Hero of Rome

Eastern Emperor Elagabalus, in a fit of post-tournament spite, declares a week-long mourning period for the recently slain Commodus, complete with mandatory attendance at a funeral where everyone must weep convincingly or have a chat with the ever hungry giants Cacus and Caca.

The first of the assassins arrived before dawn.

Cleopatra, my new wife, lay beside me. She and I had not been able to fall asleep after receiving the strange letter about the underwater city and the ominous twenty-nine days warning. When I had read it to her, she strategically pulled herself closer to me, gently grasping my arms and asking me to explain. It was impossible to deny her beauty. Perhaps foolishly, I told her everything, of Camilla and the Cult of the Eternal Night, and of the Siren Queen I had defeated at this aquatic city.

After this, she had been very kind to me, further wrapping me around her finger and increasing my loyalty to her.

Cleopatra had apparently not fallen asleep afterwards. It was she who alerted me to the noise.

“Do you hear that?” she whispered, jolting adrenaline through my relaxed veins.

My heart began to beat furiously as I opened my eyes and listened. All was still in my villa. Julius Caesar and my gladiator friends had all gone to bed several hours after the ceremony. Now, in the shadow of the night, Cleopatra and I waited for another sound to no avail.

After the Emperor Elagabalus reluctantly released us from the Colosseum after I won the tournament, Julius Caesar sternly warned me to be on guard for any tricks the emperor was sure to pull for how I slew his Western Caesar Commodus. During the wedding preparations, Caesar had ordered some of the house staff to act as sentries across the grounds in case he did.

Even with this extra security, there were many powers and abilities that one could achieve in this world of Antiquitus, via the gods or other enchantments. I would not be able to fall asleep until I knew we were safe.

“I’ll check it out,” I whispered, quickly caressing her slender arm as I rose from our bed and equipped my Maximus helmet. I was amazed at how quick I was to adore her, yet because of her beauty and knowledge of seduction, I wasn’t shocked. She had admired my now athletic body which I had acquired through rigorous training in this new world, truly making me feel like a man. It empowered me more than I would have imagined. Her large, coffee-brown eyes watched me as I stood with only a helmet and subligaculum to cover my more private regions. Truly a formidable sight I was. “Stay here,” I ordered, though I very much wanted to stay with her.

“Weapon?” she asked, slightly amused by my appearance.

I summoned my Pilum of Mars before her, which gave off a faint golden-red glow as it materialized magically in my hand. “Got it,” I said, before cloaking myself and the weapon in invisibility, a perk from my patron god Pluto.

Cleopatra herself withdrew a pointed knife from the sheets, flashing a brief grin. “Don’t be too long.”

Embracing the shadows, I stole away from our bedroom and began traversing the halls. To steel my nerves, I activated my Harpy’s Eye Amulet from Titus which increased my courage temporarily, helping me to focus. So far nothing jumped out at me from the torch-lit halls. My helmet which once belonged to Maximus the Gladiator gave me the unique ability to perceive if there were others who were cloaked in invisibility like me.

Let’s be thorough, I thought to myself, activating my Historical Insight which allowed me to look thirty-four minutes into the possible futures I could create from my decisions.

My throat was very thankful for such insight.

Apparently I was not as silent as I thought I was. Only five more seconds into the future where I proceeded further down the hallway did a shadow leap from one of the rooms and sliced his blade across my exposed throat. I would be too stunned and wounded to recover, leaving me helpless to more fatal blows from the man whose form vibrated with darkness, indicating his blessing from Pluto which I was able to perceive. Since the torches made the hallway bright, which Caesar had insisted on for security measures, I was unable to activate my Shadowmail Enhancement, making me invulnerable in the shadows. Luckily, now I knew what to expect, giving me the advantage.

In another future in which I anticipated the blow, I leapt to the opposite side of the hall before throwing my godly pilum at the darkly-robed assassin. My opponent was fast, raising his shield just in time to block it. He must have guessed where I was based on the throw, and replied with three knives of his own, two of which successfully stuck into my abs.

Assassins with shields? I thought, perplexed as I scoured the futures for where I was successful. Carrying shields was cumbersome. It didn’t make sense for an assassin to bring one. Unless they were prepped on my fighting ability prior to trying to murder me.

This was no ordinary assassin.

The future shifted. This time I activated my Piercing Rain ability, which split my pilum into three at the cost of extra stamina. The assassin raised his shield like before, but the added power of two more pilums was enough to shatter his shield, giving me the opening to rush him. I didn’t have any special moves except to tackle him to the floor and grab him by the throat. The masked man’s eyes widened with surprise as I summoned my pilum again, this time fatally through his neck. He choked for a few moments on his blood but grew still shortly after.

If someone went through the trouble of sending a well-prepped assassin to murder me, he would surely not be alone.

Let’s be thorough, I thought, continuing to see where this future would take me for the next half-hour. As I began my return to my bedroom, glass shattered from within.

