine. I feel safe with you. I can let go with you and be myself¡­¡¯ She got up and knelt on one knee before me. ¡®Back then¡­ in that inn¡­ I only proposed to Aki. To you¡­ it was us both. So, Caeileera of the Sanguine¡­ will you forgive me for being untrue to you and become my wife?¡¯ My only answer was leaping towards her and kissing her. It was enough of an answer. For both of us. I have never been this happy before. By the time we got back to Aki and Ren, they were both up. They raised their eyebrows upon seeing us walk in holding hands but said nothing. It could have been also how ruffled our clothes looked, sleeping on them would do that. Sex under the gaze of the gas giant was an amazing experience, as was cuddling and talking afterwards. I was also able to give Lilyth''s belly, and the rest of her body, the love and care they deserved, and I was looking forward to the next time. We ended up promising ourselves with Lilyth that after we got back to Mer-Cas, just the two of us would go to Lin-Vyme to see the monastery as a bit of an extended date. To think that two months ago I would roll my eyes at that. I have changed, haven''t I? ¡®You are chipper today,¡¯ Aki noted while we were washing up after breakfast. ¡®Some quality time with a loved one will do that for you,¡¯ I answered mysteriously. ¡®Is Lilyth¡­¡¯ ¡®Surprisingly, yes. Not sure whether she is fine now or¡­ it¡¯s the¡­ danger.¡¯ Aki¡¯s expression got cloudy at that. ¡®It will take a while, won¡¯t it?¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®Not sure if she will ever be fully okay.¡¯ Aki nodded solemnly. ¡®Still¡­ I am happy she finds solace with you. I¡¯ve noticed you have a good effect on her. I just¡­ just¡­¡¯ She began to weep. ¡®I just don¡¯t know how to help her.¡¯ I took her into my arms. ¡®There there, Aki,¡¯ I cooed. ¡®It¡¯s going to be fine. I don¡¯t know how to help her either. I¡¯m just¡­ there for her. You are too. That''s all we can do. Be there when she needs us.¡¯ Aki hugged me back. ¡®It¡¯s just if I didn''t a-ask¡­¡¯ ¡®But you did. And she agreed. And if you didn''t, Lilyth would likely volunteer. You know how our jelly is.¡¯ ¡®I know¡­ but still¡­¡¯ ¡®Have you talked with her about it?¡¯ Aki began sobbing harder. ¡®I¡¯m a-af-afraid. W-what¡­ wh-what if she¡­ s-she¡­ says she h-hates me b-b¡­¡¯ ¡®She won¡¯t. And she doesn''t. I can go with you if you want. To provide support.¡¯ Aki brightened at that. ¡®Will you?¡¯ ¡®Of course¡­ I love you, Aki. I will do anything to help you.¡¯ I helped Aki clean up and insisted we go and settle that issue immediately. The poor girl shouldn''t carry this much guilt. The pain that showed on Lilyth''s face when we brought that up¡­ She simply took Aki into her hands and said softly: ¡®I would never blame you for that. Or hate you.¡¯ ¡®R-really?¡¯ ¡®Really.¡¯ My job there was done, so I decided to give them some privacy and went to talk with Ren. Chapter 121 - A Different Kind of Intimacy Aki ¡®You really have been carrying this guilt with you all this time, my love?¡¯ Lilyth asked me, as we sat embracing each other on one of the beds. ¡®Y-yes,¡¯ I blubbered. ¡®You should have just talked to me about this. Still can. However many times you need. I know¡­ it is not easy to let go of guilt. I still carry some of mine.¡¯ ¡®Th-then w-why¡­¡¯ ¡®Why have I been spending so much time with Caei back home?¡¯ I nodded. ¡®I feel more at ease with her. We are kindred spirits in a way. We are both strangers in an insane world learning who we really are now. We both suffered at the hands of Kojiro¡­ well¡­ Leera did, but close enough.¡¯ ¡®S-something I cannot give you.¡¯ ¡®No. You cannot. But that doesn''t mean you are less valuable to me. Yes¡­ Caeileera gives me comfort¡­ but you give me strength. To keep going. To be there for you. With you. So that when you need me¡­ I can give you comfort. Give you strength.¡¯ ¡®So you¡­¡¯ ¡®I still love you, Aki. Now and always. Never forget that.¡¯ As relief flooded me, I nuzzled against her chest and bawled my eyes out. Once I was capable of rational thought again, I found myself sitting between Lilyth''s legs, my back against her chest, and my wife¡¯s arms wrapped around my belly. We didn¡¯t frequently sit in this position, as my tail got in the way too much, but we made it work. Then we have done something weirdly romantic that I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve done with Lilyth since the Tower. I helped her with her perk point allocations. There was a certain intimacy to it. I would have to really trust someone to even let them look at my character sheet. The nature of some of the upgrades Lilyth had available was beyond personal too. Those were not ¡°which spell I should learn¡± choices. Those were ¡°how should I restructure my body¡± decisions. Lilyth explained to me how she unlocked them during the fight against those weird monsters because she had to finally consciously start relying on her abilities as a slimeling. The first thing that caught our eyes was something called [Rapid Regeneration]. Purchasable Ability: [Rapid Regeneration] Type: Racial Description: Allows the user to use their mana to regenerate their body. Cost to learn: 2 Perk Points It did seem nice, but Lilyth decided against taking it, calling it ¡°useful on paper¡±. ¡®The problem is¡­ I am highly reliant on magic in combat. So every fight I would have to kneecap myself because ¡°what if I need that mana to heal?¡±.¡¯ I ended up agreeing with her. ¡®Yeah. Some of us could hurt because of you holding back.¡¯ One two-perk point trait that Lilyth did end up picking up was [Mana Refinement]. Trait: [Mana Refinement] Type: Specialisation Level: Novice Description: Improves the efficiency of mana consumption. This trait develops with the use of spells and abilities. Notice: The effects of this stack with spell and ability mastery. I was surprised to see it being a ¡°specialisation¡± trait since I never heard of those being a thing, but the answer came to me when I got a notification about discovering that particular trait. I would need to be level fifteen to be able to get it. I immediately earmarked two of my perk points for that, but Lilyth told me to not be hasty, as maybe I would get stuff more useful for me. This did make sense, as some of the generic options Lilyth had available, mostly related to Umbral and Air Arcanas, did not ¡°unlock¡± for me. ¡®Still¡­ more efficient mana use is probably useful no matter what you do,¡¯ she conceded. That left us with three more perk points to spend. Two of them went to enhance Lilyth¡¯s slimeling side. The first trait was a prerequisite for an entire tree of abilities she could get. Trait: [Combat Morphs] Type: Racial Rank: Novice Description: Allows the user to transform their bodies to become more useful during combat. To our surprise, this trait came packaged with an ability. Ability: [Form Claws] Type: Racial Rank: Novice Duration: 1 minute Description: Allows the user to turn their fingertips into claws. Notice: This ability can be used without being in the Kitsune form ¡®This is soooo coool!¡¯ I exclaimed, after seeing Lilyth''s fingers first turn into curved knives and then back to normal. ¡®It feels¡­ weird,¡¯ she said. ¡®But can¡¯t wait for a chance to use those on something¡­ hang on¡­¡¯ Lilyth summoned her satchel and took out a notebook she got in Mer-Cas. She ripped out a page, turned one of her fingers into a claw and ran it across the paper, cutting it in two. Can''t help but notice that she immediately knew how to do that change efficiently. I would probably turn all of my fingers into claws. ¡®SO Cooool!¡¯ I repeated, genuinely awestruck. Lilyth only responded by giving me a peck on the cheek, which made me giggle. Our next pick was less ¡°cool¡±, but still very useful. Ability: [Harden Skin] Type: Racial Rank: Novice This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Duration: 30 seconds Description: Allows the user to use mana to increase to make their body more resistant to damage. ¡®Interesting,¡¯ Lilyth mumbled as she tested the ability on the back of her palm.¡¯ It feels¡­ like the area went¡­ numb. Can you try scratching it?¡¯ I first tried tapping her skin, and good thing I did that because if I actually scratched it I would have likely lost that fingernail. Her hand felt as hard as a piece of wood or a rock. I wonder if this has other applications¡­ oh .. wait¡­ she said her hand went numb. Nevermind. ¡®I hardly felt your touch,¡¯ Lilyth said, hopefully not noticing my dirty thoughts, though my tail, having a mind of its own again, did its best to betray me. For her final perk point, I suggested Lilyth get something fun, or maybe dive into the Kitsune side more. She did entertain me and actually got into that once we found the [Blink] ability. Purchasable Ability: [Blink] Type: Racial Description: Allows the user to teleport within line of sight. Cost: 10 perk points Notice: You do not meet the requirements to purchase this ability. Requirements not met:
  • Level 60 (Current Level: 18)
  • Air Arcana Rank: Master (Current Rank: Novice)
  • [The Swiftness of the Wind] (Ability) Rank: Master (Current Rank: Novice)
  • [Energy Form] (Ability) Rank: Journeyslime (Ability not learned)
¡®Ten Perk Points?¡¯ she said. ¡®That¡¯s¡­ pricey. Let me check this [Energy Form] thing. Purchasable Ability: [Energy Form] Type: Racial Description: Allows the user to briefly turn their body into energy. Cost: 5 Perk Points Notice: You do not meet the requirements to purchase this ability. Requirements not met:
  • Level 40 (Current Level: 18)
  • [Mana Refinement] (Trait) Rank: Master(Current Rank: Novice)
  • [Improved Mana Storage] (Trait) (Trait not possessed)
Purchasable Trait: [Improved Mana Storage] Type: Specialisation - Racial Description: Allows the user to store mana more efficiently within their body. Cost: 3 Perk Points Notice: You do not meet the requirements to purchase this ability. Requirements not met:
  • Level 30 (Current Level: 18)
  • [Mana Refinement] (Trait) Rank: Journeyslime (Current Rank: Novice)
¡®Correction,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®That¡¯s very pricey. All the traits and abilities are over eighteen perk points in cost. I should be able to get that, though that will leave me with very few perk points for other things, I think.¡¯ ¡®It does sound fun and probably more perk points will be going our way than just from level-ups.¡¯ ¡®True enough. I need to have some goals, I guess? Not gonna sit on Perk Points if anything else seems more important at the time, but [Improved Mana Storage] does seem as a no-brainer upgrade down the line since I AM a mage.¡¯ I was sad to see I didn''t have that trait available, a feeling made even worse by Caei later discovering she could get it. Apparently, a powerful douchebag of a grandfather or not¡­ I wasn''t magical enough to get that. I could only hope that my Abyssal heritage would also give me access to equally cool stuff. I mean¡­ both [Abyssal Spark] and [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] were pretty good. ¡®Your approach makes sense, I think,¡¯ I said, shaking away my thoughts. ¡®I don¡¯t think you would be buying most of that stuff with Perk Points under normal circumstances. Traits¡­ sure. Abilities, many of these can be taught I think. Especially the general ones.¡¯ ¡®Makes sense. Though I doubt we will find a master of [Blink] anytime soon.¡¯ In the end, Lilyth''s final perk point was spent on an entry-level ability from what we started calling the Telekinesis Ability Tree. Ability: [Lesser Manipulate] Type: Racial - Psychic Rank: Novice Description: Allows the user to manipulate small objects using the power of their will. Notice: You can use your knowledge of Air Arcana to empower some of the actions Notice 2: As it is impossible for you to use Earth Arcana you will not be able to achieve results similar to a person capable of using it. ¡®That¡¯s a shame,¡¯ Lilyth summed up the second message. ¡®But can¡¯t be helped, I guess.¡¯ ¡®How would Earth Arcana help here?¡¯ I asked, genuinely curious. ¡®Gravity manipulation. It¡¯s associated with Earth Arcana, like that[Floating Disk] Caei uses. So¡­ it will be harder for me to lift things using that ability. ¡®Ah¡­ That''s a shame indeed.¡¯ Hmm¡­ I wonder though¡­ Yeah¡­ that has traction¡­ Once she gets better with using this¡­ As we sat and went over her abilities I became more and more aware of her warmth and the softness of her body. That, coupled with some of the naughtier thoughts I had about some of these throughout the process, awoke something within me that I had been suppressing since the battle for the mansion. If Caei managed¡­ then maybe I will too. ¡®I think that''s all¡­¡¯ Lilyth said finally. Then she proved that my growing excitement did not escape her notice, as her hands began questing all over my body, finally stopping at all the right places. Then our lips met and for a moment we forgot about everything but our warm, soon naked, bodies. After we were done showering afterwards¡­ Well¡­ we didn''t quite just shower¡­ But after we were done, we rejoined the others¡­ well¡­ we tried to, but ended up needing to give Caei and Rennie some privacy. Lilyth As the girls were readying themselves for us to resume our exploration of the dungeon, I decided to spend those moments of calm before the storm in the observation room. It would probably be the last chance for me to see anything space-related ever, so I was making the most of it. Alas, it wasn''t peaceful as my thoughts kept racing back and forth. For one, I would be lying if I said I didn''t have to overcome some serious mental blocks for both the bonding sessions with my loved ones, but at least I gave them some pleasant memories¡­ should anything happen. It was worth it too. I really needed that myself given the circumstances. I just wished that whatever awaited us didn''t force me to choose who to save, because I loved both Aki and Caei too much without the choice being¡­ difficult. It also weighed heavily on my conscience that Ren would always lose that particular contest. She was a good girl. She didn''t deserve to be discarded like a piece of trash just because I loved Aki and Caeileera more. I could only pray to any god that would listen that if it came to that someone else would look after her. At that moment, I really understood why militaries tend to frown upon fraternising between officers and their underlings. What about the Sacred Company of Thebes? Weren''t they stronger fighters because they were fighting to protect their lovers? Still¡­ all those thoughts reinforced my decision to dive deep into my monstrous side. If¡­ if¡­ surrendering a bit of my old self meant there would be a tomorrow for me and my loved ones¡­ then it was a sacrifice worth making. I looked at myself in a small hand mirror I stole from the bathroom. My eyes still didn''t go back to green, though perhaps their colour shifted due to me being a shadow kitsune now¡­ Though come to think of it¡­ those eyes weren''t real¡­ they were just what my subconsciousness formed. I closed them and focused on the thought of the irises becoming green. There was a brief sensation of morphing and upon raising my eyelids I saw that my eyes did indeed turn green. However¡­ a new problem arose - the pupils went from round to slightly vertical. I panicked and tried going back to blue, but it didn''t solve the problem. Even when I just focused on shifting my pupils it did jackshit. Nonono Having absolutely terrible timing, Caei entered the room then. She smiled upon seeing me, but that quickly turned into her frowning when she saw my distress. ¡®You okay?¡¯ she asked. ¡®Y-yeah,¡¯ I lied. ¡®Stop bullshitting me, Lilyth. What''s going on?¡¯ ¡®Close the door¡­¡¯ I asked and then, when we had some privacy, explained my predicament to her. The embracing of my inner monster. My conflicting thoughts about Ren. My ocular issues. A worried expression appeared on her face. ¡®First¡­ don¡¯t feel guilty about your thoughts about us and Ren, and don¡¯t worry in advance. Maybe it won''t come to that¡­ and if it does¡­ any plans you make now¡­ any thoughts you have¡­ will likely prove meaningless. It¡¯s possible the choice will be for you to definitely save one person or try to save more and die yourself, dooming all of us. Now that I think about it¡­ that one sounds more like you. Save everyone or die trying.¡¯ She smiled warmly. ¡®As for the other thing¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I understand why you are doing that. And no matter what happens¡­ know that I will always love you. And while I realise that our¡­ predicament makes this impossible, you can always stop taking those upgrades if you feel they have too many negative effects on you. The eyes¡­ I like. They give you this really nice dangerous look. However since it doesn''t matter what colour they have from a ¡°power¡± perspective, could you make them green? I think that colour is prettier.¡¯ ¡®Your wish is my command,¡¯ I said and, since I indeed also preferred green to ice blue myself, did as she asked. ¡®And, Caei¡­ thank you. Sharing this¡­ made it easier.¡¯ ¡®We are married. It¡¯s part of my ¡°job¡± to help you carry your burdens.¡¯ I took her hand into mine. ¡®Doesn¡¯t make me appreciate this any less.¡¯ Chapter 122 - Fruitful Growth Lilyth We stepped through the door holding hands. Whatever happened¡­ The four of us were in this mess together. What awaited us on the other side was¡­ a classroom? It looked weird though. All the desks and chairs were small and colourful. There were images of various animals, none of which I could recognize, painted on the walls, along with what I guessed was an alphabet chart, posters with labelled items and so on. Under one of the walls, there was a row of lockers, and under another a basket full of plushies, shaped just like the animals on the walls. Evening light shone through large windows and I could see green trees outside, along with some distant buildings. The best I could tell, we weren¡¯t on the ground level - maybe on the first or second floor. Feels like home. ¡®What is this place?¡¯ Aki asked with a dreamy expression. ¡®It appears to be a kindergarten,¡¯ I said, which was confirmed by the notification we got. Leaving Zone: Space Station Kappa-3 Entering Zone: Fruitful Growth Kindergarten Difficulty: ??? Description: A place which should be filled with laughter of children. Why is there only silence here? Objectives:
  • Find the exit
  • (Optional) Discover the secret of the zone
  • To be revealed upon completing the second objective
Rewards:
  • 1000 experience points if objective 2 is completed
  • Extra rewards if objective 3 is completed
