“Burn them all”

Avatar of Friede in the siege of Mancru’si, where her mobs burned the Imperium’s ancient capital and killed every noble within its walls.

A winged figure clad in green and blue robes descended from the heavens. Behind it the sigil pulsed with power. It was akin to the beatings of a heart, soon the mob gathered were kneeling, even William’s allies couldn’t resist the urge.

Uumaries revealed her face, perfection made flesh and blood. Golden eyes and hair where William could see his face in it, her skin was of jade-like hues, with a touch of metallic in it.

Alien. 

From deep inside of his soul William felt a strong desire to fight, to rebel against the pressure the Goddess was pilling onto him, he heard crows laugh in a language he wasn’t meant to understand. Fear began to overpower his rebellion and the boy was near kneeling when his vision went white.

Deep into that white light William heard the cries of a baby, it felt like he knew who it was but he couldn’t recall it, then he felt like he was dropped into an ocean. The smell of copper and rusted Iron assaulting his noses with something fierce.

He was in an ocean of blood.

William tried calling for Lucrezia but there was no one together with him, he raised his head and the baby’s wailing grew louder as if something was nearing him. William covered his ears. The screams were like nails to his ears.

All sounds ceased to be and very faintly; as if William was at the end of a tunnel he heard a voice speak to him “...רמשית תי…”

William was back to his senses when the Goddess was just about done with her light show. A strength that he didn’t know surged up and he spoke louder than ever before.

“DO NOT KNEEL. I COMMAND YOU ALL TO STAND!”

as if their bones were his to command, the people raised themselves in sheer wonder. William felt the approval of all three Winter Spirits, their forms shining above his dress.

Uumaries looked with a sneer around her. These people were once her flock but they knew in their hearts that she had abandoned them, many were simple city dwellers folk. Unworthy of her full protection like the nobles but to be left to rot in hunger and to be butchered like animals?

The Goddess knew the north was lost to her and was ready to punish the one who made it happen.

“PETULANT MORTAL CHILD, DARE THEE BESMIRCH MY HOLY NAME? STEAL FROM MY CHURCH AND EVEN DEFILE MY CLERGY?! YOUR LANDS WILL KNOW NO BOUNTY! YOUR RIVERS WILL TURN FOUL! AND YOUR SOUL WILL BE DAMNED!”

Kallista roared a mighty roar, silencing the Goddess who William was sure was trembling if just a little. A single piece of lore came to his head.

“God Slayers”

As shock troops for the ever continuum expansion of the All-Father’s domain, Dragons had in every single one of them the power to end deities on foreign universes, and while Uumaries was rising her Sphere of Power, It wasn’t big enough to go head to head against a dragon outside her main seat of power.

“This land is not yours to curse godling, not yours to pillage, another world and you will know what happens to a higher being once we make landfall in their home turf”

The spirits rose and stood by Kallista, their forms almost solid and brimming with barely controlled anger. their forms reminding William of numerous Aliens from earth’s folklore and cinema, they spoke all at once. Their voices booming in the wind.

“YOU ABANDONED THEM AND NOW SEEK TO CURSE THEM AS THEY ARE FREE!?

LAY A HAND, NAY A FINGER IN A SINGLE BEING INSIDE OUR LAND AND ALL OF OUR KIND WILL RISE AGAINST YOU SPAWN OF FAAL!”

That took the wind out of Uumaries sails, her form flicking as if the winds would tear it asunder, she raised her hand and pointed to the south, a beam of blue light forming on her fingers.

As she was ready to fire it, Velkarius flexed her hand and a spear made of pure silver with its tip covered in blood, she twirled the spear and threw it at Uumaries hand, the beam went off. 

“EEEEEEEEEEEeee” a horrible sound came from the beam, several wraiths appeared within it before the beam could hit its target the spear surged forward and stopped the ghoulish miracle.

“They are under my Sphere now cousin. One more attack and I’ll declare war against your church, and we wouldn’t want that now would we?”

The elven Goddess smirked as the look of sheer rage was clear to see in Uumaries face, alas William knew the last attack wouldn’t be able to be dodged like the last two.

After all, Lucretia was a follower of Uumaries before he came into the picture.

