Chapter 161: The End of Book 3

Chapter 161 - The End of Book 3

Current Day…

“Are you sure you don’t want company? You haven’t left your room since your first attempt.” Mara stated with worry in her voice and furrowed brows. She looked like a schoolteacher with those glasses on. A lot more human and a lot less ghoulish, with brown hair and lavender eyes thanks to another of the King’s amulets supplied for Allie and her subordinates. “I worry about you Allie. It was bad when Riven left, but now it’s even worse. Forget about that old grouchy man, if anything just do what you always do and murder him.”

Allie giggled slightly at the thought, finally giving her best friend a sideways grin from where she stood in the doorway to their shared room. Meanwhile Sherine, the handmaid, quietly brewed some tea in the kitchen.

“I just want some alone time.” Allie replied with a brilliant smile, dawning a slender fur coat and stuffing her hands into her pockets with a flip of her hair. A couple of young men a year above her whistled as they walked by, but she ignored them as Mara eyerolled hard. “I’ll be back in a bit. Talk to you soon.”

She kept her head low while exiting the barracks dormitory. Snow crunched underfoot and flakes continued to fall from a gloom-ridden sky, with groups of students in their off time laughing to one another about various things on the sides of the road. There were even a few small coffee shops or cafeterias, which were social hubs of the campus. Despite what Sherine had said, a lot more students vouched to take occasional days off even despite the price of attending this academy.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Allie walked for another hour down the road, past the inner campus grounds and out into the miles of gardens. Flowers in abundance still peaked through the white, and large trees with looming, weighed down branches cast shade along her path. She even saw two other girls her own age walking back the way she’d come from, and they exchanged polite smiles - but that was all.

She continued to walk until she came upon a bench overlooking one of the small ponds that wasn’t completely covered in ice, where colorful fish drifted through crystal waters. It was a rather secluded spot with gardens still running the length of the long straight road in either direction and it calmed her knowing that she was finally and truly alone.

The old wood of the bench felt strong as she put all of his weight on it and leaned back underneath the shade of a small tree. The breeze felt nice and cool on her skin. With only the occasional splash and churning of water, it was rather calming.

A spotted yellow fish jumped out of the water to catch a some kind of ice-attuned insect gracefully in its mouth before landing back in with a splash, sending ripples across the pond. Allie put her chin in her hands and watched them radiate out to reach the shoreline and took in a deep breath of the fresh air.

“Nice… isn’t it?” A stranger’s voice said from beside her. Allie looked up in surprise, not having heard a heartbeat, to see a scrawny young man in a wheelchair who obviously had some kind of physical deformity.

Her eyes narrowed at not having noticed him, but he looked harmless enough. If anything it didn’t look like he could do harm to someone even if he wanted to, and he wore a very innocent, sheepish smile while waving back at her with one good hand. His entire left side, lower and upper limbs were disfigured. Withered down into green-black husks of normal limbs, they looked like smoked meat - but he was able to clumsily manipulate them even if at great effort while adjusting his position in the wheelchair. He had soft blue eyes, curly brown hair, and looked rather boyish in the face despite obviously being a young man.

Allie cocked her head, intrigued. “How long have you been here?”

The young man gave a sheepish laugh, nervously tugging at his collar as her beauty and negative charisma simultaneously afflicted him. “I’ve been watching you since you started walking down the road, over by the hill that way. Sorry if that’s weird. You’re just… very unique.”

Allie leaned back on her bench, maintaining eye contact until the young man blushed and turned back to watching the pond in silence. They didn’t say anything for a while after that, with the young man bashfully trying not to cast glances at her while she openly stared at him. Eventually he became very self aware, and he tried to hide his shriveled limbs with a blanket.

Allie huffed after a bit, annoyed at finding nothing out of the ordinary about him other than the fact that his heartbeat was just oddly gone. “There’s something strange about you.”

