“Gwen!”
[Marcus’s [Desperate Plea] has restored you to full health!]
[[Near Death] will fade from you in 12 seconds]
Gwen snapped back into consciousness; the chaos of combat swirled around her, and Gwen found herself at the center of it all, a mad cackle erupting from her as she once again called upon chaos, death, and destruction. The raw primal energies channeled through her, pooling in her hands where it condensed into a pulsating mass of annihilation.
She glanced at her party for a moment, a wicked smile plastered on her face. There was Marcus, the Paladin who was holding off the Red Dragon known as Khulinax with his sword and shield. Penny, their newest recruit, was busy using her alchemical creations to tend to the wounded while her powerful bombs had already changed the landscape beyond recognition. Shadowsong, that edgy motherfucker, was doing what he did best by running around pissing off the dragon with an endless stream of curses. Rox and Nix were either dead or out of her field of vision.
Gwen rolled her shoulders and stared at their foe. Of all the dragons they had fought so far, Khulinax was by far the largest they had fought as a party, with its level being high enough that The Words wouldn’t describe it. Months of work had gone into this fight, and their strategy was a risky one.
Invoke: Last stand.
Invoke: Infinite Void.
Invoke: Power Overwhelming.
Invoke: End of All Things.
She went through half a dozen skills, activating them at once thanks to the Last Stand skill that could only be used in a state of Near Death. It allowed her to ignore the time of activation for class buffs. Infinite Void caused the damage she would deal to be magnified based on her foe’s missing health. Power Overwhelming increased the cost of a spell in exchange for increasing its power. End of All Things was the level 50 capstone of her Warlock class, which allowed her to magnify and amplify whatever spell she was going to cast by sacrificing her life force.
[[Annihilation Bolt] activated]
With a violent, near-inhuman motion, Gwen unleashed her spell. The dragon’s massive red form seemed to distort as the bolt flew towards him, stretching and shrinking as reality distorted around it. The distortion condensed and magnified so that the area it affected was little more than a swirl of the dragon’s red scales roughly the size of a large dog. Then there was a snap, and the distortion vanished and all it was affecting was taken with it.
[You have defeated Khulinax The Inferno!]
[Your HP is at 1]
[+ 20,000 xp]
[Unable to level up past level 50 in [Warlock] Class]
[The Pact you have made with [Tazzothos] has been complete]
[Your HP is at 1]
[[Power overwhelming] has ended]
[The quest [Defeat Khulinax The Inferno!] has been completed…]
[The Dragon has dropped…]
[Khulinax’s hoard is now accessible]
[Perk: [Dragon Slayer II] has been unlocked]
“Fucking Dammit!” The sound of Marcus’s Shield bouncing off the wall echoed throughout the chamber. Additional shouts of dismay echoed throughout the dragon’s lair as they all looked at the notifications The Words were presenting to them.
Normally, Gwen would have joined them. Even if they had won the battle, they still hadn’t completed their goal: none of them had had a breakthrough. They had gone through hell to beat the biggest baddest creature they could find, and they still couldn’t progress their classes. She had been a breaker longer than any of them—hell, she had probably wasted more experience than any other level 50 in the world at this point.
But, oddly enough, the fact that she hadn’t gotten a breakthrough didn’t upset her as much as it should have. Instead, she found herself staring at one of the dozen or so notifications The Words had presented her with.
[The Pact you have made with [Tazzothos] has been complete]
[Would you like to renew your pact with [Tazzothos], or would you like to enter a new pact?
> Renew
New Pact
Decline]
She had been bound to Tazzothos ever since she had hit level 5 all those years ago. This was where much of her power as a Warlock came from; even the mighty Annihilation Bolt was because of her pact, but that power came with a cost. A craving for violence and destruction was what most people warned of, but no one ever spoke that it would constantly feel like something else was in there, trying to influence her choices. There were physical changes as well, such as her eyes being nearly pure black with the exception of embers that acted as her pupils, or how her hair ranged from pitch black to sickly green.
She stared at the decline option for what felt like hours as her companions argued about something while splitting up the loot.
What would it be like if she didn’t have a pact any more?
She didn’t even know what she would be.
She didn’t even know what she would look like.
