Redmane flew at them like he’d been shot from a catapault, a claw held high, his frame propelled by an unseen force.

Lion's Lunge

Morholt and his knight were close enough to take the hit together. The Lord's eyes widened and he stepped back at the last second, but the knight wasn't so quick. Redmane's claw blew his breastplate and ribcage open like a cannonball, spraying blood and bits of steel and viscera all over the tapestry on the wall.

Lion's Lunge

Redmane roared again, long and loud. Morholt raised the haft of his axe to block the next blow, and his defense barely held. Now he was the one walking backwards.

Lion's Lunge

Too slow this time. Claws found flesh and shredded it. Noble blood flew across the room. The sight of it pouring down that fine tunic made Redmane's heart beat faster.

Lion's Lunge

Lord Morholt cried out in pain, clutched his face with one hand. He staggered backward, his grip on his axe faltering. It looked like he'd put an eye out.

Redmane strode forward, grabbed the handle of Morholt’s axe in both hands, wrenched it from the Lord’s grasp and kicked him down onto his back. Lord Morholt landed with a thud, his hands behind him on the carpet, blood streaming from the gash over his eye. He looked up at Redmane with the same grin as before, apparently undisturbed by the fact he'd been bested and disarmed.

Like he was enjoying a private joke.

"I know not what I’ve done to deserve such malice," said Redmane, as he took the axe in both hands, looming over Morholt. "Nor do I care. I will never be chained again."

Morholt chuckled...

"Do you hear me?!" said Redmane.

He brought the axe up high, slammed it down between Morholt's eyes.

Blood sprayed up onto Redmane's face.

There was a wet crunching sound as he yanked the axe free, and then struck down once more. "Never!"

Twice more. "Again!"

And then he struck a few more times. Afterward he dropped the axe and collapsed to his knees, panting.

Lord Abrahm Morholt has been slain

Tasks Completed: 4/4

Level Up

Level 17 --> Level 18

Level 18 --> Level 19

Level 19 --> Level 20

Dungeon Tasks Completed

Cleared Dungeon: Häerz Castle

Level Up

Level 20 --> Level 21

Level 21 --> Level 22

Quality points awaiting allocation: 5

A fine reward for revenge.

Too bad it was over so quickly.

Redmane wiped some blood from his face, turned his attention to the System. Again he considered dumping his points into Might, but thought better of it. It wouldn't be good for one quality to drastically outpace the others.

A glance at his Qualities made him realize this was already happening.

Might 17

Grace 6

Fortitude 6

That last one was likely the reason Morholt chopped him open so badly. He imagined Fortitude interacted with Armor, the two supplementing each other.

The best way to test this would be to put all five of these points into Fortitude. He'd come too close to death for comfort now.

Fortitude 6 --> 11

With that settled, the System moved right along to the next item.

—

Class Skill Rank Up

Fang and Claw

Common Class Skill

Rank 2 - Evolution Possible

Passive

(Rank 1) Increases the damage and armor penetration of the Imbued's natural weapons. The Unarmed Combat Proficiency governs the use of such attacks, and Skills which enchant both natural and man-made weapons may be applied to the weapons in question.

(Rank 2) Further increases the damage and armor penetration of the Imbued's natural weapons. For each natural weapon, the Imbued may select a Basic Weapon Quality from the following list:

Rending: The weapon inflicts the Bleeding condition, causing the targeted creature to lose extra Corpus over time after a wound is inflicted.

Defensive: The weapon can be used to deflect attacks, granting +1 Armor per weapon employed in this way.

Fast: The weapon strikes with greater speed than its size or weight would normally allow, providing a -2 penalty to an opponent's Evasion.

—

It prompted him to choose a quality for both his bite and his claws. He frowned thoughtfully, scratched his chin.

The Skill made his claws and bite penetrate armor already, though his bite already did a better version of that on its own. Making them Fast would negate some Evasion as well, which seemed like a fine idea. But Rending was also enticing. He liked the mere sound of it. And against opponents with which he would rather not stand and trade blows, he could use it to whittle them down, bleed them out while they chased after him in vain.

Defense didn't call to him. He'd rather trade blood for blood.

Which left him with two choices. Fortunately he had two different weapons.

