The werewolf tried to pull out its claws, but they were too deeply lodged in my shoulder. It pulled me up. I held onto its arm with my left hand and pushed it up. But the bones wouldn’t come out. My sword had fallen out of my other, now useless hand. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to fight. I punched its face, my knuckles bled. Its eyes did not waver. Dungeons were supposed to be conquerable, yet no human monarch could win this fight. Something was odd.

The werewolf disappeared and I fell to the ground. I was in a room, flanked by stone walls on all sides.

“You’ve given up already?” A voice came from all over. It was no doubt Feodor’s voice. “You call yourself a descendant of Rosalia. You, how have you defeated the kingdom of Liliana? How!”

I didn’t speak. The voice seemed to be devoid of aim and specificity. It couldn’t see me. It didn’t need to see me. This dungeon was meant to feed off the hopelessness of the royals. Feodor was next to Liliana in those scenes. He no doubt held a grudge against any descendant of Rosalia. Perhaps had I chosen the blue sword, I might have only needed to kill a skeleton before being set free with the dungeon’s blessings.

“Stand up, fight again. Fight again! Fight with all you have. Fight until you see the light. Fight until you feel the warmth of safety.” The walls shook. Earth, dust, roaches, and worms fell from above. Yet, nothing came to be.

“So be it.” A light descended from above. “I shall grant you the gift that waited for you at the end. The gift you should have seen but not touched. Seeing you are so low as to die at the first encounter, it won’t matter. You will still die.” Once the light reached the centre of the room, it exploded and blinded me.

The Being has blessed you with the light of Flora.

The hidden title, True King of Rosalia has been forcefully activated.

With the blood of Roses, thorns spike your heart and blade. You gain a grade in all corporal attributes. With the blood of Roses, red is your colour. Your fire magic type becomes Rose Fire. You also gain 10% to your current mana pool. Reduced mana cost to use the sword of the fire lion by 50%.

The title, True King of Liliana has been forcefully activated.

With the Blood of Lilies, the world admires the magic which shines forth from you. You gain a grade in all magical attributes. With the blood of Lilies, your sap feeds many. You gain 50% to your current mana pool. Reduced mana cost to use the Sword of the Water lilies by 50%.

I closed my eyes. Everything shone white. I opened them up, but it hadn’t changed. Thankfully, the blinding light started to fade.

It did give me time to check my status. Nothing could come between a creature and its status.

Status

Newborn Beast

Species: (X)ravn

Gods Favour: 5

LVL 8/15-(X)

Exp: 1205/1800

Trait breakdown:

Magic:

* Mana: 198/198

* Flow: C+/ S(X) --> B-/ S(X)

* Retention: D/ S(X) --> D+/S(X)

* Expulsion: C+/ S(X) --> B-/S(X)

* Types: Shadow, Fire, X, X, X

Corporal:

* Strength: D/ B(X) --> D+/ B(X)

* Endurance: C/ B(X) --> C+/ B(X)

* Dexterity: B/ A(X) --> B+/ A(X)

* Poison resistance: D/B(X) --> D+/ S(X)

* Weapon of choice (heavy longsword) proficiency: C+/ B(X) à B- /B(X)

Skills:

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* Mental Dam (proficiency 20%)

* Active Weapon Enchantment (proficiency 8%)

Titles:

* True King of Rosalia

* True King of Liliana

* X (Conditional)

* X (Conditional)

Although excited, I was expecting more. When the system said it would increase my grade, I thought it meant from C to B, not C to C+. That wasn’t a big jump. It wouldn’t have made that big of a difference in the fight, would it? No, what benefited me the most right now was related to mana.

#

The white wall disappeared. I was in a ruined city. Two-story tall houses burned, people screamed, corpses burned, and skeletons marched through roads and alleys.

“Rosalia, where are you?” I screamed again and again; I couldn’t control my mouth nor limbs. I was locked in my mind.

