Augmented Aspects: Chapter 149 Reinstated (Patreon)

Chapter 149

Reinstated

(Cass)

“You, you came back to me?” Rahul said, a faintly annoying lisp to his words. I heard there was one, I even read it, but I thought it more of a deep baritone, versus the slightly nasal sound that was now coming from the Lich’s clacking jaws. An impressive feat considering the Lich no longer possessed a nose.

“I am not here for you. I have come to fulfill my obligations to my guild, and I have done so.” I state, using my Courtly Etiquette skill to full force. Fortunately, I have taken time to practice this, while reading aloud different passages from, well no I will not mention that series of books anymore. Suffice it to say, that I apparently talk to myself a lot, but I maintain that it is mostly for the purposes of skill grinding, also I am terrible with people, and animals, and most social encounters.

Wince.

I was about to continue, when I heard the still restricted and constrained king of the elves give out a wince of pain.

At that we all turned to him, even the Knight who was eyeing me suspiciously came to a stop at the sight of his king. I made a note of the Knight, as it was clear that he felt my Legendary bloodline active within me, just as I felt his Royal Bloodline active in him. The king too had a Royal Bloodline that was active, but it was clearly off compared to mine. If I had to guess, I would place his bloodline as that of a social nature. While the Knight’s his felt more of a physical nature.

Honestly, just being this close to so many active bloodlines made me want to see what I could now gleam from Mallory and her bloodline. Could I use this as a steppingstone for somehow finding a way to improve my own? Could I even get to the next level of my bloodline ascendency which would be the vaunted Mythical ranking, where I would be one step away from that of a minor-deity, then likely a deity, though I am fairly certain that there might be many levels between minor and full-blown deity, but so far those are the next known steps. Mythical, Minor-Deity, then the last and final step Deity.

Of course, it is clear that no one has gotten to the Mythical stage, or else Mallory would be far more intimidating than she already is. I might want to test with her, see if there are ways to awaken her bloodline further, then refine the process for myself and follow along in her footsteps. Yes, I realize that I am somehow okay with using Mallory as a sort of guinea pig for my own advancements. Though I feel that if I was there, I would be able to help her through the process easier, and if there were complications, I could always Resurrect her to an earlier form of her body. So, other than a few terrible life-threatening attempts, and multiple chances for excruciating pain there is not much risk, right? You know the more I think about this, the more terrible of an idea this sounds like, even to me. Though I will definitely pose it to Mallory, for science, and well for my own satiated curiosity. Though if Mallory dies due to my wanting to satiate my curiosity, does that make Mallory part cat in this case?

Release of power.

SWOOSH!

There is a burst of power that pulls me out of my own mind, a quick glance of the immediate area shows that the king is once again back to his full strength. What the heck?

“…I hereby bless your betrothal.” The King said.

Mentally I stop my personal thoughts, then mentally play back the entire conversation the king was having while I was lost in my own thoughts, part of my Multitasking skill.

Then with horror I hear the message of the king and realize why his bindings are now removed.

“Having seen your commitment to your personal obligations, I realize my earlier mistake in my judgement. I rescind my earlier decree, preventing you from marrying Arch-Mage Rahul De’Gravitas. I even,” he paused, and this was likely why I stopped paying attention as he was just droning on and on. “I herby bless your betrothal.”

Then to make matters worse, I saw the system message letting me know that this was not a sick nightmare of my dreams. The ones where you get a corrupted wish, in this case my starting wish would be to marry Rahul, the inspiration for many of my magical fantasies. Only to have that dream corrupted as the man in question is now an undead Lich, that is caught up on the loss of their old steed, just like a bad emo-electronic-country western song.

I pause, as I can almost imagine a faint rhythmic beat to the song before the system message cuts off my thoughts entirely.

Hidden Quest Completed: Fulfilling The King’s Oath: You have managed to get the famous King De’Arcaneri of the lost High Elven Tribe to rescind his refusal to allow your marriage. The King has hereby forgiven you and has even given his blessing to your marriage proposal to Arch-Mage Rahul De’Gravitas. Rewards: Experience, Nobility Status, Title, Rank, variable.

Seeing the system message, I immediately hit the stop button, or at least try to.

“Time out.” I shout, even doing the exaggerated “T” with my hands. Then I continue, “I don’t need, nor do I want some third-rate bag of bones who has done nothing with his immortality to improve himself either magically, or personally.”

Clatter.

Rahul’s jaw dropped to the ground. Litterally dislodged from his face and clattered on the ground. I realize the AI’s are likely hamming this up, knowing that it is being broadcast in real time to the world. With that, I realized the true trap, that regardless of what I do, this was always going to be the ending and reward. For so long I had wished for this, well not this Rahul, in fact only now do I realize that I want this Rahul with Glenn from Thieves’ Guild on the second floor of the Arcanarus Tower’s voice. Well, not just his voice, I realize now that part of my reason for having my first Simulacrum stay on that second floor was so that I could always hear how Glenn greeted me, well not the real me, but my Simulacrum.

