by Sarah Lin
For now, he could ignore them and rush to Haral's shop. He discovered the blacksmith finishing some business with another adventurer and waited impatiently until the older man turned to him.
"Raigar." Haral gave him a curt nod, eyes sharp beneath his eyebrows. "You look like a man coming to say goodbye."
"Not much for goodbyes. But I'm leaving."
"Fair enough. You always seemed like a man with somewhere to go."
"One more time in the room of abandoned equipment?"
"I'd have been disappointed if you didn't." Haral walked across the room to unlock the door to the chamber filled with items sold by other adventurers. Unlike usual, Haral stuck around by the door as Bloodwraith began to scan the shelves.
Looking through manually would have taken a long time, but by using the boxes he could significantly hasten his search. Despite the changes to the boxes, the system was still functional for easily looking past the useless equipment. Unfortunately...
[Ring of Ultimate Might
Might +100
Durability: 40/50
Rarity: Ultra Rare]
Though Bloodwraith spotted something that might have actual value, the boxes left him with little way to determine how valuable it actually was. This ring was a reasonably useful item carried by most adventurers who could afford it, not some item of legend. It was uncommon to find one that matched his skills, not "ultra rare."
While he considered whether or not to purchase it and scanned the shelves for anything else of use, Haral leaned against the door frame. "If you're leaving, guess I'll ask one question. The night of the battle, what the hell were you doing with that crown? Why pay two gold pieces just to hold it for a bit?"
"That's... difficult to explain." Bloodwraith stared back, unable to come up with any explanation that wouldn't sound insane. After the silence stretched for a time, Haral shook his head.
"Well, keep your secrets. But I'm a bit sore about taking gold from you when you didn't actually buy anything. If you're gonna leave..." He held out a fist until Bloodwraith extended his hand, then dropped two gold pieces into the other man's palm. "Reckon that's fair. You've been a steady customer, wouldn't be right to cheat you."
From Haral that was practically a tearful farewell, but Bloodwraith didn't know how to react. He decided to nod and grunt. Haral nodded and grunted back, then headed out.
Manly interaction accomplished.
In the end, Bloodwraith didn't find anything of value. Since he had two gold pieces he hadn't expected, he used one of them to purchase the ring. As he left the shop, he removed one gauntlet long enough to place it on his finger. The gauntlet actually fit better after that, designed to accommodate warriors using magical enhancement.
Once he'd worn a full set of eight rings to enhance his sorcery, even tested methods of trying to use more rings at once. Though he hadn't been able to overcome the theoretical limits, he'd been able to wear a ninth ring without it clashing with the magic of the others. Not immensely useful, but it had been satisfying to explore the art of magic.
Now he was happy to get a ring that made his body a little stronger. He didn't even have a complete set for this barbarian body, just the few rings he'd managed to acquire by chance.
But as he walked back through the city, Bloodwraith realized that it was even worse than that. The existence of Outsiders tampering with his reality forced him to doubt everything. It made sense to him that the body could only handle a limited number of enchanted objects at once, but what if his intuition had also been manipulated? Which of the laws of magical nature he had explored were in the end just more arbitrary rules?
Yet a part of him was fascinated by that question, not horrified. First, he needed to take revenge on the box gods for what they had done to him. But after that, he could begin to explore the magic they used to move between worlds and manipulate his reality. That would be a worthy task for him.
To do that, though, he needed his power back. And since he had just finished taking significant steps toward that goal, Bloodwraith felt that he had earned a little relaxation. Over the past several days they had made their arrangements and purchased supplies for their journey to Manascas. Now that he was done with his final trip, all that remained was their last night in Cresthaven.
They gathered in the bar at the base of the Adventurers Guild. Bloodwraith finally let some of the adventurers who had been asking to buy him a drink do so, ending up with a large group and a huge meal he didn't have to pay for. He figured they might as well save the money, though the cost of having to interact with everyone was unpleasant.
