Chapter 36: 36 – Decisions to be Made

You have Died.

 

Please choose where you would like to Respawn:

 

=> Your Current Location

The Nearest Temple

 

The choice appeared before her after what felt like both an eternity where Alissa couldn’t feel anything, as if she had been just a disembodied spirit floating in the featureless void, and a mere instant, almost like the blink of an eye, the mere transition from one moment to another. Alissa decisively chose her current location, and the next moment, she felt herself waking up from her previous state, almost like she was waking up on her bed after a tumultuous night of sleep.

 

Sensations started to return to her. The clammy, humid air of the cavern. The smell of blood, toilets, and burnt fur. The hard, rugged sensation of the cold stony rock of the cavern floor beneath her. The lack of clamor that denoted combat was a good thing. That meant that she was at least temporarily safe, and hopefully soon to be back amongst friends. The feel of the cold breeze that occasionally stirs brought her attention to a different problem, however.

 

Namely the fact that she was as naked as the day she had been born.

 

“What the Fuck!?” Alissa couldn’t help but curse out loud when she noticed her condition.

 

“Umm, excuse me, Miss O’Connor, but you might want to use this to cover up for now,” said someone from beside her. 

 

Alissa turned her head around – her legs instinctively tucked close to her body and her hands covering her chest – to see Moira standing nearby. She also took a chance to look around and realized that she was right next to the stalagmite formation where both she and the [Winged Scavenger Alpha Matriarch] had fallen on. Fortunately she saw nobody else in the chamber at the moment.

 

The carcass of the great beast was still skewered on top of the stalagmites, its blood dripping down the structure to pool below it, almost as a gruesome reminder of the fight they had been through.

 

Moira herself looked tired – much like how Alissa felt the last time she received magical healing – but remained standing in near-perfect attention next to her, extending a pair of pants and a tunic over in her hands. 

 

Alissa accepted the offered clothing and quickly dressed herself in them, securing the clothes in place with a belt before she put on a pair of simpler shoes and followed the young soldier as she guided her out of the late matriarch’s lair. Alissa saw the rest of their party – or what was left of the party, at least – camped just outside the matriarch’s lair, at the same place they camped the night before.

 

There were only eight of the twenty guards left – nine including Moira – with only four survivors from the temple guards, and the rest being from the royal guards, including the Fifth Princess. All of them looked exhausted, some looking depressed and on the verge of tears. On a few others, though, Alissa noticed an obvious look of excitement instead.

 

“Hey, Allie. Good to have you back,” said Ethan with a weak wave of his hand as she noticed her approach. Ethan looked haggard as well, while Joshua was once again lying down with his arms covering his eyes, his head resting on Vesta’s lap. Alissa didn’t fail to notice how Joshua was wearing a fresh set of clothes like she did. Apparently the issue she faces on respawn was a universal one. “Gotta say I’m glad that [Respawn] skill worked as advertised. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I saw you crushed under that creature.”

 

“What happened back there after… After I died?” Alissa finally managed to bring herself to ask after a stuttering start. The whole idea of asking what happened after her own death sounded so illogical and nonsensical to part of her mind, despite the situation she found herself in. She even felt how her skill soothed her mind to prevent her from panicking over the matter.

 

“Not much, honestly,” replied Ethan with a shrug of his shoulders. “The Matriarch died together with you, and there were none of the lesser monsters left by then, so Cerilla and Vesta came over to heal the injured. Then we dragged ourselves back here to get some rest,” he continued. “Josh respawned a few minutes before you did, since he died earlier as well, I guess. What’s with having only one of the guards to fetch you guys back after the respawn, by the way? Sir Inolet insisted that the rest of us stay here.”

 

“The respawn doesn’t come with clothes,” replied Alissa with a sigh. 

 

“Oh. Oh! That makes sense, I guess. Was wondering how you got those clothes since I recalled seeing Sir Inolet pull out your bloody armor from under the beast,” replied Ethan with a look of sudden understanding. “I guess it’s a good thing they kept some though to modesty.”

 

Alissa only replied with a silent nod to him, before she slipped to an empty place around the fire between Ethan and Sir Inolet. As with every other time she had seen it, the face of the old one-eyed knight held an impassive, emotionless look, as if he gave no damns to the battle and the deaths that just took place not long ago.

 

“Sir Inolet,” said Alissa to gain the old knight’s attention. She continued once the old knight turned to face her, knowing that she had his attention. “What would happen to the dead?”

 

“I have their bodies in my storage,” replied the old knight all too nonchalantly, as if he was not discussing eleven men and women who had fought alongside Alissa and her friends, all of whom ended up paying with their lives for the privilege. “They will be buried with honors when we return, as they deserve. Either way, your group performed far better than I expected, so be proud of that.”

 

“What we did back there… was better than what you had expected!?” blurted Alissa out in surprise and not a little anger. The anger she felt mostly came from how the old knight seemed to have downplayed the deaths suffered by the party, something she noticed her skill tried to moderate but chose to let through anyway. “What had you expected out of us, then, Sir?”

