Changing Faces

New Game Minus #1

Version 1.3

© 2018 Sarah Lin

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Prologue

A floating box was asking his name, and he hated it.

He hated it because asking someone's name was a stupid question. And because boxes shouldn't just float in the air like that. But most importantly, he hated it because it made him realize that he had no idea. Instead of a past, he possessed only hazy memories.

Whoever he was, he was lying in a filthy prison cell. He smiled slightly as he grasped a few strands of memory. He knew what a prison was and had enough context to call this one filthy. Yet something was horribly wrong, something he couldn't put his finger on. When he looked down at his body, he saw a scrawny male form clothed in rags... that didn't feel quite right, but he gave up on figuring out why for now.

Mostly because that damn box kept floating in his vision. Just a blue rectangle directly in front of him, no matter which direction he turned. It was translucent enough to see through and he saw the words [What is your name?] written in it. When he tried to touch it, his hand passed through. An illusion? Magic? He had a strong intuition that he knew something about "magic" but couldn't remember the details.

He tried to test his cell and found it infuriatingly impenetrable. For all its filth, he couldn't find any weaknesses. The stones struck him as perfectly fitted and the bars didn't budge. It was a good cell, as far as his few heartbeats of life could judge cells.

That damn box... he glowered at it, fiercely and ineffectually. "Why are you asking my name? I don't care, I want to get out of this cell!"

More text appeared: [Use your default name?]

"What?" Abruptly he had the intuition that he did care. Had he come here for some purpose? Memories swirling in the back of his mind, he spoke without thinking. "An adventurer. I want a heroic adventurer's name."

The box changed to say [Raigar]. He looked at the name, wondering if it sounded familiar for a reason. Before he could think too deeply, more text was added. [Is this name correct?]

"I don't know. It will do for now."

As soon as he agreed, the box disappeared, which was a welcome relief despite still being trapped in the cell. But the very same instant the box disappeared, he heard footsteps in the hall.

Raigar stepped toward the door - no, was his name actually Raigar? That felt wrong. He wouldn't let a stupid box name him.

Three people marched down the corridor and came to stand directly in front of his cell. The first of them was an old man, bent at the waist, fumbling with a ring of keys. On his left stood a blond woman in shining armor with a serene look on her face, while on his right slouched a woman in dark leathers who was eyeing the shadows.

Both were unusually beautiful, yet he found his reaction was a strange mix of hatred and lust. Though the sensation swelled from within him, it felt flat and alien, not part of him. He frowned, observing the feeling and wondering why he would react that way.

"Are you the adventurer we have been looking for?" The old man asked the absurd question in a rickety voice. Though the prisoner started to scowl in response, for some reason he found himself giving a neutral smile instead. That question had meant something to him, once.

"I'm sorry, but I can't remember very much."

"That's common. You've been through a lot." The blond woman gave him an encouraging smile that lit up her face. "My name is Elleane. I've guided your kind before and I will do everything I can to help you. Perhaps you have memories of another world or a desire to be a hero... I do not know what higher power has acted, but those desires have been granted. This is your new life where you can be the legend you were meant to be."

The dark-haired woman scoffed. "Oh, fuck off. It's just as likely he wants to gain power and loot." She gave him a smirk. "I'm Marrin. Don't let Elleane force you onto her straight and narrow path. You can do whatever you want here."

All the prisoner could do was blink and stare between them. Something about this felt wrong, his memories twisting in confusion and anger. "Have you... done this before?"

"You will remember as well." The old man found the correct key and opened his cell, inviting him to exit. He did so with halting steps. "The signs declared that you have been here before. We hope that you are the second coming of the great adventurer, Raigar. Do you remember that name?"

"Yes, it sounds so familiar..." But it didn't sound like his. Why were his memories so fuzzy?

As they made their way down the corridor, the old man in front and the women to either side of him, the old man kept speaking to him. "Many are confused, as you are. But have no fear, you will understand by the time you leave this place. Do you remember the Master Lich?"

"Yes. I'm sure I've heard that name before."

"Ten years ago, he terrorized the land. An adventurer named Raigar, a man much like you, emerged from nowhere to fight him. He defeated the Master Lich's foul lieutenants, Bloodwraith and Skullcrusher, and eventually the Master Lich himself. But after that, he disappeared without a trace."

All the prisoner could do was nod. Yes, that sounded familiar. Though he still lacked key memories, the names provoked in him a strong sense of purpose. Something had happened to him, something important. He was here for a reason.

"You must be Raigar, returned to us," Elleane said. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know not what evil you have come to face this time, but I know you will face it bravely."

No... it sounded partially right, partially wrong, and entirely confusing. "My memories are so... do people just disappear and return here? I don't feel like a hero."

"No true hero does. You may feel weak now, as you have just been reborn. But you have the potential to-"

Marrin knocked Elleane's hand off his shoulder and rolled her eyes. "For a paladin, she does a lot of lying. The truth is that you're not like us - you're something special. I don't know why you appear and disappear in our world, but one thing's for sure: you're going to have a hell of an adventure."

In front of them, the old man had reached a large doorway. He stopped in front of it, turning back to them and nodding sagely. "She is correct. I am the keeper of this Forest of Beginnings, from which many legendary adventurers have emerged. I believe you journey here from other worlds in order to fulfill great destinies, some wondrous and some terrible. But that is a matter only understood by those who live in this forest - once you leave, you will simply be an exceptional adventurer. You must say no more of this."

None of this sounded familiar at all. The prisoner thought back to the stories they had told earlier, trying to grasp for memories. Was he this Raigar as they claimed? Perhaps... he could remember a great battle and remembered seeing the Master Lich in combat. Yet the memory floated just out of his grasp.

"Before you leave this place, you must remember who you are." The old man slowly opened the door, revealing that it led directly into a forest clearing, aglow with midday sunlight. "We have shown you the door, now you need only find yourself to walk through it."

Ignoring such mystic nonsense, the nameless prisoner strode forward. Yet when he entered the light of the doorway, he staggered to one knee. Fragmentary memories pierced his mind, struggling to cohere into a pattern. Yes, he was certain that he had been there, fighting in the battle, but why couldn't he remember himself?

"You must remember!" Elleane stepped forward and spoke loudly. "Think back to the great battle with the Master Lich... if you are truly Raigar returned to us, stand and claim your destiny!"

And then he did remember. It all returned clearly in his mind, Raigar and the Master Lich fighting a great battle beside the arcane ritual. Raigar eventually stood victorious, at which point a door had appeared before the great adventurer. On the other side of the door lay only swirling chaos. The prisoner remembered it all so clearly.

Because he had seen it happen while lying nearly dead on the temple floor.

He remembered Raigar in every detail, so smug and yet so powerful. He remembered how he had been defeated, but clung to life. When he saw the Master Lich fall, he had felt despair, but he had not given up. He remembered taking an ancient artifact from his robe, the Wand of Soul Exchange, and aiming it at the back of Raigar's head just before he entered the swirling door. That was when his memory had scattered to the winds.

As the memories faded, the former prisoner stood back to his feet. Elleane took another step forward, looking at him hopefully. "Are you Raigar the Valorous returned to us?"

Bloodwraith the Corrupter, Bane of Worlds and Father to the Undead, turned and gave them his best heroic smile. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Chapter 1

Elleane beamed at him and Marrin rolled her eyes, but Bloodwraith focused on the old man. He smiled warmly and nodded, as if he had expected to hear exactly that - no suspicion at all, the doddering fool. Still smiling, the old man pulled something from the depths of his robe: a silver pendant with a large sapphire hanging from it.

"Welcome back, Raigar the Valorous... though you may choose a new title in this life. I believe this is yours." He extended the pendant, so Bloodwraith tried to look suitably grateful while he took it.

Immediately another of those infernal boxes appeared in his vision.

[Amulet of Reincarnation.

Granted for a second life in Alliandelle. Cannot be stolen, sold, or destroyed.

Perk: Enhanced Learning (EXP, AP, and SP will be acquired more quickly.)

Perk: Enhanced Reputat...]

Bloodwraith waved his hand irritably at the box, barely swallowing a curse at the distraction. This box actually went away, though that meant he was waving his hand foolishly in the air. Fortunately, none of the others seemed to think him mad. The old man simply shook his head and chuckled ruefully.

"I do not know what wonders you see, adventurer, but please remember that the rest of us are not blessed as you are. Once you leave the Forest of Beginnings, you may find that such actions will disturb those around you. It would serve you well to be more self-conscious in the future."

"Right, yes. I would not want to... terrify the helpless peasants." Bloodwraith squared his shoulders and nodded heroically.

"Never fear, that is why the Forest of Beginnings exists. Come this way." The old man began walking into the forest and the women went with him.

As he followed, Bloodwraith glanced between the three of them, keeping a neutral smile on his face. He wanted to decapitate the old man and have his way with the women, but that would break his cover. Besides, his current body seemed pathetic, so either Elleane or Marrin could likely slay him. For now, he needed to play at being Raigar.

At least until he unlocked the secret of the adventurer's impossible strength.

"So..." Bloodwraith looked between the three humans and tried to improve his smile. "What happens now?"

"We will escort you through the Forest of Beginnings," Elleane said. "Outside, you should be able to make your way to Cresthaven and choose your own destiny."

"There's a nice Thieves Guild there," Marrin said. "Some good brothels, too."

"Marrin! Don't try to force your vile ways on Raigar the Valorous!"

Their petty bickering irritated him, but Bloodwraith had little mind for it: not with the stirring of necromancy ahead of him. An old part of him reached out, wanting to grasp the mana... yet this body was incapable of it. He could do nothing as a shambling creature of bone and dried skin lurched into the clearing ahead of them.

A Ghoul Lord. Bloodwraith stared at the twisted humanoid as it approached, all his instincts screaming the wrong things. He couldn't take control of it - not only would that reveal his identity, there was only a gaping void where his necromantic power should have been. And yet though he should have panicked, a strange current of calm ran through him.

Another box appeared before him and declared:

[Tutorial]

Bloodwraith waved the incomprehensible box aside irritably. How had Raigar accomplished anything with these abominable boxes constantly cluttering his vision?

"I shall hold it off, adventurer!" The old man stepped forward and cast a ray of light at the Ghoul Lord. Yet the magic only made it flinch, and it began to stumble forward, raising a hand with finger bones shaped into knives. It would be on them soon, and Bloodwraith still had no idea what he should do.

"You're the only one who can stop that thing," Marrin said. She looked alert, but not nearly as tense as she should have, given what they faced. "How do you think we should stop it? Attack from the front? Blow it up with spells? Stab it from behind?"

Bloodwraith swallowed all the answers he would naturally have given and tried to answer as Raigar. "Uh... attack boldly from the front!"

[You have chosen the Path of the Warrior.]

Wait, a warrior? Curses. Bloodwraith tried to grasp for the box, but it dissipated in front of his fingers. Before he could object, Elleane appeared beside him, holding out several weapons. "Raigar, choose your weapon and slay the monster!"

Was there no way to take back his decision? The boxes seemed utterly indifferent to his anger, so there was likely nothing he could do. Worse, he saw that Elleane and Marrin were giving him odd looks. He was supposed to be the reincarnation of Raigar, after all: he should have been familiar with all of this.

The idea of them learning the truth filled him with a deep sense of dread. Bloodwraith gave his best courageous smile and grasped the handle of the enormous two-handed sword that Raigar had wielded. "Ah, this weapon feels good in my hands. Shall we slay the monster?"

[Greatsword proficiency chosen.]

How the hell was he going to kill a Ghoul Lord with nothing but a large hunk of metal? If he worked together with the three of them... yet the two women seemed to be holding back, and the old man...

At the same moment Bloodwraith looked at the old man, he saw the conflict end. The Ghoul Lord swatted aside the old man's shaft of light and struck him across the chest, knocking him to the ground. It then immediately turned aside from his body and lurched toward Bloodwraith, eyes glowing.

Damn. Bloodwraith had trained a little with a sword a lifetime ago, but he had focused on casting spells for decades. And in any case, his body was small and pathetic, refusing to obey his commands as he tried to move. When he attempted to dash to the side to anticipate the Ghoul Lord's charge, he found himself stumbling, like a poorly controlled puppet.

And just to mock him, more boxes began popping up in his vision. Bloodwraith growled and swung his sword to make them go away.

He was as good as dead, but he refused to give up. When the Ghoul Lord came into range, he lashed out... and to his surprise, he connected with its chest. It fell backward slightly and another infuriating box of text appeared. Ignoring it, Bloodwraith focused on the enemy as it attacked and managed to throw himself to the side just in time to evade the blow.

Abruptly the Ghoul Lord gave a loud cry and charged at him. Bloodwraith froze... and yet his body began moving on some instinct he didn't understand. He ducked underneath the first swipe of the claw and swung upward, severing the undead creature's arm.

That shouldn't have even stunned it, yet it reeled backward with a cry. Bloodwraith hefted his sword overhead and brought it down in a heavy swing. Somehow, it smashed through the Ghoul Lord's skull and chest.

The battle was won. He stood there, holding his sword numbly and trying to figure out what the hell had happened. For a moment he hoped that this adventurer's body was more powerful than he had known, but it still felt weak. And nothing should have allowed him to break thick bone reinforced by magic so easily. It was as if some other power had fueled his actions.

His attention swung back to the old man, who lay on his back with blood soaking through his robes. When he tried to speak, he coughed up blood. Deciding that Raigar would care about the old fool, Bloodwraith bent down to kneel beside him.

"I am... not long for this world." The old man gave another set of bloody coughs and then stared up at him. "You must forge your own destiny, adventurer. Even my eyes cannot see if you will change this land for good or for ill, but your impact on it will last forever. From this point on... the world of Alliandelle... is open to you..."

With that, he slumped to the ground and his life left him. Bloodwraith stared down at him, torn between revulsion at his weakness and irritation at the melodrama of it all. He did not want to play out his part in such a farce, yet it seemed he had little choice. It had been decades since he had been able to shed tears, much less wanted to, yet he managed to generate a few by blinking his eyes rapidly.

Elleane walked up to stand beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He gave his life to save yours, Raigar. Remember him and use that life well."

"Fuck that, do what you want." Marrin walked past them and stopped in the clearing. After a moment, Elleane moved up beside her. Bloodwraith frowned at the two of them.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, I need to investigate how such a monster entered the Forest of Beginnings." Elleane shook her head seriously. "I must get to the bottom of this, and soon. I will trust you to follow an honorable path, Raigar."

Marrin fixed him with a smirk. "And I have business of my own to deal with. You have fun in the Forest of Beginnings, but the real fun lies beyond."

With that, the two of them left him alone in the clearing.

~ ~ ~

Bloodwraith stumbled through the forest for a time, trying to come to grips with everything that had happened to him. His life had become utter madness. It felt as though this place was not made for him, but for some insane being to whom all of this would make sense. At least the boxes had stopped appearing in his vision, allowing him to focus a little more.

Casting aside his confusion, he stopped walking and took stock. He had no idea which direction he had gone and could not make his way back to the clearing where the battle had taken place. However, there was a sign alongside the trail on which he walked, pointing the way to the exit. Convenient.

What resources did he have? There was a bag at his side with mana woven into it, so he tried to check it to see what he carried...

[Inventory (Extra-dimensional Bag)

Equipment: Iron Greatsword, Peasant's Shirt, Peasant's Pants, Peasant's Boots

Items: None

Key Items: Amulet of Reincarnation

Money: 0 G, 0 S, 0 C]

Well, that was what he carried. Though this box was slightly less contemptible than the others, Bloodwraith still despised it. Since he didn't have to pretend anymore, he reached out and attempted to crush the life of the miserable thing, or at least grind it out of existence. It faded away instead.

None of that mattered. He needed to focus on the essential fact that he had been reborn in the body of Raigar. Yet instead of taking control of the body of a powerful warrior, he was this scrawny weakling who didn't even look much like the original Raigar. This really was some sort of second life.

What that meant, he had no idea. It suggested strange and terrible things about his world, but Bloodwraith didn't feel equal to the task of unraveling such mysteries. He would settle for understanding what had made Raigar so unstoppable.

The Master Lich should have conquered the world, by all rights. It seemed impossible that some human adventurer could stand in their path, yet they'd all seen it. With each confrontation he had become far more powerful than the last time, acquiring power at a rate no one could explain. That had been what made Bloodwraith hold back, prepare his defenses and acquire the Wand, instead of throwing himself fully into the battle on the Master Lich's behalf.

Yet now that he possessed the body of the adventurer... what good did it do? What was special about it?

As if to mock him, another box appeared in response:

[Name: Raigar

Race: Human

Class: Barbarian

Alignment: Neutral

Health: 100/100

Mana: 10/10

Stamina: 100/100

Level: 1

EXP: 50/100

Statistics:

Might: 12

Vitality: 12

Quickness: 10

Intellect: 10

Charisma: 10

Willpower: 10

Wisdom: 8

Luck: 10

Piety: 8

Combat Skills: None

Skills: Two-handed Weapons (1), Evasion (1), Survivalism (1)

Proficiencies: Greatsword, Heavy Armor]

It seemed an incomprehensible mess, but he forced himself to try to comprehend it. The words were all familiar to him, even if the uses were strange. What did "Level" mean? He was in a forest, not a building. At least the "Statistics" seemed to measure comprehensible traits, most of them rated at 10...

"Eight wisdom?" Bloodwraith bellowed. "And only average intellect? Miserable box, how dare you bestow such lowly numbers upon me? Just because Raigar was a fool does not mean I am! What does any of this mean?"

[Might: This statistic is a measure of physical force. Might affects your ability to deal damage, carry weight, lift objects, and perform certain skills.

Vitality: This statistic is a measure of physical health. Vitality affects your ability to endure damage, resist disease...]

"Bah! I do not need you to define common words for me!" Bloodwraith struck at the box and it obligingly went away before explaining every single one of the words.

As insane as all this was, Bloodwraith was no fool. Clearly, these numbers represented the capacity of the body he had been given. Given that Raigar was a warrior, it was no surprise that he was given higher numbers for physical abilities. The labeling and division of it all seemed absurd and reductive, but the secret to the adventurer's impossible strength must lie somewhere in all this.

Unless he truly was going mad. As an experiment, Bloodwraith hefted his sword in one hand and ran one finger along the edge, drawing a line of blood. He had intended to think intensely about his physical well-being and see if he could summon another box, but one appeared unbidden:

[Health: 99/100]

A crude measure of his physical integrity, then. If he drew that much blood one hundred times in a row, it did seem likely that this body would bleed to death, so it was likely accurate to a degree. How it would account for complex injuries and the uncertainty of real combat, he had no idea. But all the foolish numbers at least correlated to reality in some way.

They were more distraction than help, however. Bloodwraith waved the box away and resolved to ignore them. More important than all of this nonsense was to find the secret of this adventurer's strength. Perhaps in time he could regain his old power.

Of course, the Master Lich had been destroyed. That meant that if Bloodwraith could rebuild his armies, then he would be the uncontested leader. He could destroy or conquer everyone who had stood in his way as he saw fit. And if another adventurer tried to stop him... well, he would need to be far better prepared than last time. So there would be no armies or revenge yet. First, he needed to play his role and uncover the mystery.

Bloodwraith began to set off down the forest path, pondering what to do first. Logically, what he needed was a path to power. His body refused to obey his old training, so he needed to resolve that first. Perhaps he could train himself, or at worst find some town guard who could beat the proper lessons into this body.

After that he would seek magical power, though it might be difficult to find in villages of ignorant peasants. His new body might have no talent for necromancy, but he could feel some magical capacity within it. If he found the right books and teachers, he could train his magical abilities as well. It might take several years, but he could fashion himself into a dangerous weapon again.

His plans were interrupted by the growl of a beast. Bloodwraith glanced down and sneered contemptuously at the thin wolf he saw slinking between the trees.

"Pathetic, starving creature! Put your tail between your legs and get out of my path!"

Instead of obeying, the wolf turned toward him, growling louder. Bloodwraith realized that he was not nearly so imposing in this form and the wolf likely thought of him as nothing but a meal. Most absurd of all, the creature might actually pose a threat to him.

It rushed forward and his hands moved to cast a spell - which he no longer possessed. As the wolf closed the distance, he grabbed for his sword, but the idiotically large thing couldn't move in time. The wolf hit him and slammed him onto his back.

Suddenly there was no time for thought. The beast snapped at his throat and somehow he'd thrown an arm into its jaws. Its teeth tearing through his flesh sent a surge of pain like he hadn't felt in years.

The panic made him grab for his sword again. He couldn't swing properly on his back, but he managed to slam the hilt of the sword into the wolf's side. It snarled and didn't let go of his arm.

Bloodwraith struck it again and again. Too late the beast started to retreat, realizing that it was in danger, but it was just an animal. It should have disabled his other arm and then finished him off. Instead, it pulled back, letting him manage a clumsy hack with his greatsword. The blow managed to drop the wolf, which allowed him finish it off with several messy stabs.

As soon as it was done, Bloodwraith collapsed backward onto the ground. One wolf had nearly killed him. One single wolf. Not only had he fought like an incompetent fool, he was left with nothing. He could barely even feel the creature's death energy, and he couldn't turn its corpse into a minion. Pathetic.

[Victory! You received 10 EXP and one Wolf Pelt.]

"Do not mock me, accursed boxes!" He struck out at it, only then noticing just how many boxes floated in his vision. They had been nearly transparent during the fight, but now they forced themselves on him. As much as he hated them, he was too weary and demoralized to push them aside and his eyes began wandering over them.

[The wolf attacks! HP - 10! (90/100 HP)]

[The wolf attacks! HP - 15! (75/100 HP)]

[The wolf attacks! HP - 10! (65/100 HP)]

[You attack the wolf!! HP - 5! (45/50 HP)]

[The wolf attacks! HP - 5! (60/100 HP)]

[You attack the wolf!! HP - 5! (40/50 HP)]

[The wolf-]

"Enough!" Bloodwraith angrily swung his sword at the boxes until they went away. "Never show me such tediousness again, foul boxes!"

Yet as he sat there, he realized that if this system was to force itself on him, he should at least attempt to engage with it. After some focused thinking, he managed to summon the box that contained the description of Raigar's body and looked for the relevant part.

[Health: 45/100

Mana: 10/10

Stamina: 20/100]

According to the box's judgment, he had less than half his "Health" and a mere fifth of his "Stamina." Though Bloodwraith didn't feel like he was half-dead, having lost most of his stamina felt about right. Such wild struggling was so uncouth, leaving him exhausted and disgusted with himself. He dropped back onto the ground, slowly catching his breath as his arm continued to bleed.

It had been useless after all. He had thought he could possess Raigar's power, but all he had been given was this pathetic body and a curse of boxes explaining the obvious to him. Perhaps the world had recognized his deceit and stopped him. Or perhaps a special soul was required to make use of this power. Instead he had given up all his magic to become a weak brute.

He should have just let himself die instead of humiliating himself like this. Perhaps that was for the best. Bloodwraith decided to just wait there until his wounds finished bleeding out.

After lying there for a short time, though, he started to get bored. Bloodwraith summoned the box again to see how long it would take for him to die.

[Health: 58/100

Mana: 10/10

Stamina: 52/100]

What? He sat up, eyes widening. The box continued to hover in the center of his vision. As he watched, the numbers crept upward. When he looked down to his arm... it didn't change while he watched it, yet the torn flesh had started to knit itself back together while he wasn't looking.

Bloodwraith let himself smile and closed his eyes. Though he didn't feel any healing magic, he could tell on some deep level that he was regenerating. He realized that it had happened before, as well: the box had declared his "Health" to be 99/100 after cutting his finger, yet the wolf's first attack had reduced it to 90 instead of 89, as if the lost point had regenerated at some point.

After a time, Bloodwraith rose to his feet. His body felt restored and the box confirmed as much. Perhaps he had not sacrificed everything for nothing: this body held at least one truly amazing power. And thinking back, in the early days Raigar had been so weak that the Master Lich said he could be ignored. It might be that his true potential lay in how the path to power had been smoothed for him.

That was enough that he couldn't give up yet. Bloodwraith approached the wolf's corpse and collected its pelt, though he struggled to remember how. For the first time he tried to use the Extra-dimensional Bag the box had told him he supposedly possessed - when he pushed the wolf pelt into the bag, it disappeared as it should. Yet the magic seemed altered... a moment later, another box appeared, filled with dozens of smaller panes, one of which held a small picture of the wolf pelt.

[Inventory: (Extra-dimensional Bag)

Equipment: Peasant's Shirt, Peasant's...]

"Yes, yes, I can see it." His voice wasn't filled with as much venom as usual, however. If he could truly see the contents of the magical bag at a glance, that was actually an improvement to the magic. Given how it could be difficult to find the exact item needed, Extra-dimensional Bags were frustrating enough that only traveling adventurers bothered with them. But this...

Bloodwraith experimented with the strange box and found it surprisingly easy to remove and replace the wolf pelt. The system was simple and intuitive. Finally, something that wasn't a waste of time. He should explore his abilities further to see what else he might possess. Why did Raigar run around killing monsters when with this simple improvement to the magic, he could have lived like a king?

But first, Bloodwraith needed enough strength that this foolish warrior's body would not be completely useless. Hearkening back to his old training, Bloodwraith began to swing his sword experimentally, improving his form. It was as if this body refused to accept what he knew in his mind, but with disciplined work he might be able to retrain it.

[Skill improved: Two-handed Weapons

Current Level: 1

Current Progress: 5%]

[Attribute improved: Might

Current Level: 12

Current Progress: 11%]

[Attribute improved-]

He grunted away the boxes and swung his sword again... and more boxes appeared. Bloodwraith opened his mouth to curse at the boxes again, but they disappeared before he could say anything. When he set his mind against the boxes, he was able to swing without any more of them appearing.

Excellent. The curse of the boxes was beginning to bend to his will. He let out a malevolent chuckle and went back to work.

Though he wasn't sure how long passed, Bloodwraith spent a long time retraining himself. Once he felt that his form was correct, he began to test swinging the greatsword into the side of a tree isolated on one side of the clearing. It bit into the bark clumsily at first, but gradually he managed to cut deeper. This body had the strength to wield such a large sword, at least, despite appearing scrawny.

By the time he hacked down the tree, he was exhausted and a great deal of time had passed. Yet strangely, the woods had grown no darker, still filled with the same soft light as it had been at the beginning. That should not be possible... yet perhaps this place disobeyed the laws of the world.

Satisfied with himself, Bloodwraith willed his personal box into being again.

[Name: Raigar

Race: Human

Class: Barbarian

Alignment: Neutral

Health: 100/100

Mana: 10/10

Stamina: 16/100

Level: 1

EXP: 60/100

Statistics:

Might: 12

Vitality: 12

Quickness: 10

Intellect: 10

Charisma: 10

Willpower: 10

Wisdom: 8

Luck: 10

Piety: 8

Combat Skills: None

Skills: Two-handed Weapons (1), Evasion (1), Survivalism (1)

Proficiencies: Greatsword, Heavy Armor]

It was not very helpful. Muttering about the aggrieving box, Bloodwraith dismissed it... and another box appeared a moment later.

[Training complete!

Stamina Progress: 21.4%

Might Progress: 12.7%

Vitality Progress: 8.4%

Quickness Progress: 4.3%

Two-handed Weapons Progress: 7.6%]

What the hell did any of that mean? Bloodwraith was familiar with numbers from his magical training, but hadn't expected the sheer number of them in the boxes - apparently being an adventurer was more like being an accountant than a great warrior.

Most importantly, progress toward what? If the percentage was progress toward some final ideal, then it seemed absurd that he had improved so much in a short time. But if it was progress toward some incremental improvement, then he was infuriated that he had done so little.

His focus on the numbers created a new box, which he barely avoided dismissing reflexively.

[When the progress meter increases to 100%, the attribute or skill will increase by one level.]

"What? You mean I trained that long and earned only a fraction of a slight increase in strength?"

[When the progress meter increases to 100%, the attribute or skill will increase by one level.]

"I know that, spiteful box! I am saying that your numbers are vile lies!"

[When the progress meter-]

"Enough!" Bloodwraith dismissed all the boxes and spent a while fuming in silence. Though his body felt refreshed rather quickly, his mind remained troubled. Perhaps if he remained here and chopped down the entire forest, he would eventually make some meaningful progress. But he had no time for that, he had a world to conquer.

At that moment, he heard the growling of a wolf. No, two wolves.

Bloodwraith spun and readied his sword, far more disciplined than he had been before. Despite the danger from the two wolves approaching him, he took a moment to curse the boxes for their inaccuracy. If they didn't account for such an improvement, what were they good for?

Though it seemed strange that two wolves would approach even with the corpse of another lying so close, they advanced aggressively. Then again, wolves were pack hunters, so it was bizarre that only one would have attacked him alone. Perhaps all of these wolves were diseased and not thinking clearly.

When the two wolves rushed him, this time Bloodwraith was ready. He swung his sword in a huge horizontal sweep and was satisfied to feel it bite deep into the side of the first wolf. The other swept in, biting and clawing at his side, but he managed to kick it away.

The injured wolf should have been dying, yet somehow it lurched to its feet despite the blood it had lost. Not fast enough to threaten him, however. Bloodwraith swung downward, smashing the creature to the ground and ending its life.

Unfortunately, the second wolf attacked his side a moment later, driving him to the path. Before it could bite into him, he thrashed and kicked it away. Not elegant, but it was enough. The wolf fell to the side, snarling as it rolled back to his feet.

Bloodwraith managed to pull himself up to one knee and pulled his greatsword into position. He swung again, but the injuries in his side twinged. His swing moved slowly, allowing the wolf to dodge aside and rush past him, teeth tearing at his side again.

Still, he had an advantage the wolf did not have. Bloodwraith kept his distance, warding off the wolf with wide swings. Currently the box declared [Health: 63/100], but that number should increase in time. All he needed to do was keep the wolf at bay until he recovered enough that swinging his sword would not hurt so much.

Except the numbers didn't increase. After pushing away the wolf several more times, Bloodwraith saw that his "Health" had increased a measly one increment, while his "Stamina" had plummeted. He certainly didn't feel like he could keep fighting like this forever. Had his regeneration failed him? Or was something else amiss? Regardless, he needed to end the combat so he could think about it.

Fortunately, in the time he had been waiting, he'd noticed just how predictably the wolf attacked. He thought the animal would have had the sense to leave him and search for easier prey, yet it just kept attacking. It rushed quickly, but always tried the same few movements. Simple enough to understand.

The next time it attacked, he brought his sword down on the wolf's head, hard. It fell back from the blow, still alive, but while it was stunned he hacked at it again until it lay dead.

[Victory! You received 20 EXP and two Wolf Pelts.]

"I do not need your false encouragement, infernal box!" How was he supposed to accomplish anything when he was so regularly being attacked by wolves? Was there an entire pack lurking in the forest, waiting to assault him the instant that he walked anywhere?

Yet as he stood there, burning with rage, Bloodwraith felt himself healing. Much more quickly, at the speed he had healed before. Perhaps his unnatural ability could not work in combat? Though that made no rational sense and conformed to no law of magic he knew, it might make sense according to some strange logic. Perhaps the rest of this curse also operated by similar logic.

In that case... he found himself looking back to his personal box. It declared that he had 80 out of 100 "EXP" - whatever the hell that meant.

[EXP: Experience points. The measure of how much you have experienced in this world.]

"What? I've trained, reflected, and explored, but you've only granted these 'experience points' for the same experience of killing a wolf three times! How does that make any sense?" The boxes refused to answer, so he sighed and accepted it. "Very well. What good do these 'EXP' do me?"

[When you have achieved enough experience points, you will gain a level. In addition to your level having a direct impact on certain skills, each level gained will grant you five unassigned stat points.]

"What? I collect a hundred of these arbitrary points, only to be granted five different arbitrary points? What is the purpose of any of this madness?"

The boxes had no answer to that. Perhaps his questions had grown too abstract. Yet as Bloodwraith stood there, trying to glare the boxes into submission, he felt that he had begun to understand.

Everything about this power was like some sort of petty merchant attempting to fill an order. Each time he had killed a wolf, he had been granted 10 of these arbitrary "experience points." When he fulfilled the order of 100, something would occur. Whether or not that event would be worth all the trouble, he could not know, but he decided that he should perform the experiment before casting judgment.

Venturing deeper into the forest, Bloodwraith soon came across another wolf. Shockingly quickly, actually. He ignored the implausibility of such a thing and focused on combat. This wolf rushed toward him exactly the same as the others, so it was a simple matter to bring his sword down onto its head and kill the beast.

[Victory! You received 10 EXP and one Wolf Pelt.]

"Are you mocking me, noxious boxes? That could not have been easier!" But he wasn't going to complain about being only 10 of these points away from finishing the experiment. Then he could either focus on or ignore this strange system, depending on if it was worth his time.

Since he had not been injured in the battle, Bloodwraith marched onward into the forest... and almost immediately found himself surrounded by three wolves.

Why had they not rushed to join the other wolf? No, he had no time for such thoughts. He needed to focus on combat.

The wolves nipped at him from all sides, but the wolf behind him lunged for real, sinking its teeth into his calf. He went down with a cry of pain. Before he could fall completely, he swung his sword downward, biting deep into the spine of the wolf. Its teeth unclenched as it dropped, but the other two wolves lunged for his neck.

Bloodwraith barely moved his sword into the path of their teeth and the three of them fell into a bloody tangle. He ignored their slashing claws and teeth, just tried to push his sword against them, flailed with his other arm, even bit the nose of one of the wolves when it snapped out at him. It was brute idiocy, but that was all he had in this new life.

Eventually he emerged from under the two dying wolves, covered in blood half his own. He felt nearly dead and he was too exhausted to do more than pull himself a short distance from the bodies and collapse.

It wasn't worth it. Combat was always a risk, much less melee combat like this. Even with his regeneration, he had come very near death. A single additional wolf would kill him. This was all a useless waste of time...

[Victory! You received 30 EXP and three Wolf Pelts.]

Just as Bloodwraith was about to curse at the box, his jaw opened in surprise as music began to play. It was a jaunty little tune that made him search about for some sort of traveling bard, yet he realized that it was coming from the boxes. Specifically, from a new box that appeared before him. Unlike the soft blue of the others, this one shimmered as if it thought itself more important.

He hated it more than all the others.

[Congratulations! You gained a level!

Current Level: 2

Current EXP: 20/200

Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

Which meant nothing to him. At least the "unassigned stat points" did not declare themselves to be 5/100 or some other requirement. If they had been only a step toward earning some other type of useless points, he would have done his best to strangle the boxes.

"What are the blasted points for?" he demanded. In response, another box appeared.

[Unassigned stat points can be assigned at any time. Though they can be saved, it is recommended to assign early stat points earned in the Forest of Beginnings. Note that assigning points to Vitality will only increase maximum HP, not current HP.]

That... did not answer his question. But when he tried to drive his fist through the box, it gave way to another. It was like his personal box again, but a simplified form. The "unassigned points" were displayed prominently, and each of the words describing his attributes now had a large symbol next to it. Usually the symbols were all in a language he understood, but this seemed more opaque. Like a symbol from out of a mathematical formula, yet without the formula.

Well, this was his supposed reward. Bloodwraith crawled to his feet as his body regenerated enough to do so, staring at this new box. Perhaps the ability to add numbers to other numbers was pleasurable to the insane beings who would create such a system?

It made little sense to him, but he should carry the experiment to the end. Bloodwraith reached out and touched the symbol near the word "Might." The number changed from 12 to 13 and he felt a profound sense of disappointment.

Followed by a surge of strength through his body.

For a time, Bloodwraith could only stare in shock as his mind understood what had happened. All he had done was kill some random wolves in a forest, yet he had become stronger. It matched no law of death magic he knew, yet somehow he had fed on their deaths and become more powerful. And if he had truly assigned only one of five points, he was extracting their life force with unprecedented efficiency...

Bloodwraith threw his head back and unleashed a peal of maniacal laughter. "Ahahahaaa! I am a god of blood and death!"

From the forest, he heard the growling of another wolf. He gave a bloody grin and charged.

Chapter 2

Daylight seemed eternal in the Forest of Beginnings, so Bloodwraith happily let the hours slip away slaughtering everything in his path. "Everything" turned out to be mostly wolves, though he'd encountered a few different kinds of wolves that seemed rarer than the others. They all died the same way, however, and gave him the same glorious rush of power.

Since realizing the raw potential available to him, he had been eagerly watching all of the arbitrary numbers in the boxes. When the percentages by his attributes reached 100%, the main number increased - it made no sense at all that he would work at something with no improvement and then suddenly receive a single increment, but he wasn't complaining. So far he had increased Might, Vitality, and Quickness. Oddly, Willpower and Wisdom had also increased by a point, though their percentages stagnated after that.

The things labeled "skills" had also increased. The difference between "statistics" and "skills" seemed obscure to him, but now that he believed in the power of the boxes, he wanted to increase them all. His skill with the greatsword had improved, both in reality and according to the numbers. Those increases hadn't been as much fun as feeling his body grow stronger, but he believed it represented something useful.

Bloodwraith had been keeping a mental map of the forest and realized that it all funneled down toward a narrow mountain pass. Most of it seemed to be unremarkable forest, but he had spotted two unusual things: smoke that appeared to be from a cook-fire and what appeared to be an entrance to a cave.

Since the smoke had been further away, toward the mountain pass, he decided to explore the cave first. He spent a little longer killing wolves until "Two-handed Weapons" had increased again. Hopefully that would appease the boxes.

When he approached the entrance to the cave, he heard the growls of wolves. Bloodwraith carefully stepped a short distance into the cave, then retreated as two wolves rushed at him.

The first he cut through with a massive overhead swing the instant it emerged from the cave. Though the second was able to bite into his leg, he had grown used to the pain and chaos of physical combat. All he needed to do was keep striking it until it fell, because it could not kill him and his injuries would soon heal.

[Victory! You received 16 EXP and two Wolf Pelts.]

Unfortunately, since he'd gained a level, he'd received only 8 points from each wolf. Perhaps the box gods were angry that he was only killing the same things repeatedly, or perhaps their life force was now worth less to him. Given that he also required 200 of these "experience points" for the next level, it seemed unfair, but the entire process was massively unfair in his favor, so he wouldn't complain.

But he would consider just why Raigar's power should work this way. Clearly, though he had a body in this world, his soul was some sort of eldritch entity from a world that operated by entirely different laws. Bloodwraith had studied the theories of multiple worlds enough to believe they existed, but it was so difficult to breach the boundaries between them that he had put such theories out of mind.

The primary function of the system was to grant him power, which it did effectively. But he became very aware that with decreasing rewards and increasing requirements, it would naturally push him in a specific direction. Toward the mountain pass, for now, but where after that? It struck him as massively suspicious, an invisible hand guiding him for reasons he did not know.

Infuriating as they could be, the boxes were clearly just guidance. Partially a simplified representation of reality, partially a way to access these new powers. Certain simple answers were built in, particularly whenever he focused on a given word, but the boxes held no true answers.

Realizing that he had regenerated his health, Bloodwraith advanced into the cave again. The light from the forest outside seemed to filter in surprisingly well, leaving the cavern brightly lit. So it was easy to see the next wolf, retreat once it began to chase him, and then kill it.

The wolves were stupid and predictable. Bloodwraith had encountered wolves over the course of his former life and they had struck him as surprisingly intelligent pack hunters. These creatures might appear to be wolves physically, but they operated more like mindless artificial constructs. That made them easy to kill, however, so he could not complain.

The lighting of the cave continued to be unnatural, almost as if spells had been cast to illuminate it. No one would bother illuminating a random cave in the middle of the forest, so it made him increasingly uncomfortable as he advanced. Could this be a trap of some kind?

When he reached the end of the cave, he heard a monstrous growl. In the final room, an enormous wolf lay amid a pile of bones. It saw him and released another loud growl as it rose to its feet. Three smaller wolves began to advance on him as well.

The largest wolf attacked first and he barely threw himself out of the way in time. It thundered past, but the smaller wolves turned more swiftly and fell on him. Fortunately, they used the same mindless charges as the others, so he was able to cut down two of them without taking any injuries.

A moment later the largest wolf charged again. Bloodwraith managed to draw back, yet this time it shifted, its massive shoulder slamming him into the wall. He cried out and nearly dropped his greatsword.

Worse, the wolf was turning on him, slavering jaws aiming for his throat. Before it could strike, he managed to bring down his greatsword, yet most of the force glanced off the beast's thick hide. It retreated only a short distance, licking the cut to its foreleg and growling at him. Bloodwraith took the opportunity to look at it more clearly as well.

[Alpha Wolf

Health: 185/200

Note: Area Boss]

According to the box, it was far more powerful than anything he had fought so far. He had no idea what "Area Boss" meant, but perhaps that accounted for how it had been smarter and more flexible. This could be a real challenge.

There was still another smaller wolf, which might not be a direct threat, but could distract him from the Alpha Wolf. On top of that, this small cavern was a poor place to use his greatsword, and he had taken injuries in his initial surprise.

Bloodwraith decided to take the better part of valor and ran from the cave.

Outside, he set his greatsword into the ground and leaned on it, catching his breath. In the past, wolves had seemed to forget about him if he ventured far enough away, allowing him to regenerate and kill them more easily. Either they were extremely territorial, or they really were automatons designed to guard a small region. He could recover, then enter to face the-

The Alpha Wolf charged out of the cavern, jaws snapping at his face.

Throwing himself backward barely evaded the attack, but he fell onto his back. The leader of the wolves turned more swiftly this time, rounding on him. It loomed taller than he was, now that he had fallen. Blood dripped from its jaws as it roared at him, then it charged.

He heaved his greatsword directly up, aiming the point toward the wolf's chest. To his surprise, it didn't dodge back, but charged in. His sword cut across the beast's chest and foreleg, but it closed on him and its jaws closed over his shoulder.

Pain shot through his body and his sword fell from his hand. The beast bit down further, and he realized that if it continued, it would destroy his arm. Yet the pain...

Throwing it aside, Bloodwraith jabbed out with his free hand, digging into the beast's eyes. It snarled in pain and released his shoulder, but only fell back a short distance before it savagely bit at him again.

This time, he was ready. Bloodwraith ducked low, evading the beast's jaws and grabbed his sword with his uninjured arm. It should have been awkward to swing it up, yet to his surprise he managed to cut into the wolf as easily as if he had always trained with his left hand. Was this body ambidextrous? No, there was no time for that now.

The beast began to circle him more warily now, blood dripping from its eye and the new cuts. Bloodwraith circled with it, keeping his eyes on the mouth of the cave. No sign of the remaining smaller wolf, at least. He needed all his attention for the leader.

This "Alpha Wolf" was tougher and stronger than him, and faster when rushing. He felt a bit of fear again, but swallowed it. Escape was not an option, since apparently this one was capable of pursuing him, so he needed to win. The only way he could do that was to press his advantage.

Bloodwraith reversed direction, trying to move toward the beast's injured eye. It swiveled its head to keep him in its vision and growled. When he kept moving, it charged again.

He swung at its remaining eye and the wolf dodged away. Just as he'd expected. Bloodwraith pulled back from his feint and instead chopped at the other side of the wolf's body.

His blade sank deep into the beast's shoulder but failed to sever its leg as he'd hoped. The wolf snarled and lunged at him, clawing his chest and dropping him to the ground. It lunged down, teeth going for his throat...

And he managed to jerk his sword in the way. To his surprise, the wolf bit down on the metal as if to tear the weapon from his hands. Instead of trying to pull away, he pushed forward, driving the edge into the beast's mouth.

It fell back with a yelp of pain and he jerked his sword again, driving the pommel into the wolf's remaining eye. That produced an even louder cry... followed by a terrible growl.

The Alpha Wolf attacked him in a frenzy, biting and clawing at his chest, breaking his defenses with sheer ferocity. If he had been able to gain some distance, its blindness could have given him the advantage. He'd also hoped that some greater power would help him defeat the beast, as it had with the Ghoul Lord.

Yet there was nothing except the raw animal fight. Bloodwraith struck back, kicking and punching at the beast as it tore into him. He managed to land several more blows to its face with the pommel of his sword, yet the wolf had no fear, expending the rest of its life to slay him.

Finally a lucky blow with the flat of his sword knocked the Alpha Wolf back. Despite its wounds, it didn't retreat, instead hunching down and preparing to lunge at him again.

This time, he raised his sword directly in its path.

The blind wolf charged directly into the point, impaling itself on the over-sized blade. It let out a horrible roar of pain and its thrashing tugged the weapon from his hands. All he could do was pull himself away, escaping the flailing of its body until it finally lay still.

[Victory! You received 100 EXP and one Alpha Pelt.]

Finally. He was too weak to celebrate, but the boxes did not care about that. For the second time, he heard the cheerful music blaring in his mind.

[Congratulations! You gained a level!

Current Level: 3

Current EXP: 68/400

Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

Despite the fact that he was bloody and exhausted, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction. More raw power. He wished that he had spent more time looking for just a few more wolves - if so, he could have used that power to battle the Alpha Wolf instead of nearly dying. As useful as the power was, the risks of such combat were really far too high for his tastes.

While he recovered, Bloodwraith assigned his new points and then looked over his personal box again.

[Name: Raigar

Race: Human

Class: Barbarian

Alignment: Neutral

Health: 7/124

Mana: 10/10

Stamina: 0/113

Level: 3

EXP: 68/400

Statistics:

Might: 18

Vitality: 15

Quickness: 13

Intellect: 11

Charisma: 10

Willpower: 11

Wisdom: 9

Luck: 10

Piety: 8

Combat Skills: None

Skills: Two-handed Weapons (4), Evasion (2), Survivalism (2)

Proficiencies: Greatsword, Heavy Armor]

Since he was restricted to fighting with brute force, he had placed most of his "points" into his strength so far and felt his body swell accordingly. He had first experimented with one point in "Intellect," since it would have been remarkable to feel his own mind expand... yet he had experienced nothing similar to the visceral improvement he had felt when increasing "Might." Disappointed, he had stuck to physical skills after that.

Later on he might abandon his physical skills in favor of magic, as he had done in his past life, but he did not regret it. Power came so easily like this, feeding off the death of his enemies, that he had more than enough to spare. Besides, the physical power would make others believe that he really was Raigar returned. Though he had met no one else so far, that might change soon enough.

Once he had healed, Bloodwraith ventured back into the cave. Absurdly, the last of the small wolves still waited in the last cavern and attacked once he entered. Foolish creature. He killed it in a single blow and felt disappointed when he only earned 6 EXP. This system would indeed force him onward soon.

But that was not all he received. Amid the skeletons, he saw some equipment that looked to be in decent shape. Stranger than that, an actual treasure chest sat at the end of the cavern like out of some child's story.

He opened it carefully with the tip of his sword, fearing traps, but none emerged. Instead, he saw only the glint of coins. Bloodwraith had cared little for coin in his past life, but adventurers always seemed eager to acquire it, so he should follow suit.

When he poured it into his Extra-dimensional Bag, to his pleasant surprise it all disappeared into a single panel. According to that panel, he now possessed one "gold," seventeen "silvers," and 86 "coppers." None of that meant anything more to him than "a quantity of money" but it was better than nothing.

What groups of people even used such a crude system, anyway? He thought that some of the borderlands divided their coins that way, named after precious metals but using alloys so that 100 of each coin equaled one of the next. That told him nothing about how much he could buy with it, though.

Now, to look at the equipment. What stuck out to him first was that the weapon lying on top of a human rib cage was a greatsword much like his own. In fact, almost exactly like his own. He was about to discard it as useless when he decided to examine it more carefully.

"Box gods! Tell me all that you know of these objects!" Fortunately, they complied immediately. First a box appeared over the sword he held, then a second over the one he had just found.

[Iron Greatsword

Base Damage: 8-12

Durability: 100/100

Rarity: Common]

[Improved Iron Greatsword

Base Damage: 10-14

Durability: 100/100

Rarity: Common]

Bloodwraith shook his head at the boxes in disappointment. He had been wondering how he might determine which sword might be superior amid all the arbitrary numbers the boxes liked to present him. Now, he no longer wondered.

Since there was no real choice, Bloodwraith picked up the new greatsword and placed the old one into his Extra-dimensional Bag. Though the "durability" numbers might seem useless, they struck him as an ominous portent. Better to carry around a useless sword than potentially be without a weapon.

As for the armor...

[Peasant's Shirt

Armor: 1

Durability: 25/25

Rarity: Common]

[Leather Armor

Armor: 3

Durability: 40/50

Rarity: Common]

Another simple choice, since "Armor" could only be a straightforward evaluation of worth. The box gods were not much for subtlety. Bloodwraith pulled off his shirt and was briefly surprised to see how much more muscular his body had become, despite the fact that he had just run around killing wolves. But this was hardly the greatest violation of logic, so he put it aside.

Much stranger was the fact that the armor fit him exactly. It made so little sense that he was forced to conclude that either this had been set up for his sake, or that his powers extended so far as to manipulate the garb itself. But he had nothing else to check, so he just finished tying his armor and put away the old shirt.

With all life slain in the cave, there was nothing left to do but depart. He longed to do the same to unsuspecting human villages, but suspected it would not be so easy. As he left the cave, he noted again how strangely lit it was.

In all his life, he had never heard of a "Forest of Beginnings." It might be some local name for a minor grove, but Bloodwraith suspected something else was afoot. This was a special place, designed to allow him to grow accustomed to his environment. Though he had found it more disorienting than anything, he could vaguely understand how incomprehensible entities from another world might require it.

Perhaps when he emerged into the real world, the boxes would leave him alone.

Since there were few wolves left in the small wood, Bloodwraith began walking toward the place where he had seen smoke. That was the last major point he needed to explore, then he would have to venture through the pass and see what faced him.

What would he do if the fire had been from a camp of soldiers? Or bandits? If they were soldiers, perhaps they would welcome the adventurer Raigar. But if bandits... well, everything else he had encountered had tried to kill him, they probably would too. There could also be something even more dangerous.

But most likely, he was as prepared as he would be. More power from the wolves' deaths, plus improved equipment. Nothing to do but explore the source of the smoke and see what challenge it would bear. Then he would comprehensively explore the rest of the forest, which he felt certain would contain mostly wolves, and finally head through the pass back into the real world.

As he hiked through the forest, he encountered a couple more wolves, but they proved no meaningful challenge. Because injury mattered so little to him, he let one of them through to attack him. Though it succeeded in biting him painfully, its claws scrabbled off of his new armor. Not bad.

The closer to the mountains he moved, the more the trees thinned out. He must be nearing the source of the smoke, though it wasn't until he emerged into a large clearing that he finally found the source.

To the side of the clearing's path lay a small wooden cabin. It was positively picturesque - bizarrely so. From what he knew of peasants, not many were wealthy enough to build from such quality wood. Most who were forced to live in the woods would have dwelled in dilapidated shacks. But this cabin was sturdily built and the decorative trim would have fit in alongside homes from a real town. Strange.

Before Bloodwraith could spend any more time pondering the mystery of the cabin, he heard a familiar growling... followed by a scream. Hefting his sword, he charged around the side of the cabin.

On the other side, he discovered a group of several wolves surrounding a panicked woman. She was the first person he had seen since the strange trio, so he paused in surprise. Out here, alone, she would have no chance against the wolves and would soon be eaten.

Unless the great adventurer Raigar came to her defense. Sighing, Bloodwraith charged to do something courageous.

Chapter 3

Bloodwraith had never in his life rescued a maiden, but considering that it primarily involved killing things, he didn't think it would be difficult. The wolves remained focused on her until too late, when he had already gotten behind them and pulled back his greatsword.

In a single powerful swing, he cut through two of the wolves. The first died immediately and he only cut into the second, but it still dropped to the ground. Quite an impressive blow, and Bloodwraith was just beginning to feel proud of himself when another box appeared.

[New combat skill developed: Cleave!]

He wanted to curse at it for blocking his vision during the battle, but remembered that he was being watched by the girl. It still distracted him long enough that the remaining two wolves had spread out, getting on opposite sides of him. When they both charged, he cut down the one in front of him and braced himself for the one from behind.

It tore into the back of his legs with claw and fang, but he was used to such attacks by now. Bloodwraith simply turned, ignoring the attacks, and struck down the creature. That left him standing alone surrounded by the four wolf corpses. A moment later another box told him the obvious, but he waved it aside to look up at the woman.

She was younger than he had thought at first. Quite an attractive thing, her peasant's clothing simple but showing off her form well. Other than being better-looking than average, she was like a thousand other peasants he had seen and not thought about... well, most peasants didn't have bustiers that showed off that much. It seemed impractical clothing.

At the moment, she was staring at him with a look of awe. When he met her gaze, she flushed and turned aside, brushing a lock of long brown hair out of her face.

"I... thank you so much. Usually the wolves don't dare come close to the house..."

[Quest Complete!

Saved the girl from the wolves.

Local Reputation +10

Affection +20

Alignment: Good +20

Reward: Health Potions x3

EXP +100]

Well, according the box his quest was complete. Bloodwraith stood there awkwardly for a second, realizing that he needed to say something but uncertain how to conduct himself in a situation like this.

"You, uh... are very welcome... fair maiden."

She blushed again and looked away. "My name is Meara. I have little to offer, but I do create potions. I would be happy to give you some, and you may stay here if you need a place to rest on your travels."

"Thank you very much... fair maiden." He accepted the three vials she removed from her satchel. They were nothing much, though he supposed they weren't bad for something she made in the middle of a forest. And they would give him an option for when he couldn't afford to retreat and heal.

"No, please. Call me Meara."

"Of course... Meara."

[Affection +5!

Meara Affection: 25/100]

Gods, these boxes were infuriating. But Bloodwraith barely had time to feel angry at the boxes, because he was having a difficult time deciding just what to do next. The box gods had directly rewarded him with death energy for doing a good deed, so he had to wonder just how high the rewards might go.

"So, Meara... is there anything else I might help you with?"

"Oh! Yes, there is... I need to gather cureleaves from the forest, but with all the wolves these days, it's becoming rather difficult to go and gather them. You can see the cureleaves I'm growing in pots by the house... if you can bring me ten cureleaves, I would gladly reward you!"

"That seems simple enough." If tedious. Bloodwraith suppressed that feeling and bent to look at the plants she had indicated. Was there really a plant called "cureleaf"? It had a distinct round shape and pale color, in any case, so it would be simple to gather. "What counts as one leaf? Just one circle? A branch of them? Or the whole cluster?"

Meara blinked at him with a flat smile on her face. "Please bring me ten cureleaves."

"I understood that, slatternly wench! I was asking-"

[Affection -1!

Meara Affection: 24/100]

"I... apologize for my harsh words. I have had a difficult day battling against wolves and did not mean to insult you."

[Affection +2!

Meara Affection: 26/100]

"Insufferable boxes! This is a child's view of-"

[Affection +0

You have confused Meara. Mentioning system mechanics outside the Forest of Beginnings may have greater consequences.

Meara Affection: 26/100]

Bloodwraith shut his mouth and decided to give up on it. Meara was indeed giving him a baffled look. He gave her a few generic apologies and backed away, heading back into the forest. Perhaps completing this foolish "quest" would help clear his head.

[Quest Accepted!

Find 10 Cureleaves for Meara.

Rewards: EXP, Meara Affection, Reputation, Alignment, Health Potions]

Not that it was much of a quest. More like tedious manual labor. But if the boxes declared there was a benefit to it, they might be correct. Fortunately, he soon happened across one of the plants and uprooted the entire thing. Now that he got a good look at them, he was fairly certain that he had seen a great many of these "cureleaves" while traveling through the forest.

That was fortunate, because when he placed it into the inventory box, it became labeled "Cureleaves x1" - so that answered his question. Sighing, Bloodwraith the Corrupter of Worlds and Father to the Undead began trudging through the forests to collect a bunch of weeds.

~ ~ ~

At first, Bloodwraith thought that the only upside of collecting the meaningless leaves was that he got to kill a few more wolves along the way. Yet that was beginning to lose its appeal, at least in part because they now gave him less raw power. Though he didn't like risking himself in combat, the wolves were so simple they were beginning to bore him.

In that case, the only potential benefit to this waste of his time was the "quest" the boxes had declared. Bloodwraith trudged back to the cabin bearing double the amount it had required, just in case his theory proved correct. He could see it going either way, but decided it was worth the extra trouble since he planned to strip the Forest of Beginnings bare anyway.

When he returned to the cabin, he found the girl working at a table just inside the door. Bloodwraith remembered to smile in a non-malicious way, straightened his shoulders, and stepped inside.

"Meara! I've brought you the herbs you required!"

"Oh, thank you so much!" She beamed at him as he set ten cureleaf plants down on the table. She started to say more, but as expected another box popped up in his vision and he focused more on that.

[Quest Complete!

Found 10 Cureleaves for Meara.

Reputation +10

Meara Affection +10

Alignment: Good +5

Reward: Health Potion x1, Special Bonus

EXP +25]

What exactly did this "Special Bonus" imply? Bloodwraith looked back up and started paying attention again.

"I would be happy to create as many potions as you like," Meara was saying, "but I am only a peasant girl with limited skill. If I taught a grand adventurer like yourself how to use herbs and create new potions, not only could you supply yourself with them, no doubt you could create much greater items. Would you be interested in learning?"

"You think I'm going to spend my time brewing potions like a peasant?" Bloodwraith swallowed and forced himself to smile again. "Well, uh, you think correctly. I would be honored if you taught me your craft."

Meara beamed happily at him and began showing him the different herbs and how to prepare them. Yet with everything she said, another box appeared with a much simplified version of her instruction. [Pick up the herbs] - yes, obviously. [Store them in your inventory] - apparently the methods she described simply weren't necessary. Since everything seemed to have been made simple by his adventurer's power, Bloodwraith began to ignore it and focus on Meara instead.

She had seemed stilted and dim during her early conversation with him, yet now she glowed happily as she discussed her craft. Not only did she teach him the obvious, she added little stories about her mother and village. It was all peasant nonsense, but it suggested that she'd had a different life than working in this isolated cabin. If only she was brighter, she might have given him useful information.

But as far as the box gods were concerned, the entire conversation boiled down to one thing:

[New Skill Acquired: Herbalism!

Starting Level: 1

Meara Affection +10

EXP +10]

If he had to perform such tedious tasks, just as well that he was rewarded for them. But Bloodwraith had a much more interesting thought. Though he wasn't certain if it would work, he had to give it a try. He examined the girl more carefully and to his surprise another box appeared.

[Name: Meara

Race: Human

Class: Peasant

Alignment: Good

Level: 0

Reputation: 110/1000 (Known)

Affection: 46/100 (Friendly)]

Okay, so he shouldn't have been surprised. He should have been grateful that the box gods didn't describe every single rock and tree in his path with another box. Did he have a reputation with rocks and trees? Most likely he did, but he stopped thinking about it before any more boxes could be summoned and instead focused on the girl, who was squirming under his gaze.

"Meara... it must be difficult for you to work alone in these woods."

"Oh, it isn't so bad. At least, it wasn't before the wolves started to roam closer."

"I was thinking that I should do more for you than just deliver a few herbs. What will you do when you run out of them? Surely you could use a larger store of them."

The girl shook her head. "Oh no, you've done enough for me! And there's little more I can give you in return. So thank you, adventurer, but you should continue on your journey."

Bloodwraith barely managed to restrain his scowl. "No, think about this. You explained to me that it requires two cureleaf plants to create a single small health potion. That means that those I gave you can only create five potions - the potions you've given me were the equivalent of eight cureleaves, so I've barely helped you at all."

"Oh... that is... true I suppose." She blinked in confusion, growing blank again, so he pushed further.

"Far be it from me to tell you how to run a business, but it seems to me that you must only be able to sell potions to the occasional adventurer who passes your way. Accordingly, they will likely want to buy a large number of potions, and might not have time to wait. It's in your best interest to store up a large inventory to prepare for such an event."

She nodded mutely.

"So, I would be happy to find more cureleaves for you... if only you would ask me to bring them for you." He'd considered just handing her the additional cureleaves, but had a feeling that would not appease the box gods. The girl stared at him in confusion and shook her head.

"But... you've already brought me so many. I needed ten cureleaves..."

"But you need ten more, right?" He leaned in, trying to keep his smile from becoming predatory. Eventually her weak personality folded and she gave a nod.

"You are very kind, adventurer... if you would please bring me ten more cureleaves, I would be grateful."

[Quest Accepted!

Find 10 Cureleaves for Meara.

Rewards: EXP, Meara Affection, Alignment]

Fewer rewards than before, but Bloodwraith didn't care about mere potions or the "alignment" points that had so far been useless to him. What mattered was the death energy that she had somehow granted him directly when he finished her "quest." He held back his uncertainty and reached into his sack.

"As it happens, I have ten more cureleaves right here..."

[Quest Complete!

Found 10 Cureleaves for Meara.

Meara Affection +10

Alignment: Good +5

EXP +25]

There was another box, something about "relationship level increasing" but Bloodwraith dismissed it and stared triumphantly at the first. Some of the rewards had decreased, but the gift of raw power was unchanged. He grinned and hoped it didn't look too malevolent.

How could it be that a random peasant girl could gift him with such direct power? Would the amount decrease when his "level" did, just as it had been with the wolves? He could not assume that things would work so easily after he left the Forest of Beginnings, so he needed to take full advantage of this opportunity now.

"Meara... you need more herbs than that, right? Would you please ask me to go get some more?"

"But..." She stared at him foolishly as if she still didn't understand. "But you've done enough for me alread-"

"Do it!" He roared the command and raised a hand, nearby grabbing her by the neck before he remembered that Raigar wouldn't do such a thing. The girl flinched back and trembled as she stared at him.

[Affection -2!

Meara Affection: 54/100]

Bloodwraith snorted. Even if these "affection points" mattered, that was a mere fraction of one cureleaves quest. After she got over her surprise, the girl stammeringly asked him to find more cureleaves, the appropriate box appeared, and all was well.

Over the next several hours, Bloodwraith stripped the entire nearby forest of cureleaves and delivered them one after another. He had to kill a few wolves along the way, but those were a mere annoyance compared to needing to search further each time. At least the girl no longer argued with him, accepting the herbs with confused gratitude and meekly granting him the quest again.

After five more times completing the quest, he gained another level. He eagerly distributed the points, but the joy at the new surge of power was lessened by the uncertainty. Hurrying faster than normal, he gathered another set of ten and returned them, anxiously awaiting the box that would declare the quest over.

25 EXP. Unchanged despite his level.

For several more hours, the girl watched in bafflement as he ran to and from her house, heaving bundles of herbs at her while cackling maniacally.

But as it took longer and longer to find more cureleaves, Bloodwraith's enthusiasm began to wane. The power he gained from the quest might be unchanged, but the amount of points the box gods required increased with each level. This might be a safer path to power than fighting monsters, but it would prove to be a tedious one.

An unacceptably tedious one, he realized. The arbitrary requirement had doubled each level, so it took only a bit of math in his head to calculate that moving from Level 9 to Level 10 would require over 25,000 EXP. He was not going to complete this quest a thousand times, even if such a thing was possible.

So in the end, he would have no choice but to follow the path that had been laid out before him. When he next returned to the cabin, Bloodwraith found himself stewing over the subject. This "Forest of Beginnings" was clearly set apart from the real world, so it was unsurprising that the amount he could accomplish would be limited. But that also likely meant that nothing he did here would have any real consequences.

"Th-thank you." The girl gathered up the newest batch of herbs, looking up at him with wide eyes. "I don't know why you're doing so much for a peasant girl, but... I'm ever so grateful..."

"It was nothing." As he looked at her, though, Bloodwraith felt old desires that he had not felt in a very long time. Compared to his perfect undead body, the body of Raigar was overflowing with messy feelings and urges. But as he stared over the girl, he recalled that those desires had their advantages.

Stepping fully into the cabin, Bloodwraith closed and locked the door. It was a small building with only a few rooms, making her bedroom obvious. The girl stared at him in confusion until he grabbed her around the waist, dragged her from the room, and threw her back onto the bed.

She fell back as a beautiful picture: her skirts in disarray, her chest heaving, her hair fallen all around her face. Strangely, she didn't resist, but perhaps she knew it was useless. Bloodwraith started to climb onto the bed when another box appeared.

[Relationship advanced!

Romantic options with Meara unlocked!]

"Not now, dammit!" Yet the appearance of the box disrupted the old pattern he'd fallen into so easily. Shoving lust aside for the moment, Bloodwraith began looking more critically. There was a bit of apprehension in her eyes, yet no real fear. In fact, the flush he could see from her face to the tops of her breasts suggested desire. That made no sense. As he looked closer, he found himself examining a different box and hesitating.

[Affection: 100/100 (Love)]

"It's okay, adventurer." She stared up at him with a smile on her face. "You've been so kind to me, and you saved my life... I don't mind, if it's you..."

He should have just taken her offer, but the undead intellect that lurked within him wouldn't let things go so easily. "Do you even know my name?"

"I... well, no, but you've been so kind to me..." Her smile faded into a flat mask.

All at once, Bloodwraith was overwhelmed by incomprehensible revulsion. He staggered out of the room, hands fumbling at the walls to keep himself from falling. Only when he stumbled into the door and grasped futilely at the lock did he manage to catch his breath and begin thinking properly again.

What the hell had come over him? Bloodwraith had never thought of himself as a particularly good person and had no compunctions about taking what he wanted. Could this body have heroic impulses that were trying to control him? If that was true, he wanted to go back into the room and do terrible things to the girl just to prove that he could.

Yet... he was not the Skullcrusher, to be ruled by his desires. Not even the Master Lich, focused on conquest. He always mastered himself and considered his situation logically.

Bloodwraith took a deep breath and focused on himself. After a time, he understood what had prompted the sense of revulsion. For the system that ruled his new life to grant him power from death was one thing, but this was overwriting someone's will in a way that no magic could. That was fundamentally terrifying.

Because if it worked on Meara, it could be used on him.

Though he tried to convince himself that this was just another power in his possession, something to use against his enemies, he couldn't quite believe it. The system was utterly foolish, yet its power... it saw him and it considered him utterly meaningless. To these entities, he really was just a box of numbers to be toyed with. As much as he had marveled at this power, he realized that it undermined everything in his reality. If he had been a less intelligent man, he might have accepted it gleefully, but he couldn't escape the grim conclusions.

Mastering his conflicting thoughts with difficulty, Bloodwraith straightened and took a deep breath. No, he wouldn't let these impulses control him. The power might have made all desire within him wither and die, but he would not reject such a weapon. At the very least, he could experiment with its limits. Perhaps in time he could find a way to defend himself against it.

When he stomped back into the bedroom, he found the girl still lying on her back. She had a completely blank look on her face now and he felt a surge of contempt. But when he moved to the side of the bed, her dead eyes shifted to look at him.

