Aries Constellation, The Emperor’s Ascent - 11:47 AM

  When I returned to consciousness, I was resting on a sleeping bag with a small hand in one of my own and a dog’s head on my chest. I took a deep breath, feeling the air flow into my lungs, and let it out. That didn’t hurt anymore, but my body was still exhausted. I had pushed it too hard during that last fight.

  My thoughts went to the fruit from the Tree of Life still in my inventory. +50 Constitution would go a long way to mitigate that feeling in case I ever needed to throw Cheetah Sprint and Overclocked Body together again. The speed was easily handled, but halving Con while increasing Dexterity and Strength twofold made the combination incredibly draining even for a short amount of time.

  Thankfully, the migraine I got when I was low on or missing all of my Mental Points was set to a tolerable simmer. Not gone, but certainly dull enough that I could ignore it without the adrenaline pumping through my veins and an enemy to focus on.

  Still, something felt like it was missing. Not physically or mentally, but something more… me.

  “You are awake,” I heard Glaraphel say, and I opened one of my eyes.

  I was greeted by the picturesque view of the Emperor’s Ascent, complete with stars and Aurora Borealis. We were outside of the gathering room. That made a lot of sense; I wouldn’t want to stay there either if the administrator was throwing Reapers at people.

  The Angel sat cross-legged nearby, arms folded as he watched me. The small hand that was holding mine turned out to be Bethany’s. She gave me a big smile when our eyes met, and she reached over to pet Corwin, whose tail started wagging furiously.

  “You—” I coughed, causing the Evolution Hound to raise his head off of my chest before I cleared my throat. “You getting along with Corwin, Glaraphel?”

  He frowned, sending a sideways glare at the dog. “I was commanded not to eradicate the beast, thus I will not even if I still do not see why.”

  “Because he’s a good boy, dude,” I said, reaching over to pet Corwin. “Yes you are. Such a good boy you are Corwin.”

  He wagged his tail and licked my hand. At the very least, it didn’t seem like he cared that Glaraphel was here. Even if he did feel some kind of apprehension about having an Angel nearby, being partially Demonic, it didn’t show. He had probably just gotten used to me and figured Glaraphel was the same in some way.

  “The bestest boy,” I continued, only looking away when Bethany patted my chest.

  I glanced over at her and she smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay, Mr. Anthony,” the Tea Witch signed, adding in my name. My smile grew wider as I realized she had given me a namesign. Making the letter A with one hand, she raised it above her head to do half of the sign for halo. That was perfect. “It was really scary, though. Everyone was worried about the proclamation.”

  My smile faded a little bit as I sighed, speaking and signing at the same time so Glaraphel wasn’t completely out of the loop. “A Reaper’s Proclamation of Death is very scary, but it’ll take more than that to stop me. I’m the leader of Sol Ligatus, the best guild in the world.”

  Bethany nodded, and my eyes looked past her up the stairs. The others were in front of the door to the next room, waiting. I could make out the words if I squinted, and I wasn’t surprised to see that it was for the competitive room. Someone was making us wait this time instead of the other way around.

  “Could you go tell the others that I’m awake?” I requested. Bethany nodded again before standing up and running off, leaving me to slowly sit up.

  Kayla and Mercury’s Patrons had probably informed them that I was awake by now, but there was no way to tell what had happened after I lost consciousness. With over 80% viewership at the start of the fight, there were undoubtedly a lot of discussions taking place about my class, skills, passives, and tactics. Despite masquerading as higher beings, they were very human in their theorycrafting.

  “That fight was… very ill advised,” Glaraphel hesitantly said once Bethany moved away.

  “Yeah,” I agreed with a chuckle. “I didn’t think the administrator was going to send a Reaper after me. How was Bethany?”

  The Angel frowned, but answered. “Scared, but I could feel her faith. Your supporters, both young and old, are very loyal to you. Even the one that blasphemes constantly and wants my wings to craft with.”

  “Ash takes some getting used to, but she’s good people,” I said with a grin before gesturing towards his halo. “Did you grab the loot before you took us back to the party?”

  “Bethany did after waving her hands about to stall us leaving. She gave them to your second in command when we returned, though you may want to watch out. The armored one got a greedy look in her eyes when she saw what was passed off. This Ash, too, but for the parts the Reaper left behind.”

