Stray Elf: Lost in the System

XII.

The aftermath of the Perigee Siege was quite substantial, Yokgu told me later on, but not without bragging on how many people he killed. The Damned Army has lost significant numbers due to those lightning spell attacks from human Reaver mages. The bleed out was much worse still, since the Tusk numbers suffered heavily doing battle within that gaudy fort. The Hatred Army’s Navy was busy invading the island nation known as Perra after their successful blockade prevented reinforcements from the ocean. At least something was going right in this military. I stood by with the surviving members, with bags of Tusks and Horns in my hands, as I awaited orders. At least I was no longer inside that godless place, according to them. There was nothing better to do, anyways.

Vastil rode by, looking worse than he usually did, counting the heads of our unit. Out of all the losses, who I presumed were killed in action, the twins Silmil and Samuel were not found amongst the dead. I suspected a lightning bolt got them or they deserted. Who could blame them, I supposed. There are areas of this world still not yet touched by demon and human conflict. Caspan was injured, and so was the cyclops. Both were going to be relieved of duty, but knowing the bird man, he would simply move to an official position. I could count the number of relatively healthy people I recognized from this unit on one hand. Ake, myself, and the grunting orc next to me, Yokgu. Forty souls were left out of the hundreds that came with us.

Vastil’s horse snorted, snapping me to attention. He eyed me. Was there something on my face?

“Your eyes are crimson like the Reaver moon, Nameless,” he said, but referred back to his scroll. Shit, something was actually on my face. “It suits a monster like you well. The Ack’Sa chose correctly.”

He gave a scoff or a grunt of approval, but could barely match my uncaring gaze. Was it because I rejected his proposal that one night? Yokgu started to let out a snort of amusement, but I elbowed him when the Knight was not looking. Vastil simply sighed.

“There will be a feast tonight,” he told us. I could not hide my groan, for a company party probably meant I was going to be shoved into a dress. “As for you, Nameless, you will be mentioned. Leave your armor. Those shabby things will be replaced soon enough. For now, talks will be done about future orders and transfers. Get some rest and prepare for a feast at the Summons stage. Or whatever you monsters do.”

His familiar smugness came back, I sighed. My armor was trashed from the fight with those adventurer Heroes. Despite that, he was unusually quiet as he rode off. Was it because most his roving band of horn bearers were not with him? It seemed that this whole battle left most of the soldiers aimless. The fort was still full of the dead and there was a silence haunting the place. It really was bleak without humans or demons around, I supposed. All of this death, the bodies and rubbles from siege towers long abandoned, just so that the higher ups can have their feast and pretend nothing bad happened. An odd sensation washed over me as I simply averted my gaze from the battlefield.

Ake shrugged when I turned to him, flicking his tongue before heading back into the Perigree seige settlement that was built during the battle. I was told a Pit ritual was taking place at the village of dead women, but I did not want to go investigate anything about that nor did I want to know what a Pit was, besides the obvious. Yokgu disappeared too, leaving me all alone.

Well, that was fine too.

I looked over to the forest and decided that is where I would mull over the recent changes my Unique Skill has brought me. I felt different, as if a powerful being replaced who I normally used to be. All of the deaths that I have seen meant little to me. Level 5 me felt above everyone else, yet I was just as aimless as those soldiers. I knew I did not care about the fate of the Demons or the Humans as much as I used to, and I wondered if I would ever feel that way again. Hopefully not, I sighed. With a thought, the status window revealed itself to me, though instead of the usual Stats and level up objective, a new window opened with a menu that I could use with my eyes.

Nameless, Level 5 Stray Elf

> Status

> Constellations (Requires Rank S Prestige)

> Item Box (Locked)

> Divine Realm (Locked)

> Core Eater (Locked)

Could I even survive long enough to unlock all those extra things? The number of Souls defeated seemed like a difficult thing to accomplish, especially when the battles with Crowned enemies are involved. I suspect those would be relatively easy to destroy now, considering that I slew that wicked human General immediately. I shifted my eyes to the only option I could choose, which turned out to be the regular window I used to check my Stat promotions.

CON: C

STR: S

DEX: S

INT: C (+1 Bonus Grade) ->B

STA: C

Luck: N/A

There were a number of things my new Status could do, like explaining the individual stats and what they stand for. Despite this, I already made predictions on how they functioned. Luck, however, did not appear to have a benefit for upgrading at all. I was determined to see if the Status Skill would eventually unlock those features and update if I were to level up. I checked the two S Rank Stats and a window appeared.

