Chapter 7:
There’s no place like home?
“A girl worth fighting f-.”
– Mulan
– ***** –
“Vicky! Oh! Victoria, wake up! Damn! The fuck is this shit?”
Kneeling on the green stone, Athena frowned as the soreness progressively left her body. Her worried eyes glared at the passed out Victoria she was holding. The white-haired girl was always so dynamic and all-over-the-place – even in her sleep she trashed around – that it was surprising how thin and fragile she looked now that she actually laid still.
Beads of sweat were pearling on her forehead and her gorgeous lips quivered faintly. Her usually immaculate porcelain skin was covered in sinuous and circumvoluted blood-red lines. The asymmetrical tribal tattoo radiated from her chest, where a tear-shaped gem was embedded, and they pulsated a faint glow.
The appearance of the princess was troubling, but what disturbed the Shieldbearer was how long the girl had been unconscious.
True unconsciousness existed in Untold Tale, but it was a timed feature. The longest an adventurer could remain in that state was forty minutes. The duration seemed a bit arbitrary, but it was because it corresponded to ten minutes in real life.
It was one of the settings that weighted realism against practicality, as it wouldn’t do for someone who intended to log in for a couple hours to wake up two days later because he was in a coma in-game. Therefore, past that set delay, the player’s consciousness automatically woke up from its sleep-like state. Their senses could still be cut off, but they could at least access to the interface and, for example, log out.
Most actually did.
Nobody liked being trapped in a comatose body, and the occasions when one would need to take action as soon as they woke up were pretty rare. For the average player, being knocked out and not dying for forty minutes could only mean they had sustained a serious injury, and were being slowly healed at something similar to a temple. Elric would have disagreed, given his tendency to wake up tied up to a sacrificial altar surrounded by an angry covenant of blood witches, but he was sort of an exception – normal people didn’t waltz in in the middle of a unholy ritual to ask for directions.
Athena however couldn’t have known her companion’s slightly abnormal standards. And thus she was worried sick. And pissed, but that was a default characteristic.
When Victoria had first collapsed, she had mindlessly wanted to rush to her side, only to pathetically fail in her heroic rescue attempt. Her irrational reaction and lack of foresight still made the tall woman’s cheek flush red in shame.
Once the [Stunned] status had worn off, she had tried to breach the barrier of kaleidoscopic rainbow, but to no avail. Then, after about fifteen minutes, an intense pain had erupted all over her body and she had nearly passed out. However the passive skills of her class had helped her endure and retain her consciousness.
She had then noticed she could finally cross the immaterial obstacle blocking the entrance to the tunnel. She had rushed to the screaming collapsed Victoria and reflexively checked her vitals, following the first aid lessons she had taken in real life.
Well, that didn’t help much since “magical tattoo eating your soul” wasn’t something first aid prepared you to face…
More than an hour and a half had passed since then and, according to Athena’s short friend list, the Progenitor still hadn’t logged out. The Shieldbearer was losing it from not understanding what was going on.
She was within a hairsbreadth of slapping the girl awake – FINISH HER! – when Victoria’s eyelids finally twitched open, narrowly escaping a gruesome fatality.
“...mmmh… Thena?”
Athena let out the breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding and then, well, she swore of course.
“Damn! FUCK, Vicky!! What the hell happened?”
“What do you mean? I fell through the rainbow – a fabulous expression by the way –, it hurt like hell and I passed out. I think something happened before I lost consciousness, but all I can remember are some foggy red and bl-”
*ting*
The dhampir was cut off by several windows suddenly popping up in front of her.
Harmonization with the [Vampiric Tear] completed.
Failure notification:
Due to inadequate body, the physical enhancements couldn’t be completed. The corresponding energy has been redirected towards mind enhancements.
+4 STR
+10 AGI
+4 VIT
+ 44 WIS
+ 44 INT
+ 44 CHA
+20 Willpower
Darkness affinity has levelled up to Tier 3, Early.
Blood (Darkness) affinity has levelled up to Tier 2, Early.
Soul (Darkness) affinity has levelled up to Tier 2, Early.
[Bewitching Eye] has levelled up to Beginner 5.
[Bloodline Aura] has levelled up to Beginner 5.