The Goddess pointed her finger to William and he heard Velkarius say “Forgive me child, This one we won’t be able to stop” 

“LUCREZIA SOMMER WULFGREM, THE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS DEMANDS RETRIBUTION, I CURSE THEE” Uumaries didn’t even bother enacting the full curse William thought to himself, then again she was completely outclassed by 4 major Entities and A Goddess of equal power to her. Had she called for her allies this would’ve gone very differently than William imagined.

A cold fire burned his flesh just below his crotch, Lucrezia was moaning in pain as William used two iron rods to not fall, the populace gasped. Everyone knew what this curse entailed after all.

“The Goddess of love will find us, William, when the time for blessings comes this time bomb will go off”

William’s mind was nearly out when he heard Lucrezia’s voice, the pain drilling him like doing a root canal surgery but your body was immune to the pain medication.

“At least you didn’t call her slut Goddess heh” he couldn’t help but crack that joke, he knew from the game how the reputation of their soon-to-be patron was among the nobles across the world after all.

“No need to upset her this early in the game, maybe if we explain our case she will let off the hook?” Lucrezia said it but William could feel she didn’t believe it for a second. It was a lifetime deal, the one they had now and something that would need ample time and resources to deal with it.

William saw Velkarius look at him, worried flashing for a split second in those ageless elven eyes, he almost lost himself staring at her. Her face was perfect, the boy thought, it was like he...he…

“Fuck me it’s already in effect,” William said clearing his head a bit, christ alive the game wasn’t joking when it came to this curse wasn’t it? He slapped his face with his palms regaining a bit of sanity.

He saw Uumaries point towards Chloe and remove white light from inside the woman, who almost collapsed in Karl’s arms thanks to it. He screamed her name and threw a nasty glare towards Uumaries.

The Goddess on the other hand turned towards the people gathered and spoke 

“A FEW MONTHS IS ALL IT TAKES TO LOSE FAITH? WEAK! YOU PEOPLE ARE NOTHING BUT CATTLE, WEAK AND DEFENSELESS, SELLING YOURSELF TO SLAUGHTER FOR SOUP FROM THE HANDS OF SOMEONE WHO KILLED HER OWN FAMILY!”

Lucrezia screamed in fury, to hear her people who had gone through unspeakable horrors be mocked like this sent the young woman in maddening fury, primal even.

The rage William thought, the rage was like a sea, not like the sea of blood he saw earlier. No, this sea was made of fire, lighting, and magma.

The-Rage-that-Dwells.

It was the rage mode mechanic of the game, only 4 characters had it, Queen Malphas and her son, the protagonist, and…

“Lucrezia”

Lucrezia’s final boss fight was the one who unlocked the mechanic, there were three stages for it and she could only tap on the first one, While the Queen and her Son could use all 3.

Shallowalkers like Lucrezia enjoyed peak martial and magical status while under the influence of it.

Deeperegrines had minutes of demigod-Esque power but with heavy drawbacks, usually being bedridden for days, but it was the final stage that made William shiver.

Abyssal Champions: One-man armies, those who can tap into the abyss of wrath are death made manifest, with no drawbacks from using such power, and Queen Malphas was the last recorded one.

William let the rage flow through him, its power making the world shift as his vision was enhanced beyond his normal self, he saw the Sphere of Power around Uumaries clashing with Velkarius as the nasty Goddess berated the people he fought so hard to set free.

In a final act of defiance, William was struck with a particular memory from the game, one side quest for a certain Goddess who deals with the many evil doings by Vermilion nobility with the subtlety of a jackhammer and he screamed her name.

If Uumaries was gonna get nasty, he was more than happy to go down her level.

“FRIEDE!”

“GODDESS FRIEDE THE UNHALLOWED, SCYTHE OF THE FORGOTTEN I PRAY TO THEE IN THIS TIME OF NEED!”

In what was now getting somewhat tiresome, lightning and thunder once again boomed across the city’s sky and William couldn’t help but smile when he saw the honest look of surprise on Velkarius’s face and more importantly.

The fear in Uumaries’s

A low rumble came from the ground, akin to the marching of soldiers. There was no sigil in the sky to announce her descent William saw. Friede was never one for grand entrances.

Pale flame busted from one of the many watching in the crowd, it morphed and shifted as space bent around it. Whoever was inside of it didn’t even groan in pain as the face of Goddess Friede appeared.

“This is going to be fun,” Velkarius said with mirth in her voice and a playful smile on her face.

