While Adam is busy forging at Vetius' Workshop, the Sanctus Lux Fortress is also bursting with activity.

The required number of players arrived a few weeks ago and they have been busy performing tasks and quests ever since.

The Fortress uses a system that revolves around earning contribution points by completing various tasks. The so-called contribution points are what players can use to claim special rewards. The easier quests would provide lesser points while the challenging ones would yield much higher contribution points.

This is why everyone at the fortress has spent so much time doing quest after quest.

On top of improving their level by performing these tasks, the points being awarded would let them claim special rewards that they would otherwise not be able to buy even with gold.

Elixirs, special items, and unique class tomes, among others, are just some of the rewards that players can claim when one has sufficient points.

As the players became accustomed to working in the fortress, they began to interact more and more with the Lorikan residents and soldiers stationed in the fortress.

And so, many couldn't help but wonder why they had never seen the person in command of the fortress, Imperatrix Demetra.

After she went through the trouble of reaching out to the players when they initially arrived, many found it odd that she was suddenly nowhere to be found. She has demonstrated the power to be able to communicate across great distances. Yet now that they are at her fortress, why has she not met, or at least communicated with the players?

Some believe that meeting her requires certain conditions. Others claim that the Imperatrix is simply elsewhere on an important mission and that is why there's a huge demand for the quests to be done by players. And some think that when a certain number of quests has been done, only then will she make an appearance.

Gaming experts believe that she holds the key to activating the next major storyline in the Lorikan server. And the majority of the player base agrees on this.

For one reason or another, many are eager to see her.

Many players who earn a living by doing livestreams have done all they can to have a glimpse of the elusive Imperatrix. Some were fined, imprisoned, or even kicked out of the Fortress due to trespassing in prohibited areas.

A few top guilds even hired sacrificial players to deliberately break the rules by storming the private quarters just to see what would happen. However, Imperatrix Demera is still nowhere to be found and no one has learned of any means to gain an audience with her.

The only thing of note that players learned is that even most of the soldiers have not seen their Imperatrix around the time players arrived at the Forgotten Temple.

Adam, of course, knows why. This is one of the reasons why he did not bother to rush to the fortress.

There are two reasons why Demetra has not interacted with any player yet.

The first is that in the current state of things, the players simply haven't met the minimum requirement to qualify for meeting her. The players must prove themselves so that the Imperatrix herself will summon them.

Fulfilling this hidden condition comes in the form of their contribution points.

Only the players who can accumulate 10,000 contribution points will be summoned by Imperatrix Demetra. Anyone else not able to meet this requirement will be deemed unworthy of her time.

However, the tricky thing is that meeting with the Imperatrix does not appear in the list of rewards a player can claim. And right now, everyone is busy using their points to claim all sorts of items. To make things even more challenging, the most expensive item that players can claim requires 5,000 points- so exceeding this amount and deliberately not purchasing anything is proving to be a difficult feat.

Tyler Evergreen, the current top contributor to the fortress, regularly uses the points he accumulated to claim rewards. He would publicly share some of the rewards he claimed via live streams where he enjoys a regular view count in the millions.

This public reception enticed the other players to do the same and start their own livestreams. Aside from gaining a fanbase, this also helped other non-pro gamers to build their base and acquire sponsorship.

The other factor as to why other players started claiming the items is for fear of being left behind in claiming the good items. Hence, very few players would save up their points as most see more value in claiming useful items rather than keeping the points.

This is what happened during Adam's previous life, and this is also what is happening now.

It is only when the top players have claimed all the items that they start saving their points to check for any hidden reward. Only then did they receive the summon to meet the woman in charge of the fortress.

Upon learning of this, many players sighed in frustration.

Had they known they were supposed to save their points, they would have met the Imperatrix a few weeks sooner.

And until such time, Demetra would remain unseen by the players.

As for the second reason, this is something about Imperatrix Demetra that Adam discovered in his first life. It was something that he and the rest of the world only knew about years later when the Undead Regions were already thriving.

In terms of modern military ranking, an imperatrix is comparable to a commander. But aside from her rank, Imperatrix Demetra is, first and foremost, the Lady of the Undead Region.

This means she's of nobility with the Undead Region as her estate, and the people residing in it are her subjects. For this reason, this would make every player in the Lorikan server technically her subject too.

To those in the military, she is Imperatrix Demetra of the Sanctus Lux Fortress. And for the civilians, she is Lady Demetra of the Undead Region.

However, the Undead Region is currently not occupied by any Lorikan resident- for obvious reasons.

This is why everyone residing within the walls of the Sanctus Lux Fortress is currently all of the populace under her ladyship.

In this manner, Demetra is a noblewoman with the smallest and largest estate in Lorikan Republic at the same time.

It is the smallest because currently, the only land she has complete rule over is the fortress. However, if she were to successfully bring the entire Undead Region to her control, then she would have the largest estate in the Republic.

