Chapter 23 – First Impressions Count
Pumbaa: You know, first impressions are very important.
Timon: Oh, I thought you were a scream.
– The Lion King 1 ½
– ***** –
*ting*
You have successfully formed a [Soul Bond] with Athena Pallas.
Victoria coughed a mouthful of blood.
Wha… [Soul Bond]? But- wait… “Athena”?
Struggling to move her painful body, she laboriously turned around and gasped in a hoarse voice:
“You… you’re a girl?!?!”
The stunned figure on the carpet looked back, and was about to answer, but suddenly started to focus intently at apparently nothing with widening amber eyes, typical gesture of an adventurer just receiving a ludicrous message window – a behaviour that often drove locals to believe adventurers had Attention-Deficit Disorder, or ADD for short.
Victoria attentively checked the person out.
Her “guest” had a tall muscular built rivalling Elric’s, only slimmer, yet characteristic curves could faintly be perceived under a thick worn out gambeson. The face too had undoubtedly feminine features, although quite on the rough side, and would probably be sufficiently attractive – well, players rarely made their avatar ugly on purpose – if less dirty and if “her” long copper hairs were loosened instead of tied up in a practical ponytail.
Still dazed, a sceptical Victoria stepped away from her bed and tottered towards the supposed woman, all the way mumbling confused gibberish:
“… ot possible … wha … gir … mayb … then the cur … how …”
Shaking her head and her eyes unfocused, she then proceeded to unfasten the rigid protective garment that was in the way of her certitude.
Feeling the sudden touch, Athena quickly dismissed the preposterous window and raised an interrogative eyebrow at the pale beauty who was shamelessly undressing her. Not that Victoria seemed to have any consideration for her consent though.
Don’t misunderstand, the tall woman was quite on board with being pushed down and stripped by a beauty. Although she usually preferred to be the one doing the pushing down and the stripping… but a change of pace was always welcomed. However, there was a time and a place for everything – or so she told herself – and right now her desire for answers outweighed – if slightly – her awaking libido.
Mentally slapping herself to reason, Athena reluctantly pushed the assertive princess away.
“Listen… Victoria, right? Yes I’m a girl, so whaAAH!”
The tank abruptly interrupted herself and jumped up, rushing forth for an impromptu rescue mission.
Because, under what Athena had considered a “light push”, Victoria had been violently sent staggering backwards, ended up by the window, then tripped and tumbled outside, her widening eyes mirroring the horrified surprise of the Shield Bearer.
– *** –
Ah… I’m outside.
Those were Victoria’s first thoughts as she toppled over the window sill.
Then she noticed the large castle hanging from the high ceiling, surrounded by a forest of innumerable giant green stalactites, the far away emerald walls coated in rainbow light, and the menacing floor covered in a thick carpet of fluffy thunderclouds traversed by incessant lightning.
Wait… that’s not right…
She looked up – or down, depending on the perspective – and remembered the tower was quite tall indeed.
Eeeeh. If the barrier broke, then what of the instant revive? Oh shi-
She hadn’t forgotten her promise to Dorothy, nor the faraway town of Ashen which would have been her “closest” – in a very relative sense – resurrection spot if not for the convenient four-poster bed. However, before Victoria had the time to panic, a strong hand grabbed her ankle, stopping her fall, and an angry husky voice echoed from inside the bedroom.
“Just how weak are you?!”
“Who asked you to be a girl?!” an upside-down dishevelled lady replied in the same tone.
“WHAT?! Do you have a problem with me being a girl?!”
“No, not at all. I prefer actually.” The princess shrugged, a weird movement with her arms handing down.
“Really?!”
A copper-haired head leant outside, briefly flashing a hopeful look before blushing and – partially – averting her gaze.
“Princess, you-”
“Please, just call me Victoria.”
“Right, Victoria… your underwear…”
Given Victoria’s current predicament, her white dress was of course following the law of gravity, revealing her like-coloured self-tailored undergarment.
“Cute right? I made them myself.”
The pride filling her voice was unfortunately answered with only dubitative consternation.
“…That’s not really the point.”
“Oh… Right… The material is the same as the dress. I thought it would be better to have a matching set.”
“But isn’t it a bit…?”
“Transparent? Yes… This magic cloth absorbs blood quite well, but is unfortunately a bit thin. Tough, you’ll agree that having panties that absorb blood is pretty convenient… Ah! But this game doesn’t include menstrual physiology for players… Same as going to the toilet… Well, of course. Girls would sue the company if they had to go through their period four times a month. But then-”
“Is this really the time to talk abou- … WAIT!? You’re not an NPC?”
“Uh? What made you think that I was one?”
“Ah? But it’s because… EEEEEH!? That bastard Chaos!”
“Oh, so you’ve met the guy… This explains that I guess.”
“He said you were his friend.”
“Who’s friend with that crazy stalker?! It’s probably his fault that I was trapped here in the first place!”
“…” Athena had an expression that probably meant “Was I scammed?”
“Well, I did make a few stupid decisions.”
“…” – Back to consternation.
“And I guess the trap was pretty obvious…”
“… You’re an idiot.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“…” – And a nice demonstration of air facepalming.
Still effortlessly holding the princess over the emptiness, the female Shield Bearer’s face twitched, her expression oscillating between confused anger and deep consternation.
Victoria allowed the person – literally – holding her life in her hand some time to clear her thoughts, and then called out:
“Eeeeh… Athena-san?”
“San?”
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the view, but I’m starting to hear my heartbeat down here. Aaarghl…”
Blood began once again to flow out of her mouth, this time streaming down into her nose.
“…Oh, sorry.”
“Don’d be. *coughrl* I’ve nodiced I dend to ged beoble disdragded.”
“Yeah…”
“So… aarbl… gould you bull me bag ub? Or do you blan on gondinuing do enzoy de ‘view’ doo?”
Athena’s face flushed bright red, which Victoria thought was quite cute – or maybe it was just the blood in her eyes –, and then finally brought the princess back to the safety of her room.
– *** –
Athena was having a headache.
She still couldn’t completely grasp the situation she was in, and that pissed her off. Chaos had somehow tricked her, and that pissed her off. This princess, despite being a beauty as promised, had visibly more than a screw loose and Athena had no idea how to handle her, and that pissed her off. Having been betrayed not five minutes before meeting the god, she knew she should have been more careful, and that really pissed her off.
All in all, she was pissed.
