Unfortunately for Simone, what did not come with the weapon were any ways to carry it in a way she was familiar with. A holster would have been nice but she would have to settle for a pocket. She slipped the blade into her boot for the time being until she could figure out a way to properly handle it as well. Satisfied with her loadout she checked her last few notifications.

LEVEL UP!

You are now Level 1

You have 3 attribute points to spend.

You must rest for at least one hour to use your attribute points.

An Aspect Shard has been added to your inventory.

You have gained a Respawn.

Warning! You must set a spawn point in order to use a respawn, otherwise your respawn will send you back to where you initially entered the world of Orum.

She rubbed her chin, “Probably not a good idea to sleep here,” she said and checked her inventory, “Nice of them to just give away an Aspect Shard when you level up,” She mused and then hesitated. “Who is ‘them’ anyway?”

That was one thing she hadn’t given a lot of thought to since this whole thing started, the only being she had met that seemed to have any modicum of control over the entire situation was that Ianna woman and even then she admitted she was just a simulation of someone else to make the process easier. Was that spooky cloud in the background the one really in charge? What the hell was it anyway? A god? She pressed her lips together as they walked through the palace, Kik was yammering on about the various times he’d visited and where he’d found trinkets or knicknacks.

She pulled out her journal and flipped back to the page on the [Warcaster], there had been highlighted words as she recalled. She read it over again, and then again, “So this is the only one of its kind outside what the Demon Lord has been working on?” She murmured, “Neat, sounds like obvious favoritism towards our side though. Not that I care,” She chuckled, turning her focus to the highlighted words. “There’s an article on the Demon Lord?”

Name: Teyva Akura

Race: Unknown

Type: World Boss

Ascended: Yes

Age: Unknown

Level: Unknown (Estimated: 20+)

Her Royal Highness, The Mother of Monsters, Teyva Akura Unabi, High Queen of the Azar, Queen Mother of the Akurai, Lord of Osan, Suzerain of the Winter Elves, Master of the Wildlands, The Age Eater, The First Great Demon Lord.

A powerful entity of an unknown race that appeared in Orum over five years ago. Capable of controlling and manipulating various species of monsters as well as other unknown abilities. Despite her threat to the world after the fall of her predecessor, Thrake Unabi, she has remained largely dormant in the Wildlands region of the continent of Agar.

Related Articles:

[Azrael Unabi], [Conrad Akos], [Myranda Wylafon], [Sari Troud], [Archlich Paraklytus], [Army of the Demon Lord], [Osan], [Wildlands], [Northern Wastes], [Known Aspect Beings], [Known World Bosses], [Thrake Unabi].

A bead of sweat dripped down her neck, “Estimated level twenty-plus?” She goggled, glancing at Kik who was rummaging through cabinets of yet another room they’d wandered into. She turned her attention back, “Shitload of titles, so she showed up five years ago, too bad there’s no pics of this lady. The hell is with this ‘synchronize your journal’ stuff?” She thought about it for a moment and shrugged, “I guess the others have journals too and they share information, smart.”

She perused the other articles, trying to avoid the black hole that is reading lore even as she ended up somewhere between Azar Festivals and Popular Fried Foods before she shut the journal and rubbed her eyes, “Good god,” She sighed, “Well I get why that Ianna chick was so hesitant about me picking Azar, what a fuck up, our side is at war with them,” She paused again, “Our side? I mean I guess, that’s why I’m here, right?”

She turned to look at Kik who had shoved a bowl into its huge mouth and was staring back at her, confused. She closed her eyes, “Right, well I know enough to at least be passable I hope. Shit’s scary though, Undead wizards and fallen priests? I wonder what level the best adventurers are.”

She was about to go on another lore dive when Kik made a squawking sound and she looked up at it, it was pointing at a heavy-looking door and waving its hands frantically. She made a face, “Take the bowl out of your mouth.”

He blinked and then removed the tiny object from its maw, covered in slobber, and set it gently on the ground, “It’s the room with the prisoner!”

