Pekothas Royal Palace
The King sat on his throne, listening to a report. He seldom left his throne now, his mind consud by paranoia and fear. A mber of the mage's guild gave a report.
"An unknown [Assassin] organization killed twenty-five nobles and many more rchants. Everything of value was robbed. We have solid reports they are not allied with the local guilds. They allegedly are using deathberries."
The assembled court burst into chatter at the ntion of the legendary poison. Deathberries were extinct. The re ntion of that vicious herb would lead to entire fields and forests burning down.
The King slamd his scepter on the ground. The enchantnt sent a wave of silence over the room, making everyone shut their mouths.
"We should postpone the tournant. It is dangerous," the mage suggested.
"Is that the Tower's opinion?" The King asked.
"Indeed, sire."
The man on the throne tossed a bolt of lightning at the mage. Most of it sizzled on his magical protections, but so pierced through. He could've killed him if he used his Perks but that was a lesson.
"Incompetent fools! I expect you to exterminate these [Assassins]!" The King roared. "{Royal Bounty}! Two kingtal coins for every [Assassin] death!"
The whole court shivered. They all knew those with knowledge of the bounty would sense when a suitable target was within a few ters. All eyes fell on a few individuals in court. These were savagely attacked by the courtiers. The one to deliver the killing blow gained the bounty, magically teleported from the King's coffers.
All around the palace, the hidden [Assassins] suddenly found themselves murdered. It spread like wildfire. Nobody with the Class or its derivatives was safe unless they could hide their Status with magic more powerful than the [Wizard King]. A challenging proposition.
I reached the capital and found it in a state of uproar. The King placed a bounty on any and all [Assassins]. Two platinum. I knew which Perk he used. {Royal Bounty}, a truly stupid one. The problem with {Royal Bounty} was that it didn't allow one to exclude individuals or reveal who killed whom. Only the coins vanishing was any indicator that soone eting the criteria died. It would stop if all targets were killed, if the King rescinded it, or ran out of money.
What made it really stupid was the way he used it. Going against a Class, especially one as easy to obtain as [Assassin], was asking for trouble. I had no doubt soone sowhere was using kids to commit murder to trigger an ergency activation, making them pick the Class, then killing them for the bounty. Kill two, get one bounty free.
And I wasn't speculating. I could see souls and they were naturally drawn to . The amount of ghostly teenage boys and girls coming my way was staggering. All of them below level twenty. All of them with the dreaded Class.
Guards and soldiers marched all over the poorer neighborhoods of the city like a swarm of army ants, dragging youngsters and people with low levels away under fake assumptions. I had to evade a few patrols. The rationale was that even if the person had a Class, they must have a free path slot (or could quickly purchase a Perk) and beco an [Assassin] to be killed for the bounty.
The sa must be happening in all major population centers. Driven by madness and greed, the King and the powerful nobles did more damage to Pekothas than I could ever dare to. They were killing the cow to drink the milk.
I considered letting it run its course. The hundreds of ghosts around , coming faster than I could purify them without burning through my Energy reserves made waver. The tournant was all but forgotten now.
What tipped the scales were the weeping mothers left in the wake of the soldiers dragging away screaming children. Being from the sa ethnical group, so of them reminded of Rosalinda. That forced to take the right decision. I had to end this madness once and for all.
I made a beeline for the palace and assud Apricot's shape. A centaur's form was too big for what I wanted to do. There, I carefully infiltrated it, going through walls, wards, traps, and Force walls slowly but surely. I even bought a few Perks so classes shared, including [Marauder].
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Detect Treasure (uncommon): You can detect Treasure in a range of 10 x Mind ters.
Piercing Detection (very rare): If the target of your detection is blocked by magical ans, you can still detect it if you win a Magic contest against the protection.
Expanded Detection (very rare): Multiply the range of your detection Perks by 4.
