Zoemie swore to herself as she dreamt, looking down to a large palace. Dark grey stone walls, adorned by eerie spires – an impressive panorama worthy of a video game. The surroundings ground was barren, brown dirt adorning between the grey. Looks like a sad, empty place.

The dream brought her down to ground level, before going through the roof, landing behind the throne. Fucking dream bullshit, now I have noclip, what the fuck. Zoemie ignored it. It was a dream, after all, such a thing was to be expected.

Zoemie overheard someone... something walking down the corridor behind her, heavy steps coming from behind as a door opened. The figure that stepped out was...harsh and gangly, is the best word Zoemie would use to describe them.

Their very presence felt hollow, like the person... the queen ? Empress ? Whatever. It felt to Zoemie as if the person was deeply unhappy, in spite of their power and authority. She was incapable of seeing their face, as they sat upon their throne.

Another set of steps, walking down towards the throne. Zoemie couldn't see them, since she was behind it. A woman's voice boomed, sharp and authoritative. Heard that voice before, but don't remember from who. "The rebels have been dealt with. We count a hundred and forty-seven dead, twenty-three of which were third-parties.", she explained.

"Hmph.", the empress replied with a snarling grunt. "Good riddance of these cretins." Her voice was harsh, but it masked a deep exhaustion and hollowness. Zoemie wouldn't have even noticed it if it wasn't for her attention being directed to it, magic around her skull and chin guiding her perceptions.

The dream greyed out at this point, the unpleasant voice speaking again. Its tone felt... strange to Zoemie.

"the hollow void calls

 

to repress to chase success

blow up all that is loathed

 

but even those found wanting

can be r e d e e m e d

 

the road to ruin is paved

 

what is now is enough"

---

Zoemie woke up feeling not overtly fatigued, unusually for when she had a nightmare, but she felt deeply saddened somehow. She couldn't put a finger on what within that dream was the cause of it, so she got up, trying to dispel her sadness by opening up her computer.

What am I gonna do ? Zoemie pondered, looking around on her computer. Don't feel like playing for now, and I can't go on Internet. It was her stomach that put Zoemie out of her reverie, Zoemie sighing and teleporting to the kitchen. I can play later, I guess.

She was thinking about the dream, turning it around within her mind and trying to make sense of it. Urgh. What the hell was that all about ? Most of the dreams were unpleasant, making her wake up with shivers, but this one just shot her mood down.

Zoemie shook her head, focusing on eating. I'll think about it later, try to make sense of it. Running in circles doesn't seem get me closer to figuring it out. Better take a break. She was in no hurry tp figure it out, after all. I can afford to wait on it.

After eating her breakfast calmly and finishing her subsequent routine, Zoemie shook her head, uncertain. Still feelin'... kinda like shit. Maybe I should just nap. Zoemie teleported to her room, deciding to do just that and sleep for a while, after dropping by the lab, starting to fuse another upgraded part for Xajymzia.

---

An axe swung, empowered by magic, a blade of wind cutting a rope and a slow fall enchantment cast on a falling cage. The gibbet hit the ground with a light "thunk", the caged man's eyes bugging out as Saeja forced the cage open, bending the bars with her raw force alone.

"I... I owe you one !", he said as Tarac nodded, confirming with a quick magic spell the man's health. The guards had fled, not ready or able to handle adventurers on the warpath and knowing better than to try to punch above their weight class.

"You're probably gonna want ot leave the duchy, pal.", Ruvarie said. "You got a family or something ?"

"No, no.", the man said, to which she nodded.

"Good." Ruvarie opened her storage and pulled out a strange item. "Catch.", she said before throwing the item, the man grabbing it before getting teleported by Tarac. The three adventurers knew Ruvarie's father's people would take it from here. Saeja had to admit the man was very good at this.

Saeja cared not a whit about what the man had done to end up in the gibbet, but she wouldn't allow it, at least not if she knew about it. The spell has confirmed the need to act – how Tarac managed to create the detection spell was beyond her, and frankly even he didn't know how he pulled that one off.

All he had said was mumbling about a strange dream he had, where he got to see how the spell worked. Kind of. Even he wasn't entirely sure these events actually happened the way he saw them. Not that they were complaining about having such a useful spell at their disposal.

