I knew the place, as it was located on one of the main streets that led into that region of the city. “We’ll need to take something worth trading,” I said, looking over at one of the black steel swords that we’d kept for ourselves.
It was a risky move taking one of the swords out, sure, but if it got us closer to figuring out where it was coming from, as well as how to operate more effectively in the underworld, then it was going to be worth the risk.
“I don’t want to take this at face value, though,” I told Yen and Ophelia, who was also in the room. I still hadn’t seen Sil since our disagreement at the barracks. Hopefully he’d be back around soon.
I turned from the desk and grabbed one of the swords, which I’d already wrapped in extra cloth to help hide its appearance. “I’m going to go meet with Ovali and see what he knows.”
Neither of them spoke up against the plan, so I left the inn behind, the sword attached at my waist. It was still amazing to me how much lighter it was compared to the other weapons I’d used. I was itching to try it out again, too, especially with the newer “upgrades” the System had provided me.
I’d been tempted to try out the new “spatial inventory,” which from what I could tell from testing it before was more akin to the ability that Sil had to simply pull things out of thin air—like he’d originally done with the ring I now wore on my finger. Being able to stow items like potions and even lock picks in a place I couldn’t lose them was massive.
The trip to Ovali’s was easy, especially during the day. I’d debated stuffing the sword into my inventory, but I didn’t want to risk anyone seeing me pull it out of thin air once I arrived at the man’s shop.
“Ah, Aria,” he said as I stepped inside. He was behind the counter as usual, looking at a large tome.
“Ovali,” I said with a nod of my head. I glanced through the trinket-riddled shelves as I moved deeper into the shop, and when I was sure we were alone, I pulled the sword from my side.
I set it on the counter in front of him.
“What is this? Looking to sell?”
“Not quite,” I corrected. “Looking for information on where it might be coming from.”
His eyebrow rose, and he tugged at the hilt, pulling it out just enough to see what it was made of. His eyes widened.
“Oh, this is quite nice.” He glanced over my shoulder at the door and then shoved the blade back into its sheath. Without a word, he hopped down from behind the counter and hurried to the front door, locking it.
“Come, come,” he said as he passed by me, heading into the back of the shop. “No interruptions this time.”
I grabbed the sword and followed him behind the counter and through a large door, which led to a set of stairs.
Ovali’s basement was even more packed with trinkets and assorted items than the shelves above. He had small statues, jewelry boxes, and even an entire wall of broken pieces of pottery that looked to have been collecting dust for decades.
I followed the short man to the far wall, where a large table sat, several items sprawled out across it, including a broken crossbow, several throwing knives, and a hatchet with a rusted blade. He moved all of this out of the way and motioned at the sword.
Placing the weapon on the clear part of the table, I stepped back, giving Ovali room to work. This time he removed the sword completely from its sheath. He withdrew a small seering glass from his pocket, which magnified whatever he was looking at through it.
He inspected the edge of the blade from the tip to the hilt, looking over every bit of it.
“Yes, this is very fine steel. Very light, too,” he said, hefting the weapon. Such a long sword looked ridiculous in the short man’s grasp as it would have been taller than him if you stood the two side-by-side. “Where did you get?”
“I found it,” I told him. “In the city guard barracks.”
His face paled and he glanced up at me. “Causing trouble, are you? Trouble find you well enough on its own. No need go looking for it.” He shoved the weapon back into its sheath.
“Looking to sell? I cannot buy,” he said as he stepped back from the weapon, his hands held out to either side.
“Let’s say I did want to sell it. Where could I?”
Ovali lifted a hand to his chin, a thoughtful look spreading across his face. “There is place. I don’t usually recommend this place, but if you are to continue what Brin started, then you should know it.”
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He motioned for me to follow him, so I grabbed the sword and did. He led me back upstairs and into a second room.
This one looked more like a study. The shelves that lined the walls were stacked with dusty books and old tomes like the one he was always reading up front. The desk in the center of the room, however, was completely bare of anything but a single tankard.
Ovali grabbed a parchment from one of the shelves and unrolled it onto the empty desk. It was a map of the city, I realized.
“We are here,” he said, pressing his finger onto one of the streets that lined the parchment. “But you will need to go here.” He traced his finger along the street, making a right turn and then a left before settling in front of another row of buildings over in the Western Quarter.
“What is this?”
“Someone that can get you into marketplace.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Do not show them sword, though,” he warned. “Once inside, find woman named Trevalin. She will know where to send you.”
“Thank you, Ovali.”
He nodded his head. “Of course. Make sure to wear fine clothes. Is nice part of town. Any more help?”
“Not at this moment, I don’t think. I’ll let you know, though.”
I turned and left the little man’s shop. At least now I had another idea of where to go.
*** *** ***
I took a slight detour before heading back to The Slumbering Drake and made my way over to the row of buildings that Ovali had shown me on the map. It was actually just one building. A large manor that took up most of the block. The building itself was very grand, with a large balcony that extended from the third floor, overlooking the street that ran before it.
Ovali had not been lying when he’d told me to wear something nice, as the place was probably one of the higher-end noble homes in the area. It also looked like the people who owned it were getting ready for an event, as there were people working to set up decorations along the front of the manor. An idea formed in my mind.
New quest available…
The “Nice” Part of Town
Inquiries into where you might sell your stolen sword have led you to a nice-looking manor in the rich part of the city. Find a way inside and see if you can gain access to the Bloodshadow Marketplace.
I took all of this in, accepted the quest, and then headed back to the inn.
