by Scar, Rick
I didn’t even sense him! The girl was so astonished she even stepped away from Will.
The archer was Level 107. Seeing it for the first time with Daltaro’s permission, Will was shocked too. As the rogue knew from Daltaro, he’d been only Level 85 upon their first meeting. The adventurer confessed he’d been leveling up much faster while travelling with Raven than any time previously.
“We’ve started out the wrong way.” Will lifted his hands to show her he was not going to attack. “We’re no enemies to you. I can give you a gift as proof of our friendly intentions, if that would help?”
“What gift?” Rinnah asked. She didn’t look very interested.
The rogue’s face flashed with his famous smile. “If I get you right, you’ve liked my blood. Haven’t you?”
Chapter 106. The Bruxa
H er brows soared in apparent bewilderment. Who would give away his blood to a monster like her?
“Ahem.” Clearing her suddenly dried throat, she stammered: “D-do you really want to share your blood with me, k-kitten?” She could not conceal the blaze in her eyes.
Rinnah was a bruxa: a particular kind of vampire. Her current appearance was created by her imagination. This illusion would fall away at night when she turned into a creepy flying monster. She could take her disguise off at will too; she did that only when drinking blood.
Rinnah’s mother was a sorceress, passing her thirst for knowledge on to her daughter. One of the magic rites performed by Rinnah had gone wrong, transforming her into a demonic creature always thirsty for blood. She would have still been roaming about the world like that if not for the Shadow Order’s brother she’d been lucky enough to meet. He’d lent her a helping hand, inviting her to the Order where she would no longer be alone.
His words were true. Joining the Order, she met lots of members of many races who all had one thing in common—their lust for blood.
The Order’s history was so secretive that Rinnah did not know it in full even now, many years after joining. Very little was known about its founder, but the rumors were many. According to the most popular version, he was an Ancient Vampire, a priest while alive. Even upon becoming undead, he continued to help those people who’d become monsters and those monsters who wanted to live in peace.
She was one of those now: a human turned monster. Her independent search for solution had repeatedly failed; none of the libraries visited by Rinnah provided any answers.
“I want to help you for you to help me. That’s called mutual aid.” The smiling rogue shrugged.
“Will you still want to help when you see the real me?” She did her best to conceal her emotions, but her heart wrung with anxiety as she waited for his answer.
It was several weeks since she’d last tasted blood. The Order rules allowed drinking human blood in four cases only:
1. When ill-intentioned humans attacked an Order member;
2. As a mercenary fighting in a war for a state or empire the Order had treaties with;
3. When meeting a Latian. Although Latians were human-like flies, their blood tasted exactly like a human’s, and no restrictions applied to them;
4. (The rarest.) A human offering their blood by their own will.
“What does it matter?” Raven dismissed. “Do you agree or not?”
Looking at this young man, Rinnah couldn’t help licking her lips. “What exactly do you want in return?”
She was ready to make some concessions. This man’s blood was a real gem among all the bloods she’d tasted. Although she couldn’t figure out why, she was dying to have more of it.
“I wish to come with you to the Order. I even agree to your dagger staying at my throat during our entire journey. I just don’t want to waste a full month waiting.”
Still confused, the girl thought it over for a while, and she realized she actually had nothing to worry about. She had an item that could instantly transport her—and a few other creatures—directly to the Order. She could just use it, leaving the abode’s location undisclosed to these strangers.
I hope the Order’s head won’t kill me. Shuddering mentally at this prospect, Rinnah made up her mind.
“I—” she began, but the rogue interrupted.
“There’s one more thing you need to know. I’m going to wage a war on the Swarm…”
“Huh?!” a scream got stuck in her throat as she stared at this psycho. “A war?”
“Yes. If things go right, I’ll pay a visit to their Queen. To have a blah-blah talk, and then I will stab a dagger into her heart.” Raven then waved a hand, as though to say that what would happen next was none of her business.
“I’d rather not have any of your blood then.” Taking a few steps back, Rinnah watched the rogue with suspicion. “I’m afraid I might get infected with your insanity.”
Daltaro stood by her side, making some gestures.
“What the hell are you doing?” Will was confused.
“Oh, my sick friend. Everything will be all right. That’s an old rite of cleansing. We’ll surely find a cure to it. Trust me. That must be your fight with that Insanity demon still affecting you.” The adventurer shook his head and continued what he called a rite of cleansing.
Hearing that, Raven slapped himself on the forehead.
“That Insanity demon?” the girl asked with interest.
“That’s a wonderful story. I’ll tell you it someday if you like. But now, please tell me: have you heard of the legendary heroes of the past?”
“Do you mean Zal’Sscar?”
“Wow. I see you have.” Daltaro was eager to discuss this subject too—and Raven became all ears at hearing this name.
“The Order’s library has one book mentioning his name. The author, a famous adventurer, also writes that his weapon was an incredibly powerful dagger containing the lightning bolts of the gods.”
Will’s breath was taken away. He felt like he’d been struck across the head with something heavy and then put into an air void. Looking around for something to sit on, he kept opening and closing his mouth.
