Respawn protocol initiated.

  Initiator: Death

  Payment transfer … canceled.

  Alternate payment transfer initiated.

  Payment transfer completed.

  Respawn location determined.

  Location: Proxima – Church Bell tower.

  Respawning now…

  A screen very similar to the one that had popped up when I had used the SoulStone appeared in front of me. It hovered there even as a bright white light filled the rest of my vision. While the light was bright, it didn’t blind me. Given that I was without eyes, it was only a little odd.

  Slowly, the light dimmed as the world faded into view. From where I stood, nothing about the tower had changed. Then again, it wasn’t like I had taken much time to study it the first time. What with it being freezing and all.

  Unlike the last time I was up here, the sun felt warm and the breeze was nice. Curious as to how everything looked from here, I stepped to one of the sides. The city looked like I remembered it – mostly. To my surprise, quite a few gaps made it obvious that several buildings were missing. There were also a few places where the wall looked makeshift. Almost as though the section had been destroyed and there has not been enough time for them to fix it properly.

  To be honest, neither of these things was all that unexpected. I mean, it hasn’t been that long since I left. With how everything went down, it was expected that quite a few things had been either damaged to demolished.

  Every bit of those events and my fight with the demons flashed through my head. As it did so, I realized just how lucky I had been. I doubted that I could have pulled everything off a second time even if I tried. If not for everyone underestimating or trying to get me to join their side, I would have died time and time again.

  Now, however, I didn’t feel like I would have an issue. After all, I had gained a good fourteen level since I had last been here. More if you counted all the levels I had gained as I left the city. Okay, so it didn’t sound like much, but keep in mind that means I more than doubled the level I had when I started the long march through the town.

  Of course, it helps that I managed to kill someone whose job was to guard a city built on the front lines of a war. Yeah, I wasn’t worried about anyone here. Well, most anyone. If I saw the demon again, I wasn’t going to give him a chance to talk or do anything. I would just cut off his head and move on because fuck him. As for his daughter. Let’s just say, it would be in her best interest to not cross paths with me. The same goes for her followers.

  Other than my desire to kill those people, I was honestly relaxed. Relaxed enough that I figured that I would play with the window that had shifted to the side. I didn’t even notice it move as I had been too focused on the world around me. As I reread the list I had the feeling there was more to parts of it.

  The feeling is hard to explain. The closest I could come up with was when you run your hand over a surface and feel an indent or raised section. It was like that, only I felt it in my mind as my eyes read over each word. As I said, it was hard to explain.

  Still, something about parts of what I read felt like it contained more information than was shown. It took me only a moment of feeling around to figure out which of the words felt like the source of the feeling – or should I say sources. There were four parts that looked to have more information hidden. Tucked just past the word or phrase.

  I tried to look past the first source. Respawn Protocol. Nothing happened for a good minute as my eyes strained to look through the words. It was only as my gaze slipped off the words and to the space between the letters that a new window popped up, startling me.

  Respawn Protocol –

  Authorized External Initiators: Death

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

  Release Stage: Beta

  Release Group: Humans – Earth

  Times Used:

  User: 1

  System: 2.461E10

  Options:

  Respawn

  Soul Release

  That was a lot of information, yet I had no clue what most of it meant. Take the Release Stage part as an example. What the hell did the system mean by it being in Beta? Was there some sort of bug or something? Were the Gods still testing the system? Was this what the Reaper had been talking about when he said about an experiment related to returning souls to the land of the living?

  Though, based on the fact that only the humans from Earth were listed as the Release Group explained a few things. I had been wondering why we were the only ones able to come back from death.

  Actually, that wasn’t right. Demons were able to respawn too. Though from what I recall the demon saying, their system was created by the Demon Lord, whoever that was. That meant that the system they used would not be the same as this one so they would not be listed on it.

  As I closed the window, I focused back on the first. The next section with more information was Death’s name. Right as my mind focused on pushing past the words on the page and looking for the information beyond, my head exploded with pain. It felt as though the information contained in that space was too much. Worst yet, not all of it felt as though it was meant for mortal minds. Not seeing a reason to try again and risk more pain, I moved on.

  on contained in that space was too much. Worst yet, not all of it felt as though it was meant for mortal minds. Not seeing a reason to try again and risk more pain, I moved on.

  Payment –

  Loss of 10% of the user’s experience.

  Level and experience bar locked to the previous amount until paid experience is regained.

  If the debuff – The Reaper’s Due is already active, double all debuff timers.

  Debuffs Gained:

  The Reaper’s Due – 32 Hours

  Untethered Soul – 16 Hours

  Broken Body – 16 Hours

  Mana Sieve – 16 Hours

  Holy hell. That was a lot of experience to come back to life. At least one wouldn’t lose their level or skills. It simply became stuck until that experience was regained. Too bad the debuffs made that hard for a fair bit of time.

  The Reapers Due –

  You have died and come back. Now pay the ferryman.

  -50% XP gain

  -5% Material Harvest

  At least that would dissuade people from killing with reckless abandon. Combined with the other three debuffs and one would not be returning to the battlefield for at least a day, maybe two.

  Onto item four. This one was the most important to me, at least right now.

  Alternate Payment –

  Forfeiture of experience gained from the fight that led to users' death.

  Lost Experience: 30,640,580 XP

  Ericson Dawson:

  Level – 87

  Contribution – 25%

  Level Difference – 44

  Difference Multiplier – 6.6

  Experience Awarded – 30,274,767

  Lilly Jamison:

  Level – 43

  Contribution – 100%

  Level Difference – 0

  Difference Multiplier – 1

  Experience Awarded – 36,290

  Debuffs Gained:

  None

  Well fuck. That was a ton of experience. Enough to probably boost my level quite a bit. Not that I would know what to do with all that extra power. Still, level eighty-seven? Really? How the fuck was I able to kill him?

  Of course, given that he was under the maid’s control, it was likely that he wasn’t half as powerful as he could have been. Hell, according to the information provided by the screen, it was probably safe to assume he was about a quarter as powerful as he could have been.

  Curious as to what I lost, I spoke into the air while I hoped that the AI was around to answer my question. “AI, can you tell me how much experience I would have lost if I had chosen to come back by paying the ten percent toll?”

  A voice answered me, but it sounded hollow and slow. While that was probably something I should look into, it would have to wait for a bit longer. “You would have lost three million sixty-four thousand and fifty-eight experience if you chose the toll. However, it is unknown how much experience you would have lost from any creatures you managed to kill during the thirty-six-hour debuff timer.”

  That was a good point. In agreeing with Death, I made it so I could get back to fighting without issue. Something told me that this was a very rare thing for it to offer. It was likely that the only reason it even made such an offer was because of multiple times the experience I had before the fight.

  As I closed all of my open windows, I looked out at the rolling hills that surrounded this town. Not really seeing them as I tried to think about what I wanted to do. Did I want to head towards the front lines? What if I stayed here? Surely Barti and the girls would be willing to help me settle here if I asked them.

  That was if they were still here. From what I understood, Xander had killed the demon in his bid to rescue me. Before he got there, I managed to kill all of those under his influence that I could. Which left me wondering if the non-humans kept running or if they came and reclaimed the town. Were they still here or did everyone move on? If they moved on, would I ever see any of them again?

  I guess my first stop needed to be the guild. They would be able to tell me if anyone stayed behind or not. It was even likely that Ginny was at the desk reading a book or dealing with guild members. With an idea of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, I walked over to the trap door. I flinched as the wood splintered when I tried to open the thing. It was yet another reminder of how much things had changed. With a sigh, I set the now useless door to the side and started my descent into the church.