Chapter Thirty-Seven

In front of Jackson and Melanie were mannequins and not much else. The room was simply bare otherwise. The mannequin to the right was dressed in black and red attire. There was a stylish black trench coat with a flaring collar; it was over a red vest with a matching white shirt underneath that. The pants were also black, and the boots were too. The gloves, however, were a dark red, not unlike the color of blood that Jackson had grown so used to seeing. It definitely had an edgy, gothic sort of feel.

Jackson tried to analyze it, as the set of clothing was clearly meant for him, and of course, he found that he couldn’t.

The set on the left were leathers of dark, forest green with a bow the color of fresh grass on a spring day. A set clearly meant for Melanie. Lazarus stood between the two mannequins, arms spread wide, a beaming grin on his face.

“Behold, your rewards, children. In an inheritance, the Judge gives me some leeway in creating items that are meant specifically for you. I don’t even have to be much of a crafter since all I really have to do is use my imagination, imbue my power, and allow the Judge to handle the rest. Melanie, let’s start with you, my dear! Here you have the Ancient Eden’s Ranger Set. A mouthful, I know, but trust me, it’s sweet. First of all, it’s soul-bound, meaning you cannot lose it unless you die a final death. It’s also considered a living set, meaning it evolves along with your Domain! People in Eden would literally kill to have such a set, but what does it actually do? Yes, I can see that question in your eyes.”

“Well, it makes your mana usage more efficient, meaning your weaves and skills will drain far less of your mana from your Domain. Secondly, it is self-repairing, to the point that even heavy damage doesn’t bother it. Finally, it does something that makes it truly legendary, my dear; it grants you an extra stat point on level up!”

Lazarus was clearly excited, clapping his hands on the last part. Melanie looked at the floor, her hazel eyes filled with wonder as she looked at the equipment. She reached out and paused, biting her lip and looking at Lazarus uncertainly. The spirit nodded encouragingly.

“Go on, my dear. It’s yours, after all.”

She touched the set, and the Ancient Eden’s Ranger set seemed to blur and flow around her, a haze of emerald light. When the light faded, she was wearing it, and Jackson's jaw dropped to the floor. The first thing he noticed was just how, uh, form-fitting it was. It hugged her body and accentuated her curves, and it lent her a kind of presence. It wasn’t like her aura or anything like that; it just made her more beautiful. It was as if the set enhanced her natural beauty in some way, giving her a kind of allure. She looked like a goddess of the hunt. Jackson couldn’t say why that image came to mind, but it did.

Melanie noticed him looking, and a slow, heated smile spread across her face.

“Like what you see?” she teased.

Jackson nodded mutely.

Lazarus cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Now it’s time for you, my dear, dear fledgling. Here we have the Blood Phoenix Wanderer’s Set! Yes, another mouthful, but you can blame the Judge, I don’t name these things. It is similar to Melanie’s set in that it is soul-bound, a living set, and self-repairing. This set only has one other unique feature, and it comes with two costs.”

Lazarus’s face grew a bit more somber at this.

“I know that doesn’t sound like a benefit, but I think once you hear the feature, you’ll understand. This set increases your Phoenix regeneration to the Expert level. This means you will heal from nearly any wound inflicted upon you, including regrowing lost limbs, completely regenerating organs, or other death blows. It would take an equally powerful weave, or skill, to really finish you off. I’m sure you understand what an absolutely overpowered ability this is, Jackson. That’s why it had to come with costs. This set increases your hunger to the point that if you do not feed, it will feed on you. Secondly, it makes all of your weaves and skills, except for unarmed combat and ebon eruption, cost more.”

Jackson was not eying the set with wonder as Melanie had. Now, he was eying it with apprehension. During training, he had come to accept who he was. He was a vampyre, and feeding was what he did. The hunger was a part of him. He had never directed it at anyone or anything that was not hostile to him, and that suggested he had a fair bit of control over it. That didn’t change the fact that it was still dangerous. Jackson shuddered to think about what might happen if he truly did lose control of his hunger.

The innocents he might harm.

Jackson's mouth firmed into a grim line. He made a decision. He was done worrying about it. It had caused him so much stress up to this point, his hunger, and he wasn’t about to let it cause him anymore. He would control it, and that was that. Jackson reached out his hand and allowed the gothic garb to flow around him in a black and crimson haze. When it settled over him, he looked down at himself. No longer wearing tattered and destroyed clothing, and no more worrying about it becoming tattered and destroyed.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

That was a relief in and of itself. Lazarus gave Jackson a satisfied smile.

“I have one more item for each of you,” Lazarus stated. He held up his right hand, and dangling from it were two amulets. One was a glittering blood-red ruby, the other a shining emerald. Lazarus pointed at them with his other hand.

“The Judge allowed me to create a set of equipment for both of you and two amulets. Normally, this doesn’t happen in an inheritance, but I get the feeling that the Judge is unhappy with the way that Abbaddon has usurped your agency by bringing you here to this dungeon, and I believe he is balancing the scales in a way. This amulet, Melanie, does something really special. It will make it easier to strengthen your concept with absorbed spirit. Jackson, your amulet grants you an extra stat point on every level up, and also makes it easier to manipulate your hidden bloodline skill to expert level. In addition, it also increases your hidden bloodline skill to expert, with no cost I may add. I can’t tell you how astonishing that is. I hope you two are happy with these rewards. These items you have earned…”

Lazarus trailed off, shaking his head and staring at the amulets.