The young man turned a bright red. Hanging his head low in shame, he silently turned his wheelchair around and started to attempt to push himself back towards the school grounds. “I’ll see myself out. Sorry if I’m too hideous for you to look at.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Allie stated with one raised eyebrow. “Don't jump to conclusions, I’m not talking about your arm and leg… It’s something else. Do you have a bloodline of some sort?”

Pausing, still looking at the ground and not willing to meet her eyes, he grimaced in confusion. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Sighing and seeing that she’d obviously hurt this young man’s feelings, probably having touched a sore spot concerning his looks and physical disabilities, Allie got up and walked over to him. Coming around to his front and standing ahead of his path, she clicked her tongue. “Sorry. My name’s Allie Wraithtide, what’s yours?”

“Lahn Lucio.” The other man whispered, still staring at the ground.

…

…

…

“Are you just going to stare at my feet or what?”

Allie knelt down in front of the hesitant, shifting man and put a hand on one of his own - the shriveled one - and she forcefully pulled it so he’d look at her. Finally getting him to stare back, she put on her most genuine, sweetest smile. “Hey. I really am sorry, I didn’t mean to come off like that. Can I make it up to you, Lahn?”

The young man’s blush began to fade, and he stared at her in wonder - jaw becoming somewhat slack before righting himself in his wheelchair and nodding awkwardly. “Uhm… Yeah that’d be great, but you don’t need to. I just…”

He trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

Allie grinned. “How about we just enjoy each other’s company. It’s obvious both of us have a lot of things on our minds. Tell you what… You tell me what’s on your mind, and I’ll tell you what’s on mind. Is that a deal? We can work as each other’s therapists.”

Lahn hesitated, then glanced around - inspecting the area about them. “You’re… this isn’t some kind of prank again. Is it?”

“What are you talking about?” Allie asked curiously, still holding his shriveled hand in one of her own between slender, pale fingers. “How would this be a prank?”

Lahn frowned slightly, then shrugged with a loud huff. “My brother and sister attend this academy, and they always have their friends do mean things to me for their own amusement. They call me names, tip my wheelchair over by ‘accident’, steal my food… pretend to be my friend. That one is actually a favorite of theirs… so I’d very much appreciate it if you’d just leave me alone if this is a prank. But otherwise… yes. I could use someone to talk to.”

Allie couldn’t help but wonder what kind of siblings would do that to their own cripled brother. The shock must have shown on her face, because Lahn gave a loud, croaking laugh while shaking his head.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“It appears I’m already talking about it.” Lahn said with a hopeless smile. He withdrew his shriveled hand from hers, then began to push himself back to the pond. Pausing halfway and head-bobbing to the bench, He gave her a hopeful glance. “Do you want to join me, Lady Wraithtide? By the way, that’s a very cool name. I wish mine was Wraithtide, instead of Lucio.”

When Allie actually stood up and returned to the bench to sit beside him, it somewhat caught Lahn off guard. Though he tried to hide it as best he could, and he began to pull out bread crumbs to throw at the fish.

Tossing one of the bread crumbs in and seeing it get snatched up, Lahn sighed. “Long story short, I don’t feel like I belong here.”

Allie snorted in amusement at that, then glanced over at him with a knowing look. “Yeah I basically got in a fight with my instructor and was told to leave class two days ago. So I get it.”

“Wait, that was you!?” Lahn gawked in obvious shock, and something close to admiration if Allie was getting it right.

“Am I that famous?” Allie teased with a nudge.

Yet Lahn only nodded avidly. “Yeah! It’s the talk of the school! I actually attend that class but I was sick that day, I wish I would have been there to see it myself. Wait, we’re classmates! The archmage is apparently furious, not at you but at the instructor, and he may even be sacked is what I heard. Don’t know why, the instructors yell and belittle students all the time but apparently something about this is different than the rest. Who knows. Is that why you’re upset?”

Allie opened her mouth to reply, slowly making patterns on the ground with the heel of her leather boot, then nodded. “Partly. I was really excited to come here and it feels like I don’t belong… just like you actually. That and I miss my brother.”

