I shifted and changed in flight. Air magic to keep flying, change shapes to the chimera, King Robin of Locksley, take the armor and clothes out of storage, summon them on my body. A light spell because a dragon-slaying King needs to make an entrance.
I am surprised by the roar of seventy-five hundred voices.
"KING LOCKSLEY! KING LOCKSLAY! DRAGON SLAYER!"
The immigrants I was about to exile in Lonid suddenly started to cheer. Nenandil started to use her magic to heal me.
There was something she wasn't telling me,
She confessed with a contrite tone,
I landed and heard the immigrants bending their knees. Lorna came, her tail swaying behind her. I didn't need sight to know that. In my imagination, she was a seductress cat-lady, her predatory eyes full of desire, hungering for me.
"My King! You fought for a whole day against the mighty dragon for the sake of your people." She touched my breastplate. "Know this, people of Windemere. King Robin of Locksley is the strongest ever. Wise. Compassionate. Brave. Tell me here if you don't know someone he healed with his own hands and magic. Which King would soil himself for the sake of mere peasants?"
She let a pause before she answered herself. "King Robin and no other. Here is a man that loves each of his citizens like he shall love his firstborn daughter. When we get to that," She cooed at the end.
Some laughed. Lorna laughed with them.
"GLORY TO WINDEMERE! LONG LIVE KING LOCKSLEY!" One man bellowed. The crowd parroted the shout. Damn, it felt good.
I checked my quest progress. It was the same because these people weren't in Windemere right now. Nenandil was correct. I should take them back and...
We were two hundred kilometers away from Windemere. Halfway give or take if my [Cartographer] Skills were working right. This was the second-to-last trip with immigrants. I could navigate the road created for the train with my eyes closed. Heh. A shiver ran up my spine. Still attuned to the sense the Quest perk gave me, I felt the happiness of Windemere plummet.
And it kept going down. Down. Down. My elation and mirth went with them.
"At night? Is this an attack of some sort?"
Something clicked. Why didn't the spoilsport dragons didn't show up to save the black dragon? His soul was gone beyond any chance of resurrection. The pieces fell in place. Bundeus was a god. The Broodmother was a goddess. Both opposed me. Both had a vested interest in making me fail my quest. The dragons didn't come to save the elder black dragon because he intended to sacrifice himself to gain time for something else.
The dragons were attacking Windemere. I was certain of that.
"Yes. I need to go. See if Eric and Kazuyran are okay. Nenandil, stay here."
"Alright," The fairy chirped. "Don't engage the attackers if they are who I fear they are. Focus on saving people."
"I'll try."
Lorna got on the tip of her shoes and kissed my closed gothic helmet. "People of Windemere. Cowards struck our country at night! King Robin will now go to defend our nation!"
They cheered but with less joy. My HP wasn't full but I had to go. I condensed my magic and shot myself up with compressed and directed wind. Up in the air, I canceled my glow and shifted into a falcon, diving back in the forest and using the trees to teleport. As I flew from tree to tree, crossing kilometers with each teleport, I kept watching over the happiness meter. It was reaching a theoretical zero, lower than ever.
When I reached a few kilometers inside the border of Windemere, I knew why. There were no trees ahead. My teleportation attempts either failed or moved me sideways. I became a needle-tail swift and flew at a speed of over two hundred kilometers per hour. What I sensed was terrible.
I detected no dragons. No humans. No sentients. Only the undead. As entered the capital, blight notifications started to pop. A thousand, two thousand per second. The undead was in the bedrooms and taverns, where the people should be at the time the dread spell washed over the place.
Fearing the worst, I flew to the palace. There I found only one living person. I dove and crossed the walls incorporeal. I reached the person and I recognized the soul. Kazuyran. I immediately granted blight immunity to the dark elf using my spiritualist perks and healed him. As I transformed before him, something came in a range of my {Skin Sight}. I reached with a hand, not bothering to put on clothes.
It was Eric's corpse. His head, actually.
