Quite a bit of Lore coming out in this chap. nearly 8k long lol. It might be a bit info dumpy in some parts, but at least it's done.
I've also been trying not to swear in this, literally just as a personal challenge.
///
After playing around a bit in the arctic wilds, Kierra did eventually return to the fortress city she believes to be Laptilla.
By the time she is flying back over the tall surrounding wall, the day is nearing its end.
She might have gotten a bit carried away playing with her Magic.
The original plan was to maybe play with a couple of Spells and then kill the rest of her hunt by just using Instant Death Magic. It's quick and easy and leaves the bodies in perfect condition for harvesting.
But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to only use one Spell, so she ended up trying out a bunch. Then she ended up forgetting about time and hunting way more Yetis than she was intending to.
She just didn't want to stop throwing around new Spells~. It's so fun~.
If she wasn't already incredibly prideful of her ability as a Mage, then she might have been worried about developing an ego from the power at her fingertips.
But, even if she feels like she's repeating herself by thinking this, you don't put 50,000 hours in a single game while being normal.
The street is still pretty busy by the time she is coming in for a landing near the Adventurer's Guild—which is thankfully still where she remembers it being.
However, as she is looking for a nice, out of the way alley to dispel her invisibility in, she is forced to do a double take when she sees herself walking down the street.
A closer look quickly reveals that the doppelganger in question is actually just a pretty poor imitation of her.
First of all, they're as tall as her statue and busty to match. Secondly, the marks around the eyes are a bit off and the horns are too small—aaand on closer inspection the horns aren't even real. They're props.
Lastly, Kierra doesn't think she has ever worn anything that skimpy on her avatar.
That one beach episode doesn't count. She doesn't know how her friends convinced her to do that.
Floating above the imposter, Kierra watches as the stranger's face lights up looking in the near distance. A moment later and she is watching as her doppelganger runs up to and hugs someone else dressed up as one of her friends. Yeveline, the Elf of the Party.
The hell is going on here?
"Oh my gosh your 'kova looks so good! Where did you get those horns!?" The lady imitating Yeveline practically gushes over her fellow imposter.
A moment later and Kierra's brain feels like it's melting from the excited chatter rapidly shared between these two friends.
Apparently, today is the day of some festival or other and for some reason, some people want to dress up as her Party. Context clues tells Kierra that it seems her Party have become renown Heroes.
She does have the Title, so it makes sense if she doesn't think about it to hard
She has also learned that there is what basically amounts to a cosplay shop in this city that sells fake non-human attachments. It sounds too 'furry' to her so she thinks she'll stay away from all of that.
Furries are scary, they have sex and carry guns.
Kierra doesn't know much about furries.
Also, why is her name the only one getting shortened? They use Yeveline's full name but shorten hers to 'kova? The hell? Does she have bad karma? First the statue and now the name, does nobody respect her?
Well, whatever. No point in theorising when she was always planning on getting answers a minute ago anyway.
However, now that she knows people are dressing up as her, she has had a fun idea to improve her plan.
Is this idea even an improvement? Technically, yes. If you squint.
More importantly however, it is funny.
With that in mind, Kierra spins around on her staff and flies the way of the Guild once more.
[Fly] and [Invisibility] are both 7th Tier Spells, and she's here with loot from 10th Tier monsters, so she changes her mind about dismissing the invisibility out of sight, feeling that it's pointless.
It'd be like if a normal person started and won a bar fight outnumbered and then tried to tell you he was a pacifist.
Not that she's using [Invisibility], but a moth can only assume that the sun is another lamp simply because it is too lowly to fathom anything greater. Same concept here.
So, still seated on her staff, oversized frumpy hat drooping enough to cover her eyes, Kierra simply dispels [Perfect Unknowable] and flies down at a sedate speed.
She attracts attention almost immediately, and the random people looking up prompts more people to see what the fuss is about.
Most people avert their attention and go back to their business after taking in the sight for a bit, and she doesn't fail to notice how those that keep their attention on her mostly seem to have some manner of badge on their chests.
Going by the colours, she assumes they're adventurers. Weak ones though.
Her descent stops with her toes hanging a foot off the ground, which still puts her below eye level to the average man. That thought makes her smile inside, even if her avatar doesn't change expression.
Being small was a part of the aesthetic, so she doesn't mislike it. Teeny tiny ancient Demon Witch Kierra~!
Nobody tries to get in her way as she floats into the building. The brim of her hat takes up most of the open double door as she passes.
The inside at least is about how she remembers it.
