by Sarah Lin
[Quest Complete!
Retrieve the nobleman's son's body from the cavern.
Local Reputation +20
Guild Points: +10
Reward: 50 Silvers
EXP +250]
Just enough. Bloodwraith restrained his smile and just walked away like a normal adventurer while he enjoyed the new rush of power.
[Congratulations! You gained a level!
Current Level: 9
Current EXP: 106/25,600
Unassigned Stat Points: 5]
He placed the new points into his physical attributes, as usual. Though the flow of new power into his body still felt as rewarding as it had at first, the effect was blunted by the box's reminder that it would be a very long road to reach the next level. Reaching Level 9 had been made easier by the huge reward from surviving the crypt, but now he had no such benefit.
Earning enough points with standard quests would be completely unacceptable, even if he didn't have the potential threat of Daek the Knife attacking him. He could try to seek larger monsters, but those were relatively far between and could be a major threat. Hopefully Meara would be able to grant him quests that would multiply the effect of his efforts.
Where was Meara, anyway? Swallowing a bit of concern, Bloodwraith set out to look for her.
After asking around at the Adventurers Guild, he headed back into the city toward the street where most ingredients were sold. He didn't find her at any of the usual shops and was beginning to grow worried when he finally spotted her.
Strangely, she was talking to Danniah. The short fighter seemed to be in a good mood, speaking rapidly, but before Bloodwraith could get close, Danniah noticed him. Her eyes widened and then she immediately looked away from him. It sounded like she made hasty excuses to Meara, then she rushed off, disappearing into the crowds.
When he approached Meara, she gave him a strange look. "That's one of the adventurers you were with, right?"
"Yes. Her name is Danniah. What did she want?"
"Oh, she came here looking for potions - something gave her a real beating today. I was actually the one who sought her out, since I felt like there was some sort of connection." Meara raised an eyebrow at him. "Apparently you saved her life today?"
"By accident, unless you intended it. Saw her by coincidence on the side of the road."
"Hmm. The boxes do seem to create connections, and it's possible that I was noticing that, but I wasn't consciously thinking about it."
"So... she apparently told you about it. She likes to talk."
"Oh, I noticed." Meara cast him an amused glance. "She's desperately in love with you, you know."
"I noticed." Bloodwraith folded his arms and scowled. He pretended that it was because he didn't want to deal with such things, but if he was truthful with himself, it was awkward to discuss this with Meara.
She watched him with a smirk on her lips for a moment, as if considering how much to tease him. Mercifully, she adopted a serious expression and began walking back to their inn. "Well, I gave her the location of our inn, just in case she needs to contact us. Apparently she insisted on giving you the reward from some quest she was on, but hadn't managed to receive the full reward yet."
"Fine."
"Meanwhile, you'll be glad to know that today I developed a large set of potions for your use. It wouldn't be safe to hand them over now, but I have standard potions, greater health potions, mana potions, and a new version of my special potion. Nine of each of them, actually."
"That might be more than I can carry, but it will be useful." Bloodwraith cast her a glance. "The ingredients for those must have been expensive. How much did it all cost?"
Meara smiled coyly. "Nothing. I've been working on some things I'll tell you about later."
"Are you doing something that a Defiler of Puppies would approve of?"
"Oh, you'll find out. Things are just delicate right now, since I'm still trying to work out my exact limitations."
Though Bloodwraith wanted to discuss the gauntlets he'd found, he felt it wouldn't be safe to do that on the street. Instead they chatted about lighter matters as they returned and he gave her an edited version of his work that day. It was certainly a welcome relief from traveling on his own.
Now that he thought about it, one of the worst things in life was boredom. In some ways, it was the sheer boredom of life as a farmer or local guard that had set him on the path to magic and eventually to becoming undead. Conversely, doing engaging work and talking to intelligent people was one of the things he wanted most in life. Honestly, he wanted that more than money, power, or sex. Whatever else he did in life, he'd need to take Meara with him, for the conversation if nothing else.
