(Stares ominously) I will find you, and you won’t like it when I do…
Our reality is a place where the best of us have set off into the cosmos to do the right thing, yet left only pain in their wake.
A story so common, that we have entire separate genres dedicated to it, “The tier fifty trying to save a world from itself” “The good civilization helping the weaker one, but ultimately being responsible for their destruction” etcetera, but still I think it’s something worth writing about, particularly when a hero I knew embodies it so well.
They were small time or rather someone no one alive has certainly ever heard of, and probably not even that high of a tier, but to us they were powerful, so very powerful.
The world practically moved with their will, their very words held the power to bring change, but they had one minor hang up, they didn’t believe in killing… Probably a consequence of them being so powerful, after all when everyone else has at best, the strength of a child in comparison to yourself, killing can seem oh so very wrong.
Their choice, their belief, their arrogance, lead to an endless cycle of terrible things happening to the innocent, the hero swooping in, locking away the evil doers, until one day they escaped, and went right back to it.
This went on for years, countless innocents died, yet the hero was unmoved, their belief that killing was immoral or would make them no better than a monster was unshakable, until one day the children got lucky.
The hero died, their beliefs not only stopping them from all of the good they could have gone on to do, but also a choice that led to billions dying, and entire worlds burning, simply because they couldn’t stand the sight of a little blood.
It’s almost funny how quickly our choices can spiral into unimaginable consequences, and how doing the right thing can lead to the absolute worst things happening.
The question though, is what exactly does this make the hero?
A person whose morals forced them to spare the lives of monsters, how could they truly be any better than them, when all of that blood, death, can ultimately be laid on their hands?
“BUT, everyone can be saved!” Can they?
Maybe by wiping away everything that makes them who they are, but isn’t that just killing under a different name?
Then again, who knows, maybe that hero would have grown to become some greater horror, or maybe someone on those burnt worlds would have ended up breaking reality itself.
It’s hard to imagine things being worse, after everything I have seen, and even done, but there’s truly no way to know.
If the rivers of fate, are beyond what even the gods can see, simply something they don’t care to change, or a force beyond their ability to control… who can say what is good, who can know if a child dying would save the lives of millions or if saving a life would doom countless others to unimaginable suffering.
The random musings of the Destroyer of Worlds
___________________________________________
A news anchor is sitting at a desk that’s faintly illuminated by a faint yellow glow.
The desk is covered in crumpled papers, half eaten food, and electrical wires, which can just barely be made out in the dim lighting.
While the anchor themselves, isn’t in much better of a state, they have bloodshot eyes that are staring directly into the camera, skin that’s glowing from the layers of oil covering their body, and their clothes are covered in dark stains.
The veins in the anchor’s hands are even pulsing as they grip onto an old steel microphone, as if they’re hanging off of a cliff, and it’s the only thing that can save them.
“Stone, what appear to be humanoids made of stone, have been seen attacking military bases all around the world. Sometimes these creatures have appeared out of thin air, and at others, shown up in what can only be described as spaceships.” The anchor pauses, their eyes staring into the camera, two empty hollow orbs that have given up all hope, and their body has slight tremors passing through them in waves.
“An anonymous source has provided footage of the aliens, but I have to warn you… the following footage is graphic in nature, and only shows a glimpse of the horrors these monsters are responsible for.”
A red beam the size of a volleyball blasts from the sky, before slamming into a mountain side, where it carves through stone, concrete, and steel beams leaving behind nothing, but smooth glowing red lines.
A solid chunk of the mountain slides, and for a moment, the heart of a nuclear bunker, is exposed to the world.
Then the air begins to pulse, as a solid dark red ball of energy begins to grow, the air starts to whirl, and trees are pulled from their roots as hurricane winds slam into the mountainside.
Once the ball grows to the size of a fist, it disappears, for a moment, everything grows still, silent, and then fire oozes from the mountain.
The ground starts to shake, before erupting, fire, and melted stone rain from the sky, before the mountain collapses in on itself.
All that remains of the mountain is a burning hill filled with fire, but in the sky, something new has appeared, what looks like a ship, about the size of a jumbo jet composed of shiny metal, and is just floating above the wreckage, without any apparent effort, before it disappears in the blink of eye.
“This was a military base in Washington… The base was reduced to what scientists are saying is a plasma like state, hotter than magma, with hundreds reported missing, and assumed to be dead, given not a single person or even a body has been extracted from the wreckage. This next video is from a base in Texas, where we get a closer look at the beings attacking us, and who are responsible for the millions, if not billions of lives being lost around the world.”
