The next day, Cless decided she had spells to learn and train. If she was right, there were a plethora of Stat points to be farmed if the spells also counted as class proficiencies. She borrowed [Brownie Magic] from Kurt to begin her training and boosted all the spells in the House category to the cap, level one hundred.

>     For maxing out your class proficiencies, you earned +5 Intellect, +5 Magic.

She hit her forehead with her palm. Were these spells considered class proficiencies because of the Skill or because of the Dabbler class? She missed the chance to test it. Brushing her minor blunder aside, she finished mastering all the spells she currently knew.

>     For maxing out your class proficiencies, you earned +27 Intellect, +27 Magic.

It seemed to alternate between Intellect and Magic, without any pattern. She pondered a bit and found her solution. Since she had not the Cleric or Priestess classes anymore, the Stat increase was because of the Dabbler. The little Stat-less class was going to pay itself off nicely. Not to mention the fact that having Wisdom unlocked saved her burnt ass with the Inquisition. She smiled and stretched out. Things were going nicely for her. Looking through the window, she saw the massive stockpile of stone for her house upgrade.

Cless snapped back from her reverie and kept working on getting those sweet Stat boosts. She noticed one huge problem with the automatic proficiencies. They didn't improve and didn't grant the Stat point. Surely missing one or two here and there was okay but she felt a pang of greed for power. Cless thought of shedding these Skills on contracts and training but scoffed at her own folly. What was going on?

She stood up from her desk and slapped her cheeks. These mood swings were returning ever since the ambush at the carriage. Was it her infernal heritage springing up? Cless was scared at the thought of succumbing to such dark desires. If it is power her inner nature craved, she was going to drown herself in power. Will-power. She dumped fifty Stat points in Wisdom right away. No way she was allowing such base impulses to drive herself. The clarity of thought imparted by this boost was palpable.

No. She was thankful for her Legacy and intended to honor her mother. She knew too little of her father and most of it was biased to the extreme to make an impression, but she didn't think he took her mother unwillingly. The face she saw in her dream, a face she could see now in the painting Karen saved, those eyes looking at her was full of love for the baby Cless. She felt that a woman taken by force might not have such a pure and tender love for the child.

It was a chilling thought. She ran a thought experiment to see what she would do if she got pregnant from her assault. No. There was no fault in the child, no sin in that pure innocent eyes. Cless knew little about being a mother, growing up surrounded by maidens or at least unwed women that kept chaste most of the time unless that bitch Marion had her escapades to seduce people behind everyone's backs and...

Her train of thought derailed monumentally. But she didn't think that her mom was forced to let her father bed her. What was she doing? She was learning spells and farming Stat points, that's what. One day she'd unravel the mystery of her origin. Why her mom decided to remain behind in the Infernal Realm. Being a sacrifice so the others could escape was not an excuse Cless was willing to accept. The woman she imagined was headstrong, graceful, wilful. Cless mind-mom wouldn't submit even to the Devil.

Spells! Spells! Time's a' wastin'!

Cless took the Crystallomancy book. She had three spells to learn. Level ninety-five brought Gembomb. She had to prepare a crystal beforehand and cast a spell into it. Whenever she wanted to discharge it, she had to cast the Gembomb spell and toss it. Upon impact, the crystal would shatter and release the stored spell. It was the offensive sister of Gem Amulet.

Level ninety-nine had Gemward. She could enchant a crystal to work as a defensive ward. It would warn her if any intruders entered the warded area and hinder these intruders, reducing their proficiencies. The ward was not discharged upon an encounter. It would last for the duration or until destroyed. The duration was an amazing amount of time. It would last for seven days for the expensive base cost of thirty-nine power, plus one day for each point of power invested. With proficiency, this cost could be cut by forty percent. If she could master this spell, she could create a ward that lasted a year for two hundred and forty Power.

Now the ultimate choices for the tier four Earth magic. Ward Warp would consume one Gemward to teleport her from anywhere kilometers away. It was costly and had a ridiculous thirty-minute casting time. But she could drop a new ward right away and go on with her day. The distance was based on Intellect and proficiency. Mastered, it would let her reach almost five hundred kilometers. She almost picked this one before checking the other two.

The second choice was Longevity Stone. It required an awfully expensive diamond and a day-long ritual that used up the caster's entire Magic Power pool, but once enchanted, the diamond would protect the target from aging for one year, plus a number of days equal to half the Magic Power expended. As long as it was kept in contact with the caster's own skin. Break contact for an instant and the diamond would turn to coal, the same as when the duration ended. Worse yet, the ritual could only be enacted during the day of midsummer under the sun. She imagined that extremely rich people would keep a crystal mage on retainer to prolong their life at the caster's expense. [Elven longevity] was already bound to give her extra millennia of lifespan.

