> > The Matriarch had passed judgment upon her flock and those found wanting were punished.
I sighed in relief. Whoever this Matriarch was, I evaded her wrath. She seemed like a really angry person, maybe a deity. I looked at my breakfast companions, now idly talking to themselves. The werewolf [King] remained by my side, like a hundred-fifty kilogram puppy who could tear me apart with a single nibble.
"Praise the Matriarch," I said out loud to test the waters.
Everyone stared at me like I was crazy. Even the ghouls cleaning tables on the other side of the guest wing cafeteria. I met each one of their gazes.
"What's the matter, do any of you have anything against the Matriarch?"
Talbain chuffed a chuckle.
"No. It is just strange seeing an undead praise a Goddess aligned with life," The Adventurer leader said.
"Why is that? I don't think she is against the undead."
"Yes, she is!" The saucy [Archer] retorted. "She exterminated the lich Kel'Caldor and all his undead minions. Were she here, all of you would be dead."
Talbain flexed his long arms. "I doubt it," he challenged the girl. "The Matriarch was one of my clan's ancestors!" He claimed boastfully. "She loves the Kin, her first children, the most."
The girl was forced to nod. I guess she knew Talbain was telling the truth. I decided not to tell them my Class had "divine" in its description. Maybe that [Appraise] Proficiency I gained for free was a blessing, to keep them from poking their noses in my Status.
"Your Majesty, you can have the other sausage. I don't feel hungry. I'm going to take a walk. If you excuse me, brave Adventurers, Your Majesty."
By the time I'd finished talking, the sausage was no longer on my plate and Talbain was swallowing. I giggled and stood up.
"If you don't mind, milady, I'm going to escort you."
He offered me his arm and I took it. I had a couple of awkward steps before I adapted to the werewolf's gait. Or he adapted to mine. Hard to tell.
Once we left the Adventurers behind, I broached a delicate subject. "Your Majesty, may I ask one question?"
He grinned, "You may ask another one as well, milady."
"Last night at the party, you called me "matr…" before you changed your words. Were you trying to call me "Matriarch?"
He stopped. I took one more step and halted as well, turning to face him. He was sort of scary now that I took a good look at him without the influence of alcohol. I mean, this werewolf could really kill me with a single nibble. I doubted fifty-four HP was a lot. His face steeled.
"I'm sorry, milady. You may ask, but I'll have to refuse to answer."
His harsh, borderline angry tone caused me to involuntarily take a step away from him.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," I curtsied. "Would you excuse me? I think I'd rather explore the castle alone." I was so angry at his rejection I didn't mind being rude. If he wanted to kill me, so be it. Without waiting for an answer, I turned on my heels and walked down the castle corridor.
Yes, I was a prisoner of this castle. They might need my willing cooperation for something otherwise they would have treated me like the trash I was. I had a dozen questions and no answers. Like what were all these traits? Why did the System say my Attributes were above the cap, then grant me something that increased my cap by ten times, only to then display a forty-six? Did it mean my cap was four? It seemed awfully low.
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Nenandil stared at the maps on display at the city hall. She was on Pekothas, the same continent as before the Empire went to shit. One thousand years after the battle between the two goddesses. She had no idea what happened but it must've been cataclysmic. She spent several days listening to the bards, hearing tales, or hiding in libraries reading books. The Empire vanished and a new ocean appeared in its place. If one ignored the frozen territories to the far north of the massive mountain range and the mountains itself, Fulgen was the northernmost territory now. Everything north of Fulgen vanished. Worse, the ocean that sprung in place of the Empire was treacherous and the most dangerous waters in the whole world. Not even the mermaids dared swim in those waters. They said the blood of the goddesses caused all sorts of monsters to appear.
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The Church of the Matriarch, the strongest in the world, was waking up from its thousand-year slumber during which it let corruption fester. With the divine messages, the priests started doing their duties once more and respecting the covenants between them and the Goddess upon which they drew their powers. It was bound to cause trouble with the other corrupted churches but she was ready to grant any temple under attack the Matriarch's divine protection.
With the true faith reemerging, she knew the people would flock to convert themselves. That would sap the other churches of their power base. But such politics were beneath her. Nenandil had other goals in mind.
The world has changed a lot. It felt… mundane. Sylvis, the green moon was destroyed during the battle and now the world had a ring. Bright during the summer, black during the winter. People said that the Broodmother and the Matriarch were up there in the heavens, fighting their eternal battle. During the months of Summer, the Matriarch had the upper hand, hence the ring was bright. And in Winter, the cold-hearted dragon Goddess dominated.
The fairy even wished She could be found up there. It would be easier to go up into outer space than finding her among the mortals in this world. If the humans in Her native world reached space without magic, they could do that too.