Interesting. ¡®A what?¡¯ Caei asked with a furrowed brow. ¡®A daycare where parents leave small children so that they are looked after while the adults are at work.¡¯ ¡®This place¡­ is so colourful,¡¯ Aki continued. ¡®It must be wonderful to spend your time in places like this.¡¯ ¡®My experiences weren''t good, but yeah¡­ it was mostly other children. The place itself was okay, though it didn''t look half as nice. The food sucked though.¡¯ ¡®If I ever needed any proof how far ahead Terra was¡­¡¯ Ren gasped awestruck. ¡®It¡¯s this place. You may think it regular, Lilyth, but from my perspective it¡¯s grander than any manor I¡¯ve been in. The colours¡­ the furniture¡­ everything¡­ all just dedicated to children.¡¯ ¡®I assure you¡­ most of the buildings on my homeworld did not look like this,¡¯ I replied, shaking my head. ¡®But for once, someone had a good idea that small children should spend time in a nice and colourful environment. God, I wish they figured that many adults would like that too.¡¯ ¡®No shit,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®What¡­ what was your workplace like?¡¯ ¡®Remember the high buildings inside Y-Ram?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Ohhh¡­. I forgot. Yeah¡­ you mentioned something about it looking familiar.¡¯ ¡®Mind sharing with the part of the group who weren''t in the underground lair of monsters?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®Gods¡­¡¯ she said after I was done explaining. ¡®Yeah. Those ¡°Open Spaces¡± sound depressing.¡¯ As I was telling my story, Aki and Caei went to rummage through the plushie bins ¡°oohing¡± and ¡°aaahing¡± over their contents. Eventually, the former picked up one of them, a brown three-eyed furry cow-thing, hugged it and stuffed it into her satchel. Caei eyed her weirdly, but judging by how greedily she was clutching a green smiling bat-creature with a toothy grin, I thought she was just pretending to be ¡°above it¡±. I used [Lesser Manipulate] to poke her on the shoulder. She looked towards me confused and slightly spooked. I waved, pointed at the plushie and gave her a thumbs-up. She immediately beamed at me and packed the plushie into her bag. ¡®You are making her happy, you know¡¯ Ren said softly. ¡®She deserves that. And more. ¡®She does,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®If I could, I would give Caeileera the world.¡¯ ¡®And not Aki?¡¯ There was no accusation in the question. Just curiosity. ¡®Her too,¡¯ I answered truthfully. ¡®But I feel she is more than capable of taking it herself if you know what I mean.¡¯ ¡®I do,¡¯ Ren smiled. ¡®Once Aki reaches your level of cynicism she will be terrifying.¡¯ This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡®I hope she doesn''t,¡¯ I said. ¡®Not for the sake of others¡­ fuck¡¯em, but for her own. There is no joy in being this bitter and disillusioned, and her life was hard enough. Aki¡¯s childhood was objectively worse than mine, and yet she came out of it¡­ with optimism. Me¡­ not so much. At her age¡­ I was already well along the path to where I am now. I think¡­ At some point, I forgot how to be happy. It hurt too much. It was too transient. I became convinced that happiness¡­ caring¡­ love¡­ hope¡­ those things never lasted. So why even bother when I could just be miserable, and pass through my life drowning out all the pain, despair and internal screaming by overindulging? So¡­ what I want for Aki¡­ is to protect her. From becoming like me. A miserable husk of a person.¡¯ Ren took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. ¡®Maybe you were that once, Lilyth,¡¯ she said finally. ¡®Not anymore. You are making a difference. You love and are loved back. You just need to relearn how to be happy. You are a good person and I am honoured to call you my friend.¡¯ I took her hand into mine and squeezed lightly. ¡®Thank you, Rennie,¡¯ I said with a smile. ¡®I think I needed to hear that.¡¯ My friend wanted to say more, but by then Aki was by us and dragged her off to look at the plushies too. I only smiled at that and followed them, as I could see a chonky blue cat-looking shark with my name on it in one of the bins. After we had all safely stowed our prizes, Ren¡¯s pink squirrel ending up in Caei¡¯s bag, we started planning our next moves. ¡®For once, I think checking out the optional objectives might be worth it,¡¯ I said. ¡®That one thousand experience points would be nice.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®Not gonna lie, I want to get my hands on [Mana Refinement] as soon as possible. I am concerned about the unknown difficulty level though.¡¯ I could see in her eyes that Aki wanted to say something, but thought better of it. ¡®I will order a stop if it gets too dangerous,¡¯ she said instead. ¡®And we find the exit first. If we need to run away, it will be nice to know where to.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s reasonable,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®What was your initial objection, then?¡¯ ¡®Oh, nothing. I wanted to joke about how both of you became quite the risk-takers. But then I realised that giving our spellcasters, especially the only healer we have available, shit for wanting to be able to cast more spells was not the best of ideas.¡¯ ¡®You thought good,¡¯ Caei said with a pleasant smile. ¡®Would be a shame if I ran out of mana before I got around to taking care of your wounds.¡¯ I doubted Caei was callous enough to actually withhold aid from Aki, but it was good to remind her that our survival literally depended on keeping the Sanguine well and happy. With nothing left to say we began to explore the kindergarten. A closer look through the window confirmed we were on the first, and highest, floor. Alas, the window handles were completely non-functional. It¡¯s not even that they refused to budge, they were just an unmovable part of the window frame. Our weapons proved useless, so out of sheer desperation, I tried breaking through the glass by trying to jump through it, but I just bounced off the glass¡­ I would say harmlessly, but I ended up hurting my shoulder. I waved Caei away when she tried to heal me, though. ¡®Save your mana. I¡¯ll be fine.¡¯ I did end up having a bruise there, but a nice thing about not having internal organs is that I didn''t actually damage anything important, and the pain would pass. Eventually. ¡®Was worth a try,¡¯ I summed it up. ¡®Soo¡­ everything outside¡­ it¡¯s all fake too, isn''t it?¡¯ Ren asked, sadly. ¡®It would seem so,¡¯ Caei confirmed, also sounding absolutely dejected. ¡®There is an upside to that, though,¡¯ I pointed out. ¡®At least our search is limited to this building. Can you imagine that city being real?¡¯ ¡®Ooooh,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®We could have spent days here then.¡¯ ¡®Yeah. So as much as it sucks we can''t go out, it beats the alternative.¡¯ We ended up going through every room on the level but found exactly nothing of note. Just classrooms, playing areas, a staff room of some kind, normal kindergarten stuff. The ground floor proved to be slightly more interesting. Our first direction was the main entrance. This was pretty much a case of wishful thinking on our end, but, on the other hand, if it turned out to be the right answer and we ignored it we would feel really stupid. Aki and Ren continued to be very impressed by the building. Their joy at discovering that even the corridors had colourful images painted on them was palpable. Why do I feel there will be some renovations in our new home? The problem was¡­ over time I noticed that as we got deeper and deeper into that building¡­ the paintings became increasingly distorted. Maybe it started earlier, but with how unfamiliar everything was I just didn''t notice. For example, a two-tailed rabbit-like animal was initially portrayed as happy and cheerful. Then its expression began to shift: The eyes were no longer friendly; The claws were slightly longer and so on. By the time we were nearing the exit even my companions felt¡­ weirded out by all this. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Aki asked as she pointed to an animal that now looked like it belonged in H. P. Lovecraft¡¯s fiction more than in a kindergarten. Well¡­ maybe in the Garten of Banban. The sheep now had two heads, its wool was replaced with porcupine-like spikes and instead of short fluffy tails, it had two scorpion-like ones. ¡®Maybe the people who ran this placed that you couldn''t achieve fruitful growth without getting mentally scarred for life,¡¯ I quipped. ¡®Other than that¡­ beats me.¡¯ I took out my plushie. It looked normal. So did all the others. ¡®On the plus side we are not dealing with an illusion here,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®That would be¡­ sad.¡¯ She hugged her bat and put it back into her satchel. Out of curiosity, I asked them to wait and retraced our steps. ¡®The ones near our entry point still look normal,¡¯ I said upon returning. ¡®Soo¡­ it¡¯s deliberate?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®I think so? Though¡­ I am getting really curious as to what the fuck is this place.¡¯ ¡®On offshoot of the Labyrinth?¡¯ Caei suggested. ¡®It also¡­ functioned like this.¡¯ ¡®Why wouldn''t Lady Madness contact us then?¡¯ I asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡®Or Lord Steward, for that matter? They were pretty open about us being in their domain the last time around.¡¯ ¡®Maybe it is not ¡°official.¡±¡¯ Aki said, ponderously. ¡®Like, it began as a part of the Labyrinth¡­ and then broke away.¡¯ ¡®That makes¡­ a disturbing amount of sense¡­¡¯ I furrowed my brow. ¡®Then that would also mean that someone is running this place, which is likely given the difficulty rating bullshit so far.¡¯ ¡®But who?¡¯ Ren asked the question we all had on our minds. ¡®Or what?¡¯ Chapter 123 - The Wooden Watchers Lilyth The exit door, a nice double-winged full lite door turned out to be a non-functional prop. Half-heartedly, I swung my sword at the ¡°glass¡±, but the blade bounced off it with a bong! ¡®Don¡¯t try jumping through this one, please,¡¯ Caei said in a tired tone. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, hon,¡¯ I reassured her. ¡®That was a one-off.¡¯ ¡®Good,¡¯ she stressed and we resumed our search. That was the plan, at least, because when we turned around, we saw a tall, immobile, feminine alabaster figure standing in the corridor near the staircase. One hand was raised, and the other was on its hip. The figure didn''t have any clothes on, which was out of place here. Well¡­ you would expect murderous SCP-173 knock-offs to be rated ¡°E for Everyone¡± in a place like this. Won¡¯t anyone think of the children? Before anyone could do anything, I cast [Shadow Bolt] aiming it at the figure¡¯s head, doing my best not to blink. My projectile struck true and the doll¡¯s skull shattered into splinters, and the mannequin collapsed onto the floor, breaking apart. No experience notification appeared which told me that either I was wrong about it being a threat or that I hadn''t actually killed it. ¡®While I don¡¯t mind your quick thinking, care to elaborate why you immediately went for a kill?¡¯ Caeileera asked. ¡®Just a moment,¡¯ I replied and walked over to the doll. It looked like your bog-standard white store display mannequin, but it couldn''t have been one, could it? Been a few weeks since I left Earth, but last I checked those didn''t move on their own. Just to be sure, I struck it several times with my sword. This didn''t elicit any response so, eyes around my head, I returned to my companions and told them about the ¡°only move when not watched¡± monsters popular in our fiction as of late. ¡®For people with no magic, you Terrans sure have crazy imaginations,¡¯ Ren summed it up. ¡®Still¡­ yeah¡­ fair guess. Can''t think of a different reason for why that thing would just appear out of nowhere.¡¯ Aki and Caei also had nothing, so we quickly agreed that ¡°destroy on sight¡± was the best policy here and began exploring the floor. The mannequins were¡­ insidious to say the least. Sometimes we would enter a classroom, search through it, leave and see one or more standing in the corridor, just watching. One time, my search through a cabinet in what looked to be another staff room was interrupted by Aki¡¯s yelp and a thud. I turned around, knives raised, and saw her sitting on the floor, the mannequin in front of her. Ren knocked it over with a slash of her sword, while I hurried over to help my wife. ¡®What happened?¡¯ I asked. ¡®You okay?¡¯ ¡®Just hurt my ass and sat on my tail,¡¯ she winced as I helped her up. ¡®That thing¡­ was just there when I turned around.¡¯ ¡®What the fuck?¡¯ Caei muttered. ¡®Where did it come from? I heard nothing. Lilyth?¡¯ ¡®Was focused on this here cabinet,¡¯ I pointed to the container. ¡®Give me a moment.¡¯ I took off my top, leaving only the bra on. I braced myself for catcalls from my companions, but they kept silent. I was pleased by this, as I wasn¡¯t terribly happy about having to undress in front of them¡­ but what could you do? I had to have as large a listening surface as possible. I closed my eyes and activated [Enhanced Acoustic Processing]. The world filled with sounds. The faint rustle of my companions¡¯ clothes. The sound of their breathing. The flow of their blood. The fast beating of their hearts. No such sound came from me. Only the mechanical rising and falling of my chest that facilitated voice production and my camouflage as a person. If I still had doubts about being a monster, this dispelled them completely. I was just a facsimile of an elf. A fake. A sad remnant of what was once a Polish transwoman, that was slowly diminishing with every day. Is this what Ereshkigal meant by the long-term psychological effects that first day in the Tower? I still felt like crying, but I had more important things to worry about than self-pity. I had a job to do. Guiding myself by sound reflections I exited the room and started heading towards the stairs. Suddenly¡­ the air in front of me shifted and before I could react I felt something on my neck. Something wooden. I opened my eyes and saw the blank face of the mannequin in front of my own. Its plastic hands started to squeeze my neck with a surprising amount of strength. I let out a choked involuntary scream of surprise and with kicked at the doll, just as it attempted to break my neck. My leg connected and knocked the creature down to the floor. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Screaming in primal rage, I summoned one of my knives and rammed it into the mannequin¡¯s head. ¡®MOTHERFUCKER!¡¯ I yelled, punctuating the strike. By then my companions were out of the room and rushing towards me. ¡®What happened? Aki asked. ¡®The fucking thing tried to break my neck!¡¯ I answered and gave them a play-by-play as I massaged my neck. ¡®So¡­ it just appeared?¡¯ Caei confirmed. ¡®Best I can tell¡­ yes. Even the two-dimensional fucks moved. This thing¡­ one moment wasn¡¯t there, the next¡­ It was strangling me.¡¯ ¡®So¡­ they appear when no one is looking and hunt isolated targets¡­¡¯ Aki pondered, tapping her chin with a fingernail. ¡®From now on¡­ we will stay together. No one goes out on their own.¡¯ ¡®Eyes around our heads too,¡¯ I agreed while putting my clothes back on. I decided to stow the sad remnants of my armour in my bag. As it was unlikely to be of help here, there was no point in getting it damaged any further. Then I handed the Blade of the Black Rose to Caeileera. ¡®Just in case,¡¯ I said. ¡®You can keep it really.¡¯ ¡®Are you sure?¡¯ she asked with a mix of surprise and gratitude visible on her face. ¡®Yes. You need a weapon. I have my knives. I am fighting with them most of the time anyway.¡¯ A message appeared before my eyes. Do you want to transfer the soulbond of the item: The Blade of the Black Rose to: Caeileera¡±? Yes/No Yes, I thought. Caeileera accepted the transfer. Item: The Blade of the Black Rose is no longer bound to you. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she muttered and hugged me. I couldn''t help but notice Aki smirk upon seeing that. I had no doubt she had a different kind of sword-passing in mind. Aki I led our merry gang around the floor looking for an exit. Or rather, I had Lilyth lead us around and only provided her with general directions. I noticed that she was well on her way to being the woman who led us through the Tower of Trials. I also felt much stronger than I did in days if not weeks. A few days of rest can do wonders, eh? Lilyth¡¯s spirits were still really diminished by her experiences with Kojiro, no surprises there. I was hoping her embracing her new body would help her get through that, but I realised it would be a while before it had results. Caei did ask me to be less insistent on that front while Lilyth was checking out the wall paintings situation. After hearing about her freakout¡­ I agreed. I would need to apologise to Lilyth later. I expected she would be like me¡­ eager to explore the new capabilities available to her. I kept forgetting she wasn¡¯t born to this so we would need to take it slowly. I will need to thank my alabaster beauty for that one. Caei was getting really good at being the emotional centre of our operations, and I was appreciating her more and more about this. In a way¡­ what I wanted in the hospital was finally happening. I could go to Lilyth to help me think through issues and to Caei to feel through them. It really took us a while to become an actual team. Yeah¡­ previously we had been just a bunch of individuals thrown together by desperation. Still are, I guess. But we are also¡­ more. ¡®I guess we should find the exit immediately,¡¯ Caei sighed as we were looking for a way out. ¡®No,¡¯ I shook my head. ¡®I think if we come across a way to stop¡­ those things we should go for it. There is no telling what they will do once we try to leave.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Lilyth agreed. ¡®At first, they just watched, then one tried to attack you¡­¡¯ I shuddered upon the realisation that I could have died without anybody even noticing. ¡®... And then I had my¡­ encounter with one,¡¯ my cutie finished. ¡®They have been progressively upping the ante,¡¯ Ren agreed. Lilyth turned around to respond, her eyes widened and she leapt forward while yelling: ¡®CAEI!¡¯ I looked towards where my alabaster beauty was and saw that another of the mannequins was standing behind her, a rusty knife raised over my wife¡¯s head, ready to be plunged into Caei¡¯s body. As if in slow motion, I began watching the knife begin its descent, only for Lilyth to catch it on her hand. I involuntarily winced seeing that. Lilyth then kicked the doll''s legs from under it, ripped the knife from her body and sunk it into the mannequin''s head. I was so entranced by the fight that I stopped paying attention to my surroundings. And that moment of inattention was all it took. Suddenly, a pair of wooden hands wrapped around my neck and started holding it in a vice-like grip, cutting off my ability to breathe. I felt intense pain as my bones and cartilage were crushed, then, I heard something crack, there was a feeling of weightlessness and, as darkness enveloped me, the floor rushed to greet me. My last thought was: Is this it? I woke up a bit later in one of the classrooms. My neck was intensely sore, but to my surprise, I was still among the living. Lilyth noticed I was up, because he almost pounced towards me, but stopped herself and just knelt by me and took my hand into hers. ¡®You¡¯re okay!¡¯ she sobbed. ¡®Wh-wha¡­¡¯ I tried to say but it hurt to talk. ¡®Try not to move or talk,¡¯ Caei said in a hollow voice. ¡®Your neck¡­ sustained a lot of damage. It wasn''t broken, but a lot of things got crushed. I fixed things¡­ but¡­ I am not sure whether everything is fully healed. ¡®It h-hurts,¡¯ I croaked. ¡®Then that answers the conundrum we had,¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®Barricade yourselves,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®If I am not back in a few hours or you don¡¯t hear from me¡­¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll try making a break for it,¡¯ Caei confirmed and then turned towards me. ¡®Lilyth will try to deal with whatever is responsible for those.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll make them pay,¡¯ my other wife promised. Chapter 124 - Suicide Mission Lilyth I was in Ren¡¯s debt. One that I could never hope to repay. If she didn''t shoot that mannequin¡­ I wouldn''t have made it in time to save Aki. FUCK! Why couldn''t I have protected her too? Why? I am too weak. That''s why. I really have to stop pussyfooting around and seize every advantage I can. What good is feeling bad about no longer having a beating heart if I can''t keep those of my lovers beating? I honestly didn''t expect to come back from this one. That was a frequent thought of mine, I knew, but¡­ this time the grim spectre of death felt¡­ more palpable than ever. I had to fight an unknown amount of enemies I couldn''t detect beforehand. Completely alone. With no way of healing myself. There was also whoever controlled the mannequins to contend with. I had no idea where or what they were. Even when facing a bloody god I felt better about my chances because at least I had an enemy I could see and touch. I knew it was futile, but there was SOMEONE I could try hurting. Doing my best to look hopeful, I kissed the most important three women in my life goodbye and left the classroom. I heard the sounds of a desk being moved the moment the door closed behind me. It was time to go. I activated [The Swiftness of the Wind] and started searching the remaining rooms. I did my best never to stay in one spot longer than necessary. The mannequins¡¯ strength lay in ambush tactics. If they actually had to move while visible¡­ I could hear them. I found as much during the previous fight. This was only partially effective, however. For one, there were moments when I had to stop, for example, to open doors. Secondly, whoever was controlling those was slowly learning. The theory about those being puppeteered was brought forward by Ren while Caei was healing Aki. ¡®It would also explain why we haven''t been getting any experience for these,¡¯ she said. ¡®You wouldn''t get any for destroying my arrows, would you?