Lucas tapped the ground impatiently, waiting for the now freed villagers of Weird village to finish their discussion about the new leader, seriously considering just flexing his might and declaring some random as the new leader, hastening the process. He controlled himself, however, knowing he had some time to spare, instead casting gaze at the girl, Margaret still taking care of her. He managed to notice most of the villagers were casting gazes at the girl also, Lucas understanding the intent behind those looks. Sighing, he approached his party.

“It looks like we will have an extra passenger when we head back” Lucas spoke.

“Yea, I noticed it too. The girl is not safe here” Maggie responded “I cannot say I blame these people for hating her, in a small community like this almost everyone lost a friend or family member” she finished her thought.

“And that is some bullshit. The girl is the victim just like them” Lucas said defiantly, a part of him completely understanding what Maggie wanted to say and agreeing with her, knowing he would probably have the same reactions if he was in the shoes of the villagers.

“I know, Lucas, but people are not machines, they do not act perfectly rational all the time” Maggie responded, sounding mildly frustrated by Lucas’s reaction.

“I’m sorry Mags, I didn’t mean to take it out on you. My nerves are frayed” Lucas said timidly, scrambling to open notifications he ignored until now, to pass the time. Dismissing the kill notifications, he found a prompt that made him somewhat happy.

Quest completed:

Countryside tour:

Wrapping up the mystery of the villages, you successfully navigated through multiple plots and murders aimed at amassing power, finding at the end just one girl who paid the price of this actions and a question: Is power worth an innocent life?

Rewards:

+500 EXP

+100 Credits

Sigil of compassion

Lucas frowned while looking at the rewards, the sigil reward unknown to him. He tried to get the description of it directly through the quest menu, but the System was unwilling to budge and open it. After navigating through all of his submenus and still not finding it, Lucas closed everything and simply called “Status”, a last desperate ditch to find out what it does on his own.

Name: Lucas (surname N/A)

Class: Blade of Doom level 62

Attributes:

Strength: 118

Agility: 175

Constitution: 35

Intelligence: 41

Willpower: 41

Perception: 87

Charisma: 31

Luck: 41

Health: 4130

Stamina: 26.775

Mana: 1681

Skills:

Sharpsight

Aura severing

Doom infusion

Dodge

Strikes of doom

Soul – shattering strike

Punch parry

Doom – infused punch

Infused Piledriver

Guiding strike

Battlerush

Blade spin

Bulwark of balance

Vengeful doom strike

Double strike

Equipment

Exquisite Naga steel coral breastplate

Exquisite Naga steel coral shoulder plates

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Exquisite Naga steel coral gauntlets

Exquisite Naga steel coral leg guards

Ring of the Abyssal Depth

Pendant of Truesight

Disease – holding falchion

Plague enhanced brass gloves

Ring of vehement swordsman

Bandana of the vehement swordsman

Quests

Treasures of the times past

Sigils

Sigil of compassion

Titles

Monster Slayer

Colossus Muncher

Home – schooled

Scenario dungeon diver I

Vengeance Bringer

Class Advancer

Prodigy

Brutalizer

Lucas was surprised seeing the new submenu on his status sheet, something that he hadn’t expected to ever happen, but there he was. He then turned to the party, remembering that this was the quest they all shared, interested in seeing did they also unlocked it. One by one, his party members opened their notification, all of them ignoring it in favor of doing it other stuff. Lucas watched as their faces started showing surprise, indicating that they also got the sigil. Not wanting to be uninformed, Lucas quickly navigated towards the sigils submenu, opening his one and only sigil.

Sigil of compassion

Sigil of compassion awards the user the discount of 30% on unlocking all of the non damage - dealing skills in honor of the recipient’s acts of compassion in the face of violence.

Feeling like he was missing something, Lucas navigated back towards the sigil menu, looking for explanation what sigils actually were. Like on cue, the System opened a new window which held the explanation.

Sigils are rare achievements that most of beings in the multiverse not even learn about, much less managing to get one, awarded by the repeated actions of the corresponding sigil when there could be an easier way found, marking the dedication of the user to the behavior the sigil represent.

“So, the quest rewarded something so rare, but why?” Lucas thought to himself, not understanding how he got the reward. Everything he did on this quest, bar the saving of Larissa, he did as it was the most expedient way of doing things and Lucas doubted that was enough for earning a sigil since the description mentioned repeated actions. Filing that away for a later conversation with Bruce, Lucas focused on the analysis of the reward itself, which was pretty lackluster for him, as his whole shtick was quick and efficient murder, but was extremely valuable to Chen and Margaret, especially the latter, Lucas doubting she was having any kind of damaging skill.