A wave of tiredness washed over her. She glanced towards Marcus who was comparing a sword to a battle-ax. Penny was beside him, busy trying to put as many coins as she could in their bag of holding as she could fit. Shadowsong was busy trying to saw off one of the dragon’s horns, while Rox and Nix were sorting out gems.
In theory, this party was the one she had started out with, but these weren’t the people she had started out with. Most of them were dead, as even at level 50 there was still so much danger in the world, or they had simply stopped. She had always wondered why.
Why did they stop trying for a breakthrough? Didn’t they want to get stronger? Didn’t they want to see what was beyond level 50?
Did she even want that anymore?
Accept
Taazzothos’s voice rumbled like a rockslide in her mind.
I can help you get what you want.
The problem was that she didn’t know what she wanted. Not anymore. What changed?
Power, you desire power
Did she?
Gwen furrowed her brow, trying to push aside the voice that was growing in her mind like a thunderstorm. What was it that she wanted? Was it the immortality promised at level 100? Was it just her natural drive for more? Those things sounded fine.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
But they weren’t what she wanted.
Green fields, blue skies, and a cool breeze came to mind along with the sensation of not having to constantly worry for her life.
What she wanted was to stop.
[Are you sure you want to forgo forging a pact?
>No
Yes]
You will regret this Gwendoline, you will—
Shut up.
[You have refused to form a pact, Warlock Features disabled]
For a moment, there was peace, as though nothing had changed at all.
Her stomach lurched, and a sense of vertigo overcame her where her perception of up and down was twisted and distorted so that up and down weren’t opposites from each other but instead directions that were spinning around like the hands of some twisted, three-dimensional clock. The room around her grew darker as the shadows began to creep in.
Gwen fell to her knees, bracing herself only with her hands as she tried to convince herself that she was looking down at the ground. Her hands trembled against a surface that felt nothing like solid stone as they began to change. The claws she’d had for years that acted as her primary melee weapon began to wither. Their red hues began to drain as the hardened armored plates faded, leaving in their wake a skin tone she hadn’t seen in decades.
Her naturally pale skin seemed to be even more unnatural than the demonic reds she was used to.
The Words began to flood her with notifications as every single gift given to her by her patron was being ripped from her. Demonic Eyes, Boon of The Flame Legion, Forsaken Claws, Will of the Inferno, Blood Craving, Font of Demonic Might, Demonic Union, and many more passives that made Warlocks the most durable casters there were.
A dry heave escaped from her with enough force that it felt like it was trying to take everything out of her. Then it stopped being dry. Instead of her lunch, a thick black ichor spewed from her mouth smelled twice as foul as it tasted. The simple sound she made while puking up what had to be nothing but pure demonic essence was enough to trigger her to vomit once again as more of that ichor began to pour from her mouth, landing in sickening clumps.
The seconds felt like hours as her body undid years of metamorphosis all at once.
When at long last the changes stopped, she found herself out of breath. She found her body felt far weaker and far more frail than she would have thought.
But, despite all of that, she felt good.
She smacked her lips, the foul taste of the ichor still present, as she stared at the mess she had made in the dragon’s lair, waiting for anything else to suddenly exit her body.
When nothing did, she reared back, scrambling away from the ichor, though it had already stained her robes.
“Gwen!” Marcus shouted again, though this time she did not receive his desperate prayer for healing. He ran towards her, taking a moment to inspect her pile of demon vomit before he stopped just within arms reach of her, an excited, almost pleading look on his face. “What was that? Did you break through?”
She wanted to laugh, but couldn’t spare the breath. Instead, she just gave him a small smile. “Not quite.”
“Fuck!” Marcus tore his helmet from his head and threw it on the ground hard enough to send it flying into the air. He ran a hand through his long golden hair and glared at her. “Then why the fuck are you so different now?”
“Not that we mind,” Penny said, producing a potion from one of her many pockets and holding it up towards Gwen’s lips. As both the newest recruit and the youngest, Penny had more or less brute-forced her way into the role of group mom, even if no one else wanted it. “If anything, it’s a pretty big improvement. Though, you still got them horns.”
