Cleopatra
Level 547 [Eternal Sand Empress]
Level 321 [Grand Runic-Archsmith]
Level 688 [Archlich]
Born Cleopatra Syra, she beca queen at 10 years old when she was married into the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Since then, she has worn other nas and guises, but always Cleopatra, the Last and Eternal Queen of the Sands. Through the favor of the gods she beca the [Eternal Empress] of the Crimson Desert. Through the power of dark magics, she no longer fears the tests of ti.
Well, shit, I curse aloud, Youre undead.
Cleopatra frowns down at . I feel a skill attempt to peruse my status, but it glances off without a problem. Her frown deepens.
An aura more potent than anything Ive ever felt, a commanding weight supported by enormous [Soul] and [Willpower], washes over . I would even go so far to say that it exceeds my own by a decent bit.
I rally, tightening my own aura around myself as an armor, but even so, the pressure she exerts is extre. I struggle to stay standing, even as she stares at with a face mostly devoid of emotion except for a cold, calculating frown.
I crack a grin as I harden my aura and stare directly into her eyes. When you deal with royalty, especially one who has been in power for so long, the wise thing to do is to feed their ego.
Luckily, Im a smart guy. I know what I should be doing.
Unfortunately, I dont think anyone who truly knows would call wise.
Is that it? I taunt.
Cleopatra blinks. She taps her throne with a long nail. Her frown turns to a slight smile. I see a glint of amusent in her eyes.
Then she speaks.
KNEEL.
One mont I am standing, and the next, my right knee is on the marble floor. Fuck, I mumble and try to stand, but her aura smothers like a steel blanket the size of a mountain. My hands ball into fists as I attempt to move. My body practically vibrates as I struggle, but its all in vain. Against a ruler with her levels, class, and age, I co short.
I just dont have enough.
Ive lived for thousands of years, trained my body and mind over and over again, and its not enough because a [Queen] whos been sitting on her ass in this damn desert for hundreds of tis longer is stronger.
What kind of bullshit is that? All that struggle, just to be upstaged by a corpse whos forgotten how to stay dead? No.
I wont kneel to soone like that.
I glare at her and try to stand. I push my will to the limits. I speed up my heart, strengthen my muscles, everything to move. I push and push the limits of my mind and body. Slightly, ever so slight, my knee rises. A centiter at first then an entire inch.
Congratulat-
And like a switch, the burden falls away. My leg straightens, and the stone cracks.
Shhhhhiiiiiiiiii- I yell as my body hurtles into the ceiling. Murals shatter as I bounce off and crater into the ground with a groan of pain.
Shaking myself, I quickly stand up and pause as I look at Cleopatra blinking at .
Whuugghhht? I groan and look around. Halberds are pointed at , ready to strike, but also wary because I just crashed face-first into the roof.
Cleopatra's eyes refocus, but her surprise is still evident on her face. I brush the dust off my robes. I grunt at the soreness of my body. Though my bones are fine, everything else hurts. I think I fell sixty feet or sothing.
In my long life, Ive t many people who have leveled or even changed classes in my presence, she leans forward, sohow doing so in the most graceful way possible, but you are the first to have beco an [Emperor].
Emperor? WhatWait a fucking second.
With a command, I call up the system ssage.
Congratulations!
Class Upgrade Requirents t
Comncing Class Change
Attempting to upgrade class [Death Sovereign Archking]
Upgrade Successful
You are now a level 325 [Death Sovereign Emperor]
Skill [Herald Of Undeath] is changed to [Harbinger Of Undeath]
You have gained the skill [Deaths Autarch]
Huh, looks like my kingdom has been busy.
With a ntal command, I open up the description of my new skills.
Harbinger of Undeath
All enemy units killed by your empire will rise as [Undead] under your empire's control.
Deaths Autarch
Undead units under your empire's control are considered citizens. Aura control and potency are improved by 1% per hundred undead.
Decent skills, especially the first one. I wonder what it ans to have [Undead] under my empire's control. Does that an my [General] can order them around? Are they just randomly wandering [Undead] that don't attack my people? I guess either choice is fine. If my leaders can control them, then perfect, free atshields. If they can't, then the undead will decay and die within a week of being in the presence of sunlight unless they are protected by skill or modified to reflect light or they beco dead. Dead things decay slowly, but undead decay quickly.
I feel Cleopatras aura descend on again, but this ti I defend against it with ease. I return my attention from a nearby pillar back to Cleopatra who has been silently staring and waiting. She is no longer taken aback, but she is interested.
