Author's Note: This chapter took all day and part of last night to complete. Had to create Ki'Diera background from scratch, by that I mean her status and be able to justify all numbers, titles, skills and more. Then Convert some other tables, update Scott and Julie as well......If I only had to write, hehehe

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 54 Promotion!

We gathered in our room all four of us sitting in the sofa area, staring at one another, Ki'Diera is content and leaning against me, her body is giving off a soft purr. The deed had been done and she was satisfied now. Her heat is diminishing as her body is adjusting to me.

“What was that Scott? One evil one good one middle? Our children?” Julie asks, her voice has a hint of fear in it.

“A prophecy? Is there more? Did anyone see?” Cindy asks now.

“Not me, I simply saw the message like you did....”, I reply a hint of anger in my voice, but it is not the girls fault, someone is fucking with us and I want to know who.

You think someone is deliberately messing with us?

Now that I think about it, everything has been directed at Scott and us in some way, like we are pawns somehow.

I do not know, it is hard to grasp to be honest. That there is a being or beings who is causing all this...

Of course there are gods....my people have even spoken to them at times, only those truly worthy can do so.

Let me ask KI'Diera, did you witness this?

Umm...no, we were told this in stories.....

Sigh

“I know this might sound heartless, but it is not something we have to worry about right now, we have 9 months till the births. But......” Then it hits me, Ki'diera is no longer has NPC status.

“Invite Ki'Diera to party”

NOTICE!Invite to Party Sent to Ki'Diera!

“What is this this? I see something before me...” Ki'Diera calls out in surprise.

“It is a party invite please accept it princess, it seems you are no longer considered a NPC to the system, so you will have a Status screen too..” I say to her

“How?” she asks

Cindy and Julie jump in right away explaining the details, upon which she accepts the party invite.. Over the next hour we show her various things like how to access status and read it. She asks many questions and all were answered by Cindy and Julie.

I take the time to access my status but get instead the option to see Ki'Diera's status now too.

“Open Ki'Dira's status”

StatusName: Ki'Diera Age: 19Level: 48Race: Ny'Har'enExperienece to next level: 112733/115700Nobility Title: 1st Princess of the Ny'Har'enSpecial Status Soul LinkedScott SmithTitle 1: Prowler of the Night

Stage 3 +75% Strealth in Darkness +45%XPTitle 2: Stalker

Stage 4 +80% Tracking, All senses hightened by 40%Title 3:Title 4:Title 5:Profession 1: Ny'Har'en WarriorProfession 2:Fame: 12000Infamy: 0Health: 10400 (41900 Scott Smith, Julie Smith)Base Attack: 67%Mana: 8400 (46785 Scott Smith, Julie Smith)Base Defense: 64%Stamina: 9150 ( 34900 Scott Smith, Julie Smith)Base Accuracy: 49%Strength: 213Dexterity: 247Vitality: 198Endurance: 178Intelligence: 163Wisdom: 171Luck: 10Sexual Stamina: (287 Scott Smith)Unused Stat points:480SkillsBody EnhancementSkill Level 16 +16% Str +16% DexSword MasterySkill level 22 +52% DamageDagger MasterySkill level 27 +155% damageTrackingSkill level 11 +27% TrackingStealthSkill level 21 +57% StealthSneak AttackSkill level 29 +140% Damage 5X DamageItems EquippedHigh Quality Long Sword "Soul Reaper"Base Damage 75-125 50% chance to rip the SoulRing of RegenerationHeals (48) H/sec, Regrow Limbs (level dependant)Ny'Har'en DaggerBase Damage 8-18

wow she is actually higher level than I thought, no wonder she can wield that sword so well. Hmm what is this, she has access to Julie and my combined Health, Mana and Stamina?

I go over her status then bring my mine up and there she is, and pregnant days left 262, then I see Cindy and Julie are also 262, what is going on? All three are synchronized it seems. And I now have access to Julie and Ki'Diera's combined Health,Mana and Stamina as well.

What is is sweetheart?

umm sigh........I just check my status and saw all of your health status', it seems all of your preganancies as synchronized. You are expecting in 262 days, all of you.

The dream?

Yeah......

What does it mean Scott?

I do not know....but we have till then to find out.

We all sit in silence again.

"In any case, I think we need to go level some, lets grab the Marines and the Soldiers and take them on an outing.", I say to them hoping this will take their minds off of the issue.

“We need to have my Father perform the blood bond first!” Ki'diera insists.

I sigh “There is that too., you know your Father is very mad at me” I say to her.

“He will be overjoyed when he learns he will be a grand father!” She beams holding her stomach.

I groan, I am sure he will be over joyed to thrust a sword into me too.....

Scott, we can hear you!