For his claws he selected Rending, and for his bite he selected Fast.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

—

Weapon Profile:

Claws

Damage +8

Armor Penetration 4

Corpus damage over time on hit (Rending 1)

Bite

Damage +8

Armor Penetration 4

Evasion Negation 2 (Fast 1)

—

Redmane took a long breath in through his nose, exhaled slowly through his mouth. A smile formed on it afterward. He could feel his wounds closing, but there wasn't much Corpus to spare. He'd have to eat hearty soon.

But the System had yet another matter to bring to his attention.

Dungeon: Häerz Castle has been cleared

Converting Häerz Castle to Sanctuary...

Redmane felt a change in the air. A small alteration of the flow of magic. There was a subtle but pervading sense of calmness.

Do you wish to claim this Sanctuary?

He blinked. Looked around the great hall, at the long table, the fine furnishings, the portraits and tapestries...

There was the portrait of Abrahm Morholt II, recently deceased at Redmane’s feet.

To the right were portraits of his father, Aden Morholt, and Aden’s father Abel.

The row of portraits continued straight down the line of primogeniture. Abel Morholt had two brothers, Aric and Andrew, all of whom were the sons of Abrahm the First, who himself was the son of Aeric Morholt III.

Redmane dimly remembered these men. All of them. All the way back to the founding of the House. To Aric Morholt, first of his name.

How long had he truly been here?

He stared for a moment, feeling unsettled. Try as he may to recall, his mind was a blank space. No answers came.

Redmane shook his head, returned his attention the System and signaled 'Yes.'

Imbued Hunter Redmane does not belong to a Faction

Do you wish to create a new Faction?

Yes again.

Enter your Faction's name...

Redmane thought about it for a moment. Then gave his answer.

Sanctuary: Häerz Castle registered to House Redmane

Not the most creative name, but it would do.

The System showed him a menu next.

—

Häerz Castle

Sanctuary of House Redmane

Level 1

-Upgrade Sanctuary

-Marketplace

-Atlas

—

It appeared to be prompting him to make a selection, so he chose 'Upgrade Sanctuary' first.

His eyes widened at the options. Enhanced fortifications, expanded living quarters, magical wards, Astral bridges, Class and Profession training facilities, automaton guards and servants...

There was more and more, a never ending list to peruse. And there was no upper limit to the costs of things.

The first and cheapest item on the list was called a Pharos. Evidently it could be used to speak with those in other Sanctuaries across Volos and, if he was reading this description correctly, those in other worlds as well.

He also noticed that everything on the list cost Gnosis.

He'd have to find a way to gather that resource. Perhaps Magister Helmold could be of assistance there. But he'd ask in a bit, for now he was too curious about these other menu items.

Selecting 'Marketplace' brought him to another list of things, all under the heading 'Level 1.' Redmane supposed the Marketplace had levels to it as well. Numantians seemed fond of the concept of levels.

These entries appeared to have been placed on the list by other Imbued like himself, for private sale. Many of the listings were basic goods, foodstuffs, tools for farmers and tradesmen, common arms and armor. But there were more interesting items mixed in with them. Skill Manuals. Enchanted talismans, arms and armor. Potions. Tamed Monsters. Dungeon maps and keys. Some of the prices of these items were listed in Gnosis, but most were on offer for Numantian silver dinars.

Redmane scratched his head. If he had a purse full of Numantian coins, what would happen to them if he purchased something from this list? Would they vanish and appear in the coinpurse of the seller?

He'd have to find some and try it out.

The final item to select was 'Atlas,' and when he did so he let out a low whistle.

A glowing blue map unfurled itself in the air before his face, rendered in a breathtaking level of detail. It centered itself on Häerz Castle, which was surrounded by Midva Forest. To the south lay Barograd, the town at the beginning of the southron trade road that lazily wound through the province's long stretches of farmland.

He had something to ask the System, but he didn't know how best to interface with the thing. So he simply spoke the question to the map.

"Show me the extent of the Blight," he said.

The view zoomed out. All the way out, to encompass the whole continent of Volos. Everything glowed red.

Redmane's eyes widened again. "Gods..."

