Chapter 76 - Upgrades

Everyone stared in shock, but no one moved. Even the daema and Gorthomal’s imps were in a state of absolute quiet until less than two seconds later they all simultaneously evaporated into thin air – no doubt being temporarily sent off to their respective nether realms for some designated amount of time after their master’s death.

Trey’s breathing was rapid and his heart pounded in his chest. He knew that if he hadn’t made it a one-hit-kill that Gorthomal would have had Trey’s guts for attempting to murder him… as he felt his sword’s power flaring along the blade and up his arm like a warm bath - he came to terms with what had happened.

He’d been successful.

With a reluctant grimace, he glanced down at the remnants of Gorthomal’s body. Everything up from the lungs was gone. Just… gone. The old summoner’s remnants below that were entirely charred with rips and torn flesh in abundance. The clothes that remained were in a similar state, being ripped and burned profusely. The obliterate attack unleashed from Talshy had been more than enough to end the would-be betrayer in an instant, Trey was just relieved that he didn’t have to fight Gorthomal in a fair fight.

“What… in the fuck-” Ashe began to mutter but was cut off.

“He was going to kill us if I said no.” Trey’s voice hinted at irritation, but he kept his cool as he pointed out the wire to everyone else. “Take a look.”

It didn’t take them long to clarify what Trey was thinking. The wire was set to trip if a pin was pulled, and the pin was set behind the rock that imp had been standing on. Doing so would have activated another mechanism which in turn would have unlocked each of those cages around the room… It was pretty detailed and must have taken hours to make. The creatures inside those cages when looking at them more closely were variations of low tier undead. Trey wasn’t sure whether or not Gorthomal would have locked him in this place with hundreds more undead coming his way or if Gorthomal had somehow trained these creatures, but he seriously doubted the latter option. Zombies were pretty goddamn stupid, and he didn’t think they’d be trainable in any normal situation.

After Jason and Izumi had clarified what Trey’d seen, he folded his arms triumphantly and kicked Gorthomal’s charred corpse again. “Old bastard…”

His thoughts were interrupted after Rivia shoved through the others surrounding him and threw her arms about his body, hugging him close and excitedly wiping the tears away. “You killed Gorthomal!!! Does… does that mean you’ve chosen Alkir as your patron goddess!?”

A classic case of Stockholm Syndrome. That’s exactly what was going on here with Rivia, he was sure of it.

He awkwardly hugged her back and pushed her off with a nod of his head. “Yeah, I’ll be contracting with Alkir. Didn’t you read the contract? It was part of the deal.”

Trey gave her a wink and she let out a laugh, wiping away the damp areas of her cheeks again and clasping her hands together with a brilliant smile. “It was not mine to review… I was chosen as the vessel to deliver it by and only that.”

The chatter between all of them was growing quite loud when a single booming word echoed throughout the room.

“Fool.”

A pulse of power rocketed out from Omastein’s statue to knock everyone there to the ground and the eyes of the obsidian figure glowed green.

A swirling vortex of black matter exploded into existence overhead a second later and began to descend, tearing the air from their lungs and drawing them with it. Trey tried to scream, but he found that he couldn’t amidst the blaring noise as he was drawn upwards towards the black hole.

Not another moment later and it all stopped. The black hole vanished, Trey and everyone else stopped floating and all fell back to the floor with hard thuds. Terror stricken and looking back up to the statue, he saw that the eyes were still glowing a hot neon green… but so were the eyes of the woman on the flaming throne - only hers were glowing in a deep red. To make things even creepier… the hooded woman’s obsidian head had turned.

That enormous statue had fucking turned its head… to look straight at them with a new and wide smile carved into the features.

A feminine laugh chilled Trey to the bone and caused his hair to stand on end along the base of his neck. He suddenly felt very… cold, similar to what he’d felt when he’d first felt Eleknar’s presence. Then... he felt dread.

