Rebirth and Second Chances

[You probably should accept that quest now, Mac.]

Grimacing in frustration, not happy that System had broadcast my arrival, I called up the quest menu.

[WELCOME TO TALAHM, MAC DE BELENOS

LEVEL ONE PRINCE

REWARDS: 100,000 GP

RING OF HIDDEN DEPTHS

RESPAWNS ARE POSSIBLE ONCE EVERY SOLAR CYCLE.

AS A NEWLY ASCENDED PRINCE YOU MUST REPORT TO THE CURRENT SEELIE RULERS.

***

QUEST: TRAVEL TO THE CAPITAL AND REPORT TO KING LUGH AND QUEEN MAB

REWARD: 50,000 EXP.

FACTION SEELIE COURT - 1000

FACTION UNSEELIE COURT – 1000]

[ACCEPT YES / NO]

Selecting Yes, I watched as the prompts acknowledged my decision and the windows closed.

A ring formed around my index finger on my right hand and the gold that I'd just been awarded was placed in abeyance until I could collect it. My HUD included a new tab for quests.

I didn't have much time to examine System menus. A voice filled with derision and contempt interrupted.

"Really?" one of the men standing before me sneered, drawing my attention to a group of thugs. I could tell from the richly appointed clothing that the man that spoke was the leader of this motley crew.

The others? Probably those thugs and sycophants who had been complicit in Caraid's death.

"This... Thing... Is a Prince? How can something with his tainted blood be a prince?"

I hated the guy already.

Not ten seconds in this new world and I'd found my first enemy. Caraid and I really did have something in common; we'd both had to suffer abuse from bullies. His had resulted in death. But maybe, thanks to a quirk of fate, and the vagaries of reincarnation I could do something about that for both of us.

"Caraid," I projected my thought towards my companion, hoping we would be able to have a mental conversation, "who is this douche?"

[Douche?]

[I do not know this word. But this elitist prick is our liege lord's son.]

[Meet Knight Thom A'Kel, the bane of my existence.]

[He was the person who decided I should undertake ascension decades before my majority. He is the reason I died attempting that ascension!]

"He forced you into the ascension chamber?" I surmised.

[Forced. Ordered. The results are the same.]

[Thom A'Kel is the rightful heir of Lord Kel and Lady Patricia and as such able to give a lawful order. An order that I was duty-bound to obey. He used his right to command and ordered me to attempt the chamber.]

[His minions were insurance, there in case I needed help to obey that order.]

"Why did he mean for you to die, simply because you're a hybrid?" I asked.

[I'm not certain. I think that was the greatest motivating factor.]

[After my mother abandoned me at my birth, I was fostered with a family of sprites that served Lord Kel's family. Sprites are a communal species, so one more child to rear made no difference to them.]

[The problem began when Lord Kel, who owes fealty to Duke Aengus A'Daoine was being feted during a Solstice festival. I was probably five solars at the time and had spent my entire life amongst the sprites, so to say I was uneducated, even perhaps a bit feral would have been fair.]

[Duke Aengus took exception to my treatment, furious that a Seelie son had been so badly neglected and ordered Lord Kel to raise me exactly as he would his own son. Further, he promised he would attend my Ascension to determine just how well Lord Kel had adhered to his edict.]

[Thom, fifty years older than me, and newly ranked to Squire became jealous as his father, afraid of Duke A'Daoine, showed interest in me for the first time.]

[His father had me moved to the family quarters, began educating me, training me to fight and educated me in magic and spellcraft. Lord Kel made sure I was decently clothed. Had tutors that instructed me in etiquette and propriety. And insisted I attend all family dinners and events.]

[Thom's fury and jealousy grew as the years passed. His feelings, never well hidden, became physical abuse. He never could pass up the chance to make personal slights about my parentage or add real injury in the guise of weapons training.]

[When he gained enough experience to reach the Knight Rank, and as the acknowledged heir of Lord Kel, he was vested with responsibilities and duties of command. As well as the right of rule. A perk that allowed him to order me into the Ascension chamber.]

[Even unlawful commands must be obeyed when an invested heir invokes the right of rule.]

"I outrank him now," I gloated. "So, I should be able to ignore his 'right of rule'."

"I think things might just get bothersome for him now."

"After all. How will he explain my Ascension to his Lord Father? System just proclaimed my new Rank to the world."