‘Thump’
With a single kick, a blast door, a solid metal thing constructed of feets worth of solid metal, capable of resisting missile strikes, and even a nuclear blast, is kicked over like it’s nothing more than a tin can.
The door slams into the wall crushing several marines, and turning them into nothing more than red paste.
Gun fire erupts, while something covered in stone red plates calmly walks into the room.
Completely ignoring the bullets bouncing off their body, they even raise their arms in the air mockingly, almost as if asking is this the best you got?
A grenade gets thrown at its feet causing the marines to dive for cover, but the creature, the man made of stone, just pauses directly in front of it, and stares down at it.
‘Boom’
The camera shakes, the room fills with dust, and when it clears… The alien is still just standing there, the blast not even moving them an inch or even leaving a scratch on them.
They smile, their stone teeth gleaming under the flashing lights, and everything is still, until they raise their hand.
Beams of energy burst into the room, filling the room with screams, and gun fire as some marines try to fight back, but in less than a minute they’re all dead.
A stream of stone people enter through the blast door, going further into the base, and leave nothing, but death in their wake, before the camera shuts off.
“These Nelka or creatures that seem to be made of stone, swept through the base killing everyone they could find, from marines, to scientists, and even janitors, no one, was spared. These monsters seem to completely disregard human life, what’s worse, is that according to our source, even with thousands of bullets fired, and even with explosives clearly being used, not a single one of them was killed or even significantly injured. A base with hundreds of trained soldiers, fighting for their lives, and the only thing the invaders left behind is a single gray blood splatter, which is suspected to be a result of friendly fire.”
The anchor takes a deep breath “The sample is being examined as we speak, at an undisclosed location, where hopefully some way to combat these aliens will be discovered, but bases around the country, around the world are being hit, one after another, leaving behind nothing, but flaming ruins… We even have unverified reports of carriers, and submarines going dark, while nothing our government does matters, as our military is systematically destroyed.”
The news anchor takes a drink straight from a bottle of whiskey “Things I fear are not looking great, and if nothing changes they will get much worse, before they get better.”
They look directly into the camera, tears are on the edge of their eyes, while they look like they’re on the brink of completely breaking.
“Try to look out for each other, and treasure the people you love for… we never really know how much time we have left with them.”
____________________________________________
‘Thump’
‘Thump’
It just keeps following me, I must have been running down this crevice, for at least an hour or… at least ten minutes, and it’s still just trailing after me.
The walls shaking with every step it takes, and its ominous glow getting closer with every second.
I can feel its eyes digging into my body, following my every move, and even ignoring the crystals it can reach, when finally I have a bit of luck.
There’s a split, one path leading to a jagged tunnel that’s quite a bit narrower, while the other is the crack in the ground that I’ve been following.
I rush towards the tunnel, it’s illuminated by some crystals in its ceiling, only about seven feet tall, but maybe four feet wide, far too narrow for the elemental, and turns, after about a hundred feet or so.
“And so it seems, our race has come to an end, now I would say that it has been fun, but that would be a lie.” I flip off the elemental, and rush down the tunnel to sweet safety.
‘Crunch’
I turn, and the elemental is at the entrance of the tunnel, its claws are ripping into the walls, and widening it.
With just a wave of its claws, solid stone is shattered, then reduced to dust under its feet, and it’s barely even breaks stride.
“Really?”
‘Thump’
Time passes at a crawl, as I place one foot in front of the other, trying to ignore how the tunnel keeps getting narrower or how that’s still not really slowing down the elemental.
Who is still tunneling towards me, towards the dead end, what an apt name…
A shadow rushes through the darkness, before the tunnel fills with the sound of squealing as the blood elemental engulfs some small creature, before starting to pulse.
I can see the creature squirming inside of the elemental, its body shrinking by the second, until it’s spat back out as nothing more than a desiccated husk.
“I guess there are definitely worse ways to go than getting crushed or impaled by some stone monster. I probably won’t even feel anything when it dices me.” My feet just keep moving, passing over the body, and my heart becomes still as I reach the end of the road.
Little more than a crack in the wall that I’m forced to crawl through, but it opens into a glowing chamber.
A natural open cavern filled with neon flowers, small animals running around, glowing blue mushrooms, a sea of shining crystals cover the ceiling, and even has a faint stream of glowing green water drifting through it.