 

“I thought it would just be you three remaining after the beast was done with you all. You’d likely have hurt it enough in the process though, to the point that you can take it down once you returned,” replied the old knight bluntly. “I would have taken the Fifth Princess to safety, of course, but that alone would likely have been counted as interference by the system, and in turn decreased the grade of the achievement you earned in the process. It was good that none of us had to interfere.”

 

A part of Alissa wanted to yell in anger at the old knight’s face, the part of her that felt it was wrong to value “achievements” over lives, but she held it in. Rather, her skill helped her keep her calm and hold her tongue, knowing all too well that her protests would have done nothing other than tire herself. Instead, she just shook her head at the old knight’s reply.

 

“Your armor is with me. Master Utgarth wasn’t a [Royal Grandmaster Armorer] for nothing. They’re in good shape, so you can wear them again if you’d like,” said the old knight as he continued just as nonchalantly. “I would recommend washing it properly first, though. The insides of the armor got quite messy with… well… you.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir,” replied Alissa quietly. At the moment she just wished for some quiet to allow the turmoil in her mind to calm down. Her skill helped keep it under control, but she still felt the turmoil regardless. 

 

“Also, have you checked your notifications yet? I think you should have enough to level to the second tier. These two already did,” said Sir Inolet before he turned away. His words also clued Alissa in on why some of the guards had excited looks on their faces. They must have gained enough experience to hit the next tier themselves.

 

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She took a glance at the notifications she had ignored in her mind to see what awaited her, and sure enough, it was as the old knight speculated.

 

Class Skill [Divine Blessing] has leveled up to level 4!

Cooldown reduced to 3 hours!
Duration increased to 8 minutes!

 

Class Skill [Weapon Proficiency] has leveled up to level 6!

Grants greatly increased proficiency when using weapons of any kind.

Allows for a higher rate of learning when training with new weapons.

 

You have defeated [Dire Winged Scavenger Lvl 32]!

You have gained bonus experience for defeating an enemy of a higher tier than yourself!

You gain less experience for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

You have defeated [Winged Scavenger Reaper Lvl 34]!

You have gained bonus experience for defeating an enemy of a higher tier than yourself!

You gain less experience for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

You have defeated [Winged Scavenger Reaper Lvl 33]!

You have gained bonus experience for defeating an enemy of a higher tier than yourself!

You gain less experience for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

 

Class Skill [Pierce the Heavens] has leveled up to level 3!

Cooldown reduced to 6 hours!

Grants 150% increase in penetrative power for the duration of the skill.
Duration increased to 3 seconds!

 

Class Skill [Grasp the Soul] has leveled up to level 3!

Cooldown reduced to 6 hours!
Amount of additional damage dealt to target’s Mind: 15%

Amount of additional damage dealt to target’s Soul: 15%

Skill effect now applies to two hits or five seconds, whichever came first.

 

You Have defeated [Winged Scavenger Alpha Matriarch Lvl 45]!

You have gained bonus experience for defeating an enemy of two higher tiers than yourself!

You gain less experience for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

 

You have leveled to level 20! +2 Free Major stat points gained! +1 Strength gained! +1 Dexterity gained! +1 Constitution gained! +1 Intelligence gained! +1 Perception gained! +1 Wisdom gained! +1 Willpower gained! +1 Intuition gained! +1 Sanity gained!

 

You have gained access to the class [Consecrated Warrior]!

You have gained access to the class [Blessed Enchantress]!

You have gained access to the class [Messenger of Faith]!

You have gained access to the class [Truthseeker]!

You have gained access to the class [Chosen of the Gods]!

 

She also hit the level 20 mark, and got a slew of classes to choose from. Her skills also leveled up during the fight, something she was too occupied to even notice at the time. As helpful as all those were, her [Analysis] of the classes she had to choose from left her rather undecided. Rather than make her choice in haste, Alissa turned to face Ethan to her other side to ask him a question.

 

“Ethan, you also hit 20 already right? Did you already pick a class?” she asked Ethan, who at the moment was trying to relax as best he could with his tired, battered body. One benefit of [Respawn] was that it apparently brought her back in perfect physical condition, though looking at Joshua, she noticed that it did nothing for their mana pools. 

 

“Oh? Yeah, I already picked one. I’m a [Guardian Paladin] now. It was easily the best class I got out of my choices,” replied Ethan nonchalantly. “You haven’t picked yours yet? Smith there also already picked his new class. I think he said his new class was [Blessed Sorcerer] if I didn’t hear it wrong. Knowing him, I bet he went all the way to glass-cannon it up. I’m going for a more tanky path myself,” he continued. “What about you?”

 

“I’m still browsing over my choices. I’ll let you know later once I’ve made up my mind, okay?”

 

“Sure, no point hurrying up anyway, but it’s not like it was a hard choice in my case. One of the choices was just notably better so no real reason not to, you know?”

 

“Got it.”