“Those,” Gwen said before she took a sip of the potion. Strawberry. It tasted like the strawberries her grandmother used to grow back at the village. They were so sweet, with just the right amount of sour. Almost instantly, all of the ailments Gwen had been subject to vanished. She watched as her health increased to its new, lower, total, and even her limbs felt lighter due to whatever magic Penny had put into that potion.
“Why are you wasting one of those on her?” Marcus asked his brow furrowing, “She’s got more regeneration than I do.”
“Oh please, she needed it. Besides, Elixirs of Life are the best at removing any foul taste!” Penny gestured towards the slightly wiggling pile of black ichor. “And it’s not like we’re doing anything after fighting that dragon.”
Marcus just groaned and flipped his hand at the topic.
“My Horns,” Gwen continued, placing one foot under herself. Her balance felt off. “They’re from my race. I’m an Oni.”
“Well I’ll be.” Penny said with a wide smile on her face. Before she shrugged. “Good for you.”
“What’s with that look anyways?” Marcus stomped his foot, his metal-clad book ringing against his stone. “And what the hell is that stuff anyways? You didn’t get another perk, did you?”
“I uhh,” Gwen paused for a moment as she considered what exactly she had just done. This wasn’t the same as retraining; this wasn’t some new experimental build, this wasn’t being simply unoptimized.
What she had just done was effectively become a level 50 nothing.
She rolled her shoulders and stared directly at Marcus. “I didn’t renew my contract.”
Marcus stood there for a moment before he closed his eyes and made an annoyed sound. “So you’re done then?”
“I guess I am.” Gwen shook her head and finally got a glimpse of her own hair. It was no longer the black and green it had been, but rather it was silver, almost as pale as her skin was now.
“Just like that?” Marcus growled, the features on his face twisting with a growing annoyance that was being directed towards Gwen. “You’re just going to leave us? After all we’ve gone through? After everything that you led us through after—”
Penny walked up to Marcus and patted him on the elbow, her short stature making it impossible to reach his shoulder. “Marcus, that’s how this party works. Any member can leave as they see fit. Besides, look at her: even if she did stick around, without her demons, she ain’t going to put up much of a fight.”
“She could get another patron! Or sign a new contract!” Marcus’s frustration was not fading even though Penny normally knew how to wield him like a fiddle.
“And that’s her choice now, Marcus.” Penny gave a sweet smile and reached into one of her many pouches along her garments, pulling out a cookie that was just a bit too big for her hands. She waved it up towards Marcus like one would offer a stubborn work horse a carrot to start moving. “Now come on, let’s get the loot sorted and throw a party for Gwen leaving.”
Gwen had a better cookie in mind. She crossed her arms and leaned to the side just a bit, “Besides, look at it this way: with me gone, you’re the leader now.”
All of Marcus’s anger vanished as realization dawned on him. “I am?” He asked no one in particular, his frown slowly shifting into a smile that seemed to be just a tad on the troublesome side. “I am, aren’t I?”
She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she walked past Marcus. Even if she couldn’t fight as a Warlock anymore, there were still things that only she could do within the party: namely, the identification of magical items, as such a thing came from her general skills and feats rather than her patron.
Many of the Magic Items were effectively useless to the party. While the large, sheep-sized scrying orb would be useful for scouting parties, such a device would require multiple mages to use without being detected, and generally someone like Shadowsong would be able to gather more info through means of stealth and trickery. The orb would be better off being sold to a kingdom to help spot monster dens and dungeons as they appeared. Ships used similar devices to scout their path and avoid sea monsters.
Those items that weren’t useless by nature of being too large or just too niche for the party were things that the party already had in abundance. Rings that granted protection from threats physical and magical were among the most common items by sheer virtue of their demand and were excellent practice for would-be enchanters as well. Gwen’s own rings were already of the highest grade.
Consumables were the most sought after; things like scrolls that gave access to various forms of magic were oftentimes as strong if not stronger than what a single caster could perform. Wands were easy-to-use spell sticks that let anybody that could say the command word unleash a spell, and potions were always nice to have.
In short, there were very few items in the dragon’s hoard that the party would actually use. The only exceptions were a large Lion’s Guard Shield that Marcus claimed, an upgrade for Penny’s amulet, a quiver for Shadowsong, and a robe that Rox claimed which did nothing but look fancy.
