I chatted with Samantha for a short while. She was overjoyed to see me, and she even showed me her collection of rare dolls. After that, I returned to Whispering Waters, where I told the girls to prepare for tomorrow, which would be a day of dungeon diving.
Team B would accompany me into the Vaulted Ceiling, while Team A would do their best to clear the desert floor of the Underground Forest.
After waking up, I enjoyed a light breakfast with Maria. Then I visited the Soulful Doll to push my stats up higher.
Soul Level: 45 -> 47
Strength: 25
Intelligence: 2 -> 4
Agility: 7 + 3
Endurance: 2
Vigor: 3
Mind: 3
Luck: 2
Soulcores Required for Next Level: 3200 (12)
“I think I met one of your friends, earlier,” I said to the Soulful Doll.
It glared at me with its usual horror-movie smile. “Is that so?”
“He said he was a high priest. He couldn’t remember his own name, though.”
“I’m afraid my memories of that time have atrophied.” The Soulful Doll blinked in a creepy way. “I don’t remember ever having had any friends, or even a family.”
That sounded so sad. Perhaps it was the curse of immortality. Your life outlives your memories.
“But…” The doll closed her eyes. “I do have these… emotions. Vague feelings of a time long, long ago.”
“Are they positive emotions?”
The doll did not answer. It simply kept its eyes closed, as if basking in those feelings.
I decided to let it be. Feeling much smarter from the power up, I visited Ruby.
“I’ve done it,” she said while standing behind the counter of her shop. “I’ve crafted elite gear for everyone.”
She displayed the elite gear on hangers. They looked like something only nobles would wear. I touched the sleeve of one of the shirts; it was softer than silk. They were all patterned, too, like the brocade I’d only seen worn by the richest people in this world.
I gave Ruby a kiss. “I knew you could do it.”
“Thank you for believing in me, Remy. From the very beginning.”
“What matters is that you believed in yourself, Ruby.”
“You helped me do that.” She smiled.
“So what does this elite gear actually do, aside from look really stylish?”
“When you wear both the pants and shirt, it doubles your highest three stats.”
I laughed. “You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”
Ruby shook her head. “I’m totally serious. Isn’t that such an awesome upgrade?”
I called the girls over. They took the clothes off the hangers and decked themselves out in elite gear. Sherry was even able to wear her Mana Thong beneath her elite dress. As for me, I replaced my Invisibility Clothes with the new elite set. They’d served me well, those clothes, but I’d finally found something better.
“You look like a princess!” Tara said to Filia.
“Oh stop it,” Filia replied. “We all look so regal, don’t we?”
Esme was helping Olana zip her shirt up from the back. The size of the buxom blonde’s chest wasn’t making it easy.
“How do you like yours?” I asked Ayla.
“Imagine if my former clients saw me wearing something like this,” she said with a grin. “They’d be shocked, wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t think so.” I gave her shoulder a light squeeze. “The intelligent ones would’ve seen it in you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you were a queen from the start. It just needed to manifest itself. At least, that’s what I believe.”
Ayla blushed. Meanwhile, Maria had put her shirt on backwards. Sherry was helping her get it on right.
Once the girls were ready, we assembled into our two teams. I made one change: I sent Ayla over to Team A. They probably needed a tank more than we did, and it would make the teams more even.
Ayla, Sherry, Filia, and Tara teleported to the desert floor of the Underground Forest, while Maria, Olana, Esme, and I teleported to the Vaulted Ceiling.
Immediately, we noticed that the whole place looked different. Darker. There were no stars in the sky. Instead, a purple, swirling vortex engulfed every stretch of the heavens. This strange maelstrom cast the entire Vaulted Ceiling in a somber hue.
“Shit,” I said. “What could it mean?”
“Maybe the ritual is beginning,” Maria replied.
“But I thought we had until New Year,” said Esme.
“Let’s hurry.” I cracked my knuckles.
We walked through a series of streets lined with massive glass structures. Then we found the staircase that led into the enormous glass castle. It took us ten minutes to ascend the stairs. To our surprise, there were no monsters lying in wait.
Finally, we reached the glass gate. It was too tall to jump over with our Leaping Shoes, and mounts didn’t work in the Vaulted Ceiling.
“Esme, how about you and I go into Ice Golem form?” I said. “That way, we can get on top.”
“But that will extinguish all my mana,” Esme replied.
“Maria can just replenish it,” I said.
Esme nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
I put down an orange bridging door, and we transformed into Ice Golems. Our limbs were now encased in ice. We flew upward and reached the top of the gate.