She tilted her head and frowned, looking around for what felt like the first time. She’d been so drawn in by the Journal she hadn’t been able to really appreciate where she was. It was a palace unlike any she’d ever seen. Ten-foot ceilings made each room seem daunting. The walls were made of the same black and gold marble that she’d seen before but somehow the gold seemed to have taken the place of the black and vice-versa. It made the space feel kind of gaudy if she had to be honest. Luxurious benches lined the walls and portraits of strange-looking people with long ears and thin, pale faces stared down at her in disdain.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t want to be here either,” She muttered and turned back to Kik and the door. She slipped forward and pressed her hand against the door, it moved easily enough despite looking like some sort of blast door. She glanced at Kik who beamed at her.

“Kik picked the lock years ago!” The creature said, she smirked at it and slipped inside, stopping just at the apex of the room.

“It’s a bedroom,” She murmured, glancing around the space. There was the standard fare of furniture, a huge closet and a vanity on one side. Dead center of the rear of the room was a huge four-post bed as well as the figure that sat on top of it.

It was a girl, fair-skinned and blessed with hair that looked almost turquoise. She wore a sheer white gown and was sitting on the bed, her knees pulled to her chest and her chin resting on them. She had a pretty face, round, with a button nose and bright eyes that seemed vastly more intelligent than any woman Simone had ever met. The girl didn’t so much as flinch as they entered the room, even when Kik ran up to her and sat down on the bed to her left. Simone gawked as Kik waved its hands at the girl’s body, its fingers passing through her as if she wasn’t even there. Simone approached and waved her hand in the girl’s face, pulling her hand away and scratching her head.

“Do you know what’s going on with her, Kik?” She asked.

“No idea, she’s been here forever, Kik tried and tried but couldn’t get her to move! Good listener though,” Kik said with a nod.

Simone frowned, “I don’t think she can hear you.”

Kik nodded, “Kik knows, still feels good to talk about things.”

Simone shrugged and squinted at the girl’s face, getting in close to look at her eyes. She was staring at something, angrily, she looked over her shoulder and followed her line of sight. Across the room, to the left of the door, was what looked like a plaque made out of some kind of wood and polished stone. She focused on it and walked over, standing in front of the plaque and squinting at the text. It was as she began reading that she remembered Kik’s warning about the strange writing around here. A lance of pain shot through her head as images began to pour into her mind, disjointed, incomprehensible, thoughts and feelings. Jealousy, hate, disdain, impatience, fear, she staggered and caught herself on the wall, clinging to the plaque for support. There was a faint crack beneath her fingers and the stone slab came tumbling off of the wall and onto the ground, smashing to pieces.

“Aww you broke it!” Kik laughed as Simone tried to shake the confusion off. Kik’s sudden scream of terror was enough. She spun around just in time to see the very solid young woman teeter forward on the bed and fall face-first into the mattress. Kik looked at her accusingly, “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything! I just dropped the…” She looked down at the stone, “I’m guessing that was what was holding her here.”

She hurried over to the bed and pulled off a glove, checking the girl’s pulse. Alive, breathing too. She rubbed her face and slipped her glove back on, this was bad. She hadn’t exactly thought helping the girl out in any real capacity. She hurried to help the girl lay down on her back so she didn’t suffocate in the mattress. Kik was running back and forth holding his head. “Ah! She’s dead! She died! We killed the lady!”

“She’s fine!” Simone chastised him, “Shut up a minute so I can-”

A new sound caused them both to freeze in place. The grinding of the main doors of the palace. They looked at each other and then down at the girl. She squeezed her eyes tight.

“Fuck! Get the door!” She ordered Kik, who rushed to the door and threw it open while Simone gathered the girl up in her arms, leaving the girl to wake up alone seemed like the last possible decent thing to do, on top of that she couldn’t leave her to the mercy of the Royal Tomb Guardian. Settling the girls head on her shoulder she hustled to the door and banked to the left, “Which way to the surface?”

“Kik lead! Go, go!” The tiny creature tried to set a good pace but it was too damn small. Groaning she picked Kik up as well and threw him onto her free shoulder.

“Just point me to the exit before-”

The hallway behind them exploded into sound, stone and debris fell everywhere. Metal feet clacked against the ground, Simone didn’t have to look back to know what was coming. She ran.