Crystallize was the third choice. It could transmute an object made of stone or iron into a clear crystal or a colored crystal if a sample was provided as a material. The crystal created would retain some strength from the base material. The Power cost was steep and depended on the size of the object.

That was a tough choice. Teleport to a place you've already been to and remembered to leave a crystal ward behind that wasn't disturbed or ran out of power until you decided to return to, trade mountains of gold for a shot at immortality or the power to create crystals.

Utility won. Not to mention she was no longer needing to go scoop up sand to purify and make glass. Cless moved to the basement and descended to the catacombs. Excited, she trained the spell making sheets of stone and then converting them into a crystal. She could barely break the crystal with a couple strong blows. But she had three hundred Strength. Too bad she couldn't shape the crystal after it was converted. Well. Cless trained for a few hours, making hundreds of crystal sheets. She left some of them along the paths of the catacombs, enchanted to become wards and the remaining went into her deeppockets.

She also merrily threw Hallow gem bombs everywhere. Cless lost track of time again farming crystal and leveling her three new spells.

>     For maxing out your class proficiencies, you earned +2 Intellect, +1 Magic.

"Oh. Already? I have to stop doing this. I have no idea where I am or what time is it."

In the pitch-black darkness of the catacombs, Cless felt at ease. It was strange, but the underground felt homely to her. To get back, she only had to track the crystal panels embedded in the ground to find her way. She also used [Tremorsense] to find everyone above her. Like the whole north part of the City. And some presences behind her.

"Who goes there!" She turned around and asked.

There were three bipedal creatures. Humanoids? They moved toward her, fast. She was impressed by their speed. She let them surround her and she could see who they were. Two men in their late twenties or thirties and one teenager. They were clothed with fine garbs and she couldn't see any armor or weapon.

"A little lady, all alone in the darkness. Tell us, hateful priestess, what brings you here?" One of the older men said.

She leveled her eyes with the man who spoke with her. "I'm just strolling through my property. I own these lands. What is the matter?"

They guffawed. "Her property! This lass claims ownership of our ancestral crypts!"

The other one, silent until now smiled. Cless saw the fangs and everything clicked in place.

"You're vampires!" She laughed. "The guy was right! There are vampires in the catacombs!"

[Dangersense] rang and she used a spell right as a clawed hand came for her throat.

"Bulwark!"

She dodged the hand as it claws rebound on the golden protective field and the vampire hissed from his burning hand. Cless' thoughts sped up and she noticed [Underdog] didn't trigger. The other vampire was about to act when she finished her second spell.

"Censure!"

This would take the second one out of the fight until she attacked him. With the corner of her eye, she saw the teenager shrug and take a step away from her, shaking his head as if to deride the other two. The one attacking didn't relent. Now that she could see with the golden light of the spell, the teenager boy had a dark gray, almost blue skin. Maybe blue, since the faint gold of the bulwark was messing with the color perception. It was still faint enough to let her keep the buff from [Shadow Eminence]. Another claw came, but Bulwark kept it from connecting. The nails only scratched her and Cless barely registered the attack.

"Gaze into my eyes and despair!" He said, staring at her. He attacked again but she dodged.

"Sorry, I'll pass," Cless answered, unabated. "But have a Holy Bolt for your efforts."

She shoved the Holy Bolt straight into his chest at point-blank. The divine energy left a terrible burn on the vampire's shoulder as he failed to completely dodge the spell's projectile. He hissed and stared. Since she attacked, the Bulwark spell ended. Darkness reigned.

"Why are you fighting back? Look into my eyes!" The vampire insisted, flustered.

Cless paused, puzzled at what he wanted. She was looking into his eyes, what was the matter? Was it the darkness? She saw the vampire teenager move in the corner of her eye and took a moment to check him out. He was dark, brooding, handsome, dangerous and mysterious. Cless almost facepalmed at the random thoughts that floated on her head in the middle of a fight.

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"She is immune to your gaze, uncle. Give it up." The teenager vampire said with a dismayed voice.

He tried to attack her again during her distraction but Cless had the upper hand in both levels and Agility. Ironically it was just a couple points above six hundred and sixty-six right now.

"Never! She flooded our crypts, forced us to wander the catacombs homeless! She will pay!" the vampire designated as "Uncle" shouted.

Annoyed, Cless fed him another Holy Bolt. Straight into his spitting trap. The vampire staggered and she followed up with a long cast spell.

"Turn Undead."