Whispers between the two statues reached his ears, though the words were indescribable. The whispers grew louder and louder into a torrent of them until his ears were ringing with whispered nonsense… until it all abruptly stopped. Watching in both awe and fear, the sets of eyes stopped glowing… and the obsidian statue of the woman turned its head to resume its original posture. The only thing that remained changed was the enormous evil smile spread across that woman’s lips…

“Fucking. Creepy.” Jason scowled, clutching his chest and trying to stop his heart from beating so fast. “Let’s get this over with Trey. We aren’t going to get paid anymore because Gorthomal’s dead… and I don’t think you left anything on his body worth looting after that blast, but might as well finish this up and get you that subclass.”

Karus slapped the ground with a laugh, the dwarf-turned-giant eyeing Trey keenly. “Aye! This has got to be the most excitement I’ve ever had in my life, but I think I’ve had enough!”

The feeling was relatable between everyone else there as well.

Together, they got to their feet and made sure they were all ok.

“Let’s take a breather eh?” Trey called out as he sat along the base of Alkir’s obsidian throne inbetween piles of the human skulls carved into the figurine. His mental toll had been taken, he was ready to call it quits for a bit. “I’m exhausted… would yall mind?”

Nobody objected, and within an hour half of them had already fallen asleep. The lingering laugh of the goddess stayed with them though, even into Trey’s dreams… where Eleknar was watching with pleased admiration for the one he’d chosen.

***

Ashe sat with her back to the obsidian throne of Alkir’s statue, smoking some tobacco from a pipe Jason had brought along with their supplies. Trying to figure out how to blow smoke rings and failing miserably at it, she eventually gave up and handed it over for Trey to try.

Trey didn’t fare too well either. Coughing after inhaling too much at once, the two friends laughed it off while waiting for the rest of them to wake up. Napoleon’s little chest rose and fell in Trey’s lap and the little imp was at absolute peace - one of the few that felt that way. Out of the remaining living members of their party, most of them were very on edge. Jason, Izumi, Ashe, Piggy, Trey, Napoleon, Rivia, Atharost with his elemental Boxamoth, Ashe, and lastly Karus were the ones still alive if you didn’t include Gorthomal’s remaining minions... the old summoner’s banished minions were wildcards on how they’d react when they came back - if Trey’s party was still there when they returned from the nether.

“Now that I feel rested, I don’t feel like waiting any longer.” Trey examined one of the carved skulls etched into the obsidian statue, running a finger over the smooth surface and admiring the craftsmanship. He gave the still-smiling face of Alkir’s statue above him a quick glance only to be creeped out again by how menacing it looked.

He averted his eyes and began to fiddle with his pockets absentmindedly, trying to focus on the contract he was about to make instead of what he’d done to acquire the opportunity. He didn’t feel overly bad about killing that old summoner but he’d really been disappointed that he’d had to do it. He’d wanted a mentor in the black arts… now he was back to square one. He couldn’t go back to the cult either, he was sure that damnable priestess with the headdress would sick her cronies on him if Omastein told her what happened. Now that he had a healthy appreciation for the gods of this game, he was going to take things concerning religion a little more seriously. Omastein was very real here in his new reality, and his NPC followers were very capable of killing Trey for good given the lack of permanence due to the OFF cycle.

He really needed to find safer jobs to take.

Ashe lightly kicked him in the shin from where she sat beside him, bringing his attention around. “I’ve been talking to you for the last minute Trey. Are you alright? You seem preoccupied.”

Trey blinked, yawned and stretched his arms out to either side. Taking another puff on the pipe he coughed again and put it down. “Well, I’m a little nervous.”

“About the contract?” Ashe smirked and folded her arms with a raised eyebrow, then thought better of things and pulled out the brown gimoire with a black handprint on the front - the one Trey’d given her to learn the Dark attribute from. “Why? You already did the hard part and killed Gorthomal. I still can’t believe you’re getting a subclass… I really need to find out if rogues have that kind of thing.”

Trey grinned, and it only grew wider when she caught his glance.

“What?” Ashe asked curiously, opening up the grimoire with a slow peel-back of the first page. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Trey just shrugged and leaned back further, still keeping eye contact. “... How would you feel about becoming a summoner too? One that had the assassin-type subclass Gorthomal was talking about earlier?”

