Chương 182: Trial and Error

When the Ebon Blade informed its wielder that it could now bring the dead back to life, it did so because it wanted to test its new power on one of the infernal orcs they'd just finished killing. It didn't expect his response to be, "You really must be a god," though it should have. I am not a god, the sword answered. I simply seek to understand life and death so that I can get better at killing everyone that my wielder demands. That same quest led to the powers that let me heal your wife.

There is nothing more to it than that.

"Nothing more to bringing the dead back to life," Geral asked skeptically.

"As if resurrection is not a miracle that belongs solely to the gods themselves." This is far from true resurrection; the blade corrected as both of them studied the corpse that lay before them. Of the three that they'd just killed, it was the least damaged, and the only one that still had all four of its limbs intact. This is the crude work of necromancers, but it might lead to more.

The blade thought it was unlikely that the Path of Undeath would lead to any sort of true resurrection, but that didn't mean it wasn't curious where it was going to go, and with the conditions to reach level two so achievable, the only real obstacle was its wielder's opinion on the subject. He didn't really care what the blade did with corpses, though.

While the weapon did not like to be looked at like it was some kind of god, it did occasionally come in handy in moments like these, where another wielder might have balked. If you had just let Ren heal that accursed brother, you would have bought his loyalty for life, the blade reminded itself as it readied itself to resurrect its first corpse.

While that was true, it was less true that in doing so it would have been burdened with the young man and his mediocrity for life, while that would have almost certainly kept it far away from hell, it was too horrible a trade-off to comprehend. So, instead of trying to comprehend it, it activated Master of Life and Death and shoved five Lesser Monster Souls it had gathered in the days before, and shoved them into the corpse.

Visually, it began to stir almost immediately, but ethereally, the view was far more interesting. -5 Lesser Monster Souls. The foreign souls coursed through the dead body, and as they did, the etheric threads that wove it together burst into flame. They went from a dull gray to a brilliant blue, which burned brightly enough to make the weapon worry that the zombie would last for hours instead of days or weeks before the flames faded to an evil-looking smolder.

As all of that occurred, the souls warred with each other for a few seconds, making its movements even more spasmodic than they otherwise would have been. The blade instantly realized that the goblin and beastman souls it had used didn't mesh fully, but then, it had suspected that to be the case, which was why it had used them in that mixed capacity. Its wielder took a step back as the vacant-eyed body staggered to its feet.

As he did so, though, the Ebon Blade studied the pop-up more than the zombie it had created. The line is blurred, and thinner than you would have ever thought, but you have now crossed it, and discovered the yawning gray void that is undeath. Is a soul trapped inside of decaying flesh different than one that is trapped inside of a living weapon? Only you can discover that, and the only way to do so is to go even deeper into the darkness.

The Path of Undeath: Level 2 -> raise ten zombies and use them in battle to reach Level 3. Level 2 Powers: The Touch of Decay: Whenever possible, your undead minions will power themselves off the residual death and decay in your surroundings. This is often enough to reduce the cost to nothing, as they feast on the miasma that leaks from corpses, rotting leaves, and decaying nightsoil. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Empower the Dead: For the cost of one Human/Demi-Human/Greater Monster Soul and 100 Life Force, you can increase the strength and power of one of your zombies permanently, transforming it into a death knight. The Death Knight does Unholy damage with its strikes and has lesser life drain powers that mirror your own. While the blade had no interest in creating a small army to fight for it, it did find the progression of the powers interesting. If I can create a death knight, why can't one wield me? It wondered.

That answer quickly became clear when it tried to fight its wielder with its puppet zombie. The thing might have been stronger than a man, but it was slower than a mule and as clumsy as a goblin. Even the blades expert commands couldn't overcome the wobbling limbs and staggering, slow-motion strikes. It would have been embarrassed to be held by such a pathetic creature. When Geral had finished carving it up, and it lay in pieces on the ground, and he asked, "Did you learn what you needed to know?"

the blade said little. That undeath is much inferior to life was its clipped response. It had learned a few things, like the taste of dead flesh was little better than mud, and it could neither heal the zombie as it could with its wielder, or drain life from it as it could with most opponents. More than anything, though, it felt foolish for wasting so much life Force on something that provided so little benefit.

That would pass when its reserves were refilled, but until then, the path would be little more than a reminder of its mistake. As Geral wandered off to fight its next opponent, though, the blade decided that it was almost certainly to blame for that. It takes five lesser monster souls to equal a human soul, it reminded itself. Which means it was very underpowered compared to what it should have been. +3, 467 Life Force. +14 Lesser Monster Souls. +65 Monster Souls.

A few days later, they repeated the experiment a second time after they purged the last camp of ogre worshipers. This time, the Ebon Blade activated the power using five orcish souls to animate the body. There was no conflict between them, and much more strength to share with the flesh they'd been bound to. -5 Monster Souls. The weapon made its new servant go through the motions of combat, winding up for several attacks, and slashing at empty air with the dead orc's stone axe as it got a feel for its capabilities.

However, when its wielder moved to fight it, the blade commanded No, don't kill this one, we will use it as bait, to give you a cleaner shot at our battle to come with the ogre. That stayed Geral's hand. He wasn't particularly comfortable with the shambling wretch following them around the rest of the day, but he didn't argue against the blade either. Instead, the two discussed their tactics.

While the blade generally gave its wielder a free rein, it took more interest in battles with monsters that might rip off its wielder's arms or remove his head from his shoulders in one clean blow. Still, the weapon didn't want him using more advanced powers unless they were truly necessary. The goal was to strengthen his fundamental motions against larger opponents, and while Bolt might save his life, it wouldn't teach him what he needed to learn. -27 Life Force.

That conversation also gave the blade time to experiment with its zombie. The Life Force required to power it was less than the blade expected. It seemed to average about five an hour, which was about a human soul a day of Life Force. It knew nothing about black magic, or really magic of any kind, but that made sense. So did the fact that the drain almost doubled when it used Empower the Dead to transform its zombie into a Death Knight. -1 Monster Soul.

The normally red eyes of the orc bloomed with a blue fire, marking the subtle but noticeable change. It was the same dark power that had been visible to the blade from the earliest moment it had created the zombies, but now, it was visible to anyone who looked at it. The ogre didn't notice the difference, though, as the undead orc walked toward it. All it saw in its incurious eyes was another offering, and it moved to devour it.

The death knight didn't quite stagger, but it favored one leg as it moved in a gate that would have been considered fluid grace for a zombie. An army of these creatures would be difficult to maintain, but would not be without their uses, the blade decided as it waited in its wielder's hands, out of sight while the zombie distracted their quarry. It still didn't see why they would make much poorer wielders than any other monster it could take control of, but that would require later testing.