I forgot ....let me put on my crown.

With that, I equip the crown once again and turn off the link. Having three in my head will be too much, but how are they handling it? Are they not driving each other crazy? I made this crown, I wonder if I can maybe make something similar for each of them. Hmm maybe duplicate it?

As I begin to give it some thought, something tells me it will be ok and to try it, it is a gut feeling. I take the crown into my hands and look at it carefully, inspecting every aspect of it. I take my time, and finally attempt it. The girls all wear something on their heads, so I wanted to make something smaller, a Bracelet instead, a miniaturized version of of the crown. Staring intently and concentrating for 10 min on the crown and envisioning the smaller bracelet version, it happened suddenly, there in my left hand I held the Bracelet, while in my right hand was the Crown. I felt slightly light headed and looked right away at my status to see. My mana dropped 9550 and and my willpower was down to 6. I laid myself back into the sofa and let myself rest a bit.

“Hey Tiger, you going to sleep all day?” A voice wakes me gently, I look and a little over an hour passed. I look around the room and only Cindy is with me. I still have the Bracelet and Crown in my hands.

Seeing me looking around Cindy says ”Julie and Ki'Diera went to see Ki'Diera's father and make the arrangements for the Blood Bond Ceremony.”. I let out a sigh and nod. “Is something bothering you?” She asks with concern.

“No, nothing really.....well everything Cindy.......,” I say to her reluctantly” The prophecy, the kids birth and the dream.” I let it out,” So far the dream has been spot on in almost every aspect from what I can tell, now that your births are synchronized..........”

“Is that all?” She smiles at me and then sits next to me,”In the dream we have a son right?” She asks.

I nod.

“And in the dream we name him after your dad?”, she asks again.

I nod once more.

“Not sure why I would name our son after your dad, but in reality I like the name Michael.” She says slowly and smiles at me with pure love.

“Michael?” I look at her for a minute and let it sink in. Was it that easy to change the events?, “Michael huh? I actually like that....Michael it is honey, you are the greatest!” I say as if swept up in joy and hug her tightly.

“I know! Hey not so rough Tiger!” She says playfully. Then she pulls away and looks at me with concern in her eyes, “Are you going to practice some more?”

“Yes, I want to make two more of these” I say holding up the Bracelet.

“Is that the Crown?” she asks uncertain.

"Yeah they will be miniature versions in bracelet form for you, Julie and Ki'Diera” I say to her looking at it.

“Scott, how could you? The last time almost killed you,” she cries out.

“Last time I did it from scratch not knowing what I was doing, this time I am only copying with a small adjustment, and my gut tells me it is ok.” I say to her reassuringly. It seems the system is guiding me, I feel it, that somehow it helps us.

I look and my mana and willpower have recovered, I also gained 2 skill levels from the Bracelet, my mana consumption went down another percent to 5.5% less. I then concentrate on the Bracelet and copy it. After roughly 9 min and 45 seconds of concentrating it appears. So time went down and mana usage went down as well, used 9450 mana this time. My willpower is at 7 after doing this, so actually used less, not by much. And I gained another skill level.

I rest for 10 min and my mana is back to full, but my willpower needs time still. Another 40 min to recover. So if I want to use this skill, I need more willpower, means I need levels and stat points. Well I will make one more Bracelet and then head out after some rest.

Cindy occupies herself reading something in the air, most likely her status or another help file, but keeps an eye on me glancing at me at time. Just as I finish creating the third Bracelet, Julie and Ki'Diera return.

“It is all settled, my Father is pleased! This afternoon the ceremony will be conducted!” Ki'Diera announces.

“Good” I smile at her and say.”Here take this please and put it on.” I then hand a Bracelet to each of them. “I thought that if I am having a hard time with two of you in my head 24-7, I can only imagine what you all are going thru now, so I made these for you.” I say to them, looking at them each, one by one.

They each place the Bracelet on their wrists and it bonds with them accordingly. Each inspects their Bracelet and smile as they read the information. It is identical to my crown. I rest a bit more to let my Willpower recover to at least half and we head out, it is almost lunch time, and I am feeling hungry.

I see Alexander and Rick talking in the hallway, and approach them.” Rick do you have any news on the Mall?” I ask of him.

“I wanted to speak to you earlier on that, but things were a bit crazy, there is no basement.” He says finally.

I breathe of sigh of relief. “So a lie” I mutter.

“A lie?” he asks with a questioning look.

“It is nothing important, just had a feeling we may have missed something there, I am glad it was nothing” I say to him, “ I guess Bre'Tirgan will be going the Blood Bond Ceremony today for Ki'Diera and me."

“Ahh well then congratulations are in order then”, he says, a glint of humor in his eyes.