"Things may have been different had SYSTEM not taken action. I'm sure if I hadn't been able to replace you and you had simply died, he would have cast the blame on you for your death, swore that you went into the chamber on your own and that he tried to stop you.]

[He may have. Possibly.]

[More likely he would have kept quiet about Ascension, and I would have simply disappeared, no one knowing I had gone into the chamber at all. An ill-mannered ungrateful hybrid that repaid Lord Kel's generosity with contempt.]

[Now he will have to admit the truth. He has no choice. System has proclaimed his perfidy for the world to see. To lie or break an oath to one's liege lord have real-world consequences. It simply isn't done.]

The anger that enveloped me over Caraid's treatment wasn't immediate. But my anger grew as he explained his situation. It was only then that I noticed a strange phenomenon, I actually saw red as my eyes narrowed in fury, and as I turned to examine Thom, that fury was made manifest.

[Name: Thom a Kel

Rank: Knight

Level: 4]

[Perception has increased]

Perception appeared to work like identify did in games I was used to playing. This meant increasing skills should work on the same principle. Use them and improve them.

As I was examining Thom, I noticed a gesture, a twitch of the hand that my former self would have never noticed. But with my heightened perception and awareness, I recognized the gesture as a signal. It must have been something that had been rehearsed often because his goon squad acted in concert, instantly, in response to that small twitch.

Weapons were drawn, and the four launched a coordinated attack that was purposeful and deadly. There was no testing of skills, no feinting for position. They meant to kill me as quickly and efficiently as possible. Considering I was weaponless and practically naked since Caraid's old clothes had been shredded in my transformation, I'm sure they felt the chances of ending my life was good. Thom may have even taken the chance to gain levels. A Knight killing a prince would certainly lead to a crap ton of experience and possibly a promotion or three.

'What level are these goons?' I asked Caraid figuring he would know and save me the time it would take to inspect each of them.

[They are all Knight rank and Thom's vassals. Two are level one, one is level two, and one is level three.]

Perhaps I should have been worried, but I was too angry to let worry affect me. And as fast as they were, I was faster. It wasn't a conscious decision to move or dodge; my body just reacted. A shrug of the shoulder, a minute twist of my torso, a tilt of my head, and I avoided all of their attacks.

They were so slow.

With my greater perception, agility, and intellect, I was able to react as if they were standing still. I knew when, where, and how they were going to strike. Their movements were jerky and stilted.

In comparison, my rank and stats allowed my movements to seem fluid and graceful in comparison. Even with no formal training in martial arts or combat, my body knew what to do. I seemed to flow and dance among them as I launched my own counter-attack. Glancing blows, effortless but effective.

It happened so quickly, disarming them. Bones breaking. Screams of pain and anger. And Thom, backing up quickly to allow his sycophants to take the brunt of the damage, used the opportunity to begin casting.

I had no idea what spell he was preparing to launch, and my own casting ability definitely needed some practice before I would feel confident enough to get into a spell-slinging contest, but I did have a few skills and perks that might help mitigate any damage I was about to take if I couldn't dodge his attack.

Activating Belenos Aura, the fire and fury that had been blazing and contained to my eyes seemed to explode to fill the room. Thom stopped casting, his eyes once filled with hate and determination, now filled with fear, as my aura enveloped everyone and everything in the room.

Have you ever seen a body burn?

Clothes quickly turned to ash, fire spread and engulfed them. Skin ruptured and blacked as their stored fats released grease and fueled the fires to burn brighter and hotter. The screams were bad enough, but it was the smells of cooked flesh that would give me nightmares.

They never stood a chance, Thom's vassals. And within seconds, the blazing fires died as the fuel of their bodies was consumed, leaving behind piles of bones and melted metals.

And Thom? Thom was cowering in fear behind a shield that was protecting him for the most part. He was scorched and smoking. His clothes ruined. His hair singed. But he'd survived. And his survival at the expense of those that had been loyal and supportive of him only managed to increase my fury.

Fury that was interrupted as the smell and taste of burnt flesh finally registered in my mind. My body reacted to that taste with horror and revulsion and I vomited.

Great heaving eruptions of bile and food projected at and over Thom. I puked on him until my sides and throat were sore.

I had killed my first person. And there seemed to me to be little to glorify or celebrate in their deaths.

Blood, charred meat, and vomit punctuated my actions and theirs.