Ar'ken Ta’urc Urzam, that was his name, and he was working on building a new Arkaram. Except there was a problem. It wasn’t big, but the emperor’s ambitions did not leave room for protest, no matter how unreasonable or eccentric the demands were— well, his loyalty was certainly unwavering, though sometimes he did feel like he was working on a different plane altogether.
First came the: reach D grade within three days, he barely managed but got it done. Everyone in his squad got it done, even if some of them almost died by the end of it. It was an unreasonable demand, but through a lot of sweat and blood he had gotten it done. All for a greater Arkaram, but now came the second demand.
Reach C grade, two weeks sounds good.
What level was C grade? Over level 100! How was he even supposed to do that? None of their squad mates knew, but his majesty was also hard at work so they had to work double hard.
◇ ◇ ◇
Ar’ken let out a loud grunt as he dug down on the gigantic bug. It was something akin to a worm of hatred, with a piercing bespoke exoskeleton that prevented most injuries, but he had managed to stab it through the gaps, and now it was squirming under his grip. He empowered himself with his Prophecy, and with a scream his whole arm went into the worm, and as he twisted he heard a loud snap. The worm instantly went limp as a notification resounded inside his head.
[You have killed: (D) Bloodlark. Lvl. 55]
[Level up: You have achieved level 60—
He let out a long breath, he was unsure of where to even find higher level monsters, but even if he did each fight was like — it was a fight to the death. Guardians seemed to give more experience, but they were a miserable fight. They could just request assistance and gain strength, their moves were unpredictable and plentiful, he dreaded fighting them. He was sure his fellow squadmates were hard at work elsewhere too; it was best to split up when trying to get stronger after all. However, he certainly just felt lost.
Levels took a long time, and if he got ahead of himself he’d just end up dead at the hands of a Guardian. He didn’t have many options on how to get stronger other than to kill a lot, kill, kill, kill, those were all his options. And naturally, don’t die, was the directive.
Sometimes he wondered how the emperor did things, he never lost focus of anything. Perhaps, he had to seek guidance on what to do, on how to achieve the C grade in two weeks. He wasn’t afraid, nor did he doubt himself, but the sooner that it was done, the better.
With all that in mind, he set out to find the emperor, ask questions and learn from his leader. He couldn’t recall the last time he asked, but he felt it necessary to achieve his majesty’s goals. Even if it was a shameful process…
Though, he also wondered about the other planets. What their inhabitants were doing. He thought about the girl that attacked him during the Skirmish, the one that rejected his majesty’s kindness, but he also knew she wouldn’t get very far, and she was most likely dead by now.
As she should.
He scoffed as he left the tunnel.
* * * * *
Vallos looked at Elei, she was pacing around with a frown. He was unsure about the things he had just been told, and he was unsure if she was joking, but — no, he was sure it wasn’t a joke. The words she had said not too long ago had surprised him and even shaken him. At the same time, perhaps it was how he felt about things, but he didn’t blame her. Maybe it was because he was her loyal guard, or the fact that he had seen her change from a scared kid to a hate filled person, but whatever the reason was, he understood deep down.
Even if his morals chained him to think it’s wrong. At the same time, perhaps their race had condemned itself. The elven looking woman that was stronger than anyone else he had ever seen, hated them. The last dark elf was her champion, and she resented what they had done to her, or rather — the ramifications of what had been done.
Perhaps, it was fate — that’s what he told himself anyway. If he thought deeply about it, the Woodland Elves were probably going to die under her hand even if the princess played no part in it. Even if she stayed loyal to the woodland, there was a chance The Illusionist would kill them anyway.
He wasn’t there to see it, but he didn’t think the princess would lie about such things. If she was as horrifying as described, then perhaps it was best to help the princess reach her goals. And maybe, just maybe, save some elves. That was to be negotiated, though at the same time he did find it hard to think about elves worth saving. Yes, there were regretful soldiers when the war was waged, but there were also the generals that proclaimed that all dark elves had to be killed.
