by Edward Brody
There was another strong cramp, and I groaned and turned on my side.
I didn’t know what to think other than I may never see Rachel again, and Adeelee was a wildcard.
I closed my eyes and tried to quit thinking about girls, tried to forget the discomfort that was taking over my body. I was a Reborn, right? Immortality was a long time. There would be plenty of time for women later.
Chapter Twenty-Three
1/22/0001
I opened my eyes several hours later and was relieved to find that skull and crossbones under my status bars had disappeared. I was back to full strength and my thoughts were no longer cloudy.
There was a block of cheese, a piece of bread, and a goblet of water on the nearby table, and I quickly sauntered over to eat. The food seemed of relatively good quality and tasty in comparison to the stuff they had me eating in the slaver camp. But, I could still smell rotten death hanging in the air, so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have.
You are well-fed! Stamina and Vitality increased by 15% while this effect is active.
After eating, I pulled up my stats and realized that I hadn’t even remembered to assign my LP and AP after gaining my last level. My strength and vitality were a little low with my new gear, so I put two points into strength and one into vitality.
My sneak skill was only at 20% to the next level, so I decided to put my LP into it, since I’d probably be doing a lot of sneaking around the keep and needed all the guile I could get to avoid getting caught.
I walked to the weapon rack and checked out the two weapons that were mounted on it.
Honed Steel Sword. 22-37 Attack Damage. Requires 18 Strength. Requires 16 Dexterity. Durability: 9/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 2.9
Sharp Woodcutter’s Axe. 12-25 Attack Damage. Durability: 9/10. Quality: Great. Rarity: Common. Weight: 2.7. Uses 20% less stamina when chopping wood.
The sword would have been nice; I felt particularly weak with just a dagger. But given that it was my first day in the keep, I thought better than to take it without Dryden’s permission.
Next, I checked the chest near the bed and found there was a couple health potions, a sack of about 500 gold, and large bundle of bandages. All of the items would have been useful, but again, I thought better than to take them. As I was staying in that particular room, it would’ve been too obvious who took them if someone found out that they were missing.
I grabbed the cloth with the Bloodletter’s symbol that was hanging on wall and threw it over my head. It was basically just a piece of rectangular fabric with a hole in the center and their red, cross insignia on each side.
There wasn’t much else to look at in the room, so I took a deep breath and stretched my arms while trying to get into character. It was time to go out and explore as much of the keep as I was allowed. I knew I couldn’t be as numb and uninhibited as I had been when I was intoxicated, but I needed to maintain some level of a cold personality to keep up the façade.
Before leaving, I focused on pulling up my manifest screen to get more details about the Bloodletters. I was greeted with a window much like manifest for Unity, but it only listed the guildname—Bloodletters—and a list of members and their levels below. There was no section for non-guilded military or trade details like my Unity manifest, which I assumed was because I wasn’t the guildleader.
Still, just a list of names and levels was very telling. At the top of the list was Dryden Bloodletter at level 47, and below his name was me and hundreds of others, all between the levels 15 and 45. Most of them were over level 30.
Even though I had seen only a few Bloodletters thus far, it was proof that Dryden had a powerful army of mercenaries.
Below the Bloodletter’s manifest was my manifest for my real guild, Unity.
I was impressed to see that several guild mates had leveled and felt a little jealousy at the fact that Ozzy had passed me in level again. Even Aaron had gained a level. I wondered who or what could’ve compelled him to step away from his crafting stations a while and earn some XP? Then again, at his level, he probably could have gained enough experience just from killing any insects around the camp that bugged him while he was crafting.
Also impressive was that our store had bumped up from 300 to earning over 500 gold per day. Seeing all the progress that was happening while I was away made me really feel the need to get home to my friends. I missed them all.
I exited the room, and entered the hall. I remember that walking to my left would lead me back to the dining area and the right was still an unknown. I decided to head right, and when I reached the first door, no more than fifty meters away, I tried pushing it open, but it was locked. I continued forward and was met with another door that opened when I pushed. It looked almost identical the room I was staying in, but I decided not to go in and search for items. Finding Satorin’s wife trumped finding loot, but I made a mental note to return if I ever had the opportunity.
Continuing, I encountered several other doors that were all locked, and at the end of the corridor was another hall that curved into a circle, which I could only guess ran the length of the keep. There was also a set of stairs that lead up to the next level.
I took the circular hallway and explored several smaller passages that branched off from there. There were numerous locked doors, and of the doors that were unlocked, I found more living quarters that were nearly identical to my room, a storage room with locked chests, and a storage room with crafting materials like ore and wood.
The circular hallway led me to the other side of the keep, and I quickly turned into one of the straight corridors that was connected, which brought me back to the dining area. At first, I thought the room was empty and stepped up to the tall throne that Dryden had erected several meters behind the table. It was made of a hard steel and fused to the stone floor of the keep. A thick cushion with a fine embroidered pattern was embedded into the back and the seat.