[Drain] has levelled up to Beginner 3.
[Hematokinesis (Higher)] has levelled up to Beginner 6.
[Metamorphosis] has levelled up to Beginner 6.
[Stealth] has levelled up to Beginner 3.
New skill [Bloodsoul Contract] awoken.
New skill [Soulmate] awoken.
New skill [Soul Mediation] awoken.
New skill [Soul Sense] awoken.
You have levelled up!
You have levelled up!
You have levelled up!
Vampiric Tear Type:Unique ArtefactRestrictions:Bloodsoul Mage, Vampire (duh!)
An ancient artefact, heirloom created during the [Twilight War] by the hand of the [First Progenitor Drake Sangbleu], father of the vampire race, as a container for the true essence of the fusion between Blood and Soul magic.
In the absence of a legitimate host, the gem was given to the Corbin family for safekeeping, and later used as the key to the [Ultimate Rainbow Barrier of Keep the Fuck Out] by the [Awesome Three].
Known Attributes:
- Control over the URBKFO.*
- Complete immunity against any harmful Soul or Blood magic. Any direct damage by Soul or Blood spells, of a level higher than the host’s respective affinity, will deplete the vampire’s Thirst instead of Health.*
- Accelerated mastery of Soul and Blood spells.
* shared with the Soulbound when in range of the [Soul Sense] skill.
New Skill:
Bloodsoul Contract
Fucking slave contract! Happy? Happy?! A bit of blood and tada~: enslaved soul!!
Well, okay… it’s more like a familiar than a slave. The other party gets a few advantages too. Pseudo-immortality is always a nice one. No more than two at your current level though. Your Soulbound doesn’t count. Wouldn’t work too well on the living either. And ask first, that’s called “being fucking polite”.
Oh, and try not to bite more than you can chew.
Level: Beginner 1
Effects:
- The subordinated soul cannot go against the orders of the skill user. That’s the theory, but the possibility of disobedience exists, and its probability is equal to the level difference if the subordinate’s level is higher.
- If dead, really dead, the subordinated soul, and their eventual envelope, can be brought back with a blood offering by the skill user after 24 hours.
- The subordinated soul gets minor resistance to Blood and Soul magic.
- Mana can be transferred from the master to the subordinate within the range of [Soul Sense].
- Other minor things you will have fun finding out… tehee~
New Skill:
Soulmate
(Passive, Shared)
That’s the Power of Love, dude. L.O.V.E.
Level: Beginner 1
Effects:
- Both soulmates are always aware each other’s approximate relative location.
- When in range of [Soul Sense], the acute awareness of the other’s soul reduces the probabilities of friendly fire by 10%. Doesn’t work on area-of-effect attacks… duh.
- Shared mana-pool. Again, [Soul Sense] range.
New Skill:
Soul Mediation
Dive in the metaphysical depths of your soul and uncover your mind's true potential. Side-effects may include nausea, disorientation, loss of focus, short-term memory loss, the inability to remember anything useful learned in the state of meditation, as well as low level psychosis. Basically, it’s damn useless at its current level.
Level: Beginner 1
Effect:
It’s complicated.
New Skill:
Soul Sense
(Passive)
Mind thing.
Level: Beginner 1
Effect:
Sense souls. Range: short.
“…”
Hoy… Isn’t there something wrong with the last two? And what’s with “Range: short”?! Is that even a recognised unit of measurement?!! The [Vampiric Tear] seems useful at least, even though a couple of names in there are suspicious. Most of my vampire skills have gained one or two levels. That’s something. But the discrepancy between body and mind stats continues to grow…
Ah. I gained three levels right? Let’s put those fifteen points in Agility… and… done. Because of the [Weak Sheltered Maiden] trait, I need five point for one in Strength and Vitality, so let’s leave protection to Thena and concentrate on movement… Since when do I care about those things? Mmmh, I need to be careful, Thena seems to have a bad influence on me. Anyway, at least now I should be able to dodge a stone thrown by a tetraplegic penguin with bad aim.
I probably should find a mount. [Riding] is still at Beginner 3… Maybe I could catch a [Night Mare] and use that [Bloodsoul Contract] skill? I’d like to avoid something named “Asparagus” though.
