Bloodstained Blade
Chapter 92 - Unexpected Visitors

The night, she bathed naked in the lake by moonlight, and for once, she complained about something besides how cold the water was as she scrubbed her garments with caustic soap and tried to remove the green blood splatters. She was mostly successful, too.

While she did that, the weapon lay on the shore, where it would stay dry. However, as soon as she was done, she grabbed it before running inside, to the hunting lodge, and the fire she already had burning in the hearth. There, wrapped only in a blanket, she roasted sausages on a skewer while the Ebon blade lectured its wielder on her performance that night.

Its feedback was largely critical, but it offered her some praise, too. While you lost the element of surprise with your squeak, you showed no cowardice after that, and for that, I commend you.

“Well, didn’t that send them all running for me, just like you wanted?” she asked, not looking away from the fire.

While that is true in this case, you hardly did it to draw them. It countered, and in another battle, it will be, at the minimum, a very painful mistake.

Realistically, it had enough energy to save her from almost any mistake. As it was, because of how slowly it was gaining Life Force here, it was only back to just over two thousand Life Force, which was enough for the next level of Aethershroud, but for now, it resisted the urge to spend it. It wanted more reserves than that, and until it found a good target to unleash its squeamish wielder on, it wasn’t likely to regain what it lost very quickly.

That’s all the more reason for you to fight well, it thought to itself while its wielder prattled on.

“But you’ll save me, right?” she asked with a smile after she finally took the first bite of her dinner.

I would prefer you learn to save yourself, the blade admonished her, but yes, I will save you from your worst errors when I am able. Still, even my healing only goes so far. Remember, even my healing won't save you from every scar, so it is best to sneak up on opponents, especially wizards, when you can.

Cautions that appealed to her vanity tended to land better than those that threatened pain. Evelyn had very little fear about being hurt at this point, and in the battle with the goblins, she’d been more concerned about her outfit than her flesh.

The two of them continued to train for a week, and they’d used up roughly half of her planned mourning time when an unexpected guest arrived at her door one morning when she was chopping wood out back. The blade warned her, A horse approaches on the main road.

That gave her plenty of time to rush into the house, but not enough time to change into something more appropriate, like a dress. So, when she answered, all she had time to do was toss the sheathed blade under some cushions on the couch, and throw on a robe to cover the underthings she’d been wearing.

The blade had no idea who was approaching, and without being worn by its wielder, it couldn’t read her mind. Nonetheless, when she opened the door, it saw her stiffen and knew instantly how surprised she was.

“Derek,” she squeaked, before clearing her throat. “You… What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” he asked, “I just heard about the death of your husband. Dreadful stuff. I knew where you’d be though, straight away.”

The blade noted that he didn’t sound at all sad about it. It also noticed that as he tried to force his way in, Evelyn almost succeeded in holding the door closed, which was a good sign, but still, its hackles were raised almost instantly. This man clearly meant no good, and it was separated from its wielder. This was one of the reasons it was hesitant to let her set it down so readily as she insisted on.

“Derek, you can’t be here,” she repeated more firmly this time. “I’m a widow in mourning and you—”

“And I of all people know what bullshit that is,” he said with a smile, “Though i very much doubt you need any cheering up, I thought you could use some company.”

“You had your chance,” she sighed. “We both did. That’s over now.”

“Why? It doesn’t have to be,” he asked, moving to stand just a little too close to her. “You’re a free woman now. We’d have to keep things quiet, of course, but in a couple of months, or perhaps a year—”

Derek had crowded his wielder until she was practically pinned to the wall of the entryway, and seemed to be doing everything she could to make sure he knew how uncomfortable he was making her. Still, as he moved to try to kiss its wielder, she slapped him hard enough to turn his head.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Feisty as ever, I see,” he said with a smile.

“You had your chance,” she said. “We both did. You left me to my fate, and now you’ve come sniffing around now that I’m a wealthy widow and—”

“Well, not just because you’re wealthy or just a widow,” he agreed. “You’re also shockingly lovely, and if we could just get you out of these clothes…”

Evelyn moved to duck past him, but he responded by picking her up and throwing her over his left shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She resisted as best she could, but her estranged lover was a head taller than her and twice her weight, so there was little she could do.

“Don’t be like that,” he cooed, as he held the struggling woman. “We’ll go up to your bedroom, kiss and make up, and then we can do what we should have done all those years ago and… Aaaghh, you bitch!”

