That’s a good explanation, isn’t it? I’m role-playing so well!
“I see. As those who seek an excellent ruler, we must also take the role of excellent subordinates. That is for the best.”
The other Abyss residents are nodding eagerly. I hope I’ve shown them that I can be decisive and merciless when the situation calls for it. After all, they probably would prefer to have no ruler if their actual ruler were too gentle to give them proper commands.
The undead return with the men in their custody a bit later. It was actually faster than I’d expected. In fact, with their levels being so low, why did these fools think they could best the Abyss residents in the first place? It seems the king wasn’t the only idiot of the group.
I wonder if missions like this will continue to pop up as more players reach the Abyss. Maybe they’re meant to become stress relief missions where players can beat up bad guys as much as they want…
The man with the most regal clothes of all, the one being dragged away by the Abyss’s leader, must be the king. It seems that spirits of residents can use their imaginations to change their outfits, allowing them total freedom. Well, I suppose it’s rude of me to call his clothes “the most regal” when the prime minister is here too—instead, I ought to call the king’s clothes gaudy and unrefined, considering I meant it in a bad way in the first place and there being no need to hold back.
As I confirm that all twenty-one men have been captured, the group makes quite a fuss the entire time. I transform my right arm into a tentacle—or rather, I reveal its true form—and lift the king by the neck. It’s strange that this bothers him when the spirits of the dead have no need to breathe. I can’t exactly hang him dramatically, since he has no body weight, but I think the Abyss residents will enjoy seeing me do this all the same.
All I want is to silence the king and show him who I am. He keeps his mouth closed as I hang him by the neck, so I confirm his identity out loud and leave it at that. The less I say, the creepier I’ll come across.
“Knock him down two levels deeper. Everyone else can be sent one level down.”
“Hear that? Take them away,” the leader orders his subordinates.
“Right!” they reply.
Quest complete: “Recapture the Abyss fortress”
Your reputation among the undead of the afterlife has greatly increased.
I toss away the king in my grasp and restore my arm. Once the fools’ souls are dragged off into the distance, I turn my attention to my completed quest. This is much more important than the likes of them.
“Recapture the Abyss fortress”
You have reclaimed the fortress in the Abyss.
Speak with the undead of the Abyss and find a resolution.
1. Gather information from the undead of the Abyss.
2. Give your commands based on what you’ve learned.
3. Wait for an update.
4. Fulfill your role as arbitrator.
Quest conditions: Be an undead level 45 or higher with access to the Abyss
Reward: The undead of the Abyss have decided to grant you an affinity bonus.
The way it’s written, it sounds like an affinity decrease is possible too. There aren’t any failure conditions, so there must be multiple ways of going about this quest.
I’m still a little short on EXP, so I’ll have to evolve later this afternoon. If I’m going to be spending a lot of time going over my new race, I should make sure to eat beforehand.
I think I’ll test out Fist of Yog-Sothoth until lunchtime. Then I’ll visit Ms. Sophie before I log out—actually, no, I’m not sure if that will turn into a whole ordeal, so that can wait until later. I need to do more hunting to earn the EXP required to evolve. Once I reach that point, I can read about my new skills and test them out.
I say goodbye to the prime minister and the undead, return to my villa, inform my staff about Ms. Sophie’s upcoming visit, and head back above ground. My staff should be able to take care of just about everything. I don’t know if she’ll need to prepare anything specific, but I’ll let Eleanora, my personal lady-in-waiting, know too.
It’s time to test my new spell on the rabbits outside of Starting Town.
The Dark Young cast it without saying anything out loud, so let’s see if I can do the same.
Just like other spells, a gauge appears when I focus on casting it, but it seems to work a bit differently. Oh? Wow, that used a lot of my MP.
As soon as I targeted a nearby rabbit, an invisible fist appeared and knocked it into the air. The poor thing flew quite a distance. It appears to knock enemies well outside the range where I can hit them with spells, which is a problem, but I suppose it buys me time to recover if I need it. Just like Gravitas Maneuver, I don’t need to set an activation key, and it also has ten seconds of cooldown time. I’m not sure if I should commit to it as a strategy, considering the MP cost and the distance enemies are knocked back.
I slay the rabbit once it returns. Now it’s time to test out the chant gauge. Unlike other spells, there are two marks that appear in this gauge.