Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 343

Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 343

Chapter 343
Chapter 343
[The Wolf and Bat Racial Upgrade Token: This token may be used only once and only by a mortal, and it dissolves upon successfully absorbing its power. This token applies one of the following, whichever the user deems best suited to their needs:
Racial Upgrade 1 - Use this option to upgrade your werewolf heritage and unlock an additional 3 aspects of your bloodline. You must have VERY RECENTLY become a werewolf to use this token. Waiting too long after transformation from mortal to werewolf will negate the use of this token.
Racial Upgrade 2 - Use this option to upgrade your vampire heritage and unlock an additional 3 aspects of your bloodline. You must have VERY RECENTLY become a vampire to use this token. Waiting too long after transformation from mortal to vampire will negate the use of this token.]
The meeting with Genua and Kara was short lived and rather fun, though Sanguine didn’t have much to say when Riven had made a pitstop to talk to him. The beast obviously wasn’t much of a talker, and was more than satisfied to just live again - basking in the warm sunlight on top of a rooftop next to the inn. Riven had shortly left the two very satisfied women and the sleepy drake back at the inn after Kara had started absorbing her upgrade token, and after she’d fed on the still living cultist bastard who’d screamed horrified curses at them while he was being actively devoured. It was a bloody sight, and Kara’s ravenous hunger after turning into a some variation of demonic vampire had been just as expected.
Too bad the man couldn’t be killed permanently, or contained for too long - without Elysium teleporting them out. It’d already been tried, edly. Nevertheless it was very satisfying to hear the man die after some of the locals had pegged this particular cultist as one who’d attacked Outpost #84 more than a few times in passing raids, where he’d killed a handful of the civilians living there.
None of them were certain about what changes were coming about with Kara, with her new vampirism, the upgrade token, as well as that interesting horn growing from her forehead that she’d gotten through their connection manifested by the blood pearl. Her changes weren’t clear, even to her, and would likely manifest over time to show what they could do.
Genua had also taken it upon herself to play with Kara’s puppy and despite the obvious dislike of the drow, had very much liked the pet. Riven trusted them to get along well enough not to kill one another and to stay in the relative safety of the town until Fay returned with Iris stored in her pocket realm, where they planned to help clear out local monster waves Elysium was now spawning on occasion to keep the populace on their toes - or so said the gnome mayor.
Riven didn’t even remember the mayor’s name.
His armor and weapon had been left back with Gragle, the two women, Sanguine, and a huge sack of coins to whatever smith could help repair them. Gragle had informed Riven that there were two smiths likely up for the job, but it’d take time - and he’d also informed Riven that there was no good way to hide the new golden blood affinity in his totems when they’d had his sample applied. If anything the totems did in fact work well with the new affinity, though what the new color represented had yet to be seen. It was like having a loaded gun, but not knowing how to fire it. The branching golden pillar sprouting from his crimson Blood Sub-Pillar was obviously there in his soul realm, and he could channel mana through it, but otherwise he had a hard time creating more than wisps of golden fluids.
And not the peeing kind. Still, he probably shouldn’t use such an enchantment set right now in case it brought up questions with any of the vampires back in Panu, as he wouldn’t want the Blood God catching wind of his taboo shenanigans.
Despite as much as he’d like to take a break after months in the Abyssal Descent, and feeling the irritating sunlight pain him again now that he was crossing the landscape without his usual set of armor to blunt sunlight’s effects on his vampiric body, he had some investigating to do concerning a very certain book full of scribbled notes that Genua had found and presented to him. That traveling was made even harder by not having Messenger to propel him through the skies, and though he was able to create a very crude form of flight through mana control alone - it certainly wasn’t as pristine and fine-tuned as his armor’s ability to function with the skill. Sanguine also seemed rather worn out, and his four archdemons: Narg - recently evolved, Athela, Fay, and Athela were all conquering a city and then would be out on a variety of quests to help him gain points faster. Gluttony was off revenge-hunting the naga bastard who’d tried to kill Genua and Riven’s unborn child many months ago, which made Riven chuckle to no end every time he thought about it - being hunted down by an original sin repeatedly even in a place as big as this was something Riven would not want to have happen to him.
