Sneaking back inside the Palace was easy. As most low-ranked mage wards, they didn’t extend into the Ethereal. The first thing I did was to check everyone’s levels. The girls were level zero as they hadn’t Activated yet. Marion was level thirty-eight, probably stuck in the climb to the rank-up. Rhiannon was level fifty-six, also stuck in the climb but one rank above Marion. Amina was fifty-five, and the average level of the guards was also fifty-five. The servants were in the thirties, but the fact all of them were in the first rank meant a lot.
I shifted back to my human form after I was safe inside my room. Changing my clothes to the expected of a [Prince], I went for a walk around the palace. The first stop was Marion’s apartment at the inner palace. She and her daughters had permanently occupied a guest apartment. I didn’t mind it, as the palace still had dozens of unused bedrooms that only accumulated dust.
While I walked and checked the palace for any magical anomaly or hidden stuff that my mundane eyes missed, I thought about what to do now that I had the System. The answer was obvious after pondering over a few possibilities. I should hide it for as long as possible. The reason was the debutante ball. It should be scheduled six months after my Activation and it would open a new can of worms as the palace would officially be open to visitors. The Imperial Bureau of Visitors took care of the schedule and we were basically an attraction in the most expensive theme park ever. It would be extremely hard to keep it locked like it was now.
The IBV also took bribes to facilitate the process of vetting visitors. Noble houses wishing to hitch their ladies to a [Prince] were the main investors for Bureau managers’ “unofficial” retirement plans. Therefore, I needed to make sure I would strengthen both the palace and the M&M duo as much as possible before that phase happened.
I also needed to control my hormone levels to stop secondary sexual traits to appear or steer them to the male side. While the grafted genitals worked just fine, the natural ones did too. I had mixed feelings about removing them because they would regenerate like any other damaged organ or tissue. The Fleshcrafting spell changed my biological template, making the graft permanent. My body considered those male genitals dangling in front of me as if I was born with them.
I would probably need to learn that school of magic if I wanted any control over the process.
My priorities were, then. Secure the palace with my own enchantments and magic, use my powers to really vet the staff working in here, find a way to strengthen M&M once they got the System, learn more about the red-tape maze of the Empire, heal Rhiannon, learn [Fleshcrafting], prepare testosterone supplements for my own use, and get ready for the big fight three centuries from now.
Damn, everyone in Windemere must’ve passed away. I had no idea the System took this long to reincarnate a random soul. And I should have a ridiculous large backlog of Divine duties to attend to.
Unwittingly, I had joined the Gods in their long period of silence.
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The next day, I visited the library early and checked several books on Imperial law. I could swear half the library was about statutes and regulations and I cursed this Byzantine bureaucracy. With the books in hand, I locked myself in my room and cast my own defensive rituals overlaying with the ones already in place. I engraved rune words on the walls and door, making them almost as hard to break as Adamantite.
I brought food, water, everything to make people believe I would spend the day locked. Good. With everything in place, I shifted to the Ethereal and polymorphed into the all-time favorite needle-tail. I would’ve caused a sonic boom if acoustics worked in the Ethereal as they did in the material world. I flew over the oceans to the west, crossing around the world’s largest ocean toward Auvanini.
The Scorched continent rested in the middle of the other two, with Auvanini to the east of that landmass, and Pekothas to the west. That made sailing from Pekothas to Auvanini easier if one went around the Scorched Continent than braving the vast and unexplored oceans between the two. But I could go in a straight line over the ocean and it was faster this way. Way faster. An hour something later, I saw the mountains between Glimmervale and the dead magic zone and Windemere.
The massive home-tree grove already showed a crown of green over the surrounding snow-white peaks crowning Tuisto’s valley. The trees weren’t that tall but the real reason was that Tuisto’s valley was nestled high up in the mountain range. The same strange field that kept monsters away from that spot also kept the temperatures pleasant. I wonder why it was that way.
Before I entered Windemere proper, I changed shapes to Haru’s. Then I flew past the Lierin enclave, between Vugh Tarim and the lake where the former Black Dragon Dungeon laid, and finally into Windemere City proper. I ignored the city in favor of the Academy. Once inside, I just needed to follow the link to find Marlowe. The cantankerous silk golem was lecturing a new batch of students. I hovered around, watching it until he noticed me a few minutes later.
“This class is adjourned. Something came up. Instructor Melizabaras, you’re up. Continue from where I left off,” the [Archmage] said before he teleported away. I tagged along, following his signature into the Headmasters’ office.
> > Level 98 Silk Golem (Archmage).
Before I could say something, he glowered, “Whatever happened to you? You’ve been centuries without giving notice!”
I explained what happened to him. The System interference, my fairy mana exploding. Marlowe listened in silence.
“I heard about that. People never understood why that whole city exploded, but it did felt like something you’d do.”
“Well, I was killed by a cheap shot. I have no idea how to defend from that.”
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“You need to learn how to control your mana. Without System assistance, that much is obvious.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Not in a lifetime but that isn’t really a constraint for you, is it?” He wiggled his embroidered eyebrows and shone his diamond eyes.
“Now it is. I have three centuries before the brood-bitch descends.”
“Well, there’s no time like today.”
“How was adapting to the new System?” I asked to change the subject.
“Seamless. It is amazing what can be done once you get the incompetent people away from the important stuff. People speak of Wyxnos only in curses now, blaming him for the silence of the Gods.”
“I have things to do. But first,” I opened a gate to the Ethereal and put my hand through. It came back with a ring.
> > The Immortal Agent - level 74
Raleigh Whisper’s ring. His soul and body were safely kept inside. To him, not a second passed since the moment he died. As we’d agreed, I brought forth the soul.
“Hello, Raleigh,” I greeted.
“So it finally happened,” the ghost said. “How long have I been dead?”
