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New Reality: 31 August 1525, Rome
Tears flowed down Raphael's cheeks as he ran on the streets and at times over roofs. Hate and regret filled his soul. For himself, for his debauched lifestyle, for so many things… The minimap showed the portal on a hill, in a vineyard. In the future, a villa of the Medicis would be there. Now, it belonged to Felice della Rovere. They had been lovers, times ago. If he had to name a woman the true love of his life, Felice was the one.
She was also one of the reasons he joined Salvatore, to break the old world, to make a new one in which merits, not birth, would rule. The illegitimate daughter of the previous Pope, Felice had been obliged to marry into nobility, their love doomed from the start. The only thing he could do back then was to cry, drink himself to sleep, and paint her in one of his frescoes. An exceptional woman, sharp lines, strong face… One of his best models.
Then Salvatore ruined it, showing Raphael the future. He wished to paint like Rembrandt, Kahlo, or Picasso: rough, true human nature. Raph was too cute in his art, too… metaphorical… Lost in thoughts, he had arrived at his destination. There was a big commotion ahead, and he hid the woman he was carrying behind a bush, before darting forward.
In front of the house in the center of the vineyard, a battle was in progress. A beautiful blonde woman, exquisitely pretty, was holding up an energy shield, to stop a monster from killing—and probably eating—a large group of people hiding behind her. There were many elderly men, women, and children there, taking refuge from the chaos in the city.
The monster was one of the crocodiles, over thirty feet in length, and ten in height, with a humanoid lizard as a rider, armed with a fifteen-foot-long spear. Dragon, Ardent's steed, attacked the monster, breathing fire. It was a hard task, as the Dragonling couldn't shoot from all angles, or he would have killed his wards.
The fire washed over the giant crocodile's scales without effect. The reptile snapped its jaws now and then, to get the Dragonling's legs, as the latter flew in the air, trying to attract the monster away from the civilians. The crocodile's rider was meanwhile hitting the forcefield with his spear, but the defense was holding for now.
There was no sign of Ardent, and Raphael had no idea how to communicate with the Dragonling. All he could do was to go all in, and hope the steed would not burn him to a crisp by mistake. His hit points were on the lower side of the spectrum. A glass cannon, all into attack.
Yet, his maxed DEX was not for show. Activating Light Steps, Raphael jumped on the alligator's tail and ran up without the monster noticing. If the scales, both of the reptile and the rider, were too tough to be affected by Dragon's Firebreath, then he had to find a softer spot. The rider's eye was the closest available choice, and Raph's ninjatō went inside the skull in a swift and fluid motion.
"The fuck?" Raphael exclaimed. The monster didn't even flinch, ignoring him, continuing to go after the dragonling and the forcefield. The Ninja jumped down, trying to assess the situation, barely extracting his weapon in time.
Gore was dripping out of the lizardman's skull: blood and brains. It should have been dead. Tactical Insight, a more focused combat version of the general skill, showed an unpleasant message. Error! It was all about his own perception now.
Concentrating on the monster, Raphael took in the image, trying to examine it with an open mind. What was out of the ordinary, out of place, even for a horror? The answer came soon. A Centaur! There was no rider, both things were fused, a monster with two bodies and two heads, but acting as one.
And there was a tiny hole where the rider's spine met the crocodile's back… A breathing orifice, like for a whale? It didn't matter, it screamed to him: weakest spot. He blurred out of existence, moving through the shadows, and activated his Ultimate Critical Strike, ensuring a fivefold increased damage.
Blood and bile erupted up from the orifice, bathing him, and then the monster fell forward, collapsing in a lifeless heap.
You have killed an Unknown Abomination. You have Leveled x 2. You are now level 30. One Fate Point was obtained.
Dragon neighed, saluting the achievement, and returning to his normal horse shape. Jumping down from the monster's corpse, Raphael asked: "Everyone's all right? Ardent sent me to protect you."
The blonde jerked upon hearing the name, and Raphael knew that she was the one he was supposed to protect. But another woman stepped forward, hugging him. "Raphael…"
"F-Felice?" He didn't recognize her at first. She wasn't a girl anymore, but a true matron, but that voice was unmistakable.
"It's me," she fondled his face. "You look… so young… You're one of the magic users? The Muse told us everything…"
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"Elisa," the blonde offered a handshake, which he accepted with his left hand, still hugging his long-lost love.
"The demigodess offered me the System," Felice said hesitantly. "I can't… I don't know what to do…"
The woman's knees mollified, and Raphael rushed to support her. "Accept it," he said. "I never forget you… always been my one true love…" he whispered in her ear.
She smiled and ceased hugging him, going to sit on a bench, shaking her head from time to time, reading the incoming notifications. The refugees—nobles, from the clothes—surrounded him, their questions drowning his ears in a waterfall of noises.
"Calm down! We're in no immediate danger and reinforcements are on their way," Raphael shouted, looking at the defeated abomination.
"The monster appeared ten minutes after we arrived," Elisa said. "We met the group, and then it fell upon us. I had to reveal to them that magic is real while trying to keep that monster at bay. Your intervention was timely and decisive."
