Amazon Apocalypse 4: Chapter 3 (Patreon)

The first thing I did was make sure Sharky was summoned and hungry as ever. He had orders to swim around the city in a circle and eat anything similar to what he’d eaten before. A few necromancers might sneak by him, especially if they took off their usual robes and dressed like normal humans, but I couldn’t see any Naga approaching Crownhill without him giving them a good fight first.

With that settled, I picked up where I left off with my companions. I returned to our apartment to find breakfast finished and my companions taking turns in the shower. There was one leftover bowl of scrambled eggs, and I had it for lunch while I waited for my companions to get themselves ready for a late start to the day.

I was already mentally reviewing what artificing projects I had left to complete when I remembered my ongoing quest and checked the progress.

Quest Progress Logged: Forging the Future

Your equipment has saved 7,925 lives out of 10,000.

Notice: As you have progressed to C-Grade, new equipment or equipment repaired with your current abilities will not count toward this quest.

My artificing C-Grade quest was still ticking. I’d evolved through my race and class, so I hadn’t failed the quest, but I had to count on the items I’d already made to finish it. I’d made a lot of progress during the last battle, but not much since then.

My stuff had saved around six hundred lives since last I checked, more than the number of monster hunters outside the city right now. Either they’d gotten ambitious with the monsters they were after, or my people on Themyscira were showing off.

“I really should have explained the idea of marriage duels to them...” I muttered.

There weren’t many monsters on Valkyrie’s Watch, since it was a fully settled and established world. Granted, the war had probably given the local monsters more chances to spawn before being slain, but not nearly as many as in this newly integrated world.

No, there was only one explanation for the quest’s progress. The local Amazonians convinced some of them into participating and duels. My people were pretty strong for their levels, and I had little doubt a lot of them would be coming home married men.

I let out a sigh, wondering if this was important enough to contact Galbatorix about.

In the end, I decided not to. I trusted Cyra to keep my people out of too much trouble. She would certainly know enough about my troops’ confusing situation. After all, she’d wound up unexpectedly married to me in the public eye. We’d have to clear that little misunderstanding up, eventually. I’d teased her quite enough about that, and we’d sit down and figure something out during my next visit.

But until then, I had some time to think things through. I’d put in a lot of work lately, and it was about time I took a well-earned break to regroup, keep my companions happy, and figure out what I would do going forward.

Until recently, I’d been running around figuring out how I was going to survive day to day. Now I finally had the chance to figure out something a little more long-term.

Those thoughts only lasted until I heard a knock on the door. I stood up to get it and glanced through the peephole to spot a familiar face.

I swung the door open and spotted Reluna, an apprentice spellcaster of the Dragon Lodge. Despite an awkward first meeting, she’d fought alongside me and my companions at Valkyrie’s Watch, and she’d even recruited a bunch of her fellow apprentices for it too. On top of that, the Dragon Lodge was my most valuable off-world trading partner. Though the blue-skinned, pointy-eared woman might be odd at times, it wouldn’t do to leave her standing at my doorstep.

“Reluna? Is that you? I thought you were still on Themyscira?” I frowned as I beckoned her inside.

She glanced at me. “May I come in?”

I laughed. “Good of you for asking this time.”

She blushed, and I took her hand and pulled her inside.

Soon, I’d dragged her to the couch. I sat across from her and gestured for her to do so as well. When she did, she wrung her hands together while I rested my elbows on my knees and leaned forward.

“I didn’t think the Dragon Lodge would send you back here. Your report is complete, isn’t it? You’ve proven that there is Chaos God activity on this shard.”

Reluna nodded, glancing at the floor. “Well... yes. But the Dragon Lodge thought you might appreciate a more permanent advisor close at hand if you’ll have me.”

“And they picked you?” I asked in surprise. Before she could grow offended, I held up a hand. “Don’t get me wrong, you were plenty fierce in that battle. And I’m sure your work examining Chaos God signatures is stellar. You just don’t strike me as a diplomat.”

Reluna blushed. “I can be diplomatic! To the right crowd, at least. My usual entrance improved the last time I talked to a magically undeveloped world. You’re an exception.”

I met her with a silent and even gaze until she started squirming.

“I already promised to be normal...” Reluna grumbled.

I chuckled. “Good. In that case, I’d be happy to have you. Now, I sense there’s something on your mind. What is it?”

Reluna straightened as we broached a serious topic, and her brows drew tighter. “When you cast final spell to kill Dramonar, what did you do?”

I frowned and thought for a moment. My last strike had been a combination attack that used two unique abilities of mine. Void Cannon and my Secrets of the Unseen ultimate attack.

Sharing the exact details of your abilities was usually a bad idea. But I’d used these two spells publicly, so it wasn’t like there was any point in denying the broad strokes of what they did.

“I used two abilities, one an ultimate associated with forming a team. The other was my shield-breaker spell, Void Cannon. Between the two, I overpowered Dramonar’s defenses and triggered a chain reaction with his own defensive enchantments that killed him.”