Saeja let out a breath she was holding, before looking at the other two. "We should probably bail, ", Ruvarie started, but they were interrupted by a woman's voice. The trio turned to find what some would have considered the very image of the middle-aged peasant matron.

"Oh, hello.", she said, seemingly unaware of the details of their situation. Saeja felt no hostility from the woman, however, and Tarac did not react to her either. "Adventurers ? Well, I know better than to put my nose where it doesn't belong.", she said, before laughing a little.

"It's been a long time since that gibbet was last used...", she continued, something in her voice, Saeja feeling slightly curious at her statement. "It was the crimson boy's father that went in here, it was like twenty-five years ago or something.", she continued. "No, not quite twienty-five. I'm not sure... Would you even care to hear that story ?"

Crimson... boy ? Saeja considered. She could just be on her way, but... why not ? We do need to leave this area, but we'll end up doing that either way. "I would,", Saeja said, "but I don't know about you two.", she continued, looking at her friends who both nodded. "Well, let's hear it, then.", she said, the woman laughing and inviting them to follow, the group starting to walk down a road that led to the side.

---

"Will you want anything to drink ?", the matron asked as she and the adventurers walked down the road, but Saeja shook her head.

"The offer is appreciated, but there will be no need," Tarac answered before Saeja could, the latter nodding in assent. Ruvarie seemed a bit more ambivalent, but she nodded as well.

"We have our own provisions," Saeja explained. "I'd rather use these than to take from yours.", she continued, uncertain how to explain herself. We have more than you already, miss. Taking from you would be very mean.

The peasant woman laughed loudly at the answer, her voice filling the silence and easing Saeja's tension. "My, my ! You're a well-raised young woman !", she said, pleased by the answer.

The three adventurers arrived at a small village after a bit, entering the cottage closest to the hamlet's borders, the woman knocking on and opening the door. She opened the door first, then after a bit invited them in.

"They are ?", asked a younger woman, most likely a daughter. Not my type, Saeja thought. She shook her head, pulling herself out of her reverie and focusing on the events.

"Do not worry about it. We will not stay for long.", Tarac answered, the daughter nodding in answer without even turning to face them.

The cottage was, if Saeja was being frank, rustic. The daughter was busying herself with some form of cleaning as the matron invited them to sit, the younger woman spinning cloth in her other hand. "Thank you for cutting that thing down. It gives me the shivers still ! I remember the screams.", the woman said as she picked up and started spinning as well while she talked.

"I'm pretty sure they'll just put up another one.", Saeja tempered. "I don't know how to deal with the problem, though. Like, sure, you can kill the evil, corrupt nobles, but there's a thousand more where that came from.", she mumbled, talking more to herself than the woman.

"It's dreadful, that they can do these kind of things and get away with it," the woman mumbled, before returning to the original subject. "Right, here's the story. It started when that man got in trouble with the baronet. Poaching, as it turns out.", the woman stated, her eyes focused and grim.

"He was found out having trapped some pheasants on the baronet's lands to feed his pregnant wife. The man got really furious at it.", the woman started to explain. "I remember the two screaming their love at each other day and night, even as he was... up there.", she continued, shuddering as she aveted her gaze.

"The crimson boy, he was born... a few months later. I think. His mother died a few months later after that, still", the woman continued to explain. "He had no one at that point. We, I mean the village, tried to help, but..."

"He was scary.", the daughter took over. "He was strong, smart, and tough. He could've provided for a family easily, but all he wanted to do was take. And he never forgot when others crossed him. The baronet in particular, yes, but even in general."

"Sadly, yes.", the mother confirmed. "He turned into an angry, resenful, grudge-holding boy, despite our efforts. At one point, he as a child tricked some caravan hands into beating up another child because the latter tried to take something from him."

"It came to an head around... a dozen years later, I think ? He must have been in his mid-late teens ?", she continued. "He was... not quite an adult, but not a child either. The baronet's guards came looking for him, but didn't find him the first day.", the matron explained.

"He came back the day after,", she continued, "and he was not alone. He and his... allies maimed the guards, all of them down to the last. They invaded the baronet's manor. The details are not clear, but... he seems to have brutalized the baronet, forced himself on his wife, and then he killed the baronet before disappearing."