Every night as our memories merge together, I would see not only the books read, but also details of the conversations had. His deep baritone was enough to set my heart fluttering. I even made sure to mimic his voice perfectly when portraying the parts of Rahul, for in my mind only Glenn could do the different things that Rahul had been credited with.

Badump, badump, badump.

That is when I decided to put an end to this.

“I cannot do this,” I began, then quickly realized I was playing the role of the elven princess, I continued, while letting words of the truth slowly bleed over to my statements. “You were right to object to my marriage father. I absolve you of your prior commitments.”

FWOOM!

With that, the final remaining restraints on the King’s powers were removed. Now should anyone face him, they would have to deal with his full powers and capabilities. While it was nice knowing that people who were much more powerful than you were restrained, this was important as I needed to use this to further my story and gain enough relationship status with the man, in order to get my two remaining goals complete. The first goal was to establish a peace treaty between the Midnight Hunters Guild and the denizens of this realm, so that we would no longer have to worry about missing patrol members. The second was to ensure I never had to marry anyone, especially not a bag of bones Lich.

“You see, Father, you were correct. When you first sent me away, I was young and naïve. I had not yet experienced the full breath of the world.” That is where I pause for dramatic effect.

“At the time, I just knew that being betrothed to De’Carver was not right for me, where I looked for any excuse to break off that engagement.” With that I turn to the Lich, “for that reason, and that reason alone I must thank you Rahul, for you made it so I could be free to go out and experience the true wonders of the world. I learned the true essence of magic and of creating spells. I’ve learned about love, and life, death and rebirth. I have to thank both of you for allowing me to have this life.”

Silence.

This is good, as they are apparently eating it up. Just before they can speak, I continue.

“Father, what you did was the best thing for me. I had disgraced our name, and defiled your word as a ruler. For that, I do not begrudge you and your efforts to dismiss me to the most prestigious school of magic in the world. In fact, I rather appreciate that foresight and generosity on your part.”

This is where I go in for the kill shot.

“However, I must warn you both. Well, everyone here really.” I state, gesturing to the rest of the onlookers who are still staring. Even the Viscount is still here, despite his rapidly depleting time to leave still ticking wildly over his head. With my now speaking to everyone established, I continue. Making sure not to lie, as I can already feel the different skills that measure lying and intent being used against me.

“I want to state, that not only have I learned and grown during my travels, but I have fallen in love.” I state, and I mean it, there are no less than half a dozen people in this world I can safely say I love now. Mallory for being the best friend I could ask, Gwendolyn my daughter, Trenton my son, Zero my familiar who is nothing but a help to my second simulacrum, Kujo for just helping me feel like I can have a pet and not completely break them; Then there is Glenn the amazing man, Jhonny for his persistence, Penelope for giving my teachings a chance, and of course a special shout out for Horace and Golum, the two father figures in my life who will forever be missed.

Hush.

There was a collective sound of everyone letting out their breaths.

The King was the first to speak.

“So, you have come to ask me to bless your marriage to them?” The King asked.

Shaking my head.

“No, I have learned that I am still too young for such actions. That I still need time to learn and grow more, before I am ready for such thoughts and inclinations. I am sorry to have caused you such concerns in the past, but for now, I must insist that until such time as the Blightis completely irradicated from these lands, that we hold off any talks of marriage or future relationships.” I state and mean it.

Right now, just the efforts I do daily to slowly fight back the desert regions and slowly regain arable land that is capable of sustaining life is challenging. On top of that you add in that I am committed for the next four years at least of training students at the local college, one with my name associated with it, and then everything else that comes with Qi, and trying to understand this new and completely untapped form of internal energy makes my head scream.

Scanning.

More skills scan me, and I can tell that they find my words to be completely accurate. Again, part of this is my Acting skill coming into place, and the other part is me using my own actual thoughts to portray this character convincingly.

Tears.

My father, well the King is crying.

Inwardly I exhale, as I realize I have apparently fooled the toughest critic here. Not only have I fooled him, but I have also made it so that he is moved to an emotional reaction. That honestly is tough and what every artist ultimately wants, to be able to illicit an emotional response from their targeted audience.

A quick scan of the room shows that most people are also showing signs of my words working. Everyone but the Knight, who seems to be slightly cold to me.

I can tell that he likely thinks of me as sort of impostor. That or he is wondering how my Legacy Bloodline is so much like the Legacy Bloodline of Cassiopeia Spiritlight who had gone missing somewhere in this labyrinth of a spirit realm.