"Go ahead and do it. That's how this ends, either way." Her voice was a hollow shell of the warmth it had held before.

"What? What do you mean?" Bloodwraith braced himself, but she just kept staring at him like that. Her dead gaze struck him so strongly that he opened his personal box to be sure that it was not damaging his health.

"I don't know. I just... this is too familiar. Like this, but not exactly the same."

"You mean you've experienced this before?"

"Maybe." Meara sat up slowly and he saw a flicker of life in her eyes again. "Yes, I couldn't put it together until you said something. You aren't the first person to come through the Forest of Beginnings. I'm here to... to meet the adventurers. Hmm, I can remember a little more now..."

Bloodwraith wanted to sit down again, but refused to show any weakness. Instead he folded his arms over his chest and glowered at her. "Explain yourself! Who gave you that purpose here?"

"I am... not sure. I've done this before. But... I always forget. This whole Forest exists to welcome adventurers like you."

"Not like me." He growled out the words before he could stop himself.

In response, Meara only fixed him with a flat gaze. There was a shade of bitter irony there: until a few moments ago, he had been exactly like the others. And as little as Bloodwraith cared for morality, he could not stand the thought of being as common and easily manipulated as countless others.

"Earlier, you said this ends the same either way. What did you mean?"

"I'm here... to help with items, I think. And teach the Herbalism skill." Meara winced and rubbed her forehead, eyes clouding. After grimacing in silence for a time, she kept speaking without opening her eyes. "But I'm also here to provide an early sexual encounter. If the adventurer wants to be romantic, I'm made to accept it easily. And if they want to rape me, they can do so without consequences. I remember many of both."

Despite himself, Bloodwraith swallowed. "Do you remember how many times?"

She fixed him with a hateful gaze and he dropped his eyes. Yet after a moment, Meara gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, I have a reward for you. I either give it to you afterward, to remember me by, or you steal it from me. Congratulations, adventurer."

When she bitterly hurled something at him, he caught it on instinct. A silver ring, plainly made but inscribed with vine patterns that-

[Item acquired: Ring of Herbalism!

Herbalism +3 while worn.

Armor: 1

Durability: 25/25

Rarity: Uncommon]

"Away, insignificant box!" Bloodwraith struck at it, teetering on the edge of madness. His outburst seemed to draw Meara's attention, however. She fixed him with her strange gaze.

"Is something wrong with you? Plenty of the others tried to exploit me, but they seemed... comfortable with all this."

Bloodwraith waved aside her question. There were more important issues he needed to untangle. "Did they create you? Like the wolves? Or did you have a life before this?"

"Huh." Her head rolled to the side, eyes growing distant as she considered. "I remember a home... but not how I came here. When I think about my village, memories come up. When I try to think about why I'm here, or when I came... emptiness."

"You're telling me they plucked you from somewhere else, changed you by some incomprehensible magic, and set you here to welcome adventurers?"

"No, I... I'm supposed to make potions... I... I need cureleaves..."

"Do not mock me!" Bloodwraith roared. He grabbed Meara by the neck and slammed her against the nearest wall. Though her body hung limply, he continued to shout at her. "Answer me! Who placed you here? What is their purpose? How can they do such things?"

At first she didn't answer, eyes staring blankly and her head lolling to the side. He wondered if he had knocked her unconscious, or if her body had simply shut down under the strain. Growling in irritation, Bloodwraith began to take his hand away.

Then Meara looked at him and chuckled unpleasantly. Despite himself, he took a step back. Something unnatural lurked in her eyes...

"I understand now. Whoever they are, they reach into our world and shape it for their benefit. For your benefit. That's why you're here, isn't it? To fight and to fuck. To eventually defeat some great evil and go home feeling like a great adventurer."

"Defeat... a great evil?" His blood ran cold, and went icier when Meara laughed again.

"Of course. A Black Dragon or a Master Lich or a Blood Sorcerer. I've told tales of them all, at some point."

"The Master Lich? No... it can't be..."

"Heh, why are you so surprised? I'm here for you to fuck. The villain is here for you to fight. The world might be too boring and complicated, otherwise." Meara fixed him with a mocking gaze. "Do you not like your little story being punctured?"

Bloodwraith couldn't answer, letting go of her and sinking back against the wall. It had to be an absurd lie. The Master Lich had been their leader, someone he had known well... and yet... the Master Lich had appeared from nowhere with great power and pursued no goal except domination. Could he truly be every bit as much a pawn as some defenseless peasant girl? Worst of all, Bloodwraith realized that the truth made him nothing more than the pawn of a pawn.

"I am not like them." He pushed himself to his feet, glaring down at Meara and not hiding any of the malice in his gaze. That, at least, gave her pause. "Ten years ago, do you remember a man called Raigar?"

"That name sounds familiar, though it's difficult for me to think about time. It flows strangely in this place. But yes... I think I told him something about the Master Lich you seem to find so important... I assume he went out and defeated it?"

Opening his mouth to say more, Bloodwraith hesitated. Was he really going to do this? Aside from the risk, it was foolish to place any trust in this peasant girl he had been thinking of violating not long ago. It smelled of weakness to him... but the truth yawned beneath him, threatening to consume him.

She might be just a peasant girl, but she had insight he desperately needed. Yes, that was it: Bloodwraith grasped at the rationale he could accept. The girl was useful to him. It was only logical to make use of her for now. He nodded to himself and focused on her again.

"Yes, Raigar killed the Master Lich. A door was made for him to return to the beginning again. But... someone else stepped through it."

Meara's eyes went wide in immediate understanding. He saw the flickers of intelligence he had seen during their lesson, not the empty stare or the mindless adoration. A moment later her eyes narrowed at him. "So you want me to believe that you're not one of them."

"I don't care what you believe. All that matters is that you tell me everything you know that might be useful against them. Immediately."

"What, are you going to torture it out of me?"

"No, I..." Bloodwraith swallowed his distaste and decided for a direct approach. "I am asking. I need to know if I can trust you, otherwise I can't leave you behind to report to them."

She let out a heavy sigh, her eyes dimming again. "I've told you everything I can remember. I'm just... an objective. All I know is a few things I've observed about the Forest of Beginnings. You need to leave through the mountain pass. After that... things will really begin."

"What happens to you after that?"

"It's difficult to remember. Everything gets foggy... I think I sort of... float along until the next adventurer appears. Everything goes back to normal, I think. At least, most of the adventurers I remember have hunted the wolves nearly to extinction, yet there are always more. And I forget everything they did, of course."

"I see."

Bloodwraith took another deep breath and considered his options. Staying here made him deeply uncomfortable, since this unnatural forest lay close to the incomprehensible world of the outsiders. He had already explored backwards and been unable to find the prison he had started in, or even the clearing where he had fought the Ghoul Lord. This place was clearly designed to introduce outsider abominations to their world.

But outside the pass... there, he was certain the real world lay. All the peoples and nations and organizations he remembered. Meara had suggested that she had been taken from the outside and he had seen nothing inexplicable aside from the boxes. His reality might be grimmer than he believed, but it wasn't all an illusion. Or so he told himself as he resolved to enter the real world again.

"Meara, I'm going to leave. Do you want to stay here and forget?"

"That would be easier, wouldn't it?" She gave him a bitter smile and then slumped out of the room. "No, I couldn't stand it - I would be better off dead, but there are worse things than death. As long as I've been here, nothing like this has ever happened. The next time... if they noticed that I was different... no, I can't take that risk. I need to leave."

"As you have been useful to me, I will assist you."

She cast him a strange smile, then continued moving about the room, gathering up her things. "I don't remember any adventurers saying anything like that. Oh, they definitely acted like it, but they wouldn't explicitly say it. You really aren't one of them."

"Just hurry, wench."

No condemning box this time. The boxes had been remarkably silent for their entire conversation. When he examined Meara, the box still declared her to be [Affection: 100/100 (Love)]. He found that slightly reassuring. Whatever entities had constructed this place, perhaps they could not see all. No doubt this reality was strange and incomprehensible to them.

Alternatively, they might have seen and simply not cared. Bloodwraith resolved to say nothing more of his real identity, just in case.

It took Meara little time to gather her things into a pack. She headed out of the cabin without looking back even once, but Bloodwraith found himself lingering. At least he understood why this cabin existed in the middle of a random wood now. Presumably the box gods did not understand that such things made little sense.

Yet he heard the growling of more wolves. Meara stood by the path, staring at them as if she didn't care whether or not they killed her.

Perhaps it didn't matter. But he wasn't willing to give up just yet. Bloodwraith shouldered his greatsword and headed toward the wolves and the mountain pass beyond.

Chapter 4

They marched through the woods in frustrating silence. Normally Bloodwraith was happy to avoid the inane babblings of others, and he particularly appreciated how silent the undead could be. But in this case he actually needed information from Meara and she refused to help. He was grateful on the few occasions that wolves distracted them.

She did nothing to assist, which wasn't much of a surprise given her training. But he had little patience for the way she just stood there as he fought, then began shuffling forward again as soon as the wolves lay dead.

Bloodwraith irritably brought his sword down into the earth in front of her. "Enough! We need to work together if we are to escape this infernal trap!"

"I'm not sure we can." Meara stepped over his sword and continued walking. He stared at her for a moment, then gave a growl of frustration. Pulling his sword back up to his shoulder, he caught up to her as they headed down the forest path.

"You certainly wanted to escape before, and you can only leave because of me. I expect some more respect!"

"I thought about escaping at first. The further away I get from the cabin, the less I'm sure it really matters." Her eyes wandered, never touching him or the way forward. "Everyone I knew is probably dead now. There's nothing for me outside. Getting away won't matter. I might as well die."

"That could be arranged!" Bloodwraith lunged ahead of her and grabbed her by the front of her cloak. She just stared at him, not flinching in the slightest. Since her gaze made him uncomfortable, he glared his way through it. "But you can't die yet. I still have use for you."

"How wonderful." Meara smiled bitterly and went back to walking as soon as he let go of her.

They continued in silence for a while longer, soon nearing the narrow mountain pass. Bloodwraith found himself increasingly tense as they drew closer, certain that the box gods would not allow things to progress so simply. The treasure chest had been guarded by an Alpha Wolf, so surely they would have set some sort of guard at the exit as well.

Something lurched from the rocks of the pass, stone flying toward Meara. To his surprise, Bloodwraith found himself grabbing the back of her cloak and pulling her out of the way. Some heroic instinct from Raigar's idiotic body, no doubt.

He ignored her falling to the ground and focused on the enemy. What had appeared to be some random rocks lying by the pass now moved together in a coherent form: a golem. Not a masterfully crafted one, but it was taller than him and made from solid stone. Nothing he could easily face with only brute force to rely on, but he didn't have a choice.

When the golem lurched forward, he hefted his sword and waited. It swung slowly, easily avoidable. As soon as he stepped aside from the golem, he swung his sword down into the rocky chest of the artificial creature.

His blade struck the rock harmlessly. Bloodwraith stared at it, then rushed backward in a panic as the golem swung at him again. He tripped as he avoided the crushing blow and skidded backward several paces.

[The opponent's physical defense is too high to be damaged with your current weapon.]

"Oh, sure, it helps to tell me that now! Feckless boxes!"

Shouting at them accomplished nothing, however. Bloodwraith hopped back to his feet and kept his eyes on the golem as it continued lumbering toward him. If attacking directly with his sword was useless... well, he didn't have many other tools as a barbarian warrior.

As he continued backing up, he noticed that the golem stopped. After staring at him a moment, its rocky head began to swivel away. When he stepped forward, it turned back toward him.

Bloodwraith stepped back and smirked as the golem began to trudge away. Most likely it only guarded the pass and thus wouldn't pursue beyond a certain distance. That meant he could go back and form a better plan. He could likely construct some primitive projectiles or perhaps even siege weaponry that could disable the construct's artificial body, if only he had enough time...

Which he didn't, because the golem was now stomping toward Meara. She lay where he'd pushed her, just staring at the approaching rocky death without expression.

"Idiot girl! Run away!"

She didn't answer, just watched. Bloodwraith scowled and considered just letting it kill her. It would finally rid him of a great annoyance... but he still needed the information in her head, he couldn't let it be crushed. As the golem reached her and raised a heavy fist, he charged.

This time he swung as carefully as he could: not at the rocky arm, but at the gap between two rocks. His sword cleaved between them, severing the magic binding the golem. The rocks on the severed limb fell apart in a stony shower that just missed Meara's face.

Before the golem could turn to lift its other arm toward him, Bloodwraith reached down and grabbed Meara by the arm. He wrenched her to her feet and shoved her away, forcing her to stumble out of range.

The golem's leg hit him square in the back.

He smashed across the ground, lost his sword when he bounced, and rolled to a stop. Though he had been kicked some distance from the golem, when he struggled to get up, he found himself spitting up blood. His back felt like one solid bruise and screamed at him when he tried to force himself back to his feet.

By the time Bloodwraith stood up again, the golem was stomping toward him. He had rolled further into its range, his movement now limited by rocky outcroppings near the pass. The mindless construct at least ignored his sword as it approached, but that was no comfort if it squashed him before he could reach his weapon again.

As Bloodwraith stood there and watched his death approach, fury welled deep within him. Everything else had been offered to him on a platter, and now the box gods contrived something like this? How could a warrior defeat a rock golem, anyway? Perhaps it was punishment for interfering with the girl, in which case he regretted even saving her from the wolves in the first place.

It was closer now... and a strange power swelled up along with his fury. Not true magic, but close enough. Bloodwraith eagerly grasped it, felt the animal fury of the power, and hurled it toward the golem.

A burst of raw force erupted from his hand, striking the golem so hard that it staggered backward. Bloodwraith's eyes widened as he saw several pebbles fall from the artificial body. Though the power had not been enough to overwhelm the magic making the golem cohere together, he could finally fight it on more equal terms.

[New Ability Class Unlocked: Rage

New Ability Unlocked: Fist of Rage!]

"Fist of Rage? What kind of name is that?"

No, arguing with the boxes now was idiocy. Bloodwraith lunged forward, snatching up his sword and dodging around the golem before it could regain its balance.

As it swiveled toward him mindlessly, Bloodwraith found himself smiling. He began edging sideways, watching the golem's legs and keeping on the side of its broken arm. Simple-minded construct. While he moved, he felt for the power within him. Though he had expected to find it difficult to reach again, to his surprise he could immediately feel the potential inside himself.

Focusing on the golem, he let loose another burst of force - he refused to use the box's name - against its leg. The golem shuddered in its next step, the magic of the leg struggling.

Bloodwraith rushed in, ducking underneath the golem's wild swing. As soon as he felt the rocks pass over his head, he swung his sword sideways into the damaged leg. Though his aim wasn't as good, he still managed to break apart the connections holding the rocks together.

The golem crashed onto its side like an avalanche, remaining arm trapped beneath it. Good, just as he'd planned. Bloodwraith wanted to attack it again, but didn't realize just how winded he'd become. He saw something flashing at the corner of his vision and glanced toward it, which only called another box.

[Health: 54/126

Mana: 4/10

Stamina: 27/114]

Presuming that the box's evaluation was correct, then he would be able to cast this strange new ability one more time. That would not be enough - he needed to completely disable the golem or it might be able to pull more rocks into its field and attack him again.

Bloodwraith smiled as he realized what he needed to do. He raised his sword in one hand and concentrated mana in the other, channeling this strange spell again. It would be child's play to merge the two, granting his blade the explosive force of the spell. Though it might only last for one swing, it would likely shatter the spell binding the golem together entirely.

All the old habits flooded back to him. Power flowed from his hand, force willing itself into being and entwining with the iron of his greatsword. His body had no trouble holding the giant weapon, so as soon as the mana had gathered in it, he drove it down into the golem's body.

The sword clunked uselessly off the rock.

[Unable to create new skill!

Character level inadequate.

Intellect level inadequate.

Spellcraft level inadequate.]

"What? What the fu-" And at that moment, Bloodwraith realized that the golem was no longer as disabled as it had once been.

The stump of its remaining arm slammed into his chest and sent him flying backward. This time he managed to keep a grip on his sword, but when he crashed onto his back, he struggled to move. He had to be bleeding everywhere inside and his body was exhausted. Worse, despite being denied by the boxes, he'd wasted the last of his mana.

Beginning to pull itself together again, the golem limped toward him. The leg he had destroyed was nowhere near as strong as the other, but new rocks cohered enough for it to take stumbling steps. The most he could do was pull himself back upright...

At that moment, a rock bounced off the back of the golem's head. It paused, as surprised as Bloodwraith. Only when the construct began to turn did he recover himself and look.

Meara stood within the construct's range, hefting another rock at it. She picked up another rock, then fixed him with a flat stare. "After this, we're even. Alright?"

"Fine." Bloodwraith pulled himself fully upright, trying to move slowly so that the golem didn't focus on him. His body felt a little better now, but he couldn't take another blow like that. Worse, he lacked the mana to attack again.

"Just retreat." Meara was stepping back herself, still lobbing stones but getting closer to leaving the golem's range. Bloodwraith moved around the golem and neared her, though he refused to retreat entirely.

"We cannot just leave this construct be! It will restore itself if given too much time!"

"Just use potions. There are some in the pack I dropped, if you don't want to use yours."

Bloodwraith realized irritably that he had been carrying potions of his own and never considered using them. Trying to drink in the middle of battle had always struck him as so undignified, not to mention potentially complicated. Spells were a much simpler form of healing. Yet it was downright foolish of him to have ignored the resource available to him.

Not that he was going to refuse her offer. As Meara was forced out of the golem's range, he quickly found her pack. Within, he found several ordinary health potions like the one she had given him... and one that glowed green with mana. Bloodwraith eagerly drank one of each.

When he looked back, he saw that Meara had stopped just within the golem's range. Instead of continuing to throw rocks, she stared up at it. Would she just stand there and let it kill her? That could not be allowed now, even less so than before.

Bloodwraith roared as he charged, his body restored and mana transforming into raw power again. Before the golem could reach Meara, he struck its good leg with another burst of force. It staggered back but didn't fall, so he hit it with a second burst.

The golem crashed backward with the noise of an avalanche, but the spell binding it held. Bloodwraith leapt up onto its chest, this time wasting no time with elegance or technique. He simply cast the force spell one more time, directly into the creature's chest, then stabbed down into the collapsing rocks.

He felt the spell decay with the first blow, but not enough. The golem tried to claw at him, but it was growing weaker and he only staggered at the blow. Gaining his balance again, he tore his sword out of its chest and slammed it in again, over and over until at last the spell gave way and the golem crumbled apart into harmless rocks.

His hands and his head ached. Bloodwraith dropped his greatsword and leaned forward on his knees, panting for breath.

[Victory! You received 500 EXP and one Iron Golem Ore.]

What? Where? He had to root around in the rocks for a while before finding a stone that hummed with faint magic. It would have been easy to locate in his old body, but as the boxes had made clear, the laws of the universe refused to work as they had before. The bitter reverse side of his unfair advantages, he supposed.

Meara stood nearby, staring at the rocks wistfully. "You should have let it hit me. That would have been a quick way to go, at least. Probably no pain."

"You can't die yet, woman." Bloodwraith scowled at her, then moved back to pick up his things. "Come on, let's leave this place for good."

She stared at him, not yet moving. "If I cooperate, will you agree to kill me painlessly?"

"You're willing to cooperate now? Good. Follow me and talk." Bloodwraith strode into the pass, threatening to leave her behind. After a short time, he heard her footsteps behind him.

The pass struck him as simultaneously utterly ordinary and disturbing. There were a few rocks and shrubs between the rock walls, nothing remarkable. And yet the world seemed to press closer around him, distorting just at the edges of his vision. Every time he tried to look, he saw nothing, and he felt no magic, yet he knew something was changing.

To take his mind off the stomach-churning nature of it, he looked to Meara behind him. "If you want to earn your death, answer me. What else do you know of the outsiders that created this system?"

"You think they tell me their secrets? I haven't even met them, other than adventurers." She moved up to walk beside him, a mocking smile playing on her lips. If she noticed the strangeness around them, she gave no sign of it.

"You must know something. For example, you knew about the Master Lich, and others. That suggests that you were able to tell them something about the outside world. If you say that you know nothing of it this time, I will not believe you. And you do not want to test my patience."

"Huh, you're smarter than you look." Meara's gaze went blank for a time, then she slowly nodded. "Yes, I do have something... outside the pass lies the city of Cresthaven. Its underworld is currently dominated by a man known as Daek the Knife. Rumor has it that he is looking for adventurers to deal with some sort of problem he has, and offering a hefty reward for those who can help him."

Though he considered demanding to know how she knew such a thing, there was likely no point. The knowledge had simply been given to her by the box gods, same as all the rest. It matched what the trio had said, so he believed it. That told him where he needed to go next clearly enough, or at least where the otherworldly entities wanted him to go. In case they were still suspicious, he would head there and see how things developed.

[New Quest!

Daek the Knife's Task

To accept the quest, travel to Cresthaven and find Daek the Knife.

Potential Rewards: High]

Ignoring the useless box, Bloodwraith realized with a start that they had left the pass and he hadn't noticed. When he tried to interrogate his memory for the exact moment, only hazy thoughts of traveling came to him. He turned back and saw a trail leading into a pass behind them... but even from there he could see that it did not lead to the pass they'd just traveled through.

Just like before, the way back had been removed. In this case, Bloodwraith welcomed it. He distantly remembered Cresthaven as a real city in the borderlands near the mountains, and he could feel that something had changed. This was the real world again.

When he turned away from the mountains, he found his gaze wandering over the rolling hills. He could see a farm in one direction, a dirt road in another, a cluster of stones that might lead to an underground cavern... adventure lay in every direction.

[Quest Complete!

Leave the Forest of Beginnings.

Optional Objective: Defeat the Alpha Wolf.

Optional Objective: Encounter Meara.

Optional Objective: Master the Fist of Rage.

Objectives 100% complete!

Global Reputation +100

EXP +1000]

[Congratulations! You gained a level!

Current Level: 5

Current EXP: 843/1600

Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

Though Bloodwraith eagerly welcomed the new potential power and marveled at the enormous reward he had gained simply for leaving the forest, he didn't have time to enjoy it. The first sour note was the fact that this "Fist of Rage" had apparently been planned from the start. But far worse than that was the next box that appeared before his gaze, refusing to disappear when he willed it aside.

[Tutorial complete. Your journey continues in the true world of Alliandelle.

All future injuries are covered by your waiver. After the next 24 hours, the option to recall will end.

You will no longer respawn upon death.

Health, mana, and stamina regeneration are no longer buffed.

Items and equipment can now lose durability.

All level caps have been lifted.]

Baffled by the different terms, Bloodwraith began to focus on them one at a time, interrogating the boxes to provide him with explanations. When he began to understand the line regarding death, he cursed violently under his breath.

Meara walked up beside him, staring at the spot that must look like empty air to her, then looked back to him. "What's wrong now?"

"I think..." Bloodwraith rubbed his forehead as he came to grips with it. "I think if I had died in the forest, I would have been resurrected automatically. Preposterous..."

"Oh..." That got through her blankness, real concern floating through her eyes. "Then if I had died back there... perhaps the same would have happened to me. I... I think it has before. One of the adventurers slit my throat once he was done... and they just placed me back in the cabin."

"Eh? What's this?" Bloodwraith turned on her, but Meara was shaking her head and beginning to wander away.

"Then death wouldn't have been the end, there... maybe it is now..."

"That's far enough!" He strode after her, grabbing her arm and pinning her in place. "You cannot just wander off!"

"I can, unless you force your will on me." Meara stared up at him flatly. "Is that what you're going to do, oh brave adventurer?"

"I... no." Bloodwraith scowled at her, stomach turning as he remembered all the terrible realizations that were tied up in his memories of her. "But you cannot just wander away. We are going to the city of Cresthaven to pursue this new quest."

"You are. I've had enough of quests." She pulled away and he let her leave his grip. Meara took another step back, then fixed her gaze on him. "Unless you're going to tell me who you really are, and what you're doing here?"

"My business is my own." As soon as he snapped the words, Bloodwraith wondered if he should have made a different decision. But the box gods might still be watching, or even using Meara against him, despite how it seemed. And if she knew his real identity, that could lead to further problems, No, that was not an option.

And it seemed that without it, he had no chance of retaining Meara. She gave him a final look, perhaps a hint of sadness in her eyes, then began to walk away toward one of the smaller paths. Bloodwraith watched her go, conflicted in a way he had not experienced in decades.

[Meara has departed. Remove her from the par-]

"Despicable boxes!" He slashed his hand through it, willing it to just go away. They had confused him for long enough. Now he wanted nothing more to do with them. Perhaps he would find some real answers in the city, or at least he could clear his mind.

Leaving Meara behind, Bloodwraith began running toward Cresthaven.

Chapter 5

Though it was quite some distance to Cresthaven, Bloodwraith made good time traveling along the main road. He had been afraid that he would be constantly attacked by wolves, but it seemed that the world obeyed normal rules now that he had left the Forest of Beginnings. In the body of a normal adventurer, he attracted little attention from any other travelers, so there was nothing to slow him down.

When he reached a crossroads, he spent a moment looking at the sign. Still quite some distance to the city. Traveling by foot was frustratingly slow, making him long for magical transport. He would need to work his way there.

Before he could begin moving again, a large wagon led by two horses approached beside him. It contained nothing but a few feeble peasants, so he ignored them, but the old man who was driving leaned down toward him.

"Headed to Cresthaven, young man?"

Bloodwraith glanced up at him, barely remembering to hide his irritation. "That's right."

"So are we. Have all kinds of crops to sell. Just selling at the local towns, you can get by well enough, but we want to store up a little more. The city has a bottomless appetite, so prices are good, but-"

"Is there a point to this, old man?"

Though the old man seemed startled for a moment, he soon chuckled good-naturedly. "I see you're in a hurry. Very well, then. We would like to offer you a few copper pieces to come to the city along with us. An extra bit of protection, you see."

"What's the catch?" Bloodwraith narrowed his eyes, looking over the wagon. An average peasant family, carrying unremarkable bundles of grain. Could there be something more valuable hidden within? "You wouldn't be hiring protection if you didn't have concerns."

"Nothing so serious. But we've heard that there are bandits in these parts, preying on those who near Cresthaven. In my day, there were guards to stop them, but rumor has it the current leadership of the city won't patrol beyond the walls." The old man clucked his tongue and shook his head. "We can't afford to hire a full group of adventurers. But perhaps a strapping young man like yourself with such an impressive sword could make us seem like less of a soft target, hmm?"

It all made sense, then. Though Bloodwraith considered the possibility that he was being deceived, it seemed plausible that the peasants had began traveling to the city naively, become scared of rumors, and so sought whatever protection they could afford. Fools, but potentially useful fools, depending on how the box gods felt about such things...

Bloodwraith straightened his shoulders and smiled at them. "I cannot leave a defenseless family in need! I would be happy to escort you to Cresthaven!"

[Quest Accepted!

Escort the wagon to Cresthaven.

Rewards: EXP, Money, Reputation, Alignment]

As they thanked him, Bloodwraith did his best not to grin eagerly. The measly few coppers they negotiated as his price were worthless, but he had been right that the boxes would declare this a quest. He didn't know how much EXP the quest would be worth, but this could be the first of many tests.

"Very good, young adventurer!" The old man chuckled and patted the wagon seat beside him as they began to move again. "Feel free to ride along, if you'd like to rest your feet!"

Resting his useless meat legs sounded like a good idea, but a few minutes of the peasants' chatter disavowed him of that notion. Bloodwraith soon made excuses and returned to walking ahead of the wagon just so he could have some space to think.

There was little doubt that the peasants were exactly what they appeared to be. Just a farmer and his wife, her father driving the wagon, and a few children sitting between the bundles of crops. Unless they were masters of acting, they were nothing but country bumpkins. No one would trust them with anything valuable without protection, so their story must be true.

As banal as it was, Bloodwraith found them slightly encouraging. The peasants cared only about the season's crops, the price of goods, local romantic rumors - nothing at all about boxes or mysterious points. Unlike Meara, they were just ordinary people leading mundane lives.

Thinking of the girl he'd left behind made Bloodwraith scowl. Best to forget about her as soon as possible. He'd gotten what he needed, so thinking of her further would only waste his time.

Though they would reach Cresthaven that day, first they needed to travel through a rocky region. The road dwindled in size as it had to wind around various rocks. Realizing that their visibility had decreased substantially, Bloodwraith hefted his sword into position on his shoulder, just in case.

Without warning, a man in filthy, ragged clothes came running toward them, screaming. "Bandits! Turn back! Turn back, before the-"

Bloodwraith's greatsword came down on his head, killing him instantly and smashing his head to the ground. Several things happened at the same time:

Bloodwraith stared at the corpse, realizing that he had acted on instinct.

The peasants on the wagon began to scream.

Something shifted at the edge of his vision, a glint of sunlight on steel.

And a box cheerfully declared:

[Victory! You received 82 EXP and 3 coppers.]

Though the box should have drawn his attention, Bloodwraith couldn't concentrate on it through the horror of the fact that he had blown his cover. When he had spotted a human running screaming toward him, his old instincts had viewed him as a threat. And his new instinct was to assume anything rushing at him was a wolf and kill it accordingly.

Now the peasants would think him a madman. He could always just kill them all, they were defenseless enough... but no, Bloodwraith realized that there was a much bigger threat.

There were two armed men standing atop one of the nearest rocks, staring in surprise. Armed, but poorly, with mismatched leather armor. Bandits. When they saw him look toward them, they cursed and began to run, scrambling for another crevice.

He rushed after them before they could escape. His sword cut down into the first bandit's back, dropping him bloodily.

The second turned on him, shockingly quickly, a short sword lashing out. It bit through the armor at his side and he felt blood gushing, but there was no time for that. Bloodwraith ignored the pain and released a burst of force, knocking the bandit away. As soon as he staggered, Bloodwraith moved in, cutting him down as well.

For a moment he stood over the bodies, panting for breath. His side still hurt, and according to the warning from the box gods, he would heal more slowly than before. As easily as he had killed the two men, he was vulnerable as well. If that sword had hit a lung... his personal box said his health had been reduced to to 61. The fight had been riskier than he'd expected, but he'd still won, as he was sure a box would announce soon.

[Victory! You received 227 EXP and 19 coppers.]

Bloodwraith found himself grinning savagely. Murdering humans was worth far more power than killing mere wolves. The unarmed man had been worth 82, and the two armed bandits over 100 each. Even assuming their numbers declined as he improved, how much power could he gain via mass murder?

"That was amazing!" The farmer was only now coming up behind him, carrying his pitchfork nervously. His wife followed, eyes wide, but smiled at him.

"How did you know that the first man was with the bandits?"

Oh... that made sense. The bandits must have sent a scout to turn them aside from the main path, where they could ambush the wagon. It was a stroke of luck that the man had been pretending instead of an actual victim, but he would take it. Bloodwraith smiled broadly and turned to them. "Uh... I could see the malice in his eyes!"

Beneath his smile, however, he found himself looking over the peasants. Perhaps they would be worth less EXP than the bandits, but wasn't it worth the experiment? Out here in the middle of nowhere, he could kill them all, then take their goods and sell them for more coin.

"Oh, you're injured!" The farmer's wife gasped as she saw the blood on his armor. She immediately directed her children to bring bandages and herbs and set about trying to help.

Bloodwraith slowly let go of his visions of murdering the peasants. Maybe it was one of Raigar's instincts in his current body, or maybe just the effort of pretending to act like a proper adventurer. Besides, his injury wasn't healing as quickly as before, so their efforts had some use to him.

If it really was this body perverting his will, Bloodwraith considered defying it and killing them all anyway. Yet as he contemplated the thought, he retreated from it as well. He wasn't the Master Lich, pursuing an agenda of mindless destruction from the box gods. All he'd ever wanted was to rule the world, not to slaughter everyone in it. Mundane peasants had their place.

Setting aside such abstract concerns, Bloodwraith focused on the immediate question: which way should they go next? Clearly the bandits had a larger ambush in mind, yet he had no idea where it lay. It would have been better to leave one of them alive to interrogate - Bloodwraith cursed the fact that he needed to leave them alive to do that rather than just use necromancy. But as things stood, the bandits might be down any of the paths around them.

Before he could come to any conclusion, he saw an armed group heading toward them... but he didn't think they were the bandits.

The group of four was led by a tall, thin elf in ornate armor, carrying a pair of curved swords. Beside him walked a short woman, likely human, in heavy armor carrying a shield that looked much too large for her. By contrast, the taller woman beside her had elaborate form-fitting armor, though she carried a staff instead of a mace. Behind them lurked a drakekin mage with the usual robes and mystic orb of his kind, head spines unfurled.

Adventurers. Bloodwraith's lip curled in disgust before he remembered that he was an adventurer now too.

As soon as they got close, the elf raised a sword in his face. "Idiot! You ruined our counter-ambush!"

It took some effort for Bloodwraith to swallow his anger, but he barely managed it. "You're angry at me for not walking into an obvious ambush?"

"That reward was meant to be ours!" The elf didn't lower his sword and Bloodwraith seriously considered showing him his place, but at that moment the short armored woman spoke up.

"Umm... Rhil'lahan... he does have a point. It's just bad luck that there was another adventurer here..."

With a loud huff, the lead adventurer sourly replaced his sword in its sheath. The others seemed to relax as well, the drakekin rolling his eyes and moving to sit on the wagon, while the human woman shook her head.

"Yet another bungled attempt. Even if we do collect the bounty, I am seriously reconsidering whether it is worth my time to work with this group."

The shortest adventurer shifted her feet nervously, not quite looking at the other woman. "But Herena... we need you to heal us. You have to let us at least get a few successes under our belt first before it starts paying out..."

"Hmph! I can hire better than you, if it comes to that!" The healer turned aside, leaving the heavily armored adventurer sagging in disappointment.

The adventurers fell in with the peasants, chatting of mundane local affairs. They spread out, but not to protect the wagon - to guard against the potential bandit attack. None of them spoke to him, so Bloodwraith decided that he needed to take the initiative to acquire more information himself.

Most likely the mage would be the most intelligent and reasonable of the group. Some mistrusted drakekin, but Bloodwraith had never found them particularly different from other living races, so he moved to walk next to the wagon.

"So you're traveling to Cresthaven?" He gave the mage a polite nod, but the drakekin responded by rolling his eyes.

"You think we look like an established group? No, we met up there to take on more difficult assignments. And putting up with these fools has been annoying me ever since."

"I can imagine. What's your name?"

The drakekin fixed him with a haughty gaze. "Shouldn't you be swinging that huge bar of iron at something? I have spells to study." With that, he turned away sharply.

Bloodwraith seethed with anger. He wanted to prove this fool wrong, but the only spell he had at his disposal was the brute "Fist of Rage" - that would not make the point he wanted, even if it would be satisfying. He walked a bit further away for a time, trying to decide if it would be effective to try again, when he heard a softer voice at his other side.

"His name is Khassfhit." It was the short, armored woman. She huffed as she carried her over-sized shield, but she managed to give him a broad smile. "Hello! I'm Danniah."

"I'm Raigar." As much as her cheerfulness irritated him, she might be his best source of information for now. "So you're a newly formed group of adventurers?"

"That's right! Rhil'lahan is our leader because he has the most experience - he's the one with the two swords. He's really fast! I already told you the grumpy mage is Khassfhit - I don't know every much about him because he won't talk to me either. Our healer is named Herena and she's from a really noble family here in Cresthaven. I'm afraid she doesn't like me very much, but she heals me, so I like her! Did I tell you my name was Danniah? My job is to protect everyone else, but it's pretty hard. I'm still learning to..."

Dark gods of the underworld, the woman could talk. If she babbled like this all the time, no wonder the others didn't like her. But as much as Bloodwraith wanted to punch her in the face, or at least escape her vocal range, she was spilling more information than anyone else.

When her rambling moved away from the subject of the adventurers and Cresthaven into less relevant subjects, Bloodwraith began to ignore her and examine the group instead. Their strength could tell him something about Cresthaven, as well as his own progress. But he needed to examine them carefully, because at least some of them were still suspicious of them. Keeping his eyes low, he analyzed the group surreptitiously...

At which point an avalanche of boxes flooded his vision.

[Name: Rhil'lahan

Race: Elf

Class: Swordsman

Health: 143/143

Mana: 5/5

Stamina: 129/129

Level: 8

EXP: ???

Statistics:

Might: 19

Vitality: 15

Quickness: 26

Intellect: 13

Charisma: 14

Willpower: 12

Wisdom: 16

Luck: 10

Piety: 11

Skills: Unknown

Proficiencies: Unknown

Inventory: Unknown]

[Name: Khassfhit

Race: Drakekin

Class: Mage

Health: 82/82

Mana: 55/55

Stamina: 96/96

Level: 7

EXP: ???

Statistics:

Might: 7

Vitality: 11

Quickness: 14

Intellect: 23

Charisma: 9

Willpower: 21

Wisdom: 17

Luck: 12

Piety: 13

Skills: Unknown

Proficiencies: Unknown

Inventory: Unknown]

[Name: Herena Cresthall

Race: Human

Class: Cleric

Health: 108/108

Mana: 37/37

Stamina: 122/122

Level: 6

EXP: ???

Statistics:

Might: 11

Vitality: 13

Quickness: 12

Intellect: 16

Charisma: 11

Willpower: 15

Wisdom: 14

Luck: 10

Piety: 19

Skills: Unknown

Proficiencies: Unknown

Inventory: Unknown]

[Name: Danniah

Race: ???

Class: Warrior

Health: 188/188

Mana: 0/0

Stamina: 153/153

Level: 7

EXP: ???

Statistics:

Might: 18

Vitality: 29

Quickness: 13

Intellect: 8

Charisma: 14

Willpower: 17

Wisdom: 8

Luck: 10

Piety: 12

Skills: Unknown

Proficiencies: Unknown

Inventory: Unknown]

"Away, damned boxes!" Why would they spring up at him and vomit out so much information? Did elves actually spell their names with pretentious accent marks like that? Bloodwraith realized that he could probably discern some information from the numbers, but...

But he realized that everyone else was now looking at him suspiciously. Unsurprisingly, given that he'd just been shouting nonsense and flailing at the air. Bloodwraith paused with a flat smile on his face, trying to think how to defuse the situation.

Fortunately, at that point he spotted the bandits lying in wait. "I'm saying there's an ambush, you fools!" He pointed over their heads to the rocky crags that held them, immediately drawing away everyone's attention.

Some of the bandits emerging from hiding had been completely hidden to him, their rough clothing blending with the rocks, sand, and small plants of the area. He had only spotted them because a few were still moving. Judging from their poor positioning, he thought that they had only moved to this new position recently. Presumably their initial ambush attempt had been ruined when he killed the first three, forcing them to take a less advantageous position.

Having a lot of men rushing them from all around was a pretty good advantage, though.

The adventurers responded by pulling together, forming a tight fighting formation prepared for the assault. Most of the peasants retreated to the wagons, the mother grabbing one of the children. Since the bandits needed to take out their entire group, they would ignore the peasants for now. It was a good enough beginning.

After that, everything went to hell.

Rhil'lahan rushed forward, his blades flashing in the sun as he cut down bandits. It looked very fancy and he was very fast, but it took him away from the tight formation of the others. The charging bandits immediately moved to encircle him.

Not being fools, they all tried to stab him at once. Despite his elaborate dashing flips, he would have died if Danniah hadn't thrown herself after him. The bandits' weapons clattered off her armor, but she grunted in pain and fell to the ground as she tried to fend off their assault.

Worse, the mage and the healer were left undefended. Bandits coming from other directions rushed on them, forcing Khassfhit to abandon his spells. Herena met one of them with her staff, but she obviously had limited skill in hand to hand combat.

Bloodwraith should have moved immediately, but he wasted a moment staring. He was used to parties of adventurers who were not only skilled, but worked smoothly as a team. But of course, only talented adventurers would ever have reached him. Now that his sample size had increased, he found himself even more disgusted with their kind.

He had to pretend to be one of them now, though, so he swept into battle.

An idiot like Raigar would have attacked the bandits nearest him, but his only chance of victory lay in assisting the others. So he simply rushed away from his attackers, closing on the other adventurers as he swung his sword in a vicious arc.

His blow cleaved through two of the bandits who had their backs to him, sending them to the ground in pieces. When he reversed his grip and swung in the other direction, the bandits dodged back. Stupid sword... it had power, but it would be easy to dodge if they saw it coming. Now that he wasn't fighting suicidal wolves, it would be a real liability.

Fortunately, the mage finally gained enough concentration to act, sending out tongues of flame. They kept the nearby bandits at bay, which was good enough. Ignoring them, Bloodwraith focused on the bandits surrounding the other two and let out a roar as he released his only spell.

The burst of force knocked almost all of them off their feet. Danniah managed to weather it, but Rhil'lahan was flipped into the air and only barely managed to land properly. He scowled at Bloodwraith, while Danniah looked around in confusion before seeing him and smiling.

"Don't stand there, idiots!" Bloodwraith could only shout that much before he had to raise his sword to defend against more bandits. "Group together or they'll kill us!"

"You can't order us, stranger!" Rhil'lahan scowled as he flipped back to his feet. "All of you, to me! We fight together!"

Which was exactly the same thing. Bloodwraith felt a moment of rage before realizing that he was being just as arrogant as the elf. All that mattered was that they came together and worked as a group, not who issued the command.

He stuck close to Herena and Khassfhit as they started to move in... or at least they should have. Too late, Bloodwraith's dim senses realized how much mana was moving. Khassfhit raised his hands, reptilian eyes glowing, and released his spell.

The sphere of fire struck the heart of the bandit group... and exploded in all directions, sending the mage's own companions flying as well. Idiot! Khassfhit only smirked as he saw the bandit bodies, but Herena began yelling at him. Which was just as stupid, because there were more bandits who hadn't died in the fireball.

One of them wore heavier armor that had weathered the attack. Bloodwraith moved toward him, lifting his sword overhead in a foolishly large swing. The bandit leader grinned and rushed in, his blades flying to cut through his neck before Bloodwraith could bring his sword down.

Except for the Fist of Rage that struck him directly in the chest.

When the bandit staggered backward, Bloodwraith finally let his blow fall. It managed to break through the gap in the bandit's armor above the shoulder and cut deep... but not deep enough. The bandit lashed out with his good hand and Bloodwraith staggered backward, pain blossoming across his chest.

He regained control and tugged his greatsword from the bandit's shoulder, but he was too late. His movement caused more blood loss, but the bandit wasn't going down that easily. Now that the distance was closed, Bloodwraith was out of advantages.

When he started to raise his fist, the bandit reacted faster, bracing himself. Trying to use another Fist of Rage would be less effective, especially against such a dangerous opponent. What a stupid name...

That was it.

When the bandit rushed forward again, Bloodwraith stopped retreating. Instead he lashed out with one foot, channeling his rage down it. The explosive force emerged from his leg instead of his fist, sweeping the bandit's legs out from under him.

Even before the bandit hit the ground, Bloodwraith was bringing his sword to bear again. The bandit leader managed to block his first blow, but lost his blade - the second blow took out his arm, and the third finally ended his life.

Bloodwraith stood, panting for breath, and realized that he'd been a fool to ignore the rest of the battle. Why wasn't he dead, stabbed from behind?

His answer came when he saw Danniah behind him, using her over-sized shield to fend off three more bandits. She also tried to strike at them with her mace, but not very effectively. When she noticed him watching, she grinned and waved her mace cheerfully at him.

Muttering curses under his breath, Bloodwraith moved to join the frustratingly cheerful woman. With her defending his flank, it would be easier to defeat the bandits. They looked anxious, but in the narrow space they'd chosen for the ambush, they didn't have many places to run. And he didn't want them to, because he needed to harvest their deaths.

As he slowly hemmed in the bandits, Bloodwraith looked to the rest of the battlefield. Rhil'lahan was currently cutting down some of the bandits who were trying to run. Which left Herena undefended, desperately fending off several.

Though the tactical choice would have been to help her, that wasn't an option given the distance and his mana exhaustion. Where the hell was the mage? He should have been able to...

Oh, there he was. Standing atop one of the crags. Preparing another fireball.

"Don't throw that down here, idiot!" Bloodwraith roared. But Khassfhit was clearly not listening, the sphere of flame growing between his hands as he bared his teeth.

"I'll protect you!" Danniah jumped in front of Bloodwraith, burying her shield in the ground to brace herself. The force from the fire would knock her right off her feet and then she'd be no good to him at all.

"No! You can't take the force head on, you need to deflect it!" But it was too late, Khassfhit was releasing his sphere. As it plummeted to the ground, all Bloodwraith could do was move forward and hope he could use Danniah's body as a shield.

But just before the sphere struck, she dropped to one knee and ducked low, putting her shield at an angle. Bloodwraith ducked as well, barely catching a glimpse of the flames expanding. A moment later he felt the wall of fire rush over his head.

She had actually listened to him? Yes, judging from her grin, she had understood. Instead of trying to take the flames head on, she had moved at an angle that shunted the force upward. That massive shield was good for something after all.

"We are victorious!" Rhil'lahan raised one sword over his head. "These bandits should have known better than to mess with the likes of us!"

Except that there had been no declaration of victory from the boxes. Bloodwraith growled at the box gods, wondering if they would deny him the power that he deserved. Could it be because he had worked together with a group? If so, that would be-

At that point, one of the bandits lurched upward and stabbed Rhil'lahan in the thigh. The elf gave a shout of pain and instantly stabbed down into the bandit. It took several blows to end his life - these bandits weren't as weak as they appeared. How many of the other bodies might be still alive? Bloodwraith began to analyze all of them carefully.

Before he could make meaningful progress, Khassfhit walked from around the crag with a scowl on his face. "All of you got in the way! I could have ended the battle sooner, but you brutes..."

As he spoke, one of the bandits rose to his feet behind him. Examining all the bodies, Bloodwraith was too off guard to act. Fortunately, Danniah wasn't, bodily throwing herself in the way of the attack. She took the blow on her shoulder and fell with a grunt. Khassfhit stared down at her, only now realizing how close he had come to being cut down from behind.

The bandit didn't last long with Rhil'lahan going after him, but Bloodwraith ignored it. What mattered now was ensuring that there were no more such surprises.

Looking over the field of bodies at first produced an utterly useless array of boxes. Sometimes too much information about their armor, sometimes boxes about random rocks and plants, sometimes no boxes at all. Eventually he managed to summon only the boxes he wanted, listing the amount of health the bandits had.

All of them displayed zero... but he remembered that some information had been missing when he looked at the adventurers. Were these boxes truly a unique ability, or a distortion of his natural powers of observation?

Bloodwraith looked more carefully, this time seeking to observe life and death. After a moment, some of the boxes began to blur, displaying different numbers. Some of the bandits had only a few points of "Health" but others had 10-20. He moved to one of them and stabbed down.

Sure enough, the bandit struggled with surprising strength before expiring. Bloodwraith moved to the next, trying to see the hints of his life aside from the boxes. Yes, there were a few clues, but he would have missed them normally. Perhaps these boxes could help him better use warrior's instincts that he had never developed in his past life.

The adventurers bickered with one another while Bloodwraith ended things. When at last the final bandit was dead, then Bloodwraith finally felt it...

[Victory! You received 653 EXP and...]

The box went on to list a great many useless items, but they didn't matter. All he cared about was the rush of power that the victory brought. Just one little bandit massacre and he had gained significant "points," enough for the boxes to grant him more raw power. Along with an obnoxious musical tune, but he could suffer through that.

[Congratulations! You gained a level!

Current Level: 6

Current EXP: 205/3200

Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

Bloodwraith let himself grin as the new strength flowed through him. He took a deep breath and drank in the power of their deaths...

"You look happy to be doing the dirty work." Khassfhit stood not far away, giving him a strange look. Bloodwraith struggled to twist his grin into a more adventurous smile.

"I'm just happy that we defended those helpless peasants! It always feels good to do a good deed!"

The mage stared at him, then moved away, shaking his head and muttering something derogatory. Bloodwraith didn't really care, not with more raw power at his fingertips.

He didn't concern himself with the boxes for the moment, however, instead getting his bearings. Though the battle was clearly over, that didn't mean everything was resolved. He'd entirely forgotten about the peasants until he'd used them as an excuse. They had been unharmed by the bandits, though they were now desperately trying to put out fires in their crops.

Meanwhile, the adventurers clustered in a small group. Herena had gathered healing mana, but didn't use it, instead lecturing Danniah. "How could you just run off from me? I'm the backbone of this team, and if you can't protect me, what good are you?"

"Sorry, sorry..." Danniah winced and lowered her head. She was wincing from more than shame, though - many of the blows she had defended against had managed to make it through her armor and she bled from numerous minor wounds. But Rhil'lahan moved in first, demanding that Herena heal him before anyone else.

As Bloodwraith watched them, the pleasant taste of death faded in his mouth. These adventurers were useless fools. Danniah was the only one who had done her best to fulfill her role. Thinking back to the numbers that the boxes had declared defined her, Bloodwraith decided that they were wrong. As much power as the alien entities possessed, they couldn't truly define a person in a bunch of numbers.

Seeing her receive no praise irritated him, however. Good servants deserved to be rewarded, and he had always kept out an eye for talent among the undead. But clearly these adventurers were more concerned with their own glory.

In his past life, he had transformed worthwhile opponents into new undead servants, but that was no longer an option. What could he do, with this body? The question frustrated him more than he expected. Perhaps the natural instincts of his new life conflicting with his true nature, but it was nothing he managed to unravel.

The old farmer approached him, hat in his hands. "Thank you for helping us, adventurer. You've done so much more than earn your coppers, I wish we could afford more..."

Bloodwraith eyed him coldly, considering how much he could extort out of the man. The peasants might have little now, but they would soon sell their crops. But after some thought, Bloodwraith decided that it didn't matter. Maybe it was an adventurer's instinct, but it was correct in this place: extorting a small amount of money from peasants was not worth it, not compared to the benefits he gained from killing the bandits.

"Let's just get back to the city safely," Bloodwraith said. The old man nodded and moved to the others, getting the terrified horses calmed down and moving once again.

All of them stayed on edge as they left the rocky area, but there was no more sign of bandits. And honestly, how could there be? If the groups were too close together, there would be endless conflicts. Bloodwraith kept alert, but allowed himself to relax.

His body regenerated much more slowly than in the Forest of Beginnings, enough that he almost considered drinking one of his potions. But no, he was the master of pain, it did not master him. Since he was now an adventurer scrabbling for coppers, he couldn't waste resources. Though his regeneration might not be as fast as before, he could feel that it exceeded natural healing.

Instead he willed his box back into being and distributed the new points he had been given. Though he continued to place points in "Might" and "Vitality" he placed three of them into "Quickness" - he had not neglected speed before, but with a clumsy weapon like a greatsword, what he had was clearly inadequate.

"You did a good job back there!" Danniah appeared beside him, smiling as usual. Bloodwraith resisted rolling his eyes, since she had proved herself not incompetent.

"As did you. Thank you for defending me."

"Oh, I was just helping a little because the one you were fighting looked so scary!" She looked up at him, eyes peering out shyly from within her helm. "Do you really think I did a good job? Rhil'lahan and Herena said I did so many things wrong..."

"Bah! None of us fought perfectly, but you did your job." He nearly began insulting the others before realizing that might be going too far. Danniah made a happy noise and it looked like she might be blushing beneath her helm.

[Affection +5!

Danniah Affection: 46/100]

Bloodwraith nearly cursed at the boxes aloud but restrained himself and merely willed the box away. Besides, Danniah was shaped like an iron barrel. Though his new body might have excessive appetites, it had limits. Besides, there were more important issues.

Specifically, he found himself wondering about the question marks on her box. "Danniah... what exactly are you?"

She blinked at him.

"I mean your race."

"I'm a human! I'm just short!" Her answer came entirely too quickly and too loudly. Obviously a lie, but Bloodwraith wasn't sure if it was worth pressing her on the subject. But a moment later he got his answer from another source as Helena called from the wagon.

"She's half-dwarf! Doesn't want to admit it, because her father ran off. But what would you expect from a dwarf?"

There was some kind of tension there, but Bloodwraith didn't care: all that mattered was that Danniah's box became filled in with [Half-Human/Half-Dwarf.]. That confirmed his theory that the boxes had limited powers of observation, tied to his own. He had suspected that the girl wasn't fully human when he saw her, so the boxes had reflected that until he resolved the mystery.

Danniah was sniffling now, trying to hold it back. Bloodwraith observed this fact with mild irritation until he realized that he should probably not just ignore her. Kindness did not exactly come easily to him, so he rummaged around in his brain for a while to come up with something vaguely appropriate.

"Don't listen to her." He put a hand on Danniah's shoulder while they walked. "All I care about in combat is if someone can defend my back."

"Really?" She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and he did his best to smile. It must have been good enough, because Danniah beamed at him. "Thank you! It's not that I want to lie about it, but everyone always treats me differently once they learn. It's nice to be just... normal..."

Then it was fortunate that she had interrupted him before he went on to talk about how dwarven blood made her a more useful warrior. But Danniah had started talking, so his involvement was no longer necessary.

"I actually know a little about my father! He might not have stayed with my mother, but I think he did like her, in a way. When he left, he left behind this huge hammer - the end is bigger than my head!"

[Affection +5!

Danniah Affection: 51/100

Relationship level increased!]

Bloodwraith stared at the box in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Completely serious!" Danniah beamed. "You should see it! Now, I'm not from Cresthaven originally, so it's not like I can just show you, but really, the hammer is huge..."

She kept talking happily and Bloodwraith decided that he would just need to put up with it. From her babbling he managed to extract a few useful pieces of information: adventurers in Cresthaven needed to be officially registered at a guild, and their group would be headed there next. It was unclear if he would get any share of the reward, but if he wanted a chance at it, he would need to pursue the subject there.

Eventually they emerged from the rocky crags and for a time even Danniah went silent. The plains flowed out, the road winding between farms as it drew closer to the gates. At last, the grand walls of Cresthaven rose before them.

Once, Bloodwraith had planned to raze Cresthaven to the ground as an afterthought in a much larger campaign. His actual first visit would be much less interesting.

Chapter 6

As soon as they reached Cresthaven, Bloodwraith split from the others. More accurately, he left as soon as he received the death energy for completing the quest - 212 "EXP," which struck him as obnoxiously random. Certainly worth doing compared to Meara's herbs, but he doubted he could bully the farmers into letting him repeat the escort.

After that, he left both peasants and adventurers behind. Being around them clouded his mind, presented too many thoughts that were Raigar's, not his. Better to explore the city for himself and see if he couldn't clear his head.

Like most cities that attracted adventurers, Cresthaven was diverse, crowded, and filthy. Unwashed masses from many races and countries milled about in the streets, many of them armed. The local humans wore the best clothes and occasionally went past on palanquins, so apparently they ruled the city. Such prejudice had always struck Bloodwraith as absurd - a country over and it might be elves or dwarves who thought too much of themselves.

To him, they were all just sacks of blood and EXP. While stabbing people wildly in the streets would get him killed by the guards, he wondered just how much power he could gain with a murder spree. Bloodwraith realized that his mouth was watering - it had been a long time since his body had enough moisture for that to happen.

As he searched for stores that sold equipment, Bloodwraith realized that he was thinking too small. Cities like Cresthaven always feared fires - if he set a fire that killed hundreds of people, would the boxes grant him EXP for their deaths? What about poisoning one of the city's wells? While walking he tried to interrogate the boxes for more information, but nothing useful emerged.

Ultimately, he couldn't overcome the adventurous instincts of this body. Temporarily abandoning such murderous schemes, he dedicated himself to lesser concerns. The city could still be useful to him, after all, and he had a great many tasks to do.

The first thing he needed to do was get rid of some of the junk filling his Extra-dimensional Bag. Judging from the numbers on his inventory box, it did have a limit, and he was approaching it.

Mainly due to the 44 wolf pelts he was carrying around.

Eventually he spotted a shop that a great many adventurers were moving through, many of them carrying plants, pieces of animals, and monster trophies. He joined them easily enough, most staying out of the way of someone of his size carrying a greatsword. When he arrived, the man at the front desk saw his Extra-dimensional Bag and gestured for him to enter a side room instead of the noisy main chamber.

There, Bloodwraith was glad to find things quieter. Only a thin man in a robe sat behind a desk, examining a ledger. A pile of unusual goods lay on one side of him, and he could see more in the chamber beyond, but there were heavily armed guards posted there.

"Well?" The thin man looked up at him curiously. "You have items in bulk, then?"

"I have been killing wolves in the forests. I can sell their pelts here?"

"Certainly. The price will vary depending on the quality, but we're willing to take them. We don't see many wolves in these parts, this time of year."

It had not occurred to him that they might not accept his goods, but it made sense. With so many adventurers running around the countryside, the market must be flooded with certain products. And he was about to flood one more.

"Here is one of the pelts." Bloodwraith pulled it from his sack and dropped it down onto the table. "I have 43 more."

"My, you really did come to sell in bulk. You're lucky we deal in high volumes here, or you'd be given a terrible deal in most places." The thin man rose to his feet, fingers lightly running over the fur and skin before he nodded to himself. "We won't negotiate a price until I can ensure that all the pelts have the same quality as this one. Can we begin examining them?"

Bloodwraith grunted and began pulling out more pelts, piling them one upon another. The man behind the desk examined each carefully, but he began to move faster and faster as he moved the pelts onto a pile behind the desk.

"These pelts... how odd..."

"Is something wrong with them?" Bloodwraith folded his arms and scowled, prepared to bargain. But the man only shook his head with a strange expression.

"No, not wrong... in fact, the pelts are all very fine. That's the odd thing, actually. They're all free from damage in exactly the same way." The man looked up at him and chuckled. "Are you sure you want to be an adventurer? With precision like yours, you could make a good living collecting wolf pelts."

"Never!"

The man flinched back at his outburst, raising his hands defensively. "Alright, suit yourself. I'm willing to offer you a silver piece for each of the pelts."

Bloodwraith realized furiously that he had been tricked: the man had already moved all the pelts over to the other side, where the guards had begun to collect them. He had removed the possibility of walking away before the negotiations had even begun. Scheming little worm.

Of course, Bloodwraith had no idea what a wolf pelt was worth. But it was a safe assumption that this merchant would not give him a generous deal. He slammed a fist down on the desk.

"This is robbery! I should burn this place down to the ground!"

"My, my..." The merchant chuckled, unconcerned by his display of anger. "Perhaps I could manage one silver and ten coppers."

"You're worse bandits than the ones I gutted outside the city!"

"Come now, that's an additional four silvers for the whole order, it's very generous..."

They traded threats and bargains until eventually Bloodwraith's wrath cooled and he accepted a price of one silver and seventeen coppers. He had no idea if that was a good deal or not, but it was 17% better than he had been offered. One of the guards unlocked a chest and gave him 51 silvers and 48 coppers, which went straight into his bag. That gave him nearly two gold pieces, which was... a quantity of money, anyway. Why did Cresthaven use such an odd system?

As he received his payment, the merchant watched him with an odd smile. "If I could advise you... I would not recommend such aggressive negotiation tactics elsewhere. In Cresthaven, and especially in our establishment, we are used to the behavior of adventurers. But you will find that in other places, even joking threats are not taken so lightly."

Bloodwraith still wanted to burn the place to the ground, but he nodded as if it had all been just a ploy. Thinking about the whole issue irritated him, but he wasn't finished yet. "I have two more things as well." He pulled the Alpha Pelt and the Iron Golem Ore from his bag and set them down on the table. The thin man's eyebrows rose.

"These are... hmm, somewhat uncommon. The best price we could offer you for them... well, let's just say your threats of arson would seem more justified. We can't accept these at the price you'd want."

"What? Why not?"

"We make our money by reselling goods to local craftsmen. Your wolf pelts can be made into winter furs, and there's always more need for those in a city of this size. But these items are finer, and even if local craftsmen could use them, what they made would be yet more valuable... by the time the end of the chain is reached, the product will be too valuable to be easily sold. There'd be profit in it, yes, but for an establishment like ours, it is too much trouble."

There was logic in that, at least, so Bloodwraith grunted acceptance and snatched them back. "Where could I sell them, then?"

"You might try a specialist craftsman of some sort, at a high end smithy or one of the guilds. And of course, there is more room for such things in a city like Edsdam or Manascas. And since you seem new at this... I wouldn't show anything like that in places smaller than Cresthaven. It'd mark you for bandits."

"Huh. I'll consider your advice."

Bloodwraith left the building, technically lighter but feeling no different. Time to finally make use of this money he had been collecting.

As he searched for stores that sold equipment, he spent more time examining the people around him. It took a bit to remember what he had done with the bandits, but soon he was able to examine everyone around him, seeing only what the boxes declared about their "level" and "statistics." That would finally let him attach some real meaning to the arbitrary numbers being thrown at him.

Most of the people on the streets were declared Level 0, regardless of whether the boxes called them peasants, farmers, or merchants. When he focused more on them, he was surprised at how low the boxes listed their statistics. His had begun around 10, but 5 seemed to be more average for peasants.

Those who were armed and looked like adventurers were usually Level 2-4. Curiously, the city guard members were all in the 7-9 range, but that made sense given that they had to keep order in a city like this. Beyond Level 10, advancement seemed to slow, as he saw only a few people who were rated 11 or 12.

Bloodwraith wondered just what he would have merited in his old life, though he wasn't sure he'd have been given a rating at all. More importantly, he wondered what level Raigar had been when he defeated the Master Lich. If more dangerous parts of the world attracted more dangerous adventurers, the numbers might go up significantly more.

For now, however, he understood how far he needed to go. Before he could accomplish anything or think about new goals, he needed to make sure that he could not be threatened by swarms of lowly adventurers like these.

Next he needed equipment. But as Bloodwraith began to to identify potential shops by what kinds of adventurers visited them, he felt a strange discomfort. Not just pain in his core, but a degree of weakness in his body. It had been growing in him... had he been poisoned? Was he the target of a malicious spell? His eyes began to flicker around him, searching for an enemy.

A sound emerged from his stomach. After a moment, Bloodwraith realized that he was just hungry.

It had been a long time since he'd needed to eat anything. Obviously he needed nothing as an undead, and he suspected that the Forest of Beginnings had sustained him in its timelessness. But he had been traveling for two days since then, so of course his body was growing hungry.

Such a petty irritant. Since he had no choice but to accept the limitations of a fleshly body for now, Bloodwraith decided to search for food instead. There were stalls selling food on most streets, but the smells turned his stomach. He searched instead for a small shop that looked inexpensive.

Fortunately, it seemed that beer and heavy bread were quite cheap, just a few coppers each. Bloodwraith turned up his nose at first, but once he started to eat and drink, his body's needs took over. Very well, he could fulfill such needs.

As he ate, Bloodwraith located another armed adventurer and sat down next to him. "I just got to Cresthaven. Where's work lately?"

The man gave him a skeptical look, hands on the knives at his sides, but eventually answered. "The guards don't leave the city these days, so there's lots of work if you don't mind bandits or lesser monsters. But the pay is shit."

"Yeah, I ran into some of that on my way. Anything better?"

"You want a real assignment, you either need to bring valuable materials to a guild, or work for Daek the Knife. Actually, unless the guild work is difficult adventurer stuff, you probably need to go through Daek anyway. This is pretty much his city, now."

"Hmm." He'd already been given a quest box about that by Meara, so it seemed likely that he would need to pursue it. "Heard something about him having a problem he wants adventurers to help solve?"

"Aye, he does. You interested?" The man gave him an appraising look, then smiled. "Some friends of mine and me are actually looking to take it on, but we need another. You interested?"

"Sorry, got some stuff to do."

"No problem, I understand. Take a few days to get your feet under you - Cresthaven can be a rough city for the unwary."

"Thanks for the help."

Bloodwraith smiled cheerfully at the man and watched him go, wondering when the man was going to ambush him. If he knew one thing in life, it was slimy bastards with ill intentions. The man's offer had rung entirely false and his warning was a bit too smug. No, Bloodwraith had just marked himself as an amateur in a city that was not kind to amateurs.

He'd deal with that soon enough. For now, he wanted more to eat.

The bread had tasted a lot better than he'd expected, rough as it was. Perhaps just his body insisting that he eat, but he'd take the pleasure this body offered while he kept it. Since he had a great deal to do, Bloodwraith ordered more bread and even a sausage. He had enough money that splurging on one item wouldn't meaningfully change his situation.

When Bloodwraith bit into the sausage and tasted the savory juices, he found himself taken aback. Was it this body, or had eating always been this pleasurable? He had tasted only dust for so long, he wasn't sure. Bloodwraith wolfed down the sausage eagerly and could have eaten a dozen more, but he held himself back.

More would be a waste. He needed to put himself in a position that he could order whatever he wanted in the future, and that meant using his money carefully. Perhaps later he would turn aside from the flesh and pursue raw power again, but for now, there was no harm in indulging.

As he finished his second loaf of bread, Bloodwraith gathered information from everyone willing to talk to him. A few had heard of the Master Lich, but in just ten years he seemed to have passed into legend. There was definitely no undead army sitting there for Bloodwraith to take back, though one old adventurer said that the Lich's crypt had become a dangerous place where only a few dared to go. Perhaps he would explore it later and see what he could gain.

Not many remembered Raigar, either, which surprised him. The people who had met him in the Forest of Beginnings had talked like Raigar was a legend, and he had certainly thought highly of himself, but his impact seemed to have been limited. The Master Lich and Raigar formed a closed loop, annihilating one another and letting life go on.

Why would the eldritch creatures behind the boxes want to create something like that? Was it some form of twisted art to them? A brief amusement in a lesser realm? Bloodwraith knew that it might be beyond him to ever understand, but he wanted to know what fathomless reasons they might have for all of this.

He might need to know, or he would be consumed in the same way.

When he emerged from the shop, Bloodwraith spotted someone following him. He stretched, yawned, and headed into a dark alleyway. Might as well get it over with.

Soon after he entered, he spotted the man coming after him over one shoulder. After pretending not to see for a while longer, getting into a darker area without windows, Bloodwraith turned back and let himself notice this time. The man immediately hid his knife in his sleeve and smiled broadly as he approached.

"Hello, friend! I thought I might suggest a f-"

Bloodwraith punched him in the throat.

He had expected to need to follow up his blow with more, but to his surprise the man's neck crumpled. Though he slid his arm from his sleeve, the pain made him too weak to attack effectively. It was a simple matter to knock him to the ground and pound on him until the box said he was dead.

[Victory! You received 92 EXP, an Iron Dagger, and 11 coppers.]