But it’s not like it was an abnormal state for her. She was usually pissed at something, at herself most of the time. Pissed at herself for being who she was and pissed at herself for being pissed.
It was a vicious circle, one she had been trapped in for a long time.
She had once hoped this “cutting edge” virtual reality would allow her a new start, a new “her” in a new world. This was also why she had chosen the class Shield Bearer and the name of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, strength and strategic war.
At first, it had seemed to work. In her new near indestructible body, she had finally been able to conquer the very fear that had made her real life a living hell and, for a while, she had been happy.
But changing oneself wasn’t so easily done, and it hadn’t taken long for Athena to fall back into her usual self-loathing wrathful pattern. She thought that she should have known a life of fright and rage couldn’t be overcome by merely adding a few muscles to her body and adopting a goddess’ name, and she hated herself even more for childishly believing she had found a way out.
The only moments when she actually felt calm and appeased were when she fought all-out, loosing herself in statistics, timings and damage estimations. Numbers had always calmed her since her early childhood, when her eccentric father would read university-level mathematical compendiums to her instead of bedtime stories. When most little girls fell asleep to “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Snow White” or “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, she used to be lulled by the hypothetical theories of Gauss, Bernoulli, Euclid, Newton or Al-Khwârizmî and, ever since, mathematics made her go back to this lost feeling of warm safety.
However, as soon as her opponent fell, as soon as the fight ended, the consciousness of her pathetic self would always come back crashing in her mind and she would once more feel angry at everything because her own powerlessness.
If only I could-
“Eeeh… Athe… Athena? …”
An intermittent melodious voice suddenly snapped the Shield Bearer out of her spiralling dark thoughts.
“Eeeeh… So… So you’re … really a girl …”
The tall woman looked up, and answered in a flat tone:
“Yeah.”
“… but you … kissed me …”
“Yeah.”
“ … So … you’re a girl ... who likes other … girls …”
“Yeah.”
“… a lesbian …”
“Yeah.”
“… a gay woman …”
“Yeah...”
“… a sapphist …”
“Yes!”
“… a dyke …”
“DO YOU PLAN ON SPOUTING OUT THE WHOLE FREAKING DICTIONNARY?!”
“… a bad tempered dyke …”
Athena massaged her painful temples.
“I don’t even know what I was expecting. You’re really related to the God of Chaos after all.”
“… I told … you … I don’t have anything to do … with that stalker …”
“Whatever you say. And what are you doing?”
Athena was rapidly getting dizzy watching the weird princess. For the past five minutes, Victoria had been running back and forth between the wardrobe to the bed, taking out seemingly endless identical white dresses from the first and folding them neatly in a large trunk opened on the second.
“… Packing obviously … finally can leave … and … these dre-”
“Stay still for a couple minutes, will you?!”
Victoria halted herself midway to the bed, another attire in her hands, and turned towards the pissed Shield Bearer, swallowing a timely retort at the sight of a blue vein pulsing on the strong woman’s forehead.
“Hem… These dresses are made of magic cloth that absorbs blood, so they are pretty convenient. The wardrobe is magic too and the number of dresses inside is always the same. I believe it is linked to a storage place somewhere, since actually producing an infinite amount of enchanted clothes is a bit too much to... but I digress. Anyway, because the wardrobe itself is too large to fit in the [Inventory], I’m taking as much dresses as I can. Is this answer to your liking?”
Feeling her regrets of accepting this quest swell by the minute, Athena let out a weary sight.
“I guess… but why a trunk?”
“Well, that’s the thing, if you put a full container in your [Inventory], it will only take one slot, whatever is inside.”
“You can do that?!”
“Yes, that’s pretty obvious when you think about it. The downside is that you’ll have to take the full trunk out each time. So forget about pilling up countless weapons and quickly switch them in a fight, for example. Well, you can still throw the whole thing at your opponent. I’m sure a huge chest full of metal could make some dam-”
“But I saw nothing about it anywhere in the [Help] section.”
Victoria just shrugged.
“Dunno. I never read it.”
“You never read… no, never mind. I think I should try to stop being surprised.”
“It’s your life.”
Having satisfied her guest’s curiosity, the eccentric princess went back to her travel preparations.
A few seconds later, after processing the implications of what she just heard, Athena once more raised a question:
“But… since you can already stack identical items in a single slot, doesn’t it kind of defy the purpose of the trunk if you stuff it with identical dresses?”
“…” Victoria had frozen.
“Victoria?”
“… I… I didn’t thought of that.”
“…”
As Athena narrowed her eyes, the scatterbrain in front of her closed an eye, stuck her tongue out, tilted her head, and lightly knocked it with a “Tehe~”
The Shield Bearer facepalmed.
“You… I don’t know if you’re a genius, or an idiot.”
“I get that a lot,” the other distractedly replied while now emptying the content of the trunk in her [Inventory].
“…I give up. More importantly, are you okay? You were coughing up a lot of blood not ten minutes ago.”
“I’m fine. I have this [Heightened Erythropoiesis]. It’s a passive that sort of increase the regeneration rate of my blood. Although this is a bit incorrect, given erythrocytes are technically only the red blood cells and not th-”
“But don’t you have internal wounds?”
“Oh, that… Now that you mention it… *courgh*”
Red fluid gushed out of her mouth and the seriously wounded princess swayed sideways. Athena rushed to catch her… again.
“YOU MORON!! Don’t move so much if you’re that hurt!”
“Haha… *coughgrl* I’ll be fine. I just need to fill my [Thirst] bar. My healing speed is much better when it’s completely full.”
“[Thirst] bar?”
“Yeah… *goughlr* It’s a racial thing…”
“Race? What race?”
“*coughaargl* I’ll tell you, but could you first give me that glass on the table?”
“On the table?”
“Yes, that table…”
Both women turned their heads, and their eyes fell on a small collapsed round table and what looked like shards of a shattered crystal cup scattered on the carpet.
“…”
“…”
Athena faintly blushed.
“I… might have knocked it over when I rushed to catch you earlier…”
“Oh… that’s troublesome.”
“Was it important?”
“Not really, *crrlgough* it just kept me from dying.”
“WHAT?!”
“No- *courghl* No problem. A HP potion should do th- *hurl* the trick.”
“Do you have any?”
“No. Do you?”
Actually, Victoria had been sending letters to Daniel-san – under Elric’s name of course – through the [Nether Bag], and receiving materials in return, but since she could instantaneously revive, she had forgotten to ask for recovery items.
