Chương 7: Paladin's Rebirth

Elise rolled the fallen paladin's sun trinket between her fingers. His corpse laid inside of her castle still warm to the touch. His body was on a stone altar at one of the lower levels. Crypt like walls surrounded her on all sides, spider webs clinging to them in the darkness. He should let the maids come down here and clean this place.

"Your Majesty," Atlus said, his voice calling from down the hallway. He was quite unlike the surroundings. His robes were polished white and gold. He carried an ornate golden staff that jingled with rings at the tip like a set of key rings. When he reached her, his body stopped floating in the air, and he knelt beside her with a hand on his chest. His golden glowing eyes looked up at her with reverence.

"You called for me?" The sanguine queen gestured down at the altar with the man's body.

"I would like you to bring this man back to life. He only died recently, and I was able to capture his soul." She presented a golden tinted soul gem. At first, she thought that soul capturing magic wouldn't have worked on Tiberius. In the game, players could not trap the souls of other players, so she expected that maybe a similar thing would happen. Yet, after his death, she pulled out the soul gem and trapped it inside. The lich king nodded his skeleton head.

"What type of undead do you have in mind?"

"He was a paladin. Since you use holy magic, I was hoping he could fall under your tutelage. Do whatever you feel is best." She finished by placing the soul stone next to the corpse. Atlus rose from the ground and hovered in the air over the body. He lowered his staff and tapped it against the man's shiny armor. Golden threads of magic connected the stone to the chest piece of the white armor. The soul stone was hoisted into the air and lowered towards the sternum.

The armor cracked and made a hole the perfect size for Tiberius's soul. It slotted in, and the corpse inside started melting away into particles of golden light. After a brief moment, the entire body was gone. It was replaced by a golden glow on the inside of the armor.

"Rise, my wraith," Atlus said, "recognize your master and your lady. Become a servant of Shadowspill Castle!" The paladin armor rumbled. It vibrated until the magic concluded, and then Tiberius shot up fast.

"Where am I?"

"You are in Our Majesty's castle. This is the Hall of Vanity. From your death, you awaken anew."

"I died, then?" Tiberius sighed beneath his helmet. He looked down towards his body, the glow beneath his armor growing stronger.

"Wait, I... What am I?"

"Did you not hear the call? It should have been etched on your soul. No, even if you don't believe it, this is your reality now."

"I am a wraith? But my body is golden, and I can still feel the holy magic coursing within." Elise grinned and tossed him his talisman.

"You are now a holy wraith. You should be much stronger than your previous self. You'll fall under Atlus as your new master. Though, in the meantime, I have questions for you." Tiberius stepped off the pedestal and knelt on instinct.

"First, My Lady, might you enlighten me about your name and what you are?"

"I am Elise Shadowspill, and I am Death. You may consider me the incarnation of a vampire god." Well, I am not actually a vampire god, but if he believes it, that might help me in the long run.

"A vampire god! Of course! No wonder you were able to defeat me so handily!" Elise shrugged.

"That talisman you hold should be rewired. You may now use it to contact me if a situation gets dire. Now, onto my questions. First, do you have any relation to Maketh Oolathil?" Tiberius's golden glowing eye sockets went brighter, and his armor shivered slightly.

"Maketh? That was my esteemed ancestor. How do you... Oh, of course, if you are death you would know all of the dead." Elise nodded.

"Naturally, but I don't know everything. My powers are limited in this state. You see, I am hoping that I can rebuild my once glorious domain. All shall bow before the powers of death, but until then, I need some answers to most pressing questions. Who was this Maketh Oolathil?"

"He was one of the founders of the dragon knight kingdom, Bjorn. Bjorn and his set of followers, with the help of Lady Dawn..." Atlus voice cut in.

"You will not call her Lady anymore. You belong to Lady Shadowspill now."

"Yes, of course, master! I apologize." Lady Shadowspill in question waved her hand.

"It is of no consequence. Continue as you were."

"Yes, My Lady. As I was saying, with the Goddess of Dawn's help, Bjorn and his followers defeated an ancient dragon and founded the dragon knight kingdom. A lot of records from that epoch were lost, and Maketh Oolathil was the first to vanish. The story said that he left one day and never returned. Nobody has ever been able to find his resting place." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Until now," Elise said. ///"Good morning, Lady Emerald," receptionist Hilda said with a smile.

"Are you here for another quest today?" Elise nodded.

"I was hoping to get promoted as soon as possible."

"Your goblins are still being processed, but it has been determined that you meet the attributes to become a bronze rank. The only problem is, you are still untested. As it stands, the guild only knows you can gather herbs and kill goblins. Normally, a person who is strong will need to take at least three quests before promotion is considered. However, since you displayed two profound skills, the guild is willing to make an exception."

She reached under her desk and placed a piece of parchment on top after a moment.