Ashe stopped flipping through the book’s pages and stared at him with furrowed brows. “The one from the dragon god?”

“Jehema, The Wrathmaker.” Trey clarified. “I don’t think he’s actually a god to dragons, but yes.”

The blonde demihuman frowned and snapped the book shut. “Why are you asking?”

The was a long pause as they stared at one another.

“Surely there is a reason you’re asking me, right?” Ashe pressed, becoming interested as time went on.

Again, Trey just shrugged… before casually handing over the contract Alkir had given him. “Might want to read this.”

She took another puff on the pipe a moment longer before her eyes shot wide open and she sputtered out a coughing fit, clutching at her throat while simultaneously trying to read. Dropping the pipe, she pressed her nose closer to the parchment and re-read the passage describing her.

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* A summoner seed obtained as a favor from Jehema, The Wrathmaker, that will be implanted into your companion Ashe… allowing her to sign a contract with him in the future without having to be present upon an unholy site dedicated to us - and make the transition into the ‘Silent Nightmare’ dexterity-based infernal summoner subclass. This will only occur when she acquires the necessary attributes, and realizes her true destiny does not dwell as a rogue, but of a black magics practitioner. She has the potential to become one of the greatest… and good friends are hard to come by.

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She sputtered out another single cough before meeting his gaze. She began to speak, but Trey put a finger up to her lips.

“Just work on that Dark attribute…” Trey said with a wink, then put his hand down to take the contract back. “Then we’ll find out how to get you a Curse or Chaos attribute for the transition… if that’s what you want. The only downside is you’ll lose half your combat levels.”

Ashe promptly shook her head, eyes still wide with excitement and a creeping smile overtaking her lips. “You’re kidding, right? Of course I want it. It’s a better version of my class by a hundred times over… I get to do what I’m doing now, but have minions and use black magics? Fuck yeah!”

She pumped the air with both fists and a shit-eating grin, then did a little jig while still sitting down. “Best day ever! Now it isn't only you who’s progressing, but me too! Now I have goals! Oh my god, I can’t wait to see what I can do!!!”

“Indeed…” Trey kept his smile and pulled up the contract to review it. He still needed to sign it in blood and deliver it to the altar where he’d pray to receive his new Horror Crusader subclass. He was certainly excited, almost as excited as Ashe was about her own future possibilities, and his progress had been amazing by anyone’s standards… at least those he’d talked to. Still, his nerves were on edge. If he had to put his finger on something, it was that these two infernal gods - Alkir and Omastein - were at odds with each other over obtaining him as their follower. Not because of who he was, but because of Eleknar.

Everything seemed to revolve around Eleknar. Talsh’Noc’Un chose him because he thought Eleknar could keep his chosen master sane. Alkir and Omastein had competed over him because Eleknar was some sort of ally they could use to further their own ends. He’d even gotten his attributes and therefore his class because of Eleknar. Why had Eleknar chosen HIM though? Sure Talshy had told him that his potential for growth was high… but was that all it took? The void essence had bonded with him in the beginning and it had said he had a ‘high affinity’ for the black magics. What exactly did that imply? Did it mean he was evil at his core? Everything in this game was hyper realistic so why wouldn’t that be? He didn’t think he was an evil person. Sure he’d killed some people and enslaved some others… Did that make him evil? He was suppressing Eleknar subconsciously for a reason right?

Then he remembered what Gorthomal had said about the Dark and Chaos affinities clinging to his soul in a way that many black magic practitioners would never achieve in their entire lifetimes. What did that mean? Was that also Eleknar’s doing?

Perhaps he was overthinking things.

With one finger, he formed a long slender claw. The fine cutting tip looked more like a blade than an appendage and he admired it for some time before he sliced open a somewhat deep cut into the side of his other forearm. His HP bar dipped a point, but it was nothing significant.

Ashe, however, was immediately alarmed. “Trey! What are you doing?”

He let the blood run across his skin, watching it drip the warm liquid onto the floor beneath with a blank gaze. He took his single claw and let the blood collect over his bladed finger. With his other hand he spread out the contract and read it one more time.