The idea of developing some sort of "intellectual harem" nearly made him snort. That was definitely not what Raigar had had in mind when he reincarnated into this body. But Bloodwraith suppressed such thoughts and just enjoyed the conversation until they got back to their inn.
Once they were reasonably private, Meara turned to him. "Alright, what is it that you've been holding back?"
"Am I that obvious?" Bloodwraith grumbled, but didn't hesitate in pulling out the gauntlets. Meara's eyebrows shot up as soon as she saw them. "I found these in the cavern. Though the boxes won't allow me to use them yet, they're one of the better pieces of equipment I've seen since reincarnating. And apparently they're part of a set."
"Fascinating." Meara took them carefully, running her fingers over the interlocking metal plates. Strangely, her eyes were unfocused, gazing somewhere far beyond. "These... don't feel like part of the box system to me. But the boxes like them, I think."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that there's nothing set up around them, not like the quests in the Forest of Beginnings, or the forces pushing you toward Daek the Knife. But it will be easy to create a quest around them, because... hmm, how to put it... they fall into a pattern the box gods like, I think. Perhaps they're all hoarders."
"Well, it would be beneficial to gather them, if possible. If you can add a quest to that..."
"On it. Give me just a moment."
[Potential Objective: Armor of the Tyrant
Gather all the pieces of the Armor of the Tyrant.
Reward: EXP
Accept? Y/N]
Bloodwraith accepted the quest immediately, of course. It seemed that Meara was still fascinated with the gauntlet, so after giving her some more time, he spoke up. "Anything else you can determine about it? The description doesn't exactly give a lot of details."
"I'm not sure. The source of the armor is... very vague to me, I don't think I'll be able to figure that out. But as soon as the quest appeared, I felt as though I could see... patterns, of a sort. It's strange." Meara's eyes finally focused again and she turned to look at him. "Is it okay if I keep these for tonight? I feel as though I might be able to figure something out, given enough time..."
"Feel free. They do me no good at all, right now."
"Great." Meara lowered the gauntlets and smiled at him. "See you tomorrow, adventurer."
He nodded farewell and returned to his room. It had been a good day, all things considered. Yet though his body was tired, he lay in bed for a long time, trying to sort through unwanted sensations.
~ ~ ~
The realization that it was morning emerged slowly as Bloodwraith clawed his way out of dreams and remembered reality. His dreams had been frustratingly sexual, like the lowest urges of his body had been given free rein. Either Raigar's body or his own fleshly impulses were starting to get out of control.
Setting aside all such concerns, Bloodwraith climbed out of bed and pulled on his boots. He went downstairs and found that Meara hadn't woken yet. At least he could easily sate one fleshly desire: hunger. Yet even after he had eaten a satisfying breakfast, Meara hadn't emerged. Since he needed her to determine the day's schedule, Bloodwraith headed back up the stairs to talk to her.
He went straight in, only realizing afterward t
hat knocking would have been polite. The undead were not much for knocking or privacy.
Meara lay on her back in bed, holding one of the gauntlets over her face and gazing through it. Since they'd met the second time, she'd always worn clothes that covered her entire body, but she apparently didn't wear them to bed. Her undershirt revealed a line of her pale stomach and didn't quite contain her chest as it rose and fell with her breaths. Raigar definitely noticed... assuming he could blame that on Raigar.
"I'm getting closer." Meara sat up abruptly, completely ignoring her state of undress. Though that made her body move tantalizingly, Bloodwraith decided to be better than a beast ruled by fleshly hungers and shut such thoughts away.
"To figuring out something from the gauntlet?"
"Yes. I'm not sure how much I slept, but I've made real progress. I feel extremely certain about one thing: there are five pieces of armor."
"Counting the gauntlets as one, I presume? Then the others... likely a helm and breastplate, but what else? Five seems an arbitrary number."