Reluna nodded along slowly. “And these two abilities were all? You didn’t hide a soul-devouring ritual in the ground to tribute Dramonar’s vanquished soul to the Chaos Serpent?”

I blinked in surprise. “What kind of question is that?”

Reluna let out a breath. “A necessary one. The exact details are above my abilities, but I know a soul-sacrifice ritual when I see it. You had no part in that.”

“I don’t destroy souls, Reluna.”

Well, that wasn’t at least entirely true. Sharky shredded the evil from mortal souls and turned that evil into voidlings, which were terrible flesh-eating monsters. But that was Sharky, not me. And he hadn’t been the one to finish Dramonar off.

“Then the evidence at hand suggests a darker theory. Dramonar killed himself.”

“He didn’t look suicidal to me.” I shrugged.

“The spell you interrupted was a self-sacrifice ritual that would have tributed his soul to the Chaos Serpent, either in whole or in part. The empowerment failed, but the soul sacrifice was successful. In all likelihood, the Chaos Serpent is quite pleased with this turn of events. Now he gets nearly the entire soul for no cost at all.”

I frowned. “What evidence is there for his last spell being some sort of soul sacrifice? I saw that he’d upgraded his class. Was that it?”

“His level as well. You saw how he was twenty-five levels higher than last reported? That sort of thing doesn’t come without great expense.”

I crossed my arms. “Seemed normal enough to me.”

I’d been much stronger when I confronted Dramonar at Valkyrie’s Watch. Compared to my first meeting with him, his jump in levels had barely kept pace with me. I’d gotten to the peak of D-Grade in just as short a time as he'd had. By the time Morgathor came for me to take revenge for killing his son, I was already well into C-Grade.

“Not everyone is a forerunner from a newly integrated world. And even those I’ve seen in historical records, your rate of growth has been something else.” Reluna shook her head. “Myrina, your companion, was always destined to be a legendary warrior of great renown. Her tournament victory on Themyscira proved she was the best of her generation across an entire world. And yet you found Bridget and Sakura, both nearly as strong. I don’t know your plans, but someone like you has a decent shot at becoming the leader of one of this world’s major powers by the time your integration is over. You’ll probably get a B-grade. Maybe even at the start of A-Grade.”

“Easy there. If you stroke my ego too hard, Sakura might get jealous,” I laughed.

Reluna blushed. “Anyway, Dramonar isn’t you. Though his sudden jump in power might seem normal to you, I assure you it is not. That sort of sudden increase is only possible with the help of outside forces like a Chaos God cult. They no doubt lavished him with artifacts and rituals to give him a sudden boost in power as a reward for his loyalty. They took him from the bottom rungs of C-Grade to someone with appreciable power, much closer to someone from his parent’s generation.”

“So the Chaos Serpent gave Dramonar a boost for his soul, but I killed him before the boost could take effect. Sounds to me like I got in a lucky hit, right?”

Reluna nodded, but it came with hesitation. “Perhaps I’m overthinking this, and you’re right. But Galbatorix and I thought it would be good to warn you. The part of Dramonar was his anger and resentment. Such soul fragments can be used for many spells and rituals, and all of them will hold his lingering animosity. Animosity directed at you.”

I sighed. “Even now that he’s dead, Dramonar might still cause problems for me. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Perhaps. If you’re lucky, the soul is meant for a weapon or spell on one of the frontier worlds. If that’s the case, we’ll let you know as soon as we hear about it. But in the meantime, you shouldn’t let down your guard. You’ve wound up in the gaze of the Chaos Gods.”

My mind went back to the Chaos Wolf. “Don’t I know it...” I murmured.

“Anyway...” Reluna made to stand. “That was the warning I came to deliver. But I’ll still be here to continue researching the Chaos Gods. And I even have permission to provide magical support, should you need it. I can break through to C-Grade at any time, though once I do so my ability to leave your shard will be greatly diminished, at least until the System allows C-Grades to travel freely here in another integration or two.”

She held out her hand, and I happily took it in mine. “I’ll be glad to have you, Reluna. There aren’t many spellcasters in the city, so it’ll be nice to have you around when I need a break from being surrounded by warrior types. I’ll have to ask Margaret about upgrading your room to something a bit more permanent.”

“I’d be perfectly happy with a small cottage over on your private estate,” Reluna suggested. She nodded toward my farmhouse.

I chuckled. “Well, I wouldn’t really call that an estate, but... you know what? I’ll see what I can do. It might be good to keep you close, at least until—

“I knew it! Get her!” Sakura jumped out of the bathroom wearing my bathrobe. She, Bridget, and Myrina must have listened to our conversation with their ears pressed to the door.

I took a few steps back while my lovers piled on top of Reluna.

“You think you can waltz in here with your magic spells and steal our man? Think again!” Sakura roared as she flipped Reluna over on her rear. She held out her hand, and Bridget silently handed her a bundle of rope.

I let out a sigh, then sat back down and went back to my book while the ladies had their fun. Maybe I’d take that trip back to Themyscira sooner than I thought.