"I'm sorry, my lady. I failed your brother-in-law. He turned into the undead and I had to kill him."
"Stay alive, my friend. I'm here now. Save your strength," I said and shifted again, flying around incorporeal. I found what I was searching for quickly. Eric's soul had become a vengeful wraith. He tried to attack me but a toddler hitting a bodybuilder would have better odds of winning. I had frozen and purified him, binding his soul to me with a contract. It was important.
I cleared all the undead in the palace, collecting the souls of my most trusted servants and sending the others on their way to what afterlife the Gods of this world reserved for them. After I was done, I returned to the dark elf's side.
"Kazuyran, tell me what happened."
He told me. Everyone was already sleeping when the spell struck, not an hour ago. The blight descended upon the entire city and the people quickly died. Even quicker was their conversion into undead, as the blight infused their bodies and rose them back. No dragons came.
I remembered that the elder black dragon's specialty was undeath. He might have used his life as a sacrifice to cast this spell.
Kazuyran only survived because the demonist necromancers gave him a trinket to resist blight. Probably because they wanted their agents to survive their ritual. I checked the necromancer bodies I had in storage and found more of these amulets. I ate three to learn their enchantment and gave some to Kazuyran along with a leather satchel of potions he could attach to his belt. I gave him some stamina and health potions and we set out to clear the city of both blight and monsters.
----------------------------------------
We took a whole day to cleanse all the undead and spirits around. Only when the undead was truly gone, both in the physical and metaphysical worlds, I could start to cleanse the blight. The happiness meter kept on an all-time low. The risen dead still counted as extremely unhappy people, who figured?
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The animated cloth golems I created were intact. Since they weren't really living, they were unaffected. I tasked them with defending the dark elf while he slept. After I finished clearing the blight in the castle grounds, I took an oak acorn from my storage and planted it in the courtyard. I shifted into Queen Alloralla and sang the {Elven Spellsong} to germinate the sapling and grow it into a healthy tree.
I flew away and planted new trees along the countryside at every fifteen to twenty kilometers. The spell blanketed the whole country and killed everything. The blight in the wilderness and crop fields was faint but it still killed all the wildlife and vegetation.
Noon on the second day after I fought the dragon, I reached the forest and teleported back to the train. I called Nenandil and Lorna to talk. Holding the cat-kin queen in my arms, I gave her the news of her brother's demise. She had two options. Bring him back as in a cloth body, or let him pass on.
"Let me talk to him," Lorna said.
I materialized Eric's ghost. Lorna hugged the specter and wept. I puckered my lips, clenched my fists. The dragon wanted me to kill him to finish his spell. The next overgrown lizard that shits on me will become my eternal servant. I was so absorbed in my thoughts of revenge that I missed their conversation.
"Can you make him live in a body made of silk?"
My cloth golems aren't alive though they are conscious. They can't grow in levels, for example. But to make a cloth doll alive? Don't we fairies to that all the time? I looked at Nenandil. The water fairy fluttered her diaphanous wings and looked at me with eyes full of understanding and compassion.
"Do what your heart tells you to. Destroy the world or recreate it anew, I'll be with you until the end of time," She said.
"I can make him alive again, Lorna. Though that boon comes with a heavy price. We need to go back to Windemere. I have a country to cleanse."
I led the now fanatical group of exiles back home on the train. At the border, I brought the mansions out of storage and let them stay in there. It was crowded as I hadn't taken that many mansions but it would do.
I wove silk golems with my faithful servants for five days, to serve as guards of the new high-class neighborhood. We were still outside Windemere so they didn't count for the Quest.
Before I set out to cleanse Windemere, I applied my Exp. Reaching level 120 and capping my professions required two hundred nine and a quarter trillion.
> You reached Manastorm Savant level 20
>
> You gained 5 perks.
>
> You reached Deep Eleon (rank 2) level 20
>
> You gained 5 Human perks.
>
> You reached Wondrous Enchanter level 20
>
> You reached Alchemical Jeweller level 20
>
> You gained 366 Exp.