“Cousin Friede, how kind of you to heed the call of one of mine! Please join us on the stage, Cousin Uumaries here is about to be humbled a little.”

“...Bird fucker…” Uumaries spoke barely loud enough, the smile in Velkarius’s face turned into a shit-eating grin as Friede went up the steps not a word leaving her lips.

“Immature as always, barely out of her growing years aren’t ya Cousin?”

Friede cleared her throat as Uumaries was reading herself to send a reply to Velkarius’s bait, the Goddess spat to the said and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Lucky little blue blood, Had it not been for Velkarius vouching for you that fancy castle of yours would’ve been ash and cinders by now”

She looked around, the populace at this point was past feeling awe and shock and were just watching wordlessly.

“I heard your pleas people of the north, I also heard Uumaries here scoff at them, Now Lucrezia Wulfgrem. Ruler of the North, why have you summoned me here?” William felt the full weight of Friede’s power on him, but unlike Uumaries that sought to bring him to his knees, Friede was different, it was akin to a very stern teacher waiting for you to answer his question.

Everyone was staring at him now, a devilish grin on his face as the details of a particular quest chain came to his mind clear as spring water.

“In the town of Talos near the Capital there lies the center of an underground slavery ring, headed by the High Priestess of Uumaries that resides in the city, together with Baron in charge of the town and the local branch of the Merchant guild. They are using Items created by Uumaries to hide their illegal dealings, including the holy law against slavery”

William knew, and every other person alive in Vermilion as well that slavery was even worse than kin slaying, it was one of the reasons the Five Houses left the Imperium after all.

Uumaries’s eyes grew as the realization of what was said hit the Goddess with the force of a sucker punch. She attempted to flee by rushing to her sigil when a Dragonbone arrow pierced the thing.

“WHO?!”

“BY MY COMMAND ATTACK!”

A bolt of green lightning nailed Uumaries floating body straight to the ground, with a leap from the middle of the crowd a huge Orc slammed his Warhammer on Uumaries’s body and William heard the Goddess groan.

“TACTICAL WITHDRAW!” The Orc disappeared in blue light and even Velkarius had a surprised look on her face, Friede on the other hand had already gone to the town of Talos. Ready to burn it to the ground.

“Did the Magenta just…?”

“I think we ought to visit them after this is done,” William responded. Holy shit he thought, To have enough power to stall a Goddess like that was nothing short of amazing!

“Maybe with your knowledge we can have such power ourselves huh?”

“Not maybe Lucrezia, we WILL have it”

“Hahaha!” William looked to his left side only to see the Goddess of Vengeance laughing like a schoolgirl

“Oh mortal, what a show! nothing like humbling this pest. Now if you would excuse me, I must help our mutual friend heh” William knew that Friede would rather die than ally herself with a noble so he got the joke, with a nod the Goddess jumped skyward becoming a huge murder of crows.

Uumaries didn’t bother with snide comments. The Goddess warped to her sigil that had re-manifested itself and was off to Talos if William had to guess.

Not that it would help anyway. Friede had enough time to act if his game lore was right and he was pretty sure it was.

As the dust began to settle. William heard cries of relief among his people and the crowd, some even resting in the cold stones of the plaza.

“Is it over?” He heard someone ask. He didn’t know who it was but William knew it was far from over, many struggles were still to come.

But today? Today the hard times were over for a short while, and in this little time, he would fan the flames of the people.

Make them regain the strength it was robbed from them for the fight that was to come.

“Come closer everyone, I want the people to see who fought tooth and nail for them,” William said and his friends and allies formed up, Chloe and Karl, Erwin and his Knights, the Dwarven Vanguard, Wilson and Leanu, even Serkj and some of the castle Guards.

Gabriel and the Geomancer twins showed up as well, many of the people who were saved from the prison camp cheering the twins. Hraax the merwoman greeted William with a nod and went to stand by Kallista who looked pleased if a little tired.

William saw Emilya and the Magenta in the crowd, they smiled at him but didn’t want to join in the stage it seemed.

“Time for another of those speeches Lu” Saa’ryu poked his ribs with her fingers causing William to break focus and sigh a little. He turned to the people and said.

