My exterior was placid even if internally I was on the edge of activating all my passives and fighting for my life. Merlin lead us into a cozy study the walls lined with dark wood bookshelves tomes contained behind crystal glass. Merlin sat in a leather bound armchair and gestured for me to sit across from him.
I took a seat, and he poured two glasses of an amber liquor. With a gesture of his fingers the glass frosted over, and he passed me the drink.
“How did you meet my daughter?” he asked.
“She met me in the forest when she was hunting a monster,” I said. “We fought some monsters in a cave, and she asked me to come here and serve as her champion.”
“During her escapade a few weeks ago,” Merlin mused sipping at his whiskey. “Stop seeing her now.”
“No,” I said.
Merlin raised an eyebrow. “You see the differences in our strength and yet you would still defy me?”
“I’ve punched above my rank before,” I said with a shrug.
“I am more than the sum of my abilities,” Merlin warned me. “I am the Wizard of Camelot I have access to spells you can’t comprehend.”
“Not my first time dealing with a higher-ranking wizard either,” I said sipping at my own whiskey.
“Really,” Merlin said pursing his lips as he studied me. “Fine then, what’s your price?”
“My price?” I asked.
“For leaving my daughter alone,” Merlin said.
“You may have a put a price on her,” I said shaking my head. “But I haven’t. I have to ask, as a father how can you do this to your daughter?”
“Don’t presume to judge me boy,” Merlin growled. “This is her duty as a daughter and lady of Camelot.”
“But what about your duty as a father?” I asked. “To care about the happiness of your daughter, as I understand there was a contract between her and Arthur to both remain faithful and he broke that. Doesn’t that anger you?”
“Affairs and mistresses are common among my peers,” Merlin said, and I detected just a hint of bitterness as he stared into his glass. “She shouldn’t have expected anything different; we live in reality not a fairytale.”
His eyes snapped back up to me. “Again, I will ask you, what is your price?”
“The only thing I want that you could give me is the one you’re trying to get me to stay away from,” I said. “I want Guinevere’s hand in marriage, I will fight whoever I have to get that, even you.”
“You don’t want to stand against me,” Merlin said runes along his staff glowing his eyes suddenly a luminous emerald glow. “I am not a duelist like my nephew, it will not be an honorable fight when you face me.”
“I’ve faced your assassin’s already,” I said meeting his eyes without fear.
“So, he talked,” Merlin said going still as a winter lake. “I thought I had made him immune to torture.”
“His body maybe but not his soul,” I said with a shrug deciding to let Merlin go with believing I tortured the information out of the assassin. “He told me a lot of things before he died.”
“Are you trying to blackmail me to back off you?” Merlin asked. “It won’t work.”
“I don’t need to blackmail you,” I said our eyes never leaving the other as we stared each other down. “I don’t fear your rank, Merlin, not politically or physically. Any man who would send assassins after his own daughter is not worthy of respect.”
“Be careful of your next words,” Merlin said his voice sharp and hard as a knife.
“Or what?” I asked leaning back in my seat. “You’ll do the job yourself this time? You don’t seem the type to get your own hands dirty.”
“I didn’t get my rank by being squeamish,” Merlin said our eyes unblinking as we stared each other down. “Answer me one question honestly and I will leave you be until your duel with Arthur.”
“Only if I get one question too,” I said.
“Very well,” Merlin agreed nodding his head he stared into my eyes. “Are you a member of the Order of the Magi?”
I blinked in surprise than smiled. “No,” I said leaning back in my chair. “My turn, why did your wife kill herself? The real reason.”
Merlin’s jaw clenched. “We’re done here,” he said pushing himself up. He left me alone in the office and I took some time to finish my drink.
I didn’t press him; his reaction alone had been an answer of sorts. What did you read from him there? I asked Voidra.
A lot of irritation, surprise, and rage when you asked your last question. The rage wasn’t even directed at you for asking it, it was towards something else. I also detected hints of hurt and betrayal, it was delicious, Voidra purred.
I didn’t even blink at her psychopathic description of human emotions anymore. I thought about those emotions and what implications they might have. I finished my drink and stood up. This time when I walked out of the palace I wasn’t stopped. I returned to the tourney ground and sat down cross legged in my tent. I didn’t see Kalin which concerned me.
He’s fine, Ares said. He’s with those other orphans you found him with right now.
I relaxed. “Keep an eye on him for me.”
I had enchanted the tent to be soundproof and I would need that for what I was about to do. I had gathered over a hundred-thousand rank points fighting the gargoyles. They hadn’t been dungeon creatures or raid monsters but monsters with their own abilities. This meant I could finally get Void Asura to its max rank before the fight with Arthur.
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“Raise Void Asura by one rank,” I told the system.
Gritting my teeth through the soul scouring agony I was glad Kalin wasn’t here to see this. It ended and I did it again and I got it.
Void Asura, (Rank: 35): You have created a symbiotic instead of parasitic relationship with the spirits inhabiting you, through the use of an ability token you have changed this ability to make it somewhat compatible with the System. Through manipulation of your mana and stamina, they have created a third type of energy and can use it to manifest through your body and interact with the world.
Void Armor: You gain immunity to Void & Soul damage. The spectral arms created by the spirits residing in your soul when manifested appear armored, the armor has hardness 35 with an additional 1 hardness per twenty points of Spirit you have. Current hardness .
Void Edge: Your attacks while this ability is active deal Extreme Void damage and bypass 28 levels of hardness.