"I'm not sure either, to be honest. There might actually have been more armor once, but some of it may have been lost. But many of the pieces still survive, and if you collect them all, that will be good enough for the quest. Those are the parts I'm mostly certain about."
"That's considerable progress, congratulations. But are you implying there's more that you're not certain about?"
"Right. I'll keep working on that over the coming days." Meara handed the gauntlet back to him. "Thank you for this, but I don't need it any more. It's all about the patterns now. I think... two of the pieces are outside the city, and I can sort of feel the shape of quests for them. There are two others that I'm fairly sure are currently in Cresthaven, but I don't know where. The more people get involved, the fuzzier everything seems."
Bloodwraith was glad for the general information, but it was her last sentence that captured his attention. "Is that a general principle regarding your senses?"
"I hadn't noticed before, but yes. Not you, though - you don't make things any fuzzier, perhaps because you're carrying all the power along with you. But when other people get involved, I'm less certain about everything."
"Fascinating. Perhaps conscious entities add an element of uncertainty to the system?"
"That's a good theory." Meara flopped back onto the bed and put her hands behind her head, still ignoring her clothes. "Honestly, I wish I could just lie here and keep thinking about it. But I think I've hit a wall, and I know you need another quest for today. So just give me..."
She trailed off and Bloodwraith realized that it was because of footsteps on the stairs. Not particularly loud ones, and there were other guests staying at the inn, so it shouldn't have been concerning. Bloodwraith then realized that the door was still open, so he headed to close it.
At the same moment that Danniah came up to the door.
When she saw him she smiled, as if she had come to see him, but it was only a matter of time before her gaze shifted from his face. He knew that he should do something, but what? Slamming the door behind him would look suspicious, and he wasn't sure he could effectively block her sight with his body, given the way she shifted around.
Yet if she saw... Danniah had seemed heartbroken that he'd given her the wrong name, what would she do if she saw Meara lying in the bed behind him, only partially dressed? Before he could come up with any solution, it was too late: Danniah stepped through the door and peered around him.
"Is this your room? Sorry to barge in, but I really felt I needed to talk to you."
Bloodwraith looked back in disbelief... and found that Meara was nowhere to be seen. "Uh... yes, this is my room. What is it?"
"I just... felt that I should apologize. For yelling at you and everything." Danniah blushed and looked away. "I was so unhappy when I found out about the name thing because... well, I had a lot of feelings about it. You seemed really nice, and you cared about the things I said, and..."
"It's fine, Danniah." Bloodwraith buried his confusion and focused on her instead. "I should apologize too. I was just trying to be more honest with you. Everyone got started calling me Raigar, but I don't like the name and didn't want you calling me that."
"Oh, is that the reason?" Danniah's face lit up. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have been so upset! Well, I still wish you hadn't lied to me, but... I guess I can understand it."
"Sorry. I have some secrets that are hard to talk about, though."
"What is your real name, then? Is it tied into those secrets?"
All he could do for several seconds was stare down at her, wondering just how best to get out of this one. The manipulative part of his mind easily offered placating lies. Raigar's instincts wanted to do what they always wanted to do. Part of him felt like honesty would be better, but the idea of telling Danniah the truth about who he had been also struck him as a very bad idea.
Meanwhile, the short woman was cocking her head at him. "They're difficult secrets, huh? Can't you tell me at least a little?"
Abruptly Bloodwraith was sick of dealing with this. Danniah might be useful, but he did not have the patience to put up with her moral qualms. The question was how to end the situation most efficiently. "Danniah, I don't know if we can work together. I've done some bad things I'd rather not tell you about. I wish you the best of lu-"
"Aww, you didn't want me to think less of you?" To his dismay, Danniah blushed and smiled even more broadly. "Don't worry, I won't judge. I'm an adventurer, after all! A lot of the job involves killing people and looting tombs and all kinds of nasty stuff like that. Maybe a priest would have an issue with you, but I think you're a good person."
"No, look..."