“No,” answered Athena.
“…”
“…”
“We’ll manage somehow.”
“HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED T- … And when did it turn into ‘we’?!”
“Better clean up this mess, since I don’t have *kuh* don’t have shoes and all…”
“HEY! Don’t just brush of what you just said! And don’t move when you’re coughing blood, for fuck’s sake!”
Not paying attention to the shouting woman, Victoria unsteadily tottered towards the shattered cup, knelt down, and reached out towards the largest shard, but her delicate hand was firmly caught by a larger one. Raising her unfocused gaze, the princess met Athena’s half-reproachful half-concerned amber eyes.
“You’re not well. I’ll do it.”
“Are you my mommy?” Victoria asked in a jokingly despondent manner.
Athena didn’t laugh.
“That’s not it,” she answered in a serious tone as she began gathering the sharp pieces of broken glass. “It my fault in the first place, and I’d feel guilty if you hurt yourself because of me. It’s my job to protect others after all.”
“Oh, right. Th- *cough* The tank-thing.”
Having been denied participation in the cleaning effort, the idle princess sat at a distance, bringing back her legs under herself and adopting the most lady-like posture she could think of. Though her attempt at looking elegant was a bit spoiled by another gory coughing fit.
Treating her life-threatening state as a mild annoyance, she dignifiedly reached inside the wardrobe, and took out a piece of magic cloth to wipe her chin, before returning her gaze towards her unceremoniously crouching interlocutor, who followed up on Victoria’s previous comment.
“Right. My main class is [Shield Bearer]. By the way, I have something sort of important to ask on that matter… But I guess it can wait until you’re a little better.”
“Oh, that class… *kufrl* the very tanky one… Saw some info on the forums… And you defeated Kalameet alone with a class like that?!”
“It wasn’t easy.” Athena shrugged it off.
“And people called me a monster…”
“You said something?”
“*cough* No… My main class is [Bloodsoul Mage] by the way.”
“[Bloodsoul Mage]? Never heard of it.”
“It just came out.”
“Is that so?”
Athena half pivoted towards the alleged Mage, an inquisitive eyebrow raised… then her jaw dropped in a comical manner.
“Wha-What the hell are you wiping your mouth with?!”
Puzzled, Victoria looked at what she was actually holding, which turned out to be one of her self-tailored panties.
“Oh…”
She giggled and held the underwear with the tip of her fingers like some precious fabric – which it was actually, “All hail the magic silk panties!” –, presenting it to the bewildered woman, before saying in a posh tone:
“Dear Shield Bearer, I pray that you take this favour as a token of my gratitUD!”
A fist slammed into her stomach, expelling another large mouthful of blood.
“Owggrrrllbrelgr…” she pertinently commented has she fell to the floor.
Athena’s eyes widened in horror at what she had just done and she leapt to the side of the collapsed Victoria while spouting confused excuses:
“AAAH!! I’m so sorry…. I didn’t… It’s just t-that my sis always… same kind of stupid jokes… and I just… on reflex… Why am I such a… damn…”
Looking about to expire any second, the princess raised a trembling hand to appease the appalled young woman.
“Hahahaaaaghl… Don’t worry… It’s not like I won’t *coughr* re-revive… Besides… I… I think I like it…”
Oh god, she’s delirious, was what Athena thought.
On the comfortable carpet, Victoria could feel her strength leaving her, along with copious amounts of thick red fluid. She could have used [Hematokinesis] to stop the blood leak, but it’s not like it would have done any good to her destroyed organs, so she didn’t bother.
*ba-dump*
Hahaha… I have such a shitty luck with women…
*ba-dump*
Maybe I should just resign myself…
*ba-dump*
What is that smell?
*ba-dump*
Slightly opening her blurry eyes, she tried to see through the darkness that was progressively shrouding her vision, and noticed the blood maculating Athena’s hand.
*BA-DUMP*
Ah… Did she cut herself?
For some reason, she could tell the blood wasn’t hers.
*ba-dump*
She’s such a klutz…
*ba-dump*
*ba-dump*
But it really smells nice…
*ba-dump*
*ba-dump*
*ba-dump*
She unconsciously reached out. Misunderstanding her actions, Athena took her shivering hand in her large palm, and squeezed, once more spewing incomprehensible apologies.
*ba-dump*
*ba-dump*
*ba-dump*
*BA-DUMP*
Victoria didn’t understand what the other was saying, nor did she care, all her attention focused on the red nectar that was now slowly dripping on her own hand. A deafening pulsation was echoing in her head, numbing her thoughts. Was it her own heart beating? Or the blood flowing in the woman’s vein? Honestly, the dhampir didn’t give a shit.
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP*
Weakly raising herself from the ground, Victoria began licking the back of her own hand, then of Athena’s, and up her forearm, as far as the gambeson allowed her, not minding her meal’s surprised gasps.
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP*
The taste was unlike anything she had ever tasted. It was like melted warm chocolate – she really liked chocolate –, but without the sickly sweet aftertaste, yet it felt refreshing like a glass of water after a long day under the scorching summer sun.
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP*
*BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP*
Barely conscious, lost in the hypnotic beat and otherworldly delicacy, unable to think anymore, she opened her mouth, her fangs briefly reflecting the light of the jewel chandelier, and violently sunk them in the enticing forearm.
“Wait, what are you doooaaaaaahn~”
Athena slapped her free hand on her mouth, shocked by the moan she had just let out.
The instant the strangely acting princess had bitten into her arm, electricity had rushed throughout her whole body and her mind had briefly gone blank, her lower body reacting in a manner completely unbefitting someone who had just been wounded. Even now, it required all her focus power to keep her thoughts straight and her voice in check as waves of pleasure assaulted her.
Wha… How… Did she? … Were those fangs? Is she some kind of beast ra- No, that doesn’t make sense… She… Vampire? But the race shouldn’t be avail-
“Aaahn~!”
She bit on her own finger to shut herself up.
Completely uncaring of her prey’s uncomfortable wriggling, the pale princess continued to mindlessly quench her thirst. Athena actually received notices of her HP slowly decreasing, but the amount was negligible for her boosted health pool, so she refrained from pushing Victoria away.
She could have easily done so, but if the girl really was some sort of vampire, it was logical that drinking blood would heal her. It was her fault too that the beauty was in such a state in the first place.
Besides, for all surprising it had been, the feeling was far from unpleasant…
“Mnnh!!”