So anyways he’d taken to traveling on foot, staffless, amorless, and with only basic clothes and the shadowy cloak threaded with bloodsilk that Athela had so adamantly named ‘Riven’s Happy Birthday Cloak’. Underneath it, he wore the Chalgathi hood that Elysium essentially made him wear like a little bitch by zapping him repeatedly or slapping it onto his head if he kept it off for too long while here.
The forested landscape was in full bloom as his figure melted through its shadows and towards the assumed destination. Despite not outright flying he was going far faster than any civilian plane could fly at what he considered to be a casual pace, and he was gracefully silent while doing it. The wildlife barely knew he was there, and his vampiric senses picked up thousands of heartbeats every second on an amplified level since he’d ascended into the E-grade. Even as he traveled, he could see the singsong whispers of ambient mana with different affinity types lurking across the realm he now traveled in. It was absolutely fascinating, as he’d been able to feel its presence before… but now with his soul lattice intact - he could literally see it too.
To an extent. And only when he focused on it. He was thankful for that fact, as it would have been annoying to get it out of his vision if he couldn’t switch the sight on and off.
Day slowly turned to night, and night turned to day, but he did not tire - and as two more days passed with small amounts of communications to his allies through their soul links: he finally found what he was looking for.
Standing in a mountain pass overlooking a large sprawling valley was a city. Shimmering lakes dotted the valley with streaming rivers winding through, where farms were scattered and flocks of sheep or cattle roamed. But most interestingly, there was a large marble tower of strange make in the very center - and a barely noticeable barrier dome surrounded the city as well.
Pulling out the small book that Genua had given him, Riven blinked, nodded with a happy harumph, and started making his way towards it with a skip in his step.
***
“Papers out! Papers out!” A guard at the front gate called out to the people lined up and milling into the city. “You all know the drill people, we are in a dangerous situation here and we can’t be too careful! No grumbling!”
The man was wearing a colorful combat robe decorated with the plumage of birds, and so were all the other guards - and many of the civilians going inside also sported various garments with feathers sewn in. Funnily enough, Riven wasn’t even sure that they were bird feathers - and rather they were likely his own - considering the feathers sprouting around his ears just like all the other people here.
That was it. Just feathers sprouting around their ears, unless they had feathers in other places under their clothes that Riven could not see. The long silky feathers of a myriad of colors across the dozens of people looked pretty enough, Riven had to admit, but these people were otherwise completely human. He inwardly cursed at not having brought any identification equipment considering he always had Messenger on to do it for him or he would have identified these people to see what their races were, but such was his luck.
Staring at them from a small hilltop underneath the shade of a tree where the sun didn’t shine as brightly, Riven calmly stared at them while chewing on a fruit tart bar he’d pulled out of his spatial bag. Glancing around, once at the surrounding forest, to the farmland on his far right, and then at the stunningly beautiful architecture of the marble city walls with engravings that made it look like more of a piece of art rather than an actual defensive barrier - Riven pulled out a mirror.
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“Ah, yes. There’s some left.” Wiping off some blood he’d left there after an unsuspecting group of bandits had been dealt with when he’d found them stalking a husband and wife traveling on the road, Riven flashed himself a fanged smile and put the mirror away. The unholy tattoos covering his unusually pale skin and the glowing red eyes wouldn’t help anything, but being covered in blood certainly wasn’t something he’d want to do if he wanted entrance into the city without blowing through the wall or the barely noticeable dome barrier covering the top.
Not that he’d expected there to be bandits out here in the Chalgathi, er, Apocalypse Beasts quest area - but this mix-and-match of realms was huge. Riven wasn’t sure if Elysium had mashed them all together like an actual planet similar to how Panu had been formed from three different worlds, or if it was just altogether a temporary and temporal realm unique to itself. But finding bandits who were stalking a couple with intent to kill based on their banter while Riven listened in was… a nice surprise! He’d been needing to drain someone anyways.
Chuckling to himself when he remembered that look on the last man’s face before he died, Riven shrugged to himself and started for the line.
Within seconds he was noticed.
