Chapter 102 - Book 1 Epilogue

Vivi was passed out for what felt like an eternity. She didn’t think she’d ever wake up. The exhaustion, the fighting… She had abused ether far beyond what human bodies could withstand.

Her earlier runesmithing spree some days ago already left her groggy, when she abused ether for a few hours to finish a sword. Back then, she spent a some loose hundred wisps, and she didn’t take any blows or damage from outside.

This time, Vivi had spent thousands of wisps of ether, forcing herself awake well beyond exhaustion, suffering countless blows from different enemies. The treatment she’d given her body was worse than just abuse. The fights had likely left her with permanent damages.

When she woke up with none of that—none of the pain, none of the cloudiness, her vision perfectly clear with a bright sun overhead—Vivi quickly deduced she’d woken up in Paradise.

“Lucius?” she asked. Her voice was full of disbelief. “Are you there?”

“Yeah…” Lucius said.

Vivi stared at the sky. Her eyes hurt, looking at the sun, but this was the dream realm. Her body wasn’t real. Hurting her eyes didn’t matter. “We killed Uundref.”

“You did,” Lucius said. “I’m surprised, honestly. I thought you’d spare him.”

Vivi’s head was clear, but her thoughts were not. So much had happened. So much she hadn’t had time to process… She sighed.

“Well, he’s dead,” Vivi said. “Maybe that’s for the best.”

Lucius let out a slight chuckle. “Shame he didn’t drop any skills.”

For a while, Vivi said nothing. She lay on the grass, staring at the sky, alone in the quiet fields of Ythar’s Paradise. The plan had been a total failure. Hundreds of nimrods were dying because of the boss she’d accidentally crafted.

“What about us?” Vivi asked. “Are we alive? Are you okay? I pushed void ether into you.”

“That tickled a little,” Lucius said. “I did pass out. It felt like I was turning into a monster… Everything I knew about myself disappeared for a moment.”

“Sorry…” Vivi said.

“But I admit, the void ether made us powerful,” Lucius said. “My claws did a lot of damage. We’ll have to train further. If…”

“If?” Vivi asked. Lucius sounded concerned.

“If you wake up…” Lucius said. “You’re the one that’s hurt badly.”

“I figured,” Vivi said. “I couldn’t have spared Uundref even if I wanted to. I’ve never been that exhausted. I just hope the others are alive. Maybe they can escape Zand safely.”

“Ah, that part of the plan was scrapped,” Lucius said. “Aang has already found you in the sewers. I talked with him for a bit.”

Vivi sprung up to sit. “What? How long has it been?”

“Two days,” Lucius said. “Aang wanted to thank you for your courage and stuff like that. He doesn’t quite understand how you managed to defeat Uundref, but I don’t think he’s mad.”

Vivi’s mouth hung open as she stared at Lucius. “No way. Are they all alive?”

“Alisa’s core is blown out,” Lucius said. “She woke up, but the demons are not sure when she can channel ether again, if ever at all. Ven and Rohan are mostly fine. You’re the one everyone is worried about. Everyone else—Lydi, Feni, the fiend, Rensifg, they’re good. They escaped into the dungeon the moment the attacks started.”

“What about Grenall? And Henry?”

“Ah, the old math guy,” Lucius said. “I think he’s missing. Not sure. And not sure about the guard either. It’s a total mess down there. The Twilight Shaman took control of Zand’s hub entirely. The Stewards' defense attempt was utterly destroyed. For now, nimrods are taking refuge in the dungeon. The Twilight Shaman hasn’t assaulted the dungeon for now. Surge monsters tend to stay away from dungeons. That’s just the way they work.”

“Casualties?” Vivi asked.

“Only a few hundred nimrods died,” Lucius said. “Over half of the staff died, including six of ten Stewards. The situation right now… It’s a bit complicated. The nimrods have taken control, essentially.”

“Continue,” Vivi said.

“Staff is all captured and imprisoned,” Lucius said. “Nimrods are in charge. They worked together for a bit to fend off the Twilight Shaman’s attack. But now that the dungeon is safe again, nimrods have divided into their gangs. They've gained access to the guards’ runeswords… I don't think I need to say that it's a warfield out there.”

