“This place is much too bleak, nothing to see, nothing to do. At least my room is barely adequate. Come, let’s play a game of chess,” Xaviar said, floating over to the lounge.
Now that he was here, Daniel noticed a thin strand linking Xaviar to the pylon in the middle, the same colour as his body. He was unsure whether it was binding him here or providing him stability. Xaviar turned left, opening the first door and revealing a dreadfully uncomfortable room. A nameplate on the side read Xaviar Steelford, Heroic Spirit of Cinder.
The first thing he observed was the rough stone lining the walls, giving the room a worn look. They were obscured by various military maps, banners, and monster trophies - more than one dragon head blankly stared ahead, never to breathe fire again. A luxurious bear pelt covered the entirety of the floor, making Daniel wonder how large it must’ve been when it was alive. Weapon and armour racks of various sorts were neatly arranged in the corner, polished and ready for battle. Next to them sat a cabinet filled with pricey alcohol bottles, each a different style.
Despite the splendour of the room, a single thing stuck out like a sore thumb. The spirit’s bed was the most uncomfortable-looking thing in the world - a plain wooden bed that was too small for his large stature. The pillow was stiff and rock solid, and the blanket made Daniel itch just by staring at it.
“What grand magics you have there, reaper. A whole room for me. What more could a spirit ask for? Guess I’ll go into your freaky artefact there and die,” Xaviar guffawed, slapping his knee. He was certainly more solid here.
“Well, I do have to thank you for that at least. My old room is better than a coffin, I suppose. Come, let’s play,” he said, sitting on a nearby chair. The table housed a chess board, a separate, larger board featuring only two figurines, and a deck of cards face down.
Daniel sat down and stared at the chess pieces, trying to remember how they moved. Back home, he had played it at best three times, but his pride as the ruler of the underground wouldn’t let him admit it. Then again, he had none left after being saved by Xaviar. He moved a white pawn to e4, and Daniel wondered what he was supposed to do to defend.
“So, a kid playing pretend god using some powerful skill. Not the worst I’ve seen,” Xaviar remarked. To that, he had nothing to say.
“You’re finally free from your coffin. What now?” Daniel said, losing one of his pawns to a bishop.
“Next is the outside world! I can’t imagine how much the world must have regressed in these past few years. Someone has to make it right.”
Daniel forced a smile, splitting his thoughts between conversation and chess.
“Seeing how much work it took to get you here, I doubt it’s going to be easy. I’ll try, but that’s the most I can promise.”
“Not much of a soul reaper if you can’t even do that, eh? Listen, I will do everything the oath commands me to do, but if you want me to do anything beyond that, we’ll need to come to terms,” Xaviar said, his voice stern.
“You can start by finding out what happened to my family. I refuse to believe they’re all dead. I personally killed the last dragon that had a grudge against us,” he pointed at the blue dragon's head with pride, a toothy grin on his face.
Daniel slowly nodded at him.
“I’ll do my best.”
As predicted, Daniel lost his first chess match. Then, the second and the third. Once they had gotten past the awkwardness, Xaviar began asking him questions about his homeland and the state of the world. Unfortunately for him, Daniel was just as clueless as Xaviar, if not even more so. The mental prowess it took to deflect questions combined with the ongoing chess matches gave him a spectral migraine. After five chess matches, he excused himself from Xaviar’s presence. This had taken too long already, and Tavian likely thought he was dead.
The moment he returned to the mortal world, the realisation of what he had done made his knees buckle.His body started trembling, realising how close he had gotten to death. And, oh god, the memories. Once, they burned with a fiery passion. Now, they froze the depths of his soul.
The longing was unbearable.
This couldn’t continue. He had to find a way to regulate himself whenever he sunk into his realm, or it would get him killed sooner than later. The sensation of having the world at your fingertips was more than intoxicating. It was addicting.
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He moderated his breathing, calming his wavering nerves. The tomb had changed him in more ways than one, and whether he came out better for it was up to him. Daniel dusted himself off, standing up from the ground. A black box in the air made him stop, staring in disbelief.