People started pointing, then shouting, and then screaming as the farmers began running for their lives towards the gate - abandoning the carts and animals they’d been taking in - as the guards at the ground level started forming ranks and initiating martial art buffs. Mages and archers atop the wall started activating skills and flaring their auras, and a horn sounded out from the overwatch towers.
Riven frowned. “What the hell?”
“STAY BACK, MONSTER!” The closest of the guards on the ground shouted, planting himself and his glistening spear lowered in Riven’s direction. “STAY BACK!”
Other soldiers joined him as the last of the civilians shoved their way into the city, causing a commotion somewhere beyond where more shouts could be heard.
Another horn sounded from the overwatch tower, and Riven squinted - holding a hand over his face to shield his eyes from the blazing sun. At least fifty archers were trained on him, bows crackling with different types of energy and a solid dozen or so mages had spells conjured which were waiting to be released.
“Well this wasn’t particularly noted in the book.” Riven said to himself. He raised both hands out to either side after pulling his hood a bit forward, and put on his friendliest smile before shouting: “I mean you no harm! I just wish to speak to the governor of this city!”
Curses and fearful hisses accompanied his smile as he overheard some of the people facing him down talk about his fangs under their breath.
He rolled his eyes and sighed, hands still up to either side of his body. Then he shouted again. “I’m a friend! Friennnnddddd!!! Now stop pointing your weapons at me.”
“Stay right there!” A woman in a steel cap helmet called out, as if it hadn’t already been said - but she had more decorative tokens on her vest that resembled badges of authority and the soldiers parted before her like a wave. She was tall with raven hair and had a deepset scowl on her face, with purple feathers poking out from underneath her helm where her ears were. She drew a longsword with narrow eyes and pointed the weapon in Riven’s direction. “Your kind is not welcome in our great city, bloodsucker! Take your billowy shadows and begone from our lands!”
As she spoke, he couldn’t help but notice how her knees wobbled slightly and her voice had a tremor to it. She was obviously scared despite numbers being on their side.
He wondered what levels they were, and if they could tell what level he was. He guessed that at least the guards at the front gate going through items had to have some kind of tokens or identification skills, so they likely knew who and what he was.
Riven raised an eyebrow at her words. He’d almost forgotten that having negative charisma to such a degree would adversely affect the opinions of those who were of the positive charisma category. That alone would be enough to startle people just by being in his presence, as he’d sometimes noticed back at Outpost #84.
Wait.
“Billowy?” Riven repeated, scratching his head and frowning. “Is my cloak really, ‘billowy’? I thought it looked rather neat.”
Riven did a little twirl and let the shadows of the cloak dance around him like wisps on the wind. “My girlfriend made it for me!”
“WE ARE NOT HERE TO TRADE POINTERS ON FASHION STATEMENTS YOU BLOOD SUCKING FREAK! Vampires, especially pureblooded ones, have no place in our home!” The woman shrieked at him, longsword still pointed in his direction as spit flew from her mouth from the venom in her words. “Now be OFF with you! Or it will be off with your head!”
Riven clicked his tongue, then put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “No, no I can’t do that. You see I’m here for a reason. Get me the governor of your city, now.”
“I shall do NO such thing!” The woman, probably a guard captain, hissed out at him as the others in the ground company clenched their weapons tight - their heartbeats letting off resounding pounding noises in Riven’s sensitive ears.
Riven grimaced. “Do you even know why you’re here? You DO realize you’re in an Elysium event, right?”
That seemed to make the woman pause, and she lowered her sword slightly while exchanging looks with the others. Hesitantly, she asked: “We got the system message months ago. What do you know about it?”
Riven held up the book Genua had gifted him, the one that Fay had found with notes concerning cultist activities. “I’m here to kill someone you probably don’t like! The enemy of your enemy is a friend, yes? That makes us friends!”
That was probably the wrong thing to say, because talking about killing people made them tense up even more.
“Who is it you want to kill?” One of the men from atop the wall called out.
That got a scowl from the guard captain, but she then turned her eyes on Riven expectantly.
