Let me put one thing out of the way. The voucher never came. Fuck Wyxnos and his standoffishness.

After getting the oath from the ladies and putting them under a {Geas}, I flew over the destroyed city and shoved everything collectible into the item box. I carved a channel connecting one of the rivers near the city with the palace crater and now it was turning into a beautiful lake of irradiated water. Or something like that. I just cared about making it a not-crater.

I created Cloth golems for the dead centaurs and told them to obey Enantinos. Then I used the digging ritual to make a spot to put a small keep outside the destroyed city. Enantinos, the babies, and their nannies would live there until I found something more permanent for them.

I was still mad at myself.

But I found out was even madder at a particular group. The motherfucking mind-bending [Wizards]. Of which I killed a great deal in the blast. The [Paladin King] was enthralled by their magic, his soul told me. He also didn't want to revive, not that I had a body to revive him. Neither reincarnate nor become a golem so I sent him to Galbarar.

Where was I? Yes, mind-bending mages. I interrogated them thoroughly and learned all their dirty little secrets. I kept their leaders bound to palm-sized beanbag dolls in my item box. All the other souls, I sent to Pandora. I felt her aspects become just a bit stronger.

The bastards had a magic school in the Kingdom's territory. Far enough from the capital so nobles didn't drop by for idle visits so often but close enough they could scry the capital easily. That was my destination.

Of course, I didn't get to carry on with my plan. A wrench was thrown in my way.

> WARNING: The Kingdom "Pekothas" has no Royal. The center of power for "Pekothas" has been destroyer. You built and manned a fortification in their heart of power.

>

> Do you want to take control of "Pekothas"?

>

> You will gain:

>

> The Perk: Royalty.

>

> The title: Queen.

>

> An upgrade of your Class to Royal Status.

>

> The ability to confer peerage to your vassals.

>

> The ability to set your dynastic rules.

Well. I had no idea if accepting this was good or bad. It wouldn't help my quest. I pulled its details again.

> Found the Centaur Kingdom.

>

> You must have a territory populated by centaurs. Establish governance and rule over it to earn the title [Unicorn Queen] and start your dynasty. Erect a mighty church to Queltphion in your capital.

>

> Rewards: Centaur Royalty Perk. 1 Heritage Perk related to Queltphion's domains. Queltphion's divine protection over the centaur species.

Pekothas was still a human kingdom. The number of centaurs here was abysmal and bringing centaurs from the plains wouldn't work. Killing enough humans until we had more centaurs than other species wouldn't cut it either, as I would be left with land but no nation. I also suspected I couldn't dump the rule on someone else. Didn't it happen with Alloralla?

"System, if I become queen, can I abdicate in favor of my heir without losing Royal status?"

> ACKNOWLEDGED. If the dynastic rules state so. According to the current dynastic rules of the kingdom offered to you, your title will change from [Queen] to [Grand Duchess].

Humm... Fancy that. I liked [Grand Duchess] more than [Queen]. It would take a hit if I visited Windemere again. I accepted the damned prompt.

> You are now the Queen of Pekothas. A global announcement is sent to all users in your territory. Long live [Queen] Snowdrop!

>

> You already have the Royalty Perk. No compensation is offered.

>

> You already have the title, Queen.

>

> You can confer peerage.

>

> You can change dynastic rules.

>

> Your Class is already Ultra-Rare. You have 1 rarity upgrade to apply to a chosen path.

> WARNING: Snowdrop the Centaur has conquered Pekothas! She is now [Queen] Snowdrop of Pekothas.

I could hear the crowd down there shouting, and they weren't happy. I went to the top of the fortress. Down the machicolations, I could see them.

"Stop squabbling. Your queen {Orders} you!"

They became quiet. One person said, "Your Majesty, we are here to plea for your mercy! We are starving and need food!"

Their bellies let out gormandizing groans all on their own. I knew right then that I had screwed up again. Why did I have to accept this shit? I knew what to do. The true and tried method of finding a patsy to dump the rulership on. Honestly, I was the worst Royal in history.

