[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 263 – The Wages of War

The most obvious thought struck Sam right then. I could tell Zarishna everything. The missing Lumanots, the Dead Echo, all of it.

The chances were slim she would ever believe him.

Worse, his being here could dramatically alter her fate. He would need to be careful. He didn’t want to Back to the Future himself out of existence.

If Zarishna’s fate didn’t follow the path that it took to bring Sam here, then what would happen to him? Would all of his work be undone?

From what he could remember, she wasn’t born into the imperial line. She likely wasn’t even Empress yet.

She definitely didn’t look like the Empress.

If Sam didn’t know better, he would think that this was Zarishna’s daughter or sister. The similarities were too great, but she seemed…incomplete somehow.

Despite himself, he wanted to tell her everything. It would be nice to have someone he trusted to confide in. If it was a younger version of Raiko in front of him, rather than Zarishna, Sam wasn’t sure he could have resisted.

He had to remember that this wasn’t the Zarishna he knew. She might have the same face and mannerisms, but the woman she would become was not the person in front of him.

“It’s nice to see ya again, Empress!” Komachi said. “You’re a lot cuter shorter.”

Oh shit.

Zarishna’s storm gray eyes widened. Her response wasn’t entirely what Sam expected. She glanced towards the blue-clad imperials with true fear before she masked her reaction. Sam didn’t understand. The imperials clearly didn’t care. They were too busy discussing the state of the barrier to care about any onlookers.

As Sam scrambled to make an excuse for Komachi’s outburst, Zarishna spoke first. “I like your dog.”

Sam’s brain practically short-circuited.

“Wuh?” Komachi asked, bewildered.

“We have talking dogs in the Empire, but talking cats are a first. Therefore, the logical thing would be to assume you are a talking dog,” Zarishna explained. The tug at the corners of her lips told Sam she was making a joke at Komachi’s expense.

The armored bear watched Sam and Komachi with an unsettlingly intelligent gaze.

She dismounted from her bear and motioned towards one of the gates leading out of this space. “I take it you’re new to the Twinned Cities. I’d like to offer you a place of rest before you’re hounded by all the adventurers.”

Sam quirked his brow at that. “What do you mean?”

Komachi tapped Sam gently with her paw. Then, just because she was a cat, she did it again in rapid-fire mode.

“You’ve got my attention!” Sam said.

“Huh? Oh. Right. Ya made a bet, remember Sam? I think it’s safe to say ya won. If what Zorin said was true, then she’s famous. Beatin’ somebody famous usually makes you famous, yis? So…you gonna be hounded.”

Sam looked up at the blue sky above. “Never really thought about it like that.”

“Then it really must be your first time in the Empire,” Zarishna said with a chuckle. “Come, let’s get you away before the madness begins.”

Without any other course available to him, no course he wanted to take in any event, Sam followed Zarishna. Younger, Zarishna didn’t prowl like a leopard. In fact, she had a limp.

She led the large, armored bear through the tunnels and side streets away from the large cleverly built quads that funneled monsters like a massive game of tower defense.

With the Lumanot as the prize, Sam thought to himself.

He still didn’t know what to make of that. It was little wonder the Empire lost their Lumanots as frequently as he lost his keys back home.

They were practically begging the monsters to come take it. They even made a game of it!

It would serve them right if he took it from under their noses, but he suspected that wasn’t what he needed to do. Something was off. More than meeting Zarishna. More than the strangeness of Zorin. There was something here that he was missing.

Until he figured out what that was, he wasn’t likely to be leaving.

Are you sure you don’t just want to stay and take a breather for once?

Sam brushed the thoughts aside as Zarishna led them down several narrow passages up on the third floor of the massive city. The layout was unlike anything Sam had ever seen before. Layers upon layers of defense clearly designed to funnel monsters in a specific pattern still managed to have hidden alleys and side streets that only the locals knew of.

It became clear that Zarishna and her bear were well known in these parts because not a soul bothered to stop her or even looked twice as they strolled by. The armor on her oversized bear scraped against the walls of the narrow alley until they reached a nondescript door set back in a wall and down a short flight of five steps.

Stepping inside the three-story abode, Sam was greeted by the comforting chatter of companions over hot steaming mugs of kaf and incense.

It looked like a proper hideout. Hanging arabesque lanterns cast dazzling patterns of light across the thick-piled rugs on the floor. Carved pillars and delicate arches created an airy network of rooms that would be the envy of any modern open plan home.

He didn’t expect the wolfman behind the counter. He tensed, nearly reaching for his sword, before he got a bead on the situation. The wolfman’s ears perked up, his golden jewelry jingling.

No one else was alarmed. And certainly not Zarishna.

Zorin was gently pulled off the back of Zarishna’s bear and put on a stretcher, where he was taken away by a pair of practiced hands. Sam watched, concerned for a moment.

It wasn’t that he owed anything to Zorin. The guy hadn’t been that forthright with him, but Sam found that he couldn’t blame him.

Free healthcare was definitely something he wasn’t used to though.

“Is he going to be okay?” Sam asked, hiking a thumb Zorin’s way.

“That’ll be more up to him than the medicines we give him,” Zarishna said, which didn’t elaborate much.

