Amber | Chapter 101. (Patreon)

 Chapter 101.

Amber stared at the title utterly befuddled. It was good. 

[You have been offered a title: Abyssal Lord 

Vitality +20

Strength +20

Dexterity +20

Endurance +20

Intelligence +20

Wisdom +20

You have a greater affinity with the abyssal aspects becoming more resilient to them by 150% and abyssal attacks deal 150% more damage. 

As an Abyssal Lord you not only fight against demons but the Supernatural as a whole. 

This title comes with Title Skill [Abyssal Channel].] 

And the skill was… 

[Abyssal Channel

Through the abusive use of the Curse of the Abyss you have developed the ability to channel it into various forms. While you can only manifest it in limited quantities, your ability to manipulate it and wield it knows no bounds. 

The Curse of the Abyss will exacerbate any curse that a being is bearing and exacerbate curses on its user, on demons it will melt their flesh.

This skill cannot be leveled.] 

Also great. It could very easily recreate Abyssal Blast. The mere sight of it made Amber extremely happy, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to instantly accept the title, because there was something that had happened before that. The contract was incomplete, and yet aside from knowing that information, she had no more to go about it.

“So, did it work?” Frei asked, still holding onto her hand and still kneeling. 

“Sort of,” Amber said after a moment of deliberation. “It seems to be incomplete.”

Frei scowled. “Bullshit, I feel some level of supernatural obligation to you now.” 

Amber frowned. “Hey well, I didn’t create these stupid contracts.”

At that, the elf let go of her hand and dusted her knees, even though it was nighttime Amber could still see her incredibly annoyed expression clearly. 

“So, what d’ya wanna do?” She turned, raising her brow. “Do ya want me to fuck off till ya figure it out or…?” 

A sigh left Amber. “For now, I’ll choose to trust you, Frei.”

The elf blinked, pausing as if it was the most unexpected answer she’d ever heard. Finally, after a moment she scratched the back of her head. 

“… I appreciate that.” 

Finally, after looking at the deep orange sky for a few moments, she turned back to Amber, this time grinning and offering her hand. 

“Shall we get back to town, your grace?” 

Amber blinked. “Just call me Amber.”

Frei smiled deeper. “That would be nothing short of an insult to you⁠—”

“Keep on doing that and I’ll tell you to indeed fuck off,” Amber said flatly. 

“Tsk, stuck up.” 

With those words, she grabbed Amber’s hand and the two of them disappeared in a blink. A moment later, they reappeared in the middle of town. It was mostly deserted except for the drunken people around, who jumped at their sudden reappearance. 

“By the stars! Is that girl over level 200?!” 

“Where did they come from?” 

“Woah, that’s an elf right?” 

And Amber too was surprised but for another reason.

“That’s a lot of range on your teleportation skill; are you an assassin?” 

Frei paused and glanced over. “I’m a mage y’know?” 

Amber was once more surprised by that, given that aside from the strange malleable dagger she used as a weapon, she was clearly a warrior in all regards from what she had been able to observe. 

“Anyway, let’s go find your friends or whatever, I need to get along with them so the sooner we get over the drama the better,” Frei waved walking forward, uncaring for all the gazes she was getting.

Amber in response, stopped mid-step. “Uh, no.”

The elf turned back, in confusion, tilting her head. “What do ya mean, no?” 

“My friends won’t trust you, and I shouldn’t have to convince them to do so,” Amber said after a moment. “So, come up with a way to make them trust you.”

“Huh, why does it matter if they trust me?” Frei asked, taken aback. “That’s not needed, ‘cause you trust me.” 

Amber frowned. “I’m not going to bring you along if the people I’m traveling with think you’re going to backstab them as soon as you get the chance. Especially since the vow is incomplete.” 

“They don’t need to know that,” she argued. 

And Amber just glared at her, the peach fuzz-haired elf frowned in response before flinching a moment later. Finally, a second after, she fully relented with a snort. 

“Fine, I’ll figure some shit out.” She said, turning around in annoyance. “Gonna make myself scarce till morning, but ya should still tell your friends about me lest you want them to start questioning you.” 

With a wave, she disappeared and a sigh left Amber. In the end, Frei had a point, but at the same time, this was also a test. Amber did trust her, but a part of her⁠— a small part of her brain⁠— told her that it was all too good to be true. Finally, after a moment she recovered herself and then noticed the two drunken people across the street looking at her with their mouths agape.