Done with her latest adjustments, Victoria titled her head and contemplated her status window.
Status Window
IdentityName:Victoria SangbleuAlignment:DarknessLevel:28Class:Bloodsoul MageRace:DhampirSubclass:PrincessGender:FemaleMarital Status:WidowTitleImmortal Exiled Princess
Body & SoulHealth:210/210Mana:6 770/6 770Stamina:220/220Fame:1 000
Basic StatsStrength (STR):22Wisdom (WIS):245Agility (AGI):45Intelligence (INT):277Vitality (VIT):21Charism* (CHA):264 (+1)
Additional Stats*Dexterity:17Luck:30Endurance:75Nobility:19Faith:0Stamina:2Leadership:40Willpower:158
Magical AffinitiesPrimeFire:1LNature:1MWater:1MVoid:1MAir:1MLight:2LEarth:1MDarkness:3ESubBlood (Darkness):2ERunes (Void):1MLightning (Fire):1MSoul (Darkness):2EPoison (Nature):1E
*Stat points cannot be added to this stat.
I’ve become a typical glass canon, haven’t I? I’d appreciate if Endurance had something to do with my stamina, but it’s only about damages and pain. Well, I guess that means I’m not THAT fragile, but without skills… yeah, the stat in itself isn’t all that useful. I’m sure Thena has plenty of Endurance related skills.
Speaking of Thena…
Victoria’s gaze floated up towards the tall woman, who was also staring at thin air.
“You’ve got something on your face.”
“Have you seen yourself?”
The Progenitor glanced at her own arms, where had flourished red patterns mirroring those covering her Soulbound. A jolt of anxiety and the feeling of being trapped passed through her mind, but she couldn’t think of any reason why those cool tattoos would scare her, so she shrugged it off.
The tribal lines were beginning to fade anyway, so she reported her attention to her companion.
“Got anything interesting?”
Athena grumbled in response, then took a last peek at her own stats.
Status Window
IdentityName:Athena PallasAlignment:DarknessLevel:91Class:ShieldbearerRace:HumanSubclass:Progenitor’s SoulboundGender:FemaleMarital Status:SingleTitleUnyielding Defender
Body & SoulHealth:5 270/5 270Mana:200/200Stamina:3 340/3 340Fame:160
Basic StatsStrength (STR):234Wisdom (WIS):20Agility (AGI):60Intelligence (INT):20Vitality (VIT):227Charism* (CHA):13 (+0)
Additional Stats*Defence:98Stamina:92Endurance:88Willpower:41
Magical AffinitiesPrimeFire:1ENature:1EWater:1EVoid:1EAir:1ELight:1EEarth:1EDarkness:1MSubBlood (Darkness):1MRunes (Void):1ELightning (Fire):1ESoul (Darkness):1MPoison (Nature):1E
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
*Stat points cannot be added to this stat.
“Not much change. I got a couple levels since we left Bluerose. It isn’t great considering the level of the area, but we didn’t hunt much so I guess it’s unavoidable. We would probably have died if we tried something like grinding anyway.”
“You worry too much. What’s a few levels compared to encountering funny monsters?”
That thoughtless comment got the dhampir a death glare, which she shrugged off with an impish grin.
“Aside from that, I got notifications about the specifics of that [Vampiric Tear] of yours, and also got the skills [Soulmate] and [Soul Sense].”
“Always useful to get new skills,” Victoria nodded.
The Soulbound let out a noncommittal grunt. The skills were nice indeed, but it felt like she was more and more entangled in her dependence on the Progenitor, so she was less than pleased about this new development.
“But, about that [Soul Sense] skill…”
“Yes?” Victoria raise an eyebrow.
“The details are a bit complex, but, before that, isn’t a radius of fifty metres kind of a short range?”
“…”
“Vicky?”
FAVOURITISM!! That’s discrimination! That’s it, I’ve had enough!
The pale princess rose from the ground, her expression sombre, dark red miasma practically oozing away from her, along with an aura of palpable creepiness.
“…hehehehe….”
“…Vicky?”