¡¯ That did seem like the best explanation for all this bullshit, so it became our working assumption. So, as I said, our mysterious puppeteer was learning. The first two attempts at me were awkward and comically easy to avoid. The third one got crafty. One mannequin drew my attention away and a second one tried to break my neck. Since that failed to work, the fourth and final attempt involved three of the bastards and knives. If the stakes weren''t so dire, it would honestly be a pretty fun game of cat-and-mouse. Alas, I was the latter. There were three rooms I still had to search on that level. Every time I would enter one, I would quickly try to close the door behind me. I managed it the first time around. I failed the second time and would have gotten my neck broken as a prize. I thought I did it in the final one, but they were waiting for me inside. That''s when the knives came out. Once Cassius, Brutus and Decimus were dealt with, and I had only two extra orifices, I looked around the room. The Roman Senate it was not. It looked to be some sort of a maintenance room: there were shelves of tools, cleaning supplies, a bench and other stuff used for cleaning and fixing shit. There was also a welcome sight there - another door. Praying it led to the exit, I opened it only to discover that there were stairs heading down there. I sighed and began my descent. Caeileera There was no joy in the goodbye kisses Lilyth, gave the three of us. Just the grimness of confirmation that she was risking her neck to save us. Again. It felt even worse because this time around it was us asking her to do it. After¡­ after¡­ seeing Aki crumple to the floor like a rag doll¡­ I just couldn''t¡­ It was too much. I thought¡­ I thought she was dead. We all did. Ren really shot that mannequin at the last possible moment. We didn''t know how much damage Aki had sustained, so Lilyth asked me to heal her the best I could on the spot. Then we moved her to that classroom. As we prayed that Aki would wake up, we discussed various contingencies. Well¡­ more like what Lilyth would have to do. If my blue-haired cutie could move, my jelly would look for the exit and clear the way there. Alas, we weren''t that lucky. Sitting in that room was pure torment. I was sitting by Aki¡¯s side, holding her metal hand. The girl was hugging her stuffed animal with the other. Occasionally, I would caress my wife''s hair. ¡®And once again we have to wait here for Lilyth to save us,¡¯ Ren, who sat on the desk, sighed, echoing my thoughts. ¡®I think we¡¯d only get in her way now.¡¯ I said weakly. ¡®Though¡­ it feels bad.¡¯ ¡®She carried us through this place¡­ didn¡¯t she?¡¯ Ren asked. We wouldn''t have gotten past the shrieklins without her, I realised. Every single encounter¡­ even now¡­ The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®Yes,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®Though it has been going on much longer. Most serious fights¡­ without her¡­¡¯ ¡®We have to get stronger,¡¯ Aki croaked, wincing in pain. ¡®So¡­ so that she can rely on us in situations like this. It¡¯s the only way.¡¯ ¡®Knowing her she already managed to discard all her worries about losing her humanity just so¡­ she can protect us,¡¯ I said. ¡®Back on the station¡­ she apologised to me for being untrue. I think it is me who should be apologising to her. Truth be told¡­ maybe we wouldn''t end up here¡­ if the rest of us were stronger. At some level, Lilyth likely wanted her powers back¡­¡¯ ¡®... So that she can protect us better.¡¯ Aki finished for me in a hoarse voice. ¡®That¡¯s no way to fight. That''s no way to live. We have to show her¡­ that we can take care of ourselves. That in a situation like this we can have her back.¡¯ ¡®Yes¡­¡¯ I agreed. ¡®We just assumed that since Lilyth can¡¯t hear those things we can''t do anything and called it a day.¡¯ ¡®But what could we do?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡®It¡¯s not like¡­¡¯ ¡®There must have been something!¡¯ I interrupted her. ¡®Maybe I could have done something with [Ward]. But¡­ I didn''t even try. Couldn''t try because¡­ you know. And now I am beyond useless. I couldn''t even fully heal Aki, because as you pointed out, Rennie, I needed to maintain a mana reserve¡­ just in case.¡¯ ¡®We really are desperate, aren¡¯t we?¡¯ my wife wondered. ¡®We were desperate yesterday, hon,¡¯ I replied. ¡®Today we need a fucking miracle.¡¯ And the only person capable of delivering it was my reckless jelly. Lilyth The staircase led to a large open concrete room, likely the building¡¯s basement. While featureless, other than a corridor entrance in the opposite wall, the room did have quite an ambience though, generated by dozens of white sheet-covered¡­ bodies lying on the floor. I sighed and shouted: ¡®I know this is a trap and whatever is under those sheets will get up and attack me. I am not fucking stupid. Can we just get it over with? I have places to be, people to do.¡¯ When nothing moved I sighed and muttered: ¡®So¡­ the hard way it is, eh?¡¯ I approached the nearest sheet, crouched next to it and ran one of my knives through the head. I was rewarded by the crunch of bones breaking. What? I pulled the sheet back and saw that instead of a mannequin there was a skeleton underneath. The fuck? I looked around the room again and noticed that some of the bodies under the sheets¡­ looked awfully small. Oh. Oh no. What happened here? A quick count told me that there were at least sixty corpses here. Going through all of them to check if some of them were mannequins would take too long and open me to an attack. I feared that attacking one of them would wake up the rest. Well¡­. The very hard way then. Figuring that if the mannequins would try to get up I would hear the sheets rustling, I started making my way towards the corridor entrance. And that was when my lack of ability to see the big picture came to fuck me. I was so focused on the possibility of there being mannequins under the sheets that I forgot about the free-range ones. A knife entering through my back and exiting through my navel was a powerful reminder. Then the rustling of sheets began. Oh¡­ balls¡­ I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This is gonna suck. I dove forward, ripping the knife out of my back. It ripped my body apart a bit more, sending waves of pain throughout me, but I didn''t care. Based on the amount of sheets I heard move there were at least twenty of the mannequins around. Time to test my new ability. I deactivated [The Swiftness of the Wind] and readied myself to start using [Harden Skin]. It took me a while and some painful trial and error, but I figured out how to keep the skill active and just move the protected area where it would be actually needed. So, while I haven''t actually come out of the fight uninjured it would have been so much worse without that ability. Only four of the other mannequins actually had knives too, so I prioritised dealing with them. Once that hurdle was cleared, and since, judging by the way the dolls were uncoordinated, whoever was controlling them probably had no experience managing this many at once, the fight became fairly one-sided. In fact, all the injuries I have sustained after that one surprise knife wound were bruises. I hurried down the corridor expecting more attacks, but none came. Did they run out of mannequins? The answer came to me just as I was reaching another room. I first had to process what I was seeing. Parts of the floor were covered in grass and some sort of pink and blue flower-like plants and the foliage only got thicker the closer I got to the next room, which looked like some sort of a greenhouse, once again with another corridor entrance on the opposite side of the room. There was some sort of sickly sweet smell in the air that made my slime crawl. I think fuckery doth be afoot. Holding my knives tightly, I carefully stepped onto the grass. This caused a nearby pink plant to release a cloud of spores that only intensified the smell and my feeling of discomfort and made me genuinely afraid. Please don¡¯t be Zalikh¡­ Pleasedon¡¯tbezalikhpleasedon¡¯tbezalikh¡­ My Kitsune form didn''t suddenly go out or anything and I still could feel magic going through me. The worst part was that I couldn''t really test it, as my mana reserves were dangerously low at that stage too and I¡¯ve decided to use what was left in case of an emergency. I could tell the spores weren''t exactly neutral on me, there was some magical component to them, but it likely wasn¡¯t Zalikh, though I couldn¡¯t tell whether they had any meaningful effect on me. What the fuck am I breathing in? Now seriously freaked out, I took a step into the room. I sensed something move quickly towards me, and, before I could react, it wrapped itself around my ankle and yanked, throwing me to the ground, my knives clattering onto the floor. I grunted in pain and tried to push myself up, but then something coiled itself around my wrists and constricted them. I began to struggle but couldn''t break the iron grip around my limbs. Then, whatever was holding me yanked me up and I found myself hanging off my wrists from near the ceiling. I finally got a look at my assailant. Vines! I saw another green tendril sneak towards my one free leg. I tried evading it, but that only made me not notice the one that was trying to grab my neck. The shock of being choked was enough window for the other vine to fully immobilise me. SHIT! Chapter 125 - Puppeteer I really need to stop wandering around alone, I thought, as I hung held by vines. I was happy, I didn''t have much in terms of tendons and muscles because I wasn''t as uncomfortable as I could have been. That was a small comfort given how I was captured by a fucking tentacle monster. On the plus side, I haven''t actually felt any ill effects from the spores. In fact, the sensations I got from them have since passed. I haven''t been exposed to toxins much here. Maybe that was me neutralising them? Still¡­ I would need to pay attention to the expectations of the ruler of this place. I couldn''t help but think they had plans that didn''t involve killing me. What could those spores do then? Poison? Nah. No need to capture me then. Unless it was slow-acting. Paralyzing? Probably the same. So¡­ drugs of some kind maybe? Come to think of it¡­ I have been far less freaked out about this than I should have given the circumstances. So maybe I am not as unaffected as I would like. It took my captor more than fifteen minutes, based on the clock from the interface, to finally show themselves, which seemed to confirm that they wanted whatever was in the air to build up in my system in sufficient amounts. Whatever else could be said about them, and believe me I have had enough time to create quite a list of epithets, they knew how to make an entrance. I saw that a new plant started budding in the foliage. It grew larger and larger and eventually unfolded into a large blue-and-pink flower, releasing another massive cloud of spores. It was thick enough to make me cough, which wasn¡¯t pleasant with the vine around my neck. In the middle of the flower stood a naked beautiful green-skinned woman. I noticed that her blur-and-orange hair was, in fact, made of grass. She looked at me with her yellow eyes and said in a voice like the rustling of leaves: ¡®So¡­ you are the one who was killing my children.¡¯ ¡®What the fuck are you supposed to be?¡¯ I asked, in lieu of answering her. ¡®A fucking dryad?¡¯ ¡®You are pretty insolent for someone in your position, mortal. Watch out that I don¡¯t remove your tongue for that.¡¯ ¡®Bite me, tree bitch.¡¯ ¡®And here I thought we would get along, mortal. You have proven yourself quite a nuisance, but I can¡¯t bring myself to end you just yet¡­ You are too capable of a resource. She sighed and continued in a more pleasant, and weirdly entrancing, voice: ¡®So let¡¯s try this again. My name is Helrika. As you have noticed, I am a dryad. What is your name, sweetie?¡¯ ¡®Lilyth,¡¯ I said, despite myself. ¡®Nice to meet you.¡¯ ¡®See¡­ it wasn''t so hard. Now¡­ since you have proven yourself quite resistant to my spores¡­ I think it would be prudent to ensure a sufficient build-up of these in your body.¡¯ Wait¡­ what? Another tendril began to rise from the ground, this one ending in a flower bud. It stopped in front of my face. ¡®Open wide!¡¯ Helrika said with a wide and pleasant smile. FUCK! My internal resistance turning out to be futile, I opened my mouth, the vine shoved itself inside, released a cloud of spores directly into my body and retracted itself. ¡®You should be nice and compliant now. Don¡¯t worry. I think you should enjoy it.¡¯ Like hell, I will bitch. I knew I had to act quickly and soon since all my resistance would soon likely melt. The Dryad lost interest in me, probably waiting for the spores to take effect. That was my chance. I turned my hands into slime and got them out of their bindings. Then as I had seconds to act I activated [The Swiftness of the Wind]. I was still held up by the vine on my neck, I summoned a knife into my right hand and threw it at my captor. It embedded itself in her side. Helrika yelped in pain and her concentration lapsed, causing the vines to let me go. The moment my feet touched the ground, I summoned my other knife and pounced towards her. I landed on her and pinned her to the ground with my body. With a smirk that made me furious, she said: ¡®Stop!¡¯ I wanted to comply, I really did¡­ but that smirk¡­ that smirk¡­ I plunged my other knife into her chest. The smug confidence in her eyes was replaced by pain and fear that only fueled my feral nature. I ripped both my knives out of her body and readied to strike her again. ¡®Puh- please¡­,¡¯ Helrika made a last-ditch plea raising her hand. ¡®Please¡­ d-don-¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ I interrupted her and stabbed through the chest with Luna. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡®No,¡¯ I snarled again as Sol pierced the dryad¡¯s stomach. ¡®NO!¡¯ I roared as my fingers turned into claws and I raked them across her throat. ¡®No,¡¯ I whispered as Helrika let out her last gurgly gasp. No, I thought as I felt the spores finally overtake my will. Aki It had been two hours since Lilyth left to look for whatever was hounding us. She was supposed to check in by radio every now and then, so we were getting seriously worried. I wish I didn''t get hurt. I would have run after her. ¡®I¡¯ll go search for Lilyth and the exit,¡¯ Caei sighed heavily, echoing my own anxious thoughts. ¡®And when you don¡¯t come back?¡¯ Rennie asked bitterly. ¡®If Lilyth is dead, so are we,¡¯ I croaked. ¡®We¡¯re going together. We owe her that much.¡¯ ¡®Are you feeling up to it?¡¯ Caei asked me. ¡®No,¡¯ I admitted. ¡®But I think it is irrelevant under our current circumstances.¡¯ ¡®Let me heal you up a bit more then,¡¯ my wife said. I started to protest but she ignored me. ¡®I don¡¯t want to risk losing both you AND Lilyth,¡¯ she explained, teary-eyed. ¡®I still left myself some mana, but I¡­ I¡­ am¡­ not¡­ not¡­¡¯ I took her hand in mine. ¡®She¡¯s fine,¡¯ I said quietly. ¡®We must believe it.¡¯ Caei nodded and wiped her eyes. We did our best to progress as quickly as possible, but being constantly on guard slowed us down. It looked like Lilyth did a fairly thorough job of clearing the place as, in the end, nothing came after us. We got seriously worried when we got to the room with three knife-wielding mannequins as their blades were covered in Lilyth''s blue blood, so we hurried down the stairs in that room and ended up on a battlefield. Almost two dozen mannequins lay smashed all over the floor among, often shattered, sheet-covered skeletons of adults and children. There was more of Lilyth''s blood there, not as much as before, but still, it was highly concerning. ¡®Down the corridor, I guess,¡¯ Rennie sighed and our little group soon came across a large room covered in dead foliage with a large wilted flower dead centre. Half-digested remnants of a body lay in the middle of it, their surroundings savaged by something. No. Not something. Someone. Lilyth''s clothes lay next to the remnants, not so much taken, as torn off. Their owner wasn¡¯t that far away, sitting in a fetal position in the far corner of the room, covered in some sort of green liquid. ¡®Lilyth!¡¯ I called out to her. ¡®You¡¯re alive!¡¯ ¡®D-don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t come near me¡­¡¯ I heard her ask us meekly, as we started approaching her. ¡®I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡¯ ¡®Hurt us?¡¯ Ren asked. ¡® ¡®I r-recently came back to my senses,¡¯ she explained with a breaking voice. ¡®The spores¡­ the spores¡­ they¡­ I¡­ Her¡­¡¯ Ignoring my slimy cutie¡¯s warnings I ran over to her and wrapped my arms around her. While approaching, I noticed that the pupils of her eyes were now fully vertical and instead of wisps of hair she had a blue blade of grass on the left side of her face and an orange one on the right. What happened? ¡®It¡¯s okay, my love,¡¯ I reassured her, ignoring that problem for now. ¡®It¡¯s okay.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not¡­¡¯ she cried. ¡®I¡¯m a fucking monster¡­¡¯ ¡®No, you aren''t,¡¯ Caei, who came up as well, stressed. ¡®You are the woman I love. As does Aki.¡¯ ¡®And me,¡¯ Ren added with a smile. Caei sat on the other side of Lilyth and also hugged her, while Rennie sat cross-legged in front of my wife and took our slimy cutie''s hands into hers. ¡®Now tell us what happened,¡¯ I said, and Lilyth began her tale. ¡®... The next thing I know¡­ I am naked¡­ translucent and bits of¡­ of¡­¡¯ Lilyth tried concluding her harrowing tale, but I could see how much it was costing her. ¡®You don¡¯t have to finish,¡¯ I said. ¡®We heard enough¡­¡¯ Lilyth simply nodded in gratitude. ¡®For the record¡­¡¯ Caei sighed. ¡®You are not the one who¡­ who¡­ you know. It was the spores¡­ that¡­ by the gods¡­ sorry¡­¡¯ ¡®Yes¡­¡¯ Lilyth nodded. ¡®So¡­ if you don¡¯t think¡­ if you don''t feel safe with me¡­ I¡¯ll understand. Fuck¡­ If I hurt any of you due to this¡­ No¡­ it is best if I leave you¡­¡¯ ¡®Oh can it, gummy fox,¡¯ Ren spat. ¡®The bitch reaped what she had sown. You are not responsible for your actions after she fucking drugged you. And If memory serves¡­ this predatory side of you was always there, wasn¡¯t it?¡¯ ¡®Y-yes¡­ t-the h-hunt¡­¡¯ ¡®The fucking Huntress yes. She just took your body on an unplanned joyride. Fuck her. You are back in control now.¡¯ ¡®If it helps¡­¡¯ Caeileera sighed. ¡®You are not the only person I know¡­ who may have self-control issues.¡¯ She told us about what Ereshkigal advised her and Rennie about Anika. ¡®It¡¯s not just her¡­¡¯ Caei got really quiet. ¡®I¡­ I know what you are going through¡­ Remember the cup of blood Ereshkigal offered me? Blood¡­ it is highly addictive to my people. Back¡­ back¡­ before¡­ before¡­ I was a concubine¡­ of a Crimson Vicar. A real piece of shit. During one of the parties he organised¡­ there were captive humans and elves there¡­ there was this young¡­ elf. He was maybe twenty¡­ we shared him¡­ the sight¡­ no¡­¡¯ By the gods¡­ Lilyth wrapped her right arm around Caei and hugged her tightly. ¡®Thank you for sharing that, my love,¡¯ she whispered. ¡®That¡­ that took a lot of courage.¡¯ ¡®Both of you are idiots,¡¯ I said. ¡®I¡¯m not gonna say what you¡¯ve done wasn¡¯t horrible, Caei¡­¡¯ I remembered the sick pleasure I felt at watching the man in the basement burn. ¡®... But all four of us have done pretty horrible things at this stage.¡¯ Ren simply nodded, and I continued: ¡®You are no longer that woman, Caei. You weren''t yourself when that happened, Lilyth. I could never bring myself to hate either of you. You two¡­ no¡­ you three are the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I love you. Together till the end, remember.¡¯ ¡®Together till the end¡­¡¯ my, I realised, three wives repeated. Chapter 126 - CSI: Dwynveia Caeileera It felt wonderful to have¡­ that secret out in the open. That removed any power it had over me. Not being rejected because of it¡­ it was pure bliss. ¡®Still¡­¡¯ Lilyth continued. ¡®I don¡¯t want to hurt you guys. I love you too much. I would never¡­ never¡­¡¯ That was a sensible worry. Luckily, Ren came to the rescue. ¡®You say¡­ that part of you is pretty animalistic. Would it see us as packmates or something?¡¯ Lilyth pondered that for the moment. ¡®Back in the Tower¡­ she did consider Caei and Aki to be my ¡°mates¡±...¡¯ ¡®Wait¡­ WHAT?¡¯ I blurted out. ¡®That about sums up my reaction back then,¡¯ Lilyth said with a weak smile. ¡®But given that it was days before you became my ¡°mates¡±¡­ I think Ren should be good too¡­ not that¡­ I mean¡­¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll cross that bridge when it comes to it,¡¯ Rennie laughed. Part of me wanted to scream upon hearing this, but then I remembered that I did fuck with Ren on the station¡­ so¡­ Double standards much? I couldn''t help wanting Lilyth to be mine and just mine¡­ but¡­ she wouldn''t be as I wouldn''t be ever fully hers. There was Aki and Ren too. Like¡­ if anything I felt that I have been neglecting the pipsqueak recently. It was so much easier¡­ before. Will just need to make the most of what private time I will get with Lilyth. That trip we have planned¡­ yeah. This will be fun. ¡®Thank you, Ren¡­¡¯ Lilyth finally said. ¡®You brought me some solace.¡¯ ¡®My pleasure, gummy fox,¡¯ she laughed. We sat there in pleasant silence for a while. Just enjoying our company. Then, I decided to ask a question that was bothering me. ¡®What¡¯s up with the hair?¡¯ Lilyth took the orange blade of grass between her fingers. ¡®Been wondering about that myself,¡¯ she replied. ¡®It was like this when I regained my¡­ myself. Probably a memento of my¡­ lunch.¡¯ Her stare went blank for a moment and then she muttered: ¡®Interesting.¡¯ She shared some notifications with us. Level 24 Helrika has been slain. You have received 2400 experience points (9200/9500 total experience points progress to level 19) Status: Arcane Instability removed. New Trait Unlocked: [Minor Plant Fae] Type: Racial - Infused Level: N/A Effects:
  • Restores the ability to use Plant spells (Part of the Nature branch of Life Arcana).