“Where’s your brother?”

“Home.”

“Where’s home?”

“The outlands.”

“Ah.” Lahn gave a sageful nod. “I haven’t been out there yet. I don’t travel well… so I stick to the capital.”

“Well maybe you can show me around sometime, Mr. Native.” Allie winked, taking Lahn’s breath away, and giggled to herself when he nearly fell over in his chair. “Unless of course you think you’re too popular for me. I understand if-”

“I’d love to!” Lahn said with delight, a little bit too excited for his own good - and another sheet of embarrassment fell over his features. He was obviously not very… self confident. “Sorry… I just, honesty I don’t have many friends here.”

Allie paused to consider this. After some time, she decided to believe that he was telling her the truth. “Well I’d love to be your friend Lahn. Maybe we can even sit together in class. I don’t have many friends either, so let’s make a pact.”

Allie threw out a pinky for a pinky promise, and Lahn curiously stared back at the hand she held in front of him before raising one eyebrow.

She laughed. “You’re supposed to hook your finger around my own. It’s called a pinky promise, and this one is a promise that we’ll be friends. That, and you’ve gotta show me to the best restaurant on campus. I’ve been dying to try them out and haven’t had anyone to go with except Mara - and she’s been busy with… administration stuff.”

“Mara? Who’s that? She works for the school?”

“Yes.” Allie lied flatly. In reality, Mara was still running the Thane Necropolis from their shared bedroom using a laptop. “So how about it? Show me around?”

Lahn huffed, then beamed back at her and struggled to turn his withered body in the chair so he could hook his good fifth finger around her own. “It’s a deal! When do you want to go?”

The pinky promise was set, and Allie hummed as she let go and leaned back in her bench once more. Staring out across the gardens, she tilted her head back and forth. “How about now?”

[The Apocalypse Beasts, Chalgathi, Quest Updates:

Linda Hoffman has fallen in battle to Riven Thane.

Birch Irkwood has fallen in battle to Riven Thane.

Thade Trendinburg has been defeated in battle and captured by Riven Thane, with his Chalgath artifact being taken from him.

Riven Thane has acquired 7 of 5 set pieces for Chalgathi’s Inheritance. Redistribution has commenced: Extra pieces have been redistributed to other newly appointed Chalgathi’s-chosen who do not have pieces. Riven Thane now has 5 of 5 set pieces.

Riven Thane is the 3rd person to acquire all 5 set pieces for Chalgathi’s inheritance, and the 1st non-cultist to do so. Only 2 full sets remain to be claimed.

New Chalgathi’s Chosen will be picked within 1 hour from now as a replacement for Linda Hoffman and Birch Irkwood.]

Allie’s eyebrows rose in surprise with the abrupt notifications, then her face widened into an outright smile of glee. She almost didn’t hear Lahn’s enthusiastic reply before he started wheeling himself down the garden path, but she managed to get up and walk alongside him at a leisurely pace while he excitedly huffed beside her. Moving the wheelchair out this far must have been quite a struggle for him, and she’d no doubt offer to help soon - but she needed to figure out just what the fuck was going on.

Damn it, why did her communication orbs not work at such a long range!?

And as if on cue, the universe came knocking at her door.

“By the way, what od you think about those forum posts with Riven Thane? Have you seen them yet?! Did you get a look at the world forums lately concerning the necropolis?” Lahn said, breaking Allie out of her stupor. “Other than your backtalk, it’s been the talk of the school as well. Crazy amounts of insights are being made from people who orient themselves to the unholy pillar just by watching his fight.”

That definitely got her attention, and she nearly stumbled. “Huh?”

“The world forums just lit up again with video feed over the past few days. Riven Thane - the king of the Thane Necropolis to our north just wasted hundreds of thousands of people to save one of his demons. It’s really scary to watch, kind of evil even, but it’s also kind of romantic. He must really care about that Athela person, or maybe he just doesn’t value human life. Could be either.”

