An hour after the duel, in a tent nearby, I was being robbed.
"I'm sorry, miss! I cannot redeem your chit. The duel was considered a fluke," the stout bearded bookmaker representative told me.
Arms akimbo, I glared at the assembled bookmakers. People talk, and news of the large bets I placed reached their ears and they compared figures. Given the odds engraved on the wooden slats, they owed me a fortune. Their solution? Join forces and pressure the poor half-elf waif.
I couldn't blame them. This was a place for barbarians anyway. Just take a look at the kind of bouncers and bodyguards they brought. The number of ugly mugs glowering at me would make old bunny me have a heart attack.
I breathed heavily and delicately held a hand to my chest. "Are you sure you won't honor the bets, gentlemen? Can you give me a moment to think about your counter-offer?"
There was none. Their counter-offer was for me to hightail the hell out of here, after I returned their bet chits, of course. They were businessmen and had a reputation to uphold.
"You can think for a while, miss. We would 'hate' to see you wounded," the dwarven bookmaker replied.
And by hate, he meant giving me to his men so they could have some fun. Joke's on them, my equipment was faulty. But I had time. Time to adjust my status.
I gained twelve Attribute points from leveling after ranking up. All of them went into Charisma, now that my Attribute cap soared from 1 to forty-four. I'd finally accumulated enough {Surpasser} levels to overcome, with some slack, the 80% reduction from one of the curses Loki put on my last life. Which meant I could finally get a hundred points once I reached rank four. The {Pinnacle} Perks would once again be within my reach.
> * Surpasser XLIV (Ultra-Rare): Increase your Attribute caps by 440%. Gain 44 Attribute Points every 40 levels.
>
> 45/100 Points withheld.
> You are a Petitioner Centaur Heritor [rank 1]. As a unique variant, you receive:
>
> 1 Attribute point for each level.
>
> +1 Strength every even level.
>
> +1 Endurance every odd level.
>
> +1 Willpower, Magic, alternating every odd level.
>
> +1 Dexterity, Mind, alternating every even level.
>
> +1 Ego, Charisma, Soul, Luck, alternating every level.
>
> 13 Base HP and 7 Base Energy per level.
>
> 1 Perk every even level, plus on each level divisible by 10 (from Human Royalty).
> Your are a Centaur Marauder (UR) [Rank 1]. You receive:
>
> +1 Strength every level.
>
> +1 Endurance every even level.
>
> +1 Dexterity every fourth level.
>
> +1 Willpower every third level.
>
> 13 Base HP and 3 Base Energy per level.
>
> 1 Perk every even level.
> You have 4 unranked species Perks to pick.
>
> You have 2 rank 1 species Perks to pick.
>
> You have 1 unassigned general proficiency.
>
> You have 3 unranked Class Perks to pick.
>
> You have 2 rank 1 Class Perks to pick.
> You gained the species Perk: Cavalry charge (uncommon): Use any charge ability after moving at least 10 meters to deal an extra 100% damage to an enemy. Requires quadruped mount or shape.
>
> You gained the species Perk: Knock Over (uncommon): Use any charge ability after moving at least 10 meters and hit an enemy to knock them prone. Resisted by Strength or Dexterity.
>
> You gained the species Perk: Trample (rare): if you charge an enemy that is prone or was knocked over by you, attack twice with your hooves, dealing 200% extra damage.
>
> You gained the species Perk: Noble Specimen (very rare): When dealing with creatures of your own race, shift their reactions one step in your favor.
>
> You gained the Class Perk: Smashing Rage (uncommon): While raging, you deal 50% more damage to objects.
>
> You gained the Class Perk: Structural Damage (rare): While raging, you deal 50% damage to affixed structures.
>
> You gained the Class Perk: Sundering Rage (rare): While raging, if one of your attacks is parried, you damage the enemy's weapons.
> You gained the species Perk: Recall Heirloom (ultra-rare): You can pay 2*(Distance) MP to pull a soulbound heirloom item to your hand.
>
> You gained the species Perk: Teleport Heirloom (ultra-rare): The recalled heirloom teleports instantly to your hand.
>
> You gained the Class Perk: Marauder Coercion (very rare): If you use a display of force during a negotiation, add half your Strength to Charisma.
>
> You gained the Class Perk: Marauder's Will (rare): While raging, add the rage bonus to Willpower.
With that out of the way, I closed my menus and looked at the dwarf bookmaker. "Is there any chance you'll let me leave it here with my rightfully earned money?"
He smiled and chortled.
"Double or nothing?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
With a snort, he replied, "That depends."