Feed the Death Seed more Souls for SS Rank Constellations (Prestige).

More work, as I feared. That Death Seed the King gave me seemed to be inside of me now. Did I have to eat people like he did? I shuddered. Changing my diet was not something I wanted to do, I fumed. I’ll stick to grog. These Constellations appeared to have abilities of their own. Prestige was a strange term, but I decided to ignore it for now. The S Strength Skill was in charge of the Death Spear, a macabre Unique Skill that possessed me when I leveled up. When I inquired about feeding the Death Seed souls, the skill revealed a window similar to the time I had to defeat one hundred souls, whose count showed a big zero. I wondered if promoting the Stat to S was the reason why the skill manifested in the first place on top of the Status.

That theory did not work, I guessed, since the S promotion to DEX did not give me a Unique skill. However, just like before when I promoted it to A rank my body felt wondrously light. No, I realized it was much better than that, as it should be. I could track every falling raindrop from where I stood. When I destroyed the human General I outsped the droplets entirely. There was a small problem with the new me, however, I sighed as I stared at my reflection on a puddle on the ground. Red eyes stared back at me.

The Ruler of Death exerts her Divine Rights upon the universe by Reaping Souls.

Like that wasn’t ominous at all!

I groaned. If there was any doubt that I was on the fast track to becoming some kind of final boss before, it was now completely confirmed. Something called Mother was also in my Status skill, telling me to come home and labeling me a Stray Elf. Does this world know what elves are, or the term? Could it be that large sphere or the Anheim Tree I fell from that General Tulroz spoke to me about? Or maybe it was my actual Mother using actual magic to call me?

Speaking of General Tulroz, I found myself once again kneeling before him upon a stage similar to when I became a so-called Champion. Luckily, I did not have to wear anything special like a dress. They were celebrating my regicide, feasting on food like ravenous animals. Perhaps that is what we all were in our true forms, nothing but dogs who smartly refuse to bite our owners’ hands. As I listened to his rambling monologue of my praises, I was eventually presented with a few men dragging a large chest onto the stage. Loot for all my troubles? I’ll take it.

“In honor of the Nameless who slayed the King,” a messenger declared. “The Ack’Sa has granted her a gift.”

“Congratulations, Nameless,” Tulroz spoke with an evil grin on his face. I hoped he did not notice I was not paying attention, yet when he walked off the stage he chuckled. “We expect great things from you, Captain.”

Captain? My heart sank down to my stomach. I got promoted in the middle of all of that?! I eyed Vastil, who smirked knowingly at the box’s contents, yet even he could not hold his smirk long enough. I could only hope he was not jealous of my new position. Right, the box.

As long as it was free, I sighed. The onlookers were surprised when I scooted the box effortlessly towards myself. Since no magic runes were anywhere here on this stage, it was fair game, right? I yanked the loot open, and shining armor gleamed back into my vision. This was…!

The trimming on the armor was that of a high graded metal, directly from the Hells. Much like my Black Blade, I could tell that this particular loot was a lot more powerful and not just for show. The insignia emblazoned on it did not resemble the Tusk, but seemed much more official. It could last at least more than one battle, I hope.

Alert: Legendary ‘Black Armor Set’ acquired.

The armor looked like it would fit well, despite the emblem on it. I considered snapping off the extra decorative bits, but decided to do it when no one else was watching. I dragged the chest off to the side and began to put it on piece by piece. The chest itself made a loud yet satisfying thump on the ground when I dropped it. I was comfortable in it and felt just as light as I did without it on, though I skipped over the specifics on how it seemed to fit my proportions perfectly. If the material was made out of magical metals, then I would prefer it that way.

“You could look more happier,” Yokgu elbowed me, but backed away immediately. “Captain.”

“It just seems like I got more work for this,” I sighed. Yokgu surprised me by staying by me as I watched the feast continue. “I guess, the emblem on this thing means the end of the Tusks.”

“Aye,” Yokgu grunted. “There’s not much monsters left that made it from the Hells. Not until that ritual’s finished, anyways.”

“Huh,” I half-heartedly asked.

“It’s a good thing,” Yokgu shrugged. “Hells opening up. Good thing.”

In a past life, I would have disagreed. Humans had enough problems as is. If these Pits caused us to gain numbers, however, then it would be good. I wondered what was next, since these feasts seemed to drag until the suns rise. Until then, I sighed as I trotted off to the cleanest looking table and picked what food to escape my troubles with.

