Raymond stood facing the Glitter Court, a group comprised of five old goblins sitting in a semicircle around her. After her bath, she had been offered new clothes that fit surprisingly well despite being taller than every one of the goblins. They consisted of a pair of dark shorts that stopped just above her knees and a tight-fitted shirt woven from some sort of red fabric. Her eyepatch had been washed and returned to her inventory.

She gave her original, destroyed outfit to the goblins. They said something about recycling the material.

The old goblins of the Glitter Court wore matching outfits, each of them wearing a long, white robe that sparkled as if glitter was woven throughout. All of them had greyish white, spindly beards. All of them had kind expressions.

Off to the side, Shaman, Vorg and Lexi sat as spectators. Og stood behind Raymond as a form of translator. Though she understood the language, she didn’t understand the culture or the flow of the proceedings.

“Kneel.” Og hissed.

Raymond hesitated. Something within her violently rejected the idea. It had been the same a few days prior when she’d visited Shaman. The idea of kneeling made her feel sick but she had no idea why.

Raymond fought the feeling as she forced herself down onto one knee. A wave of nausea filled her and a sharp pain resonated from with her head. The nausea was followed by rage and Raymond struggled to push it back, grimacing.

What is going on?

“You may rise.” the goblin in the center droned in an old, warm voice.

Raymond shot to her feet, the feelings rapidly evaporating. She made a mental note to discover exactly what had just happened… later.

“Evelyn Raymond, Tether of Legion, desires to share a message with the Glitter Court” Og introduced.

The furthest goblin on the right raised his hand.

“Why do we entertain a servant of the enemy?” he growled, his warm smile never shifting.

“Now is not the time for hostilities, Flynn.” the goblin in the center replied.

Flynn shook his head but didn’t respond.

The center goblin motioned towards the goblin on the far right. “We should introduce ourselves in accordance with the traditions of the ancients.”

The rightmost goblin nodded. “I am Tyrion, Lord of Commerce.” he introduced. Then he sat down.

The goblin to his right and then each goblin, in turn, introduced themselves.

“Cosmo, Lord of the Hunt.”

“Oberon, Lord of the Court.”

“Cedric, the Martial Lord.”

“Flynn, Court Secretary”

As Flynn retook his seat, Oberon resumed speaking. “We will hear your message, but that is all that we will promise for now.”

“You may speak now.” Og whispered to Raymond.

Raymond observed the five leaders for a moment. She ran a hand through her hair as she considered what to say first.

“Honored Lords and Secretary,” she began, “I am Raymond, Tether of the Great One. I bring a message of salvation for all those the humans have termed ‘monsters’.”

“And what is this message?” Flynn demanded.

“Legion asks for your allegiance.”

“What does he promise in return?” Tyrion asked, his voice teeming with curiosity.

“He is a new Overseer and does not yet have much power. As he grows in power, he will use it to help his followers. As of right now, all he can promise is access to the ‘respawn’ system.” Raymond replied.

“Respawn?” Cedric said, leaning forward, “That’s the system that keeps resurrecting the humans, no?”

Raymond nodded.

Cedric laughed incredulously. “That is amazing! You promise us immortality for merely swearing allegiance to a lesser god?”

Raymond felt a bit of discontent flow through her connection to Legion. She frowned. “Though he is not yet powerful, I do not believe he is lesser to any of the other Overseers.”

Cosmo shook his head. “We do not refer to the other Overseers with our comment. To us, they are also lesser gods. A greater god would be something like Demestrix or the Precursors. You are a True Vampire, no? Do you not worship your father Kraveloz?”

Raymond shrugged. “I have no memory of such a being.”

The goblins all gasped. “The Evelyn Raymond rejects her own creator? What does this mean?” Tyrion asked.

“I cannot reject him because I do not know him,” Raymond replied calmly. “I will make my judgment if he ever shows himself to me.”

Oberon shook his head. “You do not understand. Never before has any individual from any of the original races spoken against their creator. You were the representative of your race and known as the most powerful True Vampire.”

Raymond hissed in frustration. “I am not the Evelyn Raymond of whom you speak.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Oberon retorted, “Just the idea that an individual bearing the name Evelyn Raymond does not serve Kraveloz, let alone any Precursor is tantamount to heresy.”

Raymond clenched her fists, fighting down a surge of anger.

“I do not know of your ways and I do not know your history,” she started, “but where is this Demestrix now? Where is this Kraveloz? Humans have been dominating you for over a thousand years. If the Overseers are lesser, why have the Precursors abandoned you?”

Cedric stood up, stomping his foot. The ground shook and the chair behind him flew away. A blast of wind caused Raymond to stumble backward, the tremors in the ground making it difficult to retain her balance. Curiously, none of the other goblin leaders seemed affected by the display.