Bloodwraith grunted in satisfaction as he collected the dagger and money. His meal had nearly paid for itself - he should get mugged more often.

Since he wasn't sure exactly how lawless Cresthaven actually was, Bloodwraith dragged the body into a pile of refuse and used the man's shirt to clean up the blood. Perhaps no one would care about a corpse lying in an alley, but in case the guards still prosecuted murder, better to be careful. Bloodwraith left the alley in a good mood - he'd have whistled, if he knew how to whistle.

Eventually he noticed something unusual: there were certain streets that Level 0 people rarely entered. Logically, those must cater mostly to adventurers, which could easily create an environment the weak preferred to avoid. Focusing on these, he eventually found a street with a wide variety of merchants for adventurers, including the equipment he needed.

But which shop to enter? One of the largest stores was doing brisk business, but almost entirely among low level adventurers. Bloodwraith dismissed that one out of hand. There was a dingy storefront with a sign too battered to be read that he would have ignored, if not for the fact that only high leveled adventurers entered it. When he got close he saw all the prices were listed in gold pieces and moved away.

Then he had made no progress... or perhaps he had. Bloodwraith let his eyes unfocus a bit, not looking at anyone in particular, just seeing the crowds of people and their attached numbers. Maybe something would come to him.

Slowly, he reached a realization: one store in particular had an unusually large range of levels moving through it. If it could provide value to a wide swath of adventurers, perhaps it was a good place for him to start as well. Bloodwraith stepped inside and heard a bell ring.

Though there was a small front area with weapons and armor on display, the majority of the room was a smithy. The smith was a burly man with several children as assistants. When the bell rang, he glanced up and nodded, then went back to his work hammering a sword. A rather confident man, apparently.

[Name: Haral

Race: Human

Class: Warrior

Alignment: Good

Level: 5

Reputation: 13/1000 (Unknown)

Affection: 25/100 (Neutral)

SPECIAL NOTE: High Smithing and Appraisal skills.]

Assuming the boxes reflected more than just his impressions, it seemed that this smith was a former warrior. That matched the scars on his forearms and chest. It didn't seem he'd taken any great injury that had ended his career, so he must have been good at it. According to the box, he was good at his new profession as well.

"What do you need?" the smith spoke without looking up from his work again.

"I'd like to replace my current equipment, but I'm not sure..."

"Fine. How much do you have?"

Answering that question would be a huge negotiation weakness. Bloodwraith considered refusing to answer, but realized that might make things awkward. "Nearly one gold piece."

At that, Haral glanced up at him again, this time looking over his armor and sword. He grunted and went back to his work. "I can give you four silvers for your current equipment. That should get you closer, and you can find replacements here."

"Four silvers?" Bloodwraith pulled his sword from his back, realized that it would be foolish to provoke the man, and changed his threat into holding the greatsword with both hands to show it. "This is a quality weapon made of a huge amount of iron. It alone should be worth more than four!"

Haral sighed and spent a while just working, apparently ignoring him. Just when Bloodwraith was about to explode in anger, the smith used tongs to move the blade into a bucket of water, then approached. He wiped his hands on his apron and spoke wearily, as if he had done this many times before.

"Look, adventurer, you have to understand how this city works. There are a lot of you, and most of you bring your own weapons. Now that I look at it, this greatsword is a little better than most, but what do you want me to do? Stock every single weapon I'm ever sold in the hope that someone buys it? No, most of the equipment I'm buying for the raw materials."

As much as it inconvenienced him, Bloodwraith had to admit there was logic in that. "Fine. Then let's negotiate, starting with how much you'd charge for decent equipment under a gold piece."

"You're wanting full armor, I'd imagine? Let's start with something like this." Haral gestured toward a heavy leather breastplate displayed on one of the walls. "Something like this will cost you 35 silvers. If you buy the accompanying pieces with it, I'll give you a discount on those..."

While the smith went on about the armor, Bloodwraith tucked away the numbers while examining the armor more carefully.

[Quality Leather Armor

Armor: 5

Durability: 50/50

Rarity: Common]

What did the boxes mean by "armor," precisely? It clearly must be a rating, similar to the levels displayed for adventurers, but what did it actually measure? How well it could hold up to an attack? If so, what kind of attack? And it would do him no good at all if someone struck somewhere else - did the mysterious numbers account for that?

Focusing on the word summoned another box that said that "Armor" referred to the "Overall defensive strength of the piece of equipment" - which was not nearly as much information as he wanted. But fine, he would pay some attention to the numbers while making the decision based on common sense.

He and the smith negotiated prices, not playing around and soon getting to fair numbers. All his old equipment would be worth six silvers - the peasant clothing he'd started with being worth nothing at all. That left him with 176 silvers to work with. A full set of armor would cost 54 silvers, which left him with plenty for a weapon.

Yet when he examined the weapons, he found his choice less obvious there. The shop had only two greatswords: an iron one that was only slightly better than his current weapon, and one of steel that cost over a gold piece on its own. Frustrating, but within his budget. Except...

"Earlier," Bloodwraith said slowly, "you said that most of the equipment you bought was for materials. What about the rest?"

"Sometimes I get something that I think might be worth something to somebody else." Haral moved toward a side door, unlocked it, and gestured for him to follow. "It's hard to move equipment like this, but there's a tidy profit in it. Take a look in here and see if anything catches your eye. Your sword will probably go in here, once you sell it."

The side room was small, but utterly filled with random equipment. Much of it was in bad repair, but Bloodwraith could sense mana in the air. All of this equipment must have been a significant investment on the smith's part... but it must pay off, in the end. This was most likely the reason so many different adventurers visited his shop.

"Take your time and tell me if you like the look of anything. I tagged it all with prices so I can keep working." With that, he left him and returned to the forge. Given that Bloodwraith had given up all his equipment, there likely wasn't a major threat. The smith actually had a "Might" rating almost equal to his - increased by both his fighting and his job, no doubt.

But that didn't matter. He needed to focus on all the junk and see if any of it could be worth his time.

Bloodwraith quickly grew frustrated trying to look through all of it, even with boxes to evaluate everything for him. How much of being an adventurer was just managing inventory? But he swallowed his frustration and decided to look more carefully, bending the boxes to his will.

None of the equipment in the room was declared to be "Common" - most was "Uncommon." There were a few "Very Uncommon" items, and his eyes lit up when he spotted an amulet that was declared "Rare" - but the amulet apparently only improved archery skills. Useless.

Focusing only on Very Uncommon equipment reduced his options significantly. There was a ring that increased Might directly, which struck him as very appealing - he would need many of those in the future - but it cost a gold piece on its own and his core equipment was more important.

He almost missed it, but his eyes fell on a sword leaning in the corner. It was thinner than his greatsword, but glinted dark green. Though nothing like a staff or wand, he could feel that it was suited to mana in a way that few other brute weapons were. Perhaps...

[Lodestone Greatsword

Base Damage: 16-19

Durability: 7/100

Mana Capacity: 0/6

Rarity: Very Uncommon]

Fascinating. Not only did it have more potential than his current weapon, the core strength of it was superior, assuming that he interpreted the numbers correctly. Usually higher meant better - the box gods were not particularly subtle in that regard. It cost just under a full gold to purchase as well, which made it seem like the perfect choice, except for how damaged the blade had been.

Still, Bloodwraith didn't want to ignore this. He took it out of the room and showed it to the smith, whose eyebrows rose slightly. "I'll sell it to you, if you want it. But you must see, in that condition it won't last long."

"Can't you repair it? Most of the other items in the room were repaired."

"Because I can do it easily and restore the value of the item. But a weapon like that... I'll have to get a mage involved, and though I have a trade deal with a woman down the street, that's not cheap. Gamble that might never pay off. Wasn't sure about buying the thing in the first place, to be honest."

"Well, I want it now, surely it's worth it?"

"If you can pay the repair costs." Haral looked over the sword thoughtfully, shaking his head at the chipped and dull edges. "63 silvers for the repair, 79 for the blade itself... 142 silvers is more than you have. Well, I'll keep the thing around. Nobody else is likely to buy it."

"Wait! I... have some more."

The smith sighed and rolled his eyes, as if this had happened before. But Bloodwraith was more concerned about the overall price... would he really spend the majority of all the money he had earned on a single weapon? But then again... was it better to buy slightly better equipment overall, or a single piece with more value? Given how little the resale value of such equipment was, he decided to make the purchase.

Since the numbers didn't add up, what followed was a vicious round of negotiation. Bloodwraith had to give up getting new arm and leg armor, but he kept the breastplate and helm, which would keep the important parts of this squishy body safe. More importantly, he would get the new sword back in perfect condition and he could keep his current weapon until he picked it up.

"Weapon like this, it will take at least seven days. Come to think of it... you'd better come back in a tenday, just to be sure. You can stop by earlier if you want, but if I see you more than once a day, I'll start greeting you with my hammer. Understand?"

"Ten days? How can it take that long to repair a sword?"

"I have orders other than yours!" The smith huffed and set the sword down on a side table. "Be glad I decided to take it on at all. Come back in ten days."

So Bloodwraith left the equipment shop with less than a silver to his name. Other than slightly better armor, he wasn't much better equipped than when he'd entered. But when he thought about the lodestone greatsword, he felt satisfied with himself.

At least, until he went to an inn and discovered that a single night cost more than a silver piece.

Sighing, Bloodwraith realized that he would have no choice but to meet up with the group he'd met. They had urged him - well, Danniah had urged him - to come with them to the Adventurers Guild, and mentioned that they had accommodations for registered adventurers. It had struck him as obnoxious at the time, since he would be surrounded by filthy, impoverished adventurers.

Now he was one of them. Bloodwraith headed toward the Guild.

Chapter 7

Finding the Adventurers Guild wasn't difficult: there were even more of the filthy adventurers wandering around than normal. It seemed that the entire city of Cresthaven was governed by a single guild. Bloodwraith wasn't sure if that was normal or not because he had always stayed away from such places.

According to rumors he heard from other adventurers on the way, the Guild was one of the only locations in the city that wasn't under Daek the Knife's control. Apparently that was largely because it remained neutral, however. If it ever tried to take a stand on political matters or expand beyond simple assignments, there would be serious conflict with underworld organizations.

The building itself was an imposing thing, half castle and half mansion. On top of the foundation of solid stone rose a grand wooden layer with a large window that let him see a drinking hall within, filled with armed adventurers. Unusual towers and other structures sprouted from that, a mismatched set of different windows and construction styles that somehow blended into an imposing wall.

Bloodwraith looked over it, nodding to himself. This was the building to burn down for EXP.

He entered to find the expected mix of different types milling about, but the Guild was more orderly than expected. The drinking hall was only one side of the building, while the rest more closely resembled an office. Adventurers quietly spoke to the staff there, took information down from assignments listed on the walls, and did other simple tasks.

The reason everything was so calm became clearer when Bloodwraith realized that all the figures wearing red headbands were guards. Each wore different clothing and clearly came from another profession, but all were at least Level 10. Now that he looked more carefully, Bloodwraith saw a few 14s and even a 15.

Unsure where to go first, he stood awkwardly in the door for a time. Before the pause could extend for too long, he heard a cheerful shout. "Heyyy! Raigarrr!"

Looking into the drinking hall, he saw Danniah leaping up and waving so that she could be seen over the heads of the others. The four of them were seated there and now stood up to approach - well, all except for Rhil'lahan, who stayed and drank with a cold expression.

He stepped in further to meet them. While Herena and Khassfhit weren't beaming as much as Danniah, they had at least come to greet him. For some reason his body smiled upon seeing them - another foolish adventurer instinct, he supposed. At least it kept him from having to fake the smile.

"I'm glad you came!" Danniah looked strange without her huge shield, though she was still barrel-shaped in her armor. "Are you going to register officially?"

"You'd better," Herena told him. "Without a registration, an adventurer is just a thug. And while public order has degraded in Cresthaven these days, you shouldn't push your luck."

"If you want to register, you can do it right over there!"

They directed him to the appropriate table, where an overworked woman was sorting through paperwork. She looked up at him wearily and nodded. "I heard you. New registration?"

"I suppose." Bloodwraith did his best not to sigh when he said it. Only temporarily, until he mastered his power and learned more of the truth of his situation.

"The list of rules is on that plaque there. First, an adventurer must-"

"I can read, wench!"

The woman stared at him a moment, then shrugged. "Makes my job easier, then. Read the rules, then fill out this form. We'll give you a testing assignment, then if all goes well, you can officially accept our code and join the Guild."

"No need!" Danniah shook her head cheerfully. "This is the man we told you about, who helped us with the bandits! That's a lot harder than the testing assignment you gave us, so it works, right?"

Again the woman shrugged. "Makes my job easier."

Given the form, Bloodwraith took it to one of the tables and began using the quill he found there. It had taken no time at all to read the rules, of course. A bunch of nonsense about a moral code that he doubted even the adventurers held to. Signing his name would be easy enough, as it would certainly have no hold over him. Best to get it over with as soon as possible.

"So..." Khassfhit drew out the word. "You can read? Not a lot of sword-swinging peasants know how."

Danniah squeaked. "Khassfhit! That's rude!"

Bloodwraith only shrugged, continuing to fill out the form without looking down at it. "Of course I can read." He saw their gaze, Herena in particular looking surprised, and realized he needed some sort of explanation. "My, uh... my dear mother taught me how... before she passed..."

That answer seemed good enough, because they shut up until he finished the form. Bloodwraith brought it back to the woman at the desk, who barely glanced at his answers and then took the paper. "Alright, good enough for me. Just the fee and you can officially register."

"The fee?"

"Five silvers. Standard fee to keep out riffraff." The woman gave him a bored look and Bloodwraith swallowed. If only he hadn't spent so much... no, equipment was more important. But to have this happen in front of other adventurers...

"Are you serious?" Herena sniffed and walked back to the table, while the other two looked at him with infuriating pity.

Danniah dug around in the pack she carried and produced the money. "Here you go, Raigar! You can pay me back later!"

This was already humiliating enough, Bloodwraith just wanted it over. He snatched the money from her and dropped the five coins down on the table. The woman didn't seem to care in the slightest and whisked the coins away effortlessly. It looked like she wouldn't remember any of this tomorrow, if even an hour from now.

The adventurers, though... Khassfhit looked unimpressed, while Danniah beamed encouragingly. Bloodwraith focused on her first. "Do you regularly just loan people money like this?"

"Oh, sure! I mean, Khassfhit here owes me... what, 19 silver pieces?"

"Hmph!" The drakekin shook his head. "It's 17 silvers, silly girl."

"Oh, whoops! Sorry about that!"

Looking between them, Bloodwraith was quite certain that the debt was more than 19 silvers, or at least once had been. Though he suppressed his reaction, now he was the one unimpressed. Acting like a miser for a mere few silvers? He supposed that he should expected as much, from adventurers.

"Alright, you're in." The woman handed him a necklace with a band of iron in it, his name written across the band. "Congratulations, Iron Ranker. So long as you don't break the rules, this will grant you access for the rest of your life. Your fee also lets you use all the Guild's facilities for a tenday, but after that, you have to pay dues."

So it wasn't free after all. He should have known, considering that the Guild ultimately had to be profitable as well. Still, it was enough that he wouldn't have to sleep outside like a beggar. Though Khassfhit seemed less interested, he at least stayed close while Danniah grabbed his arm and tugged him back toward the table.

It seemed like she was going to babble more, so Bloodwraith cut her off. "She called me an 'iron ranker?' What does that mean?"

"It's the lowest rank in the Guild." To his surprise, it was Rhil'lahan who answered, having stood up from the table to greet him sourly. "Iron Rankers come and go like flies. Most will never advance to Bronze."

Bloodwraith noted that Rhil'lahan wore a necklace with a bronze plate on it instead of iron - it had his name on it, of course, pretentious accent mark and everything. But as proud as he seemed of it, if the ranks were named after metals, bronze was far from the top.

As he drank with the others - Herena getting the tab - he learned that the ranks went: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. That was an international ranking system, however, and Cresthaven held almost no adventurers who were Gold Rankers. Apparently Silver was the point where the rank gained real advantages, including waived fees and the ability to vote on Guild matters.

It all seemed very dull, but at least a few overheard conversations between adventurers made slightly more sense now. Bloodwraith wasn't sure he wanted to waste time with this at all, but for now it was good enough. If the Guild could be any use to him, however, he'd use whatever tools he could control.

Aside from acquiring more information about his circumstances, Bloodwraith enjoyed the company not at all. Adventurers were noisy and dull, even the mages. He was able to occupy himself a little by examining boxes and thinking of plans, but it was difficult to think with the others yammering and occasionally asking him questions.

Strangely, Danniah wasn't the worst of them. As much as she liked to talk, the others didn't let her get too many words in, frequently mocking her. She took most of it as friendly ribbing, but he didn't think some of it was friendly, especially when the jests flew over her head.

While it didn't matter in the slightest, Bloodwraith found himself annoyed by it. Danniah might have low "Intellect" but she had been the most useful one in the fight against the bandits. Sticking up for her would gain him nothing, so he didn't. It vaguely irked him, however, in a way that left him even more frustrated. Was this Raigar wanting to defend the weak or some such nonsense?

So Bloodwraith stuffed his frustration deeper down inside him and pretended to enjoy their company. He could find some sort of solution after he had gotten a full night of rest and had more time to establish himself.

When the night grew later, Herena yawned and left - no Guild accommodations for her, she was headed to a family home in the city. It seemed like things were winding down, leaving Danniah the most disappointed. She looked at all of them plaintively.

"I know it's getting late, but I still feel all sweaty from the fight... does anyone want to try the sauna?"

Khassfhit sniffed. "Of course not."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot! But Rhil'lahan, Raigar... what about you two?" She saw his curious expression and struck herself on the forehead. "Oh, I didn't realize! When you stay here, they'll bring you baths, but they also have a wonderful sauna! I always get so tense after fighting, but it lets me relax."

"I have other business to attend to." Rhil'lahan rose and strode away without saying farewell. Since Khassfhit had slunk away, that suddenly left Bloodwraith alone with Danniah, who looked at him sadly.

"Are you sure you don't want to give it a try? Please? It's no fun going alone..."

"Alright, I'll go." Dammit, what was he doing? The words were out of his mouth before he could think about them too much. Bloodwraith cursed Raigar's memory for forcing this on him and pledged that if the adventurer's soul had yet to pass on, he would find it and torture it for all eternity. "I'd love to try out the sauna with you."

"Oh, great! But get cleaned off first - I'll see you there!"

Sighing at his new commitment, Bloodwraith resigned himself to it. He was assigned a decent room at the Guildhall - thankfully, one far enough away from the drinking area to be quiet. They brought him a tub of water and he enjoyed cleaning himself. Living bodies might have a few advantages, but they generated so much filth, unlike preserved undead bodies.

When he returned the tub, he asked about the sauna and was directed to one of the strange side buildings. In this, at least, the Guild impressed him: skillful magic was used to pump water beneath the chamber and transform it into steam. He imagined the sauna itself wouldn't be worthwhile, but he appreciated the skill that had gone into it.

Only when he was directed to a small room where he exchanged his clothes for a white cloth did he reflect on what being in the sauna meant. He scowled and tried to think back to what he knew about the region's traditions. Cresthaven was in the southeast of Bannlind, which was mildly conservative. Weren't saunas usually split between genders? But if so, then nothing Danniah had said made any sense.

Dammit, how had he gotten himself into this? He should just leave, but an irritating instinct from Raigar didn't want to disappoint the girl. Bloodwraith wrapped the cloth very carefully around his waist and headed into the sauna.

The room was empty except for the steam. He sat down against one of the walls, at least enjoying the warm heat a little. Perhaps he would get lucky and Danniah would forget about it, or one of the others would order her to do some other task. Anything other than-

At that moment Danniah entered, wrapped only in a white cloth, and Bloodwraith realized that he had been wrong about her.

She wasn't shaped like a barrel, she had just been wearing sensible armor. Though her dwarven blood gave her a wide and sturdy body, without the armor it revealed surprising curves. The cloth around her covered her from knees to neck, but it conformed to her body enough that it left little to the imagination.

Just as Bloodwraith was about to chastise himself for staring like a hormone-addled fool, he realized that Danniah was staring at him. "Wow, you're... really muscly. I mean, I knew you were 'cuz of your arms, but... men usually wear a robe thing, not just a cloth around their waists..."

"Not where I'm from." He was sick of being treated like he didn't know what he was doing, so Bloodwraith decided to just lie. Besides, this body was at least in its prime and capable of exerting great physical power. There was no sense in being ashamed of it.

"Oh, okay!" Danniah hopped up onto the seat beside him and relaxed back against the wall. "I really like the steam. I know that Herena healed me completely, but I just don't feel completely right until I can relax all my muscles, you know?"

"I think I'm starting to understand."

"Good! I was hoping I could show you something nice." She let out a long, satisfied sigh. "In here, it all feels worth it. Sometimes when I'm in the middle of things, I feel like I can't do anything right and I just mess it up for everyone."

"You did fine." He was surprised how firmly he spoke, but decided not to question it. Raigar's instinct was correct in this case.

"Really?" Danniah stared at him, eyes wide.

"When fighting together, everyone needs to fulfill their own role. You did your best to protect everyone, including me. You might be able to do better, but you didn't make serious mistakes."

"Aww, thank you!"

To distract himself from less relevant things, Bloodwraith summoned her box again and examined the details. Yes, as he'd remembered, her statistics seemed good relative to her level. Though he didn't know if others followed the same rules as he did, he decided it was worth asking... "You were stronger than I expected. Do you do anything in particular to train?"

"Oh, definitely! Most adventurers say the best thing to do is to go on assignments and fight things. And there's definitely no substitute for real combat! But I've always had a hard time getting people to take me with them - until Rhil'lahan, anyway - and so I've had to train myself. They have a nice yard for it out behind the Guild..."

She went on talking about the training yard and it actually wasn't inane babble. On this subject, she was at least competent, and she certainly knew more than he did. It would serve him well to take all the information he could from her for later use.

Raigar's body was frustrating him in two ways, however. One, it insisted that he wanted her badly. Two, there was a stupid warm feeling somewhere inside his chest. He - or at least Raigar's instincts - actually liked Danniah a bit. Though not the brightest, she tried hard and was so earnest about everything. She deserved better than a team that didn't support her.

Since he couldn't just force the foreign instincts away by raw willpower, Bloodwraith found a compromise. He was the Corrupter of Worlds and Father to the Undead, after all, not... Hater of Everything. If Danniah was tolerable, she was tolerable. For now, he couldn't act on it, but one day...

He indulged himself with a fantasy of eliminating Rhil'lahan and the others, then ravishing Danniah. Then he could make better use of her somewhere her abilities would be appreciated. She wouldn't even resist.

Of course she wouldn't resist. His eyes wandered away from her to the box over her head, declaring that "Affection" had increased again.

Bloodwraith didn't enjoy the rest of his time in the sauna. When he went back to his room he fell asleep quickly and tried not to dream.

Chapter 8

The next morning, Bloodwraith felt surprisingly refreshed. It wasn't the night of normal rest, though that did him some good. It wasn't the breakfast purchased from the lower part of the Guild, though it did remind him of the simple pleasures of food. And it definitely wasn't having to spend time with the other adventurers, which he did as little as possible.

No, it was simply the fact that for the first time since he had used the Wand of Soul Exchange, he felt slightly stable.

He might be plagued by boxes, but he understood his surroundings a little. Though his goals and objectives were feeble, they were better than nothing. Eventually he would need to face some unpleasant truths about his reality, and he had to purge all these foolish do-gooder instincts, but there would be time. Given some space to work, he could build from this.

When he went to leave the Guild, however, he heard the sounds of a disruption and realized that not everything was as peaceful as he felt.

A short distance down the street, he saw a confrontation between two groups. At first they both seemed like random chaos to him, but as he approached he understood the division. On one side was a mixed group of adventurers, while the other side was unified by dark green cloaks. Beneath and over those cloaks they looked unorganized and disreputable, but they clearly formed a unified force.

Something between the groups kept them apart, and once he got closer he understood: six bodies lay on the ground between them. Adventurers, he thought, bloody but not bleeding because they had been dead for some time.

Some adventurers and the green-cloaked fighters were yelling at each other, but Bloodwraith worried more about those who stood with quiet tension. As he tried to understand the nature of the conflict, he scanned over the group: mostly similar level to him on both sides. The boxes wouldn't give him any level or statistic information on the bodies.

"Enough!" One of the greencloaks moved forward, actually stepping onto one of the bodies. His shout overwhelmed all other voices long enough for him to continue in a lower voice. "We didn't lay a hand on them. These idiots got themselves killed trying to complete Daek's task. You should be glad we brought their bodies back."

Several of the adventurers yelled back, most wild accusations. A mage in a red robe raised a more reasonable objection, so Bloodwraith focused on his words. "If you're just delivering them, why come in force?"

"Because we can't afford to get jumped by a bunch of adventurer thugs. We have enough problems without you adding more."

"Then why can't you take care of this problem yourself?"

"We just might." The lead figure among the greencloaks swept his eyes over the whole group. "Daek the Knife is starting to lose faith in the Guild. He wants a representative to reassure him that you can actually be of use to Cresthaven."

That led to a cry of outrage and one of the adventurers actually stepped forward and attacked. All the greencloaks lunged from the sides, flanking him and stabbing fatally. Some other adventurers attacked and things devolved into a brawl.

Bloodwraith briefly considered joining in and cutting people down from behind - it would certainly be a quick way to acquire EXP. But no, that would be short-sighted. He didn't know enough about the overall situation, plus the conflict seemed to be ebbing. What he needed to gain from this situation was a better understanding of Cresthaven.

It seemed that the conflict between Daek and the Guild was more antagonistic than rumor had suggested. Daek's green-cloaked forces were more dangerous than he expected as well - hardly just burglars and cutpurses. And where was the town guard?

When Bloodwraith found them, he realized the seriousness of the situation. There were two guards within sight, but they pointedly stared forward, ignoring the fight. Daek really did have control over the town guard, then. Perhaps not enough to use them to exert his will, but enough that they would do nothing against him. Then Meara's rumor had been correct about Cresthaven rotating around him.

Eventually the two groups pulled apart. Many were injured, but only the first adventurer to attack had been killed. Daek's forces retreated to a safe distance before the leader called out one more time. "Send a representative to Daek before sunset or your little Guild will regret it!"

With that he turned to go and the whole group joined him, their green cloaks swirling. Most of the adventurers watched them with hatred, so Bloodwraith tried to glare as well. He was more interested about what task was at the heart of all this.

"Should be a good opportunity." The voice from his side took him off guard, and Bloodwraith looked sharply to find Rhil'lahan standing nearby. "Daek would respect a larger group, though, so I suppose we can let you come along."

"You want to be the Guild's representative? Is that safe?" He gestured toward the bodies, but Rhil'lahan snorted.

"It's all theater. Actually being a representative is a simple task, if you have a spine and you can reach Daek's headquarters safely. But you get respect for doing it, and quick points toward your Guild ranking. You want to come along, get yourself a little closer to Bronze?"

Boxes immediately flooded over his vision, going into detail on Guild ranks. Bloodwraith decided that was too many points and mentally forced them away, instead focusing on Rhil'lahan. "I'll come with you. When are we going?"

"I'll have to convince Khassfhit, and we need to wait for Herena to wake up. But by this afternoon, we can go to meet Daek the Knife."

Though Bloodwraith expected things to go less smoothly, to his surprise the group actually got together that afternoon and headed to the other side of town. He had been concerned that he wasn't fully prepared, but Khassfhit had told him that there was no serious danger if they worked efficiently. Still, he kept touching the hilt of his greatsword and wishing that his new weapon was fully repaired.

As they walked, they passed into a new part of town. He saw fewer adventurers on the streets now and more greencloaks, in addition to other suspicious-looking types. Definitely a criminal part of town, which had always struck him as distasteful compared to an organized legion of undead. The others grew tenser, Danniah's eyes huge in her helm.

She was wearing her full armor again, but it didn't matter, Bloodwraith couldn't forget what was underneath. Raigar's stupid body couldn't forget either, distracting him. He needed to find some way to vent those urges or he'd become irrational. For the moment, he concentrated on the threat around them.

No one attacked them on their way, though they received a lot of suspicious glances. Eventually they reached a tall building of crumbling stone. Aside from green mana torches atop it, he would have thought it was unoccupied, perhaps condemned by the city.

When they got near the door, however, several figures who had merely been loitering around came together in a focused guard. One of them stepped forward. "You got business with Daek?"

"His subordinate asked for a Guild representative." Rhil'lahan jabbed a thumb at his chest. "That's us."

"Fine. I'll ask." The man disappeared into a creaky door for a time but soon reemerged and nodded to them grimly. They were escorted inside the shadowy building and Bloodwraith tensed his entire body.

To his surprise, the inside was larger and better kept than he would have expected based on the outside. There were even more suspicious men and women inside, all wearing dingy green cloaks. But he barely had time to look at their armaments, because they were led not forward, but down.

The first stair took them to a cavernous basement filled with crumbling carvings, as if the tower had been built atop an older structure. But he had just as little time to look at it, because they were led to another level below, this one more recently built. Nothing was crumbling or in poor repair here.

On the third basement level they finally stopped descending, instead moving forward. Though there were a number of rooms to the sides, most heavily barred, they headed down the central corridor. Bloodwraith knew little about traps, but he could still feel the whisper of wards. The place was better protected than the local governor's mansion, most likely.

Green mana torches lit the hallway for the final section with no side rooms, just torches and defenses. They were allowed inside through the heavy door, and finally they were escorted inside the private chambers of Daek the Knife.

Daek was a short, thin man sharpening a knife in a shadowed corner. He wore lean dark armor that looked effective and had knives strapped all over his body. But the most striking thing was the box that appeared when Bloodwraith focused on him.

Level 19. And everything else about him was listed as "???" - nothing more.

That didn't bode well, but he had no more time for such thoughts. Daek rose, his movements swift but troublingly graceful, like a snake. There was absolutely no smile on his face, but he gave them a polite bow once he rose to his feet.

"Welcome. I'm glad the Guild still sees fit to send representatives."

"Of course." Rhil'lahan spoke smoothly, bowing lower with no hint of his usual arrogance. "We respect how much you've done for Cresthaven. We wanted to apologize for this morning's little problem."

Bloodwraith shot him a glance. Daek's men had killed an adventurer - was he really going to just apologize and act like it hadn't happened? Perhaps his goal really was simply to finish the assignment and get credit for it. If so, Bloodwraith would have to alter his opinion of the man.

Things might have gone smoothly from there, except Herena clearly did not have the same plan. "You sent your men into a good part of town and murdered a citizen!" The healer stepped up and poked Daek in the chest. "You should be the one apologizing to the Guild!"

For a moment Daek's eyes went cold and Bloodwraith honestly believed that he would stab Herena right then. But the next instant he gave her a flat smile and stepped back. "I'm sorry for the behavior of my men. They were given orders to return the bodies without causing a scene..." Daek raised a hand to one of the green-cloaked men by the door. "Would you bring him in?"

After a short wait, the leader of the group appeared. He hesitated when he saw the group of adventurers, but still walked up to Daek. "You wanted something, boss?"

"They told me that your men began the fight this morning."

"That isn't... they hit first. Just because of a few bodies."

"Bodies that were lying in the street, according to my reports. Why didn't you take them directly to the Guild?" Daek stepped closer to his subordinate, false smile disappearing. The man swallowed and took a step back.

"We tried, but you know the Guild doesn't lik-"

Daek stabbed the man in the stomach. The movement was so fast that Bloodwraith barely saw it happen, and a moment later everyone else flinched back. As the man gasped in pain, Daek leaned closer to him. "I don't want excuses, just results. Perhaps your replacement won't fail me."

His hand jerked back and he stabbed several more times. The first blow resulted in a bloody gasp, but soon the man went silent and eventually fell to the ground as just a corpse. Daek wiped his knife off on the man's clothes, then stood and smiled at them.

"I trust that will serve as an apology." Daek replaced his knife smoothly and walked back to his corner. "There's no need to get Governor Andinn involved with this, is there? I like to stay on his good side. For the good of Cresthaven, of course."

Herena nodded begrudgingly. From what Bloodwraith had heard, Daek was being modest: he could fight Andinn if he needed to. The Governor still had significant power in Cresthaven, but he was undermined by the corruption in his own guard and administration. He stayed in power because everyone gained more profit that way.

Daek killing his own subordinate might have been intended to intimidate them, but Bloodwraith wasn't impressed. Killing subordinates who made mistakes was a poor way to attract good subordinates. Fear could be a powerful motivator, but you wanted your minions motivated to perform well, not motivated to avoid you for fear of murder.

From his position back on his stool, Daek regarded all of them coolly. "But I must say, I really am disappointed that the Guild hasn't dealt with my little problem. I didn't expect it to be an issue - a few strong adventurers ought to do it."

"I'm afraid we can't speak to that," Rhil'lahan said, raising his hands. But before he could say more, Khassfhit spoke up.

"You can't expect to draw the best adventurers with as little information as you've given."

"Really? I honestly thought this would be your sort of thing." Daek began cleaning his fingernails with a knife casually - too casually, Bloodwraith thought, but he wasn't sure if it was feigned. "The crypts beneath the city might be mostly unmapped, but from our attempted explorations, they seem to hold ancient artifacts. Doesn't that sort of thing motivate your kind?"

"We also like making a safe profit." But Khassfhit couldn't hide the new light in his eyes. "You said there were artifacts?"

"Oh, all kinds. We couldn't get in deep enough to find anything useful, but..." Daek glanced around his office and snapped up a silver sphere that was lying randomly on a shelf. "Take a look at this. They tell me it's an Outsider artifact, but I've never cared about that sort of thing. I just want the entire crypt cleared so that I can continue my business. That's why the terms are so good."

"You'd allow us to keep whatever we found?"

"If you do the job, of course. I'm paying to have the place cleared, after all." Daek glanced up at them. "Are you interested?"

"Ah, we have many duties..." Rhil'lahan started to speak, but Khassfhit cut him off.

"Give us more information about the monsters that have been found within, and we'll consider it."

"Khassfhit!" Rhil'lahan turned on him angrily and they began arguing with one another.

Though they spoke just above a whisper, Bloodwraith could hear the basics of it. Khassfhit believed this job was more lucrative than others understood and wanted to take advantage, while Rhil'lahan clearly wasn't interested in getting further involved. Regardless, Bloodwraith found himself looking up at Daek, who watched them with a careful lack of interest.

"This has been a problem for all of Cresthaven," Herena interjected into their argument, not bothering to lower her voice. "I think we should look into it."

Danniah nodded eagerly. "A real crypt! That sounds like a lot of fun!"

Seeing that he was outnumbered, Rhil'lahan sighed. A moment later he remembered that Bloodwraith existed and turned to him. "Raigar, surely you see reason. We shouldn't risk our lives in a crypt we know so little about!"

Bloodwraith looked back at him, realizing that he might well make the decision for them. Much as he loathed to admit it, he saw the elf's point. It was a substantial risk, especially before he'd established himself. But the boxes had mentioned Daek the Knife, so this might be relevant on a deeper level. The fact that he had been ushered here so quickly bothered him, but perhaps that was what the box gods wanted.

"I think we should investigate the crypt," Bloodwraith said. Rhil'lahan threw up his hands, the others nodded approvingly and smiled.

That included Daek, who gave them a very thin smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Very good. I am glad to hear the Guild hasn't abandoned its pledges. Of course, I wouldn't recommend that you throw yourselves into the crypt without preparation. Take some time... perhaps five days or more?"

[Quest Accepted!

Clear the crypt beneath Cresthaven for Daek the Knife.

Rewards: Reputation, Artifacts, 1 Gold/adventurer]

At the same point the box appeared, the decision seemed to have been made in the group as well. Instead of arguing over whether or not to go, they debated exactly how long to wait. Without explaining about his sword, Bloodwraith argued for it to be longer. Fortunately Khassfhit agreed, and in the end they decided that they would make the attempt in twelve days.

"Just over a tenday, then." Daek smiled at all of them. "I hope you do better than the last group."

With that, they were escorted out of the chamber, back down the long corridor. Bloodwraith looked over his shoulder one more time and caught a glimpse of Daek the Knife, his smile gone as he watched them. Those were exceptionally cruel eyes, and Bloodwraith had seen many cruel eyes.

Daek was no one to underestimate, but he was running this city like a lowly thief. When Bloodwraith had heard about him, he had imagined the man fused official and unofficial power in an effective way to turn the entire city into a machine for his will. This was brute fear and intimidation. Given a few months, Bloodwraith could run the city far better.

Did he even want to contemplate such a thing? When he considered...

[Potential Objective: Rule Cresthaven

Take control of Cresthaven from Daek the Knife.

Rewards: ???

Accept? Y/N]

Even as he walked, Bloodwraith stared at the box. This was one of the first times it had asked him to confirm anything since near the very beginning. That supported his theory that Daek was tied into whatever the boxes wanted, but it failed to answer any key questions.

For now, he simply willed the box away without answering its question. The crypt was a good enough objective for the time being. Before anything else, he had twelve days to prepare.

Chapter 9

Over the next tenday, Bloodwraith attempted to play the good adventurer. He soon understood that such a life would never satisfy him.

If he had been facing bandit ambushes and massive creatures every day, that would have been one thing. But logic held sway over the boxes in this case: a city the size of Cresthaven couldn't support an enormous population of bandits, despite all the adventuring malcontents. Instead he faced the work that most normal adventurers faced on a regular basis.

In a word: tedium. A local merchant wanted an object delivered to a local farm. The Governor paid adventurers to kill a specific monster that was too plentiful. Craftsmen wanted resources collected, just like Meara. It was all terribly dull.

Worse than that, it was unrewarding. In ten days of constant work, he had only earned 1454 EXP and 48 silver pieces. The boxes had also announced with much fanfare that he had earned 131 "local reputation" and 277 "Guild Points" but he refused to be distracted by its excitement. Those things might be useful in certain contexts, but they were not raw power, which was useful everywhere.

Sometimes he received rewards, which were usually weapons or armor slightly different than the current armor he was wearing. All of those he sold, which unfortunately didn't add much to the financial benefit because the market was flooded with so much of it.

The one benefit he had gained was a direct increase of all of his statistics, which he improved by working in the training yard. Unfortunately, each time the number increased, the obnoxious percentage value rose more slowly the next time. That might be logical in terms of increasing strength, but it meant that there was no easy path to power.

He might have done better if he worked more with Danniah, but he still had conflicted thoughts about her. One night she'd managed to convince him to go to the saunas again and it hadn't been horribly awkward, but it still bothered him. Bloodwraith didn't fully know who he was, not in this new body and new life.

But in the short term, he was a man who had a sword to collect.

Bloodwraith returned to the store and found Haral working at his forge, as before. There was no sign of his greatsword, but it would make sense that it might not be stored in an obvious location. But when the smith looked up and saw him, he shook his head.

"I told you today, but it's still not ready. One more day."

"A likely story." Bloodwraith found himself grasping the hilt of his greatsword, though he wasn't sure what he would do with it. Attacking the smith was obviously not an option, making the threat entirely empty. "Will you say the same tomorrow?"

"No. On my honor." Haral set down his hammer and approached, shaking his head. "It's just a bit more work than I expected. And you're getting a damn good deal with it, though I'll honor the price we agreed upon."

"Good. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Was that all for today?"

"I've earned some more coin working, so I'd like a bit more armor..." Specifically, he wanted to finally acquire the pieces of armor he had given up in order to afford the new greatsword. A few days ago a lowly wolf had succeeded in causing extended bleeding on his leg because he'd lacked armor, and he could imagine his arms taking similar injuries as well.

After limited negotiation, Bloodwraith managed to get good quality versions of both pieces of equipment for only 25 silvers. He was hardly equipped with masterworks or artifacts, but it was good to be fully armored. If his sword really was ready in another day, then he would be decently prepared for their journey into the crypt.

Though he wasn't likely to spend the 23 silvers he had remaining, he might as well check out the other room again and see what was available. If the lodestone greatsword proved useful, then repairing rare equipment might be the easiest way of equipping himself decently without paying the exorbitant prices that most rare equipment demanded.

Bloodwraith used the boxes to help him sort through all the items strewn about the room. Many were the same as before, but some had changed. The ring was gone - no surprise, given how broadly applicable such an item would be. There were a few items that would have been decent for a mage, but in his current body nothing struck him as all that useful.

Just as he was starting to leave, though, he caught sight of something. Not via the box's rating, but with his eyes. Bloodwraith slowly walked over to the side shelf and picked up the helm.

It wasn't the helm he had worn in his old life, he knew that. Rationally, he knew that it was only slightly similar, with the interlocking plates and the slanted eye slits. Yet at a glance, it still reminded him of the helm he had worn when he had been Father to the Undead. That one had been made of mana-forged bone and set with magic enhancing gems, whereas this one was simple steel. Well made, but nothing particularly special.

Despite that, he lifted it and very nearly put it on before he stopped himself. What the hell was wrong with him? Raigar's body certainly wouldn't be sentimental about that life. But perhaps the fleshly sentiment still infected him, making him nostalgic for the life he had lost.

Sentiment had never ruled him, so Bloodwraith set the helm back down. It still made him less pleased with the armor he currently wore. Leather rags, fully fitting the barbarian that he pretended to be. If he had to put up with this body, and had been stuck with the skills of a warrior, at the very least he could acquire a more respectable set of armor.

Troubled by those thoughts, Bloodwraith left the shop at a brisk walk and returned to the Adventurers Guild. First, he would deal with this crypt. Better to focus on goals he could make meaningful progress toward.

He reached the training grounds and began practicing with his greatsword, watching the numbers slowly increment. But he had only been working for a few hours when Danniah arrived. Though useful in some ways, her cheerfulness was decidedly not what he needed at the moment. Unfortunately, there was no other exit, so he was trapped.

"Hey there!" Danniah waved with her free arm as she entered. "Working hard?"

"Yes," Bloodwraith answered flatly. Danniah stared at him, as if confused by his brusqueness.

"You seem kinda down, Raigar. I mean, you're always a serious type, but you seem extra down."

In response he just grunted. Unfortunately, Danniah came closer, settled her shield on the ground, and leaned forward on it to look at him.

"Guess you don't wanna talk, huh?"

He nearly called her an imbecile, but his heart wasn't in it. His movements slowed and after a time, he dismissed the boxes and leaned on his sword. "Why do you want to be an adventurer, Danniah?"

"Gosh. That's a big question." She blinked at him for a while. "I mean... it's kinda fun, and I'm good at it. But that's because of how I grew up, maybe? Maybe that's because I had to do a lot of things for my mother. Carrying stuff, or-"

"Not like that. Is it just for fun, or are you working toward some goal?"

"Oh, that's what you meant! If I ever get an awful lot of money, I was thinking of making an opposite Thieves Guild or something."

Bloodwraith stared at her a moment, then returned to his practice. Since he needed a distraction from the painfully slow progress, he decided to indulge her a little longer. "What does that mean? You sneak into people's houses and give money back to them?"

Danniah laughed heartily, nearly falling over before catching herself on her shield. She wiped her eyes several times before answering. "Heehee, no. What I mean is that the Thieves Guild is the only group that really pays attention to orphans. In a city like this, there are a bunch of people without parents, you know? Most of them have really hard lives, and the only one who will take them in is the Thieves Guild. But they just want to recruit the good ones to use them. I wanna make some kind of Children's Guild, to take care of them and give them another option."

"You mean an orphanage?"

"Yeah, that's the word! Thanks!" Danniah beamed at him. "Except I don't want to just take care of them. I was thinking that some of them would be good at things, just like at the Thieves Guild. So they could become merchants or adventurers or something instead of thieves. But that would take an awful lot of money, so it's just a silly idea for now."

"Not necessarily. There's potential there." No doubt many of the orphans were the spawn of adventurers, so they would have potential as well. It would be a slow development, but one could slowly gain control of increasing pieces of the city by pursuing such a path. In a couple of decades the orphans would become a valuable fighting force, and conditions could be kept the same to ensure a continuing supply of orphans.

"Wow, you're the first person who didn't tell me the idea was silly! I really want to try someday, because I like helping people. I'm glad you feel the same way, Raigar!"

"...yes. Nothing like helping people."

He hoped that would be enough conversation for Danniah to leave him alone so he could go back to increasing his statistics. She usually came here to practice with her shield and had asked him to help her with her bashing skill a few times. Unfortunately, she kept lingering nearby, watching him.

"Raigar..." Danniah leaned in further, staring up at him. "What's your reason for becoming an adventurer? What's your dream?"

Was this supposed to be a personal moment? Bloodwraith looked down and saw how she was looking at him. Combining the slight flush in her cheeks, her comments in the sauna, and her behavior in general... only an idiot couldn't see what was happening.

Normally he would have felt revulsion, but Bloodwraith simply felt tired. He had too many conflicting feelings, made all the worse by the complications of the boxes. Was he truly interacting with reality, or could he only touch it through the manipulations of incomprehensible beings from another world? Compared to all of that, Danniah seemed only a minor annoyance, not worth any anger or disgust.

"I don't know." He hadn't expected to answer honestly and cursed Raigar's meaty warrior skull. Too late to take the words back, he needed to cut his losses. "I feel like I need to experience more of life before I can decide on a real goal."

"That's okay, Raigar! I'll help you find one!" As he looked down at Danniah's grinning face, Bloodwraith felt irritation... at the fact that she kept calling him Raigar. But that was a subject he definitely couldn't touch. Shaking his head, he straightened and returned his greatsword to his back.

"Thanks. Sorry, but I realized that there's something I need to do before noon."

"Aww, okay. Come back and we can practice some more sometime!"

Bloodwraith just waved and let her think it was an acknowledgment. He got out of the Guild as soon as possible, then out of the entire area regularly inhabited by adventurers. Once he was surrounded by ordinary peasants, he could think a little more clearly.

The boxes didn't leave him alone, however, and he wasn't here to waste time. Instead, he headed to the usual potion-maker's stall. An old woman ran it who he had decided wasn't completely insufferable. Her assignments had been straightforward, given decent EXP, and she hadn't wasted his time talking.

But the real reason he bothered with her was to build his "Herbalism" skill. The only magic ring he possessed increased that skill, and items that could be turned into potions seemed common, so it would be a waste to ignore it. Over the past several days he'd increased the level of Herbalism to 5 before he seemed to hit a wall, but that was enough that he could brew simple health potions.

Today it seemed like the old woman was in her usual place, but negotiating with a group of adventurers. Since he had no desire to talk to them, Bloodwraith stayed back, leaning against a nearby building until they went away. Hopefully he wouldn't wait for long.

"Hello, adventurer." Something about the voice made him jolt and instantly look toward the source.

Meara stood beside him.

She'd changed her clothes entirely, replacing the skirt and bustier for a cloak that entirely obscured her body, though she had the hood down. Her hair fell flatter than before, as if some of the life had gone out of it. Though he didn't see any of the manic tension in her eyes from before, he didn't like the uncertain emotions he saw there, either.

His staring at her prompted a box to come up, but it was just garbled gibberish. Bloodwraith willed it aside with a mutter and forced himself to refocus. "Why are you here, Meara?"

"I found a small village. Tried to use my skills to build a new life there." She turned aside from him, wrapping her arms around herself. "I couldn't." She didn't say any more. With anyone else, he would have ignored them, but...

"Why? Your skills no longer work?"

Meara snorted. "Oh, they worked. The problem is in my head. Something isn't right. With our world. With me. I can't put my finger on it. But I feel like I have a connection to you. Not in a mushy sense, but like there's a chain I can't break."

Bloodwraith folded his arms and stared at her. The box appeared again, but he couldn't understand it. Every other box had been written in a familiar script, even foreign names like "Rhil'lahan," but Meara's was incomprehensible. As he looked, the box itself seemed to flicker in a way that made him uncomfortable.

"Is that all? You're just going to stare at me?"

"I'm not sure what to do. You walked away from me, now you walk back?" Bloodwraith swallowed his irritation and tried to consider the situation logically. "You and I are the only ones who know that something from outside our reality is tampering with it. If you want to help me understa-"

"No." Meara winced and rubbed her forehead. "Thinking about that hurts. I wish I could just go back to being a peasant girl, but..." She trailed off, shuddering and casting her eyes down.

Though Bloodwraith waited a while longer, but it became clear that no answer was forthcoming. More than anything, that irritated him. Meara was potentially the only person who could help him, yet she had become this whimpering wreck? He didn't have time to help her recover, not with the crypt assignment in just two days.

"I have things I need to do, Meara." He turned away from her, but she caught his arm.

"Wait! Please... I think you might be the only person who can help me. You were trapped in a pattern with me, but you broke it. Without help, I think... I'm not sure, but maybe... if... if..."

"Don't try to play to my compassion." Bloodwraith grabbed her wrist and forced her to let go. "I don't have any."

She stared up at him and for a moment he thought she would begin crying. But instead, he saw her eyes go flat. After staring at him for a time, she reached into her cloak and withdrew something: a small vial filled with orange liquid. "You only care about people who are useful to you, is that it? Then try this."

His instinct was to take the vial, but he stopped himself, instead examining it first.

[Failed Potion

An improperly brewed potion.

Durability: -5/10

Rarity: N/A]

Bloodwraith took it, because at least the glass had a little value. He opened his mouth to say that it was worthless, but to his surprise Meara cut him off with an unpleasant smile.

"Everyone at the village told me it was worthless. I was hoping you'd be different."

With that, Meara turned away and pushed into the crowds. He tracked her for some distance until she pulled her hood up and disappeared into an alleyway. To his surprise, he felt a moment's instinct to tell her that it wasn't safe there, but he suppressed it. Just another of Raigar's instincts.

The encounter left him frustrated, especially with the cold glass in his hand as a reminder. Bloodwraith examined the potion more carefully, but the boxes never displayed anything different. Why did it have "durability" at all, much less a negative number? When he compared it to a normal potion, then one he had created, only Meara's potion had anything like that. Was that simply how failed potions looked, or was this another incomprehensible whim of the box gods?

Thoughts of Meara frustrated him for the rest of the day, so he threw himself into practicing herbalism and swordplay. Though he didn't make any great advances, at least the little numbers in the boxes went up. It was better than his utterly futile efforts with Meara or Danniah.

The next day, he returned to the smithy in an even worse mood. Though he had mostly put the frustrating issues aside, he had a bad feeling that he would be given another excuse. This time he wouldn't let the smith off so easily: he only had one more day and he needed that sword.

But when he entered, Haral immediately smiled, set down his tongs, and moved to a long cabinet. "Good timing, adventurer. This turned out better than I expected." He carefully lifted the lodestone greatsword from the cabinet, then turned and presented it to him. "Hand over your current weapon and it's yours. You're getting a good deal on this."

As Bloodwraith absentmindedly gave up his old greatsword, he examined the new one again. The statistics hadn't changed, aside from the durability being 97/100 now. That would do, given that his other sword had lasted fairly well.

There wasn't room to swing without breaking something in the shop, but Bloodwraith still lifted it and tested it a little. Yes, this sword would do. More importantly, he felt his body's natural mana begin to flow away from him. The "Mana Capacity" the boxes spoke of seemed to be aptly named.

"Heh, not much to say?" Haral shook his head and moved away. "I suppose you want to try it out. Come back if you need any more equipment fixed, you hear?"

Bloodwraith nodded absentmindedly as he left the shop. The new sword didn't fit quite perfectly in the latch on his back, but it would be close enough with a bit of work. All that really mattered was seeing if his theory was correct. He walked faster as he headed toward the city gates.

As he did so, he kept an eye on the boxes for himself and the sword. Several points of mana siphoned over to the greatsword before he stopped them and waited in frustration for his own to regenerate. Even outside of the Forest, his health regenerated faster than would be natural for a fighter, but his mana regeneration was pathetic compared to that of a trained sorcerer. And that was out of combat, as the boxes' rules about that hadn't changed.

Still, by the time he had left the city, the sword had been filled. It didn't seem any stronger for that - such a weapon would have been too much to hope for - but it did hum with extra mana. At minimum, he could use it to store additional mana. But he hoped for more...

When he found a good place, Bloodwraith stood in front of a boulder and closed his eyes. He carefully raised his hand over his shoulder and unlatched his sword, slowly raising it over his head. Once he would have been uncomfortable with the movements, but after enough practice they were familiar. Not as familiar as his old spellcasting habits... but those were the ones he was hoping could help him now.

Though it was difficult to gain proper awareness of the mana within himself and within the sword, that might not matter. The boxes did everything impersonally, and the idiotic "Fist of Rage" had always just emerged from him like he'd chosen it from a list. In theory...

Abruptly Bloodwraith swung down, willing his sword to strike with more than just physical force. He opened his eyes just before he struck and let the mana surge from the sword instead of his body. It struck the boulder with a small explosion, gouging out a large chunk of rock.

Smiling, Bloodwraith examined his boxes again. No damage to the sword, and the mana had all come from it. This wasn't quite as good as fusing together a spell and a blade, but it was unquestionably more powerful than just swinging around a chunk of iron. He was proud of himself for developing-

[New Skill Acquired: Sword of Rage!

Starting Level: 1

EXP +250]

"Sword of Rage? Is this a cruel jest?" The box did not respond, of course, no matter how much he sourly glared at it. They had asked him for his own name, why did they insist on naming his skills? He could call it whatever he wanted in his head, of course, but the boxes would always refer to it as "Sword of Rage" no matter what he did.

But this time, his anger didn't last for long. Regardless of the name, this skill was useful. More importantly, it made him a more unified warrior instead of a brute with a random selection of skills. This was a significant step.

He only had one day to practice the skill before he would need to use it in the crypt. Bloodwraith knew he'd be ready.

Chapter 10

On the day of their assignment, everyone was on time for once. They met in the lowest level of the Adventurers Guild, each adventurer fully equipped. It seemed most of them had slightly different armor, not that it made much difference. Only the new mana sphere Khassfhit was carrying caught Bloodwraith's attention at all, and that was just a simple upgrade.

Still, it would have to be enough. Tension had been rising between the Adventurer's Guild and Daek the Knife, so their success was needed to smooth things over.

When they arrived at the Thieves Guild, Bloodwraith had expected Daek to meet them, but they didn't even enter. Instead, a group of greencloaks took them to a different point in the city. They said next to nothing, but the adventurers weren't in the mood to talk, not with so much danger pending.

At last they reached the crypt itself, which had to be accessed through the basement of an abandoned building. According to the research he had done, it connected elsewhere in the city too, which was why it was so much of a problem. Of course, a real solution would have been to dominate the will of all the monsters within, or replace them with obedient undead, but just killing everything in the place would work too.

The door was an ancient one, but when the leader of the greencloaks placed a stone plate into a depression, it opened smoothly enough. Once it was open, the man turned back to them. "The first hallway is cleared and we think most of the rooms along it were looted by other adventurers. But no promises. And beyond that, anything goes."

"It should be nothing we can't handle." Rhil'lahan looked down his nose at the greencloak. "You'll stay here to provide support?"

"Hell no, we want nothing to do with the place. The rest is up to you - don't get killed." The greencloak shoved the stone plate at Rhil'lahan and left with the others, leaving them alone in front of the yawning doorway.

They stood in silence for a while, regarding it. Herena seemed a bit nervous, while Khassfhit was clearly thinking of arcane treasures. Bloodwraith mainly thought about how strange it was to be doing this from the other side. It had always been frustrating when adventurers tried to invade his crypt. Of course, this one had been unoccupied for years, so their work should be much easier.

At last, Danniah spoke up. "Well... nothing to do but go in, I guess. I'll go first, watch my back!"

"Exactly." Rhil'lahan realized that he needed to assert control quickly and stepped forward, giving orders over his shoulder. "Danniah, stay in front and block anything that tries to attack us. I'll take the right flank, Raigar can go on the left. Khassfhit - stay alert, but you'd better not use any fireballs in these tunnels. Herena, we'll be relying on you to keep us fighting. This could be a long job."

They made their way down the corridor carefully, illuminated by light from Khassfhit and Herena. Every time they reached a side room, they checked carefully to avoid being flanked from behind, but their information proved accurate. All threats had been eliminated and all items looted.

Despite the tension, that actually made things a bit boring. Bloodwraith found himself examining irrelevant details, like how relatively clean the corridors were. The crypt was in good shape, for a place that had supposedly been abandoned for so long.

Might this be a manipulation of the box gods, an artificial challenge like the wolf cave with its inexplicable chest? If so, that troubled him, because he hadn't expected anything like that outside the Forest of Beginnings. Then again, he had been strongly recommended to come here by the guides who met him, and Meara had sent him toward this quest in particular. Perhaps he would find an artificial road laid out for him, if he stuck close to the path.

Surprisingly quickly, however, they reached more dangerous territory. Rhil'lahan raised a hand for silence and bent down, listening carefully. Soon, the others could hear it as well: a shuffling and groaning. Herena pulled her staff closer to her chest. "What is that?"

"There's something alive down here." Rhil'lahan unsheathed both his swords. "It looks like we have to fight already."

Something undead, actually. Bloodwraith recognized those groans as grave wights. With his necromantic senses gone, he couldn't be sure, but he guessed that they were relatively weak. They could be defeated with fire or properly placed blows... but there was no reason for Raigar the warrior to know that, so he held his tongue.

When they turned a corner, Danniah froze in surprise. The others blundered after her, so Bloodwraith followed them... and saw the wight in the corridor, undead eyes glowing toward them.

A moment later it let out a screech. More wights crawled from nearby doors and a hole in the floor, then began to rush them, their screeches merging. It was a wonderfully nostalgic old sound, though less pleasant now that the wights wanted to tear him apart.

Danniah held her ground and met the first group head on, pushing her shield out with explosive force. Her training paid off, because the over-sized piece of metal worked well as a weapon, sending the first wights flying back into the others following them.

The other adventurers didn't do so well. Rhil'lahan fought flashily, but shallow cuts weren't actually very effective against the undead. Khassfhit easily lit them afire with tongues of flame, but the bursts nearly singed his allies as well. Herena retreated, staring at the wights in disgust.

Sighing, Bloodwraith stepped in and began swinging. Despite their poor teamwork, their group was much more dangerous than mere wights. So long as they stayed in a narrow corridor like this one and avoided becoming surrounded, wights would pose less of a threat than friendly fire - literal fire, in this case.

Soon enough, they put down all the undead that had been summoned by the screeching. A waste, and they'd done so inefficiently, but they'd done so nonetheless. Bloodwraith wondered just how many wights had been in the first part of the crypt, for them to have eliminated previous groups of adventurers. Perhaps the previous groups had been incompetent... or more disturbingly, perhaps something in the crypt was capable of generating more wights.

[Victory! You received 271 EXP.]

Quite a reward for an easy fight, though. Perhaps because he was on the quest the boxes had given him, or perhaps because he was fighting a monster he had never fought before - in this life, anyway. Regardless, Bloodwraith found himself smiling in satisfaction.

Herena seemed less pleased. "They said there were only a few undead. Ugh. Do you think they were wrong, or...?"

"That probably counts as only a few." Rhil'lahan flicked dust off his blades and returned them to his back. "This crypt has repelled many adventurers, after all. You wanted to clear it - don't expect it to be easy."

The noblewoman sniffed and looked aside. Once they confirmed that all the wights were truly destroyed, they continued into the rooms and began to loot them. At least they weren't stupid enough to split up in a place like this. Bloodwraith kept his sword handy and stayed on the lookout for anything that might actually be of value to him.

There didn't seem to be much of value to anyone except perhaps a scholar, just some broken pottery and ancient furniture. It took them time to survey each room, however. Bloodwraith realized that he had been imagining their journey into the crypt as a brutal fight, but it might turn out to be mostly cleaning and organization.

After every room they returned to the corridor, then headed into the next chamber. Bloodwraith grew so bored that he almost didn't feel the mana snapping when they moved forward.

"Get down!" His shout came too late, as whistling filled the corridor.

On instinct he'd thrown himself into one of the doorways and raised his sword in front of him to defend himself. But his new sword was thinner than the old one and he felt pain stinging in his chest. Two needles had pierced his armor, and others had struck his legs while he fled.

Things were even worse in the corridor. Danniah had dropped down and braced her shield in front of her when he had called, and her armor seemed to have weathered most of it. But Rhil'lahan, Herena, and Khassfhit were all bleeding from a dozen wounds.

Worse, there was another screech from down the corridor.

Bloodwraith surged forward to meet the rush. It was only a few wights, summoned by the sounds of the trap. Working together with Danniah, he managed to put them down, but he could feel no satisfaction and just waved aside the box declaring his victory. One trap had taken out most of their party.

When he turned back, he found that Herena had begun to heal herself and Khassfhit was muttering under his breath. But Rhil'lahan was staring at Bloodwraith. "How did a barbarian like you know the trap was going to hit us?"

To buy a moment to think, Bloodwraith grunted. "...barbarians have an instinct for danger."

"I should have seen it." Khassfhit tried to pull himself up by the wall, winced, and slid back down. "I was looking for pure wards, but of course those would deteriorate over time. They were built into the stones, I think. Yes... and they must have been keyed to attack life, which is why the wights didn't trigger them."

Though Bloodwraith could have told them all that at the beginning, he had to hold his tongue. The bigger concern was how they were going to continue, having taken such injuries. The needles didn't seem to have been poisoned, or the poison had deteriorated, but the ones in his body stung painfully. He might regenerate in time, but his companions wouldn't.

"Alright, this is the first attempt." Rhil'lahan got to his feet and shook his head. "We head out, rest, and try again tomorrow."

Danniah looked at him, eyes wide. "Oh... you mean, we don't have to clear the crypt all at once?"

"Why would we? That's a good way to get yourself killed. Besides, I want to talk to the Thieves Guild again. If there are going to be elaborate traps, they should send one of their own with us."

It was odd, but Bloodwraith actually found himself agreeing with the elf. Both of those actions were sensible precautions. Herena stopped healing herself and scowled at him. "Someone from the Thieves Guild? You know they'd demand a cut of the profit, and can we really trust them?"

"If you can find someone at the Adventurers Guild with the skills we need, feel free to invite them. But I don't think this is worth it to them. No, only Daek's men actually have a stake in clearing the crypt. Now let's go."

And so their first foray into the crypt ended rather mundanely. But as they left the dark hallways, Bloodwraith found himself glancing backward over his shoulder. Something was wrong here, and it wasn't the monsters lurking below.

~ ~ ~

Since Bloodwraith was healed and rested well before the next day, he spent his extra time training. Using his greatsword in the crypt had been more difficult than he expected, so he practiced thrusting in a confined space. Though not as powerful as a swing, if he managed to gain momentum, very little would stop a blow like that.

After a good night of rest, he joined the others at the crypt the next day. When he arrived, he found Herena arguing with Rhil'lahan, something about their Thieves Guild ally. As soon as he saw, the reason became clearer.

Though dressed in dark leather armor and a green cloak, the man the Thieves Guild had sent was huge and bulging with muscles. Judging from facial structure and filed teeth, Bloodwraith guessed that he was a quarter orc. According to the boxes, his name was Gyassan and he was Level 8. Despite knowing his name, the boxes wouldn't tell him much else, but his class was "Rogue" - that seemed like a nonsense word in this context, but others from the Thieves Guild had the same label.

"This half-orc brute is going to be helping us?" Herena's gaze flickered at him several more times, hardly subtle, but Gyassan just rolled his eyes. "How can we trust him not to turn on us?"

"He's the one the Thieves Guild sent," Rhil'lahan shot back. "You want to go renegotiate with Daek the Knife?"

That quieted Herena, though she was obviously not happy. Meanwhile, the others had arrived, so Gyassan stepped forward and addressed them.

"I'm not gonna do your work for you. Ask me to check ahead, and I'll do it. When we get attacked, I'll fight with you, so long as I get my share. But it's your job to clear this crypt, not mine."

"Fine." Rhil'lahan nodded curtly to him, then moved to the crypt door and raised the stone plate. "Just obey orders and it will work out."

As they retraced their steps, Herena kept her eyes on Gyassan angrily. Not fear, just disgust. Bloodwraith had never had time for such prejudices. All races were equally obnoxious in life and equally useful in death. That didn't mean that he trusted their new ally, not by a long shot.

When they reached new territory, Bloodwraith tried to get out of his head and focus fully on their situation, but he found his attention wandering. Having Gyassan check for traps made progress slower, and every fight was followed by looting chambers. With an additional party member and better teamwork, the monsters they encountered proved to be no particular difficulty.

Deeper in the crypt they found a slimy area with mutated frog creatures, but they inspired no interest in him. Just another source of EXP. With so many people, there was no thrill in the fights, he just played his role and watched the numbers increase.

Was this the box gods' goal? To drain all pleasure from their world?

No, such idle thoughts were unworthy of him. Bloodwraith forced himself to focus and analyze everything around him. They ran into very few broken traps, so Gyassan's presence was critical. Their rewards continued to be sub-par, but he received a sixth of the money they found and his companions seemed content, so this must be an average crypt.

The frog-like monsters were joined by some monstrous spiders, but what little mana flowed through their bodies mostly served to keep them from crumpling on themselves, so they were little threat. Bloodwraith still analyzed their behavior and attack patterns carefully, in case he ever needed to fight them alone. It was better than doing nothing, anyway.

While his companions looted yet another room, he leaned on the wall outside, keeping watch for more threats. Ever since they had gone down a level, the walls had been wetter and there had been more slime on the ground. He noted that it allowed the growth of several herbs that could be combined to form health potions, though only an inferior type. Not terribly useful information.

"Hey, Raigar! Take a look at this!"

Bloodwraith turned to find Danniah waving a metal object over her head. Sighing, he walked in to see what she had.

"This is a pretty good piece of armor, but it's too big for me. You want to try it?"

"Hmm." He spent a moment analyzing it and a box soon appeared.

[Heavy Steel Armor

Armor: 11

Durability: 6/50

Rarity: Common]

The "Armor" value was good, though obviously the armor was quite worn. But since it would likely cost less to repair than to buy good steel new, it was a useful find. Bloodwraith found himself smiling at Danniah in appreciation, hesitated a moment, then decided there was no reason not to smile. "Thank you, Danniah. I'll take this back into town and see if I can't repair it."

"Sounds good! Gotta be careful with this old armor, some of it is cursed. Not that yours is! But it's good to be careful."

"Did you find anything for yourself?"

"Just this." She pulled a mace from her belt, narrower than her usual but with a sapphire embedded in the base. "I'd want to practice with it before I actually tried to use it, though. Feels odd in my hands. But I hope it'll be a good weapon, or at least worth something!"