It’s peaceful, rather breathtaking even, at least until the blood elemental rushes into the chamber, and then… The chamber erupts in death, in squeals, as the rats, and moles dive into holes, before my elemental can get to them, well at least most of them.
‘Crunch’
The crack in the wall begins to glow my ever persistent stalker getting closer with every second, and if I am lucky there’s at most, a hundred feet of stone separating it from the chamber.
I kick the place where the water is streaming in, and the sound of solid stone without any kind of give greets me, my eyes fall to one of the corpses.
“If only I didn’t have the bright idea to run into a tunnel, but hey at least it worked for some of you.”
A falling rock passes through one of the ghosts floating by me “Unless? If I can’t go down, why don’t I go up instead?” Life fills my eyes
“Harvest!” The bodies begin to break apart creating three small orbs, while I look at the ceiling of the cavern, the furthest point is about thirty feet away, but it’s absolutely covered in crystals, and I just need one of them to hold my weight.
‘Thump’
“Ghosts take this backpack to that cluster of crystals, and ensure that it doesn’t fall.”
‘Thump’
The ghosts, four of them, pick up my backpack, not even wobbling under its weight, as they drift through the air “Flesh manipulation form rope tier zero, fifty feet” My mana, and one of the orbs disappears in flash leaving me with a coil of black leathery rope.
‘Thump’
The walls practically begin to vibrate, and light seems almost ready to burst through the cracks in the wall.
I look back at the clusters of crystals on the walls, and ceiling, before tying a loop around one end of the rope.
“Blood elemental take this loop, place it around that tier four mana crystal, and then hold the crystal against the wall.” I say while pointing at a larger crystal that’s directly above a small cluster of crystals of varying sizes.
The blood elemental oozes around the rope, before it crawls up the wall, the blood stretches dozens of feet at a time, and sinks into tiny crevices to propel itself forward.
“Come on!”
‘Thump’
The rope drops, I wrap it around my waist, pull it taut, and climb.
My feet go parallel with the wall, and use my entire body to propel myself forward, moving up the wall like a spider or at least defying gravity in a talent of athleticism, beyond anything that I ever thought my body would ever be capable of.
The walls of the tunnel shatter as the elemental bursts into the chamber with a roar, a glowing light begins to pulse over its body, before it erupts in flames.
The flames fall well short of me, but the heat of the flames is so hot it sends a small wave of ash, and dust from the plants it instantly incinerates.
It walks directly underneath me, each step it takes causes me to swing as I hang above the cluster of crystals, until my legs sink into them, and hug the largest one.
I turn, and look down at the elemental, wondering what its next move is going to be, but it’s just staring up at me.
“Well what do you want! Fuck off! You’re not going to eat me today!” It just keeps standing there, staring up at me, not moving in any way… if one didn’t know better they could easily mistake it for a statue.
I throw a mana bolt at it, but it still does nothing, just bouncing off the crystal, and sit in my little crevice of crystals.
My feet dangling in the air, and finally relax, feel like I can breathe, after what feels like hours of endlessly being chased.
‘Creek’
One of the crystals cracks, my eyes grow wide, and shift away from the offending crystal.
“Create Arcane Crystal Tier Zero Platform” A black mist comes out of my body filling the cracks with dark crystal, slowly connecting all of the crystals, and the wall with a thin dark sheet, before it starts to expand outward leaving me with a flat little platform with jagged glowing crystals spiking out it, that’s growing thicker every second.
I keep going, until it feels like my head will split, and cut it off, sinking into the almost see-through platform.
The stability of the platform is the first thing I test by slowly leaning towards the edge.
It’s only a few feet wide, and thick, but seems stable enough for now.
Then flip off the elemental again, before sitting against the wall, about half my legs dangling off the edge, and shut my eyes where a golden little tab greets me.
‘Sigh’
Notifications
Experience Earned
Class: Abilities increased, and talents gained, while something has chased you from one place after another, preventing you from ever truly being able to carve out a place for yourself.
Ah, the true necromancer experience, struggle, death, life, and an endless rush for survival, until the day comes where it’s no longer needed, one way or the other.
Combat: Your minions paid the ultimate price, all in service to you, to keep you alive, but isn’t that simply their entire purpose of existing?
Well, that, and actually managing to smite your enemies, but that’s more a failure on your part isn’t it? You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Although, with this trend of constantly fighting foes far above you in tier, maybe it’s not so unexpected, but hey if you keep surviving does it really matter?