To say that there is a lot at stake in reclaiming the Undead Regions would be a major understatement.

The Imperatrix has a lot that she needs to accomplish. And more importantly, she has a debt to repay.

***

Demetra is not a native of the Lorikan Republic.

Instead, she has earned her Lorikan Nobility through a series of misfortune that somehow turned into a stroke of luck.

She is the illegitimate daughter of a minor nobleman from New Camelot who had a night of passion with a lady of the night.

Being an illegitimate child, in and of itself, is not an issue in New Camelot. But it became one for her when it turned out that she had a non-human heritage. In her case, she turned out to be a half-elf.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Unfortunately for Demetra, New Camelot hates elves with a passion.

Upon turning 10, the sharp ears and purple eyes that are distinctly exclusive to elves began to manifest; there is no denying that she has elven blood in her veins. It then became obvious that her mother, who died during childbirth, was of elven descent.

Her father, who originally took her in as one of his illegitimate children immediately disowned her when this heritage came to light.

But before he did so, he gave her enough gold to lead a new life away from the discrimination of New Camelot. Her father, fearing the repercussion of siring a half-elf, arranged for her to reach one of the islands of the Murim Archipelago. He then made her promise never to return to New Camelot- or for that matter, ever contact him again.

She chose to go to one of the islands where the hatred for humans of mixed blood is not as prevalent. There, she was accepted by a small martial arts sect that values dedication and hard work over uncontrollable factors such as lineage. Although their way of life is hard, she has at least found a place where she can be accepted.

For many years, she trained and trained until she became acknowledged as one of the best martial artists in the sect. And years later, Demetra, grew to become a respected member of the small community.

She has finally found her place in the world.

And then, the day came when it was customary for a woman of her age in the sect to find a husband. However, on that day, an unexpected attack took place in their village.

They were raided by slavers, numbered in the hundreds.

Demetra fought as hard as she could to defend her home. But the sudden attack and the sheer number of invaders took the lives of many of her fellow warriors.

While their small community was made up of martial artists, they did not have much experience in large-scale battles. They practiced certain martial arts disciplines, but they were not organized warriors.

Unfortunately, slavers were and the result of the fight was a tragedy.

However, she is one of the lucky few who survived for the slavers saw her beauty and judged it worth sparing to earn extra gold.

Demetra ended up in shackles along with a few surviving members of the sect.

In the end, her life, her home, and the people who have come to regard her as family all disappeared in the blink of an eye. And so she mourned her immense loss as she remained captive.

One by one, her fellow sect members either died in captivity or were sold off to slavery until she was the only one left.

It was hard even for the slavers to find a buyer for her due to her lineage. As a half-human and half-elf, not even the most depraved men would dare touch her due to the strong stigma and groundless superstition that someone of mixed blood carries. That, and the slavers put a very high price on her so many of their buyers passed off Demetra as an investment not worth the price.

More than a few rich buyers offered to rent Demetra for a night. But the slavers declined as her value would only diminish in doing so.

The harsh reality of the Pangean society is that slavery is common and accepted in many places, but harboring a half-breed in any capacity is not.

The elves are too arrogant to accept anything less than full blood as one of their own, and the people of New Camelot hate elves and anything remotely connected to them. The majority of the Murim Archipelago clans are the same; they have a never-ending blood feud with the elves.

The sect that accepted Demetra was a rarity in terms of accepting someone with elven blood, something that she knew well. There are very few nations in Pangea where a half-breed like her can live a normal life.

But unbeknownst even to her, Demetra would find herself in another land where she could lead a good life.

After a year in captivity, she finally saw a glimmer of hope.

The slavers were ambushed by a superior force in the seas and it didn't take long for them to either be slain or executed.

Demetra, on the other hand, was freed from her chains.

Her liberators turned out to be a naval force of the Lorikan Republic and they have been hunting down slavers and pirates that dared venture into Lorikan territories.

This is because slavery was recently abolished in the Lorikan Republic after a bloody slave revolt that took place just a few years ago.

With nowhere to go Demetra thanked her savior and began to work on the ship. She intended to work there until they made port, where she would try and live as a mercenary.

But the ship's captain, who turned out to be a nobleman, fell for her beauty and took a liking to her.

When he made his intentions to marry known to Demetra, she immediately accepted it out of pragmatism rather than affection.

After all, Demetra has no place to go. She can either live out her life as a wandering mercenary or take the captain's offer of marriage and have a relatively peaceful life as a lady.

Not long after, their wedding was held on the ship.

Their marriage was officially documented and a copy was sent to the family of the captain in advance- this is to provide proof of marriage and to inform the captain's family that their land was to have a new lady.

Then, on the night of their wedding, just before the captain and Demetra were about to consummate their marriage, the ship was attacked.

There were spies on the ship and they notified their allies of the best time to attack when the majority of the sailors were drunk and not in the best shape to fight back.