  • Plant spells are more effective in Life Arcana-infused areas.
  • Increased mana regeneration in sunlight.
  • Increased resistance to magical plant-based toxins
Description: You are what you eat. In this case, you really took vegetarianism to the next level. Spell Learned: [Constricting Vines] Type: Nature - Plant - Offensive Rank: Novice Effect: Grows vines from the ground that can be used to restrain targets or hold objects. Casting time: 1 second Note: This spell can be only used where plants can be grown. ¡®So¡­ you are now¡­ what¡­ part plant?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®I haven''t the fuckingest of ideas,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Didn¡¯t know flowers swore this much,¡¯ Ren laughed. ¡®Hey¡­ Fuck you too, birdie!¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s wait until you clean up and maybe buy me dinner first, eh?¡¯ Rennie retorted, causing everyone, including somewhat blue-faced Lilyth, to burst out laughing. Unfortunately, the clothes Lilyth wore were a total loss, so she used them to get as much of the remnants off her body as she could, before throwing them into a corner and getting a spare set from her satchel. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The Huntress sure is a messy eater. All things considered, all four of us had¡­ some dryad soup on us, but we decided to wait to change until we got out of the Corridors. ¡®As ready as I¡¯m gonna get,¡¯ Lilyth finally said. She looked like an utter picture of misery, but it would have to do. One upside of my poor jelly¡¯s unplanned meal was that her wounds healed and she got some mana back. I pointed at the other exit from the room. ¡®Shall we then?¡¯ ¡®A moment,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®I was wondering¡­ what happened in that other room? The quest we got here says something about a mystery and it hasn''t updated upon the death of that tree bitch.¡¯ That''s a good point. With Lilyth nearing level nineteen¡­ that thousand experience points would be worth a lot. ¡®Forgot about that,¡¯ my jelly said. ¡®The quest, I mean. Let¡¯s go there and check it out I guess? I didn''t get a chance to get a good look around when I passed through previously. Thrashed the place real good though.¡¯ I still can''t believe she took on twenty of those things. TWENTY. We have a lot of catching up to do to be equals to her. I looked at how absolutely miserable Lilyth was. It will be worth it though. I will do everything in my power to ensure that every next day is as happy as it can be for her. Lilyth Our search of the impromptu mortuary yielded nothing. It is possible some clues were there previously, but they got destroyed in the fight. Still¡­ it was nice to have something to do, rather than just sit and think about¡­ what I was. One decision I made was that I would not be picking any further ¡°slime¡± abilities. No need to embolden the Huntress. Kitsune stuff feels¡­ safe enough, I guess? Plant-based abilities¡­ I wasn''t that sure about them. On one hand, they felt neat, but on the other¡­ I fucking ate someone to get those. I could view it as a form of hunting, I guess? I mean¡­ sausages and ham require killing animals. And this was¡­ an accident¡­ Still¡­ Helrika was a sentient being¡­ At least she was dead¡­ or was she? I had the sudden image of her struggling for her final breaths, as my body turned into a shapeless lump, enveloped her and¡­ Shewasalreadydeadshewasalreadydead¡­ But what if¡­ The next thing I remember is Aki and Ren restraining me and my face hurting like a motherfucker. Then there was a flash of green light and the pain subsided. ¡®Wh-what happened?¡¯ I asked in a weak voice. ¡®That¡¯s what I wanted to ask you,¡¯ Caei asked, barely restraining tears. ¡®One moment you were fine¡­ the next you are screaming and clawing at your face.¡¯ I looked at my fingers. Apparently, I activated my [Form Claws] ability¡­ and they were covered in the blue and black goo that formed my body. ¡®I imagined¡­ imagined¡­ myself¡­ attacking Helrika while she still was alive,¡¯ I responded, deciding not to hide the truth. They needed to know what kind of monster I was. ¡®At least I hope it was just my imagination¡­¡¯ I added weakly. Instead of horror, I saw deep concern and pain on my loved ones¡¯ faces. ¡®Lilyth¡­¡¯ Caei began. ¡®I think I say this for all of us¡­ we¡¯ve failed you. You took on this burden for us and ended up paying a heavy price for it. Again.¡¯ ¡®This is our fault,¡¯ Aki said sadly. ¡®We weren''t strong enough to help you with this.¡¯ ¡®This won¡¯t happen again,¡¯ Ren agreed. ¡®We can''t expect you to fight all the battles. Solve all our problems.¡¯ ¡®Yes,¡¯ Caei finished. ¡®We are your partners. In life and death. Time to ensure you can rely on us too. You are not a monster. We don''t see you as one, and we never will.¡¯ Aki After we finished comforting my poor cute fox and she finished crying her eyes out, I decided to take her mind off things. She looked a bit better, but I thought that was because the deep gouges on her face already started to fill out due to her reabsorbing the bits she clawed out. By the gods¡­ the guilt she will have to live with due to this. The uncertainty¡­ Caei was right. There must have been something¡­ anything¡­ that we could have done to prevent that ambush. But what? I sighed internally. I wouldn''t be able to change the past, so there was no need to rehash it, just to learn from it. You wanted to be the leader, Aki. Act like it. So¡­ I asked Lilyth: ¡®Why do you think those corpses are here?¡¯ I made a sweeping gesture around the room to emphasize my point. She thought over it, tapping her chin with a finger. ¡®I see three options. One, those are Helrika¡¯s victims. Two, those people died here for unrelated reasons. Three¡­ those skeletons are just props.¡¯ She walked over to one of the undisturbed bodies and pulled the sheet off it. It was a fairly lithe, tall skeleton, which made me think it could have been an elf. Lilyth carefully examined it from head to toe. ¡®There is no visible damage that I can see.¡¯ She took the skull into her hands and rotated it. ¡®No signs of head trauma, I think,¡¯ she muttered. She put the skull back and pointed to the concrete beneath the skeleton and the sheet itself. ¡®There are no stains visible, meaning that likely this was already a skeleton when it was brought here and covered. And that''s about as much as I can tell after watching a few seasons of Bones. You would need a CSI technician, a coroner or an anthropologist to glean more from this.¡¯ I looked at Rennie for help, but she shook her head and said: ¡®Sorry¡­ my line of work involved making corpses to analyse.¡¯ Caei approached us and looked at the skeleton. ¡®It¡¯s weird,¡¯ she said. ¡®The skeleton¡­ kind of looks whole. Wouldn''t it fall apart by now?¡¯ ¡®Good point,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®See any wiring? On Earth metal wire was often used to keep bones connected.¡¯ We also knelt by the skeleton and carefully examined every bone. ¡®Nothing,¡¯ Lilyth finally said. ¡®Soooo¡­ props of some kind, but I haven''t got a clue what.¡¯ ¡®Magick?,¡¯ Caei suggested. ¡®Fair enough.¡¯ ¡®This room makes no sense¡­¡¯ Ren said in annoyance. ¡®Someone placed forty skeletons here, hid twenty mannequins among them and for what¡­ ambience?¡¯ ¡®Forty-one,¡¯ Lilyth added absentmindedly. ¡®Only nineteen mannequins were under the sheets. Which¡­ is a weird number.¡¯ ¡®Maybe there were sixty skeletons, but Helrika removed some?¡¯ I suggested. ¡®Meaning if we go deeper into the complex we should find a pile o¡¯bones,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®If anything this will spare us¡­ freaking out when we find it.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s go look for it then,¡¯ I said, trying to suppress a wince from the pain in my throat. Chapter 127 - The Dryads Chambers Aki When we were passing through the dryad''s chamber I distracted Lilyth to ensure that she didn''t have to look at what was left of her assailant. I could see appreciation in her eyes, so, led by an impulse, I scratched her behind the ear. That made my wife giggle a bit, which brought smiles to all our faces. I offered her my hand and she accepted it, squeezing it gently. I reciprocated. I really need to go on an actual date with Lilyth. Maybe the two of us can have a romantic picnic at the lakeside? Plus once we get to Ror-Bhyk we can walk around just holding hands? Or maybe the four of us can go to Fal-Mel and watch the ships there? That Denyr place Rennie mentioned also sounds fun. We do need new clothes. Once we were past that room, instead of letting go Lilyth swung around and embraced me. ¡®Thank you, my love,¡¯ she whispered into my ear. ¡®Thank you for taking me in, despite¡­ everything. We then kissed. I felt my tail curl into a question mark, damn traitorous appendage, but Lilyth only smiled at that. ¡®I love you,¡¯ she whispered again. ¡®I love you too,¡¯ I responded. We kissed again and then just embraced. ¡®I needed that,¡¯ Lilyth said after a while. ¡®Should we just take a break?¡¯ Caei asked with a worried expression on her face. ¡®I wouldn''t blame you one bit for wanting to take a few hours off.¡¯ Lilyth pondered that for a moment and nodded. ¡®Yeah, let¡¯s. There should be someplace up ahead where we can stop, I imagine. Then¡­ let¡¯s just look for the exit if we don''t find anything interesting¡­ I¡­ I¡­ I¡­ want to go home.¡¯ Lilyth began to sob. I looked at Caei in surprise. She also looked shocked, but pleased. There. The impossible. Lilyth actually decided to take care of her own needs. Caei glanced at me and nodded in approval. I massaged my neck. Yeah. That was a bit too close of a brush with death. I¡¯m also¡­ good. Lilyth I could see the fatigue and pain in everyone''s eyes. Dungeons were the absolute worst. Me eating Helrika and my subsequent breakdown probably weren''t helping. I was so glad they didn''t reject me. If¡­ if¡­ they did¡­ I would probably just end it. Die as myself. Now¡­ I had to work on maintaining my self-control¡­ so¡­ that I wouldn''t¡­ hurt them. ¡®You are not a monster¡­¡¯ Aki, likely seeing my apprehension, whispered into my ear and squeezed my hand. ¡®I love you, my foxy cuddlebug. Never forget that.¡¯ ¡®I love you too,¡¯ I whimpered. ¡®I love all of you.¡¯ After I collected myself, we continued down the corridor, Caei holding one of my hands, and Aki the other. They really didn''t reject me. The next room we came upon was an antechamber of sorts, with two doors on each side of it. There was also another corridor entrance present on the other side, but we decided to ignore it for now and go through the side-rooms first. ¡®Be on your guard,¡¯ Aki said hoarsely. ¡®We don¡¯t know what hides in each of these.¡¯ It pained me to hear the damage her vocal cords sustained. If only I was faster¡­ The scene replayed for the umpteenth time in my mind. Diving behind Caei to save her, only to see that another of the bastards was also behind Aki. The despair that bloomed in my heart when Aki limply fell to the ground¡­ Focus. Focus. Focus. ¡®You okay?¡¯ Caei asked apprehensively. ¡®You tensed up suddenly. ¡®Bad memories attack,¡¯ I replied. ¡®I¡¯m fine now¡­¡¯ ¡®You sure?¡¯ Rennie asked. ¡®I¡¯m not fine fine,¡¯ I admitted. ¡®But as okay as I can be given the circumstances.¡¯ ¡®Which sounds to me as ¡°barely holding on¡±. Let¡¯s look over these rooms and take a break.¡¯ ¡®Agreed.¡¯ my Dark Lady said. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Aki The best we could guess, the four rooms looked to be Helrika''s living space. One of them, covered in wilted plants, we initially thought to be her bedroom, though we were basing that off a large leaf that was on the floor there and which Lilyth guessed to be her bed. ¡®Could be a table,¡¯ Caei suggested. ¡®Hard to tell in its current state. ¡®Doesn¡¯t seem structurally sound enough for that¡­¡¯ Lilyth muttered. ¡®But¡­ we¡¯ll probably never know. The issue was further confounded when in one of the other rooms we found an actual bed and in another an alchemist¡¯s table. ¡®Maybe she grew ingredients there then?¡¯ I suggested. ¡®Or ate her meals,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®Or both.¡¯ ¡®Or neither,¡¯ Ren sighed. ¡®The answers died with Helrika.¡¯ Then a thoughtful expression crossed her face and she scratched her chin. ¡®Don¡¯t take it the wrong way, Lilyth,¡¯ she began carefully,¡¯ and I won¡¯t mind if you get mad at me for this question¡­ but did you¡­ absorb any of Helrika''s memories? I am not talking about just the mystery room. She lived here, so there might be some¡­ some clues there.¡¯ Caei sharply inhaled the air. I was horrified by the suggestion, but¡­ Ren had a point. The idea of Lilyth having her memories¡­ Please say ¡°no¡±. Lilyth simply got sad. ¡®My memories got messed with so many times that I¡­ I got some idea of how they work. There was¡­ a mad jumble of something inside of me. Back¡­ back when I just sat there¡­ I purged it. And then purged all the memories of what I saw in that. Sorry.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t be,¡¯ Ren said with sorrow on her face. ¡®I think any of us would do the same.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®So¡­ you can just make yourself forget?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Anything?¡¯ There was an unasked question there. Could Lilyth make herself forget us? ¡®No,¡¯ Lilyth shook her head. ¡®I may not have a brain, but my¡­ consciousness still forms a cohesive whole. Mess with that too much and I would be effectively lobotomising myself. Those were¡­ surface memories, I guess? I could excise them with no¡­ damage.¡¯ ¡®I guess that''s how you¡­ blacked out.¡¯ I said. ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Lilyth nodded. ¡®Amnesia is a universal mental self-defence mechanism, I guess.¡¯ The alchemy room was a treasure trove, as we found a primer, which I immediately packed, and multiple mana and health potions there. Caei immediately downed two of the first and forced another into Lilyth. ¡®You are our main source of damage,¡¯ she said. ¡®We need you on top of your game.¡¯ In the meantime, I drank a healing potion which brought me up to full health, though given how much talking still hurt from time to time and the occasional hoarseness of my voice, some permanent damage was there. This was also supported by the kink in my neck. ¡®Those might get better in time,¡¯ Lilyth suggested as she was giving me an utterly divine massage. ¡®If magic couldn''t do it¡­¡¯ Caei began, but my foxy cutie stopped her. ¡®Never underestimate the body''s ability to heal, Caei. It may take some months but an improvement is not out of the question.¡¯ She told us about the issues with her hands and how they took two years to recover. ¡®Before all of this happened, I often forgot that the issue was there to begin with.¡¯ ¡®So you mean I won¡¯t always sound like this?¡¯ I said hoarsely. ¡®I don¡¯t know. But you know¡­ you can always put on a sailor¡¯s hat, an eyepatch and you will make an excellent Dread Pirate Aki.¡¯ Caeileera and Ren snorted from laughter, while me, barely containing my own outburst, playfully elbowed Lilyth in her ribs. ¡®Parley, me heartey!¡¯ she responded in a mock growl. ¡®I meant no offence! I shall walk the plank!¡¯ This had all of us rolling on the floor laughing. The final room was Helrika¡¯s storage room. Most of the stuff there was of no interest to us, or we were too wary to take it. Some things were of use, however. One thing that immediately caught my eye was the green padded vest we found there. It was thick and woven out of some strange material, which the interface told us was actually plant fibre. Item: Nymph-woven Vest Class: Light Armour - Torso Rarity: Artisan - Rare Quality: Good Traits:
  • Self-Regeneration - If damaged, this item regains one durability point per hour.
There were also some matching bracelets there. Since Lilyth had her own armour, Caei and Ren were happy to let me have this one, as I was a frontliner. ¡®There goes the idea of sexy leather armour,¡¯ my alabaster beauty sighed causing more bursts of laughter. Caei ended up grabbing a silver magical circlet with a green gem. Item: Circlet of Life Class: Jewellery - Magical Rarity: Coven Made - Very Rare Quality: Very Good Durability: 20/20 Traits:
  • Boosts the strength and efficiency of Life Arcana spells.