The majority of the room is basically a tavern. Tables, chairs, booze in olde timey tankards. On the far right is the quest board and on the far left is the stairs to the upper rooms.
She takes the time to observe it all as she meanders her way to the counters at the opposite end of the room from the door.
Her hat naturally has an Enchantment that lets her see through the brim, allowing her to see the room when no one else can even see her eyes. It is very useful.
Kierra is kind of disappointed by what she sees.
She obviously won't be so incautious as to dismiss the possibility of someone hiding their aura from her. It shouldn't be too hard since she's only using her Passive senses right now and not any Skills.
Still, one of her Passives lets her see magical auras. It's not necessarily a measure of strength. Just how much mana a person has. She's known people and NPCs both that have been incredibly powerful even with low mana pools.
One Player comes to mind who put everything into WIS to focus on mana regen instead of total amount. He was actually a pretty good fight in PvP until she figured out her own infinite mana trick. He did inspire her to do so though, so she won't knock him.
She reaches the front counter before she can continue getting lost in thought. There are four women standing behind the counter. Two are busy so she moves to one of the free receptionists. A young blonde woman. Very homely looking. Oh, Human too. It's kind of weird that she's going to have to start noting that.
"Hello, Miss Witch, my name is Lisa, how may I help you today?" The receptionist, Lisa, asks. Going for cheery but only making it halfway. I get it though. Customer service is rough.
Kierra isn't a Witch, well, not anymore, but she is dressed like one, so she won't bother trying to correct the Title. It's not like it really makes a difference. She is The Mage after all, she can play the role of any Magical Class she wants.
"Do you still buy monster parts here?" The wording here is important.
Lisa tilts her head at her question, but answers as dutifully as is her job.
"Yes, though if you aren't a registered Adventurer then the Guild will take a 10% tax on sales. If you are a registered–"
"I'm not," Kierra cuts her off. "I would like to sell some monster parts and book a consultation, if possible."
"A consultation?" Lisa seems surprised, and Kierra can figure why when the lady's eyes rake over her very clearly high quality equipment. "We certainly do yes, in fact, we encourage it for new Adventurers, though most choose to ignore that encouragement. Do you want to–"
"I don't." Cutting this lady off for a second time kind of makes her feel bad. "Sorry for interrupting you, Lisa. I am an Elf, and I haven't been to Laptilla in many years. It has changed a lot, and I am very much out of the loop. I just need to get caught up, I'm not interested in becoming an Adventurer."
Kierra even 'proves' it by lifting her hat enough at one side to show a long pointy ear. Demons typically have ears somewhere in-between the long Elves and normal Humans. She should probably stop thinking of Human as normal actually. But she made her avatar in a character creation screen, so her ears are like an Elf's anyway.
More relevantly, Elves live even longer than Demons, so she has a greater margin to work with or whatever number she wants to come up with for how long she's been away.
As for joining the Adventurer's Guild, that will never happen. The Adventurer's Guild is just another Guild after all. Worse, it's basically a Government too.
Kierra already has her own Guild, though she has no idea how much of it is still standing. But as Guildmaster, it would be absurd for her to join another Guild. An insult to her friends.
"Oh," Lisa's eyes light up with understanding, as if a puzzle she did not understand suddenly became clear. "I see. In that case, if you will just wait a moment, both can be done immediately?"
A nod wouldn't be seen under her hat, so Kierra dips her entire staff in imitation of one.
Lisa stares for a second before leaving with a quietly muttered, "Cute."
Indeed. What's it called, Gap Moe? Kierra is only half sure she understands the phrase right, so she's not sure if she counts or not. Is a small, cute girl Gap Moe if she has a nuke in her pocket? She was too busy gaming to be a weeb, so she doesn't know.
Lisa returns before she can figure an answer to the question and dutifully leads her up the stairs.
"Mr Lynsil has been working here for longer than I've been alive," Lisa chuckles lightly at the thought but quickly continues, "And I'm pretty sure he was here a hundred years ago, so I'm sure he'll be able to answer any question you have."
"I see. Thank you." Kierra notes the weird emphasis placed on he 'a hundred years ago' bit but doesn't think too hard about it. It's not like she'll be able to figure it out.
It's also kind of crazy that everyone is just taking in stride the fact that she is riding in on a floating stick. No on has even questioned it.
They soon reach the right room, and Lisa knocks twice before opening it and beckoning her inside. Kierra floats in without a word.
"Miss Witch to see you, Mr Lynsil," Lisa says before sending a short bow Kierra's way and leaving, closing the door behind her.
Kierra's attention then turns back to the room, quickly spotting this Mr Lynsil. She is only mildly surprised to find that he is a Demon like her, having expected an Elf by the name.