Riven’s smile grew predatory, and he gently tossed the book towards the woman with a glint of malice in his blazing eyes. “I’m here to kill cultists, and I’ve been told by a little bird that they’ve been here many times… and that your people know where one of their altars is. Give me the location of the Altar of Despair, and show me the place listed on the fourth page of that diary, and I’ll simply be on my way…”
The captain cautiously picked up the book of scrap notes and began to open it, eyes going wide when she saw the scribblings and what it contained. She flipped the page, then again, and then a dozen times more before snapping the book shut and firming her jaw. She stared daggers at Riven and asked: “Did you kill him?”
“Yes, of a sort.” Riven said playfully, laughing at her confused expression. “You see, the cultist that has been giving you so much trouble can’t actually die. Not here, not while the event still continues.”
“We’re aware.” The woman growled. “He’s come back three times to haunt us from the grave. So what does he have to do with you? This could be a trap set up by him, trying to let someone that he knows inside to wreak havoc again.”
Riven shrugged, pulled back his first hood - an displayed the Chalgathi non-cultist emblem that adorned the system event item as a second hood.
[Chalgathi Cowl (Non-Cultist): This is a soulbound item only you can wear for the remainder of this event, it gives you no stats or bonuses, but it marks you as a Chalgathi Non-Cultist to friend and enemy alike.]
He took the cowl off and tossed it to the woman to inspect further. No doubt Elysium would start zapping him again and teleport the item to his head if he kept it off for too long, but he didn’t mind proving a point by letting this woman examine it.
She held it in her hands, exchanged words with one of the guards who confirmed its identification, and she bit her lip - nodding slowly. “What did you say your name was? We’ve had dealings with two others of your kind before, and we may have heard of you.”
There was a moment of silence as they waited expectantly.
“Riven Thane, at your service.” He said with a low bow. “And I’m hoping that we may be able to help one another with your cultist problem. Oh… and, uhm, one moment.”
He sensed the assassin and felt the mana gather before it ever came, but he decided to let whoever the person was give it his best shot.
What better way to make a point?
CRACK
The ground flash-froze around him and turned the entire area where he’d been standing into a trench. Riven’s right side exploded in cold, frigid pain… Eh, well pain wasn’t really what he’d call it. It was just really cold, and that was probably because he’d actually caught the projectile mid-air; the same one that was emitting the devastatingly cold aura.
The shimmering icicle was oozing with power, causing frost to collect along Riven’s outstretched hand where he snatched it out of the air. The entire area around them had a thick layer of ice over it entirely due to what he was holding, and shattering the projectile in his grasp caused the ice around him to stop spreading.
A slow clap echoed through the otherwise dead silence, and the figure of a slender man began to form from the mist where Riven was staring. His features were somewhat feminine, and he wore a vest that exposed most of his athletic abdomen. A long blonde ponytail and pointed ears adorned his head, and baggy pants with elastic ends tight around the ankles were seen on his lower half.
The high elf came to a stop about two hundred yards away, directly in line with the path of ice that now covered the trajectory path inbetween Riven and this unknown assailant. The man’s smile was tight, but there was an angry edge to his expression that Riven really didn’t understand - and felt like it was out of place.
“Riven Thane… Did I hear you right?” The man whispered, though his voice carried over the space between them like he was standing directly beside Riven. “Vampire lord? Chosen of Gluttony, and king of the Thane Necropolis? Did I get all that right? I’m sure there’s more to it but I just honestly don’t have the time.”
The soldiers of the city had already retreated into the gates, glad to be given a distraction as the metal doors slammed shut.
Riven narrowed his eyes. “That sums it up somewhat, I suppose. And just who are you?”
The man’s smile was frigid, and three snowflakes began to swirl around him - growing as gorgeous white disks that danced in the air until they were the size of a fully grown man each. He extended a hand and produced a rose of ice, pretending to smell it - or, actually smelling it, but Riven didn’t know why someone would smell an ice sculpture like that.
Strange. Perhaps for dramatic effect?
“My name…” The man stated, as his aura suddenly spiked and cracked the ground he stood on in a brilliant display of raw power. It was impressive, even to Riven. “My name is Ren Blissfallen. I believe you very much know my uncle, Luke Blissfallen. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance… but I think it’s time for you to die.”

Chapter 343