“Do NOT speak ill of Demestrix!” Cedric roared, “You may blasphemy your own creator if you will, but I will slay you where you stand if you say another word against ours.”

Raymond trembled slightly, feeling as if an overwhelming pressure was trying to slam her into the ground. She stared up defiantly, meeting Cedric’s enraged eyes.

“I apologize if I have slandered Demestrix,” she said, “I merely want you to consider that Legion can help you where she has not.”

Cedric took a step forward.

“Stop.” Oberon commanded calmly. Cedric glanced back at him, the overwhelming presence fading instantly. Cedric bowed slightly towards Oberon and then returned to his position. Urg appeared out of nowhere, offering a new chair to the Martial Lord. He accepted it and sat down while Urg disappeared once more.

“We have heard your message.” Oberon said, “We ask a week to allow us to deliberate amongst ourselves.”

Raymond nodded, “Take however long you will. Just remember, until you decide to follow Legion, death will be permanent. There is a quest to kill the goblins here in the adventurers guild…” she left the rest unsaid as she turned and walked away from the group but they understood her warning.

In the coming days, they just might have to choose between their loyalty and their lives.

***

Raymond walked back over to the training yard. Goblins stared at her as she passed by. Some goblin kids stopped the game they were playing with some kind of ball to watch her move passed them. She ignored all of them as she pressed forward, Og following close behind her.

“You can leave me alone, you know.” she muttered.

“I am simply fulfilling my duty.” Og replied, “There will always be a member of the assassin squad nearby to assist you while you are visiting.”

Raymond gave him a half smile. “Is it normal for assassins to act as guides and cultural helpers?”

Og didn’t reply. They reached the training yard and Raymond pulled six bags from her belt. One was her personal Bag of Holding, one was from Suzy and the other four were from the adventurer group she had taken out a few days prior. She had never taken the time to review their contents and she figured now was as good a time as any.

“Hey Og, is there any way to combine the contents of looted Bags of Holding?”

“There is, but the process destroys the second bag. They aren’t cheap, so I wouldn’t recommend it.” he replied.

Raymond sighed and then turned to examine the contents.

Evelyn Raymond’s Inventory 2:

Gold Coin x40

Silver Coin x56

Copper Coin x142

Mana Potion x10

Enchanted Cleric’s Robe x1

Emblem of the Royal Family x1

Adventurer’s Rations x10

Evelyn Raymond’s Inventory 3:

Gold Coin x3

Silver Coin x15

Copper Coin x22

Mana Potion x1

Health Potion x1

Dominion Focus x1

Endurance Potion x15

Log of Conquests x1

Adventurer’s Rations x10

Evelyn Raymond’s Inventory 4:

Gold Coin x6

Silver Coin x3

Copper Coin x73

Health Potion x1

Lockpicking Kit x1

Flint and Steel x1

Alchemy Kit x1

Assorted Poisons x1

Normal Rope (100 meters) x1

Adventurer’s Rations x10

Evelyn Raymond’s Inventory 5:

Gold Coin x3

Silver Coin x5

Copper Coin x41

Health Potion x1

Longbow x1

Dagger x3

Black Cloak x1

Cooking Kit x1

Adventurer’s Rations x10

Steel Arrows x1500

She then began the rather tedious process of transferring the items. Into her first bag. Thankfully, she discovered that she could transfer an entire pile of gold or arrows if she specified the exact amount in the pile. She paused only when she pulled out the Log of Conquests from the bag that used to belong to Peter. She opened the small journal to the latest entry, curious about its contents.

February 14, 7602

Today’s conquest was the two barmaids at our new inn. Unfortunately, the last innkeeper refuses to allow us business because his workers complained about me. Rather than take offense, I have decided to be optimistic about this - there are new conquests to be found!

I have never tried to conquer two at once before. Their names were Vera and Jen. Admittedly, I was slightly disappointed at how easy it was to enchant the two girls. With just a simple Mind Control spell and few magically enhanced words, I had them obeying my every command. After dinner, I led them to my room for a night of passion. After closing the door, I proceeded to…

Raymond read the next sentence and then slammed the book closed, disgusted at the depravity found within. She tossed the book into her Inventory. Maybe she could use it for blackmail or something later. She had tried to turn Peter into a drone but without confirmation that it had actually happened, she figured it was best to prepare as if he was still around… just in case.

After transferring all the contents, she viewed her newly filled inventory.

Evelyn Raymond’s Inventory 1:

Gold Coin x56

Silver Coin x94

Copper Coin x299

Health Potion x4

Mana Potion x11

Endurance Potion x15

Lockpicking Kit x1

Longbow x1

Dagger x3

Dominion Focus x1

Poorly Maintained Longsword x1

Overseer’s Hygienic Eyepatch (Black) x1

Enchanted Cleric’s Robe x1

Cleric’s White Robe

Dark Traveling Cloak

Black Cloak x1

Assorted Poisons x1

Alchemy Kit x1

Cooking Kit x1

Cooking Knife x1

Flint and Steel x1

Normal Rope (100 meters) x1

Adventurer’s Rations x56

Steel Arrows x3500

Emblem of the Royal Family x1

Log of Conquests x1

Book of Holy (Return to the Library of Cairel or suffer the consequences.)