“I expected good rewards, but what the Judge has done here is well beyond my expectations. I have to wonder what that means. He never does anything without a reason. Anyway, here you are, you two.”

Jackson and Melanie took their amulets from him and put them on. It felt good to be done here. It truly felt like they had been here for a long, long time. Surprisingly, Melanie asked a question.

“Laz… Why do you think the Judge gave us such good items? You sound like he doesn’t do that often.”

Lazarus chewed his tongue, clearly debating how to answer, before sighing and responding.

“It isn’t that the Judge never gives out equipment or rewards like this; he does; it’s just for something much more than this. Usually for completing an ancient dungeon or fighting a truly powerful monster. What you two did here was just training. Sure, it’s an inheritance, and you’re meant to receive something great, but to this level? These items are of master rank, at the very least. I have never heard of any equipment increasing a skill by a whole tier. Frankly, children, that’s absurd.”

Jackson frowned,

“But what if I lose the equipment or it’s destroyed? Then I no longer have access to it.”

Lazarus was already shaking his head.

“I told you, it’s soul-bound. You can’t lose it. It will always return to you, no matter where you put it. That whole set you’re wearing isn’t separate clothes, no matter how it looks. It’s one item. The self-repairing enchantment guarantees it can’t be destroyed, but even if it could, the set is quite literally tied to your life; it will regenerate even from ashes. For all intents and purposes, that increase you received may as well be permanent.”

Okay, yeah, Jackson did look down at his set in wonder then. Hearing Lazarus put it that way really put it in perspective for him, just how good the set he had received was. Melanie tapped her mouth with a finger.

“You said the Judge was balancing the scales because of Abbaddon. What did you mean by that?”

Lazarus crossed his arms,

“Just what I said. Okay, okay, I’ll explain. Look, the Judge is all about offering choices that lead to power and advancement. What he can’t abide by is your agency being taken away, your ability to choose. Abbaddon, by taking you here, overrode your choice. You basically have no other option other than to finish the dungeon, one that is particularly dangerous, too. The Judge likely doesn’t like that. Your options were taken away from you. My theory, and it is just a theory, is that the Judge is giving you a fighting chance with these items. I could be wrong; perhaps there’s something else afoot. Either way, it is what it is. I would just be grateful for them.”

Jackson looked down at the ruby amulet, rubbing his chin. It certainly seemed telling that it increased his hidden bloodline skill. He tried to bring the skill up, but he found he couldn’t. Jackson sighed and tucked the amulet beneath his shirt. Lazarus and his realm prevented him from looking at his stats. Before he could ask when they could look at their status pages, Melanie spoke up with another question.

“Do you know what the orb is?”

Lazarus looked at her, sighed again, rubbed his face, and nodded.

“I do. In fact, I know what this whole dungeon was meant for.”

Melanie raised an eyebrow. Lazarus looked at Jackson.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why I had a whole section of this dungeon meant for me?”

Jackson shrugged,

“I didn’t think about it.”

Lazarus gave him a wry smile.

“The orb is a Seed of Eden. I brought it here nearly two thousand years ago when I was fleeing from the place I had put my family. The place I need you to take me to, Jackson. First, I bound my spirit—this form I wear before you now—to that skull in your bag, Jackson. This would allow me to live on, in a way, even after death, and pass on an inheritance as I have done now. That done, I imbued the rest of my power into the seed, and a dungeon formed around me, shaping itself to my will. Eventually, it grew on its own, but my tomb, the place you found me in, fledgling, was the original template. The rest was natural growth from the seed.”

Melanie frowned and raised a hand. Giving her an annoyed glance, Lazarus said,

“Go ahead.”

“That’s fascinating, but what actually is the seed?”

Lazarus groaned,

“If you would just be patient, I was getting there. A Seed of Eden is just that: a Seed. From it grows a new realm. This new realm can be a dungeon, or it can be just a place. It responds to the user's will at first to create a kind of template, an original starting point, but it grows on its own after a while, as I said. I chose to create a dungeon here because I wanted security. A way to hide myself and prevent enemies, or really anyone, from finding me unless they were a vampyre.”

Lazarus gestured at Jackson.

"Or, in his case, had the bloodline to become one. I admit, I did not count on Abbaddon finding and using this place as a harvesting ground, but here we are.”

“What happens if we pull the Seed?” Jackson asked.

Lazarus gave him a knowing smile.

“Take a guess,” he replied.

Jackson rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. He decided to go with the obvious and waved his hand to encompass everything.

“The dungeon collapses.”

Lazarus pointed at him and nodded.

“Got it in one. Indeed, it all comes tumbling down, and you got yourself a nice Seed ready again for planting.”

Jackson looked at Melanie, and her eyes were filled with fire. Jackson grinned, and they high-fived.

“Sounds like we have a plan,” Jackson stated, looking into Melanie’s eyes.