Fork This Life!

Chapter 29: Destined to Die

(POV Gerald)

“I’ll be going out for a bit. Back in a minute.” I tell Ferdinand telepathically as the group moves out again.

“Okay.” He replies, and I slip out of the top of his pack and onto the ground.

Mounted as they are, I am quickly left behind. When I’m sure that they’re too far to see me, I pick myself off the ground with telekinesis and hover back towards the mansion. Apologies, mr. doppelganger, but your body is just too juicy for me to pass up.

He, it – whatever – is buried in an unmarked, shallow grave around the back of the mansion. It’s not like there’s any love lost between the late doppelganger and our group, but apparently paladins have enough decency that they won’t let even their enemies be devoured by wild animals. So, they buried him.

And now here I am. Devouring corpses is morally questionable in the first place, but when it comes to people’s corpses, the line is very obviously and completely crossed.

Unforktunately for me, I’m too paranoid being in a world like this not to cross a few lines. When I can’t even tell what tomorrow will bring… Still, I have standards. I have to have standards. Else I risk becoming something truly inhuman.

Only enemies. And hopefully someday, I’ll become strong enough that I can say no sentient beings, either.

Perhaps I have already reached the point of no return. But my choices are to cross a few lines or run. Run and hide from the world until I’m strong and confident enough to face it.

I don’t want to abandon Ferdinand. I don’t know if he’s strong enough to survive, what with the Empire being in such a turbulent situation. With the paladins there, he should be safe enough, but there’s too many things I don’t know, don’t understand.

Demons: where did they come from? Are there more of them? Sentient monsters – heck, monsters in general. Politics.

Damn it, even when I’m in another world I’m getting pissed off by the people in power.

I burrow through the shallow layer of earth above the body. I’ve stopped getting notifications when I absorb earth. I wonder why?

I absorb the doppelganger’s entire body, bit by bit.

Lvl 48 Doppelganger absorbed

Experience gained: 12650

Durability recovered: 46.38 (Exceeds maximum durability, reducing to 0)

Skill proficiency increased: Absorb 0.01%

Skills gained: Melee weaponry – Spear (Advanced), Doppelganger (Static)

Traits gained: Bloodthirsty (Error. Trait contrary to user personality profile. Erasing.)

Level up! You are now level 32

11 Stat points gained

Two levels at once? Not half bad.

Now, let’s see… I want my Int and Wis to be equal again, but the points won’t let me without being annoyingly exact… Well, I’ve needed to put a few points in Dex for a while now, get me a bit better motion perception. Fortunately, I have that trait which doubles my effective Dex stat, so I don’t have to put many in. How about 3.5? Makes that one a bit uneven, but I care less about that than Int and Wis.

Then 4 into Int and 3.5 into Wis, putting them both at 52. This puts my radius of vision up to just above 1.5km.

Now, as to the other things I gained. I’m kinda glad I didn’t gain a trait called ‘bloodthirsty’, but now I’m left wondering what it did. Also, that can happen? It doesn’t fit my personality, so I can’t get it? Huh.

Anyway, who cares about that spear skill. I can’t use a spear. Wait, would the effects apply if I turned into a spear somehow or other? Questions for later. Now, the skill I’m actually interested in.

Doppelganger (Static) (High Unique, Active) – Upon designating a target of this skill (physical contact is required, target must be a living being), you shall take on the physical appearance of that target. After doing so, you have 24 hours (local time) to kill your target.

If successful, you will be given the choice of permanently retaining the appearance of the target, gaining the target’s memories and skills - although the skills obtained shall be one proficiency level lower than the proficiency level the target formerly had the skill at – or gaining the ability to switch between your original and the target’s appearance at a cost relative to the difference between the two forms.

If unsuccessful, you will regain your original appearance. Furthermore, this skill will be permanently erased with no possibility of obtaining it again, regardless of what method is used.

…Well. This is a skill and a half. And it poses a difficult dilemma.

Become human again – or another humanoid race, the option’s there – permanently, giving up my not inconsiderable advantages of stealth, perfect memory, doubled mana pool and regen – I doubt a ‘material’ trait will affect a human - not being influenced by hormones and emotions as well as lacking the need to sleep, eat and drink. I will, however, gain some additional skills and memories.

Or take a risk and gain the ability to switch between two forms, being able to utilise the advantages of both, despite not gaining any additional skills and memories. Also, the ‘cost’ mentioned is rather vague. It’ll probably be mana - these things usually are - but it’s hard to tell.

