Chapter One

  Eric Delrosa was dead. Killing him hadn’t made him feel any particular way. He had expected to feel amazing, fulfilled maybe.

  Nothing.

  Instead, it had taken him returning to Alice’s grave to feel any sense of closure on it all. Then Misaq had ambushed him with his presence and strong armed him into doing another task for him.

  Finding Merlin.

  He wasn’t stupid, Ambrose knew that the devil wasn’t trust worthy. He knew that whatever he wanted wasn’t a good thing, but because of his choices, he didn’t have any choice. Either he would do this, or Misaq would make the people of Avalon suffer.

  Avalon was his responsibility now, and wasn’t about to abandon it. Nor let a devil terrorize it. He had goals of his own he wanted to pursue, still. Such as where and who is mother was. But that had to wait for now. Running his hand over his wife’s grave, as if he could touch the memory of her, he sighed.

  Noelle had departed. She said she needed time to herself. To do some soul searching. He admitted to himself that he didn’t understand that, but Noelle had been there with him through this journey, and he wasn’t about to deny her anything. She was more than just a cloak now, a mythic item for him to wear around.

  A breeze tousled his hair, and he smelled the ocean on the wind. Running a hand through his hair, he decided to see to his advancement.

  [You have defeated Fenrir! Due to defeating this foe, you have been awarded the mythic item [World Eaters Cloak-Mythic (C-Grade)] and have advanced to level 250.]

  After Ambrose read the notification a void black cloak dropped into his hands. Toxic green runes were threaded through the cloak, which had a deep hood. When he ran a hand over it, he found it felt exactly like Fenrir’s fur had felt. He used [Retributions Gaze] on the cloak and its details came up.

  [World Eaters Cloak-Mythic (C-Grade)]: This mythical cloak will grant you some of the world eaters power. It will absorb some of the power of hostile skills directed against you. Lower grade skills will be fully eaten, while higher grade skills will be minimally affected. This cloak will gain new affects at B-Grade and beyond.

  Ambrose let out a low whistle. It was a good item. He fastened it around his neck. Next, he considered where to assign his points.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Constitution: 429

  Strength: 429

  Intellect: 429

  Wisdom: 429

  Willpower: 443

  With two-hundred and fifty points to spend, he wasn’t sure where to begin. He decided to make it simple, and put fifty points into each of his stats.

  Constitution: 479

  Strength: 479

  Intellect: 479

  Wisdom: 479

  Willpower: 493

  Feeling good about his advancement, it was finally time to move on. He gave one final look at his wife’s grave. He had avenged her. The weight was gone. After he he handled this problem for Misaq, maybe then he could finally start living again.

  ____________

  “You have come far, Sir Knight,” Vivienne inclined her head to him as he stepped out of a portal and onto the shore of what he was starting to think of as the Heart of Avalon.

  The Tree of Avalon was a beautiful sight as always. It’s leaves of multicolored light, like individual gemstones covered the ceiling for miles. The noose he had hung from swayed in the calm gentle breeze that drifted from the lake, its waters lapping against the shore.

  Vivienne herself was the very image of the dawn against the waters of the lake. She was the islands spirit made manifest. Ambrose himself was the Knight of Avalon, its protector, and its warden.

  Deep beneath the lake of the island were some of the most unspeakable evils in the multiverse, imprisoned within crystal. The island could do a lot of neat things, and it was a power he didn’t utilize much. Mostly because it required what Vivienne reffered to as evil energy. That’s what the tree did, it fed off the evil within those imprisoned below.

  Except it was running low.

  On fumes, really. It needed a fresh prisoner. Likely several, in fact.

  “I’ve been neglectful of my duties as Knight lately, haven’t I?”

  Vivienne cocked her head.

  “Perhaps a touch, Sir Knight. What brings you here? I sense a question weighing on you.”

  “I want to know how to find Merlin,” Ambrose explained the situaion with Misaq.

  Vivienne stared at the swaying leaves of the great tree.

  “Merlin was a great power in the multiverse, Sir Knight. Even if you could find him, it is uncertain you would be able to retrieve him as you intend.”

  He shrugged, “I don’t have much of a choice here, Viv. Do you know how I can find him or not?”

  “I do. In fact, the Island is the only place that can send you there.”

  Ambrose rubbed his face, “You’re being melodramatic, just tell me, please,” an impatient edge to his voice.

  “I feel it should be obvious, that is all. You will find Merlin in Camelot, of course.”

  He blinked.

  “Camelot is real?”

  “Indeed. It is the original home of this island, and where it was built by Merlin himself. Only the tree can send you there. There are no realm stones that exist to take you.”

  He sighed.

  “I guess this wasn’t ever going to be easy, was it? Let me guess, the tree needs power to take me.”

  Vivienne inclined her head.

  “Just so, Sir Knight.”

  “Which means I’m going to need an evil soul. Right. What is the state of the island?”

  “Miss Pender is having issues with Cassius, as I told you previously. He is demanding an election, saying the people deserve to pick their own leader. Other than this, the island is relatively peaceful.”

  He ran fingers through his beard, then shook his head.

  “Andrea needs to handle it. She is capable, and if I stand in for her every time, it will just undercut her authority, people will see her as a puppet.”

  Vivienne said nothing. He hadn’t expected her to. He disliked leaving Andrea to handle these problems, but he had picked her to lead Avalon, and she couldn’t truly do that if he had to come in and solve every problem. She was capable, she had friends.

  He had to trust her.

  The tree needed an evil soul, and Ambrose knew just the place he could get a lead on finding one.

  The Bounty Hunters Guild had already helped him in his goals once before, and it had even led to him getting Akaroth, his dragon axe. He may as well make use of it now.

  He pulled out his badge, it glinted in the light of the tree that hung overhead. He used it, and a portal to the guild opened in front of him. Waving to Vivienne, he stepped through.

  The guild looked like an old time saloon straight out of an old west movie, complete with the double doors that led inside. The sun baked the dirt from above, and he bet he would have felt the heat were it not for his stats.

  Taking a breath, he pushed open the saloon doors.

  The hunt for Merlin had begun.