“That doesn’t sound reassuring.”

Zarishna shrugged, considering the matter closed.

It was a testament to how tired Sam was from all the fighting–the ghostly skeletons, the lamia, and the undead all without a rest–that he didn’t push the issue.

Without even having to ask, Sam and Komachi were offered food and drink off of a small menu. Whatever this place was, it wasn’t as well set up as a proper restaurant.

Sam had seen its kind before.

The sort of low-key family restaurants that had hand-written menus on laminated sheets of paper. All the kids and family members worked at the place, and they served takeout in those glossy Styrofoam containers.

The food looked like hot garbage, but it tasted like heaven, and it was dirt cheap.

In short, every restaurant that Sam could afford to go to as a kid.

It always felt like staying over at a friend’s house and eating dinner. Something he experienced more often than not, thanks to the generosity of Chris and Kylie’s parents.

Though Sam didn’t know what half of the food was, he picked out something that sounded interesting and thanked the person. A young man with a quick grin and a quiet demeanor took the menus and vanished into a back room somewhere in the warren of curtains and arches.

In short order, the food was brought out. Zarishna guided them to a cozy corner to sit and eat. The table was a low square with plump pillows surrounding it. A beat-up kettle was just beginning to come to a boil at the center of the table.

Zarishna ate with Sam and Komachi, who dug into the food with even more gusto than Sam did. A couple people came by and introduced themselves, praising Sam for his heroism against the Risen. The wolfman was a friendly dude with a tendency to laugh at everyone’s jokes.

The cat girl, literally a woman with cat ears and a tail, offered him a key to a private room for him to retire to after a nod from Zarishna.

The food was spicier than Sam was used to, but he found himself immensely enjoying it. He had never been one for spicy food before, but he found his high Vigor made it infinitely more pleasant than back on Earth.

The addition of pineapple chunks to the dish only heightened Sam’s appreciation.

It was a quiet enough moment that Sam could finally address the skills and levels he gained while fighting the horde of undead.

The creatures were weaker than he was used to, but the sheer quantity that he slayed more than made up for their lower yield.

Level Up!

Your [Swordsman] Job has reached Level 40.

+9 Strength | +9 Vigor | +5 Agility | +5 Dexterity

+3 Bonus Points

You have [Swordsman] abilities to select from.

Level Up!

Your [Swordsman] Job has reached Level 41.

+9 Strength | +9 Vigor | +5 Agility | +5 Dexterity

+3 Bonus Points

Level Up!

Your [Swordsman] Job has reached Level 42.

+9 Strength | +9 Vigor | +5 Agility | +5 Dexterity

+3 Bonus Points

With his 9 bonus points, Sam tossed them into Dexterity and Agility. Two stats he rarely enhanced but could sorely use the boost now that his Strength and Vigor were so monstrously high.

They were also the only two of his physical stats that were not increased by his Bloodline. They needed all the help they could get unless he wanted to be like Arnold in Conan; so muscular that he couldn’t even swing a sword properly.

Sam paused and looked over the available abilities. There were only two new abilities this time, and it felt like he gained more levels than usual since his last allotment.

I’m guessing the higher level I go, the fewer abilities I’ll gain.

Sam was fine with that, because he preferred quality over quantity. Plus, he still had the previous abilities to select from. If for any reason he didn’t like a new ability, he could always select an older one. There were three he had been eyeing.

[Aura Blade]

(Swordsman Trait) (E-Class)

(★ Common)

A Swordsman is at the forefront of every encounter. They fight on the frontlines, shoulder to shoulder with their allies, to push back even the most tenacious of foes. While all Swordsmen know how to share a portion of their defense as an aura with their allies, few are skilled enough to do the same with their weapons. [Aura Blade] extends the power of your blade to your allies, imparting a portion of its damage and weight to each physical strike your companions make while within your aura. Grants a minuscule bonus to the effect of Strength and weapon weight when using [Aura Blade].

Initially [Aura Blade] seemed like a no-brainer. Like [Armored Aura], Sam could extend a portion of his power to his allies. It had made a large difference fighting off the ghost pirates.

Crewmen who would have been grievously wounded were instead delivered flesh wounds. The natural accompanying ability was [Aura Blade].

Sam’s brows lifted in shock. Did [Aura Blade] really raise in Class rating?

Giving it a second look, he confirmed that it did move up to E-Class. That was incredibly good news. He hadn’t known skills that he waited on could improve like that.

Sam knew for certain that [Aura Blade] had been F-Class.

In fact, as he looked at the older abilities he had left to pick, they were all E-Class now. Signaling that older abilities might not upgrade their rarity, but they sure as hell would stay on par with his most recent class upgrade.

Good thing too, Sam thought. Otherwise, it would be damn near impossible to get an ability up to the same strength as anything new.

New abilities almost always appeared to be of a higher rarity, on par with what he imagined his overall rarity average was. Some were higher, others lower, but for the most part he stopped getting Common rarity abilities when he was averaging Uncommon and Unusual.

As much as he wanted to pick up [Aura Blade], he held off. Before he could make an informed decision, he needed all the options laid out before him.