I whistled as I walked the back alley streets of Veta. It was the second day in the city and I still had a fond memory of Akasha’s awestruck face as we entered through the gates. Thankfully the orb they used for identification of people didn’t display titles. It seemed even high end identification items were rare which left those most likely being used more effectively with people of power and influence.
Mr. Sullivan was released from my service once we entered the city, I had offered the man continued employment but he had family and I think in a fit of sentimentality I’d sent him on his way back with double the payment. I just hoped his eyes had spoken truth when I asked him to keep any information about me and my family to himself… well that and a safe journey back for him.
I guess I’d never really get rid of my sentimentality, but was that such a bad thing? My thoughts were interrupted as Ashes landed on my shoulder. I still didn’t enjoy the quite clearly milf-esque voice she’d chosen for herself. That breathy manner she’d said ara ara still sent a shiver down my spine at the image those words had conjured in my mind, it was way too seductive to be honest.
The smug look she’d given me and Dust after we’d told her not to say that again made me realize she now had something over both of us. I was still baffled at the personalities they’d developed after gaining higher awareness and sentience through my last empowering experiments back in Bedlev.
Németh most likely lectured me on that during the nightly study sessions I’d been forced into. Each one a full month and a half only to wake up barely rested the next day. Quite frankly I’d been run ragged, I was apparently on the level of a mana manipulating master now but spending a full month training that single skill to the nth degree had been exhausting.
The final “exam” as she’d put it had been to use mana to thread through a small course of needle eyes without allowing the mana to touch the metal of the needles. While getting annoyed with breaths to my ear or slight near touches by O’Malley who’d been a bit too eager to sadistically near tease me for my tastes.
Then again the sparring with Sutekh wasn’t any better, that man put that crazy guard captain back in Deepguard to shame. That man had at least allowed for a few breaks every now and then, Sutekh on the other hand had no chill what so fucking ever. It was insulting fighting him, it was like a ten year old in cardboard armor going into a punch up with Optimus prime and I was the child in that scenario.
As painful as it was it had brought me to quite new heights when it came to martial arts, weaponry usage and even to a lesser degree combat casting. O’malley just enjoyed beating the shit out of me without any rhyme or reason to it and he called that training.
Németh, Zalruk and Verona had taught me spell craft and after just the first “day” of their combined teaching I realized I was learning at the foot of masters. Heck Zalruk had been both an accomplished arch mage and arch wizard before his ascension. Through them I learned that getting a magic using class displayed the aptitude of just being able to use magic and general term classes such as mage or wizard granted greater versatility for spell craft. On the other hand if let’s say an arch necromancer and an arch wizard competed in raising the dead then the necromancer’s magic would be much more focused and stronger allowing him to raise double if not triple the amount of the wizard.
Of course the down side to that was that the necromancer would cast spells of other schools of magic as just base spells. With no aptitude but the ability to cast magic is how one should look at if I started casting fireballs left and right. Of course it didn’t say I couldn’t learn other spells besides necromancy.
I knew that compared to anyone else in my situation I was growing explosively even if it wasn’t reflected in my levels or skills. Which was basically thanks to these grueling training sessions each night but I was also seeing the limit to that approach if I didn’t manage to grow during the day, I was already at a point where anyone at level eight or less didn’t do much for my growth as the system didn’t reward such power leveling. Otherwise royalty would just find an easy to kill monster with an explosive reproductive rate to power level to the top.
No the system was clearly a risk and reward one, despite the fact an extremely lucky level one could kill someone at the pinnacle in the right situation it wouldn’t reward the one on the pinnacle for killing the level one. No mater how close he’d come to death.
That made me frustrated, in a city like this the usual people were at most at level thirty if not connected to the military or places requiring more strength. The occasional craftsmen classes could reach higher levels through repetition and perfection of their craft but they were very rare. Heck Wolfsgard only had three of such masters in their entire empire… unless they were lying to me and they might have many more. Though a cursory inspection of the people on the main street that I glimpsed through the alley I was walking down made me think otherwise.
