Arcturus settled onto the bed provided for him after a quick bath to wash away the filth of the day, surprised at how similar yet different the amenities in the Sovereign’s… palace? Fortress? Whatever it was, were. Instead of speaking his desires like in the Empire, he had two two handles correlating to hot and cold water. When he turned them, the classical shower head spewed forth water, though he could detect magic at play as well, not just plumbing.

A blue crystal purified the liquid as it came out, while a red one opposite adjusted the heat as needed for the experience. Water and Fire aether in concert. When he’d finished cleaning himself, using a bar of what he assumed was a universal cleanser on his hair and body; he’d come out of the shower to find a soft towel waiting for him.

With his clothes dirty and no replacements in sight, he’d simply slid into the four poster bed nude after drying himself off. A red velvet blanket and black sheets spoke to the aesthetic at play, and Arcturus found himself enjoying the gothic Victorian ‘vibe’ that the Sovereign had in their place of power. He was confused, admittedly, by the finery — but he simply assumed that would be explained when he asked about it.

As he settled into bed, he finally relented and, with a deep breath, sorted through his notifications. First, he checked the alert for ‘The Uncrowned King’.

HIDDEN QUEST

QUEST NAME The Uncrowned King DIFFICULTY Epic STATUS On-Going

DESCRIPTION

You have arrived on the Source bereft of your birthright or access to the resources that your bloodline should have granted you. Another stands to inherit all that should have been yours by right of birth and status, and you are very nearly powerless to stop him.

The only way to truly stand toe-to-toe with the schemers and nobles of the Empire is to have those in your corner who you can trust absolutely. A leader is only as strong as the nation that supports them, after all.

CURRENT OBJECTIVE Recruit 10 Oathsworn PROGRESS 9 / 10 Oathsworn Recruited

Nine down, one to go. He faintly regretted not asking a random maid or guard to swear an oath, but it had seemed something of an imposition — and inappropriate given the fact he was Tylariel’s Apprentice and a guest within the Rubastra Estate. He set aside the quest for the moment as he cleared the notification, and then — after cycling through and dismissing no-longer-relevant status and knowledge updates — opened his Main Quest screen to view the changes.

⚜️MAIN QUEST UPDATED⚜️

QUEST NAME The Dragon Resurgent (Updated!) DIFFICULTY Legendary STATUS On-Going DESCRIPTION

Following a fruitful period of training under the auspices of Tylariel Rubastra and with the guidance of Tiberius Rubastra, you managed to shape yourself from a terrified neophyte into a true Apprentice Archon, one whose power was both crippled and extraordinary in equal measure.

Unfortunately, your great destiny as the next King of Valaria was not to be, as your plans for a grand reveal to your grandfather Arcturus Honoris Valoura were firmly derailed by a Church of Eternal Light sanctioned assault on the Rubastra Estate.

Having discovered the source of the incursion and the person who nullified the defenses of the Rubastra Estate, in the form of Vivienne Dubois, an undercover Inquisitor for the enemy: You managed to slay her, only to find yourself engaged against your cousin Leon Valoris Honorum, and his companions Amélie Delacroix and Alanna Elthseth.

Following a desperate battle, you and your companions were defeated, and after the death of a treasured friend, you were forced to retreat to a secret chamber deep below the Rubastra Estate. There, Adam Warman activated a Blackstone Gateway and spirited you away by force.

You arrived in what appeared to be an ancient site, and after exploration, were confronted by Vampires that, after fighting, you discovered you are able to cure of their Vampirism. After fleeing the sub-levels of the site you arrived in, you were found by Sevatar and taken to The Sovereign, with whom you struck a beneficial bargain.

Now, lost and alone, you must find out what it is The Sovereign desires, and decide if it is a path you wish to walk.

CURRENT OBJECTIVE(S)

Acquire a proper Weapon

Acquire a Seat of Power

Complete 'The Uncrowned King'

Hidden: Stop the Traitor

Hidden: Destroy or Cure the Vampires

???