"And it means a lot to me that you're being honest about those things! It's fine to keep secrets sometimes, I'm just glad you told me about them!"
"Wait, I'm saying-"
"And I still haven't thanked you for saving me! Thank you Rai... can I call you Raigar? No, you said you didn't like that name. But you won't tell me your real one... and I don't want to bother you about that..." Danniah's confusion vanished a moment later with a grin. "I guess I'll just have to thank you with a hug!"
Fast as his combat reflexes were, Bloodwraith was a bit too stunned to evade. Danniah leapt forward into him, wrapping her arms around his chest. Given the height difference, that squished her body against his abdomen, making him very aware that she wasn't wearing her armor. Bloodwraith sighed in defeat, dismissing such thoughts and forcibly pulling Danniah away.
"Danniah..." He had been planning another method of letting her down slowly, but she smiled up at him and he had to admit defeat. "Did you come just to thank me and apologize? I'm glad to see you, but there are quite a few things I should be doing."
"Can I help? I'm decent at defending people, but I don't think I'm cut out for adventuring on my own."
"I don't know if that wou-"
"And I remembered everything you said about Daek the Knife targeting us! I've been being cautious, but I'm worried. He hasn't been acting at all lately, so he might be working on something big. Wouldn't it make more sense for us to work together? I'd be happy to help you on whatever you're working on."
She grinned at him like an idiot, but her logic was actually sound. To be honest, Bloodwraith wanted to get rid of her for emotional reasons, because it made things more complicated. Rationally, she would be a valuable asset in combat and he needed more allies. Though he wished he could discuss it with Meara, she was still nowhere to be seen.
Eventually he decided to defer the issue. "How about we meet at the Adventurers Guild? I still need to figure out some things for today."
"Okay! I'll see you there!"
With that, Danniah ran off down the stairs, almost skipping with each step. Bloodwraith stared after her for a long time. He really was losing his touch. Before, he would have become infuriated with her and told her to shut up, if he hadn't actively struck her. Instead he'd let her bowl him over with her en
thusiasm. Though Bloodwraith thought that his old self was limited in some ways, he thought this was too far in the other direction. Perhaps he could find a middle ground eventually.
"Well, she's a handful." Behind him, Meara crawled out from underneath the bed. "Were you trying to make her even more infatuated with you? Because if so, you did a damn good job."
"Not at all." Bloodwraith finally let out the groan that he'd been holding back. "I'm not good at this sort of thing."
"Oh, I think you are." Meara pulled on her over-shirt and then her cloak. When she turned back to him, her eyes were serious. "Why are you holding back? It's not for my sake, is it?"
He stared at her, wondering if she intended a rebuke in that statement or not. Eventually he decided to just answer honestly. "I haven't thought about anything like this in a very long time. Life was a lot easier without it."
"But now you got placed into that body. Honestly, I think you should just sleep with her. Would do both of you a lot of good, I think."
"You... don't mind?"
"Bloodwraith." Meara stepped closer to him, staring at him with the dead gaze he hadn't seen in a long time. Yet in that gaze, he saw more strength than before, and acceptance. "I've been through a great deal and I need time to process it. But we're on the same side, whatever happens."
"Then... thank you. Danniah really is a skilled adventurer, and she balances my offensive skills well." Bloodwraith wasn't sure he could quite believe how things were progressing, so he looked to Meara again. "You think I should pursue this, then?"
"There's going to be a lot of awkward squirming and blushing if you don't. That can't be good for combat, I'd imagine."
"How would I even start? I'm really not good at this sort of thing."
"Do something to make your interest unambiguous. Give her a gift, maybe."
Bloodwraith smiled as he thought back to his inventory. "That's right, one of the adventurers in the cave had some very good equipment about Danniah's size. I was thinking-"
"Bloodwraith! Do not gift a woman armor you pulled off a corpse!"
"But she's an adventurer, she'd appreciate a practical gift..."