Sil had finally returned and was eating a bowl of stew at the table in the kitchen when I arrived. I approached slowly.
“I’m not looking for a fight,” he said, exasperated. He looked as if he hadn’t slept since the barracks.
“Neither am I,” I assured him, taking the seat across the table from him. “I just want to talk.”
He grunted and took another bite of stew.
“I know we aren’t always going to see eye-to-eye on things,” I told him. “But I need you, Sil. If I’m going to be able to stop what’s coming—to make this world safe for everyone again—I’m going to need to make some really tough choices. But they’re choices that need to be made.”
“I’m not a child, Aria. I know what kind of choices await us. I’m here, aren’t I? I could have gone anywhere, but I came back. Why do you think that is?”
I shrugged. “Because you realized that what I’m doing is worth the blood we might need to spill along the way?”
He laughed. It sounded almost bitter. “I came back because you’re the lesser of two evils. I’m not an idiot. I know what the empress is doing is bad, and that portal to my world? I get a bad feeling about it. Whoever built that needs to be stopped, and all signs point to whoever is running around in your old skin. At least with you, I know that your motives are…better. You care about the people, at least.”
I frowned. Was it really that easy for him to see me as “evil?” I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but I knew the answer already, even if I wasn’t willing to wholly accept it. I had taken the easy way on some things—many things. I could have chosen to trust Claude. To give him a chance to be a man of his word. And yet, I’d killed him to ensure that he didn’t speak out before I wanted him to.
Was I a tyrant? The question echoed through my mind. It wasn’t the first time I’d questioned that. But it was the first time that someone close to me had insinuated it.
“You aren’t wrong,” I said slowly. “I have made some less than ideal choices. But all of the choices I’ve made have been required.”
I put my hands on the table and let out a long breath. “I don’t like the idea of some of this anymore than you do, okay? But I’m doing what needs to be done. Because if I can’t stop the false empress from whatever it is she’s trying to accomplish, then I won’t be able to stop the [Hero] when he comes for this world.”
“The [Hero]?” Sil questioned, he watched me from behind his bowl.
I nodded. “The reason I was sent back by the System was to stop the [Hero], a man named Marcus Ashworth, from taking over this world. In my past life, he managed to kill me and wipe out most of the dragons. He thought he was freeing humanity, but ultimately he was dooming them all. Because he wanted to be their god instead of us.”
“That sounds ridiculous…” Sil muttered.
“It does. I agree. But it’s the truth, I promise you. Everything I am doing—every choice, whether bad or good—is for the good of this world and its people. Dragons have protected humanity for thousands of years. I won’t pretend we haven’t messed some things up. I messed some things up. But I want to fix them, and I will fix them. No matter what it takes.”
Silence settled over us for several moments, the only sound the noise of the kitchen as it worked around us, the girls coming in and out as they grabbed food and drinks for the patrons in the main room.
Finally, Sil nodded and leaned back from his bowl. “I’m sorry for vanishing.”
“I get it. I really do. I dragged you into all of this and now you’re trying to figure it all out. But you have to think, Sil, your voice… it told you that you were sent here to stop the empress. Look at how she is treating my people. Do you really think I’m the enemy here? Or her?”
“I know,” he said. “I know it’s her. But it’s easier to see that when you aren’t just killing people for no reason.”
“I won’t apologize for what I’ve done.” I pushed back from the table. “I won’t promise that it won’t happen in the future, either. Like I said, I’m going to do everything I can to stop her and the [Hero], and whatever this Wailing Void is. Claude was on the wrong side of the battlefield, whether he chose to be or not. I wish it wasn’t that way, but it is. I can’t save everyone. I won’t make you stay and help if you’re truly not okay with that. But it will hurt us if you leave. Ophelia, especially. She remembers how much you were there. She’ll never say it, but it meant a lot to her.”
His eyes lit up at the mention of Ophelia and he glanced up at me. Another moment passed before he spoke again.
“I’m not going anywhere. I already picked my side.”
I offered him a thankful smile and then turned toward the master suite. “That’s good to hear. I’m going out this evening,” I told him as I started for the door. "Don't wait up.”
An Administrator has fallen. A Chimera has risen. The System has begun its Ultimatum.
KiAera clawed her way from prey to Sovereign, forging the first monster sanctuary in a brutal monster-ruled world.
Music, games, food, and comforts? Her monster lords are baffled by human cultures and have never imagined them, yet KiAera wields them to usher a new era for monsterkind.
But a sanctuary alone will not suffice. The Sovereigns stir, reality-bending Overlords have taken notice, and whispers of a long-dormant System Ultimatum hint that the world itself is counting on her… and judging her choices.
To protect her people and uncover the truth behind her improbable survival, KiAera must lead and challenge everything even she thought she knew about power.
Human → Chimera Sovereign MMORPG System World Evolution & Monster Fusion Monster Sovereign Politics Kingdom-Building & Defense Ful-Ruin Network Mystery A Thousand+ Chimera Forms
?? Frequent Hand-Drawn Character Artwork
Illustrations of major characters, Chimera evolutions, Sovereigns, and Sanctum leaders released alongside major arcs.
? READER SIGNAL ARCHIVE ?
@CrystalOverlord: This escalated from neat monster LitRPG to sovereign-tier epic absurdly fast.
@SanctumStrategist: Monster lords as subordinates? Side characters that actually matter? I inhaled 40k words in one sitting.
@UltimatumWitness: This feels like someone smuggled a published series onto Royal Road.
? 100,000+ Words in Draft ? Guaranteed Updates