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Her eyes flicked up to the corner of her minimap, searching briefly for a sign.

"Who might you be?" Emma questioned, deciding to play for time in the face of the unknown.

The new arrival had a class, and wasn\'t much stronger than the departed Princess, but the latter had told her only the immediate predecessor of the aspirant would appear in the trial. A second arrival was simply too convenient, especially given his arrival right as she averted the summoning ritual.

He was in peak physical condition, that much, even Emma could tell at a glance. Lean muscle rippled as he moved, not a single ounce of excess fat anywhere to be seen; she could see most of him as well, his kasaya and sandals leaving little hidden to the imagination, his head shaven and not a strand of hair visible upon his form.

"Once, I was a Prince of the Kingdom. I had a castle for a home, an army of attendants waiting upon me hand and foot, and any indulgence I so desired was but a few calls away."

"Sounds like I got short changed then," Emma joked. "My ancestor is far greater than any King could imagine, and I grew up in a suburban, four-bedroom house."

[Name change processed in response to user request.

Princess - Level 11 Damned Apostle]

"I was just joking," Emma backtracked immediately. "Please change my name back!"

[Emma Knight - Level 11 Damned Apostle]

"Thanks," Emma breathed a sigh of relief. "I wouldn\'t want Princess Astaroth to think I\'m copying her, she doesn\'t deserve that."

"What madness takes you, gravespawn?" The Prodigal Son interjected. "Truly, it is as my master taught me; all who dabble in the black art of necromancy inevitably lose themselves in darkness."

"I didn\'t realise the Buddhists were such authorities on necromancy," Emma retorted.

He didn\'t recognise the signs of me speaking to the System. Probably not a User then, I\'m leaning heavily towards this being an NPC. Good, I don\'t need to be afraid to use lethal force then.

"The Order of Tathagata are guardians of the world; protectors and vanquishers of all manner of things profane and forbidden!

My master found me on the brink of death; trapped in snow and ice by my own reckless folly. I had desired to hunt in the depths of winter, ignored the counsel of my wise men who read the patterns of the sky, and taken no excess provisions with which to sustain myself. In that moment, all that I had thought precious failed me; neither my wealth nor my bloodline could help me, where a single kind man could and did.

I took my oaths the day I recovered from my frozen ordeal, renouncing all worldly riches and pleasures to dedicate myself to a life of honour, to walk the world in defence of the weak, to save others as I myself was saved!"

"Why are you here then?" Emma asked bluntly. "A succession crisis is more or less the very definition of worldly riches. You don\'t even have a claim to the throne anymore, so why intervene?"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Earthbound Immortal, spawn deep beneath me. Her mental command went out.

"I wasn\'t going to," The Prodigal Son nodded agreeably, showing no signs of having noticed her summon. "Not until I detected the massive build-up of demonic energy, at which point I rushed towards the ritual site. Your actions halted the summoning, for which I am genuinely grateful. When I send your soul to samsara, perhaps your dharma will yet prevail over the decrepit state of your soul."

"So it\'s bad luck then," Emma huffed. "Well alright, I can buy that much. The last thing I don\'t understand is your strength. You were already an adult when you took your vows, and your father, the King is only now dying. That means you\'ve spent what, thirty years at most walking the path?"

"Thirty-four years," The Prodigal Son nodded, a proud smile upon his face at the memory.

"Right. So there\'s two questions to unpack here; firstly, how did you reach Nascent Soul in only three decades and change; and secondly, are there really Nascent Souls as weak as you? The Princess said a competent Nascent Soul is supposed to be a match for even the strongest Magus, and quite frankly, I don\'t think you make the cut."

"The training methods of the Order are not to be shared with outsiders," The Prodigal Son replied regretfully. "Perhaps, in another life, you will be blessed to walk our path, but not today. Today, I ask you to surrender, that your end might be devoid of suffering."

"Not a chance," Emma replied, turning Epitaph in her hand.

Calling upon Toxovolia for the first time, the blade faded into an orb of purest black, before reemerging as a wrought iron longbow taller than herself. Pouring a full half of her anima into the bow, an arrow of malicious black flame came into being, drawn back against the eyelash of a dead god.

"You cannot harm me with such a strike," The Prodigal Son shook his head, making no move to defend himself. "Lay down your arms, and face the end with dignity."

"Just die already," Emma scoffed, drawing the arrow back as far as it would go.

As she made fire, the ground beneath her spun, turning her a full ninety degrees just as she released the arrow; tracing a midnight path in the direction of the empty castle - until it struck home against an invisible target, one that even now remained hidden from all of Emma\'s senses, but not to her minimap. The Prodigal Son winked out of existence, as the anchor sustaining his presence faded.

[For looking between the lines to find the solution, 100 EXP gained.]

Some distance behind him, the true face of her enemy was revealed at last.

[The Third Son - Level 13 Illusionist]

---

Emma Knight - Level 11 Damned Apostle

Anima: 3500

EXP: 4210/5000

Abilities

Summon Unholy Sword {Epitaph} (Cost: 20% current Anima)

Toxovolia: Epitaph can transform into a Bow, firing arrows made of anima. The more anima invested, the more powerful the shot; the arrows can also apply the effects of other Weapon Enhancements.

No Pal of Mine: Capture the souls of the worthy, gaining the ability to summon a simulacrum of equal level as the User. Maximum 1 active per 10 levels, rounding up. 1 hour cooldown when simulacrum is defeated.

Captured: The Leech King, Sir Bearington, Earthbound Immortal, Antipode

Weeping Scar: Wounds inflict periodic poison damage until they are healed.

Can I Play with Madness?: The first Wound dealt to an enemy inflicts a random Status Condition.

Oversoul: Instantly possess the body of a living, lower-level target within the user\'s line of sight. No component of this ability will activate unless the target can be possessed.

Ardent Ephemera (Cost: 1% base Anima /second): Become intangible while active, able to pass unhindered through physical objects and blows.

Angel of Extinction (Cooldown: 12 days): Summon an Angel within line of sight. The Angel is invulnerable and departs after 12 seconds, inflicting Instant Death to anyone who saw it.

Null and Void (Cost: 5% base Anima): Disrupt a spell before casting completes.

Traits

Arcanivore: Enemies restore Anima when wounded or slain.

Wolf, Ram and Heart: All attacks imbued with Death magic, significantly increasing damage.

One with Everything (Cooldown: 1 hour): Damage reducing Anima to 0 stops at 1 instead.

Divine Conduit (Anathema): ???

Quests

Blood Borne

Objective: Find your Mother

Reward: ???

Cum Laude

Objective: Reach the 10th floor of Scholomance

Reward: ???, Save Point, Quest: Magna Cum Laude