"You really find this all funny don't you?” I ask him with a pained expression.

Eyeing the three girls with me,” no no no, never would I do that” he says quickly in a defensive tone.

Alexander had nothing new to report, so we all headed for the Cafeteria for lunch and talked about the new people who came to the Keep from Colorado Springs. They were integrating well after they got over their awe of the Ny'Har'en and the Keep itself. All the rooms were full now and we even had to double up in some.

After Lunch we headed to Bre'Tirgan and saw he and the 8 Shaman were preparing for the Ceremony. There was a ninth Shaman, very old looking female, everyone paid her great respect.

I approach with Julie, Cindy and Ki'Diera and I feel awkward seeing him. I do not know how to begin to speak to him. “Bre'Tirgan, what I did was unforgivable and can never be forgiven. I do not expect you to see me in the same light as before, but know this, I am here to receive any punishment you may judge acceptable for my crime.” With that, I fall to my knees before him head bowed.

“Rise Scott Smith. I was angered earlier and would have killed you on the spot, but my Daughter lives.And she is happy. That is all I care about for now. My Daughter and my people are everything to me.” He says “ I hear I am to be a Grandfather now, and that you have taken responsibility, as such I can not go against my Daughters Soul Mate. Today is a new beginning for my people. Let us move forward and see that the future brings us all happiness and prosperity.” He announces in a loud voice that carries to all.

I rise and see he has his hand out to me. I take it eagerly, hoping I can become worthy once again to him. It still weighs heavy on my mind what I did and I must learn to control myself better. I vow to myself I will do so.

“In an hour we will be ready for the ceremony.” he says and goes back to preparing.

We leave the tent and head for the Marines and Army folks who are out in the courtyard exercising and doing some hand to hand combat training. I see Sergeant First Class Montgomery, he was the big man in the cavern with us, conducting the training of the men and women.

The others had introduced themselves to me as well, Private First Class Hawkens, Private First Class James, Corporal Jones, and Sergeant Hayes, all represented the Army while, Lance Corporal Hicks, Corporal Stinson, Corporal Lopez, Sergeant Sanchez, Sergeant Schmidt, Sergeant Raymond, Staff Sergeant Foster,and Staff Sergeant Halloway all represented the Marines.

In my days in the Marines I was a Master Gunnery Sergeant till I retired, my uniform still had my rank on it from back then. They accepted it when they saw it. Eddie was a Gunnery Sergeant when he got out after 16 years in. Never understood really why he got out before full retirement, as the decision was made suddenly and before I knew it, he was gone. I never asked him about it either, respecting his decision.

“Sergeant Montgomery how goes the training today?” I ask of Montgomery.

“Gunny, it is going well.” He remarks watching a few of the hand to hand skirmishes” the mixing of Army and Marines should be no issue.”

“Good, in two hours have them ready to head out, we will be going hunting today.” I say to him, “Make sure they all receive a M27 and extra ammo.”

“Will do Gunny, in two hours we will be ready!” He replies with a smile, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

We leave the group to continue their afternoon drills. We walk the walls, passing by various Regular and Elite guards who are watching the walls. In the Watch Towers, we have one person in each, scanning the area with Binoculars. The towers stand 20 ft tall, while the walls are 10 ft high. We head for the armory, as we call it now, the classroom that was used to store out weapons had been modified by our builders, to accommodate our stockpile now. I look over the ordinance, ammo and weapons we have on had now, all neatly stacked an categorized on shelving and racks. A lot of progress has been made here.

With 10 minutes left we head for Bre'Tirgan's tent for the ceremony. I am asked to change into some leather looking armor. Ki'Diera changes into ceremonial robes. They are white in color with many patterns, almost native american looking. She has a a head piece with multi-colored beads hanging down, adorning her head, covering her face, they do not fully block her view, but it does not look comfortable.

I am given a similar head piece to wear, yeah it is not comfortable to wear it irritates my eye sight as I keep trying to move them out of the way. Once dressed, we are led to an altar that was erected for the ceremony, it was wooden in nature, and we both had to kneel before it. A silver goblet sat on top of it along with an ancient looking curved, golden dagger.

Bre'Tirgan and the 8 Shaman surrounded us, all wearing the white ceremonial robes similar in nature to Ki'Diera's and began chanting. The old Shaman lady walked to the Altar, she was holding a wooden bowl in her hands and poured it's contents into the Goblet. Laying the bowl aside, she then took the Goblet in both hands and chanted with the rest. As the chant took on a stronger tone, the Goblet began to glow giving off a silver shine. Once satisfied, she sat the Goblet down on the Altar and held her hand out to Ki'Diera.

