We descended down the steps of the palace into its depths. The intricate iron gates of the Vault stood before us. Andromeda hesitantly held out her hand placing it into the mouth of a dragon statue. The jaws closed down and she winced as it extracted her blood.
The doors slowly began to grind open, and I was greeted by a marvelous site. Chests of gold were piled against the walls. Glass displays with weapons in them were set up like a museum and stands with full sets of enchanted armor were erected haphazardly. Ignoring them all I went to the back to a single glass display case. Opening it set off an alarm, but it quickly died. I reached down and pulled up the last piece of my armor set.
Glossy black plates with gold trim and red glowing runes made up most of it like the other pieces of the set. It was padded with the grey fur and gold covered chainmail hung down to protect my more sensitive areas. The savage gold spikes were present as well. Uncaring what others thought I kicked out of my boots and stripped out of my pants and the armored skirt I had been wearing ever since I looted it off the goblin chief.
Strapping on the set of waist armor I turned to a full-length mirror in the vault to see how I looked now.
I was the picture of a barbarian king. My torso was bare of almost any protection only the upper part of my chest and shoulders covered with armor. The scars along my body were a ragged testament to my battles and what I was willing do suffer to achieve victory. The tattered pelt that hung from my shoulders gave me an even more savage appearance, the spines along my armor adding to that look.
Opening the notification, I read the description for the armor.
Pteruges of Ares, Type: Armor (waist) (Artifact IV): One of the four pieces of the armor of Ares earned with the blood of four nations he conquered to complete the quest’s of Kelesa and crafted by her with the aid of the system. This waist armor is part of a larger set that gains more power the more pieces of the armor the wearer possess.
Courage of Hector: You have an aura of courage that gives you resistance to fear, terror, stuns, paralysis and shares it with any allied creatures in a 50ft around you. Every twenty ranks the size of the aura increases by 50ft, starting radius 50ft.
(2 Pieces) Battle Hardened Warriors: Your aura extends to your allies; they receive a hardness bonus to their skin equal to a quarter of yours and are immune to the negative effects of your auras from this set and your abilities.
(3 Pieces) Battle Glory: When you kill an enemy your allies within 100ft are Heartened increasing their damage stages one for the next 5 seconds.
(4 Pieces) Authority of the Warlord: You can telepathically speak to any of your vassals within your Aura.
Weight:
10 lbs.
I’d only had to deal with stuns and paralysis a few times and was already able to shrug off most fear and terror effects but being able to share that with my allies was a nice bonus. The ability to telepathically speak with my vassals wasn’t something I really needed but I could see how the traditional Warlords would have appreciated the battlefield control it would have given them.
A new notification popped up and I selected it and read it.
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Quest Completed, Heir of Ares: You have won the Pauldron’s of Ares which were lost beneath the waves and awarded to you for completing your Event in first place, found the helm of Ares lost beneath the earth and cut off from the System. You faced your inner self to win the Manica of Ares from the Lion Clan and made an uneasy alliance with your enemies to unseat the vault of Dragonhold and take back the Pteruges of Ares.
Reward: Title, Spirit of Ares
I read the title but before I could get to what it would do my vision darkened and I was in a world of greyscale once again.
--
“What’s with people keep sending me here?” I asked irritably.
I looked around a battlefield ravens feasting on the dead all around us. A man turned to me he carried a spear and shield but was almost a mirror of me our armor being exact clones of each other.
“You must be the new Warlord,” he said.
“And you must be Ares,” I said.
“So I guess I died,” he said, I remember the battle the sword rammed through my heart but then it all went black after that.
“How are you even here?” I asked. “As I understand you died thousands of years ago, shouldn’t your soul have been devoured by the Void or you be in the fields of Elysium or pushing a rock up a hill?”
“I could tell my death was almost inevitable,” Ares said. “Using all my remaining power I created a quest and imbued it into my armor for the next warlord.”
“so you were the one to actually give me that quest?” I asked.
“With some system magic, yes,” Ares said.
“This wasn’t some elaborate plan on your part to try and possess me and wreak your vengeance on the world, was it?” I asked suspiciously.
“No,” Ares said with a laugh. “My time walking on the earth is done the System wouldn’t allow me to try for godhood again after my failure.”
“So…why am I here?” I asked looking around.
“Didn’t you read the quest?” he asked. “The reward was the Spirit of Ares. I’m not here to possess you but to offer to assist you and give you guidance. I would reside in your spirit and speak to you advising you militarily.”
“Its getting a little crowded in there,” I said.
“What?” Ares asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Why do I need you, you did lose your competition remember.”
“I lost against the remaining ten champions in the game,” Ares said. “It required all of them to defeat me and in the end only three of them were still alive when they struck me down. I learned a lot about the gods and their champions, I know how they deploy them and the type of tactics they advise them to take.”
We stared at each other for a long minute. I removed my helmet, and he did likewise. His beard was well groomed, and his eyes were a dark brown, his olive skin wasn’t scarred like mine but had a harsh weather-beaten appearance to it.
“Who was it that killed you?” I asked.
“A woman named Viviane,” Ares said. “She and I had met before, for a time we even were allies… and maybe more than that.” His tone conveyed more than words could about the betrayal he felt.
“I will accept your guidance,” I said. “Though I cannot promise I will always follow your advice, you may find me an unconventional Warlord.”
“You managed to gather all the pieces of my armor together, you are the only one to have managed to do that,” he said extending his hand.
“That’s a long story and had some luck to it,” I said clasping my hand around his wrist.
“Then I look forward to fighting with you,” he said. “Luck is often the determining factor in battle.”
--
My eyes snapped open, and I was looking in the mirror once again. A four specters hovered behind me, one of pure crimson energy, the other made of impenetrable darkness, one that stretched and grew from my shadow, and another made of grey billowing smoke taking on the appearance of a man.
Another one? Karnen asked. You know you’re not the only one who lives here.
“Gotta catch em all,” I said my mouth turning up for just a second.
“I am not a Pokémon!” Karnen shouted.
“How do you even know about Pokémon?” I asked.
There is nothing to do in your head most of the time but watch your memories, Karnen said. Voidra has made me watch every single horror movie you’ve seen at least a dozen times.
I see what you meant when you said crowded, Ares said.
Thankfully the Shadow just growled in disapproval, of all the spirits I had, It was my favorite. He’d never spoken a word since I absorbed him into my soul. Turning I saw Andromeda and my vassals were watching me with concern. From their perspective I’d put on my armor, looked in a mirror zoned out and started talking to myself.
“The throne room is all yours Queen Andromeda,” I said. “If you need something get it yourself, I need to prepare for the Event.”