There shone a few points of soft blue light on the map. Redmane realized Häerz Castle was one of them. There were only three others in the whole land of Volos thus far. The closest was on the northwest coast, the harbor town called Gull's Glut. Further south, in Asgoph, the province of the great spine of mountains that ran down the center of the continent, there was a glowing blue dot over a place called Beroh Keep. It looked remote, high up in the mountains. No doubt that made it simple to secure.

The last one was all the way down on the southern coast of Volos. A district of Port Luck. Not the entire city, a small square of it. If he had to wager he'd guess it was an enclave of Numantians.

And speaking of Numantians, there was a city on the map he’d never even heard of before.

It was called Taracon. And it had been built in a most peculiar location, the southwestern edge of the continent, a barren, rocky place with few natural inroads. The largest could barely be called a mule path, and it wound up and down a treacherous mountain approach for nearly a hundred miles. There was no other way to reach the city except by sea, and there was nothing resembling arable farmland anywhere in the vicinity.

Regardless, Taracon was the strongest blue dot on an ocean of red.

It had only been a day and night, but Redmane expected to see more blue dots. It was troubling to think so many Monsters had prevailed over innocent folk.

But then again, it seemed like most of the innocent folk in this land had become Monsters themselves. Perhaps that was why.

He zoomed back in to get a second look at Barograd and its surroundings. Midva Forest and Barograd had clear borders around them, straight lines in glowing red separating them from each other and Häerz Castle. The two were distinct Zones, which meant he'd have to clear them one at a time.

And he didn't have to stop with Barograd. He could move through all these Zones and Dungeons, claim each and every one. This castle could end up being the center of a mighty kingdom.

The Kingdom of Redmane. A grin spread across his face at the thought of it.

Perhaps lordship and dominion would be nice after all. He could delegate. Have other people do the organizing and the bean counting, while he roved his conquered lands on an endless hunt...

A most satisfying thought.

But it appeared that he'd seen everything of use on this Menu for now. He dismissed it, and thought now would be a good time to return to the chapel to tell the few survivors it was safe, but there were one or two things left to attend to.

The first was his meal. Lord Abrahm Morholt and his four knight captains.

Corpus: 872

He scarfed them all down with a quickness. But when he got to Lord Morholt's huge axe, he paused and looked at it.

There seemed to be an enchantment upon it. Perhaps that was another reason why it sliced through him like butter. He didn't fancy the idea of fighting with a weapon, but still, such a powerful tool might come in handy some other way. As he inspected it, the System helpfully revealed its qualities to him.

—

Bear Hunter's Greataxe

Greataxe (Heavy Melee Weapon)

Weapon Profile:

Damage +12

Armor Penetration 6

Evasion Negation 6 (Fast 3)

Armor +4 while blocking (Defensive 2)

Attacks damage up to 4 close foes (Cleaving 3)

Ancestral weapon of the Morholt family. Despite its great size, it is well balanced and easy to handle, the work of a master weapon smith.

It is said the forefather of the Morholts won his domain by slaying the great bear who dwelt there since the days of antiquity.

—

Redmane’s eyebrows rose.

Maybe he could eat this...

No. Not yet. The Omnivore skill said nothing about eating weapon qualities, but perhaps it would in the future.

He'd have to carry this axe around until that came to pass.

Then came the final order of business. The keep's armory. There would be suits of plate mail and weapons of high quality, paid for by the purses of knights. And the smithy was around here somewhere too.

He'd had Lord Morholt for supper, now he would eat half a ton of metal for dessert.

The armory was around the corner and down a short flight of stairs, in the keep's basement. There was a smaller selection of arms here, but the level of quality was much greater. Burnished breastplates and helms stood on wooden pedestals made to display them. Gleaming blades, maces, axes and spears stood in orderly rows on their racks, not a speck of dust on anything.

The forge was right across the hall. In here things were a bit less clean and orderly, but there was even more metal to feast on. Stacks of iron and steel ingots, boxes full of tools, horseshoes, bolts and rivets and fittings, the metal bands and studs that held together barrels and wagon wheels.

Armor +7

Armor +8

Armor +9

He couldn't help but notice the gap between ranks continuing to widen. Perhaps there were metals of even higher quality on the Sanctuary Marketplace.

He would check this. But first, the chapel. And a meeting with the first four citizens of the Domain of House Redmane.