Writing has been a bit slow this week due to Winter Break being over and starting a new semester. I had to  cut a lot of content from this chapter because it was revealing too much too soon, so instead of it being a Zedd focused chapter, I changed it to focus solely on introducing the OP skill. The original planned 12 or so chapters will most likely end up as 10 with those planned chapters being pushed down the line to a later arc.

If you have any questions, I'll try to clarify it to the best I can based on current plans and what I write along with my interpretation. I'll mark them with spoiler tags if it reveals information or plot points that are from an unreleased chapter. It feels clear in my head, but it's not always easy for others to understand.

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Zedd had told Garnet about the invasions. A story about how the sky cracks open and from a sea of blood, countless monsters attacked their city walls. The wall before Garnet, Kirk, Klarth, Duke Wellington, and Leeroy was in shambles from the previous invasion. "Why not build a wall to resist a siege?" Garnet asked.

"How is that even possible?" asked Leeroy. "The walls give us some advantage, but to counter the attacker is something completely different."

"There are modifications that you can make in the wall," said Garnet. "For example, you don't need your archers to be at the top of the walls to shoot."

"Can you explain?" Duke Wellington asked.

Garnet picked up a few of the broken rocks on the floor and piled them together. "This is your normal siege wall," she said. "It is meant to stop things from getting through." Garnet then moved a few of the rocks aside, leaving a small hole, small enough for an archer to see and aim. "This will let your arrows get through, but will make it hard for their arrows to come in still."

"I see," said Leeroy. "You leave a small opening big enough for your forces to get their attack through, but small make enough to make it difficult for your enemies to shoot inside."

"Do you think this can be done Leeroy?" said Duke Wellington.

"Yes," said Leeroy. "But I don't think we would survive a siege long enough to make use of it."

"Then make it so you do," said Garnet.

"What do you mean?" Leeroy asked.

"You have not been planning for the long term," said Garnet. "You have been planning to survive the next invasion and that's it. You should be aiming to grow and expand despite the invasions."

"But it is near impossible to provide food and water to that many people," said Duke Wellington.

"That's where there's other technologies," said Garnet. "Underground tunnels. Using the river as a source of water. Building weapons to destroy enemy siege weapons. Laying explosives where an enemy might be. All of this can be done long before the invasion."

"Can you teach me?" asked Duke Wellington.

"What are you saying?" asked Leeroy.

"If I want to rebuild this wall, I want to do it right," said Duke Wellington. "She seems like she knows a lot about military tactics, and I want to know about what I can do and what I should look for."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Leeroy.

"You used to be a commoner too," said Duke Wellington. "But I recognized you and gave you that position because of your accomplishments. If she has important information like this, I would like to know about it too."

"I understand," said Leeroy. "But I'm suspicious of her."

"It's alright if you want to follow," said Duke Wellington. "I have to tell you something important anyways."

The Duke led Garnet to his private room in the castle. Leeroy was there too. Kirk and Klarth were asked to wait outside. "Before I continue," said Duke Wellington. "You must know something about her."

"What is it?" asked Leeroy.

"Before I continue, do you promise not to let a single word of this outside?" asked Duke Wellington.

"Yes," said Leeroy.

"She is Ruby's mother," said Duke Wellington.

"I thought that no one else was supposed to know," said Garnet.

"This is the easiest way to get his trust and he won't tell anyone," said Duke Wellington. "I told him that she takes after you too."

Garnet watched as the news hit Leeroy's ears. He was still thinking hard about it as he looked at Duke Wellington's face before turning to Garnet. He looked at her face and her eyes for a while before speaking again. "Okay," said Leeroy. He stepped out of the room.

"That's proof he trusts you," said Duke Wellington. "But I get to spend more time with you now," he said as he hugged Garnet.

"Let go of me!" said Garnet as she pushed him away. "You lied about the card you gave me."

"What do you mean?" asked Duke Wellington.

"When I was approached by Baron Gray who wanted to arrest me, he backed off the moment he saw the card," said Garnet. "They said that I was a member of your family."

"Are you not?" asked Duke Wellington.