Ki'Diera rose and stepped forward, the Shaman grabbed the dagger and cut Ki'Diera's hand in the palm and drew blood, holding it over the Goblet to let it drip in. The Shaman released Ki'Diera's hand, who then knelt back down beside me. The Shaman then held her hand out to me and I copied Ki'Diera's movements. The Shaman repeated the process with me. I then knelt back down beside Ki'Diera and watched on. The Shaman then took the Goblet and raised it with both hands above her head. The chanting stopped and all grew quiet.

“(Before the gods we join these two soul mates to become one. Their blood now mixes to join as one. In Life and in Death may they never part. Let their offspring be proud and strong! May the Ny'Har'en be blessed by this union and prosper.)” The Goblet glows once more and burns brighter almost dazzling the eyes, but then begins to fade. The Shaman lowers the Goblet and puts it to Ki'Diera's lips and tips it so she can sip from it.

She then brings the Goblet to my lips and lets me sip from it as well, the liquid has no color, like water, even tho we added our blood. It slowly goes down my throat like molasses crawling down my insides. I feel my body warming up slowly, the heat rising steadily. it is a comforting warmth. The Process is repeated until the Goblet is empty, going back and forth, each of us taking turns sipping. I feel as if my body is wrapped in comfort.

“(The Union of the blood pact is done, With this union, a new King and Queen emerge to lead the Ny'Har'en people into the future. Rise and present yourself to the Tribe as one, King Scott Smith and Queen Ki'Diera!)” The Shaman proclaims to us and all present. As we rise, Ki'Diera taking my hand into hers, to present ourselves, all of the Ny'Har'en fall to one knee and bow their heads. The Regular Guards do this as well.

NOTICE!Congratulations! Your Nobility Title had been upgraded!

Due to the Blood Bond Ceremony,

You have been awarded the Nobility Title King!

Fame +10000, all Stats +50

100000 Experience has been awarded for this title

Leadership +50 Area of Effect Fear Resistance +50%

Party group size now increased to 24 slots.

Skill Royal Aura added

NOTICE!You have performed the Blood Pact ritual with Ki'Diera

Ki'Diera is now wife of Scott Smith.

Name change occurred and Status Updated.

Due to Soul Link pre-existing, Wife Health Status Ki'Diera Smith

not updated as it already exists.

New Nobility Title: King

New Nobility Title added to Cindy Smith: Queen

New Nobility Title added to Julie Smith: Queen

New Nobility Title added to Ki'Diera Smith: Queen

KINGDOM NOTICE!Congratulations! Your Barony has now been upgraded to a Kingdom!

Kingdom benefits:

You may now claim unclaimed lands as your own or contest

claimed lands with diplomacy or war.

You may assign Nobility titles

You may assign lands belonging to you to others

You may assign an heir to the Throne

You may build a Castle

Keep can now be upgraded up to a max of stage 10 (Fortress level)

Walls may now be upgraded to a max of Stage 6

Additional Walls may be added inside your Kingdom

Royal Decrees notices may be sent to all inside your kingdom.

NOTE: Subsections of Nobility lands will be added to your Kingdom status as they occur.

Fame +5000, All Stats increased by +30, Leadership +50

KINGDOM NOTICE!Due to the Blood Bond Ceremony,

Queens now have access to Kingdom Status.

Admin rights granted to Queen Cindy Smith

Admin rights granted to Queen Julie Smith

Admin rights granted to Queen Ki'Diera Smith

NOTICE!Congratulations Skill Royal Aura has been awarded!

Skill level 1

Benefits: All Party members receive a 1% boost to all stats

All party members regenerate 1% faster in Health, Mana and Stamina.

All Party members are immune to mind controlling effects.

Note: Royal Aura is an active skill and requires 6 mana/sec.

As you gain Skill levels mana requirements will go up.

+20 Int +15 Wis +25 Willpower +10 Vit

With Ki'Diera in hand I look at all the people gathered, many tails waved excitedly. I dismiss the messages and then clear my throat, not wanting to have all these people wait on me while I read thru them. “(ALL RISE!!, Thank you all for your support and I believe together we can overcome anything the future throws at us! For together we are strong, and as one we will move forward, grasping that future in our hands, taking control of our live and prosper!)”

With that, Ki'Diera and I move towards the Keep, it is no longer a School now, but looks like a real keep, the outside is layered in stone bricks, mortared together, a hint of mana gleaming from it. The Ny'Har'en cheer wildly as we walk by, making room for us to pass, four Ny'Har'en Warriors take up position as personal guards, two in front and two in back of us. Annabelle is already cooking up a storm in her Kitchen and the feast will be ready for dinner. We have five hours to kill till then, and I am going to make every hour count, hunting and grinding monsters for levels.