Ive t [Heroes] before, she states in monotone, n and won that level multiple classes at a speed few can comprehend. They blindly follow the orders of gods, destroy and shift world economies, and inflict so of the most violent wars in history, she taps her armrest as she stares at , and now one of them stands before my throne again, clearly with an agenda. She taps the armrest again, the sound of her nail hitting stone echoes throughout the room. Experience tells that I should end your life here and now she looks toward the entrance of the room where Darude stoically stands, but soone who has earned my trust asked to listen to you.
She taps once more and only once. The sound halts and a light shifts onto .
So I will hear your words, Quasi Eludo, and by them, you will be judged.
I feel the air turn cold. The light focuses on as enchantnts weave around my person, enhancing every sound I make.
Damn, I start clapping, that was a pretty impressive display. Id easily give it an eight point seven out of ten. Not perfect, but with a couple thousand centuries more practice, I can see you getting a nine out of ten.
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Cleopatra snorts, a girlish, squeaky snort that surprises the aged [Empress]. She hasnt made a noise like that since she was a mortal.
Once again, she focuses on her skills and attempts to divine more secrets from this rather unique man. Her direct skills co up empty, but the dozens of indirect ones divulge bits of information: third tier, [Necromancer] based, [Emperor] level royalty class; second tier, upper-level [Enchanting] class; second tier, mid-level [Bard] class; second tier, lower-level [Gentleman] class; and finally the [Hero] class. Shed thought the [Hero] class was a mistake on her part, then she saw the man stare at a pillar and move his eyes left to right as though he were reading sothing. Shed only ever seen [Heroes] do such a thing.
She also senses anomalies in the man's body. She detects two heartbeats, a perfect weight differentiation, and an incredibly dense bone structure. It could be due to skill, but she can't tell. He is an enigma, one that needs to learn his place.
This city has a runic network built beneath it. After the many millennia Cleopatra has spent guarding her kingdom, new networks are built every few centuries to replace the old ones. Even as the obsolete runes begin to wear down or decay, so systems do not. So enchantnts grow stronger with age and add to each other. And so systems connect these disparate parts.
With a tap of her nail, the countless runic networks below the city co to life. They reach out and connect her to an even greater network that spreads over the entirety of the desert, feeding her with power. She raises her aura, strong enough now to crush even a Nad.
Quasi Eludo.
Her aura strikes him and he falls to his knees in surprise as the Empire weighs down on his shoulders. I am the [Empress] of sands, the oldest and most powerful ruler currently extant and you are but a no-nad [Emperor] who has only now attained his new status. The difference between us is the difference between a mote of sand and a dessert. She stares down at him, watching him struggle and fail to stand. So I warn you, choose your words wisely, otherwise you and your companions may find themselves in an early grave.
Atavistic Bitch! he curses.
Cleopatra frowns at his disrespect and waves her hand. The pressure increases, forcing the man to keep himself upright with his hands.
PROSTRATE. she orders.
He struggles valiantly. Sweat and blood drip from his brow as his face slowly, ever so slowly descends lower and lower.
Then she feels more than sees a release of mana. The shadow below him seems to squirms outward, expanding. Then she sees it, an almost invisible strand of mana descends into the shadow and connects to sothing. Then another descends. A fourth. A twelfth. A hundred and forty-third. A fifteen thousand, ninety-sixth. She watches as a tapestry of mana grows, its fabric descending into his shadow and connecting to sothing. And as they do, the man slowly rises and his aura swells. By the ti he is fully erect, over a million strands are connected. Behind Quasi, nine spectral, violet, manafilled tails sprout and wave nacingly in the air.
Before her stands not a nascent [Emperor], far from his ho and power, but a [Caesar] with an army at his back.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens them again, two eyes glowing with potent and malignant violet energy stare into her own.
Pride cos before the fall.
The man grins challengingly at her and a distant mory surfaces of soone similar standing before her. He spoke different words in a different language, but with the sa aning. Shed almost lost everything when she refused to back down.
A sliver of fear takes root in her heart and she quickly retracts her aura before it can waver. Not again. Never again. She swallows her pride and stands. A smile forces its way to her lips. Quasi Eludo, its been a long ti since Ive t a man like you. Please, let us retire to my private study where we can drop this banter and have a aningful conversation.
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There are two main types of immortals in existence: The first are known as gods. They are souls strong enough to survive without a physical manifestation. Depending on the strength of their souls, they can manifest their power via mana, or, if old enough, via soul. The second type are mortals past their expiration date. Cleopatra falls into this second type, and like all second types, they have a major weakness: Actually being able to die.