"I guess I am," said Garnet. Even if she was not, Ruby was and that meant that she was at least connected to him. "But I don't think I'm ready to accept the full responsibilities of that position."

"Don't worry," said Duke Wellington. "I will try to win you over, but I will not force you. After all, I need a legitimate heir from you as well."

"What are you saying?!?" shouted Garnet as her face turned red.

The Duke's face suddenly changed. "Anyways, enough joking around," said Duke Wellington. "It is time for business. You told me that it is possible to plan for a long term siege. I want to know how."

"I heard you were the General of the North," said Garnet. "I thought you knew about these things."

"I'm a good leader and maybe a tactician, but I know nothing of long term plans," said Duke Wellington. "The longest battles that I fought were maybe a few weeks in an open field, but we always had supplies delivered to us. That is why I am turning to you."

"If you want to survive a siege, you need a steady source of food and water," said Garnet. "You can either make it available from underground water or obtain it from people outside through a series of underground tunnels."

"I see," said Duke Wellington. "Anything else I should know?"

"You need to keep your people happy," said Garnet. "If they're miserable, they're going to rebel against you or undermine your efforts."

"Is that why you wanted me to lower taxes?" asked Duke Wellington.

"Yes," said Garnet.

"Okay," said Duke Wellington. "For now, I will see what I can learn about anti-siege and improve the wall. If I have more questions, I will ask you."

"Can you also keep Baron Gray away from me?" asked Garnet. "I feel he will be trouble."

"There's little I can do since he is in charge of security in this city," said Duke Wellington.

Garnet had a plan. If Baron Gray was in charge of security at the city. She would just have to make it look like he was incompetent at his job. Then he would be replaced. Her original plan was to use her Skeletal Dogs to create a problem where there were no problems. However, the Skeletal Dogs were not a serious threat yet. She would have to make them a threat. "I'll find a way then," said Garnet. "Don't worry about it and focus on the wall."

"Alright," said Duke Wellington. "Please consider my offer in the meantime."

Garnet had thought about it. Duke Wellington had invoked numerous emotions from her. Even though she could not clearly remember these events, the Duke's attitude towards and behaviors towards her were much different from how others treated her.

"But first things first," thought Garnet. "I must become much stronger."

That night, Garnet headed out. She needed to find stronger enemies. Boars and wolves were no longer enough. "Call: Skeletal Dogs!" Garnet summoned three of them. "Find me stronger enemies," she ordered. The dogs all dispersed into the shadows. Even the Duke was trying to get stronger in his own way. Garnet could no longer wait for the opportunity to come to her. Zedd, Duke Wellington, Klarth, Kirk, and Leeroy were all much stronger than her.

Garnet headed to the the site of the Giant Wild Boar. When she got there, there was nothing there. The Giant Wild Boar did not reappear after she defeated it. "Do some enemies not return?" she thought. She then headed to the cave where the undead were. There was nothing there either. It was just an empty cave. There were no signs of skeletons or zombies.

Garnet's abilities had peaked since she encountered the undead. Without stronger enemies, she could not gain experience to level up. She had hit a soft cap that could only be breached by fighting stronger enemies. The one thing that she could train was her skills since they leveled up with use. Garnet found an opening in the forest. Here, she laid out some pieces of Wild Boar Meat. The goal was to attract as many aggressive animals to her location as she could. She drew her short sword and waited.

HOWL. It was the sound of a wolf. The wolf had gotten the scent of fresh meat and headed towards Garnet. She could hear it quickly approaching as she drew her short sword. She turned to face it as it came running. "Horizontal Slash!" In the blink of an eye, her sword had cut across the side of the wolf and it fell to the ground. She was much stronger than these enemies, but since there was nothing stronger, the only thing she could do was train her skills on these enemies for now.

Stat Increase: Agility +1

Soon, she heard the sound of others coming. It was the sound of many wolves approaching.

New Quest: Defeat the Wolf Pack

Lure out the Alpha Wolf and defeat it

Reward: Experience, New Skill, Skill Upgrade

"Another quest," thought Garnet. "Will this be enough to make me stronger?" It granted new skills, which could potentially help her overcome the level gap. Garnet focused on fighting with just physical skills. Magic was much easier, but she needed to train her body as well. The wolves slowly gathered.