Soul Reaper 3 ---> Soul Reaper 5
Available points: 14
It made sense. Having rescued Xaviar should count for something. He just didn’t expect the next level-up to come so soon after the previous one.
Now, he was faced with a small dilemma - his stat distribution. Previously, he lacked a way to know what the stats did, but there was a treasure trove of information available in his underworld. All it required was three words. Daniel sighed, but he couldn’t pass up on such an opportunity. Besides, talking with Xaviar should help manage his pride.
He focused on two goals - to get the information and get out. With such a mindset, he muttered the sacred words.
“Gate of Reincarnation.”
He came back to himself half an hour later, his fears unfounded. Turns out, you couldn’t do much when getting constantly berated about not knowing the most basic things that even a nine-year-old child should know. Still, he had come back with useful information and a summary of what the stats did.
STR dictated physical strength and the state of one’s body. It would empower any physical skills.
VIT was responsible for a body’s well-being. It determined how fast he could regenerate, how much blood he lost, and how fast he dealt with any unnatural effects. It would bolster his defensive skills.
DEX dealt with flexibility and mobility. It modified how he perceived the world, and it also changed one’s reaction speed and would help with weapon and movement skills.
INT managed his memory and ability to make logical conclusions. It also affected his mana pool, and would improve any spells.
WIS governed the connection with the divine. It improved his soul and any abilities regarding the spiritual world. Any “non-mana” resource would improve with it. For example, some of Xaviar’s skills improved the more destruction he wrought with flame, and the capacity for it was dictated by WIS.
As for LUK, Xaviar didn’t have a solid explanation. Instead, he told a story, which went something like this.
“I once knew a man who spent every point on improving his LUK. There’s no need for you to know the names of the dead, especially ones so foolish,” Xaviar said.
“He must have had a death wish, or been a frightening genius. I reckon it was the former. Regardless, he was a gambler who made his fortune by swindling others. As his LUK increased, so did his... presence. He was suddenly involved in bigger things, which had more at stake than ever.
Men would come up to him, discussing plots to overthrow emperors. Explorers that uncovered ancient tombs would desperately need his help for one reason or another. But, his capabilities weren’t enough for such plots, and if he rejected them, he was a liability that had to be silenced. He could only fight off so many assassins.
Eventually, his luck ran out. He must’ve gotten involved in something even bigger, as one day, he vanished without a trace. When I asked around, no one except me could even remember him. Heh, I must’ve been too high-level for whatever mind effect it was, though I never figured out what happened to him.
For a legendary class such as yours, a point per level if you’re feeling important, every other level if you want to keep a low presence.”
For only having 11 LUK, Daniel felt way too involved in matters beyond his power, but then again, it was a stat that no one understood. He added the matter to his ever-growing list - perhaps something had changed in the years since.
“Status,” he muttered, looking at his new changes.
Name: Daniel Willow
Class: Soul Reaper (Legendary)
Level: 5
Job: None
Stats:
STR:10
VIT:15
DEX:12
INT:17
WIS:17
LUK:13
Available points: 0
Skills:
Gate of Reincarnation (Legendary)
Phantasmal Puppetry (Rare)
Reaper’s Eyes (Rare)
Soul Scythe (Common)
List of Souls:
3x Lesser Spirit Essence
In the end, he had added two to LUK, two to DEX, and the rest he split between INT and WIS. He wasn’t sure which to focus on more, so for now, they were both equally as important. Daniel fiercely debated the decision to add more LUK, but in the end, he was a legendary Soul Reaper. If he wanted to make something of himself in this world, he had to achieve great things, which LUK would only help him do.
The trek back to the surface was uneventful. Daniel swept through the area with Reaper’s Eyes, more because of paranoia than anything else. His breath caught when he saw the night sky.
It brought along a thousand different emotions, fear clashing with longing, happiness contrasting melancholy. He would never be the same, but that was alright.