I met Kel'Caldor when he returned to the tower from his "evening of debauchery" at the brothel. The quotes are there because one, he doesn't have functional sex organs, and two, he doesn't have functional organs. He was there just to see some undead flesh flop around and talk.
"You stink!" He retched and flinched away from me. "What have you done?"
I knew I didn't stink. I took baths every evening. "What are you talking about, you old sack of bones? What did they feed you at the brothel?"
"You reek of Divinity," he admitted.
The lich was uncomfortable by just being in my presence. I found that funny and a good payback for putting me through the painful ordeal at the arena. So I nonchalantly smirked, "Oh, yeah. I ranked up. Got a pretty good deal on a Divine Class! Is that a problem?"
His emerald-eyes went dead. I think he closed his "eyes". Then they shone again.
"No, nothing wrong. You are really impressive even when you are not yourself," he half-lied as he decided to keep his cards close to his chest.
I knew I was here by convenience. It was convenient for me to have a place to live I didn't have to pay for and the protection of the lich, it was convenient for Kel'Caldor to keep his ancient enemy under constant surveillance and maybe get an "I won't kill you" affidavit from me.
He might have other plans, you know how these creepy ancient evil guys were. Layers upon layers of scheming and double-crossing. It didn't worry me or make me lose my sleep. Which I had to, every day.
I knew for a fact that I would live again in the future and as a revenant, my only true drive was to get my vengeance, then go to that deep sleep a few feet under the earth. My attachment to my unlife was thin.
*
*
----------------------------------------
2A
*
A year later...
The ghast panting in front of me had a grin on her face. She flicked one of the few strands of hair valiantly hanging on her white scalp and smiled at me, showing an impressive collection of yellowed triangular fangs. I think a strand of rotten meat was stuck between the back ones, but I was a lady and didn't comment on it.
> > Level 67 female ghast [Weaponmaster]
I shouldn't even see it from the pillow my head rested on while my body exercised itself to practice swordsmanship. It was odd seeing my body move but I could see my head from my hand and the inside of my boots from my toe, so I had no right to talk about weird things myself.
"Your ability to dodge attacks is impressive, my Lady," Berna, my weapons instructor sent by Mordo as a reward for my arena fight said. "I can see how you evaded Ignatius' attacks. It was no fluke."
Ghasts were classified as half-living undead, along with Vampires, Vrykolakas, and other types that needed to feed and sometimes, as it was her case, breathe. She arrived three months ago and we were training nonstop with just a few outings to have some fun at the necropolis. Mostly people-watch and let Berna catch up with the local gossip.
I got a haircut and my princely locks now ended at chin height. It was a necessity as floating heads and long hair didn't make a good combination. It got tangled on everything and also caught dirt like a mop. Despite the hairdresser promising me his firstborn (as if a skeleton could have children!) for the golden locks, I kept it in my storage ring.
I nodded graciously, "Thank you, Berna. This training session was very fruitful."
"So, how fruitful are we talking about here?
I checked the results of my months of training.
> > You gained 12 points in Spellcaster [654]
>
> > You gained 33 points in Blades [ 638 ]
>
> > You gained 27 points in Furtivity [ 762 / 779 ]
>
> > You gained 139 points in Shields [ 179 ]
I told her the scores but I swapped [Blades] for [Swords] and [Furtivity] with [Evasion].
She stared at me with wide milky eyes. "You were already very skilled with [Swords] when we started. I don't think it would be possible to gain that many points in just a few months, even though we worked for several hours each evening."
"Fast-Growth," I said as if it would explain everything. When it was evident on her face that it didn't, I went further. "My level reset when I became undead, but my Proficiencies remained from my previous life. I picked it again and the System granted me fast-growth anew." I made sure to not say the name of my Proficiencies. She thought I had [Swords], let the misunderstanding continue. I wouldn't also talk about the 300 ~500% learning rate bonus I had. I was pretty sure it was not usual and probably something from my previous selves.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
It didn't help. Berna crossed her arms and stared at me while impatiently tapping her foot.
"Most everyone's levels reset when they become undead with sentience. But none of us carry over Traits from our previous lives." I decided I had over-shared and just stared at her until it became awkward.
She relaxed and giggled to ease the tension. "But then again, maybe Lady Raina received a special blessing from the Gods." It was a rehearsed maneuver. The damn ghast was fishing to get me to spew information and I ended up doing it.
Mentioning the Pantheon made me angry. I could keep my cool and live as a "normal" revenant-dullahan because the targets of my vengeance weren't in this world. I gritted my teeth and tried to be gracious. "I did! Not the Gods, that bunch of idiots could go blow themselves. It was the Matriarch who blessed me."
"I thought she was against the undead like the others," Berna remarked.
"Well, a blanket ban on the undead is just as unfair as a blanket ban on the living, I guess. There are good and bad people, good and bad zombies."
"I guess you're right," she giggled.
I pouted comically and fluttered my eyelashes. "So, can I go to the Labyrinth, teacher?"
I demanded access to the Labyrinth so I could fight monsters and gain some levels. It was a test to see how much they wanted to curb my power growth. If Kel'Caldor was sincere in his offer to me, he would have no problem letting me grow as strong as I could get. But if he had hidden plans for me, he wouldn't want my resistances to grow too much. Everyone knew I could punch way over my own level.
"Yes, I guess," she reluctantly admitted. "We'll mount an expedition, get some porters, dismantlers, and guards."