In the end, there was no right choice, or at least he felt like. In the end, if he simply focused on his duty of protecting the princess, then he’d just end up betraying his race. If he didn’t, in a way, nothing would change— no, what was he saying. He could try to talk the princess out of the betrayal plans, but he didn’t want to. He closed his eyes as he heard her mutters.
“Why would my mother and father want to kill the dark elves? What kind of reason did they use?”
He sort of knew the reason, though it was nothing more than a rumor. And he was unsure about the veracity of it since it was kind of hearsay within the army. He never spoke of it, the loud voices of dark elves being beasts were much more common, but now— maybe, well maybe the whispers of the wind were the real reason they sent the kill order?
With some hesitation he looked at Elei.
“I may have an idea.”
She frowned. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“Because, I was thinking about whether it’s right to betray the woodland or not, but I’ve concluded that I just want to be by your side.” He let out a long breath. “I don’t know, so much has changed, and our rulers abandoned us.”
“Yeah, they fucking killed themselves.” She snorted.
Vallos’ eyes widened for a moment, then he shook his head. The information was a bit irrelevant now.
“It was said that the Dark elves would spell the end of the Woodland, or rather, the world itself. There was a bit more information about it, but I believe it is one of the main reasons the war was waged.” He sighed.
“Like— some sort of prophecy about it?” she asked with some skepticism.
Vallos nodded. “I am unsure, but if you can get a hold of the generals, then…”
“Then, once the truth is out— maybe, Blair, the dark elf, will have a reason to kill our race…” Elei closed her eyes. “That was the condition. If her desire for revenge comes back, then I can also get my revenge.”
“Then, should we wait to get a hold of them?”
“Sadly, yes. I am unsure of how to do it otherwise. For now, we should help with the removal of the forests. Apparently all the space must be cleared before any kind of buildings can be erected.”
Vallos stood up, with some stray thoughts. “I never thought of myself as a betrayer.”
Elei paused. “If the rumors are true, then those that deserve to die will die, and those that deserve to live will live. If not, then after I make up my lies, I will only find peace after I am long dead.” She gnashed her teeth. “I hate that person to death. Destroyed my body, and mind. Lied to me. And more importantly, showed me how innocent I was. This world is rotten, so I might as well be rotten too.”
He sighed. He was unsure about what that elf had done to her, but he also understood that the things she had talked about were just the surface. In the end, perhaps— perhaps he was in the wrong for supporting her, but her drastic change of personality made him care a lot.
“Let us help with the trees.”
Elei nodded.
* * * * *
Elasia observed the situation with thorough interest. Blair did not seem to be in danger, but she had done something rather unexpected with the contract. At the same time, she had grown pretty strong, she was sure she’d be able to kill the dragon in no time. That said, the trial had basically gone out of the window.
The world tree treant at the center of the forest was proof of it. Well, she wasn’t worried for Blair even though getting into the planet was much harder than she initially expected. Normally, she’d be able to use some sort of teleportation System feature, but it was basically locked — hurray Quarantine Zone. The trial worked because trials were different, but now she just had to take the long route and use open territories and stuff.
If she was close enough, she could teleport directly to the planet through The System once more. She was quite scared of space itself actually, most Monarchs’ were. Well, planetary destruction was normal, but if one went past a certain point in space, death only awaited. Mana could only keep you alive so long without oxygen, but ignoring that factor, mana itself would come to a standstill and begin freezing in the deepest regions. Inevitably killing the person.
She sighed, closing her eyes in the process. There was a long line in the queue just to pass the checkpoint. Because, security. Everyone was C grade, some low level B grades, overall it was just weakling stuff, but she had to drag herself through it. For the sake of Blair.
If she tried to bruteforce herself into the Crimson Stretch then nothing but peril would follow. In the end, all she could do was observe the situation and wait. Something about having no allies kind of sucked, all things considered.