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
I clicked my tongue. "Mother Spring will flail me alive for this," I hissed in a low voice that was still clearly audible to them, courtesy of {Project Sound} making my whispers go twenty-seven times further than they should.
Straightening my back and assuming a regal posture, I started to shapeshift. My hair became pink and curled in perfect drills, my chest deflated a bit, and I shifted the fifty-fifty mix of Alloralla and Apricot to eighty percent elf. Then I opened the floodgates and triggered my auras. Mixing {Royal Aura} and {Wellspring} for more than two hundred meters. I left {Eldritch Presence} with its basic sixty-four-meter range. I set my race and title. "Elf [Princess]", anyone who bothered to look at me would see.
Everyone in the tent lost seventeen points to {Eldritch Presence}. Bolstered by {Marauder Coercion}, {Royal Aura} sapped twenty-five Attribute points of everyone in range, as well as letting them know where it came from as well that someone screwed up and angered Royalty. That was part of my plan. Even if they attacked me, word would spread and their business would suffer. Nobody wanted retaliation from the Royals. Fulgen's predicament might weigh against me, so it was a shot in the dark.
"Now, I believe we should restart the negotiations," I said with an imperious and angry tone, "And maybe add a bit of compensation for my troubles, gentlemen."
The dwarf made his best fish impression ever. The dead eyes and open mouth gasping for air was remarkable. Most of the simpletons at the back were in a trance caused by several Attributes brought to zero.
"Your Highness," he gasped, exerting all his will to keep functioning. "Please have mercy!"
The bookmaker leader knelt. The others followed suit and the bodyguards that still retained some mental faculty imitated their masters.
"Double what you owe me. Before my guards get bothered and dismiss their {Invisibility}. You don't think a [Princess] would come here, in the middle of the barbarian country alone, do you?" I bluffed and added a peal of haughty lady laughter to reinforce the charade.
Then I mercilessly sealed the deal by dumping a ton of [Diplomat] abilities on their addled little Charisma scores. Finally, I made that a {Royal Geas} on them, after they agreed. Bet chits redeemed!
Social abilities were scary. I decided what proficiency I should pursue.
> You are now proficient in Mental Mastery. Your proficiency level increased by 24. Your potential proficiency level increased by 24. You have one ability pick.
>
> Mental Mastery [ 324 / 348 ]:
>
> * Social Resistance: Ignore (Proficiency/5) of an opponent's positive Charisma modifiers.
After weighing my big bag of coins and making sure they paid me down to the copper, I tossed the bag in a storage ring and vanished.
> Level 48
>
> Strength: 3+45 (48) / 43 - Dexterity: 2+15 (17) / 43 - Endurance: 3+38 (41) / 43
>
> Mind: 2+29 (31) / 43 - Willpower: 2+30 (32) / 43 - Charisma: 14+12 (26) / 43
>
> Magic: 2+27 (29) / 43
>
> Ego: 2+32 (34) / 43 - Luck: 2+22 (24) / 43 - Soul: 2+22 (24) / 43
>
> HP 5.741.382 (8.690 HP/s)
>
> Energy 1.784.026 (2.167 E/min)
----------------------------------------
Valley Outskirts
----------------------------------------
"We are outcasts!" The former chieftain shouted at the band that followed him. "Don't follow us!"
The priests not only marked him and his sons but also forbade the herd from taking the trials for five years as a punishment. Now the idiots were following him. Maybe he shouldn't have hoarded the Exp to his sons' benefit. There were few rank 2 individuals in the herd now.
"But chieftain! We don't care what--"
He silenced the centaur with a glare. "Do not raise your word against the Gods. Queltphion is the reason a herd grows stronger. The boons of the trials may very well define a warrior."
Now with a clear mind and a clearer predicament, he could see how foolishly he acted.
Out there, in the plains without leadership, the herd would be easy pickings for the roaming tribes. Talysius knew what had to be done. He would do what he could to regain his honor and help the herd.
Though he lusted for vengeance, to crush the arrogant white filly, he knew she meant hope for the centaur. All chieftains heard from their predecessors or from the elders the origins of their species. They kept it a secret from the herd because envy and malice could kill the [Heritor] before they - or she, now - could bloom. That didn't stop the very chieftains to covet such power for themselves out of their own envy and malice. If an impressionable youth should ascend to claim the legacy of the Unicorn King, why not become the true power behind the throne?
But the Gods had other designs, as the brands on his limbs, neck, and chest proved.
"Let me talk to my sons in peace. Then I'll tell you my decision."