  I nodded. That was a great decision on Bethany’s part. If I had gone through all that and didn’t get the loot, I’d have been really pissed off. “Alright, thanks. You’re good to go back, man.”

  His frown deepened. “Are you sure? Your soul is still—”

  “Did you tell them about that?” I interrupted.

  “Of course I did,” he answered as if it had been the obvious thing to do. While annoying, it really was, so I couldn’t complain. “The Soul Shearer did substantial damage to you. It will take time for you to heal. Probably less than most, given your strength, but to not tell those who rely on you would be a disservice.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” I sighed. “But yeah, you’re good to go. Thanks for watching after Bethany.”

  “You are welcome, Anthony,” Glaraphel said. “Watching you fight a Reaper was illuminating. Call me again soon.”

  Removing his halo, he offered it to me. I didn’t bother trying to get him to leave my service this time. It wouldn’t have worked so I accepted it and returned it to my inventory. He was gone a moment later.

  Enough time had passed that we had all exited the floor and I had a blinking notification that there were screens waiting for me, so I snapped my fingers to open my menu and started going through them.

  <<<>>>

  [[Victory!]]

  You have defeated x27 Charcoal Sheep; +135 points.

  You have defeated x22 Steel Merinos; +176 points.

  You have defeated x10 Combustion Rams; +120 points.

  You have defeated x3 Rampards; +750 points.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  You have defeated the Field Boss [Support Lamb]; +800 points.

  You have defeated the Awakened Roaming Raid Boss [The Soul Shearer]; +11,500 points.

  <<<>>>

  “The Awakened Roaming Raid Boss, the Soul Shearer,” I slowly read out loud, shaking my head. “That’s a bit of a mouthful, don’t you think?”

  <<<>>>

  [[Emperor’s Ascent Aries Quest 5 Complete]]

  Harvesting on the gathering floor was very fruitful for the Sol Ligatus guild. Not only were several types of sheep sheared at the entrance site, but their leader even managed to solo both the Field Boss and the Roaming Boss to enhance their already spectacular firepower. Well earned.

  <<<>>>

  I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at that one. There were no rewards other than what we walked out with, which just made this a short recap of our time in the area. I didn’t appreciate downplaying my achievements, but the Patrons saw what had happened and that was the real goal.

  <<<>>>

  [[Patron Quest Complete!]]

  Thank the Heavens you’re okay, Anthony. I can only imagine what Baltastasia was thinking when she decided to throw a Reaper at you, but that was harrowing.

  You really went down to the wire. I understand why you had to do so at the last minute, eking out as much power from your body as you could and cutting your Constitution in half when it wouldn’t hurt your hit points as much. I’m torn. The part of me that’s a warrior is proud of your fight, but the part of me that worries about you wanted you to ask Glaraphel for help. Not much can be done about it now, I suppose.

  Progress report. You achieved 89% viewership by the time the fight ended, and the only major Patron involved in the Emperor’s Ascent that didn’t come to watch was Leo. Suffice to say, I think the others have a good handle on who you are now. A couple of them have changed their minds about inviting us in after seeing you in action, but it’s too late for that and I’m not sure they weren’t being sarcastic or joking.

  Overall, there’s a lot of discussion about you and Sol Ligatus as a whole. Most of it is positive while there is a vocal minority that thinks you’re cheating somehow or don’t like that you’re a Half-Angel that has Heaven on your side. This was almost a complete and total win, though. You’re not even out of the first constellation and you’re already the biggest topic in the whole event.

  Good news aside, you should continue to take a backseat. I was monitoring your Status screen and your hit points and Mental Points took a big hit from how often your soul was sheared. Even though I’m absolutely sure that you would take the reduced maximums as a challenge rather than a reason to rest, I’m still going to tell you not to overexert yourself. Let your soul heal naturally, okay?

  Reward: 40,000 points.

  <<<>>>

  “Hit me with the wall of text, why don’t you,” I said teasingly as I read through it, smiling when I reached the end. “Right. Taking it easy. It’s not like I have anything that heals soul damage. Putting that aside for now, you remember that was my plan, right? Letting the kids take the wheel and only bailing them out if they needed it?”