I an, it is possible to end a god, but most gods are an accretion of souls imbued with lingering sentints. They tend to embody their primordial passions and, with the exception of death gods, are mostly childishly oblivious to an end that never cos for them naturally. I digress.
Fear of death is a constant fear, a deep rooted one that all those that have survived for so long have. They hide it well under a mask of pride, but the mont you touch upon that fear and remind them how fleeting life truly is, then youve won.
So when I walk inside Cleopatra's study and find her wearing a violet dress that extenuates her classical curves and tiless breasts, I know I've won.
Immortals fall into a few categories: The lucky, the clever, and the paranoid. Often enough, theres a mix between the categories. The lucky ones are unpredictable folks who ca into immortality through sheer happenstance and are usually not a problem if you have a big, maybe shiny, distraction set up for them. The clever ones are the smart ones that worked towards immortality and eventually got it. Theyre dangerous, but predictably dangerous, as they usually act in the long term and do their best to survive.
The paranoid ones are the ones you can never, ever be safe around. Theyre the sort to have figured out how to give themselves seventeen different thods of immortality and carry a tactical nuke in their back pocket. They can always pull sothing out of nowhere you can never prepare for.
Ive t three paranoid immortals in my lives, I wouldnt have been able to kill one of them.
Its a good thing Im lucky, and Cleopatras clever.
So, acting in line with how a clever immortal does, Cleopatra first attempted to ascertain how threatening I was. First, she thought I was weak enough to manipulate. Then, she thought I was too risky to keep around. Now, she thinks Its too risky to try to kill .
Please, Quasi, sit, she invites . She extends her manicured hand to the chair opposite her.
Wordlessly, I walk to the chair and take a seat. I stare at her, and she stares back at . Her legs move, one over the other, slowly, as though to bring into focus the bare skin shes showing there. Her arms are around her stomach, slightly raising her chest as she leans forward with a smile.
The attempt at seduction are not lost on .
Thank you for accepting my invitation. I want to first formally apologize for my behavior at our initial eting, as I did not fully comprehend your peerage. Please, speak freely. It is clear you wished to speak to about sothing.
I roll my eyes at her super pleasing and nice tone.
Just stop with the acting. Youre shit at it.
Her lips dip in the most subtle of pouts.
Whatever do you a-?
Stop, I interrupt and point. Only a two-bit [King] would believe you had a change of heart so quickly. Not to ntion, your acting is unbelievable. Anyone with as much experience as I have will notice the flaw.
The flaw?
I nod. Yeah, the flaw. Your movents are perfect, your expressions are perfect, and your voice is perfect. Humans are not perfect, nor could they ever be. There are always discrepancies to be found, however minor they may be. I saw those discrepancies earlier today when we had our dick asuring contest. Now, those discrepancies are gone. So stop playing gas.
A mont passes and the perfect mask on her face drops. Cleopatra leans back into her armchair and sighs.
Fine. Why did you co here, Quasi Eludo?
I cross my arms. Well, initially I ca here to deliver sothing, but Im a bit curious now that Ive found out that the glorious Empress of the Sands is an extrely old undead that, to my surprise, looks barely thirty. I was under the impression that [Liches] would eventually decay into sentient skeletons.
Cleopatra raises an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that I don't already know the reason. She looks up and down.
Do you not have the legendary [Smooth Skin] skill? she asks.
I do I answer, uncertain where this is going. The skill makes it so my skin is always clear and without wrinkles, blemish, or body hair.
She shakes her head. Were it rely that, the skill would not be one of the most desired skills in the world.
Explain.
She raises her left hand and traces it over her right. [Smooth skin] creates perfectly smooth skin not by removing wrinkles and stopping hair from growing, but by changing the body to produce such skin. Healthy and working organs, muscles, fat, bones, your entire body will continue to function until cancer ends it.
Damn. So, youre an [Archlich] without any of the physical downsides of being an [Archlich]?
There are always downsides. She leans back into her seat. For one, my body is still dead and cold, though in perfectly functional condition. On top of that, I cannot move too far away from my phylactery, nor can I survive if it is destroyed, not that it is fragile.
I nod slowly. If I ever need to live longer than my current lifespan, its nice to know Lich-dom remains a solution.
Well, Ive got more questions, but those can wait. I lean into my shadow and grab the [Scepter of Was] out of it. I throw it to her and she catches it. Her eyes widen in shock. I believe that is yours.