I started to clean up the palace. I had to move slower than I liked because the place was warded to the nines. My [Furtivity] proficiency rose like crazy because of that. Once I got the treasury empty, I moved to the record room and library. Without the tax reports, they would be in deep shit once the mobilized army noticed they wouldn't be paid and the money wasn't flowing as it should. I avoided rooms that were commonly used or inhabited. Just the storage.
Even after I got the treasury cleaned, the dead teenagers still ca to . It wasn't just teenagers, the victims they were forced to murder to beco [Assassins] and so older people that were leveled up to pick an extra path Perk and then beco a new bounty.
I felt disgusted. My wish was to go and murder the King but without knowing the secret of his throne I wouldn't make any direct attacks.
I took three days cleaning up the palace. Once I finished with the seldomly used rooms, I moved to others. Less guarded by magic but too crowded. The guard patrols, wards, and mages were so thickly laid out I often had to dive into the earth to surface inside a support pillar and then get to my target. These many detours and the speed I could move through the barriers and wards made feel like swimming in molasses.
At the end of the third day, all hell broke loose. Soone found out a room had been cleaned up of all furniture and objects, and then they started searching the other rooms, finding them in a similar state.
They put the palace on lockdown and the mages started to cast active detection spells. That was my cue to slip into the Ethereal world.
I made my way to the throne room. The wards weren't made to sense the ethereal and I found no trouble at all. If I only had thought of doing that instead of tumbling around in the material world...
Well, what's done is done. The King was there, sitting on his throne. On a corner to the King's left, I found Enantinos. The chieftain was wearing interlocked plate armor that looked hideously uncomfortable. I transford into a small gecko and clung to the roof before crossing over to the material world.
People were begging the King to stop the bounties. I hissed in annoyance. Where did he have money to pay for them if I wiped out the palace treasury? Maybe I should go there and murder so people until I found the accountant that knew the answer. But it might be a useless risk. As far as I knew, the throne was full of coins.
Speaking of which, it was a weird wooden contraption. It was on wheels but it bulged behind the backrest. The region behind the seat was entirely covered. A person could hide inside that bulge. Was it the secret? Sariandi did tell she believed I could neutralize the throne.
Just to test, I placed a {Death Contract} on the King. It went without a hitch and revealed to his Soul score. Forty-three, not bad for a King. I didn't {Appraise} him. Too dangerous. He didn't seem to have an [Assassin] on retainer, because nobody reacted to the contract. Was the guy really invincible?
While I pondered, a peculiar soul floated next to . I knew it ca from far away by how worn the soul seed to be. Sothing held it to this world, unable to move away. I had no doubt that if I didn't collect these souls this city would have a serious undead problem very soon. He was a centaur colt, no older than ten years. I pulled him closer to . His coat was brown with white dots, just like Callatea. His Class, surprise, surprise, [Assassin]. But it was the first centaur ghost I've seen in all these days of madness.
I asked him.
"Yes. They forced to kill so people and pick this awful Class as my second Path," he answered. Nobody but or another [Spiritualist] could hear the immaterial ghosts anyway.
I felt my mind spin. My intuition was giving all sorts of red flags. He felt so familiar.
He interrupted . "NO! Why do you want to prolong my suffering? To kill again? I... my hands are bloody. I was forced to kill my friends! Please, please. No."
My vision blacked out and I was back to Lorna's final monts. When she refused aid, refused to live longer or to live again, tired of this world. I could understand her, but I also knew that a new life brought new possibilities. Was I that special to resist this desire to have a well-earned final rest? The silk-people of Windere adapted to their new lives, but they weren't that old.
I never found the answer to that. I lived and died and then lived again. I liked living. I liked seeing new sights, eting new people, being soone else over and over again. Seeing the world develop and grow. Living an endless stream of adventures. Maybe that's why Loki picked for this charade. I would like to think I was special, unique, but I dared not. I just was myself.
I dragged Snowflake into the spiritual equivalent of an embrace. Pandora appeared and assud her [Gifted Divinity] aspect, sending soothing waves over and all the ghosts.
I sent him on his way with a prayer to Yznera. When I focused my vengeful attention back on the throne room. A commotion was underway while I was distracted.
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