“If only two hundred died, there’s still hundreds of nimrods in the dungeon,” Vivi said. “How do they get food?”

“That’s kind of the problem Aang is trying to fix,” Lucius said. “There’s still food in the hub, but it’s almost impossible to go there. The Twilight Shaman and its monsters are still patrolling the hub. They’ll attack anyone that tries to exit the dungeon. Zand's food storages are rotting with no way to get to them. The nimrods can only gather more from the dungeon. There's fish and some mushrooms. Fishing spots and other food sources are all being controlled by gangs.”

Vivi bit her lip. “Are they calling for outside help?”

“They can’t,” Lucius said. “The transmission devices are in Zand. Nobody has sent a message to Ingfried. For now, the outside world has no idea what’s happening. It will likely take weeks before Ingfried sends someone to investigate. Still, Aang said he has ideas on how to gather food. I’m honestly not sure what he plans on doing. I think he said there’s some sort of forest beneath the Death Tyrant’s arena with food farming dirt and something. I don’t know. The situation is a mess. I was out there for half an hour to learn the gist of things. You’ll need to wake up to know for certain.”

Vivi watched Lucius for a moment. Then she collapsed on her back. She really didn’t want to die. Waking up would be painful, but she wanted to live. There was so much still to do. Especially after activating Death Sense.

She felt her second core, sitting there, each wisp inactive and completely dimmed out. The core was hungry for more void ether.

Vivi had never heard of anything like it. Everyone knew that humans could only wield balanced ether, consisting of the live elements. Only monsters could wield void elements.

Vivi had confirmed that to be false. The void core’s potential was insane. She had only wielded less than a hundred wisps at a time, and that was enough to defeat Uundref. On top of that, she hadn’t utilized the wisps to their full potential. She knew she had a lot to practice on.

A lot more questions popped up in her head. Did others use void ether? Was void ether the secret to how some of the ether hunters were so strong? They had two cores instead of one. Or was Vivi alone with her power?

Could void ether be used with runesmithing?

“I can’t die, Lucius,” Vivi said. “There’s too much still to do. We need to wake up and help the others.”

“Yes…” Lucius said. “I’d like you to survive as well.”

Vivi gave him a look. Then she sighed. “Is there anything you can do to help me?”

“I’ve been filling your body with ether to stop you from dying,” Lucius said. “I’ll slowly reduce the amount of ether in your body, until you can stay alive without wisps empowering you. Your muscles will need some rehabilitation, but if all goes well, you’ll be awake in four to five days. Abusing ether is dangerous, but when controlled, ether is good at healing as well.”

“I see,” Vivi said. “Good luck. Please treat me with care.”

“I will,” Lucius said. His tail was wagging, grin coming back. “In the meantime, would you like to practice the sword a little bit?”

“I’d like to sleep, Lucius,” Vivi said. “I don’t want to meet any ether hunters. Wake me up in Zand. I want to see for myself what’s happening.”

“Walking and fighting in Paradise is good for rehabilitation, you know,” Lucius said. “Human muscles work with memory and practice. Memories of walking will stay with you when you wake up.”

“That makes no sense,” Vivi said.

Lucius sighed. “If I fail to keep you awake, it might be our last chance to fight. I’d like to have some fun. As long as we don’t use the void ether. Ythar can’t hear that we activated that skill.”

The cat was staring at her with a determined expression. “You want me to spend my final moments on that oppressive island?” Vivi asked.

“They won’t be your final moments,” Lucius said. “I promise you, you won’t die.”

Vivi sighed. She really didn’t want to visit that stupid island…

But on the other hand, she did kind of want to.

“Fine,” Vivi said. “Take me to the island. Let’s duel someone.”

Lucius, grinning wide, spent fifty ether, and Vivi’s vision flashed.

***

Ythar’s palace and its beautiful inhabitants welcomed Vivi with as much grace as she remembered. Her arrival was met with surprise first, followed by disgust and scowls.