At the same time, she pondered about whether to kill the person that did the contract with Blair. They were outside the New World after all, interference wasn’t really something to account for, and ultimately it was better for the dark plant stuff to have no risk of being leaked.
I keep thinking about killing things, sigh. She didn’t know what changed, but now she entertained killing the Woodland elves out of anger, she entertained killing the person Blair made a contract with, and she also entertained killing the people in line so she could get to the Crimson Stretch faster.
In a way. She kind of realized it already, but she did see Blair as Lumina even to a minor extent.
And right now, knowing the information that Blair had given her, she felt more excited than ever, but also sad.
She never saw Lumina after that night after all. Then she died…
Sigh. Hopefully nobody dies. She shook her head as she reached the end of the line. There was a man there with a uniform, some level 132 loser.
“Please, touch this crystal to confirm your affinity.”
Elasia sighed and touched it. It lit up on a blue light.
“Water and Ice, good.”
It certainly wasn’t her affinity, but oh well, not like some stupid crystal could truly know.
In the end, she worried if things were going to be alright. It wasn’t quite right to say, she had no relations, but closer to everyone kind of hated her. Both for being an outsider, but for the fact that she had also scoured all places in search of Lumina and found nothing. Well, she skipped on a few planets, specially the Crimson Stretch, since she kind of hated that place, and Lumina also knew this. It brought nothing but bad memories.
As she walked forward into a bustling city, she couldn’t help but wonder if things were going to be alright. She had made so many mistakes, and now they were weighing on her Champion too. Why did she even give her that trial— ah right, because the Crimson Stretch was the home of dark plants in this part of the universe. Lumina had also said it was a great place to advance her Prophecy, so…:
In the end, her burden was extended to Blair too? She was unsure.
Azrie
You can read the entirety of book 2 (up to chapter 155) on patreon!
I also opened a ko-fi, where you can read from chapter 137 onwards!
Blair now has a discord server, join here
Ar'ken Ta’urc Urzam, that was his name, and he was working on building a new Arkaram. Except there was a problem. It wasn’t big, but the emperor’s ambitions did not leave room for protest, no matter how unreasonable or eccentric the demands were— well, his loyalty was certainly unwavering, though sometimes he did feel like he was working on a different plane altogether.
First came the: reach D grade within three days, he barely managed but got it done. Everyone in his squad got it done, even if some of them almost died by the end of it. It was an unreasonable demand, but through a lot of sweat and blood he had gotten it done. All for a greater Arkaram, but now came the second demand.
Reach C grade, two weeks sounds good.
What level was C grade? Over level 100! How was he even supposed to do that? None of their squad mates knew, but his majesty was also hard at work so they had to work double hard.
◇ ◇ ◇
Ar’ken let out a loud grunt as he dug down on the gigantic bug. It was something akin to a worm of hatred, with a piercing bespoke exoskeleton that prevented most injuries, but he had managed to stab it through the gaps, and now it was squirming under his grip. He empowered himself with his Prophecy, and with a scream his whole arm went into the worm, and as he twisted he heard a loud snap. The worm instantly went limp as a notification resounded inside his head.
[You have killed: (D) Bloodlark. Lvl. 55]
[Level up: You have achieved level 60—
He let out a long breath, he was unsure of where to even find higher level monsters, but even if he did each fight was like — it was a fight to the death. Guardians seemed to give more experience, but they were a miserable fight. They could just request assistance and gain strength, their moves were unpredictable and plentiful, he dreaded fighting them. He was sure his fellow squadmates were hard at work elsewhere too; it was best to split up when trying to get stronger after all. However, he certainly just felt lost.
Levels took a long time, and if he got ahead of himself he’d just end up dead at the hands of a Guardian. He didn’t have many options on how to get stronger other than to kill a lot, kill, kill, kill, those were all his options. And naturally, don’t die, was the directive.
