Alesha wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. If she'd been able to level up all this time, she wouldn't have acquired the moniker of, "Useless Hero," or been so overeager to please the King. Sure, she'd have been known as a murderer, which was far from ideal and she definitely didn't want that… but at least… at least she wouldn't have…
Her mind went blank as she tried to recall memories that were no longer there. It was another empty period of about five months, just like the one the other Player-Heroes had called "class" with "Mr. Zorhellian," which she'd somehow missed. Why were there such gaping holes in her memory? This second time was because of something she'd asked Rogork to do, but why exactly was the first gap there?
[Don't ask me,] Rogork said. [I was asleep, too. By the way…]
Shut up, Alesha snarled at it mentally, cutting off whatever the System had been about to add. If it's about the Hated By Gaia title then I don't want to hear it. I already know what you're going to say.
Who are you talk- the Captain's voice began in her mind, before everything was enveloped in a hazy gray expanse.
A large banner appeared in front of her, decorated in the most ridiculously cheerful way she'd ever seen. Pastel-colored bubble letters pronounced, "CONGRATULATIONS!" and smiley-face stickers were plastered all over its surface. Streamers were stapled to its edges, balloons crowded around, kazoos blew themselves and party poppers went off every couple seconds. It hovered in place, rippling gently in a nonexistent wind. Glitter and confetti fluttered gently downwards all around. Nearby, tacky little animal puppets dressed up in party hats emerged from hatches in the ground, then started bouncing and swaying in place while making little cheers in chipmunk voices. Were they supposed to be dancing?
[Aw, it's cute!!] Rogork enthused. Alesha would have rolled her eyes if she could.
Suddenly, a smooth, articulate baritone voice came through a set of old-style speakers that appeared below the banner. It belonged to Zorhellian, the Chaos Demon.
"A hearty congratulations to Participant Alesha Williams for ending the Third Story in this round of the Storytelling Games! This Story was beginning to bore many of my patrons, so allow me to express my genuine gratitude on their behalf. Before that, Participants, now is the time for you to select your desired boon for the coming Tale! Just as with the Second Story, you who survived the Third will be granted one Wish, or Boon, to help you survive the next. You have five minutes to decide!"
Wish? Boon? Wait, this had been granted after the Second Story? She didn't remember that!!
[How decidedly peculiar,] Rogork stated, sounding more curious than anything else. [I do not remember you being given this opportunity before, and I have an excellent memory, so how…?]
A somewhat pixelated 3D projection of Zorhellian spontaneously appeared in front of Alesha, who at this point discovered that despite the return of her sense of sight, she was still unable to move. Panicked, she tried to look at herself; but her field of vision stubbornly remained fixed in place. What was going on?? If the Story had truly ended, didn't that mean she should have returned to being her "dragonchild" self? Was that not the case?
[Ah, it's the old fart,] Rogork said offhandedly.
Zorhellian's purple, slitted eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Quiet, little parasite. Your existence has caused me far too much grief for me to put up with your nonsense now."
Rogork seemed too stunned to react. Alesha wasn't sure how she could tell that, but perhaps it was because she was equally surprised.
Then, the projection of the Chaos Demon leaned in, grinning evilly. "Regardless, dear Participant, it seems that you have realized something is amiss," he said in a low voice, triangle-shaped teeth glinting and smooth-scaled eyebrows raising to emphasize his last word. "Would you like me to inform you as to what is going on?"
Yes! What the hell is going on here?! Alesha mentally shouted. His ability to hear the System was just as mystifying as everything else that had just occurred. It seemed that Zorhellian could hear her mental communication just fine as well, because he chuckled darkly as he straightened himself, adjusting his ringleader's coat and smoothing out its wrinkles.
"Well, Participant Alesha Williams, I shall keep this brief. You may not have realized this, but in the Story worlds to which you Participants are sent, there is a low, but extant, probability of your deepest essence being altered during your stay. Thus far, you are the most extreme example of this occurring.
"You see, my magic simply overlays a tangible illusion of another identity on top of who you really are for the duration of a Story; I do not tamper with the soul except in rare situations. It is both inconvenient and unappealing to do so. After all, the novelty of a permanent change would be utterly lost for my patrons if it became too common an occurrence. You must be wondering how this is relevant, so I shall elucidate the matter for you. Simply put, the process by which you were transformed into a Cursed Weapon involves harnessing a complex harmony of alchemy and magic to alter the very soul of the primary 'ingredient' of the weapon; in this case, that was you.
"As you may have already surmised from this introduction, congratulations, Alesha! You are one of less than a hundred surviving Participants who have been directly and permanently changed while residing in the Stories thus far. In the process, you have transcended mortality and become an entity that is not subject to death by mortal means! Is that not reason to rejoice?"
At this point, Alesha felt numbed by frustration, anger and loss. She'd been permanently turned into a sword?! Hell, what was even going on right now? How had the Story ended? She'd just killed the King; did that trigger the end of the Story? Did that mean killing the Demon King had been unnecessary from the start??! She'd lost so much time in that Story, and been turned into a sword, for nothing?!
Zorhellian grinned and squinted his eyes, as if privy to her thoughts and deeply entertained by them. "Participant Alesha, you have three minutes remaining to choose your Boon; I assume you desire an explanation of what that is?"
Irritated, confused and trying not to despair, Alesha focused on his words: three minutes remaining. Boon. She didn't know what was going on, but the time limit snapped her attention back into focus. Yes!
"Very well then. First, since you survived the penalty round, I shall explain why you were not given a Boon this time, unlike all the others. Simply put, your 'Seed of Chaos System' is a decidedly annoying bug, akin to a computer virus or perhaps an artificially engineered parasite, within my Games."
"The Second Story, the Soul Harvest, was uniquely and disastrously suited to your System; had I allowed you to continue to participate in that Story, you would have, like a demonic fox in an industrial-scale henhouse, quickly devoured the world's population. Since that would have destroyed my Story's carefully crafted balance, I removed you before that could happen.
"However, your early exemption from the Story was incredibly unfair to all the other Participants, who had to survive six months inside a Story with an overall 98% average death toll. Thus, in order to maintain enough fairness to pacify my Patrons, you had to be heavily penalized in the Third Story. Your penalties included single-Story exclusion from Survivor's Boons, the "Hated by Gaia" title, sealing away of your 'Seed of Chaos System,' and becoming a half-vampire -- with all of the downsides and none of the benefits. Furthermore, your assigned Class was the most useless one when paired with the 'Hated by Gaia' title, yet would have created great anticipation for your success. There is nothing so dangerous as failing to live up to great expectations in a world where a Kingdom's survival depends on you; that, in and of itself, was another kind of penalty.
"Since you managed to survive despite all of that, I have reluctantly explained to you the situation, and will now, reluctantly, grant you a reasonable Survivor's Boon of your choice. With the minute remaining to you, please choose a Boon from the following list. Each Boon is soul-altering magic that will be carried with you throughout the remaining two Stories -- and beyond, if you can survive that long!"
With that, the Demon's projection disappeared.
Suddenly quite upset with how Zorhellian's long-winded explanation had reduced the time she had available to choose her so-called Boon, Alesha turned her attention to the list floating in front of her. It appeared in the form of a piece of lined paper, with a checklist of messily inked options.