The very few that can fight converged on the captain's floor, ready to defend their captain and his wife, to the death. But the invaders proved far more powerful than a common slaver they had previously subdued and the guards were swiftly eliminated.

With the captain's room completely unguarded, the leader of the invaders barged into the room of the newlywed couple.

It was then that the newlyweds saw the identity of their attacker.

It wasn't a slaver. It wasn't a pirate. It wasn't even a captain of a foreign naval force.

The attacker is not from any known groups that one would expect to attack a fully equipped naval force of the Lorikan Republic. No, it would be more accurate to say that their attacker is not human. Or, to be more precise, was no longer human.

It's an undead, and one of the most ruthless of its kind: a vampire.

The captain, with years of experience in the battle, knows he is facing a powerful enemy that he can't hope to defeat.

Demetra, a trained martial artist, can tell that she is no match against the creature before her.

The newlyweds know that they are completely at the mercy of the vampire.

"Good evening to you captain, and to your wife," greeted the vampire with a bow. "Congratulations on your wedding."

"Who are you and why did you murder my men!?" roared the captain.

The vampire simply shrugged and introduced himself.

"You may call me Lord Renfeld, a nobleman from an age long forgotten."

"As for your men, they don't matter," said Lord Renfeld with a scoff. "What I want, no- what my kind need is to speak with you."

"You see, we have a proposal."

The captain would have wanted to draw his sword and attack. But his instinct is telling him that doing so would end his life- and that of his wife's. He had no choice but to listen.

"Wh-What kind of proposal?"

The vampire explained in detail what he had in mind. It was a simple offer and all the captain needed to do was to accept it.

"Well, are you interested?" asked Lord Renfeld.

"No! I will not let it happen!" the captain roared in response. "I would rather die than-"

SLASH!

As soon as the captain rejected the vampire, his head separated from his neck.

"Pity," said Lord Renfeld mockingly. "It did not have to be this way. Tut, tut, tut."

He then turned to the newlywed, and newly widowed Demetra.

"I am sorry for your loss, Demetra," said the vampire compassionately. "Or I guess it is now Lady Demetra."

The vampire's condolence sounded genuine, aside from the fact that he just decapitated Demetra's husband right in front of her.

"Do you know why we attacked after your wedding?" asked the vampire.

Silence. Demetra didn't answer.

Demetra has very briefly considered fighting.

But after a year in captivity, she is not in her best condition. And even if she was, she's not sure she can win against the vampire.

She didn't even know how her husband was decapitated. It happened too fast for even her, an expert swordsman, to notice.

She was unable to utter a word, too afraid to respond to the monster before her.

"Please answer," said Lord Renfeld with a not-so-subtle threat. "While you still can, that is."

"N- no, I don't know," responded Demetra weakly.

"We waited for the captain to be married due to Lorikan's law and custom." responded the vampire with a smile.

"With your marriage to the captain and his untimely demise, you are now the rightful owner of everything that was in your husband's name."

Demetra, too shocked by her husband's death is too preoccupied to process what the vampire is saying.

"I understand your confusion, Lady Demetra," said the vampire in a friendly tone. "You grew up in Murim, yes? No matter. What this means is that you are now the Lady of the Undead Regions."

At this, the vampire switched his tone to be more business-like.

"You have already heard my offer to your late husband, but allow me to repeat it."

And so the vampire repeated his proposal.

"What do you think, Lady Demetra? Do you accept?" the vampire asked, sounding friendly and polite once more. "Think about it, it's a pretty good deal, yes?"

While seeing her husband slain is horrifying, the truth is that she has no affection for the man she married. Demetra had neither love nor hatred for the man; she barely even knew him.

Tying the knot with him was ultimately a choice made from pragmatism. And now, she is about to let pragmatism ensure her survival.

Seeing no choice in the matter, Demetra accepted his offer.

"Ah!" exclaimed the vampire. "A very wise choice, my lady."

"Now, let us begin. This will not take long, and the pain will only be momentary."

"But first-"

Lord Renfeld sliced his arm with his sharp talon-like finger to draw blood. He then did the same to Demetra's arm so that the two wounds would connect when they shook hands.

"Now, let us shake hands."

Demetre shook his hand as she was told. In the process, vampiric blood entered her bloodstream due to the open wounds of both parties.

"We shall meet again," said the vampire as he and Demetra shook hands. "But for now, enjoy the gift I have given you."

As soon as their hands broke apart, Demetra started feeling ill. The vampire blood had entered her system and began to change her- forever.

With that, the vampire and the rest of his comrades left the ship.

The only one left on the ship is Demetra and a very few crew members who all turn out to be working for Lord Renfeld.

As Demetra became ill as a side effect of the transformation, the fallen crew members and their beheaded captain were all unceremoniously thrown over the sea by the human minions of Lord Renfeld.

They would stay and continue their post as sailors until they are rescued by another patrolling Lorikan naval force.