Well, let’s see: I don’t actually fancy getting somebody else’s memories, mine are fine as they are, thanks. The skills would be nice, depending on the target. Although, it would be quite difficult finding a person that is both ‘evil’ enough to warrant me killing them and has skills that complement my own.

That’s quite a few points against going permanent human.

How about choosing the switch ability? I lose out on the opportunity to gain some new skills reliably. And that cost will probably be quite large – there aren’t really any similarities between a human and a fork. But then again, there aren’t really any downsides to choosing this option, even if the cost is too high for me to use, whereas permanently becoming a human – there are just too many downsides.

Of course, choosing the switch may be passing up the chance to regain normal movement, sight, hearing, speech, taste and everything else – things which I have dearly missed. But I’m confident that even without this skill, I’ll find a way to get them back some day.

The switch choice it is, then.

…Of course, I still have to find a suitable person, first.

With my business here done, I head back towards the others. Sadly, it would be much harder to slip back into Ferdinand’s pack while they’re on the move than it was to slip out, so I travel parallel to them for a while, letting Ferdinand know of my situation through telepathy.

One might think that I’d run out of psi eventually, but in actual fact I regenerate more psi than I use to keep myself aloft – which is around 4 psi per minute – and keep myself moving at the same pace as the horses.

I do this until everyone stops for a break; after that it’s as simple as calling Ferdinand over to pick me up off the ground.

After that, I’m able to relax and watch the scenery pass by as we head towards the capitol.

‘I am Lily, paladin of Vitus. Those behind me are also paladins and priests of various gods and goddesses. We seek an audience with the prince.’ I watch Lily as she negotiates with the gatekeepers to get us inside.

From where we are, the entire palace is already in my sight. Now, if I just had some sort of magic projectile I could guide, I’d hardly even need to go inside.

…Well, I doubt a palace would be without any means of magical protection, so it’s all the same, really.

The guard hesitates. ‘The prince isn’t accepting visitors… But with your unique identities, I think I should at least send a man to inquire for you.’

‘Thank you.’ Lily nods in appreciation as the guard rings a small hand bell, causing a messenger to come running.

Unfortunately, he jots the message down on a piece of paper that he hands to the messenger, rather than telling him, so I don’t know what message he’s actually sending. But from what I can read of his body language, he doesn’t seem hostile. A tad wary, maybe – but he’s a guard for the royal palace. It’s his job to be wary.

While we wait for the messenger to return – well, I’m tracking his progress so that I can easily identify the prince as well, but apart from that – I take a closer look at the place. It’s excessively lavish, as one might expect from the palace of a country called ‘the Empire’. I can see a man wearing gaudy clothing pacing in a large bedroom, with a crown resting lightly in a padded box on a desk; the emperor, I assume.

…And in a room beneath the palace, a man with horns and a pointed tail. Welp, there’s our demon.

The sheer volume of hidden passageways is rather off-putting. Even the emperor’s room has two: one leading to another bedroom nearby, and the other spiralling down through the walls, underground into a passageway that extends so far that it goes clean out of my vision. The uses of both are blatantly obvious once seen, but without my particular set of skills both of them would be extremely well hidden.

Hm, well it looks like something is happening. The messenger has finished talking to a young man that I’m tentatively going to assume is the prince, and now both are moving off in separate directions. The messenger is heading back to us, and the prince is heading to… let’s see, either the kitchens or a large room furnished with plush chairs. I’m going to guess the latter.

Then again, he could just be peckish.

…He isn’t.

The messenger shortly returns, informing us that the prince is willing to see us.

‘Very well then, I’ll have to ask that you leave your bags and weapons here for the duration of your visit.’ The guard says, then glances behind us to the horses. ‘I’ll have a few stable boys come over and take care of your steeds as well.’

Seeing him say that, I stealthily creep out of Ferdinand’s pack and slip into his coin pouch with some help from form manipulation.

He looks over the paladins’ armour carefully. ‘The armour will be fine, but the helmets will have to come off. And make sure to be careful in the hallways. If you damage something you’ll have to pay for it. The messenger here will take you where you need to go. And I don’t think I need to say it, but please don’t wander around. There are guards everywhere.’

‘Thank you, we will be sure to take care.’ Says Lily.