“…heheheHAHAHAHAHA!! This is it! I’m the holder of the [Vampiric Tear]!! Now I shall trek on the path of the Immortals and defy the god- Owowowowouch!! Fuck, I had forgotten that one. Fucking curses… But never mind, I shall fight against the Haughty Bastards who cursed my existence and show them how you really ruin someone’s life!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!! I’m already [Ageless], so I just need to form a Xiantian or whatever. I guess starting as a partial undead overlord is a bit jumping the gun, but who freaking cares?!? Hehehehe… I will conquer the Nine Heav- AAAAAAHHHH!! FUCK YOU ASSHOLES!!! Damn… I think I have a feeling I’ll have to deal with Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell before anything.”
As she mumbled the last part to herself, a loud crackling explosion resounded in the valley outside. Athena started and turned to look towards the rainbow lights blocking the entrance.
“What was that?”
“Tribulation thunder of unsubtle foreshadowing…” Victoria answered distractedly. “Did anyone ever told you you’d make a great Fiery-Eyed Water Ape?”
“…no.”
“A shame… Do you think I should change my name to ‘I Drink Tomato-Juice’? As a vampire, that seemed appropriate.”
“Eeeeh… even if you ask m-”
“Anyway. We’ve taken enough of a break! Forwards Ten Ten! To our shining destinies!! Ah… but no to shining. I don’t want to burn. I mean, they say there’s no vampire without ‘pyre’, but I’d like to wait as long as possible without complying with semantic imperatives.”
Wisely giving up on understanding, the Shieldbearer closed any lingering interface window and resignedly followed the rebooted kook.
Two steps latter, though, she bumped into a standing form, who went tumbling forwards but managed to catch herself before kissing the ground yet again. Embarrassed, the dhampir turned around and shot her companion a pleading look.
“Thena… I’m Thirsty.”
“…Can’t that wait a bit longer?”
“No. I’m at my limit.” She fidgeted.
“But you were fine for almost a month.”
“I had had a good meal, we were in near-total darkness and I didn’t do anything strenuous. And even then my Thirst bar had been slowly depleting. The harmonisation-thingy earlier kind of drained what little I had left.”
“You’re not saying that just to toy with me, are you?”
“No! I can show you my interface if you want… her-”
“It’s okay. I trust you… I guess…” the Soulbound reluctantly said with wavering conviction.
There was no doubt Athena was stating to appreciate the silly dhampir, but as far as trust went… Victoria didn’t inspire much no matter cute and helpful she was.
Nevertheless, after considering the potential threat level of the area and concluding a straight narrow passage between a strong barrier and a warded village was probably safe, she unequipped her armour, replaced by a zero-defence casual garb, and rolled up her right sleeve. Victoria greedily grabbed the offered arm and Athena braced herself for the unavoidable.
The princess bit down and moans echoed in the empty tunnel.
– *** –
An orange flame lit up the way in the dark underground passageway, revealing the odd green taint of the stone. [Floating Lantern], also known as “hands-free torch”, was a common Fire spell of the first tier. It didn’t burn so much as to cause any significant damage in a fight, but just enough to provide some light as well as ignite hairs, clothes and invisible gas pockets.
For those reasons, dungeon explorers preferred equivalents of the Light affinity. As harmless, but less volatile. However, Victoria’s light magic was recently giving her the way-too-hot shoulder, so her options were limited.
In fact both women could see in the dark, but the princess had been jumping on any occasion to train her magic. Although, truth be told, this particular [Floating Lantern] had been casted mostly to piss off Athena, who despised useless actions.
“…have just told me it felt that way!”
“Like I said, it’s embarrassing!”
“You were groping me without a care in the world barely two hours ago, what’s with the change of attitude?!”
“That’s none off your business!”
“That’s especially my business! I won’t deny I sort of like being punched, but I also would like to know why?”
“You were overindulging yourself, that’s why!”
“But you taste so good!”
“STOP SAYING THAT!!”
“Hehehe… You’re a treat. A delightful candy. I’d eat you up all day lo-ouch!”
“Shut up.”
“…Yummy schizo pervert.”
“Vicky, I swear, if you make any other food-related analogy, I-”
“Oh! The exit.”
Victoria cut off the angry Shieldbearer and theatrically designated a circular opening obstructed by thick bushes. She used both her arms to do so, happy to finally be able to move her left one after almost twenty days of it being broken.