“Too long, my friend. Everyone you knew is gone unless they’re an elf. What do you want to do? Do you want to go back to life, or move on to the next one?”
> >Level 100 Human (Rogue)
He’d reached the level cap before dying. Impressive.
“What will happen to the ring if I move onto the next life?”
“The ring will find your soul. It is bound to you and yours until the end of time. You earned it.”
“I have some Cores for you in it. Take them.”
I grinned, “Oh, you shouldn’t!” Then I helped myself to the contents of the ring.
“Make sure to put a lot of copper and silver coins back in,” He said, indirectly asking for payment.
I did as he asked. I had more money than I could use anyway and all I had to do if I wanted more was to raid a kingdom or two. He probably wanted copper and silver because it was easier to explain than gold and platinum. He had no idea where he would be reborn. I added a few of the high denomination coins and also crates of Healing and Mana potions.
“You know that by keeping the ring, your future self may get curious about its origins and seek me out, don’t you? I suggest we write a few letters to your future self and store them in the ring. The first suggestion is to make sure you keep a journal of your lives in the ring, so your reincarnations know what to expect. You may even be able to transmit some knowledge and tricks to your future selves.”
I worked on the ring for a while, Expanding its storage capacity to better match my current abilities. When I finished, Marlowe frowned.
“Make one of these for me once I reach the level cap,” the [Archmage] almost demanded. “I now see the true value of getting a new life. I can keep a whole library in it, and start anew as the strongest [Spellcaster] ever.”
I stared at him until he corrected himself. “You are but a dabbler,” he sneered. “Who would think that you would die from a problem every [Mage] and [Sorcerer] would dream of having. Too much mana,” he snickered.
I deadpanned, “I can drop your sorry golem butt in the dead magic desert. Let’s see how you fare.”
“Hold on, I’m getting a {Message},” Marlowe said. “It’s the current [Pope] of your church. News of your rebirth had already circulated in the whole country. The nation rejoices!”
“Huzzah!” Raleigh’s ghost mockingly cheered.
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I made one appearance before the cathedral and spoke to the clergy and the new [Pope]. The people were jubilant and cheered my revival. Then the angels came down with a throng of souls for me. Every believer that died in the last several centuries was waiting for me to pick them up. One advantage of not leaving it to the System to recycle them.
Most people didn’t want to come back, given that so long had passed. They would have no property, no loved ones to come back to. I granted them a small boon worth about half the Divinity their Status’ worth after recycling the souls. That would double as making them come back as customers of Matriarch Soul Insurance, LLC. Oh, damn.
I made that a standard from now on. To guarantee that soul’s business in the future, I would grant them minor boons that would stick to their future incarnations if they returned to the flock. Split the profits in half, it was a win-win proposition. Better than cashback rewards, for sure.
The gospel and holy scriptures of the church were amended to record this new truth, but it wouldn’t be made public knowledge. People could persecute my believers. Until such a time I’d completely taken over the world, It couldn’t be known.
The [Priests] had no choice on the matter. They were needed and I could bring them back to life for zero Divinity costs. I still granted them a magical item out of my collection, to appease their mood. Some of them were murdered brutally and had some trauma to unpack.
Finally, I released the Golem Guard. The term of service for the mercenaries that were assembled by Isengar’s father had ended, and they deserved a new life with or without their memories. Only three ghosts were left behind, and those demanded special care. I took their soul back to the Academy.
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“The ring you gifted to Mr. Whisper is a marvelous tool to track souls,” Marlowe remarked out of the blue once I materialized in his office.
The realization struck me like a sledgehammer.
Then Fate struck me from the other side, telling me it wouldn’t let me cheat.
Of course, only everyone else around me was allowed to cheat as they liked. Only I had to walk the narrow path. If I wished to complete Lorna’s Game, I had to play it straight.
“Not happening. I’ll make sure to track your next incarnation down and make your life… Interesting, as the Chinese proverb says.”
“Keep the nonsense from your no-magic world to yourself," he sneered. "And I still have a couple of levels to obtain. The bothersome ones. I need as much Exp for the next level as the sum of what I have earned so far. When you see the guy who designed it, please give him a beating.”
“Oh, I intend to make Wyxnos pay. Don’t worry about that. But one deity at a time. Is there a safe room I can use? I need to talk to these ladies in private.”
“Use your damn flying island. It’s deserted now, only your golems can access it.”
Marlowe kicked me out of the Academy. I used a random tree to teleport to the Sky Island. Truly enough, it was deserted, with only the loyal golem servants tirelessly keeping it.
I offered them release and a few of them accepted. The others were happy in serving the Goddess and wished to keep doing so.
Alone in my former bedroom, I woke up the three souls by contracting them. Mirina, Grenniana, and Jocelyn.
“The Goddess returns,” Mirina stated with a longing melancholy.
In tears, I explained what happened to them.
“Curse Wyxnos!” the Scavenger Gnome [Queen] grunted.
“He’ll have what he deserves. What about you guys?”
I could tell they all died of old age. Their Status was earmarked as something akin to “recycle only”. It was one limitation of my {Last Chance} Perk. Reviving someone who died of old age would at most give them a few hours to live before they expired again. I knew no remedies to that.
We talked a lot, and they told me of their lives after my demise. They lived happy and fulfilling lives, although they missed me dearly. It was painful. I almost regretted having these links to previous lives linger on. It was so easy to just move on before my influence became global. They agreed to get soul-bonded rings, like Raleigh’s [The Immortal Agent]. I was afraid I would cough dozens of such trinkets to several people in the world. They would only help my cause, though. I granted them major boons as I sent their souls back to the wheel of reincarnation.
With the Matriarch’s duties seen to, I could return to the Empire to deal with Percival’s business there.