“Today WE have removed the great evil that was poisoning our land, Today I Lucrezia Sommer Wulfgrem, last of my line Vow to every one of you that our land, our families will never again be victims of such horrors!” he sucked up air and continued “You! Strength of my arms. Holders of our dreams of a better tomorrow, for you I have committed the gravest of crimes! so that  NO ONE dares to doubt my Convictions, and with the Spirits and Kallista as my witness, I say this.

BE THERE KING OR GOD, INFERNAL OR BEAST, AGAINST THE UNBREAKABLE ROCK THAT IS US THEY WILL ALL SHATTER!”

Cheers and cries exploded as William breathed in heavily, Saa’ryu asked if he needed help but he refused.

That was when he heard people chant Lucrezia’s name, they didn’t kneel or bow but slammed their feet on the ground, the soldiers and knights doing the same but with their spears.

stomp, stomp, stomp like a beating heart. It was right there at that moment that William knew he could build his army.

And when Galius shows up, he would have a nasty surprise for that rotten animal.

---

“Your Master Idun here tells me you require my entire druid circle Lady Lucrezia, something about tunnels? the dwarf wasn’t clear on the details…” Gabriel spoke as he walked along to the war room with the young ruler. Lucrezia looked paler than usual, her long hair tied in a ponytail was frayed at the edges.

The curse had taken root it seems if the body was already reacting this fast. Gabriel wished he could help, but dealing with anything divine was above his pay grade while he was old and powerful.

“It’s an underground system not unlike the sewers of Kehheim, but able to house the entire city population and deliver food and heat underground,”

Gabriel nodded, the twins would be just perfect for such a job, he knew Freya in particular was sick and tired of playing huntress.

“To deal with the Winter’s End coming I imagine? Wise of you Lady Lucrezia.”

“Wilson isn’t capable of large-scale teleportation yet, and the Storm’s special properties interfere with magic anyway. By keeping it underground and with the heat from the lava lakes we can avoid the worst.”

How wise for a young human Gabriel thought to himself. He had big hopes for the new Duchess, news of city elves asking to return to their roots was already spreading among the circle. Celebrations were in order.

“I’ll talk with those who can best aid you in this endeavor Lady Lucrezia, They should make themselves know to the dwarves in the Fortress soon” Gabriel bowed and noticed the young woman had flushed cheeks, he clicked internally. This curse would worsen her Battle Fever in the future.

Making a mental note to procure stronger recipes, Gabriel took a seat near the table at the center of the war room, waiting for the rest to show up.

---

The meeting was about to end when Leanu raised a question to William

“My Lady, we need a treasurer. As I’m sure you know your mother was in charge of all finances of the duchy, now with you acting as the head of estate and commander-in-chief of the Army…”

Erwin spat to the side “Why do you need a standing army Lady Lucrezia? A simple militia with the new weapons should suffice! we aren’t the Imperium here you know, Vermilion fights with Knights, not gang pressed commoners”

“Silence Commander. Leanu is not yet finished” Wilson interjected, the Knight Commander took the news very poorly and William had to promise the man more than once that he had no plans on dismantling his Knight forces.

They all had a role to play in the upcoming battles after all.

“Saa’ryu will be the treasurer of the Duchy” William spoke out loud to puzzled looks from everyone.

The maid pulled books from her person and spoke

“These are all the books regarding the Duchy’s economy. Our ex-Duchess kept everything running smoothly from what I’ve read. even the taxes the royals have in place to trip any sort of foul deal she took care of it.”

“Now while Duchess Lucrezia here won’t be arrested for tax evasion, we do have a serious issue regarding the coffers, more specifically the coin set aside for lean times” Saa’ryu placed a huge book in the middle of the table and pointed to the last entry “The ex-court mage took all of it, which means We will need to either slash payments of castle staff and our Knights, or get more coin in”

Serkj looked like a ghost had just touched him “If the men don’t get their salary we might be looking at a riot here Lady Lucrezia, unless you have free booze that is”

Wilson spoke tapping the table “The core won’t be able to output enough meat to feed the entire city alone, how about the grain reserves the duke kept?”

“Destroyed,” William said “People, we need coin and we need it fast, It will take time until the other nobles recognize me as the true ruler so borrowing money is off the table as well. This means one thing”

Saa’ryu placed three trays on the table and opened them one by one.

“This here is called a shampoo, the other bottle here is called a hair conditioner, they are beauty items made to turn even the most stubborn of hairs silky smooth” she whistled and 2 servants and a dwarf entered the room, the servant’s hairs smooth and smelling like roses, the dwarf’s beard the same.