COMPLETED OBJECTIVE(S)

Acquire a proper Weapon

Reward: 200 Experience

Hidden: Stop the Traitor

Reward: 350 Experience

Arcturus stared at the updated Main Quest description, and then at the hidden objectives he’d fulfilled or been given. He knew exactly what ‘Stop the Traitor’ correlated to, and Vivienne’s blue eyes flashed through his mind as he felt his heartbeat kick up in his chest. That wound was still raw, and he knew he would be looking at something of a reckoning when he returned to whatever part of himself that it was he visited when leveling up. The experience was, in a way, almost callous in how it was doled out. It reduced Vivienne and her complications into numbers on a screen. His indignation at the System bubbled inside of him, but he also knew that growing angry at a System was… ludicrous.

It only barely helped calm him, though.

Arcturus took a breath and mentally prepared himself for what was to come next: His Combat Reports. Knowing how it worked, he would receive a rush of experience the moment he opened them, and while he was eager to Level Up in general, thinking about what he’d gone through… He grit his teeth. It was going to be a lot. Arcturus took a steady, bracing breath and settled himself comfortably in bed just in case, before hesitantly ‘pulling’ out the combat log and finally opening it.

⚔ COMBAT REPORT ⚔

Congratulations, you have defeated 9 enemies!

Amélie Delacroix (Level C-45)

8,150 Experience

5,075 Experience [Spared]

Unknown Exemplar (Level C-22) 1,700 Experience [Slain] Unknown Exemplar (Level C-14) 450 Experience [Slain] Unknown Exemplar (Level C-18) 850 Experience [Slain] Unknown Exemplar (Level C-16) 675 Experience [Slain]

Inquisitor Vivienne Dubois

(Level B-5)

13,365 Experience [Slain]

Starved Vampire (Level C-35)

2,850 Experience [Slain]

Starved Vampire (Level C-29)

875 Experience [Slain]

Starved Vampire (Level C-45)

4,750 Experience [Slain]

REWARD(S)

30,590 Experience

Your Aetherblade Wielding skill has risen to Level 20!

...

Your Aetherblade Wielding skill has risen to Level 25!

Your Telekinesis skill has risen to Level 19!

...

Your Telekinesis skill has risen to Level 24!

Your Strength attribute has risen to 39!

Your Agility attribute has risen to 33!

Your Agility attribute has risen to 34!

Your Arcana attribute has risen to 41!

Your Arcana attribute has risen to 42!

Arcturus stared at the rewards, and the moment his eyes found the experience gained and the twelve levels he’d earned, a shocked invective barely passed his lips before his eyes rolled back into his head and — as energy and fire sparked out and around him — Arcturus was lost to the darkness of his mind.

When he opened his eyes, a pair of vibrant blue ones stared back at him. His lips curled into a sad smile when he saw them, and he reached up to brush a strand of golden-blonde hair from where it fell upon the owner’s nose. “Hello, Vivienne.”

The Estate Mistress-cum-Enemy smiled back at him slyly, and slid a hand down to his stomach, her red-painted nails dragging themselves along his abdominal muscles through the thin material of his high-collared black shirt. Cut in Terran style, he realised as he glanced down at her hand, not earthling. “You know that isn’t in the cards.” Arcturus said gently.

“But it’s fun to consider, even if I am the ghost of a dead woman.” She said back, her voice low and sensuous. “No one would ever know—”

“I would.” He said simply, reaching down to take her hand and wrap it in his. “And no matter what my spiritual dick might want, my head knows better. I know you know better, too.”

Vivienne pouted at him, and then sighed in resignation as she smoothly stood up — crawling over him with a very generous view of her body through the form-fitting dress she bore — as she slid off the bed. Her footsteps took her to his bedside table, and she picked up the picture of Arcturus, his father, and his mother together. “You do look like Titus. Down to the jawline and the intensity of your eyes. You have your mother’s cheekbones, though.”

“I know. She says it’s a consolation prize for never having a daughter.”

Vivienne set the picture back down and wandered around his room, her eyes glancing here and there, and her fingers touching or caressing different pieces of his projected living space. “If you’re waiting for the others to show up, they won’t.” Vivienne said idly.

Arcturus blinked. “But why? I thought if I kill someone, I—”

“Only if you have a strong tie to them.” She replied with a glance back, and a sultry smile. “Otherwise, their essence is claimed and their Souls pass on to The Highest without incident. It’s only when a death really bothers you, or they have a personal tether to you, that this encounter happens.”