Void Soul: Like the beings of the void, you feed on the souls of others to grow in power; you Ethereal regeneration is increased by .05 and your max Ethereal is increased by 5 for every creature with a soul that you kill permanently.
Void Arsenal: You are able to bind 5 weapons to your soul letting you store them there and summon them and dismiss them at will. If you lose your weapons, they are transported back into your soul vault to be resummoned later.
Void Matter: You are linked to Void body and soul and are able to make the void manifest physically. For the cost of 10 ethereal, you can create 3 pound of Void matter, the matter will degrade overtime while outside of the void.
Void Shield: Time, space, and reality are not constant laws in the Void; when you take damage you can expend 100 ethereal to change the outcome of time and reality to negate all the damage taken in the past 7 seconds. Cooldown 50 seconds.
Void Eyes: You see the gaps in reality where doors into the Void can be opened.
Cost:
15 Ethereal per second
Cast Time:
Instantaneous
This ability should not exist, it will take 10x the normal amount of rank points for each rank up of this ability. Ranking up this ability does not advance any of your attributes. Current Max Rank 50
If I was honest this new addition to the skill was a major letdown. I’d been hoping for another tool in my duel against Arthur, at least the other effects had upgraded their effects. I felt energized instead of drained despite the harrowing experience of scouring my soul. Standing up I left the tent and looked out towards the palace. I needed to see Guinevere again, it wasn’t a want but a burning need.
I pulled Mab out and scanned its pages writing down several test scripts that were rejected until I came upon one that would work. Stepping into a shadow I cast it upon myself turning translucent, I stepped into a portal and appeared inside the Palace. I had noticed it wasn’t Warded against this kind of entry which I found interesting. There were wards to prevent abilities from letting you teleport inside, but a glaring weakness was their effectiveness against spells.
I had to wonder if Merlin was aware of this. He seemed concerned about the Order of the Magi but didn’t seem to be prepared to counter them despite his claims of being a powerful wizard. Putting that aside for later consideration I followed the jasmine scent of Guinevere. I had to hide from guards several times but found a door past a guarded hallway. My boots let me teleport past some security sections the short-range teleport not triggering any of the wards. I knocked at the door.
“Who is it?” Guinevere called from within.
“It’s me,” I whispered back but knowing she could hear.
The door opened and Guinevere pulled me inside. “What are you doing here?” she hissed at me.
I didn’t answer her with words pulling her close. She was stiff for a moment than melted in my arms her body pressing against mine. She leaned back pulling me with her and we stepped back. Her knees hit the edge of the bed and I slowly lowered her down on it. My kisses ran down her neck and along her collar bone as my hand ran along her body undoing the buttons of her dress. Long minutes later after I had kissed my way along her skin and curves caressing every inch of her skin we came together.
Our breathing intensified skin pressed hot against each other her legs entwined around mine. Her nails clawed along my back and ran through my hair. My hands traveled down her back her white hair spread out over the silk sheets of the bed. After many long minutes we lay together exhausted. It was nice to know that even with all the attributes we gained this type of activity would still leave you drained.
Pulling Guinevere close I pressed my nose into her sweet-smelling hair inhaling deeply as I fell asleep instead of just a deep meditation.
---
The heavy swing of the greatsword swung down and Arthur’s chest heaved as he blocked it sliding across the ground. Lancelot and Kay circled around it, blood dripping down from their armor where they had taken hits during the fight. They had done this fight ten times before and even though they won each time it was always a hard-fought victory. The dungeon didn’t stay the same, the abilities and weapon of the boss changing with each iteration forcing them to always adapt.
Amariel the Knight Commander; Gifted, Dungeon Boss/Archangel, Hero, Rank: 900
Arthur ducked under the next swing of the sword. Kay lunged forwards with his spear scoring a hit between the gap of the angel’s breastplate and hip. It twisted to slash at him, but Lancelot interposed himself taking the hit on the shield in place of him.
Arthur drove Excalibur forwards sheering through the archangel armor. A retaliatory blast of golden luminescence hit him, and the Holy damage seared through his armor and into his flesh. Arthur grit his teeth and bore it; he had gained Holy Resistance III from fighting this boss and enduring its attacks. A metallic feathered wing went for Arthur, its feathers humming ready to chew through him like a buzz saw.
Pushing off the ground Arthur twisted through the air dodging the wing and striking out, hacking it off at the base of the boss’ torso. The wing fell to the ground and the archangel stumbled suddenly off balance. Kay struck with his spear up through the gap in its armpit into its heart.
Even in its dying moments the threat was not over. The archangel grabbed Kay’s spear and dragged him closer swinging its sword for his neck. A shout tore from Lancelot’s throat and the sword spun in the air redirected towards the party’s tank and reverberating against his shield. The archangel sank to its knees and Arthur took off its head with his sword.
Arthur heaved a breath as the notifications for the boss’s death scrolled across his vision.
150 rank points gained.
Dismissing the notification for the rank points he read the next one.
Wings of the Heavens (Rank 1): Golden wings made of light sprout from your back giving you a flight speed equal to your movement speed. The wings are immune to physical damage but vulnerable to certain types of damage.
Cost:
4 mana per second
Rank up this ability to increase your flight capabilities. Each rank up increases your Spirit by 2.
Arthur smiled; he didn’t have a flight of his ability before this. The next time the Warlord flew at him they’d take their battle to the sky.