I could set inspection to a sort of auto mode which made just the levels hover above someones head. It was distracting and misleading as levels weren’t everything in this world after all. However the highest I saw was a quartet of guards walking down the main street at level fifty. I was at a combined level of thirty seven at the moment but due to my high vampiric physiology my physical stats were those of maybe at level eighty or so. Add to that my previous training and the nightly training I was much more experienced than my level indicated, that alone made me rather skeptical of judging others by their levels. After all I’d already met another reincarnator and despite her being a woman in over her head another might have been spec ops or something before.
A man like that could most likely tear apart anyone fifty levels above him just because of the sheer amount of training and experience difference between the two.
I shook my head and looked down at my hand as I fished out what little spoils I’d gotten out of this little outing. Two glass jars one filled with that strange substance and another salvaged bottle of what I’d call premium weed.
I hadn’t been much of a smoker back on earth but the relaxed feeling one got after a good smoke was something I felt I’d at least earned for one night. Otherwise I’d most likely safe getting my hands on more for special occasions and the like.
I’d read too many stories of vampires becoming hedonists and drug addicts as time went on. I didn’t want to become something like that so instead during those very rare moments were nothing was pressing in on me and I could just sit back and relax I’d have a smoke. Besides I needed a pipe here as there wasn’t anything like paper I could use.
I sighed and made both flash into my soul space, it would keep them in a static manner so they wouldn’t stagnate over time so I could inspect them when I had the proper equipment and facilities to do it.
“What’s wrong?” Dust asked me as I’d been sighing quite a bit lately.
“Nothing just tired.” I responded, my voice a little flat. My mood had a tendency to slip into melancholy of late, was it just because I was so damn tired? Then I pushed through it and looked at Ashes. “Could you tell me your report again? I want to be sure I’ve absorbed it properly.”
She looked at me for a moment and then nodded. “Certainly. As you well know the city is divided into a total of five districts. Outer, inner and kingly rings with the docks and academic districts being the other two. The last two comprise almost a full fourth of the city together while the other three are simply demarcations of the city as a whole.” She started.
“The docks are further split in two with the sand and sky docks right?” At the nod of Ashes I continued. “Given that this sand sea phenomenon applies only for one year out of every five I’m guessing it’s more packed with warehouses and the like?” Another nod to my question.
“All right so the academy district is taking a large encircled area the size of one eight of the city with the magic academy at it’s center.” I finished to confirm and received another nod.
“I’ve also been eavesdropping on the population and the nobles here seem to be split into four factions. White, black, royal and neutral. With the white faction trying to push the ideals of fair and just nobility onto the others, the royal nobility either fiercely loyal to the crown or connected to it and the neutral faction of course simply neutral.” She reported.
“And the black nobles?” I asked.
“Well their most prominent members and the most well known ones are selfish and use their positions to lord over others. Much like what you expected many nobles would be though many of them don’t seem too bad. Their focus is more on the nobility being above the commoners and that their positions are irrefutable and a birthright of theirs. I’d say that if you were to deal with them the one thing you could trust is that they’d do what is best for themselves.” She then explained and I sighed. After Dunleavy in Deepguard I’d suspected I’d meet such nobles but I guess it was a naive hope they’d be in the minority, but lo and behold they’re a full faction…. Great.
“So make sure that betraying me is viewed as the stupidest and as not in their best interests as possible.” I muttered a little as I noted that the guards I’d seen earlier were still walking down the road at around the same pace as me. “What are the most prominent members of each faction?” I asked then as I put it out of my mind.
“For the Royal faction it would be Leonardo Barwell, he’s the master of the roads of the empire and keeps the peace of the roads to the best of his ability and resources. For the Neutral I’d say that would be the master of the magic academy, master Tibut Dermout. He’s an arch wizard and a very accomplished one according to the rumors.” I smiled, I’d have to try and figure out a way to allow Ashes and Dust to act like my version of Odin’s Huginn and Muninn, flying all over the world, able to split themselves up and bringing me back news of the world.
“As for the White faction I’d say that would be Isolda Osweald, she’s a prominent mage and a very upright person according to the rumors. She manages a few orphanages in the city along with a pair of homeless shelters and rehabilitation centers.” Ashes continued, I had to admit if she was as good as she sounded maybe there was hope for this empire yet.