“How do you—?”

“This is your spiritual projection, handsome. I know what you know, even if you don’t actually know you know it yet.”

“That seems a little paradoxical.”

“It does.” She concurred, spinning around to face him. “Notice how you aren’t suffering the pain of my death, like you did with Geran?”

Arcturus blinked at her, and then realized it was true. “I’m not… But I thought—?”

She cut him off again with a pleased smile, as if knowing more made her happy. “You don’t regret my death, Arcturus. You just regret that it was me you killed.”

“That sounds like the same thing.”

“It isn’t.” She said matter-of-factly. “You knew the deed was necessary and even justified, so you bear no guilt over it and thus no need to experience my pain to alleviate it for yourself, masochist that you are.” She graced him with a fond smile. “The fact it was me that was killed, though, is what bothers you: The chain of events that forced your hand, not the act of killing me itself. Even if you don’t realize it yet, it’s the truth.” She cocked her head. “I suppose I should feel flattered that you regret my death so much.”

“It was senseless.” He responded with a flash of remembered anger.

“I know.” She agreed. “The Church is… a far less noble organization than many believe.”

“It should be burned to the ground.” He growled.

Vivienne arched her eyebrow. “That’s rather absolutist. What about the Clerics that legitimately seek to aid and help the people? The healers and monks who dole out aid both magical and mundane thanks to their firm belief in the tenets of their faith? There are deeply horrifying elements to the Church, Arcturus. My frequent use by men and women of ‘Faith’ proves that, but that doesn’t paint everyone with the same brush. Even I knew people I would call legitimately good within the Church.”

Arcturus shook his head. “The good it does is not a balancing factor for its ills. This isn’t a person, whose past can be redeemed by their future. Individuals can change, can grow, and can work to give reparations at a personal level. The Church?” He looked down at his hands, and curled them into fists. “The Church is too big. Too powerful. Its influence is too profound, and the evils it commits are too invasive. It’s like a tumour at the heart of the Empire. It has to be excised, for the health of the majority as well as the minority.”

“And what about the innocent people that might oppose you? The Paladins who believe in what they swore, the Valkyries who truly just wish to defend the meek?” Her voice grew in intensity as she spoke, almost pressing down upon him with its force. “The Clerics, Monks… Even the congregations. What about the faithful masses that would answer the call to arms if you prompted a Crusade?” Vivienne arched an eyebrow critically. “Will you cut through the Empire’s very heart just to get at a single sickness?”

“I’m a student of history, Vivienne, but you knew that the moment you manifested here.”

She nodded in concession.

“That means you know what I’m going to say: History is filled with examples of those who refused to take the necessary steps, who stopped short of true liberation, who backed off because the blood was too thick, the body count too high…” He reached up to rub his hands over his face, jumping to his feet and walking over to his bookshelf. “How many times could the tragedies have been avoided, if the sickness had been properly excised? How many times could a massacre have been avoided if the right people had just been killed? How often would innocent people have survived, if someone had just taken the initiative and killed those thousand people to save the million?”

Arcturus turned back to her. “I know what I’m saying goes against everything I used to believe. I know that I’m monologuing right now, but I don’t care: It’s the truth. I’ve been thinking about this every moment since I killed you, and it always circles back to the same answer: I never had a choice. I had to kill you, because the Church robbed choice. People will die.” He felt his resolve harden as he spoke. The Empire and Church decreed that might was right, and if that was the case, Arcturus would play by their rules in abolishing the Church.

“But that’s the price for purging the thing that allowed sins like your geas to be committed. Terra will never end, Vivienne. Order won’t let it, because if Terra ends everything ends. The Sun will never explode, the planet will never self-destruct… It just isn’t in the cards. Even forgetting Order, the gods won’t let their playground die.” He shook his head. “So it’ll persist, and their Church will persist because they’ll ensure it persists. The cycle will continue for a hundred more years. A thousand. Ten thousand. More! Then how many will die? How many will suffer? I won’t stand for it!”

“So you’ll birth rivers of blood to stop oceans from forming in the future?”

“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends,” Arcturus quoted, “than that good men should look on and do nothing.”