She focused only on Uncle since the nephew had no signs of aggression. Weakened by the two holy bolts, he burned and turned to ashes. The boy clicked his tongue.

"Oh, boy. Auntie will be cross Uncle got banished." The teenager vampire sighed.

Cless craned her neck. "Banished?" She didn't attack him because he had lots of opportunities to engage and did nothing.

"Yeah. He'll have to spend a century or more to gather enough energy to rebuild his body. He's a vampire noble, don't think your priestly magic ended him."

Cless turned to the censured vampire, frozen by her holy magic. "Should I turn this one into ashes too?"

He didn't answer, and it irritated her. He felt like a cat, aloof and distant. Even so, she found something in the vampire boy alluring. Cless decided to do something just to see if she could get a reaction from him. She used Turn Undead once again and the other older-looking vampire also became ashes.

All she could see were the ashes being blown away by... some sort of non-existent wind. "Is he running away?" There was no Experience award.

"Kinda. He's not conscious, but his ashes will fly back to his coffin, eventually. Once the water drains, however long that takes. I'm Jason, by the way."

"Jason..." Cless looked at the vampire teenager. At least she got his name. Studying the boy, she curtsied to see how he'd react. "I'm Cless. I'd like to say pleased to meet you, but nope. Not happening."

"Yeah, same here," He shrugged. "You sorta killed my uncle."

"Except I didn't. He'll get better in a century, right?"

"Yes, once his ashes reach his coffin, so deep underwater it couldn't even be opened when we tried. Guests you really didn't kill him but this is as good as if you did." He scratched the back of his neck, "No, forget that. Guess you're right, Your Highness." He bowed, his eyes swimming up and down, taking a good look at her fancy dress.

She snorted. The tension of encountering the vampires disappeared. "Is he your uncle for real? Like the brother of your parents?"

"Nah. I'm adopted." It didn't sound sincere. More like a white lie or something else. He seemed to find something very interesting in his shoes. After an awkward silence, he raised his head and looked at her. "You're really not afraid of us, are you?"

"Should I?" She asked, challenging him. "How strong was your uncle compared to the other vampires?"

"The second strongest. Oh, I get it. You barely broke a sweat to dust him. How did you resist his charm gaze?"

It was her time to shrug, "Beats me. Who knows." She suspected it was probably because her Wisdom score was high enough. "Say, what does a vampire do to feed himself around these parts?"

He pointed east. "The catacombs have an exit near the slums. I go there, catch someone there, bring the person back, and we feed. Once a week. I go for criminals mostly. Sometimes we have to make do with what we can. A harlot. A gambler. Some drunk beggar. Never children," Jason added reading her reactions. "I could say I was forced to do it under threat of death, but I did kill."

"Oh. A murdering undead with principles. Who would've thunk." Cless whistled.

She could see he was pained by the thought of the murders he did. "So, Cless. Beside wandering inside vampire-infested catacombs in the dark, what else you do?" She could see a flash of his fangs.

"I lead my delver guild. You know, to delve the Dungeon. Kill monsters."

He winced and looked away. He nodded, pensive. "I wanted to be a delver myself before uncle and auntie 'adopted me' into their family."

Cless frowned. "Sounds like you've been dragged down here against your will."

"Maybe, maybe not. What can I say, sucks to be me," He did his already traditional shrug.

"Can't you just walk away? If you don't want to stay with your captors, just leave."

"I'm a vampire thrall, beholden to my creator. I can't disobey my orders. I can't leave the catacombs unless it is for the weekly hunt. Which we don't need to worry anymore because auntie is trapped inside her coffin. Uncle and cousin are piles of dust. There's me left but I'd rather starve."

She felt sympathy for Jason. He reminded her of how she was a captive in the church. More like a sanctuary. But still trapped. "I can't believe I am saying this. How do we break you free?"

"A thrall becomes a full-fledged vampire when his liege is destroyed. Like, killed for real. Not just turned to dust. And no, uncle is not my liege. Auntie is."

She tried to remember what she knew about vampires. "Wooden stake through the heart? Sunlight?"

"Both work." He shrugged. Again. With the mystery of this boy vanishing, Cless was feeling irritated by him. "The stake only works if we are in our coffins. But that avenue of dealing with Auntie is not possible, some crazy landlady decided to flood the catacombs so hard we can't open our own coffins." He accused her rolling his eyes.

She sighed and raised a hand, summoning Holy power. This last quip really got under her skin.

"I'm going to turn you to dust. No hard feelings. You are a murdering undead, I'm a priestess."

He shrugged by the umpteenth time. "Go for it. I won't even try to dodge." He said nonchalantly.