When I regained control, a Dullahan galloped towards me. I brandished my sword, imbued it with rose fire, and swung it down. The pink flames rushed down the cobble road. The Dullahan moved aside, however, the flames had engrained itself in the stones. Rose vines shot out the ground and reached for the horse’s hooves. The horse jumped to avoid their grasp. I swung my sword diagonally. The flame caught the Dullahan mid air. Engulfed in flames, it screamed. Roots grew out the flames and plunged into the rocks. They started to grow thick and crushed the Dullahan into bone meal.

You killed one Dullahan skeleton, you gained 300 Exp.

LVL 8. 1505/1800

My legs moved on their own; they led me back to the castle. My vision went black.

#

There were four of us in the castle courtyard.

“Where did Janal and Derick disappear to?” asked Liliana. Her face did not show any emotions.

Rosalia's eyes burned. She spat on Liliana’s shoes. “None of your fucking business.” Derick, that was no doubt the vampire who captured Julian. I remembered what he said about needing me. It must relate to my royal blood. I should expect the others in these scenes to come for me as well. “And you, where’d your dog, what was it… Henrik? Run off to?”

All this was shown to destroy Julian, or any other descendent of Rosalia’s spirit. In the prince’s memories, I saw the portraits of all the Rosalian rulers, and none were women. Rosalia must have died here; that’s what Feodor wanted to show in this dungeon. Unfortunately for Feodor, I wasn’t Julian. Perhaps…I could escape if…

“I sent him to…”

Rosalia and Liliana argued; Feodor and I were the only bystanders. He smiled; his eyes were set on me. Liliana drew her blade, Rosalia did the same but a second later—

After spending some time with Gino, I thought the closer one came to gods the purer one became, at least in intention. The acts may still be dirty after all. However, that was evidently not the case. I looked back. A lich surrounded by three high humans I recognized appeared.

I knew what was to come. Rosalia and the lich became paintings on the wall. Only Liliana moved, and Feodor observed.

The lady with silver hair jumped back. If the title I gained indicated anything, it was that she was good with magic. I dashed forward and swung up my sword. She blocked the strike. My rose flames wrapped around her blade. An ice wall formed a few inches from her body, dispersing my flames.

Her foot burst through the wall and impaled ice into my stomach. I skidded on the rock pathway. My pants and sleeves were ripped. My clothes started to cling to my body. They were soaked in blood.

Two more ice spears tore through air. I swung my sword; a blade of rose flames melted the ice. I exuded black haze and zig zagged towards Liliana. She created a wall of ice. I broke it with a swing of my sword. A blade pierced my shoulder; I stabbed her. My sword struck her upper stomach, and I released all my mana as fire. Flames consumed her and ice froze me.

You killed a high human, you gained 400 Exp.

Lvl 9. 105/2000 Exp.

You gained 1 skill point.

You have 4 skill points.

“How are you this weak even now? Did you just become a high human or sorcerer? But then how did you conquer the kingdom of Liliana. How did you enter the hidden forest? How low have Rosalia’s descendants fallen.” Feodor smashed the ice which had formed around me. I fell to my knees.

The world around me started to move and blood continued to flow out my shoulder. Rosalia collapsed to her knees. “Good job.” Her breathing was heavy. She had exhausted all her mana. I looked up, and the lich and Rosalia’s comrades approached.

“Run now, to the boats. Escape,” yelled this body. Rosalia looked back. “You!” Her breathing grew ragged.

“Don’t struggle,” said the lich, its voice mellow, cold, and collected. It raised its arm. Sparks crinkled around the air and my hair stood on end. Cracks formed in the earth and consumed the bodies of dead men and sleeping skeletons. It was apparent that Feodor never expected me to be able to defeat this creature. He wanted me to struggle. To try and save my mother. To run in and escape when I understood how weak I was. My torment was his goal. But I knew how to escape. There had to be a way, else this wouldn’t be a dungeon, nor would the quest be less than SSS+ ranked.

I used Mental Dam to block the sight of the lich, the bald woman, and the new vampire. I only let Rosalia remain in my sight and stabbed her through the heart.