“John Stuart Mill.” Vivienne said with a sly smile, using his own knowledge.

“If I stand by and do nothing, then every person from that point on that suffers is on me, as much as it is on every other person that ever threw up their hands and said ‘not it!’ when confronted by this kind of evil.”

“You’ll be seen as the very evil you proclaim you want to fight.”

“That’s for me to bear, then.” Arcturus said simply. “Right now, I’m just a twenty-something idiot with more power than brains and a crackpot plan about ending a multi-millennial religious institution backed by the most powerful Empire the Source has ever known.”

“Not quite true.” Vivienne said with a mysterious smile. “But I won’t be the one to educate you on the Empire’s historical misdirections. I came here, Arcturus, to see if you meant the vow you swore over my body.” Her expression softened. “Thank you, by the way, for that headstone. I…” She glanced away, letting her hair hide her face. “I really appreciated that gesture. It meant a lot.”

“You’re welcome.” He said, some of his passion and indignation fading away. “And I’m sorry. For all of it.”

“It’s okay.” She said as she looked back to him, her eyes shimmering faintly with unshed tears. “I killed you first, didn’t I?”

Arcturus allowed a smile to grace his features. “Yeah… I guess you did.”

“Can you give me something, Arcturus?” Vivienne asked as she closed with him, reaching out to slide her arms around him and rest her head against his chest. He blinked at her actions, but didn’t push her away, holding her as he would any other girl seeking comfort.

“What is it?”

“Tell me you love me.”

“I...” He trailed off.

“You have no idea,” she whispered against his chest as his words faltered, her voice almost… terrified, and awed at the same time. “You have no idea what you are. What lurks within the locked recesses of your being. You’ll find out soon. Very soon. When you do, you’re going to change… and I want to hear you say it, I want to carry that with me, so I know I heard it from you before you stopped being the person that kissed me when I was dying, and gave a tortured woman her freedom.”

“Vivienne, I don’t know if I can…”

“Do it anyway.”

“I can’t—”

“Lie to me.” She begged. “Lie to me, Arcturus. Just lie to me. Please.”

Arcturus closed his eyes, and bent down to rest his cheek against her hair. It smelled like her. He thought about her smiles in the morning, her musical laugh, the way she’d bring him food, massage his muscles, and let him sleep in when he wasn’t supposed to. He thought of her demure glances, her swaying walk, and the fiery intellect lurking behind her eyes. He thought about Vivienne Dubois, about the memory of the woman he’d known, and his lips parted as he poured those memories into sound.

“I love you, Vivienne Dubois.”

“Thank you.” She whispered.

Arcturus opened his eyes.

Vivienne was gone.

Arcturus sighed and wandered over to his desk, hands brushing the back of his chair in contemplation before he dropped in it with a grunt.

Let’s get a move on, then.

“Where’ve you been?” Arcturus muttered as his sheet came into view, and he looked it over in thought.

I honestly can’t tell you. Now hurry up and get stronger. We’re going to need it if you want to take on the Church.

“Are you real?” He asked at last, pausing as he waited for an answer.

Don’t ask stupid questions.

Arcturus snorted. Why had he expected anything less?

His eyes turned back towards his status sheet, and Arcturus reviewed his current state.

INFORMATION PANEL

BASIC INFORMATION

NAME Arcturus Valoura CLASS Ȁ̶̩͉̝̤͘͝r̴̥̥͕̐̌͒͝ć̸̫͓̿ͅä̸̧́̐̀n̷̲̏̌̀͜͝ẹ̷̜͙̈́̏ ̷̙̥͐̄W̴̮̘͂̓̊͝a̴̢͑͆͋ŗ̷̬̫̋r̵̪̯̋̓̅̕i̷̛͖̬͍ō̵͍͉͜r̸̡̻̗̜̿͒ RACE Nephilim AGE 21 GENDER Male LEVEL 31 TITLE(S) N/A

CONDITION

ANIMA 43 HP 2,307 / 2,307 10 Health Per Minute (HPM) AETHER 43 MP 2,307 / 2,307 10 Mana Per Minute (MPM)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

Agility

Intellect

Vitality

Perception

Arcana

Willpower

Charisma

Luck

39

34

30

31

35

42

32

25

??