“What?” 

They flinched and mumbled something incoherently, but she left shortly after that. She reached the inn a few minutes later and ignited the blue flame on her hand and then… waited. The passing moments leaving her alone with her thoughts. 

In the end, she believed Frei to be telling the truth, but at the same time it was also too good to be true. Did this elf really have no other reason to live other than her goal to go to Ill’hine and find out about what happened to her original family? On one hand it seemed believable, especially if it was a childhood fixation, but on the other it also had the chance of it not being the full story. 

She trusted Frei enough to keep her around, but it wasn’t actual trust. 

Huh, as much as it sucks, even if she may provide incredibly useful information after her vow is removed, it may have to wait until I’m much stronger to do so. 

Of course, Amber had no way to know how truly difficult it was to remove Frei’s vow, but it did mean that the project would begin at much later date regardless. And by extension, its completion date would be moved later too. 

A sigh left her and the door was opened, Asil walked in with a smile while Cecile followed behind him meekly. 

“While I’m sure she’s still alive, you still did it; you got rid of her,” he spoke proudly. “Great job Amber.”

In response, she shook her head. “Frei is still around, just not here at the moment.”

At that, both of her companions frowned in near unison. But also some sighs of defeat came.

“I suppose getting rid of someone so high level is impossible, huh?” Cecile said with frustration.

Asil nodded in agreement. “She is too strong, unfortunately.” 

“I made a vow with her, but it’s incomplete,” Amber began.

“You did what?” Asil paused. “You⁠— how do you even know how to do those?!” 

She shook her head and continued. “And because it is incomplete, I gave her the chance to prove that she is trustworthy to you two.” 

“So you trust her yourself?” Cecile asked, somewhat offended.

“I trust her enough to know she won’t backstab me, and to keep her around, but I don’t actually trust her,” Amber said. “She said a lot of things, even made an offer that showed me how important my help was to her, but there is also the fact she may not have told me everything.” 

The purple haired merchant frowned deeply. “She fucking took me hostage, she won’t hesitate to do it again.” 

“Which is why, whether she is accepted is ultimately a decision that lies in you two,” Amber said simply. “I told her to earn the trust of my companions, so you can judge off of that.” 

Cecile scowled. “There is no point in that.”

“I’ll give her a chance,” Asil said. “You did trust me incredibly quickly when we first met, so it wouldn’t be right of me to give another person a chance at least after experiencing such benevolence.” 

Amber tilted her head at that, in retrospect it was the truth, but she didn’t think too much about that, instead she concluded the conversation much to the displeasure of Cecile. Asil told the merchant to give her an honest chance but all he got was a grumble in response. Afterwards, the mood was terrible so they slept.

  *

[You have acquired the title: Abyssal Lord…]

[New Title Skill! You have learned Abyssal Channel…]

…

[You have lost the title: Demonkiller…]

[Title Skill Lost! You have lost Abyssal Blast.]

The next day came soon enough, and they gathered at the forest outside of the city at Frei’s insistence. She didn’t say much, other than ask them to come to the forest and now ask Asil and Cecile to step forward. 

“If you think I’m easy to convince you’d be wrong,” Cecile said with a frown. 

Asil said nothing and just observed as Frei took a step back and observed the both of them. 

“I’ve spent all my time thinking and also researching who you two are.” 

She coughed before turning to the purple-haired merchant. 

“You’re Cecile, a very high profile merchant in this continent, but more importantly, you are the person I chose to take hostage.” 

Cecile snorted, and Frei continued.

“And I can see you still hate me for that, and so I’ll give you an opportunity.” 

Cecile raised her head. “An opportunity?” 

Frei nodded, producing a piece of paper and a pen. “I’m due to make my monthly report, I’ll let you write it, if you write it just right it can even get people to come after me and kill me. So in short: I’m giving you an opportunity to spare me or ruin my life.” 

Cecile blinked while receiving the paper and pen, before pausing. 

“What?” 

“Just sign with ‘hey Frei here’ and end it with ‘much love’ at the end, make sure to use mercenary-esque language too, and they’ll buy it,” she explained simply crossing her arms.