Athena shot the princess a sharp glare, but decided to put the matter of erotic feeding aside for now.
“So we arrived at the village of Kansas,” she diplomatically commented.
“Almost. But I’d like you to head out first. The exit is in a small grove and there’s a log cabin by the grove. That’s the chief’s home. If he’s not there, please wait for him, then bring him here.”
“Why don’t you come too?”
“Sunlight. It’s always sunny in Kansas… which sounds really whimsical when said out loud.”
“Got it. And can’t I just go search for him in the village if he’s absent?”
“Better not. They have a history of welcoming strangers with holy fire.”
“Ouch.”
“Yes… but they’re nice people when you get to know them.”
“…I’m sure.”
Athena decided not to voice the reserves she had about what the dhampir considered “nice people”. It was understandable, considering Victoria’s “friends” up to now had been a pair of dullahans, a whole tribe of goblins, and a monster that could only have resulted from a designer spilling coffee on his computer.
Wordlessly, she headed out, leaving the princess alone to worry about future developments.
Voluntarily or not, Victoria’s hyperactive brain had inexorably worked on the different scenarios for her return in the village. Admittedly, most of them ended up with her quartered by a furious Athena next to a crying Dorothy calling her a lying witch and ordering her to bring back her onii-chan.
But not all potential scripts were this filled with this much fun and mirth.
Various hints Elric had wilfully ignored, or couldn’t piece together back then, had come to make sense during Victoria’s subconscious sessions of abstract planning. And she was dreading those possible outcomes that seemed more and more probable the more she denied them.
Judging that preparing for the worst wasn’t such a bad thing once in a while, she let the lantern die out and casted the spell she thought she might need most if push came to slaughter:
“In this low world, two can touch you. Once there was Death, and now me too. [Soul Grab].”
Her hands faintly glowed blue with sparks of red, then the lights died out. The spell was low level, but she still was as usual surprised by how little it took out of her.
“Now I’m set for a least half an ho-”
“Vicky?”
The dhampir jerked her head up.
“Back already? Where’s the Elder?”
“He wasn’t there, but since there’s no sun I thought you might as well come out yourself.”
“WHAT!?”
For as long as Elric had stayed in Kansas, nothing larger than an atrophied stratocumulus had come out. Right now the time inside the game should be around noon, so there was no reason for the sun to be hidden.
Several of her darker scenarios flashed through Victoria’s mind and she rushed out, past the bewildered Shielbearer.
The dhampir princess literally jumped out of the grove, and stood there in stunned silence. Instead of the now familiar sunny weather of Kansas, she was greeted by the also all too familiar, but much less welcomed grey sea of clouds that could be seen anywhere in the Kingdom of Erwyn.
Athena came standing beside her, but Victoria barely noticed.
She lowered her gaze to the bottom of the hill, half-expecting the village to be swarmed with undead.
However she witnessed nothing but stillness. Details couldn’t be picked out, as the closest houses were still too far, but there seem to be no sign of destruction or even fighting. She felt a slight sense of relief, but the utter lack of life in the scenery continued to fill her with a sense of dread and made her expect the worst of the worst.
In all of her hypothetical scenarios, she herself ended up dead or maimed more often than not. But those she truly feared, those she refused to acknowledge with all her might, those were the ones where others ended up hurt. No matter how much pain was inflicted to her, she could always trick her mind into not caring. But when it concerned the rare people she actually cared about, there was a threshold beyond which she knew she would break.
As a defence mechanism, her carelessness had always been a double-edged sword. A bit like her current group dynamic with the Shieldbearer, her mind was a glass powerhouse with a single extremely tough defensive wall. She could always chose not to care about what annoyed her and be a strong-minded individual full of ingenuity and optimism, but if some aggressor managed to overpower her wall of insensitiveness, they would find her core to be much more tender than it appeared from the outside.
Dorothy!
She was about to rush downhill – Who cared if she couldn’t even look at Holy Magic right now? – when a low cackling voice echoed through the windy silence:
"Kekeke. Back at last, young one. Took you long enough."
