Holy Blood 17

Chapter 17

The first half of the night passed without incident. It was so quiet, it was eerie. Even Kano and Mohr appeared to be on edge. Though that might have just been my own tiredness transposing on them. I took the time to go over my status. It was a menial task, but it would keep me awake. 

Name: Abaddon

Race: 

Angel: As an angel you will be unable to initiate combat with intelligent life. Self-defense is only allowed after a certain threshold. 

Class: 

Harold (Priest) (The linchpin to any party.)

Goddess: Otris

Skills: 

Light of Blood (Damage or Heal. Dependent on target)

Shield of the Caller (Area of Effect. Places a barrier around a location that heals or does holy damage to occupants. Bonus effect: Barrier now moves with target.)

Bloody Prayer (Increases the stats of those around the Priest that have given blood to the Goddess Otris. Otris listens to her herald. When in the presence of allied players or npcs, an image of the goddess will manifest. When in the presence of neutral players or npcs, target will feel awed by your presence. When in the presence of enemy players or npc, Otris’s wrath will weaken them.)

Blood Ablution (Cleanses debuffs from target and boosts resistance to similar debuffs for a time. 30 second cooldown. Bonus Effect: Restores a small amount of health.)

Raining Blood (Creates an area of ten meters that damages and heals all targets inside.)

Summon (1/2(+1 Deadless Staff)) (1,400 AP)

Soldier – A creature sent by the Goddess to aid you in your endeavors. It will remain until dismissed. The soldier will match your level. Skills can be added to the summon. 

Fallen Blood (As your Life points fall the effectiveness of your skills increase.) (Passive)

Level: 33

LP: 5300 AP:5300

Curses: 

Boons: Divinity of Otris

Goddess’s Affection

EXP:209,784/222,545

Non-Class Skills

Flight – Butchery – Skinning - Cooking

Summon hadn’t increased in skill yet, but considering the first time took nearly two days, its unsurprising that the next step would take longer. The minor skills I’d been using to butcher the animals had finally shown up. All in all, I felt my character was coming along nicely. 

It was just passed midnight when it got interesting. I wasn’t sure what tipped me off, but I knew instinctively that I wasn’t alone. I stood up carefully while glancing around to see if I could find the source. Mohr and Kano noticed me standing up but didn’t appear to sense anything else. After a few moments, I was able to narrow down where I felt the sensation was coming from and slowly started to approach that direction. I barely took two steps before a dart exited the brush and nailed the ground right in front of me.

Mohr and Kano angled their weapons in the direction the attack came from, but I held up my hands. This could have killed me if it struck my heart or head. Whatever was out there wasn’t a threat unless we made ourselves into one first. 

“Easy you two,” I said to the two Fallen then called out in a slightly louder voice. “I don’t know if you can understand me, but we mean no harm to anyone that does not seek to harm us. If we have crossed into some type of territory, we are willing to leave come morning.”

Ten minutes passed with nothing happening. I was about to give up when a pair of figures came from the underbrush. Their weapons were at the ready, but in a non-threatening position. I couldn’t tell what they were until they crossed into the light from the fire. 

Dark elves. A male and a female that bore matching tattoos on their forearm. One held a crossbow, while the female wielded a rapier. They were dressed in light leather that would allow for silent movement and blending into the surroundings. 

“Stranger. What are you doing in this part of the woods?” the female asked glancing at Mohr and Kano, “With such strange company at that.”

I considered for a minute. While they were npcs, I didn’t know what the best answer would be. After a quick mental debate, I decided to just play my role. The one that had been hounding me since the first day I started. 

“I am a priest of the Goddess Otris. She sent me to spread her word,” I said pounding my staff into the ground. I wanted to appear as strong as I could during this first impression.

The pair leaned in close to discuss something, but not before I caught the widen eyes from the two. I waited until they finished. I knew what they would ask but needed to hear it from them first. Sure enough…

“Prove it,” the male demanded.

“Very well.” I pulled some of my astral energy then used Bloody prayer. This was the first time I’d actually attempted to use it. I glanced up and saw a transparent Otris floating above me. She gave me a warm smile then turned to the pair. Her form dropped and wrapped around me. The pair suddenly feel back a few paces before they regained their composure.

“Thank you. It has been a long time since a priest has graced us with their presence. We thought the gods had left us to die,” the female said bowing her head.

“I took no offense. Like I said. I am here to spread her word once again. I see a passion in you for your people. I would never belittle you for that,” I said waving off her apology.

“May we join you and tell you our story?” she asked gesturing to the fire. 