Nenandil felt an urge to go visit her mother deep under Fulgen but she was afraid of what would happen. "Doris" wished to recover her and now that she was independent and hosting Pandora of all things, she wouldn't let Nenandil search for Her. And that she couldn't allow at any cost. She needed to go to Windemere. See if Marlowe was still there and if he had any clues to Her whereabouts. Maybe the cantankerous cloth golem was still connected to Her. Maybe.
She left the city hall and flew up, high above the city. It was southwest of Fulgen and next to a lake, the site of the former capital of the Pekothas Kingdom. The one Snowdrop blew up. She flew east until she reached the ocean, then northeast until the stretch of Human-colonized land between the sea and the Great elven Forest, then straight east, for thousands upon thousands of kilometers.
She once again felt the strong urge to go to the ancient and pristine forest. To forget these mortal issues and live a life free of worries. But she was a worldly fairy. Nenandil knew what she wanted and it was to sleep soundly inside Her soul. The place where she belonged.
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Boring and monotonous days passed. Predictably, the castle guards didn't let me go anywhere I pleased. The vampires' wing, for example, was off-limits, and so were the labs. I was confined to either the guest wing or the greenhouse gardens. The castle was deep and high on the Wyrmspire Mountains and the weather outside was terrible. The only way to grow any plants was inside an enchanted greenhouse annex to the castle. The crystal-clear windows allowed a great view of the mountains and the thin stretch of land between them and the Dead Goddess Ocean. A fitting name.
From what I heard the Matriarch died there, fighting the dragon Goddess to the death. She won, according to her church's gospel, but perished to save the world. Some say she was still in that ring in the sky, fighting to this day. The undead didn't like her and now that Talbain went back to his kingdom, I was left alone. Worse, I was left with the Adventurers, which I avoided like the plague.
I was in the greenhouse when I learned to regret hating boring days. Sitting on a bench, watching the storm clouds float far away bringing rain and thunder to distant lands, I was minding my own business when I felt a sharp pain, saw a notification, and blacked out.
> > You were struck with an arrow for 4,627 HP of damage (base 48 [5d6+34] x2.6 Dexterity x4.12 Skill x3 Critical x3 Called Shot)
>
> > A Perk has been unlocked.
>
> * Perfect Awareness (combined): You have the equivalent of normal sight from any point of your integument. Increase all your other senses' precision, range, and accuracy by 10. Your sense of vision does not require light and is not blocked by fine particulate in suspension. Water does not hinder your senses. You can detect infrared and a portion of the ultraviolet spectrum. You can hear any sound frequency up to 100,000 Hertz. Strong sources of stimulation do not hinder or bother you. You are immune to scent-based attacks. You resist 50% of all sonic attacks. You can perceive incorporeal entities. Your senses extend into the Ethereal world at their normal range. You add (Dexterity+20) to your Perception tests.
Stupid Perk. All it did was to allow me to see that the [Archer] girl had sniped me from afar. I lost consciousness bleeding on the grass. Stupid bitch. I'm going to get her.
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"She was a level zero revenant! Zero!" Christine complained to Zell, her party leader. "I don't see why you are so concerned, the vampires won't care about such a weakling. We were afraid of her all these days for nothing! The stupid arrogant bitch, strutting around like she owned the place."
Zell stood and slapped her on the face. "Are you stupid! Didn't you see how the [Werewolf King] treated her? He treated her like she was her superior or someone worthy of admiration! You doomed us all! The Vampires will come and do whatever they want with us now! You broke the laws of hospitality, you stupid bitch!"
Christine roared in anger and pain but she saw her whole party shunning her.
"We should just hand her over to the vampires. Tell them she acted on her own," Glimmerstintskin the [Tinkerer] suggested.
The door slammed open and Vlad, the Lord of the castle, stormed into the room. "My esteemed guests, a murder has been committed in my castle. Who is responsible?"
"She did it," Zell and Glimmerstintskin pointed at Christine.
Vlad clicked his tongue. "No, no. That's not good at all. You were supposed to be the heroes and not snitches. Stay together through the thick and
thin. I'll have to rectify this. Get them, girls."
Dozens of Vampires sprouted from Vlad's shadow and attacked the Adventurers.
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I opened my eyes and found myself back on the operating table at Igor's lab.
"Awake? Good. Wanna dance again?"
I felt a burning ember in my chest, a seething hatred. I had to kill that [Archer] bitch. Nothing else mattered.
"No. not today."
"No dance makes Igor sad. Master said to find him once you woke up. He's in his room, you know the way."
Since I wasn't going to entertain him, Igor ignored me. I climbed off the bed and found myself in the same lab gown as before. A quick scan showed me one of the dresses from the armoire in my room. Igor wasn't looking at me so I changed clothes. Behind the dress, I found a note and a dagger.
> > Bring the dagger with you. You'll find a weapon very useful.
>
> > - Vlad