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I, Trey Bon, accept Alkir, Mistress of Darkness as my primary patron goddess for all of time and eternity. I am hereby allowed to help explore other avenues of worship for my minions and friends if needed with the exception of Omastein or other deities Alkir may be at war with, but only as secondaries to the wishes of Alkir. I will do my best to carry out Alkir’s deeds and help her restore her former glory. I will reunite Alkir with Eleknar and in time accept Eleknar’s bonding fully and completely. I will realize that I have already been graced with Alkir’s help since the first day I arrived in Oblivion, as it was I that was chosen to land at Drahst Pillar where Elknar was kept and it was I that happened upon Talsh’Noc’Un through Alkir’s guidance. I will enslave or kill all of those who dare to oppose her, lay waste to their cities, and feast on the corpses of their kin. I will start by killing the summoner Gorthomal where he stands for his insolence, display his corpse at Alkir’s altar, and offer his soul to Alkir as proof of my fealty. I will then continue to serve in her name until the day that I meet her face to face, for it is that day that all will be explained. To this I swear on my honor, without any additional soul-binding. In return, I will receive the following:

* Rivia will receive a Priestess’ Pledge, ascending your minion’s abilities for the faith and devotion she has shown Alkir

* 2 control slots

* The infernal summoner subclass of ‘Horror Crusader,’ a berserker-caster combination which can be used in conjunction with normal summoner fighting styles and includes the following: For every 2 Strength, 2 Vitality, or 2 Endurance stat points placed, receive 1 Willpower. +20% damage increase for weapons requiring a strength stat to wield. Opens up 4 sacred art slots. +300 HP, +50 SP, +8% overall defense on for all armor worn. Opens up the skill tree ‘Horror Crusader.’ Unlocks the Insanity Stat. Unlocks the ‘Rage’ bar that increases all damage output, pain resistance and additional temporary insanity the higher it goes. +2% insanity as a baseline for choosing this subclass.

* 1 random sacred art from the Horror Crusader skill tree

* Acquire a new physical attribute: ‘Unholy Script of Domination,’ which will allow you to dominate weaker-willed individuals and create new thralls without ritual. This script will also give a 17% bonus to the chance of dominating demons and fallen. Very high cooldown to create charges for thralls. Can store up to 3 charges at a time.

* A summoner seed obtained as a favor from Jehema, The Wrathmaker, that will be implanted into your companion Ashe… allowing her to sign a contract with him in the future without having to be present upon an unholy site dedicated to us - and make the transition into the ‘Silent Nightmare’ dexterity-based infernal summoner subclass. This will only occur when she acquires the necessary attributes, and realizes her true destiny does not dwell as a rogue, but of a black magics practitioner. She has the potential to become one of the greatest… and good friends are hard to come by.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Betrayal of Alkir will result in the removal of the subclass Horror Crusader as well as Rivia’s Pledge.

To accept this contract, sign below in blood and present it to Alkir’s altar as an offering… though this may be done after killing the bastard summoner Gorthomal standing directly in front of you. A word of advice, young one... you cannot kill him in a fair fight. Good luck.

_____________________

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His eyes drifted away from the contract and to Rivia. She’d want to see this happen more than anyone… so with a mental command, he told her to wake up.

It took three tries but he finally got her to stir and raise her head, blinking to orient herself. The priestess yawned and sat up. “You need me, master?”

“Yup. Get over here, you’re likely going to want to see this because you’re going to benefit too.”

Rivia looked confused until a lightbulb went off in her head. She smiled widely and excitedly stood up to come over as Ashe and Trey stood up.

“Hold this.” Trey handed the contract to Rivia and motioned for them to follow. Together, the three of them began walking around the gigantic statue to where another circled pentagram, similar to the one in front of Omastein’s statue, was carved into the stone at the base of Alkir’s throne.

He stopped at the edge of the circle, and just like last time - he watched the runes around it come to life. Another intricate display of green and red flowed out across the stone to highlight the infernal markings and it began to give off a moderate amount of heat…

“So…” Trey hesitantly stepped into the circled pentagram, but nothing happened. “Do I just kneel and then sign the contract?”