“As you can see this will be a guaranteed hit with nobility across the world” everyone in the room nodded, they all knew how vain nobles were after all.

Saa’ryu hushed the 3 away and unveiled the next item “Another invention by Lucrezia, this is called coffee, it's made with devilsong seeds which only grows here in the North. Now as we all know these things are incredible bitter but thanks to Lucrezia’s ingenuity and Magi-Craft she was able to successfully make an extract out of it that can give anyone a huge boost in energy, have a sip everyone” the people across William looked leery of the idea, he knew thanks to the lore that these seeds were mostly used in pranks or by very desperate soldiers in a Nightwatch.

Thrice as bitter as regular earth coffee and ten times as powerful according to one Q and A he read, they didn’t even know how to grind the damn things. A few minutes with Idun and William had the drink done and with a good helping of sugar and honey, the taste was good enough.

They all took baby sips from their cups as the effect kicked in, Wilson was starry-eyed when he said “Oh the number of times this could’ve saved me in my youth, thank you Lady Lucrezia. This will make waves in the entire magic community I can assure you, Gods above something that can substitute that dreadful spell that lets you stay awake...”

“Same for any half-decent military force out there, All-Father above Lady Lucrezia next you gonna tell me you have a way to make my armor clean itself and my sword to never lose its edge” Erwin laughed a little, the rest joining the man on it.

Nothing like some good o’ coffee even if it's bitter as all hell.

The third item was a small dark bar, Chocolate which William thought would be hard to make turned out to be surprisingly easy thanks to help from Magi-Tech.

Lucrezia said it was almost too easy, she suspected that it was another tampering done by whoever sent him to this place. A way to ensure economic freedom maybe? William himself didn’t mind that much, If he could sell luxury items instead of his weaponry it would take the prince by surprise when half his men get cut down from a kilometer away.

The people ate the chocolate together with the coffee, as Saa’ryu went over the manufacturing process and how the seeds could be planted and harvested underground thanks to the druids, ensuring constant supply even as the Winter’s End ravaged the land.

“By my calculations, within 2 months we should have enough coin to secure a stable shipment of grain from the south, together with the core meat, food won’t be an issue anymore”

Leanu raised her hand “Can’t we plant and harvest grain as we do with devilsong and Lilypeaks?”

Saa’ryu spoke “According to Master Gabriel it is possible but it wouldn’t be enough for mass consumption unless we find more druids that is”

“Which would take time to train, time we don’t have, so we use these two and make sure there’s enough for selling and keep the grain coming,” William said as Gabriel nodded “I’m sorry my circle can’t help you in these dire times Lady Lucrezia”

“It’s ok Master Gabriel, we make do with what we have”

Saa’ryu tapped the table “I’ve sent a rider to the Highway with a letter to settle the deal, Master Idun has already guaranteed me a few of his people for the production of these items.”

William hummed in agreement and got up, he looked at the window, the overcast skies hiding the sun, and Winter’s End nearing the horizon.

“We all know what to do now, I must speak with the spirits to see when the storm will hit us”

---

William was alone in the Spirit Wing of the castle, Saa’ryu had to run a few errands now that her new role as treasurer of the Duchy was in full effect. She already had assistants, the people who helped her in the shampoo demo earlier.

“We came up with something every noble from here to the Imperium will want and likely kill for it, and it didn’t even take an afternoon William, it is too convenient”

“I know Lucrezia, but it was either that or sell the guns! or do you want me to raid the south? maybe invade the wastes as your ancestors were known to do?”

“Ugh, don’t you start! I’m simply leery that is all, Why not sell the ore from that magical mine? the dwarfs have already started the expeditions to it after Wilson found the entrance”

“Not enough people to mine ore in a quantity big enough for coin and you know it, even if we minted new coin it would take months of paperwork and a personal visit from the King and Queen to approve it”

“The queen whose son we will kill? yeah not a good idea”

“Galius has to die, you know that already”

Lucrezia didn’t answer as he neared the Spirit altar, William pulled a short knife and slashed his palm, dripping blood into the bowl at the top of it.

The room grew dark and cold, from it, the Sword appeared and spoke “in 4 months the storm shall strike”

William felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. How was he supposed to train the army, rebuild the city and the new infrastructure in 4 months? with no blessings even?