“You’re a captain, now,” an uncomfortable Vastil handed me a scroll. I did not blame him — for he had proposed to me last night and I rejected him promptly once again. I was hoping he would forget since he was drunk, but the look on his face reeked of embarrassment.

What rank was I before that? I wondered as I took it and read the details. The rank “Captain” was higher than Ake’s, was it not? Probably not, I mused. The scroll made no sense to me, other than I would be the one answering to Vastil now. A promotion to a position for higher ups and a decent amount of Tusks. All of that just for killing a fat guy on a throne. I wanted to groan, but the Knight kept glancing at me.

“You are to take small tasks until the ritual is finished, Captain,” he instructed me. “Then we will be assigned with clearing the rest of this worthless country out.”

He was correct in calling this country worthless. I did not remain stationed at the Perigree Fort for too long, as the unit I gained control of was to be trained for the following six weeks.. That seemed short to me, but luckily I was able to retain Yokgu, as one of the sole members of the unit formerly known as the Tusks. The two of us got along, surprisingly, and I never bothered correcting him on proper addresses. As fellow dogs in that old unit, he knew my hand was not to be bitten. Months went by, but I felt like only days passed.

Ake was transferred to another unit before we were moved immediately with the task of destroying various human cities and Perra supported colonies. The amount of souls I have defeated went up significantly during our time, but also my notoriety had gained a great deal. Had no other armies succeeded like mine? I was called a Herald of War for my prowess, but I preferred just being a lowly Nameless. Human armies even started to break in morale when my unit was discovered.

The fate of humanity hung in the balance in this country as our battles raged on. The Adventurer’s Guild dissolved completely, as the last of their kind were destroyed in a city some months ago with most of the backing nobles being culled as we spread our violence like wildfire. The straggler nobles who escaped my Death Spear eventually ran south, where the Hatred and Soul armies were waiting for them.

Despite this, the number of souls defeated did not seem to affect my Rank S Strength or Dexterity. I knew my Status Skill could tell me the amount required, but as my work continued I decided to ignore it. The only thing I watched out for in these battles was an entity labeled as a Skull ranked enemy.

Level 5. Slay a Skull entity to reach experience threshold.

Yet, a Skull enemy never showed himself in Sarwitz. Those who were left were enslaved or simply left alone under new management. Heh, I thought to myself one day. It would suck having to control dozens of these people who would stab you in the back with a pitchfork the moment you weren’t looking. I supposed I deserved this assignment I was on, however, when Vastil gave me an order to leave the country. I took it immediately thinking it was a lucky break, however, its details were to escort a caravan full of human prisoners. I placed each one of them inside those cages, and they all wanted me dead as far as I could tell. Too bad for them.

“Hells,” Yokgu complained. “We’re better off turning these creatures into soup than hear them moaning all the time!”

“Too bad,” I guessed. We marched along the jungles confidently now, since most of humanity was long gone. The babbling humans in those prisoner wagons continued on, no matter how many times they got whipped by the goblins. Yokgu swears. “I thought you did not like how they tasted.”

“I don’t!” Yokgu scratched his chin in some semblance of thoughtfulness. “But they won’t make noise if they get eaten!”

“They will be eaten,” I shrugged. “You remember our battle on the Spine?”

“Which bloody one?” He asked. “Not everyone here thinks yesterday was a year ago.”

“Eh?” I recalled fighting at the Spine only once, but perhaps it was because I hit my head and forgot the previous battles. I did not even realize hours had gone by and we passed by the City of St. Kueyo a day ago. “A full year has gone by?”

“More than that,” Yokgu scoffed, kicking sand up. “What about it?”

“That’s where the Stomach of the World is,” I say, referring to Vastil’s instructions. “We’re handing them over to the Soul Army.”

“Oh, poor bastards,” Yokgu realized something I did not, but it was obvious from his look that these humans were not going to make it out alive. I shrugged anyways. Up ahead, however, some kind of commotion was happening. I turned to Yokgu, but he shook his head. “Demons ahead.”

I rolled my eyes, but marched up to the scene. There were several demons yelling and making wide gestures. Merchants from the Cycle. The goblins were screaming things back, but both parties instantly shut up the moment they noticed me. I did not say a word, expecting the demons to blab their problems to me. Out of respect or fear, they did not speak. Perks of the new job, I guessed. Instead, they pointed towards a sink hole in the ground. As I followed their direction, I noticed there were wheel tracks along with massive pointed beast footprints dotting along a straight path down towards the hole.

Something big got their wagon, I sighed.