Lahn hesitated, not sure whether or not he was boring her with the lack of reply, but then became a lot more confident when he realized it’d drawn in Allie’s attention like a magnet and she was frantically scrolling through the feeds. “You haven’t seen it yet then?”

Allie didn’t reply at first, she was too busy blowing through the world forums to find whatever it was Lahn was talking about - until she found it.

Video footage of Riven demolishing an entire city, and the events that’d lead up to it.

It lasted over twenty minutes, with Allie and Lahn just standing entranced in the middle of the garden path. Occasionally Lahn would comment on the fight, but Allie kept silent. She had a mixture of conflicting emotions about the entire thing, and it’d put him on an even higher level of power than he’d been prior to the destruction of the city of canyons.

She closed the video footage and notifications only to scroll back over to the world rankings again. Still somewhat disbelieving, she stared at the top 10 list for quite a while. Whatever Riven had done concerning his core, and along with all the levels he’d acquired from massacring an entire city of weaklings, it’d shot him up from the 60’s right to the top 10 list. He was now considered an Apex Ranker at power spot number 5 worldwide - and he’d somehow acquired a second class. The only other person on the list who had more than one class was Chitter Teh-Sneaker, a level 120 Ratman who actually had 3 total classes.

[27 billion current participants have been analyzed. The ranking categories are as follows: Apex Rank (Top 10), Paragon Rank (Top 1000), S Rank (Top 0.0001%), A Rank (Top 1%), B Rank (Top 15%), C Rank (Top 30%), D Rank (Top 50%), E Rank (Bottom 50%)]

[Current Top 10 Native Participants:

Judith Marcina, Level 149 Human, Apex Rank, Angelic Fallcaller

Retesh Vorath, Level 170 Corpse Lord, Apex Rank, Elder Lich

Aren Hrall, Level 141 Snow Giant, Apex Rank, Frostmange Berserker

Chitter Teh-Sneaker, Level 120 Ratman, Apex Rank, Dark-Blade Assassin, Poison Master, Sneaky Sneak Sneaker

Riven Thane, Level 112 Pureblooded Vampire, Apex Rank, Warlock Adept, Harbinger of Gluttony

Thorman Bame, Level 134 Human, Apex Rank, Hammer of the Mountain

Sinthil Tuk’tuk, Level 136 Lizardian, Apex Rank, Wind Storm

Nithkik Brutishvase, Level 105 Dark Elf, Apex Rank, Depthdweller

Brock Longbeard, Level 105 Sundering Dwarf, Battlemaster

Cherish Lightcrown, Level 104 High Elf, Everlight Witch

Your Status: Allie Thane, Level 68 Pureblooded Vampire, Middle S Rank, Swarm Necromancer Adept

Guild Rankings Currently Not Available. Guild functions are currently frozen.]

She could only wonder at what updated notifications Riven had obtained concerning Chalgathi's questline. Allie had zero doubt he’d had updates about it, but he hadn’t returned yet and she wasn’t sure if he would, depending on what those quest notifications would say. She only hoped that she’d get to see him soon, and wondered whether or not she’d be needed.

But maybe he really was going to come back home!

She could only hope.

Giddily smiling to herself and feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders, she let out a long sigh and got behind Lahn’s wheelchair. Slowly walking forward and pushing him along, Allie got a startled look from the man ahead of her.

“You don’t have to push me! I’m strong enough to do it myself!” Lahn protested with a growl. “Come on, you’re embarrassing me! If my siblings see me being pushed around by a pretty girl like you they’re going to give me absolute hell, in a bad way. They’d tell father about how much of a lacking man I am because… Well, it just wouldn’t be good. And why do you seem so happy all of a sudden?”

Allie just hummed to herself and smiled back at the man who was shooting worried glances towards the campus grounds. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll let you take over the wheelchair again when we get closer, just let me help. And as for why I feel so happy all of a sudden? Let’s just say… I didn’t realize things were going so well. Not until just now.”

THE END OF BOOK 3