“As for the Black faction…” I noted Ashses pausing like that as she looked around a bit before continuing. “Duke Nichola Bauwens. The Bauwens are a very prominent family in this empire as one of the six founding families of the empire. He is among the top eight most influential people in the empire. I’d advise not making an enemy of him, he’s known to be rather… generous with his vindictiveness. Hes cool headed enough though to pick his battles and bide his time.”
The man sounded like the worst type of person for me to deal with. “Great, so let’s just buy a house in this city and lay low while all of us learn as much as we can. I’m glad I’ve spread the scavengers into the sewers last night. Hopefully in a day or two I’ll have built enough of a reserve of forces to have leverage if anything bad happens.” I grimaced.
I remembered the image of Campbell hanging over the city gates. The word necromancer seared into his bared chest. By the look of the corpse I was maybe a day or two late to see him. It had made me almost flare up in rage and anger but I had kept it inside. Channeling it into the creation of my scavengers. Creatures I’d created to look like spiders the size of ponies with four extra arms on their underside to sweep through the sewers and any passages in this city. Mapping and gathering any worthwhile corpse or bone they’d find.
I’d decided to do something similar to how the skeleton of a puffer fish is for their carapace which allows them to shoot out large spikes in every direction to protect themselves as the bones move to allow the spikes to move out of them.
A commotion in the direction of the main street made me look over the next corner and seeing people making way for something. The four guards were there in the cleared out area and I got a bad feeling, it wasn’t normal for people to behave like that and I remembered I had left Morice and Akasha back at the inn’s front restaurant. It was just two more alleys away.
Grimacing I reached out with my hand and watched as Abhorash rose up from my shadow. It was rather majestic how he seemed to rise up from a portal of inky ethereal smoke from my shadow. Once he fully rose he stumbled and I moved to grip his bicep to steady the huge man. It was the first time I let him out since he woke from whatever that slumber he had been forced into when facing the Necroshade in Bedelev. Mostly since I really couldn’t justify it. “You all right Abhorash?” I asked as I looked up into the glowing purple eyes and smiled at him.
“I am… my lord.” He said as he had adjusted himself sufficiently and then looked around himself. “Where are we?” He then asked in confusion.
“We’re in Veta, the capital of the Alocian empire. I know this is short notice but I have a bad feeling and having you help me guard Akasha and Morice would be appreciated.” I said apologetically, I’d hoped to let him get adjusted and ease him into the swing of things again but hard times, hard choices.
He nodded at me and I lead the way back to the inn through the back alley streets. Once we emerged from the alley a few people flinched and shrank back from the towering armored man walking behind me. I didn’t blame them, he was a badass looking vampiric knight with armor reminiscent of Souron from shadow of war to me but to them he most likely looked about as terrifying and menacing as they’d ever seen. I stifled a snicker at some of the faces I saw.
Akasha and Morice were standing at a small gathering of people off to the side of the road en circling something. I saw the spears of the guards poke up above the people and a sharp feminine cry made my heart seize. People had gathered around and I’d lost sight of Akasha and Morice just a few moments before the cry came.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
I swallowed and ran to the spot, the heavy thunks of Abhorsash’s heavy footfalls behind me making people clear the way for me. I came to the opening the people had made and I saw Morice holding Akasha protectively in the front of the crowd and I pointed at them and Abhorash made his way to them. Akasha looked happy to see him and Morice relieved. That confused me a little before I heard the cry again and looked to it’s source.
An elven woman was writhing and crying on the ground, two nasty slashes in the clothes on her back were two angry red wounds were on her skin. I looked at her with cold detachment before I saw the third being made with a whip of dark brown leather. Following the whip I saw a brat maybe fourteen, fifteen years old with the four guards standing around him.
He was clearly a noble by his attire and he had that school bully sneer I’d seen so much in both movies and being on the receiving end of in my childhood. Not that I minded much now, children were little bastards sometimes so I’d grown numb to it but this made me feel off. Then the brat had to go and open his mouth.
“You think you’re worthy to step in my way? Huh?!” He sneered at the whimpering woman who clearly didn’t look to have crossed his path, either that or she was just about at the other end from crossing the street that it shouldn’t have mattered.
I frowned as he whipped her again. “Black Noble bastard.” I heard a man next to me mutter as he looked at the boy with hate in his eyes.
Hey, hey, hey isn’t this a bit too cliché? I get informed on them and I meet one?! My luck is just shit isn’t it.