The merchant however, just stared blankly at the page. And then she swallowed, before she summoned a paper holder and began to write on the paper with a serious expression. Finally, after a few moments she handed the paper back to Frei and a ring on her hand shone and it⁠— disintegrated into black particles. 

“Wait, you sent it just like that?!” Cecile asked in shock. 

“I did, regardless of what you wrote I was going to send it; so I’ll ask now, what did you write?” Frei asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity. 

“I gave a random update about how you terrorized some random merchant for laughs and that everything on your end is going well,” Cecile said, staring at the ground. 

Frei blinked. “Oh… huh… thank you, I didn’t expect you to be that… kind.” 

“I’m not an asshole like you.”

“Right.” 

The elf looked awkward, and that’s when Amber spotted sweat trailing down her forehead; she seemed serious. Finally, after taking a very subtle breath she turned to Asil and a sigh left her as she fell back into her persona once more. At least, that’s what Amber perceived it as. 

“I’ll be honest, I couldn’t find anything about you, which is surprising given you’re an elf. I know you were seen during the invasion of Torl, and traveling along with Amber after, but other than that I got nothing.” 

“That’s what being imprisoned for two centuries does to you,” Asil replied with a shrug. 

Frei blinked. “I wanna say you’re fucking with me, but given the person behind you…” the female elf looked at Amber. “I’ll take it at face value. So, for gaining your trust I’ll offer something more simple⁠—”

“No need,” Asil interrupted. 

Frei blinked. “What?”

“I saw enough with Cecile⁠—”

“Wait are ya really sure you don’t want to beat me within an inch of death or something?” the Arcane Council member asked in a hurry.

Asil sighed. “I saw enough, Frei.” 

At that the elf froze and scratched her head awkwardly. “That is good… I’m flattered that⁠—” 

“Can’t you just act normal?” Amber asked, interrupting.

At that she snapped. “Unlike you asshole, I don’t know how to act when I’m at the mercy of others.” 

“Time to learn then.” Amber smirked.

The elf glared. “Fuck you.” 

Cecile laughed and Asil smiled at that, seemingly satisfied with what they had seen of Frei, and Amber was slightly surprised too. Though for now, it was better to keep her at arm’s length still given a lot of factors. 

“With that out of the way, we can go back to the Sacred Forest now⁠—” 

“Oh, I got a reply,” Frei piped up, grabbing the floating paper that appeared. “Let's see, I’ll read it outloud.” 

Everyone turned to her at that. 

“Ehem, ‘Frei, again, we do not care about the innocuous occurrences of your life, stop including these things in your reports. That said, given you’re still in Vaurel there is something we require of you’.” She took a moment. “Now if I read the following part, I will surely die so I’ll keep it at that.”

“Is it your vow with the council?” Asil asked with curiosity.

“Let me reiterate; I’ll surely die.” She smiled. 

There was a silence at her statement before a sigh left her.

“Look, I’d love nothing more than to spill everything I know, but I’d literally die if I tried to do that,” she said. “But I will go do this thing, and I will make no effort to stop y’all from following me. In fact, I think Amber could surely benefit from discreetly following me.” 

Amber paused. “Are you saying to⁠—” 

“No, I’m saying that I have secrets to deal with,” she said flatly. “And I’ll get a spacious carriage ‘cause I’m not that much in a rush.” 

“Right.” 

Everyone kind of picked up on what she was trying to say at this point, so they followed after her even after she “warned” them to get out of her carriage. Upon not listening she grunted and crossed her arms. The carriage itself had been taken out by her, and it was luxurious. In fact, it was even approaching opulent. 

White leather seats, gold threaded lining, a padded black roof and carved wood accents. It was definitely no ordinary carriage. All Frei had done was hire a coachman and horses to pull it at a high price. As for where they were going? North. That was the entire direction she had given them. She also said that this was dangerous and to stay vigilant. 

Finally, after a few minutes of silence Amber decided to ask something. 

“Frei, do you know anything about the Exiled Emperor of Arcase Ishtar?” 

She tilted her head. “Somewhat. Not too much. He was a traitor, and a womanizer.” 

“What?” Amber blinked.

“All I know are tales and stuff.” She waved her hand dismissively. “So take it with a whole lotta salt.” 

Amber nodded at that and Frei looked towards the ceiling of the carriage; she had long stopped wearing her cloak, so her peach-fuzz colored hair and her elongated ears were on full display. 