How… I wouldn’t be hurt by something like that but this is… I this some kind of toxin? Sis mentioned something about vampires having something like tha-
“Mmmh!”
Damn! I don’t know any more! That’s why I didn’t want to play a fantasy game! I wanted to pilot a mecha, not face fangy creatures spiting aphrodisia-
“AMMMMMMH!!”
Giving up on rationalising the situation, Athena simply surrendered herself to her stimulated senses and patiently waited for Victoria to finish – which basically was the objective, as feeding on a consenting prey is far less difficult.
– *** –
After a blurry period of time, but that shouldn’t have been too long, after all the human body only held so much blood and Athena didn’t feel like she had lost a lot, Victoria sat back up, already looking much better, and clapped her hands together.
“Gochisousama deshita.”
“Wha-”
*ting*
New Skill: Blood Bag
(Passive)
As the Soulbound of the Progenitor, Victoria Sangbleu, your blood hold irresistible fragrance for your master and constitutes a meal without equal for her.
Level: Beginner 1
Effects:
- Victoria is naturally drawn to your blood when in a state of weakness.
- When consuming your blood, Victoria’s [Thirst] fills 5% faster.
- When consuming your blood, Victoria’s HP recovery rate increases by 5%. The effect persists for two minutes after the last drop of blood is ingested.
Athena blinked at the window, suddenly remembering the other message she had received earlier, the one that had informed her she had gained the secret subclass [Progenitor’s Soulbound]. She had been meaning to ask Victoria about it, but the events had unfolded in such a way that she still had not been able to follow through.
On her side, Victoria too was staring at the air before her. Then she tilted her head in confusion and whispered:
“What the hell is a Soulbound? And who’s this Progenitor person? Me?”
Athena slipped on the fragments of her shattered expectations and fell on the carpet.
She quickly got herself back together though and punched the idiot’s head, managing to hold back a little this time.
“Aouch… I haven’t fully recovered, you kno-”
“YES, YOU!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW?!! YOU’RE THE REASON I ENDED UP WITH THIS WEIRD SUBCLASS!!!” She jumped up and took the ceiling as witness. “AAAAAAH!!! I DON’T BELIEVE THIS!!”
“Oh! You got a subclass?! Isn’t it great?”
“NOO!! I was analysing the pros and cons of various classes to understand which one would have the best synergy with [Shield Bearer] and now I’m stuck with something I don’t even know the slightest info about!! How can this be ‘great’?!”
Not minding Athena’s irritation, Victoria struck her open palm with her fist like she suddenly had an illumination.
“That’s why you took four months to decide!”
“YES! AND NOW ALL MY RESEARCH JUST WENT UP IN FUMES THANKS TO YOU AND THAT CHAOS BASTARD!!”
Victoria calmly stood up and brushed imaginary dust off her dress.
“Bah. See it like an opportunity to study a class nobody knows.”
“BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED…”
“Besides, it’s not like you can’t change class.”
“…TO PLA- What?”
“Like I said, there are ways to change you class.”
“But nothing like that is-”
“Mentioned in the [Help] menu? Well, of course, since I’m the one who discovered it. I probably am not the only one though.”
That calm way of stating the impossible rendered Athena speechless for a few seconds.
“Discovered it? Wha… How?!”
“Well… It’s rather embarrassing,” the Bloodsoul Mage said while looking away and blushing.
“JUST SPILL IT!!”
Victoria took a frightened pose.
“Waaaa… Mommy, the scary woman is being mean again…”
It took all of Athena’s willpower to rein down her temper and prevent herself from strangling the girl who obviously enjoyed toying with her nerves, then she asked in a forcefully composed manner:
“Could you please develop.”
“Well… Hihi…” Victoria began, this time adopting the demeanour of a shy ditsy girl, arms behind her back and a naked feet sweeping back and forth. “I kinda got cursed and my class changed… Tehe~”
A vein popped on Athena’s forehead, but her tightening fists were the only visible sign of her rapidly losing her tentative cool.
“So… the only way to change class is to get cursed?”
“Oh. Don’t sound so disappointed. At least that means it is possible.”
“BUT YOU HAVE… *inhale* But you have no idea of the precise method!”
“Precise method… precise method… precision is overrated…”
“You-”
“That’s what I would have answered yesterday, but seeing you fight made me reconsider.”
“Seeing me fight?”
Instead of answering, Victoria gestured towards the mirror, which obediently displayed the image of the ruined throne room.
“…Oh. That’s convenient.”
“Well yes, but a girl needs some distraction when she’s stuck in a tower for four months.”
“Four months!?”
“Yeah… Well, that’s the curse and all…”
Taking a few steps back, Athena sat on the bed and insistently tapped the sheets beside her in a universal gesture signifying “Get your ass over here, bitch, and get the fuck talking before I make you talk”. Victoria obediently followed and sat down… on the Shield Bearer’s lap.
“…”
“Is there something wrong?” she asked with upturned eyes and a malicious grin.
“No-nothing.”
Athena was making a complex face.
This princess just upset my pace… She looks and acts like a child that couldn’t handle herself if left alone, then she smiles and I get the feeling I’m the one being toyed with. What is she exactly?!
It’s not like the tall woman was inexperienced in relationships. In fact, in the nineteen years of her life – she wasn’t that old –, more specifically in the last four, she had switched lovers many times. Since she was more the aggressive type, in more ways than one, she usually ended up being the “strong link” in the couple. But there had also been a few girls she went out with that actually managed to bring out the shyest part of herself, reversing the roles.
But the fragile beauty in her thin white dress just refused to stick to either end of the spectrum, incessantly jumping from childish girl to mysterious woman, most often keeping herself in a blur in-between the two.
Athena just didn’t know how to handle this random oddball.
Besides, why am I even thinking about this like I’m actually considering a relationship? I only met her an hour ago at most! I just can’t think straight. I must have accumulated too much mental fatigue. I should log out soon.
“So, what do you want to know?” Victoria asked innocently, while her mind actually raced in all sorts of directions in order to sound convincing without revealing too much and avoid blowing Elric’s cover.
Confusing the tall woman was of course part of the plan, partially at least. Victoria also did it because it was fun to see all those weird expressions succeed each other on her face.
The princess had noticed something about Athena. Outwardly, the Shield Bearer was really blunt and a tad violent – well, that probably wasn’t only a façade and Victoria didn’t dislike that part of her –, but she paradoxically also gave off a feeling of insecurity, like she had gotten used to wearing an armour of spikes from being hurt too often.