HOWL. It was much louder. "Whatever it is, it is getting closer," thought Garnet. She dashed towards the wolves to start killing them before she was completely surrounded.

Stat Increase: Agility +1

"Horizontal Slash!" It cut right through the side of the wolf again. Each use of the skill killed off a wolf, but there were too many of them. "Recall!" The three Skeletal Dogs all reappeared around Garnet as she prepared to face off against the pack of wolves. "Attack them!" she ordered as the dogs began to run around.

The wolves were distracted by the three Skeletal Dogs running around and Garnet focused on killing individual wolves. Each of the dogs were able to take on several of the wolves at a time. Even though the wolves were numerous, they were very weak. Every use of her Horizontal Slash resulted in a dead wolf. Double Slash was stronger, but the bodies of the wolves were just too small for it to be effective. They would occasionally land a scratch on her, but it did next to nothing with her Mana Shield protecting her.

Level Up: Horizontal Slash (Level 2)

Stat Increase: Strength +1

There were wolf corpses littered around the forest clearing now. She had slain dozens of them while her Skeletal Dogs kept the others distracted. Their bodies however, were not disappearing. Garnet was able to smell blood. It reminded her of what the battlefield smelled like.

New Skill: Blood Absorption (Level 1)

Absorb the blood of nearby fallen enemies to restore your health and mana. Some abilities can be absorbed through this process as well. Efficiency increases at higher level.

"Blood Absorption!" Garnet activated the new skill. The corpses of the wolves around Garnet all exploded into red and the blood flowed into her body. She felt a surge of strength as her fatigue disappeared.

Level Up: Blood Absorption (Level 2)

Level Up: Blood Absorption (Level 3)

In an instant, she had recovered her physical and mental strength. Her health and mana were restored the maximum. The cost, was the corpses of her fallen enemies. However, only the dead were affected. Those that were severely injured yet still breathing were unaffected by the skill. It left no evidence behind as their bodies were absorbed into her. The other wolves began to back off in fear. The sheer number of corpses affected by it had also boosted the skill through its first two levels.

HOWL. It was the howl of the loud wolf. The remaining wolves around her began to push forward again as if they were being commanded by the howling. Garnet continued to cut her way through the swarm of wolves. "Blood Absorption!" The activation of the skill cleared the ground of the wolf corpses, giving her more room to maneuver and refilling the mana that she had used.

Level Up: Horizontal Slash (Level 3)

Stat Increase: Strength +1

Stat Increase: Dexterity +1

Stat Increase: Vitality +1

Stat Increase: Agility +1

The prolonged fighting was doing wonders for Garnet's stats. Even though the wolves were not giving any significant experience, she was still getting stronger skills and increasing her stats. When she got tired, she simply absorbed the bodies of the fallen wolves to recover her strength. The wolves were trying to wear her down, but instead, they had only given her more strength.

HOWL. It was the howl again. The wolves all backed away this time. The sound of footsteps approached. It was a large white wolf, as big as the Giant Wild Boar.

Alpha Wolf

Level: 10

Class: Beast

Sub-Class: Commander

Stats: ???

It was the leader of the wolves. A typical wolf was only a level 2 beast. The Alpha Wolf was a level 10. Garnet kept her eyes on it as the Alpha Wolf began to circle around her. It was trying to gauge her strength. The other wolves around stood back and watched. The Alpha Wolf was going to fight her alone.

Garnet readied her short sword and kept her eye on the Alpha Wolf as it began to speed up, circling around her. ROAR. The Alpha Wolf leapt towards her with a ferocious roar.

"Horizontal Slash!" Garnet used her sword to meet the fangs of the wolf head on. CLING. The sword clashed against the teeth of the Alpha Wolf and they were both knocked back. In terms of strength, they were about even, but the Alpha Wolf had its weight behind it.

Garnet ran towards the Alpha Wolf. She was going to take the initiative. She slashed downwards diagonally, but the Alpha Wolf leapt back. It was fast. Faster than Garnet. The Alpha Wolf lowered itself as it was ready to pounce. But it did not jump towards Garnet, instead it readied itself keeping an eye on her. It was waiting for Garnet to attack so it could counter and kill her in a single blow.