Level up
Health Restored
Mana Restored
Stamina Restored
1 Assignable Attribute
Attributes Increased
Strength +1
Wisdom +1
Talent Gained
Partial Construction
Spells Leveled Up
Mana Manipulation +2
Blood Manipulation +1
Raise The Dead +2
Flesh Manipulation +1
Soul Drain +1
Skills Leveled Up
Athletics +2
Meditation +3
Commander +3
New Talent
Partial Construction – Pay part of the price to construct or build something you can’t or simply don’t want to spend your mana outright on.
Partial constructs increase the mana cost by three due to the need of extra mana to maintain shape, and is only able to maintain this shape for a limited time, without an active mana source.
This is a talent typically learned by those who seek a higher purpose, those who actually want to build something.
A talent most perspective mages or anyone interested in construction gain right after mana sense -_- but hey, I guess this is what happens when you learn a restricted class right off the bat… You almost die a half a dozen times, while completely ignoring basic abilities that could have made your life a million times easier.
My eyes narrow at the talent, another ability that would have been so much better to have earlier, and could have changed everything.
Like, maybe if I had a tier five guard back in the graveyard, then they would have been able to carve through all of those zombies, and prevent all of this.
“One thing at least is truly becoming clear, mana manipulation truly does seem to have so much potential, but-” there’s still so much I don’t know, and it feels like I’m always one wrong move away from accidentally killing myself.
‘Sigh’
Peace washes through my body, the adrenaline fades from my system, and before I know it, my mind quickly fades away to oblivion.
The cold sinks into my bones, and after what seems like a few minutes, but more realistically was probably a couple of hours.
I awake, curled up in a little ball, my body stiff, shivering, and aching from the awkward angle I fell asleep in.
Oh, my lips are also dry, and my stomach is growling.
Grumpily, I find my way to my feet, and surprisingly feel pretty good, minus the kink in my neck, but that’s nothing new.
“Well good morning to me…” I glance over the edge, where of course my guardian is still standing strong, in fact it looks like they still haven’t moved an inch, and are staring directly up at me.
“Drain?” Maybe not, there’s no need to poke that thing, particularly when it’s content to just watch me.
Flesh Manipulation fur blanket (.25 – 9999999999999999 mana per pound)
Hmm, I really can’t trust RNG, I wonder if it would just instantly explode, if it tried to generate the wrong kind of fur?
Flesh Manipulation tier zero rabbit fur blanket (.25 mana per pound)
Cords of fur patched attached to a leather backdrop, seep from my hands slowly forming into what would be the pelt of a human sized rabbit, which would either be kind of terrifying or kind of cool.
I cut it off about half way, and wrap it around my body, before glancing up at the four ghosts that are still holding my backpack.
They’re still surrounding it together, holding something up that they each should have no problem carrying by themselves, but hey, if it works, it works.
“Bring me the backpack.” A few moments later a bottle of water is drained, and a system meal is bought, without even meeting the minimum price to avoid the shipping fee!
But, I can’t find it in me to care when I AM ALIVE!
And left behind so many potential credits, that they matter so much less to me now.
Somehow, a content little sigh escapes my mouth as I look around my new home.
A lovely little prison that comes fully equipped with full time security!
Like sure, it lacks certain amenities like walls, a bathroom or more importantly the ability to leave, but then again, where would I go?
Hell, right now is probably safer than anyone on earth is, and in some twisted way it’s probably better off than I have been in years.
It’s hard to beat reliable food, safety from the elements, with only a slight to moderate chance of death, but as much as people like to pretend otherwise, that has always been a possibility.
Trapped in a cave, while my world is being split in half, with a monster that would love to rip me limb from limb lurking not even fifty feet away from me, is possibly the best that my life has been in years.
I give a dark chuckle, it’s amazing how quickly one can get used to living on the brink of destruction, and I guess it’s true that people can really get used to just about anything, although…
There is one noticeable difference though, before I had access to the good old internet, which offered an almost endless amount of FREE! distractions.
The system store probably has even more, but at a cost, and how long will all of this be enough, how long will not really having a purpose or meaning be enough to keep going?
Or maybe I will finally find a purpose for my life… Finding a way to end my new guardian could be a new goal, but I don’t know how long something like that will be enough.
Will I just be going from monster to monster, until something inevitably kills me?