¡®Score!¡¯ she hooted. There wasn¡¯t much in terms of weapons we could take - just an ornate spear that none of us felt like carrying. ¡®I wonder why Helrika wasn''t wearing that stuff?¡¯ Ren wondered after we were done looting. ¡®The spores,¡¯ Lilyth answered immediately. ¡®She was surprised it took so much to¡­ handle me.¡¯ ¡®I would still put the armour on.¡¯ Lilyth shrugged. ¡®Helrika got hosed by the same thing that screwed me over in Mer-Cas. Overconfidence.¡¯ ¡®Never underestimate an enemy?¡¯ Caei sighed. ¡®Yeah. That''s something we should always keep in mind.¡¯ Truer words were never spoken. Chapter 128 - Letting Go Lilyth We spent a few hours in the antechamber, huddled together, all four of us. Initially, me and Caei were in the middle, Aki was on my other side, while my Dark Sorceress was flanked by Ren. Then after some time, we swapped places, so that the outer two ended up in the middle. This was my first time to be next to Ren and she turned out to be as nice a hugging partner as my other two partners. This is pure bliss. Ren seemed to agree as she simply muttered: ¡®I really could get used to that.¡¯ ¡®Welcome to the family,¡¯ Aki laughed. I wrapped my hands around Rennie, gave her a peck on the cheek and simply purred: ¡®Mine.¡¯ She reciprocated the hug and the kiss. ¡®Yours,¡¯ she agreed with deep affection in her voice. ¡®And theirs.¡¯ I didn''t lose my new family today. In fact¡­ it grew. Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end and we would need to get moving. Ren was the one to signal that sad necessity when she, in a shaky voice, said: ¡®¡¯Guys? I¡¯ll scout out ahead. You rest up a bit more. Maybe I can find the exit and we can just leave.¡¯ I sat up and started protesting, but Caei cut me off. ¡®You¡¯ve done enough for us today, Lilyth.¡¯ ¡®But¡­¡¯ ¡®No buts. We can''t keep relying on you ALL the time. You have suffered enough for our sake. Time we repay that debt.¡¯ ¡®But¡­ what if you get hurt, Rennie?¡¯ I cried. ¡®Then I get hurt,¡¯ she responded. ¡®Not gonna say I am not terrified, but letting you get hurt for our sake¡­ you will not always be here to save us. Me and Caei, we got Anika and Arcarius to Mer-Cas just fine.¡¯ ¡®Yup,¡¯ my Dark Sorceress confirmed. ¡®We need to learn how to take care of ourselves. Because if you get yourself killed we¡¯ll be fucked. So¡­ let go. Let us take risks. I beg of you.¡¯ Everything inside me screamed against that. I really view them as mates, don¡¯t I? Is the Huntress giving me some pack leader instincts or is this some more¡­ animalistic reflection of my own protective nature? I didn''t use to be like that. I sighed internally. The girls are right though. I need to¡­ let go. ¡®Just be careful,¡¯ I reluctantly agreed. ¡®Will do my best,¡¯ Ren said with a weak smile. ¡®If I want that dinner with you, we must live through this.¡¯ That caused all of us to smile. I gave her a final hug and she was off. ¡®Good first step,¡¯ Aki whispered once Rennie left our eyesight and gave me a head pat. I wanted to scream I wasn¡¯t a pet but something inside of me liked that, and I felt that if I was standing my tail would be wagging. Ren I didn''t lie when I said that I found the idea of going out on my own terrifying, but since I wanted to become the Ren that would fight her own battles I had to start somewhere. Why does it have to be a dungeon though? I remembered how my companions¡¯ journey began and shuddered. No complaining, Ren. They had it far worse. I couldn''t even begin to imagine the horror of suddenly ending up in another world, and the first experiences there being in the infamous Tower of Trials. I was genuinely surprised it took Lilyth this long to reach a breaking point, though perhaps she was accustomed to horrors a bit. The stories I heard about Terra¡­ that war in Yukrein¡­ Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. By the gods. Living in a society where you can constantly be bombarded by images of horrible events from the entire planet¡­ that would build a certain tolerance, wouldn''t it? That and the experience that comes with age. Something that poor Aki lacked. I wasn¡¯t surprised about Caei lasting this long. I knew that she saw, committed and experienced her share of atrocities throughout the years. That blood-drinking story did finally answer the question about what was troubling my poor Leera. Me¡­ I did have a suspicion that I was still processing the events in the Corridors. The nightmares will probably come later. Probably nothing as bad as Lilyth is going to have¡­ what she already has¡­ She really didn''t need to add ¡°I ate someone¡± to the list of traumatic events in her life¡­ My brother provided enough. The worst part was¡­ I understood her worries. I didn''t share them, but the idea of ¡°if I fuck up I might devour my loved ones¡±, was a weirdly relatable one. In my case¡­ it was my past coming back to haunt me. Some old enemy hurting the girls¡­ I guess I have an extra reason to keep stronger. A morbid thought about feeding some of my old enemies to Lilyth flashed through my mind. I felt really bad about it. The sight of her clawing at her face¡­ Yeah. That was so wrong of me to even remotely consider¡­ I am still a horrible person, aren¡¯t I? I shook the thoughts away and proceeded down the corridor. I always had good spatial orientation, probably a remnant from the ¡°bird¡± branch of the family tree, so couldn''t help but notice that we have long since left the theoretical boundaries of the building. I think we crossed it around the exit from the mortuary. I was genuinely curious whether there was some deeper meaning behind it. Were we back on the ¡°path¡±? Was this tied to the mystery here? In some strange way, this situation was really exciting. The mystery. The danger. Rennie likes. Maybe I ought to become a dungeon explorer of sorts? Find out the mysteries behind them. Like¡­ that Y-Ram place the girls talked about. Why was it built? Why is it empty? Why are monsters there? It wasn''t like we wouldn''t be probably going through dozens of these while looking for that Necromancer or running other errands for Ereshkigal. Why not find something to enjoy about that? I would probably be able to get Caei and Lilyth on my side. Both of them liked learning things, I¡¯ve noticed, and they were planning that Lin-Vyme trip. That would give me some¡­ arguments. It was a shame we had to leave this place, but Lilyth''s sanity took precedence. However¡­ if I see something interesting, nobody will blame me for investing, won¡¯t they? I looked at the radio Aki gave me. Might discover something useful too. Yeah¡­ as long as I keep checking in it should be fine. The next room I reached was¡­ different from the others. While the entirety of the basement was made out of featureless concrete, this one was made out of stone blocks. There was also a large brownish one in the centre, almost looking like an altar or a sarcophagus. There was one like this in the cave! I thought with growing excitement. And this matches the description of where Lilyth was summoned. I quickly looked around. There were no other exits from the room. Could this be it? The way out? I wanted to celebrate but decided to wait. I need to be sure. I began closely examining the walls but didn''t find the magical script anywhere. Did the fucking salad destroy it? One thing occurred to me then. At no point have I seen the hypothesized pile of bones. What¡¯s going on? I didn¡¯t miss an exit. I was about to call in when a thin crack in one of the blocks caught my eye. I felt an intense and overwhelming urge to investigate it. What the hell? I tried to resist it and retreat, but the urge just kept growing stronger. Mind control! It was getting painful to resist it. I pulled out the radio, activated it and with the rest of my strength painfully moaned: ¡®Help me¡­ please.. ¡® The radio then fell out of my hand and all that mattered was investigating the crack in the wall. Aki As much as I liked our new cuddle partner, it being just the three of us was so fun. Lying between Caei and Lilyth¡­ felt like the old times. ¡®You know¡­¡¯ Caei said while caressing my stomach. ¡®I need to sleep more with just the two of you.¡¯ ¡®I think that was the plan for this trip,¡¯ Lilyth laughed. ¡®But well¡­ leaving Ren behind wouldn''t feel right.¡¯ ¡®Yeah.¡¯ I agreed. ¡®Nothing says our trio can''t have a night to our own from time to time.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll need to watch out around Ireela, anyway,¡¯ my foxy cuddlebug said. ¡®She might not be that¡­ welcoming of her daughter being involved with three women.¡¯ Caei nodded. ¡®She had enough trouble accepting her as a lesbian as it is.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll figure something out,¡¯ I said. Lilyth wanted to say something but was interrupted by the crackle of the radio. ¡®Help me¡­ please,¡¯ Rennie cried out, sounding like she was forcing herself to speak. Lilyth jumped to her feet immediately. ¡®Go!¡¯ I told her, realising that every second counted. ¡®We¡¯ll follow you!¡¯ Chapter 129 - The Prism That Distorts Dimensions Lilyth I blitzed along the corridors praying that I wouldn''t be late. Luckily, Ren wasn''t as far as I feared she would be, and when I burst into a summoning altar room I had no issue locating where she could have disappeared to. There was an opening in the wall that reminded me of the entrance to the control room of the Tower of Trials. I hurried towards it and saw that it led towards a large pure-white spherical chamber. Green lights reminding me of circuitry ran along the walls. Dafuq? I couldn''t spend too much time gawking at the unusual sights as I had a friend to rescue, which would prove quite a challenge, as she was suspended in the air in the middle of it by beams of black light emitted from a web of small metallic tetrahedrons orbiting her. The process was maintained by a distorted humanoid figure that was hovering behind Ren and seemed to be linked to the solids by thin glass-like strands and seemed to be slowly pouring through them into Rennie, who was slowly bleaching out of colour. I was about to have another dimensional mindfuck, but I was quickly distracted by eight metallic eye-shaped things with spinning viridian tetrahedrons instead of irises that opened along Ren¡¯s body, four on each side, looking straight at me. ¡®Leave, mortal!¡¯ a voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere. ¡®This no longer concerns you. She is mine now.¡¯ ¡®Too bad, fucko,¡¯ I responded, summoning my knives. ¡®When I imprint on someone that''s a bond for life.¡¯ Whatever that wasn¡¯t didn''t respond. It must have assumed that the sudden intense glow of the irises was enough. Not one for taunts, eh? I could easily tell that whatever was going to hit me, likely wouldn''t be survivable. But¡­ I would not leave Ren to that thing. I closed my eyes and charged. Caeileera As we hurried towards wherever Lilyth and Ren were, we could clearly hear the threat directed at my wife. My foxy idiot responded with something, likely insults, and a few seconds later a loud hiss could be heard. Lilyth! We increased our pace with Aki and soon burst into a large chamber. It was a sight of chaos. Ren was floating in the centre of it, surrounded by a wreath of metal and glowing green eyes. There was a distortion behind her, which made me understand why Lilyth started fighting just relying on her hearing. If you can''t see the madness, it cannot affect you. The eye things were following Lilyth, who was running towards the weird being, occasionally firing off [Shadow Bolts]. Their glow intensified and bolts of green energy fired towards my wife. She managed to dodge most of them, but one singed her back, causing her to stumble and scream in pain. ¡®We¡¯ll need to work together on that one,¡¯ Aki said, drawing her swords and firing a [Water Bolt] at the eyes. As four of the eyes began turning towards Aki, I unfurled my wings and flew over to Lilyth. She was already getting up but looked to be in absolute misery. Fire! FUCK! ¡®MORE PESTS!¡¯ the non-voice boomed. I landed next to her and while helping her to her feet, cast [Soothe Pain]. There was no time for healing. ¡®You okay?¡¯ I asked as we scrambled away from another burst. ¡®I am now,¡¯ she gave me a weak smile. Then horror appeared on her face and she pushed me away. A fire bolt passed centimetres away from my face. FUCK! ¡®Caei¡­¡¯ Lilyth began. ¡®Do you trust me?¡¯ ¡®With my life,¡¯ I responded. ¡®Then¡­ hold my beer,¡¯ she said and quickly explained her plan. By the gods. Aki I was weaving between the bolts fired at me. There was actually a fairly easy pattern to them, so with just four of the eyes directed at me I felt I could keep going. I had no illusions about my chances if the monster only concentrated on me. In fact, I was surprised my poor jelly survived that long, but that didn''t mean I wasn''t singed here and there. Those burns hurt like a bitch, but that only motivated me to ask Caei to teach me [Soothe Pain]. Every scar is a lesson. One thing I noticed was that my [Water Bolts] were wholly ineffective. It didn''t matter if they hit one of the eyes or the distortion¡­ nothing happened. So¡­ out of desperation, I fired off a [Lesser Abyssal Bolt]. I was hesitant to do that since the thing used fire, so there was no telling what would happen, but it was not like my other attacks had any effects on the thing. Here goes nothing. My spell impacted one of the eyes causing it to explode in a ball of red-and-green fire. ¡®RAAGH!¡¯ The chamber shook from the roar of the monster¡¯s pain. I didn''t have time to fully process what just happened as I got the bastard¡¯s undivided attention. ¡®You will pay for this, bastard spawn of the Abyss!¡¯ Just as its eyes began to glow and I moved to run away, I heard Lilyth shout: ¡®Two debit cards coming right up, motherfucker!¡¯ Caei I watched Lilyth climb the staircase I was making for her out of [Floating Disks] while dodging the attacks from the monster with growing horror. The spells drained a lot of my mana reserves so I quickly downed another mana potion between the casts. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Then Aki¡­ did something to finally damage the thing and it lost interest in us altogether, which, while understandable - we seemingly posed no threat to it, was about to prove a costly mistake for the creature, as Lilyth got where she wanted to get and leapt towards the monster shouting some Terran nonsense at it. What the fuck is a debit card? I thought as I readied myself to assist her. Time slowed to a crawl. The monster''s eyes started to refocus on Lilyth. Aki¡¯s [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] impacted another one of them, destroying it. Another roar of pain shook the chamber making my ears hurt. Poor Lilyth. My wife, undeterred, ran the distortion through with her knives, the force of her attack enough to disrupt the hold it had on Ren. Realising she was about to fall and get injured, or worse, I leapt into the air so that I could catch her. ¡®Gotcha!¡¯ I shouted when I wrapped my hands around her body. I misjudged how much the poor half-harpy weighed and she painfully dragged us down into an uncontrolled fall that I arrested with another [Floating Disk] before I gained enough momentum to seriously hurt us both. Still¡­ it felt as if the action almost caused my arms to get ripped off. As I started to lower the disk to the ground I cast [Soothe Pain] on myself and examined Ren. She looked terrible and literally almost as if she got drained of colour, which made her green clothes sepia and her skin pure white. Luckily, colour started to return to her body, which felt like a blessing. Another roar of pain reminded me that there was a battle going on. Taking care of Ren will have to wait. Lilyth The feeling of my knives entering the bastard¡¯s body was better than any orgasm. You will not hurt my loved ones, motherfucker. The same thing couldn''t be said about its roars of pain which made my entire body hurt. Still¡­ my attack achieved more success than I expected as I knocked the monster from its perch, and we both flew towards the ground, where the force of the impact drove the blades deeper into the creature''s body. Feeling it stir and get hotter, I ripped the knives out and jumped back. It was just in time, as a burst of magical energy propelled me backwards. The brightness hurt even through my closed eyelids. As I flew through the air, I had time to briefly wonder why that light caused me pain to begin with, given how I had no ocular nerves. Must be magic, I realised as I struck the ground and skidded across it. Been a while since that happened. Good thing I haven¡¯t gotten rusty at it. As I dragged myself to my feet after finally stopping, I opened my eyes and looked around. Aki and Caei looked to be fine if slightly roughed up, while Ren, while unconscious, looked minimally better. The monster though¡­ when I first looked at it¡­ at him¡­ I first thought I was looking at Nyx. But sadly, it wasn¡¯t my favourite goddess. Instead¡­ a negative of a man stood there. And by that I mean the guy literally looked like a photo negative. White messy hair and suit and dark bluish skin. Even the blood from his wounds was unnatural, as it was bright, almost neon blue. The same couldn''t be said about Caeileera''s [Blood Lance], which pierced the man¡¯s side causing another grunt of pain from the man, quickly replaced by manic laughter. ¡®Oh, this is so rich! A Terran, an Abyssal bastard and a Bloodspawn! Did they send you to finish the job?¡¯ Wait¡­ what? Also, how does he know I am¡­ oh. ¡®No one sent us,¡¯ I replied carefully. ¡®We are here by pure accident. Listen, mate: just let us take Ren, point us towards the exit and we will be out of your hair.¡¯ The god laughed again. ¡®Do you honestly expect me to believe that? Three people capable of hurting me¡­ three people that just reek of that bitch Ereshkigal¡­ just wandering here by accident?¡¯ ¡®Quests led us here,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®Or rather strongly suggested the direction,¡¯ I quickly added and shot the notifications over to the man. The god now looked more sad and perplexed than anything. ¡®So that''s how it is¡­¡¯ he muttered. ¡®They knew I was here all along¡­¡¯ ¡®Who knew?¡¯ Caeileera asked. ¡®The other gods,¡¯ I quickly replied, hoping she would get the message. ¡®Yes,¡¯ the man nodded, all fight gone from him. ¡®So even if I kill you¡­ even if I finish the transfer¡­ they will find me again. And the next bunch of patsies¡­ may not be¡­ as willing to talk things out as you are.¡¯ ¡®So it is a lose-lose for you, Lord¡­¡¯ I said, cautiously. ¡®A Lord no more I am afraid,¡¯ he sagged. ''My name is Xasvirrell, The Prism That Distorts Dimensions and this is my realm. What is left of it, anyway.¡¯ ¡®So given the outcome of this fight changes nothing¡­ Can we just leave with Ren?¡¯ I asked. ¡®We really don¡¯t want to fight you.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t think I can''t sense the deal you made with the Dread Queen, Terran. What guarantee I have she won¡¯t make you attack me once my back is turned?¡¯ ¡®I think she would have already interfered if that was the case, Lord Xasvirrell,¡¯ Aki said. ¡®Why let us try to deal with you if she could just turn Lilyth into her avatar or whatever again?¡¯ The god cocked his head in confusion so I told him about the circumstances of the deal¡­ mine and those of the others. ¡®This is the most¡­ tragic tale,¡¯ Xasvirrell said ponderously. ¡®I would try to question it, but I don¡¯t think anyone would lie about something so¡­ repugnant happening to them. So¡­ for what it is worth¡­ I am sorry about what you had to experience, Lilyth of Terra. You mortals really never win whenever we get involved, do you? Which makes me really sorry about what I am about to say next¡­ Ren¡­ your friend¡­ my actions may have damaged her soul. Left unhealed¡­ it will just disintegrate in hours.¡¯ I felt rage rise inside of me. Ren didn''t deserve that. ¡®Is there anything you can do?¡¯ Caei sobbed. ¡®Yes. I can finish the transfer.¡¯ ¡®But won¡¯t that remove Ren¡¯s soul anyway?¡¯ Aki screamed. ¡®Normally¡­ it would. But there is another option¡­ one I do not relish¡­ but perhaps it will fix one of the evils I have committed.¡¯ ¡®Continue,¡¯ I sobbed. ¡®I can transfer my essence into her, but meld it with her soul rather than replace it. This would effectively kill me and could have long-term¡­ consequences for her. Ones I cannot predict.