>
> Attributes above the cap were redistributed.
>
> You reached the cap. Excess Attribute points withheld.
>
> 29 / 100 Attribute points withheld.
I still had thirty-three trillion Exp in the bank. The cost of the first level of the next rank was a hundred billion. The amount required ramped up exponentially, while the amount earned rose quadratically. Stacking the multipliers was the key to punching through the ranks but I could expect stagnation soon. My people wouldn't survive another dragon attack.
I found a rank up for my species levels that required {Pinnacle of Magic}.
> You ranked up into an Eldritch Eleon (ultra-rare). You gained:
>
> 1 Attribute point every level.
>
> 1 Dexterity every odd level.
>
> 1 Magic every even level.
>
> 1 Mind every four levels.
>
> 1 Soul every four levels.
>
> 1 Ego every four levels.
>
> 1 Endurance, Charisma, Luck, Willpower alternating each level.
>
> 7 (+3) Skill Points every level.
>
> 1 (+3) HP, 15 (+3) MP, 12 (+2) SP every level.
>
> 1 Perk every even level.
>
> You gained the perk: Eldritch Body (very rare): When you reach zero HP, this perk activates. All HP damage is soaked by your MP. Damage to your MP when you are at zero HP is halved. The perk deactivates when your HP reaches half your maximum plus one.
I couldn't be happy with the perk I gained. Now, my Class. I must confess, I was swayed by my emotions. I only checked the rarity.
> You ranked up into a Deathbane Sorceress (ultra-rare). You gain:
>
> 1 Attribute point per level.
>
> 1 Magic every odd level
>
> 1 Soul every odd level.
>
> 1 Willpower every three levels.
>
> 1 Endurance every three levels.
>
> 1 Charisma, Mind, Ego, and Luck, alternating every level.
>
> 10 (+3) HP, 14 (+3) MP, 13 (+2) SP per level.
>
> 7 (+3) Skill Points per level.
>
> 1 perk every even level.
>
> You gained this perk: Deathbane Manastorm (ultra-rare): Undead receive no extra MP regeneration from your Manastorm Wellspring. It deals arcane damage equal to double the MP regenerated by the undead to their HP even if they are immune to MP drain.
And my heart didn't fail me. The professions only had the "high" basic version. They gave six Skill Points per level and the same resource bonuses.
The thirty-three trillion I had gained me seventeen levels. I was now level 137.
> You reached Deathbane Sorceress level 8
>
> You gained 4 perks.
>
> You reached Eldritch Eleon level 7
>
> You gained 3 Human perks.
>
> You reached High Wondrous Enchanter level 6
>
> You reached High Alchemical Jeweller level 6
>
> You gained 278 Exp.
>
> 84 / 100 Attribute points withheld.
>
> Exp to next combined level: 11.8 trillion.
I had 644 Skill Points in the bank. I used {Curse Suppression} to unlock the Journeyman ranks. At three Skill Points per rank and twenty-five ranks in the category, each Skill used seventy-five points to maximize. I could raise eight of them to forty-nine, and a ninth to thirty-five.
* Increased Thread Production (rare): Increase the amount of thread you produce by Rank x Endurance x 0.5%.
* Fast Weaving (uncommon): Your weaving speed increases by Rank x Dexterity x 0.5%.
* Detailed Woven Pattern (rare): Increase the precision and details of your woven patterns.
* Strengthened Threads (rare): Increase the durability of your threads and fabrics woven from them by Rank x Willpower x 0.5%.
* Accelerated Regeneration [moonbound] (very rare): Increase your regeneration by Rank x Endurance x0.5%.
* Bone Strengthening (very rare): Your bones are Rank x Endurance x 0.5% tougher
* Bravery (rare) : :Fear effects on you are Wisdom x Rank x 0.2% less effective.
* Remove Curse (very rare) Skill: You can dispel curses. The MP cost is based on the comparison of Rank + Magic against the Magic score of the curse's bestower and the rarity of the curse.