"Lightning Bolt!" Garnet fired a bolt of lightning and the dog. Stunning it briefly.

Level Up: Lightning Bolt (Level 4)

Garnet rushed towards it. "Horizontal Slash!" She cut into the Alpha Wolf's front right leg, disabling its ability to pounce on her.

New Skill: Crescent Slash (Level 1)

A slash attack that cuts in a half circle in front of you. It deals reduced damage, but does not lose momentum unless the attack is blocked.

The Alpha Wolf's expression changed. It was much more fierce. HOWL. The other wolves begin to circle around Garnet. "Call: Skeletal Dogs!" The Skeletal Dogs reappeared around Garnet to help her. If the Alpha Wolf was no longer going to fight one on one, she would not either.

HOWL. All of the wolves began charging towards Garnet. She turned her sword around. "Mana Strike!" Garnet struck the approaching wolves with both her short sword and her bare hands. It was not as clumsy as dual wielding and even more effective against a large number of small enemies.

Level Up: Mana Strike (Level 2)

It was faster than swinger her sword and it was just as effective. With Mana Shield coating her body, the damage of the wolves was negligible and she could meet all of them head on. Soon, there were only a few wolves left, and they all backed off in fear. It was up to the Alpha Wolf to finish things, but Garnet had already injured it.

Garnet ran in for an attack. The Alpha Wolf swung its left leg at her. She dodged to the side. The Alpha Wolf was slower since its other leg was injured.

Stat Increase: Agility +1

The Alpha Wolf continued to move as it swung its whole body around to hit Garnet. BOOM. Its tail swung and hit Garnet, knocking her to the ground.

Stat Increase: Vitality +1

Garnet checked her life to make sure it was not too dangerous. She had lost about a quarter of her mana to that attack. It was strong, but she could defend herself against it without much trouble if she was careful. "Lightning Bolt!" Garnet shot another bolt of lightning at the Alpha Wolf, but it resisted it. "Lightning Bolt!" Garnet shot at the Alpha Wolf again.

Level Up: Lightning Bolt (Level 5)

Garnet was trying to provoke the Alpha Wolf to attack. It was faster than her, so it could react to her, but if she made the Alpha Wolf attack first, she would be the one who could launch a counter attack. "Fire Bolt!" BOOM. The Fire Bolt struck the Alpha Wolf on the head as it fell over.

The Alpha Wolf struggled, but it got itself back up. "Fire Bolt!" Garnet used another one. The Alpha Wolf moved, but it was doing so clumsily. The damage to its front legs was severe enough that it could not move normally. "Fire Bolt!" Garnet fired three more bolts of fire in an attempt to get the Alpha Wolf to attack.

Level Up: Fire Bolt (Level 5)

Stat Increase: Intelligence +1

The Alpha Wolf had been worn down by its injuries. It could no longer close the distance between them. The other wolves around them began to run. They were abandoning its leader. The Alpha Wolf ran towards Garnet. She saw its leg as blood continued to flow from it. HOWL. The Alpha Wolf let out one last cry. It was its final attempt to kill Garnet.

"Horizontal Slash!" Garnet met its attack head on with her short sword. The Alpha Wolf did not have the same amount of strength as it did in its first attack. SHLUCK. Her sword tore through the side of the mouth of the Alpha Wolf.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Stat Increase: Strength +1

Stat Increase: Dexterity +1

Stat Increase: Agility +1

You have leveled up!

Quest Update: Defeat the Wolf Pack

Use Blood Absorption on the corpse of the Alpha Wolf

"Blood Absorption!" Garnet watched as the body of the Alpha Wolf burst into a sea of blood and flowed into her body.

Quest Complete: Defeat the Wolf Pack

Skill Upgrade: Call: Skeletal Dogs -> Call: Skeletal Hounds (Level 1)

Summon forth large dogs made of animal bones. High attack, high speed, low defense.