“Of course. My fire is your fire,” I said moving aside. They put away their weapons, but I could see no less than ten daggers on each of them sticking from various places. It would not be hard for them to draw in a moment’s notice.

“You really are different. Willing to share with a dark elf,” the female said shaking her head. 

“Oh? Should I turn you away?” I asked with a smirk. 

“It would not be the first time,” she said as she took a seat next to the fire. The male sat next to her and took her hand. 

“First things first. I’m Abaddon,” I said nodding my head in greeting.

“I am Nolliha and my mate is named Iscacu. We are of the house Ralviet. Not that house matter anymore,” Nolliha the female answered.

“We will return to greatness someday my love,” Iscacu said holding her hand up to his lips and giving her a gentle kiss.

“I don’t even crave greatness. I just desire a moment of safety so that we might have children,” she replied tracing a hand across his cheek.

“Of course. That is how greatness is measured. By the number of children sired,” Iscacu said with a cocky grin. 

I coughed to get their attention. “Sorry, but please continue.”

“Apologies. Our race used to be great and powerful. Rulers of the Labyrinth. We trapped ourselves in our quest for power. The goddess we followed, a vile and treacherous being was defeated in a war of the gods centuries ago. She was not only defeated, but so foul to the other gods that she was destroyed, permanently,” Nolliha said.

“Now. A race has a hard time surviving without a goddess or god to support their magic. None of the other gods looked kindly upon us. Skip forward a few centuries, we are being driven to extinction and forced to live as nomads without the protection of the city shield,” Iscacu said picking up where she stopped. 

“Have you tried reaching out again? Maybe one of the gods or goddesses would have forgiven you?” I asked. 

“We cannot. We have not had a person capable of communing with the Holy ones in… three hundred years,” Nolliha said shaking her head.

“I could certainly talk to the goddess for you, but I don’t want to inform the goddess based on two individuals. I need to see at least the rest of your tribe before I talk to her. Of course, if that is ok with you,” I said thinking the story over.

The pair looked at each other for a long time. So long, that I knew they had to be some married or bonded mental communication. Finally, they nodded to each other and turned back to me. “We will speak with the elders. You are right, we need the whole tribe to commit and not just be saying it to pass the bulk of their hardship.” 

“Very good. We are heading north to a spot hopefully not far from here. You’ll be able to find us along that route,” I said clapping my hands together. 

“I understand. Hopefully, we will speak to you again in a few days,” Nolliha said as they rose and faded into the shadows. 

Quest! People in Need!

You have found a people that have suffered for the actions of their forebearers. Learn more and decide how you want to proceed. EXP +1-100,000 Several other rewards based on your actions. 

Festinating. I would have to tread carefully with this quest. A hundred grand of experience points was several levels now. After talking with Lulu during our trek, I found there is no level cap. That meant the first people to reach the higher levels they better chance they have to amass power for themselves. It was a footrace from hell if you asked me. 

Before I woke Lulu up for her shift, I made sure that Mohr and Kano were positioned in such a way to offer the most coverage. I knew better than to trust someone that appeared in the middle of the night. No matter how sad their story was. 

I pulled the cover to the tent aside and called for Lulu. I waited for several seconds and tried again, but to no avail. I sighed and made my way inside to wake her. I couldn’t raise my voice without risking a monster attack. We weren’t in the best of locations in the first place. When I came up next to her, I shook her and she only moaned and turned over. 

She pulled the cover with her and I found that for some reason, she decided to sleep nearly completely nude. All she had on was her panties. I also found out that she was the type that looked slimmer in clothes. I don’t know if she took the slider and took it all the way to the max but her chest was massive. 

‘She has to be doing this on purpose,’ I thought with some annoyance. I decided to pay back a little. I pinched her nipple as hard as I could, I had my other hand ready to cover her mouth in case she screamed. She did not scream. She moaned quite erotically. I knew I was going to lose it if I didn’t do something soon, so I covered her mouth and nose. 

Sure enough, a few moments later she shot up and pulled my hand off her face. She looked around as she took deep breathes of air. 

“Do this again and I will drag you out and leave you for the weird deer things,” I said growling as I did my best to control my impulse to jump her. 

“Huh?” she said with a worried tone then looked down and blushed. “Whoops.”

“Don’t you dare say it was an accident. Hurry up and get dressed so I can get some fucking sleep. Or I’ll start calling you miss nympho from now on.”

“Yes sir!” she said dropping the act and rushing to put her clothes on. When she was gone, I finally laid down. I knew this was a game, but they even managed to get the pillow to keep her scent and warmth. That night it was hard for even me to sleep, and I prided myself for being able to sleep anywhere.