He is an old man, though age certainly hasn't been hard on him. He stands tall and his skin doesn't droop with wrinkles. The only part of him that really looks old is the head full of wispy grey hair.
She notices that he is studying her as much as she is him, though he obviously can't see as much. Or perhaps what he can see is enough to make certain assumptions.
Without really thinking about it, Kierra's eyes flicker up to the man's horns. She immediately notes that they are straight, jutting out from the front of his forehead. The sign of Commoner blood in the Demon races.
You can generally tell how noble a Demon is by how curved their horns are and by how far back on the head they start. Kierra's own horns for instance denote Royalty.
Oh crap, is she a Princess now?
Her thoughts are interrupted by the old coot letting out a gentle chuckle.
"I see you are well learned in Demonic culture, Miss Elf," he says genially, bringing a hand up to touch his horns as he des so. How the hell did he know she was looking at that? As if he heard her, he continues, "You develop a sixth sense for this sort of thing eventually."
"Ah, I don't mean any offence."
"And I am not offended," he smiles placatingly. It's kind of weird honestly.
While Demons aren't mindless brutes like monsters or anything, it would still be a lie to say that they're as peaceful by nature as, say, an Elf.
Some Beastmen are worse as well, but generally, Demons aren't so nice. But again, there is a difference between not being nice and actively being mean. Demons are still a sapient species like Humanity.
"Would you like to sit?" The friendly Demon offers a hand to the sofa opposite him as he takes a seat of his own.
She accepts and floats over, dropping herself into the cushions and leaving her staff over her lap.
"I was informed you are here for a consultation and to sell monster parts. Would you like to do the latter first, as it should only take a moment?"
She nods her head, though she isn't sure if he could tell. But he hasn't asked her to take her hat off, so she isn't going to. "Sure."
Now, the first test. What's the situation with inventory. Is it just her, or does everyone have the same system? In the Lore, it was explained that the system is basically the consciousness of Magic itself in reality and that was why it was available to everyone.
With that in mind, Kierra starts pulling out bits of Yeti and piling them on the table.
She only brings out the loot from the first 4 she killed. She doesn't actually care about the money after all. The whole hunting thing was just an excuse. She plans to go to the bank later to see if she still has access to her vast wealth.
"Hmm, I see. High Yeti? Quite an impressive hunt you have had, Miss Elf." Lynsil quickly goes about examining everything with a critical eye as he mutters to himself. "Expertly harvested, a Skill? Perfectly preserved, very good. Ah, don't feel the need to answer any of these questions, I'm just talking to myself."
"Hm." She wasn't planning to. Not unless she was directly asked. More importantly, Lynsil didn't react to her use of her inventory, and even pulled a cute little magnifying glass out of nowhere. So she can safely assume that [Inventory] isn't anything special.
He wasn't wrong about it not taking long. Maybe twenty minutes pass before he is done examining it all. She passes the time easily enough by getting lost in the endless list of Spell formulae dancing around in the back of her brain.
"These are all in excellent condition, and as it happens, High Yeti are rarely hunted these days, so there is a good market for them," Lynsil says, pulling her from her thought experiment about attaching a [Flashbang] Spell and a [Darkness] Spell to a [Wind Vortex] Spell in order to make a truly crazy strobe light.
Seeing her not responding, Lynsil continues, "All together, I can fairly price these at 12 Platinum and 6 Gold. Deducting the tax for non-Adventurers and I can buy these parts from you for 11 Platinum, 3 Gold and 4 Silver. Is this acceptable?"
Holy crap that's like barely anything. If that's what all this goes for, then she really hopes she still has access to her bank account, because she must be stupidly rich.
"It's fine," she responds, fulfilling the transaction. A moment later and she is tucking a pouch of barely any coin away in her inventory.
"Now," Lynsil begins again once he has finished tucking all of the parts he just bought away, some in various draws and some in his own inventory. Presumably so they don't spoil. "Lisa informed me that you have not visited Laptilla in many years. Would you be willing to give me a more clear picture of your situation so that I may better know what pertinent information you might be lacking?"
"Sure. A while ago, I made myself a small home in the mountains to the North. I don't have an exact number for how long ago, but this city was maybe one seventh its current size when I last saw it. I wanted to be isolated so that I could focus on my Magical experiments. Now, I am done with them but find myself lost in a world that looks the same whilst being completely unrecognisable."
Witches are the most likely Class of Mage to isolate themselves in the middle of nowhere for the sake of doing experiments in peace, and Elves can easily lose track of the years and find themselves in foreign worlds. So her explanation should be believable enough. She doubts it's the first time this sort of thing has happened exactly as she described it.
