Royal Blood: Chapter 5 (Patreon)

I’m starting a new story called Royal Blood! Here are the first Patreon chapters! If you enjoy it, swing by the story page on Royal Road and drop a rating? It helps a lot!

Chapter 5: Prince of Nothing

We left by the sewers, just like I thought.

The smell was terrible, and my arms were tied behind my back, so if I tripped, I’d be drowning shit. To top it off, I had to practically sprint to keep up with the higher-level assassins. It was just the boss and one other now; the last guy had stayed behind to clean up whatever mansion they’d dragged me to.

Not that I thought I had a better chance to escape.

“Keep up.” The man in charge shot a look at me over his shoulder. “And once we’re outside, if you try to scream, you’ll be dead before the air can leave your lips.”

“Fucking christ…” I ducked my head, picking up my pace.

For keeping pace with more agile foes you have gained +1 Dexterity

+8 exp

I grunted, pumping my legs even as my breath started to come in short gasps. Fortunately, we didn’t go through any of the cisterns, and the magic engineering that went into the Imperial City’s sewers kept the walkway mostly dry.

As we came to a stop beside a rusty ladder, the grunt went up first, with the boss standing menacingly behind him. I shrugged my borrowed cloak more comfortably over my shoulders. “You gonna untie me, or carry me up?”

“Heh.” The man cracked a smirk. Then, he grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and jerked me up.

I flailed in the air for a second as I popped out of the street like the cork out of a bottle. Then the other man grabbed me, dragging me out of the way as the boss jumped up a second later. He kicked the thinner slab of metal back over the manhole. Not that they called them that here.

I think I expected us to start running again, but instead the boss’s hand came down on my shoulder, pushing me forward into a steady walk. We were in one of the lower rings of the city now, with smaller buildings packed much closer together. The grunt split off, and I saw him send a few people packing.

Then the boss and I ducked into a side alley, and all of that was out of sight.

From there, we seemed to take turns almost at random, soles beating against the weathered cobblestones as the hodgepodge of buildings continued to stretch up higher and higher. Faces moved past us, no one giving us more than a moment’s glance.

This must have been one of the lowest two rings of the city, I realized. There were no nobles here, no wide streets. Just normal people trying not to get crushed by the rest of the city.

It was the farthest I’d ever been from the Royal Palace in this lifetime.

Despite my situation, I began to feel a little ember of excitement blossom in my chest. Sure, I’d been kidnapped by a nefarious band of assassins, but at least Velari made it out okay. Maybe next time I saw her she’d be less of a bitch.

I almost laughed at the thought.

Meanwhile I’d finally figured out a way around my own ‘blessing’. I still couldn’t take quests, but if my stat-up exp continued to match my level up requirements at least until level 10, then I’d actually be leveling up faster than most of my siblings at that point.

Quest exp scaled linearly, while level up requirements were exponential until level 10. After that, level up requirements also flattened out, and quest exp had a chance to keep up, but then subclasses got involved, and you started having to split exp between two increasingly hungry classes, and then three, and four, etc.

Meanwhile, it had taken me 25 stat-ups to get to level 2, then because my exp gain had doubled, it had taken me the same number to get to level 3. It would take me 25 more stat ups, minus a little because of the whole overflow thing, to get to level five after essentially skipping the grind to level 4.

And then when I unlocked my subclasses? Well, subclasses came with their own substats.

In essence, suddenly my path forward was looking so much more clear than it had just this morning. All it took was getting abducted by hired killers.

I…would have to kill a lot of people, though.

That thought put a bit of a damper on my mood as we made our way to the outer wall. We were actually in the lowest ring; I could tell because the outermost wall of the city was the newest, and it had a fresh set of bas-reliefs that I’d been forced to memorize as part of my studies. Just another sign of the Empire’s wealth.

Of course, I’d thought about killing before. I’d been twenty in my last life; my older brother signed up for the marines, and he talked me out of it when he came back, but we all thought about it. Maybe, if I’d have had the balls to sign up, I wouldn’t have gotten hit by that truck.

Who knows where I’d have been then. Still on my first tour? Fuck, I’d have been nothing but a sack of meat powered by black coffee and spite. Not too different than here, just minus the coffee, huh?

The main gates drew me out of my musing. They were enormous, a huge edifice of massive stone slabs sheathed in gold. They were five stories high, and wide enough you could run a three-lane highway through them.

Really, it looked like it was a three-lane highway with the number of people coming in and out of the city. I kept my head down as we slipped into the outgoing crowd of people and carts. The boss would be true to his word; if I tried to escape now, I’d just wind up dead. Again.

