As I walked past the covered bridge connecting the lab to the castle proper, I held the sheathed dagger in my hand. I felt a wave of irrational anger toward the archer girl who killed me. As I thought of her, I felt a tug toward a specific section of the castle. I turned at an intersection and ignored the call to Vlad's chambers. Instead, I went into an unknown wing of the castle.
How did she enter the garden armed? Why didn't the guards do anything before she shot me? This whole situation had too many unknowns. It smelled of a setup. Like this strange castle corridor here.
Strange indeed. It was deserted. No guards patrolled this area. I ignored the doors and went down the corridor until I found a set of stairs going down. It went for several floors before I found the landing I wanted. I was already inside the mountain the castle stood on. The Dungeons.
My jaw was set, clenched. My movements were stiff and I had to fight to restrain myself and not rush to find the stupid bitch. I went down two corridors, left on another, then found a hatch on the floor that hid a ladder. Down I went into the prisoner cells. They were empty except for the last four, which had one Adventurer each. Outside their doors, A single guard stood on watch.
I met each of their swollen eyes. Each one of them was subjected to torture. Their clothes and armor were torn and ragged and covered in dry blood. They were gagged and chained to the far wall and unable to move much. Each of them was naked but appeared unharmed. I looked at the gnome, then the [Warrior], and finally the [Archer]. I hissed with anger and dashed for her cell door. The guard didn't stop me. The half-elf woman saw me and struggled to break free of her bindings but she could not.
Without thinking, I plunged the dagger into her chest, then pulled it to reveal a minor scratch only to stab again. And again. I couldn't control myself. Vengeance was all I could think of. My stabs did little against her huge HP pool.
> > You stabbed Archer Bitch for 45 HP of damage ( Base 13 [2d6+5] x1.18 Strength x3 Critical).
But as she was restrained, all my attacks were criticals. Then the weird stuff happened again.
> > You gained 1 point of Proficiency in Daggers. ERROR. This User already has a superior Proficiency.
> Blades [565]. Add (P)% to accuracy, (2*P)% damage with blades.
>
> * Master: Deal (P/35) d10 + (P/5) extra base damage.
> * Sharpened Edges: Increase critical chance and damage by (P/10)%.
> * Riposte: Increase Parry chance by (P/4)%. If you parry, attack with a (P/10)% bonus damage.
> * Duelist: When fighting against an armed opponent, you gain (P/10)% Accuracy, Evasion, and Damage.
> * Dual Weapon Mastery: When wielding a blade and another weapon, your blades gain (P/10)% more damage, accuracy, and parry.
I remembered the knowledge of how to wield a blade. Before this moment, I was just poking her with the dagger. Now I stabbed her.
> > You stabbed Archer Bitch for 15,717 HP of damage ( Base 214 [2d6+5+16d10 +113] x1.18 Strength x13.3 Skill x4,68 Critical).
Now she felt the pain. I couldn't stop stabbing until she expired. Only then did I regain control of my body and my consciousness.
> > For killing level 49 [Woodland Archer], you gained 3,078,948 Exp (Base 769,737 x4 Rank).
> You reached Unholy Avenger (Divine Revenant, unique, base, 5 slots) level 20.
>
> You gained 20 Attribute Points.
>
> You gained 20 Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Willpower, and Mind.
>
> You gained 10 Charisma, Mind, and Faith.
>
> You have 10 base Perks.
>
> You ranked up. The remaining unallocated Exp was divided by 100.
>
> Choose a specialization between Physical or Magical.
>
> Specialization chosen. Physical.
>
> Your progression has been upgraded.
>
> You now gain an additional 1 Strength every odd level, 1 Endurance every even level.
>
> You gain an additional 2 base HP per level.
>
> You gain an additional 1 base MP per level.
>
> You reached Unholy Avenger (Divine Revenant, unique, first rank, 5 slots) level 4.
>
> Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
>
> You gained 4 Attribute Points
>
> You gained 6 Strength, 4 Dexterity, 6 Endurance, 4 Mind, 4 Willpower, 2 Charisma, 2 Magic, 2 Faith.
>
> You have 2 rank 1 Perks.
I was overwhelmed by the messages. Unwilling to be one-shot again and unsure if I would awake in Igor's laboratory again, I spent all my points in Endurance. And one more thing. I knew I could defend myself with this dagger now. Any bladed weapon, actually.
Yet I felt empty. My vengeance was completed, I felt no urge to do anything. Why was I a revenant? I had no idea.
> Level 24
>
> Strength: 35+0 (35) / 92 - Dexterity: 33+0 (33) / 92 - Endurance: 59+0 (59) / 92
>
> Mind: 33+0 (33) / 92 - Willpower: 33+0 (33) / 92 - Charisma: 21+10 (31) / 92
>
> Magic: 32+0 (32) / 464 - Faith: 32+0 (32) / 464
>
> Ego: 4+10 (14) / 92 - Luck: 4+10 (14) / 92 - Soul: 4+10 (14) / 92
>
> 31978 HP
> 8000 MP
> 1022 SP
My HP grew almost a thousand times. That gave me a little bit of reassurance. I could take more than ten arrows like that one before I died now. I looked at the dead half-elf girl. It didn't need to be this way but I couldn't feel a smidgen of empathy toward her. Something at the back of my mind told me I should. Yet every time I tried to, my Revenant nature came to the surface and made me want to stab the corpse again.
So I went away and didn't spend much time thinking about her anymore. I needed to wash all the blood too.
