Soulforge Legacy Series

After the video call with the gods ended time seemed to stutter and jump. What felt like a moment took eons while other times hours seemed to zip by. Eventually though, reality forced me back into the present.

Slowly the body in my arms grew lighter as tiny motes of golden white lights floated away. Blown through the hole in the roof that one of our attacks had created. My eyes tracked each and every one, all the while ignoring the rushed footsteps and yells that erupted around me.

It wasn’t until his body was gone, as the last part turned into a pair of star bright specks against the ever brightening sky. Then they too vanished.

Of course, the moment they were out of sight, a window superimposed itself into view. A shower of fireworks blocked my view at the same time as a fanfare of noise blared in my sensitive ears.

The fireworks parted to reveal the now golden framed window. And it wasn’t the only thing about the window that was overdone. Everything from the font to the message itself spoke of how ostentatious the gods could be when they wanted to be.

!Planetary Announcement!

Lance Fenris Lupin of clan Lupin has died. His death has moved the hearts and minds of the Gods as well as the System itself. He showed that, even if one is from another world, one person can make a difference. As such, the Gods have granted the system permission to extend the choice of coming back from the dead to every intelligent creature on Paradox.

As a further boon, Lance Fenris Lupin of clan Lupin will be the first offered this choice.

Rejoice, for death need not be the end!

A second screen forced the previous screen to the side before I could close it.

Death comes for everyone, even those who think themselves immortal.

-Death

While I didn’t know if the second message was sent to everyone, the Reapers message was clear. No matter how many times you came back, he would claim your soul. Well, the automation that he used would take care of it for him, but semantics.

Oddly enough, the hollow ache in my chest was no longer as empty as before. Not back to what it was, but no longer completely devoid of whatever it was. Which probably meant that he chose to come back to life. Well, that or the pain diminished on its own.

While I could hope for the latter, I wouldn’t begrudge him for choosing the former. Either way, I wouldn’t search for him or his family. Sure, he chose to save him, but that wasn’t enough. Not to make up for what he did. What he allowed to happen.

So, I would leave him alone. To let him live out his life. And maybe, just maybe, if we ever reincarnated, things could be different.

With a huff of pained resignation, I stood up. These people were not going to be able to get themselves out of here. Not if there were other guards to deal with.

Though, judging by how many of them were stripping the guards, maybe they wouldn’t be as defenseless as I thought. Which was a good thing. It wasn’t like I, or anyone else, would be there to help them next time. Even this time I was only here by coincidence.

“We need to get going,” one of the surviving priests yelled from what was left of the front door. “Before the guards who got away come back with reinforcements.” As I stepped in his direction, I gave him a once over.

He was young. Almost too young to be fighting for his life. But that was just my opinion. Even on Earth, history has kids fighting wars all the time. And not just the older wars. It happened in every war.

Still, the kid was right. It would be best to get out of here. Before anything came to stop us. Sure, I could kill them, but the fight would be over too fast and not worth any sort of experience for me. Especially with that damned debuff still hanging over my head. The same one that ate most of my experience from that last battle.

Speaking of experience, while most of the kills were useless, the demon gave me a fair bit. Too bad the system decided that was the best time to surprise me with a new tax.

To every person whom receives this message, you have received a large sum of experience. As an additional cost to bring people of this world into the respawn system that you have enjoyed, you are hereby required to pay a portion to support the systems expansion. Fifty percent of any sum over one million experience has been deducted.

Thank you,

-The System

On one hand, that pissed me off. I had worked hard to get that experience only for the system to reach in and practice the five-finger discount.

On the other hand, that same expansion had just save Lance’s life. It would also save how many others from a permanent death? So what if I had to pay a portion of what I had received? Especially when I might not have made it without his help.

Then there was the leveling that came from the influx of so much experience. Specifically the pain that came from gaining multiple levels at the same time. All of it had come and gone sometime between the end of the fight and now. Likely when I had been watching over the wolf’s dead body.

A glance at my stats told me that I had gained quite a few points in each, but that they were still fairly balanced. In fact, given my current rate of growth, I wouldn’t need to worry about stat imbalance for at least a dozen levels or so.

Though, that was assuming I didn’t work on balancing it with various skills and exercises. So, as long as I didn’t kill anything with a level too much higher than me, I would be fine. Probably.

Oh, who am I kidding? I needed to get started on upping every other stat as fast as I could before we got back to Gravepoint. Especially if the person who had been targeting the oracles set their sights on me.