He held up a bloodied claw to emphasize his question.

Rivia began to vigorously cry and happily nodded while gingerly clasping the flickering contract at arm’s length for him to sign. “Yes! Then you’ll also need to begin to pray to her… I’m so excited! To be graced by her-”

Trey put a finger to her lips to shut her up and shook his head slowly. “No no, don’t start. Let’s just do the thing. Oh and go get Gorthomal’s body… or what remains of it.”

Ashe couldn’t help grinning as the culn priestess nodded enthusiastically and began to run across the room to collect Gorthomal’s remains. When she returned with the body, she laid it in front of the pentagram between the statue and where Trey knelt. Rivia held the contract out in front of him again, and Trey collected some more blood from the wound along his claw.

The ground shuddered as the tip of his bloodied finger touched down onto the parchment, and the words went from crimson lettering to loudly blazing with flame. It was enough for Trey to withdraw his finger in startled surprise, and it woke up every single one of the others.

Despite their exclamations and the sudden buzz of activity amongst his recently awakened comrades, Trey went back to signing his name. The blood was run in a thin line off the tip of his claw and laid out in stark contrast to the white flickering background. He finished the signature as his claw shifted back into a normal finger and left the parchment, then the entire contract erupted into fire to disappear into nothingness.

Then he immediately began to pray.

Trey had never been a religious guy. Well, he’d grown up in a christian household but his father had turned Atheist somewhere inbetween middle school and the end of highschool. He’d never really taken a liking to wasting his time spending 2-3 hours every weekend attending a lecture on imaginary friends either, so he wasn’t all that familiar with the act but he went through with it anyways.

He didn’t really know what to say though, so closed his eyes and just said whatever came to mind. “Hello… Alkir. I’ve heard alot about you… I wanted to say thanks. Thanks for helping me out. The blessings I’ve received whenever Rivia sacrifices souls is quite nice and I’ve really taken a liking to how excited she gets whenever she talks about you. Also, if what you said was true about setting me up with Eleknar and putting Talsh’Noc’Un within my reach… I appreciate it. It makes a lot of sense considering how much of a coincidence that had been. Guess it wasn’t just luck after all. So again, thank you. Uhm… I took Gorthomal’s life like you asked me to. Got some of the body and hopefully his soul’s still there… You know I’ve gotta admit, I’m really happy you seem interested in me. Can I be real with you? I’m scared shitless. I’m from another world, have no idea what the living fuck I’m doing here, and have had some serious problems just staying alive. So it feels good to have someone so powerful on my side. Any chance we could follow through on that contract?”

His eyes remained closed, but he felt another wave of heat from directly in front of him and an unearthly scream as Gorthomal’s soul was taken to the beyond. Then, a pleased feminine laugh like the one from last night echoed out across the room.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “I… am very pleased… You denied Omastein a mighty victory and took heed of my faithful priestess. I was not certain you would.”

The goddess’ words immediately replaced the heat with a deep chilling cold encompassing his entire body, and he opened his eyes to the gasps of people behind him. In turn he nearly fell onto his back when he saw the enormous statue had moved its position to lean forward on its elbows and look down on him. The statue of the goddess had its face so close to him that he could literally touch it by putting a hand out, and the eyes were burning that same deep red he’d seen earlier

The mouth of the statue didn’t move, but the words from the dark goddess still came flowing out like icy silk. [Ancient Demon Dialect] “There will be a time that all will be explained… but for now, you must only survive… Survive until the All Spirit brings the rest of your people from Earth. Then, what the All Spirit calls the ‘Beta’ will end… and things will get much more interesting. There will be others of all races that come for you and try to strip you of Eleknar, imposters and rats that would think themselves worthy to bond with my most valuable ally... or wretches who wish to keep him from rising again. Fools that deserve a slow disembowelment and nothing more.”

