“Filthy blood slut," was all the lesser Earl of Clodven had said. It wasn't a nice thing to say about anyone, and Raisd had heard much worse. This time though, it was directed at his betrothed.To his credit, Raisd showed enormous restraint by only breaking the man's nose. The young lesser Earl and his friends didn't agree, and so now Raisd was in an honour bout.“The first to ten wins the bout,” one of the hangers-on was intoning, "and may request an honour payment." “I think I'll ask for one of Its fangs," the arrogant noble said.Raisd paid him no mind. ‘Foppish, useless nobles think life is a silly game. This bout is probably the highlight of his week’. He knew the type well. The lesser Earl’s father, or grandfather, had been useful to the Empire once upon a time, but then they produced entitled, talentless wastes of flesh like this. The patriarch of the family has probably all but disowned him.‘If I'd punched Shinra, he probably would have punched back and we'd be having a
"Take that, you little shit." The speaker had a loud and high pitched voice, the kind that set your nerves on edge just hearing it. The man was on the short side, with fat cheeks, and a round belly pushing the front of his rich green robe forward. He waved his hand and the teenager in front of him was knocked back into the alley wall. A groan escaped his lips as a puff of dust billowed away from the brick surface. His long dirty hair fell across his face, but he still looked up at the mage who was hurting him. "I don't know why all of you zombies haven't been sent to the mana stone pits. What is the point of living without magic?" the chubby man said. He snapped his fingers and the air shimmered around the boy, as if from a great heat, then the boy's clothes lit on fire. "Arrrgh," he yelled, not looking defiant any longer. He rolled on the dirty cobblestones of the street, through puddles of questionable origin, but the flames didn't extinguish. He started tearing off his c
“He certainly bled enough,” Sheriff Wintersbane said, looking down at the pudgy corpse. He pushed his dark curls from his eyes as he looked around the alleyway. Even in mid-morning, it was still dark here. ‘Perfect spot for an attack,’ he thought. “We’ve identified him, Sheriff sir. This is Bannon Brightbough...” a young constable in navy robes said. He nervously adjusted the badge of office pinned to his breast, a gold heart with scales in the foreground. “Brightbough. Dammit. I don’t suppose, miraculously, he isn’t related to Advisor Brightbough?” “His Nephew, Sir.” “Shit.” Wintersbane looked at the scene more closely. “This murder just became a lot more important Constable. Lock this scene down, and then get the head analyst down here as soon as possible,” he said, then turned away. “Where are you going? Sir?” “I need to go tell the Emperor’s Advisor about his nephew. Wish me luck.” He waved as he kept walking to his carriage. The same symbol was emblazoned across
The sun was rising higher as Shinra walked away from the gate, having had no trouble leaving. ‘Guards are always happy to see Zombies leave.’ This close to the gates, he wasn’t worried about his safety yet, but he had a few kilometres to travel before reaching the Zombie tent village he lived in with his sister. A small group of younger men and women walked with him along the way. Shinra tried not to look at them too closely, but he could see the bruises and damage typical of Zombies that worked ‘night shifts’ with the cruel mages. ‘Everyone needs to find a way to help feed their families, but I will never let my sister lay with a damn Mage.’ It was just part of their life, Zombies weren’t even second class citizens. As Shinra saw last night, a mage wasn’t worried at all about killing him. ‘The rules aren’t enforced equally. I guess it is better to get paid for what a mage could do by force,’ the thought made him sick. Then he remembered that the Mage last night paid with hi
Hearing those words, Shinra knew this was bad. There were 15 zombies, including himself, and he bet his dagger was the only weapon. ‘It worked on that bastard last night, but he was not expecting it, and within striking distance. This guy probably has a few spells that can take us all out without even getting off his horse.’ Shinra looked around, seeing if there was anywhere to hide, but the road was bordered by fields with only waist high grass. He reached up to touch the hidden dagger. [Assassination System: Lv 1] [Online] [Assessing] . . . . . . . . [Combat is already engaged. Assassin is not the primary target] [Target is a Mage Knight: Lv 5] [Difficulty rated high. Success probability Low] ‘What the hell is happening!’ Shinra screamed in his head. He watched as Woodruff moved his horse closer, and everyone cowered more. The group felt like a coiled spring, they could scatter or break out in tears at any moment. [Unlocking Skill Tree] . . . . . .
‘Not a ghost… but not normal. I can’t see really through myself, but it feels like I almost can. Am I solid?’ he asked, then poked his arm. Solid. His clothes, and even the skin of his hand, had taken an ash grey and coal black colouring. The pattern was random, but it moved and adjusted as he watched. ‘This colouring would blend in well with the grey cobbles of the road and the shadows cast on it. Is this what Fade does? It helps me camouflage.’ He looked over at the Knight and the girls. He had already finished with the blonde girl. She was sobbing on the ground. Large welts covered her naked back. ‘He probably hit her with the flat of his blade,’ Shinra thought. He looked on in disgust as the Knight, Woodruff, strutted over to the next girl in line. She was a short brown haired girl that Shinra recalled being very well endowed. The thought made him feel guilty. “You’re next,” Woodruff said, and grabbed around her chest roughly. “Ahhhhrgghhh,” she cried in pain. ‘
Shinra wiped the blade off and started rummaging through the man’s belongings. ‘I’m alive. Holy shit.’ Now that the adrenaline had come down, he couldn’t believe he was still alive. And he was rich. The Knight had a bag of coins on him, and his weapons, armour and supplies could be useful. ‘Can I take the horse? No, that would be stupid. I’d be found out immediately. How could a zombie like me afford a horse like this!?’ Still, he put everything that seemed useful or sellable into one of the saddle bags, and started running down the road, away from the body he’d left behind. [Ding] His head rang, and he slowed down. ‘Is this the system thing again?’ Shinra had almost forgotten about it in his rush to escape. Really, the fight had taken all of his focus. [Achievement met: Mage Knight Lvl 5 Executed] Unlike the first time, Shinra was having trouble seeing anything other than the text in front of him. It would be dangerous to keep running, so he sat down in the grass a f
Shinra was stunned. He was laying defenceless in the grass, but somehow he seemed to be getting more powerful. ‘I mean, am I? What do these numbers really mean?’ They had increased a lot from his baseline value, but would these increases be noticeable? [Health 300] [Strength 25] [Speed 40] [Intelligence 21] [Dexterity 45] [Charisma 6] [Wisdom 13] [Magic 0] ‘Health, strength, speed, intelligence, those all seem straightforward. I guess I understand what charisma and wisdom are, but what is dexterity? It must be important, it was buffed as a core assassin skill.’ Speed, Intelligence, Dexterity and Wisdom were the core assassination skills, apparently. Shinra wasn’t sure why Health and Strength weren't there. ‘Why is magic at 0? My skills must be magic, and the System too, right?’ [Dexterity is the measure of your ability to make subtle and precise movements. It is also related to the accuracy of your sense of touch. Dexterity is valuable for throwing projectil