The guard just nods stoically in reply, and we filter through the gate, across the lawn and into the palace itself, following the measured footsteps of the messenger. A few short corridors later, the messenger knocks on a door.

On the other side of the door, the prince says, ‘come in.’

(POV Ferdinand)

As the door closes behind us, my first impression is that he’s younger than I imagined. Younger than me, even. Then the paleness, eerily similar to the stories of vampires I was told as a child. But I can’t see the characteristic fangs when he smiles, so I put my suspicions aside.

“Welcome.” He says, smiling. “Take a seat, and we can discuss the reason for your visit here.” He gestures to the lavish furniture from where he sits.

…Is that for sitting? It looks more like a decoration.

Nobody takes him up on the offer, however, and his smile falters slightly.

“We have found evidence that suggests that you are conspiring with a demon and were at least partly responsible for the actions of a necromancer, which caused widespread death and destruction.” Lily states succinctly.

The prince’s smile turns into a frown. “That is a rather serious accusation. I am not conspiring - and nor have I ever conspired - with demons or necromancers. However, I am interested in hearing what evidence led you to this conclusion.”

“The personal diary of that same necromancer.” Lily says, before adding, “and one of my companions tells me that there is a demon in the basement of this building at this very moment.”

It must’ve been Gerald. I didn’t notice anyone else talking to Lily, and that’s something Gerald could easily notice.

The prince’s face trembles, and his lips twist into a sad smile. “You’re right.” He admits, and everyone suddenly tenses, myself included. “I never meant for things to happen this way,” he continues, “but since you know, I’ll have to ask you to act like this never happened.”

…That’s not what I expected.

“We aren’t so easily swayed. You will face judgement.” Luc exclaims, moving forwards to grab him.

With a smile that seems more like he’s crying, the prince looks at Luc and says: “Stop.”

As if yanked back with a rope, Luc stops moving with arm outstretched. I see the muscles in his neck rippling, but he doesn’t move even a single step further.

Everyone suddenly bursts into motion, trying to grab the prince. The glow of magic emanates from Lily’s hand as she stretches it towards the prince, priming magic to take him down. Marco deploys a magical shield, and everyone else just rushes towards him.

But with a single sweep of his eyes, and another uttered word, “Stop”, everyone stops moving.

Everyone… except me.

I don’t stop to think why. I just move.

Slipping in between various paladins, priests and pieces of furniture, I reach out to grab the prince.

“Stop. Stop! Why isn’t it…” The prince scrambles over the back of his chair and towards the door as his skill continues not to work on me. But I am considerably faster than him, and he is completely unable to resist as I grab his arm, hauling him back towards me.

…What do I do now? “Release them.” I say sternly.

“No, no no – get him away from me!” He suddenly addresses the others, and they start moving again, but for some reason I’m not optimistic about my situation.

Should I -

I feel a slight tug from my belt, and then there’s a naked man in front of me, thankfully facing away from me.

As suddenly as he appeared, he disappears. Noticing something, I look down at the prince’s chest. The prince looks down at his own chest. Everyone stops their motions to attack me to look at him.

There’s a massive hole there.

(POV Prince)

I look down at my chest and see the gaping hole. For a seemingly endless moment, I fail to realise the meaning of the hole as blood starts to drip in torrents over my luxurious clothing.

Then it hits me: I am dead.

Suddenly feeling rather faint, my legs collapse and I begin to topple… slowly, ever so slowly.

Somehow, it doesn’t feel all that bad. Perhaps this is not such a bad turn of events after all. I made a mess of just about everything, didn’t I?

Now somebody who actually knows what they are doing can step in and fix things up.

Still, a few months in the life of a prince… it was not terrible. With all the snide remarks people made about my future prospects, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that not one person expected me to get this far.

Not that it was by my own virtues, of course. It was an absurd combination of panic, luck and… magic.

Funny thing, magic. Back on Psukhes, people would laugh at you if you believed in it. And yet, things people did every day back home would be called magic over here more often than it would be recognised for its true nature – psychic abilities.

Everyone had them. Everyone. Could be something as small as being able to lift a pencil without touching it, or causing a slight breeze at will, but everyone had at least one psychic ability.

…Everyone but me, that is.

None of the psychiatrists could understand why I didn’t. ‘By all rights, by everything we can see, you should have one’, they said.

Well, as it turns out, I did. Two, in fact. But neither of them could show their effects. The first, a form of hypnosis, is utterly powerless against any other psychic, no matter how weak their powers. The second allows me to understand any form of spoken language… I did not know there were other languages.