"Hmm, I see, I see. It has been many years indeed. To still appear so young after so much time, you must be quite the impressive Witch, Miss Elf. Though, I suppose that much is clear from the bounty of your hunt."
She's waiting for him to ask her her name, yet he seems adamant not to. She doesn't really care either way. Miss Elf or Miss Kierra or Miss Witch, what does it really matter what he calls her? So long as a word can be understood to refer to a person or object, then it functions as a name.
"I'm young at heart," Kierra absently speaks into the silence, getting a polite chuckle out of the old man.
"Indeed, aren't we all?" She watches as his amusement fades back into a professional smile as he continues, "Now, one last question so that I know where to start. Did you go into your isolation before, or after the Party of Heroes brought an end to the Age of Blood, and the beginning of the Age of Peace?"
"Eh?" The hell is he talking about right now? Age of Blood?
"Ah, I see." Lynsil makes a face like everything now makes sense, and his tone even turns somewhat sympathetic. "In that case, the world must truly seem strange to you, Miss Elf. Allow me to start from the beginning then."
Kierra nods for him to continue, while inwardly she finds some amusement in the thought that she has basically just triggered a cutscene. So much for the game becoming real, she thinks with a snort,
Naturally, her face expresses none of this. Just the same small, aloof smile.
"As I am sure you are aware, long ago, the Mythical Era came to an end by the hand of the Lich King Menethas Lietzsche. Better known as the Original Cataclysm. Then came the Age of Darkness, followed by the Age of Enlightenment, wherein the Second Cataclysm emerged. The Lich King's favoured Apprentice, or daughter, depending on the version of the the story you favour."
Kierra very carefully ensures that she doesn't give a single reaction when Lynsil abruptly names one of her Titles. She hadn't really comprehended it yet, but if her avatar is real, then that would make all of her Lore real too, wouldn't it?
If she was still a Human, she is sure she would be sweating buckets right now. Luckily, Demons do not sweat. They just get really really hot.
This Mythical Era that Lynsil mentioned seems to just be the closed alpha she was in over a decade ago. As for that Lich King, Kierra herself can kind of be blamed for that. Since she spent so much time in game, she became one of the Dev's favourite play testers and ended up befriending a couple of them.
As it happens, after the closed alpha ended, alongside all of her notes about the game and any bugs and stuff she found, she also made a suggestion. With her insane new INT stat augmenting her brain, she remembers the message she sent them with perfect clarity.
"There aren't enough people for good PvP, so there's no one to fight. Can you add a Boss? Like an evil Lich King or something? Those are cool. Could make it an event for the whole alpha. Players versus the evil Lich King. It'd be good to see how your engine handles so many Players fighting in the same area."
...Whoops? In her defence, it really was just a game. There's nothing weird about wanting more Boss fights in a game. How was she supposed to know there was multiverse shenanigans going on? Assuming that this world is a result of the whole, infinite possibilities equalling certainties thing.
If anything is possible, then everything becomes certain.
And she isn't the Lich King's daughter. This 'Age of Enlightenment' he mentioned would probably be the closed beta. She managed to become a Queen during that. Then, when the open beta came out, she decided it would be cool if the Lich King's Apprentice took up his Staff and tore down the Kingdom that she literally just got finished building a few months prior. Relatively speaking.
"Now, those two are ancient history," Lynsil continues, not having noticed the many thoughts that flew through her mind in the time it took him to take a breath. "However, nearly two hundred years ago now, a Third Cataclysm was born. And then a Fourth, a Fifth, Sixth, all the way up to Ninth. For over a century, seven Cataclysms ravaged the world, bringing about untold destruction, wiping entire cities off of the map and almost bringing about the end of all life as we know it."
Yeah.. That checks out.
Cataclysms get their name because they are scary. The Lich King was pretty weak by her current standards, but at the time he was twice the level cap. It took literally everyone in the open alpha plus all the NPCs working together to beat him.
She was similar during the beta, having the advantage of experience over the new players as well as some Legacy equipment from the Lich King. She turned her entire former Kingdom into a ruin of Undeath.
As for the seven that were in the main game? Yeah, they were messed up. Lore-wise, Vielduine was the strongest of them, and he reduced at least one major city to naught but ash.
The weakest of them was yet another Lich, and she feels kind of bad about it because he was the NPC she made in the beta. So technically the Sixth Cataclysm was her Apprentice. And, now that she thinks about it, the Fifth is kind of her fault too, since his Lore comes from a joke she made in the closed beta that the Devs kept around. So... Whoops and whoops again, I guess?