With that, she went back to working with the others. Since this room seemed to be some sort of armory, Bloodwraith looked at it more carefully. Most of the equipment there was worthless, however. Usually Rhil'lahan took everything, but in this case he ignored it because he needed to save space in his Extra-dimensional Bag. Perhaps they'd come back and take the rest later.

There was a nice set of gloves that increased Might... but Khassfhit grabbed them and made them disappear into his robes. They wouldn't even do him any good. As he watched the group, Bloodwraith found himself filled with disgust.

All of them were just out for themselves, in the end. Any loyalty to one another they displayed in combat vanished as soon as there was loot to be had. As much as Herena despised Gyassan, he was no more mercenary than the rest of them.

Except for Danniah, of course, who continued to find items suited for the others. She was clearly being taken advantage of in this party. The waste of potential irked Bloodwraith more than he expected. But for now, there was nothing else he could do about it. He needed to see this crypt through to the end, just in case there was valuable information about the nature of the world and the Outsiders manipulating it.

But that day, there would be no grand answers. They eventually found themselves injured, sacks magical and mundane bursting with their loot. Rhil'lahan called an official halt for the day and they headed back out. Gyassan seemed a bit irritated by their slow progress, but couldn't object too loudly after everything he'd said that morning.

In the end, all it amounted to was 807 EXP and items worth a total of 52 silvers. That brought him to 3184 out of 3200 EXP, and Bloodwraith considered going out to slaughter a pack of wolves, or murdering a beggar, or something else to push him over the edge.

What did it matter? There would just be more monsters tomorrow. He went to bed and slept like a rock.

~ ~ ~

On their third day in the crypt, Bloodwraith was determined not to let things pass in such a dull fashion. It might have been possible to recede into pure intellect in his old form, but he had a body of meat now: boredom would dull his edge. Besides, he might as well get his fair share.

As they retraced their steps, he noted that some of the monsters seemed to have returned. That was unnatural for a crypt of this size, as they had been fairly thorough the day before, but he couldn't pinpoint the reason. They paid less attention to the monsters this time, focusing on getting into new territory. Leaving anything moving behind them rubbed him the wrong way, but Rhil'lahan and Khassfhit were eager to explore new parts of the crypt.

Near the next basement they fought their way through another group. It was an unremarkable battle, but it granted him enough death energy...

[Victory! You received 118 EXP.]

[Congratulations! You gained a level!

Current Level: 7

Current EXP: 102/6400

Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

The crypt might have been disappointingly easy so far, but the sacrifices of so many monsters had done their work. Bloodwraith smiled and willed his personal box into existence, eager to feel his new power. Since he had no difficulty using his new skills, he might as well continue to focus on physical force.

[NOTICE: Stat Points cannot be assigned while in combat.]

Bloodwraith glowered at the box before remembering that the others might see him and find it strange. As they continued walking, he found himself entirely focused on the box, trying to interrogate it for more information. No doubt this had always been the case, but it felt unfair that this counted as being in combat, since no monsters were directly threatening.

Not that it would matter in the end. Bloodwraith set the issue aside and refocused on the crypt as they headed down another staircase. At least this one hadn't been guarded.

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, a grinding noise vibrated through his teeth. The grinding seemed to come from all sides at first, but he managed to locate it behind him. When he turned, it was in time to see a thick stone slab closing off the top of the staircase. Rhil'lahan lunged for the vanishing crack, but as fast as he was, he couldn't prevent it from closing with a thunderous boom.

They were trapped inside the crypt.

Chapter 11

"What... what just happened?" Danniah stared at the slab, jaw slack. Beside her, Khassfhit shook his head in frustration.

"I still don't feel any wards. This trap must have been purely physical."

Gyassan knelt down to examine the floor and gave a grim nod. "It looks like a pressure plate."

"Oh no..." Danniah's eyes began to water. "I was the one who stepped on it, wasn't I? This is my fault..."

Herena slapped her on the side of the helm. "You should have let the others check it first, idiot!"

While they descended into bickering, Bloodwraith focused instead on the barrier itself. There was mana reinforcing the stone and controlling the movement, but otherwise it had been a purely physical trap. He noticed that the inside of the barrier was inscribed with various patterns. Those meant nothing to him, but there was an indentation very similar to the entrance to the crypt.

Meanwhile, the others were getting louder. Bloodwraith turned back to them and raised his voice. "Silence!"

His shout was much louder than he intended, but it did the job. Everyone turned to him except Rhil'lahan, who was still working at the edges of the stone slab. Bloodwraith ignored him and addressed the others.

"It doesn't matter how it happened, what matters is that we get out alive."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Khassfhit asked. "The mana reinforcing the stone is denser than I can break through, and normal weapons won't do any good."

"That might not be our only option. There could be other exits to the crypt, for one - Cresthaven has built down into the undercity over the years." He had another idea, though, and turned back to Rhil'lahan. "Look at the indentation - does it match the stone plate you were given?"

Rhil'lahan shot him a scornful glance. "I already tried that, fool. The shape of this one is different. Even if it works by the same mechanism, we lack the proper key." He turned to the others and put his hands on his hips. "We no longer have the luxury of retreating at will. To get out of this alive, we need to work together."

Bold words for someone whose first instinct had been to escape and leave them all behind, but Bloodwraith knew better than to challenge Rhil'lahan for leadership. Everyone seemed to have calmed down now, so they were no longer endangering his survival. Danniah squared her shoulders resolutely and blinked away her tears.

They discussed potential plans for some time without coming up with any solution. Khassfhit thought there wasn't likely to be a key in the lower crypt and that they should just find a place to break out. Bloodwraith still favored the idea of finding another accidental entrance. While they spoke, he noticed that Gyassan was examining the door more carefully.

Eventually the greencloak rose and spoke quietly. "You're not going to like it, but I think I know what we need to do." When he had their attention, he gestured to the curling lines on the barrier. "These aren't random patterns, they're words. It says something about the key to release being in the heart of the crypt."

"That's a script?" Khassfhit asked skeptically.

"You're a scholar?" Herena said, face twisting in disbelief.

Rhil'lahan waved a hand to quiet their responses. "You're right: I don't like it. But if our job is to clear the crypt anyway, we'd need to do this eventually. Let's head in - this time, we don't get into any fights that aren't strictly necessary."

While they made plans, Bloodwraith examined the door more carefully. The curling lines looked like simple patterns to him, and he had studied more than a few ancient scripts. There were a limited number of symbols, so it would have to be a code, not an actual language. Perhaps an ancient Thieves Guild code? It was possible that Daek the Knife didn't just want the crypt cleared, he wanted something from within it. But if so, why allow adventurers to loot the entire thing first?

He didn't come up with any answers before they set off into the crypt again. Tension was much higher than before, now that an accident could so easily lead to death. Instead of looting everything, they kept to themselves unless something particularly valuable appeared.

The traps grew more difficult and Gyassan missed one of them, leading to minor injuries throughout the group. But for the most part, this level of the crypt was less densely populated than the others. They noticed and ignored nests of the monstrous frogs, then avoided a spider-webbed hallway. There were a few other encounters along the way, but they only led to minor injuries Herena could easily heal.

That is, until they entered a large chamber. It was a surprisingly vast space to have been built underground, the walls lined with more curving symbols. More importantly, there was a massive statue of an armored warrior along one side and a stone door at the opposite end.

They entered cautiously, but found no traps or monsters. Rhil'lahan moved to the opposite side and frowned at the door. "Another indentation, but it doesn't match my stone plate either. Whoever built this crypt liked to waste time."

"Maybe not." Gyassan pointed back to the statue. "It looks like the stone plate is there."

Bloodwraith hadn't noticed, but there was indeed another stone key set in the statue's breastplate. Khassfhit started to move to look at it, but Rhil'lahan shouldered him aside and removed the plate. "It'd be better if I kept these. I should-"

Then the statue wrenched to life and punched him.

Though the elf instinctively tried to block with both of his blades, the stone pushed through and sent him flying across the room. The statue began moving, its stone grinding loudly as it began to stomp toward them. Khassfhit retreated quickly, throwing tongues of flame that dissipated against the statue's chest. Fool. No one built such a polished golem and didn't include some mana resistance.

"Strike it together!" Bloodwraith called, then lunged forward to attack the statue's leg. His sword bit into the joint, but failed to cut through.

And unfortunately, he was the only one who attacked. The statue turned on him, fists smashing down. He tugged out his sword and tried to dodge, but one of the blows still caught him, knocking him to the ground.

If they had attacked together, they could have taken advantage of the construct's stupidity and worn it down easily. Unfortunately, the others were all retreating. As Bloodwraith shook off the pain and rose to his feet, he saw that the situation was becoming worse as no one was willing to take on the statue, Rhil'lahan just standing and watching while Gyassan actually retreated to a corner.

That left it only a matter of time before the inevitable happened: the statue cornered someone. Herena gasped as her back hit the wall, but the statue had a long reach and she couldn't run in either direction. But before it could reach her, Danniah ran in to defend her.

The stone fist struck her shield with a resounding gong, but she managed to hold. Of course, the statue merely swung again. Though Danniah could hold it at bay, it would soon batter down her defenses. She tried to strike at the arm with her mace, but focused on her shield, she couldn't put enough strength into her blows to do more than chip the stone.

Fortunately, she entirely occupied the construct's attention. Bloodwraith raised his sword and focused on the mana within. Best not to focus on the technique so much, just on his target. He quickly ran into position behind the golem, braced his greatsword, and swung.

His blow hit explosively, blowing away the statue's head and cracking deep into the body. But not deep enough. Bloodwraith had to throw himself back awkwardly as the statue swung on him, fists flailing.

Danniah rammed her shield into its leg from behind and it staggered, but kept coming. There was no time for another technique - Bloodwraith just thrust forward, widening one of the cracks. Still not enough to stop the construct's functioning, it was reaching toward him...

Fortunately, now that the construct was partially disabled, the others found their courage. Rhil'lahan struck out at the damaged body parts with both swords while Khassfhit sent shards of ice into the cracks. The golem fought back and landed a few blows, but with all of them attacking it from all sides, it soon collapsed into rubble.

That left the chamber in silence again, except for all of them panting for breath.

[Victory! You received 1273 EXP, Iron Golem Ore x6, and one Might Core.]

Though his chest felt like one solid bruise, Bloodwraith smiled. The EXP was a solid reward, and he was very curious about what a "Might Core" might be. Since it used the same terminology as the statistics box, it was plausible that it might be directly connected and thus a new path to power.

But while he was catching his breath, Khassfhit moved forward and examined the rubble. He picked up a silver sphere and nodded admiringly. "Fascinating that this still works after so long. I'll have to run experiments on this..."

Meanwhile, before Bloodwraith could do anything, Rhil'lahan stepped in and scooped up the ore. Bloodwraith opened his mouth to object, then found himself grinding his teeth instead.

He was sick of working with these miserable adventurers - they were all worthless except Danniah. He wanted... well, he wasn't sure what he wanted. Obviously he needed them for now. But he wouldn't allow them to take more of what should have been rightfully his. Giving up items of uncertain value was one thing, but if there was something of real value...

While Herena healed them, the group milled around the chamber. Rhil'lahan tested the statue's key on the door and it ground open, revealing another staircase down. Danniah mournfully tried to hammer dents out of her shield, which had taken a serious beating. Khassfhit stood in the center of the chamber, pushing pieces of the statue aside and frowning at the floor.

It was the mage's action that drew Bloodwraith's attention. Rhil'lahan noticed as well and moved closer to ask, so Bloodwraith stayed in range and listened to their conversation.

"Something the matter?" Rhil'lahan asked. The drakekin mage just shook his head slowly.

"These symbols... I'm not sure, but I think they might be used for a blood ritual."

"What would that mean?"

"I'm not sure. The people who built this place practiced blood magic, perhaps."

Looking at the symbols again, Bloodwraith realized that Khassfhit was right. How had he missed that earlier? Was this body slowly eroding his mage's instincts? Yet now that he noticed, he could understand  some of the ritual, even without being able to sense the mana in any detail.

It was more than a blood ritual. Blood spilled in this chamber would fuel the ritual, yes, but it was designed to draw in death from a larger area. This wasn't the core of the ritual, either: there would be a larger circle even lower. That one might also give a hint as to the purpose of gathering all this power.

Blood rituals didn't bother him, and the crypt was the same regardless of if a death cult had created it, but the whole thing left Bloodwraith more uncomfortable. He was missing something in all of this, perhaps some faulty assumption at the base of his logic...

Once they had recovered, they headed down the staircase. This one curved around, leading them back toward the heart of the crypt, if Bloodwraith's sense of direction was correct. They found themselves in a corridor lined with sarcophagi.

There was no question that grave wights lurked within them, and he should have given a warning, but Bloodwraith didn't care enough to do so. Danniah wasn't stupid enough to touch them, but surprisingly Gyassan was, trying to pry off a piece of tarnished silver.

Immediately undead began to groan and break their way out of the sarcophagi. Bloodwraith sighed and lifted his sword.

Though these wights were stronger than those on the higher levels, they didn't activate fast enough to overwhelm the adventurers and so their group took them out carefully. Poor design, really. If he had been in charge, Bloodwraith would have set them all to a single mana trigger midway down the corridor. Maybe they wanted it to be punishment for desecrating the sarcophagi... but you didn't create a bunch of undead guardians like this without some desecrating.

As things stood, they managed to take out the wights and avoid triggering any more. Rhil'lahan snapped orders not to touch any more of the sarcophagi, since several of them hadn't triggered. Again, Bloodwraith would have preferred to clear them all, but arguing with the elf would be frustrating and he wanted to be done with this crypt anyway.

At the end of the corridor lay another chamber, circular but with the same markings on the floor as the chamber with the statue. Yes, this was nearly the heart of the ritual. Bloodwraith controlled the urge to move ahead of the others and examine the ritual more carefully. He could see that it was channeling power into the chamber beyond, but not further than the large sarcophagus in the center of the chamber.

Which slammed open, revealing a Ghoul Lord.

"To me!" Rhil'lahan called. "We stand no chance in the corridor, we have to use our numbers against it!"

For once, they managed to work together. Bloodwraith joined Rhil'lahan and Danniah in trying to engage the Ghoul Lord in melee combat. Though it lashed out with bone claws and snapped at them, they fought cautiously and managed to keep it at bay. That allowed Khassfhit to cast tongues of flame at it from afar, and even Gyassan threw a knife into its arm joint.

Then, without warning, things started going wrong. The undead monster reversed a swipe and slammed its elbow into Rhil'lahan, sending him falling backward. It slammed its fist down on Danniah, who braced herself beneath her shield and endured the blow... but then the Ghoul Lord opened its fist and wrapped its claw around her shield.

It lifted Danniah into the air and she dangled under her shield desperately. Though its other hand was rising to slash at her less defended body, Bloodwraith knew the creature was prepared for someone else to intercept. Attacking would be foolish.

And yet he was already running.

The bone claw slashed out at him, tearing through the leather armor of one arm and drawing lines of blood. Yet he managed to endure it. Bloodwraith hefted his sword in a huge overhead swing and slammed it down into the Ghoul Lord's arm.

It broke with a loud crack and a rush of magic. Danniah clattered to the ground weakly and the Ghoul Lord reared back. Before Bloodwraith could retreat, it lashed out at him.

Staying in its range would be fatal. Instead of trying to dodge, Bloodwraith shifted into its charge. The creature's jaws slammed shut just beside his face, then its entire bulk slammed into him. He let the blow carry him back across the chamber, hitting the wall hard and dropping to the ground.

His body was numb and refused to obey him, yet his mind still operated. This was more like the Ghoul Lords he remembered, both powerful and crafty in combat. There was absolutely no way that he should have been able to defeat the one in the Forest of Beginnings - had it been weakened for him? He didn't understand what purpose that would serve.

An explosion of flame brought him back to the present. Khassfhit had used the opportunity to strike the Ghoul Lord with a substantial burst of flame... but not enough to stop it. The creature began rushing forward, looming over the mage as he desperately tried to fend it off with more flame.

Herena released a healing spell against the undead creature and it shrieked in pain, but that wasn't enough. She should have targeted the magic binding the legs... but there was no more time for criticizing their strategy. His body had returned to its feet and he needed to act.

The next time Khassfhit struck the Ghoul Lord with a burst of flame, Bloodwraith sent a Fist of Rage along with it. Combined, the two spells managed to knock the creature off its feet. Though Khassfhit looked startled, he didn't slow, raining down flame on the Ghoul Lord while it was still on the ground.

Not enough. Rhil'lahan foolishly lunged in, aiming for a dramatic kill, blades flashing at the Ghoul Lord's neck. They got caught in the reinforced bone and he was sent flying when the Ghoul Lord lunged back to its feet, remaining claw flashing.

Still, it had been down long enough for Bloodwraith to get near Danniah and help her back to her feet. Though she looked stunned, when she managed to focus on his face she grinned at him cheerfully. She started to say something, then heard the Ghoul Lord roar and remembered they were in the middle of a battle.

Bloodwraith felt a healing spell strike him and his first instinct was anger before he realized that it was intended to help, not destroy. Herena was finally bothering to heal him - and now that he was no longer undead, healing spells no longer harmed him. She and Gyassan stayed back while the melee fighters and Khassfhit circled the Ghoul Lord, hitting it from all sides.

Though it was even more ferocious as it came apart, for once the adventurers didn't throw themselves into danger. They fought defensively, whittling down the Ghoul Lord with alternating attacks until at last it collapsed. Weary again, Bloodwraith stayed back and let Rhil'lahan strike the final blow.

[Victory! You received 1590 EXP and...]

Bloodwraith dismissed the box, since he knew the others would probably just take the rewards again. He would have to be content with the large amounts of EXP he had obtained in this crypt. Either it was the box gods or crypts were a far better source of power than simple quests.

Despite the healing from Herena, his body was still beaten and he was exhausted. Part of him wanted to just lean against a wall and rest... but his mind wouldn't let it go. He didn't want to argue with them over the spoils from the Ghoul Lord, but perhaps...

Instead of focusing on it or the items in the circular chamber, Bloodwraith looked onward. The corridor opposite the one they entered from led directly to another chamber, in which he saw the glint of gold. He began to move toward it circumspectly, examining further. Better than gold, he felt mana. It seemed as though a pile of things had been placed in the chamber beyond, as if in a sacrifice. That would be the true reward for the crypt.

As an idea began to form in his mind, Bloodwraith considered whether or not it was feasible. He could see passages beyond the central chamber that likely included exits. There was another heavy stone door between the two chambers, currently raised - but a blow to the control ward would send it crashing down. Beyond their current chamber, he sensed no sign of life or the undead. Just the ritual and the treasure, both of which he'd like some time with.

Then the only obstacle was Raigar's foolish instincts. Though he did feel a moment's twinge about betraying Danniah, even Raigar didn't object when it came to the others. It was simple enough to overpower those instincts, leaving him feeling much more like himself.

Deciding he'd had enough of being cooperative, Bloodwraith stepped into the corridor and swung his sword against the ward.

It shattered in two blows, sending the stone door grinding downward. They saw him from the other side, but most were too shocked to do anything. Rhil'lahan tried to move, but had been crouched beside the loot. Surprisingly, Gyassan was the only one to move quickly, sprinting forward and rolling underneath the stone door before it closed.

When Gyassan rose to his feet, he fixed Bloodwraith with a sly grin. "Decided to take the treasure for yourself, huh?"

Bloodwraith grunted. "They haven't given me my fair share."

"I admire that. Listen, I'll give you first pick, but you'd better not cheat me. Go ahead and take what you want first. I'll see if there isn't another way around this door."

Fair enough. Bloodwraith stepped forward, looking over the pile of gold and artifacts. Despite being at the bottom of an ancient crypt, they glimmered almost like new. Summoning boxes for everything would utterly overwhelm his vision, so Bloodwraith focused on the pile and tried to figure out exactly how much value it held in total.

[False Treasure

A mix of pyrite and real artifacts.]

For a long moment, Bloodwraith simply stared at the box, his mind utterly still.

Then he lunged forward, drew his sword as he executed a half-turn, and swung it behind him. The blow caught Gyassan in the side, cleaving through the arm he had been raising to stab him in the back.

Though it sent blood scattering to the ground, the quarter-orc managed to maintain his footing and draw another knife with his free arm. There was no trace of greed in his eyes, only murder. The greencloak came at him low and fast, darting out his knife in a way that would have disemboweled most warriors.

Not Bloodwraith. He sent out a burst of force that knocked Gyassan back against against the wall, then thrust for his stomach. The greencloak dodged, but not quite fast enough - the sword bit into his other side, partially pinning him to the wall.

"Answer my questions and I'll leave you alive." Bloodwraith jerked the hilt of his greatsword, driving it a little deeper. "Lie to me and I'll kill you slowly. What the hell are you doing?"

Gyassan glared at him, but eventually answered. "The job was to make sure you died in here."

"Why?"

"You think Daek explains anything to someone like me? I just follow orders." Gyassan winced and held his side. "Damn, that hurts. Look, you don't stand a chance of getting out of here alive. But if you listen to me, I'll-"

Bloodwraith jerked his sword out and reversed direction, cutting off the greencloak's head. Anything else that had come out of his mouth would have been lies, and no doubt some of what he had already said was at least deceptive. All Bloodwraith could trust was himself.

A window popped up, declaring that he had received 522 EXP and a variety of items, but Bloodwraith forced it aside. He needed to figure this out, and fast. The others might find a way to open the door, or a way around this chamber. By the time they arrived, he needed an explanation for his actions other than greed.

More importantly, Bloodwraith needed to understand Daek's real game here. Many of the pieces fell into place quickly: his goal had never been to actually clear the crypt, just to let adventurers die in it. That was why the corridors were clean, why past groups had failed to penetrate further, and why the treasure at the end was mostly fake.

But the rituals, those were real... and ancient. Bloodwraith examined them more carefully, his eyes slowly widening as he understood more.

These rituals drew off blood and death, yes, but they weren't for anything as natural as creating undead. No, these sigils represented an attempt to pierce the veil between worlds. When he examined the walls, he saw a large drawing of two spheres, one with geography he knew and another that was entirely alien. Symbols of magic swirled between them.

[WARNING

You have-]

He willed the box away, but it reappeared a moment later. Unlike the others, this box was bright red and insistent.

[WARNING

You have encountered a local attempt to pass between worlds. This one is evaluated as a low threat, but should still be taken seriously.

As soon as you complete your journey, report this incident and location to local administrators. You will be rewarded with a significant finder's fee in USD or the currency of your choice, as well as a completely free journey in an untainted world.

If you encounter any sign that locals are actually attempting to make contact, locate the nearest Return Point as soon as possible and contact administrators. It cannot be stressed enough how critical this is, both for your experience and for the ongoing work of AdventureCorp.

As a reward for your participation, you have been granted an additional 3 Stat Points.]

Bloodwraith spent a long time staring at the box, committing the strange words to memory. Usually every word was comprehensible to him, if strangely used, but several of the terms he saw now appeared to be pure nonsense. Clearly, this box was designed for beings from another plane, not him.

Still, the message told him several critical things. The box gods were not omnipotent or omniscient, since they needed to fear "local attempts" like this ritual. Their realm seemed mad, but it was likely another world like his, not some higher plane. They were capable of manipulating his world, but they had clear limits. Most importantly, the boxes were not reporting everything he did, if they needed their own kind to give reports of this event.

Assuming that it wasn't all a deeper game to deceive him... but no, that way lay madness. This was valuable information, but it wouldn't do him any good unless he could act on it. In the short term, what he needed to do was leave the crypt.

To that end, the additional points he had been awarded would be helpful. Bloodwraith brought up his personal box-

[NOTICE: Stat Points cannot be assigned while in combat.]

"Deplorable boxes!" Yet even as he cursed, Bloodwraith realized that he was being shortsighted. Perhaps they weren't mocking him, perhaps they represented something that he knew without consciously realizing it. As Bloodwraith listened more carefully, his blood ran cold.

He could hear sounds of movement in the corridors surrounding him. Human movement, not monsters.

Of course Daek wouldn't leave this to chance. He had hoped that the monsters would kill the adventurers, but if they survived and reported the fake treasure to the Guild, it would cause him even more trouble. So logically, he would have insurance nearby if it seemed like a group might clear the crypt.

Judging from the sounds, Daek's men had him surrounded. He was in the bottom of the crypt, alone, and marked for death.

Chapter 12

Bloodwraith's first priority was to scan the pile of false treasure for anything useful, as he might not have time for such things later. Yet as his eyes flickered over a multitude of boxes, he found little that would help him. Some items of real value, but absolutely nothing that would help with survival - which made sense, given the purpose of the pile.

Several artifacts were listed as "Uncommon" or higher, but they also clearly displayed the word "Cursed." Bloodwraith used his old peasant shirt to pick them up carefully and put them in his bag. They might have value, if he survived this. But for now, he needed to-

A greencloak emerged from one of the tunnels, eyes widening as they saw each other. The man opened his mouth to yell and Bloodwraith threw himself at him without a second thought.

Somehow he managed to grab the man's jaw and prevent him from yelling. The greencloak struggled for a moment before reaching for one of his knives. There was no way to draw his greatsword at close quarters like this, so Bloodwraith just grabbed the man's wrist. They struggled for a moment before Bloodwraith managed to smash the man back against the stone.

That stunned him long enough to land several more blows, beating the man to death. Bloodwraith had done plenty of bloody work with his hands, but nothing like that. The strangest part was that he didn't even think about it, Raigar's body adapting to the violence easily.

Dropping the body without bothering to loot it, Bloodwraith picked up the man's fallen torch and rushed down the corridor. He might be heading directly into enemies, but staying in the central chamber was sure to get him killed. His heart still pounding in his chest, Bloodwraith did his best to refocus. If he wanted to escape alive, he needed to take inventory of all his assets.

For that, the boxes might actually be useful.

[Name: Raigar

Race: Human

Class: Barbarian

Alignment: Neutral

Health: 107/161

Mana: 8/13

Weapon Mana: 4/6

Stamina: 76/126

Level: 7

EXP: 4237/6400

Statistics:

Might: 25

Vitality: 21

Quickness: 21

Intellect: 13

Charisma: 11

Willpower: 13

Wisdom: 12

Luck: 12

Piety: 7

Unassigned Stat Points: 8

Combat Skills: Cleave (3), Fist of Rage (4), Sword of Rage (2)

Skills: Two-handed Weapons (8), Evasion (3), Survivalism (2), Herbalism (5)

Proficiencies: Greatsword, Heavy Armor]

[Inventory (Extra-dimensional Bag)

Equipment: Lodestone Greatsword, Quality Leather Armor Set, Quality Boots, Ring of Herbalism

Items: Worn Steel Breastplate, Alpha Pelt, Iron Golem Ore, Health Potions x8, Mana Potion x1, Failed Potion, Peasant's Outfit, Unappraised Cursed Items x8

Key Items: Amulet of Reincarnation

Money: 0 G, 75 S, 88 C]

That was what he had. That was likely all he had, since trying to find more useful items in the crypt was a bad gamble. Though it was possible he could find some way back to the others, or that they would draw off some of the greencloaks, it was more likely that Daek hadn't expected them to be separated like this. Bloodwraith was on his own.

Evading all the greencloaks was impossible: he knew nothing about their distribution and he had no skills that would allow him to do so. Since they seemed to have spread out, probably to hunt stragglers, he could at least avoid being completely overwhelmed. But he had no choice but to fight his way through, and to do that, he needed to conserve his resources.

Then it would serve to consider those resources a little more carefully. Bloodwraith found a narrow room with no monsters and ducked inside, shielding the light of his torch. He spent a moment looking over everything in his inventory, willing more boxes into being, but found nothing particularly surprising. Except... there was one item he'd never looked at properly.

[Amulet of Reincarnation

Granted for a second life in Alliandelle. Cannot be stolen, sold, or destroyed.

Perk: Enhanced Learning (EXP, AP, and SP will be acquired more quickly.)

Perk: Enhanced Reputation (Reputation will rise faster and fall slower.)

Perk: Enhanced Freedom (Guidelines and impact limitations have been lifted.)

Perk: Ladies Man (Easier interactions with the opposite sex.)

Perk: Clean Conscience (Limits potential trauma or regret.)]

After reading the description properly, Bloodwraith scowled. Though the amulet unquestionably granted useful abilities, none of them were exactly miraculous in the middle of combat. And if Raigar had chosen such idiotic perks as "Ladies Man" or "Clean Conscience" then Bloodwraith hated him all the more.

Strange as the amulet was, he had no time to think about it. He could hear soft footsteps in the corridor and knew the greencloak would see his torch once he got close enough. The survival trial had begun.

While he still had time, he switched his current armor with the steel breastplate from his bag, just in case the additional "Armor" made the difference. He drank one of his potions and shivered as the healing flowed through him. It didn't quite heal all his injuries... but another one would be wasteful, so he resisted drinking a second.

Instead he waited until the footsteps drew closer, then burst into the corridor, swinging his torch wildly. As he'd hoped, the sudden light made the greencloak flinch.

Unfortunately, though the man used one arm to deflect the torch, he stabbed with the other. Bloodwraith pushed through the cut to his arm and struck the man on the face. This one fell much faster than Gyassan, collapsing against the wall after only two blows.

But there was another greencloak down the corridor. He raised a wooden whistle to his lips and blew on it, leading to a haunting tone ringing through the tunnels.

Bloodwraith lunged at him, stabbing straight into the man's chest. The blow killed him, but it was too late: other greencloaks would be converging on his location. For a moment Bloodwraith stared down at the body, concerned that things were already turning out worse... then he reconsidered.

He grabbed the whistle and blew on it again, creating the same note. Then he scrambled forward, still blowing the whistle. Rushing through the corridors risked running straight into a greencloak knife, but if all went well...

Soon he came out into a larger room, spacious enough that he could swing his sword properly. Only two entrances and he heard the footsteps coming from only one of them. This would have to do. The whistle trick would only work once, and the large room would give him a chance to use Sword of Rage. Despite its power, against humanoid opponents in small tunnels, the skill was actually his least valuable ability due to the difficulty in using it. So he ducked low, kept blowing the whistle, and waited for them.

Soon three greencloaks rushed into the room, blades drawn. Their eyes searched for him... and found him rushing out of the shadows, swinging his blade with both hands.

His blow struck all three of them hard enough to smash them back into the walls. Though their torches fell to the ground, one of them didn't go out. That gave him enough time to stab down into each of the fallen greencloaks and finish them off.

Bloodwraith took a moment to catch his breath, admiring his work. He'd made them suspicious of any future whistle warnings and made excellent use of one of his resources. All he needed to do was-

Another greencloak stabbed him in the back.

The blow might have disabled him in a past life, but for once Raigar's excess muscle was good for something. Bloodwraith ignored the pain and pushed backward, slamming the greencloak into the wall. It was a halfling, silent but weighing far less than him. Striking the wall stunned the greencloak, and when Bloodwraith slammed the hilt of his sword against the side of his head, the halfling dropped instantly.

Damn, but the injury in his back hurt. Bloodwraith pulled a health potion from his bag... and paused, checking his personal box.

[Health: 117/161

Mana: 9/13

Weapon Mana: 1/6

Stamina: 81/126]

The potions seemed to restore exactly 50 of the "Health points," which meant if he drank one now, 6 points would be wasted. Feeling the pain almost made him reconsider, but then he noticed that his mana had increased by one point in between fights.

No, he couldn't use the potion. His body's unnatural regeneration was also a resource, and if he restored his health completely, he would be wasting that. Bloodwraith focused on mental discipline to ignore the pain and set off down a different corridor.

For a time he managed to avoid running into any more greencloaks, freeing him to control his movement. Twisting tunnels like this were familiar to him, so it was simple to maintain a map in his head. Since he wasn't fighting, he headed back in the direction that would lead him to the part of the crypt he had explored earlier. He might be able to meet up with the others there.

Finding stairs, he headed up them as quietly as possible just before torches flickered in the corridors behind him. If he could evade their movements and return to the surface, then he could disappear into Cresthaven. Until then, he had to assume he was still in danger.

As he moved he summoned his personal box again, noting that his health had increased slightly, even if the injury didn't feel any better. He considered letting more mana flow into his sword, but decided it was of more use to him in its current form.

At the top of the stairs, a greencloak rushed at him from the shadows. Reacting on instinct, Bloodwraith jumped aside from the stabbing knife and slammed the side of his greatsword into his opponent. The greencloak dropped like a rock, so quickly that he was surprised.

When he inspected more closely, he saw that the box declared this greencloak was only Level 3. Perhaps the Thieves Guild had sent some of their lesser members for this duty, assuming they could use numbers against heavily weakened adventurers.

The sound of the fight would have attracted attention, so Bloodwraith started to move on... but something in the box caught his eye just as it disappeared. He hesitated, brought it back, and saw to his surprise that he could clearly see the equipment the greencloak carried. Two rings glinted on his hand, and according to the box, they were a Ring of Quickness and a Ring of Willpower. How did a low level fighter have such valuable items?

Thinking about how much work it would take to purchase similar rings, Bloodwraith bent down and tugged them off the corpse's fingers. He slipped them onto his own, feeling satisfied... until he saw four more torches rush up from the staircase.

Damn, he'd wasted too long. The patrol rushed at him and he only had time to raise his greatsword once. His thrust took the first greencloak in the chest, throwing her backward, but the others dodged the bloody spray and charged in, getting inside his range and stabbing with their knives.

He released a burst of force from his hand, staggering the other three... but not enough. One of them kept coming, shrugging off the spell, and sank a dagger into his stomach.

Though the greencloak started to tear the blade to the side, Bloodwraith grabbed his wrist and twisted it, forcing him to drop the dagger. He headbutted the man, feeling like a true barbarian but too filled with pain and adrenaline to care. The other two were coming at him again, knives slashing out, now aiming to wear him down with shallower cuts.

Instead of trying to use his greatsword against opponents who were so much faster than him, Bloodwraith rushed into their attacks, swinging his torch at one and slamming the other into the wall. The other immediately lunged, stabbing for his eyes, but Bloodwraith used one leg to send another burst of force and knock him off his feet.

Though the greencloak against the wall managed to stab him again, Bloodwraith had enough strength to beat him until he stopped moving. The last of the four was clambering to his feet, but not quickly enough. Bloodwraith went back to pick up his greatsword, then slammed it down into the man's back.

Though he should have pulled it out and prepared for another attack, Bloodwraith leaned forward onto the sword, catching his breath. He had lost track of how many shallow cuts had opened on his body. Though this bulky body could shrug off some wounds, he did not feel well.

[Health: 34/161

Mana: 3/13

Stamina: 29/126]

In this case, he agreed with the boxes. Bloodwraith limped down the corridor, pulling two potions from his sack and downing both. Though the magic began working, that didn't mean he felt much better. Even once their work was done, he would still have injuries, but drinking a third would be wasteful.

Especially since he only had five potions remaining. That number no longer seemed so large.

Worse than that, in a single melee fight he'd wasted much of his mana. Unless he got a significant amount of time to regenerate, he only had one spell left in him. He couldn't afford to keep fighting battles like that, not if he hoped to make it all the way back to the surface.

Had the rings been worth it? It was impossible to know, since he didn't know if he would survive or not. Bloodwraith resolved to prioritize the short term from that point on and cursed himself for not having gained a Level the previous day when it had been safe.

He finally got a lucky break when he found another stone door that was easily opened with a nearby lever. The area on the other side looked familiar, so he thought he had returned to the main crypt. No doubt this side had been blocked off for greencloaks to prepare to ambush them.

Unfortunately, that was as far as his luck went. As he explored the area on the other side, he narrowly evaded greencloaks several times and never found the slightest sign of the other adventurers. They couldn't have been killed, he didn't think, especially because most of the greencloaks had been on his side of the crypt. Not that he really cared, except for Danniah.

No time to think about that, he needed to focus. Once he was mostly alone, Bloodwraith headed down the corridor. He noticed several herbs that could be used for potions and decided to take the time to collect them. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but...

When he started to rise, he saw the massive spider a split second before it lunged toward him. He threw himself backward in time to dodge and kicked wildly. The spider flew back and he jumped to his feet, kicking at it until it stopped moving.

Damn, he'd neglected to consider the remaining monsters in his calculations. He had enough greencloaks to deal with, he couldn't afford to fight monsters on top of that. One more obstacle in his way, but he'd just need to think a way through.

He heard a whistling sound from a side corridor, saw a drakekin greencloak blowing on her whistle. But she was alone, and a moment later she seemed to realize how bad of an idea that was. She tried to run, but Bloodwraith hadn't been neglecting his speed and caught up with her, sword cutting into her back.

Though the greencloaks would probably be skeptical of the whistle, he still decided to reverse direction and cut back across the crypt. According to the map in his head, he was nearing the stairs they had used before. Risk using the obvious exit, or take the even greater risk of searching for another one? He decided that he couldn't afford to potentially wander into a dead end filled with greencloaks and monsters, and so headed for the nearest stairs.

Climbing the stairs was easy enough... but he ran into two greencloaks almost the instant he reached the top. Fortunately, they seemed just as surprised as he was, so he managed to take down one before they even reacted. The second landed a few cuts, but Bloodwraith took him down without much more difficulty. Neither of them was the real threat.

There were more lights flickering around the nearest corners. Bloodwraith hesitated for only a moment before he turned around and retreated back down the stairs. The two bodies would make it seem like he had advanced into that level and throw everyone off, which would leave him free to find another path upward.

Assuming one existed.

As he moved, he found several more herbs and avoided the monsters he saw. There seemed to be fewer greencloaks in this area, but eventually he saw one in the center of a crossroads. He seemed to be stationed there - of course, that would make sense. They had a huge advantage in numbers, so they could afford to do such things.

Worse, the man seemed to be holding his whistle ready. He must have known that Bloodwraith was blowing them as well, which suggested they had a backup plan. Perhaps a specific combination of notes? Or were they just willing to risk ambushes in order to pinpoint his location and close in on him?

Either way, he couldn't afford it. Bloodwraith stayed in the shadows, preparing his greatsword with one hand while gathering a spell of force in his torch hand.

He rushed out, his spell smashing the whistle out of the greencloak's hands and his greatsword slashing at the man's side the next instant.

Yet the greencloak ducked underneath his swing. Faster than Bloodwraith could react, the short man stepped in, cutting through the weak point of his leg armor and dealing a nasty gash. He tried to use another spell to keep him back, yet he had no mana left.

Instead he slammed the hilt of his sword into the greencloak's head, yet it only staggered the man. The knife thrust out again, this time stabbing into his chest, breaking through the old armor. He countered and forced his opponent back before the knife could go deep, but it still hurt like hell.

They exchanged another set of blows and both staggered backward. Bloodwraith stared at his opponent, wondering why he was so much more difficult, and a box appeared to answer him.

Level 7. Damn, this opponent was as strong as him.

Given the difference in speed, Bloodwraith couldn't afford an extended fight. He'd taken serious injuries, too, so he reached for a potion from his sack. Yet as his fingers closed around the glass, he realized that he had another option.

With a sudden smirk, he hurled the health potion directly at the greencloak. The man raised an arm to defend and the glass shattered over his glove. In a flashing movement the greencloak threw off the glove, as if the vial had contained poison or acid.

Too late, he realized that it had only been a distraction. Bloodwraith thrust out, clipping the man's side and opening a large wound. Yet the greencloak didn't go down, attacking him viciously. Only after several more painful stabs did Bloodwraith manage to kill him.

Against his will, his body sagged back against the wall. He was losing a lot of blood and couldn't continue like this. As he tried to get his breathing under control, he focused on himself again.

[Health: 14/161

Mana: 1/13

Stamina: 4/126]

Damn, that had been close. Bloodwraith saw that he was losing more health to blood loss and immediately uncorked a potion and drained it. That sent a surge of healing magic through him, but it wasn't enough. Even after a second potion, his body was still shaking. Even though the box declared that his health had increased substantially, his body didn't agree.

When he couldn't overcome it by willpower - useless ring - Bloodwraith drank a full potion. That should restore his body entirely, and the new surge certainly made him feel better. He took a shuddering breath and forced himself back to his feet to take inventory.

All he had left was one health potion and his only mana potion. For a moment he regretted using the one as a distraction, but he changed his mind almost immediately. Trying to fight that greencloak fairly would have cost him much more, possibly even left him to bleed to death. It had been a necessary sacrifice.

As he examined his inventory, he realized that he still had the "Failed Potion" Meara had given him. If it really came to that, he'd drink it, but he hoped that it wouldn't be necessary. Considering her mental state, he had no idea what side effects it might have, if it worked at all.

His armor now had a [Broken] box over it, and it certainly seemed like it wouldn't do him much more good. Bloodwraith tugged it off and shoved it into the sack, then pulled on his leather armor again. It might not turn a knife like the steel had, but it would be better than broken armor. As he checked his other armor, he noticed something else on the corpse.

[Green Cloak

Armor: 1

Durability: 14/25

Rarity: Common]

The box declared that it had little value as armor, but the boxes were far from subtle. Bloodwraith pulled it around his shoulders carefully before continuing down one of the hallways. In the shadows, the cloak might deceive his opponents for a moment into thinking he was one of them. That moment could mean the difference between life and death.

As he continued forward, he encountered no more greencloaks. That was good, but he had a bad feeling that he wouldn't find another way up, either. On top of that, they might have noticed that he hadn't gone up the stairs and started backtracking. If he went back the way he had came, then he might end up running into a larger group of them.

Dropping back against a wall to catch his breath, Bloodwraith considered his options. None of them looked good. Just as he was beginning to despair, he noticed slime dripping from the ceiling nearby.

In the past, the slime had always been on the floor. When he looked more carefully, he saw that the stones in that area were in surprisingly poor repair. He smiled as an idea formed in his mind.

He didn't have enough mana to pull it off, though, and couldn't afford to wait for his slow mana regeneration to proceed. Instead he drank his only mana potion, finding that it refreshed 10 points as far as the boxes were concerned. Focusing, he let two of them bleed over into his sword.

Then he slashed at the ceiling. Rocks tumbled around him and for a moment he was afraid the ceiling would collapse, but only a section fell.

Climbing up the rubble and through the slimy hole in the floor, Bloodwraith couldn't help but smirk. He'd made his own path up to the next level. Now he was much closer to the surface, in a location where no one would be expecting him. His body was feeling better now that the potions had done their work and he had mana flowing through him again.

But his resources were nearly gone and he still had two floors to go.

Chapter 13

As he made his way back, Bloodwraith managed to kill three greencloaks by surprise without taking a single injury. They were indeed less alert, not expecting him to be there. It also seemed like some of them had come in more recently, perhaps having entered only after word came to them that the ambush had failed. Still no sign whatsoever of the others, and when he tried to eavesdrop on a couple of greencloaks he discovered that they communicated only by hand signals.

Given enough time he might be able to interpret their system... but no, that was foolish. Bloodwraith crept away from that group and headed back toward the next staircase. He needed to hurry, before any of the new bodies were found and they'd realize that he'd found another way up.

He was back in familiar corridors now, though the greencloaks had disturbed them. There were three passages back, all roughly the same. One dusty and filled with cobwebs, one with several of the monstrous frogs, and the one the adventurers had cleared before.

Yet when he crept closer, he found that the frog-filled corridor had been cleared and was now patrolled by several greencloaks. He retreated... and found the clear corridor on the other side also had a few greencloaks waiting on the other side. Only the middle corridor was untouched, presumably because the dust and spiders would make it obvious if anyone trespassed.

Once, he would have had spells to easily... no, such thoughts were useless. He considered trying to kill the spiders from a distance and pass through the middle corridor, since they'd never expect that, but discarded the idea. Given how little mana he had left, it needed to be conserved.

Then his only option was to take the corridor with fewer greencloaks. He set his torch into an empty sconce and shifted into the darkness, creeping along the corridor toward the three at the end. A thuggish-looking human man, a thin elven woman, and a short man of ambiguous race. When he tried to summon boxes for them, he couldn't determine enough to get any real information. No choice but to just make his best effort, then.

Fortunately, they were exchanging hand signals in some sort of argument. Bloodwraith took his sword in both hands and swung with all his might.

The blow cleaved through the torso of the short greencloak and headed straight for the elf's legs. To his surprise, she twisted over the sweep - his blade didn't get close. Instead its momentum carried it into the side of the largest greencloak.

He grunted and twitched, but didn't fall. Instead, he grabbed the blade in his side, pinning it in place. Worse than that, the elf was turning on him, already drawing two swords and ready to stab him repeatedly.

Bloodwraith let go of his sword with one hand and released a burst of force, aiming directly for the elf. Unfortunately, she spun away, the force merely flapping her cloak. Fortunately, he'd aimed it such that when she dodged, the burst struck the thuggish human behind her. The spell hit him hard enough to smash him into the wall, and more importantly make him let go of the greatsword.

Immediately Bloodwraith swung it back, aiming for the last greencloak. This time she ducked underneath effortlessly, still closing the distance. In desperation, Bloodwraith unleashed a second burst of force.

This time she crossed her blades in front of her and met the spell head on. When it struck, she made a slashing movement that dispelled the force harmlessly. Dammit. Now that he got a good look at her, the boxes told him that she was Level 8. His spell had slowed her down for a moment, but she was going to come rushing for him again in an instant and he had only a moment to decide what he was going to do next.

He turned and ran. An idiot adventurer like Raigar might care about honor or bravery, but Bloodwraith cared about survival. Though he would probably be able to fight the last greencloak, she would force him to use up valuable resources. This was a battle of attrition, and this source of attrition wasn't worth it.

Of course, she was coming after him, faster than he could run. The worst part of it was that he just had so little left... one normal potion, a little mana... he simply lacked the resources to continue the fight. Not to mention that the monsters added an additional problem...

No. Bloodwraith realized that he was overlooking a resource.

This would be a gamble, but it was a fairly safe bet that she hadn't had as much time to familiarize herself with this area as he had. After sprinting back down the corridor, Bloodwraith kicked off the wall and reversed, diving directly into the hall of spiderwebs.

For several disgusting seconds he skidded across the floor, sending up a cloud of dust and covering himself with cobwebs. But he got through, without getting stuck or the spiders attacking him. The webbed corridor now stood between him and the last greencloak.

"You think that's going to stop me?" She laughed as she charged in, her blades flying. It was downright shocking how easily she severed the webs in her way, slowing her down only a little. The spiders attacked, but they didn't stand a chance, severed by those flashing swords.

Of course, Bloodwraith hadn't been counting on those stopping her. He picked up one of the fallen torches and hurled it into the dusty cobwebs.

The dust caught fire in a small explosion and the webs burst into flame. He caught sight of the greencloak clawing at the flames before he had to roll away as the flames shot out from the corridor. That might or might not kill her, but it would keep her from pursuing any further.

Picking himself up, Bloodwraith discovered the thuggish human was still alive, though barely. He ended the man's life quickly and picked up the torch from his side. Brushing off some of the cobwebs on his armor, he ascended to the next level.

If he viewed monsters as a resource, he had a little left. Though most of the first floor had been cleared, he remembered a chamber of sarcophagi they had left alone. Since he had seen their operation on the floor below, he knew they must be filled with wights. The question was how best to use them, and how much opposition he would face.

In theory he had almost reached the exit. There was a chance that they had sealed it, but he doubted that. Not many greencloaks seemed to be around this area, still looking for him below. Unfortunately, the first floor of the crypt wasn't complex enough for him to dodge them very easily, so he would have to fight his way through. For just a little longer.

As he moved forward, he was startled when three greencloaks stumbled out of one of the corridors, struggling with poor quality torches that let off too much smoke. He fell on them instantly, killing two. The third managed to stab him in the side before he dropped, but none of them were smart enough to blow their whistles. If only novices were on this level, then he had a chance.

How far was it, now? The chamber with the sarcophagi was behind him off that corridor, he was approaching a maze-like area, and beyond that lay the corridor that led to the entrance. He could make it. Bloodwraith peered around the corner to investigate the next group.

The arrow took him in the shoulder.

He spun around and hit the ground hard. Though his vision blurred, he could just see an archer at the other end of the corridor, calmly nocking another arrow. It was all he could do to push himself back and out of the way, a second arrow glancing off the stone where his head had been.

Damn, the archer was no joke. Level 6 according to the boxes, but the ranged attack was a serious threat. He heard the shuffle of more greencloaks moving toward him, but couldn't engage them - not with the archer ready to hit him as soon as he showed any opening.

No choice but to retreat for now, back to the room with the sarcophagi. The greencloaks chased him, clearly believing they were going to finish him off.

Instead, they entered a chamber filled with wight clambering from their sarcophagi.

Bloodwraith managed to get out the other end with only a few wights following him. He cut them down while receiving only minor scratches, then held back as the greencloaks fought all the others. Since he had a moment, he braced himself and tugged out the arrow. It hurt and bled more, but at least his regeneration could begin working on the injury.

As soon as the battle was mostly over, Bloodwraith waded into the chamber, swinging in broad arcs that sliced through damaged wights and injured greencloaks alike. He found himself chuckling, hoping that he got EXP for both sides. If he could do this more often-

Something glinted darkly in the corridor beyond and he threw himself behind one of the sarcophagi, just before an arrow sliced through where he had been standing.

Another greencloak slid into the room, also taking cover behind a sarcophagus. Not the archer, who still lurked in the hallway waiting for an opening. The weaker greencloaks were down, but these two weren't amateurs.

Fighting them was another losing proposition. He was so close to the exit now, he just needed to get past them and reach the street. Once in Cresthaven, he was sure that he could escape into the crowds. Then it would simply be a matter of publicizing that they had cleared the crypt, just as Daek had requested. Though Daek would unquestionably mark him for the future, at least temporarily he would have to call off his forces.

Bloodwraith feinted out from behind his sarcophagus, just enough to get a good look at the room. He ducked back a second later as an arrow flew at his head, but it had been long enough: he saw the archer's location near the entrance and a knife-wielding greencloak creeping toward him.

Instead of taking them on, Bloodwraith crept around the side of the chamber as quietly as possible. He managed to evade the nearest greencloak for a while until the man heard him and spun. Abandoning stealth, Bloodwraith leapt for the doorway and released his last burst of force toward the archer's position.

It sent the greencloak archer sprawling, bow falling to the ground. Bloodwraith sprinted past him, bounded off the wall, and ran down the corridor. So close...

An arrow hit him in the back. As he staggered and nearly fell, he looked behind him and saw that the archer had recovered with surprising speed and set up at the end of the corridor. The other greencloak was coming as well, creeping along the wall to give the archer room to loose. Dammit, this-

He rounded a corner and stumbled straight into another greencloak. This time he was the one taken off guard, struggling to reverse direction and retreat. The greencloak drew a dagger and managed to stab him in the side before Bloodwraith shoved him to the floor and sprinted down a side corridor.

Too late, he realized that his idiotic adventurer instincts had taken him into a dead end. There were several cleared chambers and multiple doorways, but two of the doorways were linked to one another and the last led to a blank wall. Now there were three greencloaks coming for him and he had nowhere else to run.

Logically he should have turned on the one chasing him, tried to take him out before the archer and the knife fighter joined him. But he had an arrow sticking out of his back and his other injuries were catching up to him... the box might say he had some health left, but his body couldn't keep fighting like this.

But it could run. Bloodwraith stumbled forward, vanishing into one of the side chambers that linked up to the others. He heard laughter behind him and realized that they must know this was a dead end. They'd be careful as they followed, the archer taking up a vantage point near the center and the others moving carefully to avoid an ambush.

In a way, that was a resource too. Instead of setting up any kind of ambush, Bloodwraith fled to the furthest tunnel, lay back against the wall, and took stock as he tried to rest.

[Health: 27/161

Mana: 2/13

Stamina: 43/126]

He didn't have much left. The one obvious strategic decision was to drink his final health potion, which at least soothed the ache of his wounds. Though he might not be able to take many more injuries, he could keep fighting a little longer.

Was he far enough from combat for his mana to begin regenerating again? That would make a huge difference, but unfortunately the boxes refused to tell him. Meanwhile, the three greencloaks were still making their way through the linked chambers cautiously, so he had a little more time.

Bloodwraith pulled out all the herbs he had been gathering on his trip out. He couldn't afford to pull out equipment and make potions, even if he had all the necessary items. But he could use his skills a little. If he ground the herbs with a mortar and pestle, then mixed them with water, they formed a concoction that did some good slathered on wounds.

As he did so quickly, his eyes were repeatedly drawn to the failed potion in his inventory. For a time he ignored it, but eventually he had covered his wounds and drank the last of the mixture. His condition was a little better, but not much.

If he didn't drink it now, he probably wouldn't get another chance. Bloodwraith raised the potion to his lips and drank.

His body began tingling and a box appeared almost immediately.

[Failed potions may have a variety of negative side effects.

Health regeneration stopped.

Combat reflexes -20%.

Stamina regen-]

"Imbecilic boxes!" Bloodwraith slashed his hand through the box, flat out disbelieving what it said. His body didn't feel worse. The tingling was strange, but it wasn't a negative magical effect.

Was he just in denial? If he was, he might as well embrace it. Bloodwraith threw his will against what the boxes declared, focusing solely on his body. The potion might not have granted him any mana or healed all his wounds, but he felt better. In fact, there was a strange energy running through his veins.

When he looked again, he found that his health had risen slightly and his stamina had mostly recovered. What did that mean? He didn't believe that he could change reality by willpower, so had he unlocked some other potential of the potion?

But there was no time to consider such questions, because at that moment he saw the largest greencloak appear at the end of the corridor. The man smiled unpleasantly and advanced on him.

"Nowhere left to run, adventurer. Won't you come and fight us?"

A ploy to lure him into range of the others, no doubt. Bloodwraith stayed where he was, not raising his sword, just leaning back against the dead end. This wasn't combat, not yet. A relaxing break before it.

"It doesn't matter. You're only delaying the inevitable."

The greencloak advanced on him, step by step. He was definitely right in most of the ways that mattered. Bloodwraith had nowhere else to go, and in a narrow corridor like this his greatsword was of less use than those knives. He'd consumed all the resources he had left and he was still a little shy of the goal. It made sense for the greencloak to move cautiously to find the perfect time to kill him.

Except at that moment, Bloodwraith saw his personal box flicker and his mana number went up by one.

He pushed himself off the wall as fast as he could, hurtling toward his opponent. The greencloak brought up his knives confidently, but was completely taken off guard when the spell of force hit him in the chest. Stumbling backward, he had no defense when Bloodwraith thrust forward and through his chest, impaling him to the wall.

There was no time to celebrate - his charge had taken him around the corner, where the other two waited. He abandoned his sword and barely managed to throw himself back in time to avoid the next arrow.

That wasn't enough to escape the last melee fighter, who came after him swiftly. One knife slashed out, cutting his chest, and the other went straight for his face.

He managed to jerk to the side, making the knife hit his helm instead. It tore through and scraped along his skull, but it also became stuck in his helm. Bloodwraith ignored it, smashing his forehead into the other man's nose. When the knife fighter stumbled back, Bloodwraith struck him repeatedly with his fist until he stopped moving.

Then he dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. Yet it wasn't over, the archer was still around the corner. And unfortunately, the archer could wait forever, receiving reinforcements while Bloodwraith bled out. He needed to do something else to get out.

For a start, he picked up the corpse of the knife fighter. When he went around the corner, he saw the archer immediately loose, but he lifted the corpse and used it as a shield. Though the archer tried a second arrow around the corpse, Bloodwraith ducked low and kept himself behind it. He heard the archer retreat to the next corridor.

Now that he could reach his greatsword, Bloodwraith retrieved it from the wall and put it on his back again. He dropped his current human shield and replaced it with the larger greencloak, since he'd be able to block more arrows. But that wouldn't be enough, since the archer had to know what he was planning...

When he rounded the next corner, the archer again attempted to ambush him. Again his makeshift shield worked, but instead of advancing, Bloodwraith hurled it at the archer. He saw a flash of surprise in the man's eyes before he retreated, narrowing avoiding the projectile. Bloodwraith smirked and went back for the first body.

Gods, it was hard to lift. As much as he had been healed, he had lost a lot of blood, and the magic had stretched him thin. He didn't need to check his personal box to know that he was exhausted and had little stamina left.

As he struggled to drag the corpse along with him, a stranger idea occurred to him. Bloodwraith stared down at the body... then took off his mangled helm.

He switched his helm with the corpse's hat, then traded their cloaks as well. Both were green, but his had been torn to more pieces than the first. The two of them might not look very similar, but in the low light... this might be suicide, but it was his best hope.

Bloodwraith headed around the corner backward, trying to make his body look limp and holding up the corpse as if he was using himself as a shield. He heard the twang of an arrow and braced himself...

An arrow sprouted from the face of the corpse over his shoulder. The archer had chosen the wrong target.

Whirling, Bloodwraith hurled the corpse behind him. This time, the archer was too shocked to dodge, knocked sprawling. Though his limbs ached, Bloodwraith charged to close the distance and hacked down. It was messy and sloppy, but it was good enough. After several blows, the archer died and he was finally alone.

His body trembled when he moved, and as much as he tried, he couldn't stop the trembling. This was near his actual limit, but it might have been enough. Keeping one hand on the wall and trying to ignore the blood he left on it, Bloodwraith dragged himself out of the dead end, down the final corridor and toward the exit.

Though part of him expected yet more greencloaks to stand in his way, or the crypt to be sealed, he saw the door ahead, no more obstacles in the way. When he staggered through, he found himself back in the small building that served as the entrance to the crypt.

For a long moment he just stood there, not quite able to believe he had survived. A few small windows toward the street allowed actual sunlight to fall into the room and he reveled in it. Was it still daytime? It seemed as though it must have been much longer, but when he thought rationally he realized that it hadn't been so long.

So, had he really survived the crypt? As if in answer, boxes began to appear in front of him.

[Victory! You received 9278 EXP.

Marathon Bonus x1.2

Total EXP: 11,134

Marathon Stat Bonus: +1 Unassigned Stat Point

Deferred Stat Updates:

Max Health +22

Max Mana +4

Max Stamina +9

Might +1

Vitality +2

Quickness +1

Intellect +2

Willpower +1

Wisdom +1

Luck +1]

[Quest Complete!

Clear the crypt beneath Cresthaven for Daek the Knife.

Local Reputation +250

Guild Points: +100

Reward: (acquire from Daek the Knife)

Core Quest Completed: +2 Unassigned Stat Points

EXP +1000]

[Congratulations! You gained a level!

Current Level: 8

Current EXP: 9971/12,800

Unassigned Stat Points: 16]

Bloodwraith took a deep, shuddering breath and smiled. For once, he didn't mind the bombastic boxes and cheerful music in the slightest. So he had actually made it.

His body still hurt, yet he could move it more easily now that the tension had dissipated. As he limped toward the door, he wrapped his cloak around himself better to hide all his wounds. What he should do was get to another street as soon as possible, then switch from the cloak and armor to the peasant clothing he still carried. Then he could get back to the Guild and plan how to deal with Daek from there.

He opened the door, stepped out into the sunlight, and realized that there was a group of greencloaks waiting for him on the street.

Chapter 14

More than despair, Bloodwraith felt anger. It wasn't fair that he could have accomplished so much only to fail here. How could he have predicted that Daek the Knife would be willing to kill him in the street in broad daylight?

And though it was irrational, it irritated him that all those points were sitting unused because the boxes had never allowed it. That was a huge amount of raw power he would never be able to use. Not to mention the power he had gained while fighting, which did his exhausted and nearly dead body no good at all. All of it was just too unfair.

"How the hell did you make it here?" The quiet voice was Daek, who slipped from behind the others. "I suppose it's obvious you paid the price for it. But how?"

Bloodwraith just stared at him.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Because we're not going to kill you - no, we're going to heal you, then torture you until-"

"Not so fast, villain!"

The loud shout took them both off guard. Their heads swiveled to the side, Daek sharply and Bloodwraith wearily. For a moment he wasn't sure if he could possibly be seeing correctly or if the exhaustion had driven him to hallucinate.

But no, it was reality. Danniah was ramming the greencloaks out of the way with her shield, making way for the others. Rhil'lahan was the one shouting, pointing a finger toward Daek. More importantly, Herena and Khassfhit led a group of more people, both adventurers and civilians, along behind them. Witnesses.

What had happened to them, he couldn't know, and it didn't make sense that they would be helping him after he had betrayed them. But there was no time for that now. Rhil'lahan was challenging Daek directly, and that was entirely the wrong choice to make.

Though Rhil'lahan wasn't stupid enough to attack, instead moving to break the greencloak circle and draw Bloodwraith to them, the elf was still confronting Daek. Bloodwraith could see the master of the underworld's eyes growing harder and colder. He might not usually work as overtly as this, but if pressed, he was probably willing to use his control over the Cresthaven Guard, bribe the Governor, and eliminate anyone in his way.

"What are you talking about, adventurer?" Daek didn't put his hands on his knives - he didn't need to. But Rhil'lahan didn't see the threat, still thrusting a finger at him.

"You know full well what we're talking about!"

To reverse the direction of things, Bloodwraith knelt down next to Danniah when she got close. It was easy to do, since his body was eager to crumple to the ground. But he forced himself to stay upright and instead whispered to her. "Danniah. You need to act fast."

"I know! Daek the Knife betrayed us all!"

"We can't challenge him directly, we have to use his public honor against him." He saw her uncomprehending look and realized that it was useless to try to explain it. Instead he merely bent closer and whispered in her ear. "Look, just say this..."

Just when it looked like Rhil'lahan would say something that couldn't be taken back, Danniah nodded in understanding. She marched up to Daek and beamed at him.

"We finished clearing the crypt, just like you asked!"

Daek and Rhil'lahan both stared at her. The elf glowered and spoke in a terse voice. "You idiot, what are y-"

"We know you could have taken care of it yourself, but the Adventurer's Guild is happy to work for you if we can help!" Danniah spoke the words so earnestly that it almost seemed like she believed them. Hell, maybe on some level she did. But the important thing was that everyone watching heard as well.

Now Daek had a choice to make. He could reveal that he had not only set up the entire crypt as a death trap, but that his trap had failed miserably... or he could accept the respectable way out being offered to him. Declaring the request complete like this would make it difficult for them to bring any charges against him, but it would be worth surviving the day.

Judging from how long Daek paused before answering, it wasn't an easy decision. When he finally moved, his smile was like ice and his movements filled with malice, even if all he did was reach into his coat and pull out a small bag.

"Thank you for your work, adventurers. I believe I said the reward would be one gold piece each." His voice was filled with raw hatred barely masked by civility. In silence he pulled five pieces of gold from the bag, then dropped them onto the cobblestones. Only when they stopped ringing did he speak again. "Perhaps I will have need of your services again. Stay well."

With that, he made a gesture that ordered his greencloaks to follow him and departed down the street. As he turned away his gaze swept across them, lingering on Bloodwraith. There was no question that all of them were marked for death, but not that day.

That left Bloodwraith in the middle of a group of adventurers that he had betrayed. Rhil'lahan looked angry at his meddling, but Khassfhit nodded in understanding and the others seemed glad to see him. He wanted to ask what they were thinking, but that would ruin whatever had turned his luck this way, so he just stared at him in silence.

"You had to fight your way out, did you?" Herena stepped closer to him and began casting healing spells, shaking her head. "Looks like you took the worst of it. I guess I should thank you."

"Things definitely didn't go as we'd planned." A response that meant absolutely nothing, delaying any interaction for a while longer. Fortunately, at that point Danniah turned to him and started chattering.

"You're amazing, Raigar! I didn't notice the ambush at all, but you knew right away! It was brave of you to take on the entire ambush yourself - I'm so glad we were able to come back in time to rescue you!"

"Stupid," Khassfhit said, "but brave. Why didn't you explain it to us, though?"

It was difficult to keep his face neutral as understanding flooded through him, so Bloodwraith gave a barbarian-like grunt and shrugged. "Wasn't thinking, just acting on instinct. I saw the treasure and knew that it was fake, and I figured out all the rest later." He pulled some of the false gold from his sack and showed it to them - he'd taken it for its small amount of value, but this would be much more useful. No need to tell them about the cursed artifacts.

"So that's what it was." Rhil'lahan snatched the fake gold from him and sniffed. "I knew something was wrong, but I never imagined Daek would go that far."

"What happened to all of you? You didn't need to fight greencloaks?"

"There were a few, but we took care of them easily enough." The elf looked over his battered body and sniffed before turning to walk back to the Guild. Soon the others followed, Danniah supporting him under one shoulder, which was easy given their height difference. Khassfhit walked on his other side, stroking the spine underneath his chin thoughtfully.

"Why would Daek go this far, though? Was he fueling the death ritual?"

Bloodwraith shrugged. Even with this meat-headed body he had many observations, but he didn't feel like sharing them. As glad as he was for the others saving his life, he wasn't exactly overflowing with positive emotions toward them. Unless they were idiots, they had to know they were saving themselves as well by forcing the confrontation.

"The real question is, why get the Adventurers Guild involved?" Khassfhit asked no one in particular. "That would be a huge risk compared to just sacrificing the poor of Cresthaven."

That was a better question, and one that Bloodwraith didn't have any answers to. He strongly suspected that it had something to do with the warning box he had received. Did Daek the Knife know something about other worlds? Was he a tool of the Outsiders, an enemy of theirs, or something else altogether?

It was a critical question, but his mind was as tired as his body. Once he had rested he could consider all such things. For now, he needed to recover so that all of this effort couldn't be undone by a few more injuries. Even with healing, he felt mostly dead.

The others talked about their experience, which sounded like heaven compared to his. He downplayed what he had done and the piles of bodies he had left behind him. Unfortunately, he doubted that Daek would be so foolish as to ignore them. Next time, the underworld boss wouldn't send any novices at him.

But for now, at least, Daek was held at bay. Still, just to be safe, Bloodwraith distributed his points. Though it bothered him to focus so much on his physical skills, he placed all his points into those three statistics. If his primary tool was going to be his body, it needed to be overwhelmingly powerful, not merely slightly stronger than his opponents. His stats looked impressive now, even compared to other adventurers, but he was too tired to really enjoy it.

When they got back to the Guild, Bloodwraith was surprised to find that he was greeted by many people he didn't know. Though the assignment from the Thieves Guild hadn't been important enough to attract the strongest adventurers, apparently they were all glad that it was dealt with. More than a few offered to buy him drinks.

Bloodwraith didn't have time for that, not while he was this tired. The yammering of all the adventurers was grinding into his skull. Though a dim adventurous instinct was glad for the advancement, most of him wanted to burn the place down and be done with all this.

Still, he held back his instincts and forced himself to smile. One of the leaders of the Guild bestowed on him a bronze plate in honor of his achievements. So he had increased in rank - even if the plate hadn't been inscribed with the name Raigar, he wouldn't have gotten any joy from it. A box congratulated him on the increased rank, but he received no raw power, and that was all that really mattered.