Besides that, I’d already made my decision, and it wasn’t going to change.

I caught a glimpse of the royal guard. They’d deployed what looked like half a company, screening everyone coming out of the gate. I honestly did wonder how we were supposed to get through this one.

Then Bossman muttered something I couldn’t hear, passing his hand over my face. I saw a…greyness settle around us like a shroud. His grip tightened on my shoulder and he all but dragged me into the deepest part of the crowd. I could only watch as we seemed to slink perfectly through the guard’s blind spots. From the shadow of a carriage, to the heels of a group that had already been checked.

He made it all look easy.

Just like that, we were out of the Imperial City without a soul the wiser.

There was a carriage waiting for us at a stable in the sprawling outskirts. The driver gave me a look, but said nothing when the boss shoved me into the back. The interior was…well if I was being honest, it was a bit plain compared to what I was used to. Black upholstery, minimal enchantments, not large enough for the emperor and his ten favorite concubines to have an orgy. That sort of thing.

Not that I said any of that when Bossman climbed into the carriage behind me and shut the door. I heard the crack of the reins, and then we pulled away from the stables.

I cast a look back out the window, seeing the Imperial City from the outside for the first time. Even as we pulled away, the outer wall was so long I could barely see where it started to curve around. The entire city rose up from the walls like a mountain, and I could see the rings of the inner walls when we crested the first hill.

Each moment carried me further away from my ‘home’, if you could call it that.

No, farther from the only person I really cared about in this life.

I could see the glint of the Imperial Palace, the top of its uppermost spire reflecting the evening light. Then we went down the far side of the hill, and I lost sight of the city.

It was, I’d later realize, the last time I’d see my home for years to come.

At the moment, though, I was just a kid in an even younger kid’s body, who had no idea what was coming next.

I turned back to the boss as the outskirts gave way to rolling hills and farmland.

“What happens now?” I asked.

He grunted, giving me a once over. “You’re pretty mouthy, for a brat.”

I shrugged. “It comes with being a prince.”

“Right.” He gave a deep chuckle. “Well, let’s fix that.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a stone the size of his palm. “Can’t have someone using Observe on you and figuring out who you are.” He held out the stone, which had a complex ward scheme etched on its surface.

I eyed it warily. “What’s that do?”

“It’s an apprentice stone.” He waved his other hand. “OId man has been on my ass for years now to take a protégé, so I figure why not get myself ‘the best of the best’, hah.”

I rolled my eyes as he quoted the same thing Emperor Raxus was so fond of saying.

“I’ll level faster if you let me keep my class.”

He grunted. “I don’t care if it’ll be easier for you, brat. Either you’ll hack it as my apprentice, or you won’t and I can dump you in a ditch and get on with my life.” I looked up sharply, and he grinned. “I saw some potential in you, but I’m not gonna baby you like back at the palace just because of who your daddy is.”

I scowled, slapping my hand down on the stone. “I don’t need to be babied.”

His smile grew wider. “Good.” He placed his other hand on top of mine. “I hereby offer to take you as my apprentice, to learn the skills of my class, until you grow strong enough to walk the path on your own.”

I felt the weight of the contract press against me, and I nodded once. “I accept.”

Your class has changed!

Prince class removed, Assassin class gained!

Exp parameters updated.

Title gained: ‘Prince of Nothing’. Would you like to equip this title?

I blinked in surprise, focusing on ‘Prince of Nothing’.

Prince of Nothing

Once a prince, always a prince. The bearer retains the experience requirements and stat-up experience bonuses of the ‘Prince’ class, regardless of actual class or subclasses equipped.

“Equip title,” I said.

“Oh?” The boss, who still hadn’t given me his name, leaned forward. “Observe.” I took my hand back as he read my updated class sheet. “Heh. Looks like you’ve got a bit more than potential.” His lips twisted into a mocking grin. “Blue bloods get everything handed to ‘em.”

Maybe if I’d only had this life to fall back on, I would have bristled. But really, he was right. Like I said, even as the low-tier prince, I still got the best education this world had to offer. I’d had access to private tutors, and training from a Knight Captain.

And a sister.

I’d find my way back to her before coronation. I made myself that promise then and there. Whatever it took.

But as for the boss’s comment, I just shrugged. “Guess I’ll just have to make sure all that luck doesn’t go to waste.”

He laughed again, but it was less mocking this time. “If you do that, then maybe you’ll actually be worth something after all.”

I nodded. “I will be,” I said.

“I will be.”