But despite being the weakest of them, The Sixth still had the might of roughly three Kingdoms combined and a truly gargantuan army of Undead.
Sadly for him, massive armies of weak monsters is like a buffet for Players. There is little a Mage can enjoy more than blasting the hell out of an endless tide of zombies, so he didn't last long against the 'enthusiasm' of the Players.
Still, as a game, it was amazing. But just thinking about living in a world with those seven Cataclysms running around... That must have been seriously terrifying.
"I am familiar with the Third and Fourth Cataclysms," Kierra interjects. She knows that the first two of the seven came quite a bit earlier than the rest, so it seems like a good time to inject her fake story.
"I see. Well, after the other five came, it seemed as if it was the end of the world. All the nations gathered together could barely contend against one of them, let alone all seven. However, they say that it is in times of adversity that great men make themselves known, and that is indeed what happened. When we were at our most desperate, the Party of Heroes appeared and slew a Cataclysm with just the six of them, a feat many thought impossible."
Kierra is starting to see where this is going, and she doesn't think she likes it. Actually, she immediately changes her mind. She likes it a lot. Being a part of the Lore has always been cool to her, except for when it was embarrassing. Stupid Devs thinking they're funny.
"If you have been in isolation all this time, then you should definitely remember their names, for they are greatly important to the people of today. In no particular order, the Party of Heroes consisted of Yeveline Moonlight, an Elven Druid. Grognak, an Orcish Warrior. Osori Mihae, a Human Warrior. Flynn Rider, Rogue, Human. Jorm, another Human, Ranger. And lastly, the leader of the Party, Kierra Kalashnikova, a Demonic Mage."
It is as she suspected.
So, she and her friends are all Legendary Heroes? Isn't that kind of cool? Does it make up for kinda sorta being responsible for a few of said Cataclysms? Probably not.
On the bright side, Kierra's Lore is absolutely amazing now. Seriously, Kierra Kalashnikova is such a dang cool character! Is it weird to fangirl over herself in this situation? Probably. Won't stop her though.
Also, she tries not to show any reaction to the names Lynsil listed out. Not because just hearing the names of her friends will make her flinch or anything.
It's just that this is real life now. Which means that their names are all real now.
Perhaps someone who hasn't, oh she doesn't know, played a video game ever in their life, might not see the big deal. But the thing with that is that even in roleplaying games like this, there are still people who name their characters dumb stuff like 'IMolestHatsuneMiku'.
Which sucks for her—Kierra she means, though that must suck for Hatsune Miku too—because that means that now she is going to have to just deal with the fact that she will be hearing people call Jorm Jorm, not knowing that that is just a nickname.
His character's actual name is 'Your Mom Calls Me Daddy', which is not the kind of name a normal person should have in a real world. Since it's such a mouthful, everyone just combined the 'Your Mom' part into Jorm and left it at that. Apparently the NPCs picked up on that.
The only other name issue that will probably leave her trying not to react to hearing it at some point is Grognak. Because his character's full name is 'Grognak The Destroyer, Attorney at Law, Esquire, MD'. Apparently it's a reference to some ancient show or something, he wasn't clear about the details because he constantly spoke like a caveman.
God she hated him so damn much, just thinking about him is pissing her off he was so damn annoying.
"I see," Kierra says, her voice as aloof as ever and not showing a hint of her internal thoughts. "And I suppose this Party of Heroes defeated the remaining Cataclysms as well?"
"Indeed they did," Lynsil confirms with a smile and a nod. "They were the greatest of their respective disciplines that the world has ever seen. I myself got the chance to see them in person once, and let me tell you, it was truly awe inspiring to see. Especially Lady Kalashnikova, though perhaps I am bias on that front."
She hopes he's not saying that to hint that he knows he's talking to said 'Hero'. She decides to assume he isn't.
"Because she is a Demon?" Kierra asks, mostly to be polite but also just a little bit because she wants to hear the reason.
Surprising her, Lynsil shakes his head negative.
"That is only part of it," he admits, his eyes falling into the middle distance, lost in memories. "It is a little known fact that Kierra Kalashnikova was actually born as a Commoner as well. But through her own efforts, she managed to rise all the way to Royalty. It is..." Lynsil's head dips low, old emotions pulling at him. "It was inspiring," he decides. "Perhaps it is silly, but it was as if she was telling me that we could rise. That it was possible for even a Commoner like me to become someone, and I know that I was not the only Demon to feel this way."