Of course, I was relentlessly tormented by everyone else because of this. Classmates, teachers, even passers-by… everyone knew me.

Even my parents gave up on me.

I was on the edge of despair, trying to decide whether continuing under the pain or taking the plunge was a better decision… When I was summoned here. Another world. Odwia.

I had looked at the people around me. Thinking back, I felt something pass between me and them – undoubtedly an unconscious use of my psychic ability – and when I, in my confusion and panic, thinking that they had kidnapped me, shouted “wait”, I was astonished to find that they did so.

They were equally astonished. And not a small bit angry. I panicked more. Everything snowballed.

At first, I thought I could use my ability to get myself a life of luxury. But there were so many things I couldn’t understand. Demons… I thought they were just people who had been strangely affected by their psychic powers. It was not unheard of back on Psukhes. When I heard skeletons described as undying, untiring soldiers, I thought they would be the perfect work force.

Magic, gods and goddesses, politics… I could not understand anything. So instead of making things better, I just made everything worse. The demon was doing who knows what behind my back, always managing to find some way to weasel around my orders…

And with my own weakness, I had to stay locked inside the palace at all times. Although I could likely deal with an attacker at close range, a single arrow would be sufficient to take away my life.

I wonder, what would I have chosen back then, had I not been summoned?

No… I don’t even need to wonder. I would have chosen to die.

Perhaps that would have been better. If none of this had happened.

But either way.

No matter what I did.

No matter what I chose.

I was destined to die.

I open my eyes, one last time. Take in the glamourous room from my position on the floor.

And let darkness envelop me.

(POV Gerald)

Flesh of Lvl 1 Human absorbed

Experience gained: 0

Durability recovered: 3.2 (Exceeds maximum durability, reducing to 0)

Skill proficiency increased: None

Skills gained: Psychic translation (Static)

Traits gained: None

Target killed.

Your choice?

Permanently retain the appearance of a human male, gain the target’s memories and skills  (skills obtained shall be one proficiency level lower than the proficiency level the target formerly had the skill at)

Gain the ability to switch between your original and Human male appearance at a cost relative to the difference between the two forms.

Option 2.

Error.

Calculated cost exceeds predicted maximum mana regeneration for this user.

Requesting Administrator assistance.

Please wait.

Well, this is new.

I look at the window for a few seconds, but nothing happens, so I look around me. Everyone is trying to figure out what happened. In the confusion, I slip back into Ferdinand’s belt pouch.

Guards quickly enter the room. Everyone gets ready to fight, but the guards actually don’t attack. They just send out a messenger and stand guard at the doors.

“Hey. You alright?” I ask Ferdinand.

“That was you, wasn’t it? You killed him?” He asks quietly.

“Yes. I did.” I admit. “I wish I didn’t have to, but it looked like it was you or him that was going to die there, and I wasn’t about to watch you die.”

“…Are you alright?” His question takes me by surprise.

“I… Maybe. I think so.” I say. “One of the good things about being me is that I don’t get overwhelmed by emotions. There’s some panic, some horror, but it doesn’t affect me much.”

“Hmm. So, you can turn into a human now?” He asks suddenly.

I groan. “Pending confirmation, but it’s not hopeful.”

Something underground catches my attention. A certain demon walking through a swirling mass of mana. A portal.

“Hey, you should be strong enough to survive, especially if you keep following these guys, won’t you?” I ask him, slipping out of the pouch and onto the floor again.

“Um, probably, yeah. Wait, why?” He replies suspiciously.

“Demon just went through a portal. Chasing him now. No time to get you through all the guards and explain to everyone, I don’t think. We may be separated for a while.” I explain, already absorbing my way through the floor.

Then the next floor. Then the next, leaving a curiously shaped hole behind me, until I reach the basement.

Bracing myself mentally, I fly into the portal.

As I do, a couple messages greet me.

Party leader is in a separate world to party member ‘Ferdinand’. ‘Ferdinand’ is automatically kicked from the party ‘The fork is mightier than the sword’, and will be unable to re-join until he is in the same world as the party leader.

Crap.

Skill ‘Doppelganger (Static)’ use cost set to 1000 mana/minute.

The difference in form is too big, this is all I can do.

You’ll get there one day.

Good luck.

Double crap.

Gerald: Level Up X2!

Ferdinand: Status