"The wife withdrew from life. She apparently retired to a temple, we never saw her again. Neither did the crimson boy reappear.", the daughter said. "It was... two ? Three years ago ? I'm not sure. Maybe a bit more."

"A new baronet was instituted. We saw his guards exactly once, they were looking around local towns for his daughter. She's not here, so they left.", the matron finished. "We haven't seen hide nor hair of the man or his guards since then."

Saeja took in the information. This... is certainly a story. This is clearly the Wraith they're talking about. She considered what to do. Tell them the truth ?. Saeja didn't know how she felt about this information. She would think about it later. "We... might know what happened to the man.", she said.

The matron's eyes opened in surprise. "Oh ? Do tell me, then.", she asked. Saeja nodded, taking in a breath.

She considered how to approach the explanation. "There's been a bandit roaming in the southern part of the country, called the Crimson Wraith. A smart, tricky man who raids villages and generally engage in various horrific acts."

"So, that's what became of him, huh ?" said the daughter. "I'm not surprised, but we never heard of a bandit by that name before. At least, not in our town."

"There has been no report of his activity in the area, so this makes sense.", Tarac explained. I do wonder why, Saeja thought. "In fact, he seemed to have avoided it."

"So he died ? I guess it was to be expected, but...", the daughter asked, emotion creeping in her voice.

"Yep. Ended up running into a dungeon, trying to use it to his advantage." Ruvarie explained. "The Warden took personal offense. Let me tell you that was a fun meeting", the two women looking slightly downcast.

---

"You look troubled.", Tarac said to Saeja. It had been a few more hours, the sun was slightly lowering on the horizon. The adventurers had left the small town, and were resting in a quiet clearing they had teleported to in another part of the country.

"I can not help but think about it.", Saeja explained. "Could things have turned out different ?"

"Maybe, or maybe not. He might not have been born a monster,", Tarac said, "but the man that the Warden killed was unambiguously one, and the country is better for his passing."

"You're right." Saeja admitted. She couldn't help but wonder, but at the same time... Tarac is right. She could remember the people crying because of his actions. What he stole, what he took. Maybe things could have been different, but... Speculation isn't going to help us here.

"So, what now ?", Ruvarie asked, Saeja returning to attention and thinking about it.

"We still have that monster nest to clear out. We should probably at the very least scout out the area.", Tarac said, before Saeja could start talking.

"Yes, you're right", Saeja nodded. Such missions generally took a few days to clear out, so it would keep them busy for a bit if nothing else.

---

Xajymzia looked at the room she had just added to her laboratory. The most striking piece of furniture in it stood in the middle, against the back wall, magical heavy industry tools coming out of floating portals, soldering irons and magical wrench and object holders.

It looked like a massive robot assembling plant, made of metal and magic, to open and close and reconstruct large machinery. Which made sense, since that's kind of what it was. Setting it up had taken her all day, and it was way past midnight now, so Xajymzia would have to start upgrading herself now while Zoemie slept.

The girl had gotten almost nothing done, beyond continuing to fuse more of her upgraded body parts, but that was fine for Xajymzia. Maybe these new upgrades would give her a leg up over whomever was responsible for those nightmares, even.

Xajymzia had considered how to upgrade her body. While she could theoretically upgrade all of her body parts at once, she wanted to see how long it would take for her upgrades and whether or not upgrading multiple parts at the same time took longer.

If her body was out of comission and Zoemie had another outburst, for example, it could be very problematic. Or, worse, enemies decided to show up while she was upgrading herself. So, she was going to upgrade two parts at once, then a single one afterwards, comparing the times and making her decisions from there. She could theoretically reconstruct herself a new body every time, transferring the upgraded parts, but that would take much more effort.

Xajymzia's analysis was confident that starting now instead of waiting for all of her new body parts was the better solution in term of risk mitigation about invaders. She could still do enough things even at her current power level that there was relatively little chance of things going horribly wrong with Zoemie.

And of course, she would try to arrange herself to do her upgrades while Zoemie slept. That was by far the simplest way of getting the time necessary for her upgrades. Xajymzia stepped in the machine, teleporting the upgraded parts for the first round and setting her body into place as the instruments whirred to life.

Meanwhile, she would analyze and dissect how did the scanner device do the scanning. It was one thing she could do even with her body out of comission for upgrading, so it was not going to be wasted time either.