Kierra... She doesn't know what to say.
She was just a dumb loser with an ego playing a stupid game with her friends instead of going outside and falling in love or whatever. She might have been amazing at the game, but that was all she really had. Beyond that, she was no one special. No one at all.
So to suddenly be faced with such sincere admiration...
It's different to the kind of admiration she received for her achievements in Free World Online. That was just people praising her for being good at a game. It was hardly deep.
But here, in this world? The Nobility of the Demon Race isn't like the other Races. You can't just get elected or whatever. Your place in society was entirely determined by your blood. Because your blood determined your strength. Demon Lords are all vastly superior to Demon Knights and Commoners and then Demon Kings are stronger still.
Lore-wise, nothing a Player does is impossible for an NPC to achieve, with the sole exception of respawning. Accessing the [Menu] too, she supposes.
Which is to say that it is not impossible for a Demon to raise the quality of their blood. If they train hard enough, long enough. If they are talented enough, lucky enough. Then it is not impossible.
But in practice? It's more like a theoretical option that only happens by virtue of outlier data.
When she was playing the game, she chose to be a Demon purely for the horns. She went from Commoner to Knight at level 500, then Knight to Lord at 1000. Lord to King at 1500 and then King to Emperor at 2000. Though, she had replaced such suffixes with Lichdom around when she was a Demon Lord, so it's more in the background than directly on her Status.
Obviously, when Free World Online was just a game, she didn't put any thought to any of this. Why would she? It's just a game. You level up and evolve and level up some more, no biggie. Why would she ever have considered what her advancement might have meant to the people of this world?
"Ah, my apologies," Lynsil coughs awkwardly, apparently having taken my silence as impatience or something. "Please forgive an old man for rambling, I did not mean to bother you with such things."
She doesn't respond right away. Not because she doesn't want to, but just because she can't decide on what to say.
"...It's fine," Kierra eventually settles on, just to break the awkward silence, but when Lynsil opens his mouth to keep talking, she finds herself speaking up again before he can, surprising herself. "I knew her. Kierra."
Damn it.
Lynsil's eyes widen a fraction as he looks at her with clear shock and some, other, indescribable emotion in his eyes that she feels rather uncomfortable to see directed her way.
This goes directly against her goal of subtlety, but whatever. It's not that big of a deal, and honestly?
She would probably hate herself if she said nothing here.
"You did?" He asks her, a fair mix of disbelieving and intrigued.
"Hm." She nods, still trying to think of what to say. Nothing comes to mind, so to avoid any more silence, she decides to screw it and just speak from the heart. "I did not know her as a Hero though. Just Kierra. So just... I want you to know, that if Kierra was here, she would be glad to see how you seem to have found happiness here. She—Kierra.. She would probably tell you how flattering it is for you to hold her in such high regard. Kierra... She always believed in freedom. She felt that Magic was her path to freedom, so she devoted herself to it entirely, but not everyone has the same path. So... I guess.. What I'm trying to say here. Is that as long as you dedicate yourself to finding, and more importantly living your own happiness, then she would be proud of you. I know, for a certainty, that she would be happy to be able to point your way and proudly say 'This is my kin. My brother of blood. This, is me.'"
A beat passes in silence, and Kierra has never in all her 9 hours of living been more glad that this body is even less expressive than her Human one. Else she'd probably be blushing up a storm right now.
God, this is so awkward, why did I say all that crap aaaaaahhh!! So embarrassing~! I wanna dieeeee!
Kierra's self loathing is cut short by the sharp sound of a single, forced sniff. To her absolute shock, she looks up to see Lynsil dapping at his damp eyes with a white piece of cloth.
Kierra's brain promptly bluescreens.
Her eyes watch without really computing as Lynsil takes his time composing himself. As if she just gave an actually inspiring speech or something instead of just her stupid NEET ramblings. Is her CHA stat cheating or something? That's gotta be it, right? Right?
"Ahem ahem." Now recomposed, Lynsil clears his throat and tucks his napkin back away into his inventory before returning his full attention to her. She dislikes the amount of positivity radiating from him. It's too much for an introvert like her.
"Miss Witch, I must once again apologise for losing control of myself. Additionally, thank you. Your words.. Just, thank you. I cannot express enough my gratitude. I feel... As if I can now truly be content with my life. Because I have found happiness here, a wife whom I adore and a growing son. It is.. It is incredibly relieving to learn more of Lady Kalashnikova. To know that she would not look down on me for my choices or my weakness. So thank you, for telling me this. You did not have to."
Kierra does an awkward half shrug that her avatar thankfully translates into a casual, careless gesture.