Then again, he had survived in the end because of his connections with others. Perhaps he shouldn't burn it all down just yet.

He departed early and everyone seemed to view him as being particularly humble for avoiding the praise. As if he wasn't just beaten to hell. It seemed his reputation had really improved...

[Reputation increased!

Alignment shifted to Good.

You are known far and wide both as a skilled adventurer and a particularly noble soul.]

Of course there was a box to tell him that. Bloodwraith scowled at the box, irritated at being declared "Good" like this. Yes, his personal box had changed as well. Were the boxes as stupid as everyone else, to think he was actually good just because his actions had been misinterpreted?

None of it mattered for now. All that mattered was sleep.

~ ~ ~

[You have entered combat.]

A box intruding into his brain was not how Bloodwraith had wanted to wake up, but his eyes were open and couldn't deny the box insistently floating in front of him. It took him another few seconds to realize what the box said and react. He didn't think about the fact that this was a new type of box until he was on his feet, but by then he had bigger things to worry about.

Most notably, the man in a dark cloak creeping across the room to stab him. Not a green cloak, but Bloodwraith had a feeling he knew the exact reason. Fortunately, the man looked startled to find his target awake and standing so quickly, and that moment of hesitation was enough.

Lunging across the distance between them, Bloodwraith struck the man in the face. He was surprised when the man smashed through the door and collapsed, but then again, his "Might" statistic had increased substantially after his ordeal. Bloodwraith stomped out after him and put a foot on the man's weapon arm... but it was too late, his attacker was foaming at the mouth and already dying.

As easy as the battle had been, Bloodwraith primarily felt irritation. He'd had enough combat yesterday, now he couldn't even get a full night of sleep? But judging from the sunlight, he'd actually had been sleeping for some time. His mind felt rested and his body moved easily, so good enough.

Combat hadn't ended, however, and he could think of one obvious reason: more attackers. Perhaps not targeting him, more likely near the others. If Daek the Knife was going to attack them this quickly and aggressively, he'd probably target more than one of them.

Since he had gone to sleep early, he couldn't be sure where any of the others were. At that moment, a panicked scream ran from down the corridor, so he charged in that direction.

He nearly collided with Danniah, who was wearing the rumpled tunic she wore beneath her armor, as if she'd fallen into bed in it and ran out in the same condition. Though he stopped in time, she didn't, bouncing off his chest and falling back to the ground.

The reason for the scream became obvious the next second as several more fighters in dark cloaks came down the corridor after her. They skidded to a halt when they saw him, but it was too late.

Bloodwraith destroyed them with his bare hands. Not only was he stronger after his experience, something had changed inside of him. His mind, rejecting the brutish physical methods of combat for so long, had finally adapted. Combined with the natural combat instincts of Raigar's body, a few low level assassins were no match for him.

[Victory! You received 545 EXP and five Dark Robes.]

Did that mean that all the assassins had been defeated? Bloodwraith stayed alert in case the boxes were inaccurate in this case, yet it did feel as though the danger had passed. Five assassins to target five of them... but why had they all been together? Was his assumption of their intent incorrect?

"Wow, thank you!" Danniah got up, blushing and looking away from him. It was only at that moment that Bloodwraith realized that he had stripped down to just a loincloth the previous night.

[Affection +5!

Danniah Affection: 89/100]

Those affection points had better be for helping her against the assassins, not for ogling his body. Bloodwraith pushed the issue aside and focused on Danniah. "They attacked you in your sleep?"

"Huh? No." She shook her head from side to side, realized her hair was a messy tangle around her head, and began self-consciously wrangling it with one hand. "One of them shook me awake, demanding to know where you were sleeping. I punched him in the face and ran out, but there were even more of them searching through the hallways. When they started trying to stab me I yelled for help and that's when I ran into you."

So the five hadn't been working as a team, and they'd been targeting him? That was a troubling thought, but he had no way of resolving his questions. All the bodies on the floor were already foaming at the mouth, and he was certain that when they were searched, they would have absolutely nothing connecting them to Daek the Knife or the Thieves Guild.

"Alright," Bloodwraith said, "we need to act quickly. Find the others, get your equipment, and meet downstairs. We'll talk things out there."

Once he was equipped Bloodwraith felt better, though he also regretted the absence of the equipment that had been sacrificed during his escape. He would need to replace it soon, but he wanted something better as soon as he could manage it. Of course, a better defense than armor would be finding out precisely why Daek was trying to kill them... and why he was targeting only one of them, though he decided to keep that to himself.

The others gathered soon enough, even Herena, and none of them had been attacked. Rhil'lahan confirmed that the assassins were carrying papers that indicated they had come from outside Cresthaven - likely hired by Daek from among the bandits. Though the Guild was increasing security, they were publicly pretending that it was just another fight among adventurers.

"That isn't fair!" Danniah struck her fist on the table. "Daek is trying to kill us!"

"No, we want to maintain the fiction of neutrality." Bloodwraith realized that sounded too intelligent and added a grunt. "Gotta keep him from attacking directly, right?"

"But it's not fair..."

While Danniah groaned, Khassfhit shook his head. "This is too much risk for me. I'm going to leave Cresthaven for a while, spend some time in study. I suggest the rest of you do the same."

"Bah!" Rhil'lahan sat back and put one leg up on the table. "Run if you want. Me, I'll hide in plain sight. This attack just proves the Thieves Guild is a bunch of thugs, not master assassins. If we stay in public, Daek won't be able to touch us."

"That might help." Herena wasn't looking at any of them, just tapping her staff against the floor rhythmically. "I'm going to talk to my father and fight this - Daek might be powerful, but he can't just do whatever he wants."

"Unless your father can make him forget a grudge, that isn't going to do any good."

"He's had grudges before. All we really did was remove his source of income. I mean, he was luring in adventurers to loot them, right?" Herena looked at all of them and Bloodwraith grunted affirmatively. She sighed and continued. "We might have to get Governor Andinn involved. He doesn't like to, but he can be persuaded. I suppose that means more gifts of his favorite cheese and dinners spent flirting with his sons..."

"Thanks, Herena!" Danniah smiled at her, then looked to the rest of them. "I'm not sure what I'll do, but I'll be extra cautious until Daek stops being so angry. Does that mean we can't go adventuring together anymore?"

"It was going to happen sooner or later, anyway." Rhil'lahan pulled his foot off the table and hopped to his feet. "You all were good comrades for a time, and I'll never forget that we cleared the Crypt of Cresthaven together. But I have other affairs to deal with."

With that, he strode from the Guild at a brisk pace. Once he left, it seemed obvious that breaking apart was inevitable, though Bloodwraith wondered if it was just because Rhil'lahan felt threatened in his leadership. Herena ordered a carriage back home, while Khassfhit began quietly preparing for his departure.

That left Danniah and Bloodwraith alone at the table. She stared at him mournfully. "I was hoping we'd stay together for a long time... are you going to leave too, Raigar?"

"Not yet." No, there were far too many answers he needed from Cresthaven first. He smiled at Danniah and rose to his feet. "Be careful, Danniah."

Bloodwraith returned to his room to spend a while contemplating his options in silence. Yet as he walked up the stairs, he heard someone following him. After a flicker of concern, he realized that it was only Danniah. She kept following him, though, and when he entered his room she slipped in after him. When he turned back to look at her she squirmed and looked down at her boots.

"Umm, Raigar... I wanted to say... gosh, this is hard. I... Raigar..."

"That isn't my name." He snapped out the words before he could think better of it - curse these barbarian instincts. But he didn't mind Danniah and it irritated him to hear her saying that fool's name while blushing and squirming. Her eyes went wide and she looked at him again.

"What? You... you lied to me?"

He stared at her, taken aback. All his thoughts had been moving toward exactly how much to tell her, whether or not to mix lies with truth. That required more mental effort to maintain, but might be worth it with someone as innocent as Danniah. But he had never anticipated that just the difference in name would provoke such a reaction.

"I... I really liked you, Rai... or, whatever your name is." Danniah stared at him with moist eyes. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"

For a moment, he considered telling some elaborate story of being a lost prince that might appeal to her, but he hesitated. Danniah might not be the brightest women he'd ever met, but she was no fool. And after her party had taken advantage of her naivety, it felt wrong to lie to her even more.

But the truth... telling her that he was Bloodwraith, Corrupter of Worlds and Father to the Undead... that didn't seem like a good idea. "Look, I'm not who you think I am." He folded his arms and captured her gaze. "But that doesn't chang-"

Letting out a quiet sob, Danniah turned and ran from the room. Bloodwraith took a step after her and then hesitated.

Why had he been so brusque with her? It would have made more sense to apologize, to speak to her gently, to draw her down to the bed and...

At that moment, the boxes felt very oppressive again. His body wanted that, and though it was illogical not to indulge in the benefits of having a living body, his hatred for Raigar was intense enough that he discarded the thought. No, he wouldn't behave like that. Maybe he was actually falling for another adventurer's instinct, or maybe the "Good" alignment his boxes declared was manipulating him, but he didn't care.

It irritated him that he'd pushed Danniah away, though. Part of him tried to dismiss her as a foolish tool, to be used and discarded, but honestly she was more than that. Perhaps it was just the body's instincts, but he couldn't deny that-

[Affection -5!

Danniah Affection: 84/100]

"Asinine boxes!"

Chapter 15

Just in case some of his confusion was due to the limitations of a living body, Bloodwraith ate a full meal and spent a period of time training. He felt somewhat better, but no more certain about what he should do next. Tired of thoughts of drama, he headed out into Cresthaven to find direct answers.

It took him some time prowling the street of herbalists, but eventually he found Meara. She was doing mundane work in another woman's stall, her eyes staring blankly across the street. Judging from her rumpled and stained cloak, she might not have changed clothes since the last time he'd seen her. Something of the life she had displayed before had gone from her, but when he drew close, she slowly looked up at him.

"Hello, adventurer."

"Peasant girl. Come here, we need to talk." He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the stall. The owner started to object, then saw how large the sword he was carrying was and shut up. Meara just fixed him with a bitter look.

"Going to finish what you stopped earlier?"

"Shut up and follow me." She didn't struggle, obediently going with him as they headed down the street. Bloodwraith checked thoroughly for anyone tailing them, which was difficult in the crowded market, but it seemed like they attracted little attention.

It wasn't far to the main gate, so he took Meara straight out of the city. Only once they were completely alone, with craggy rocks in between them and the city itself, did he allow himself to breathe normally. Meara simply stood there, staring at him without expression. When he didn't speak immediately, trying to collect his thoughts, she finally spoke again.

"Just tell me what you want. I'll give it to you, if you promise to kill me."

Bloodwraith had been planning to start by talking about her potion, but that threw him off. "Kill you? Why?"

"I don't care about the risk of coming back anymore - what I went through in the Forest of Beginnings broke me. I can't go back to a normal life, can't forget that beings can just toy with our world. Even activities like making potions aren't fun anymore - when I think about them at all, they just... break apart. I want to die, but I haven't been able to make myself do it." Her eyes met his flatly. "Please, have mercy. I'll do literally anything for you, just..."

"No!" Bloodwraith grabbed the front of her robe and lifted her into the air until her eyes were level with his. "Stop acting like a miserable peasant wench!"

His outburst provoked only a slight twitch of her lips. "And why should I do that?"

"Because incomprehensible beings from beyond our world have reached into ours and fashioned it into a game for their own kind. And you might be the only person in the world who will believe me."

"Huh." Meara stared at him for a long time, then closed her eyes. "You can set me down now."

Anger dissipating, Bloodwraith did as she asked. He saw less despair in her eyes now and more of the nameless apathy he'd seen back in the Forest. This Meara was much preferable.

"So you want to talk to me because you think I can understand? Is that all?"

"Something is different about you. It's difficult to explain, but when I look at anything, I see these boxes..." He went on to explain everything in more detail than he had intended. It was a relief to be able to talk about them plainly, Meara simply nodding in understanding. "Anyway, when I look at you, the box becomes strange and twisted. I don't know what it means, but-"

"It means I'm broken." Meara leaned back against a boulder and sighed. "I've noticed. Unless I focus entirely on making potions, I screw them up in a strange way. I showed you one, actually."

"No, you didn't. I drank it and it helped me." Bloodwraith took out the empty bottle and stared at it, as if there would be any answers there. "Except the boxes lied to me at first. That, or they didn't understand what it was. It was labeled a 'Failed Potion' until I forced the boxes to accept what I was feeling."

The potion was just another mystery to him, but he was startled when Meara came closer. She gently took the potion from his hand, her fingers brushing against his. Most of the emptiness in her eyes had slipped away, but he didn't know how to label what he saw there. "It wasn't useless?"

"I'm not here to stroke your ego, wench!"

His flaring anger only prompted a slight smile. "Then let's test further. I have some things to show you." Reaching into her cloak, Meara pulled out three potions in succession: the first standard red, the second very dark red, and the third hissing orange. "How do these look to you?"

[Health Potion

Drink to heal a small amount of health.

Rarity: Common]

[Failed Potion

An improperly brewed potion.

Durability: 15/2,399,217

Armor: 4]

[Failed Potion

An improperly brewed potion.

Durability: 11/3

Skills: Potioning]

"That one looks normal, the other two say they're failures. But in different ways." Bloodwraith frowned at the boxes, exerting his will against them. He felt as though they almost gave way, yet something still resisted...

"The first one is a normal potion," Meara explained. "I did everything I could to make that one normal. The other two... well, I don't want to say. I tried something else with them."

Nothing to do but try an experiment, then. The fact that Meara had prepared for one made her rise substantially in his esteem. Bloodwraith uncorked the darker potion and took a sip of it.

[Failed potions may have a variety of negative side effects.

Health regen-]

No, the boxes lied. What did he actually feel?

He'd felt a rush of magic, followed by a queasiness. But he thought that second feeling was what the boxes were trying to make him feel. How had the magic itself felt? Once he isolated that thought, it became obvious: it was a huge rush of healing magic.

When he focused on the glass vial again, the box twisted into a new shape.

[Greater Health Potion

Drink to heal a large amount of health.

Rarity: Uncommon]

"It's a health potion," he declared. "More valuable than the average. The boxes couldn't recognize it at first, but the effect is obvious."

To his surprise, Meara clapped her hands together. Just once, but in the moment she did so, he caught a glimpse of a smile. It completely transformed her face, becoming something that was neither the cheerful girl she had been when they first met, nor the suicidal woman she had been at the start of the day. But a moment later she restrained herself and nodded.

"That's right. Normally I'm not skilled enough to brew potions like that, but I tried anyway. Everyone said I failed, but it seems I didn't completely."

"As for this last one..." Bloodwraith examined the glass bottle carefully, swirling the liquid inside it, feeling the mana as well as he could, and generally glaring it into submission. Eventually its box blurred and shifted as well.

[Restoration Potion

Drink to heal injuries, increase insight, and boost stamina.

WARNING: Will not restore Health or Stamina.

Rarity: ???]

"Odd. The box calls it a 'Restoration Potion' but the description contradicts itself. Is this the type of potion you gave me before? That one seemed effective, whatever the boxes say."

"Similar." Meara gave him a sly smile. "Before, I did it by accident. This one I tried as hard as I could to make a potion that would restore someone. But everyone told me they were failed or got sick while drinking them, so I grew depressed about it..."

"You can break the system." Bloodwraith stared at her, his eyes widening. He caught another glimpse of that sly smile before Meara looked away.

"I told you I was broken, didn't I?"

"We need to perform more experiments!" He couldn't quite contain his interest, jumping to his feet. "Now that I've examined the potion, will others be able to drink it? Have you tried drinking your own potions? What happens if-"

"That's enough." Meara raised a hand, all trace of her smile gone. "If you want my help, we need to have a serious talk."

Bloodwraith stared at her incredulously. "Are you serious? We're the only people who can figure this out, and we can't do it alone. What are you going to do, go back to working for some insignificant shopkeeper? Become some farmer's wife and try to forget about the time you wanted to kill yourself?"

"You never told me your name, adventurer." She met his gaze without flinching, the steel within her rising again. "I'm not going to work with someone who's withholding critical information from me. You don't seem like the other adventurers from the Forest, but how do I know?"

"There's no way to know for sure," Bloodwraith told her sourly. "I can't provide actual proof for any claims, so anything I say will be just words."

"Give me something. Please."

They stared at one another, neither backing down. He could see in her eyes that she wouldn't bend on this point. This was no peasant wench... whatever Meara was now, she deserved his respect. Besides, after what she had been through, he doubted she would run off weeping like Danniah. Bloodwraith sat back down, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Very well, Meara. You told me you remembered the Master Lich?"

"I told an adventurer about him at some point in the past, yes. Didn't he die?"

"Yes, he did. But the Master Lich had two subordinates: do you remember them?"

Meara's mouth twisted into a frown. "No, I don't think so. I just warned about the Master Lich and I never heard more about it until I left the Forest. Why?"

"Well..." Bloodwraith took another deep breath and then just pushed forward. "His subordinates were named Skullcrusher and Bloodwraith. I am... the latter. After Raigar was victorious, but before he entered a mysterious door, I used an ancient artifact to switch our souls. So he died in my place, and I took his place. But my identity is unchanged: I am still Bloodwraith, Corrupter of Worlds and Father to the Undead."

When he was finished, silence reigned. And then Meara giggled.

"Did you say your name was Bloodwraith? Seriously?"

He glowered. "Are you mocking my name?"

"Well, did your parents name you that?"

"...no."

"Then you chose it for yourself, didn't you?" Meara fell over backwards onto the boulder, trying and failing to contain her giggling behind her hands. "So you started with 'Bloody Ghost' and worked from there? Did you consider naming yourself the Sanguine Specter? I think you're aiming much too low! Why not call yourself Cursemurder McDeath, Puncher of Kittens and Defiler of Puppies?"

Bloodwraith drew himself up and huffed disapprovingly. He had expected fear or disgust, not... this. Meara got her giggling under control, but when she sat up and looked at him, her eyes still danced gleefully. "I'll have you know that name struck fear into the hearts of my enemies."

"I'm sure that it did." Meara's mouth twitched once more before she finally looked at him more seriously. "Well... Bloodwraith... what are you trying to do now? Are you planning to rape and murder your way across the land? Form another undead horde and conquer everything? Because you aren't doing a very good job of it so far."

"I... I'm not sure." Though he had been furious at first, his wrath felt... punctured. He leaned forward, folding his hands together and forcing himself to think logically. "More important than any of my ambitions is the fact that beings from outside reality are manipulating our world. And you should know that I did not just mindlessly raze the land. And I would never defile a pup... this isn't the point!"

"Oh, but it does matter, because I need to know who you actually are. Most of the adventurers who passed through took advantage of me, but you didn't. The reason why will determine whether or not I can trust you."

Answers leapt immediately to mind, both Raigar's instincts and more subtle lies. Yet staring at Meara, Bloodwraith felt all of those falling away and he just answered honestly. "I'm not sure. Something is wrong with me. I feel as though my mind is trapped in a body that has its own impulses. It tries to force me to do more... more heroic things, I suppose."

Meara tilted her head to the side, considering him seriously. She didn't mock him at all now, considering his jumbled words with a thoughtful expression. "So you think you're a mix of good and evil motivations? It could be that... but I'm not sure it is."

"What? You're going to tell me that you know how I feel better than I do?"

"You run around calling yourself Bloodwraith. I'm not sure you can be trusted with self-awareness." There was little barb to her words, however, and she still examined him carefully. "Look. I've met a lot of adventurers, and many of them talked about 'Good' and 'Evil.' I don't think I care about those labels anymore. All I can tell you is that from what I've seen, I don't think I believe it's that simple."

"I... accept that you may be right." Bloodwraith looked down at himself, the foolishly muscled body that was all he had now. How did this reincarnation work, anyway? Presumably his current body contained brain matter, and his old brain matter had decayed in his old body. Had his old thoughts been imprinted? His soul transported entirely? He struggled to figure out how that would work compared to the Wand of Soul Exchange, but then again, he was dealing with Outsiders from some incomprehensible world. Bloodwraith rubbed the amulet around his neck thoughtfully, wishing he had the magical senses to examine it more closely.

"What's that?"

Bloodwraith jolted and stared at her. In the entire time he had been traveling he had worn the amulet, even in the sauna, and no one had ever commented on it. Given the note that it was impossible to steal or lose, he had assumed it was part of him. Yet Meara was staring directly at it.

"There's something very strange about that amulet. But I'm guessing you know that?"

"The boxes call it the Amulet of Reincarnation. It says it was given to Raigar for his second life in our world..."

[Amulet of Reincarnation

Granted for a second life in Alliandelle. Cannot be stolen, sold, or destroyed.

Perk: Enhanced Learning (EXP, AP, and SP will be acquired more quickly.)

Perk: Enhanced Reputation (Reputation will rise faster and fall slower.)

Perk: Enhanced Freedom (Guidelines and impact limitations have been lifted.)

Perk: Ladies Man (Easier interactions with the opposite sex.)

Perk: Clean Conscience (Limits potential trauma or regret.)]

Now that he thought about it, he wondered if the amulet could be used to manipulate him. It could obviously provide benefits that had deep and subtle effects on the world around him, so it was plausible. None of the text said anything about that, but why would it? Then again, it claimed that his freedom had been enhanced, not limited.

"Are you staring at the amulet?" Meara asked.

Bloodwraith looked up from it to give her a flat stare.

"Okay, I realize that sounded like a stupid question. But you were really staring at it, and I felt like something was different. Were you seeing one of those boxes?"

"You're right. It's floating here..." Bloodwraith trailed off as he realized that Meara was staring at the space where it had been, even before he gestured to it. "Can you see the boxes?"

"No... but I do feel like something is there. Try this. Make the box go away at a random time and I'll see if I notice."

Nodding at the reasonable experiment, Bloodwraith waited for a long time, moving his eyes randomly to avoid giving her any hints. He dismissed the box at an arbitrary moment and Meara immediately perked up.

"There, it's-" In the middle of her sentence he summoned the box again and her face fell. "No, wait, it feels the same again."

"I brought the box back." Fascinated by this new ability, Bloodwraith dismissed the box and instead stared at Meara intensely. Her box soon appeared, as mangled as before. She was confused for a moment, then her eyes widened.

"Are you looking at my box?"

"That's right."

"What does it say?"

"Right now, nothing. Ever since we met in Cresthaven, it's been too mangled to read. Presumably because of whatever broke inside you. Before, it said you were a 'Level 0 Peasant.' "

"Gee, thanks, boxes." Meara rolled her eyes and Bloodwraith found himself smiling.

He immediately cut off the expression, remembering the issue before this tangent. Where had that smile come from? His old self might have appreciated sarcasm, but he never would have spent time with a girl like Meara. Was it the old urges forcing him to respond positively to her, or something else?

"Bring back the amulet box again," Meara said. "Tell me exactly what it says."

Since that was a reasonable request no matter the source of his feelings, Bloodwraith dutifully read it out. When he finished, Meara shook her head slowly.

"No... that's a simplification, I think. It just says 'more quickly' - not how much more quickly. Not all the details are there."

"That's obviously true on the face of it." Bloodwraith frowned. "Are you suggesting that the amulet is manipulating me in some way?"

"I don't think it's that simple, I think it's part of you. The amulet is a reward that Raigar earned for starting a new life, correct?"

"That seems to be the case."

"Then the amulet probably reflects who he wanted to be." Meara tapped her chin thoughtfully, still staring at the space where the box hovered. "One thing I can say for all the adventurers I met, they all seemed driven. Some actually walked up to me and asked me what great evil they could slay, or talked about wanting to be heroes. Others made it just as obvious they were there for pure hedonism. But they all came with a purpose, so the same must be true for Raigar."

"Then that just confirms my theory that I'm dealing with his impulses. Raigar was an idiot, always shouting about defeating the Master Lich, becoming famous, and all that."

"The old Raigar did. This is his second life."

Meara reached forward and she touched the box. Bloodwraith was so shocked he couldn't even say anything, just stared. Instead of her hand passing through it without impact, her fingers disappeared into the surface. He wanted to say something, but her face was fixed in concentration and he didn't want to distract her. The text seemed to shimmer and blur before she pulled her hand back.

And promptly gave a malicious little cackle. Bloodwraith looked away from the shifting box to glare at her. "What did you do? Did you change something?"

"Oh, I don't think I'm capable of that. I just looked at your amulet a little more closely and realized a few things." She gave him an incomprehensible smirk. "Tell me about these feelings of Raigar's, oh fearsome Bloodwraith."

Though her attitude infuriated him, Meara was his only ally who could help him with the boxes, so he cooperated. "It emerges at various points, such as interacting with other adventurers. In my old life I would have killed them all when they annoyed me. Now I find myself working with them. And Danniah - the one I told you about - she should be annoying, but because of Raigar's impulses I ended up defending her."

Meara let out another cackle. When she saw his glare she tried to stifle her cackle, but failed. Still snickering, she reached out to tap the box. "Look more carefully. I delved a little deeper into exactly what those perks of yours mean. Reading between the lines, you can see a lot more about who Raigar wanted to be."

There were new lines in the description of the amulet. The first were simple multipliers that were just as arbitrary as all the other numbers that the boxes threw at him, but the last two...

[Perk: Ladies Man (Easier interactions with the opposite sex.)

- Affection with female characters will increase more quickly.

- Female characters will be more receptive to sexual advances.

- Rape will vary based on player intent, leading to romance unless intentionally violent.

- Pregnancy will not occur unless intentionally willed.

- Complete immunity to sexually-transmitted diseases.

- Sexual harassment will be ignored within limits.

- All conquered women will become amenable to harem conditions.

Perk: Clean Conscience (Limits potential trauma or regret.)

- Psychological impact of murder completely removed.

- Empathy for victims will be muted or removed when it would inconvenience the player.

- Most actions will not generate any guilt.

- If confronted with consequences of actions, negative emotional reactions will be muted.]

There was even more text, shifting as lines blurred in and out, but the more he read, the more the cold realization came to him. These were not advantages that would be chosen by someone wanting to be a shining hero. If Raigar had chosen all of these for his second life... Bloodwraith sat there, staring numbly at the words and reading none of them.

"You see now?" Meara smirked. "Raigar might have wanted to save the land the first time, but not the second. No, it looks to me like he wanted to start over and do whatever he wanted."

"Then why are you laughing at me?" Though they had not truly known each other for very long, Bloodwraith still felt betrayed that she would mock him. Yet as she stifled another giggle, her mockery didn't seem as malicious as he had thought at first.

"All those heroic impulses you said came from Raigar, all that kindness and human connection... where do you think they really came from?"

He stared at her, wishing that he was as stupid a barbarian as he looked. But there was nothing he could do to stop his mind from comprehending her words. Though he tried to develop counter-arguments, he didn't truly believe any of them. She was right... and she couldn't resist rubbing it in.

"Oh, great and terrible Bloodwraith! Whatever will we do before your horrible reign, wantonly befriending adventurers all throughout the land?"

"Shut up!" Bloodwraith grabbed Meara by the throat and lifted her into the air... and immediately realized just how many times he had done exactly that. She didn't seem even slightly concerned, eyes dancing as she looked down at him.

"Oh no! Mighty Bloodwraith, please don't make me 'amenable to harem conditions'!"

For a moment, his anger burned hot and true. How dare she mock him like this? He should impale her on his sword, burn down everything, show the world...

Show the world what? His anger slipped away and Bloodwraith set Meara down heavily. Even if his life had depended on it, he didn't think he could have killed her in that moment. He had been holding his view of himself so rigidly, and now it all lay shattered on the ground. Because she was right.

Something must have changed in him, because all trace of amusement vanished from Meara's face. She took a step closer and touched his arm. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I just..."

"No, I understand. I must look like a pompous fool to you." He brushed off her hand and moved a short distance away. She took a step after him, but didn't touch him again.

"I'm actually glad... Bloodwraith." For once there was no mockery when she said his name. "If Raigar had gotten his second life, he would have done terrible things in our world. Not only did you stop him, you've resisted those impulses and haven't taken advantage of all the power you've been given. I feel like I know who you are now. And I'd be happy to work wit-"

"You're wrong." He turned back to her, eyes flashing with a bit of his old self. "It isn't that simple. I was not a good person, Meara. I've murdered people solely for my benefit. I helped the Master Lich kill so many..."

"But don't you remember? The Master Lich was probably planted by the Outsiders for Raigar to defeat, another one of their tools. You were pulled into the same pattern. You were as manipulated by them as I was."

"I don't think that's true. I remember myself too clearly - it would be too easy to blame it all on them and ignore responsibility for my actions."

Meara took his words seriously, at least. After a long pause, she spoke more quietly. "Do you want to pick up where you left off in your last life? Burn down the world?"

"I... no. I don't think I ever wanted that."

"Then this is your chance to decide again, isn't it?" She stepped up in front of him and gave him a soft smile. "I think we're all controlled by our past decisions, in many ways. But you've been given a second chance. You can decide what it is you really want."

Part of him wanted to smile back at her, but he couldn't stomach being so soft and warm. But she was right. Bloodwraith turned away, trying to search through himself and determine exactly what it was that he really wanted.

Why had he wanted to conquer in the first place? It had all started with anger over how poorly the world was run, certainty that he could do better. He could see that was arrogant now, yet he didn't shrink away from it. Fine, he was arrogant. If he got a chance to rule, he was sure that he could do better than Daek the Knife or so many ineffectual kings.

Had he ever really wanted to burn down the world? No, that had been the Master Lich's desire and he had gradually made justifications and lost track of his original goals. It was difficult to reconstruct his exact thinking now, but he didn't need to. What mattered was where he decided to go from this point.

Eventually he turned back and found Meara waiting silently. "You're right. Thank you, Meara."

She nodded and opened her mouth, but he kept speaking.

"I'm not going to be some selfless hero, though. Quite the opposite. But what I want, first and foremost, is to find out who is manipulating our world. This is my world and they have no right to meddle with it. Until we eliminate that threat, all personal choices are meaningless."

"That sounds good to me." Meara gave him a lazy smile and another realization hit him like lightning.

Raigar was the one who wanted to pin her down and take her, "conquer" her according to some childish view of the world. What Bloodwraith wanted was the Meara with a mocking smirk on her lips, coming to him willingly. Though the impulses of Raigar's body rushed through him, he couldn't deny his part in all his own thoughts.

For now, he could live with that. What mattered was that Meara was his ally in this, more than anyone else he had ever met. He smiled at her and extended his hand. "So, Meara, I told you who I am. Do you trust me now?"

She smiled back and took his hand. "Pleased to be working with you, Bloodwraith."

Chapter 16

They stood like that for a time, the warmth lasting for a while before it grew a bit awkward. Bloodwraith pulled back his hand and looked at her seriously. "I'm not withholding any more information from you. But before we wandered onto this very long tangent, I was saying that we needed to do more experiments."

"You're right. That's a good place to start." Meara's eyes flickered toward the amulet's box, forgotten amid his personal revelations. She looked away when he dismissed it. "I think we need to start with what these boxes actually are, at the most fundamental level. I was concerned that the Outsiders might be using them to monitor you, since they were able to send you messages, but you don't seem concerned."

"I thought the same, but I changed my mind after something I hadn't mentioned to you yet." Bloodwraith told her about the message he'd received at the bottom of the crypt and his theory that the system was fully contained within himself, an automated system of sorts. He never simplified for her and Meara seemed to follow without difficulty.

"So the boxes are a mix of your perceptions and the deeper magic the outsiders put in place."

"That's my theory. They don't reflect the truth of reality perfectly, since my impressions can impact them, but they're definitely more than the sum of my senses. On the other hand, I was able to defy the default settings when it came to your potions."

"How much do you think Daek knows? Based on the message, he isn't working with the ones responsible for all this, but is he fighting them, or just meddling with forces he doesn't understand?"

"That's hard to say." Bloodwraith turned back to look at Cresthaven for the first time in what felt like an age. "It's odd that he targeted me. Perhaps he can sense that I'm different and thinks that I'm one of the Outsiders. If that's true, then perhaps he's an ally."

Meara immediately shook her head. "I'm not saying you're wrong, but be careful. I have an intuition that Daek is not on our side - maybe it's just a feeling, but we've established that I'm in a strange place in all this."

"Yes, I'll take your impressions seriously. Do you have any other guesses about him?"

"Actually... give me a moment." Meara closed her eyes for a long time and he could see her eyes shifting beneath her eyelids. Gradually she opened her eyes with an odd expression on her face. "Okay, this is strange and might not be completely right... but I have an impression about all this..."

"Go ahead."

"For his first life, I gave Raigar a grand quest to defeat the Master Lich. But for his second, all I had for him was directing him toward Daek the Knife. If he wanted to live a different kind of life after reincarnating, why would that be his objective?"

Bloodwraith folded his arms. "I feel certain you'll tell me, once your pause has been long and dramatic enough."

She flashed a quick smile. "I think it was to give him a way to acquire stable power. Think about it: no matter how much Raigar did, he wouldn't be that much worse than Daek."

"Ah. And it gives him several options. If he wanted to take over the Thieves Guild, he could do that, but he could also create a rival organization to replace it. Cresthaven could support both. If he became worse than Daek, the city was already used to a capricious ruler. But if he was even slightly softer, then he could satisfy all his desires while people appreciated that he was better than his predecessor."

"Exactly! I think the Outsiders have the ability to nudge our world a bit, but not control it completely. So there are always loose ends and pieces that don't entirely work. Perhaps like this crypt Daek found."

"If he actually knew how to use the power of the ritual, there'd be nothing we could do to stop him." Once Bloodwraith said it, he realized that it was true. "Daek must have stumbled onto some of the same sort of power that the box gods control. There have always been theories about multiple worlds and ways to pass through them magically. The enemy has just mastered those abilities to an unprecedented degree."

Meara considered that thoughtfully. "Why do you think they're doing it, though? Is it all really just for a game? That feels... extravagant beyond even the most decadent kings."

"I'm not sure they have motivations we can understand. They might be insane gods gibbering madness in dark realms beyond ours. Even though they fashioned these boxes to appear in a language I know, not some alien tongue, it's still filled with incomprehensible concepts and other nonsense."

"You might be right... but I don't know, they feel a bit more comprehensible to me."

"Until we learn more about them, there's no way of knowing."

"Very true." Meara gave him a quick smile. "So we'll set aside the grand philosophical questions for now. Regardless of where we're going in the end, what do we do today?"

Bloodwraith turned away, folding his arms behind his back and considering the question. He had some immediate errands to run... but that felt too petty, given everything he had learned. Plus, it was completely ignoring their most valuable new resource. "I think we need to learn more about what you can do. After all, they used you to give new adventurers new quests."

Meara blinked as if this was a new thought. "I suppose that's true. But I don't think I really give them, at most I just hand them off. Though I suppose I gave you the quest to retrieve cureleaves... but it's not like I can just say, 'Raigar, bring me ten cureleaves!' and hav-"

[Quest Accepted!

Find 10 Cureleaves for Meara.

Rewards: Meara Affection, Alignment]

When his eyes shifted, Meara noticed, and a broad smile spread across her face. "Did I just create a box?"

"Yes, it looks like you did." Bloodwraith stared at it, shaking his head. "But we already knew that you could give me this quest over and over. I was hoping that you could create quests that I could finish simply and repeatedly. Even if they had low value, it-"

"Raigar! Take off your left boot and stick it on your head!"

"...no luck, Meara."

"Damn!"

"Maybe you can't create more than one at once? We should resolve this one before we make assumptions about further experiments. Follow me - I handed you dozens of those things before, the least you can do now is help."

He didn't need to order her, though, Meara was eager to help. Cureleaves were much more difficult to find in the crags outside Cresthaven than in the Forest of Beginnings. They had to range around further, though Bloodwraith always stayed within range of Meara just in case there were more bandits in the area.

Though her words had troubled him, his mind felt clearer than it had in a very long time. So what if some of his impulses had actually come from within himself? Someone devoted to being pure "evil" was just as foolish and provincial as some paladin who sought a naive ideal of "good" at all costs. He'd figure out what he actually wanted in life, then find a way to acquire it.

At last they found ten cureleaves. Meara handed the ones she'd gathered to him, then he handed all ten back to her. They stood there awkwardly for a moment.

[Quest Complete!

Found 10 Cureleaves for Meara.

Meara Affection +10

Alignment: Good +5

EXP +25]

Exactly as it had been before. As Bloodwraith stared at the box, he found Meara gazing at it as well. "Can you see it now?"

"I don't see anything with my eyes, but the more I get used to it, the more I have an impression of them. You finished the quest, right? And then... oh, apparently a few bundles of leaves are worth 10% of my total affection! Take me now, brave adventurer!"

Bloodwraith just chuckled. "What matters is that I still gained the power attached to the quest. Though 25 points may not be a lot in the long term, it's still remarkable. Right now, killing wolves only grants me a single point of EXP each. Your quest was worth an entire pack."

"Wow, so I just granted you raw power?"

"Indeed you did, oh Goddess of Plant Collection."

Meara gave him a mock curtsy, but soon refocused on the box more seriously. "I'm more curious about the line before that, though. It has... something to do with morality?"

"I believe so. The box gods have seemed concerned with a simplistic morality system from the beginning, offering me a binary choice between good and evil. Many of the actions I take change my 'Alignment' on a continuum - based on my actions so far, I've been pushed over to the 'Good' side of things. It is an exceedingly stupid system, utterly reductive of any concept of morality."

"Perhaps that's the closest these Outsiders can come to understanding morality? Just imitating things we say and do without understanding them."

"It might be. But I want to do some more experiments first."

The first thing they tried was repeating the quest by Meara giving him back the cureleaves, then starting the quest again. She was able to generate the box, but when he handed the leaves back, nothing happened. Bloodwraith cursed his ill luck, not to mention the fact that they'd have to go collect ten more. But Meara suggested that they try buying a set, which was a good idea, so they headed back into town.

"How many Evil Points have you gotten?" Meara asked.

"I'm not sure. There are a lot of boxes I suppress, otherwise they would drive me mad. I think I've received a few for various actions, but... not very many. Oh, stop smirking. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious how they compare to the 5 points you get for giving me cureleaves. I mean, helping a stranger is a kind thing to do, but not that kind. The system doesn't seem to care that you're just doing it to receive a reward, and nothing changed even now that we're allied with each other."

"That's a good point. Does it matter?"

"I'm not sure. Does the system have an impact on how people view you?"

A good question he hadn't considered. Bloodwraith thought back to how the other adventurers had assumed that he had been acting benevolently when he abandoned them, even though that explanation made limited sense. Was that luck, their foolishness, or the system at work? "It might."

"Heh. Then the system is completely meaningless, since it's established that one 'Good Point' is worth two cureleaves. Even if murdering someone you didn't like cost 100 points, you could just turn around and hand me 200 cureleaves and it would be all better."

"Possibly. There's also an idiotic 'Reputation' system to consider, and I don't think the boxes can rule all of reality. They won't make all the people around us as stupid as the creators of the boxes." Yet Bloodwraith found himself chuckling as he considered the thought. "But it's even worse than you said. Cureleaves cost almost nothing, right? If I robbed a bank, I could spend a fraction of what I earned on cureleaves and come out more 'Good' than before."

Meara laughed freely and he enjoyed the sound. That took him back into territory where his mind was less clear, so he pushed the thoughts aside and concentrated on walking. As they headed back toward Cresthaven, they chatted and joked with one another.

How long had it been since he'd interacted with someone like this? With the undead, he'd only had minions. The Master Lich had been his superior and Skullcrusher had been an idiot, so they weren't truly equals. Before that he had known a few colleagues, but not friends. And in his living life... that was so long ago, and he'd been such a child...

He was pulled back to the present day by a growling sound. When he looked up, he was surprised to find a wolf prowling near. It was extremely thin, clearly attacking out of desperation.

Though Meara should have retreated and let him deal with it, she stayed in place, staring at it as if in a trance. Just when he was about to go help her, she whirled toward him with a grin. "Raigar! Slay ten wolves for me!"

[Quest Accepted!

Slay 10 wolves for Meara.

Rewards: Meara Affection, Alignment]

"It worked!" Bloodwraith stared at the box in surprise. That disproved the theory that she could only give one quest at a time, since the quest for the cureleaves was still active. In fact, he noticed a new box appeared that seemed devoted to listing all current quests. Useful, but something to consider later.

"Does it say how much it's worth?"

"Nothing about that." Bloodwraith absentmindedly put the wolf out of its misery with a swing of his greatsword, paying more attention to the box. "None of the quests have specified exact rewards beforehand, though. We'd have to complete the quest first to find out, but I'm not sure I have the patience for that right now."

"That's reasonable. Besides, it's getting late."

They'd talked for much longer than he'd thought - in fact, they risked being shut out of the city by the Cresthaven Guard. Both of them moved at a faster rate along the path. But along the way, Bloodwraith glanced over to her and asked the obvious question. "What led you to try that?"

"I'm not sure." Meara bit her lower lip, considering. "It just felt right. I don't think that I can ask you to do just anything and turn it into a quest. There are... patterns in reality, I think. It's easier to make things follow one of those patterns than to try to forge entirely new ones. They, uh... seem to like collecting or killing ten of things."

"Having done more than a few quests around Cresthaven, I'm not surprised."

Just before they reached the main gates, Meara stopped walking and turned to him. Bloodwraith stopped as well, still smiling from their conversation, but he adopted a neutral expression when he saw how serious her eyes were. Meara took a deep breath and spoke carefully.

"I just wanted to say... thank you. For being the friend I needed in all this."

Having someone thank him was a strange thing. Plenty of people had done so for his work as an adventurer, but the gratitude had been perfunctory and he didn't really care about them. Meara staring at him and speaking like this was something else entirely. "You are welcome, Meara."

"Right now, there's just too much to think about. I'm not sure what I want in the end. And you said you're not sure either. But... I think I'd like to stay with you, while we get all this figured out."

"I agree." Many other things were still confused in his head, but he was sure of that much. Meara's smile filled him with a warmth that left him uncomfortable, yet he prevented himself from shrinking back from it.

"Then I'm glad I'm with you, Bl..." Meara coughed into one hand. "Gods, I'm sorry, that's hard to take seriously. Are you sure you don't have another name you'd prefer to use?"

Bloodwraith scowled and folded his arms. "It's been my name for hundreds of years."

"Then... I guess I'll have to get used to it. Thank you... Bloodwraith."

They smiled at one another, then hurried into the city to find an inn. Though he'd barely fought for the entire day, Bloodwraith was exhausted.

Chapter 17

The next morning when Bloodwraith woke up, he stared at the unfamiliar ceiling and took a moment to remember where he was. It was better than waking up to boxes announcing that he was being attacked, of course. Slowly he recalled that he and Meara had gone to a small inn that wouldn't ask questions. He'd bought two rooms, which was a waste in a monetary sense, but worth it to avoid any confusion.

Slowly Bloodwraith sat up in bed and pondered the small room. Thinking about the previous day was strange, but... not entirely disagreeable. With Meara on his side, he finally had a real ally in this conflict. No need to act carefully around her, unlike Danniah.

Thoughts of her soured his mood, however, so Bloodwraith refocused on his upcoming day. He'd slept with most of his armor on as a precaution, but now he pulled on his boots and generally prepared for the day. Since this was a small inn there was just a simple table below with whatever the family had made, but he could smell sizzling meat and eggs.

When he went downstairs, he found Meara sitting at the table. She gave him a wry smile when she saw him. "Morning, adventurer."

"Good morning." He sat down and examined the food on the table. If he needed to deal with such desires, he might as well do it in a pleasant fashion as opposed to adventurer rations. "There is a great deal we should do today."

"I was wondering about that. How do you adventurers actually spend your time?"

"Dealing with inventories like petty merchants." Bloodwraith sighed as he began eating. "Everything is more tedious than you would expect. But for a start, I need to replace equipment I lost in the crypt and prepare for another such disaster. I made it through, but I never want to be so unprepared again."

"I can save you money on potions." Meara smiled coyly as she played with her eggs. "Let's just say I can cover that side of things. Just give me some time while you're doing something else."

"That will help, but equipment is terribly expensive. The market is ruined by all these adventurers..." He explained what the smith had told him and Meara nodded in understanding. Truthfully, his explanation devolved into complaining at some point, but he decided that was acceptable and she didn't object.

They finished eating and headed out, taking everything with them. Once they were on the streets, Meara stuck close and they spoke to one another in low voices that would be lost in the chattering of the crowds.

"As I see it," Bloodwraith said, "meeting Daek the Knife is inevitable. Either he'll attack us, or we'll go talk to him. Both have risks, since he's powerful in multiple ways. That meeting might come before we're ready, so we have no choice but to prepare as much as possible."

"I can appreciate that logic. I could start on potions, but they won't take me very long. What do we try first?"

"Replacing broken equipment and checking for unusual items at a shop owned by a man called Haral. That will get me back to square one and we can try to go from there."

When they reached Haral's shop, the smith was actually gone for once. But when he heard the bell he emerged from a back room and nodded to them. His eyes lingered on Meara in simple curiosity, so Bloodwraith nodded to her.

"This is my... associate. She'll be helping me evaluate items."

Haral shrugged. "Fine with me. Are you needing some equipment replaced?"

"That's right. It served me well, but I was pretty hard on it." Bloodwraith described exactly what he needed and received pieces of equal quality to the old ones immediately. He also sold off the fragments and raw materials he'd acquired in the crypt, not bothering to negotiate with Haral. The smith seemed to appreciate it and gave him slightly better prices.

When he pulled out the heavily damaged steel breastplate, however, Haral shook his head. "That one is a mess and it looks like it was old to begin with. I could repair it, but it'd cost more than a new breastplate. I'd give you a silver and a half for the materials."

"I'll take that, then. Can we look at the room of resold items?"

"Help yourself." Haral shuffled over to unlock it. "I ought to just give you a key to the place."

For a while they just examined the room filled with items. Bloodwraith immediately used his technique of checking rarity boxes for all of them, but he was disrupted by Meara's wide eyes. He'd forgotten how overwhelming the room could be, especially since she had no way of simplifying it.

"There's often not much here," he explained, "but I've found some good items. I'm actually using a trick, though it's weird to explain..."

"Yeah, I noticed you summoned an unusual number of boxes. What are you looking for?"

"The whole system rates them based on their overall rarity, and it seems to be reliable enough. For example, all of these... they're listed as 'Uncommon' and they're nothing special. But this knife is a 'Very Uncommon' - I don't suppose it seems different to you?"

Meara hummed to herself, turning the weapon over in her hands. "Maybe." Her fingers hovered randomly over the table, then she picked up a feathered stick seemingly at random. "Is this one even rarer than the one you showed me?"

As a matter of fact, the box declared it "Rare." The item's description suggested that it was only useful for some sort of shamanic profession, so he had ignored it, but it was impressive that Meara had acquired a similar sense so quickly. He dismissed all the boxes to experiment. "How about now?"

"Everything still feels different. It's difficult to put my finger on it, but I can tell the difference." Meara smiled over her shoulder at him. "So we're looking for anything that's a better price than we'd expect, right? I'll see what I can do."

"I'm especially looking for items like this." He'd spotted something actually useful, so Bloodwraith picked up the pair of gloves to examine more carefully.

[Leather Gloves of Strength

Armor: 2

Might +1

Durability: 3/25

Rarity: Very Uncommon]

The price was an entire gold piece, which he was starting to think was standard for anything of this quality. He handed them over her Meara, who ran her hands over the leather thoughtfully while he explained. "What's unique about this one is that it increases my power directly. Just wearing this would be worth 20% of a Level. So acquiring a complete set of equipment of this power would be the quickest way to increase my overall capacity."

"I think I can feel the difference. When it comes to this shop, I doubt I can improve much over what you can already see. But I'll keep my eyes open... you obviously can't afford to purchase your way to a set of equipment like this, so you're open to alternatives, I'd assume."

Bloodwraith watched her for a moment, looked to the door, then quietly voiced his thoughts. "I'm surprised you're embracing this simple goal of power so quickly."

"You shouldn't be." She looked back to him, eyes hard again. "Remember what happened to me in the Forest of Beginnings. The idea of being stronger than those adventurers, of bashing their heads in..." Meara smiled, filled with bitter malice unlike her usual smile. It should bother him, but...

"Try on the gloves."

"What? Wouldn't that be stealing?"

"It's just another experiment. If they work, it would be good, but I'm curious."

"I suppose it doesn't hurt." Meara slipped on the pair of gloves, then almost immediately frowned. Before Bloodwraith could ask, a box appeared over her.

[This party member cannot use that item. Advanced equipment is restricted to adventurer-level characters.]

"No luck. They're too stiff for me to move." Meara sighed and pulled them off, carefully setting them back down on the table. "I have a bad feeling that no matter how much I tried, I wouldn't be able to use these. On some deep level, the world has... labeled me in a different way."

"Hmm. We could try to change that, but my intuition is that you're right." Since she seemed discouraged, Bloodwraith reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "But don't forget, you hold the keys to raw power itself. That might just help me now, but I feel certain that in the future you'll be able to come up with more creative uses."

Meara's eyes sparkled. "Oh, I intend to. But I'm happy to start by figuring out how I can help."

They found a few items of potentially decent quality, but they were too expensive. In the end, Bloodwraith took only the gloves to Haral. He grunted and said it would take three days to get a leather worker and a mage to repair them, but that was adequate. When they left the shop they were an entire gold piece lighter, but that was one item found.

In the market they purchased a pair of generic cloaks that would hide their identities at least a little. Though little could hide his height, there were many adventurers in the city who wore similar cloaks, so they no longer stood out quite so much. Once properly garbed, they headed back to the Adventurers Guild.

Though he braced himself for some sort of heavy retaliation from Daek, the Guild looked the same as always. It seemed to be doing fairly good business for this time of the day. Meara looked around herself curiously as if this was her first time, which he realized that it might be.

"Even when I was a girl, I always wondered how adventurers actually spent their time." Meara examined the crowds with an odd smile. "Seems to involve a lot of standing around."

"It's not as exciting as it sounds, even in a city like Cresthaven."

"So it's not always grand quests to defeat terrible monsters?"

"The 'monsters' part is right. Not so much 'grand' or 'terrible.' " Bloodwraith led her to the wall of papers and gestured over them. "As you can see, a lot of it boils down to running errands. I spent a tenday doing requests like these and didn't make much progress. Maybe they would add up if you were willing to spend a lifetime at it, but we don't have that much time."

"Quite a few errands here..." Meara walked beside the wall, her fingers trailing over the edge of the board. "Oh, look at this: a local shopkeeper needs a shipment of cureleaves. You'd better not collect any for that hussy!"

"Ha. But in all seriousness, I'm not sure these are worth it. Perhaps we should pursue training and our... unique advantages." Bloodwraith didn't want to say anything more precise than that where they might be overheard based on what the boxes had warned at the beginning. Yet Meara didn't seem to be listening, wandering in front of the wall with her eyes unfocused.

Abruptly she reached up and pulled one of the sheets of paper off the wall. She looked at it for the first time, frowned, then held it up to him. "What about this?"

[New Quest!

Clear a local cavern of its gnoll infestation.

The quest can be accepted and turned in at the Cresthaven Adventurers Guild.

Potential Rewards: Average]

Not so different from most of the other quests, and the rewards were even described as "Average." Gnolls were brutish and weak creatures... relative to his past life. Now they might prove more of a challenge, though he thought he had come far enough that it wouldn't be suicidal to take them on. Bloodwraith shrugged and looked to Meara.

"We could try it. But I assume you didn't pick this randomly?"

"No, I just have a feeling about it..."

"Then I suppose we can do another experiment." Bloodwraith took the paper to the desk to ask for more information, glancing back at Meara as she trailed after him. "Should we gather potions first?"

"Oh, don't worry. It's a good feeling..."

~ ~ ~

The drake's flames scorched Bloodwraith's back as he desperately leapt for cover. He hit the ground heavily and rolled, the blisters on his back shooting pain through the rest of his body. Though the drake hissed after him, climbing through the cavern with troubling speed, he was already off, leaping over a larger rocky outcropping and diving down beside Meara.

"You have a good feeling, huh?"

"I'm sorry!" Meara rummaged in her cloak and handed him another health potion, which he immediately drank. "How was I supposed to know the cavern would have a drake in it? Why wouldn't the person have requested to get rid of that instead of the gnolls?"

"There will be time for that later - run!"

Meara sprinted from cover into the nearest tunnel, leading them back to the outside. The drake noticed the movement and lunged after her. It would have caught up in a moment, if Bloodwraith hadn't been waiting for exactly that.

He struck the creature in the side with the full force of a Sword of Rage and it dropped backward onto one leg, hissing angrily at him. But as he'd feared, even his best attack couldn't deal a serious injury to the beast's thick scales. Even with a full party and lucky blows, he didn't think he could take on a creature like that, not at his current level of strength.

His only objective for now was strength, not victory. Bloodwraith retreated as the drake got back to its feet, hurling a burst of force into the creature's eyes. The drake closed its eyes against it, and in that time he fled into the tunnel after Meara.

In a surprisingly short time he caught up to her, though he shouldn't have been surprised given the points he'd placed into his Quickness. But this wouldn't be fast enough. They still had several tunnels to travel through and he could hear the drake behind them, navigating the caves more easily than he'd expected.

"Don't struggle," Bloodwraith ordered, grabbing Meara and throwing her over his shoulder. She obediently stayed there, not wiggling so that he could run. It felt like she weighed barely anything.

"Flame incoming!" she called. Bloodwraith heard the drake crunch into their tunnel a moment later and dodged to the side, into one of the side caverns. A burst of flame scorched the cavern the next instant.

Inside the cavern, a gnoll rose on its haunches, as surprised to see them as they were. Most likely the drake used them as food, but Bloodwraith wasn't willing to test that theory. Instead he expended the rest of the mana stored in his sword, the blow tearing the gnoll in half.

As he sprinted from that chamber, he heard Meara whistle. "Wow, how often can you do that?"

"I'm tapped. Is this really the time for banter?"

"Hey, it's not like I can be very helpful from h - flame incoming!"

He reversed directions again, canceling out his previous direction change. Again, the torrent of flame scorched the corridor behind them. According to his mental map, they were very near the entrance, but that wasn't necessarily safety. Even the Alpha Wolf in the Forest of Beginnings hadn't stuck to its territory, so he had no reason to believe the drake wouldn't follow them.

"There's only the exit and that dead end, right?" Meara asked.

Too winded to answer, Bloodwraith just grunted. As they passed the tunnel to the dead end cavern, he felt Meara twist and then heard something shatter. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that she'd hurled a potion down the other pathway.

A distraction, assuming the drake didn't see them leave via the main exit. As soon as he broke out into daylight, Bloodwraith leapt to the side. Once there, he had to set Meara down and gasp for breath. His body ached and even the boxes declared that he didn't have any stamina left. Behind, he heard the drake roaring, but no flames burst from the mouth of the cavern.

Meara jerked her head toward a nearby patch of bushes and glanced back to him. He nodded and rushed with her toward them as soon as he could. Though the drake might theoretically take some time to notice they hadn't entered the dead end, he decided not to take the risk.

Grabbing Meara, Bloodwraith hurled them both into the heaviest part of the bushes. The branches scratched harmlessly at his armor, but he heard Meara muffle a grunt of pain. For a moment they hid there together in silence... then they heard a roar and a burst of flames lit the sky outside the bushes.

The drake emerged from the cavern and rampaged around for a time, but fortunately the beast didn't appear to hunt by smell. That would have been difficult, since it constantly incinerated whatever was in front of it. They stayed hidden while it thrashed and roared around a large area for a time, then finally breathed a sigh of relief as it returned to the cavern.

Even after that, they stayed hidden, but eventually Meara turned to him. "I... I really am sorry about this."

"Don't be." Bloodwraith got up and parted the bushes to offer her an easier path out. "According to the boxes, the gnolls we killed were worth about 500 EXP. That's much better than a day of running stupid errands."

"But I saw how close that came. We only have one life to live, after all..."

"I'll admit, I don't like risks like this." Though he suspected that he should have smiled and encouraged her, Bloodwraith wasn't good at providing comfort. Fortunately, reality itself offered a little encouragement. "But the experiment proved something else: there's something behind your intuitions about quests. This one was definitely more than a few gnolls."

Meara laughed wryly, but he thought he saw a flicker of relief in her eyes. "Next time, I'll try to pick something without a drake." She followed him as they headed back to Cresthaven, finding another potion in her robes and handing it to him.

"I do want to do another experiment, but not today. We spent too much time outside, so a second quest might leave us out after night. Safer to spend the day training."

"Oh! I'll be happy to try that. Maybe I could be more useful next time."

Instead of using the training grounds at the Adventurer's Guild, Bloodwraith took them to a clearing just outside the gates where novice adventurers trained. Most importantly, there were practice weapons there that could be used for just a few copper bits.

Fortunately, no one else was there at the time except a few bored guards. Bloodwraith gestured for Meara to join him by the rack of practice weapons. "Any of these stick out to you?"

"Hmm... no, not really. I suppose I should start with a sword? That seems like the standard weapon."

"Actually, I'd recommend a spear. It has many advantages over a sword, both for a beginner and for an expert."

"Why not a huge sword like yours? Am I not strong enough?"

Bloodwraith groaned. "Honestly, I wouldn't recommend a weapon like this at all. The stupid Forest stuck me with this and the boxes have too much inertia to change." He picked up a spear and thrust it a few times. Though he could certainly use it, and given his strength likely kill someone, something was missing. Most likely the "Proficiency" that the boxes spoke of, and he couldn't afford to experiment to see what it would take for the boxes to grant him another one.

Meara took the spear from him and looked at it curiously. A box appeared almost instantly.

[This party member cannot use that item effectively. Combat equipment is restricted to adventurer-level characters.]

She sighed and glanced in the direction of the box. "It's saying that I can't use this, isn't it?"

"Yes. But we've ignored the boxes for other things. Try not to think about them and just see how the weapon feels in your hands."

Unfortunately, though she tried to practice, Meara didn't improve. Bloodwraith was a terrible teacher when it came to such weapons, but he thought even with a master instructor, something wouldn't work. The boxes wouldn't accept it.

Now, presumably given sufficient training she could learn to use the weapon well. Normal people with no access to the box gods' power became adventurers, after all, including women who must have been peasants at some point. But Bloodwraith had a feeling that would take a very long time, and time was an even more limited resource than gold.

Then again, it might be something even stranger than that. Bloodwraith watched Meara, gaze sliding to her twisted box. The meaningless squiggles and flickering surface started to twist a little more and he threw his will against it.

"Bend to my will, feeble box!" A moment later, it snapped into focus.

[Name: Meara

Race: Human

Class: Peasant

Alignment: N/A

Level: 0

EXP: 0/0

Affection: 100/100 (N/A)

Statistics:

Might: 0

Vitality: 10

Quickness: 10

Intellect: 0

Charisma: 10

Willpower: 10

Wisdom: 10

Luck: 0

Piety: 0

Skills: Herbalism (-1), Appraisal (-1), Sewing (6), Repair (4)]

The box dissolved back into nonsense the next moment, but he had gotten enough of a look to memorize the important aspects. Clearly, the boxes didn't know what to make of Meara. It was laughable that she should be rated a 10 in Willpower or Wisdom, for one. And he had never seen a person who was rated a 0 in any statistic.

Not to mention her skills, two of which seemed to be broken. What did a negative level in a skill even mean? Clearly she had above average abilities when it came to brewing potions, but perhaps the negative rating explained the "Failed Potions" she kept creating. The other two skills he presumed were leftovers from her old life, though there might be more there.

"Uh..." Meara had stopped in her spear training, watching him with a strange look. "So... did the feeble box bend to your will?"

Bloodwraith grunted. "Yes, I managed-"

"All hail Raigar the Conqueror!"

"Ahem, I managed to force your box to resolve enough for me to read it. What I saw might not be fully accurate, though. It would be premature to draw any conclusions from it."

"No, I'd like to know." Meara walked closer to him and leaned heavily on her spear as he explained what he'd seen. When he finished, she sighed. "That doesn't surprise me and it matches how I'm feeling. I think I'm... locked into a role somehow."

"Differently than normal people? Because of the Forest?"

"I think so. Think about it: 'Peasant' doesn't make any sense as a classification, shouldn't we be herbalists or smiths or something precise? But the entire system is focused on combat, so what matters is that we're non-combatants. While I might be able to change that... I'm afraid that when I broke, I got stuck this way. No matter how much I practice with the spear, it just feels wrong."

If she had been a minion, Bloodwraith would have exhorted her to try harder. But Meara was an ally, and he respected her intellect no matter what her "Intellect" said. He nodded slowly. "You can try to train again if you want. But perhaps you should focus on the ways in which you've been able to bend the box gods' rules. That might be your true strength."

"Yeah, I'll try that for now." Meara handed him the spear again. "I'll stick around and watch you exercise your bulging muscles."

In actuality, she sat down near the practice yard and closed her eyes. It might have looked as though she was doing nothing, yet whenever he looked at her, Bloodwraith found himself slightly unsettled. When he summoned her box, it seemed to be twisting and flickering with unusual intensity. He decided not to look at her and focused on his own work.

Though training normally made the percentages increment at a painfully slow rate, Bloodwraith had noticed that the effects improved after combat, particularly intense combat. He wasn't sure if that was an arbitrary requirement of the boxes - perhaps to prevent adventurers from training forever - or if it was actually logical, his body adapting to what it had learned in combat.

Either way, the percentages had increased while they escaped the drake and now increased at a tolerable rate. By the time the sun was setting, Bloodwraith had managed to increase his Might and both "Rage" abilities. He spent a while poking at the boxes, trying to rename them, but it was no use. His skill with "Two-handed Weapons" remained stuck at 9, which seemed to be taking especially long to increase.

Finished for the day, he wiped off his sweat and turned back to Meara. She didn't seem to have moved the entire time. When he stepped closer she was unresponsive, even when he waved a hand in front of her face. Growing a little concerned, Bloodwraith tried to focus on her box again, and her eyes flickered open a moment later.

"Has..." Her voice croaked and she had to cough a few times. "Has it really been so long? It seemed to pass so quickly..."

"Figure out anything about yourself?" Bloodwraith extended a hand to her and easily lifted her to her feet when she accepted it.

"Not about myself, but I have something I want to try. Wait just a bit." She closed her eyes tightly and raised her hands to her forehead, concentrating intensely. Bloodwraith felt no mana or any other power, and was about to comment when a box suddenly appeared in front of his face.

[Potential Objective: Equipment Upgrade

Upgrade all equipment to +1 quality or better.

Reward: EXP

Accept? Y/N]

Meara opened her eyes and grinned. "Did it work? It did, didn't it? I feel like there's a new quest box, though this one feels a little different..."

"It worked." Bloodwraith examined the box somberly, considering. "And it's remarkable that you were able to create something like this. It even explicitly says the reward would be EXP."

"Good! I thought that since time and our paths to improve are limited, one of the only effective methods would be to receive additional benefits for things you were planning to do anyway." Meara seemed very pleased with herself, but saw his expression. "Is something wrong with it, though?"

"The breakthrough is remarkable, but this quest..." Bloodwraith sent his will toward the "No" option, dismissing the objective. "I worry about what the phrase 'all equipment' means. Do I need to find +1 socks? And my sword is unusual, can I even upgrade it in Cresthaven?"

"Oh, I see your point. But I think it will be easier the next time, let me try again..." He didn't have to wait nearly as long before another box appeared.

[Potential Objective: Improved Equipment

Acquire 10 or more pieces of equipment that are +1 quality or better.

Reward: EXP

Accept? Y/N]

"How's that?" Meara opened her eyes and peered in the direction of box. "I tried to lower the number so the goal would be more achievable, but I couldn't manage it. I think the boxes really, really like round numbers."

"Finding ten might be a bit difficult, but the goal is unambiguous. It will do."

[Quest Accepted!

Acquire 10 or more pieces of equipment that are +1 quality or better.

Current Progress: 2/10]

As the objective box flickered away, however, he noticed another box that he had ignored long ago. The option to accept the objective to replace Daek the Knife was still available to him, the box offering the same two choice options. That supported Meara's theory about Daek being an objective for Raigar, but he couldn't think of a way to exploit it for now. Better to leave that potential for later when they understood more.

"So you accepted it? Good." Meara turned toward the city and he walked along with her. "I tried to make it more ambiguous so that it would be more flexible. For example, say that you stumble upon some item that offers +1 to something you don't really want - it might not help you directly, but it can help complete the quest."

"Yes, there's potential there. A great deal more." His gaze shifted to her. "This is remarkable, Meara. You might not have strength as far as the boxes are concerned, but this is something that no amount of strength could acquire."

"You don't need to tell me how amazing I am, I already know." She flashed him a grin, but he saw the real warmth in her eyes. The broken woman she had been not long ago was still there, somewhere, and it would take more time to heal. "I think I deserve a title, don't you? Hmm... 'Meara, Mistress of Boxes!' "

"That makes you sound like a merchant. How about Bestower of Arbitrary Requirements?"

"Hey, if I'm going to give myself the title, why be modest? Queen of the Universe!"

"Meara, Defiler of Puppies."

"Oh, that does it. I'm making myself Mistress of Ragefisting."

"What...? How did you find out about that?"

Meara cackled and ran off into the city, and after a moment Bloodwraith ran after her.

Chapter 18

To avoid creating an obvious pattern, the next day they went to the Adventurers Guild separately and met up at the board of quests. No adventurers called them "quests," but the boxes did, and now that he and Meara had started using the term, he'd grown used to it. The term seemed very grandiose for what usually amounted to minor errands, but it served well enough.

He found Meara examining all the requests thoughtfully. Though her box was flickering wildly, when he drew near it smoothed out and she glanced at him. "Morning, adventurer. I've been spending a lot of time with these to try to avoid a repeat of yesterday."

"Made any progress?"

"Maybe. What I was sensing yesterday was a sort of... weight, I guess you could call it. Thing is, that was the wrong kind. So I tried to judge them a little more carefully." She tapped a paper that described another errand quest. "This one, for example, is almost nothing. I figure it's exactly what it says it is."

"So you can find one that 'weighs' more than it should, but not too much."

"Exactly. I settled on this one." Meara took a different piece of paper out of her cloak and handed it to him.

[New Quest!

Retrieve a nobleman's son's body from the cavern.

The quest can be accepted and turned in at the Cresthaven Adventurers Guild.

Potential Rewards: Low]

This time the box gave him little useful information, so he looked at the paper request more carefully. It seemed the nobleman's son had been an adventurer, but had died while exploring a cavern near the city. The nobleman wanted his son's body returned and was willing to pay for his retrieval, and there was also a section about recovering family heirlooms he had been carrying. To the boxes, that was apparently another fetch quest.