"This kind of quest would normally not be authorized for an iron rank, but our leader is making an exception if you accept." Elise looked it over, reading the contents. I would be part of an escort request? Escorting the lord of the city with several other adventurers as part of a convoy? No doubt, the baron had probably noticed already. I wonder if it's partially because I am appearing as an elf? The queen smiled towards Rela.

"We'll take it."

"Good, I know it is last minute, but the rendezvous point is at the northern gate today when the sun reaches the zenith. Your job is only to escort him to the edge of Ambergrad. The guards will handle the rest, and you only need to cull approaching monsters. His loyal retainers will take care of his safety."

"Do you happen to know why he is leaving on such short notice?" Hilda shrugged and sighed.

"I wish I knew, but since everyone has been talking about the forest lately, it is probably something to do with that." She placed a hand to her chin and wrinkled her brow in thought.

"Someone with the Order is here, and Ambergrad has loose ties to them." The Order appears again. If that person is joining us in the journey back, does that mean they're getting reinforcements? This is an excellent chance to visit another city. I can have Ava'Koz hold down the fort here, and I can have Tyralith shadow us. She thanked the receptionist and left the guild hall. The sun was still low in the sky, but businesses had already started opening their doors.

She took in the sight of kids running along the street with coins they'd gotten from their parents. Guards observed the surroundings closely, watching vigilantly over the children like hawks. Elise managed to learn a bit about this kingdom from Tiberius. It was one of the strongest kingdoms in the West and bordered a kingdom called Leon Kingdom. The two of them were trading partners and had been allies for centuries. Though, the name of that kingdom gave the queen a wry smile.

It can't be related to that player, can it? If there are players, I should still be able to best them, provided they've not advanced substantially. She'd also managed to ask Tiberius about elves and vampires. For the former, they were said to live over the eastern mountain range in a magical forest. It was exceptionally rare for elves to come into contact with humans in human territory. It explained why humans kept giving her strange looks. As for the vampires, Tiberius hadn't much to go off of.

He said that their nobility were supposed to live far to the north where the lands became shrouded in constant snow. There were sometimes encounters with lesser vampires inside of the human kingdoms, but they always ended with a vampire hunt and the death of the blood suckers. When Tiberius stated that he first thought Elise was a lesser vampire, she thought that Atlus would send him to the afterlife right away. Beastkin were a more common sight within the two human kingdoms.

Leon, the founder of the country on the western coast, had abolished slavery and trafficking of beasts. It really can't be that guy, can it?

"Is something the matter, My Lady?"

"No, I was only curious about what Ava'Koz was doing. Do you think we should go check on her?"

"You needn't worry about that. She's already gained a foothold within the merchant guild and has started selling some of the things you've permitted." Oh, in that case, she should have tons of the local currency. Even more reason that I need to check on her. That way I can 'borrow' enough money to rent an expensive suite when we get to Ambergrad. Though, I am curious if my currency would be permissible? She pulled out a grey coin that held her face on it.

The thing was made of orichalcum, and the eyes of her figure were painted crimson. In GEO it was possible for players to buy a small $5 pack which allowed them to customize the game's currency. All of the vendors would still accept them as if they were the normal game's currency. Elise had millions of different coins with faces of her beloved NPCs.

The copper coin held the face of Lenore, the silver coin held the cute face of Bisque, the gold coin held Atlus in all of his Vanity, the platinum coin held the face of Rela, the mithril coin held the face of Tyralith, and lastly, the orichalcum coin held the queen's face. Each of them were stylized and made to look like a perfect reflection of the characters. There were two different currencies above those as well, but those were always not able to be customized and rare.

They were the demi-coins and the divinium coins. Both of those were mostly found from trading at player auctions with ultra rare items. She took out a divinium coin, and the thing shone with the light of the gods. The air around it seemed to shake and vibrate, becoming a vortex. It shone with pure white light as if it sucked in all of the feathers of the angels of the heavens. Elise gripped it tight in her hand. I wonder if that rule can be changed now that I am here?

Dark miasma traveled into the coin, and some force shook inside of her grasp. A small stinging sensation coursed through her palm, but after a second, it dissipated. When she opened her hand again, the coin had completely changed and become pitch black. It was like a currency that had also become a black hole. Space time seemed to warp around it. Her eyes flickered towards her surroundings and she noticed people reacting strangely to the change in the air.

They looked up to the sky or towards the nearby buildings as if trying to find the source. Elise closed her hand quickly and pocketed it into her inventory. Rela looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What did you do, My Lady?"

"I changed a divine coin." The purple-eyed vampire maid smiled brightly and nodded.

"Leave it to Lady Shadow to thwart the currency of the gods themselves. This is why you're our benevolent ruler." Elise smiled wryly. Yeah, I surely meant to do that. This might complicate some things if a god has taken notice. She shook her head and pushed open the door of the merchant's guild.

"We should see if Ava'Koz has sold anything today."