‘Thump’
My backpack begins to glow as the egg rises out of it, while engulfed in a spider web of golden light.
“I wonder what new horrors await.” I shake my head watching the egg rock back, and forth until it shatters in a burst of light.
The ghosts are sent flying slamming into a wall, and even I’m pushed against the stone wall as shards of the egg scatter throughout the cave.
Leaving a lone woman floating in the air, her skin is pale, with a body that is more sturdy in nature than thin, the body of an athlete opposed to that of a ballerina.
She has a face that while attractive, is nowhere near an earth shattering beauty, although her glowing blue eyes that pop in the darkness of the cave, and shine like perfect blue sapphires could only be described as out of this world.
Lastly she has long dark curly hair wrapped in a bun, is wearing a full suit of studded black leather with a backpack, and a glowing pickaxe hanging over her shoulder.
She walks forward shimmering in the air, and approaches me, when she reaches the platform she takes a bow.
‘Thump’
‘Thump’
I quickly look over the edge, where the elemental is shoving its face with any of the pieces of the shell it can get its hands on.
“I am going to be really annoyed if it was just chasing the egg, and not me!” After a few seconds of chasing egg parts, the elemental once again stands directly under me, and is back to staring at me.
“I take it back, it would definitely be better if you were just after the egg.”
A feminine voice then fills the room startling me “You summoned me my liege, what is your will?” I turn from the elemental, and stare at this ghost?
Her voice while, before was husky, and confident in nature, now carries a bit of hesitation, while her eyes wildly dart around the chamber, like a cornered beast looking for an escape.
“If my lord wills, I will attempt to mine the elemental, but… a tier eight elemental is a bit outside of my capabilities.”
Tier Five Ghostly Mining Foreman – A ghost focused on leading a team in the most noble of goals, the extraction of all the wealth in an area, while leaving absolutely nothing of value behind, but maybe more importantly to any sentients… This is a bad place, in fact bad doesn’t even begin to describe the nightmare you’ve found yourself in.
A place where the undead have managed to become sentient, and even gained classes or at least that’s what you, a living person should be hoping for.
Hoping that you, a living person, are smack dab in the middle of an undead empire, does that give you any indication of just how bad the alternatives are?
Sigh
You may have somehow entered a place so dark, and twisted, that echoes of souls have become trapped, forcing them to imbue whatever they can.
Imagine, for a moment that instead of a miner this was some master swordsman who died in whatever dark pit you’ve found yourself in… until their soul is free, they will keep coming back.
Now, imagine them filled with rage, trying to kill you, oh, and composed of stone, the blood of your friends or entirely made of diamonds.
Lastly, but certainly not least, is the grand possibility that this ghostly miner is the result of a soul literally being ripped from the wheel of life, their experience, their very essence taken with them, and twisted to fill their new shell.
Something only one class is truly known for, necromancers, and an indication that you soon could be facing anything.
Anything?
There it is again, have I really been thinking too small, but there’s no way that I can really create an undead with any kind of knowledge in existence, right?
Then again, there has to be a reason being a necromancer comes with a bounty… well other than the soul ripping, which doesn’t exactly sound good.
“My liege?”
Oh right, stupid thinking sentient undead, what the hell am I going to do with her?!?
I shake my head “Right, what are your capabilities then?” She stands straight up appearing to regain her confidence, with a smile on her face, and in a word it’s dazzling.
Filled with shiny white teeth, and pronounced dimples.
“My class is mining foreman, which means that I excel at leading teams to extract wealth from a location in the most efficient way possible, although for some reason my skills aren’t as high as they should be…”
She looks confused, lost, like her being here at all is rather strange, and we can’t have that!
So I hit her with a tactic older than time, distraction.
“So, where exactly do elementals fall in that?” She shakes her head, and begins to pace regaining her flow “As I was saying, I lead groups, and can mine things, typically by passing through materials that are a lower tier. Allowing me to search throughout the earth, and nab all kinds of wondrous things, all without needing to drill massive tunnels throughout the ground. I can mine just about anything that’s a lower or the same tier, but without a better pickaxe, higher tiers will depend on the materials they’re made of, and I might not even be able to break through their imbued layers.”
I tilt my head at the elemental, and she gives a strained smile “Like I said my pick is really only good for my tier or lower, and even then things get a little tricky when elementals form. I could probably manage to handle a tier three or maybe even a tier four elemental, but it would be dangerous, particularly with my skills, and it could easily go either way. Miners usually come in, after elementals are smashed up, we are really not supposed to be fighting anything.”