“Gunnar?”
I turned around and perked up when I saw that Dryden had appeared out of nowhere. “Oh, hey…” I said timidly.
“Hoping to sit on the throne someday?”
Stay in character, stay in character, I thought. I cleared my voice and spoke with a sophisticated, flat tone. “Everyone dreams of having their own throne, right? I was simply admiring the craftsmanship, but I have no interest in yours.”
“Of course,” Dryden said. He scanned me up and down. “I see you’re feeling better.”
I smiled. “Just a brief sickness. I’m sure it won’t happen again.”
“Good.” He waved his hand at me. “Is there anything you need here?”
“Just getting a good look at the keep, Lord Dryden. So far it’s quite impressive.”
Dryden chuckled. “You don’t have to lie, Gunnar. This keep is nothing compared to a real castle, but if we work together, I may someday have something much, much grander than this. Who knows? I may actually leave this keep to one of my commanders and name them a Lord. Keep that in mind in case you aspire to rise in rank.”
“You’re ambitious. That’s why you lead.”
“I lead a mercenary group. I’ve still got much to accomplish.”
“You mentioned your men are away. Where are they? The keep seems fairly empty.”
“Ahh yes,” Dryden said with a nod. “We have around 200 men in the Bloodletters. I’ve got about 150 of my men contracted out, helping with a war far west of here, and about 30 of my men building ships for me in the east. I’ve left only 20 or so men here to protect the keep, myself included.”
I gulped as I started to get more confirmation that everything Satorin had told me might be true. “You don’t want to join the war with your men?”
“I’m confident in the power of my commanders, and I need to be here to govern and take on additional quests for the guild. We’re maximizing our potential by splitting our resources into three different jobs.”
I nodded and continued to kiss ass. “You’re a better
leader than I could ever be.”
Dryden snorted and stepped towards his throne. As he got closer, I instinctively backed away to give him room.
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Gunnar,” he said as he turned around and plopped his ass in the throne. “Your power will determine how far you go from here.” He raised his hand to me as if he were flicking away a fly. “You may go.”
I turned away and started back down the half from where I came. While Dryden was an asshole, I got the feeling that maybe some of it was for show. He was a little less arrogant without his men around, and somewhere deep inside him, I sensed a normal person. I wondered how he would have turned out if he had been left to live in Outer Highcastle or never found out that he was a prince—assuming all of that was true.
At the end of the hall was another set of stairs leading to the next floor, and I casually trudged up them, anxious to find Maleena and get the hell out of dodge. When I arrived at the second level, the layout looked identical to the first level, but it was more guarded, a soldier at each end of the center hall, so pushing on doors randomly wouldn’t be an option.
I strolled around the circular outer hall, acting like I had something to do or somewhere to go, and each time I passed one of the guards they looked at me suspiciously. Overall, it felt like waste of time… mindless walking with no hope of checking anything out. If Maleena was on that floor, I wasn’t going to find out anytime soon.
I climbed two more floors and they were guarded just like the second floor, but when I climbed to the fifth and final floor, I was surprised when I didn’t run into a guard right away. The layout of the fifth floor was a little different. There was a circular hall running the circumference of the room with no doors leading to any rooms, and there was single, straight hall that lead to the middle of the keep. At the center of the hall was door on either side. There was no security at either end of the hall, but there were guards in front of both doors.
I knew there had to be something special inside those doors, given the way the guards stood directly in front of them, unlike the other floors. So, with guild insignia on, I figured I’d first try a direct approach at gathering information. I strode confidently to the center of the keep and turned one of the guards. “What’s this?”
“Who are you?” the guard questioned.
“I’m a Bloodletter, just like you.”
“Fuck off,” he said.
I turned to the guard on the opposite side but he smirked at me. I’m sure he had the same disposition to curse and tell me to go away.
I started back down the hall and towards the stairs, feeling like I had made no progress walking all around the five floors, but right before I reached the steps, I heard a door behind me open and close.
I turned to see a woman emerging from one of the doors. She was wearing a thin, white gown that was split down the middle, exposing the center of her chest and part of her midriff before joining back together below her belly button and ending right below her knees. She had layered, short silvery-blonde hair that ended just below her ears and was notably attractive.
“Where are you going?” one of the guards asked.
“To get snacks for us to eat,” she said.
“You can wait ‘til we bring you food.”
She snorted and snapped her head to the side. “I’m hungry now, and all of you take way too long to bring us anything.”
The soldier reached out and grabbed the woman’s arm, yanking her back a few inches.
“Go ahead,” she snapped. “Put a mark on me, and see what Dryden does.”
The soldier took a deep breath and slowly let go. “Be quick,” he snarled. “More than 15 minutes, and I’ll come looking for you.”
The woman headed the opposite direction of me, so I scrambled around the circular hallway at the end of the keep, running as fast and quietly as I could in order to get to the stairs on the other side without being seen by the guards.
When I arrived, she was already halfway down the stairs.