“Chin up William, I have a feeling your lucky breaks are far from over”

William cursed and said, “Can you and your fellows do anything to stop it?”

“No, what was done by your kin cannot be undone, it saddens us that we are...Powerless to stop the storm…”

Ahh, William recognized that particular usage of the word, for a Winter Spirit to say it feels powerless is an act of self-flagellation. A Reminder of the fact they let the previous race of this world die out. 

“Then it’s best we get to work then, thank you for the audience” William kneeled properly that Lucrezia had taught him and went on his way.

He still had a meeting with the Diamond Reefs Princess after all.

“Hraax is a good person, you can trust her and her mother to make good on the deal we had before that blasted ward deleted the harbor”

“Deleted? Lucrezia…”

“Don't start! Not my fault the memories are making usage of Terran lingo as common as regular speech” She huffed in his mind.

Lucrezia was right on that point William thought, many of her memories felt him by now. It was getting increasingly hard to keep track of which memories hadn’t merged.

As he walked to the throne room he saw the castle workers running from place to place, reading huge pots for the communal stews in the many plazas around the city.

Every single faction William had managed to unite under his banner working as one single unit, not as efficient as Lucrezia would’ve liked but he was happy with it.

“Maybe some of that will rub on you sooner or later, Cause you could tighten some of the slackers you know”

William couldn’t help but disagree, if he drove the people too hard there was a risk of widespread revolt, best to go slow even if the weight of the storm was already growing stronger.

The throne room was empty bar for a single worker who was cleaning the windows. The woman bowed as William sat on the frankly huge throne, made out of enchanted ice and silver.

Hraax showed up, dressed in what William could only describe as wetsuit divers used back on earth. In her head a Cerulean halo floating akin to a crown. 

The Magi-Folk woman opened her arms in a ritualistic bow Willian knew thanks to a crash course in Merfolk culture.

“Duchess Lucrezia Wulfgrem, as representative of the Diamond Reefs I come with good news. The Queen has seen your resolve and dedication to set things right and has approved for the repairs of the deep-sea port”

William looked puzzled, Wasn’t he supposed to meet the Queen in person as Lucrezia had done in the past? as he was about to raise such a query, Hraax spoke again.

“As I’m sure you remember, such responsibilities would usually fall under the Queen’s purvey. But thanks to my involvement in the battle to free the Duchy I was given the honor of being in charge of the project” 

He could tell that Hraax was very much pleased with herself, he was about to ask when Lucrezia interjected.

“She has 20 or so brothers and sisters, this gives her a good chance of becoming the next Queen should the rest of her family not overshadow her.”

“Will they sabotage the port?” William asked, back in the game such an event didn’t happen but this was all new to him.

“No, they are crafty but bound by strict honor codes, to try sabotage would spoil any claim for the Diamond Reef throne”

Lucrezia hummed in puzzlement “This sure is odd, the Queen was very hands-on with the port. I wonder what happened for her to change stances on it”

“We can find out later”

William then said to the Princess “You have my permission Hraax, I’ll have the town criers announce you and your people are back and looking for workers. Gods willing we will have our port back before the storm hits”

“It’s a shame that the Great Dragoness and her people refused my offer but I thank you, Duchess. Soon the people of Wulfgrem will have the best of my Reefs in their bellies and homes”

The Merwoman bowed again and went on her way, William had a few more encounters on the throne with various city officials on the ongoing repairs of the south part of town and food concerns.

It felt tiring yet rewarding to play King for a day, yet he knew that this would be a constant now. Tomorrow he was off to start his training with Erwin and his Knights.

He also had meetings with Idun and Karl, Idun wanted to teach William more Magi-Tech and he couldn’t say no to the dwarf. Magi-Tech was just fun to play around with.

Karl on the other hand was something far more worrisome, William and Lucrezia both knew that the Curse would evolve into a Blessing of Saal’Xhir. Worse, it could even turn them into a half or full-blown Succubus if the damn thing was a Greater Blessing.

William knew of one ritual in-game that the Priests of Velkarius could perform to blunt other Blessings, it was highly dangerous and it only lasted for a year but it had to be done.

The urges were already making themselves known after all.

William meditated for hours as the night went on, constantly circling mana across his body. The feeling of ice and iron blunting the many thoughts he had.