– *** –
There were a few seconds during which the world became still, holding its breath, as the quiet cackling voice rolled through Victoria's ears like thunder and a hateful roar rose from the depth of her mind, full of lust for revenge and spine-shattering violence that the cursed adventurer didn't even bother to repress.
For once, she was dreadfully in sync with her resident insane spirit.
The red in the Progenitor's eyes surged out, devouring the blue border of her irises and leaking eerily in the surrounding white, her fangs itched as they grew imperceptibly sharper, and blood dripped out of her clenched hands as her nails dug into her palms.
Spinning around with a speed even herself didn’t know she was capable of – or perhaps that was the effect of increasing her Agility by fifty percent –, Victoria threw her fist straight into the old man's face, not even registering the crackling sound that might have come from her own phalanxes, but were in fact the sound of colliding magic.
The chief's head was yanked backwards under the impact, but the dhampir caught him by the throat before the rest of his body could follow.
"Ambrose!" she spat.
Barely keeping herself from growling in hatred or ripping the wrinkled swindler's throat, Victoria settled for squeezing until the man begged for mercy, in a display of physical strength she wasn't supposed to possess.
But it wasn't all that surprising. After all, this interaction had very little to do with the physical world.
"Kekeheergh. You came prepared, I see. When did you notice?" the chief wheezed.
"I'm reckless and overly trusting," she whispered back, only reigning down her anger because she knew at least half of it was Seras’, "but I'm not stupid. I believe this is one of the reasons why you thought I was so perfect for that little curse trap whatever of yours."
"What gave me away?"
"Oh... you know, the usual. Little details piles up. Timeline discrepancies. Minor screw-ups. Being the closest mage with blond airs, golden eyes and freaking Soul Magic?"
"Keke *cough* I get why that would lead to suspicions. *wheeze* And I apologize for the inconveniences I have cau- *cough* caused you. But could you... please... release me? I promise you to explain myself... truthfully this ti-argh... time."
The dhampir flashed her darkest smirk, but didn't loosen her grasp.
"I don't know," she began in a drawling voice. "My brainmate is quite adamant that I relieve you of your trachea right now, and I'm finding myself lacking reasons to refuse her this little treat. Besides, how do I know you won't go up in fumes the instant I let you go? Enlighten me, since my experience with ghosts mostly comes down to slicing them apart with a holy sword."
"In all accuracy, I am not exactly a gho-oargh!!"
"I am not in the mood for a lesson on semantics! Ghost, spectre, revenant, soul, spirit, echo, daemon! You could even be the true Ambrose Corbin's mouldy fart who attained sentience by the Will of the Great Fart God, and I still wouldn't give a FLYING FUCK!!"
This was the secret to Victoria's sudden apparent increase in strength – not that subduing an old man was all that impressive, but she was a very weak person. The Elder, Ambrose Corbin, was long dead.
In anticipation of her confrontation with the crook, Victoria had invoked [Soul Grab] upon herself. The spell enabled the caster to physically touch immaterial beings, and Intelligence was being substituted to Strength in those interactions, though only concerning offense. She still had paper-thin defence and would be in a pinch if her target suddenly decided to fight back before she was able to subdue them.
It had been a gamble. She couldn’t possibly know every single way a mage could prolong their life, but as far as Soul Mages were concerned, turning into a soul had seemed like the obvious choice. If she had been wrong, she would have probably broken her wrist and look both weak and pathetic.
Had she been in a more lucid state, Victoria might have chuckled at the idea of beating someone with "smart" punches, but as it was, she was more preoccupied with trying to determine how much of the rage she felt was her own rightful anger over being tricked beyond acceptable bounds, and how much was Seras' unquenchable blood thirst and vengeful hatred.
A small fraction of her mind was also slightly worried if the game was supposed to influence her thoughts so much, while another portion noted that strangling the old man was unexpectedly thrilling and cathartic.
"So now, old fart, answers! What the fuck happened here? And stop pretending you have trouble breathing. No matter how much I strangle you, it’s not like you risk to choke any time soon.”
“But it still hurts. Kekeke. Now, young one, you’ve always been an impetuous child. And, as it would seem, my beloved’s influence does not help bring forth the most compassionate side of you. It is truly sad. She was such a sweet girl in her youth.”