Soon enough, it turned into a general celebration that had little to do with him - adventurers didn't need much excuse to get drunk, in his experience. That let him retreat to a corner table with Meara and Danniah. The half-dwarven woman was eagerly consuming plates of meat, bread, and cheese with gusto, while Meara only occasionally tried a dish.
"Do either of you know anything about food in Manascas?" Danniah asked between bites. "Since it's outside Bannlind, there are a lot of foreigners, right? What kinds of food do they bring?"
Meara shrugged. "I have no idea. I've spent most of my life in a forest that was, shall we say, very consistent."
"Aww, that's kind of sad. Exploring new places is one of the best parts of being an adventurer, at least I always thought so. But now that you're with us, you can travel more!"
Though Meara smiled back, she didn't seem to entirely share Danniah's enthusiasm. Instead she shifted to look toward Bloodwraith. "You've been there, right?"
"Briefly, but I wouldn't say I know the city well." He had to set down the hunk of beef he was eating to answer - this body needed a significant amount of nourishment to grow. "But in general terms, Danniah must be correct. Manascas is in the borderlands, so it contains people from Bannlind and Nereen, as well as desert tribesmen. Cities like that are more than just large collections of people."
"It sounds a bit intimidating, to be honest." Danniah smiled between them, though. "But I hear it's a good city for adventurers, so we'll probably be fine, right?"
"All I intend to do there is study. But you would probably have many opportunities to sharpen or test your skills, yes."
"Aww, I was hoping we could keep adventuring together there."
"We can, but there will be significant work to be done. Besides, we'd need more allies for the more difficult assignments." Working in the region of Cresthaven, it was possible to survive with just a small group like theirs, but in his experience most adventurers traveled in larger parties with more diverse skills. He wasn't sure who they would find in Manascas, but hopefully a few would prove actual assets instead of merely allies of convenience.
They discussed their exact plans for the trip for a while as they finished eating. Given his and Danniah's appetites, it was late by the time they were done. Danniah stretched her hands over her head slowly, the movement turning into a loud yawn.
"Ahh, that tasted good! I wanted to get one last meal here before we have to eat a bunch of travel rations." Danniah glanced between them eagerly. "Should we take advantage of the sauna one last time, too?"
Already focused on the trip, Bloodwraith felt there was no point getting clean before days of sweaty travel. But it was obvious that she wanted to, so he nodded. "Sure. We might as well."
They split up as they headed to the magically-heated room, since men and women entered from separate sides. Part of Bloodwraith disliked removing his armor, even though he knew the risk was small. He'd put significant effort into collecting the Armor of the Tyrant, and he felt less like the idiotic Raigar wearing it, but it wasn't exactly comfortable wearing armor in a sauna.
Even though he had more equipment to remove, he still found that he was the first one to enter. Bloodwraith sat down on one of the wooden benches and sighed as the steam seeped into his skin. This was one simple pleasure he hadn't been able to enjoy when he was undead. Perhaps when he built a new lair, he could include something like th
is. The magic that heated the water didn't seem particularly difficult, though it was obviously beyond his current body.
Danniah and Meara entered not long after. Wrapped in a towel instead of her heavy armor, Danniah's curves were much more obvious, especially now that she was comfortable with him. But oddly, Meara was still wearing her usual cloak.
"Isn't this ridiculous, Blo - Raigar?" Danniah switched names when she realized there might be others in hearing range. She pointed at Meara and frowned. "What's the point of coming in the sauna if you're going to stay dressed?"
"I'm not sure it would do much for me. The steam is just going through me."
"But you can touch things normally! Couldn't you focus and enjoy it?"
Bloodwraith had no doubt that Meara could, so he examined her carefully. The steam was indeed passing through her, just as attacks passed through her on the battlefield. But more importantly, he saw a hint of discomfort in her posture. Suspecting that Meara had personal reasons for her actions, Bloodwraith instead pulled Danniah down to sit beside him. "Meara can make her own choices. You wanted to enjoy the sauna, right?"