What a dagger. I want it. I really, really want it. And I now know where one of this hero’s tablets must be…
Regaining his senses, he decided to bring the conversation back around. “I hope you understand that I’m not going to handle that alone. Daltaro. You know I’m only a step or two away from becoming a king, don’t you?”
“Um. I haven’t really thought about it. If you succeed at that, your plan sounds much less of a suicide mission.”
Rinnah seemed to have totally lost the thread, shifting her gaze between the two of them. She must have been overloaded with new info. Dead brothers. Murdered kings. Legendary heroes. Insanity demons. A war on the Swarm…
“All right. I’ll use an item to transport the three of us to the Order. But, first, I’ll taste your blood.” She barely contained her lust for his blood, using all of her self-control not to betray it.
“Just don’t drink all of it. You’ll want that badly, I know, but please don’t. Or I’ll be back to kill you with his help.” Will nodded at the archer.
“Well, kitten. I’ll try my best not to. Now, though, I have to shed my disguise. You may close your eyes if you don’t want to see that.” With these words, she started to transform. Will heard a crunch. The girl’s body was covered with feathers, and her mouth became a large maw with several rows of sharp teeth. Her pupils vanished—the whites of her eyes going a bloody-red. Great webbed wings sprouted from her back, slapping the air, and her hands turned into clawed paws, her skin gleaming black.
“Really, really impressive,” Will commented while Daltaro kept watching her with keen interest. “But tell me: how are you going to drink my blood with jaws like these? They’re big enough to swallow my whole body.”
“Aren’t you going to run in fear?” Rinnah asked with surprise.
“Get down to it,” Will said impatiently. “I can’t wait to see the Order.”
“Well.” Smoothly, s
he moved to stand behind his back and, hugging him with her wings, she dug her needle-sharp teeth into his neck.
“DAAAAAMN!” Will screamed in bitter pain. The bruxa had no paralyzing venom, so nothing prevented his yell from leaving his throat. He felt like his whole body had been stuffed into a meatgrinder, only to be squeezed out through its holes very, very slowly.
— 30
— 30
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***
You are under the influence of “Blood drain”
-60% Regeneration
-10 Endurance
Duration: 10 min
You are under the influence of “Slowdown”
-45% Speed
Duration: 5 min
You are under the influence of “Weakness”
-50% Physical damage
-5 Strength
Duration: 20 min
The bruxa drank his blood, apparently with no intention of stopping. That must have been the effect of his ‘Blood as valuable as diamond’ title. Will shouted for her to stop, but the half-conscious girl kept draining his body.
That would have continued up to his death if not for the joker’s ring worn by the rogue. It automatically released a cloud of smoke when his health got below 10%. (Leased Life would have been triggered only when his health reached zero.) Inhaling the smoke, Rinnah finally regained her senses and, realizing what she was doing, she shoved Raven away, her face scared.
“Please forgive me!” Restoring her human appearance, she stared at him with wide open eyes. “I don’t know what clouded my mind. Nothing like that has ever happened before. I fell into some sort of nirvana, forgetting absolutely everything. I wouldn’t have stopped for my life.”
“Just thank your stars I’m so damn kind that I can’t refuse a girl who wants my precious blood, as refreshing as spring water on a hot summer’s day,” Will muttered, sitting on the ground and trying to regain his senses after his body had been used as a drinking bottle. He’d bought a dozen of potions for instant health and energy replenishment back in the city, but he’d rather not use any of them now—not until the debuffs were relieved.
“I hope you’ve had enough, you insatiable woman? I won’t hear any more of your respect-for-seniors stuff. I’ve basically served as your cocktail, so we’re close friends now,” Raven said before the girl could tell him off again.
“I…I just wanted to apologize to you again. You’re the first one who let me have their blood, despite the terrible pain you’ve suffered.” Rinnah slightly bowed to him.
Rinnah’s approval up
+43
Current attitude status:
Rinnah 43/100 – neutral
“Daltaro?” Will drawled without turning his head to the companion sitting by his side.
“Yes?” the archer replied as he watched the bowing sister of the Shadow Order.
“Does this sight give you the creeps too?”
“Yes. There’s something wrong with it,” the archer confirmed, shaking his head.
“Stop that! Now!” the bruxa protested. “I’m really sorry. Is that beyond you two?”
“Ah, well. It looks like we’ve fixed her.” Without turning his head, Will gave his fist to the archer who hit on it gently, still watching Rinnah.
“Go to hell, both of you,” she said, retrieving a stone disk.
“We will. Right after you. But first I’ll need to kill someone to feed to my pet,” the rogue said, standing up and retrieving the rune stone containing Hades.
No tasks to complete other than to eat and sleep. I’d love the sort of life this dog lives.
Will had not yet distributed any of the attribute points—three of those coming to the pet with every new level. The pup was still too small and weak to be useful in battle. Neither had he spent any of the skill points: the pet got one per five levels, just like the players did.