  <<<>>>

  [[Patron Message]]

  Yes, I remember the plan, Anthony.

  I also watched as you promised Bethany that you would show off for her when you were only on the first floor, so don’t try to tell me you were following the plan.

  <<<>>>

  “Eh, yeah, guess I was guilty of that, huh,” I said, running my hand through my hair with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I’ll take it easy. Especially for this next one. I wanted Mercury to handle the competitive room to get some more experience against other people, so this should be easy enough.”

  I looked back up the stairs to see that no one had come down to greet me. Wondering what I had done to become so ostracized by my own people, I slowly stood up and conjured the Staff of Raphael to help keep me upright. My whole body was screaming.

  Corwin leaned against me, nearly knocking me over. Just before I took my first step, I returned Ostwriter’s Plot Armor to my inventory and opened my Status screen to see what the damage actually was.

  <<<>>>

  [[Status]]

  Guildmaster Anthony Franklin

  Class: Warmind

  Race: Half-Angel (Dormant)

  Patron: (Hidden)

  Guild: Sol Ligatus

  Player Kills: 8

  Points: 161,119

  Stats:

  Hit Points: 478/478

  Mental Points: 374/771 (64/300)

  Strength: 57; Dexterity: 100; Constitution: 132; Wisdom: 187; Willpower: 176

  [[Warning!]]

  Your soul has been damaged by a Reaper’s weapon. The following stats have been reduced to the following amounts.

  Hit Points -> 478

  Mental Points -> 771

  <<<>>>

  I whistled as I saw the damage. Doing the math in my head, it looked like roughly 70% of my hit points and Mental Points had been taken away. That was a nasty tactic. Even though I survived, everything going forward for a while would have an easier time killing me. Baltastasia sure had planned well.

  What’s worse was that Sara was right; I absolutely was seeing it as a challenge to overcome rather than a penalty forced upon me. Instead of saying that out loud, I walked up the stairs to join the others. The moment I did, Kayla came down.

  “Hey, boss,” she greeted with uncertainty in her voice. “How are you feeling?”

  “Since when do you call me boss?” I asked, snorting out a laugh.

  The Double Agent gave me a look and shook her head. “Glaraphel, who couldn’t stop glaring at Corwin, said that you had a lasting problem thanks to the exceptional enemy you fought. We all heard the boss announce your death. It’s so bad that even Skuld has commented on it. So, Anthony, how are you feeling?”

  “Surprisingly well for a guy who just went toe to toe with a Grim Reaper and somehow lived to tell the tale,” I said with a shrug. She looked ready to argue with me, and I held up a finger. “But! But, I’m going to take it easy. No more tempting fate, no more transformations, no more anything. You all are on your own for at least the rest of Aries.”

  Kayla eyed me for a few moments before nodding. “Alright, so long as you’re serious about that.”

  I placed a hand over my heart. “I am. Though, what are we waiting for? Did y’all not come down to say hi because you were hoping to leave me behind so I wouldn’t cause trouble?” I asked. Her critical look softened a little bit, and I laughed. “Yeah, alright. It’s just not time yet, then.”

  “It’s not,” she confirmed. “It’s Ophiuchus, so it’s the one man team. He seems to be taking his time in whatever room he’s in now. We’ve been waiting for about ten minutes now but we haven’t gone in because we wanted to keep an eye on you and we didn’t want to get stuck in a room as uncomfortable as the one we shared with Gemini.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that. What about loot, then? Glaraphel said you had it.”

  “There was a hard hat that reduced the amount of aggression the wearer gets, which we gave to Bethany for the time being,” she explained. “And there was a book containing a combination healing and defense spell called Wool Coat. I was thinking of taking that if you didn’t mind since I’ve pretty much pivoted over to a support role.”

  “Those must have come off of the Support Lamb after the fight was over,” I mused. “But yeah, that sounds fine. I already have healing options so I’m not going to scramble for another one, and it makes sense that you get Wool Coat. What about from the Soul Shearer?”

  Kayla smiled as she swiped open her inventory. “Yeah, I think you’re really going to like this. Might help hide your coat, at least.”