"It's fine. Since she was a Commoner too, it's the least I can do to pass on a message for her. And just call me Kette." She probably should have picked a random name instead of the one she used on her first account, but meh, no one knows it anyway. Anyone who did is bound to be dead, bar one, but he isn't exactly going to be going anywhere.
"You must have been quite close with Lady Kalashnikova indeed, Miss Kette. Hah, don't worry, I don't intend to pry. The last I will say on the subject is that it is nice to hear that she could still call a Commoner like me a brother, even when she stands as Royalty."
Kierra only doesn't shrug because she's done it too many times too recently and it'd look weird. So instead she did that thing where you half raise a hand in front of you, kind of like a shrug but just with one hand.
"Yeah well, Kierra never was one to put much stock in Governments, or implied authority in general really."
For some reason he seems to find that funny.
"Right then." Lynsil visibly shakes away the previous conversation, returning to his professional demeanour, even if he does not seem so stiff anymore. He smiles at her. "Where were we?"
"The Party of Heroes were defeating the Cataclysms."
"Ah yes, I remember now." She feels rather glad when he returns to his explanations, letting her move past that whole awkward encounter. "One by one, the Cataclysms fell to the Party of Heroes, and with them, the Kingdoms of the world could breath again. They could start retaking land and rebuilding what was destroyed. However, after defeating six Cataclysms in a row, the Heroes were left with only one foe remaining. The strongest of them, the Burning Apostle."
Lynsil's eyes harden with sorrow as he continues his story in a direction Kierra thinks she can predict.
"In the end, the Burning Apostle was too strong. While the Legendary Party of Heroes did manage to slay the mad God, such a victory came at great cost. For the first time, they suffered a tragic loss. Five of the Heroes have been confirmed as dead long ago via various Magical means. Only Kierra Kalashnikova's fate is unknown. But that battle was one hundred years ago, and she has not been seen since."
Damn. So she really won't be able to see her friends in this world, huh? That's kind of depressing. At least she knows that they aren't actually dead. That would be even more depressing.
"Which brings me to today," Lynsil continues. "Your timing is fortunate, Miss Kette, as it has been exactly one hundred years since the Heroes gave their lives to save us and bring about the Age of Peace. Today is the centennial celebration of 'Peace Day', where we honour the sacrifice of the Heroes and mourn and celebrate all those that lived and died fighting in the chaos of the Age of Blood."
Ahhhhhhhhhh. So that's why people were dressing up as us! Because we're the focus of the festival. That's kind of hilarious, I could totally walk outside in my usual outfit and people would just compliment me on the quality of it. After all, what's more likely, some brat got a really good outfit, or a century long disappeared Hero of Lore has abruptly shown up and is also 2 foot shorter than the statues.
Also, it's been a full century? Are her NPCs even still alive? Her Guild? Her bank account? Her fricking house!?! She only has Boss fight stuff on her right now! After all, you drop money and items when you die in Free World Online. So if you're gonna be running a Boss over and over like she was, then you leave everything in your inventory somewhere else, including your money. That's why he's broke right now.
But more importantly, all of her crap is in her basement! Oh God up in Heaven, please let my stuff have survived the century. At least my robe. Please please please, it's so important to me it's insane.
And wait a minute, if Lynsil has seen Kierra in person, then wouldn't he know that the statues are way too busty?
"As far as major events, that is all that I believe you will really need to know urgently," Lynsil says, cutting her thought short. "Of course, I would always suggest further reading, but all that really needs to be known is that the various Kingdoms have in the last century retaken and rebuilt most of the ravaged lands. Only some remnants of the Cataclysms prowling the untamed wilds still pose a present danger, but they are within the range that can be handled by the Kingdoms."
She assumes he means stuff like high level Undead summoned by her dearly departed wayward student. She still feels rather complicated about that. At least it's clear that no one knows about it, else they certainly wouldn't celebrate her.
Even without all the Cataclysmic stuff, just the fact that she is an Archlich would probably be enough to see her lynched. Liches do make up a whole third of all Cataclysms after all. That's why they're so important in the Lore, and why she can't let anyone know her true nature.
Well, not that it is likely anyone will really be able to do much about it. Not unless they have the strength of a Divine difficulty Cataclysm.
"Other than that, there are some things you should likely be made aware of. One is the recent advancement of Rune technology. You might have seen the tracks cutting through the city? They carry a row of large carriages at incredibly high speed and have made interkingdom trade much more viable. Lastly, not long after Peace Day, the Enchantments that automated the bank globally stopped working. Luckily, the world was still united at the time, so no issues came from that. Just don't be surprised if you visit the bank and find it full of tellers instead of doing everything automatically."