Pet stats:
Name: Hades
Class: None
Level: 8
Evolution: 0
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Health: 100
Attack: 5
Defense: 0
Skills: None
Family strength: 0
Family skills: None
Cerberus strength: 0/10
Cerberus skills: None
XP to the next level: 46890/150000
To the next evolution:
0/300 influence points;
15/1000 devoured bodies.
Attribute Points: 24
Skill Points: 1
Chapter 107. The Shadow Order
C ongratulations! You are the first player to visit the Shadow Order.
+25 Influence points
+2 Strength
+5% XP in this area for the next 5 days.
A few seconds after the girl activated her item, the three of them were transported into a small hall, joining a bunch of people already there. There were two women in light golden robes, two men in red ones, and one adolescent male robed in green.
Those in the hall reacted to their arrival in different ways. The two women nodded to Rinnah and vanished into thin air the next moment to re-emerge right behind Raven and Daltaro, pressing stiletto knifes to their heads from behind. Each of the Order’s men retrieved a couple of daggers from his belt in a single smooth move to clutch to the unbidden guests’ necks like pincers.
“It’s all right. Sabina. Tessie. Calm your guys down.”
“Whom have you brought with you, Rinnah?” one of the ladies asked, returning to her place.
“Er…um…you’d better tell me: is the Head still away?”
“Yes, he is. But his right-hand said he will be back in two days. Some news from the outside world made him break his solitude. You’ll be able to meet him once he returns.”
“So. Are you going to tell us who these”—the other lady sniffed at the air and continued—“these humans are?”
All adepts tensed up at once, showing the features of their true selves.
One lady had two extra faces appear on her head, one of her legs becoming a donkey’s and another one of copper. Will had never met a creature like that before. Another woman’s arms were replaced by wings, her nose by a beak, and her legs turned avian too. She now resembled a harpy.
One of the men had hair growing quickly all over his face. Getting down to all fours, he was becoming a half-wolf. Another grew two extra arms and was covered in a blue skin, his tongue extending to reach the middle of his chest. Only the youngster retained his human appearance.
“Hey, stop! Back to your human form! Now!” The bruxa was apparently angry. “What do you think you’re doing? They’ve come with me. Did you forget?”
“Do you think the Great Shadow will accept an argument like that?” the four-armed man asked, returning to his more conventional appearance.
“I’ll sort that out with him personally. Tell the other adepts not to hurt them. Not that they are helpless, but they are our guests. I want no harm come to them. Who’s this young man, by the way?” Rinnah looked at the adolescent bending his knee.
“I brought him here a week ago,” the werewolf replied. “Met him by the town of Sarthaun. He can’t yet control his transformations and would only become a beast on certain days of the month.”
“Oh, I see. What were you doing here?”
“Er…I was teaching him to control his transformations, sure,” the werewolf replied embarrassedly, scratching the back of his head.
“Well, you may get back to it. I’ll show our guests to their rooms.”
“The head won’t like that,” the harpy woman said with a venomous smile.
“We’ll see,” Rinnah dropped before taking the two men to their chambers.
***
The adepts’ residence was a small castle crowning a tall rock. Ascending to the top of the rampart, Will saw the ground two or three miles down.
The castle was a Gothic one, making fu
ll use of dark colors and tall, slender towers. Pointed arches painted with runes co-existed with caryatides shaped as mermaids, harpies, gargoyles, and other half-women, half-monsters. The stained-glass windows sparkled with all different colors in the sunlight. In the mornings, the spots of light cast by those windows would form the figure of a man standing in the midst of a battlefield, a dead woman in his arms.
Will suspected this image was a lead. But, however long he stood next to it or walked around it, no system messages arrived to explain it.
The interiors were also noteworthy. There were lots of statues and tapestries portraying people unknown to Raven, and the rooms were lit by magical candles with light-blue fire lending an eerie and mysterious look to his surroundings. Almost every hall or adept’s room had sticks of those candles. The rogue had visited every nook and cranny the locals would allow him to, but he discovered no secret doors or hiding places.
Two days passed by quickly. Trying to find out anything about specialization, Raven ran into many suspicious or outright hostile stares. However, all the adepts had already been warned that he and the archer were guests, so no one tried to attack.
Still, he managed to learn one thing: the adepts’ hierarchy included six ranks:
Novice (a heart open to the shadow) – the one initiated into the Order;
Junior Adept (a shadow apprentice);
Senior Adept (a follower of the shadow way);
Disciple (a speaker of shadows);
Master (a shadow-bound one);
Head of the Order (the Great Shadow)
The only thing that made any sense was that he would have to achieve a higher rank in the order to learn more about specialization, let alone receiving it.
Since the very moment that Will had come across the dead adept, he used to believe the Order had the specialization he needed. But now, observing the locals, he started to think that any skills or bonuses one could get there were not intended for the human race at all.
Daltaro could sometimes be found in the library, but he spent more and more time with Rinnah. Seeing them together, Will came to believe the local AIs really could develop relationships: the adventurer and the bruxa falling in love with each other was a striking example.