The sun was almost breaking from the clouds when he got some actual sleep, alas it didn’t last long. Saa’ryu was banging on his door like the whole castle was on fire.

The maid didn’t wait for William to dress up as she barged into the room 

“Lu! Gods woman wake up! you won’t believe what happened!”

William felt groggy from the intense meditation and bad sleep, he barely got a word out when the maid spoke again.

“The entire bloody stock! we sold it all! I already told Idun and the workers to do overtime to keep up with demand and he’s fast at work to automate the process, Lu I even had elves from Kehheim ask for the shampoo!” Saa’ryu sat down by the study “Shogunate nobles as well! Every single country wants our stuff can you believe it?!”

“It’s been barely a day Saa, how in all hells that can happen?” William knew the world had reached the Globlasist stage when it came to goods but even then this was too fast!

Unless Gods got involved…

Saa’ryu must’ve noticed his looks when she spoke again “That’s right Lu, several Gods moved their people to get the goods early, which tipped off more Gods and the Merchant guilds and then it snowballed from there.”

“Does that mean we will be able to strike a deal with the Maygriam on good terms?” William was hopeful that was the case. with the support of another of the 5 food wouldn’t be an issue.

“Yes! they are sending a representative as we speak, via the Highway so she should be here in a few hours”

She? there were very few women at the top of the Maygriam main and branch families.

“Catarina Silverbrand?”

Saa’ryu looked spooked “How the hells you figure that out?! Yes, it's the Matron of the Silverbrands. Word on the wire is that she’s trying to marry her son off so she may use that here.”

Willaim remembered Richard Silverbrand, one of the most likable characters of the game. A specialty merchant that used his mother's connections to sell off any loot the player had acquired in the dungeon. His personal quest was about trying to break free from his mother’s shadow as the woman was protective to the max.

Many players were upset he didn’t end up being a capture target and William couldn’t but agree. The final act of his quest had a huge emotional payoff only to end up as “Your my best friend” not even giving the player the option to ask him out.

William smiled internally as Saa’ryu went on and on about the sales, they had enough coin to buy a third of the necessary grain now. And if the deal with the Silvebrands went off, the rest would be coming in the upcoming weeks, clearing a good chunk of Lucrezia’s and Saa’ryu’s schedule.

“Send a message to Idun, tell the dwarf I won’t be available for the Magi-Tech lessons today” Saa’ryu nodded and whistled, a small raven appeared and the maid quickly drafted a letter and tied it to the bird’s feet.

She waved the bird off and turned to William “And Karl?”

“We are going there now, I don’t know if the ritual will knock me out for an hour or ten,” William said

“Are you sure this won’t upset the Goddess? I’ve heard of the punishments she can send and they aren’t pretty Lu” Saa’ryu asked, worried.

“We just sent the equivalent of a magical barrage into one of Uumarie’s strongholds Saa, plus the entire north will stop worshipping her as time goes on. Far as I’m concerned this will be swept under the rug”

William got up from his comfy bed and went to the bathroom to clean his face and brush his teeth, it didn’t take long for Saa’ryu to set up his bath.

While the maid was pouring the newest shampoo on his hair William felt tremors, his face was red as a lobster and he could feel the urges coming at full force.

He bit his lips trying to use the pain to clear his mind but the urges grew stronger, a grim realization befell him as Saa’ryu was finished with the shampoo.

The maid asked “Are you ok Lu? Is it that time of the month?” William heard Lucrezia laugh inside his head and he got angry at her, this wasn’t fun you disembodied ghost!

“Don’t act as if I’m not also feeling it, you dolt”

“I’m...I’m ok Saa just give me five”

“Five what?”The maid made a face that could only be interpreted as pure confusion

“Five minutes” William began the meditation again. It took longer than five minutes but he managed to regain his faculties again and not embarrass himself mid bath.

“We need to talk with that priest” Lucrezia said not a single hint of mirth in her voice.

William didn’t quip as he got dressed, Saa’ryu helping him as he got the dress right.

The day was looking good when William broke free from castle grounds heading to the now new temple of Velkarius, the sun managed to shine a little in the city today.

He saw workers running around, people selling food and goods on stalls. Mothers haggling while kids played with their friends nearby, a steady hum of cheerfulness and hope filling him as he got to the church steps.

Today was going to be one hell of a day he thought to himself.

“But we will make through it William, Together”

“Together”