"Glad to help… Excuse me for a moment." He left Elisa and went to Felice. "Do you need help with the System?"
"I'm good…" she whispered. "It's… logical. Thank you for protecting me and my children…"
In the group, there were several young people, around ten years old, some less, some more. He couldn't know who was who, but her gratitude filled him with happiness.
"I just received an SMS from Ardent!" Elisa chirped. "He'll be here in—"
Ardent arrived running before she finished her sentence and swept her in his arms. Their hug told Raphael everything. The two were in love. His heart skipped a beat, then a hand touched his shoulder and a voice whispered in his ear:
"A word…"
"Felice!" he turned toward the woman. "I want to make it right. If you believe in second chances—"
"I'm grateful you still have feelings for me," she smiled, a sad smile, "but I don't deserve it. We were barely more than children, Raphael, our mind was made of dreams and fantasies… That time is gone. I loved my second husband… despite the marriage being arranged, we were right for each other. I'm sorry, but it’s better to—"
"You always had a knack for delivering the truth in my face…"
"I hope we can be friends… Now, please introduce me to your friends. I'm a Strategist by class, and my first quest is to have a brainstorm with all the System users present."
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An elbow made Ardent jerk and wake up. He had dozed off, while Raphael, Martin, Elisa, and the noblewoman had exchanged ideas for about half an hour. Speeches were like a debuff from him.
"—and I hope you will lend me your trust," Felice finished.
"Beautiful woman, isn't she?" Martin whispered to his son-in-law.
Scrutinizing discreetly the stocky middle-aged woman, Ardent was unconvinced both by her hotness—Martin's standards of beauty clearly weren't his own—and by her competence. She was a level one, her INT barely at thirteen, the WIS fifteen, and her Charisma at nine.
He smiled at Elisa, whose eyes returned the favor, melting his heart, but only for a second, returning their attention to the Roman noblewoman. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he walked away and approached the monster's corpse, summoning Ana.
"Analyze this thing, please, and tell me what you get. All I got was Wild Magic Abomination."
The witch circled the carcass, wrinkling her nose in disgust, it had already started to rot. After repeating the tour, she produced her Tarot deck and pulled ten cards. The last showed a cloud of flies.
"I can't tell you what this monster is, but the reading revealed to me the magic that made it is worse than the Dark Draconic," she sulked "While they infected people, this can corrupt magic itself. We have to win the day, or all is lost."
Ardent nodded and walked a hundred yards farther. His heart asked him to return to the discussion, if not to follow it, to bathe his eyes in Elisa's image. Yet, making sure she was safe was more important, so he called Clement.
"How's going?" he asked directly.
"We're doomed…" the pope sobbed, and hiccuped. "Let me sing you something—"
"I'll keep in touch." Ardent ended the call, he had no patience for drunk people. Shaking his head, he returned to the meeting, passing through the crowd. There were at least a couple thousand people in the vineyard, refugees from the city.
"Perfect, you're here," Raphael exclaimed. "Felice will tell us her plan."
"I'm listening," Ardent crossed his arms, frowning. He wasn't going to let himself be bossed around by some Roman noblewoman, but at least, he could hear what she had to say.
"Thank you, Champion," Felice said. "We divide our forces into four. The enemy didn't arrive on land, or they would have been observed. That leaves the sea. You're the only one with a flying steed. Go and look for their fleet. If possible, deal with it. We don't want them to be able to send more reinforcements, retreat, or besiege other towns.
"Raphael should go to the Sant'Angelo Castle, and help the garrison confront the crocodiles. I also suspect the large cats and the small humans are built for speed, he will be their counter. My friends, the nobles of Rome," she walked her eyes around, "will serve as a diversion. They'll move around the city in large armed groups, avoiding contact, but trying to look like they have a clear objective."
"That will keep the enemies' commanders guessing our intentions," Ardent nodded. It was a sound plan, he could not find an objection so far.
"The most important task will be to find the enemy's commanders and kill them," Felice added. "And for that, the perfect team would be Elisa de Bourgogne and Martin Martin. He has strength and she has defense."
Ardent's heart skipped a beat, wanting to scream his refusal. How could he let Elisa go in harm's way? Yet at the same second, he knew it was the only choice. They were too few to find a replacement, and the tasks were tailored to each one's strengths. The woman was a good Strategist, despite her level and low stats.
"It's a good plan," he said slowly, searching for Elisa's eyes. She was beaming, and her hand moved for a second over her phone, sending him a heart emoji. They were both afraid, but his trust and approval meant a lot to her.
"Yey! Mommy will fuck them in the ass, today and tomorrow!" Valerie screamed.
"Valerie! Language!" Elisa yelled.
"Atta boy!" Martin ruffled the girl's hair.
"I'll prepare my mount," Ardent said, putting some distance away from the group, and going inside a thicket. It was a pretense, and as he hoped, Elisa arrived in less than a minute. They kissed and caressed each other's face and neck, thirsty for each other.
"Take care," she said at the end.
He replied with a short kiss, softly squeezing her lips between his teeth like he would have done with a raspberry. Finally, he pushed one of his revolvers in her hands and walked away, summoning Dragon and sending Ana into storage.