MP Cost: 50

Skill Upgrade: Blood Absorption (Level 1)

Absorb the blood of nearby fallen enemies to restore your health. Efficiency increases at higher level. Using this can unlock new abilities. There may be side effects to absorbing some creatures.

Garnet watched as her small dogs broke apart and began to rebuild themselves. They changed from small dogs that looked like they were for pets to large dogs that were up to Garnet's waist. They looked like they could easily tear apart a person.

The fight against the wolves had paid off with new abilities that supplemented her old ones. However, there were very few enemies that Garnet could actually gain experience off of, so she had to continue to focus on developing her skills until she could find new enemies. "Go find me stronger enemies!" she ordered. She watched as the Skeletal Hounds ran off at high speeds. They were much faster than her old ones too. She headed back to Antium and left her hounds to search.

Garnet returned back to Zedd's Workshop. Kirk and Klarth were sitting in the corner just watching Zedd. Zedd was drawing something on the wall. "What are you up to?" Garnet asked.

"You should tell Kirk and Klarth before you run off you know," said Zedd. "I know they're used to it by now, but still."

"They don't let me run around," said Garnet. "There are some things that I can only do when I am by myself."

"Fair enough, but you still need to tell one of them before you go in the future," said Zedd.

"Alright," said Garnet.

"I'm reopening the Teleportation Network," said Zedd.

"What is that?" asked Garnet.

"In my old days, I traveled a lot," explained Zedd. "At certain places, I left magic circles that I could use to move around quickly, but it requires an enormous amount of mana to do so, but over the years their power faded since I did not maintain them, so you will have to make new ones."

"Do any of these places have stronger enemies?" asked Garnet.

"There are some," said Zedd. "But if you are training, I recommend creating an Instance Dungeon."

New Quest: Learn Instance Dungeon Creation from Zedd

Increase your maximum mana to 10000.

Reward: New Skill

"10000?!?" thought Garnet. That was five times her maximum amount.

"How do I do that?" Garnet asked.

"First, you need to have enough mana to warp space itself," said Zedd. "Then, you can create one that is filled with enemies that you have encountered, but their power is roughly equal to yours."

"That means I will always have strong enemies to fight," said Garnet.

"Yes," said Zedd. "But they are only based on enemies that you have encountered. The more you've fought, the more diverse it will be."

Garnet had thought about the enemy types she had encountered. Boars, wolves, and undead. Two of those were beasts and one was humanoid undead. There were numerous other types of creatures out there, such as birds that she has not encountered yet. There were also people as well, but many of them were either too weak or too strong for her. Right now, her goal had to be to increase her mana so that she can make use of the Instance Dungeon Creation.

"Is there a way to increase your mana faster?" Garnet asked.

"Lots of practice," said Zedd. "Just keep spending your mana and letting it refill and then spending it again."

It was stat grinding. Garnet simply had to use a bunch of magic spells to increase her intelligence. The problem is that leveling up provided her with most of her mana, so in order to increase her intelligence by that much, she needed to use a huge amount of magic. It would take a lot of time either way. "Three long term goals now," thought Garnet. The first was to rebuild the walls. The second was to change the city's tax policies. And now, to gain the power to create a dungeon was added to her list, but that was because it would give her a way to increase her own power.

"By the way," said Zedd. "Keep fighting those monsters that you find out there."

"How do you know about that?" asked Garnet.

"I have some control over space and time magic," said Zedd. "I know almost everything that goes on in this city."

"What is so important about those monsters?" asked Garnet.

"By defeating the powerful monsters, you prevent them from ever forming a hierarchy," said Zedd. "A monster that has created a hierarchy can lead an army of its same species to attack, making them very dangerous."

That was what happened with the Alpha Wolf. It had led a fairly large wolf pack. If something like that attacked the city, it could be terrifying, especially since the walls were down. "I will if I find any," said Garnet.

"Thank you," said Zedd. "Knowing that those things are not around is very relieving."

Garnet went back to the market with Kirk and Klarth. Clark was still there. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," said Garnet. "He stopped bothering me after Duke Wellington helped out."

"Thank goodness," said Clark. "A lot of people that Baron Gray goes after ends up missing. I was afraid the same will happen to you."