Just when I am thinking about a way to somehow dismiss the Knight and his Lieutenant, the King does it for me.

“Everyone please leave us. There is something very important that I must discuss with my daughter, the Princess.” The King said.

Chime.

Legendary Hidden Quest Completed: The Deolar Elven Inheritance: Having cleared the name of Octavia De’Arcanari, you have once again established her as being the rightful ruler of the Deolar Kingdom. You have managed to be named as the next successor in line to rule the Ancient Elven empire of Deolar. Rewards: Experience, Rank, Prestige, Title, Badge.

Note: Since you are portraying the avatar of Octavia De’Arcanari, all titles and rewards earned as Octavia De’Arcanari will be transferred to you, but only when you actively take on the form of Octavia De’Arcanari, with your Class Trait Spiritual Doppelganger.

Experience Gained: 500,000 / 250,000 / 250,000

Ding.

Level Up.

Akashic Qi Master has increased to level 139.

Ethereal Simulacrums Master has increased to level 201.

Ethereal Healer has increased to level 246.

A million experience.

That is what I got all at once and it hit me like a freight train. I realize that I had done a lot to get this far, defeated the Viscount in a duel, proved that I was a Doctor, managed to give the King back his own powers, and returned fame and honor to a person that I had looked up to during our brief time together. Again, so many things happened so quickly that it is all hard to process. Yet, before I can even think about the massive windfall of experience, I am already met with more rewards.

Rank: Princess: As Octavia Spiritlight, you are the next in line to rule over the remaining subjects of the Deloar Kingdom. Only the King can veto your proclamation. Rewards: All bloodline merits are increased by 40% (Upgradable to 50% when noted as the true ruler).

Wow, well as a Legendary bloodline holder I had expected something like this to open up eventually, but I do find it kind of limiting in the fact that it only applies to my alternate personality, or when I use this avatar.

Then again, this might be the thing I need, as I can rule for a while, then go back to my many different tasks and hobbies, while I wait for something else interesting to happen.

Prestige (1) Awarded: As Octavia Spiritlight, you have unlocked your first nobility class. The sky always shines in your presence, and the world prepares for the next Matriarch of the Deolar Kingdom to reign supreme. Reward: All Bloodline perks are increased by 10%.

Well, I now knew what form I would take while skill grinding, as I could increase my bloodline bonuses by a total of up to 50% while going as Octavia, not much overall but something to be aware of.

Title: Princess of Deolar: As Octavia Spiritlight, while within the borders of the Deolar region, your Social Attributes and Skills are increased by a further 25% efficiency.

There we go a Title that was pretty straightforward, but was also what you expected to receive as a future ruler of a kingdom.

New Feat Recorded: Princess of a Once Noble Kingdom (1,000): You have been recognized as the next in line of a once noble empire of elves. Increase your empire’s reign to increase the value of this badge.

That was a new one, where I was given an upgradable badge, kind of a novel concept in all, and one that I liked. I wanted to think about it more, but I suddenly felt a slight buzzing sensation wash over me as the Attributes from a combined 54 total levels surged into me, along with the noted bonuses to my bloodline’s efficiency rating.

I barely regained awareness long enough to notice that everyone had left. A second later I realized that this was due to the decree given by the king just moments before my quest completion notification.

One of the last people to leave was the Knight, who only left after giving a head nod to the King, once the Lich and his Lieutenant left. I am not quite certain what that all meant, but with the increase of fifty percent power to my Legendary bloodline now in full effect, there should be enough of a distinction between the me of now and when I first arrived as Cassiopeia to mean even the Knight Commander would have a hard time mistaking us for the same person.

Suddenly I realized it was just me and the King.

Only now that everyone was gone did I witness the overwhelming power and aura of the king. Feeling his presence, so closely I inwardly trembled as everything that I had just built up, could easily come crashing down, if I was not careful.

“Come closer, it is time we have a long talk about the future.” The King said, gesturing for me to come closer.

With that, I could all but feel the pull of destiny calling me forward. I felt my legs stiffen from sudden fear. Fear that I quickly overrode with the slightest movement of Qi within my body.

With that I walked forward, and decided to embrace my destiny with the honor and privilege that my new title warranted. If even for a moment, I could still gain the title of deposed Princess, which should give me half the bonuses I originally had, but those were the thoughts of a quitter. Of someone who settled for half measures, I was now committed for the long haul.

Time to go all in, this was my time to finally broker a permanent peace treaty between the Kingdom of Deolar and the Midnight Hunters Guild.

I will not stop, until peace treaty is acquired, regardless of the cost to me. Letting out a measured breath, I even realize that I might have to do a few things for the justification of this peace treaty, possibly even forge a marriage contract to ensure that peace is met.

It will be okay though, just as when I found out Rob had cheated on me and married another woman, I too will use a false name and identity for this marriage.