Sometimes he wondered how the emperor did things, he never lost focus of anything. Perhaps, he had to seek guidance on what to do, on how to achieve the C grade in two weeks. He wasn’t afraid, nor did he doubt himself, but the sooner that it was done, the better.
With all that in mind, he set out to find the emperor, ask questions and learn from his leader. He couldn’t recall the last time he asked, but he felt it necessary to achieve his majesty’s goals. Even if it was a shameful process…
Though, he also wondered about the other planets. What their inhabitants were doing. He thought about the girl that attacked him during the Skirmish, the one that rejected his majesty’s kindness, but he also knew she wouldn’t get very far, and she was most likely dead by now.
As she should.
He scoffed as he left the tunnel.
* * * * *
Vallos looked at Elei, she was pacing around with a frown. He was unsure about the things he had just been told, and he was unsure if she was joking, but — no, he was sure it wasn’t a joke. The words she had said not too long ago had surprised him and even shaken him. At the same time, perhaps it was how he felt about things, but he didn’t blame her. Maybe it was because he was her loyal guard, or the fact that he had seen her change from a scared kid to a hate filled person, but whatever the reason was, he understood deep down.
Even if his morals chained him to think it’s wrong. At the same time, perhaps their race had condemned itself. The elven looking woman that was stronger than anyone else he had ever seen, hated them. The last dark elf was her champion, and she resented what they had done to her, or rather — the ramifications of what had been done.
Perhaps, it was fate — that’s what he told himself anyway. If he thought deeply about it, the Woodland Elves were probably going to die under her hand even if the princess played no part in it. Even if she stayed loyal to the woodland, there was a chance The Illusionist would kill them anyway.
He wasn’t there to see it, but he didn’t think the princess would lie about such things. If she was as horrifying as described, then perhaps it was best to help the princess reach her goals. And maybe, just maybe, save some elves. That was to be negotiated, though at the same time he did find it hard to think about elves worth saving. Yes, there were regretful soldiers when the war was waged, but there were also the generals that proclaimed that all dark elves had to be killed.
In the end, there was no right choice, or at least he felt like. In the end, if he simply focused on his duty of protecting the princess, then he’d just end up betraying his race. If he didn’t, in a way, nothing would change— no, what was he saying. He could try to talk the princess out of the betrayal plans, but he didn’t want to. He closed his eyes as he heard her mutters.
“Why would my mother and father want to kill the dark elves? What kind of reason did they use?”
He sort of knew the reason, though it was nothing more than a rumor. And he was unsure about the veracity of it since it was kind of hearsay within the army. He never spoke of it, the loud voices of dark elves being beasts were much more common, but now— maybe, well maybe the whispers of the wind were the real reason they sent the kill order?
With some hesitation he looked at Elei.
“I may have an idea.”
She frowned. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“Because, I was thinking about whether it’s right to betray the woodland or not, but I’ve concluded that I just want to be by your side.” He let out a long breath. “I don’t know, so much has changed, and our rulers abandoned us.”
“Yeah, they fucking killed themselves.” She snorted.
Vallos’ eyes widened for a moment, then he shook his head. The information was a bit irrelevant now.
“It was said that the Dark elves would spell the end of the Woodland, or rather, the world itself. There was a bit more information about it, but I believe it is one of the main reasons the war was waged.” He sighed.
“Like— some sort of prophecy about it?” she asked with some skepticism.
Vallos nodded. “I am unsure, but if you can get a hold of the generals, then…”
“Then, once the truth is out— maybe, Blair, the dark elf, will have a reason to kill our race…” Elei closed her eyes. “That was the condition. If her desire for revenge comes back, then I can also get my revenge.”
“Then, should we wait to get a hold of them?”
“Sadly, yes. I am unsure of how to do it otherwise. For now, we should help with the removal of the forests. Apparently all the space must be cleared before any kind of buildings can be erected.”
Vallos stood up, with some stray thoughts. “I never thought of myself as a betrayer.”