"Mmm, yes. It's so soothing..." Danniah eased back against the wall and relaxed. "Do you suppose they'd have places like this in Manascas?"
"It would be possible, but given how hot it is during the day, there'd be less demand."
"During the day? Does it get cold at night?"
"Very. At least... well, the last time I was in the desert, I couldn't feel the cold. But according to the basic principles, the temperature swings wildly between the night and day."
It didn't seen like Danniah was paying attention to that, however, instead frowning at him in sympathy. "If you couldn't feel the cold, does that mean you couldn't feel warmth, either? Were you just... numb all the time?"
Bloodwraith shifted irritably. "It wasn't like that. It's very... calm and peaceful."
"Are you sure? The undead I've seen are always howling and groaning."
"I was nothing like them!"
Meara smirked as she looked between them. "You sound wistful, Raigar. Missing the groaning of the undead?"
He huffed irritably, but truthfully it was better to see Meara smirking like that. She relaxed and the three of them spoke casually instead of making plans. Though Bloodwraith detested meaningless conversations, he didn't mind such casual talk with the two of them. They couldn't be fully focused on their goals at all times, after all, and relaxing when there were no essential tasks could increase efficacy later.
As they continued, Danniah grew relaxed and melted against the wall, then slid over against him. Soon she was pressed up against his side. Meara ignored it for a time, but when there was a lull in the conversation she finally raised her eyebrows at them.
"Alright, I can see I'm not wanted. Unless you've gotten into exhibitionism, Danniah?"
Danniah blushed but didn't pull away from him. "N-no... I just... I feel so relaxed around you, I wasn't thinking about it..."
"It's fine." Meara got to her feet and smiled at them. "I'll see you both tomorrow when we go."
With that, she left the sauna room. Danniah looked after her for only a moment before she stretched against him to get her lips closer to his ear. "Bloodwraith... I was thinking we should take advantage of all the amenities before we start traveling..."
"You're right. We should get our paperwork updated downstairs." Even as he teased her, however, he let his hand fall on her hip. Danniah blushed further but didn't pull away.
She was right, though. This might be their last night in a real bed for some time, so they might as well put it to use.
Chapter 3
Raigar stared down at the smoking corpses, then raised his hands and stared at them. What the fuck was going on? What the hell had they been talking about before they attacked him? He'd finished the damn main storyline quest and set up his next build, so why did his hands look so strange?
He called up the usual menus... and nothing happened. Frowning, Raigar tried again. It had taken a bit of focus to make the menus appear at first, but then it had become second nature. Whether he tried to bring up his character sheet, his account, or the FAQ, there was nothing. That pissed him off, but he didn't see any choice but to check the old fashioned way.
His arms looked all wrinkled and nasty... was he some kind of undead mage? That was like the exact opposite of what he'd wanted. Did AdventureCorp just fuck everything up? No, he'd been able to throw fire from his hands against those two adventurers attacking him, and that wasn't a Level 1 character skill.
What he needed was a mirror, but of course there wasn't one. Raigar grumbled as he looked around and eventually realized that the fighter he'd killed had a pretty shiny shield. Propping it up in front of him, he found himself staring into the eyes of a lich.
"Aw, fuck." What the hell was he doing in this body? Why...
Wait, if he was a skeleton lich thing, did that mean...? Raigar pushed up his robes and opened his pants, staring down at his crotch. Which was definitely lacking Little Raigar. He tossed the shield down, then kicked it irritably.
There was something familiar about this body. Yeah, he had somehow turned into one of the storyline villains. Raigar hadn't kept track of their names, just called them Skinny Skeleton and Fat Skeleton. They were the servants of the Lich King, just sub-bosses. As he recalled, Skinny Skeleton had been a mage or necromancer type, always spamming fireballs and skeletons and shit. He'd been really annoying before Raigar had gotten his magic resistance stats raised enough to tank it.
