Archmagister Sariandi paced back and forth in the Halls of the Mother. She was impatient and afraid. Afraid they had pushed too hard, afraid she had fled or worse, died, afraid for the fate of the Forest. When the council learned that the Old Soul had been reborn in the body of their princess, they went berserk. Ancient elves hold grudges for centuries, and they never forgave the Old Soul for not being subservient to them. Even though she saved the elves from a bloody war against the Pekothian barbarians of King Rudolph III. The slayer of Beasts, as he passed on into history.
When the report ca that the Princess had ventured into the underground alone to et the elder water fairy, she had no idea what would be the worse. The two had a relationship. She rembered when the little human girl teleported in the middle of the council room, soaked in water. The knights tried to track her to no avail. If half the legends about the Death Princess were true, they might as well be looking for a ghost. Maybe a literal ghost as she retained all the abilities of her previous lives. She said as much, didn't she?
She's been missing for two whole years. Two years.
There were talks of sending a search party to the subterranean world, but an oracle from the Mother told them to wait. And wait they did. Sohow, the girl was fulfilling her duties. Without the proper tools, Sariandi regretted it. If only the fools in the council were a bit more flexible.
The Forest was as lively as ever. Sariandi was one of the few that knew what was the fate of the Forest and the People should the Royal bloodline disappear. The enchantnts that keep intruders out would vanish. The giant trees the elves call ho would die, their size too big for normal trees to support themselves. Without their ancestral land, the elves would face the threat of invasion from several fronts. The belligerent humans and orcs, the goblins from below.
Although the latter never fully recovered from when the Old Soul went traveling through the underground. Another mystery. But everywhere she went, the wheels of fate spun. Recalling the tales of her first lives, it seems she went from soone that was at odds with the Gods to working with them. The titles and Class show she had the favor of several of them. Most prominently, the Mother.
Sariandi had a thought. It was one of those wild stupid thoughts that people sotis have, sothing absurd but after the thought was thought of, it resonates with sothing deep. Sothing profound, the core of a person. It is that kind of thought that makes a person abandon everything and follow a new path, without a single drop of regret for what was left behind.
And now, that stray thought was clawing its way up her psyche. Clamoring for freedom. She looked at the statue of the Mother and prayed for guidance.
"Follow your heart," were the kind words the Mother didn't speak but archmagister Sariandi heard all the sa.
She left the temple and went to the council room. There, she used her prerogative as the archmagister for one final act. She summoned the council. Once all the ancient millennium-old elves gathered, complaining about being interrupted in whatever they were doing, she smiled.
The path ahead never felt so certain.
"Why did you summon us here, archmagister?" An elf that hadn't smiled in five hundred years asked, bored and annoyed to death in equal asures.
"I quit. I abdicate the title of the archmagister. I shall no longer head this council. It was my failure to lose the Princess and I am quitting my position as my self-imposed punishnt. Farewell," she said after she spun her back to the council and walked out the door.
She felt like a little girl that played a prank. Her heart soared. She was free. And unemployed. Who cared? Not Sariandi the plain elf.
I could swear I heard Dak'kon saying "Endure, and an enduring grow stronger" over and over at . The D&D take on the Protoss. Probably the other way around, given that the forr is older.
I had no idea how long it lasted. I hoped that with my absurd regeneration it would be over quickly but I must've been mistaken. I knew my pseudopods latched onto anything and everything around , drawing sustenance so I could survive. And endure. Maybe I should've kept the skill to require less food. Too late now. Only a reroll would bring it back. If it was still available.
Sohow, the pain receded. I filtered it out after a while. Or the System took pity on . More likely the latter prompted by the forr. I sought notifications and found them.
Your Skill Pain Resistance (rare) reached level journeyman 40.
Pain Resistance (rare) Skill. Your sensation of pain is reduced by Rank x Endurance x 0.095%. (Current 91.2%).
I opened my eyes. I saw Nenandil putting a dead fish next to . It was cold but I was drenched in sweat. My pseudopods flailed around, finding the fish and quickly devouring it. My lower body was entirely wrapped in roots and vines. The elder dryad seed to be asleep on top of my legs. The other fairies were sitting on the dryad's shoulders, humming and draining mana. Nenandil went away to probably find more food.
I was in no condition to speak so I focused on my Status. I pulled the un-read notifications. Most of the ti they pop unobtrusively, but if you happen to be unconscious, they stay in a sort of buffer.
For fulfilling your Royal duties, you earned 2,000,000 Exp.
For fulfilling your Royal duties, you earned 2,000,000 Exp.
....
For fulfilling your Royal duties, you earned 2,000,000 Exp.
Fifty-eight of these.
I swear my next life I'll take it easy. I'm going to pick an uncommon or rare Class and be diocre. But that's not now. This ti, I need to be strongest than ever. I need to be a proper elf Queen.
You beco a Questor level 9.
You gained one Questor perks.
You beco an Elder High Elf [star] level 8
You gained two Elder High Elf [star] perks.
You beco a High Soul Surgeon level 6
You beco a High Alchemist level 6
You gained 104 Skill Points.
{Combine Skills} activated.
You gained the Short Blade Expertise (very rare) Skill. You are an expert with all kinds of short blades. Greatly increase accuracy and damage.