Vivi wanted to smile from the absurdity. The hunters’ reaction was always childlike, almost comical. How could the presence of a single person offend them so much? Every single hunter around her wanted her gone.

Vivi was beyond the point of caring. She kept her head up and picked a direction for a stroll. Today could have possibly been her last day alive. She couldn’t waste that time being embarrassed by the glares of some presumptuous and arrogant ether hunters.

Ignoring the people, the island was a pleasant place for a walk. Vivi missed having an open sky above her. Although, she would have preferred if it rained a little. She was wearing a raincoat, after all. Fellwater’s gloomy rain clouds would have fit the mood in Paradise well.

Vivi passed a notice board of sorts, filled with adverts and news. She paused to take a look. There were recruitment notices for dungeon raids, and trade adverts for skills. The Blackburn family was buying any exalted skills for a hundred thousand ether, rare skills for thirty thousand.

A larger poster read, “Storm scheduled to hit Frievania head-on, evacuation started, assistance requested!”

Frievania was one of the largest and most famous fortified cities within the third level. Famous enough that even Vivi had heard of it. Its infrastructure was said to span through the ceiling of the third level, up to the second. Vivi had only seen depictions of the legendary city. If hunters were requesting assistance to defend the city, the storm must have been forecasted to be a bad one.

In the corner of the notice board, Vivi saw a wanted poster. With her face on it, drawn perfectly in color. It read, “Vivian Runeblessed, wanted dead or alive! Prize: 10000 ether!”

Vivi chuffed through her nose. Ten thousand? Almost enough to pay my debts.

“Looks like the hunters don’t like you very much,” a voice said next to Vivi.

She turned to see a grinning young man, around her age. His golden hair was cleanly arranged, and his white suit probably cost more than most of the skills Aang’s gang had gathered combined. Behind him, a group of other young boys were snickering.

“A big bounty,” the gold-haired boy said. “For what? You seem like a lovely woman to me.”

“Uh, who are you?” Vivi asked.

“You can call me the Prince,” the golden boy said. He smiled and leaned close, as if trying to charm Vivi. “Why don’t you come with me? I can show you what comfort and love looks like. Away from these idiots, in our own wonderland.”

She leaned back, disgusted. What the hell was going on? Less than five minutes on Ythar's island, and some weirdo was already trying something funny with her. The others behind the man burst out laughing.

Vivi’s reaction seemed to piss off the golden boy. He frowned. “As if. Have fun dreaming, smelly smith.”

He waved goodbye, then walked past, toward his group.

Vivi watched after him. A month ago, she would have considered herself lucky. That boy hadn’t done anything to her. He said a few words and left. Vivi would have loved it if that was the only bullying she suffered in Fellwater.

Today… She was disappointed. Were the ether hunters really this pathetic? That boy was supposed to be a defender of humanity. A hero who defeated monsters for a living, who others his age dreamed of being.

The boy turned around, feeling Vivi’s gaze. “Got something to say?” he asked.

Vivi called Abyss Destroyer. “I challenge you to a duel,” she said.

The boy raised his eyebrows. He wheezed a laugh. “A duel? Do you not know who I am?”

An arrogant weakling? Vivi thought. Out loud, she said, “No idea.”

He shook his head and sighed.

“Fight her,” one of the other boys said, looking amused. “Why be scared?”

“She’s so weak that dueling her is pointless,” the golden boy said. “The girl lost to Serena Goldbridge. An examiner, who doesn’t wield a single skill.”

“I’m not saying it'll be a good fight,” the other boy said. “But defeating the Cursed Runesmith will give us fun tales to tell.”

The golden boy sighed, rolling his eyes. “Fine. I guess I’ll show off for you idiots. I accept the duel.”

He called his spirit blade, and his eyes lit up in gold. The blade was white with streaks of shiny gold lining its surface. Whoever this man was, he was stronger than Serena or Andre.

Still, his aura was beautiful more than it was dangerous. Vivi couldn’t feel any threat to her life at all.

“Let’s go, then,” the boy said. “Give me all you got, smithy girl.”

Vivi called forth her own full aura and activated Thorn Sword. Lucius’s claws grew on her left hand. She pushed ether outward, toward the golden boy.