Tsk. That's annoying. How confidential does she think it is? If there are actual tellers, then she probably won' be able to make a withdrawal without showing at least one person proof of her identity. And what are the odds that he thinks she's just trying to scam the bank of a Legendary Mage's fortune?
Annoying.
Ah well, money isn't hard to get with her abilities. She'll figure it out eventually. Visiting her home near the capital is the priority right now. Assuming that the capital is still near her home, and that her home is still standing.
God she hopes it is.
"Are there any other urgent questions that you have, Miss Kette?" Meeting his eyes, the simple answer is no.
There's most likely a bunch of common sense stuff that she hasn't internalised, but honestly that isn't too big of a deal really. She can always just lie if need be. It's been working out pretty well for her so far.
"Just one," she decides after a moment of thought. Anything else she can learn later, she has plenty of time. For now, she kind of wants to go to bed. It's been a long day. "When is this festival going to start?"
He smiles at her, clearly misunderstanding her intentions.
"Normally it would be a few days off, but as this is the centennial celebration, everyone is going all out for this once in a lifetime experience. The celebrations will begin tomorrow and last for a full week. I expect that it will be quite rowdy."
Having now heard all she needs to hear, Kierra pushes herself to her feet. "Thank you for consulting me," she says as she falls back down, landing comfortably on her now floating staff. She's going to get so lazy with Magic available to her. "But I only asked so I could avoid it. I'm not one for festivals. Goodbye."
Too many people, too many extroverts. She'd rather stay inside and play with Magic, especially now that it is actually real.
"Wait!"
Kierra is pulled from her already drifting thoughts when Lynsil calls out to her once more, forcing her to turn back around from where she was leaving in order to face him. He is still seated, she notes, looking down at him from her floating position.
"Yes?"
He's staring at her weirdly again.
It is only a moment after that thought passes through her mind that she realises that he is staring her in the eye. He was standing when she entered and sat with her, so he obviously couldn't see under her hat with the height difference. But now that he is seated and she is floating...
"Y-your eyes," he stutters, almost whispering.
Dang.
"Tattoos." The excuse is weak after the stupid speech she gave, but she sticks to it. "Out of respect for my friend. I'm an Elf."
He doesn't respond for a second, but then his shock fades away and transforms into a truly glowing smile.
"Of course, Miss Elf," he says, though she isn't sure he believes her. "It was truly an honour to meet you once again."
Well damn. She really shouldn't have said that dumb speech. Without that, it would have been a lot easier to play her eye markings off as a tribute of some sort, or cosplay. That would certainly be more believable than the truth.
At least in any situation where she hasn't given a fricking speech about what Kierra Kalashnikova would feel. Idiot.
"We've never met," is her cold reply. Not that it seems to bring him down at all. "I'm just a passing Elf."
"Of course. My apologies, that was my mistake." He definitely doesn't believe her.
Haah~. Well, whatever. She doesn't think she has to worry about him telling anyone, so it's really no biggie. He would have to be incredibly dense to have not gotten the hint to keep his mouth shut, and what kind of idiot would dare to cross the Legendary leader of the Party of Heroes?
Thus assured, Kierra spins on her staff and floats out of the room, feeling her mood immediately brighten when she uses Magic to fling the doors open without touching them.
Because Magic is cool like that.
///
Damien Lynsil
///
After another long day at work, Lynsil makes his way home with a skip in his step. Ever since his consultation with Lady Kette, his mood has not fallen. He feels as if he is once more an excitable child. Rearing to fight. To prove that he was something. That he existed.
Only... He does not need to fight to prove that, does he?
As long as he can pursue his own happiness, then he has already won. The acknowledgement of those that stand above him is irrelevant in the face of she who stands at the top.
Because—he opens the door to his home and is swiftly greeted by rapid staccato of feet slapping against the floor, and a moment later, his son crashes into his legs with a scream of "Papa!"
Hefting his child, little Kyrria, up and into his arms, Lynsil is then greeted by his beloved wife. An Elf that has treated him wonderfully even as he has aged passed her.
"You seem to be in a pleasant mood, Dear. Did something good happen?" She asks him as she greets him home with a chaste kiss.
He just smiles at her. Feeling all of his love for her overflow. It's a fight to keep the tears in, but he doesn't want to cry in front of his boy.
He's just...
"No," he answers after a long moment. Smiling softly as he embraces his family, content in the now certain knowledge that the life he has built is one to be proud of. "I just met a passing Elf."
///