She felt challenged. He wasn't even a full vampire, this brat!

"Holy Bolt."

Besides the glare of the holy magic in the pitch-black catacomb, nothing happened. Jason didn't even flinch. No, he was with a shit-eating grin.

"My Skill is [Elemental Immunity]. I can pick some elements and become immune to it. Right now its set to fire and holy."

"You're annoying." Cless pouted. She pondered if she should pincushion him with crystals.

"I get that a lot." He was moving his shoulders up by reflex when Cless clamped on them.

"Don't shrug." She looked at his eyes up close. She found herself self-conscious of the sudden proximity. 'Damn, why did I get this close to him?' Her mind swam.

He sniffed and shuddered. "Oh, your blood is delicious." Cless released him and took a step back with a disgusted look. He swiped a hand over his own neck. "You have a scratch. Uncle's poisonous nails nicked you. Funny you didn't drop. And I'm sorry. I just got a whiff of your blood's scent. Maybe..."

Cless pushed him away, forcing him to brace against the shelves of the catacomb to avoid falling down.

"GOLEM!"

Cless went on the defensive. The golem surged out of a wall behind Jason, his head-scratching the roof and his body occupying the whole of the narrow catacomb.

"I'm not feeding you. If you do anything I'll catch you and drag you to bathe in the afternoon sun right now."

He was about to shrug but restrained himself. "It is night up there. Why do you think we are active? Vampires are sluggish during the daytime."

"Oh." She really lost track of time practicing her spells.

"But I think I could break from my liege free if I could drink a real princess' blood." He licked his fangs. "Now, I wonder where I could find one..."

This could mean only one thing. "You've been spying on me!"

"Guilty as charged. We noticed you came down here whenever we walked the catacombs on foot, so we went flying around like bats. I did get upstairs to see your new house. Nice design, by the way."

"Are you joking? About breaking free?" The pang of sympathy returned. Cless felt like Jason was like a puppy shivering in the rain. A bloodsucking murderous puppy. The conversation felt too surreal.

"No. I'm not trying. Mr. Stone Muscles here would crush me and hang me out to dry at the surface right before dawn."

She smirked. "Damn right he would. Or I would. How much blood would you need to break free?"

"One mouthful. Or as you like to call, only a small cup. But your Highness is a mean person. Dangling hope in front of me just to dash it."

"I'll give you a choice. Pledge eternal loyalty to me, and I'll give you what you need to break free of your liege. You'd be trading one master for another, but at least you get to choose. I don't trust enough to let you loose in the world."

Jason didn't even feign he needed time to think. He immediately bent on a knee. "I pledge my entire unlife to the service of princess Cless."

"First lesson. I'm not a princess. I'm a Queen. But I'll take that offer and make it binding. You'll join my Hird and my Knighthood."

She focused on her Skill and let him see the prompt. Jason quickly agreed. Now she felt she had to give him the blood. Cless shaped a goblet of stone from the catacomb wall and transformed it into crystal. She borrowed Silverfang's claw Skill and cut her arm. Dripping blood into the transparent goblet, she healed herself when Jason told her that was enough. She gave him the goblet and he drank in a hurry. Licking his lips, he smiled.

"Command me, your Majesty. I'm yours."

Status:

Name: Queen Cless Hreidmar of Myrkheim and Infernal Realm (in exile)

Race: Human.

Level: 104 ( 5,386,000 / 5,460,000 Exp ) [Experience Threshold > level 44]

Class (tier) level (Experience):

— Dabbler (1) 25 — Beast Tamer (2) 25 — Vicar (3) 25 — Wizard Princess (4+1) 25 — Hirdmaster (5) 6 (545,000 / 621,000 Exp)

Professions — Veteran Warmaster 25 — Master Instructor 25 — Lady Thaumaturge 4 (216,000 / 265,000 Exp)

— Crafter 25 (*) — Farmer 25 (*) — Herbalist 25 (*) — Alchemist 25 (*) — Diplomat 25 (*) — Administrator 25 (*)

Base Stats — Strength: 124 [314] — Agility: 149 [378 / 668 (1) ] — Health: 171 [434]

— — — — Intellect: 311 [665] — Wisdom: 268 — Charisma: 324 — Magic: 361 [772]

(1) 668 When [Shadow Eminence] is active.