He explained what he wanted to do. He gave his offspring the chance to go out on their own, to live the life of an exile. Walking out in the open was suicide. Even for him, chieftain, it would be hard as he lacked the full set of survival skills. That was another reason he challenged the white filly. She was lying about being an exile. No exile would survive in the plains at her level, much less leave the eastern peninsula and reach the Abode of War.
Time and again, he was proven wrong.
"We will stand with you, father. If this is what the Herd needs to grow stronger and what will redeem your honor, we will follow you," his eldest son said while the others nodded in agreement.
Wincing at the pain from the recent brands, he called selected individuals from the herd.
These had levels close to the gruesome climb that was the rank up. Those would benefit the most from their sacrifice.
He handed his sword to his pick to lead the herd, "Hold my blade. You will be the next chieftain, Cretenall. Do what you must. Regain the tribe's honor."
Cretenall trembled. He looked in the young warrior's eyes. "The herd depends on you. I failed the herd. Do it."
He held the blade against his chin and pushed.
> Cretenall struck you for 77 HP of damage. (Base 77). A vital area was deliberately struck. Do you wish to resist the death blow?
No, he picked.
> You died.
...
..
.
----------------------------------------
After I said my goodbyes to the ogre priest and Galatea, I donated a lord's ransom to the Abode of War. They deserved the coin and it was in a better place now. I flew away on the wings of the needletail. I felt a tug and something caught on my radar. A pile of resentment, a soul drawn to me by my {Soul Shepherd} power.
I wouldn't be surprised if one day I found a [Shinigami] Class waiting for me.
Curious, I banked left and dove to meet that soul. Down there, I sensed a lot of sentients, a band departing the valley. I rang {Echolocation} and it came back as centaurs. Was it the group of that branded chieftain? Banned from taking the trials, they had little reason to linger in the valley. They had nowhere to hunt or forage so the smart choice was to depart.
Pinpointing the soul, I drew it closer and landed on a tree. To my surprise, it was the chieftain. I started to purify his grudge but not his memories.
"They killed you?" I asked him.
"[Heritor]?" He blinked at me, surprised. "You can talk to the spirits? Are you a [Shaman]?" He asked with profound respect.
"I am the [Heritor] and can guide the lost souls to the Gods. But no, I'm not a [Shaman]. Tell me your story, chieftain."
I forgot his name.
"Branded and exiled, I wished to redeem my honor and help my herd. I asked the new chieftain to kill me so he could gain the Exp."
"A noble deed," I agreed grimly. "See that your soul bears no brand. Queltphion removed them."
He examined his spectral wrists and wept.
More souls came from the herd. I pulled them to me. The sons.
"Father?" They asked. "Who is this bird?"
Funny. The sons couldn't recognize me. The chieftain must have a good deal of fairy blood. And if the sons didn't... someone was fooled. It begged the question of why brand them if they weren't related but I shelved it under "I don't care what the Gods do so long they don't screw up with me or mine."
The chieftain looked at me. "You said you can guide the dead? Can you help us?"
I nodded. "Of course. I can send you to the afterlife under Galbarar's care. The power you accumulated here will help Him end this wretched Age of Eclipse. I can also put you under my service."
"I can serve you, [Heritor]?" He asked hopefully.
This guy must've had a big Ego score. Not enough he could resist me, but above average, for sure. He still had attachments to his mortal life. Meanwhile, the sons would idle if I didn't pay attention to them.
"You know the legends of the Unicorn King?" He nodded. "I can use your help, chieftain. To your children, I can only grant them a safe passage. As far as I understand, my guidance allows them to keep a fraction of their power. In their next lives, they'll have a minor boon."
That was instinctual knowledge after meditating on my abilities and the meaning of having Pandora. Two out of three requirements for Godhood.
"I know a great deal of the legends. If I can serve you, [Heritor], it would be my honor. I must repay the offense and regain my honor."
I nodded and chirped happily. "Then it is settled. I'll weave you a body made of silk where you'll inhabit and fight on my behalf."
Since he would not use magic, I didn't need to contract him and tithe my Exp like with Marlowe. He could be just a cloth golem.
I poured my Energy into the sons and sent them to Galbarar. Their levels were in the high second tier, a good stock that would add a few microseconds to the day's duration if I could so dream. After giving the chieftain a good scrub, I placed him in a toy centaur made of {Living Silk} and then into the item box.
My job done, I flew and gained ground over the herd. On their path, I dropped a few supplies. Meat, grain, fruit. Tools and a few weapons I'd looted on my way here too.
Then I flew south and west. Time to play "Raid the Human Village" again.