The ice around our limbs melted away as the Ice Golem form ended. We looked down at the courtyard below. It was filled with people. About half of them were women: the kidnapped curseborn, most likely. The other half were masked cultists.
The women knelt with their hands behind their backs. The cultists stood over them with their hands raised.
“We need to get down before we make the other side of the bridging door,” I said.
Esme nodded. “But we’re a long way up. How exactly will we get down without taking an insane amount of fall damage?”
“I have an idea.” I tossed the bridging orb into the courtyard far below us. It smashed to pieces once it hit the ground. Orange fog erupted from the debris, and the other side of the door appeared below.
“That helps the rest of our party,” Esme said. “But we’re still stuck here.”
“Or are we?” I made a fast travel point next to us.
Esme sighed. “Let me guess. We fast travel to the other fast travel point, then walk allll the way back here?”
I nodded. “Yup.” Even with my intelligence stat at 4, it was the best plan I could come up with.
We fast traveled back to the fast travel point from where we’d started today. We had to walk through the streets again and climb the massive set of stairs. But we rejoined the rest of the team soon enough.
“Next time, maybe think a few steps ahead.” Esme huffed from tiredness.
“We missed you,” Maria said. “Want me to cast Augmenting Rain?”
“Do it,” I replied.
The rain doused us and refilled Esme’s mana. Sadly, we wouldn’t be able to use Augmenting Rain again for today.
“Listen, the cultists are in the castle’s courtyard,” I said. “And so are the kidnapped curseborn. Be ready for absolutely anything.”
Everyone nodded. We ate some stat-boosting pastries that Maria had baked, then walked through the door.
We appeared in the courtyard. The area was quite large, so the cultists and the kidnapped curseborn didn’t notice us.
It was time to confront them. It was time to free the curseborn and bring them home.
The cultists finally noticed our presence as we were walking toward them. Each of them wore a robe and a mask. But their hands were exposed, along with their rings. That was how Leric had recognized Adam, after all.
“I am King Remy,” I said to them. “You have kidnapped citizens of my realm. I demand that you release them, without delay.”
One of the cultists stepped forward. He wore a black robe and a black, wooden mask.
“We don’t recognize your authority,” he said. “The only authority we follow is that of our lord, the Shadowsoul.”
“Then we’re going to have a problem.” I conjured my red sword. “You really want to die in this awful place?”
“This is a holy land, so why not?” black mask said. “Better to die here than in that wasteland you call a home.”
“Have it your way, then.” I raised my red lightblade for all to see. “I probably have higher stats than all of you combined, so get ready to get wrecked.”
Black mask chuckled. “Higher stats, yes. But the Outer Gods are with us. They have blessed our holy cause. Do you have the might to fight them, King Remy?”
Another man stepped forward. His mask and robe were brightly colored in red, white, and blue.
Olana recoiled as he approached.
“It’s Adam,” she whispered in my ear.
“You fucking wanker,” Adam said. “It was you who severed my bond, wasn’t it?”
“You did that yourself,” I replied, “by being an abusive piece of shit.”
“How fucking dare you?” Adam shook his head. “Doesn’t matter anymore, I suppose. I’m married to the Shadowsoul, now.”
I wanted to throw up. “Are you really guzzling the Kool Aid, Adam? Or are you just lusting after power?”
“The Shadowsoul is power,” Adam said. “You think soulbonds and stats and gear are what matter? I used to think that, too. Then I tasted the Shadowsoul’s blessing. It’s worth more than everything you have put together.”
I snickered. “Is that so? Well, let’s have a test of it, then. Us against all of you. I’ll wager everything I’ve got that we’ll win. I’ve slain plenty of Shadowsoul tethers, so I’m not afraid of anything you’ve got in your arsenal.”
“Famous fucking last words,” Adam said. “I’ll chisel them onto your tombstone.” He laughed the evilest laugh I’d ever heard, and I’d played a lot of JRPGs in my life.
Black mist surrounded all the cultists. That mist began to glow and spread, until the mists around each cultist joined together.
“What the fuck?” I back dashed to get some distance between them and myself.
Adam continued his maniacal laughter. “Ah. That feels so good. Enter me, Shadowsoul. I await your blessing and bounty.”
Was the Shadowsoul engulfing them all? Were they all about to turn into Shadowsoul tethers?
The curseborn women screamed as the mist darkened the air itself. And then the mist solidified into tentacles, the ends of each tentacle attaching onto the cultists.
“Something fucking awful is coming,” I said. “Get ready, everyone!”