“Anyway, he was strong, he went down in history as a warmonger. Or rather, as a single person that turned the world upside down wherever he went. He was a man of commitment and sheer fucking will; or so the texts I read said. He was a Cursed Berserker much like you.” 

She tilted her head. 

“It is said he left notes and journals for those that wished to follow his path; for his progeny, the Cursed Berserkers of the future,” Frei mused.

“Oh, huh. Has any of these journals been found or?”

“Nope, and that’s all I remember,” she said simply.

Amber couldn’t help but let her shoulders slump hearing that, it was most certainly a disappointing set of news.

“I’m sure I can help ya gather information on him; though I won’t be making use of the council ‘cause I’d rather not tempt fate,” Frei said, her tone somewhat reassuring. 

“Right, thank you.” 

“Frei, your ears are particularly long for an elf, just like mine,” Asil said out of the blue. 

Frei tilted her head. “I suppose so. Ya think we’re from the same family?” 

“Perhaps,” Asil said.

“Well, if you were stuck for two centuries there is a chance,” she said simply. “My family’s name is Lasren.”

Amber blinked. I thought that was his mercenary family name, though; do mercenaries even have family names to give their kids? The answer was likely: no. 

Asil nodded. “So we aren’t related.”

“What’s your family, old timer?” she asked playfully.

“I’m from the Drazdil family,” he said simply. 

“Drazdil…” She frowned. “I see.” 

“You know of us?” Asil asked, intrigued. 

At that, Frei turned serious and nodded, straightening herself before looking towards the ground. 

“Aside from my family, yours is the only one to have true elves in it; four armed elves,” she said simply, before biting her lip. “And unlike mine, yours didn’t get wiped by an angry lamp with the status of god.” 

Asil blinked. “You know about⁠— nevermind that, destroyed?!”

“God, ya are really damn slow on the uptake.” She groaned. “Not gonna tell ya more, already did it with Amber, too much mental energy.” 

There was a silence following her statement, which was broken by a somewhat uneasy Asil, he was looking at the ground now. 

“Is my family alright?”

“They’re fine, some have died, some newborns, usual stuff; no big family ending event or anything,” she replied dryly. 

“I see, thank you.” Asil nodded, closing his eyes before turning to Amber. “Can you tell me more about Frei?” 

Amber blinked, and then paused feeling danger. 

“Wait⁠—” 

“Annnd we are here.” Frei stretched on her spot with a comfortable sound. 

“Wait, we don’t need to go search or something?” Amber asked in surprise.

“Nope. In fact, this is the perfect opportunity for you to test your limits so I’ll let ya handle it; since I heard you liked that,” she said simply. “That said, you can always tell me to assist ya and I won’t hesitate.”

Amber blinked and the peach fuzz haired elf leaned forward with a wide grin as she met her gaze, her hands pressing firmly against her seat.

“So, with all of that out of the way. How does fighting a monster above level 250 that primarily uses curses sound for ya?” 

Amber blinked. “You mean?” 

“Well, it’s right here.”

Following her words, the carriage disappeared, the coachman screamed, the two horses shrieked and a barrier of darkness was erected. In a single instant, the surroundings shook, and one of the horses fainted. 

“It’s a bit stronger than I thought, but you should do just fine,” Frei said playfully. 

“Do just fine?” 

She shrugged. “Fighting it, I mean.”

And following her words, purple light enveloped their bodies as another loud boom went off outside the barrier of darkness. 

“Anyway, it’s just the infant of the most terrifying cursed monster in Vir; a Fledgling Chimera. It’s like fifty levels below me,” she said. “So yeah, good luck Amber, call me if ya need me.” 

“What do you mean⁠—” 

And everyone but her disappeared as the barrier vanished. 

“It means that it’ll target ya first because you’re entirely immune to its curses!” Frei shouted from a distance. “Don’t worry though! I’ll keep everyone safe for now to let ya focus!” 

Amber paused and then, she heard a loud roar. Her eyes ignored the smoke, the ruination on her nearby surroundings, and the purple-hotspots that were still burning. Instead, she focused past everything and saw the danger. 

Amber laid her eyes on a twisted monster with red eyes, or rather an amalgamation of monsters with clusters of glowing red eyes and it was fixated right on her. 

[???. Lvl. ???]