“Unfortunate, which probably means we need weapons or mages at least tier six to really even have a chance at hurting that thing, looks like our friend below is going to stay a while, but if everything works out maybe not for too long. Now, what’s this about an imbued layer, and is there anything else I should know?”
She tilts her head at me “I guess you don’t know too much about mining then?
Well, according to my excavation skill, mana follows the path of least resistance, much like a liquid, but what makes it different is that over time it hardens or raises the tier of whatever it flows over causing less mana to sink into the ground, unless there is a crack or a change in material.
Then in the same way we end up with things like gems, mana sinks into these pockets, the difference is that mana pools in these locations, before eventually rising as it takes longer, and longer for it to be absorbed leading it to push back out of those holes.
Mana eventually rises out of these shallow points, holes, and dead ends leaving arcane crystals in its wake, which naturally produce even more mana.
With my skills I can sense the mana levels or different amounts of pressure, which is how I find higher quality materials, and it can even lead me to elementals given they tend to form at these hot spots, typically coming in at around tier five, which is what some even say is the true starting point of life.” Her eyes squint at me, her voice gaining a twinge of nervousness “But that of course is foolish, after all we all start somewhere, and even a tier one dragon is more than capable of razing towns of more ‘evolved’ creatures.”
She certainly knows her stuff, and if my abilities are capable of creating a miner who knows things that I don’t have the first clue about, why wouldn’t they let me make anything?
A ghost who can conjure gold, a mechanic who can build a spaceship, a smith who can make weapons, where is the limit?
And more importantly, what if there isn’t one?
“Like right now my abilities are telling me that there are hundreds of clusters of crystals around us ranging from the first tier to the eighth, with something below us-” She pauses while staring into the ground, and her eyes grow wider by the second.” And there’s something below us that is making the entire area that I can detect glow with energy.”
I look down, as if my eyes will suddenly be able to see what she is, and then with an embarrassed shake of my head mutter “It could be a lake or water, there’s some leaking into this chamber.”
She turns, giving the same condescending smile a politician gives a protester who is trying to tell them how to do their job.
“No, it’s not the water, although that could be why I’m getting such a clear read on it, but” She shakes her head “There’s no way that it could be a primordial elemental sitting below us.”
I look at the walls with tribulation “A primordial elemental doesn’t exactly sound like something good.”
“Only if something worth millions of credits doesn’t sound like something good to you, but there’s no way it’s one… It does have to be something though, something that’s probably really valuable, maybe a dungeon core?” Her eyes grow wide “Which means we are sitting on a gold mine! I mean you, my liege, are sitting on a gold mine.”
“You see a gold mine, and I see us surrounded by death, particularly if dungeon cores are anything like I have read about, exactly how far away is this thing you’re detecting?”
“It’s about a mile.”
“And you’re detecting something that’s covering this entire range?”
“No, my skills are experiencing a constant pressure over the entire boundary of my abilities, any actual core is probably quite a bit further away, and probably much more intense.”
I frown “Are we safe then?” In response she looks to the ceiling, before turning back to me.
“In space there are chunks of rock flying around that could crash into this planet, and can reduce it into nothing more than ash, faster than we can blink.” She then looks down at the murder machine still staring up at us.
“We are as safe as we are anywhere else, just in a place where we stand to make a significant amount of profit!” She says with a smirk.
I shake my head before sarcastically replying “Oh yeah, we are surrounded by minerals, and cores that we can do so much with when we are trapped somewhere underground.”
She hesitates “Well, there is always the global markets, where you of course would be able to easily gain untold profits, and would hopefully feel fit to share what you deem fair with your subjects.”
“Ehh, yeah, but there’s only so much money can buy, and… what would a ghost even do with credits?”
She smiles “What does anyone do with them? Luxurious, comforts, companionship, entertainment, and of course, the opportunity to pursue what they desire.”
“Aren’t luxurious and comforts the same thing” she slowly shakes her head in disappointment “A basic bed is certainly less than a luxury, but it’s definitely more than sleeping on a floor.” I let out a chuckle
“What does a ghost even need a bed for?
Can you even sleep?” She laughs, “Beds are for more than just sleeping.”
I roll my eyes.
“Righhhht, it’s starting to sound like I should pick up a pickaxe at this rate, after all securing your ‘needs’ sounds like it’s going to take a lot of work.”