The statue sat back up, slowly, but kept its gaze focused on Trey. [Ancient Demon Dialect] “You were… hand picked, chosen to be Eleknar’s next vessel, and if the fates will it - his last vessel. I made a contract with the All Spirit to bring the most suitable Earthborn it could find for the job at a great cost to myself.... Do not die early and waste my efforts. Receive my gifts child, and continue to kill in my name… We will meet again.”

The statue’s posture straightened and the goddess’ head turned back to its original gaze, eyes ceasing to glow underneath the carved obsidian hood.

“You have accepted Alkir’s contract.”

“You and your minion Rivia have gained further favor with the goddess Alkir, Mistress of Darkness. You and your minion Rivia are both held in high esteem by Alkir, Mistress of Darkness. You and your minion Rivia have been awarded a patron deity: Alkir, Mistress of Darkness. Your minion Rivia has received Alkir’s Pledge and has been granted the class: Priestess of Alkir. Your minion Rivia has been granted a direct line of communication with the dark goddess whenever she has need via the Ritual: Alkir’s Baptism and now has opened a pathway for new available skill trees. Your minion Rivia has been granted one of Alkir’s miracles: An Exchange of Life. Your minion Rivia has received the item: Shepherd’s Black Crucifix, along with its identification information provided as a courtesy by the dark goddess.”

“You have received 2 control slots. You have received the infernal summoner subclass of ‘Horror Crusader’: For every 2 Strength, 2 Vitality, or 2 Endurance stat points placed, receive 1 Willpower (75 total retroactive points placed for a total of 37 Willpower stat points added as of now). +20% damage increase for weapons requiring a strength stat to wield. Opens up 4 sacred art slots. +300 HP, +50 SP, +8% overall defense on for all armor worn. Opens up the skill tree ‘Horror Crusader.’ Unlocks the Insanity Stat. Unlocks the ‘Rage’ bar that increases all damage output, pain resistance and additional temporary insanity the higher it goes. +2% insanity as a baseline for choosing this subclass. You have unlocked the skill tree Horror Crusader. You have received the sacred art ‘Horror Crusader: Terror Stricken’. You have received the Unholy Script of Domination.”

Horror Crusader: Terror Stricken (Sacred Art):

*Empower your next weapon strike with terror imbued dark magic. Upon contact

the target will lose all buffs, become terror stricken, and take an additional 250%

of base physical damage from dark magic. Terror may be resisted by a

high willpower. Strike gains +200 Speed.

Unholy Script of Domination:

*Physical Attribute. Unholy Scripts are written into your flesh. Unholy Script of

Domination may be used to dominate the minds of lesser beings - having a high

cooldown upon doing so. Stretch forth your tainted hand to touch them, bending

them to your will to force mortal races into thrall minion contracts without need of

ritual. May be resisted by a high willpower, baseline prior to stat amplifications or

otherwise. Also receive a +17% bonus for dominating demons and fallen. Very

high cooldown to create charges for thralls. Can store up to 3 charges at a time.

“SON OF A BITCH!”

A burning suddenly enveloped his left hand, arm, and shoulder - causing Trey to gasp and spasm in short bursts as he hit the ground. He began to silently roll around on the floor, clenching his jaws tight as the pain seared through his body. This terrible burning was focused primarily in that left side but he still felt the effects radiate throughout other nearby nerves with the pain traveling up his neck.

“Fascinating...” Ashe seemed to be in a trance as she looked over the status messages that’d pulled up in front of Trey. She tapped her foot and folded her arms while reading off the messages to everyone else - internally dwelling on thoughts of what her own transformation would be like when she finally acquired it.

His other friends all just watched on, seemingly not worried about his present condition but very curious about the markings that were appearing on his skin with comments to one another in hushed tones. That, or they were still half asleep and trying to wake up.

Those jerks.