"They probably ended up in that cave," Garnet thought to herself. Baron Gray was abusing his power, but at the moment, there was little that she could do about it. The most that she could do was stop him from bothering her. She could not abuse the Duke's card either as it would undermine its importance.

"I don't think he will be bothering us as long as Duke Wellington is here," said Garnet. "He was angry, but he was also very afraid to take any action in the presence of the Duke."

"Will you continue to sell Boar Meat?" Clark asked.

"Yes," said Garnet. "Until I discover another way, this is the only thing I can do for now." Garnet continued to cook and sell the Boar Meat. Every day, the amount was limited in order to create demand for it. The Boar Meat alone was not enough to push for change though. Something more drastic would be needed. The sale of food was something that largely affected the commoners. She needed to do something that would affect something that the nobles wanted or needed.

Stat Increase: Charisma +1

Stat Increase: Charisma +1

Level Up: Cooking (Level 4)

"Sorry everyone, we're out for today," said Garnet as she served the last few pieces of Boar Meat again. Groans could be heard in the crowd.

"If we got Boar Meat ourselves, could you cook it for us?" asked someone in the crowd.

"I'm sure there are many people who are willing to cook it for you for a small fee, but I think Clark here would be glad to sell it for you as well," said Garnet.

Level Up: Captivation (Level 2)

WOAH. There was suddenly a large amount of chatter heard from the crowd. "It seems like some of them want to go out to hunt on their own," thought Garnet.

If a few people became hunters, it would provide a steady supply of meat to the city and would be able to jump start an economy without worrying about significant tariffs. The would only have to worry about local taxes. The only question now was whether it would be enough. What Garnet could do was very limited. Despite her incredible power and the Hero System, what she could do was still limited. Five people hunting on their own was far more effective than what Garnet could do by selling on her own because it meant that there were five more hunters that could provide supplies to merchants, butchers, and leather workers.

But one question came to Garnet's mind. "Was this the right thing to do?" It was something that she could not shake off. While this had created some kind of market, it also directed the hatred of individuals towards the leadership and the leadership was what needed to change. If the leadership reacted with violence, then it would be a significant problem.

Spoiler :

Name: Garnet

Level: 7

Class: Dark Mage

Sub-class: Temptress

Stats:

HP: 540/540

MP: 1520/1520

Fame: 20

Strength: 14 (+5)

Dexterity: 6 (+7)

Intelligence: 34 (+22)

Vitality: 10 (+5)

Agility: 11 (+7)

Charisma: 19 (+10)

PROFICIENCY: Weapon:

- One Handed Sword - 5

Magic:

- Fire – 4

- Lightning – 4

- Wind – 1

- Summoning – 5

- Blood - 2

SKILLS: Weapon (One Handed Sword):

- Horizontal Slash (Level 3)

- Double Slash

- Crescent Slash

Class (Dark Mage):

- Fire Bolt (Level 5)

- Lightning Bolt (Level 5)

- Light (Level 1)

- Air Bullet (Level 2)

- Mana Strike (Level 2)

- Mana Shield (Level 2)

- Call: Skeletal Dogs (Level 6) -> Call: Skeletal Hounds (Level 1)

- Recall

- Dismiss

- Enhanced Mana Regeneration (Level 1)

- Blood Absorption (Level 1)

Sub-class (Temptress):

- Enhanced Body (Level 2)

- Captivation: (Level 2)

- Mind Read: (Level 1)

- Drain Will (Level 3)

- Sexy Walk (Level 1)

- Stealth (Level 1) Tradeskills:

- Hunting (Level 3) - Hunter

- Cooking (Level 4) - Cook

- Inspection (Level 1)

- Inventory Expansion (Level 2) Passives:

- Hand to Hand (Level 1)

- One Handed Sword (Level 1)

- Reflex (Level 3)

- Speed (Level 6)

- Physical Resistance (Level 2) Unique:

- Hero System (Passive)

- Otherworldly Knowledge (Passive)

- Golden Tongue (Passive)

- Mana Compatibility (Passive)

- Quick Learner (Passive)

- Channeling (Passive)

- Charging (Passive)