“Oh, nooo, not my demands for a basic standard of living, the horror.”
“Right.” I hesitate staring at her for a couple of seconds, before impulsively making a decision.
“So, what exactly is the deal with the whole you being my subject thing?”
She frowns, the smile disappearing from her face in an instant.
“You summoned me here didn’t you?
From?” She pauses her face scrunching together “From another mine?
I just remember, mining somewhere, and smashing grey rocks.” Her eyes lock onto me “And, then there’s the pull I feel towards you, something I’ve only felt whenever nobles came around.” She glances around the ‘room’ her eyes locking onto the tiny crystal platform, and the other ghosts floating around.
“But now that you mention it, all of this is a bit unusual isn’t it?”
…
She looks at me, she really looks at me, my torn clothes, the filth covering my body, and the tangled mess smeared in grime that is my hair.
With a dejected sigh she mutters “Just my luck, of course I don’t have the chance at being something more. Of course, at best I’d get stuck with some ousted hair brained noble, who probably has a score of people coming to murder us, before I even have the chance to do anything with a mine filled with riches. Of course cool cold reality would come crashing down shattering any chance of me having a future, and ensuring that my days will be filled with mindless toil as if am no more than a brainless tool… Under the command of a slaver or some doomed Noble, I have all of the luck.” She plops on the floor her limbs floundering around her
“Well someone is a tad dramatic.” I step in front of her, and she takes a deep breath, her hair fluttering in front of her face as she exhales, before she once again looks at the ground.
I plop down next to her “Well, I have some good news, but first what is your name?”
She stares at me, her face empty of any expression “What?” I don’t say anything, and she keeps staring, until she rolls her eyes “it’s Lin, my name is Lin.”
“It’s nice to meet you Lin, my friends call me Tom.” She stares at me not blinking “Well Morthes, what’s the good news?”
“That’s not my name… regardless of what my status may say, but more importantly, you don’t have to worry about being a slave or really even working at all.” She seems to perk up a bit “In fact I’m not even a noble a-” Her body bolts up and she dashes into me, her finger jamming into my chest “What do you mean you’re not a noble!!!”
‘Poke’
‘Poke’
‘Poke’
“Ughhh stop poking me! And what I mean is that I’m not a noble, a head of state or the child of some grand dynasty!”
Her whole body shimmers, and then dims as her voice takes on a tone of despair “Then why do I feel this pull then?” Her eyes lock onto the thick blood drenching the wall behind me, which my body was apparently at least partially obstructing.
“You must have bought my contract off of someone right, or, or, from the black market they must have kidnapped me, but then why would you tell me that I don’t have to worry about working, if you spent credits getting me here? You’re going to kill me aren’t you?” She backs away, her eyes growing wider with every passing second, and look like they’re just about ready to pop out of her head.
“Jesus, of course that’s the first thing your mind goes to, no I am not going to murder you or sacrifice you in some blood ritual.” She shoves her finger back in my face, and shouts “AND WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT BLOOD RITUALS?!?” My eyes roll, and I shake my head as she keeps waving her finger in front of my face.
“What do you want from me, if you’re not some criminal or cultist?”
“Hmm, you specifically?
Not much in fact I didn’t really expect you to appear?
Develop at all, and while I would say that I’m not a criminal… technically a bounty on my head probably makes me one, but like it’s just because of my class, and calling someone a criminal based just off that seems a bit I don’t know prejudiced?” She stares at me, her voice becoming entirely toneless “And, what is your class exactly?”
“Umm, necromancer, of course.” She freezes staring at something in front of her face, before briefly becoming translucent, and backs away from me.
“I’m a criminal, I am an illegally raised undead! You’re a criminal! And bounty hunters are going to be coming for us… they’re going to stuff me into a jar!!! YOU, you, have doomed us both!” She collapses, her body just weightlessly floating in the air.
“That, certainly could have gone better” I give her body? a few prods with my boot, but she’s out.
“But, hey,it looks like the dead can sleep after all.”
Notifications
Bounty Significantly Increased!
Experience Earned
Class: You did some class stuff, nothing too special, well… other than the thing, but you will learn about all of that soon enough 🙂 and no you don’t get free exp for throwing spells at something that’s not even reacting to them!
1 Assignable Attribute
Talents Gained
Creator of Life
Anger of The Gods
Spell Leveled Up
Flesh Manipulation +1
Skills Leveled Up
Commander +1
New Talent
Creator of Life – Congratulations!