Similarly, while she was rather open with her sexual preferences, she also seemed to have some complexes about it. It could be said she was “defensively forceful” in fact, and the princess intended to take full advantage of the Shield Bearer’ unbalanced personality in order to avoid certain topics.
Victoria wasn’t too happy about this. She naturally wasn’t a manipulative person, except towards herself, and didn’t particularly like to toy with people weaknesses, except when she didn’t care enough to notice said weaknesses. However, she couldn’t allow her true gender to be exposed here.
First, because it would make the situation unbelievably uncomfortable.
Second, because she still didn’t know the other party that well, and wasn’t absolutely sure she could count on her discretion. After all, Elric had made quite a few enemies over the past two in-game years, enemies who Victoria knew she wasn’t strong enough to face if they by chance heard of her current weakened state.
Third, and actually the main reason, because Victoria was deeply interested in this strong-weak girl. The earlier fight against the [Soul Dragon of the Abyss “Kalameet”] was still replaying in a corner of her mind, and the convinced scatterbrain craved once more seeing this precise and merciless dance of death. She wasn’t romantic enough to entertain stupid thoughts like “love at first sight” and the likes, but it was undeniable Athena captivated her somehow and that Victoria wanted to stay close to her. If being a girl enabled her to do so, then she would be a girl.
In the end, be it Nicolas, Elric or Victoria, all three were the same essentially selfish person.
“So… Anything?” she repeated while sneakily snuggling against the tall woman and reducing the gap between their faces.
Seeing the other blush even more, Victoria mentally noted to later cook something for Mary, as thanks for the unintentional tutoring.
“Eeeeh…” Athena took a deep breath. “Wha-What race are you, some kind of vampire?”
“Ah! That’s easy. Yes. A dhampir actually, half human, half vampire. And before you ask, I don’t think the vampire race is available, so I gather this curse also had something to do with unlocking the race.”
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“So you weren’t a vamp… dhampir before?”
“No. That’s all part of the curse.”
“Which curse?”
“Victoria’s curse.”
“Aren’t you Victoria?”
“I am, but I am not.”
It would probably have made things easier if she hadn’t mentioned this, but “Victoria” knew that her careless self wouldn’t have been able to hide it on the long run, so better let the bat out of the bag now than later, so to speak.
“You are… but not… What?!”
“I wasn’t Victoria, now I am. That’s the curse.”
“You… transformed into Victoria?”
“Yep.”
“Then who were you before?”
That’s the tricky question… thought the possessed girl.
She took a long inspiration, and then:
“Well, I was taller, and blond, a bit tougher too… More the badass swordsmage kind than the hikikomori princess kind. Then I took a quest, got screwed over, my level reset to twenty-three… well, I somehow managed to climb back to twenty-five… my skills reset too, my spell list erased, my class changed… Oh! I got the subclass [Princess] by the way… and I have been unable to leave this tower ever since. And I have the disembodied spirit of the original Victoria, who was an actual princess around two thousand years ago who got killed by her husband in a tragicomedy that would put Romeo and Juliette to shame, but I digress. Anyway, she’s sort of squatting my mind and chanting murderous bullshit all day long… though she had been quite for the past hour… I guess whatever happened earlier hurt her somehow… Ah! But the barrier around this tower seemed to have been broken too, so I can leave now. I am still stuck in that body, but the class and powers are quite good in the end, so I’m not too upset… Well, the level reset suck, but since I didn’t lose all my previous stats, that means I actually can again level up fast and get extra stats points! Hahahaha!”
Athena blinked, trying to process the barrage of information she just had been hit with, and reflexively went back to her safe haven: numbers.
“So… what level were you before?”
“Around one hundred and thirty.”
“…” – A mouth hang open.
Victoria tilted her head interrogatively, like saying: “Did I say something strange?” while internally smirking.
“…and you went back down to twenty-three?”
“Yep.”
“And your fine with that?”
“It’s only levels, nothing that important.”
“… I think I will just stop using my common sense for some time.”
“Why? Having someone to talk is sort of refreshing. I have been playing solo for so long now, it was sort of getting boring. Especially these past eight months, since this country in particular is especially lacking in conversation partners, even if only considering NPCs.”
“Right. Where are we?”
“In the Erwynian Kingdom, somewhere directly east from Firstland.”
“So… this is the Wild?”
“Yep. [Tiamat Mountain Range]. Although we’re currently in a valley in a mountain in a country in more mountains. Like geological matryoshka dolls.”
“Tiamat… wasn’t that…”
“The place where DHF has been trying to get into for the past two months? It is.”
“And you’ve been here for the past four months?”
“Eight, if you count the time before I got cursed.”
“If Prince Orchid knew that…”
“Haha… I can just imagine his whiny face. But the elf Lily is the one you don’t want to anger.”
“… I see.”
Having finally assimilated the earlier information, Athena made a deep thinking expression. Noticing this, Victoria mentally put on sunglasses, a leather suit and a long black coat, and prepared to dodge bullets.
I am the One…
“So… you’re one of the Deep Explorers?”
“Yes, but my face isn’t really known.”
*vieeew*
That’s not exactly a lie…
“Then…”
– *** –
For the next hour, an increasingly sweaty princess somehow managed to survive under the incessant shots of the redoubtably meticulous Shield Bearer, who somehow managed to conciliate the precision of sniper with the cadence of a machine gun in her thorough interrogation.
“I think I’ve got a good grasp of the situation,” Athena eventually noded.
“Thanks Hell…”
“…There’s just one last thing I want to ask.”
*gulps* “Y-yes?”
“How do we get out of here?”
“AH! But by the door of course.”
“…”
“What?”
“That’s not-”
“Right! Well, don’t worry. I’ve got a few plan with high survival chances.”
“Survival chances? Not success rate?”
“Oh… I never estimate success. It’s easier to swallow when you fail if you didn’t bother thinking about it beforehand.”
“WHAT KIND OF WAY OF THINKING IS THAT!!”
“Haha… To think I would miss that shouting already.”
“STOP MAKING FUN OF- Haaaa… *sigh* I give up. Even if I now understand where we are, I still have no idea on how to cross that over-150 forest without dying.”
“How did you make it to the castle then?”
“Ah… thanks to this.”