I chatted with Samantha for a short while. She was overjoyed to see me, and she even showed me her collection of rare dolls. After that, I returned to Whispering Waters, where I told the girls to prepare for tomorrow, which would be a day of dungeon diving.
Team B would accompany me into the Vaulted Ceiling, while Team A would do their best to clear the desert floor of the Underground Forest.
After waking up, I enjoyed a light breakfast with Maria. Then I visited the Soulful Doll to push my stats up higher.
Soul Level: 45 -> 47
Strength: 25
Intelligence: 2 -> 4
Agility: 7 + 3
Endurance: 2
Vigor: 3
Mind: 3
Luck: 2
Soulcores Required for Next Level: 3200 (12)
“I think I met one of your friends, earlier,” I said to the Soulful Doll.
It glared at me with its usual horror-movie smile. “Is that so?”
“He said he was a high priest. He couldn’t remember his own name, though.”
“I’m afraid my memories of that time have atrophied.” The Soulful Doll blinked in a creepy way. “I don’t remember ever having had any friends, or even a family.”
That sounded so sad. Perhaps it was the curse of immortality. Your life outlives your memories.
“But…” The doll closed her eyes. “I do have these… emotions. Vague feelings of a time long, long ago.”
“Are they positive emotions?”
The doll did not answer. It simply kept its eyes closed, as if basking in those feelings.
I decided to let it be. Feeling much smarter from the power up, I visited Ruby.
“I’ve done it,” she said while standing behind the counter of her shop. “I’ve crafted elite gear for everyone.”
She displayed the elite gear on hangers. They looked like something only nobles would wear. I touched the sleeve of one of the shirts; it was softer than silk. They were all patterned, too, like the brocade I’d only seen worn by the richest people in this world.
I gave Ruby a kiss. “I knew you could do it.”
“Thank you for believing in me, Remy. From the very beginning.”
“What matters is that you believed in yourself, Ruby.”
“You helped me do that.” She smiled.
“So what does this elite gear actually do, aside from look really stylish?”
“When you wear both the pants and shirt, it doubles your highest three stats.”
I laughed. “You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”
Ruby shook her head. “I’m totally serious. Isn’t that such an awesome upgrade?”
I called the girls over. They took the clothes off the hangers and decked themselves out in elite gear. Sherry was even able to wear her Mana Thong beneath her elite dress. As for me, I replaced my Invisibility Clothes with the new elite set. They’d served me well, those clothes, but I’d finally found something better.
“You look like a princess!” Tara said to Filia.
“Oh stop it,” Filia replied. “We all look so regal, don’t we?”
Esme was helping Olana zip her shirt up from the back. The size of the buxom blonde’s chest wasn’t making it easy.
“How do you like yours?” I asked Ayla.
“Imagine if my former clients saw me wearing something like this,” she said with a grin. “They’d be shocked, wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t think so.” I gave her shoulder a light squeeze. “The intelligent ones would’ve seen it in you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you were a queen from the start. It just needed to manifest itself. At least, that’s what I believe.”
Ayla blushed. Meanwhile, Maria had put her shirt on backwards. Sherry was helping her get it on right.
Once the girls were ready, we assembled into our two teams. I made one change: I sent Ayla over to Team A. They probably needed a tank more than we did, and it would make the teams more even.
Ayla, Sherry, Filia, and Tara teleported to the desert floor of the Underground Forest, while Maria, Olana, Esme, and I teleported to the Vaulted Ceiling.
Immediately, we noticed that the whole place looked different. Darker. There were no stars in the sky. Instead, a purple, swirling vortex engulfed every stretch of the heavens. This strange maelstrom cast the entire Vaulted Ceiling in a somber hue.
“Shit,” I said. “What could it mean?”
“Maybe the ritual is beginning,” Maria replied.
“But I thought we had until New Year,” said Esme.
“Let’s hurry.” I cracked my knuckles.
We walked through a series of streets lined with massive glass structures. Then we found the staircase that led into the enormous glass castle. It took us ten minutes to ascend the stairs. To our surprise, there were no monsters lying in wait.
Finally, we reached the glass gate. It was too tall to jump over with our Leaping Shoes, and mounts didn’t work in the Vaulted Ceiling.
“Esme, how about you and I go into Ice Golem form?” I said. “That way, we can get on top.”
“But that will extinguish all my mana,” Esme replied.
“Maria can just replenish it,” I said.
Esme nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
I put down an orange bridging door, and we transformed into Ice Golems. Our limbs were now encased in ice. We flew upward and reached the top of the gate.