¡¯ ¡®How¡­ how do we know you aren''t lying?¡¯ Caei blubbered. ¡®You don¡¯t,¡¯ the god said matter-of-factly. ¡®You have no reason to trust me. You would be fools if you did.¡¯ ¡®And yet we have to,¡¯ Aki sighed. ¡®Because if we don¡¯t do it¡­ and you are telling us the truth¡­ she dies¡­¡¯ ¡®Permanently, if I understood you right,¡¯ I said. ¡®No soul¡­ no afterlife.¡¯ ¡®That would be correct,¡¯ The Prism nodded. ¡®But wouldn''t you be subjecting yourself to the same fate?¡¯ ¡®Yes. But it is different for me than for you mortals. In my case¡­ oblivion is the only outcome. And after being trapped here for millennia¡­ and seeing I haven''t really changed¡­ Perhaps the decision to destroy me wasn¡¯t the wrong one after all. I have committed¡­ horrible things.¡¯ ¡®I think you and Ren would have found a lot of common ground,¡¯ Caei said. ¡®She is also trying to atone for her misdeeds.¡¯ ¡®Yes¡­ I saw that. And here come I¡­ and take that chance away from her.¡¯ We looked at each other and gave ourselves small nods. ¡®Do it,¡¯ We said in unison. ¡®I¡¯m watching you though,¡¯ I said and pointed my knife at him. Xasvirrell said nothing. He simply walked over to Ren and put his hand on her forehead. Those weird tetrahedrons appeared, but the process looked different. Instead of beaming black light into Ren, it was white. My poor friend, if anything, seemed healthier with each second, time while the Prism got fainter and fainter. Eventually, the god and his tools disappeared. Just before he did though, he gave us a small smile and said: ¡®Thank you, for letting me do this. You are good friends to her. I wish I could have met you under different circumstances. Perhaps¡­ I will see you in a different life.¡¯ The dungeon then began to disintegrate around us, but before we could start to panic we ended up on Dwynveia again. My heart sank after I realised where exactly we were. ¡®Why the fuck did we have to end up here of all places?¡¯ I shouted. I knew the place very well. The stone blocks of the walls, the faded tiles, the sconces with, now extinguished, torches, the unidentified altar thing in the middle, the faintly glowing inscription on the walls. We were in the place this whole clusterfuck began for me. ''Where are we?'' Aki asked. I remembered she couldn''t see in the dark. ''The motherfucking Tower of Trials,'' I spat. This is going to suck. Chapter 130 - Divine Aspirant Ren It took me a moment to register where I was. It had been a few days since I was there and our visit was very brief. Still, the presence of the blonde elf in spectacles reading a book was confirmation enough. ¡®Hi, Telly,¡¯ I said. Zi-Lind jumped and turned towards me. ¡®Oh,¡¯ she said and corrected her glasses as they got misaligned when I startled her. ¡®You are awake. That''s a relief.¡¯ ¡®Why? What happened? The last thing I remember is¡­ is¡­¡¯ Come to think of it¡­ there was the altar room and¡­ something happened there. ¡®Probably not much,¡¯ Telly finished for me. ¡®Some of it may come back at some point, but it probably won¡¯t be a lot. Ere will explain soon.¡¯ That reminded me where I was. ¡®Am¡­ Am I dead?¡¯ I asked, a deep cold pit in my stomach. Telly shook her head. ¡®No. Don¡¯t worry. As I understand, this will be something you won¡¯t need to worry all that much in general, but¡­¡¯ ¡®Ereshkigal will explain.¡¯ The elf nodded. ¡®Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, Rennie. I am not keeping you in the dark on purpose. This stuff is so above my paygrade, I don¡¯t understand enough to even begin to speculate.¡¯ ¡®No worries,¡¯ I smiled at her. ¡®Can¡¯t expect a goddess to keep you in the loop about everything.¡¯ Telly laughed. ¡®True enough.¡¯ ¡®Can you tell me at least how Caei and the rest are?¡¯ ¡®Alive, best I can tell,¡¯ she shrugged. ¡®At least they haven''t popped up here yet.¡¯ ''Thank the gods,'' I sighed in relief. ¡®Based on how agitated Ere was, they did cause quite a mess which she is trying to clean up now.¡¯ ¡®You have no idea, Telly,¡¯ I suddenly heard the goddess groan. I looked around and saw the goddess of Death standing at the entrance of the room, looking absolutely spent. ¡®Though, for once, the literal divine mess was none of Lilyth''s doing, Ren,¡¯ she continued. ¡®Walk with me, please. You too, Telly.¡¯ Zi-Lind looked at Ereshkigal in surprise. ¡®You are also involved, if indirectly. So I think you also deserve to know.¡¯ Teliar helped me to my feet and we followed the goddess out of the clinic. She led us into the forest and found a neat large stump all the three of us could sit on cross-legged. ¡®So¡­ you see¡­ a certain someone, who shan¡¯t be named, decided to use the four of you to solve a very old problem and¡­¡¯ she began once we were all comfortable, and explained what happened in the chamber. ¡®So there you have it,¡¯ Ereshkigal finished. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. Your soul is fine now, I checked. Better than fine even.¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­ about that¡­¡¯ I began confused, trying to wrap my head around the story. ¡®What happens to me now¡­ like am I¡­ still mortal?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ Ereshkigal shook her head. ¡®You aren¡¯t a god either. The best way to describe you would be quasi-divine? So are technically Lilyth and Caeileera, but they don¡¯t know it and they have far less¡­ god stuff in them than you do.¡¯ ¡®Aren¡¯t you supposed to keep that stuff a secret?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Before mortals, yes. Telly here is bound to secrecy as you all will be once you end up in my service, while you well¡­ are¡­ one of us now. After a fashion. At least, enough to let you in on some things you are going to start noticing anyway, though be sure not to repeat anything you learn here to anyone. Plus¡­ you will need to be trained.¡¯ ¡®Trained?¡¯ ¡®You have gotten access to powers no mortal should. So¡­ someone needs to make sure you will not accidentally cause too much damage with those. This will fall on me and Nyx. But first, you need to know something. As you can imagine, cases like yours do not occur often. This has happened a few times before and we tend to review those cases individually. As usual, there were three camps: one calling for your destruction, one for keeping you as is and one for completing your apotheosis. Only The Blood spoke against you, probably as a fuck you to Caeileera.¡¯ ¡®Why?¡¯ I furrowed my brow. ¡®Not that I mind, but in my previous line of work we tended to look down on competition.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s complicated. Tutoring you in Divine Politics will take time, but the simple version is: You didn''t choose this and the Prism''s powers, yours now, are too useful to let them just fade away. Due to this, the decision was made to for now teach you how to use them, which will likely take decades, and we¡¯ll figure out whether to fully make you one of us later. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. That shocked me. I can become a goddess. Then a second thought came. Do I want to though? That would mean¡­ abandoning the girls. ¡®I can no longer read your thoughts, but I can still tell what you are thinking,¡¯ Ereshkigal laughed. ¡®If you decide to undergo full apotheosis you can still live here for all I care. I can use all the help I can get. And if you don''t, the deals you have made with Nyx and me still stand, so if you die¡­ your shapely bird ass is still mine.¡¯ She winked at me. Is she flirting with me? ¡®Excuse me, Ere,¡¯ Zi-Lind spoke up. ¡®But why am I here? You could have explained this to me separately. ¡®I could have, yes. But the thing is, Telly, you and Ren are about to become the best of friends.¡¯ Ere explained to me that since I could be spending a lot of time in her realm, I would need some company and something to occupy me, which would be helping Telly around the clinic. ¡®I definitely will appreciate an extra pair of hands, ¡®Zi-Lind agreed. ¡®Even if it is just to bring me things I need.¡¯ ¡®I imagined you would,¡¯ Ereshkigal beamed. ¡®And in return, you will work as an exhibit whenever I will be training Ren¡¯s senses. Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t be teaching her to read your mind or anything. Just that¡­ Ren using [Divine Sight] or similar abilities on me would likely drive her mad.¡¯ ¡®[Divine Sight]?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Something you are not ready to use yet. And that you will need to experience to understand. That being said¡­ try to investigate Teliar like you would an item.¡¯ ¡®You okay with that, Telly?¡¯ I asked. ¡®Now, I am,¡¯ she smiled. ¡®I was afraid you would just do it.¡¯ ¡®That would be wrong,¡¯ I shook my head and shuddered. I couldn''t imagine someone doing that to me. It made me feel¡­ naked. ¡®Ah,¡¯ Ereshkigal said. ¡®So you do get it. The kind of responsibility you now have.¡¯ ¡®How¡­ how¡­ Do you do it?¡¯ I asked. ¡®I mean¡­ do you¡­¡¯ ¡®We try not to,¡¯ Ereshkigal said with a sad smile. ¡®You don¡¯t have to worry about being able to read people¡¯s minds. That''s not really an ability most gods have.¡¯ ¡®The Prism could use mind control on me,¡¯ I pointed out. Ereshkigal cocked her head at that. ¡®Maybe the Prism developed some new skills while in hiding. Interesting.¡¯ ¡®I am shocked you didn''t know that,¡¯ I said, remembering that she was able to read my mind before. ¡®I read souls, not minds,¡¯ she answered my thoughts, making me wonder whether she was bullshitting me.¡¯ And yours is now outside of my reach. I have a similar problem with Caeileera, though to a slightly lesser extent.¡¯ Ereshkigal didn''t elaborate further and I didn''t press her for details. My thoughts went back to the training. I looked at Telly. She definitely looked displeased about the perspective, despite her stated approval. I took the air in and let it out. Something inside of me was screaming against doing that to the elf. ¡®Will you be mad at me if I decide against testing that ability?¡¯ I asked after a few more moments of uncertainty. Ereshkigal only smiled. ¡®Why would I? It is a difficult thing to ask and if anything, your refusal shows me that I cast my vote correctly.¡¯ ¡®And how did you vote?¡¯ I asked. Ereshkigal looked at her left wrist and said: ¡®Would you look at the time!¡¯ Before I could protest, she snapped her fingers and I woke up in a dark room. It took me a moment to register it, but I could now see the entirety of it, despite my [Darksight] being vestigial before that. Godhood seems to have its perks. I looked around and saw that this was the room the altar chamber I found was the exact copy of. That meant that whatever I was lying on must have been the central block. Lilyth was sitting next to me reading a book I¡¯ve seen her with on the trail. It was one of the detective novels from our library. She must have heard me stirring as she turned towards me and softly whispered: ¡®You¡¯re awake.¡¯ I nodded. ¡®How are you?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve been better, but otherwise I am okay.¡¯ Lilyth let out a relieved sigh. ¡®You have no idea how happy am I to hear that, Rennie.¡¯ ¡®Where are the others?¡¯ I asked, not seeing them anywhere. Lilyth pointed to the far corner of the room where Aki and Caei were cuddled together fast asleep. ¡®How long have I been out?¡¯ ¡®Around three hours. We¡¯ve been taking watches next to you, but then they fell asleep and I didn''t have the heart to wake them up.¡¯ ¡®I can see why. They look so peaceful.¡¯ I could have sworn Lilyth slightly furrowed her brows at that, but it could have been an illusion. ¡®It¡¯s been a long day for all of us,¡¯ she agreed instead. ¡®Didn¡¯t you want to join them? I would have woken all three of them up.¡¯ ¡®Just in case,¡¯ she said softly. ¡®I got some vague message from Nyxie that all was fine with you, but one will always worry.¡¯ I guess that is true. Then my gaze fell upon the book Lilyth was reading, and I realised that there must have been more to it. She must have noticed where I was looking so she simply said: ¡®I wasn¡¯t always like this. I was very aloof and not that fond of closeness. Sometimes I miss it. Those were much simpler days with a certain peace to them, so I¡¯ll happily take any chance I can get to be¡­ my old self.¡¯ ¡®Sitting alone and reading?¡¯ ¡®Or playing video games, playing with my cat or just watching some show or funny videos.¡¯ I vaguely understood what Lilyth was talking about based on her tales. ¡®There are also the nightmares¡­¡¯ she whispered. ¡®They were bad enough without¡­ without¡­ today. And now¡­ that we are in this hellhole¡­¡¯ So this IS the Tower of Trials. I sat up and took her hand in mine. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll protect you from them.¡¯ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ she sighed. ¡®But enough about me. How are you actually holding up, Rennie? I can¡¯t help but notice that since you¡¯ve been hit by the Met-Lilyth Curse, you have, in a very short time, lost the woman you loved, as well as your brother and father. Almost got killed by a god too. This can¡¯t be easy on you.¡¯ That question hit me hard. Over the years I got so good at bottling up the emotions I was doing it unconsciously. The presence of Caei did salve some of the wounds that Leera¡¯s ¡­ disappearance caused¡­ but¡­ being forced to answer that question¡­ forced me to confront the fact that in less than two weeks I have lost almost every single person that mattered to me. So before I could say anything I could feel tears flowing down unbidden from my eyes. ¡®I miss them sooo much,¡¯ I cried. Lilyth said nothing. She simply wrapped her hands around me and started gently rocking me until I calmed down. I did my best to quiet down my sobs but didn''t do a good enough job, and soon Aki and Caei joined us. Chapter 131 - Return to Goblintown Caeileera At first, I was mad at Lilyth for causing Rennie to break down in tears, but it soon became clear that the poor girl needed that cry. The fact it was caused by a ¡°how are you holding up¡± question was another mitigating factor. Bottling all those thoughts up was not healthy for her. Then another thought struck me. Was bringing her along a mistake? I couldn''t decide. On the one hand, she was an important part of the team here. We would have died facing the soldiers without her, I shuddered at the memory of one of them almost finishing off Lilyth. Aki would die to the mannequin too. But, on the other hand¡­ she ended up paying a heavy price. Why can¡¯t anything in life be simple? We ended up staying the night in the chamber cuddled all together in what Lilyth described as ¡°a great bundle of love and warmth¡±. I couldn''t help but agree. The closeness of others was really comforting. ¡®I wish Chirpy were here,¡¯ Ren said in a quiet voice as we were eating breakfast. ¡®And Veenaya,¡¯ Aki added, pressing the plushie she was holding to her chest. I could only nod along. I missed them both, even if the bloody furball could be annoying. ¡®We¡¯ll see them soon,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®Just need to leave this place.¡¯ ¡®So what''s the plan?¡¯ Ren asked. We looked at Lilyth with Aki to continue. ¡®It¡¯s your show,¡¯ I shrugged. Lilyth ¡®That¡¯s not a plan,¡¯ Ren sighed after I finished explaining. ¡®That¡¯s a vague idea of a direction.¡¯ ¡®Got a better one?¡¯ I asked. Let¡¯s ignore the fact that one of the steps is ¡°???¡± and the next one is ¡°Profit!¡± She harrumphed in defeat. ¡®I guess not. But what if this entrance to this Goblintown place doesn''t exist on this version of Dwynveia or it collapsed?¡¯ ¡®The flooded corridor,¡¯ I simply said. ¡®Hopefully, it actually leads somewhere.¡¯ Ren looked like she wanted to cry. ¡®I know this is not exactly comforting but this is more than I had to go on when I first ended up in this shithole.¡¯ And that was that on the subject. We spent a few more minutes on small talk, and then it was time to get going. The oval armoury room was much like I remembered it, sans the skeleton and the sword. Bits and pieces of shelves, an overturned table and, now dark, torches. ¡®This place is creepy,¡¯ Caeileera said while looking around. ¡®It used to be worse,¡¯ I replied and told them about my meeting with the undead there. ¡®I stand corrected,¡¯ Caei conceded. ¡®I¡¯ll have to admit that actually seeing these places¡­ I can¡¯t imagine what it must have felt like¡­¡¯ ¡®It fucking sucked,¡¯ I laughed. ¡®Anyway¡­ Shall we continue the tour of all the places I almost died at?¡¯ They didn''t find it funny. Truth be told, I didn''t either but gotta keep yourself sane somehow. Ultimately, getting out of the Tower turned out to be a relative breeze, and, for once, things mostly went our way, but more on that later. I couldn''t decide whether it was the karmic payback for all the suffering up to this point or a suspicious case of the universe being generous. You know, kind of like when you find a massive cache of ammo and health in a video game. This tends to mean that the next room is going to fuck you in the ass extra hard. Stolen story; please report. At least based on my experience with Kojiro¡¯s goons I can say I am happy I never went that far when I tried dating men back on Earth. A surprising win for my gender dysphoria. Anyway, the chamber with the large crystal was utterly devoid of life. Like previously, the floor was strewn with skeletons but not even one of them got up. Led by an impulse, I checked whether that one healing potion was still there and, to my pleasant surprise, it was. Alas, the chest in the room where the soldier attacked me was empty. You can''t have everything. What we did find, however, was the exit to Goblintown. Thanks to Caei¡¯s [Floating Disk] we easily ascended to the top of the unfinished dugout and started crawling towards the pantry. As we approached it, I began noticing a pungent smell that sickened me. Rotting meat. ¡®You never mentioned the place would reek like this!¡¯ Caei complained moments later. ¡®Because it didn''t,¡¯ I retorted as. ¡®The abattoir where I found Aki, sure, but this was just a pantry.¡¯ ¡®Reminds me of Anika¡¯s lure,¡¯ Rennie coughed. ¡®But somehow worse.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ I agreed. ¡®I think there might be fish mixed in.¡¯ ¡®You can tell that?¡¯ Aki asked. ¡®Unfortunately.¡¯ The source of the stench became apparent when I emerged into the pantry. All of its contents were rotting. I felt so nauseated, all considerations about stealth abandoned, I ran out of the pantry straight on the corridor. The others quickly joined me. Caeileera actually vomited her breakfast. As Aki held our wife¡¯s hair back, I and Ren started watching both ends of the corridor. Nobody came out to greet us. In fact¡­ the place was deathly quiet. It took me a moment to register that there were no lights lit other than Aki¡¯s [Abyssal Spark]. It heavily disrupted my [Darksight], I approached Ren and whispered into her ear: ¡®See anything?¡¯ She pointed towards the darkness and whispered back: ¡®Something large is on the floor. I think that''s a body, but not sure. You noticed?¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Won¡¯t tell anyone. But I doubt Aki and Caei will not realise it soon. Can¡¯t hide ¡°I can now see in the dark¡± for long.¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­ Might as well tell people.¡¯ Her face went blank and after a moment she said: ¡®I¡¯ve confirmed some stuff with Nyx¡­ so¡­¡¯ By then Caei had recovered, so Ren told us how she had likely inherited some of the Prism''s powers as the result of what he did to her, though she wasn¡¯t sure what those were exactly. One thing she knew though was that her [Darksight] was really good now. It felt like she was leaving something out, why else would she be clearing things up with Nyx, but I decided to let it go. It¡¯s not like it is hard to guess that merging with a god¡¯s essence would give you more than just powers. ¡®I would strongly recommend not mentioning that merge to anyone,¡¯ Nyx said with an unexpected harshness in her voice. ¡®Or your theories on the matter.¡¯ Is that an ¡°Or else¡± thing? ¡®Sort of,¡¯ she said. ¡®It is just best not to spread information like this around. For your sake. We as all gods are aware of what exactly happened to Ren, but if people with bad intentions towards you find out¡­¡¯ There might be issues? ¡®Yes. Some might want to kidnap her and use her for powers, some may just want to kill her.