CORE SKILLS

SKILL NAME

DETAILS

Aether Manipulation

(Passive, Infinite Scaling)

[Click to Expand]

Inspect

(Passive, Infinite Scaling)

[Click to Expand]

COMBAT SKILLS

SKILL NAME DETAILS

Unarmed Combat

(Passive, Level 17)

[Click to Expand]

Stealth

(Active, Level 12)

[Click to Expand]

Aetherblade Wielding

(Passive, Level 25)

[Click to Expand]

MAGICAL SKILLS

SKILL NAME DETAILS

Psionicist

(Passive, Infinite Scaling)

[Click to Expand]

Telekinesis

(Active, Level 24)

[Click to Expand]

Lightfire

(Active, Level 14)

[Click to Expand]

Voidfire

(Active, Level 12)

[Click to Expand]

TRADE SKILLS

SKILL NAME DETAILS

Cartography

(Active, Level 15)

[Click to Expand]

Arcane Linguistics

(Passive, Infinite Scaling)

[Click to Expand]

Enchanting

(Active, Level 9)

[Click to Expand]

Aethersmithing [Core]

(Active, Level 12)

[Click to Expand]

Aethersmithing Infusion [Branch]

(Active, Level 12)

[Click to Expand]

Aethersmithing Diffusion [Branch]

(Active, Level 10)

[Click to Expand]

Cooking

(Active, Level 8)

[Click to Expand]

LEVEL PROGRESS

EXPERIENCE 15,840 / 2,000 Level Up In Progress

Arcturus’ eyes drifted over to where he had twelve full bars of experience, and he very nearly groaned in dismay. One hundred and twenty points of experience might have seemed like a motherload, but he understood the complications: His body would be… odd… after such rapid and pronounced change. He would gain greatly increased benefits in any field he distributed significant points, but in return he’d be faced with awkwardness and even a sense of dissonance where his body felt odd or responded too fast or with too much strength to his requirements.

The only positive was that he would be asleep for the process, and thus not have to feel his bones growing denser, or muscles forming new layers, or his limbs changing their structure to subtly accomodate for his new strengths. Arcturus reached up to rub his temples, and then set to adjusting his values, muttering “To hell with it!” under his breath in annoyance.

First he increased his Anima and Aether by twenty points apiece, following his usual tactic of increasing them by two per level gained. When he was done, and he was staring at 15,520 for both his health and mana values, Arcturus was boggling. Those numbers were… insane. He’d never considered the invariably massive amounts of both Health and Mana he would achieve as he levelled, and being propelled to Level 31 within the span of a few days was… Well, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t brought it on himself by suppressing his alerts.

Arcturus moved his eyes further down to his attributes, took a moment to consider, and then started distributing points. With 80 left, he started by placing 5 into each and every attribute, universally increasing them the way that Adam had advised for large point gains. Then, with that done and a baseline achieved, he set to distributing his remaining 40 points. First he increased his strength by an additional 6, bringing the total to 50. Then, with that done, he increased his Agility by 6 as well, bringing it to a stable 45.

“Strength and Speed in balance, but without the rest…” With 38 points left, he added 8 to Arcana for a total of 55, and then 5 into Intellect and 4 into Vitality for both to reach a total of 40. With the remaining 21, he brought his Willpower to 40 as well, and then put 13 of the remaining 18 into his Charisma for a total of 40 as well. With 3 points left, Arcturus put one into [Lightfire] to hit 15, and the remaining 2 into [Voidfire] to bring it to 14.

Both skills levelled with glacial slowness in combat, and he wanted their effectiveness increased as much as possible. “That’s… satisfyingly even.” He said with a smile, looking over his attributes and failing to resist a yawn. “Right on time.” He muttered, glancing down at his Experience Bar: 73% to Level 32. Well… It was something, at least.

