The trip back to the mountains of Ix'Uld Nan, where Ted lived, was uneventful. Most of the monsters who lived along the route were low-level enough that they would not even think of attacking something like Ted. Most locals were also versed enough in who Ted was that they stayed well out of his way. Ted liked it that way. He left alone those who left him alone. As he turned the last turn on the mountain path that would bring his home into view in the small valley he had claimed, Ted saw a large Human wearing armor standing at the fence line.
Ted grumbled to himself. "Well, at least he read the sign and followed the directions, so I guess I'll at least hear him out."
Ted walked into the fenced-in patch of shrubs, setting his pack on the house's porch. He turned back and walked to the Human. "So what can I do for you?"
"Te'Nar Ji..." The Human was stopped by Ted lifting a hand.
"I know my name and titles and what you humans, in particular, call me, so let's skip all that, and you call me Ted."
The Human shrugged. "Very well. Ted, you have been deemed a threat by the adventurers guild of the Gilndor Kingdom. So, unfortunately, I am here to kill you."
Ted took a deep breath, his anger and wrath boiling to a point as he took in the young man. "Do you have any idea what I actually am and why I am so despised, boy? Do you even understand what you signed up for when you agreed to attempt to kill me?"
"There will be no attempt, demon, and I am not your boy." The young man spat back, falling into a ready stance.
Ted looked at him and then shrugged. "Very well, it's your funeral."
There were four hits in the fight. The Human hitting Ted. Ted hitting the Human. The Human hits the ground. And Ted hits the soul of the Human and shatters it into a thousand pieces.
The dark core of Ted's soul seemed to absorb the soul fragments. Ted, for his part, felt invigorated. "Should have talked with me some more."
He scooped up the warrior's body and carried it inside, stripping it from clothes and gear before tossing it down a chute descending deep into the mountain. He scooped the equipment into a pile and tossed it into a massive chest containing hundreds of other such piles.
"Everyone is so bound by the fucking rules they don't think for themselves," Ted said as he began unpacking his pack, which he had retrieved from the porch. Ted spent the rest of the day setting up a portable forge out in front of the house and getting together enough wood and other materials that he could begin forging the tools he needed the following day. As the sun set and the moons rose, Ted finished laying in the tinder and wood he would need to get the smelting crucible to temperature. He went inside afterward and cooked some of the Wyrm Flesh he had gotten from the boss monster.
As Ted ate the cooked meat, he looked at the strange item he had gotten. It was a metal flower. It was made of a metal Ted had never seen before, which was saying a lot. Ted had watched the rise and fall of the Dwarven technocracy a thousand years ago and seen a thousand human kings rise to power. The elvish lords were only two generations gone since... The Event. In all the thousands of years Ted had lived, he had never seen anything like this item.
"Well, as good a reason as any to open this annoying Status," Ted said, holding the metal flower in his hand. He performed the mental gymnastics required to open his status and was affronted with his status.
"Ted" Status NAME: Te'Nar Jix Dal Igdarian Kesh AGE: 7625 TITLE: Traitor of Divinity, Demon of Despair and Destruction, Lord of Chaos, and Slayer of Souls LVL: 791 SKILL POINTS: 1033 SKILLS: 05 SKILL SLOTS: 79 SEE SKILLS ASSIGN SKILL SLOTS Strength (STR): 227 Magic (MAG): 417 Intellect (INT): 317 Luck (LUC): 10 Charisma (CHA): 98 SEE EXPANDED STATUS Dexterity (DEX): 199 SEE INVENTORY Constitution (CON): 298 SEE STATUS EFFECTS
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Ted let out a sigh. Shaking his head and ignoring almost everything, he quickly selected 'see skills' and was presented with his skills.
SKILLS SLOT SKILL USES PER DAY 00
Ted quickly selected
Ted took a breath and quickly activated his
It took Ted three more tries, each one taking longer than the last, and finally, after the third try and twenty minutes. Ted had his answer. The Item was called a {Bloom of Birth and Rebirth}.
Ted was taken aback. The description under the item's name was shocking, to say the least.
The Bloom of Birth and Rebirth allows the holder a one-time choice.
1: creates a new life, selecting the attributes of their creation, soul attributes, and other things such as personality.
2: The holder selects the Gender, Race, and general physical characteristics of their desired creation, and a random pre-existing soul is rebirthed into the created vessel.
Both options come with three other choices to be made.
A: Does the created life force have free will, or is their will subjugated to be subservient? (This choice can NOT be changed)
B: Does the created life force share in the creator's power? (Within three days, the creator may choose an amount of EXP, Skill Points, and Skill Slots to give to their creation. The total EXP, points, or slots may not be more than a third of the total had by the creator in each category.)
C: Is the created life force bound to its creator as a slave with a servitude bond is bound to its master? (This choice can be changed within five days of creating the life.)
Ted sat back and thought for a long time about what this item implied about the world he lived in. In the end, he carefully stowed the flower in a strong metal chest that sat at the foot of his bed before falling asleep. Ted dreamed of things he had long since forgotten, a young woman, long dead with flowing hair and beautifully polished horns. A child holding onto his finger. And of flames taking it all.