by Sarah Lin
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 feasible 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 g
ood 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 appe
ared 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.