The Skill to reach only thirty-five was this:
* Mind's Blank (very rare): When fighting with an opponent, you can delay your attack to strike at a moment between his perception. If successful, you score a critical hit.
With all the bookkeeping done, I checked my Status.
> Strength 38 - Dexterity 45 - Endurance 39
>
> Mind 41- Willpower 41 -Charisma 41
>
> Magic 130
>
> Ego 130 - Luck 130 - Soul 130
>
>
>
> HP 10,259,730
>
> MP 20,077,200
>
> SP 13,571,962
I still had nine Class perks and eight human perks to select. Some human perks were easy to pick.
* Dragon Slayer III (ultra-rare): You deal 250% more damage to dragons and receive 50% less damage from them. You 25% of a dragon's defenses.
* Dragon Slayer IV (ultra-rare): You deal 400% more damage to dragons and receive 60% less damage from them. You ignore 44% of a dragon's defenses.
* Dragon Slayer V (ultra-rare): You deal 600% more damage to dragons and receive 75% less damage from them. You ignore 60% of a dragon's defenses.
Fuck them. Also, fuck suffocation, hunger, and sleep.
* Extreme Metabolic Efficiency (ultra-rare): Your need for air, food, water, and sleep is reduced by 96%. <-------------- That's what two 80% reductions look like.
The other three racial perks I took from the fairy listings. Reaching the third rank unlocked some cool options. While they weren't useful for my current conundrum, I always liked to pick a few comfort perks that granted lateral improvement.
* Healing Waters (very rare): You can use water magic to heal living creatures.
* Green Thumb (rare): Plants under your care have double growth and yield rates. They are twice as much resistance against damage, disease, and parasites.
* Infuse plants (rare): When you tend a medicinal plant, you can infuse it with your MP and SP to increase its potency
I left the last one in the rainy day fund. Now the Class perks. Turns out you can't save perks from the previous rank to spend on the stronger of the next. I had some improvements to the Manastorm. But they were so good I bought a whole series
* Fixed Wellspring (very rare): You can now set your Wellspring in a stationary place and move anywhere in its area.
* Eye of the Manastorm (ultra-rare): You can designate a spot at the center with a radius no bigger than half your Soul score where your Manastorm is an ordinary Wellspring for friendly creatures.
* Regenerating Wellspring (ultra-rare): The eye of your Manastorm heals friendly creatures over time.
* Shelter in the Eye of the Storm I (ultra-rare): Friendly creatures in the eye enjoy 50% damage reduction while they don't take a hostile action. The protection is canceled only for the individual that attacks.
* Shelter in the Eye of the Storm II (ultra-rare): Friendly creatures in the eye 75% damage reduction while they don't take a hostile action. The protection is canceled only for the individual that attacks.
* Shelter in the Eye of the Storm III (ultra-rare): Friendly creatures in the eye enjoy 88% damage reduction while they don't take a hostile action. The protection is canceled only for the individual that attacks.
* Shelter in the Eye of the Storm IV (ultra-rare): Friendly creatures in the eye enjoy 94% damage reduction while they don't take a hostile action. The protection is canceled only for the individual that attacks.
* Shelter in the Eye of the Storm V (ultra-rare): Friendly creatures in the eye enjoy 97% damage reduction while they don't take a hostile action. The protection is canceled only for the individual that attacks.
One from the new Class. It would save a ton of hassle.
* Cleansing Manastorm (ultra-rare): Your Manastorm Wellspring automatically cleanses Blight and corruption over time.
Backed by the power of the {Deathbane Cleansing Manastorm} and its ridiculous radius of 520 ~ 650 meters, destroying the undead in the country and lifting the blight was a matter of walking around the country. I'd reclaimed Windemere. But there was not a single living creature or plant in the whole territory.
I was the King of nothing. The population in my territory consisted of only the dark elf [Assassin]. Happiness was never that high. I'd have completed the quest if not for the tricky part about dying. Not yet.