Elei paused. “If the rumors are true, then those that deserve to die will die, and those that deserve to live will live. If not, then after I make up my lies, I will only find peace after I am long dead.” She gnashed her teeth. “I hate that person to death. Destroyed my body, and mind. Lied to me. And more importantly, showed me how innocent I was. This world is rotten, so I might as well be rotten too.”
He sighed. He was unsure about what that elf had done to her, but he also understood that the things she had talked about were just the surface. In the end, perhaps— perhaps he was in the wrong for supporting her, but her drastic change of personality made him care a lot.
“Let us help with the trees.”
Elei nodded.
* * * * *
Elasia observed the situation with thorough interest. Blair did not seem to be in danger, but she had done something rather unexpected with the contract. At the same time, she had grown pretty strong, she was sure she’d be able to kill the dragon in no time. That said, the trial had basically gone out of the window.
The world tree treant at the center of the forest was proof of it. Well, she wasn’t worried for Blair even though getting into the planet was much harder than she initially expected. Normally, she’d be able to use some sort of teleportation System feature, but it was basically locked — hurray Quarantine Zone. The trial worked because trials were different, but now she just had to take the long route and use open territories and stuff.
If she was close enough, she could teleport directly to the planet through The System once more. She was quite scared of space itself actually, most Monarchs’ were. Well, planetary destruction was normal, but if one went past a certain point in space, death only awaited. Mana could only keep you alive so long without oxygen, but ignoring that factor, mana itself would come to a standstill and begin freezing in the deepest regions. Inevitably killing the person.
She sighed, closing her eyes in the process. There was a long line in the queue just to pass the checkpoint. Because, security. Everyone was C grade, some low level B grades, overall it was just weakling stuff, but she had to drag herself through it. For the sake of Blair.
If she tried to bruteforce herself into the Crimson Stretch then nothing but peril would follow. In the end, all she could do was observe the situation and wait. Something about having no allies kind of sucked, all things considered.
At the same time, she pondered about whether to kill the person that did the contract with Blair. They were outside the New World after all, interference wasn’t really something to account for, and ultimately it was better for the dark plant stuff to have no risk of being leaked.
I keep thinking about killing things, sigh. She didn’t know what changed, but now she entertained killing the Woodland elves out of anger, she entertained killing the person Blair made a contract with, and she also entertained killing the people in line so she could get to the Crimson Stretch faster.
In a way. She kind of realized it already, but she did see Blair as Lumina even to a minor extent.
And right now, knowing the information that Blair had given her, she felt more excited than ever, but also sad.
She never saw Lumina after that night after all. Then she died…
Sigh. Hopefully nobody dies. She shook her head as she reached the end of the line. There was a man there with a uniform, some level 132 loser.
“Please, touch this crystal to confirm your affinity.”
Elasia sighed and touched it. It lit up on a blue light.
“Water and Ice, good.”
It certainly wasn’t her affinity, but oh well, not like some stupid crystal could truly know.
In the end, she worried if things were going to be alright. It wasn’t quite right to say, she had no relations, but closer to everyone kind of hated her. Both for being an outsider, but for the fact that she had also scoured all places in search of Lumina and found nothing. Well, she skipped on a few planets, specially the Crimson Stretch, since she kind of hated that place, and Lumina also knew this. It brought nothing but bad memories.
As she walked forward into a bustling city, she couldn’t help but wonder if things were going to be alright. She had made so many mistakes, and now they were weighing on her Champion too. Why did she even give her that trial— ah right, because the Crimson Stretch was the home of dark plants in this part of the universe. Lumina had also said it was a great place to advance her Prophecy, so…:
In the end, her burden was extended to Blair too? She was unsure.
Azrie
You can read the entirety of book 2 (up to chapter 155) on patreon!
I also opened a ko-fi, where you can read from chapter 137 onwards!
Blair now has a discord server, join here