Berna left to report my growth to Mordo and whoever else was paying her to get news on me and I sat to check the rest of my Status updates. The issue with dual-wielding and a shield was solved with a very exotic off-hand weapon. It was called a lantern shield and was a single piece composed of a round shield on the forearm, a gauntlet, and a retractable shortsword blade along with parrying spokes which counted as daggers. It also had a small magical light orb under a metal plate with slits at the top which could rotate to open or close.
> [Steel Lantern Shield]
>
> Price: 34 gold coins
>
> Damage: 2d10+5
>
> Durability: 500/500
>
> Hardness: 32
>
> Protection: 75% / 20 - left hand and forearm only.
>
> One-handed, Heavy.
>
> Counts as a gauntlet, shield, shortsword, and/or a dagger. The gauntlet remains free to hold and manipulate items (Dexterity/2) but cannot wield another weapon. Attacks made with this weapon suffer a linear 30% Accuracy penalty.
>
> A concept weapon that requires a lot of ability to properly wield.
It was Berna's suggestion. At first, I wanted to have nothing to do with that unwieldy thing. Then she taught me one [Shield] Ability that changed how I looked at it.
* Nimble Block: You may ignore (P/5)% of your shield's weight and momentum. Add (P/3)% to evasion.
It only allowed me to ignore 27% of the lantern shield's weight and bulk when it was beneficial to me but Berna guaranteed it was capped at ninety-five percent reduction and I was but a novice with shields. But it allowed me to punch, stab, slash, and block. And it was distinctive enough that it could become a trademark.
I also visited the bakery very often, and my patronage increased the interest in baked goods, which was awesome. I tried my luck at baking and found out why I was so drawn to the oven.
> > You gained 1 point in [Baker].
>
> > ERROR: User already has this Proficiency.
> Baker [328]. You can cook food that has dough and goes in an oven. Increase quality by (P/5)%.
>
> * Dough Fermentation: Increase volume, texture, amount of portions, and nutritional value by (P/5)%.
> * Careful Kneading: Products yield and are tastier by (P/5)%.
> * Food additives: Adding special materials makes your products (P/5)% more nutritious and expensive per extra ingredient.
It wasn't an absurd grandmaster-level Proficiency, but it was rather impressive. I was amazed at the variety of foods a [Baker] could make. Not only bread, but anything that had dough (or batter) and went in an oven was fair game. Pies, omelets, cookies, waffles, almost anything, actually. So long it had something to qualify as "dough" and went inside an "oven".
The Abilities were also top-notch. It was something carefully curated and it reminded me to be careful about my picks in the future.
The expedition took another month to prepare. We would take seven people along with Berna and me. Two burly zombies [Porters], one of them the shadowy one that I hired, Three ghoul [Scouts], and two skeleton [Servants].
We took a tunnel going east. The Maelstrom Sea was to the east and so were the controversial Goddess Tear jewels. I felt it was not the time to come in contact with them as I wasn't powerful enough to withstand the struggle for the jewel.
Time to gain some levels.
*
*
----------------------------------------
*
*
Nenandil spent a year helping the people rebuild. She was lucky they had a regular regimen of training and leveling at the mini-Dungeons and the valley inherited Tuisto's protection. No monsters around allowed the people to focus all their efforts on clearing forest, mining, building an economy, settling, and farming. The mountains kept the oceanic winds out and almost all the water they got came from the thawing ice of the mountains. Which meant Spring was a flood season. They had to move their settlement to higher ground and dig the river bed deeper to compensate for that.
But all in all, things were going great. Once they were permanently settled, they started to attempt to reconnect to the outside world. A group of dwarves set out to the northern mountains, trying to find if any survivors remained in the kingdom of Vugh Tarim. Another mixed group went southeast in an attempt to reconnect with the scavenger gnomes. And yet a third started digging a tunnel to reconnect their land with the outside world. It would invite outsiders and probably trigger an invasion and a war, but they needed to trade for some important commodities the valley didn't offer.
She found herself in a meeting with the [Pope] and other local leaders.
"Lady Nenandil, we don't feel like naming this land Windemere. We want to start anew, and we hope you would understand," the rabbit-kin woman said on everyone's behalf.
The fairy didn't care about the name. She just wanted to know the reason. "I'm not offended. Why do you want a new name?"
"We wish to keep the memory of Windemere alive as it was. A wonderful and magical place. And from what you said, people outside have a negative view of Windemere. We wish to start on a clean slate," she said in politician-speak. Which meant it was a white lie at best.
"I don't mind. Now that you are settled, I won't stay here. I need to find someone," She said, refraining from shrugging.
The community leaders smiled. One of them, a silk-folk, said, "We are going forward with this plan then. Our new country will be called Yutis. Which means 'Land of the Light'."
The meeting went on for a couple hours, the issues debated too secular for the fairy's tastes. She found a good moment to excuse herself and flew away. She went high up and looked at the moonlit sky. Ayla stood alone on the firmament with the stars in the backdrop, silently illuminating the ring as if mourning for her lost sister.
Nenandil's finger wiped a tear from her cheek. She'd guide the remnants of Windemere to safety, helped them settle. They were no longer her problem. They could name the land whatever they wanted, wage wars, and make trade deals. She didn't care now that they were safe.
She had a job to do, a person to find. And no clue whatsoever. She looked to the west and decided to visit the next continent. Maybe she could find a hint in the Scorched Lands.