She made a wide gesture, and an ominous pitch-black shield oozing red miasma materialized in her hand. Victoria smiled broadly at the sight of the spooky snake-haired skull, rapidly clapping her hands like a kid ready to open her birthday presents.
“Waaah! It’s even cooler up-close! Can I take a look?”
“Yes…” Athena made a puzzled face. “You don’t feel anything looking at it?”
“No. Why?” Victoria tilted her head – this was becoming a habit.
“All the monsters I met earlier were temporarily stunned when they looked at it.”
“Oh…”
A light flickered in the Bloodsoul Mage’s eyes, and she looked more intensively at the dark piece of equipment, mumbling to herself:
“Mmmmh… a bit far fetch… but maybe… [Hereditary Memory].”
Calling out the trait, she stared at the shield for a few seconds, then her face contorted in an unpleasant manner and she half-turned towards the owner of the item.
“Eeeeh… where did you get that thing exactly?”
“I got it from Chaos… Is there something wrong?” the Shield Bearer asked, already fearing the answer.
“From Chaos uh? I guess… Well… I wouldn’t say ‘wrong’… This is a great shield… but… Well, see for yourself. Show data of [Cursed Gorgon Shield] to Athena Pallas.”
Athena twitched upon hearing the full name of the gear, and looked at the window that had appeared in front of her.
Cursed Gorgon Shield
[Cursed Scales Guard] pieces possessed: 1/3Type:Defensive Gear, Cursed ArtefactRestrictions:200+ STR, 30+ WillpowerDefense:169Satiety:122/150
An ancient shield forged during the Twilight War, part of the [Cursed Scales Guard] set, and imbued with the soul of a dreadful monster.
The gorgons had the ability to petrify their prey with a single look. Although the species is now believed extinct, their power live on though this artefact, striking fear in the heart of its wielder’s enemies, dreadful memorabilia of the once feared race.
However be careful, for the power of the gorgons is a treacherous one and this shield will seek to consume its owner.
Special Attribute:
Will inflict the statuses [Paralysed] and [Fear] to anyone who meets the eyes of the gorgon skull. The duration of the effects depends on the target’s [Willpower].
Curse Effects:
- Will turn you into stone if not fed regularly.
- As long as the [Cursed Gorgon Shield] recognises you as its owner, no other shield can be equipped.
“WHAT THE HELL!!” the Shield Bearer glared at the dhampir princess, who just shrugged in return.
“Don’t scream at me… I think it’s a great shield. A defence of one hundred and sixty-nine isn’t bad at all, and if you add the effect, that’s almost a cheat shield. Well, most cursed artefact are. That’s why they are cursed and all…”
“BUT-”
Victoria shut Athena up with a smile and a finger on her lips.
“Shush. No screaming. My head hurts, and you will ruin you beautiful voice.”
The woman’s eyed widened at Victoria unexpected compliment. She herself thought her voice was nothing special, not compared to the princess’ at least. In fact, it was deep and raspy, not womanly at all, but your voice in-game of course depended on your virtual body, not your real-life voice, so it’s not like she had much choice. Therefore, she couldn’t determine if the pale beauty was sincere of making fun of her again.
“…”
Victoria removed her finger, and her mischievous smile broadened.
“Good girl.” She struck her favourite thinking pose, although without the beard. “Now, what do you think that ‘feeding’ part is about? Normal food? Souls maybe? Mmmmh… I wouldn’t like you to turn into a statue. It would be a hassle to carry you around to the nearest shrine to get you purified. I’m not even sure I could get into… Ah! Now that I think of it, we could go to a shrine to get your freed from the shield, so don’t feel too depressed alright?”
Athena simply nodded.
“Good. Now… Well, leaving the feeding issue aside for now… whatever the circumstances might be, you did came to my rescue and I am grateful for that. So…”
Victoria jumped up from the tough woman’s lap, gracefully spun and, crossing her legs and slightly bending her knees, she lifted the sides of her dress before bowing in a perfectly executed curtsey. Four months of boredom and a little help from [Court Etiquette] could make one gain the most unexpected skills.
“From the bottom of my heart, my lady, I thank you,” she said in a gentle dignified tone. “As for your reward, it so happen that I have in my possession an item that, I think, would most suit a strong warrior such as yourself, and I hope this small favour can help repay my debt to you.”
Still having difficulties to keep up with the princess ever-shifting mood, Athena could only answer in totally serious tone:
“As long as it is not blood stained panties…”
“Oh… right.” Victoria began looking around. “But blood… wouldn’t have stained… them… since… Where are those panties anyway? I should have dropped them arou-”
“So, that item?”
“Yes! Follow me.”
– *** –
Victoria guided her guest down the stairs, ignoring several doors before stopping in front of one, roughly situated in the middle of the tower, that nothing apparently differentiated from the others.
“Here we are. Please help yourself,” the dhampir princess said as she designated the handle.
With a curious look at the smiling girl, Athena pushed the door…
“HA! Right I forgot that you wouldn’t be able t-”
…which opened without problem.
“…”
“To what?”
“Must be the [Soul Bond] thing…”
“What is?”
“Normally, I should have been the only one able to open this door, since it was locked with Soul Magic, but I guess since we’re linked… or maybe it is the barrier collapsing…”
Victoria frowned. She had the feeling she was forgetting something, something important. But since she couldn’t remember what, she decided not to dwell on it too much and instead asked:
“As anything else changed with the new class? New stats, new skills, new anything?”
Athena replied that she wasn’t sure. Aside from the [Blood Bag] skill she had been informed of earlier, she hadn’t had the time to thoroughly check her character windows since she unexpectedly gained the subclass. After hearing her answer, Victoria pressed her to look at her [Status Window], which she did.
“Show [Status Window].”
Status Window
IdentityName:Athena PallasAlignment:DarknessLevel:90Class:Shield BearerRace:HumanSubclass:Progenitor’s SoulboundGender:FemaleMarital Status:SingleTitleUnyielding Defender
Body & SoulHealth:5 220/5 220Mana:200/200Stamina:3 320/3 320Fame:160
Basic StatsStrength (STR):232Wisdom (WIS):20Agility (AGI):60Intelligence (INT):20Vitality (VIT):222Charism* (CHA):13 (+0)
Additional Stats*Defence:98Stamina:92Endurance:87Willpower:39
Magical AffinitiesPrimeFire:1ENature:1EWater:1EVoid:1EAir:1ELight:1EEarth:1EDarkness:1ESubBlood (Darkness):1ERunes (Void):1ELightning (Fire):1ESoul (Darkness):1EPoison (Nature):1E
*Stat points cannot be added to this stat.