¡¯ Never a dull day? ¡®Will definitely be duller if you keep your slimy mouth shut on the subject.¡¯ Noted. ¡®Good fox.¡¯ The link went dead. I hate my life. Upon investigating the body we have discovered that it wasn¡¯t a goblin. It was a human wearing a faintly blue shirt just like the trash which attacked us in Len-Cas. ¡®Red Masks,¡¯ I hissed and put my hands on my knife. ¡®He¡¯s been dead for a long time,¡¯ Caei pointed out. I then noticed that she was right. Bugs were crawling all over the now-decomposing corpse and the blood surrounding it was congealed. ¡®I think his corpse has been stripped of all valuables,¡¯ Ren noted. ¡®But hard to tell. No weapons or anything on him.¡¯ That was also true. Further investigation revealed several more corpses, mostly goblin, but a few human ones as well, one of them in a brigandine and a few in rags. None of them had any items on them, not that we were inclined to investigate too closely. The impromptu armoury was also looted of anything of value. ¡®So they raided this place and then left their dead friends to rot?¡¯ Aki asked while she pondered kicking the corpse of Grazzlag the butcher. ¡®Seems like it,¡¯ Ren agreed. ¡®Probably some remnants of their group operating in the area. Possibly Kojiro meant to link up with them.¡¯ ¡®So now we will have marauders terrorizing the area,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®We¡¯ll need to let the Viscount know.¡¯ ¡®Shouldn¡¯t we hunt them down?¡¯ Caei asked. ¡®Most of the surrounding area is a forest,¡¯ I replied. ¡®Our chances of finding them can be described as ¡°lower than those of winning a lottery.¡± Maybe if we had a skilled tracker we could try? But we don¡¯t.¡¯ ¡®Oh no!¡¯ Aki said with alarm in her voice.¡®Dan-Hem! They don¡¯t have much in terms of defences and it is a day or so away!¡¯ I looked at my companions and they all nodded. ¡®Let¡¯s hurry then,¡¯ I said. ¡®Given the state of these bodies, we might be too late already.¡¯ Never a dull day indeed. Chapter 132 - Divine Therapy Aki As we were walking towards the exit from the dungeon, I didn''t show it but I was intensely relieved to see sunlight again. It wasn''t just my worry for Dan-Hem¡­ Our visit to Goblintown brought up a lot of bad memories. Things that I have long repressed but which resurfaced in my nightmares from time to time. The feeling of helplessness¡­ the fear¡­ the screams of people dragged away to be butchered alive¡­ I have a debt towards Lilyth that I will never be able to repay. In a weird way, I was really happy that it was the Red Masks that butchered the goblins. Those things deserved to die a thousand painful deaths¡­ and¡­ I would have probably done things to them I wouldn''t be proud of. The mere knowledge I was capable of doing that felt sickening. I think that the Aki that left Dan-Hem is gone. The old me would have never considered¡­ I remembered how horrible I felt about burning that one Sanguine monster to death. Now¡­ I viewed that as a valid thing to do¡­ because¡­ because¡­ I wanted someone to suffer. By the gods¡­ what happened to me? ¡®You were forced to grow up in a way no one should be, my child,¡¯ I heard Irmen¡¯s voice. ¡®A constant fight for survival has a nasty way of bringing up people¡¯s worst sides.¡¯ So what¡­ am I destined to be¡­ a monster? ¡®No,¡¯ Irmen laughed. ¡®You can choose to be one. Yes. That old Aki is dead, but she started dying in that cage in Goblintown. You can still recover as much from her as possible.¡¯ I felt despair at that. I¡­ I don''t know how. The hate for the goblins¡­ for the Red Masks¡­ it is so strong. ¡®I can¡¯t tell you not to hate because it is a natural thing to feel. What you can control is how you channel it. Do you use it to hurt your enemies or protect your friends?¡¯ I want to protect my friends. I want to protect Lilyth. ¡®Then you have your answer, Aki.¡¯ I guess I do. Will you teach me more about [Water Arcana]? I don''t think¡­ embracing my blood¡­ will help me on this path. Irmen broke out laughing and with a great deal of warmth in her voice said: ¡®Of course, I will! I was waiting for you to ask. We need to start working on those leadership skills of yours too. I¡¯ll check in with Taros whether vae wants to chip in too. No promises there, but last I checked, vae and Deirdee were in Tyr-Mel, so they might link up with you in Dan-Hem if you guys are still there.¡¯ Won¡¯t Taros mind a change in his plans? ¡®My dear, vae is a travelling minstrel, so your group can probably offer vaem a LOT.¡¯ Then I¡¯ll happily meet hi¡­ vaem. ¡®Splendid!¡¯ If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Lilyth ¡®Never thought we would see the sky ever again,¡¯ Ren remarked after we emerged. ¡®It¡¯s been a long two days,¡¯ I sighed. Suddenly, there was a lightning crack and Nyx appeared in front of us, holding Chirpy by the scruff. Veenaya was at her hill. Our lumizu let out a happy arf and ran towards Aki who picked her up and hugged. The tails of them both were wagging happily. Meanwhile, Nyx put Chirpy on the ground. It almost seemed like she wanted to drop him, but thought better of it. The little douchebag furball immediately bolted towards Ren, climbed her body and started nuzzling against her face. Someone felt lonely. Rennie took him into his arms and hugged him tightly her eyes gleaming with tears. Not just Chirpy it seems. I turned my attention to Nyx who smiled and beckoned at me with her finger. ¡®Gonna borrow Lilyth for a moment,¡¯ she said, but my companions, so distracted by our furry companions barely paid any attention to her. ¡®You okay?¡¯ Nyx asked after we were out of earshot. I opened my mouth to confirm but stopped myself and shook my head. ¡®I ate someone,¡¯ I muttered with a breaking voice. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me towards herself. ¡®There is nothing I could do or say to assuage your guilt over this,¡¯ she murmured as I cried my eyes out into her chest. ¡®In time, hopefully, you will forgive yourself.¡¯ Her presence felt really comforting. Nyx¡¯s embrace was filled with the caring of a mother, the support of a friend and the tenderness of a lover. ¡®I will be there for you no matter what,¡¯ she whispered. ¡®Call me whenever you need. And¡­ and¡­ once you can no longer take it¡­ let me know. I have a place ready for you in my realm. You¡­ will not suffer there.¡¯ ¡®Would¡­ would the others be able to join me there?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ Nyx said with regret in her voice. ¡®They would die of elemental contamination. You¡­ your body can adapt to it¡­ theirs¡­ can¡¯t.¡¯ ¡®Would I be able to leave?¡¯ ¡®Of course. You will be able to come and go as you please.¡¯ ¡®Then¡­ I will keep that in mind¡­¡¯ I took a deep breath. ¡®Can I ask something of you? Nyx squeezed me to her chest. ¡®Anything and always, my dear. If it is in my power I will help you. You deserve that and more.¡¯ ¡®H-help me get stronger. I want to be able to protect my loved ones without¡­ without having to be a monster.¡¯ Nyx¡¯s embrace got even tighter. ¡®Of course,¡¯ she said quietly. ¡®I couldn''t think of a better apprentice. In fact¡­¡¯ Nyxie kissed me on the forehead and I felt power flow into me. A message appeared in front of my eyes. New Spell Acquired: [Jolt] Type: Elemental - Lightning - Offensive Level: Novice Effects: Allows the user to shock touched objects with electricity. Casting Time: Instant ¡®Thank you,¡¯ I whimpered. ¡®I also have something from Akh¡¯ret for you,¡¯ Nyxie said after I fully calmed down. We were sitting on a cloud she summoned, the goddess''s arm around my back. She reached into her suit and handed me a runestone. Item: Rune of [Lightning Lance] Class: Magical - Air Arcana Rarity: Extremely Rare Durability: 10/10 Description: Allows the user to learn the [Lightning Lance] Spell. Casting the spell without sufficient knowledge of [Air Arcana] may lower its effectiveness and/or cause it to fail Spell Effect: Creates a lightning spear that can be used as a projectile or a single-strike melee weapon. Cost to learn: 2 Perk Points ¡®Why would he give me an Air spell?¡¯ I asked confused. ¡®And why would Akh¡¯ret reward me to begin with? ¡®Oh¡­ right,¡¯ the goddess giggled in embarrassment. ¡®It¡¯s a reward for killing Helrika. He actually wanted to give you a Plant spell but I pointed out to him that given the circumstances of you acquiring the ability to cast those¡­ it may not be the best of ideas.¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­ I am not sure about my new powers. On one hand, I can see their utility, but on the other¡­¡¯ ¡®They would require you to acknowledge you can¡­ grow stronger through means that sicken you?¡¯ Nyx suggested. ¡®Couldn¡¯t have said it better myself.¡¯ ¡®Allow me to do you one better - your reaction to this¡­ issue proves one thing - that while your body may be that of a monster, deep down, you are still a human being. It is up to you to decide how much of your new capabilities you want to utilise and whether you will control them or they will control you.¡¯ I wanted to protest, but I couldn''t deny the rationality of Nyx¡¯s words. In fact¡­ ¡®Thank you,¡¯ I hugged her. ¡®You have no idea how much of a relief hearing that is.¡¯ ¡®Anytime, dearie,¡¯ Nyx softly cooed while hugging me back. ¡®Anytime.'' Chapter 133 - Akis Homecoming Lilyth We arrived in Dan-Hem in the early evening of the next day. The village was¡­ cosy, for lack of a better term. Some houses, a two-floor inn, all well tended to, but I could see some poorly cleaned blood splatters on some of the walls near the village centre. Remnants of the massacre, I guess. What I was surprised by were the gallows in the main square. A rotting corpse, mostly picked over by birds, was still hanging from them. Probably the rat? I can''t imagine the villagers would leave Elder Matis there. I felt an urge to pick up a rock and throw it at it, but managed to suppress it as villagers were milling around, probably taking care of the last chores of the day. ¡®So¡­ what''s the plan?¡¯ Ren asked Aki. Before my wife could answer we were noticed by one of the locals - a freckled-face golden-eyed girl in a grey dress and dirty auburn hair tied by a green headkerchief. ¡®Aki!¡¯ she waved to us. ¡®You are back!¡¯ That got the attention of more of the villagers who started approaching us. They were staring at us, mostly with curiosity, some impassively and a few with mild hostility. Instinctively, I moved in front of Aki. Caei soon joined me, casually placing her hand on the pommel of her sword. That gave some of the villagers a pause, but Aki decided to ignore our efforts to protect her and burst forward and ran towards the golden-eyed girl. ¡®Milla!¡¯ she shouted. The girl also started running and soon they embraced each other. That broke the tension somewhat and both us and the villagers visibly relaxed. Suddenly, a deep female voice shouted from behind the gathered villagers: ¡®What¡¯s going on here?¡¯ A short and squat grey-haired woman pushed through to the front of the crowd. She was fairly well dressed in what I assumed to be a black mourning gown. The woman looked at us and with tears in her eyes exclaimed: ¡®Aki?!¡¯ As I suspected, she turned out to be Bergia - my Dark Lady¡¯s adoptive mother. Judging by her tears, it was clear she didn''t expect to see her daughter ever again but to her credit managed to maintain enough composure to send the rest of Dan-Hemians away, which proved to be pretty hard to achieve because between Caei and her crown of horns, Ren with her avian looks and me being me we were quite a menagerie. I did my best to conceal my true nature - my eyes luckily looked normal in my elf form and I managed to ¡°absorb¡± my arm ¡°tattoos¡± into the skin, but I couldn''t figure out how to change my grass hair wisps into ¡°normal¡± hair and wasn¡¯t that keen to mess with the facemarks, and well¡­ there was no hiding how the other two looked. Even Bergia, once she and Aki finished embracing, had trouble processing our presence. ¡®You have¡­ very colourful friends,¡¯ she finally said. You don¡¯t know the half of it, lady. That was our cue to approach them and introduce ourselves. ¡®Thank you all for being there for my d¡­ my Aki.¡¯ ¡®The pleasure is all ours, ma¡¯am,¡¯ I replied. ¡®We were very sorry to hear about what happened to your husband.¡¯ Bergia¡¯s eyes began glistening with tears again. ¡®I am so sorry about what happened to him¡­¡¯ Aki whimpered. ¡®If it wasn¡¯t for me¡­¡¯ The woman shook her head. ¡®Never say things like this, my child. I do not blame you. Matis also didn''t. He refused to give in to that horrible man to the very end. Matis loved you, and so do I.¡¯ Aki hugged her. ¡®I still can''t believe he is gone, m-mom,¡¯ ¡®Me neither, daughter of my heart. Me neither. We helped Aki and Bergia to their house and left them to grieve in peace. We didn''t want to intrude. At least¡­ not that day. With no other place to go, we went to rent rooms for ourselves at the inn. Apparently, the word about us managed to spread around in the few minutes we were in the village as dozens of people were suddenly walking around doing their best to pretend they weren''t gawking at us, though it was just curiosity this time rather than any show of hostility. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡®I feel like the main attraction in a freak show,¡¯ Ren grumbled. ¡®Because we are one, dear,¡¯ Caei sighed. ¡®At least they are just looking rather than trying to lynch us,¡¯ I whispered. ¡®You always know how to cheer everyone up, honey,¡¯ my Dark Sorceress laughed. ¡®That¡¯s why you love me,¡¯ I laughed back. The inn was nothing that special: a small half-filled common room with three large common tables and four small ones and a counter behind which stood a lean bald man, though perhaps, by then, I should have stopped expecting places to be just like on 2024 Earth. Never thought I¡¯d feel nostalgia for the bars I was semi-forced to go to during team-building events. Credit where it¡¯s due, the proprietor did put in an amount of effort into giving the place a vibe as there were some hunting trophies on the walls: a Darhun, a ferocious-looking furry thing with a long snout and a few purple birds. I also noticed that there were stairs next to the counter, which we would later learn led to the rooms for rent. ¡®You must be the three girls that came with Aki,¡¯ the innkeeper chuckled when we approached the counter. ¡®If stories are to be believed, you were some sort of a coven of bloodthirsty witches.¡¯ We looked at each other in confusion. Ooohhhh¡­ I thought and snapped my fingers in understanding. ¡®You¡¯d think people here would be man enough not to spread rumours about women who stood up to them,¡¯ I said loud enough for people in the room to hear. ¡®Fucking elf bitch,¡¯ one of them muttered. Message delivered. ¡®Yeah¡­¡¯ Ren picked up the conversation. ¡®We know why Aki had to leave Dan-Hem, so when we saw a crowd approaching us¡­¡¯ ¡®You thought people wanted to finish the job,¡¯ the innkeeper sighed. ¡®Guess can¡¯t fault you for wanting to protect her though you would be surprised how people¡¯s view of Aki has changed since the inquisitor. I gather you are aware of what happened?¡¯ ¡®Some of it,¡¯ I said. ¡®Inquisitor Motherfucker lynched Elder Matis, some people rioted and there were casualties.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s the gist of it, yes. Karkul, one of our militiamen, and Rel, a farmer, died. A few people got wounded, but they have mostly recovered by now. It would have been worse since the Inquisitor wanted to hang all of the rioters, but one of the Temple Dragoons talked him down. Said that it would probably end in a massacre. His name was Arca¡­ Arca-something.¡¯ Well, well, well Ser Arcarius, you just officially ended up on my ¡°good guys¡± list. ¡®I¡¯m both shocked the Inquisitor listened and you folks gave up.¡¯ ¡®On our end, it was because one of them, a blonde bastard named Halveck, started using magic. That was enough to keep us at bay. As for the Inquisitor¡­ he probably realised that if he kept pushing his luck all the magic in the world wouldn''t keep us away. So they promptly packed their shit and left. At least they didn''t manage to go through with the other part of their plan. The word was they wanted to exhume poor Veenaya and burn her corpse for the grave crime of giving birth to Aki.¡¯ Sweet Jesus... ¡®You know¡­¡¯ Caei seethed,¡¯ I didn''t think it possible for me to hate that bastard even more.¡¯ ¡®All I can say is, I am very happy he didn''t manage to get his hands on Aki,¡¯ the innkeeper said. ¡®Gods know I gave the girl a fair share of grief, but¡­¡¯ ¡®Seeing where that led made you reconsider?¡¯ I suggested. ¡®You hit the nail on the head, lassie,¡¯ he agreed. ¡®I will need to apologise to her. A lot of people plan to do the same, I wager. But, there are some¡­ who don¡¯t feel that way.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll keep our eyes around our heads,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®Looking at you three they would be crazy to try something.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s hope for their sake they think that way too,¡¯ I sighed. ¡®I imagine all the goodwill Aki gained might be lost if some idiots decide to start something they won¡¯t be able to finish.¡¯ The innkeeper nodded. ¡®You are probably right, lassie. Name¡¯s Jirrin, by the way.¡¯ After we handled the introductions we asked if we¡¯d be able to rent two rooms for a week. We¡¯d probably stay in Dan-Hem a bit longer as we weren''t sure when Taros and Deirdee would be getting there. They agreed to link up with us, as the demigod was excited to meet the ¡°heroes of Mer-Cas¡±. ¡®That¡¯s gonna be three hundred Divines per room, food included.¡¯ That mostly lined up with what Aki told me back in the Tower. Probably decided not to price gouge us given how we are friends with one of the locals. Ren took out her money pouch and handed him an even thousand. ¡®We¡¯ll also buy a round for everyone in the inn,¡¯ she smiled. Jirrin looked shocked. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I am saying this, but this is too much, lassie.¡¯ A thoughtful expression appeared on Ren¡¯s face and then she then took out another thousand and added it to the first. ¡®Consider this an investment into your inn,¡¯ Ren said. ¡®I have a feeling we could be frequent visitors here so we¡¯d like your business to prosper. Also¡­ I discussed this with my mom before we left and we¡¯ve decided that it would be a good idea to find an extra market for our fish. I imagine you have some extra produce here in Dan-Hem that we don''t get in Mer-Cas though I would need to tour around the place.¡¯ The shock on Jirrin¡¯s face deepened as he slowly processed what Ren had just said. ¡®Wait¡­ you guys are heroes of Mer-Cas, aren¡¯t you?¡¯ he had sense enough to whisper. ¡®I didn''t register it at first but¡­¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s us,¡¯ Ren interrupted him with a smile. ¡®My mother is Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan, soon to be baroness of Mer-Cas. I am speaking in her name here.¡¯ ¡®When we heard about a blue-haired girl being there some of us did believe it was Aki, but I thought it was impossible. Our sweet Aki? Fighting bandits alongside Riftseeker Savri?¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­ life can write interesting stories,¡¯ Caei smiled. My part fu¡­ was bad, I shuddered. ¡®And speaking of bandits,¡¯ I began, desperate to change the subject,¡¯ did you have any problems lately? We are unsure whether all of them were taken care of.¡¯ Jirrin''s forehead furrowed. ¡®Four days ago, someone raided old Manter¡¯s farm and stole some of his cattle and food stores. We tried looking for them, but the trail led deep into the parts of the forest that lay in one of the bad pockets of quiet so our trackers decided not to risk it.¡¯ Probably a good idea. I looked at Caei and Ren. They gave me small nods. ¡®Please tell us more about that place.