My staff Where did you find it? she asks as she examines the tallic item.
It was found in a dungeon, then stored in a city vault. Hers gave a quest to return it to you.
Hers her brow flutters. I dislike the gods.
The feeling is mutual.
She stares at the scepter in her hand for a mont longer, then she sighs. It seems I owe Hers a costly debt. Im sure hell co to collect it sooner, rather than later.
I yawn. I dont think a simple [Legendary] item would be considered a costly debt, at least not for your empire.
She shakes her head. One of her hands holds the crystal on top of the scepter. She releases a stream of mana and activates several hidden runes. The [Legendary] enchantnt on the scepter disappears. Then, she unscrews the crystal from the pole and throws it to the side. She turns the resulting tube over and catches a glowing crystal in her hand.
Muspelheim Powercrystal [Divine]
Control chanism required for activating movent function of Muspelheim.
Thats
A very, very long story, she raises the crystal in the air, admiring it. Then, she looks at , stares at my facial expression for a mont as I gaze curiously at the crystal.
You don't know what this is, do you?
I shrug. Not really, but its a divine item, so it probably does sothing pretty aweso.
____________________
A small smile and a shake of her head belie the humor, confusion, curiosity, and dread in Cleopatras heart. [Emperor], [Hero], and [Necromancer]; three classes shes never seen together are now sitting in front of her, manifested in one man. Now that person, a [Hero] that her [Spymaster] didn't even know existed, just handed her the one item she desires above all others. It all seems like a trap, or more likely, a manipulation.
What do you get out of it? she asks.
Quasi shrugs again, which gets a strong stare from the [Empress].
What? Don't glare at . Im just given quests and I follow them because they fit my agenda.
What Agenda? she asks more forcefully.
World Destruction, he pauses, and a vacation from my wives.
Cleopatra closes her eyes for a mont. She releases a breath and forces herself to calm down. She feels blind without the extra perceptions of her aura, but casting it out now might be misunderstood as a threat.
Fine, keep your secrets. But I still need to reward you for this. What do you want? So long as it is within my power, I will give it to you.
He taps his chin.
What will he ask for? Just because heroes are servants for the gods doesnt an they dont appreciate more material rewards. Surely, hes not in it just for the paltry boost to his [Heros] class experience and a bit of sight-seeing.
Well, youve got curious about that crystal, so Id like it if you showed what it's for. I could also use so allies, so an alliance between our [Empires] would be great. Access to a statue of Hers if you have it available too. Oh, also, I need you to remove the [Slave] class from my [Slave], Naunet.
The first two are doable, but the third can only be done if your slave is at least level-eighty.
What? Youre a goddamn super high level [Empress], how are you not able to do sothing so simple? he asks in surprise.
Because it is not a simple thing. I have nurous skills enforcing my laws, skills that put restrictions not only on the citizens of my empire, but on as well. I will not change the Law just for one girl. If you wish to free your [Slave], then either level her up to Eighty or impregnate her and transfer ownership to the child.
Your laws are stupid, he folds his arms with a pout, but fine, Ill see what I can do. What about the other requests?
She carefully places the crystal on a table next to her. Tomorrow, I will reveal to you the secrets of the crystal, but tonight, let us form an alliance.
She stands up from her seat, reaches behind her back, and removes her dress.
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Should we not be worried about the Master? Naunet asks around the dining table. Hes been gone for a while.
Im sure hes fine, Abernick replies and then places a slice of at into his mouth. He chews happily and swallows. Damn, I didn't know cooked vermis would taste so good. he takes another bite.
On the table, Barglesmash rips into his own plate of the tender at and chirps happily.
But it has been several hours. Should we not check up on them?
Fiona shakes her head as she sips so wine. No. Conversations between monarchs always take a while. Also, Darude ca back and said everything was fine.
Nothing is ever fine with Quasi, Jessica pokes her at without even eating it.
Don't worry Jess, Im sure hes fine. Fiona exclaims softly, but the worried woman only returns an annoyed glare.
Im not worried about him. Im worried about what hes doing. For all I know, he could be having sex with the [Empress].
Naunet and Fiona laugh at her words. Abernick nervously chuckles. eting an [Empress] of an empire and then imdiately sleeping with her? Impossible.
They sit and joke, making fun of her worries, but the [Abbess] knows sothing is happening. Sothing stupid. Sothing crazy.
Sothing thats going to leave her very, very irritated.
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