Cleopatra! I thought, rushing in. I was too late.

My beautiful wife lay kicking on the bed in a chokehold by an invisible assassin, our window lay open to the night. Her eyes were wide with terror as she desperately sought to slash him with her blade. She had been slightly successful, as evident in the blood which gushed from his forearms. But the assassin had had enough, breaking her neck in one swift motion.

“No!” I screamed, impaling him with my pilum.

I can’t leave her unguarded, I thought, returning to the possible futures. I will not let her die.

“One of them will come through the window,” I whispered, choosing the future where I stayed with her. “I’ll attack as he comes in. Stay still.”

Cleopatra nodded, daring not to cover herself with the sheets lest she be encumbered. I had to look away to not be distracted. This time, I blew out the candles in our room, allowing me to activate the Shadowmail Enhancement.

Health: 119/120

Health: 118/120

Health: 117/120

Sure enough, the window overlooking our bed opened silently more, enough for someone to fit through. The assassin, confident in his invisibility and unable to see me, lifted his head just above the frame. I did not hesitate to launch the full power of my anger into his face with my pilum. A loud smack sounded just outside our window where he fell dead as a result.

Knives whistled through me without harm and stuck into the wall next to me. I snapped to look at our door where the assassin stood, having thrown the blades. The assassin’s mostly concealed face contorted into shock in not hitting me. He did not live very long after that. I repeated the same moves that worked the first time I killed him.

“Maximus?” Cleopatra asked, standing with a knife in her hand.

“I’m here,” I replied, still invisible while pausing my Shadowmail Enhancement. “That may not be all of them. I’m going to cover the grounds. Wait here.”

Stepping out of our room, I moved quickly in my invisibility to scour the villa for any more intruders. I searched the entirety of my thirty-four minutes that I could see. It looked like we were safe. But when I returned back to my bedroom at the tail end of this future, Cleopatra lay still on the floor. Vomit trickled from her cold lips.

What?

The futures shifted to where I stayed this time. I was not going to let my bride die on our honeymoon.

Oddly, nothing happened for the first thirty seconds as I waited in our bedroom with her. I chose to keep my Shadowmail Enhancement on just in case.

“Do you smell that?” Cleopatra said, only seconds before she began to choke.

“Cleopatra!” I screamed, running to hold her. She pointed to the broken glass on the floor next to one of the assassins. There was a cork lying in it, presumably to a vial. I was too late. She choked to death shortly after.

These were clearly well prepared assassins.

“There’s poison in the air!” I said, this time yanking her by the hand to pull her out of the room. We both held our breath as we sprinted down the hall and stairs until we reached the clear outdoors.

“Do you feel sick?” I said, keeping myself invisible as I held her hand and looked for any signs of choking. A torch alongside the doorway gave me enough light to see.

“No, I’m fine,” she said, calming herself.

An arrow zipped past my arm, grazing it by a hair.

“Get down!” I yelled, bringing us both behind a wagon for cover. Two more arrows stuck into the wagon just by our heads.

How many assassins were there?

“Do you see them?” Cleopatra said.

“No, but I will,” I said, grabbing a pale of water nearby and dumping the water on the torch, cloaking us in darkness once again.

My health began its descent as I relied upon the invulnerable shadows. “Stay here,” I said, though I was hesitant to leave given how many times she died from that command.

I bolted from our cover and ran to where I thought the arrows were coming from. Dust kicked up behind my feet, illuminated in the moonlight. Just as I expected, more arrows passed through me without harm. I could see it now with my enhanced perception from my helmet. The assassin, dressed in similarly dark robes like his companions, knelt behind a tuscan tree where he fired off his arrows. Approaching, I slowed my pace to avoid drawing attention to my whereabouts. A pile of rocks lay on the ground nearby. I plucked a few of them and tossed them to the opposite side of the tree. The assassin turned to shoot where the rocks had been thrown, giving me the perfect window to attack. My pilum had no difficulty piercing his lungs as I threw several into the man’s back to ensure he would never get up again.

After taking him down, I returned to Cleopatra to see she was still alive thankfully, and I searched the rest of my vision to ensure that was truly the last of the assassins. Satisfied that we wouldn’t be attacked, I returned back to my bedroom with Cleopatra and followed the events to a tee, ending up at the tree again where I had finished off the last assassin.

Stamina (+10): lvl 13 (60/140)

Strength (+30): lvl 10 (100/110)

Intelligence (+10): lvl 6 (30/70)

Glory (+100): 760

Level: 32 (220/340)

Skill Points: 2

“Who sent you?” I asked myself as I searched the archer. He was much younger than I would have expected, having very little facial hair. There was nothing on his person save for a golden ring on his finger. On its emblem was the sun, signifying the sun god Elagabal.

The boy emperor had kept his promise for revenge. This was doubtless to be the last of his anger.