While I was decrying the situation in my head I saw a young boy slip through the crowd and ran to the woman. I’d learned elvish from Silv, my elven companion during my service to Aona so I understood him. He was yelling for his mother and I noted the nasty yet gleeful expression spreading on the boy’s face and I thought he wouldn’t dare. Then the brat raised his arm back.
I noted the guards grimacing but not doing anything and my brows furrowed and I felt angry as I noted he looked from the boy to Akasha protected by Morice and his smile grew nastier.
“Whip that boy and I’ll shove that whip down your throat.” I snarled, it was low but the quiet of the crowd was only broken by the elven woman’s whimpering. The brat looked at me with bewilderment as if surprised I a mere commoner by his eyes would dare talk back to him. Then he noted the crest on my shoulder cape and the same crest on Morice’s own half cloak.
He turned his hand a little as it was still cocked back and I saw he was aiming at either Morice or Akasha and I growled in fury. “If you let fly with that arm, I’ll rip out what passes for your spine and beat you to death with it.” I was furious to the point of not realizing the area around me darkened.
My abilities had grown connected to my emotions of late and powerful ones had a tendency to manifest a lesser phenomenon or another around me. I wouldn’t be playing any poker that was for sure. In this case black ethereal smoke covered the first millimeter above my shadow which thankfully people didn’t notice but light clearly darkened just a little around me which made people back away from me. Great, me and my big fucking mouth, I wouldn’t be able to lay low all that well it seems.
“Who do you think you are?!” One of the guards shouted as the brats face turned very ugly but he did lower his arm.
“I am Baron Aesir and if that brat strikes at my children I will do oh so much worse to him.” I growled as I stepped into the open circle of people better and made my way to stand before my children. I looked over my shoulder at Abhorash. “No one touches either of them.” I growled and he pulled out his sword and placed it down on the ground showing he’d follow that order.
“I’ve never heard of you! Your just a better dressed commoner thinking your above your station and if that wasn’t bad enough your a filthy Dark elf too.” The brat sneered at me and I simply looked at him like the idiot he was.
“Then it’s war.” I stated simply and the boy blustered and stared at me wide eyed.
“Wh-what?!” He stammered in disbelief. Clearly not expecting my response.
“You have given me casus belli. You’ve threatened my children, insulted me to my face and disregarded my rights as nobility that your type seem to always value so much. So why shouldn’t I just use that as a reflection of your empires stance and declare war right this instant?” I asked and channeled dark majesty on full blast as I slightly puffed out my chest and drew myself up and stared down at the brat like a vengeful god looking at an ant before him.
I was startled when I felt a flare up of mana within the crowd and my eyes darted around to find it’s source. It had been too sudden and just slightly above ambient levels to fully pinpoint. The brat took it another way and as I looked back at him he’d thrown a strike at my face with his whip.
It hit me so hard that I felt the ocular bone crack and my left eye squelch from the impact. I held back the cry of agony though it still came out but was simply very muffled as I staggered back and held onto the ruined side of my face. Last night had been a full month of nothing but pain control and meditation to place blocks against it, which I felt was the only reason I was still standing from the initial flare of pain. My rage broke the flimsy bonds I had on it and I looked up with murder in my remaining eye at the brat who’s smug face at thinking he’d figured me out for a charlatan turn to one of pale faced fear.
In an instant I used wraith step and appeared in front of him, my hand no longer over my face to allow the boy to see the rage in my one good eye as the ruin of my face looked at him. “I warned you.” I growled and his knees began to shake. As I was about to reach for the boy’s throat I heard a loud elderly voice shout.
“Stop this now! This is no way for nobles to behave!” A man dressed in fancy silken robes of deep royal blue with gold inlay and embroidery of mystic symbols come barging in. A shield around him bubbling up to push people back as he strode into the circle like he owned the place. His step faltered as he saw me glare at him and the ruin of my face.
“Go on.” I growled and let the near bestial growl I was now capable of run underneath my voice. “Tell me, how are nobles supposed to act?” I pointed my chin at him in utter defiance and the wound the brat had caused me made him falter, most likely wondering how I was still standing despite the pain. Well one gets used to it after the shit I’d been through, compared to the soul killing sword this was like a paper cut. It stung like a bitch but was just about bearable after my last training session.