She had acquired quite a bit of stuff through her fights with the adventurers. Some of the items seemed like they could be useful. Others she had no idea what they were used for and some might turn out to be problematic if she held onto them, such as the Book of Holy.

She withdrew the sword, noting that its name had changed from ‘Longsword’ to ‘Poorly Maintained Longsword’. As she looked over the weapon, it was clear that the system was analyzing the weapon correctly. Rust and dried blood clung to the dulled edges. In its current state, if it was used as a weapon it would only function as a flimsy club at best and a painful distraction at worst.

Og stared at the weapon, horror in his eyes.

“You… what have you done?” he groaned, “Are you a barbarian? Is this is how you treat your weapons?”

Raymond grimaced. “I have no idea how to take care of a sword.”

“Clearly.” Og said as he reached into a bag at his side. He pulled a package out and handed it to her.

“This should be the basic materials you need to clean and sharpen it. If you ever show me a poorly maintained blade again, I will send you back to that Temple you spoke of.”

“Noted.” Raymond said as she accepted the package.

Og pulled another package out of his sack along with a sword. He sat down, motioning for Raymond to do the same.

“Though your current sword might be a lost cause, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

***

After the meeting with the Glitter Court, Lexi had gone to a clearing that Shaman told her about roughly a hundred meters to the west of the camp. She wanted somewhere quiet to meditate and practice her new magic. She spent roughly an hour meditating and controlling her aura. By the time she finished, the clearing permeated with the smell of fish.

As she hit the one hour mark, Lexi condensed the mana from her aura, willing it to gather into the palm of her hand. The mana molded around her hand and claws, conforming to the small, defined shape. She then activated one of her new spells.

“Air” she whispered. The mana immediately shifted, gathering the surrounding air. In the blink of an eye, the mana had almost entirely converted into air and swirled around her hand.

She walked over to a tree at the edge of the clearing and took a combat stance. She took a deep breath and then raked towards the tree with her claws. The five streaks of wind stretched away from her hand, shredding two inches into the bark.

Lexi grinned, showing her sharp canines.

She split the mana between each of her hands and moved into the forest, swinging wildly. The smaller trees split and fell before her onslaught. The larger trees shuddered as she tore into them. When she struck the ground, deep furrows lined the rock and dirt. She received a few blue screen notifications but she ignored them, pushing forward and revelling in the sensation of strength and power.

And then Lexi felt a wave of exhaustion fill her. Her head exploded with pain as she collapsed, falling forward.

And then a notification appeared.

You are out of mana.

Mages were supposed to watch their mana carefully because letting it reach all the way to zero had some pretty annoying and painful consequences. Lexi wanted to cry as she tried not to imagine the hangover she would have when she woke up.

Lexi groaned as she rolled over onto her back and looked up at the greyish blue sky. Another month or so and it would be Spring. The sky would be clear and blue and the animals and wild monsters would come out. Some would come out of hibernation while others would migrate and this area would be filled with adventurers seeking to fulfill subjugation and collection requests.

There were only two or three monsters in this area that were active during the winter and she couldn’t smell any of them nearby.

So, for now, she was safe enough to take a nap in the woods. Besides, the assassin goblin that was keeping watch on her would probably take care of anything that wanted to harm her.

Probably.

***

Lord Mortimer Perseus Raventon the Dark was flying through the darkening sky. He didn’t have a particular destination in mind, he had just grown bored of watching Lexi meditate and Raymond smash stones. So he had decided to look around.

This was the first time that he had been summoned as a Lord-variant. His previous masters had all been mere plebeians… weak and foolish. The biggest differences between a Lord-variant familiar and a normal one were the potency of their skills and the ability to speak. They have the same level of intelligence and the same personalities.

But oh, how Lord Mortimer loved finally being able to speak! His new Lady would have his eternal gratitude simply for granting him that long-desired ability... even if she did travel in the company of a feline.

He actually felt a little bit bad about how he treated her, but he just couldn’t help it. His issues with Lexi had little to do with her and more to do with his past. Trauma doesn’t just disappear in a few days.

And phagophobia is not easy to overcome at all.

He adjusted his course, flying in the direction of Cairel. His fourth master had been from Cairel, so he knew the area quite well.

Though she had not given him any orders, he knew what was at stake. He was essentially an extension of Raymond herself, after all, so he had a handful of her memories from before he was summoned.

So he was flying randomly, seeking inspiration on what he could do to please her. It was high time for him to show Lady Raymond his worth.