Chapter 26

I sat at my desk tinkering with a new bow design. I would keep the current one for lower tier mobs because of cost constraints, as well as be a little more sparse with my new swords. I tweaked the current design I was working with and twisted the limbs outwards a little like a recurve while reducing the size a little.

I looked it over and confirmed my choice and typed in the name.

Congratulations! You have created a template unique to this domain! You now have access to the Asterian Pattern Recurve bow. (Lesser quality.)

Nice, it was a start. I dismissed the screen and set the bow to the side, along with the other weapons. I sat back into the chair, and cast a gaze over the boss’s weapons. I hope they like them. Next I’ll have to craft the armor, but I’m not in the mood anymore for that.

I sat back into my chair and stared at my cement clad ceiling and slowly released a pent up breath. My head throbbed, and the light seemed unnaturally bright. I pinched the bridge of my nose and just relished in the silence for the time being.

There was no one here but me. Kharon was busy, Alessia was training the honor guard. For once it was just quiet. The only sound was that of my breath and my beating heart. For just a moment I sat there and enjoyed the silence until baleful thoughts worked their way in.

I missed Earth. I missed my home. I wish I took the time to talk to my parents. I know that we really didn’t get along all that well, even so, they were family. They must be worried sick about me. What a daughter I was. Just vanishing in the middle of the night, not even telling them where I was going. Just another tick on the box labeled reasons that my parents are disappointed.

A dry cackle filled my ears as I sat up and opened my eyes. Calixa, always the disappointment. Refusing to go to college, ending up in the back of house at a restaurant. I can still see my mom’s vibrant green eyes glare at me in disappointment whenever I think about my days after high school. Or my dad’s storm grey eyes as they glared at me in anger as I packed my bags and got ready to leave.

They told me I would end up washed up and drugged out in a back alley somewhere. I know that they only wanted what was best for me, but I needed to find my path if I wanted to be happy. Which I did, thankfully me telling them I was on the path of becoming a chef really helped dampen their Ire towards me.

I miss them, even if they made me angry at times. I wiped away the warm trails of liquid that fell down my cheek and stared at the weapons that lay scattered across my office space. I’ll make it back home, I’ll do my best, and maybe then you will be proud of me. I reached out and grabbed the weapons that I created for my bosses. I will make it home, that much I promise. I’ll do whatever it takes, but I will come home as someone you can be proud of.

My first stop was to Rikard. He was the captain of the undead legion that guarded this stronghold, and I wanted to outfit him first. I appeared behind him as he was staring out into the forest. “Greetings Captain.”

The zombie turned its head and gazed at me for a moment and gave me a curt nod. His milky white eyes were as lifeless as ever before, staring back off into the forest beyond. The bosses were odd. They were clearly intelligent, yet they lacked life. It was as if they were living on autopilot. I gazed at him for a moment longer before I extended Heart Piercer out towards him.

I guess if I am going to roleplay an Empress, I should get into character then. “Captain Rikard Levian, take a knee.” I attempted to drop my voice a few octaves, though it sounded pitiful to my ears. I would have to work on that in private. The zombie however didn’t seem to care too much and did as I commanded it. Rikard dropped to one knee and bowed his head before me.

The act of submission caused a fluttering in my stomach, which was something I wasn’t expecting. I bit back my excitement. Now I had to hand this sword off to him. I was loath to admit that I did not know how to do it with etiquette. In that case, I would make my own. I grasped the handle of the sword and extended it outwards, towards the captain of my first legion. “Captain Rikard Levian. Take this as your oath of office. For you are the blade of the Empire and commander of my legion.”

The zombie looked up at me and reached out and took the blade from me with his good hand and studied it for a moment, and a prompt appeared on my screen, followed by a strange pulse of grey energy that shot out in all directions, and a few notifications appeared.

A boss has taken its weapon. Would you like to alter the drop rate for it?

I raised my eyebrow at that and confirmed it and skimmed through the new page.

This page determines what items that this boss will drop upon its death.

Current item drops:

“Heart Piercer”-10%

“Zombie Blood Uncommon Quality”-30%

“Human Bone Shards”-20%

This boss has five more free slots for item drops.

Any item that is dropped by this boss will be re-created upon its respawn, at half of its original cost.

Ah! Well, at least I don’t have to worry about stuff getting taken out, if it’s going to respawn. Though it’s going to cost me. I changed the weapon drop rate as low as I could get it, which was one percent, and dismissed the screen, and then looked through the next notification.

Your action has altered a future trait for the domain. Please consult your companion for more information.

A future trait? I don’t remember seeing anything for that in my domain page. I quickly shot Kharon a message inquiring about domain traits before I closed the screen and looked over the captain of the legion.

“As befitting of your office, I will have amour crafted for you, so you may perform your duties.”

The captain nodded his head yet remained on one knee. I stared at him for a time as I decided on what armor I would make for him. I wanted something that was nimble, yet could take a few hits, but that was something for later, I suppose, I got to run these errands and stop getting side tracked. “Captain Rikard, you may stand. Continue to serve me well.” With that, I glanced at my map and teleported towards Aaron to give him his gear next.

Aaron was in the courtyard, surrounded by a few of the undead, and was currently in the middle of a bout with a large zombie. The zombie was attempting to grab the skeleton, though he was far more nimble than the zombie. Aaron shot past the zombie’s grasp and jumped into the air. His leg lit up with a bright orange energy and he delivered a punishing blow to the zombie’s skull. Sadly, however, the zombie didn’t stand a chance and its head exploded from the impact, splattering the ground with blackened coagulated blood. Well, at least he was training.

I brought up my screen and gestured with my hand to consume the corpse of the zombie and with the congealed blood that splattered the ground. When the adventures got here, I would tolerate a messy area to an extent, but in the meantime I demand that it stay clean. As the corpse slowly vanished, Aaron caught my eye and walked over to me.

“Lieutenant Flint, take a knee.” The skeleton froze for a moment before he dropped to a knee. I unslung my bag and pulled out the pair of gloves I made for him. If I had known he was going to be using his feet, I would have made some stuff for. For that as well. But I should have expected as much.

Once I pulled the gloves from the bag, I extended them towards him. “Lieutenant Flint, take these as your weapons, to serve your legion and your empress.” I have to say pretending to be a ruler was fun.

The skeleton reached out and took the gloves and stared at them for a moment. Just like Kharon, I couldn’t tell what the skeleton was feeling, and I was definitely not an expert in skeletal body language. He mashed his teeth together, filling the room with rhythmic clacking. Though what he was trying to say was beyond me. He seemed like he was the more lively of the bunch. I would even go as far as to say he was close to becoming sapient.

“You may rise lieutenant.” I didn’t want to pretend to understand what he was trying to say. Maybe I should talk to Kharon and see what he says about it. I didn’t want to be rude and brush off someone who was actually trying to communicate with me.

The skeleton bobbed its head and looked at the gloves strangely for a moment before he slid his boney fingers into them. His bones lit up with a soft orange light and he stepped back and delivered a set of blistering fast punches that cut the air. Even though he was nowhere near close to hitting me, small gusts of air that hammered into my flesh still rocked me.

I raised my eyebrows as I watched him move about, practicing his kicks and punches. They all were unique. Aaron here was the most animated of the bunch, and talked a lot, and seemed dedicated to his training. Kharon was helpful and seemed happiest when he was helping me. Rikard was quiet and stoic, though it was a little hard to pinpoint how the captain was. Alessia seemed severe and wholly dedicated to her job. I stepped back and teleported to my office and grabbed the last set of weapons for my bodyguard.