“Whaddya thinkin’ bout doin’, Cap?” The goblin leader kept his eyes and hands lowered. He nearly lept out of his skin when he noticed I started going towards the hole.

It seemed the animal ambushed them from underneath this sinkhole. A massive lid of bones and sticks was launched quite a distance away. A trapdoor spider? I nearly shuddered, but instead used my S rank Dexterity Stat to conceal my disgusted reaction with sheer speed. The carriage was down there, alright.

“Y-You’re not going down there, aren’t you?” Even Yokgu showed hesitation.

“What’s so bad about a bug?” I asked. “We’ve eaten plenty of those before.”

“It’s not a bug,” he got defensive. “Hey, where are you—“

I jumped down, noticing that the sinkhole led into a massive underground network of tunnels. Is this what an adventurer deals with regularly? Tremors started shaking my boots, but I was prepared. The animals driving this thing were long gone, but the cargo on the wagon could be salvaged. When I took a few steps to unearth the rest of it, the tremors drew near.

I drew my sword and awaited the creature to emerge so I could give it a piece of my mind. A massive stinger pierced the ground right under me, but in the end it was just a beast. The branch of flesh was soft to cut, followed by the creature’s squealing body when it burst out to ambush me. It was not a spider, but a huge scorpion beast.

“Revar Ecrit!” I muttered and my sword became engulfed in magical flames. If I used a skill, this part of the desert would be a crater. Several cities in Sarwitz ended up that way when I was testing Power Breaker - a Skill that released an energy blast that worked with my STR. I fought a few Spirit Breaker users that had similar effects. The scorpion with a stump instead of a tail scuttled away as fast as it could, but ended in one fiery swoop. Huh, I stood over the dead but still twitching beast. Being an adventurer would be too easy.

Number of souls defeated: 9766

The beast was worth one hundred souls? I wanted to sigh, but the smell of burning scorpion shook me out of that moment. I dislodged the wagon from the earth and lept with it out of the sinkhole. The demons prostrated before me, but I ignored them.

“Move out,” I signaled everyone that the show was over. Maybe I should be an adventurer after all of this.

“Y-You have my eternal gratitude, Great One!” One of the demons praised me as we began to leave. I shook my head. “You’re not taking the tail, Great One?”

“Get it yourself,” I sighed as we took off. On second thought, maybe I should not be an adventurer. I did not know how to talk to people at all. What in the Hells would we do with a scorpion tail?

“Hey, Captain,” another soldier asked. Lee, I believed his name was. He was a Fair demon, the same as Vastil. Weren’t the Fair demons nobles? How did this one end up in my unit? “We could have used that tail.”

“Let’s get going,” I ignored him. If the tail was valuable it would be better in the hands of other people. We left the pit behind schedule, but I was sure it did not matter when these humans were delivered. The Spine was a sprawling desert that lay in the center of this landmass, I assumed at first when I woke in this world. The belief was corrected, however, upon realizing that Demons have only taken over the top quarter of the continent.

There was a sinking feeling that this conflict was not going to be over soon, as there was an entire mountain range dividing the North from the rest of the continent. The men cheered when we approached a ridge overlooking the desert, and sand peppered the air. The familiar massive bone towered into the sky, but beneath it was completely different when we saw what was left of the desert.

“You remember crawling out of that?” I asked Yokgu. It was hard not to feel disgusted at the view.

The sands of the Spine were transformed by their Pit ritual into a country sized hole of swollen flesh and blood. The ground itself looked alive, with various orifices puffing out gases and bones jutting out like teeth. I could see it all stretching deep inside the curvature of the world itself. I groaned. It did not occur to me that not only the Hells were so utterly unsanitary, but were an actual part of this planet’s surface as some kind of geo-biological entity. Massive scaffolding dug as far down into the darkness along the sphincter-like perimeters and military bases were built in spots where the flesh was hardened enough, with sprawling Demon cities further out closer towards us. The Hells were brutally efficient, if nothing else. I turned to the screaming humans inside the wagons getting beaten by the goblins. They did not know that being alive and feeling pain were going to be the least of their problems. We were the bad guys, but the depths of our evilness astonished me.

“Aye, well, more like being ejected out of it,” Yokgu laughed, snapping me out of my intrusive thoughts. “With a thousand other orcs. They say that Ack’Sa will make his entrance within this very place.”

A part of me wondered if the massive Spine’s vertebrae were his, but I did not ask. Well, I guessed, signaling to the goblins to end their fun and get moving. I should get this over with and see how gross this Entrance to Hell really was.