The ice around our limbs melted away as the Ice Golem form ended. We looked down at the courtyard below. It was filled with people. About half of them were women: the kidnapped curseborn, most likely. The other half were masked cultists.
The women knelt with their hands behind their backs. The cultists stood over them with their hands raised.
“We need to get down before we make the other side of the bridging door,” I said.
Esme nodded. “But we’re a long way up. How exactly will we get down without taking an insane amount of fall damage?”
“I have an idea.” I tossed the bridging orb into the courtyard far below us. It smashed to pieces once it hit the ground. Orange fog erupted from the debris, and the other side of the door appeared below.
“That helps the rest of our party,” Esme said. “But we’re still stuck here.”
“Or are we?” I made a fast travel point next to us.
Esme sighed. “Let me guess. We fast travel to the other fast travel point, then walk allll the way back here?”
I nodded. “Yup.” Even with my intelligence stat at 4, it was the best plan I could come up with.
We fast traveled back to the fast travel point from where we’d started today. We had to walk through the streets again and climb the massive set of stairs. But we rejoined the rest of the team soon enough.
“Next time, maybe think a few steps ahead.” Esme huffed from tiredness.
“We missed you,” Maria said. “Want me to cast Augmenting Rain?”
“Do it,” I replied.
The rain doused us and refilled Esme’s mana. Sadly, we wouldn’t be able to use Augmenting Rain again for today.
“Listen, the cultists are in the castle’s courtyard,” I said. “And so are the kidnapped curseborn. Be ready for absolutely anything.”
Everyone nodded. We ate some stat-boosting pastries that Maria had baked, then walked through the door.
We appeared in the courtyard. The area was quite large, so the cultists and the kidnapped curseborn didn’t notice us.
It was time to confront them. It was time to free the curseborn and bring them home.
The cultists finally noticed our presence as we were walking toward them. Each of them wore a robe and a mask. But their hands were exposed, along with their rings. That was how Leric had recognized Adam, after all.
“I am King Remy,” I said to them. “You have kidnapped citizens of my realm. I demand that you release them, without delay.”
One of the cultists stepped forward. He wore a black robe and a black, wooden mask.
“We don’t recognize your authority,” he said. “The only authority we follow is that of our lord, the Shadowsoul.”
“Then we’re going to have a problem.” I conjured my red sword. “You really want to die in this awful place?”
“This is a holy land, so why not?” black mask said. “Better to die here than in that wasteland you call a home.”
“Have it your way, then.” I raised my red lightblade for all to see. “I probably have higher stats than all of you combined, so get ready to get wrecked.”
Black mask chuckled. “Higher stats, yes. But the Outer Gods are with us. They have blessed our holy cause. Do you have the might to fight them, King Remy?”
Another man stepped forward. His mask and robe were brightly colored in red, white, and blue.
Olana recoiled as he approached.
“It’s Adam,” she whispered in my ear.
“You fucking wanker,” Adam said. “It was you who severed my bond, wasn’t it?”
“You did that yourself,” I replied, “by being an abusive piece of shit.”
“How fucking dare you?” Adam shook his head. “Doesn’t matter anymore, I suppose. I’m married to the Shadowsoul, now.”
I wanted to throw up. “Are you really guzzling the Kool Aid, Adam? Or are you just lusting after power?”
“The Shadowsoul is power,” Adam said. “You think soulbonds and stats and gear are what matter? I used to think that, too. Then I tasted the Shadowsoul’s blessing. It’s worth more than everything you have put together.”
I snickered. “Is that so? Well, let’s have a test of it, then. Us against all of you. I’ll wager everything I’ve got that we’ll win. I’ve slain plenty of Shadowsoul tethers, so I’m not afraid of anything you’ve got in your arsenal.”
“Famous fucking last words,” Adam said. “I’ll chisel them onto your tombstone.” He laughed the evilest laugh I’d ever heard, and I’d played a lot of JRPGs in my life.
Black mist surrounded all the cultists. That mist began to glow and spread, until the mists around each cultist joined together.
“What the fuck?” I back dashed to get some distance between them and myself.
Adam continued his maniacal laughter. “Ah. That feels so good. Enter me, Shadowsoul. I await your blessing and bounty.”
Was the Shadowsoul engulfing them all? Were they all about to turn into Shadowsoul tethers?
The curseborn women screamed as the mist darkened the air itself. And then the mist solidified into tentacles, the ends of each tentacle attaching onto the cultists.
“Something fucking awful is coming,” I said. “Get ready, everyone!”