"So, this quest is more difficult than it appears?"

"Actually, I'm not sure that it is." Meara examined the paper again as if it might contain new information. "I just... have a feeling about it. Less dangerous than the one with the drake. But something about it is more complex than it appears at first."

"It's worth the experiment. We can check it out." Yet as Bloodwraith started to turn away, Meara didn't follow. He turned back to her and raised an eyebrow.

"I won't be coming with you this time. I... well, we both know I'm more of a liability than an asset."

She avoided his gaze, a bit embarrassed. Bloodwraith considered for a moment before answering. "You were only partially a liability."

That got a smile from her. "You always know just what to say, you flatterer. But seriously, I've taken several steps to help you, and I plan to be busy today." She pulled several potions from her cloak and handed them to him. "That's all I have for now, but this quest shouldn't be so dangerous, hopefully. By the time you get back, I should have a much larger supply."

"Do you need materials? I know you have plenty of cureleaves, but anything else?"

"Let me take care of that. What I've been trying to do is double up on your quest, but I haven't had any luck so far. Tell me if anything seems strange about it, but I don't have a lot of hope."

Bloodwraith frowned. "Double up?"

"Same concept as the equipment. I wanted to try to give you a second quest to do the same thing, see if we couldn't double the reward. But it was like... trying to pour water into a filled cup. Likewise, I tried to make a completely circular quest - something like 'Acquire 10 EXP' - and that completely failed. There are rules to this, and they don't always bend."

"I trust you'll keep working on that, then. I'll follow arbitrary directions and go kill things."

"My hero." Meara smirked at him as she turned away and he wasn't sure if there was any disappointment left in her. In any case, there was work to be doing.

At the desk they gave him the exact location of the cavern the noble's son had died in, which was only an hour from Cresthaven. Apparently he and his party had fallen together despite the fact that the cavern wasn't considered very dangerous. Though the Guild staff member assured him that it was probably just incompetence, he resolved to be cautious just in case there was another drake waiting.

As Bloodwraith jogged out of the city, he found himself rapidly growing bored. That would be a problem, given how far he needed to go to reach the cavern. Though he could run faster, he would soon grow tired. By checking the personal box carefully and watching his "Stamina" he found that he could alternate between running and jogging in a way that soon became second nature, but it didn't relieve his boredom.

To distract himself, he began looking through the boxes more carefully. He still had the wolves and cureleaves quests from before, which annoyed him in a vague way. It didn't feel like "quests" were something that should just build up on a to do list. Resolving to clear those out if he could, he tried to observe the world around him closely as he moved.

His mind began to wander. Working with Meara was enjoyable and had obvious benefits, but he wondered if they could truly be allies in the long term. She might not know exactly what she wanted from him... though the same could be said of him, in a way.

Soon he found himself drifting into self-reflection, trying to sort through what thoughts were truly his and what came from Raigar's body. The problem was, some thoughts he viewed as "his" were actually just habits and traditions he had picked up throughout his life. They didn't need to be an intrinsic part of him, but that thought troubled-

[You have entered combat.]

Oh, good. There were a couple of wolves off the side of the road. Bloodwraith went off and slaughtered them, identity crises temporarily deferred.

When he returned to the path, he couldn't get back into the same frame of mind. It was satisfying that the boxes had warned him, though. Working with them further, he started trying to bring up boxes for every piece of foliage he saw. Most had no value and he barely noticed them, but a cureleaf might jump out at him. In theory. The problem was, he had no objective way of judging how well he could locate them, since he couldn't measure those he missed, by definition.

The effort occupied his mind as he continued onward... until he heard the sounds of a battle.

Judging from the noises, it was monsters attacking an adventurer. Bloodwraith headed toward the conflict, less out of altruism than the desire for something to interrupt all the the jogging. As he moved off the path, he jumped up onto one of the rocks beside the path to get a better look.

To his surprise, it wasn't mere wolves or some other petty enemy. A gryphon had someone pinned to the ground, clawing and biting to try to get through their heavy armor. It was far from the largest gryphon he'd seen, but they were still dangerous beasts compared to the average creatures in this area. Whoever they had pinned wouldn't last long, their armor...

It was Danniah. Bloodwraith froze for a moment as he realized it. Though it felt like it had been a long time since he had last seen her, he realized that it actually hadn't been so long. What was she doing wandering alone, taking on a monster like a gryphon?

Pushing aside such thoughts, he rushed to help her. Though she was successfully warding it off with her shield, her attempts to strike back around it were almost completely useless, just thumping into the beast's hide. She managed to land one lucky blow on its head and the beast dropped back with a roar, but it responded by lunging forward.

This time, she didn't quite get her shield up properly. The gryphon's beak came down on the edge, puncturing the metal. Danniah gasped and held onto her shield, but the gryphon far outweighed her and jerked it from her hands, tossing it aside and rearing up with its claws flashing.

Bloodwraith hit from the side, his sword cutting into the beast's flank. It let out a shriek and lashed back at him, but he'd been prepared to dodge back. As it turned on him, he caught a glimpse of Danniah, staring at him as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

When the gryphon charged at him, Bloodwraith met it with a mana-fueled slice. To his surprise, the beast shot into the air, evading the line of force entirely. Now that it was airborne, it flapped higher, beginning to circle them. Not acceptable - it could either attack them from any angle or escape, and he wanted it dead.

Bloodwraith waited for it to begin to dive at him, then unleashed a burst of force from his hand. He clipped one of the creature's wings, sending it crashing down toward him. But he'd been expecting that too: Bloodwraith used the rest of the mana stored within his sword, meeting it head on now that the beast could no longer dodge.

His blow cut deep into the gryphon's chest, but failed to stop its momentum. The beast crashed into him like a wall, smashing him into the ground. Though blood gushed over him from its chest, it wasn't dead yet, lashing out at him. Though he tried to both defend his face and grab the hilt of his sword, its talons were so sharp there was little he could do.

At that point he heard a high-pitched cry and Danniah flung herself at it from the side, mace swinging wildly. In its injured state, the gryphon wasn't able to dodge so easily and she landed several heavy blows on its head. It shook its head, stunned, but then flailed at her, the movement of its neck sending her tumbling over the ground.

While it was distracted, Bloodwraith grabbed the hilt of his sword and shoved it deep into the gryphon's heart. Once the monster lay dead, he crawled out from underneath it and allowed himself a groan. No serious injuries, but he'd definitely felt getting hit with that much weight. He was covered in blood, but that wasn't so uncommon in this line of work.

Before retrieving his sword, he walked over to Danniah. She didn't seem too injured, just stunned. She smiled when she saw him and reached out for his hand.

"Oh, thank you, Rai-" She hesitated, then pulled her hand back. Staring at him suspiciously, she climbed to her feet on her own and went to retrieve her mace.

Sighing, Bloodwraith went back to the corpse and began working his greatsword out of it. A box appeared announcing that he had received 933 EXP for killing it, but he brushed it aside. It was nice to be closer to gaining a level, but he was more occupied with the way Danniah was staring at him.

"Nothing's been the same since we all split up." She wasn't quite looking at him, her eyes on her boots. "Things are hard on my own. But... I also feel like like things weren't always fair. Raigar... or whatever your name is... did you ever really trust me? Or was I just useful to you?"

"You were the best of them." Bloodwraith didn't look at her, finally wrenching his sword out and stepping away from the blood. "The others were out for themselves, but you tried to actually work for the team. I liked that. But if you keep acting that way, people will take advantage of you."

"Maybe you're right." Danniah wiped at her face, possibly removing blood and possibly tears. "I just... I thought..."

He hadn't wanted to get involved with something like this, but Bloodwraith didn't want to just leave her like that. Instead he walked over to her fallen shield and picked it up, noting that it was the same one that had been battered by the golem in the crypt. Now it had a huge bite in it from the gryphon's beak, and the box declared that its "Durability" was nearly spent. Still, he moved and handed it to her.

"I... thank you." Danniah sniffled and looked away. "I have to go. You killed the gryphon, so you can go get the reward if you want."

"It's yours. I just helped you because I wanted to." With that, Bloodwraith turned away, not having any more patience for such emotional conflicts. He glanced back at her once and saw her trying to hide her glances at him, but didn't think he'd make any more progress with her that day.

Strangely, he found that what he'd said was actually true. Bloodwraith had never felt any selfless impulses and he was completely unmoved when the various peasants thanked him for saving their farms or lives. But he didn't mind Danniah, and helping her had produced a good feeling. Perhaps it was just the foolish instincts of a living body, but there was no reason not to take advantage of those for now.

Meeting Danniah again distracted him, however, making it very difficult to return to purely abstract thoughts. Thinking about Meara and Danniah produced a flood of different feelings at the same time.

And those feelings pissed him off.

Bloodwraith retreated to the cold place he still remembered from being undead and considered everything dispassionately. He definitely thought he could blame Raigar's body for some of this, since it wanted to have sex with anything vaguely female that smiled at him. But some of the other feelings... those were actually his. It was frustrating to admit, but he wouldn't go back into self-denial.

Fine. He would deal with that one way or another. Though part of him longed for the unfeeling cool of his old life, that wasn't even an option for him at the moment. One way or another, he'd have to make the best of this.

Still, it was a relief when he finally spotted the target cavern ahead. For a while he could concentrate on accomplishing this quest and not worry about anything more complicated.

Though he was on his guard for something horrible to rush at him, as he entered the cavern he didn't encounter any great danger. In fact, it seemed as though few had been through recently, judging from the dust on the ground. He could actually see the tracks of the group before him, presumably the nobleman's son and his group.

The fools had gone recklessly into the caves in a straight line, doing little exploration. Bloodwraith moved more carefully, examining each side cavern carefully. Unlike the crypt, there were no traps and nothing to loot in the side rooms, but they could still contain things of note.

When he stepped into one of the caverns, he heard a fluttering sound and then bats flooded at him. They were no mere animals, either: the monstrous bats latched onto him, clawing at his armor, trying to sink their teeth into any flesh they could find.

Though he swung his sword through the swarm of them, he failed to hit any of the swift creatures and they were soon mobbing him. He felt one dig into the flesh of his arm and began to lap at the blood, and judging from the pain he understood how they could kill an adventurer.

An average adventurer. But one advantage of having this brutish of a body was that the bats simply weren't that great a threat to him. Bloodwraith reached up and grabbed one of the bats from his neck, crushing its feeble body in his hand. He stopped trying to use his sword, just threw himself against one of the walls, crushing the bats behind him. The others kept attacking in a frenzy, but he grabbed and killed them one at a time.

When it was over he was bleeding from many small wounds, but he barely even felt them. Bloodwraith grunted and looked for more, but...

[Victory! You received 181 EXP and Blood Bat Fangs x11.]

Apparently they were called Blood Bats, then. Since the boxes considered their fangs worthy of collection, unlike so much else from corpses, Bloodwraith bothered to collect them all. By the time he was done, he could already feel his health beginning to restore itself. The injuries still itched and the blood kept flowing unnaturally, probably from the bites, but it just wasn't a threat to him. He wouldn't even need to use a potion.

Still, Bloodwraith moved through the other caverns more carefully, prepared for more bats. He encountered two smaller swarms and retreated in each case, preventing them from swarming him all at once so he could kill them methodically. Not difficult to deal with at all.

Yet as he moved forward, he found his first corpse, a man in a mage's robe who looked as though all the blood had been drained from him. How had a mage fallen to creatures like these? Simple flames should have been enough, not to mention more creative solutions - mages were practically built to deal with small creatures like the bats.

Though Bloodwraith felt scorn for the incompetent mage, he tried to temper it. Perhaps there was a greater danger in the caverns, and if so, he should avoid becoming overconfident. He stripped the mage's equipment, but found nothing that was useful to him. Not even any +1 equipment, either. Was he really just unprepared for a few bats?

As he continued inward, he got confirmation of that theory: another corpse bundled in the webs of some giant spiders. Normally he might have ignored it, but the corpse might have been the nobleman's son. How had the fool have blundered straight into webs like this?

Bloodwraith was extremely careful as he killed the spiders lurking nearby, in case there was some other threat, but encountered no problems at all. These spiders were even weaker than those in the crypt - honestly, it took a great deal of mana to turn a giant spider into a real threat. Even weaker than wolves.

Once the area was secure he opened up the wrapped body, which had also been sucked dry. This one had been a woman wearing light armor, so not his target. Some of the armor actually looked decent, though none of it would fit him and none of it was good enough to qualify for Meara's quest. Pity.

Trying to be generous, Bloodwraith considered that there might be some sort of magical effect that had led them to hallucinate or become muddle-headed. That might explain why they'd done so poorly. But as he continued and found yet another corpse, those explanations started to feel rather thin.

No, they were just idiots. The kind that he should either subjugate or crush beneath his heel. Bloodwraith might feel kinship with Meara and affection for Danniah, but that did not extend to everyone. Comparing those two to these fools was downright insulting.

As he moved forward, the cave gave way to a carved hallway. Not particularly complex carving, but clearly made by intelligent hands. More notably, he didn't have to go far in them until he reached a crossroads with a body in the center of it.

After checking the area carefully, Bloodwraith advanced and checked the body. Though partially decomposed, judging from the elaborate armor, this was the nobleman's son. He was supposed to have a necklace with a ruby on it, but though it wasn't there, it seemed obvious that it had to be him. Bloodwraith stared down at the body, considering whether he should just take it back and finish the quest.

Could it be so easy? That felt almost wrong, especially because Meara had chosen this quest. True, selling off the adventurers' equipment would make it slightly more lucrative than average, but that would be disappointing. Then again, he couldn't rely on her to work miracles.

Or perhaps the real purpose of it had been to send him to help Danniah? That would be quite a coincidence otherwise, but he could imagine that Meara's intuition might have noticed it. Yes, that would be a reasonable explanation. A better-than-average quest and the encounter with the gryphon placed this well ahead of the typical busywork quest.

Just as Bloodwraith began to consider it finished, several details tickled at the back of his brain. No, he was missing something. The absent necklace wasn't a mere coincidence, especially because it had been mentioned specifically in the request. Not only that, something had been strange about the body... Bloodwraith rolled it back over and looked again.

Yes, the nobleman's son had been stabbed in the back. Though some monsters could wield weapons, there had been no sign of such in the cavern.

Then there was more to this. Bloodwraith brought up the quest box again, and to his surprise, he found that it began to blur, more text appearing.

[Quest: The Nobleman's Son

Retrieve the nobleman's son's body from the cavern.

Optional Objective: Discover the reason the son was exploring the cavern.

Optional Objective: Locate the bodies of all party members.]

Bloodwraith grunted in surprise. Perhaps he had suspected such things in his subconscious, but it seemed that the boxes had new information from him. Or maybe this was Meara's influence?

In any case, he had learned several new things. If the box was telling him to find all party members, there must be more of them. It also reminded him that he didn't know why they were blundering into this cavern. The boxes seemed shortsighted about the quest in general, but he kept those thoughts to himself and let them develop in the back of his mind.

For now, he focused on more obvious clues. Though they were very faint, he could make out footsteps that went down one of the corridors, away from the body. Perhaps that was the person who had stabbed the son in the back, though why he would run in that direction was uncertain.

He got the answer to that soon enough: a halfling body lay at the end of the corridor, covered in bite marks and drained of blood. More importantly, he clutched a ruby necklace in one hand.

Given that they must have been fleeing from bats, the halfling wouldn't have stabbed his ally in the back and stolen his necklace on a whim. No, he had been planning it from the start. That also explained something else that had been bothering Bloodwraith: the description of the request itself. The nobleman had said he wanted his son's body, but he seemed more concerned about family heirlooms than he should have been, for a grieving father.

Exactly what power did this necklace contain?

[Ruby Necklace

An elegant necklace set with a valuable ruby.

Classification: Loot (this item is only valuable for selling]

Bloodwraith grunted in irritation. Unless the boxes lied, then this was all just a matter of greed. He glared at the necklace's box the entire time he stripped the halfling's body, but didn't uncover anything new. Perhaps this really was just a mundane affair.

When he rose back to his feet and examined the quest box again, he discovered that the line about finding all party members had turned green. What the hell did that mean? He poked at it mentally and eventually another box appeared and explained that the objective had been completed. Why would that result in changing color? And why green? Sometimes the box gods were entirely incomprehensible.

In any case, he could reliably assume that he had found the entire party. That meant he could take the corpse and go, but he might as well loot the nearby area.

Though a few groups of spiders and bats infested the area, they provided no real challenge. Bloodwraith carefully cleared the area, learning what he could. It seemed to be a dwarven burial ground, but one that had been looted long in the past. There was nothing of value, even in the sarcophagi - those contained only dwarf bodies, not undead.

As he entered the final chamber, Bloodwraith was beginning to feel disappointed in the entire experience. He entered the tomb cautiously, in case there was a guardian... only to find nothing. That made more sense, of course. Only the type of insane people who could build entire crypts would choose to spend money on golems or undead guardians. This was just a burial ground for local dwarves.

Yet he realized that there was one thing in the chamber that hadn't been looted: the large sarcophagus in the center of the room. When he got closer, he understood why: it was built from reinforced stone and sealed with wards. That seemed to have been enough to repel the looters from the past.

It wouldn't be enough to stop him. Bloodwraith took a step back, concentrated mana in his greatsword, and slammed it down into the sarcophagus. He needed three blows to crack it open, stopping to drain more mana into his sword, but eventually he broke the seal and fragmented the stone lid.

Even his muscles strained to push it aside, but he did so in several heaves. Lying in the center of the sarcophagus was a dwarven corpse, wearing untouched burial garb. There were a few pieces of jewelry around the body and small religious icons. The value of all of them wasn't much... though Bloodwraith considered looting them all anyway, he decided to leave the body be. This dwarf hadn't been an idiot adventurer, just someone who lived a normal life. His corpse could rest in peace.

But Bloodwraith's respect didn't extend to everything. As he examined the inside more carefully, he noticed a pair of gauntlets lying above the dwarf's head. They were quite large, both due to being made of thick steel and with an interior larger than suitable for dwarven hands.

[Gauntlets of the Tyrant

Armor: 7

Might +1, Quickness +1

Durability: 45/50

Rarity: Rare

NOTE: This item is part of a unique set.]

Yes, his respect for the dead definitely wouldn't stand in the way of taking those gauntlets. Bloodwraith checked carefully for traps or wards and found nothing. Yet when he picked up the gauntlets, he was still startled as several things happened at once.

First, the quest box appeared, the optional objective turning green. Second, his quest to acquire equipment appeared, declaring that he had found 3/10 pieces. Third, another box announced that the cavern had been cleared, whatever that meant. And finally, a fourth box explained what a "unique set" was, as if he needed an explanation of simple words.

"Know your place, boxes!" Bloodwraith waved them aside, but he couldn't stay too angry at them, not when they were declaring his success. Not only had he completed his objectives here, he'd acquired a very valuable pair of items.

They were so large that they fit over his gloves, which meant he didn't even need to give up the special leather gloves, once he acquired them. Yet when Bloodwraith pulled on the gauntlets, they immediately felt as heavy as if they were made of lead.

[WARNING: These items cannot be used effectively with a character level lower than 10.]

He cursed to himself, trying to move anyway. Even if the gauntlets had been made of solid lead, he had immense strength and should have been able to move in them. No, the magic was resisting him in some way. Worse, the power of the boxes seemed to work against him in this case.

Apparently the boxes believed he wasn't worthy to use this equipment unless he had obtained Level 10, which just meant killing a large number of creatures. Truly, the box gods were bloodthirsty and insane deities. Bloodwraith gave up trying to use the gauntlets and placed them into his bag instead.

Still, he wasn't too disappointed. He headed back to the corpse of the nobleman's son and picked it up, heading out of the caverns cheerfully. Now he understood why Meara had chosen this quest over all the others. Even before acquiring the reward, he'd obtained a significant number of different advantages.

Should he do something about the corpses of the other adventurers? Bloodwraith decided that he might as well act like an adventurer in this case and just abandon them, since there was no reward in it. If the nobleman's son, or Rhil'lahan, or almost any other adventurer had been in his place, they would have done absolutely nothing they weren't paid to do.

Honestly, they could be worse than undead legions.

Chapter 19

When Bloodwraith returned to the Adventurers Guild carrying a body, people barely even looked at him. He wondered how easy it would be to get away with murder here - but then again, he already had once. Cities like Cresthaven weren't likely very good for anyone's life expectancy, adventurer or peasant.

Inside, he didn't notice Meara anywhere, so he decided to just turn in the body and finish the quest. He was just under 150 EXP from gaining a level, so unless the quest offered truly pitiful rewards, that should take him over the edge. When he approached the table with the body, the man there grunted and gestured for one of the women at a different counter, who gestured for him to take the body to one side.

"This is the nobleman's son?" she asked.

"Definitely. See, this is the heirloom armor, and he has the house's ring as well."

The woman frowned. "The request mentioned a necklace as well."

Bloodwraith gave his best barbarian grunt. "Didn't see no necklace." When the woman looked at him more skeptically, he shrugged and gave his prepared story. "Looked like someone else might have been there first. How many adventurers were in this one's party?"

"Hmm? I'm not sure, but I believe there were five."

"Well, I only found four bodies. Figured one of them had made it out."

"I see." The Guild official stared at the body for a while, then shook her head. "Well, you've returned the body, just as requested. I'll give you credit for this with the Guild officials, and there's a reward of 50 silvers."

Bloodwraith accepted the reward, only caring about the money to a limited degree. His eye was on the air in front of him, waiting for the expected box.

[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 that 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..." Meara'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 enthusiasm. 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..."

Meara's lips twitched as she tried to contain her amusement. "Something else, Bloodwraith. It can be practical, but not something you just found in a cave. Something that has more intention and meaning behind it."

"Alright, fine. No need to belabor the point. I've mastered complex necromancy, this really isn't that complicated."

"I'm sure. I was going to recommend giving her a thousand cureleaves." Her voice was completely deadpan, but she couldn't quite hide the amused glint in her eyes. Bloodwraith found himself smiling, but his mood quieted as the silence stretched.

Eventually Bloodwraith stared back at her. He searched her face for any hints of malice or regret, but found nothing. "Thank you for not making this difficult, Meara."

"Of course. There's no one else in this world who can understand what we've been through, or what we're facing. Whatever else happens, we need to stick together."

After all the lighthearted banter, Meara's words hit him heavily. There was nothing he could say for a long time. She gave him an odd expression and tilted her head to the side, eyes fixed on him intensely.

"Do you feel the same way?"

"I..." The pause extended for a long time, yet Bloodwraith found that he knew what he wanted to say. He returned her gaze. "I don't have much practice being a good person, Meara, and I don't think I really want to be. But I do want to be an ally worthy of those words. I... will work on it."

To his relief, Meara smiled. There was a hint of wryness in her expression, but a surprising amount of relief as well. "I'd have been disappointed if you'd lied to me. I don't expect you to turn into 'Bloodwraith, Friend to Orphans' or anything like that. Honestly, I think that things will work out if we just move forward together."

"I can agree to that." Bloodwraith extended his arm in her direction. "Shall we get today started?"

Chapter 20

On their way to Haral's shop, they discussed whether or not to show him the gauntlets. Ultimately it came down to the fact that they had only very vague reasons to think that there might be negative consequences, but logically he might know more about it, and Meara thought it could help her. As they entered, he handed the gauntlets back to her again.

"I swear, you come in here more than anyone I know." Haral stopped working and approached. "Here are your gloves."

He handed them over and Bloodwraith quickly pulled them on. Not only were they soft, he could feel the enchantment increasing his strength immediately. But when he didn't leave, Haral sighed.

"What is it this time? The resale room again?"

"Yes, but I'd like you to take a look at this." Meara showed him one of the gauntlets and Haral stopped completely for a moment. He took it from her hand and Bloodwraith tensed, but the smith only seemed eager to look into it.

"This is a solid piece of work. I'd say that it's the work of local dwarves, but they've basically left. Historical piece found in some crypt, then?"

"We were hoping that it might still be useful. Can you tell us more about it?"

"Well, it's in good shape, but that's pretty common for armor with a heavy magical component. I'm no expert there, but it seems high quality. I only get a few orders of this quality per year." Haral handed the gauntlet back to Meara, but kept looking at it. "Something about the style is familiar, though, I just can't quite put my finger on it."

"Good, I was hoping you might say that." Meara glanced over to Bloodwraith, indicating that he could head to the room, then turned her attention back to Haral. "Anything you can tell me about this material or style would help..."

Trusting Meara to track down other leads by whatever abstract methods she could, Bloodwraith settled for the simpler task of checking for good equipment. A small part of him hoped to stumble upon another piece of the Armor of the Tyrant in the room, but obviously that would be improbable.

No, it seemed like the selection hadn't changed too much since the last time he had been there. That made sense, given the market, but it was inconvenient. Just as he started to grow frustrated, he happened to notice a ring partially tucked under another item.

[Ring of Charisma

Armor: 0

Charisma +1

Durability: 12/25

Rarity: Very Uncommon]

Bloodwraith stared at it for a long time, trying to weigh unknown variables. On one hand, the ring would be completely useless to him in combat. Perhaps it might be useful for a merchant, and he considered buying it for Meara, but he doubted any of her skills really used "Charisma" as the boxes measured it.

The only reason he had to buy it would be to acquire another +1 item for the quest. With the gloves picked up that day, he had 4/10 pieces, and reaching the half way point was appealing. He'd checked the shop many times and knew that such items weren't exactly common, so part of him wanted to buy it immediately before someone else could. Yet it cost over an entire gold piece, and could he really afford to waste most of his money on a piece of equipment he wouldn't actually use?

While he was still going back and forth on that decision, Bloodwraith noticed something else out of the corner of his eyes. An item he had entirely disregarded the first time because it wasn't useful to him, yet it was actually rated "Very Uncommon" as well.

Moving closer, he looked over the shield more carefully.

[Guardian's Shield

Armor: 21

Magic Resistance: 2

Max Stamina +10

Vitality +1

Durability: 29/100

Rarity: Very Uncommon]

It actually was a +1 item, but he had no use for shields personally. He picked it up to test, but it felt entirely wrong in his hand, confirming his suspicions there. Yes, it was definitely of no use. To him.

He glanced at the price: 1 gold piece, 25 silver pieces. An absurdly expensive gift, surely he wouldn't waste his money on such a thing...

Different sides of him warred for a time before he decided that it was an investment. If he was going to work with Danniah in the long term, then her equipment was an asset for him, same as his own equipment. Besides, her current shield was in terrible shape. Maybe he was being irrational, but it did fit Meara's advice...

In the end, he brought the shield out of the room. Meara glanced at it, curious for just a moment before her eyes lit up in understanding. She looked like she wanted to smirk, but he glared at her and she closed her mouth, though she couldn't entirely hide the twitching of her lips.

"How long would it take to repair this?" Bloodwraith asked. Haral glanced over the shield, checking the damage, then shrugged.

"The enchantments are still solid, so it's a question of what you want. I could do a quick and dirty fix by later today. You want it fixed up nice, it'll take two or three."

"Let's... go with the latter."

Before he could think better of his kindness, Bloodwraith focused on negotiating the price. In the end he was left with a mere 26 silvers and no piece of equipment at all, but hopefully it would be worth it in the end.

As they left the shop, he glanced to Meara, who was mercifully silent on the subject. "Did you learn anything from him?"

"Just rumors and a few similar pieces. But even that helped me think about this clearer - I don't think I can just sit down and see the shape of everything, I need more to work with. Haral is going to ask around a bit, so I could get more leads from him. If I get close, I'm sure I can narrow it down with quest instinct."

"Any chance that could bring any suspicion back to us?"

"I don't see how it could. It's Haral's job to focus on armor, so a few questions won't be out of the ordinary." Meara walked closer to him and lowered her voice. "How likely to do you think it is that Daek will attack you again? He hasn't made a second attempt."

Bloodwraith shook his head. "I'm not sure. When his initial attempt failed, he might have decided that he needed something more elaborate. But I can't believe he just forgot about what happened."

"There's also the fact that he only targeted you."

"Right. We're still lacking information."

They kept speaking about the matter obliquely on their way to the Adventurers Guild. Part of Bloodwraith wanted to just resolve things by confronting Daek directly, but he knew that would be foolish. There was little chance that the confrontation would end peacefully, and almost no chance that he could survive an encounter with a Level 19 fighter.

Of course, even if Daek had been Level 0, he was still the ruler of Cresthaven's underworld. It was easy to forget amid all the boxes and points, but that was a kind of power that mattered just as much as personal strength. If he wanted a chance against Daek, he'd need to think more flexibly as well...

Though Bloodwraith had a number of ideas, he didn't come up with any real plan before they reached the Guild. Inside, he found Danniah eagerly waiting beside the wall of requests. She looked so happy to see him, he was relieved that Meara hadn't made an issue of it - if he'd gone with the backup plan of just not meeting with Danniah, she would probably have been crushed.

He'd expected Meara to disappear again, but to her surprise, she stepped forward. "Danniah! How are you?"

"I'm doing great!" Danniah jumped forward to hug her. "You already know Raigar?"

"Oh, yes, we're good friends. I was going to help him choose a quest today."

Though Danniah seemed a little confused by that, she didn't press on it. Instead she chatted with Meara as they looked over the available requests. She also kept shooting glances back at Bloodwraith and blushing, which was honestly getting irritating. Getting past that stage was one of the best arguments for just having sex, as far as he was concerned.

It seemed to take longer than before, but eventually Meara chose a paper and turned back to him. Though she had been laughing and smiling while talking to Danniah, she looked completely serious now. "I am almost entirely sure that this one will have another piece of equipment. But I'm not sure about the danger. It doesn't seem high, but... it might take a while. Go prepared."

"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind."

[Quest Accepted!

Excavate the site of an ancient elven pool.

Reward: 50 silvers]

Bloodwraith frowned at the box, looked through to the paper, and discovered that it was accurate. Apparently a local historian wanted a location in a moderately dangerous region excavated, but wasn't willing to pay much for it, given the work involved. Requests like this were among the least respected and wanted in the Guild, which was why the paper was so old and yellowed.

"Is this request even still valid?"

Meara shrugged. "It may not be, but... let's just say I feel like you should put in the effort."

"Then we'll give it a shot. Are you ready to go, Danniah?"

"Of course I am!" She hefted her battered shield and moved closer to him, grinning. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Taking a deep breath, Bloodwraith desperately hoped this wasn't a mistake.

~ ~ ~

It took them until the next day to actually depart for the alleged excavation site. Most annoyingly, the Guild declared that they couldn't go alone, instead requiring adventurers with expertise on elven sites to join them. Three were available and agreed to meet them at the site itself, but that meant that the meager reward was being split even further.

10 silvers for what might be several days of dangerous work was hardly what adventurers were used to, so it was no surprise that no one had taken this quest in so long. Bloodwraith actually spent more than 10 silvers on various preparations, and considering the cost of potions and equipment repair, it might not even pay for itself. If not for Meara's recommendation, he never would have accepted the quest.

But regardless, he ended up marching out of Cresthaven toward the unprofitable site, Danniah happily skipping along beside him.

"What do you think they want with the pool? Could it be magical?"

Bloodwraith shrugged. "The request didn't say. It might have just historical significance."

"That's true, a lot of elves care about that sort of thing. But I feel like there are a bunch of lost ruins around here, so you'd think they wouldn't care unless there was something important about it."

"The reward suggests they don't care much."

"Haha, that's true!" Danniah kept talking happily, and to his surprise it wasn't frustrating or awkward. She didn't spend time staring at him, she mostly just seemed happy to be adventuring together with someone again. Reading between the lines, he thought that she had been lonely without a party of adventurers.

If she wasn't the most scintillating conversationalist, she was at least reasonable. After lifetimes finding most people intolerable, Bloodwraith could accept that. He did find himself wondering if it was possible to increase her statistics, though. Presumably ordinary people didn't receive unassigned points as he did, so perhaps certain attributes were fixed.

Curious, he examined Danniah more carefully while she kept talking.

[Name: Danniah

Race: Half-Human/Half-Dwarf

Class: Warrior

Health: 201/201

Mana: 0/0

Stamina: 157/157

Level: 8

EXP: ???

Affection: 91/100 (Passion)

Statistics:

Might: 20

Vitality: 31

Quickness: 14

Intellect: 9

Charisma: 14

Willpower: 18

Wisdom: 8

Luck: 10

Piety: 12

Skills: Defend (8), Shield Bash (4), ???

Proficiencies: Heavy Armor, Heavy Shield, Mace, ???

Inventory: ???]

Not all information was available, which didn't entirely surprise him. The box only listed skills that he knew she possessed, but she presumably had others. And he had no idea what all she was carrying in her pack, so it made sense that it would be unlisted. But it struck him as odd that the box would give her a level, but no information about EXP.

Because he wasn't able to evaluate her progress, or because she didn't collect "points" at all? The reason Raigar had been able to grow powerful so quickly was that he grew both normally and via the deaths of his enemies, finishing quests, and other arbitrary requirements. But was EXP just an approximation of development that the box gods cheated, or something else entirely?

Bloodwraith chose to entirely ignore the "Affection" section and its absurd label.

Regardless, it seemed as though Danniah had been getting stronger, and he presumed the changes were due to normal growth. Her Health and Vitality continued to be greater than his, despite his swift growth. Curiously, her "Intellect" had risen by 1 - if the number represented raw intelligence, how could such a thing be? He wasn't going to complain, in any case.

"-talking to Herena the other day and it sounds like Daek is having trouble with controlling the Cresthaven Guard. Apparently too many of them are taking bribes to supplement their pay, and that means that some of them..." Danniah trailed off as she realized he was distracted.

It wasn't his evaluation of her box, however, since he could do that easily while following a conversation. No, he had been distracted by the appearance of a box in the corner of his vision. "A wolf!" Bloodwraith tore off after it, drawing his sword.

The creature hadn't been attacking, just ranging and looking for food. He ended its life and quickly began to skin it, the motions now incredibly familiar. Danniah came up behind him with an odd expression on her face. "Uh, Raigar? Are you okay? Wolves... aren't that exciting."

"No, I..." He started to say that it was difficult to explain, but realized that in a city of mad adventurers it didn't seem quite so insane. "It's for a Guild assignment."

"You know requests like those don't pay very well, right?"

"I know. But I'll feel better having it completed."

"Aww!" Danniah's reaction made him look up sharply and he realized that he'd misjudged the conversation. "You just did it to help people? That's so nice of you!"

"I just-"

[Affection +2!

Danniah Affection: 93/100]

Bloodwraith surrendered to the momentum of it. He felt a bit bad about deceiving her even unintentionally, however. No, it wasn't guilt - it was simply rational not to give an ally the wrong impression, since Danniah needed to be carefully managed. As he finishing removing the fur, he responded carefully.

"I don't want to give you the wrong idea. Most of the time I only take quests that benefit me."

"Oh, sure." Danniah nodded, unconcerned. "That's what practically everyone does all the time. I still think it's nice."

Finishing his work, Bloodwraith shoved the pelt into his bag and returned to the path. Danniah followed, looking at him curiously. "I saw you use it earlier, but I didn't realize how good your Extra-dimensional Bag is. I wish I had one like it."

"They're unquestionably convenient," Bloodwraith agreed. "You haven't bought one?"

"Oh my, no! Even the littlest ones cost at least ten gold, and as an adventurer you usually need a much bigger one!"

Were they really so expensive? He knew the magic was rather advanced - he hadn't been able to create such artifacts even in his past life - but hadn't considered just how expensive they would be to acquire. Since adventurers had always attacked him in the past, he'd had a supply of such bags for anything he'd needed.

That changed how he thought about the Forest of Beginnings. The box gods pretended to drop their own into a world with nothing, but not only did they use the Forest to give them many advantages, they handed them an extremely rare item from the start. Either they didn't understand true difficulty or they simply didn't care.

It took them a third of the day to reach the location of the site, with only a few stops for wolves or cureleaves. Though she didn't fully understand, Danniah was happy to participate in trying to locate them. Soon he'd have both of those useless quests removed from the boxes.

When they arrived, they found the entrance was a miserably run-down stone doorway. There were a great many ruins around Cresthaven, but this was one of the least impressive he'd seen. A group of three elves stood near the entrance, waiting impatiently.

His eyes swept over the group, gathering everything he could before summoning boxes for them. One was clearly a mage and the second a fighter, but he could have determined that just from their equipment. The third was listed as a "Scholar" by the boxes. It was that scholar who stepped up to glare at him, ignoring Danniah entirely.

"This is a valuable historical site!" The elf drew himself up, which was ineffective against someone of Bloodwraith's height. "Don't go thinking it's some cavern you can smash your way through!"

Danniah nodded obediently, but Bloodwraith raised a hand to stop her. There was no sense risking these adventurers claiming control of everything and potentially taking the very reason they had started this quest. "You hired us, presumably for smashing purposes."

Though the elves looked momentarily surprised to hear such a brutish-looking warrior speak more than a grunt, it only stopped the scholar for a moment. "We didn't hire you! I don't actually know who put in this request - I thought the historical society had dissolved. But we have an agreement with the Guild to warn us when adventurers threaten to destroy valuable cultural artifacts."

"Then this is our assignment you're stepping into..." Bloodwraith realized that this was not a good time to act aggressively and tried to take a page from Danniah's book, fixing his face in a smile. "But we understand. Don't worry, we have no intention of destroying anything. You can do whatever you want with it, once we've properly excavated the site."

"That's not good enough! We can't have you thugs looting valuable artifacts from the site!"

So much for his attempt to be reasonable. Bloodwraith wanted to grab the man by the throat and lift him, but recalled Meara's reaction and decided that could be overdone. Instead, he kept the same smile on his face. "It occurs to me that you're not being particularly proactive about protecting artifacts like these, or you wouldn't have waited for us to take the request. A more cynical man might think that you just wanted to loot sites you couldn't normally handle."

That got a moment of spluttering before the scholar recovered. "Don't be absurd! We are more than capable of dealing with a few monsters, we simply have too much ground to cover!"

"Then be my guest." He stepped to the side and gestured expansively to the stone door. "You can do whatever you like with it without our unwanted interference."

The scholar looked like he wanted to argue, but the fighter and mage shot uncomfortable glances toward the door. Yes, this was definitely more than they could take. Their Levels were 3 and 4, so he doubted the threat was too high, but this would not be quite so simple a job, otherwise someone would have rushed through it for a few more silver pieces.

"We can work together, right?" Danniah stepped between them, beaming smile swiveling between them like a lighthouse. "We really don't want to damage any valuable cultural artifacts or anything, honest! But we need to eat, you know? We'll probably find some things without much historical value, like money, right? Couldn't we have those?"

"Hmph, fine!" The scholar turned away, taking the opportunity to end the conversation and declare victory. "But show me any artifacts you find first!"

With that agreed, the mage performed the spell to open the door and they headed inside. Bloodwraith examined the three elves carefully, now more curious about their motives than anything the boxes cared about. While it was possible that they truly did want to preserve the ruins, he considered the possibility that they were just opportunists. He wasn't sure which he would respect less.

Bloodwraith had no intention of keeping to the agreement, however, especially because he felt certain that the elves would use it to take anything of real value. In fact, it would be simplest to draw them deep into the tunnels and then kill them once the monsters were cleared... but there was a problem with that. A short, cheerful problem.

"I didn't know you were so good at arguing!" Danniah elbowed him in the side, whispering eagerly. "But this is an okay agreement, right?"

"Provided they're fair about it." Bloodwraith wasn't sure how far he could push Danniah on that, but this quest might be an opportunity if she could serve as an ally.

As they traveled down the tunnel, he decided on his priorities. Acquiring the piece of armor Meara had sensed was non-negotiable, of course, and he didn't want to pass up any equipment that could count toward the +1 quest. But if the elves carried their weight, it would be reasonable to let them have a share. He didn't give a shit about anything of "historical value," so he might be able to use that as leverage.

"Hold!" One of the elves raised an arm and shouted. "Don't blunder into the webs!"

The spiderwebs in the tunnel ahead weren't exactly easy to miss, but it was accurate advice, so Bloodwraith let it pass. They took a step back and the mage summoned a tongue of flame, which began to light the webs aflame. Spiders screeched as they burned, but this was a reasonable way of dealing with them - he just hoped the boxes granted him credit for their deaths.

While the others waited for the fires to burn down, Bloodwraith noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. One of the giant spiders was crawling toward them, cast in red by the dying flames. The mage shook his head and gestured at the fighter.

"One of them made it. Go out there and finish it off."

"Wait." Bloodwraith spoke in a low voice, not wanting to bellow at them like a barbarian, but he was ignored. The fighter still rushed forward, drawing his blades to finish off the burning spider.

Except that it wasn't burning - none of the flames had touched it. Bloodwraith lunged out after the elven fighter, but he wasn't fast enough. The spider leapt with vicious speed, striking him in the chest and driving him to the ground. It hissed as it landed on his chest, then bit down.

Only for its face to meet Bloodwraith's boot as he kicked it as hard as he could. The spider fell back but survived, skittering back to its feet and rushing at him again. But it was no longer dealing with an idiot charging in. Bloodwraith met it with the side of his greatsword, flattening it against the wall of the tunnel.

"De-defend me!" The shriek came from the scholar, who was scrabbling backward as a group of spiders rushed him from a side corridor, led by another red-colored one.

The mage was at least smart enough to send his flame toward one of the smaller spiders, burning it to a crisp. But the scholar kept panicking instead of retreating behind the combatants, so the spiders were almost swarming over him now.

Fortunately Danniah stepped in at that moment, her shield smashing directly into the red spider. It might have been able to endure flame, but the blunt force of the shield sent it splattering against the opposite wall. The remaining spiders turned to swarm Danniah and she bravely tried to bash at them with her mace.

Dammit, the elven mage was preparing a fireball. It might be effective at killing all the spiders, but it would severely injure Danniah. Even if he warned her, her shield was in no shape to weather a blast of fire.

Bloodwraith threw out two bursts of force in quick succession, one sending the mage sprawling and the other picking off one of the spiders trying to crawl up Danniah's back. To his surprise, she weathered his spell without falling, just smashing the last of the spiders who hesitated as the wind swept past them. Only once they were dead did she turn to grin at him.

[Victory! You received 663 EXP.]

Then they were likely safe for the time being. After double-checking with his normal senses, Bloodwraith returned his sword to his back and let himself relax. Though he didn't want to, Bloodwraith checked on the fighter first, pulling the elf to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"Bit me, but I don't think it was poisonous."

"Need a potion?"

The elf turned up his nose and limped back toward the mage. "There's no need, he can heal."

Well, if his help wasn't wanted, Bloodwraith wasn't going to waste his time. Instead he walked to Danniah, who was trying to scrape spider remains off her armor with a disgusted look on her face. When she saw him her expression brightened briefly.

"Ick, these things are disgusting. Spiders freak me out, so you can guess how much I like the giant ones."

"You shouldn't be afraid of them. They're usually very weak."

Danniah blinked at him, pausing a moment before she resumed cleaning. "Why is that? I think of spiders as really dangerous predators, always killing bugs and things."

"The little ones are." Bloodwraith glanced back to the elves, who were still regrouping, the scholar reprimanding the other two, and decided that he had time. "Spiders don't have skeletons like we do, just armor on the outside. Their bodies are strong enough for small animals, but this large, they'll collapse under their own weight. The only way they can avoid that is by reinforcing themselves with mana. But that means they're weaker, because other creatures would use that mana to become stronger."

"Oh, wow! I'm not sure I get all of it, but I think I understand!" Danniah grinned, then shifted just as abruptly to a puzzled expression. "That one wasn't burned at all, though. How did you know it was more dangerous?"

"Other than the fact that it wasn't harmed by a fireball?"

"Haha, okay, I guess I walked into that one! The reply, not the fireball. So, uh... I guess it had more mana than normal, so it... wasn't hurt by fire, I guess?"

Bloodwraith shrugged, wishing he had proper mage senses. "It might be that, but probably not. There's not much threat of fire here except from adventurers. More likely those spiders had developed the ability to ignore weak magical effects, including those of other monsters. Much more useful in general."

"I get it! Ooh... I've been wondering about those frog things in the crypt, the ones that shot mucus at us..."

As they regrouped and headed on, Bloodwraith continued telling her what he knew. If someone had asked him that morning if he liked teaching, he would have said no. But Danniah was eager to learn and she seemed so delighted by the facts that she learned... well, it was a way to pass the time while they explored the corridors.

Most of them were filled not with monsters, but with rubble. Combat devolved into manual labor, simply clearing the rocks in their path. He might have been able to blast his way through it, but the elves would get pissed at him and he didn't want to deal with that.

Could Meara turn clearing the rubble into a quest of some kind? That was the only way that this could become tolerable. Even Danniah's good cheer seemed to diminish as the work plodded on for most of the day. The scholar didn't help very much, instead examining potsherds - at least the other elves had the decency to glare at him for not working.

As if to mock him, just as he grew bored, a new box appeared.

[New Skill Acquired: Manual Labor!

Starting Level: 1

EXP +10]

Bloodwraith glared at it as he kept working. Why would generic "manual labor" even be a skill? What adventurer would want it? And the pathetic EXP bonus was practically an insult. Only willpower prevented him from growling out imprecations against the box gods.

Eventually they worked their way through the blockade and found another stretch of corridor that was mostly clear. In theory, their fortunes had turned. No monsters would be lurking in a blocked off area, unless there was another entrance, and the corridors appeared undisturbed, so there might be items of real value. Bloodwraith kept his eyes open as they began searching through the rooms.

Most of the chambers had water symbolism, and a few mostly broken sculptures suggested the same theme. No actual sign of water, though. He supposed that it might only have been a pool in the past, but he thought elves usually preferred magical pools, which tended to be enduring.

Along the way he found a few intact pots, which he dutifully wrapped in cloth for the scholar, and a few pieces of jewelry, which he dutifully slipped into his inventory. Nothing of any real power, but he was irritated enough by the elves that he was just aiming for profit.

"Oh!"

The voice was Danniah's, but she sounded more happy than upset. He still emerged from his room and located her, though not before the scholar did.

"Look at this!" Danniah revealed what she had found as she turned around: a small chest filled with various coins. Probably worth less than modern silver and gold pieces, but still a valuable find. "Do you want the box? We can have the coins, right?"

"No, I need to study these." The scholar hastened to take the chest from her, eyes filled with something that was not historical interest. "You see, these are coins from the ancient third elven dynasty. They have all kinds of historical notes on them... you see these faces? Those are of historical significance, especially combined with the dates on the coins... yes, we have much to learn..."

Bloodwraith was certain that was bullshit, not because he was an expert on elven history but because it was obviously deceptive. Before he could say anything, Danniah sighed and handed over the chest, disappointment obvious on her face. "Oh, okay. I guess you can have it, if it will help your research..."

"Of course it will! Dear girl, your contribution is invaluable..."

"Is that so?" Bloodwraith put a heavy arm around the scholar's shoulders. "I'm guessing that you can put at least some value on it, right? It seems to me that it would be only fair to compensate her for her contribution, in some way."

The scholar grumbled, but eventually agreed. Weighing twice as much as someone tended to have that effect - having a body like this wasn't all bad. As a mage no one respected you until you started blowing things up, or you had to waste mana on fancy lights and glowing spheres.

When Bloodwraith emerged from the room, he found that the mage and the fighter had gathered in the circular chamber at the end of the hall. There were shelves lined with more pots and a circular platform in the center, but Bloodwraith was more concerned about the state of the room. It looked as though it had taken serious damage. Perhaps from water pressure, though he wasn't entirely sure.

In any case, the mage was examining some wards on the central platform, though he paused to frown back when Bloodwraith entered. The fighter glowered when Bloodwraith stepped in, but couldn't exactly stop him. Soon the scholar and Danniah joined them, Danniah curious and the scholar adding his glare to the others'.

"This must be the entrance to the pool, so I insist you stand back." The scholar didn't check to see if they obeyed, though, just moved closer to the mage. "What's wrong? It should open with the same key as the main entrance."

"I'm not sure. The wards that should lead down are working oddly, and the passage itself might have collapsed."

The scholar cursed and stomped his foot... which made the floor shift in a way that made Bloodwraith uncomfortable. But it sounded like the real treasure was beneath, so he didn't want to retreat and leave it to them. Instead he looked to the wards, which allegedly should have led down. In this body, it was difficult to determine too much about them, but they seemed fundamentally damaged.

"I'll push through, then." The mage started to raise a hand and Bloodwraith had to speak up.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

All three elves sneered at him and the scholar voiced their scorn. "Look, human. We know you're very good at swinging that piece of metal around, but this is ancient, complex magic."

"If it's so ancient and complex, maybe we should be careful with it?"

The mage snorted. "These spells are designed to be used. All I need to do-"

At that moment the wards snapped, sending magic cascading through the weakened stones. Bloodwraith threw out a hand uselessly, utterly lacking any magic that could prevent the accident or reduce the consequences. He had an instant to curse his old instincts and this body's lack of magic.

Then the stone floors crumbled beneath them and they all plunged into the darkness.

Chapter 21

Bloodwraith knew what to do in an abrupt fall: cast levitation spells. This knowledge was not terribly helpful.

The best he could do was try to grab for rocky protrusions in the shadows. They broke off but slowed his fall at least a little. He hit a wall with a slight slope and dug his fingers into it, letting friction slow his descent further. With a fall this long, gravity alone could prove fatal. Danniah was too far away for him to help, so he'd have to hope she could survive.

Other than that, all he could do was brace himself for the stop at the end.

He didn't hit hard enough to splatter, but it hurt like hell. Bloodwraith groaned and slowly pulled himself to his knees. The mage's light had gone out, so his vision was pitch black. Going by feel, he managed to find his sword, since it had only been knocked away at the end. From sound, he could hear the elves groaning in pain, and heard a breath that he thought was Danniah's.

But more importantly, he heard a skittering sound. Not willing to confront an unknown enemy in the darkness, Bloodwraith plunged a hand into his sack and summoned the inventory screen. Even though he couldn't see anything, the box still appeared before him. It seemed to glow, yet illuminated nothing.

However, the magical lantern he pulled from the sack did. It lit up just as it was meant to, casting a warm glow all around him. It seemed that they had fallen into a cavern, quite some distance from the floor that had been destroyed. The elves looked like they had a broken bone or two, while Danniah was slowly picking herself up, stunned but not seriously injured.

When he raised the lantern, he saw no way back up, just a shaft of darkness overhead. The caverns around had a strange look to them, not quite natural or artificial. He examined them further, trying to figure out exactly why, when he got an unpleasant answer to his question.

A creature crawled out of the rock nearby, reminding him of nothing so much as an armored mole. It let out a roar at him and he swung on instinct. Though his greatsword swung true, it only cut deep, didn't cleave the creature in half.

Dodging its claws swiping at him, Bloodwraith managed to pull out his greatsword and strike again. After a few more blows he managed to kill it, but he could feel the stone vibrating all around him. More of them were coming, and his companions would be less able to defend themselves. As much as he wanted to just let the elves die, perhaps he would need them to survive this.

Before he could move, he heard rocks shifting underneath him. He could tell it was some sort of natural magic, but could do nothing but retreat as another one of the monsters emerged. There were more of them, too, so it made sense to regroup.

He saw another monster emerge from behind Danniah, jaws opening to reveal sharp teeth... and a moment later she slammed her shield into its face. She hadn't even needed to look. Though she had trouble finishing off the mole, after she whacked it several times, it crawled back into the rocks.

Instead Bloodwraith focused on defending the elves. One of the monsters was starting to claw at the scholar, so he struck it from behind with a fully powered blow from his sword. That killed it, though the force bursting from the sword made all the elves flinch. Bloodwraith ignored them, focusing to intercept the next monster.

Except he didn't realize another one was bursting from the rock beside him until it was too late. The creature tore into his side, claws bruising even through his armor. It slammed him to the ground and it tried to bite at his neck.

Lifting his sword, he managed to get the edge in the way of the gnashing teeth, but the monster had its weight on top of him. If he could get more purchase on the ground, perhaps...

Before he managed it, Danniah struck the creature on the side of the head, hard enough to send it stumbling off him. It tried to retreat into the ground, but Bloodwraith stabbed it with his greatsword before it could.

He and Danniah swiftly moved back to back, though they also needed to guard against attacks from above and below. Perhaps he could rely on Danniah to notice them, though he wasn't sure how well she could predict them. Fortunately, after they killed two more of the mole creatures, the others retreated. Eventually the rumbling stopped and they were left panting for breath.

But no box appeared to announce his victory. Bloodwraith sighed and kept his sword nearby.

"Those... those beasts..." The scholar was rambling, eyes darting around the shadows. "They've perverted the sacred sanctuary..."

Tired of listening to the scholar, Bloodwraith just grabbed the mage and pulled him to his feet. "Do you know any levitation or teleportation spells?"

"No. S-sorry." The elven mage looked away. "But there should be another entrance to the pool. The records said it existed. We could never find it, but maybe from this side..."

"That's a good plan, but it's going to require exploring a lot of tunnels while under attack from those things." Bloodwraith glanced over the group, noting that the fighter seemed to have a broken leg and the scholar was in no condition to do anything. "We need to establish a safe location to serve as a base. Do you at least know defensive spells?"

"Yes, but against creatures like that..."

Danniah popped up beside them cheerfully. "They can't tunnel through all types of stone! If there are any more ruins down here, maybe one of them was built from the right type."

"Ah!" The scholar clapped her on the back, hand ringing against her armor. "Well done, dwarven lass! Lead us to the stone!"

Immediately Danniah's face fell, so Bloodwraith stepped in. "All of you shut up. We need to find a secure location as soon as possible."

They set about exploring the tunnels, Bloodwraith and Danniah going first, while the elves went after, scholar supporting the fighter. That position relied heavily on the mage to defend the elves, but Bloodwraith didn't really care. Against unpredictable opponents like these, he wanted Danniah to stay close so they could defend each other.

Before they went far, he moved closer to her and spoke in a low voice. "You recognize these monsters?"

"Yes... but it's not because my father was a dwarf or anything! I've just run into them before on a Guild request!" Danniah seemed very adamant about that, so he raised a pacifying hand.

"I just need to learn from you. When they attacked, I noticed that you were able to anticipate where they'd attack from. How?"

"Oh, that's about feeling the vibrations. I know, it feels like all the stone is vibrating, but if you listen really carefully, you can hear a scratching sort of sound." Danniah's irritation faded to puzzlement. "Though now I'm not sure why. They probably move through the stone with magic, right?"

"It's definitely not a purely physical ability. I'll have to see if I can't figure out what you mean about the sound."

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it! Also, they're called deeplings. At least that's what the other adventurers called them last time. They were a pretty awful bunch, that's why I left when Rhil'lahan offered me a job..."

Danniah spoke cheerfully about various things, but when the next vibration went through the stone, she cut off immediately. This time Bloodwraith tried to listen to the vibrations more closely. He didn't figure it out right away, but it was a simple skill to master because he could judge based on Danniah's reactions and he got instant feedback about whether he was right or wrong in the form of bloodthirsty monsters.

As it turned out, meeting a deepling with a blade to the face as soon as it emerged was an effective strategy. They were too tough for him to kill easily, but with Danniah alongside him, they were less of a threat. The most difficult thing was defending the elves, but the mage did a decent job of keeping them at bay.

Once they killed the group of deeplings, they took a moment to recover. Danniah was moving close to him and for a moment he worried that one of her injuries was more serious than it looked. But when he examined her closer, he thought he saw a blush through the slits in her helm. "You... you actually listened to what I said. Nobody ever takes me seriously, even when I try to give advice."

"Your experience was very valuable. This would be dangerous without your help."

Danniah beamed at him, but h-

[Affection +4!

Danniah Affection: 97/100]

Ignoring the box, Bloodwraith saw that Danniah was happy to receive his praise, but troubled about something else. She winced as she pulled a potion from her cloak and tugged at the stopper. "I'm worried about this, Raigar. We fought off this group, but there will probably be a lot more, and they're pretty tough. I only have two potions left now."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm carrying 36." It was a large portion of what his Extra-dimensional Bag could hold, but worth it for cases just like this. Danniah's eyes widened.

"How could you afford that many?"

"I didn't. I have a... special deal with Meara."

"Oh, that's really nice of her!" Danniah breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worrying that I'd spent too much on other supplies, but now I'm glad I did."

"What do you have?"

"I bought three potions, a bunch of rations and water, some rope... uh... let's see, a flint..." She went on to list a surprising number of items she was carrying. Bloodwraith was impressed that she'd prepared that much - he'd seen plenty of adventurers get killed for want of basic supplies.

Eventually the burrowed tunnel broke into a corridor with the same architectural style as the ruins above. From there, they found a storeroom that Danniah said was made of good stone. It looked as though the deeplings had been in it, however, smashing almost everything there. So when Bloodwraith ordered the mage to begin setting wards, he also ordered them to prepare for a fight.

Sure enough, the deeplings felt the wards and converged on them. But in the narrow corridors and unable to use their burrowing ability, it was relatively easy to kill them. After three fell in the doorway, the others retreated long enough for the wards to be established. The deeplings screeched in the corridors for a while, then retreated.

"The three of you will maintain the camp here," Bloodwraith said, "and we'll search for an exit. If we-"

"No!" The scholar had sat down to recover, but now rose again. "We will not stand by while you rampage through this place, looting whatever y-"

"Blithering imbecile!" Bloodwraith's voice boomed off the walls and all three elves flinched backwards. "This isn't a matter of historical preservation, it's a matter of life and death! And if your own lives aren't motive enough... I am not offering you a choice."

He pulled his sword off his back and set it down heavily against the stone. They got the picture and shut up.

After taking a short time to rest and recover, Bloodwraith left the warded room with Danniah. As they began to explore the corridors around them, he realized that Danniah was constantly smiling at him. That wasn't so strange, for her, but there was something odd in her expression. Eventually he turned toward her.

"What is it?"

"It's just funny." A giggle echoed in her helm. "You were trying to be nice at first, but now you got too annoyed with them, didn't you?"

"My patience is... not my strongest attribute."

"Oh, I don't mind! I mean, I'd be sad if you yelled at me, but it's funny to watch you yell at other people. I was kind of unhappy about them too, but I could never yell at them like that."

Bloodwraith glanced back at her as they continued. He had regretted his loss of control, but it had resolved better than he'd expected. Was Danniah more open-minded than he'd thought? Or was she willing to forgive more because of her affection for him? Either worked in his favor... unless it was the boxes manipulating her, in which case they soured the whole thing.

They worked together well, though. After clearing the nearby corridors, which had mostly been torn apart by deeplings, they headed through a smaller tunnel of pure rock. Even with limited space to fight, the two of them were able to kill off the next set of deeplings that attacked. Though they suffered a few injuries, with such a glut of potions, he didn't feel any concern as he had in the crypt.

The final deepling popped its head out of the stone, only to be immediately smashed by Danniah's shield. She turned back to him with a smile and they continued forward... until Danniah's smile faded. Taking a step forward, then back, she eventually looked to him with an odd expression.

"Does... does this corridor feel funny to you, Rai... is there something weird about it?"

"I haven't noticed anything." Bloodwraith stepped past her and couldn't sense anything, except perhaps a bit of mana. Focusing on that, he looked further and noticed a rune inscribed on a stone ahead. It marked the beginning of another elven corridor, but more importantly, it emitted a repulsing aura.

Such wards were designed to keep away monsters, but it could work on people as well. Bloodwraith didn't notice any effect, so he just walked back to Danniah. "There's a ward trying to keep you out. But focus and you can push through."

"I... okay. I'll try." Danniah screwed up her face and forced her way forward, one step at a time. Eventually they got through to the other side, reaching corridors that looked like they'd been worn down over time, but without any signs of deepling tunneling.

"Good work. Now let's see what we can find here."

Bloodwraith headed into the first room he saw. It appeared to be some sort of display chamber, with vases on ornamental stands - this group of elves really liked their vases. He spent more time looking through the supplies. While ancient elves mostly possessed the same sort of mundane things as modern people, he did find some pieces of jewelry he thought would have some value.

"Umm, Ra... are you sure you should be messing with everything? What if the elves want to look at it?" Danniah lingered by the door, looking cautiously at everything as if the vases might break if she stared at them too hard. Bloodwraith sighed and decided to just address the issue.

"Danniah, they're not being honest with us. Even if they do care about the history here, they care more about taking the majority of the treasure. Besides, they aren't going to be carrying their weight for the rest of the work. I don't think you need to care too much about their rules."

"Oh... maybe you're right." Danniah shuffled awkwardly for a while longer, then abruptly moved to one of the vases and pushed it off the stand. When it shattered, she jumped, then gave a little laugh. "That actually felt kind of nice... but I think that's enough breaking for me."

"A few broken things would let us blame any missing objects on looting, though. If you feel like breaking anything else while we look for objects of value, go ahead."

Danniah laughed a little and joined him as they looted the elven chambers. They gathered a decent amount of valuables in the end, though he cursed the elven preference for silver instead of gold.

Though the chambers didn't contain any monsters, they also didn't contain any of their main objectives. They had to venture back out into the unwarded tunnels, which meant more encounters with deeplings. The monsters showed more cunning than the wolves in the Forest had, but in the end they were still just animals.

Without being able to see any natural sources of light, Bloodwraith could only guess as to the time. He personally felt as though he could keep going, but he saw that Danniah was growing weary. Possibly even sleepy. After they fought off another group, he turned to her. "I think it's getting late."

"Oh dear... are we going to have to spend the night in here?"

"We're definitely not going to find a way out today. I was thinking we could retreat to the warded rooms and make a base there."

"That would be good... I don't want to walk all the way back to the elves, and they wouldn't be much fun anyway." Danniah turned back, shuffling forward without her usual discipline. Bloodwraith kept watch for both of them, but he saw that she was looking at him from the corner of her eyes. "I think we did a good job today."

"I agree, we worked well together."

"But I keep calling you Raigar. I guess I could just use it, but you said you didn't like it, right? Umm..." Her meaning was obvious, but the difficulty of the subject hadn't changed.

Yet... perhaps it was just because he was tired, or perhaps he trusted her more, but Bloodwraith decided to take the risk. He was tired of being called "Raigar" by people in any case. "My real name is Bloodwraith."

"Oh." He'd expected her to laugh, but she just blinked sleepily at him. "That's... kind of a scary name. Sounds familiar, too. So... Bloodwraith... were you a bad person before you became Raigar?"

He stared at her as they walked in silence for a time. Truthfully, he didn't believe in morality in that sense. Doubly so, now that the boxes insisted on adding a moral valence to every action. But he thought all of that would be a bridge too far. "Yes."

"Well, we all have things we're not proud of." To his surprise, Danniah smiled at him. "I guess I'll get over the scariness of the name, though it still feels funny to say. But if... if we keep doing things like we did today, I don't mind."

They returned in silence, Bloodwraith beginning to feel the exhaustion as well. He checked the wards while Danniah set up a fire and a trip line, just in case the deeplings overcame the repulsion ward. While they had been fighting, he hadn't noticed the temperature of the caverns, but they were rather cool.

Bloodwraith pulled a blanket from his Extra-dimensional Bag and sat down against the wall, still fully equipped. Yet as he pulled the blanket around himself, he noticed that it seemed to be one thing that Danniah hadn't thought to bring. She shivered in her armor, then wordlessly came over to sit beside him.

After only a brief pause, Bloodwraith shifted the blanket to wrap around her shoulders as well. Danniah took off her helm and then leaned against his side, her hair splaying over his chest. She was asleep almost instantly and he wondered just how hard she had pushed herself.

As he sat there with an arm around her, he wondered why the boxes hadn't shown up to announce an "Affection" change yet. Surely this moment, or telling her his real name, should be worth something. Then again, the box gods seemed to have a very limited understanding of relationships, so perhaps it was to be expected.

Thinking about it as he went to sleep, Bloodwraith decided that he preferred it this way.

Chapter 22

When Bloodwraith woke up, he found that Danniah was drooling all over his armor. Though he felt fully rested, she seemed to need a little more time, so he took a moment to consider the day.

Even if this night had passed without incident, he didn't want to spend another night in the elven ruins. Though he had been able to spend time on various quests, there was still too much at stake in Cresthaven to be away from it for long.

Fortunately, he thought it was realistic for them to find a way out that day. According to his mental map of the area, the elven structure had been very reasonably laid out in a square. Exploring it was complicated by various cave-ins and deepling tunnels, but he thought they had explored a decent percentage of the entire structure.

Thinking of percentages reminded him to check his personal box, but no more EXP had been granted. Apparently a "marathon" could continue even through sleep. He wondered if this was a rule the box gods created out of a sense of fairness. Though Danniah had undoubtedly learned some tricks and trained her body in the ruins, she wouldn't be able to take advantage of it until she had time to recovery fully.

At that moment she finally woke up. After blinking sleepily for a while, she realized that she was resting against him, released a squeak, and then scooted away, blushing furiously.

To give her some space, Bloodwraith got up and began preparing for the day. He was already wearing his equipment, but he checked how damaged it was and sharpened the edge of his sword. It had taken a bit of a beating, striking stone instead of deeplings.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Danniah had quickly washed her face and collected her things, and now joined him near the entrance to their room. "Do you think we can get out today? I've got a really nasty kink in my back now..."

"I think we have a reasonable chance of finding all our objectives."

Danniah blinked and followed him as they headed back into the corridors. "All our objectives? Don't we just need to find the pool?"

"That's one. We also need to find an exit, because I don't think we're getting out the same way we came in. And finally... don't mention this to the elves, but I'm here because I think there might be a particular piece of armor here."

"Ooh, really? What does it look like? I've seen some elven armor here, but it didn't look very useful."

"The suit of armor is heavy and black. We'll probably know it when we see it."

They continued forward, fighting through another group of deeplings. But the creatures seemed a bit sleepy as well, defending their territory without any particular viciousness. Bloodwraith gave them no mercy, since their deaths only fed his power, but he kept that thought from Danniah.

It was anticlimactic, but they actually discovered the path back up first. At least, he was fairly certain that the cut staircase was part of the original construction. Danniah clapped her hands when she saw it, then hesitated as if uncertain if she should be happy. "This is it, right? That was easy!"

"We should check if it isn't entirely blocked off, but yes."

They traveled up quite some distance, the stairs occasionally broken by deepling tunnels. But they were navigable until near the very end, where they discovered the path buried in rocks. Not so deep that they couldn't be cleared, he thought. Better to make the elves do their share of that work, though - they had more important things to be doing.

Instead they explored one of the tunnels they'd ignored before... and this time, they finally found what he'd been hoping for.

