"Great. I have godly powers, but I can't use them," I said, watching several of the Divine Rank additions gain a strike through them. I did find the idea of being the God of Push to be hilarious, though. The Mark of the Champion didn't list what the requirements for all these special abilities were, though, which made its information useless.
Still, the bonuses to my attack score and the fact I'd received all the EXP for killing Zorya (the thought still made me sick) meant I was probably caught up with Ania and the others now. At least in terms of raw fighting power. I might even be the strongest member of the party, excluding Sparky.
10th level was nothing to sneeze at. It was officially past the boundary of mid-level to high level and where old D&D characters used to build strongholds. Unfortunately, Valentin had been 20th level and Jon had been 18th level. It meant that I was nowhere near as strong enough as I needed to be to slay gods. If the fact that demigods could reach 60th level was true, I was also at the bottom of the pyramid rather than halfway to the top.
I decided to check my EXP and stats.
SIDEQUEST(S) COMPLETED:
DEFEAT THE DAUGHTERS OF CHERNABOG 1/1
DESTROY THE BLADES OF CHERNABOG 1/1
REWARDS
+20,000 EXP (Daughter of Chernabog)
+20,000 EXP (Daughter of Chernabog)
+10,000 EXP (Destroy the Blades)
Level 10 to 11
155,000/375,000
I wasn't really sure who or what the Daughters of Chernabog were but I was glad they were confirmed dead, at least as far as I could rely on the Mark of the Champion to tell me. I wondered how long it would have taken the others to realize I'd been replaced by Chernabog if the daughters had succeeded. Not long if Perun had been any indication. Still, it was a sign I needed to be more cautious around Ledziania’s magic.
ARAGORN “AARON” BARTKOWSKI
LVL: 10
CLASS: UNDERMASTER SORCERER (MASTER RANGER)
ALIGNMENT: GRAY
AGE: 34
SEX: MALE
RACE: HUMAN (Demigod)
STR: 12 (19)
AGI: 10 (11)
CON: 11
INT: 24
WIS: 10
COM: 15 (16)
CHA: 15
ARMOR CLASS: 27
ATTACK: +7 (+18 to ATTACK, 1d10+14/18 [Undead] DAM, Sword of Perun [Lightning, Holy])
HEALTH: 54
DIVINITY: 7
FEAT: Taunt, Sword and Shield, Two Handed Fighting, Tracking
SPECIAL ABILITIES: ARCANE FIRE (1d6+10 INT bonus, Eldritch Damage, x3 Staff of Dragon Kings, Critical Hit Possible), BLOCK (requires shield), LESSER MAGIC (unlimited times per day), COUNTERSPELL, DIVINE ENHANCEMENT [Push]
SPELL LIST (MAX/4/4/3/2/2):
LESSER MAGIC EFFECTS: CLEAN SELF, CREATE FOOD, CREATE FIRE, CREATE WATER, MINOR ILLUSION, REFRESH, TELEKENESIS (1 Kilo per INT bonus), VENTRILOQUISM, MEND, TORCHLIGHT, SILENT WALK, IDENTIFY MAGICAL OBJECT, LESSER SENDING (Party Only), BLESS, SOOTHE ANIMAL
[1] PUSH [+++], CURE, JUMP, ARMOR
[2] WEB, ANIMAL SUMMONING, ENTANGLE
[3] SUGGESTION, LESSER CHARM, CURE (II)
[4] POLYMORPH OTHER, DIVINE BOW
[5] SUNSTRIKE, REVIVE
STATUS EFFECTS:
* Alchemical Stone (White): You recover 20 HP after a short rest and status ailments
* Blessing of Zorya Dawnbringer: +1 to AGL, +1 to AGI
* Ring of Ogre Strength: STR is 19 when wearing this
* Boots of speed: Double Movement Speed, Dodge Roll Bonus
* Ranger’s Mark: +4 to hit/damage against Undead
* +4 to all Saving Throws [Divine]
My stats also showed that there had been several changes during my semi-coma. Could you call it a coma if you were up walking around and trying to get busy? Psychotic break? Divine possession? My INT score was my biggest boon and my Blessing had changed as well. Apparently, at some point, I'd passed my Alchemical Stone and gotten a new one too. I'd somehow ended up with ENTANGLE as a spell, which seemed useless if I already had WEB.