You’re a parent!
Although… you kind of went about it in a rather unique way at least for your species.
Achieving the typical goal of every organism, just without the whole, you know, actually needing a fellow organic to achieve the deed thing.
How you’ve managed to do it, are through what some might say are sacrilegious means, but hey you still gave life to someone who is a part of your legacy!
Even if they’re not even remotely related to you.
The question now, is just, what exactly are you going to do with them?
0_o
New Talent
ANGER OF THE GODS!
– You really thought that creating life or rather stealing souls from the wheel of life, and then desecrating them to fill your wants, wouldn’t piss off the gods who have given you every indication that they don’t like you playing with magic that borders if not overlaps with some of their own abilities?
Oh, you didn’t know?
You had no idea?
I will make sure someone carves that in your tombstone, but you might want to come up with a better story, before you wind up in front of the big guys.
Bounty increased by 500,000 credits, and a 10,000 credit bounty will be placed against you for every classed entity you’re responsible for being created… Congratulations, you’re now a necromancer who gets more valuable?
Hunted?
Infamous?
At any point you use your core abilities or rather whenever you create anything that’s worth a damn, which is kind of your whole stick, good luck 🙂
Status Screen1
21
Something tells me that half a million credits isn’t nothing, but I mean it could always be worse right?… and no matter what there would be a bounty on my head.
One that was just going to keep growing, unless I gave up leveling, and now it’s just larger, much larger, and can grow significantly faster, because the gods are apparently dicks.
Who could have possibly ever guessed that?
I plop against the stone wall, the crystals digging into my skin, while the back of my head rests on the smooth cold wall.
Not that any of it really matters, when something eating me is still at least ten times more likely to occur than me running into some bounty hunter.
Which just leaves two questions “How do I survive, and what do I want?” With the answer to both, ultimately being summed up in two words, to survive?
“Raise The Dead, Tier One Ghost Arcane Mage.”
One of the tier one crystals begins to glow, before erupting in a green light that condenses into a shimmering green shade covered from head to toe in a listless cloak.
Tier One Undead Arcane Mage – Ghosts are scary, ghost mages are both more, and less of a terror than their more normal incorporeal counterparts… more of a terror given they can pop into a room or the middle of a formation, and drop a fireball, before anyone even knows that they’re there, but also less, given they become easier to slay with every spell they cast.
The power of their spells draw from their very essence, much like how their more physical counterparts strike with their mana, but the difference is that mages don’t, well, don’t typically drain mana from their opponents with every strike.
Making them fierce guerrilla fighters, but able to be dispersed with little more than a wave of opposing mana, when they’re low.
“Use tier one arcane crystal to expand this platform by connecting it to every crystal that’s within ten feet of it, and reinforce each crystal to the wall, before moving onto the next one. When you run out of mana, meditate, until you’re full, and then keep going.”
The ghost goes to the wall that the platform is attached to, and out of their hand pours a green mist slowly sinks into the wall, before condensing into lime green crystal.
Lime Green?
Really?
Ugh, I really have to do better, clarity of thought seems to be the difference between something random happening, and what I actually want to happen.
With lime green crystals definitely falling into the I rather not camp, then again, why wouldn’t the ghost be able to control the color of the crystal they form?
“Hey you, arcane ghost.” the ghost turns to me “Keep doing what you’re doing, but instead form tier one black arcane crystal.” The ghost turns back to wall spaying its green mana into the wall like a garden house, but now it’s slowly forming into a layer of black crystal, that faintly pulses with streaks of white light.
There we go, that’s a start, although it does make me wonder where was my mind at when I raised Lin, how much of her came from me, or even my subconscious vs just random chance? https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hmLe!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb189e324-0291-418e-b1f5-cbfdc58d3f21_1150x1600.pnghttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0GMt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa983e79a-b855-49c8-a0f5-6d926cd89c29_1600x398.png
Due to formating issues this story doesn’t quite look the way it’s supposed to 0_o and you can read an updated version on Kobo, or other platforms. https://litrpgandpolitics.wordpress.com The story is also at around chapter 60 with around 400,000 words, and will posted once per day, until it’s caught up.
Then it will either be weekly, or twice a week, with that being said, I still welcome any feedback, after all I’m still editing everything 0_0 and different perspectives can so often help one see the things we take for granted.
Thanks for reading, and I hope that you have a great day!