He felt a thrill of mana wash over his skin as they entered the chamber. Unlike the others, this one was in nearly pristine condition. The entrance gave way to a warded hallway, and on the other end he saw a shrine. Much of it was filled with holy symbols, but there was also an elegant case that reeked of magic. Even the boxes seemed to agree, highlighting it as a "Rare" item.

"Wow, that-" Bloodwraith shot out a hand and stopped Danniah from walking into the wards. "Huh? Is it guarded?"

"Definitely. Not with a guardian, but these wards are designed to kill." He pointed to a dark stain on the floor by the first ward. "Do you see that? I think that was once a deepling."

"Oh. Oh dear." Danniah took several more steps back and eyed the corridor nervously.

But though the elves had gone all out with the wards, they weren't master sorcerers or anything close to it. And over the years, the wards had frayed and weakened. There would be multiple ways through them, but the easiest would be to dismantle them.

He bent down next to the first rune and examined it carefully. Though this exact magic was unfamiliar to him, all power followed the same universal rules. Looking at the ward holistically, he could slowly grow to understand it, like learning a foreign language from scratch. Fortunately, he didn't need to express himself elegantly in that language, just shout commands.

When he understood, Bloodwraith carefully reached down and-

[Unable to create new skill!

Intellect level inadequate.

Wisdom level inadequate.

Spellcraft level inadequate.

Wardcraft level inadequate.]

Hissing in frustration, Bloodwraith smashed his hand down against the stone. So the boxes would absolutely forbid him from this. They hadn't been able to truly hobble his intelligence, but in some sense, the laws of reality thought he was the barbarian he appeared to be.

"Are you okay?" Danniah came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You were... trying to do a magic thing, weren't you? But you couldn't?"

"Don't rub it in." He snapped at her, then regretted it when he saw her flinch back. "Sorry."

"No, I understand. Well, I don't understand, but you looked really sad." She shuffled awkwardly beside him for a while. "So, is there any way to get through?"

"I have a theory."

Trying to push aside his anger, Bloodwraith headed back into the corridor and gathered several rocks. Returning with them, he began hurling them over the ward. If they passed, he might be able to damage - no, the rocks fell with a hiss of raw mana. Weakened by the years, the wards wouldn't be able to last forever.

"Oh, can we break through them!" Danniah smiled and moved into the corridor to gather as many rocks as she could carry, then began eagerly chucking them at the wards.

That worked well enough for several of the barriers, but then they encountered a more sophisticated defense that refused to discharge energy for mere rocks. The runes themselves were reinforced as well, so they couldn't chip away at the physical aspect.

"No luck on this one?"

"It will only discharge for a living creature trying to pass." He stood back, considering carefully.

"Could we throw a deepling in, maybe? It'd hurt carrying it over, but that ought to work."

"Too risky." Before he could think better of it, Bloodwraith stepped into the ward himself.

His world filled with pain... but only pain. He stumbled back, feeling as though his body should be scorched and broken, yet he reminded himself that it had been illusory. The ward had weakened significantly, though its power wasn't exhausted yet. Stepping in again, this time he struggled to stifle his grunt as the pain rushed through him and he refused to step back.

When it faded he dropped to one knee. Danniah hurried to move beside him. "Bloodwraith, are you sure that's a good idea? Is whatever's at the other end really worth it?"

"I hope it is, because I'm not stopping." He did take a moment to recover, however, shedding the pain that had been forced through his mind.

Before he could make his next attempt, Danniah walked into the ward.

A burst of flame sprung up around her and she cried out. On instinct Bloodwraith grabbed her by the back of her armor and tugged her away from the ward. Yet to his surprise, Danniah seemed a bit stunned, but not really injured. Her armor had heated up on the outside, but the flames hadn't lasted long enough to hurt her.

"Uh... maybe that was a bit dumb?" She stared, not quite at him, as her eyes struggled to focus. "Did I at least help?"

"You did. Let's try a bit more carefully next time, alright?"

With a combination of rocks and their own bodies, they slowly battered down the aged wards. Such a strategy wouldn't have worked very well with maintained wards, but the existence of such a strategy bothered him a bit. If he could think of it, there were probably adventurers who would try the same thing. If he ever had another base of his own, he resolved to make the defensive wards less vulnerable to brute stupidity.

Eventually they made their way through and stood on top of the last runes, aching and smoking faintly. Bloodwraith took out two health potions and handed one to Danniah, who drank it eagerly. It had taken several potions to sustain them through the wards, but this one tasted much sweeter because the ordeal was over.

After a moment's thought, he also took out two of Meara's unique potions. His tasted fantastic, sizzling through his body and burning out some of the weariness from it. Danniah tried hers without complaint, but immediately made a face and held the potion away from herself.

"Eww! What is this?"

"An... experimental potion." Bloodwraith took it back from her and replaced the stopper. "Are you feeling alright? I thought it might help, but I hope you don't have any negative side effects."

"I just feel... kind of tingly." Danniah looked down at her fingers, wiggling them strangely, then shook her head. "Well, I don't think it worked, whatever it is. But I feel pretty good. Can we go check out the stuff we did all this work for?"

"Indeed we can."

Most of it proved to be unimpressive icons of little value, but he had been expecting that. He was slightly disappointed that there was no piece of armor anywhere to be found, but it wouldn't have been very logical for them to place such a thing here. No, this shrine was for consecrated items related to the elven pool... such as the dark case.

Bloodwraith opened it carefully and discovered that the interior was lined with felt, designed to hold potions. Five of the spaces were filled, burning so brightly that he could barely read the boxes as they tumbled out in front of him.

[Potion of Might

Permanently increases Might. Effect decreases with more powerful attributes and subsequent potions.

Rarity: Rare]

[Potion of Quickness

Permanently increases Quickness. Effect decreases with more powerful attributes and subsequent potions.

Rarity: Rare]

[Potion of Intellect

Permanently increases Intellect. Effect decreases with more powerful attributes and subsequent potions.

Rarity: Rare]

[Potion of Wisdom

Permanently increases Wisdom. Effect decreases with more powerful attributes and subsequent potions.

Rarity: Rare]

[Potion of Luck

Permanently increases Luck. Effect decreases with more powerful attributes and subsequent potions.

Rarity: Rare]

"Wow! Those are... wow..." Danniah stared at them, starstruck, and Bloodwraith admitted that he wasn't much better. Literal power in a bottle. After a long silence, Danniah spoke up again. "I can tell they're powerful, but what do they do?"

"They strengthen you in many ways. Unfortunately, I think you have to drink the entire potion for them to have an effect, so I don't think we can split them in half."

"Oh, that's fine! You can have them, I just wanted to help. Maybe give me a little more of the money we earn in the end? That seems fair to me."

It was not remotely fair, but Bloodwraith considered the offer seriously. Not accepting this much raw power was so clearly idiotic that part of him screamed that even considering the question was weakness. He wasn't even damaging his relationship with an ally, since Danniah had made the offer freely. Drinking these would bring him much closer to his goal of being able to fight Daek.

Yet strangely, he found himself thinking back to the elves tricking Danniah into giving the chest of coins away.

Gradually his thoughts began to shift. He'd already accepted that investments that benefited his allies were beneficial to him as well. This had the potential not just to give an ally a new asset, but to create a fundamentally better ally. And if some weak part of him wanted to help Danniah for its own sake, he could live with that.

"I wouldn't feel right taking them all for myself." Bloodwraith picked up the Potions of Intellect and Wisdom and handed them to her. "Based on my research, how much you benefit from the potions depends on your current state. You'll make better use of them than I will."

"Are you sure?" She stared into his eyes for a while, then nodded. "Okay, if you say so."

"You deserve them and more. Let's drink these before the elves somehow show up and ruin things."

He then immediately followed his own advice, drinking the Potion of Might in one swallow. The power of it flowed through his body and he found himself grinning as he confirmed that it had really worked. That grin was likely not very comforting, but he didn't care, he just drank down the next two potions in rapid succession and felt the power fill him.

Strangely, he felt the Potion of Luck strengthen him, even though he had no idea what "Luck" accomplished. If it was actually a force in the world, that would undermine all logic or reason. Yet he suspected that it might have an impact on the systems the boxes governed, so it couldn't hurt.

Checking his personal box again, he discovered that he had gained 1 point of Might, 2 of Quickness, and 3 of Luck. The direct inverse of how high those stats had been, as the description had suggested. He hoped that didn't mean that future Potions of Might would have no effect, and he wondered if it wouldn't be more efficient to drink a bunch of potions before doing any other training, but for now he was too pleased with the new development.

"Bloodwraith... I feel strange..." Danniah stumbled into him, then collapsed. Only instinct allowed him to catch her before she hit the ground.

For a moment he felt an irrational surge of guilt, as if he had poisoned her. But these were no trap placed by the box gods: such potions were an established part of magical theory. Admittedly, he had never seen the equivalent of "Potions of Intellect" used by anyone other than established sorcerers seeking a greater mental edge.

He moved Danniah to a comfortable position and removed her helm carefully. Her forehead was hot and she seemed to be running a fever, yet he didn't like the idea of removing more of her armor in a place like this. What she needed was water, but they had relatively little.

After waiting to see if the fever would pass quickly, Bloodwraith decided that it would be unwise to leave her here. He put her helm back on and hefted her over one shoulder. In all her armor she weighed quite a bit even at her height, but his body was bursting with new strength and so it wasn't a problem.

The scratching all around him as he left the tunnel was, though.

Bloodwraith had only a moment to analyze the situation, deeplings crawling from the rock all around him. He was carrying Danniah with his left arm so that he could draw his sword with his right, but it would still be difficult to fight like this. Any tactic he used to fight would lead to a battle that would be difficult for him and possibly fatal for Danniah.

He had other strategies, though. When the deeplings began to emerge around him, Bloodwraith swung his sword wildly and kicked at those beneath him, releasing bursts of force in all directions. The deeplings flinched back but he didn't let up, releasing the rest of the mana in his weapon for another cut and using a burst of force on another rushing at his side.

Finally Bloodwraith let out a roar, daring the deeplings to keep attacking. They didn't, crawling back into the rock. He breathed a sigh of relief, leaned on his sword, and shifted Danniah on his shoulder.

As aggressive as the deeplings could be, they were still animals in the end. Faced with prey that attacked so viciously, they did the sane thing and retreated. Bloodwraith drank a mana potion just in case they returned, but otherwise headed into the tunnels confident that they would avoid him for a time.

[New Skill Acquired: Shout of Rage!

Starting Level: 1

EXP +250 (deferred)]

How odd. Had his shout actually driven them away due to some spell he hadn't realized? Yet when Bloodwraith examined the skill more carefully and interrogated the boxes for more, it described this "Shout of Rage" as a spell that struck in a broad range. He was certain that nothing like that had happened to the deeplings, he had just intimidated them.

Yet it seemed that he had met the conditions to unlock something else, as far as the boxes were concerned. As he carried Danniah into the last unexplored space, Bloodwraith muttered furiously about the insanity of the box gods.

Nothing else dared to attack him until he spotted another source of light. At first he feared that it might be an enemy, but as he drew closer, it utterly engulfed the lantern at his belt. Bloodwraith walked forward slowly, eyes widening as he entered a large chamber glowing with soft blue light.

This was unquestionably the elven pool. Though the cavern appeared to have been natural originally, much of the rock had been carved into patterns that matched those from the other ruins. The water itself glowed with mana and he realized that it matched the mana in the potions. Those would have been refined and intensified by a great deal of work, but the pool itself should have some positive qualities.

Bloodwraith carefully set Danniah down beside the pool. He kept most of her armor on in case they were attacked again, but removed her helm and loosened the straps. Though her forehead was cooler now and she no longer looked so distraught, he still took a cloth and wiped the sweat from her face. She murmured something incomprehensible.

After some thought, he took one of his empty potion bottles and filled it from the pool. He checked for any subtle poison or corruption of the pool, since that's what he would do with a sacred pool, but it seemed to have remained pure. Then he brought it back to Danniah and placed it by her lips.

"Drink this. It should help you feel a little better."

She made a happy murmuring noise and drank the water without hesitation. Bloodwraith felt another slight twinge of guilt, but after that she settled into a gentle sleep.

[Buff: Elven Healing Pool

Health, mana, and stamina regeneration improved.

This buff will last for 24 hours.]

He stared at that box for a while, trying to determine its exact meaning. The word "buff" made no sense at all to him in this context, but it clearly meant a positive enchantment and had been used before, when he left the Forest of Beginnings. If anything could help Danniah, perhaps the water was it. For now, he stayed nearby and considered what to do next.

There were a few more rooms to explore, but he doubted they would contain anything of real value and it would be unwise to leave Danniah in this state. She felt much more stable now, so best not to move her until she recovered. When he examined her box, he found her "Intellect" and "Wisdom" number unchanged. If the potions had been wasted... no, there was no sense going down that path.

Instead he fortified the room a little, then went down to sit by the water. It was peaceful in a blandly elven sort of way. He wondered what Meara would have thought of it. Perhaps she would have liked it, but he was even more certain she would have had a sharp word for him.

As he was staring into the pure blue pool, Bloodwraith realized that there was a speck of darkness at the bottom.

He sat up sharply, staring at it. Could it be? It was definitely metal, but he could tell nothing else about it. There was no sense of mana... but of course there wasn't, it was completely suppressed by the pool. In fact, a squeamish elf just might throw something they found distasteful into a pool like this, hoping that it would be destroyed or at least sealed by the purity.

Though he should have been more cautious, Bloodwraith found himself too eager to wait. He stripped off the heaviest of his armor and waded into the water to see how close he could get. Unfortunately, a few paces in, the pool became far deeper. The perfect clearness of the water made the depth deceptive, plus the mana in the water resisted him.

Still, he couldn't have come this far only to fail on the last of his objectives. A long time ago he had known how to swim, a little. Now that he had a much stronger body, he might be able to make more progress. Throwing himself into the water, he tried to swim down to the bottom.

Soon after, he washed up on the shore, stinking of the pure mana. Accursed pool. Of course, it was doing its job, since the people who founded this place would probably want to avoid such an item falling into his hands. But still, he had expected his inherent "Goodness" and the power of the box gods to assist him further.

[New Skill Acquired: Swimming!

Starting Level: 1

EXP +10 (deferred)]

Bloodwraith groaned and put his hands up to his face. Fine, if it wanted to be that way, he'd play by the rules. If every activity in the world could receive a name and a little number, then he would do it repeatedly until the number went up. That seemed to be the kind of thing the box gods enjoyed.

For several hours he threw himself into the pool, doing his best to reach the bottom. The percentage increased slowly enough that he tried to ignore it entirely, instead focusing on logical ways to reach the bottom. He got more depth by jumping from the side, but not enough. Using logic to solve a problem instead of repetition might anger the boxes, because it took a long time for the skill to reach level 2.

Just as he was about to jump in again, he saw that Danniah was sitting up, staring at him. "Bloodwraith? Are you alright? I mean, I like swimming too, but you seem really... uh..."

He rushed down to kneel beside her. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling okay. Actually, I'm feeling great." She beamed at him with the same old smile. "My head feels really clear now. Guess those potions had a positive effect!"

When he checked her box, he saw that both Intellect and Wisdom had increased by 4 points. He wasn't sure what practical effect that would have, but at least he knew the potions had been effective. Perhaps it was simply more difficult for her, since her mind needed time to reorganize itself.

"So, what about my question? You're not just swimming for fun, right?"

"No. The piece of armor I need is at the bottom of the pool. I'm not a good enough swimmer to reach it now, but with enough practice, I should be able to make it."

"Oh, okay." Danniah slowly got up, stretched, and looked around her slowly. She walked up to the pool and smiled. "This place really is beautiful. I can see why the elves liked it."

"Yes, that's true." He came to stand beside her, letting himself forget about the armor temporarily. Yet to his surprise, Danniah spoke up a moment later.

"Why do you need to swim to get them out?"

He stared at her, realizing that he'd let his thinking become too narrow.

"If I wear all my armor, I'm pretty sure I'll sink straight to the bottom. And if you're there to pull me out..." She smiled and handed him the end of the rope she'd brought along. Bloodwraith found himself smiling back.

"It's a good thought. Are you sure you can hold your breath that long?"

"Pretty sure. If I'm running out of air, I'll tug on the rope a lot."

Since Danniah seemed to have completely recovered, they headed to execute the plan. Her plan. She pulled her equipment tight, took several deep breaths, then plunged into the pool.

The water didn't seem to resist her as much as it had him, and her armor certainly made getting to the bottom easier. When she landed near the dark armor, Bloodwraith was surprised to see how small she looked. Apparently the armor was larger than it appeared, and Danniah struggled to get the two pieces properly grabbed in her free arm.

As soon as she did, though, Bloodwraith pulled on the rope as hard as he could. He soon towed Danniah up to the shallow part and rushed out to grab her, pulling her from the water. The pieces of armor dropped from her arms, revealing themselves to be leg armor, but he resisted the urge to look at them.

Though Danniah spent a while gasping for breath, she looked quite pleased with herself. "We got them!"

"Yes, we did. Thank you."

"Oh, I'm happy to help! I think you can have these... splitting them apart wouldn't do much good."

Once she was safely on land, Bloodwraith left her to remove her armor and squeeze out her clothing. The wet clothes clung to her body, but for once she seemed entirely unselfconscious. Not wanting to damage that, since it was preferable to him anyway, he focused on the armor instead.

The new piece of armor definitely matched the gauntlets, built from thick plates of black steel. A belt with a cloth attached to it hung from one of the legs and he saw how it was meant to work together. If the cloth had survived this long in the water, it must be enchanted as much as the rest. Now that he'd gotten a good look, Bloodwraith summoned a box as well.

[Greaves of the Tyrant

Armor: 13

Vitality +1, Quickness +1

Durability: 33/50

Rarity: Rare

NOTE: This item is part of a unique set.]

That was the final confirmation he needed. The quest to assemble the armor flickered in his vision as well, reminding him that he was closer. But this piece... he never would have been able to obtain it without both Meara and Danniah. Even the coldest part of him was satisfied by this development.

Meanwhile, Danniah was damp but fully armored again. She hefted her horribly battered shield and smiled at him. "That's everything we need, right? Are we ready to go get the elves?"

"I suppose that we must."

Chapter 23

For once, everything went just as simply as planned. They collected the elves, argued with them about the need to excavate everything, and then retreated to the surface. Though the rocks in the way of the second exit stopped them for a time, between his spells of force and the elven mage, they cleared them in decent time. A few deeplings made one more attempt to attack them, but far from being a final challenge, it just left him eager to get it all over with.

Then they finally stepped out into the sun. Bloodwraith stretched, took a deep breath, and finally saw a box he wanted to appear.

[Victory! You received 7339 EXP.

Marathon Bonus x1.2

Total EXP: 8807

Marathon Stat Bonus: +1 Unassigned Stat Point

Deferred Stat Updates:

Max Health +8

Max Mana +1

Max Stamina +2

Vitality +1

Intellect +1

Luck +1]

Though the benefits were significantly less than the desperate battle in the crypt, he didn't begrudge the box gods that. For what he'd experienced, and given everything he'd gained, he wouldn't complain at all. According to his personal box, he currently had 9570 of the 25,600 EXP he needed to reach Level 10, which no longer seemed so far away.

As soon as they reached a reasonably safe road, they left the elves. Not a moment too soon, as far as he was concerned. Bloodwraith had grown very tired of them in the last part of their journey, and all he really wanted was to talk to the newly improved Danniah. Once they finally headed back on the road to Cresthaven together, his mood could not have been better.

Until Danniah looked over at him without the slightest smile on her face. "Those were potions of intelligence."

Bloodwraith swallowed.

"You said that I would benefit more from them. Is that how you think of me?" Though she was staring at him intensely, tears began to form in her eyes. Yet the way she spoke, this was nothing that he could push past via emotion.

"Danniah... I drank potions of strength myself, but that doesn't mean I think I'm weak."

"That's a good point." She smiled a little, but it wasn't like before, and the smile soon wilted. "Too good of a point. I know you're smarter than me, and that never bothered me. But this... I don't know what to think."

He struggled to think of what to say. This was clearly not the time to mention that he had thought that getting too close to her while she was less intelligent would have felt wrong. It had not occurred to him that she might possibly think of being given increased intelligence as a negative.

"I'm not saying you were wrong." Danniah wiped her eyes off with her sleeve and looked forward. "It was the smart thing to do. You're still my friend. I just... don't know how to feel about this. I thought you really liked me..."

Though he considered apologizing, in the end he said nothing. He wished Meara was here to advise him on the subject, but no such luck. They traveled the rest of the way to Cresthaven in silence that grew less uncomfortable as they went, but there was something cool between them the entire time.

Once inside the gates, just before they closed for the night, they headed to the Guild first. When they arrived, he was glad to see Meara near the entrance. She swept up and grabbed them both in a quick hug.

"Thank the gods. I was afraid Daek had gotten you."

"Has something changed?" Bloodwraith hadn't noticed any particular differences in the city, and they'd only been gone two days, but Meara looked serious.

"We can talk about it later, but I think he's planning something. For now, I think we have to stick to our plan."

"Meara." Danniah spoke up quietly. "Could I talk to you?"

Meara looked to him and he could only shrug. The two of them moved off together, so he headed to turn in the quest. Hopefully... no, he would just have to trust Meara on this. Better to stop thinking about such dramatic issues and focus on the raw power the quest could bring him.

Yet when the woman at the desk heard his report, she shook her head. "I've got bad news. The historical society behind the historian who put in that request is gone now. Been gone for a while, but no one ever took the request down. They didn't leave enough to pay for the reward, so..."

Bloodwraith sighed. He didn't even care, not compared to everything else, but he couldn't let it end like that. "But I did complete the terms of the request, didn't I?"

"Doesn't matter, the Guild isn't going to fill the rewards for som-"

"I didn't ask for any reward, just confirmation. I filled the terms of the request, right?"

The woman gave him a strange look, but eventually answered. "Sure, you did. Good job. Is that what you wanted?"

[Quest Complete!

Excavate the site of an ancient elven pool.

Local Reputation +15

Guild Points: +0

Reward: None

EXP +250]

"Yes, yes it was." He breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have one thing dealt with, at least. "However, there are going to be three more adventurers coming, those elves the Guild forced on us. Make it clear to them that I didn't steal the money or anything, alright?"

"Sure, if you say so." The woman went back to her work, clearly done with the conversation. Bloodwraith loitered around the table for a while longer before forcing himself to refocus.

It seemed as though Meara and Danniah were talking in the hall section of the Guild and they probably wouldn't want him to intrude. So Bloodwraith headed out to the training grounds, where he could at least make progress. As annoying as the boxes and all their associated numbers could be, at least they provided an easy, straightforward system of rewards.

Eventually they came to find him, Danniah calmer but not her beaming self, while Meara had an inscrutable smile. She stepped forward and spoke in a lower voice. "I have more information about the other pieces of armor, but you're not going to like it. But that's not what we should deal with tonight."

"Right. You knew something about Daek the Knife?"

"No, not that either." Meara met his gaze and intentionally looked away, not giving him anything. She then raised her voice slightly. "Danniah, you two should go to Haral's and get your equipment repaired. We could have a lot of problems in the next few days."

"Okay." Danniah nodded and turned away, not waiting for him.

Though he shot one more glance at Meara, she refused to help. Sighing, Bloodwraith headed off after Danniah as they headed across town. It was getting darker and the streets were less safe, but there weren't many thieves who would attempt to attack adventurers equipped like them.

Many of the shops on the street were closed, but the lights still burned in Haral's shop. That was common, as he seemed to work at any hour of the day or night he felt like. When they entered he started by just grunting, but when he saw the state of their armor, he stopped working and headed to meet them.

"In the market for some replacement armor, I take it?"

Bloodwraith nodded. "We have some things to sell."

"I'm a bit busy with special orders now, so I don't think I can afford to buy the usual adventurer finds. You might have to do that business tomorrow. I can fix you up with some decent armor to replace what you've damaged, though."

"That will have to do."

"Oh, and I finished your order. Do you want it now?"

For a moment Bloodwraith didn't even know what he was talking about, then his brain worked again, pushing through all of the other thoughts that had been crowding his mind lately. "Yes, let's see it."

Though Danniah seemed uninterested in the exchange, when Haral pulled out the refurbished shield, it drew her gaze. And it did look impressive. Not only had the damage been repaired, the surface had been polished to a beautiful shrine. The quality was obvious even before he set his hands on it and felt the enchantment flow into him.

Not wasting any time, Bloodwraith turned and handed it directly to Danniah. She was so startled that she almost dropped it, then she clutched it closer to herself. "This is amazing..." Her eyes met his, growing wider. "And you bought it before we went out on the request, before you knew anything about what we'd find."

"I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression. But I never meant to suggest I don't respect you, Danniah."

"No, it's my fault." She roughly wiped at her eyes with one sleeve. "You've been so nice to me and I'm the one who ruined it. This is... adventurers just don't do this. Don't just give each other things."

"Maybe they should."

With a choked sound, Danniah dropped the shield and leapt to embrace him. Though it was all a bit emotional for Bloodwraith's taste, he had to admit that he was glad it had been resolved without any further trouble. He wrapped one arm around Danniah's back and she hugged him tighter.

Haral coughed. "Could the two of you not do this in the middle of my shop?"

Once they replaced their equipment, they headed back to the Adventurers Guild. They had been silent for some time, but Danniah kept shooting him glances. Bloodwraith found himself a little uncomfortable, however, watching for boxes. If there had been a grand announcement that his gift had purchased Danniah's affection, he would have been more uncomfortable. Instead, her number had crept up to 100 at some point without him noticing. He tried not to think about it.

"Bloodwraith..." She caught his arm in the hallway, staring up into his eyes. "Do we... need two different rooms tonight?"

So it was finally coming to this. Raigar's instincts screamed an answer at him, but he managed to shove them back down. "Are you sure? You've been through a lot today."

"I'm sure." Danniah turned away from him, toying with the door to her room. "I actually feel a lot more certain now. Before, I had a lot of emotions. Now that my head feels clearer, I know exactly how I feel." She turned back to meet his gaze again. "And I want you for tonight, at least."

If she had acted like the Danniah from before, he would have hesitated, but this Danniah was fully in control of herself. Almost too much, which left him with new questions. But when Bloodwraith took a step toward her door, he saw her old smile beam out at him and his last doubts melted away.

~ ~ ~

When Bloodwraith woke the next morning, for a moment he was disoriented. One of his arms was pinned and his instinct was to lash out. Fortunately, his conscious mind overwhelmed the urge as he realized that it was just Danniah, curled against his side and smiling in her sleep.

It was if he had finally relaxed a muscle he had been holding tense for a long time. Even with Danniah pinning his arm, he felt refreshed in a way he rarely did when he woke up. Last night had been a good reminder of another one of the advantages of keeping a living body.

Less positive thoughts crowded in as his mind began to operate at full speed. Had he succumbed to Raigar's instincts in some way? Had their behavior been manipulated by the box gods? Was he getting soft, becoming someone the undead entity he had once been wouldn't respect?

Screw all the questions. Bloodwraith wrapped his arm around Danniah and held her closer, which made her murmur happily in her sleep. Whatever this was, it was enough for now.

At that moment another box appeared square in the center of his vision.

[Relationship with Danniah advanced to Lover stage!

Charisma +1!]

"Depraved boxes! Not now, of all times!" He hissed the words, but Danniah shifted in response.

"Huh?" She blinked sleepily at him. "What are you talking about?"

For a moment Bloodwraith froze, staring back at her with his entire body tense. Then he let himself relax and pulled her closer again. "I think it's time I introduce you to the bane of my existence..."

Chapter 24

Thankfully, Danniah was not offended by the box and just joked that she should have been worth more than one point. Though that briefly made him concerned that something was interfering, those fears gradually melted away. Danniah was sharper than before, but she was still authentically herself. Now that she'd put so many concerns behind her, she was back to being her usual irrepressible cheerfulness.

They didn't have much time, however. Even if they hadn't been adventurers accustomed to going out every morning, Meara knocked on their door. "I figured I'd let you get your sleep, but it's almost noon. We should talk."

"Okay," Bloodwraith said, "give me a bit of time."

"I'll see you downstairs."

When he started to get up, however, Danniah latched onto his arm and gave a low whine. "I wanted to stay in bed longer... we spent too much time talking about the stupid boxes."

"See? What did I tell you? Great power at a terrible cost."

Despite her whining, Danniah did let go of him so they could get ready for the day. Bloodwraith started to move away, then had a vague sensation that would be a bit callous. Though he wasn't exactly overflowing with romantic feelings, he did like Danniah and wanted her to be happy. So he bent down and kissed her briefly, which drew another happy murmur from her.

Then he sat up and began to pull on his clothes. Before he could do so, Danniah hugged him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, paused for a long time, then said something clearly different than what she'd intended to say.

"Your back is so broad - did you get even more muscles? Anyway, it feels good to hug."

"I'm not complaining either."

"Oh!" Danniah flushed as she realized how much she was pressed against him, but more in happiness than in embarrassment. After that she truly let go of him and began pulling on her own clothes. "L-let's just go meet Meara."

"In any case, my body probably did change," Bloodwraith explained as he laced his boots. "When the boxes bestow points on me, they seem to have a nearly immediate physical effect."

"Aww, that's downright unfair. Are you sure I can't get any points?"

"They've said you're in my 'party' for quite a while, but the same rules don't seem to apply. This body itself might be unnatural."

"I guess that would make sense. Nobody just gets stronger in hops and jumps like that, it wouldn't make any sense."

Fully clothed and armored, they made their way down to the drinking hall like any pair of adventurers. When they sat down across from Meara, however, Danniah scooted her chair right next to his and wiggled over so her hip touched his. It wasn't exactly intimate, with layers of padded armor between them, but she seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

"The two of you slept in quite late," Meara said, voice utterly deadpan. "You must have been very tired from such a difficult quest."

When Danniah averted her gaze and blushed, Meara shot Bloodwraith a grin and wiggled her eyebrows. Yet Danniah caught it and stuck out her tongue at her. "Don't tease! Just tell us about these important things we needed to talk about."

"Right, I was busy while you were... also busy." Meara's expression shifted, becoming truly serious this time. "Daek the Knife has apparently resolved his problems with the Cresthaven Guard, and not subtly. Basically everyone in the underworld knows that he assassinated one of the major guard captains and replaced her with one of his own."

Bloodwraith frowned. "Has he ever gone that far before?"

"Not according to what I've heard. There are greencloaks openly enforcing order in the streets, too, and the guards don't do anything to stop him. The Governor is useless, of course. So we have to accept that we're living in a city where Daek has fewer restraints on his actions every day."

In the short term, at least. Such bold actions would definitely create a backlash, but he thought Daek was intelligent enough to understand that, which worried him more. What could be worth causing so many long term problems for himself?

"Anyway, he hasn't put out a hit on 'Raigar' or anything, so we might be safe a little longer. Unless the two of you have any grand ideas, I think we don't have a choice but to do everything we can to prepare. We might be forced out of Cresthaven soon."

"Then the priority is pieces of armor we can find in the city," Bloodwraith said. "Any leads there?"

"Yes, Haral was helpful in tracking them down. Unfortunately, you're not going to like it." Meara sat back in her chair, looking between the two of them. "The boots of the set are being sold in a high end shop here in town... for 15 gold pieces."

Danniah sucked in her breath and Bloodwraith grunted. "We're not likely to come up with that much. Could we steal it?"

Though Meara smirked at the suggestion, she shook her head. "All the shops are heavily warded against adventurers trying just that. Of course, no security is perfect, but guess who all the thieves in the city work for?"

"Then we'll have to consider our options carefully there. What about the other piece?"

"The Helm of the Tyrant is in a nobleman's private collection - some lord who was a warrior back in the day and fancies himself a collector. I'm not sure why he'd want to have something like that, but it seems he's proud of it and has shown it off to several nobles. He won't give it up for any amount of money."

That one could prove even more difficult, then. Bloodwraith drummed his fingers on the table, considering his options. For a start, he considered abandoning the idea of collecting the armor at all, since it wasn't a strictly necessary objective. Yet he wasn't exactly tripping over better equipment. He hadn't encountered many things that would allow him to gain a decent amount of power quickly, and he felt certain he would need power the next time he met Daek.

"Umm, I can actually answer one of those questions." Danniah shrank back a bit when they both turned to look at her, but went on. "The Armor of the Tyrant is a bit famous... well, if you pay attention to armor, anyway. The average person has probably never heard of it. But the story goes, when Cresthaven was first founded, it had a cruel ruler who was paranoid that someone would assassinate him. He kept demanding better and better armor, until a dwarven smith finally crafted a set that satisfied him. Well, he probably had a lot of help from mages, but they don't usually tell that part.

"Anyway, he was eventually poisoned, so the armor didn't matter in the end. But even though he was a cruel man, he was still important to the founding of the city. So even though it's not the strongest armor ever or anything, lots of people have tried to get the pieces over the years."

"Hmm. That explains why someone would want it for his collection." Bloodwraith sighed. "I don't know how plausible it is to do this. We can acquire money for the boots, given enough time, but we have no way of even getting close to the helm."

"Well... I have an idea for that too." Danniah gave him an odd smile. "You remember Herena, right?"

"Of course."

"Her family is friends with all the nobles in the city, and she's always getting invited over to their houses. I saw a bit of one of their parties once. The estate had loads of guards and really strong defenses, but inside they seem to mostly trust people."

"That's useful information, but how could I get into the estate through Herena?"

"Admittedly, that's a pretty big hole in the plan. I thought we could ask her, she might be willing to do me a favor, but she's always been a bit mean. So... maybe it's not very helpful after all..."

Though Danniah slumped a bit, Meara was giving him an amused look. He understood immediately, despite his best efforts. "No, surely not..."

"Oh, I think so." Meara barely managed to contain her amusement. "I think Herena would like to receive a shipment of hundreds of cureleaves from Raigar the Valorous."

"Are we really using my power this way? I'm not some strumpet..."

Ignoring him, Meara turned to the confused Danniah. "Do you know what kinds of gifts Herena likes?"

"Uh... I remember her saying white roses were really romantic, once. She likes that kind of thing." Danniah looked at her in confusion. "What is this about?"

Meara grinned. "Let's just say we have the first stage of a plan."

~ ~ ~

As he had for the past five days, Bloodwraith plodded down the street of merchants to Meara's little stall. In addition to her other work, she was trying to sell ordinary health potions to earn them a bit more gold, though he still calculated it would take them a month or two to earn 15 pieces.

Danniah was doing her best to help as well, though she wasn't currently with him. He summoned the quest boxes again just to check on her. Most likely she would be fine, especially since he'd given her the equipment he'd looted earlier - now that they were together, there was no point not being frank about such things. She'd accepted it gladly and continued going questing alone.

They'd discovered that Bloodwraith could accept quests, then still receive credit when Danniah completed them because she was in his "party." That let them do two quests simultaneously, though he was skeptical that such work would be sufficient in the end.

In five days he'd only acquired a little over 2000 EXP, and the number per day was dwindling. Meara said she was trying to find more dangerous quests, but other than going to get themselves killed by the drake, there weren't any good options.

He came up beside Meara, who was staring forward with an utterly blank smile on her face. When she noticed him, she emerged from within herself, shifting to a wry grin. "Do you have cureleaves for me, oh mighty adventurer?"

"I did get the last ones, actually." Bloodwraith slammed them down on the table and reflexively dismissed the box that appeared to tell him what he already knew - he'd never managed to make the box gods stop congratulating him for finished battles or quests. "I don't think it's worth my time to continue with these, since getting distracted by those is costing a fair amount of time."

"Yes, you have much more important things to be doing." Meara produced a white rose from within her cloak with an unnecessary flourish. "Take this to the usual place, you incurable romantic."

Bloodwraith sighed and took it. "Where are you getting these?"

"Don't worry about it."

"I do, actually." He met her gaze to make it clear he wasn't joking. "You aren't making any decisions that could come back to bite us, are you?"

"Worried I'm going into debt or something? Don't." Meara stepped closer to him and lowered her voice. "The source is more abstract than that, but I don't think it will hurt to tell you. Let me put it this way... do you spend a lot of time thinking about where merchants acquire their goods? Did you wonder about how I made a living selling potions in the middle of a random wood?"

"These are simple economics questions! A child could think of them!"

"Well, the Outsiders who used me don't care very much. Sometimes... when the world isn't looking... it's difficult to put into words, and I'm afraid focusing on it might ruin the effect. But you understand, right?" When he nodded, Meara's expression grew more serious. "I can't tell you for certain that there will never be any unintended consequences. But it feels to me like it's part of the same system that grants you your power."

"Considering how long they used you as a part of the Forest of Beginnings, it's logical that you might be connected to the system." Bloodwraith let himself smile at Meara. "Good work. It will be interesting to see just how far we can push this."

"I agree, but I want to talk about the white roses a bit more. And not to tease you. Haral is almost finished with the copy, but it won't do any good if we can't get inside. Are the gifts working?"

"I'm still getting 'Affection' notifications after each rose. The numbers are decreasing slowly, but she's up to 71/100 now."

"Gods, the beings who created this system have a strange view of romance. You have a better understanding, and you're a reclusive, misanthropic skeleton."

"That's unfair. I'm a misanthropic fleshbag now." But as much as Bloodwraith enjoyed talking to Meara, he knew that they needed to stay focused, because there was no guarantee they could continue like this. "In all seriousness, what do you think the chances are that you can find some better quests for us? The ones we can do alone aren't enough challenge."

Meara winced. "I'm trying, but even in a place like Cresthaven it's not like we're constantly stumbling over options as impressive as the best ones I've found. Oh, but I did manage this!" Several boxes appeared in front of Bloodwraith, new quests that he accepted reflexively.

[Potential Objective: Helm of the Tyrant

Find a way into the noble's estate to acquire the helm.

Reward: EXP

Accept? Y/N]

[Potential Objective: Boots of the Tyrant

Acquire 15 gold pieces in order to purchase the boots.

Reward: EXP

Accept? Y/N]

[Potential Objective: Breastplate of the Tyrant

Locate the lost breastplate from the armor set.

Reward: EXP

Accept? Y/N]

"Quests for things we were doing anyway. Always helpful." He glanced at the second one once it took its place in the quest list, however. "Does the exact phrasing there mean we don't have the option of stealing it? If we did, would the quest get stuck forever?"

"I'm not sure. I tried to make it more flexible, but I'm really fumbling in the dark with all of this."

"No, you're doing well." Bloodwraith saw real weariness in Meara's eyes and put a hand on her shoulder. "We're on the same side, in this and in everything. I'm honored to have you with me."

For a time Meara was silent, putting her hand over his. After a pause, she returned to her usual smirk. "Right now, our bold alliance is acquiring an arbitrary number of points for random actions. How many is it now?"

"11,828 of 25,600."

"Damn. I do need to find you some more quests. I'll do what I can."

Bloodwraith sighed and lifted the rose. "And I'll do whatever is necessary."

He jogged away from Meara's laughter, along the familiar route to the noble district. By now he could do it quite quickly, perhaps getting in another quest before it was time to sleep. The streets of Cresthaven became cleaner, with larger houses along the sides. There were more guards here and no greencloaks, but he never felt entirely comfortable there.

By this point, however, the guards of Herena's estate were familiar with him. When he came up and handed the man the day's white rose, however, he received a letter in return. "What is this?"

"An invitation from the mistress. She'd like to invite you to a formal dinner tomorrow night."

Dammit. "I'd be delighted."

~ ~ ~

Dressed in the best armor they had available, Bloodwraith considered one more time if this wasn't all a trap of some kind. They were trusting quite a bit in the aspect of his amulet labeled "Ladies Man" - two words he knew that made little sense when combined. He was fairly certain that there were limits to the boxes' power in such affairs, yet he had received the invitation.

After nervously shifting in the courtyard for a time, Herena emerged from the estate. Fortunately, she was mostly wearing her combat armor with only a bit of added jewelry. As far as he could tell, in Cresthaven adventuring was only mildly disreputable, and became socially acceptable if you were good enough at it. This way, he didn't feel entirely out of place.

"Well, well... I didn't expect to see you again, Raigar." Herena gave him an arrogant smile, but when he met her gaze and didn't look away, he saw her flush a bit. "I've been touched by your gifts. But what brought this on?"

"I'm just using you because we knew you had an invitation to an estate where I need to steal a piece of equipment," Bloodwraith didn't say. It took some effort, though. Instead he went with, "After our group split up, I couldn't forget about you."

"That's sweet. I admit, I didn't see your true value at first. But compared to the others, you were certainly effective, and it seems you're more cultured than you look."

How charming. Bloodwraith forced a smile and extended his arm to her. They headed from her estate to the nearby target. A simple walk, straight through the entrance, yet he was moving through security he never could have sneaked through, even if he had an entire year to prepare.

"Feel free to relax and enjoy yourself tonight," Herena told him. "You might not be an acceptable guest at higher class parties, but this one caters especially to adventurers."

Yes, that had been Meara and Danniah's exact plan. The two of them could be scary sometimes.

"Mmm, it seems you've been working hard. Yes, you'll do well."

So he was there to improve her reputation as an adventurer with her high society friends, making him little more than an accessory. He wasn't surprised. Yet he needed her to at least turn a blind eye to his plans for that night, so Bloodwraith did his best to charm her as they entered the party.

He was, admittedly, not the best suited for this sort of thing. But he was no fool, and he'd had coaching from Meara and Danniah. Plus, the boxes seemed to have an influence on all his reactions, which made sense. Incomprehensible creatures from another world could not be expected to have a very firm grasp of human interaction, hence the need for assistance.

The estate itself was quite grand, but the people within were dressed much more casually. Some appeared to be actual adventurers in their best equipment, while nobles wore mere imitations of armor. No doubt there was a great deal of complexity in navigating such a society, but he only needed to fake it for one night.

Though he'd hoped the adventurers might have something interesting to say, they only wanted to discuss Guild politics and how to increase their ranking without serious risk. As he made small-talk with small-minded adventurers, Bloodwraith instead examined the layout of the estate carefully.

Most of the guests chatted in several chambers set up for the party, but some also went to tour the host's armor collection. Though a few ancient pieces were behind glass, it was as Danniah had said: most were displayed without any attempt to secure them. Apparently such genteel adventurers wouldn't stoop to steal anything, which struck him as contrary to the spirit of the adventuring.

At the end of the hall he spotted it: the Helm of the Tyrant.

[Helm of the Tyrant

Armor: 14

Vitality +1, Willpower +1

Durability: 49/50

Rarity: Rare

NOTE: This item is part of a unique set.]

Bloodwraith ran one hand over the Extra-dimensional Bag he'd hidden in his sleeve. It would be so easy to take it now... but the risk would be too high, plus he needed a more solid alibi.

So in the end, he had no choice but to participate along with Herena, as frustrating as that was. People said things to him, and he was introduced countless times, but it all ran through his mind like water. He didn't care about any of these people and couldn't feel any connection to them, even when he tried. Herena especially, despite her long glances and the Affection boxes, was just a convenient means to an end.

Spending time with Danniah over the past days and nights, he'd started to feel soft, even worried that he was losing his true self. Being around a larger number of people reminded him of yet another reason he'd retreated to rule the undead. Right now the Master Lich's plan of burning down the world sounded pretty good.

It wasn't as if he'd reverted to his old self, however. He couldn't, because too much had changed, and that life seemed lonely from his new perspective. That realization left him slightly melancholy.

But he was Bloodwraith, Corrupter of Worlds. He wouldn't let himself be bogged down in melodrama. Instead he developed a new vision for the future: slay the box gods, build an impenetrable fortress from their ethereal corpses, then bring Meara and Danniah to the heart of it to live with him. Instead of becoming undead again, he could find some other way to perfect this body and live out his days with the best of both worlds.

Buoyed by such thoughts, Bloodwraith managed to endure the party until all the guests became substantially more drunk. He'd been drinking as well, but he weighed so much more than most of the guests that it was barely having any effect on him.

When Herena tugged at his belt, pulling him toward one of the side hallways, he saw his chance. He had to endure kissing her for a time, but as she drank more she needed to relieve herself. The instant she stepped away, he rushed to the hall of armor.

Good, almost no one there. Bloodwraith flicked his arm sharply, sending the Extra-dimensional Bag flipping out into his hand. He carefully lifted the Helm of the Tyrant from its stand and slipped it into the bag... and then pulled out the duplicate Haral had made. Physically it was an exact copy, though naturally it had none of the enchantments that really mattered.

Making the switch, Bloodwraith shoved the bag back into his sleeve and went to wait on Herena again. She emerged not long after, much paler.

"Everyone is getting too drunk," Bloodwraith said. "Shall I escort you home?"

"Yes, we might as well." She slurred a little and leaned on him heavily as they left the party and walked past the estate's high walls.. "This... this was nice, Raigar."

"Yes, I enjoyed it." He didn't need to fake the warmth and enthusiasm in his voice, because the box that appeared in front of him took care of that.

[Quest Complete!

Find a way into the noble's estate to acquire the helm.

Alignment: Evil +20

EXP +1500]

The EXP reward was quite impressive for a simple party, almost making all his suffering worth it. Apparently the theft had given him "Evil" points, which was actually puzzling since no one was aware of it, at least if all went well. Not that it mattered, since his reputation could be fixed with a handful of trivial quests.

"Raigar... can we do this again soon?"

"I'm not sure. There might be more trouble with Daek the Knife."

"Oh, him." Herena glowered and pulled back from him a little. "My father spoke to him and got reassurances that he wouldn't bother any other adventurers. But I don't want to talk about him. He's been acting unwell lately, doing things... well, it's not a topic for polite conversation."

He very much wanted to know more, but Herena clearly didn't want to discuss it and information obtained from her while she was this drunk might not be reliable. Instead he escorted her back to her estate, kissed her one more time at the gate, then headed out as fast as he could.

It was very late when he got back to the Adventurers Guild, but he found the two of them waiting for him. Danniah had slumped forward onto the table and was snoring softly, while Meara stared at nothing in her usual fashion. When he sat down nearby she returned to the real world, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Back so soon? You didn't fuck Herena?"

"Why would I?"

Her lips twitched. "You know you could have. I'm quite certain that amulet of yours could have made it happen. You're terrible at being a bad person, Bloodwraith."

"I'm a bad person!" Bloodwraith growled indignantly. "That isn't synonymous with having no impulse control and no standards."

"Mm, yes, the unbridled hedonism of chivalrous monogamy."

"Silence, harlot!" He found himself smiling, though. A moment later, he felt Danniah's arms wrap around his side.

"I'm glad you didn't," she said softly. "If it had been the only way, I guess it would have... well, I'm glad it wasn't."

She embraced him tighter and he put an arm around her shoulders. After a whole night being with Herena, he braced himself for a box to appear, but none did. Ever since they'd first had sex, there had been no announcements about Danniah's "Affection" at all. As far as he was concerned, that was a significant side benefit.

"I felt like Herena always went out of her way to make me feel ugly. It feels a little silly now, but... sometimes you need some reassurance, you know?"

Meara rolled her eyes and stood up. "Okay, I can see where this conversation is going. You two have fun. Tomorrow we'll be doing something that involves a little more rampant slaughter and looting."

That sounded like a welcome relief, but it wasn't going to stop him from enjoying the rest of the night.

Chapter 25

For the next several days, in addition to his normal questing tasks, Bloodwraith had to deal with Herena contacting him. He even stayed out of the Adventurers Guild to avoid her, but there was only so much he could do. Strangely, though he expressed as much disinterest as he could without burning bridges, this only seemed to make her more interested in him.

The fact that she was trying to talk to him made him more paranoid, and at several points he would have sworn that he was being followed. Many times he wished for proper spells that could determine objectively whether or not she or anyone else was trailing him, but instead all he had was a vague warrior's instinct. He acted more cautiously and took quests closer to the city, just in case.

That was simple, since he had more training than usual. After some practice, he'd figured out that his "Shout of Rage" ability was good at holding off groups. More draining than his other skills, and harder to practice effectively, but he'd grown used to it.

For the moment, it was time to meet up with Meara again. He found her in conversation with several adventurers, cheerful and yet oddly flat. When one finished buying potions and moved off, she turned to the next. "Hello, welcome to my shop! What can I do for you?"

Bloodwraith lurked in the shadows until she was done with her queue, then stepped forward. Meara pivoted to him with the same smile on her face.

"Hello, welcome to my shop! What can I do for you?"

"Are you in some sort of automated mode, or are you mocking me?"

"Some of the former, but I'm definitely mocking you." The real Meara returned with a smirk. "Is it that time already? Alright, let's head somewhere more private."

Meara closed up her shop, swept all her inventory into her cloak, and they headed down an alley. Bloodwraith pulled ahead and led them into a small restaurant that Danniah had recommended. Allegedly the soup was good, and in any case it was quiet and out of the way.

When he ordered, however, Meara just shook her head. He didn't contradict her in front of the shop owner, but once he moved away, Bloodwraith looked at her.

"I don't think I need to eat. I haven't drank a drop of water in three days and I feel fine."

"Huh." It reminded Bloodwraith of the undead and he decided to keep to himself how much he liked that idea. "Are you sure it wouldn't have consequences down the line? I don't want anything happening to you."

"I'll go back to eating if I feel strange. Stranger than normal, anyway. But I actually feel a little more in touch with the systems around us since I stopped, so I think it's worth exploring."

"I'll leave that to your judgment, then. But you could still eat for the pleasure of it."

"Concerned about me, are you? How sweet."

"Bah! Don't try to force me into emotional statements. I spend my allotment of that on Danniah."

"Very efficient use of resources." Meara nodded with mock seriousness, then the real thing emerged. "But yes, we need to discuss our current trajectory. I've been gathering rumors, and many think that Daek might try to do something dramatic, like take over the city guard. To do that, he'd have to build his forces. If so, we might have something like 30-40 days to prepare."

"We should assume the lower number." Bloodwraith sat back and closed his eyes, rolling through the boxes in his head. "My EXP has only increased to 14,576. It's rising by an average of about 400 per day, but that number is decreasing as we massacre the local monster populations."

"I wish I could do more for you, but there's only so much available. Plus, I'm spending a lot of time trying to pinpoint the last piece of armor. It feels like it's not connected to another quest or anything the boxes care about, so it's more difficult to locate."

"That's fine, the armor is higher priority. But how is the shop doing?"

As the soup was served, they continued talking about the exact numbers. Meara's shop made a consistent 15 silvers per day in profit, largely thanks to her unnatural supply of ingredients. Questing income was less regular, but averaged about 18 silvers per day. That meant in a little over a month, they'd make a full 10 gold pieces. Once more, being an adventurer became much like being a shopkeeper.

"So..." Meara sat back and toyed with a piece of silverware. "Combined with the four and a half gold pieces we currently have-"

"Four and 26 silvers."

"-we could reach 15 gold pieces in 33 days. That's short of the deadline, assuming Daek decides to move against the city sooner rather than later."

"That's assuming we have no larger expenses, such as armor repair. And it completely prevents us from buying other valuable pieces of equipment." He'd deducted costs of room and board from their daily profits, because otherwise he would have grown even more irritated. Still, the numbers didn't lie. "That's too slow. We need something more dramatic."

"I feel like I might be able to help you with repairing your armor, if I spent time with it, but I've had to focus too much on quests lately. But I do have something else that will help a bit." Meara smiled and pulled a sheet of paper from her cloak, sliding it across the table. "I doubt this can come together fast enough to solve our monetary problems, but it should provide some immediate power for you."

Bloodwraith read over the sheet and discovered that it was a request from a group of healers who wanted to establish a way-station outside the city to defend travelers. They needed a sanctified location and adventurers to help defend it - something exactly like the elven pool, in other words. A box appeared saying much the same things, so he ignored it.

"You're thinking they could use the pool? Wouldn't the elves object?"

"They might, but the request is just to take them to an appropriate location. This will be an easy quest, and for some reason I feel like it will be worth a little more than the others. In the neighborhood of 500 points, perhaps."

"It will be easy to combine with other quests regardless. Good work." Bloodwraith accepted it, putting more thought into Meara's words. Her perception was improving, but he wondered-

[Quest Complete!

Exterminate the bugbears.

Reward: 250 EXP]

That would be Danniah's work, putting them ahead of schedule for that day. It didn't change the overall outlook of their situation, though, because the boxes clearly liked to reward risks and experimentation. Bloodwraith dismissed the box without thinking much about it, but he noticed Meara staring - not in the direction of the box, but toward him.

"What? Just another quest from Danniah."

"Oh, I know. I was just watching the power, trying to figure out if it actually flowed from her direction."

Bloodwraith sat forward, eyes narrowing. "Watching the power? You mean these 'experience points' the boxes talk about? I had always assumed they were an arbitrary measurement, since the real power only comes in increments."

"It might in a practical sense, but there's definitely something there. And it feels like something from our world, not from beyond." Meara gave an apologetic shrug. "Sorry that I can't be more precise than that. But I think these EXP aren't imaginary numbers the box gods dream up - they represent something real and concrete, if not something physical."

"Curious. I'm not sure I know of any magic that would work in discrete stages like this."

"I definitely have no idea. I'll keep looking into it. And into everything else." Meara sat back and smiled at him. "It was nice talking to you, mighty adventurer, but we both have work to be doing."

He felt exactly the same way but didn't need to say it. Leaving Meara to blankly repeat phrases to her customers, Bloodwraith headed across the city to the Adventurers Guild. There might be time to choose another request from the board, or depending on the timing of variables, he might simply train with Danniah.

While completing a few petty quests near Cresthaven, he ran into Danniah as she returned, a bit battered but smiling. She helped him finish and then they headed back to the Adventurers Guild. Now that security had increased, it was a fairly safe place to be, just by virtue of the number of dangerous people lounging around within. He was certain that the greencloaks were watching the place closely, however.

"I finished that bugbear quest, but I suppose you already know that," Danniah was saying. "Do the boxes tell you anything about how it went?"

"No, just the reward and the barest description."

"Well! Most of my day might have been pretty boring, but that part was worth talking about..."

Though he and Danniah talked about strategy sometimes, she usually left that to Meara and just focused on working. That left their conversations lighter, which he didn't mind. He knew it would be a mistake to say this, but her chattiness had ceased to be annoying since drinking the intelligence potions. She still enjoyed talking, but her selection of topics was much improved.

As usual, they were the only people in the training ground this late in the day. Bloodwraith had taken many tips from Danniah on effective strength training, since without the benefit of points, she needed to work both smart and hard. Once he'd gotten used to her suggestions, he did see the percentages increase slightly faster, though he was still just on the edge of increasing any statistics.

They'd stripped off their armor to train, and he wasn't sure if that was actually necessary, or if Danniah just wanted to stare at him while they worked. He didn't mind how as she sweated, her light clothes started to cling to her. In the past he might have averted his gaze and wasted time and mental energy on ignoring it - now he just enjoyed the sight and moved on. Just having sex instead of prolonging sexual tension had been one of his best decisions since coming to Cresthaven.

Danniah distracted him from watching the percentages slowly increase, and they chose that moment to finally slide over the edge. Every muscle in his body twitched at once and his practice sword hacked through the training dummy he had been striking. The force of it sent a rush of air across the training ground, hard enough that Danniah had to brace herself against it.

[Two-Handed Weapons skill reached level 10!

Damage dealt with all two-handed weapons is increased by 10%!

Development of physical stats boosted!]

That raised a great many questions the boxes refused to answer. Clearly, the box gods liked round numbers, and so this was some sort of reward for fulfilling that arbitrary condition. But what did it actually mean? If his attributes measured his strength and his skills measured his ability with the greatsword, then how could damage dealt simply increase aside from that? Might it be just a description of the progress he had made so far? All that seemed clear was that the final line meant that the percentages on his Might, Vitality, and Quickness jumped sharply, enough to grant him another point in the first two.

There were no answers to such questions, but he was prevented from wasting too much time contemplating them by Danniah. She was staring at him, eyes wide, and took a step closer. "Did you just get stronger? I know that's how the boxes work, but I'd swear I actually saw it this time..."

"This one was bigger than normal improvements." Bloodwraith glanced down at himself but couldn't see the difference - he'd just looked like a musclebound adventurer to himself ever since his Might had neared 20 points. "The box gods were very happy about the number 10, it seems. Hopefully they'll feel the same way about overall levels."

"Hopefully." Danniah wasn't really listening, though. She reached out and ran her fingers over the lines of the muscles in his abdomen. They'd always looked foolish to Bloodwraith, but Danniah clearly disagreed. When she saw him watching she blushed and pulled back, then realized she was being foolish and put her hand back on his chest. "Were those the thresholds you were aiming for? Because I don't feel like training anymore."

"That's good enough for tonight. Do you want to clean up in the saunas?"

"We can start there, anyway." Danniah collected her things hurriedly, still staring at him over her shoulder.

Though he was looking forward to relaxing with her, in more ways than one, this time Bloodwraith found his thoughts turning darker. They needed to take these moments together when they could, because he wasn't sure how much longer they had.

Chapter 26

"So, how does it actually work?" Danniah peered up at Meara as they walked. "Wait, am I bothering you? I won't ask questions if you need to concentrate."

"No, it's fine." Meara still had her eyes closed, yet kept pace with them without difficulty. "But it's difficult to explain. I know we're getting closer to the breastplate, but I'm uncertain about its exact location."

"I've always imagined it's like you have a special compass inside your head that points toward important things."

"That would be easier, but it's nothing like that. I couldn't tell you which direction it is. Every time we shift in a new direction, I get a little more information, but I'm still uncertain if we're going in the right direction. Though speaking of that, let's head west next."

Danniah nodded and shifted to lead from that direction. "Then is it like that children's game, the one where you tell them whether they're getting closer or further from the goal?"

"Not quite like that either. Maybe... more like I'm looking at something through a tiny pinhole. The more I see of it, the closer I come to knowing what it actually is. But right now, it's just random pieces that I can't put together, not a whole object."

Bloodwraith said nothing and let the two of them talk, since they seemed to be enjoying it and they were covering interesting information. Apparently Meara had been more open with Danniah about her nature than he'd thought, though he was also fairly certain that she'd held back some of the details. Regardless, the three of them had agreed they wouldn't let the day end without getting their hands on the Breastplate of the Tyrant.

They had made more marginal progress over the past few days, but it simply wasn't enough. The quest to establish the healers at the pool had at least been successful, but though construction had begun, it wouldn't end in time to benefit them. Since Meara finally felt confident enough to at least guess at the armor's location, he'd made the judgment call that it was the highest priority.

Letting them talk allowed him to focus on defending the group. Most likely they'd be attacked by nothing more dangerous than wolves, which would not be much of a threat. But he tried to stay focused on the area behind them, uncertain if he had caught sight of anyone. His sense that something was wrong had been increasing, another reason he'd suggested they venture out that day.

"Wait." Meara abruptly cut off the conversation, opening her eyes for the first time in a while. "I think we're close."

They shifted to her side, but she didn't move. Bloodwraith folded his arms. "How can we help narrow it down?"

"What I'm getting... is the sense that someone else had the breastplate. They were wearing it, but... it wasn't enough to protect them. I'm not sure how long ago this was, but the body hasn't been found."

"Oh, could it be there?" Danniah pointed to the side, and for a moment Bloodwraith saw nothing, then he realized that the bushes obscured a crevice in the earth.

Meara frowned and shifted her head without nodding or shaking it, but she began to wander closer to the crevice. They followed, on guard for anything dangerous, but for once they weren't attacked by anyone. The crevice was narrow but much deeper than it looked, a product of the ancient rocks of the terrain around Cresthaven.

"Yes... I think this might be it." Meara hesitated near the crevice, however, looking for a way in.

Bloodwraith didn't try, since his body wasn't going to fit between those rocks. Instead he followed the top of the crevice, noting how remarkably hidden it was in the undergrowth. That explained how something inside it might have remained hidden for so long. Even if someone noticed it, there was no reason to believe that it might contain anything useful, if not for Meara's senses.

Though Danniah ran ahead to check the other end, Bloodwraith spotted it first: dark metal at the bottom of the crevice. When he bent down to look further, he saw that the breastplate was still on the chest of a skeleton. Judging from the bones, the adventurer had fallen in and broken their leg. Monsters must have set upon them after that - while the breastplate looked completely undamaged, the same could not be said for their legs and neck.

"You found it!" Danniah peered down into the crevice beside him. "You're definitely not fitting in there, though. There was a larger part earlier on that I thought I could climb down, let me try!"

"Be careful. We don't want you to get stuck in there like he did."

"I have rope! Always bring rope!"

They tied the rope around Danniah's waist and she climbed down into the crevice to retrieve the breastplate. Though Bloodwraith was ready to be attacked at any moment, a spell of force prepared for the first sight of a monster, none attacked. Danniah reached the breastplate, detached it from the skeleton, and lugged it back up with help from him.

Meara stood nearby, gaze unfocused. He didn't expect her to contribute much in the way of raw strength, but he'd expected her to be more interested. Then again, this had been a different sort of test of her abilities, so maybe she needed time to reflect on it.

"We got it!" Danniah flopped up to the surface again, pulling the armor after her once she had a secure grip. "Here ya go!"

He helped her climb fully out of the crevice first, but then he gladly took the breastplate.

[Breastplate of the Tyrant

Armor: 24

Might +1, Vitality +1

Durability: 41/50

Rarity: Rare

NOTE: This item is part of a unique set.]

[Quest Complete!

Locate the lost breastplate from the armor set.

EXP + 500]

A mediocre EXP reward, but perhaps that was to be expected given how relatively easy it had been to acquire this one. The more important thing was that he now possessed four of the five pieces. Though the boxes called it a breastplate, it included spiked shoulder plates and armor for the arms as well. If he wore all the equipment now, he would actually be well-protected, but apparently the boxes required boots as well to complete the set.

"We need to go." Meara spoke in a low voice and he looked up, but it was too late.

There were people shifting in the woods around them. Bloodwraith dropped the armor to draw his greatsword and Danniah hefted her shield, but he wasn't sure that it would matter. While they had been focused on the breastplate, they'd been completely surrounded. And it wasn't as if he had been negligent: their opponents practically vanished in the foliage.

Then the branches rustled and Daek the Knife walked out to stand opposite them.

"You... I've been waiting for a chance at you..." His eyes gleamed with something that hadn't been present before, locked onto Bloodwraith alone. "Now, surrender quietly and this will go easier for all of us."

Surrendering was obviously a foolish choice, but Bloodwraith checked the levels of the greencloaks around them and didn't like their odds. There were no novices this time, most were around Level 6-10. Breaking through the circle and fleeing would be risky, but they at least had a chance there. But most importantly, he'd already taken the risk of encountering Daek, so he needed to learn what he could.

"Why are you attacking me?" Bloodwraith asked. "I helped you clear the crypt like you wanted."

"Don't play stupid!" Daek's voice held a manic edge and his fingers twitched on the hilts of two of his knives. "You only escaped me last time because your friends showed up. Well, they're not here now. I made sure to catch you without them."

He hadn't expected that tactic to work, just wanted to see how Daek would react. Given his behavior, best to shift gears. "Why were you getting adventurers killed in your crypt?"

"Don't play stupid!" This time Daek's words became a shriek. Bloodwraith saw Danniah wince and Meara narrow her eyes at the outburst. More importantly, some of the greencloaks shifted uncomfortably as well. "You went there just to sabotage me, and you stole it all! Give the power back!"

"Why should you concern yourself with a tiny bit of energy?" If Daek was convinced he understood the situation, Bloodwraith decided he might as well play along. "That's what I don't understand. Why antagonize the Adventurers Guild and draw in trained fighters when it would be easier to sacrifice your own men?"

"Shut up and tell me where it is! All that power I'd gathered - gone! Yet... yet can it be here? Did you absorb it? I don't understand..." Daek's gaze drifted toward the ground and his hands slipped further from his knives. That was little comfort, given how wildly his eyes darted. He had seemed entirely under control before - where had the underworld mastermind gone?

His words implied the reason why he'd been coming after Bloodwraith: apparently the power he'd been gathering in the blood ritual had been drained. Bloodwraith considered theories as to who else might have done it until he remembered the strange box that had appeared at the heart of the crypt. Perhaps the system within him had drained the energy there. That raised more questions, though.

One of the greencloaks stepped closer. "Boss, what are y-"

"Get the sacrificial stone!" Daek snapped. When the greencloak flinched, he turned on him. "Didn't you hear me?"

That was over the line for Bloodwraith - the time for gathering information had passed. He wasn't sure what Daek meant by the "sacrificial stone" since he didn't think blood rituals could be made portable, but it didn't matter. The man seemed unstable enough that he might do anything. Poor as their chances were, this was the best they were likely to get.

Bloodwraith let out a roar and his new spell exploded from him. The "Shout of Rage" wasn't good at dealing damage, but the burst of force had a huge radius. Greencloaks went stumbling in every direction, some of them actually falling to the ground. Even Daek staggered, and in that moment, Bloodwraith decided to try to end him with a surprise attack.

He lunged forward, greatsword flying in a direct thrust... and Daek flowed around it like water. Even though Bloodwraith had been increasing his Quickness alongside brute force, it was nothing compared to his opponent's raw speed.

Before he could react, Daek had swept past his blade and reached his arm, knives lashing out. Bloodwraith barely pulled back in time, still receiving two cuts to his arm - his leather armor might as well not have existed. He reached for a spell of force, but in the time it took him to summon the mana, Daek had already closed the distance and stabbed into his chest.

His armor barely blunted the blow and he felt the pain shoot through his chest, but Bloodwraith didn't let it stop him from finishing his spell. The force hit Daek in the face and pushed him back a step. Only one step. If Bloodwraith had really been a brute fighter, he would have died the next instant.

But when he had seen how fast Daek reacted, he had planned to throw everything he had into his attack. Before Daek even finished staggering, Bloodwraith hit him with a second burst, then a third while he pulled back his sword and swung.

Daek recovered faster than he'd anticipated and ducked underneath the broad horizontal swing, rushing forward again. Bloodwraith cursed and tried to counter, but there just wasn't time. He was going to take another series of direct hits.

Except Danniah stepped up beside him and attacked. Her movement took Daek completely off guard, yet he still managed to dodge the blow from her mace on pure instinct. He wasn't able to dodge her shield as it smashed straight into his forward charge. The blow sent him sprawling backward over the ground.

Bloodwraith swept his sword down the next second, with all of his strength behind it and releasing a charge of mana from the blade. The force flattened Daek into the ground, preventing him from dodging, and the blade struck true.

And Daek's armor held.

The sword bit into his shoulder and scraped the side of his head, but it wasn't able to break through and kill him. That actually made Bloodwraith hesitate for a moment, though he shouldn't have been surprised: of course Daek would have equipment beyond anything he'd seen so far.