With the party at least partially sated from their windfall, Gwen went through the list of items one last time, looking for anything that might be useful for whatever life she was going to be living after this.
“Have you decided?” Shadowsong half-mumbled in her direction as he was tying his long raven black hair with some scrap of ribbon. The dragon’s horn he had cut off was currently hanging around his neck like an oversized drinking horn.
“Not exactly,” Gwen gave a shrug that caused her hands to flap to her side. “But, I’m looking forward to not risking my life constantly.”
Shadowsong made an agreeable noise. “I come from a well-off family of wizards.”
Oh god, backstory. Was she going to finally know why he was called Shadowsong and not Ferandal?
“I didn’t exactly fit in with them.” Shadowsong muttered and then shook his head. “You might, but that’s not what I’m trying to say.”
“What are you trying to say?” What was with archers and rangers being socially awkward?
“Enchanting.” Shadowsong blurted out, his cool and aloof demeanor vanishing for a few moments. He let out a cough and blinked. “That is to say, you have a great deal of talent with magic items. I’ve seen capped wizards struggle to evaluate things you blink at.”
A lot of that was just practice though.
“Hmm, maybe.”
She doubted it. But maybe.
XXXX
Half-drunk, half-asleep, and all awake, Gwen lay in the nicest, softest bed they could find. The soft snoring of Penny echoed throughout their shared room, while the obnoxious singing from the still-roaring party happening in the tavern below wafted up alongside the scent of whatever was being cooked in the kitchen. Even without her, her retirement party was still going on full force.
Though it was probably more a party for their success of defeating Khulinax, and in Marcus’s case, his promotion.
She held her finger up, scrolling through The Words aimlessly. It was something of a habit, though up until now she had done it looking for something that could have been missed to break through level 50. Now though, she was trying to find something to latch onto for what she could do next. Shadowsong’s idea of becoming an enchanter was something of a mixed bag; if she wanted to do so in a large city, she’d have to join a guild who’d take a cut and protect her, and if she went to a smaller outpost town, she’d have to invest in protecting herself and worry about stressed-out levelers trying to swindle her and moaning about every single coin.
Like she did back in those days.
A small town in a safe area would be fine, but probably wouldn’t see much business.
She paused, closing her eyes for a second even if she could still see The Words as clear as day. A clear blue sky, a green field, the summer breeze, and a tree to nap under without a single care in the world. And, there was something else now. Something she could just barely taste on the tip of her tongue.
Her eyes snapped wide and she looked towards Penny.
“Strawberries.” The way they made her tongue tingle in delight made her feel like a kid again, a kid that hadn’t even committed to the Warlock class. It would be easy to get strawberries though, plenty of stores sold them, and there were even strawberry candies she could buy. It really wasn’t much of a life-altering quest.
Wine.
Was there strawberry wine?
There was wine of a lot of things.
“The best strawberry wine.”
And she didn’t want to just find it, that would be too easy.
The picture began to form in her head: a farm nestled somewhere peaceful, where the biggest threats might be a few low-level monsters, some magical beasts, and some newbie adventurers that just don’t know better. She could grow strawberries, fields of them. Other things too, like carrots, potatoes, wheat, sage-grass, vile-root, plinberries, volus, manamelon, and so many other things. A large house, one with a nice bath heated by magic-stones, and a large fluffy bed that she could sleep in all she wanted.
Her hand fell to her side, and she looked up towards the ceiling again. The Words appeared in their own special little place in her vision, and she began to browse through her options. Trade classes had never interested her before, so they were still at level 1. And she didn’t even have the skills for farming unlocked to begin with.
She couldn’t help but smile. Starting over might not be such a bad idea.
As sleep began to claim her, Gwen glanced at her notifications one last time. There had been far too many for her to actually look at as she lost all of her Warlock abilities, so she had largely brushed them off, sending them to The Words’ notification box. A quick scroll revealed something she hadn’t been expecting
[Perk: [Unbound] has been unlocked]
AN: Quick question for ya'll should I include Stat-blocks for Gwen? I wouldn't do them every chapter maybe every 5 or 10 depending on needs. And how intrusive should The Words be? Do you want more notification boxes, fewer, or was this chapter a good balance?