As the searing pain began to cool, he finally gained the courage to take a good look at his arm. A sleeve tattoo of pitch black ink had been written into his tanned-white skin. Symbols of various patterns that he did not recognize were etched in intricate beautiful letters of what he assumed to be a long-lost language. Most of the larger symbols and depictions were stationary, such as a stereotypical pentagram encircled on his shoulder and a trio of circles connected by dots in a line further down, but many of the smaller letters and symbols were fluid - moving slowly about his arm at a constant steady rate in different directions. The tattoo came up from his knuckles all the way to the top of his left shoulder, and he stared at it for quite a while to marvel at its beauty. He had never been much of a fan of tattoos, but this really stole the show in terms of how magnificent it looked. He was surprised, but definitely pleased with the results of this new addition to his figure.

He also felt… a little strange though. Like something wasn’t necessarily… right. If anything, things seemed just a little bit funnier and he couldn’t place why that was. In fact, he simply wanted to laugh - but had no real reason that he could put a finger on.

This vexed him.

‘You’re insanity stat has risen,’ Sithis noted as he dug through the new information. ‘It comes with the subclass. Take a look when you get a chance.’

Great. Not what he wanted to hear, but probably worth it in the end.

“Your minion Rivia Ahst has increased its opinion of you from ‘Somewhat Liked’ to ‘Forever Indebted.’ Your minion still gains a 15% experience increase due to it remaining in the positive category.”

A wail that Trey couldn’t really place was let out behind him. Taking his eyes off his left arm and adjusting his position, he saw it was Rivia. She was on her knees, streaming tears down her face with a quivering open-mouthed smile of joy unlike anything he’d seen her express before as her body shook - and in her hands was an odd but menacing staff.

It was somewhere between 5 and 6 feet in length. It was mostly made from ebony, a rare black metal and the same type that Gorthomal’s daema had been outfitted in for plate mail armor. The long metal rod creating its core had a forged snake encircling the shaft leading down to the snake’s head at the base. At the top and from where the snake's body had started was a cross, and a white crystalized skull. The skull was likely culn or daema in nature, or maybe even some other variety of demon because of the two protruding horns it had. In the center of its forehead was a single black stone of power that shimmered in the room’s dull light. Large pointed ebony blades protruded from the crystalized skull out the top, right and left sides to make the crucifix staff complete.

Shepherd’s Black Crucifix

Item Tier: (13) Relic

Damage: 260

On Hit Effect: A pulse of dark mana pushes your enemy back on hit, has area of effect and can apply to multiple enemies. Pushback avoids allies even if within range. +1% additional Dark damage.

Bonuses: +46 HP, +11 DP

Requirements: 104 Faith, Dark Attribute

Durability: 2909/2909

Specials:

1 - Field of Agony: Plant this staff into the ground and say the words ‘Field of Agony’ for this effect to occur. Once done, an area with a radius of 70 yards surrounding you will darken and the ground will turn black. Those you view as enemies will take 0.05% Dark damage to total health every second they remain on the blackened ground and are also given a minor fatigue debuff. No MP or DP cost to use, long cooldown and may be interrupted if the staff loses contact with the ground.

2 - Empower Miracle: Choose a miracle to empower and amplify that miracle’s effect by 100%. If it is a Dark miracle, amplify it by 300%. Long cooldown.

Trey’s ogling was interrupted by yet another wail of happiness as Rivia tried to breathe. Her mouth remained open and she rocked her shivering body back and forth while clutching the staff and dripping tears onto the ground. He was very certain he’d never seen anyone so happy before in his entire life… bar none.

She managed to open her eyes just long enough for them to settle on him inbetween wails, then she managed to utter a single sobbing phrase before she lost control of herself again: “My life for you, master!”

Damn. He must have really hit a home run in the please-Rivia department by choosing Alkir over Omastein. She was more of a fanatic than Trey’d realized.