“UH?!”
“What is it?”
Athena thoughtfully gazed at Victoria. Showing your [Status Window] to another player you didn’t know well was generally considered a bad idea, but since the cursed princess had spontaneously shared hers during her earlier explanation – the impossible number of magical affinities had left her speechless for a few seconds –, the Shield Bearer didn’t hesitate much.
After rapidly skimming through the information and mumbling to herself for a couple minutes, the Bloodsoul Mage eventually let out a:
“Oh… so it’s like this. Interesting.”
“What is?”
The hot-tempered woman was feeling impatient again, but was also starting to understand that trying to force things out of the crazy dhampir wouldn’t work well and would probably backfire, so she managed to talk calmly.
“Well, I am right to think you didn’t possess any magical affinity before?”
“Yes. And my alignment switched from Neutral to Darkness. ”
“Mmmh… Yes, it makes sense. Then I guess it came from me.”
“Does it mean I’ll be able to use magic?”
“Probably not. Maybe very basic spells, but your INT and WIS really aren’t up to the task. However, now that you’ve unlocked the affinities, which is the most difficult part, you should gain some defence bonuses against magical attacks and there is also the possibility of levelling them through mana backlash.”
“Mana backlash?” Athena didn’t even bother mentioning the [Help] menu anymore.
“Yes. Basically, it means getting hit by magic raises your affinity to the specific element. A bit like someone throw into deep water will learn to swim on their own.”
“If they don’t drown first.”
“That’s the purpose of the analogy.”
“… I see.”
“However…”
“However?” she didn’t like the sound of that.
“Hehe… that’s silly… but normally those affinities were originally mine.”
“Yes, you said that already.”
“No, I mean… mine, not Seras’.”
Victoria had explained the nickname earlier, a bit disappointed that the overly serious Shield Bearer didn’t get the reference.
Somehow understanding what the princess meant, Athena made a difficult face.
“So… It shouldn’t have happened?”
“Right. It would make sense only Seras’ ability would be partially transferred, but you got the full package instead.”
“Which means…”
“That something went wrong and that removing the [Progenitor’s Soulbound] subclass might be a tad more difficult than expected?”
“YOU!”
The irascible woman finally snapped and caught Victoria by the throat, lifting her of the ground and slamming her in the wall next to the door.
*rumble*
“Hahargh… I can feel the [Strength] stat… *wheeze* truly amazing…”
“YOU SAID YOU COULD REMOVE THIS MISFIT CLASS!!!”
“I- *wheeze* I said it was ‘possible’, which is totally differeeaaargh…”
“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOUR EXCUSES!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IMPORTANT THIS CHARACTER IS FOR ME?! I NEED THIS!! I CAN’T…”
This is bad, Victoria thought.
Athena wasn’t strangling her per say, but the added effect of the out-of-control Shield Bearer’s absurd STR and the Bloodsoul Mage’s own pathetic one, plus the fact some aftereffects of the aborted curse transfer still lingered, were causing her already small health pool to dwindle at an alarming pace.
I didn’t want to do this, but…
Focusing her mana into her eyes, the dhampir princess voicelessly activated [Bewitching Eye]. As she had first guessed, the skill was indeed some sort of hypnotism, somehow based on both the [Charism] and [Willpower] stats, along with the [Charm] trait. It was both an active and passive skill, meaning it was always effective but that she could actually increase the potency if willingly using mana for it.
“Athena, it hurts. Stop. Please,” she pleaded, her voice suddenly dropping an octave and filling with seductiveness.
*ting*
Action impossible. The target is immune to [Bewitching Eye].
“WHAaaagh?!”
Fortunately for her spine, in spite of the skill being completely inefficient, Victoria’s actions did reap some results, as the deliriously shouting near-berserker Shield Bearer suddenly focused her blood-shot glare on the air before her eyes.
“[Vampiric Control Immunity]? What…”
Then she finally seemed to calm down a bit and noticed the frail woman struggling to breathe. Her eyes widened in horror and she hastily released her grasp. Victoria fell on the ground, painfully short-winded.
“Ha… Haha… Ha… Ha…”
“I-I-I’m so so-sorry… I’m such a… I didn’t want to…”
“Ha… *cough* Ha… Hahaha… Ha…”
“I’m always a-”
“Ha-HahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
“…Eh?”
“HAHAHA!! This is sooo great! Hahahaha!”
Athena stared in worried confusion at the princess who was rolling on the stone floor, holding her sides laughing.
Oh no! What have I done?! Did the lack of oxygen got to her brain? Wait… this is a game, that shouldn’t be possible.
“Vi-Victoria?”
“Hahahaha… Uuuuh… Hahahaha… You… You’re completely nuts, you know that?”
“I’m so sorry. Sometimes I just snap and lose control and…”
“Haha…” Wiping her teary eyes, Victoria got up and waved her hand to express she didn’t mind.
Then, she abruptly closed in on the dejected woman’s face, standing tiptoe to reach her ear, and whispered in a malicious voice: “Oh, by the way, I like girls too.”
And, leaving the stunned Shield Bearer behind, she entered the room.
Athena followed a good minute later.
– *** –
“Thi-this is the item you were talking about?”
“Indeed, my fair strangler. Indeed…”
“… I can’t accept someth-”
“T-t-t-t-t! It’s mine, so I do whatever I want with it. What would I need it for? It’s not like I can wear it.”
The “item” in question was a dazzling full-body armour, short of its helmet. Extremely delicate, entirely of silver and gold, with its breastplate decorated with a roaring lion drawn up on its posterior legs, the gear looked more like a parade equipment than something that could be of any practical use.
However Victoria, who had checked its stats beforehand, knew the magic armour was far from useless.
Actually, the room they were in right now used to be full of armours, probably once owned by the successive knights to fall victims to Seras’ curse. Now only naked dummies remained, their uniforms stripped off them and sent to the headquarters of Horizon. The only reason why this one was still there was because Victoria had intended to use it herself after being freed from the curse, since Elric’s Runic armour – which had been experimental, contrary to this masterpiece – had shattered after facing Kalameet, four months ago.
As it now seemed she would be stuck in this weak princess body for a while more – not that she complained – giving the unused piece of first class equipment to Athena as a thank-you gift for breaking the curse – be it partially – seemed the logical thing to do.