He dropped her as he shouted that, but the blade couldn’t quite see what had happened. It wasn’t until she started crawling toward it, and Derek turned and kicked her in the ribs to send her sprawling, that it saw the hairpin sticking out of the man’s kidney.

“You should be grateful I came back for you at all,” he growled as he pulled the bloody hairpin free. “Old as you are, and childless? What kind of man wants a woman who’s nearly thirty?”

He kicked her again, enraging the blade, but it was helpless. All it could do was watch as she spat blood and started crawling toward its hiding place again.

“When we heard about your current situation, my friends wanted to come here and loot the place,” he spat, obviously angry at the way things were turning out. “After they’d finished taking turns with you, they would have probably put you up for ransom, but I told them we could do things the easy way! I told them… what’s that you’ve got there?”

As she pulled the scabbard free from its hiding place, Derek seized it. He tried to rip it from her hands, but all he did was pull her along with it while the blade salivated about what was to come.

-8 Life Force.

What followed wasn’t even really a fight. They wrestled briefly for the scabbard, but as soon as Evelyn put her hand on the hilt, she was instantly three times as strong as the man and threw him to the ground with a casual push before drawing it from its sheathe and tossing it aside to menace him with the weapon in both her hands.

While she did that, though, the blade for the moment ignored her and her hapless opponent and searched her mind. It found about what it had expected to. The two of them had a torrid romance that had never quite managed to blossom into an affair. What followed had been a desperate plan to flee beyond the reach of her husband, but Derek had gotten cold feet, and she’d never forgiven him.

It could feel her anger throbbing there, and it resonated with it entirely. Knowing what her husband did to her and fleeing to leave her to her fate was undoubtedly a betrayal. It was looking forward to ripping his soul to shreds to find out more about those friends he’d mentioned.

“But how?” he gasped, as he reached for his dirk. He never drew it.

Evelyn lunged forward using the full length of the blade to embed the last eight inches deep inside her one-time lover. He stiffened at that, looking down in shock. “Why?” were his last words. He died not comprehending anything at all, which was appropriate given how boorish he was.

+28 Life Force.

+1 Human Soul.

Path of Vengeance: level 2, offering 2 of 2 completed. Level 2 complete!

You have slain those who have wronged your wielder, but still found satisfaction in the moment, even if it brought you no closer to peace. Now you must reach further to really understand the way that lives are linked.

You must strike down 100 people whom someone who wronged someone deeply enough for it to taint their soul. This is not to make the world a better place, but to understand the way that anger propagates as easily as sound or magic.

The Path of Vengeance: Level 3 -> kill a hundred people that have committed significant wrongs to reach level 4 Powers:

Detect Grudge (enhanced): When you cross blades with an opponent or wound them, you can gain a glimpse of their deeds, for good or ill, without needing to consume their soul or spending Life Force.

Claiming a Debt: If you strike down an enemy that someone else has a major grudge against them, they owe you a debt that you can collect in the form of a favor. That favor can be anything that is within their power to grant.

The information about the new level flashed across its vision, but the Ebon Blade dismissed it. It didn’t care about powers right now. It was far more interested in how its wielder would handle this situation.

“Damn it,” Evelyn said, still smiling. “This is going to be awful to clean. I should have done this outside.”

The blade said nothing while it gave her the strength to carry the body into the woods, and dumped it at the entrance to the goblin’s den. It also stayed silent while she cleaned up the blood in the lodge, though it did note she didn’t complain about the former at all.

Instead, while she worked, it spent that time querying the man’s soul to learn more about his disreputable friends. As much as it appreciated his willingness to die to increase its Path of Vengeance to level 3, feeling his liver freeze solid beneath its dread touch, it was his knowledge of the local ruffians that was much more valuable.

The man’s soul told it everything he knew before it evaporated. It told the Ebon Blade where the worst of them liked to hang out, who was the toughest, and exactly what sort of crimes they most enjoyed committing. Most of them were the petty sort, guilty of little more than pickpocketing and cheating at dice. There were a few cutthroats that hung out with them, though, and men who moonlighted as highwaymen.

It was only when she was done with both of those things, and was ready to start her day in earnest, that it told her the plan. We’re going to take it easy today. Derek had a whole rat’s nest of friends nearby, and I think they’ll be an excellent challenge for you.

While it felt her conscience recoil at the idea of killing, the mere words, ‘Derek’s friends’, eliminated that turmoil almost instantly. The blade had been prepared to tell her all about their crimes, but it didn’t need to. Instead, she just flashed a bloodthirsty smile and said, “Finally, some training I can enjoy.”