"Here, have these bags of fruit!" I created a {Floating Disk} and lowered the fruit to them. Chaos ensued but I was already on my way to find a patsy... I mean, worthy successor.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I found the perfect specimen. Eight years serving a King, he must've learned something. He looked at me and smiled, "Congratulations on your conquest!"

Damn you, savage. But he seemed more relaxed now that he wasn't bound to a human.

"Yo, chieftain, fancy becoming a [King]?" I asked straight away. "As my right as [Queen], I change the dynasty rules. Succession is no longer hereditary. I grant Enantinos the centaur chieftain the title [Prince] and nominate him the heir."

His gaze unfocused, probably dealing with the notifications. His HP pool shot up by two million, so I think he's a happy barbarian now. Let's spoil that happiness by sharing the misery around.

"Snowdrop, this is--"

"I hereby retire from my rule as [Queen]."

> Your title changed from [Queen] to [Grand Duchess]. Your heir has been promoted to [King].

The bastard's HP pool shot up by another two million.

"Long live [King] Enantinos. Now, if you excuse me, Your Majesty, I have some mages to kill."

"Wait, I--"

Too late. I was already in the Ethereal world. I couldn't hear him, la la la...

----------------------------------------

I made a good time reaching the magic academy. Ethereal travel was ridiculously fast for mid-distance travel. At short-range, {Tree Stride} was golden because there were trees everywhere in this dark ages (pun intended) world. For long-range, {Fairy Gate} was better unless you were in a shitty place with no fairy rings like dunno, freaking Pekothas. I hate this place. Why am I still here?

Right, to murder mind-bending mages. And steal their secrets. And loot everything else not nailed to the building. Then the building itself.

Except I wouldn't take the building with me anytime soon. The magic academy was a former dwarven enclave, carved inside a mountain.

I thought about going in stealthily and rob them, then murder the shit out of them. But I was capped and all Exp I earned would be divided by a million when I ranked up. So why bother killing stuff when you can't take the Exp with you?

That's when I concocted the most devious plan of all. Knowing how someone would react to my threats, I put it into motion.

> [Administrator Hotline]

>

> CALL START

>

> Snowdrop: Hey, Wyxnos. Where's my voucher? I'm glowing green here. Now that I'm a [Berserker], I think I'm unlocking a special Class rank-up that will combine both. I only didn't do it yet because I have yet to find purple jeans pants. Silk wouldn't do.

>

> Wyxnos: I'm sorry, I can't give you a free Unique Perk. There's too much scrutiny right now. As I said, people... the Gods are mad at you.

>

> S: Booh. If you don't give me my voucher, I'm going to teach Radiation magic to a lot of people.

>

> W: Don't do it.

>

> S: Make me.

>

> W: Don't do it. I'm serious. Deadly serious.

>

> S: Oh. What will the almighty System Administrator do?

>

> W: I'll be forced to kill every single one of your apprentices. Every magician that learns radiation magic is going to die. How do you like it.

>

> S: You wouldn't dare! Damn you, Wyxnos!

>

> W: Don't test my patience.

>

> CALL END

Bastard hung up on me. I transformed into Rosewise and waked the rest of the way to the gates of the magic academy.

"Halt! Who goes there?" The guards at the gates stopped me. They had enchanted mail armor and halberds.

"I'm Rosewise Honorcoin, a [Sorceress]. I'm here to trade."

They looked at me with a piercing glare. "What trade?"

I felt a scrying spell on me. "I learned the magic that destroyed the capital. I'm here to offer my knowledge in exchange for some grimoires."

The guard was about to tell me to scram when he stopped and acted like a person on a cellphone call. "Show us this magic," he said.

"I need a living target. I won't assume one of you is volunteering to be it."

One of them waved his hands and drew a summoning circle. An al'Mi-raj appeared between us.

I pointed a finger at the summoned monster. "Radiation Bolt." A beam of green light shot and burned a hole in the monster. Then it poofed into smoke.

"There you go. The most basic spell of this element. I have a few spell circles for other uses here with me. Can we trade?"

The guard nodded. "Archmagister Kortareon awaits you."

I nodded. "Good. Thank you, good sir."

I entered the academy. The gate led to a great hall with fortified balconies facing it. I think dwarves could rain destruction on invaders from up there. The mages, however, filled the balconies with giant statues of themselves. As I walked down the hall, it felt as if the gaze of these great mages judged me.