*
*
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*
*
The fairy tried to not look to her left, toward the Great Forest. She ignored the Call. But the Call didn't ignore her. She sensed a disturbance in the world's magic, a {Fairy Gate} opening. She had chosen to travel overland and not use the gates to avoid detection but that was futile.
A blue blur flew from the Forest and intersected her path. Nenandil halted and looked at the person she hadn't seen in centuries. With a resigned sigh, she greeted her.
"Hi, mom."
Doris, the fae sovereign of Water, looked at her daughter with a stern gaze. "I thought you would come to visit me, daughter. How disappointed I was when I sensed that you would avoid the Forest entirely. And here I was, preparing to celebrate your freedom from your indentured service."
Nenandil huffed. "Indentured service? You dare speak like that about the person who saved this miserable world time and time again? I was hatched from your machinations, mom. If I'm indentured to anything, it is to your silly plans. I regretted not a single second I spent in the Old Soul's company!" She was shrieking at the end.
"You may hate me. It doesn't matter, not a single bit. That soul is lost now. I can see you intend to find her, but she won't be found. The remnants of the dragon Goddess' curse still linger to the north, a thousand years later. Stop wasting your time and come back home with me."
"Home? My home was taken from me. And Vesper and Briar are trapped in her pocket dimension. We are immortal, I can search for her forever."
"It is a waste. We can accomplish so much together, my daughter. Brenna had to spend a lot of her power, borrow from us even, to let her realm escape destruction. Theirian is now an island at the edge of the Maelstrom. Come with us. You may take over the Ice element. You'll be the sixth elder fairy. It is your destiny. See how you've grown. I'm proud of you, daughter. Do not disappoint me."
"No."
It hurt her to deny her mother's wish but she didn't have time. She needed to reach Windemere. She needed to keep searching. Should she give up hope now, she knew she would fade and descend into despair. Her heart grasped at that sliver of light like it was the last thing keeping her from the darkness.
"You cannot deny fate."
"Watch me," she growled under her breath.
"You speak just like the mortals."
"Thank you. I spent a long time learning about them. And I like them very much. I'll not sit on a throne and watch time pass like it was nothing."
Doris clicked her tongue. The sea churned as it resonated with their ruler's disapproval. Far away, a ship capsized. "You are still a child."
"Yeah? I agree with you. I'm clearly not yet ready to take the mantle and rule over Ice. Thanks for your concern, mom."
Silence. Doris knew she couldn't put much pressure on the young fairy, and Nenandil didn't want to fight her mother. It was uncomfortable for both of you.
"I'm going now. I'll visit briefly next time I'm around."
She started to fly past her mother when the ancient fairy spoke, "Windemere was destroyed. You won't find what you are searching for there. A disgruntled splinter group of dragons from the Broodmother faction struck once the thousand-year prohibition ended. Three hundred years after their Goddesses' fought. The people fought back and killed most of the wyrms but in the end, it was destroyed. The whole valley is now a crater."
Nenandil stopped flying. Her eyes stung. "Thanks for the heads up, mom. I still have to see it with my own eyes." She didn't look back as she flew away.
"Take care, my daughter," Doris said too late after Nenandil was just a glimmer in the distance.
*
*
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*
*
It was a trap.
Vlad came to me the next day, with a few guards. They banged on my door until I opened it. At least they didn't just break-in.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"You killed one of my prisoners!" Vlad accused.
My gaze shifted to every steel-faced guard who was doing their best to just go along with their lord's charade. Yes, it was a setup. Yes, we all knew that. My improved mental Attributes allowed me to put together a few clues I'd overlooked earlier. Like the fact she entered the greenhouse armed, shot me, and then went away under the nose of these same guards. Or how it was hypocritical for him to come to accuse me of murder when his guard opened the cell door for me and then let me walk away scot-free.
"And why is that a problem? That prisoner killed me first. And she was an Adventurer, sent here by that guild that keeps pestering you. I literally helped you get rid of an enemy. Or is it because of the blood? Were you vampires intending on sucking her dry? I didn't think so, because you treat your blood dolls better than that."
Vlad's face scrunched into a scowl. "Seize her!"
I didn't fight back as the guards dragged me away. I was outleveled and outnumbered. They took me to the dungeons, where I noticed the lack of any inmates now. The Adventurers were taken away. As they locked me in a cell, Vlad came to taunt me.
"To think I was afraid of you. You were level zero! What a useless waste of resources it was to extract you from your underwater tomb."
All his mirth and empathy were gone. A cold, uncaring undead lord stared at me. He wanted me for the power I allegedly should have, for some purpose or venture which might bring him some profit, from what I could grasp. With that enhanced senses Perk, I could notice every minor adjustment of his body language.
Worse, I had to fight with my Revenant nature and focus on not hating Vlad. Else he would become the new target of my vengeful nature.
"Vlad, I'm trying to stay calm here. But you better get me out of here, or I'll mark you as the target of my vengeance. I might be weaker than my former glory now, but it is a matter of time. You don't want to be my enemy.
> > The Leader activated.
>
> > Contested Charisma test lost.
He laughed. "Yeah, good try. No. You may hate me as much as you want. We're sealing your soul in an artifact. I doubt you can escape that."
He spun theatrically, flaring his cloak, and went away. I let hatred take over me and give me strength. Maybe I could escape from here if I played my cards right. I had plenty of Perks and Proficiencies to pick.