“…”
Athena continued to voicelessly stare at the flashy armour, her face red from both shame and embarrassment as the earlier events replayed in a loop in her mind.
“I… I really can’t accept.”
“Just take it. It belonged to an idiot with no control over his killing impulses in the first place, so maybe it’s fate.”
Athena raised an interrogative eyebrow, to which Victoria designated herself.
“My ex-husband.”
“WHA-”
“Well, Seras’. Ambrose Corbin, seventh of the name or something…”
“You…”
For the first time in a long period, Athena had neither the energy nor any will left to raise her voice.
“AAAAAH!!” Victoria, on the other hand, was pissed for some reason. “Stop tergiversating!! You take it, or I melt it!”
“Wha- ?! Don’t do that! Something so valuable!”
“I don’t care. If the person I want to give it to doesn’t want it, then I have no use for it! Better throw it away. *inhale* HEAR MY COMMAND FIRE MIGHTY!! NOW FORM A SPHER-”
“NONONONONONO!! I’ll take it. I’ll take it!”
“See… I knew you would like it.”
“…”
Victoria inwardly chuckled at her successful bluff.
Although It was true she had used the past four months to accomplish some rituals and once again gain access to a few spells, those were mostly weak ones like [Fireball], [Wind Blade], [Water Shield], [Rock Bullet] et cetera, as well as the three basic Soul Spells. The advanced magic mentioned in Corbin’s Grimoire, as she named it, required many rare ingredients, when she even knew what the book was talking about. As such, nothing in her current arsenal would have left even a scratch on Ambrose’ Runic armour.
Probably, Athena hadn’t needed too much convincing either. The incantation for [Fireball] wasn’t so difficult to identify and the Shield Bearer seemed to be the kind who would memorize all the common spells even if she couldn’t use them.
Quickly switching gear, Victoria went behind the tall woman and began pushing her towards the armour.
Or tried too… since she couldn’t make the muscular tank budge a millimetre.
Not bothered by the inefficiency of her actions, the frail princess continued while talking excitedly:
“Come on! I’m sure it will look great on you! The armour is called the [Lion of Courage] by the way. It can adapt to its wearer’s body, and like its name implies, it boost the [Willpower] sta- Ah! But it can only be worn if… But you have it. Right, it was also a condition for the gorgon shield… Good. Good. Well, what are you waiting for? Try it on!”
Surrendering to her companion’s enthusiasm, Athena took a few steps towards the armour.
*thud*
“Ow…”
Victoria hadn’t anticipated the sudden movement and was now face on the floor. Athena sighed and helped the clumsy princess up, then adopted a puzzled look as Victoria ragingly removed a ring from her left middle finger and began to copiously insult the accessory. The Progenitor’s Soulbound decided it was better leaving said Porgenitor to her antics, and once again stepped towards the [Lion of Courage].
She then put a hand on the breastplate, and said:
“Equip.”
The armour briefly turned into light, before blinking out of existence and reappearing on Athena’s body, perfectly fitting her as Victoria had claimed. Incidentally, the person in question had finally put the [Calamity Ring] back in her [Inventory] and was now staring attentively at the Shield Bearer in her new equipment.
“Haha! I knew it would suit you! How does it feel?”
“Great actually. You were right this-”
*ting*
Due to your ownership of a piece of the [Cursed Scales Guard], the true nature of the [Lion of Courage] has been unsealed.
“WHAT NOW?!”
“Is something wrong?” Victoria asked in a worried tone.
Before Athena could answer, the [Cursed Gorgon Shield] suddenly appeared on her right arm and its miasma began to engulf her whole body. The silver became pitch-black and the gold a nauseating purple red, while the head of a mean-looking goat grew from the shoulder of the lion and its tail turned into a hissing snake, the overall appearance of the beast changing from strong and proud to sick and murderous.
*ting*
You have obtained the [Cursed Chimera Armour].
Matching the shield, the transformed armour was now too exuding a gloomy feeling and was surrounded in a reddish haze.
“A-Athena, are you alright?” asked a worried-sounding Victoria, though her concern was somewhat belied by sparkling eyes and an uncontrollable twitching at the corner of her lips.
Not bothering to answer, Athena just glared reproachfully at the princess. A glare that could easily be interpreted as “ANSWERS! NOW!”
“Haha… Eeeeh… Right. [Hereditary Memory]?”
Cursed Chimera Armour
[Cursed Scales Guard] pieces possessed by current owner: 2/3Type:Defensive Gear, Cursed ArtefactRestrictions:200+ STR, 30+ WillpowerDefense:69Durability:100/100
An ancient armour forged during the Twilight War, part of the [Cursed Scales Guard] set, and imbued with the soul of a dreadful monster.
The Chimera was once a mighty beast feared for its strength and rage. With the body of a mutated lion bearing a supernumerary goat head and a poisonous snake as its tail, it symbolised the impossible and the absurd. Legend has it that the Chimera was in fact able to increase its own power by absorbing other beings and assimilating their strengths, and such is the power of this armour forged with the remains of the creature.
However be careful, for the power of the Chimera is a treacherous one and this armour will seek to drown its owner in the mindless rage of the beast.
Special Attributes:
- [Defence] and [Durability] will increase as the armour absorbs materials stronger than itself.
- New abilities may arise.
Curse Effects:
- Will inflict the [Berserk] status to its wearer if their health drops under 10%.
- As long as the [Cursed Chimera Armour] recognises one as its owner, no other armour can be equipped.
Victoria began to sweat.
“So?” the Shield Bearer asked in a dangerously calm voice.
The very pale beauty slowly lifted her gaze to meet the tall woman’s narrowed eyes, and replied in a tensed shaky voice:
“Eeeehehe… It-It’s a great armour?”
– ***** –
----------------------------------------
At first, I had intended to have Victoria and Athena leave Bluerose this chapter, then I hit the 9k mark and noticed I was still far from my objective, so I split it instead of rushing it. Well, unfortunately, that means more chapters… Such a shame. It’s devastating, I know…
Anyway, I think this is a good chapter. Maybe a bit too much dialogues, or maybe confusing PoVs… If you were confused, I apologize. I don’t want to have a story where I strictly segment which part is whose PoV, so I use a third person narration. But, since Elric/Victoria had been alone until now, I’m still experimenting. Don’t hesitate to complain.
Soooo… with that said, thanks you for reading, and see you next chapter for the dungeon break… hopefully.
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