Available Status Points: 78

Skills:

S-rank: [Absolute Contract]

B-rank: [Fear Aura] — [Perfect Might] — [Succubus’ Kiss]

C-rank: [Appraise Immunity] — [Craftsmen] — [Dangersense] — [Dragon Skin] — [Earth Magic] — [Eat Anything]

— [Elven Longevity] — [Master Miner] — [Monster Wrangler] — [Perfect Accounting] — [Pyromancer]

— [Seductress' Charm] — [Shadow Eminence] — [Sharpshooter] — [Shrinking] — [Sword & Board]

— [Underdog] — [Will of the Mage]

D-Rank: [Acute Smell] — [Alchemical Tolerance] — [Alchemist] — [Architectural Ingenuity] — [Breathless]

— [Curmudgeon crafter] — [Dancer’s Grace] — [Darkness Resistance] — [Diplomat] — [Druidwalk] — [Eagle Sight]

— [Farmer] — [Gemsense] — [Giant's Stamina] — [Great Leap] — [Grounding] — [Herbalism] — [Intimidating Authority]

— [Ladykiller] — [Merchant sense] — [Metal Mender] — [Miasma Sight] — [Ore sense] — [Poison Resistance]

— [Runner's Dash] — [Sharp Mind] — [Shield Mastery] — [Singers’ Talent] — [Snakes' Flexibilty] — [Spell Resistance]

— [Sundering Magic] — [Tinker] — [Tremorsense] — [Woodworking]

E-Rank: [Air sailing] — [Boxer] — [Burrower Bond] — [Cat User] — [Chick Magnet] — [Coin Sense] — [Enhanced touch]

— [Food Conservation] — [Hearth’s warmth] — [Heavy Lifter] — [Howl] — [Lady’s Countenance] — [Pack Rat]

— [Pathfinder] — [Pickpocket] — [Seamstress Talent] — [Silk Hair] — [Splinters] — [Sword User] — [Virility]

— [Wanderlust] — [Water Sprite] — [Weavertouch]

F-rank: [Florist’s Wonder] — [Gardener’s touch] — [Inner Compass]

Techniques:

Beast Tamer: — [Beast Taming VI] — [Beast Status] — [Share Skills *]

Vicar: — [Sanctuary *]

Princess: — [Stronghold II] — [Demesne] — [Knight *]

Hirdmaster — [Recruitment IV] — [Bolster]

Spells (Master Instructor: +6 to all. Spells without a number are at the cap / * denotes a level 25th ultimate):

Divine: — Mending — Detoxify — Light — Turn Undead — Blessing — Holy Bolt — Purify — Protection

— — — Hallow — Flametongue — Cure — Uncurse — Banish — Heal — Warding — Revivify*

— — — Censure — Bulwark — Mass Mending — Sacred Dance — Judgement — Song of the Accord*

— — — Water Breathing — Shield of Faith

Arcane: — Detect Magic — Mage Bolt — Armor — Firebolt — Icebolt — Lightning Grasp — Shield

— — — Fireball — Resistance — Shockwave — Magic Missiles — Wind Blade — Deeppockets* — Blink*

— — — Soften — Earth Armor — Spike — Stone Shape — Earthen Maw — Earthwave — Terrakinesis — Golem*

— — — Earth to Stone — Grasping Hand — Spike Wall — Construct* — Crystal Dart — Gem Amulet

— — — Crystal Messenger — Gemcutter — Gembomb — Gemward — Crystallize *

House: — Detect Dust — Doorwatch — Prestidigitation — Never Overdone! — Touch Up — Dry — Repair

— — — Clean — Bloom — Hearth Recall*

Wiz.Princess: — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — 24: ????

Proficiencies (Master Instructor: +6 to all. Values under 10 hidden / {A} = Automatic Proficiency: Soft Cap +5):

Appraise: Status: 80

General: Prayer — Reading: 70

Academic: Magic Theory: 60 — Spellcraft: 60 — Architecture: {A}

Crafting (+9 Profession): Tailor: {A} — Embroidery: {A} — Knitting: {A} — Glassblowing: 85 — Mythic Blacksmithing: 4 — Carpentry: 85 — Pottery: 67

Farming, plants (+38 Profession): Foraging: 30 — Forestry: 30 — Gardening: 40

Farming, livestock (+13 Profession): Dismantling: 30

Production (+9 Profession): Mining: {A} — Weaving: {A} — Quarrying: 35

Social (+25 profession): Negotiation — Persuasion — Bluff — Flirting: {A} — Sexual Technique: {A}

— — Etiquette: {A} — Dancing: {A} — Singing: {A} — Gambling: {A}

Movement: Running: {A} — Athletics: {A} — Balance: {A} — Jumping: {A}

Martial (+18 profession): Leadership — Intimidation: 80 — Tactics

Weapon (+18 profession): Long Blades — Unarmed: 80 — Archery — Maces: 60 — Pickaxe: {A}