He flinched.

Vivi dashed forth, sending forth a claw-attack. The boy grimaced, scrambling together to block.

His stance was off. Vivi didn’t claim to be an expert, but even she could tell this boy hadn’t practiced the fundamentals. Vivi swung lightly at his sword, barely putting any weight into her swing. The boy stumbled backward, losing his footing. His golden blade blinked.

Wasn’t he supposed to be strong? Vivi thought.

“Well, he’s not totally weak,” Lucius said. “His spirit is slightly above average. His skills are maybe subpar. He’s a bit stronger than Serena, at least.”

Vivi threw a few more light swings, letting the boy struggle to defend. This was ridiculous.

If she defeated him now, Vivi already knew rumors would spread. The hunters would claim Vivi had invaded the island on yet another murder spree. They’d say she was mindlessly challenging people to duels, forcing them to accept, and then killing innocent hunters who were just going to meetings.

This was stupid. Vivi raised her sword for a heavy swing. The boy put his all just to defend. That all didn’t amount to much. His legs barely supported his stance. And his sword was weak. Abyss Destroyer would snap it right in half.

Vivi decided to kick him instead. He fell to the ground weakly.

His friends stood with their mouths open. A crowd had gathered to watch the duel. Vivi glanced around herself. Was there anyone strong present?

The golden boy recovered with a grimace of utter hatred on his face. He recalled his sword, looked at Vivi, then clicked his tongue. He knew he’d lost. He couldn’t accept it. But he knew attacking Vivi would humiliate him further.

“Arnoll, Arnoll, Arnoll,” a voice said. It was a middle aged man with black hair, wearing a similar outfit to the golden boy, though his suit was slightly more worn and ragged. He carried a quiver full of metal arrows on his back. The crowd made space as he entered.

Immediately, Vivi knew this man was nothing like the lesser hunters. His idle aura was far more controlled.

“Ooh,” Lucius said. “Henric Barrowbow. This guy is good. My old wielder fought him often. We won most duels. But Henric managed to squeeze one victory.”

“Herry, this girl, she—” Arnoll, the golden boy began.

“She defeated you, is what happened,” Henric said. “Admit defeat.”

He turned to Vivi. His eyes were a lot more sensible than the rest of the hunters’. He didn’t immediately frown, seeing her. “Well fought, cursed though you are. Thank you for not killing him. This little idiot has a lot he needs to do this evening.”

Vivi’s heart began racing. Could this finally be a hunter who didn’t hate her? “I’m cursed, but I’m not a monster,” Vivi said. “Most rumors you’ve heard are probably false.”

“No doubt,” Henric said. “But you’ve still stolen one of our spirits. That much is a fact.”

Vivi frowned.

“You’re strong, but not strong enough to grow cocky,” Henric said. “Give it a few years, and the hunters might start respecting you. For now, you’re still a child.”

Vivi lifted her sword. “Let’s duel, then.”

Henric grinned, as if he’d expected this. He was provoking Vivi. She didn’t mind. She wanted to duel him as well.

This time, Vivi didn’t play around. She initiated her charge, throwing forth a ranged claw attack, followed by a proper overhead swing. She knew this wouldn’t kill, but she doubted Henric was good enough to throw a counter-attack. She watched for his movements.

A spirit blade appeared in his hands. Before Vivi could examine it, Henric parried her blow to the side. He lifted a foot, kicking Vivi in the stomach.

Vivi’s sword fell from her hands. She hadn’t expected a kick at all. Henric was fast! Where had his sword even come from?

She lifted her head. Henric had switched his blade for a bow. His stance with the bow was immaculate. He was already taking aim. It felt like his eye saw straight through her soul.

If her life was truly on the line, and with the help of void ether, perhaps Vivi could have won. As was now… She admitted defeat. Henric was far stronger than her. She still had work to do, so many skills she could improve, fundamentals she could train. Henric was right. She wasn’t strong.

Not yet.

The arrow released, and Vivi disintegrated to ether.

***

Author note:

Book 1 completed! Thanks all for reading! Book 2 will start airing tomorrow.