“I thought so, now excuse me as I rip this brats heart out.” I growled again and turned to look at the teenager. He’d fallen back onto his butt and had pissed himself. My voice had spurned the guards to action and as they thrust their spears at me a shield flared around me.
It was both good and bad for me. Good because the attacks deflected off the shield with ease, bad because I couldn’t move since the shield was rather confined around my body. I simply stared down at the child with all of my fury on display in my eye. If I couldn’t touch the kid I’d scar the little shit mentally. “I’ll find you boy. I won’t let it be easy for you. An eye for an eye.” I said low enough so that I was sure only he could hear me and the puddle around him seemed to grow just a tad larger.
A sudden chocked off sound made the shield dissipate around me and I wraith stepped back and looked at the magic caster. Abhorash had his throat in his hand and held him up off the ground with ease in one hand. “Put him down, if he starts to cast well, I think he knows what will happen.” I said as I pointedly looked at the guards who moved to tightly surround the boy now, they looked shaken.
The mage let out heaving and ragged breaths as I was sure Abhorash was either making his strangling deliberately slow or the man was simply strengthened enough not to allow Abhorash to break his neck. He looked at me thankfully but he still looked green as he looked at the ruin my eye had become as I walked over to the mother and placed one of the lowest healing potions Morice had robbed from Bedelev’s black market next to her.
Her boy was standing over her protectively, he was shaking with fear but he had more of a spine than the noble brat drooling between the guards. He’d fainted, the boy before me didn’t. I smiled gently at the boy as I took my cape and ripped a strip off to tie my eye and draped the rest over his mother.
“Get her to drink that and then go to my children over there. Okay?” I asked him and he swallowed and nodded to me. Still afraid but understanding I meant him no harm.
“How are you still standing?” The old man asked as he’d regained his breath and had made his way to me.
I decided to fuck with him and shrugged. “I’ve had worse.” It wasn’t a lie but fainting due to pain was looking to be a good idea right about now. It was just at the threshold I could manage to act through, though very close to making me fall to my knees from the agony.
The mage spluttered at hearing that and looked at me incredulously. He clearly looked to be re-evaluating me, especially with how easily I’d calmed down after distancing myself from the brat. Viva la meditation strengthened mental barriers and aspergers!
I took the chance and readjusted the impromptu bandage I had over my ruined eye. Perhaps I could play an Odin type character now while I’m here? I did have have two ravens and Odin’s ilk had been gods named Aesir or Æsir in Icelandic.
I was also glad the cape had been black, which made the now growing stains less visible on it though it did start to look wetter as blood seeped out of my wound. I was sure I’d be without my eye for a while as it healed but with my regeneration it would mostly take maybe a month to regrow it, perhaps more. Of course I’d mostly be in some amount of pain as it regenerated.
The Mage just stared at me for a while before he seemed to shake himself out of it and then looked at the guards. “Get that boy back home. Which household does he belong to?” He barked at them.
“Melivica.” One of the guards stammered at seeing both of us standing there, me giving them a murderous glare from my good eye.
“Well tell marquis Melivica to expect a visit from me to talk about punishing his brat for this behavior.” The old man said and I looked at him more closely. His appearance kinda reminded me of a wizard from the middle east with the shape of his robes being distinctly fantasy-esque and leaning towards that, though still with the more European flare. Frankly he looked like he’d taken the standard wizards robes, added in the jedi robes of star wars with a dash of Jafar in to the mix. His face was that old school aged with dignity and salt and pepper hair and beard, all of which was neatly trimmed in a rather modern manner. Allowed to grow barely half a centimeter from his face but thick so it covered his skin underneath.
He looked to be maybe crawling into his mid sixties yet had that old soldier type of build to him and he carried himself with dignity and pride despite the moment of gawking he’d had before. His eyes were a deep pale blue that had that distinct silvery ring around the eyes of those with a certain mastery of mana.
“Who might you be?” The guard asked after swallowing.
“I am magistrate Nafir El-shareef, court wizard to his majesty the Emperor.” He said giving a slight bow of his head and I think both of us smirked a little at the sight of the guards going white as a sheet. They quickly bowed and ran off with the unconscious brat and without me even noticing their approach guards wearing silvery half-plate came stomping in from the crowd.