Now that he was done pretending, his tone and speech suddenly became as calm as if he was taking a stroll through the fields and, upon hearing his words, another burst of hatred seared through Victoria’s mind. She clenched her hand tighter, digging in the man’s throat, but Ambrose didn’t even have the decency to pretend to be affected.
“Like you don’t know whose fault it is,” she growled.
“Trust me, young one. I am keenly aware of my part of responsibility in my beloved’s pitiable state,” he replied evenly, but his eyes had grown hard and his trademark smirk was nowhere to be seen. Then his gaze softened and he continued: “That aside, I would gladly answer your question about the current situation in Kansas, but before worrying about people you cannot help right now, should you not focus on your friend lying over there?”
Startled, Victoria half-turned her head to glance at Athena without losing sight of the deceptive old man. The Shieldbearer laid prone, collapsed on the ground in an awkward position, like she fell while turning around.
“What have you done?!”
“I gave us a little privacy. I assume there are pieces of information you would rather keep from your lady friend, would you not young Elric? I may be mistaken, but I am sure she has been calling you ‘Vicky’. A very cute pet name, if I dare say. Now it may be that you find your former name inappropriate for your current appearance, however I trust my intuition enough to believe there is more to the matter than simple aesthetical convenience.”
“All good your intuition had done you in the past, right?”
A wince in the wrinkled face showed the comment had it home. Killing your wife over a misunderstanding wasn’t the kind of thing easy to forget.
“That was little low of a blow, young one. I only put your friend to sleep. I could have done much worse.”
“Is that a threat?”
“A peace offering. You might be the Progenitor and the Bloodsoul Mage right now, but with me as your opponent you are way out of your depth, young man. What I propose is that you stop pretending to choke me, we both sit down, and we proceed with a more civilised form of conversation. I promise to be entirely honest this time.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because I have no more reason to lie.”
“That remains to be seen… but I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?”
Ambrose, still in the dhampir’s grasp, shrugged indifferently.
“You can refuse and try to kill me. You will fail. And you will be left without answers to your questions.”
“Tsh.”
Victoria narrowed her red eyes, and shot a quick glance towards the village.
“Nothing happened to the villagers,” the chief said, guessing what she was worried about.
“They’re safe then?”
“I said nothing happened to them. Nothing has happened to them for a long time now, but that is part of the answers I have to offer. Are you willing to hear me out?”
After a silence, she eventually released the deceased prince consort, but not without squeezing a last time to make a point. She wasn’t sure what the point was however.
Rubbing his throat, Ambrose slowly sat down. He then patted the ground beside him, inviting Victoria to join him like he had invited Elric the day he first stepped inside the hidden village of Kansas. She thought of retorting she preferred to stand, but decided against childish stubbornness. After a last glance at the fainted Athena, she turned her attention towards the wise-looking old fart.
“So, spit.”
“Kekeke… Such anger. Careful, young one, for anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering.”
“I’ll be sure to notify Thena.”
She actually meant it. The Shieldbearer’s anger issue was something she thought needed to be addressed seriously at some point. Victoria didn’t really care about the anger per say, but it was clear Athena felt bad about it. And that she cared about, though she wasn’t exactly sure why.
“Kekeke… Youth… Now then, young one…” the Elder said as he turned to look absently at the silent village downhill. “It all started seven thousand years ago, at the end of the conflict that changed this Pandore continent forever, an unholy bloodbath almost none remember the content, much less the cause, a cataclysm which resulted in the collapse of the Magic Era and lead to the dire millenniums of the Dark Age…”
He marked a small pause for the suspense, and Victoria briefly considered choking him again before the effect of her spell wore off.
“…the Twilight War!”
The Progenitor suddenly felt lightheaded and the scenery around her began dissolving into a blurry mess.
She only had the time to form one dejected thought:
Not again…
And darkness fell upon her… again.
– ***** –
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Told you it would be soon.
I hate updating statuses and keeping track of skills… why the hell did I chose to write a VR story?
Any-hoooo… next chap is a side-story! A hilarious one… I hope you’ll like it… editing… editing… See you.
PS: I apologise to anyone who isn’t familiar with Stellar Transformation for the bulk of reference jokes mid-chapter. I couldn’t resist.