You gained the One-Handed Bludegoning Expertise (very rare) Skill. You are an expert with all kinds of one-handed blunt blades. Greatly increase accuracy and damage.
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You gained the Stringed Instrunt Expertise (very rare) Skill. You are an expert with all kinds of stringed instrunts.
You gained the Wind Instrunt Expertise (very rare) Skill. You are an expert with all kinds of wind instrunts, including your voice.
Your level with these Skills is Journeyman 35.
Ti to hit the perk shop.
You gained the Royal Geas (ultra-rare) perk. You can impose a geas upon an individual at a cost of 10x their Soul Attribute if they are your subject or ten tis that for a foreigner. The target cannot violate the geas or they'll lose 100 x your Soul Attribute HP per second while you lose the base MP cost to impose the geas until they stop attempting to violate the geas, die, or you run out of SP. You can choose to not cause death at the ti of imposing the geas and the target falls unconscius for 24 hours once they reaches 0 HP. The geas ends if you can't pay the upkeep to enforce the geass. You are aware of the violation attempt. You can dismiss the geas at any ti or set a condition to be fulfilled.
You gained the Improved Royal Geas (ultra-rare) perk. Reduce the cost by half and increase the damage by 50%.
You gained the Overcharge Magic (very rare) perk. You can spend extra MP to multiply a spells' damage, effect, or area (pick one at the ti of casting).
You gained the Mana Strike (very rare) perk. You can imbue your weapons with mana, bypassing so of the enemy resistances and dealing extra magical damage.
Monster Exp Boost II (uncommon). Increase Exp gains from monsters by 56.3%.
Monster Exp Boost III (uncommon). Increase Exp gains from monsters by 95.3%.
Monster Exp Boost IV (uncommon). Increase Exp gains from monsters by 144%.
Monster Exp Boost V (uncommon). Increase Exp gains from monsters by 205%.
I guess the life of a questor is to hunt monsters. There's a lot of perks to fight monsters, which makes think he's a glorified [Monster Hunter]. On second thought, no. There are perks to gain extra Experience when doing tasks for hire. Even one for escort quests. Makes the escorted person move faster. If only the CRPG had those.
For fulfilling your Royal duties, you earned 2,000,000 Exp.
This was the fifty-ninth. Wait for a second, wasn't the debt fifty tis? Are these crooks in fairy skin are overcharging ! I'm sitting at zero MP and SP, the damn fairies are draining both, probably because my SP becos MP if I run out. My HP is also low.
I shift into jaguar form. The dryad tendrils break and I push them away with my paws.
"I think we're done, ladies!" I roar at them.
"Oh, my," Nephele gasps as if she was shaken awake from a trance. She might be. She's such an airhead, after all.
"I think she's right, darlings," Lorelai the elder spriggan comnts, also coming out of her trance.
"You were so delicious, we couldn't help but help ourselves," Nephele wiggled her roots while her pretty face held a naughty smile.
"How long was I..." I check my age field on the status and my jaw drops, "Three years? You've been draining my MP for three years?"
Doris giggles. She seems to be drunk on magic, "Yes, oh, you're so tasty. Like a beverage that aged. Such rich textures to your magic."
I'm going nowhere with these crooked old ladies.
Brenna was sleeping on the dryad's shoulder. She had a goofy face. Doris seed to be coming to her senses.
"What happens now, Doris?"
"Now we grant you the boon you want. You wish to take on the shape of your past lives, right? I'll assu you also want to take this shape you have now in future lives too. If we share the burden five-ways, it won't be too expensive for all of us."
Oh. I know how they'll grant the perk. "You're using {Fairy Godmother}, right? I got that perk too, is that a problem?"
"We know that," Doris said. "Your stunt forcing the empire Royal family to guard the fairies and were-kin is legendary."
The five elder fairies joined and used their perk.
You were adopted by the elder fairies.
You gained the Fairy Goddaughter (very rare) perk. You have a protector fairy. You gained 2 Dexterity, 2 Endurance, 2 Mind, 5 Luck. Other fairies will recognize you have this perk.
You gained Past Life Shapes (unique) perk. You can take the shape your past lives had right before they died. (SYSTEM: Restricted to type III and IV humanoids). Your Attributes do not change but you gain all the physical abilities of the form you took.
You gained the Summon Godmothers (unique) perk. Once a year, you can pay 1,000,000 MP to summon your five fairy godmothers. The use of this perk without a good reason will anger the elder fairies. They appear at most one hour after the activation (we need ti to get ready!).
I said telepathically to Nenandil.
I had to find Sariandi, she was the keystone of my freedom plan. "When did that happen?"
He let out an evil chuckle, "A year ago."
Their nonchalant attitude toward their princess grated on . "I order you to bring her back."
"Your Highness, with all due respect, you have no such authority," the first one said.
The phrase "with all due respect" ans exactly the opposite in whatever world it is being spoken.
"Then let's put our souls where our words are. {Ro..." I curbed my impulse right away. I was about to burn one of my trump cards.
There was a settlent on the outskirts of the Forest for exiled elves. Most of the ti they stayed there, but so took to wander around when the pain of their predicant was too big. I knew where it was and my best bet at finding her was there.
"Maybe I'll enter the tree after all," I said and the two crooked councilors smiled.
Then I did enter the tree. Literally. And got out ten kiloters away in middle of the the forest. A few more teleports and I was at the exile village.
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