“Magistrate you can’t run off like that when we are to guard you.” One of them said looking rather mortified to have lost the man. I tried to subtly point Abhorash to go over to Morice and Akasha to hopefully make the magistrate forget about the strangling.
The magistrate sent me an amused glance as if to tell me I didn’t have to worry much about him perusing the matter but that still made me wary of him. “Might I inquire your name?” Nafir said in that kindly old teacher manner one often saw in movies and other media.
I gave him a cautious look before glancing at the guards and frowned a little before simply exhaling a sigh and bowing to the man respectfully. “I am Felix Aesir of the house of Aesir. I know I threatened a war but I had hoped such a threat might jolt the boy with some sense but that didn’t seem to work. You don’t have to worry I have no such power nor authority to pursue something like that other than my own.” I said respectfully before I gave him a hard stare.
“However as a father I admit I was contemplating… unsavory means when I saw he targeted my daughter.” I then said showing a bit of the anger I’d felt into my eyes.
Nafir looked at me and then smiled with a nod. “I can’t fault a father for reacting to such a threat to their children. Just know.” He paused and gave me a pointed stare. “If you had acted on it more than this, it wouldn’t be resolved with such a loss of reputation on their part and a reprimand from me. The Melivica family is an old one and too proud for its own good, had something more happened to the boy you might as well leave the empire the same day.” He warned me.
“So... vindictive and sore losers I take it.” I answered simply, noting one of the silver armored guards grip his spear tightly. Most likely thinking I was insulting the magistrate with my casual tone. I simply pointed at my face and scowled at the man.
I was amused at the sudden shock of realization when he took a moment to actually look at the cloth and the blood around my face from the wound itself. I simply gave him a look I hoped said ‘I’m in agony so fuck right off.’
Nafir on the other hand simply chuckled at my antics and continued to speak. “I must admit though that this is not something I’d like for visiting nobles to experience. I must make reprimands as a representative of his majesty somehow.” He called to one of the silver clad guards and what looked to be a young woman came towards us.
I simply chuckled as a bubble of gallows humor hit me. “Well yeah, they’d all be blind after two visits.” I said with a grin to which Nafir stared at me for a while as if evaluating my sanity, which I couldn’t really be sure of either to be honest. Then he burst into laughter and so did I.
The people around had begun to disperse but there were still a few standing around and gawking at the two of us. The guard called over by Nafir walked up to us and looked at Nafir questioningly before recoiling in horror as she saw me laughing with such a wound.
“Ah, you have quite the interesting personality.” Nafir said almost wheezing from his laughter before gesturing towards the guard next to him and spoke again. “Please allow the medic to have a look and heal you. She’s quite proficient in healing magic.” He said kindly and I shrugged a little as if assenting to it.
Then I noticed the glint of metal at her chest, a necklace with a female form holding up a glass orb. I frowned and pointed at the necklace. “What is that?” I felt my tone might have come off as a little harsh by the woman's hesitation as she approached me before looking down at the necklace.
“Oh it is the mark of the church of light. It is where the worshipers of the pantheon of light pray in this city.” She said with a smile before it faltered as I spoke again.
“Pantheon of light?” I growled and before I could stop myself I asked her. “Who do you worship?”
She looked questioningly at Nafir who seemed about as confused before she looked back and replied. “Aona, goddess of justice and light.” She answered almost innocently.
I was sure Nafir had caught the flare of maddened fury in my eye before I closed it and breathed in to calm myself. It wouldn’t do to rip the woman's throat out in broad daylight even without present company. “Then I’m afraid I won’t be accepting your help. She’s done enough to me already.” I simply growled as I turned and stormed towards Morice and Akasha.
Akasha was crying and ran to me when I approached and Morice let her go. She buried her face into my stomach and cried as I hugged her. I looked up at Morice and almost said his name before remembering the fake name we’d decided on. “Marcus, could you go and get me a bottle of the strongest alcohol you can get?”
He nodded but looked at me like I’d lost my mind asking for that with a wound like mine. I tapped at my chin and had chitin grow over it for only a moment and watched something dawn on him. “I need to clean my wound before properly bandaging it.” I then said as if in explanation and he nodded once more with understanding and ran off towards a nearby bar.