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Simplified Status Page

Name: Rivia Ahst

Race: Culn, Lesser Demon

Patron Deity: Alkir, Mistress of Darkness

Class: Priestess of Alkir

Level: 24

HP: 192/192

MP: 100/100

SP: 100/100

DP: 76/76

Skills: Pestilence^^ (lvl. 27)(Dark Miracle), Rejuvenation^ (lvl. 18)(Dark Miracle),

Immortal’s Infernal Blessing (lvl. 4) (Alkir’s Miracle), Small Blades (lvl. 4),

Absorbent Soul Sacrifice (lvl. 3)(Ritual), Alkir’s Baptism (lvl. 1)(Ritual),

An Exchange of Life (lvl. 1)(Alkir’s Miracle)

Traits: Alkir’s Pledge, Curious, Faith Driven, Trey Bon’s Minion

Magical Attributes: Dark

Opinion of you: Forever Indebted

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Alkir’s Pledge (Trait): Rivia Ahst has been accepted by Alkir, Mistress of Darkness as a primary servant. Rivia Ahst may no longer worship other deities and has now opened up new pathways to power under Alkir’s guidance. Rivia Ahst has achieved the title and class of Priestess to Alkir.

Alkir’s Baptism (Ritual): *Sacrifice a victim after baptising yourself and the target in blood. Withdraw the heart, say the words, and call Alkir home. May only be successfully used by those recognized by Alkir as worthy.

An Exchange of Life (Alkir’s Miracle): *Mark a target. When that target is killed, you may instantaneously resurrect one friendly of your choice as long as their soul is still near their body. 1-week cooldown.

Again his jaw dropped. A fucking RESSURECTION miracle!? What in the fifty shades of hell was this!? Rivia’s new perks almost outweighed his own! Thank god she was basically an extension of himself, otherwise he’d be damn jealous!

Ashe had been looking over his shoulder as had Atharost, and both of them began exclaiming to one another and then to the others when they saw Rivia’s new information on the weapon and then the new miracles. This was huge for their entire group, because now if one of them died they’d just have to kill an enemy and bring their ally back… assuming Rivia was protected and lived through it.

“Congratulations!” Trey said, smiling genuinely as he got up and trot over to where Rivia was bawling. “And… Thank you. I’m very pleased with all of these changes and it’s likely I couldn’t have done it without you.”

The demoness just kept happily and uncontrollably sobbing, he wasn’t even sure if she’d registered what he’d said but he left her to her emotions and began discussing other topics regarding himself with his peers.

“Do we know how long that cooldown is for your unholy script?” Ashe pressed when he entered the circle of discussion as his minion Karus stood aside.

Jason scowled and pointed a warning finger in Trey’s face. “Don’t get any funny ideas about using that on random people!”

Izumi puffed out her chest in irritation. “Can you both not focus on that? What about Rivia’s resurrection miracle or Trey’s other new abilities? Let’s focus on the positives and not fight!”

Ashe rolled her eyes and gave Jason a glare. “Not my fault this pussy has his panties all in a bunch every time I turn the corner. We’re in a life and death situation every other day and he’s worried more about the NPCs than us.”

“Hey! We still don’t really know if this is a game or not!” Jason protested with a look of ‘what the fuck’ on his face. “No need to be a bitch, Ashe! I just say it like it is and both you and Trey have some serious moral problems that need to be fixed. I’m just calling you out.”

Ashe sneered. “I never said NPCs aren't real people. They’re just not us. They’re not Earthborn.”

As much as Trey appreciated Ashe’s support, he laid a hand on her shoulder and shook his head to keep her from retorting and causing a stir again. That, and he didn’t like her talking about NPCs whenever Atharost and Napoleon were around. He really liked those two and didn’t want to cause any friction between them and her.

“I have no idea what the cooldown for this unholy script is, it just says it’s ‘Very High Cooldown.’ Could be anything.” Trey scowled as he looked his information over again. He really wanted to test it out and the same could be said for that new sacred art ‘Terror Stricken.’ Even the extra damage and fear aside... removing all debuffs in particular had caught Trey’s interest and he could see a variety of ways to put it to use depending on the situation. He’d need to find some enemies to test it out on soon. The same could be said for his unholy script of domination, he’d just have to get out of the dungeon and start looking.

But Ashe had bigger and better ideas than that.

“Test your script out on Juila.” Ashe suggested as she tugged and prodded at Trey’s tattooed skin like a poorly behaved child in a pet store. “Juila’s already our slave and she’s here right now! You got some more minion slots from that contract and you got even more wisdom beyond that so you should have a place for her right?”