“Acts of compassion?” Margaret was the first to speak up “well, I see how we could frame it that way, but the System was felling generous today” she finished her thoughts, Lucas agreeing with her whole heartedly.

“Shush, don’t ruin this. If I’m reading correctly, this is something of an elite award, don’t make the System reconsider” Chen said, the smile on his face and the sheer pride his demeanor was revealing proving contagious, as Lucas felt his pride also started swelling.

They discussion and analysis of the usefulness of the sigil was cut short when one of the villagers approached.

“Sir, we have decided and I have become a new village leader” the woman spoke.

“Okay. What about my offer?” Lucas asked, this village getting the same offer as the last one, the offer of officialy becoming a territory of Camp Hearth.

“We will accept your offer” the woman said and they quickly went through the motions, making this village officially a part of Camp Hearth.

“There is one more matter, sir” the woman said after reading the notification announcing the joining of the village.

“The girl?” Lucas asked.

“The girl” woman confirmed.

“I understand the difficult position and would like to hear what are you suggesting” Lucas asked, hoping this gambit he designed with the rest of his party would pay off.

“The girl has to be punished and many call for blood. Even by the laws of Camp Hearth, she is due a punishment, but I think a formal exile would be enough for most” the woman responded, Lucas felling relived, the gambit working flawlessly.

“I will be glad to take her” Lucas responded, the woman ushering all of them to come to the gathered villagers, where she proclaimed her decision, banning Larissa from the village forever. With that matter settled, the party said their goodbyes to the villages and quickly set their course towards the rest of the villages, Larissa getting a piggy – back ride from Ted, the girl still recovering from her ordeal. Their first stop was the village they haven’t visited in their first go, the one that allied with the Aggressive village off the bat, but haven’t sent any reinforcements in raids the aforementioned village performed. The village was in their sight in under the hour and the villagers there was aware, the matter proceeding quickly, third village formally becoming a territory of Camp Hearth.

On their way back to the Home village, Larissa woken up from her slumber, forcing the party to stop, Margaret immediately going to check up on the girl as she slid down from Ted.

“Who are you people? Where is father?” the girl asked, her voice frightened.

“Honey, give me a second to finish checking you up and we will explain everything” Margaret said, her voice dripping with sympathy. Finishing her checkup, Margaret started recounting the events, Larissa’s eyes filling with tears as she slowly remembered the events herself, at least until the moment she lost control. After hearing she was forever banned from her home, she definitely broken down, her sobs becoming heart – breaking. Maggie also stepped forward and she and Margaret managed to calm Larissa down somewhat, the girl at least composing herself enough to ask the next question.

“What happens with me now?”

That question gave Lucas pause, his mind only focused on helping the girl, without a vague idea how to exactly do it. Thinking about it, he deduced that it was probably for the best if she was put into Bruce’s care, but a pang of guilt stabbed him as he remembered why they were rushing back, the girl’s life in even more danger back in Camp Hearth.

“I am not going to lie to you, you won’t have it easy from now, but we will give our best to be as comfortable as you can be” Lucas said, deciding to be as truthful as possible. He explained his intentions to Larissa, putting her into the care of the old Loremaster who would be able to help her and teach her, the girl listening to him intently and when he finished she went silent, processing what he had just said.

“Come on, girl, you get another ride while you think about it” Ted said, grabbing the girl and putting her on his back as they continued towards the Home village. The girl hadn’t spoken during the remaining trip and she just silently watched as the remaining villagers from the Victim village pledged their allegiance, Lucas immediately setting their village to be repaired automatically by the System, willing to spend some of Camp Hearth credits as a sign of goodwill. The only remaining village was actually the Home village, their leader proving obstinate.

“Why can’t we just remain independent? We can make all kinds of formal arrangements, but I’m not comfortable with having someone above me, and the rest of the village feel the same?” the village leader whined, frustrating Lucas.

“You are free to whatever you choose, but take this into consideration: All of your neighbors all part of Camp Hearth now, and I do have some powerful enemies who might mistake this village as also a part of my territory” Lucas said, hoping that this threat will do the trick. The village leader went silent for a few long moments, before sighing and agreeing to Lucas’s offers, Lucas making sure to grant as much autonomy as System allowed, that little gesture pleasing the village leader somewhat, proving Lucas trustworthy. With the last village safely in the fold and half a day wasted, Lucas and his party started sprinting back towards the New Flame, hoping to arrive in Camp Hearth before the nightfall.