Still, I could hardly complain, could I?
"Anything good?" Jon asked.
"If I can figure out how to actually train with my abilities and not get killed," I said, remembering my ill-fated session with Zorya that was far from a substitute for actual battle experience. "Well, then, I might just manage to survive to the next boss monster."
"And you give me shit about treating this as a video game," Jon said, shaking his head. "That's the mother of your child you're speaking about!"
I stared forward, horrified at the realization that Jon was right.
"Just kidding," Jon said. "Let me shake you out of that state. Picture an anime starring you: Monster Hunter Aaron! A lone demigod ranger, wandering the wastelands to find all the weirdly hot female monsters and goddesses that fill them. Gotta bang em all."
That did, in fact, shake me out of that state. "Seriously, Jon, what the hell is wrong with you? Is it just the fact you were turned into a raven?"
"I admit, I was like this before I became one, but it certainly didn't help," Jon said.
"Well, I have a plan," I said, taking a deep breath. "I know how to cure you now."
"Oh good!" Jon said. "Because the last time you tried worked out so well!"
"How would you like to be a dragon?" I asked, pointing at him.
"Excuse me?" Jon asked, looking at me sideways. "I don't want to be a dragon, Aaron. I want to be human."
"Hear me out," I said, glad to have anything to distract me.
"Can you put some pants on first?" Jon asked. "You're not as nice to look at as Agata. I mean, close, but you're way too close to a brother for me. I'm not into the incest scene that seems so popular with your family."
"I'm not into incest, Jon. Neither is my family."
"Your great aunt is the daughter of Mokosh, who you also slept with. Mokosh is the probable mother of Ania, who is your ke'tar. She is the sister to Agata, who you just spent a week getting body heat from and not the Kathleen Turner kind. Maybe the Kathleen Turner kind. I never saw Body Heat, but my dad had a worn sticky VHS tape of it."
"I concede," I said, pausing. "Please never bring that up again. Ever."
"Your parents are both related to Perun," Jon said. "If the fact they both look like aging Slavic action movie stars didn't clue you in."
"Stop."
"Plus, if your daughter is Zorya Dawnbringer's reincarnation, then that means you slept with--"
"I will kill you, I swear." I meant it too. I had a REVIVE spell now, so it wouldn't be permanent.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Right. Just puts some pants on, dude."
I searched the room for some undergarments and eventually found some. I also found my armor, which had been refurbished and fixed. I put that on too and prepared for my meeting with Lord Emberly. I wasn't looking forward with the guy, even if he did know I wasn't Garland anymore. That probably meant I was about to lose my lordship of Dragon Keep and while I didn't want to steal anyone's inheritance, I somehow doubted that would make our attempts to stop Veles easier. It was also something I wanted to return to the Rose family, even if neither of the surviving daughters wanted to resume its lordship.
"Anyway," I said, glad to have a distraction. "I got a potion of dragon transformation when I made the dragon pit for Dragon Keep."
"You need to see that, by the way. It's like a frigging coliseum," Jon said. "It's got a crazy alchemical lab underneath as well. The Poppy Sisters are running it but it's attracted a few others too."
I was genuinely intrigued by that but didn't want to get distracted. "The thing is the potion was described as permanent. It makes people into dragons."
"I repeat: I don't want to be a dragon, Aaron," Jon said. "No matter how cool being a flying dinosaur may be."
"Archosaur," I corrected, because I was pedantic about that sort of thing. "But here's the thing: dragons are shapeshifters."