INFORMATION PANEL

BASIC INFORMATION

NAME Arcturus Valoura CLASS Ȁ̶̩͉̝̤͘͝r̴̥̥͕̐̌͒͝ć̸̫͓̿ͅä̸̧́̐̀n̷̲̏̌̀͜͝ẹ̷̜͙̈́̏ ̷̙̥͐̄W̴̮̘͂̓̊͝a̴̢͑͆͋ŗ̷̬̫̋r̵̪̯̋̓̅̕i̷̛͖̬͍ō̵͍͉͜r̸̡̻̗̜̿͒ RACE Nephilim AGE 21 GENDER Male LEVEL 31 TITLE(S) N/A

CONDITION

ANIMA 63 HP 15,520 / 15,520 25 Health Per Minute (HPM) AETHER 63 MP 15,520 / 15,520 25 Mana Per Minute (MPM)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

Agility

Intellect

Vitality

Perception

Arcana

Willpower

Charisma

Luck

50

45

40

40

40

55

40

40

??

CORE SKILLS

SKILL NAME

DETAILS

Aether Manipulation

(Passive, Infinite Scaling)

[Click to Expand]

Inspect

(Passive, Infinite Scaling)

[Click to Expand]

COMBAT SKILLS

SKILL NAME DETAILS

Unarmed Combat

(Passive, Level 17)

[Click to Expand]

Stealth

(Active, Level 12)

[Click to Expand]

Aetherblade Wielding

(Passive, Level 25)

[Click to Expand]

MAGICAL SKILLS

SKILL NAME DETAILS

Psionicist

(Passive, Infinite Scaling)

[Click to Expand]

Telekinesis

(Active, Level 24)

[Click to Expand]

Lightfire

(Active, Level 15)

[Click to Expand]

Voidfire

(Active, Level 14)

[Click to Expand]

TRADE SKILLS

SKILL NAME DETAILS

Cartography

(Active, Level 15)

[Click to Expand]

Arcane Linguistics

(Passive, Infinite Scaling)

[Click to Expand]

Enchanting

(Active, Level 9)

[Click to Expand]

Aethersmithing [Core]

(Active, Level 12)

[Click to Expand]

Aethersmithing Infusion [Branch]

(Active, Level 12)

[Click to Expand]

Aethersmithing Diffusion [Branch]

(Active, Level 10)

[Click to Expand]

Cooking

(Active, Level 8)

[Click to Expand]

LEVEL PROGRESS

EXPERIENCE 2,340 / 3,200 73% Progress to Level 30

Arcturus pushed himself up and, with a final glance to where Vivienne had vanished, he wandered over to his bed and settled down onto it. His gaze drifted right, and he looked at the other picture on his desk: The one with him and Amélie, the day of their High School Prom, arm in arm. A smile touched his features and his usual low-simmer of rage temporarily cooled.

The people in that photo were a lifetime gone. Naive, ignorant teenagers with no clue about what was coming for them. In some ways he missed the innocence he had lost, and in other ways, the very idea of it was… disturbing. For all the hardships he’d experienced, he knew more. He understood things about the world in a way his comparatively sheltered, ignorant upbringing had never allowed him to. Arcturus stared into the smiling faces of a departed lifetime, and felt another piece of himself fade into memory. The past was fine, but it was the past.

His body hit the mattress and he lifted his right hand up above him, pondering his spread fingers thoughtfully. He had heard of the open palm and the closed fist; oriental metaphors adapted for western use to imply a peaceful or equitable approach versus a tyrannical or martial one. The choosing of a path, so some people said: A choice, that once made, would dictate the actions and decisions of the individual or collective.

It was supposed to be something of a resolution, one that would be adhered to regardless of hardship or opposition. Arcturus, with the tempering Terra had brutally laid upon him, found a form of satisfaction in the thought of such a commitment. His thoughts drifted to the Empire, to his promise to use their ‘Right of Might’ philosophy against them. He once again thought of Vivienne. He thought of Caeara.

Arcturus’ expression hardened, remembering his friend’s scared and fading gaze.

The Church had refused its chance for peace and equitable resolution.

His fingers curled into a fist, and white-black lightning coiled around it.

Luthaire had been right: His sword had been aptly named.

He would show the Church and its puppet Empire the true meaning of Perdition.

Arcturus’ eyes closed, and he felt rest take him…

…only to open them a moment later and look at his surroundings. His eyes swept the room he was in, noting the finery hung upon the walls; gold and red silks that were strung strategically to hide what he knew were cracked and dishevelled walls. Tapestries and artistic drapes that veiled the truth of his location: A worn down, neglected ghost of past glories. A corpse of a building rotting from within after presumably decades, perhaps even centuries or more of disregard and abandonment.