¡¯ Chapter 134 - No Place Like Home Lilyth As Jirrin told us the story of the pocket of quiet, I have started developing a serious case of iamnotsureifthisisagoodideaism. Basically, some of the people who entered didn''t leave. Usually, they disappeared without a trace, but on a few occasions, a body was found, and it wasn''t a pretty sight - their torso was ripped apart and their insides dragged out. Nothing was actually devoured which implied that whatever was doing that did so out of malice rather than hunger. Travelling in groups wasn¡¯t that helpful either as some of them met a gruesome end too. Even those who survived couldn''t shake the feeling of being watched by some oppressive presence. Still¡­ something didn''t sit quite right with the story. I would be surprised if more than two hundred people live here. The casualties described by Jirrin would devastate the community, so I have a feeling that Aki would have mentioned the murdergrove instead of the bad water place when telling us about the pockets of quiet¡­ unless¡­ Apparently, Rennie had the same doubts as I did as she said with a smile: ¡®That¡¯s a truly harrowing tale, Jirrin. I think we would appreciate the truth though.¡¯ ¡®Yeah,¡¯ Caei agreed. ¡®Stories like this tend to grow with every telling. Especially, if someone has a vested interest in making them grow.¡¯ Oh, right. Caei does have Leera¡¯s memories. It wouldn''t be a terrible shock for me to hear that the Yamaokas made use of some of those legends. Or started them for that matter. Jirrin sighed. ¡®What I described is true, but¡­ there wasn¡¯t a body found there in over ten years. Some traveller from parts unknown. As for disappearances¡­ No one from Dan-Hem disappeared there in decades. Sometimes people come looking for folks who went missing when heading here from Ror-Bhyk or Zel-Vyme. But that''s one or two cases every few years¡­ but there was a sharp increase in the past few weeks. ¡®There was a goblin lair between here and Zel-Vyme,¡¯ Caei explained. All blood drained from Jirrin''s face. ¡®By the gods,¡¯ he whimpered. ¡®They have been taken care of,¡¯ I quickly said. ¡®When we wandered upon, we discovered that someone had already raided their hold.¡¯ The innkeeper sighed in relief. I noticed then that all the conversations in the inn died down and everyone was intently listening to our conversation. Oh, joy¡­ ¡®So it is possible that some of the recent disappearances were, in fact, people killed by goblins,¡¯ I finished, leaving out the parts about the captives getting slaughtered and eaten. ''The presence is real though, I am told,'' the innkeeper insisted. ¡®Have you ever actually been there, though, or is this second or third-hand knowledge?¡¯ I asked. ¡®No,¡¯ Jirrin shook his head. ¡®I trust Dhelmir, though; he is not known to entertain fantasies and if he is spooked by that place¡­ there must be something to it.¡¯ So if we want a guide¡­ Dhelmir is the man. We arranged with Jirrin to help us meet with the man, which was fairly easy given how he was already in the inn. Dhelmir, a middle-aged man with a scraggly black beard and a shaved head, agreed to lead us to the murdergrove the following morning so that we could investigate the place. He wouldn''t actually step in there but showing us the way would be enough. At that stage, I was more interested in investigating the place than following after the Red Masks. They were likely long gone anyway. The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. We ate a passable meal made by Jirrin''s wife; some guy started hitting on Ren and was somewhat too insistent on the subject, but it was nothing a quick threat of gelding couldn''t fix, and eventually, we were joined by Aki¡¯s friend Milla who started pumping us for information about our adventures with our Dark Lady. She was especially interested in Aki¡¯s metal arm. Explaining that one away was one of the biggest issues we identified before entering the village. We couldn''t figure out a story that couldn''t be poked full of holes with just a few questions. The original idea was for her to say she lost it at Mer-Cas - even then, we saw no point in denying our involvement there since the word would spread if it hadn¡¯t already, but, as Ren said - people saw Aki with her prosthetic there. So if the stories spreading around mentioned a ¡°blue-haired demoness with a metal arm¡± the story would unravel immediately, and there simply was not enough time between her exile from Dan-Hem and the battle to allow us to squeeze that bit there. Hell¡­ this would need to predate our meeting with Ren too, as our merry band of lesbians was probably still the talk of Len-Cas. So¡­ if Aki couldn''t think of something on the spot she would need to mention us being¡­ an interdimensional merry band of lesbians. At least to Bergia. As for the others¡­ The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®This story is Aki¡¯s to tell,¡¯ Caei shrugged, repeating the line we¡¯ve decided to use. ¡®If something this bad happened to you, would you like people to blab about what happened?¡¯ I asked when Milla didn''t seem entirely convinced by our dodge. That mollified her somewhat, but I was praying Aki would have thought something up by the time people other than Bergia got their hands on her. The biggest problem was our inability to bring up Zekuthran because if he somehow heard about this it would raise serious questions among people who we¡¯d rather would not be aware of us. That room in Nyx¡¯s realm is very tantalising right about now. All things considered, though, it wasn''t all that bad to stay on Dwynveia. For one, in Nyx''s realm I wouldn''t be woken up the next by Caeileera scratching me behind the ear, nor would it be followed by a fairly pleasant morning ¡°exercise¡± routine. ¡®I love you so much,¡¯ Caeileera purred as she caressed my naked stomach during our post-workout cuddle session. ¡®I love you too,¡¯ I purred back and kissed her, tasting myself on her lips. Yeah¡­ Caei and Aki are all I need right now. It was very difficult for us to beat the bed¡¯s gravitational force that morning, but Rennie knocking on our door to tell us we were invited to breakfast in Bergia''s home forced us to put in the required effort. Incidentally, I will neither confirm nor deny the slanderous rumours that when our half-harpy friend cracked the door open so that we could hear her better my first response was me using [Lesser Manipulate] to throw shoes at her to the approval of Caei. ¡®You know¡­¡¯ she said dreamily as we were cleaning ourselves up and dressing a few minutes later. ¡®I am really tempted to just abduct you and head down south and just settle somewhere quiet. Just you and me¡­ living a happy life.¡¯ I wanted to joke it away but¡­ ¡®It¡¯s SO tempting¡­¡¯I sighed. ¡®I mean if you are serious about the abduction¡­¡¯ She was, but realised it would hurt Aki and Ren too much and the latter would likely be resistant to dragging her along. There was also the question of dealing with L?we, and even though I didn''t think there was a particular deadline on that one, letting that Nazi fuck run around longer than necessary would be difficult to stomach. ¡®That being said ¡°Longer than necessary¡± is a deliciously flexible term, so nothing is preventing us from taking our sweet time about it,¡¯ I finished. ¡®We don''t even know where he is, so taking a few months off as the Viscount is doing his magic¡­¡¯ There were also other things on my agenda, the foremost of which was figuring out how much of a threat the Red Masks still were. Ren said the organisation started way down South, so Kojiro being the overall leader seemed unlikely. This was further reinforced by how the band of chucklefucks we were tracking down was operating - there was too much method to their madness between them mostly being interested in getting supplies and leading their retreat through an area the locals would be unwilling to enter. Still¡­ it was a concern for a later date. Right then we had a breakfast to attend, which turned out to be surprisingly pleasant. I was worried it would be like one of those family events that make you consider whether sticking rusty nails into your eyes while you are being burned at the stake wouldn''t be a much more fun alternative. Instead, while it was clear that Bergia missed her husband, that wound would never heal, reuniting with Aki lifted up her spirits and she seemed very happy to have learned that my Dark Lady had made friends. For now, we¡¯ve decided not to mention the fact that we were more than that. Ignorance was bliss, after all. As an aside, it was nice to see the house my ladylove grew up in, even if it wasn''t much - well-taken-care-of wooden floors and simple furniture, lime-covered walls and few of those small personal touches here like preserved butterflies on display and crocheted napkins and furniture coverings. Something of great interest to me was a small bookshelf that, as Bergia explained, contained village records. Apparently, Matis¡¯s post was semi-hereditary and there was nothing strange in the title being passed from father to son if both were highly valued in the community. Bergia was even okay with me going through them when I explained I was interested in figuring out the murdergrove. This also gave us an opening to ask Aki why she never mentioned the place, to begin with. Red-faced, she admitted to sneaking over there when she was fifteen and finding nothing, not even the vaunted presence, so the water story felt like a better example. Bergia was initially horrified by the story but broke out laughing towards the end. ¡®You always were the wilful one, weren''t you, Aki?¡¯ She got lost in thought for a moment. ¡®Wait¡­ was this where you really went to that time you disappeared for a day after you got into Jirrin''s ale supply and ended up dancing and singing naked in the middle of the village square? Aki¡¯s utterly mortified expression served as enough of an answer. Here I should mention that the legal counsel Ren retained for us advised me to say that all of us kept our faces straight during all of that. Anyway, my wife¡¯s torment was put to an end when we heard knocking on the house¡¯s door. It was Dhelmir. It¡¯s time to roll then. Chapter 135 - Into the Murdergrove Lilyth There definitely was something wrong with that pocket of quiet. Even though the Murdergrove didn¡¯t look any different from the forest surrounding it, the trees felt more looming and the air was heavier. I could well understand why people were wary of the area. I looked at my companions and noticed a curious thing - both Rennie and Dhelmir seemed ill at ease while Aki and Caei looked to be unaffected altogether. Interesting. ¡®Told you there was nothing special about this place,¡¯ Aki shrugged, confirming my observations. ¡®Can¡¯t you feel it?¡¯ Rennie asked. ¡®Feel what?¡¯ Confused, Caei answered her question with one of her own. I looked at Chirpy and Veenaya. They looked like my cat did during the annual animal cruelty event happening every New Year¡¯s Eve - distraught and uneasy, but not panicking. Yet. ¡®There is ambient magic in the air,¡¯ Ren explained. ¡®At least that''s what I think it is. I can almost see it forming a web, the edge of which we are right now standing on.¡¯ Huh? ¡®Are you a mage, Lady Ren?¡¯ Dhelmir asked, curiosity having replaced his own reaction to the place. And there goes the kayfabe. We knew it would be a longshot, but we¡¯ve decided to at least pretend to be normal: Chirpy and Veenaya would be described as exotic pets of Ren given her wealth and our suspicion that if we tried to pass off the nesumi as belonging to someone else we would be finding ¡°presents¡± in our shoes for weeks; I would be staying in my Elf form; and we¡¯d pray no one asks about Caei¡¯s heritage, panic when someone would inevitably bring it up and then desperately make shit up on the go. My vote would be to distract the interloper, hide Caei and then gaslight the person into thinking that my horny vampire wife was just a figment of their imagination. All credit¡¯s where it is due, Ren made a decent save. ¡®I wish I was, good man. I think I may have some fey ancestry, but that''s all. My whole I¡¯ve been getting those occasional glimpses into the fabric of the world. Usually, it is not that intense though.¡¯ Being a crime boss makes you a good liar, whodathunk. ¡®I would wager this is why the air feels¡­ oppressive,¡¯ I quickly added and pointed at our pets. ¡®Our little friends feel there is something wrong with the place too.¡¯ Veenaya, as if to underscore my point, let out a low whine, while Chirpy climbed on Ren¡¯s shoulder and nuzzled her neck. Next time, maybe wait a moment before engaging in any theatrics, blasted furballs. Luckily, Dhelmir, probably too spooked to think entirely straight, didn''t seem to notice the slightly too convenient timing. Aki came over to Veenaya and lifted the lumizu into her arms, giving the creature a tight hug. Deciding not to draw any attention to my wives being wholly unaffected, I had some theories about that, but those would need to wait until we were alone, I gestured towards the forest. ¡®Shall we?¡¯ ¡®Pay up,¡¯ Caei whispered to me as we followed what was left of the tracks deep into the Murdergrove. ¡®Ah ah ah¡­¡¯ I replied, shaking my head. ¡®It still holds up. Blame Ren.¡¯ She harrumphed and stormed off. Before we got into Dan-Hem we made a bet as to how long our cover story of ¡°just normal people¡± would hold up. I gave it two hours, Ren until midnight, Caei twenty-four hours and Aki two days. If, by some miracle, it still held then we would bet again. Hey! Don¡¯t judge us. Our cover story was paper thin, and I don¡¯t mean the nice eighty gsm stuff you usually get for your printer. No¡­ it was the crappy almost see-through stuff you would find in cheap paperbacks. I never expected there would be this many problems with knowing magic. Caeileera I checked the clock on the interface and saw that it was 10:36 meaning I still had eight hours to win the bet, as we arrived in Dan-Hem at around 18:30 the previous day. We would potentially be screwed, but at least I would be three hundred Divines richer then. Might buy me something nice for that. Maybe some good food or nice clothes. Lilyth also mentioned some items I could be interested in tracking down assuming they were being made on Dwynveia. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I was continuously amazed at the variety of stuff you could get on Terra and partially on Dwynveia. There wasn''t much in terms of luxury goods, as Lilyth called them, in the Badlands. The most extravagant things you could get were fancy clothes and those were pricey. Occasionally, some external items would end up on the market, usually brought in by the Serrated Blades, but I could never afford any of them. One time I was really tempted, but the price asked was one I was unwilling to pay. You see, most trade in the badlands was barter-based. What was the currency? Items of value, favours, sex, slaves, servants, servitude contracts, anything and everything of value really. We had a currency called Bloodstones and everyone was issued twenty of those a week, but you usually spent all of them to cover your basic necessities. So my position as a Vicars concubine was a dream come true in a way. I never really loved the man, our arrangement was purely transactional, but he was good to me nonetheless, and I guess you could say we developed a wary friendship. His being retired from his position still saddened me from time to time. At least It was quick from what I was told, though. I only realised it after the fact, but the steep price for that item I wanted, a pendant with a smiling amphibian of some kind made out of polished green rock, through the eyes and the mouth were painted black, was part of that plot all along. The seller, a Serrated Blade no less., said he would give me the pendant if I agreed to spy on my benefactor. It hurt, but I refused. I would not jeopardise my meal ticket for jewellery, no matter how much I wanted it. Maybe I should try tracking one like it down? There should be pendants like this available somewhere in Ror-Bhyk or Denyr. There was a question of price, of course. I had only a few hundred Divines to my name, and I didn''t want to mooch of Ren and her mom all the time. Might need to look into getting a paying job at some point so that I can add money to the ¡°pile¡± or at least cover my own expenses. I walked up to Ren and asked her about that. ¡®I wouldn''t worry about it,¡¯ she shrugged. ¡®There will be plenty of work with setting everything up in the barony and setting up the trading stuff, so you will easily earn back your keep and more.¡¯ ¡®If need be we can also go delving and/or dungeoneering.¡¯ Lilyth joined us. ¡®We need to get more experience AND we have an expedition to fund.¡¯ ¡®Good point,¡¯ Ren nodded. ¡®I¡¯ll try to get us some intel on that. Delves should be easy enough to find, as they frequently pop around in ruins. Dungeons though¡­¡¯ She shuddered. ¡®We¡¯ll get there when we get there,¡¯ Lilyth said. ¡®We can always go and clear Akh¡¯ret¡¯s Mercy again. There was¡­¡¯ I interrupted her by clasping her mouth with my hand. ¡®I know you are joking,¡¯ I hissed,¡¯ but if you ever suggest that again I¡¯ll feed you to Phosi.¡¯ Aki and Dhelmir eyed us suspiciously after that outburst, but we waved them off. ¡®A minor disagreement,¡¯ I smiled. ¡®Nothing to worry about.¡¯ Dhelmir rolled his eyes and we continued. ¡®Women¡­¡¯ I heard him mutter under his breath. Lilyth The deeper we got into the Murdergrove the more¡­ disquieting it seemed. The shadows got longer and darker and the trees seemed to hate our presence. Even Aki and Caei looked uncomfortable now. What is with nature hating my very existence? First my allergies, then Zalikh, then the Dryad and now this. Was I the meteor that killed the dinosaurs in a previous life or something? Then something gave me a pause. The Dryad! I am a Plant fae now. What if I am like Ren here and can feel something that the others cannot? I need to check this. Could be important. ¡®Can we stop for a moment guys?¡¯ I said. ¡®I feel nature calling.¡¯ My friends looked at me in confusion. It wasn''t much of a secret among us that I didn''t have to worry about that particular bodily function. I caught Aki¡¯s gaze, shifted one of my grass wisps over my eye and corrected it as if it were a stray strand of hair. Understanding dawned in her eyes. ¡®I¡¯ll come with you to watch your back,¡¯ she said. I wanted to protest, but on second thought nodded my assent. It was potentially dangerous here. ¡®Talk to me,¡¯ she whispered while we were a reasonable distance from the rest of our group. She didn''t seem particularly enthusiastic about my idea. ¡®I am not sure whether going that rabbit hole is a good idea right now,¡¯ she pondered out loud, her arms crossed. ¡®Ren didn''t actively mess with whatever is hiding down here. She just saw things.¡¯ That was a good point. If something hated you, would poking it in the eye be a good idea? ¡®Maybe I¡¯ll just check if my Kitsune form gives me a better passive perception?¡¯ I suggested. Aki tapped her chin with one of her fingers. ¡®What if it overwhelms you though? You have no experience with¡­ angry trees.¡¯ I looked for a good counterargument. One came to me almost immediately. ¡®It¡¯s better I discover that now than during a fight.¡¯ She shook her head. ¡®Transform away.¡¯ Like many of my bright ideas over the past few weeks, this one was a massive mistake too. Saying that the experience was overwhelming would be like calling an ocean ¡°slightly damp¡±. I immediately transformed back and Aki had to catch me when I stumbled forward. ¡®Th¡­ the forest,¡¯ I stammered out. ¡®It hates us. It is furious at us. But¡­ it isn''t because of us. There is a cancer here¡­ that is causing the trees here¡­ an agonising pain. It forces them to FEEL that pain. To be. Normally¡­ both the cancer and the forest slumber¡­ but¡­ the cancer is hungry¡­ so¡­¡¯ ¡®We are its food?¡¯ Aki suggested. ¡®Yes and no. The cancer feeds on pain and suffering. The trees¡­ don¡¯t provide enough sustenance¡­¡¯ ¡®So¡­ the aura of fear¡­ is the cancer wanting to feed on that emotion?¡¯ Aki was horrified by the implication. ¡®Y-yes. The forest wants us gone from here¡­ because it¡­ it¡­ will be free from pain then.¡¯ ¡®And the cancer wants us here to drink it all? Which is why Ren said that the magic here forms a web?¡¯ I nodded. ¡®I am sorry to ask about this,¡¯ Aki said after a moment of deafening silence. ¡®But were you able to locate our quarry?¡¯ ¡®No,¡¯ I sighed in defeat. ¡®I spent too little time ¡°in there¡±. The psychic imprint I got just from the forest¡¯s struggle¡­ It eclipsed everything. Aki, to my surprise, hugged me then. ¡®Thank you for figuring out as much as you did, anyway. It will help us a lot.¡¯ ¡®My pleasure, babe,¡¯ I smiled weakly. ''My pleasure.''