“Hey!” I hissed.
“What do you want?!” the woman growled as she turned. “I said I’m going for…” Her eyebrows creased. “Who are you? Why are you wearing those strange clothes?”
“I’m a Bloodletter,” I said. “Don’t worry about the clothes.”
“If you’re a Bloodletter, then keep your hands to yourself. I serve Dryden only.” She turned her head and continued down the stairs.
“Wait!” I said, loud enough that it was obvious that I was desperate, but not loud enough that the guards above or below us would hear. “Please…”
The woman slowed and turned, her face filled with annoyance. “What?”
“What’s your name?”
The woman shook her head. “My name? You have nothing to do with me. Why do you want my name?”
I took a deep breath and exhaled quickly. “Please, just help me out here.”
The woman frowned, but I could sense that she saw something in me that wasn’t like the other Bloodletters. She softened her a tone a bit. “My name is Rina. Anything else you need?”
I reached out to try to grab her shoulder, but she jerked away.
“I said,” she stressed, “I only work for Dryden. Keep your hands to yourself.”
“No, no, no,” I said holding my palms up. “I don’t want anything like that from you. I just need a little help.”
“Help yourself.” She made a motion as if she were going to punch me in the crotch but didn’t actually do it.
I swallowed and took a chance with my next words. “Help me help you.”
“Help me?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure what to say. I had no idea how close she was to Dryden or if she was voluntarily in the keep. But I knew I had to say something more direct or else our conversation would go nowhere. “If you could get out of this keep, what would you say about that?”
The woman’s shoulders slacked, and she leaned up against the wall. She looked up behind me and then turned to look down the stairs to see if anyone was coming. “You want to help me get out of here?”
“Is that what you want?” I asked.
Again, she turned her head both ways. “What do you think?”
“Maleena,” I said. “Do you know Maleena?”
The girl smiled. “Oh, so you’re just try to get some action with Maleena then, huh?”
I waved my hands. “No, no, no. I mean… yes. Listen to me. I can free Maleena, and I can free you at the same time, but I need help doing so.”
The woman shook her head. “I don’t know who you are or why you’re wearing slaver gear, but I’m not entertaining your lies.” She turned and continued down the stairs.
“Wait,” I hissed, trying to pull back her attention.
She didn’t turn back around or acknowledge me any further.
I stood at the center of the steps and waited for her to return, but after 10 minutes passed, I heard a door open and close above me on the top floor. I rushed up the stairs to see that no one had emerged, so I could only assume that Rina had took the stairs on the other side of the keep in order to avoid me.
Though I didn’t make any significant progress, I had gained my first piece of intel. There was at least one woman inside the room at the top floor, and that woman, Rina, knew who Maleena was. I didn’t think that was terribly bad for my first day.
Chapter Twenty-Four
1/23/0001
I met Dryden and two other soldiers outside the front door of the keep. He was already sitting on top of an all-black stallion with a beautiful shiny mane, and the other two men were taking care of three other basic, brown mares.
The day before, after running into Rina, not much else happened. I lurked around the keep in sneak mode a while longer, being cautious not to raise any suspicions. At one point in the evening, I also saw Dryden walk up to the fifth floor and enter the room opposite of the one that Rina had emerged from. Not too long after Dryden arrived at the room, the opposite opened, and three w
omen, dressed exactly like Rina, crossed the room and entered Dryden’s. The guards rotated throughout the night, but there was a never a moment when no soldier was guarding the doors.
“Good morning,” I said when I exited the keep and approached the three men.
“You can ride, right?” Dryden asked.
I nodded and noticed that in my slaver’s gear I was rather out of place. Dryden and his men were all wearing their usual dark grey chain and plate. “Is there a certain armor I should wear? And if we’ll be fighting, I should probably take a sword.” I motioned towards the dagger sheathed to my chest. “Small Blades isn’t my strong suit.”
Dryden snorted and tugged at his horse as it began to stir. “There’s no handouts in the Bloodletters. You’ll earn your armor and weapons by completing tasks for me. If you need a sword in the meantime, loot one from something you kill.”
Damn, I thought. Dryden was greedy about supplying his guild with weapons and armor? As I looked around me to all the gruesome stakes and the blood that was sticking to my shoes, I had to wonder what incentive people had to stay in his guild.
One of the soldiers handed a horse over to me, and after a quick inspection, I hopped on its back and adjusted myself for comfort. “Where are we going?”
“Not far,” Dryden answered. “A group of bandits have been harassing a small village nearby. We’ll go there and take them out.”
Sounded like a noble quest—maybe even something I’d ask my own guild to help me with. “So we just go help the village and then we’ll head back?”
Dryden nodded. “Never become complacent, Gunnar. Always work to gain experience and improve your power. That’s what we’re doing now.”
He pulled at the reigns of his stallion and trotted past the stakes in the ground. Once he cleared the stakes, he pushed his horse into a run. The two other soldiers followed him, and I followed up the rear.