Jon paused, clearly considering my proposal in a new light. Either that or thinking up new incest jokes to throw at me. "I can't say I'm not intrigued but wouldn't two dragons on the team dilute our branding?"
"Really, Jon?"
"I'm thinking it through," Jon said. "Being a storm crow allows me to shapeshift but only other kinds of birds according to the upgrade notice I got. Which was weird, I can tell you. However, we're messing with divine magic and I'm pretty sure that the only person I trust with that is an actual god. Which you are not, Aaron."
"I make no pretensions to being so," I said. "Demigod is pretty clear on that. It means not-quite."
The mark had said I was at maximum demigod status, though, which meant I'd be a full god if I absorbed any other essence. The problem with that was I had no idea what that meant. Weis had also warned me that the rules for gods dealing with each other were different than dealing with mortals. He'd all but said that Veles would just be able to show up and murder me then. Not that Veles had shown that much hesitation doing exactly that. It was just he showed up with someone else to murder me last time he'd tried. Plus, there was the whole 'Perun almost ate my soul' thing. It meant I'd have to be circumspect about using any more of the marks I might find. Weis had said there had been fifteen total and I'd absorbed seven. For all I knew, the remainder had been taken by Francine or Alek too. They were a temptation I didn't need.
I didn't do well with temptation.
"But I'm interested in your dragon me plan," Jon said. "Let's leave it at that. Do you have any other diabolical plans you're working on?"
"A few," I admitted. I hadn't been a schemer before Ledziania but had fallen pretty hard into the role since my arrival. "Right now, I plan to go to the Great Forest and try to get the elves to join up. From there, we'll go down to Kalizov and hopefully be able to actually meet with the Dragon Queen and expose her."
"You don't want to recruit the Imposter?" Jon asked. "Maybe she's another of Weis' agents."
"We'll burn that bridge when we cross it," I said, deliberately mangling the old saying. "But she's clearly not as good at running a war as the real thing. I figure we can use the resurrection coin that Veles gave me to bring back the actual Celestine then have her take over. From there, we can try to use Ivan and Joan to turn the Mad Queen's forces over to the Dragon Queen's side."
"No siding with Apollonia, then, even though she's got the big army."
"I feel siding with anyone called the Mad Queen is probably a bad idea, especially when she's the mother of the Anti-Christ."
"Technically, the Anti-Perun," Jon paused. "Actually, since you're effectively Perun's son, the Anti-Aaron."
"Let's not go there," I said, shaking my head. I was dressed now and looking every bit the Dark Undermaster I'd been masquerading as. I was blond now, though, and there were other changes I'd noticed. "Either way, I think it's as close to an actual strategy as we're going to get now. At some point, we’re going to have to recruit the dwarves and deal with the Wind Demon and Water Demon."
"You didn't mention your evil brother-cousin," Jon said.
I paused and headed to the door. "With any luck, he'll be at the Great Forest. Hopefully, our delaying a week hasn't caused us to miss him."
"Are you really hoping you'll see him again?" Jon asked. "Because if he's working for Veles, it'll be you up against an actual trained soldier. One who has a lot more time to learn the rules governing this place."
"I can't answer that," I said, admitting the truth to both me and my friend. "I can't square my image of Alek as the guy who helped break my Pwiffle addiction and helped raise Georgie with a guy working for Veles."
That wasn't entirely true, but I didn't want to admit that aloud. While I'd doubted, and still doubted, my parents’ stories, I'd never doubted Alek's. He had a confirmed kill count of at least four hundred Taliban soldiers in the Afghan War and he'd also been heavily involved in special operations. Missions that he couldn't tell me about but that had enacted a heavy toll. I hadn't been able to get much out of him but my impression was he'd seen some serious shit over the years and it had gradually worn down any sense of his being a good person or that what he'd been doing had made the world a better place.
When Alek left Poland and its armed forces for the United States and civilian life, he'd been struggling. Last I checked, he'd been working as a security operative for Epic DungeoneeringTM. He'd seemed to have brightened up after that started. Just what sort of missions had he been doing for them? Did being the good guy matter to Alek or had he just been glad to go back to doing what he knew how to do? The fact I couldn't answer that wasn't something I was comfortable with.