Two mages dressed in acolyte robes - as the ghosts of my ambushers told me - came to greet me at the end of the hall. "Miss Honorcoin. Please follow us. The Archmagister awaits you."

"So I've been told."

I walked after them, taking notice of the many traps they had in the corridors. I knew the traps existed but didn't ask the ghosts to tell me exactly where they were. I felt no need to do so. After an eternity of climbing stairs and walking down more tunnels, we reached the Archmagister's office.

The old hirsute man opened the door himself. "Miss Honorcoin. It is a pleasure to meet such a powerful [Sorceress]. You must tell me how you keep your Status so well hidden later," he said with a chuckle. Come, have some tea."

This guy was the leader of the expedition that kidnapped the centaurs. I went to the sitting room and he poured tea for us. I took my cup and drank. I tasted Oblivion Carmella. A powerful poison that lowered Willpower.

"Excellent tea," I said and put my empty cut back on the saucer. I admired his office. More like, a library. It was about six meters tall and filled to the brim with tomes, grimoires, and scrolls. Several potent wards too. Considering the trouble I had with their wards before, I knew this would be a tough nut to crack. But most of the wards seemed focused on keeping intruders out.

"Good, good. Now, you claim to know the mysterious element that devastated the capital, yes? How did you come across it?"

I smiled, making sure I seemed a bit goofy. "Happenstance. That's why we [Sorcerers] are vastly superior to [Wizards]. I was near the city when I saw the spell going off. It enraptured me and I almost fell unconscious. After my inspiration and a bit of imagination, the System told me I'd obtained the [Radiation Magic Affinity] Perk."

He nodded along the way but didn't like my jab at his Class at all. After thinking for a while, he said. "Strange. This Perk is supposed to be unique. A divine oracle told us so."

"Maybe the caster died to their own spell? That thing was clearly out of control," I bluffed but worded to make it sound true.

"I see. And you can show me the magic circles for this affinity. How?"

I raised a finger. "I have the {Wizardry} ability in my [Spellcaster] proficiency. I can cast spells as either a [Wizard] or a [Sorcerer], although this Eleon here started as a [Sorceress]."

"Most interesting. Many stick to a single tradition."

I beamed and slurred a bit, "I love diversity."

"Can you show me a spell circle of the affinity?"

"Yes. Only the element sequence of glyphs. I think even with that little, the Archmagister will end up stealing the secret from me."

He took offense. "Nonsense. I swear an oath here, that I won't attempt to learn your magic until we negotiate a trade."

"I saw your guard summon an al-Mi'raj. Is summoning magic common here?"

He grinned. "Yes, it is. I can see the appeal of summoning magic to a lone wanderer like you, miss Honorcoin."

"Well, then we are settled. Teach me Summoning magic, and I'll teach you Radiation."

"Good. I'll fulfill my part now. Please relax..."

> Archmagister Kortareon wants to share knowledge with you. This is a one-way channel.

>

> He'll grant you the Perk: Summoning Magic Affinity (rare).

>

> 15 proficiency points of [Spellcaster].

>

> The ability: Summoner's Memory: You can memorize (Proficiency/25) summoned monsters. You do not need a Core to summon these monsters.

Fucking damned mind-benders. They can insta-teach others? I accepted. The prompts flew. I now knew how to summon monsters. And boy, was it an expensive school of magic. You needed a core from the monster you wanted to summon even with the ability. The core lost some levels when used to summon a monster.

I felt an insidious mental probe but it was quickly repealed by my perks. The Archmagister winced and hissed as if he'd stubbed his little toe.

"Now, do your part, miss," he said with a menacing stare.

I drew the full magic circle for {Radiation Bolt}. His eyes glowed with iridescent light (yes, it was that weird) that traced every object in the room. Once his eyes stopped glowing, his business smile vanished.

"I learned this spell and unlocked the element!" He gloated like the good villain he was. Then he started to cast a high-level mental spell. "Now, miss, your utility has--"

The poor fellow never finished his threat. His lifeless body slumped on the armchair. I looted it and started to help myself to the dead [Wizard]'s collection.