“Ah, good. You’re awake.”

The sound of a voice, let alone one both mellifluous and decidedly feminine, might have once startled him. Instead, it merely piqued his interest and Arcturus turned to his left to assess the sole other occupant of the room. A woman with long, flowing onyx hair that fell to what he could safely assume to be her lower back. She was attired in a dark dress that accentuated her body, throwing her preternaturally perfect hourglass into sharp relief. A black choker encircled the pale flesh of her neck, hung with a single teardrop-shaped ruby that seemed to absorb and refract the sconced light in fantastical shapes.

A book sat unopened in her lap, and she appeared to have been studying him as he slept. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of red, her irises almost alight with energy — or perhaps the reflected brilliance of the sconces, themselves casting a faint red hue across the room, and her own porcelain skin. Everything about her was sculpted and refined, from her button nose to her full red-painted lips, and the sharp cheekbones that paired with her sculpted brows to create a beauty that Arcturus found very nearly improbable.

The vitality she exuded was… intense. It was as if every feature, every line, every curve and fine detail of her existence had been meticulously curated to bring out her most attractive and physically ideal form. Next to her, even Archons like Elethea — women who had seemed supernatural in their appearance — were rendered plain. They lacked the otherworldly life that seemed to radiate from his observer like light from a torch. She was vibrant and alive in a way nobody else on Terra he’d yet seen had ever been. It was like he’d been watching a low quality rendering of reality his entire time on Terra, and was finally seeing someone in true detail.

It made him instantly wary. She seemed too perfect to be real.

“How was your rest?” She asked courteously.

“Sufficient.” Arcturus replied while observing her cautiously.

“Very well.” She said with a polite smile. “Then I suggest you find your feet, my lord.”

“To what end?” Arcturus asked without moving.

“A promise fulfilled. The Sovereign promised you answers and insights, did they not? I am here to make good on that vow. It’s already been a week, though given how many Tiers you seem to have gained, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Arcturus’ breath caught in his throat as he caught her meaning, thanks to simple deduction and his heightened Perception and Intellect. “You’re a Nephilim?”

“Not at all.” She said with a laugh that sent tingles down his spine. “I’ve been on Terra for my entire existence.”

“Then how do you know about my abilities?”

“A good question. One, among many, that will be answered if my lord will comply with my request to rise and dress.”

Arcturus swung the sheets off his body, and all sense of embarrassment at his nudity was forgotten as he placed legs that felt denser, more powerful, and more responsive to the faintly cracked and ancient marble flooring under his feet. “I will come with you, but before I do, I need to know two things.”

“Very well, my lord. I am at your service: What is it you desire to know?” She asked with only the faintest hint of impatience, lurking within her carmine eyes.

“Your name—” he said as he started the process of summoning his armour “—and how you know I was levelling up. I told nobody.”

“Very well.” She replied, her eyes averting from his nakedness with a faint flush of her cheeks that Arcturus found odd when contrasted to her otherwise self-assured nature. “My name, if it pleases my lord, is Lilith.” Despite her words, it didn’t sound like she gave a damn about what pleased him.

“Thank you, Lilith.” Arcturus said as his HUD timer counted down. “And the other answer?”

“As to how I know? That’s simple, my lord.” She turned back to him, looking only at his eyes. “I used the System to check your condition when you wouldn’t wake.”

Arcturus’ eyes widened as his armour materialized on his body. “But you’re Human, how…?”

“Ah.” She said with a smile. “I see your confusion. It stems from a misunderstanding. I am not Human, my lord.”

Arcturus watched her in silence, and the beautiful woman spread her lips: Revealing two pearly white, pointed fangs.

“You’re a Vampire?” He asked immediately, cursing himself for a fool for not realising sooner and looking for Perdition, only to realise it was next to where he'd been lying on the bed.

“Hardly.” She said with a flash of indignation, drawing his attention back to her. “Vampires are mindless, Fallen creatures with no higher function at the best of times.”

“Then what are you?” He demanded.

Lilith’s gaze was calm as she answered him. “I, Arcturus Regis Valoura, am a Vitaean. Just like your Ancestors were.”