Then there was the investigators and how they had been questioning me. Like I was their main, and likely only, suspect. So, I needed to either find a way to prove that I was innocent or find a new place to live.

Something told me that if I tried to leave Xander would follow me. Something the council might not be so happy about. Maybe even going so far as forcing me to stay in the city.

Which left me proving my innocence. Something I doubted would be easy.

Whatever I ended up doing, I needed to get out of here first.

With quick footsteps, I dodged around the people between me and the door. From what I could hear, the people out front were arguing about which direction to take.

I ignored all that. They would either follow me or not. It made no difference to me.

Judging by the amount of shuffling feet behind me, most, if not all, of the people chose to follow me. Which was good for them as I was likely the only one here who knew of a definitive way out of this place and I was not coming back.

If, for some godforsaken reason, I ever did come back to this fucked up city, I would likely raze it to the ground and fuck the consequences. Sure, a few people would die and everyone would be without a home, but this place would be gone. Everything the demon tried to do would be gone.

The only thing that kept me from doing so now was everyone around me. The people that I had to save. Not because some system told me to, or because I had been given a quest for it. But because I had chosen to do so. And because of that, the city got to stay standing for a little longer.

Within a few minutes of fast walking, we reached the part of the wall I had marked off. Okay, so it was my fast walking and their sprinting. Something that was made obvious by the fact that every one of them were panting for air even as stragglers raced to catch up.

The scene was yet another reminder of how far I had come. Especially as I recalled my training with Barti and the girls. How many times had I managed to run around that room before my body finally gave out on me? Five? Or was it three?

Either way, I had come a long way in such a short time. Something the people here could do so long as they had the motivation. And given everything they had just seen, faced, and lived through, they likely had motivation in spades. Which shifted the question from could they to would they.

But that was a question they would have to find the answer on their own. For my part, my job was done the moment they were out of this place. Speaking of which, where was that mark?

My finger found the mark in the wall. With a slight tap of a finger I shot a small spear of mana into the structure. As if they were rubber bands under strain only to find themselves suddenly cut, the magic bonds my mana cut through rippled apart.

Mana rippled out from the spot as bond after bond found itself either broken or without an anchor. With the mana supporting it gone, a twenty foot section of the wall crumbled to the ground.

Cheers rang out around me as people started to sprint past. Something that I watched in confusion as their actions didn’t make sense. None of us were safe yet. If anything, we were in more danger than before. Who knew what was out here waiting for us. Especially as I doubted that the city had been clearing the area like before.

Then there were the guards. They could still show up at any time. Though, if they were smart, they would wait until some monster showed up and pin us between a rock and a hard place. Forcing us to choose the lesser of two evils.

Just before I could yell at these idiots to keep their voices down, something nearby roared. Hands grasped weapons as the group as a whole turned toward the far side of the wall. Well, except for me. Something about that roar had been off. Metallic. In fact, it reminded me of something I had heard before.

It took me a moment to place it but when I did I shook my head. There was just no chance that there was a truck here. Small mana powered engines driving small vehicles, sure. But massive trucks? There was just no way. Of course, that was when the beast dug its way around the bend and started up the incline.

Unlike the machines I recalled this one was a mess. Various metal sheets were bolted together in areas. Others were made of wood. But that was just the bottom half. The top was covered in nothing but fabric.

The odd looking wheels slipped and slid as it crawled its way up the incline. Finally, it came to a stop in front of us. Even as the others prepared to fight whatever this was, I just shook my head and waited for our driver to pop his head out. After all, who else would bring such a monstrosity out here.

Sure enough, the nearest fabric section lifted to reveal Xander. “Get settled while I get everyone loaded.”

That was all he said before he took off to direct everyone else into the back. And honestly, that was fine with me as it gave me a chance to dig through my inventory to find something to eat. And if there was nothing I could eat, I would have to pester him for something. Anything.

Then, maybe I would ask him for advice on how to grow stronger faster. Ways to train so that someone like the demon isn’t such a big deal. So that no one has to bail me out. Whether that is by sacrificing themselves or taking over the fight.

Speaking of fighting, I need to figure out if I can use that Fireball Gattling gun spell with other elements. There might even be a way to mix and match them. Just the idea of sending a stream of water balls and fireballs down range at the same time caused me to shiver in fear. The damage such an attack could do…I needed to give it a try.