"Well, I think you should figure out what you're going to say or do to him before you face him because if he's anything like Valentin, we may not get a second chance," Jon said. "You only won against him because, well, he was a dumbass."
"Alek isn't," I said, entering into the castle halls. "He could run rings around Poland's cyberwarfare branch."
"I don't think that's the flex you think it is," Jon said, moving to my shoulder. "Admittedly, I'm imagining six bearded guys and a Commodore 64. Which is probably not a good attitude to have when you're working for a Ledzianian gaming company."
I rolled my eyes and headed out the door. "Did you know that the Polish government gave Obama a copy of Dark Undermaster during a state visit?"
"Big whoop," Jon said. "I'm pretty sure that game was made by six bearded guys and a Commodore 64."
"No, it was made by cheap foreign labor," I said. "People like us."
It was past midnight in Dragon Keep but the place was still active with multiple people moving around. Magical candles provided illumination for the people readying the castle for the next morning. This was true to life in the historical Dark Ages because people would go to bed at sundown, wake up around midnight, and then take care of whatever before going back to sleep before sunrise. It explained when they had time to make the next generation of oppressed laborers, at least.
"So, do you remember anything happening with you and Agata? I mean beyond a sensual cuddle or two? I missed most of the good stuff because I was in a closet for three days. Thankfully, I ate a couple of rats and drank the water that leaked through the cracks in the ceiling. Just kidding. I spent it all losing money at the Black Cat. Are those two up for sharing? Or is she with Bloodstorm? Are you a love square?" Jon asked. "Oh wait, Thistle is angling for Ania again, I'm sure. So, it's a love pentagram!"
"Nothing happened, Jon," I replied. "We are not a love pentagram. Ania just, uh, has some interesting boundaries."
"No boundaries with your girlfriend is awesome when they bring home hot chicks, less so with dudes," Jon said. "I mean, I assume for you. I always liked it with my last girlfriend."
I had a headache. "Ania and I are working it out."
"I'll say," Jon said. "You got her to do that weird thing with her face. The upside down frown she had when she said that she loved you."
"You mean her smile?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah, it's awful to tell a woman to smile more," Jon said. "What about telling them to do it less? Because hers creeped me the fork out, I can tell you. I was like: that is an evil imposter!”
“Ania telling me she loved me was a surprise,” I said, ignoring the rest. “Almost as much as the ke’tar thing.”
“Yeah, is Ania mind controlled?” Jon asked. “Because I’m guessing mind control. She’s gone from barely tolerating you and using you as a vibrator to saying you’re soulmates.”
“Maybe she realized what we had and decided to take a chance,” I said, unsure as to her reasons. I was just glad she was doing it.
“Nope. Mind control. That or possession. Remember she’s in the armor of the love goddess now. That Black Widow outfit is probably making her all lovey-dovey like your swords made you a jerkass.”
“No, Jon.”
“Her ex showing up probably helped. I know when my exes appear, I insist I’m much better off without them. it encourages me to be nicer to my current partner and make stupid commitments like saying we really should go house hunting or meet my parents. You know, when I’m not suggesting threesomes. With my exes, not my parents."
I waited for the inevitable incest joke. "Because you're not me?"
"Jesus Aaron, no. What the hell is wrong with you?" Jon joked.
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t imagine why your relationships didn’t last before you came to Ledziania.”
“Me either. I’m such a catch.”
We reached the Overmaster's Tower, and I ascended a set of steps before coming into a well-appointed study with four sets of windows. There, Piotr Emberly was standing in front of his desk with my nephew George beside him. Piotr had a gun pointed to the side of his head.
I stared at him.
George looked at me, excited and afraid at once. It proved this was no illusion.
"Hello, Aaron, we need to talk," Veles voice came from Piotr's mouth.