In his moment of hesitation, Daek struck the greatsword aside and spun to his feet, knives ready again. Bloodwraith managed to throw another spell at him before he could get his footing fully, though as expected, Daek managed to dodge to the side.

His only goal was delay Daek long enough to drink a potion. Yet when Bloodwraith brought the bottle to his lips, steel flashed past him and the glass shattered. A moment later he realized that Daek had thrown one of his knives to stop him, and the other man was already drawing another knife and closing on him.

It just wasn't enough. His strategy had been solid and Danniah had landed an effective surprise attack, but it hadn't been enough to overcome the gap between them. Bloodwraith felt himself growing distant from the combat, even as Danniah moved to flank Daek and they tried to attack him from both sides. He already knew it wouldn't work, even assuming that the greencloaks didn't get involved.

Though his body kept moving, his mind focused on Daek, trying to summon a box for him.

[Name: Daek the Knife

Race: Human

Class: Rogue

Health: 233/271

Mana: 24/24

Stamina: 127/182

Level: 19

EXP: ???]

The rest of the box told him nothing, but the first sections were enough. All the blows they had landed amounted to only a fraction of Daek's health. Worse, his stamina was still rather high, suggesting that this was how fast he could move normally, not an exhausting level of speed.

If Bloodwraith had more allies and a series of traps, he could imagine a path to victory. But here, with greencloaks recovering and getting ready to join in the fight, it just wasn't possible. Seeing it laid out in raw numbers made it impossible to ignore the stark reality.

Alone, he might have fought on anyway. But Meara had been seized by greencloaks, and at that moment he saw Daek knock Danniah down and then step on her shield. Soon, he'd kick it aside and then descend with those knives...

"Enough!" Bloodwraith raised his sword over his head. "We surrender."

"Surrender?" Daek wheeled on him, eyes bright. "You surrender? Then give me the power! If not, give me your blood! Tell me what you know!"

"I'll cooperate, and you can take me if you want. Just don't harm my friends." Bloodwraith had absolutely no intention of following through with such a foolishly selfless agreement, of course. But it made him sound calm and reasonable in front of Daek, who was growing increasingly unhinged.

As he'd hoped, one of the greencloaks spoke up. "Boss, we have the girl. Maybe we should tie them up so you can interrogate them."

"I... yes." Daek shook his head at nothing in particular, then sheathed his knives again. "Take their weapons and move out. Set up the sacrifice stone. Didn't I already ask you to do that?"

The greencloaks rushed to obey and Bloodwraith didn't resist as they stripped him of his weapons. His situation was worsening, especially when the greencloaks clapped iron manacles on their hands and legs, but if the battle had continued, he was certain that Daek would have murdered them all right then, regardless of this "sacrifice stone." At least this way they still lived and his body could begin healing.

They were dragged to a nearby clearing and forced to sit down against a rock wall. Bloodwraith kept track of their equipment, which the greencloaks put in a pile. They kept it intact, since they obviously wanted to sell it - the breastplate attracted special attention, though they didn't seem to know exactly what it was.

Meanwhile, Daek stepped away, muttering to himself. Several of the greencloaks were carrying in huge fragments of stone, which he quickly recognized as pieces of a ritual. Had they dragged them all the way from the crypt? That struck him as madness, yet he could feel a bit of mana flowing.

If Daek did kill them on that stone, what would happen? It wouldn't matter, of course, since they'd be dead, but Bloodwraith didn't want to find out in any case. A partial ritual taken from its place like this would be dangerously unstable. That was more likely than any other factor to make a difference in their circumstances.

He looked to the others to check on them. Danniah appeared miserable but tried to give him a smile when their eyes met - she looked a bit bruised but mostly unharmed. Meara had lost her cloak and satchel but otherwise appeared untouched. At least the greencloaks were too concerned about the way Daek was behaving to think of anything else.

At that moment he saw Meara giving him an intense look, and soon after a box appeared.

[Quest Accepted!

Survive Daek the Knife's ambush.

Reward: EXP, Meara Affection, Danniah Affection]

She gave him an awkward half-shrug and he nodded in understanding. There wasn't much they could do, but they had to try. And if they did manage to survive, they'd have an even greater challenge ahead of them and would need everything they could muster.

"Something isn't right." Daek clutched the sides of his head, partially hunched over. "I can't hear any voices anymore."

"Uh, boss?" The nearest greencloak took a step away from him.

"I don't want to hear them. I want them to hear me." Without warning Daek swiveled back toward Bloodwraith, in the process drawing two knives. "How did you steal the power of the gods? I sacrificed so many to them, yet they ignored me! Or... was it not enough...?"

Since delay benefited them, Bloodwraith decided to play along. "That's what you wanted? To take power from the ritual?"

"Of course. The others didn't see when we found the crypt, but I understood. Terrible gods from beyond the sky... they left their tool, and I wanted it. I could have ruled Cresthaven easily." For a moment Bloodwraith saw a hint of the cold, logical leader Daek must once have been, then the man twitched and chuckled. "But they wouldn't listen to me, wouldn't grant me any power. I tried to draw it in, after you stole it, but there was only emptiness..."

Given how uncomfortable the greencloaks seemed, Bloodwraith suspected that Daek's aberrant behavior had started only recently. His words might have explained the change: he'd tried to interact with the ritual directly and it had broken something inside him. Though it was a risk, Bloodwraith decided to try an alternative strategy.

"They didn't give me the power either, Daek." He looked the other man directly in the eyes and didn't flinch when Daek took a lurching step forward. "I tried to take it, but it just passed through me, back to their world. The ritual isn't for us, it's for them. But if we work tog-"

"No!" Daek's entire body twitched violently, then he suddenly drew back. A bit of the madness was gone, and when he spoke again, his voice was cold. "You think an amateur liar like you can deceive me? I don't need you, except as a sacrifice. Be silent."

Danniah spoke up quietly. "You don't have to do this. We could help you if-"

"Shut up. If that one isn't enough, I'll cut your throat next."

Though he seemed much more in control of himself now, Daek was obviously not well. That much had been made clear to the greencloaks, some of whom seemed to have melted away into the trees. Others moved closer to Daek and began to talk to him in low voices. They walked closer to the sacrificial stone as their conversation became an argument.

That helped, but not much. They were still... Bloodwraith realized that Danniah was pressing something into this hand and blinked in surprise. It was a glass vial.

When he looked to the side, he saw that Danniah's bonds had been broken, though she still held her hands behind her back. She gave him a wink that he desperately hope none of the greencloaks had noticed. But how? He looked past her to Meara, who kept her face flat... but she wiggled her hands and another glass vial slid from her sleeve.

The liquid inside was bright yellow. It couldn't have possibly fit into her sleeve, but that was immaterial, especially to the boxes. He concentrated on the vial in his hand that he couldn't see, checking its contents.

[Vial of Acid

Eats through metal quickly.

Rarity: Uncommon]

Impressive. He resisted smiling at her in case they were being watched and opened the vial behind his back. Though it burned where it touched his skin, he managed to get most of it on the chain binding his arms together. They began to burn with a soft hissing sound.

That was a good start. Meara's feet shifted as though they were unbound, though her skirt hid them. He saw Danniah empty the next vial on the chain between her legs. So he was the only one still bound. It took some time for the acid to do its work, but the conversation with Daek had bought them a lot of time. When a second vial was passed to him, Bloodwraith shifted his legs underneath him to use it.

Unfortunately, one of the greencloaks turned to look, so he had to stay still and pretend he was completely bound. Better to delay using the second vial until they were under no suspicion. Meanwhile, the argument with Daek was still ongoing, so he had time to consider their situation again.

Their weapons were being kept well out of reach, of course, so it wouldn't be easy to grab them. Impossible, if Daek was alert and able to intercept them. Still, thanks to Meara they had a fighting chance of surviving this.

At that moment, one of the greencloaks let out a scream and all eyes turned to him. The body fell across the sacrifice stone, splattering blood all over it. Daek stood over him, eyes again wild. He watched the stone as death energy began to fill it, but couldn't see that it was flowing erratically, threatening to explode if it wasn't managed.

There was no more time. Bloodwraith dumped the vial of acid on the chain between his legs and struggled to his feet. He started to hop forward - inelegant, but he only needed a few seconds. Wrenching his arms from behind himself, he managed to break the weakened metal and raise his hand toward the stone...

One of the greencloaks swept in to stop him, surprisingly fast. Bloodwraith considered just sacrificing his arm in order to get off the spell, but at that moment Danniah appeared beside him.

Wielding not her mace, but the Breastplate of the Tyrant. She swung the thick plate of metal directly into the greencloak's face, smashing through his attempted stab and sending him falling backward.

The others were turning to face them, and Daek was beginning to move, but even his speed wasn't enough. Bloodwraith released his spell and it slammed into the sacrificial stone.

Both the gathered energy and the power of the ritual itself exploded, unstable red energy shooting in all directions. Daek took the worst of it, flattened to the ground by the power. Many other greencloaks were sent flying into the trees around them by the force.

Bloodwraith managed to weather it, but looked back to the others. Fortunately, Danniah had dropped down and used the breastplate to shield herself, and Meara seemed to be unaffected. While all their opponents were still stunned, Bloodwraith tore apart the weakened chain on his legs and rushed to their weapons, picking up his greatsword and tossing Danniah her mace and shield.

In the corner of his vision he saw Meara stuffing the breastplate into her cloak, which was sensible, but he wasn't preparing to run. Instead he focused on Daek, lying flat on his back, body still glowing with erratic mana. Though the explosion had done little damage, he was definitely stunned. If he took a greatsword thrust to the face now... this might be their only chance to eliminate such a dangerous opponent.

"No!" Danniah grabbed his arm and tugged him in the other direction. "We have to run!"

He realized she was right and stumbled after her and Meara. Though Daek was stunned now, there was no telling how quickly he would recover, and instinct might take over if he was attacked. Many of the greencloaks were already getting back to their feet, some retrieving or drawing their weapons. The only chance of survival was to escape during this brief moment.

As they hit the nearest set of guards, he took the lead, channeling mana into his sword for a forceful cut. It swept across all three greencloaks, failing to cut deep but bashing them off their feet. He resisted the urge to finish them off and ran past.

Could they actually outrun the greencloaks? They had a head start, but it wouldn't last long. Bloodwraith thought he could outpace them, and Meara was surprisingly fast, seeming to float beside him. But Danniah's short legs limited her speed, so it was only a matter of time.

A greencloak sprinted after them, catching up swiftly. Bloodwraith pretended not to hear him until he drew close, then pivoted to swing backward in one smooth motion.

His opponent dropped down, arching his body backwards underneath the blade. He dropped onto his knees, continuing to slide forward and closing the distance. Dammit - the man was Level 11. Of course the strongest of Daek's men would be catching up first.

Bloodwraith released a burst of force, but the greencloak flipped aside. That took him away from Bloodwraith... and in front of Meara. The greencloak's knives flashed out, stabbing into her chest twice.

Meara stared back at him without expression and the man slowly realized that she wasn't bleeding.

Figuring it out faster, Bloodwraith swung again. His opponent's shock allowed him to land a lucky hit that cut through his armor and deep into his side.

Yet to Bloodwraith's surprise, the greencloak jerked away, still able to fight. He might have been a serious threat, if he hadn't chosen to attack Meara again. This time his dagger slashed through her throat... and again, it did nothing.

Danniah's mace hit him in the side of the head, knocking him to his knees, and Bloodwraith stabbed through his chest the next moment. The man coughed up blood, struggled a little longer, then collapsed. Even as he died, Bloodwraith turned to their next objective. No other greencloaks had caught up with them yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Wow..." Danniah stared at Meara with wide eyes. "You can do that?"

"I didn't know either," Meara said. "Let's move!"

They returned to running, but the delay had allowed several greencloaks to close much of the distance. This group was smaller and weaker, so Bloodwraith considered his options. The real threat was not injury, but losing time. He turned to Danniah and she nodded back at him, understanding.

When the next set of greencloaks caught up, they turned as one and threw themselves against the greencloaks. Neither of them made any attempt to block, just attacked as quickly as possible. Fortunately, their ferocity overwhelmed their startled opponents. Though Bloodwraith received multiple stab wounds in the process, soon the greencloaks lay dead and he stumbled on.

He saw his health had been reduced to half, but it didn't matter: Meara pulled another pair of potions from her cloak and handed them over as they ran. His body still ached, but the healing power of it went a long way toward letting him run properly again.

For a time there was no more sign of pursuit. They emerged from the forest onto a stone path that wouldn't leave any trace of their movement. After going down it for a time, Bloodwraith directed them to leave it again, this time careful not to damage the underbrush. They crept through the forest long enough to reach another of the paths, moving away from Cresthaven instead of toward it.

Just when he began to hope that they had escaped, someone crashed out of the forest ahead of them, landing in their path. Not Daek, just another greencloak. Bloodwraith whipped his sword from his back, swinging diagonally so that his opponent would have a more difficult time dodging.

The greencloak blocked the greatsword with his heavy gauntlet.

He might be a thief, but the greencloak bulged with muscle. Bloodwraith released a spell of force at him but the man just shrugged it off with a grunt. When Bloodwraith tried for another swing of his sword, this time the greencloak managed to grab the sword with both gauntlets and wrench it from his hands. It clattered to the ground and the greencloak grunted in satisfaction.

Damn, this one was strong. Level 14, according to the boxes.

Danniah struck him from the side, but he deflected her mace and then set his feet. When she tried to bash him with her shield, he met it with his shoulder and held his ground, sending her staggering back.

Immediately he pulled a large dagger and lunged after her, stabbing repeatedly. Her shield held, but she had no chance to strike back and gave ground.

Instead of going to retrieve his greatsword like his opponent expected, Bloodwraith kicked him in the back of the leg. The greencloak grunted and dropped to one knee, but didn't fall. Before Bloodwraith could strike again, his opponent tackled him around the waist and drove him to the ground.

They fought violently, landing heavy body blows against one another. Bloodwraith's unfair advantages allowed him to match his opponent in strength and speed, but the greencloak was more skilled in hand to hand combat and his gloves were spiked. Though he landed a few good blows at first, soon Bloodwraith was desperately defending his head from the blows raining down on him.

Worse, his opponent had enough space to draw another dagger. Bloodwraith tried to throw him off and failed to overpower his opponent. The dagger came up...

Danniah crashed into the greencloak's side, her shield ringing against the side of his head. Yet he recovered from the stunning blow almost immediately, whipping around and grabbing Danniah's shield. She saw, but too late. As he burst to his feet, the greencloak wrenched the shield out of her hands and then rushed in with his knife.

While Bloodwraith struggled to his feet, he could do nothing to stop the knife from stabbing into Danniah repeatedly. The greencloak knew just where to strike, stabbing into the joints of her armor. Though Danniah tried to defend herself, he was too strong and too fast, eventually jamming his knife just under her helm, into her neck.

As Danniah fell to the ground, Bloodwraith heard a roar.

He didn't realize that it was him until he was already attacking the greencloak from behind. For the first time, he yelled not to trigger a spell or to play a role, but in true rage. The greencloak recovered from his surprise and turned to stab him, but Bloodwraith punched the man in the face with a spell in his fist.

The impact smashed the greencloak back into the ground and his head cracked against the stone, but Bloodwraith didn't care. He lunged on top of his opponent and struck him in the head repeatedly.

Only when his opponent was beyond dead did his intellect return. Bloodwraith stared down, horrified not by what he had done but by his loss of control. Yet that mattered less than Danniah. He whirled back to check on her, only to find her head lying on Meara's lap.

[Victory! You received 6194 EXP and-]

Bloodwraith bitterly pushed the box aside, no feeling of victory within him.

Danniah's eyes were dull and unfocused, almost as if she was dead. Meara had a potion at her lips, trying to get her to drink it, but she was unresponsive. Bloodwraith panicked for a moment before he regained control and summoned a box.

[Health: 4/216]

Then she was still-

[Health: 3/216]

He dropped down beside her, staring through the box toward her face. Meara managed to get some of the potion into her mouth and her health ticked up to 7/216, but it was still dropping. Blood oozed from her armor everywhere she had been stabbed.

Meara looked up at him grimly. "I can try to force one down her throat, but I don't think it will be enough."

"Use one of the unique potions. Now."

"Are you sure? Everyone except you has gotten sick."

"Do it." He wasn't sure if it would work, and remembered that it hadn't before, but he knew that Danniah would die without a serious intervention. Meara didn't hesitate any longer, pulling a sizzling orange vial from her cloak and forcing Danniah's mouth open. Bloodwraith gripped Danniah's hand and squeezed, hoping that it would somehow have an effect.

[Health: 5/216]

[Health: 4/216]

[Health: 3/216]

[Health: 3/216]

[Health: 3/216]

[Health: 4/216]

Bloodwraith's eyes widened. He didn't believe them at first, but he kept looking, reassuring himself that her number was again increasing. When he dismissed the box, he saw that the signs in reality were even better: Danniah was beginning to stir. She squeezed his hand back after a time and muttered something incomprehensible.

"I'm not sure why that happened." Meara was smiling too, but she also looked confused. "Based on everything I understood, I really didn't think it would work on her."

Danniah groaned, the sound turning into mumbled words. "Tastes... familiar..."

While Meara helped Danniah drink another potion, Bloodwraith got to his feet and looked for more pursuit. No greencloaks in sight and no sound of more, but they would probably be spreading out. Their last opponent had smashed through the trees, forming another clear sign of their passage. Not to mention the body. When other greencloaks drew close, they would notice.

When he stepped toward the body, Bloodwraith's leg gave out under him. He collapsed and the darkness overwhelmed him.

Chapter 27

The first piece of himself to return was consciousness. It began with a mere awareness, then memories of the battle and his collapse, then intellect. Though he still drifted in darkness, knowing that he was alive and capable of thinking was reassuring.

The second thing to emerge was boxes, which were less reassuring.

[Name: Raigar

Race: Human

Class: Barbarian

Alignment: Good

Health: 193/193

Mana: 2/19

Weapon Mana: 0/6

Stamina: -3/138]

The fact that his health had been restored suggested that the others were taking care of him, since Daek's men would not have been so kind. Yet he remained in the darkness, perhaps because of his stamina. He didn't understand what a negative rating would mean, or why it would have gone so low. Though he'd been tired at the end of the fight, it had been no more so than usual.

His mind drifted back further, to the battle with Daek. Defeating him at this stage had been simply impossible, especially under the conditions given. He felt certain that if Raigar had reincarnated as intended, he would never have ended up in that fight. No, somewhere along the way, the box gods' plans had fallen apart. Perhaps Daek had unwound them, or perhaps Bloodwraith had made the wrong decisions.

Either way, he felt incredibly heavy. He should have been glad that they had all escaped with their lives, yet he couldn't find any encouragement in that. Perhaps they could stay away from Cresthaven for a long period, travel to another city and train further. That might be enough to prepare to fight Daek, but it would risk him completing the ritual.

His depressing thoughts were interrupted by new sensations, first of mild discomfort. Physical discomfort, however, which reminded him that he had a body. The shadows drained away and he felt his body to an increasing degree until he finally managed to open his eyes.

"Oh, thank the gods!" Danniah was leaning over him, face changing from concern to happiness. Meara hissed for her to be silent from his other side, but she was smiling as well.

"What... how long?" His voice rasped painfully from his throat.

"Less than an hour. I managed to carry you and we hid in this cave until the greencloaks passed."

Right, they were in a cave. Bloodwraith turned his gaze from the two of them and regained a better sense of place. He sat up in a small cave, its entrance hidden by dense bushes. Though he felt no pain, his body was utterly exhausted. Even the number in his personal box increasing couldn't persuade him that he was feeling any better.

"Daek and his men went back to Cresthaven," Meara said. "We need to find a way to stop them, but I have to admit I don't have any ideas."

"No." Once he said the word, Bloodwraith felt a little more certain about it. He didn't need to enter a hopeless fight. "No, we're not meant to fight him now. I think I understand how the box gods think about this subject. They only like artificial challenges, designed to stretch them a little bit and then be overcome. I wasn't meant to fight Daek now."

As if to reinforce his point, a new box emerged.

[New Quest: Against the Knife

Prepare to face Daek the Knife again.

Objective: Gather followers from the surrounding communities.

Objective: Travel to Edsdam and increase Guild Rank.

Objective: Take over the Thieves Guild in Edsdam.

Objective: Find and complete the Governor's Ordeal.

Objective: Assemble the drakeskin armor.]

Meara frowned and looked in the general direction of the box. "That feels like a big one, and I had nothing to do with it. Do you have a new plan?"

"No, this isn't me. It's talking about things I don't even know." Bloodwraith examined the objectives more carefully. "There are multiple objectives showing me the intended path, I think. By the time I managed to do all of these, I'd probably be strong enough that Daek wouldn't be a real threat."

Danniah and Meara looked at each other nervously, prompting Bloodwraith to frown. After an awkward pause, Danniah spoke.

"That's, uh... that might be what the boxes wanted, but I don't know if we have that option."

"What? Why not?"

"Because of what I overheard." Meara sat back and met his gaze seriously. "Daek is going back to Cresthaven and he's going to begin sacrificing people in the crypt. Some of the greencloaks might try to stop him, but all I heard was convincing him to start with people on the streets no one will miss. Daek said he'd keep sacrificing people until the gods heard his call."

Bloodwraith sighed heavily, his hope fading. His body felt better in an objective sense, yet he was too heavy to move. It would have been so easy if he'd had time to prepare, but now that option had been taken from him. And he'd just been given a clear demonstration of how much stronger Daek was, leaving him with no real hope of victory.

"Of course..." Meara's gaze shifted to the side. "We do have the option of just letting him do it."

Danniah gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. "That's awful!"

"But it might be our only choice."

"No." Bloodwraith shook his head slowly. "No, that's not really a choice. I don't know what will happen if Daek sacrifices enough people, but I'm sure that something will occur that we can't allow. If the beings from beyond our world notice that something is wrong, they'll come in force. We don't know enough about them to even begin to resist that."

After examining his face for a moment, Meara sighed and settled back. He knew she wouldn't argue, since she had even more to potentially lose than he did. Meanwhile, Danniah seemed to be struggling to maintain a smile, looking between the two of them for some hope and receiving nothing.

"Surely there's something we can do..." Danniah looked to Bloodwraith, eyes glistening, and he wanted to encourage her, but he had nothing to give. Her gaze turned to Meara. "We have access to all kinds of powers they don't expect at all, surely we can do something. Can't you find us an amazing quest that can make the difference?"

"I've already tapped everything worthwhile in the region," Meara said bitterly. Yet Danniah's words prompted her to engage, and she turned to Bloodwraith. "But giving up is an even worse decision than our alternatives. Let's consider what resources we have. Bloodwraith, how close are you to the next level?"

He stared at her for a moment, only slowly finding motivation to summon the box again. "I have 21,520 EXP. I need 25,600. That will take too long."

"Maybe not." Even though it was futile, Meara began to smile. "I think that you haven't fully engaged with the system yet, because the quest I made for escaping Daek is still pending. That one will be worth a lot, I'm fairly sure."

"Does it matter? We won't win this with a few small advantages..." Yet her words seemed true, and once he realized it, there was nothing he could do to prevent the box from appearing and irritating him with its cheerful congratulations.

[Quest Complete!

Acquire the Breastplate of the Tyrant.

EXP +500]

[Quest Complete!

Survive Daek the Knife's ambush.

Meara Affection MAXED

Danniah Affection MAXED

EXP +2000]

He'd forgotten about the breastplate quest, and Meara had been right about the Daek quest. But still... "It's not enough. I'm still 1580 short, and we don't have time to kill hundreds of monsters. And even so, one level is meaningless when my opponent is ten levels abov-"

[Deferred Stat Updates:

Max Health +2

Max Mana +1

Max Stamina +1

Might +1

Vitality +1

Willpower +1]

Bloodwraith started to wave the box away, since a few more points wouldn't matter, but more forced their way into his vision.

[Current Base Physical Stats:

Might: 39

Vitality: 32

Quickness: 30]

[Congratulations! Total natural physical stats have reached or passed 100!

Physical defense value of any equipped armor is increased by 25%!

Physical Resistance +10%

Health Regeneration +20%

Stamina Regeneration +10%]

After staring at the boxes for a while, Bloodwraith gave a chuckle that turned into a laugh that would have done his old life proud. As the evil laughter echoed in the cave, Danniah smiled in confusion and Meara raised an eyebrow.

"I felt some new power," Meara said, "but is it worth getting that excited about?"

"I forgot one thing." Bloodwraith rose to his feet, his body finally accepting the recovery that the boxes had been insisting had occurred for some time. "The box gods really, really like round numbers."

The others got to their feet as well, though Danniah still seemed a little uncertain. "Does that help? Oh! Because you're almost at Level 10?"

"And once he reaches it," Meara said, beginning to smile, "he can put on the armor. Which by my calculations should be worth approximately two more levels."

"I mean, that's a good thing, but... will it be enough? I thought the problem was that the gap is just too big. Can a few new advantages really make up the difference?"

Bloodwraith shook his head. "They can't, but that doesn't matter. I realized something much more important: I let myself get sucked into the box gods' way of viewing the world. This is a game to them, an adventure that's all about stroking the ego with constant accomplishments." His grin darkened into something that would have made most flee, yet his companions smiled in response. "We're not here to have a fun adventure and grow stronger. We're here to win."

~ ~ ~

It was one thing to say that, but another to put together a plan that would allow them to win. Thoughts flowing through his mind too quickly to verbalize, Bloodwraith led them all toward the sacred elven pool. That would be the first step. As they walked, they discussed the final logistics.

"So, you still need 1580 EXP," Meara was saying. "That's not something we can acquire via murdering monsters. And before you ask, I tapped everything I could creating that quest to survive Daek."

"How much were the greencloaks worth?" Danniah asked. "We'll probably have to fight some of them on the way to Daek, so might that be enough?"

Bloodwraith shook his head. "The EXP isn't awarded until after the battle has completely ended, and twice now it has entered some sort of 'marathon' mode for an extended conflict. We need to finish our preparations before we make contact with Daek's forces, because once we do, I don't think the boxes will grant me any more power."

"Oh, that's too bad... Meara, you're sure there's nothing big we can kill nearby?"

"Pretty sure the drake is the only dangerous monster still alive." Meara glanced over to Bloodwraith. "What about a murder spree in Cresthaven?"

"I'd consider it, but it might trigger the start of combat," Bloodwraith said. But their conversation had led him to what he believed was the correct solution to this part of the problem. "I think the better solution is to put all our effort into money. Sell everything that isn't essential and buy the boots. That will complete the boots quest and the overall quest to gather the armor."

"Good thought. The boots quest might not be worth too much, but the other quest has been such a long-running one that it should be worth plenty. But even if we liquidate all our assets, can we come up with 15 gold pieces in time?"

They discussed their options as they walked, both obvious choices like selling items of value and crazier plans involving defrauding the Adventurers Guild. It would take something dramatic in the end, because the rough calculations in his mind suggest they wouldn't get close enough with simple measures.

When they reached the new construction above the healing pool, the priests were surprised to see them. One of them started to say that the area was off limits during construction, but Bloodwraith lifted the man by his shirt until his feet dangled in the air.

"Bring us a bucket of the pool's water. Immediately."

The voice he had once used to command undead seemed to work just as well on the priest, who rushed to obey as soon as he was set down. Bloodwraith glared the others into submission and then turned back to his allies. Now that they had the outline of a plan and were moving forward, the dark air had lifted.

Danniah especially seemed more enthusiastic, currently focused on Meara. "It was amazing how his knife just went straight through you! Can you still hold a sword when you do that? You could be unstoppable!"

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. Fun as that would be." Meara shook her head regretfully. "It was a bit of a desperate attempt, but I was thinking about how the system refused to allow me to wield a weapon. I've been designated a non-combatant, it seems. Well, it occurred to me that if that was the case, I should be entirely a non-combatant. But the more I get involved, even giving you potions, the less I can maintain that."

"That seems... really weird, but I assume you're right." Danniah turned back to him, still smiling but tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I didn't say anything earlier because I was worried about you, but... you saved my life. Both of you did."

Now that he was fully considering strategy, Bloodwraith wasn't in the mood for sentiment, but he managed to find a smile for her. "Of course. I'd have given more to do it."

"It's just... I've never come that close before. I was so scared, but I couldn't say or do anything... and..."

"Danniah." He put his hands on her shoulders, interrupting her sadness and forcing her to look at him. "I will do everything in my power to prevent you from dying. And if you do die, I'll bring you back as an undead."

"Aww!" She lunged forward, pulling both him and Meara into a hug. It was slightly awkward, given the varying heights, but still warm in a way he didn't mind. Even Meara looked at peace for a moment, though once it passed, she raised an eyebrow at him.

"How much physical sensation do undead have? I'm thinking you might want certain body parts in partic-"

"Hey!" Danniah swatted at her, blushing furiously, though her smile broadened.

Bloodwraith had two simultaneous thoughts. The first was cold: this shared moment would be good for their team's cohesion and morale. The second was that he wanted more moments like it. He'd paint the world red with the blood of Daek and the Outsider gods and anyone else who stood in the way of that.

Eventually the priest returned, puffing as he carried the bucket of water. Just as Bloodwraith had hoped, the water still maintained its power. It would decline as it was taken further away from the source, but the ground above was close enough.

Waving the priest away, Bloodwraith took a drink.

[Buff: Elven Healing Pool

Health, mana, and stamina regeneration improved.

This buff will last for 24 hours.]

Another stone he could use. There weren't enough stones to build a tower higher than Daek, but he wasn't building a tower, he was creating an avalanche. Danniah took a drink as well and he felt the enchantment buzz around her. Meara just shook her head when he offered her a drink.

"It wouldn't do me any good." She took a step back and looked at the two of them fondly. "I'll get started on my part of the plan now. I wish I could help you fight, but I'm afraid I'll just be bringing more danger."

"No, you'll be a big help." Danniah smiled at her broadly. "Don't forget to give us all your extra potions!"

"Right. This is as much as I can generate at the moment." Meara pulled off her satchel and handed it to them. "I have some things to think about on the way. Maybe I can help out a little more, but you shouldn't count on it."

"We'll see you soon." Bloodwraith nodded to her and then she swept away, vanishing into the woods.

At the same time, he and Danniah began running back toward Cresthaven. Soon they'd split up to sell their assets separately, but then they would come together again. Then there would be no choice but to execute the plan and see if it would work.

The enchantment from the pool said it would last for 24 hours, but that was meaningless. It would be over before then, one way or another.

Chapter 28

His first task had been the least risky but the most unpleasant: talking to Herena. Despite all her "Affection" he couldn't convince her to join them in the fight or loan him money, though he wondered how things would have gone if he'd raised her to 100/100. But her refusal was within the plan. What mattered was that she had agreed to pass along the news, both real and false.

That done, his next task was to sell off everything. It should have been easy, another merchant-like task, but the atmosphere of Cresthaven had changed. Greencloaks patrolled the streets and the poorest of the poor who lived in the alleys were disappearing. Though Bloodwraith was hardly overflowing with compassion, he regretted those deaths because they represented his inadequacy. But he'd have no chance at all if he didn't prepare properly.

As he had hoped, the rare items he had acquired in the Forest of Beginnings sold for an unusually high amount, over a gold apiece. Yet as he negotiated a price for the Alpha Pelt and Golem Ore, he felt as though he was missing another opportunity. It was likely no accident that he had been given those items.

But what mattered now was finishing the quest for the boots, which required money. He'd begun with 4 gold pieces and 92 silver. Combining the items from the Forest, equipment taken from the fallen greencloaks, and every non-essential item in his inventory, he'd increased that amount to 8 gold pieces and 3 silver.

His instincts told him that it wouldn't be enough. Danniah had things to sell too, but likely not more than a gold piece worth. Meara's potions were valuable, but trying to sell them in bulk at a desperate time like this... probably not more than another gold piece. They were going to be 5 pieces short.

As he went to meet Danniah at the store, he considered his other options. A store catering to the rich would not be willing to negotiate on the price, and almost no one was stupid enough to offer credit to an adventurer. Examining the guards and the defenses, he discarded the idea of trying to take it by deception or by force. Perhaps it would be possible if they had days to prepare, but they had no time.

What if they sold literally every piece of equipment they owned except the armor? No, even making optimistic assumptions, that would only be a couple more gold pieces...

"Hey! I'm done too." Danniah came up to him, her smile much more muted than normal. She must have done the same calculations, then.

"I'm seriously reconsidering the plan," Bloodwraith said. "If we can't assemble enough for the boots, it might make more sense to spend our money on other equipment. So long as I can find EXP some other way, that might be more efficient."

"No, I... I think we'll have enough." Danniah handed him a small bag. When he opened it his eyes widened: it contained a full 9 gold pieces.

"What did you sell?"

"Nothing. I just had some stored away... it's enough, right? We have to stop Daek, or people will keep dying..."

She tried to put on a brave face, but Bloodwraith could see how uncomfortable she was. Since she didn't seem to have the social connections to borrow money, that left only one likely option... "Were you saving this money for something else?"

"Sort of." Her smile faded and she dropped her gaze. "You remember the orphanage we talked about? I've... been saving up toward it. But there will be a lot more orphans unless we do something soon, so..."

Several things locked into place for him in that moment. No wonder she had kept bearing her horribly battered shield instead of having it repaired. He could only imagine how much scrimping and saving she would have needed to do, in order to assemble this much. Given the requests available to her, this was likely the work of years.

"Danniah..." Bloodwraith reached out and touched the side of her face. "I promise you, if we survive the day, this won't be in vain. I will pay you back with interest."

"I... I can almost believe it when you say it." Danniah wiped her eyes and forced a smile. "But we have to survive the day first! Come on, we need to get everything ready before Meara comes back!"

It was getting closer to sunset, their agreed-upon time. They actually had a little extra time, but he couldn't imagine relaxing in it. No, he wanted to purchase the boots and move things forward, as quickly as possible. There could still be further complications.

They barged into the high end shop, which was thankfully empty at this time of day. The owner looked down her nose at them, but when Bloodwraith showed their unified coin purse her attitude changed. He had feared some final complication, but once he checked that they were authentic, he purchased the boots without any difficulty.

[Boots of the Tyrant

Armor: 6

Might +1, Quickness +1

Durability: 50/50

Rarity: Rare

NOTE: This item is part of a unique set.]

This shop had special changing rooms, which was just as well given that he might appear strange when the quests finished. Though the owner glowered when he and Danniah went into the room together, she didn't dare to say anything.

Finally breathing a sigh of relief, Bloodwraith gripped the Boots of the Tyrant and let the quests flow to him.

[Quest Complete!

Acquire 15 gold pieces in order to purchase the Boots of the Tyrant.

EXP +250]

[Quest Complete!

Gather all the pieces of the Armor of the Tyrant.

EXP + 1000]

Bloodwraith's smile at the rush of new power faltered. His eyes ran over the numbers, hoping that he was wrong. He checked his personal box again, even though he knew that his memory was accurate.

[Level: 9

EXP: 25,270/25,600]

"What's wrong?" Meara shifted nearer, seeing his obvious concern.

"The quests didn't give enough." Bloodwraith cursed and slammed a fist into the wall. "After all that work, how can assembling the armor be only worth 1000 EXP?" He could theorize that the rewards for subsections of the quest had subtracted from the final reward, but that was meaningless in the end. The fact was, he was short of his goal and running out of time.

"Oh dear... how much are we short?"

"330 points. Just one sufficiently strong monster and it would be different now."

Danniah bit her lip, thinking seriously. "There's no time to leave Cresthaven and kill anything, and without Meara I doubt we can make a quest work. What can we do? Get into a fight with a greencloak and hope it doesn't start the thing you said?"

"I don't see any other choice. We should... wait." Bloodwraith summoned his boxes again, examining them more carefully. "Yes, this could work."

"Don't leave me in suspense!"

"I have an old quest to acquire 10 pieces of equipment of a certain strength. I'm up to 8 of them now... we just need a little more."

"Oh! We still have about two gold pieces left, but will they be enough? Should we go to Haral's shop?"

That was exactly what they did, and the shopkeeper seemed relieved to see them go. Fortunately Haral was working late, as usual. He didn't even blink when they burst in and demanded to see the resale room. Once inside, they desperately looked through all the items available.

Except this time, nothing fit their requirements. Danniah tried to check every item for an enchantment, but by looking at the boxes, Bloodwraith already knew that they wouldn't work. None of them granted +1 to any statistic except a sorcerer's crown that would be of no use to him.

He'd have purchased it anyway, just to collect, but the price was nearly 5 gold pieces. Bloodwraith stood still for a moment, fuming. Could they really just come up short like this? It frustrated him to see Danniah hopefully trying different pieces when they were guaranteed to miss by one... except...

"We can do this." Bloodwraith grabbed the crown and pulled Danniah from the room. He marched up to Haral and set the crown down on the table, along with their two remaining gold pieces. "I will give you both of these if you let me walk out of the shop with this crown, then walk right back in and hand it back to you."

"Are you daft, boy?" Haral stared at him as if he'd sprouted a second head.

"Not even remotely. You can come with me and watch the entire time, if you want."

Haral stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head. "This is why I got out of adventuring. Alright, fine - I'm only allowing it because you've been such a good customer. You'd better bring that back. Hell, I hope you come back at all."

Bloodwraith snatched up the crown and rushed out of the shop, Danniah at his heels. He breathed a sigh of relief once he saw the quest box declare [9/10] items collected.

"Uh, Bloodwraith? Aren't we still one item short?"

"I am. We are not." Bloodwraith turned to her and extended his hand, palm up. "I gave you a gift not so long ago... would you be so kind as to let me borrow it back for a moment?"

"Oh!" Danniah smiled as she understood and pulled her shield off her back. She held it out for him, and as soon as he felt the weight fall onto him, the boxes flowed as well, the music for once a relief...

[Quest Complete!

Acquire 10 or more pieces of equipment that are +1 quality or better.

EXP +1000]

[Congratulations! You gained a level!

Current Level: 10

Current EXP: 670/38,400

Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

"Yes!" The street wasn't completely empty, but he didn't care, he just awaited the box he hoped would come next.

[Congratulations! Upon reaching level 10, you have reached the second tier!

Natural skills are 50% more powerful.

New natural skills can now be unlocked.

Second tier equipment can now be used.

EXP from creatures that are first tier threats reduced.]

"Ahaha, yes!" A young couple down the street saw him laughing madly and started moving more quickly in the other direction.

Danniah clapped her hands. "Wow, I really feel the difference! Can you use the special armor now?"

"I should be able to. Let's do it." Bloodwraith began throwing off his equipment there in the street. The couple watching him stared in horror and then began to run, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was the flow of raw power with each piece of equipment he pulled on. When he finally lowered the helmet over his head, one more box appeared before him.

[Set complete: Armor of the Tyrant

So long as you wear all pieces of this armor and no equipment with conflicting magic, you will receive the following bonuses:

Might +1

Vitality +1

Quickness +1

Physical Resistance +10%

Magical Resistance +10%

Bonus to Intimidation +50%]

Bloodwraith sighed in satisfaction. He flexed, not just his body but the mana of the enchantments flowing within him. It was intoxicating, almost an echo of the power he'd once wielded as a mage. This was a different sort of power... he felt as though he could charge straight through a stone wall.

"Oh..." Danniah was staring at him, practically drooling. "That armor is amazing... and you feel so... wow... maybe you can actually fight Daek the Knife now."

"No." Bloodwraith forced himself to be realistic and prevent the rush of power from going to his head. "Though I've received some significant benefits, Daek is still at a substantially higher level of power. That's the reason we've developed the plan so far."

"I know... but it feels more possible, now."

"I agree. Especially because it seems on the second tier, the EXP requirement no longer doubles. If it did, that would suggest that Daek had the equivalent experience of over 52,000,000 EXP, whereas at this rate... hmm, closer to 4,000,000 EXP. Though if that really does measure experience, I'm not sure he can have been through that much more than me..."

"Uh... okay." Danniah gave him an odd smile. "But maybe it's time to concentrate less on the numbers and more to keep Daek from killing everyone in the city?"

"Right. Give the crown back to Haral and then get into position." Bloodwraith slammed down the visor of his helm and began to run.

~ ~ ~

In a city like Cresthaven, the citizens were accustomed to adventurers striding down the streets in strange armor, so Bloodwraith wouldn't have needed to attract attention. But he did his best to project an aura of pure malice and the armor augmented the effect. As he stomped toward the Thieves Guild, people in the street hastened on their way or found a reason to move indoors.

When he drew near the Guild, he saw that there were greencloaks present and armed. Even as he analyzed their levels, mostly in the 4-7 range, he also scanned the street and planned his first attack. The greencloaks swallowed as they saw him advance on them, but they didn't realize that he had no intention of fighting his way through them.

Instead, Bloodwraith lunged into the group of terrified bystanders. He grabbed the wrist of a young human woman - highborn and attractive, someone who people would care about more than the beggars currently being killed. She screamed and struck at his arm, only hurting her fingers on his armor as he dragged her toward the Thieves Guild.

"Out of the way, greencloaks!" Bloodwraith's voice boomed over the entire street. "Don't you recognize Daek the Knife?"

All the greencloaks gaped at him in a rather satisfying way. But the bystanders, who had rarely if ever seen the reclusive leader, were immediately riveted. He took his time, tugging the woman's wrist unnecessarily so she would scream more and draw even more attention.

"Don't tell me you're losing your nerve?" Bloodwraith took a step toward one of the greencloaks, who flinched back. "Nothing can stand in the way of the sacrifices! Stop standing around here and go collect more victims! Anyone young and healthy will do!"

It was villainy that would have made the Master Lich blush, but it would probably work. People weren't that smart on their own, and they became dumber in crowds. Besides, Bloodwraith was enjoying himself. He went on grandstanding for a while, drawing a larger crowd. Even the nearby guards began to come closer - whatever deal Daek had cut with them, it didn't include huge armored warriors yelling about human sacrifice in the streets.

"Tremble in fear, peasants! For today, I, Daek the Knife, will-"

"Enough!"

The door to the Guild slammed open and Daek stormed into the street. His eyes were wild and he had blood coating his arms, instantly drawing the crowd's attention. While they were distracted, Bloodwraith pushed the girl into a sympathetic-looking group of townspeople. It had begun.

Daek's eyes darted erratically but soon settled on him as the obvious target. "What are you d... wait. You! You think that a fancy new set of armor will give you a chance against me?"

Damn. Apparently Daek was still sane enough to remember the breastplate from their last encounter and extrapolate the rest. Bloodwraith immediately abandoned all his plans to play a different role and surprise Daek with his skills. They'd only backfire, and this next part would be tricky.

"Spread out and surround him!" Daek gestured wildly at the greencloaks by the door. "Kill anyone who gets in the way!"

The crowds screamed and began to run to stay ahead of the greencloaks. That was one of the necessary steps, so it was convenient that Daek had accomplished it for him. Unfortunately, there were more greencloaks emerging from the Guild doors, some of them closer to Level 10. He'd known that Daek would respond in force, so the question was if he could endure that force.

Though the city guards on the street held their ground for a time, when Daek advanced toward them, blood still dripping from his hands, they began to scatter. Bloodwraith still didn't move, knowing that to attempt to surprise attack Daek during this stage would turn against him. Unfortunately, Daek was turning back to him, his knives twitching wildly.

Finally, he heard a whistle from the rooftops. Bloodwraith took off his helm and threw it at Daek.

On instinct the leader caught it. He pulled back, as if expecting an attack, but it was just a helm. The strangeness of it halted him, drew a little of the madness out of his eyes. It also delayed him long enough for the troops to emerge on the street.

The group was a mix of the Cresthaven Guard and private security forces of the nobles. Well-equipped and determined, they marched forward without fear of the greencloaks. Hiding behind their shields lurked the nobleman that Bloodwraith had told Herena to inform.

When he saw his prize helm in Daek's hands, he let out a shriek. "It's true! The Thieves Guild has broken all agreements! He came into my home and stole from me!"

"Who the hell are you?" Daek tossed the helm aside contemptuously, a bit of his old self staring down the noble and city guards. "This is an absurd charge. If you think I-"

"Stop him!" At the nobleman's command, the guards began to advance.

Though not the most dangerous part of the plan, that had been the touchiest. If Daek had been his old self, the story would likely have fallen apart. But he had been undermining his own authority with reckless actions, and he looked a madman, and in the end the Thieves Guild would be the place everyone looked when it came to theft. They'd brought that on themselves.

Daek threw himself at the guards, stabbing two of them in the neck before they could react. But after that, armored mages from deeper in the guard formation began to throw tongues of flame in his direction and Daek had no choice but to retreat. His greencloaks swept up to join him, the street quickly becoming an ugly brawl.

As intended. Bloodwraith moved to the fallen helm and placed it back on his head, sighing as the enchantment slid over him again. It might be hard to explain if he survived, especially once they questioned his story, but he was more concerned about surviving at the moment.

Staying outside the battle, Bloodwraith carefully raised his sword and prepared to strike. He channeled as much mana as he could into the greatsword, then swung down as soon as he had a shot at Daek.

The shockwave hit him in the back, but only staggered him. He turned and his eyes blazed as they settled on him. "You! I'll drag you down there and sacrifice you myself!"

In response, Bloodwraith ran. Though Daek sprinted after him, he had to avoid part of the battle and Bloodwraith had a head start. That wouldn't be enough to outrun him, but Bloodwraith still ran as hard as he could toward the city gates. He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder, hoping that if Daek caught up too quickly, his armor would absorb the first stab.

"You think you can outrun me? Idiot! Where can you run?" If Daek had enough breath to shout after him, then he could definitely go even faster, but he seemed confident.

Part of that confidence must have come from the squad of greencloaks down the street, turning toward them. It would have been most logical to rush into a side alley and avoid them both, but that would ruin the plan. Plus, he really didn't want to face off against Daek in an alley.

Instead Bloodwraith charged straight into the group, their first attacks scraping off his armor. They circled on him, preparing to make more precise attacks between plates in his armor, but they were too late. Bloodwraith gripped the arm of one of the men and swung him in a circle, knocking many of the greencloaks to the ground and allowing him to push past the rest and keep running.

When he looked back, an arrow bounced off his helm, but that wasn't the worst thing. He saw Daek sprinting after him, jumping from the ground to one of the houses and back to the ground to evade the fallen greencloaks. Not only did he not lose any time, he was actually gaining.

Fortunately, Bloodwraith had almost reached the midway point. He tried not to look to the side where Danniah was hiding, just kept sprinting as if his life depended on it.

He ran past an open door to a tavern, hearing Daek hot on his heels. But a second later he heard a loud crash as Danniah burst from the door, striking Daek with her shield and slamming him into the opposite wall. She immediately retreated, since the blow only slowed him down. Bloodwraith hesitated, ready to turn back if Daek attacked her instead, but their opponent stayed focused, gaining even more while he hesitated.

Bloodwraith was gasping for breath when he reached the city gates, desperately looking toward the sun. His timing was close, but of course it couldn't be precise, even if everything went well. Now he needed to stall for time.

"You see? It's already too late."

As Daek entered, he gestured mockingly toward the gate. Indeed, the city guards were gone, replaced with more greencloaks. There were several more of them emerging from the city nearby, effectively ringing him in by the gate. Several of these were high level, too. Bloodwraith dramatically pulled his sword from his back, but it was just to buy more time, not because he intended to fight.

Fortunately, Daek didn't give the command just yet, instead peering at him. "Why are you doing this? You think you can take the power for yourself?"

"No. You don't understand." Vague, but enough to play into Daek's madness. He twitched and the knives in his hands trembled.

"Wait... are you one of them? Are you working for the Outsiders?"

"I am-"

"Greencloaks, kill him! He looks like a man, but he's a monster from another plane!"

Whether or not the greencloaks believed that claim, they were still willing to fight for their leader. They began to advance on him and Bloodwraith made a wild spinning swing, keeping them at bay a little longer. He could slow them down, but once they started attacking from all sides, things would turn bad. The only question was-

"Help! Oh, please help me!"

It was Meara, running through the gates with a look of panic that he would have believed if he didn't know her better. The greencloaks were too surprised to stop her and as she sprinted past him, she shot a smirk his way.

Behind her, the drake roared as it charged through the open gate.

Chapter 29

For a moment everyone stared at it in horror, not having expected such a thing. The drake's head swung to and fro, its nostrils sniffing wildly. Eventually it located Meara and released a roar that made some of the greencloaks fall back. Since Meara had positioned herself on the opposite side of the group, it charged directly into them, biting and clawing and shooting flame.

As the chaos expanded around him, Bloodwraith stood perfectly still. Partially to let his body keep recovering, partially to reorient himself. The plan was to cause chaos, but that chaos itself would not follow any plan.

Some of the greencloaks turned and ran, which was the sensible decision. Those who stayed tried to surround the drake, but all but the fastest had little chance against it. Some guards had begun to emerge, but they froze at the sight of the drake. Stray flames had lit several houses on fire and citizens were beginning to try to fight them, desperate to protect their homes and livelihoods even in the midst of battle.

Covered in blood in the midst of the chaos, Daek looked like a madman... but he also looked strangely calm. He threw his knives to the ground, then drew a single knife from a hidden sheath behind his back. Even in the light of the fires, it glowed faintly blue.

Daek turned toward him and thrust the knife in his direction. Bloodwraith was already moving and heard a shriek pass him. When he looked back, he saw a guard and greencloak collapse to the ground, with no visible wound except bleeding from their eyes and mouths.

Though he was taken off guard, Bloodwraith forced himself to keep moving, diving and rolling to the side to evade another attack. But when he came back to his feet, he found Daek just standing across the street, staring at him, blade glowing in his hands.

He hadn't given much thought to the man's nickname. Now, he suspected that this was the Knife.

Ignoring the drake entirely, Daek rushed at him, eyes cold. Bloodwraith tried to dodge to the side but wasn't fast enough - he heard another shriek and felt cold magic bite into his shoulder. He knew it was bleeding underneath the armor, but it felt as though the armor had shed some of the shrieking attack. Unfortunately, Daek had closed the distance in that time, stabbing again.

Bloodwraith swung without thinking. It was idiocy to try to block a greatsword with a knife, yet Daek did. His sword made a ringing sound when it touched the knife and Daek frowned at it, as if surprised.

Things would have turned worse if Danniah hadn't caught up at that moment, trying to slam into Daek from behind. This time he reacted too quickly, sliding around her and stabbing toward her side. Fortunately, Danniah managed to pivot, her shield hitting his knife hard enough to knock it aside. Bloodwraith cast a force spell from behind, forcing Daek to dodge instead of counterattacking Danniah.

Except he was fast enough to do both. Ducking underneath the spell, Daek easily turned his movement into a spin back to Danniah. She swung her mace at his head, yet he managed to bring his knife up in time to block.

The mace rang out and then shattered.

Danniah stared at it in shock for a moment, and that was long enough. Daek advanced on her, stabbing directly at her shield several times. The blade didn't connect, but some of the mana pierced through her shield. Grunting in pain, Danniah staggered backward, her mace hand involuntarily shrinking back to clutch at her chest.

Bloodwraith's greatsword hit Daek in the back.

Though the man tried to twist with the blow, there was just too much force behind it: the edge bit through his armor and sent him tumbling across the street. Somehow he turned it into a flip and landed on his feet some distance away, but blood spattered on the cobblestones behind him.

Glancing to the side, Bloodwraith was relieved to see that Danniah was still on her feet. His instinct had been to try to defend her, but he knew that if they just blocked for each other, Daek would break through their defenses and eliminate them both via attrition. He'd taken a gamble that Danniah's shield could block or at least resist the knife and used that chance to land an actual blow.

And more importantly, he'd knocked Daek toward the rampaging beast.

He realized it too late, a bit of intelligence glinting amid the madness in his eyes. But by that point the drake was already crashing into him. It tried to bite off his head and Daek avoided the movement, but he couldn't dodge the claw that hit him in the side. Though his armor held, it locked him into blood combat with the beast.

The two of them tore at each other, the shrieking blue stabs tearing through the drake's body almost as viciously as it attacked him. There was little sanity left in Daek's eyes, just a mad fury that made him stab into the drake over and over again even as it clawed at him.

Once he tried to pull away, dodging over the beast's swiping tail and preparing to leap away. But as soon he landed, he was hit by a burst of force from Bloodwraith and sent stumbling back. The drake hit him fully in the chest with its claws and sent him flying to crash into the side of the wall. Blood splattered over the stones, then he slumped to the ground, unmoving.

Surprised, Bloodwraith looked more carefully. Daek's box declared [Health: 0/271].

Then they'd underestimated the strength of the drake, which could turn into the bigger problem. Yet it had exhausted itself fighting opponents on all sides, it had several arrows sticking out of its hide, and it bled from many wounds opened by Daek's knife.

Nodding to Danniah, Bloodwraith began the backup plan. This part worked beautifully, the two of them working in synchronization to take down the beast. Every time it spat flame, he dodged behind Danniah, whose shield repelled it. Then he could lunge out and open another wound on the beast's chest. It began to slow, its flame coming more fitfully, and eventually it fell.

He took a deep breath and stared around the street. It was a mess from the battle, bodies lying everywhere. There were more greencloaks than guards nearby, but the Thieves Guild was in jeopardy and they were beginning to realize it. Two of the fires were out of control, but the civilians had put out most of the smaller ones. Across the street, he spotted Meara.

Who was desperately pointing behind him.

Bloodwraith turned in time to see Daek rise to his feet, glowing blue knife in hand. His teeth were bloody, but they formed an eager grin. His box had changed to say [Health: 79/271].

Though he realized that it had been a trick, Bloodwraith couldn't move fast enough. He felt mana stab through his leg and fell, then another shrieking burst hit his chest and drove him to the ground. Daek was advancing on him, grinning madly and swiping wildly with his knife. The sweeping blows failed to penetrate his armor, but they sent several nearby guards falling back.

Ignoring the pain, Bloodwraith hefted his sword again and used the rest of the mana in it, releasing a shockwave of force. Daek cut through it, sword burning brighter blue... but he was turning away from Bloodwraith.

Too late, Bloodwraith realized that Daek was targeting Danniah. She understood before he did and didn't back down, raising her shield at an angle. It seemed to deflect the first few stabs, but Daek was drawing closer.

Abruptly he dropped almost to the street and stabbed upward beneath the shield, the mana cutting through Danniah's chest. She gave a cry of pain and fell back... but caught herself. Then, without warning, she lunged and thrust her shield forward. A shockwave of force exploded from it, hitting Daek in the chest. He flew backward, hitting the ground and dropping his knife.

Snarling madly, he flipped back to his feet, reaching down for his knife... too late to prevent Bloodwraith's greatsword from slamming down into it. The knife broke with a hideous shrieking chorus and the blue light faded.

Though he needed to focus, Bloodwraith couldn't resist checking on Danniah. She lay unmoving on the ground and he anxiously summoned her box.

[Name: Danniah

Race: Half-Human/Half-Dwarf

Class: Warrior

Health: 23/218

Mana: -2/2

Stamina: 40/162]

Negative mana? For once, the boxes answered a question quickly.

[Your party member has developed a new ability: Shield Impact. Their mana and stamina regeneration have been disabled and they cannot use the ability again for 24 hours. The new ability will be-]

Daek rushed through the box, stabbing Bloodwraith in the side. Though he no longer had his enchanted knife, his new blade still managed to slide between plates of his armor. Daek didn't even try to pull it out, just left it there and drew another knife.

Earlier that day, the aggressive attack would have been too much for him. But Bloodwraith had gained an edge since then and his opponent knew nothing about it. Daek expected things to go the same way and was taken off guard when Bloodwraith attacked with new speed and ferocity. His gauntlet hit Daek in the jaw and sent him stumbling back, giving him enough time to get his sword back into position.

Yet a moment later an arrow screeched off his helm, dangerously close to the eye slit. Though most of those involved in the fight had fled or fallen, several greencloaks now emerged, ready to assist their leader. Worse, Bloodwraith was tired and injured. Daek was equally worn down, but now his opponent had the clear advantage of numbers.

He tried to come up with a way out of this and failed. Just as he was about to attempt desperate measures, Meara rushed into the greencloaks.

Or more accurately, Mearas.

Dozens of flickering bodies swarmed around the greencloaks, all of them Meara. All of them cheerfully saying, "Hello, welcome to my shop! What can I do for you?" Each spoke at a slightly different time, creating a chorus of cascading sounds that overwhelmed the greencloaks.

That alone would have been troubling enough, distracting even Daek, but the bodies began to change. Some wore her old outfit, some her cloak, others armor. Some laughed, some screamed, some opened eyes and mouths to reveal only blood. It was a flood of flickering insanity that sent the greencloaks crashing to the ground.

They hadn't actually been injured, however. Had it all been in their minds, or some more abstract attack? When Bloodwraith looked for the real Meara, he couldn't find her, only a cloud of flickering images. As it began to fade, he had a bad feeling that she was not in full control of what she had just done.

Yet he had an even bigger problem: Daek had pulled a potion from his belt and was about to drink it.

Bloodwraith tugged the knife out of his arm and hurled it, shattering the potion. Daek glowered at him and tried to retreat to drink another one. Before he could, Bloodwraith closed on him, swinging both his greatsword and spells in an effort to keep his opponent down.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough. Two knives slammed into weak points in his armor and Daek was drawing more. Even bloody and exhausted, Daek had an undeniable amount of power. Only the fact that he was trying to retreat to recover prevented him from overwhelming Bloodwraith, and he'd realize that soon when the mana ran out.

So Bloodwraith tried to drink a potion of his own. Daek stabbed him in the shoulder and snatched the potion with his other hand. While Bloodwraith staggered backward, Daek triumphantly poured the potion down his throat.

One of Meara's potions.

The ruler of Cresthaven's underworld choked as if his throat was on fire, knees starting to buckle. A moment later, Bloodwraith swung his greatsword through his neck. This time Daek failed to dodge, the blade cutting through and sending his head and body falling to the ground separately.

That couldn't be faked. Yet as Bloodwraith stared at the body, he felt no sense of triumph. Both his allies were in serious trouble and he struggled to even stand, leaning heavily on his sword. Both his natural senses and the boxes told him that he was utterly exhausted. He knew he needed to act, but he had so little left...

[Victory! You received 57,538 EXP!

Local Reputation +1000

Guild Points +250]

[Quest Complete!

Defeat Daek the Knife.

Local Reputation +500

Guild Points: +250

Core Quest Completed: +3 Unassigned Stat Points

EXP +1000]

[Congratulations! You gained a level!

Current Level: 11

Current EXP: 29,808/57,600

Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

For once, he was willing to accept the optimistic tone of the boxes. But more importantly, he'd been given new stat points. Unlike usual, he placed two of them into Willpower. Combined with the slight improvement in his physical stats, it was enough to get him moving again.

Though buildings were still on fire and the street was covered in bodies, he saw that the boxes were right: it was actually over. The greencloaks who remained had seen him kill both the drake and Daek, then keep walking. He was bleeding horribly inside the armor, but on the outside it must look untouched, knives sticking out of him like mere decorations.

All that mattered was that no one got in his way. Bloodwraith walked past Danniah, checking to make sure that nothing had happened to her. Her health and stamina were beginning to restore themselves, so he hoped that she would be fine. The boxes also labeled her as Level 9 now, and he wondered what they could gain if she went up another level.

Then the main concern was Meara, who was still scattered in a cloud of flickering bodies and emotions. Bloodwraith didn't understand exactly what had occurred, but he plunged straight in.

Immediately the world dissolved. He found himself falling in a void, except that there was something below sweeping up toward him. There was only an instant to realize that it was a sphere, a sort of cosmic bubble that contained a scene of a cabin in the woods. No, Meara's cabin from the Forest of Beginnings. It didn't look quite the same, but he recognized it.

Then he flew straight through the bubble. It tingled as it passed, slowing him a bit. But on the other side, he found even more bubbles, hundreds of different cabins and forests, all slightly different. He caught glimpses of other adventurers, some of them noble and some evil. When he passed through those bubbles, he felt raw rage surge into him.

Realizing that this space was unnatural and gravity had no meaning, Bloodwraith gained control and stopped his falling. He looked through the bubbles more carefully, turning in place slowly. Many held only the cabin or hatred, but eventually he spotted several bubbles that contained images of him and Danniah.

Willing himself in that direction, Bloodwraith passed through and felt a rush of more positive emotions. Yet they were only getting in the way, so he forced the emotions aside. All that mattered was pushing his way through the bubbles...

Until he found one that contained Meara and only Meara. She floated there, curled up against herself, eyes closed as if asleep. He drew closer, raised a hand toward it, and then she opened her eyes.

All at once he stood in the real world again. His foot hit the ground, completing the step from before the experience, as if it had taken no time at all. But now, Meara stood at his side. She looked exhausted, but managed to smile at him.

When he started to open his mouth, she spoke first. "Don't forget the last step. They'll be here soon."

Since she was right, Bloodwraith dealt with the final details, trying not to let his weariness show.

"This way, men! We'll save the day!" Bloodwraith realized that the voice was Rhil'lahan. The elf was leading a large group of the Cresthaven Guard, mixed adventurers, several groups from noble estates, and the nobleman who had lost his helm.

They found him sitting on the body of the drake, the head of Daek the Knife dangling from one hand, his greatsword across his shoulders. Nobody dared to challenge him.

In fact, nobody even dared to talk to him as they started cleaning everything up. Rhil'lahan sneaked away at first opportunity. Some greencloaks slipped away, but others were taken away by the guards because they were too injured or shocked to flee. Bloodwraith made sure to get healers to look at Danniah right away, and when they declared that she was in good condition, he brought her closer for safekeeping.

While being moved, her eyes flickered open. "Did we get him?"

"Yes."

"Yay." She then promptly passed out again.

After a time, Meara sat down on the drake's corpse beside him and spoke too quietly for anyone else to hear. "Thank you for coming for me. I'm not sure what I did, but... I could have lost myself forever."

"You're too valuable to lose," he answered. Meara smirked back, but then her expression softened. She leaned in, removed his helm, and kissed him on the cheek.

[Affection +NaN!

Meara Affection: NaN/NaN]

Bloodwraith stared at the box, trying to figure out what in the hell that meant. In any case, he didn't mind just sitting there with Meara, taking time to recover. He was annoyed when the guards walked up to them, but gathered himself.

After all, he had essentially started a civil war in Cresthaven. Brought a drake to set fire to the city and killed one of its leaders. Not to mention stolen a nobleman's valued helm. He was willing to bet they wouldn't try to prosecute him for all of it, but he didn't expect it to be easy.

"You're Raigar, right?"

"That's me." He shifted his grip on the hilt of his greatsword for effect.

"The Governor wants to invite you to his palace as soon as possible."

"...what?"

The head guard nodded to him, smiling broadly. "You know you're the hero of the day, right? You stopped Daek the Knife from murdering our citizens, slew the drake that menaced the city, and brought balance back to Cresthaven by taking down the Thieves Guild."

"I see." Bloodwraith nodded as if this had been the plan. Well, he wasn't complaining, since this would make his job easier.

"We have adventurers from the Guild coming out to help restore order, and they've all spoken highly of you. Make no mistake, by tomorrow they'll be singing tales of the great Raigar, Blade of Rage."

Bloodwraith choked back a growl and tried to ignore Meara's cackling.

Fortunately, he didn't need to accept the invitation right then. As Bloodwraith stayed on the drake's corpse, no one was willing to interrupt him, and they gradually left him alone. Mages arrived to put out the fires and the street began to calm. Eventually he felt well enough to move again, at which point another box appeared.

[NOTICE:

While power is increased on a reincarnation, standard safeguards are also removed. While some customers enjoy the expanded freedom, it is important to remember that all risks in Alliandelle are real. Caution is strongly recommended.]

"Yes, fine." He waved aside the box, but another immediately appeared.

[NOTICE:

AdventureCorp takes the safety of its customers seriously. In light of the recent conflict, level guidelines will be modified to assist you. Recommended level guidelines will now be displayed on all encounters.]

"What? I don't want that, turn it off."

[ NOTICE:

Due to recent events, level guidelines cannot be disabled.]

Bloodwraith sighed. "Fucking boxes."

Epilogue

By the time the adventurers reached the central chamber, there were only two of them left. The mage and the fighter had never liked each other, even less so now that their companions had fallen. But they needed one another to loot the place, so they stayed close.

"This had better be worth it," the fighter complained. "Half the traps are already triggered and the treasure is gone. This place has already been looted."

"The mana doesn't feel that way." The mage raised his sphere, taking another reading. "I think that one person looted it, a long time ago. Since then, no one else. After all, you saw how strong the monsters that moved in were."

"One person? What, you mean the alleged adventuring hero from before?"

"Alleged? Someone killed the Master Lich."

"The Master Lich that appeared and disappeared in a few years, right." The fighter tossed a stone in front of them to test for traps, then shook his head. "I don't know. I don't like this place. Too many strange stories about it."

"Oh, stop crying. We're the first people to have been here in years, so at minimum we'll find something worthwhile in the throne room."

"Are you sure about that? If this adventurer was so powerful he could charge in and kill the Master Lich himself, why wouldn't he leave with everything of value?"

"He might have skipped something that would be useful to..." The mage trailed off as the entered the throne room. For a time, both of them were quiet.

Hundreds of skeleton bones lay on the ground, most broken or shattered. A fine layer of dust covered everything, undisturbed for years. Though a vast throne lay at the end of the chamber, no one sat upon it. Scorch marks and damaged stone around the throne showed signs of a great battle, all of its actors long dead.

The fighter scoffed. "Well, if you wanted to take up bone collecting, this would be a good start."

"Shut up. There's strange magic here..."

"Oh, really? The chamber filled with undead corpses, in the center of the Master Lich's lair, and it has strange magic? Gods above!"

Shooting him an ugly glance, the mage walked further in, light expanding from his sphere. "No, it's different. I've never seen anything like it before... could this be power from another world?"

Though the fighter opened his mouth to make another comment, he didn't get far. Dust began to swirl between them, mana flowing through the room as an old power reactivated. They looked toward the throne first, but it remained still. Instead, the swirling dust coalesced around the body of a skeleton in a mage's robe.

"Holy shit!" The fighter raised his sword and advanced closer. "That's no random minion... what was the name of the Master Lich's subordinate again?"

"Skullcrusher? No, that was the big ugly one..." They watched in shock as the skeleton slowly rose to its feet, unholy light flickering in its eyes. "Bloodwraith! That was it!"

Swallowing, the fighter lifted his sword. "Back to hell with you, Bloodwraith!"

The skeleton punched him the face, sending him sprawling. It then staggering, raising one bony hand to its face. "Bloodwraith? Who the hell is that?"

X X X

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