What kind of powers did Skinny Skeleton have, anyway? Raigar brought up his new character sheet... dammit, still nothing. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
He sort of remembered the lame safety seminar that AdventureCorp had forced him through. There had been something about it being really hard to look between worlds, so they couldn't monitor everything. Of course, they could see everything in the MMO worlds, but he'd already tried those. Playing in a real world like Alliandelle had been way more fractured, at least until this weird respawn shit.
So Raigar stalked around the chamber, trying to figure out what to do next. He was still in the final boss chamber, in the body of Skinny Skeleton instead of respawning into his new game. Shouldn't the AdventureCorp goons have noticed and done something about it?
Well, nothing to do but find one of those Return Points and tell them that they'd fucked up good. They'd really drilled in those locations during the tutorial session, so he remembered those. It'd take a bit to get there, but maybe he could play around with his new powers in the meantime.
Yet as he started to leave, the dust swirled around his feet. Some kind of magic? Raigar checked the menu... fuck, he was having a hard time remembering that he didn't have them anymore. All he could do was stare at the magic as it gathered into one of the skeletons lying in the corner of the room. Weird looking little runt in purple robes with a funny hat.
The skeleton let out a rattling gasp, then lurched upward. Raigar's instinct was to punch it in the face, but he apparently had a magic build now. Besides, he was undead too, so maybe this was an ally? Was he inside some kind of unannounced special event?
When the skeleton got to its feet, its eyes flickered to life and focused on him. "Lord Bloodwraith! You still live!"
"Yeah, apparently so. Not sure why." He knew he should use Yee Olde Englishe, but he'd gotten sick of roleplaying during his first game. It was bad enough that they wouldn't let him name his character R41G4R, so he wasn't going to take things too seriously on his second run.
"That was me, my lord! Though I prayed to the dark gods for the Master Lich to be victorious, I feared that the adventurer might slay him, since some terrible destiny seemed to animate him. So before the battle, I laid a spell that ensured that we might have a second chance."
"Ah, so some kind of revive spell? I guess that makes sense."
The skeleton gave him an odd look. "Of course a revival spell would not be effective on... are you
alright, Lord Bloodwraith?"
"Uh, no. Coming back really fucked me in the head. Plus there were these two idiots messing with me. Had to fry them."
"Oh..." The skeleton looked toward the smoking corpses and slowly nodded. "I had hoped you would be revived without difficulty, but I am only a humble servant. I pray that the Master Lich's body survived?"
Raigar glanced toward the shattered bones by the throne, remembering how he'd screwed around with them and then teabagged the remains. "Nah, I don't think he made it."
"Such a shame, such a terrible shame... but since you still live, we have a chance at reraising our undead hordes!" The skeleton turned toward him and bowed. "If you do not recall my name, it is Herskeh, Lord Bloodwraith. I am your humble servant and I will assist you in your quest. With luck we will be able to restore our master soon."
"Eh? Right, revive the Lich King. Definitely our top quest."
Secretary Skeleton gave him an odd look, obvious even with his weird undead eyes. "I see the spell has not been kind to your mind, Lord Bloodwraith. But with my help, you will soon be able to regain your old glory, I am sure. Then you could lead our undead hordes until we can revive the Master Lich."
"Sounds fractured to me." Though Raigar was pissed about not getting his new build, maybe this could be fun. He'd planned on fucking around on his second game anyway, and it might be fun to do it with a whole army. The lack of junk was going to be a real pain, but in his new body he didn't even feel like banging chicks. Maybe the lichness was getting to him.
"Very good, Lord Bloodwraith. My power is limited, but perhaps you could begin by raising the corpses of those two adventurers? They could be good servants."
"Right, sure." Raigar waved a hand in their direction, willing them to rise like zombies. He felt badass for a second as dark magic formed around him... but then it scattered in random directions. Some of it kind of poked at the bodies, but then evaporated. What was all this complicated shit? Had he entirely lost access to the AdventureCorp system? "Uh, seems like my power is still a bit fucked up."
