Holy Blood 2 - 2 (Patreon)

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Chapter 2

After the meeting with the two Elders, we made our way over to the cemetery. I wasn’t sure how the others knew, but the dark elves bowed their heads to me as we passed. Maybe they got a notification? I would need to spend some time learning more about the Npcs of this world. They were amazingly high-quality.

At the cemetery, I found Lulu ordering her new pet to place the bodies in a neat row. When he was done, she ordered him to go dig the graves for them. I almost laughed at the sight. She was barely over a meter and a half after all. Her new minion was easily over three.

“Lulu. You’re running this event. Tell me what to do.”

“Abaddon. I just need you to stand to the side and look pretty for a few minutes. When we’re ready, offer a prayer to Otris.”

“As you command,” I said sweeping into a bow.

She went back to work lighting braziers that she apparently borrowed from the village. While I waited I looked the Dark elves over. These were technically my people now. I would need an idea of what made them tick. I cracked my neck at the thought of the anti-social me now controlling a village.

Looking over them all, I couldn’t help but feel we did a good thing protecting these people. Families were mourning together if they lost someone, while those that were lucky comforted those that weren’t. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d every felt so much… community. 

The woman that had given birth was walking to each family and bowing her head in either thanks or apology. I smiled when all they asked was to be allowed to touch the child for a moment. Children were rare, after all. Many of these families would like to have a child but are too afraid to risk the demon attacks.

Lulu clapped her hands bringing the attention to her. I looked over and saw she’d found a large rock to use as a stage. She waved her hands and astral energy coated them.

“Welcome to all the loved ones of the departed. I know today has been a trying time. Many changes, some good.” She looked to the new mother then turned a sad eye over to the bodies. “Some bad. Many of you don’t know me, but are still allowing me to conduct the funeral for your loved ones. They gave their lives for a cause that was greater than themselves. They will not die today. They will live on in your memories and in the memories of the children of the future. The died today to bring about a change.”

Everyone gathered cheered. I was impressed with Lulu’s ability to raise the spirits of these people that had lost so much. I glanced at the line of bodies. There were twenty-three of them. Twenty-three people that had their stories ended by the hideousness of this world. Lulu waved to get my attention and I nodded as I stepped forward.

“Let us join hands and offer a prayer for these souls. I shall ask Lady Otris to treat them kindly,” I said spreading my hands wide.

The dark elves linked hands and bowed their heads. I folded my own hands in prayer. “Lady Otris. Please allow these souls to take refugee in your hollowed halls. Their journey has been long enough. It is time for them to gain a moment of rest.”

Red light started to flash around me then the motes sailed off then sank into each of the bodies. An ethereal version of the men and women rose out of them. They looked at their families and offered a smile that seemed to say ‘Live!” before the took off into the air. Needlessly to say, there were a lot of tears.

“Thank you, Sir Priest and Madam Keeper. It has been a long time since we have had a proper… send off,” Nolliha said with a bowed head.

“It was only proper,” I said pulling her out of her bow. I looked to the sky and saw it was nearly midnight. “I think there will be plenty of time to discuss the future in the morning.”

~~~

I was laying in the late Elder Gasale’s room. I felt bad about taking it, but the other Elders insisted. That night I laid in bed thinking about where to go with this. I checked my status more to pass the time and paused when I found something new. “City Management” I scratched my chin at the interesting find. I tapped it with my mind and a crap load of screen appeared in front of me. 

A map of the entire valley appeared on top of the bed. The clearest section was in the center where the tentative village was currently located. There were several menus at the bottom of the screen, but most were greyed out. I tapped the one that was active. “Population”

A breakdown of all the people currently part of the tribe appeared in front of me. I sighed when I just saw names. My hand glanced one of the names as I moved to dismiss the list and a list of the person’s traits appeared. 

Name: Yolio Fruie

Gender: Female

Age:145 Level: 111 Class: Mage Occupation: Village Guard

The information was rather basic, but it allowed me to get a general idea of the situation of the village. After checking about a dozen people. I couldn’t help but feel I was under leveled. Nearly everyone was over level one hundred. A few were even nearing two hundred. I swiped the list closed not wanting to look at it anymore.

I turned back to the main screen. I played with it for a bit and found I could use it for all manner of things. There wasn’t anything like a building placement, but I could use it for city planning by placing ghost like objects that could represent various buildings.

The valley allowed for a large amount of growing. It would be interesting to see how I could but it up in the future. I wasn’t exactly sure how to build a city, but I felt I knew a few of the basics. With the domes, people grew up with a rather… forced knowledge of what exactly the city is doing to keep us alive.

Food, water, housing, education, culture, and a long list of other things that needed to be maintained and balanced to keep the happiness up. Happiness could be lowered if the situation demanded it up to a certain point such as war or famine. It would be a… fun undertaking.

Taking a closer look at the map, I noticed a few spots that interested me. I could tell that the map was filled in based on where the elves had traveled but there were a few areas that were other colors. One spot was red, one was gold, and a few that were greyed. The gold one, I found was actually the cemetery.

“Looks like I’ll have something to do tomorrow,” I mumbled.

~~~

A knock at the door woke me up from a dream where I sat on a throne surrounded by a lake of blood. I wasn’t sure how to take it, so I just let it fade to the back of my mind. I shook my head to clear it from my tangent thoughts.

“Yes?” I called.

A dark elf woman pushed open the door and made her way inside. “Lord Abaddon. Breakfast is ready for you at your leisure.”

I blinked when I realized that she’d spoken that in the Dark Elf’s language. I just chuckled softly at the idea of the information being downloaded into my brain. I thanked her and told her I would be out in just a moment. I cracked my neck and rolled out of bed. I’d went to bed in my robes so I was ready. I was about to walk out of the room when I felt something I hadn’t felt since coming to this world.

I had to use the bathroom. I looked around then groaned when I saw a pot in the corner of the room. I sighed then walked over to it. I sort of enjoyed not having to worry about this activity since coming here.

I walked out into the separate room that they used to serve food. The hut wasn’t big but it did have a five rooms. I found Lulu sitting at the table with a red face. I tilted my head as I tried to figure out what was wrong with her.

“Morning Lulu,” I said yawning. I pulled the chair out and sat across from her. “What’s wrong?” She was looking off to the side as if trying to avoid my gaze. “I guess the full status effects are in place now. I had to use the restroom this morning.” I laughed while tapping the table with my finger. She jerked in her seat but remained silent except for nodding. I grinned sinisterly. “You didn’t wet yourself in your sleep?”

She suddenly slammed her face forward on the table. “Shut up!”

“Shit. Seriously? I meant it as a joke. My bad,” I said rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment.

“Here you go, Lord Abaddon, Lady Lulu. Breakfast.” The dark elf woman that woke me said as she came in with a tray laden with food. There were fruits and vegetables, with some cooked meat on the side. I thanked her then dug in. It was pretty good, much better than the roasted meat we’d been eating every night lately.

“Fruit! Its so sweet!” Lulu said almost crying as she ate her meal. I smiled then continued into my own food.

“We have a busy day ahead of us. I want to find a good place to build the temple. The sooner the better.”

“Why’s that?” Lulu asked. Her face was still red, but I think she’d gotten over her embarrassment.

“Because when I woke up, there was a timer counting down from a week. Going on the information I have I believe its another demon attack.”

Lulu dropped her fork. “No! I won’t fight another one of those things!”

“Even though you got a nice pet out of the last one?” I asked taking a bite out of the meat.

“That’s beside the point!” she said slamming her fist on the table.

“Then we need to get said temple built as soon as possible,” I said with a grin.