Chương 4: GB - Chapter 4: A Necromancer’s Notes

[Title: Learn the Weight of Command.] [Quest Completed!] ["The dead obey. They do not understand. You must give them meaning for now."] [Reward Granted!] [You have leveled up!] [Level 5: Gain +1 Tenacity, +1 Essence, +1 Free Point] [Please allocate your Free Point now...]"Put that point into Vigor," Luke said. [Confirmed. Would you like to see your full status screen?]"I don't need to see it right now. What I'd like to know is, are there any more undead?" The voice of The Last Warden returned. [Not untamed. Not now. Questions remain: two from before, three from now.]"Good," Luke said as he turned back to the corpse pile behind him.

"System question: how does regeneration work? For Mana and Stamina recovery." [You replenish a tenth of your maximum of both every minute.] Luke did some quick mental math and nodded.

"OK, well, I've got enough Command Limit for five more of these guys. So, I'm going to wait a bit and get more backup." Luke spent the next several minutes using Corpse Retainer, reviving another of the slain holy warriors, and ordering them to equip in armor and weaponry. They seemed a bit more acute, and attentive to his orders. Every time he used the Art, he could see the little strings that connected him to the corpse, which then faded away after it fully…woke up.

"Let's do some testing," he said as he looked at his newly arrayed group in their isolated, safe room.

"Guard." All of the Undead moved to form a circle around him, facing outward, weapons ready to deflect or block. Luke then pointed to the next room.

"Go in there and return." They did not move. Right, Luke thought. Let's do more testing to figure out what this improved Command efficiency means. Another ten minutes and he had determined that a three-word command, of basic complexity—such as "Go over there," "Patrol the room," or "guard and counterattack," worked—albeit with the last he had to have two of his minions test off against one another. But, he felt he had a decent grasp on their capabilities, and healed them with some Pale Flame Bolts right after.

"Now then," he said to himself as he walked into the room the skeletons came from, "let's explore a bit. Form up behind me." The Mindless Undead went to task, falling into a two-wide three-deep formation right behind Luke. The discomfort of commanding the corpses of once-people wasn't gone, but it wasn't as harsh as before when he raised the first. He looked over the six corpses standing in formation, each wearing stolen armor and weapons that might have belonged to them in life. No, he added mentally.

Not 'them' because they aren't 'them'. These are not people. They were once people, now they are just flesh and bone. He needed to ensure that the distinction was there, even if the alternative felt less morally reprehensible. He didn't want to become a monster, but couldn't think of the Mindless Undead under his command as people. The people were gone. The souls were gone. What remained was just flesh, bone, and movement that Luke ordered, empowered by the Art that brought them back.

It wasn't resurrection, and it was not command over the person who they once were. Still, the argument in his mind had arranged itself into a useful worldview, and Luke felt discomfort wash over him once more. He had spent years watching institutions group people into categories: victim, offender, risk factor, threat, and more. Now he was doing the same thing, but to dead men and women in armor. The difference is the soul, he reaffirmed. That difference needed to matter.

If a soul was there, Luke wouldn't touch a body, because it wasn't just a corpse then. But, if the soul had moved on? They were tools, nothing more.

"Follow and protect me," Luke said. As he took a few steps forward, the trod of feet told him they obeyed. First things first, let's explore where I ended up. Then, once I've figured that out, I can move back to where I was, take inventory, and go over what I've found. Luke moved to the next set of doors and found a latch. Pushing down, the metal slide on the other side clicked, and he pushed it open. He entered a circular chamber.

In the center was a well, and behind it was a grated, gated-off drainage tunnel that trickled, as the well seemed to overflow. To his left-front was a set of stairs that went spiraling up, and to both left and right were more doors. He tapped one of his minions on the shoulder.

"Guard and counterattack," he said as he pointed at the stairs going up. It moved to obey. He did the same for the door to his right, and for good measure had one stand at the drain. That left him with three flanking him, and he turned to the left-most door. This one was not latched shut, and he was able to push it open. This room looked lived in, compared to all of the refuse and debris elsewhere.

A long, wooden bed with hay and a blanket thrown on top made for a rudimentary but simple setup, and opposite it, in the center of the room, was a large table with one chair on either side. To Luke's left and right were more doors, and with quick orders, two of his three Undead moved to guard them. He looked at the papers on the table, and the moment his eyes read the first title, NECROMANCY PRIMER, he heard the voice in his head again. [You have more questions.] Luke wanted to ask if he could bank them, but also recalled that it had said time was short. So he chose to ask the questions he had at the moment, and hope the others remained available.

"Is Artesthrak the name of a region, city, world, or something else?" [The ever-expanding world.]"Got it. And when you say ever-expanding, what do you mean by that?" [The world never ends. Do not enter The Infinite, for instant annihilation awaits.] Luke muttered, "Well, thanks, talk to you later." Again, silence answered him. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

He looked back to the table, and another voice that he chose to refer to as his system voice, spoke as words filled his vision. [Title: Know the Law of Souls.] [Trigger: Found evidence of the Necromancer's plans.] [Objective: Witness or understand the difference between body, Soul, and the echo left behind when the latter departs.] [Reward: Level 6, Resistance Increase, Soul Law fragment, Rank increase (Aspect).] Luke grinned as he picked up one of the books.

He had exactly what he wanted—raw data, an analyst's best friend. And, this was a continuing distraction from his current body. He took the book over to the bed, sat down, opened it, and began reading. Luke lost track of time in the darkness while his silent sentinels stood guard at their posts. He heard nothing save for the occasional creak of timbers somewhere up above. But, he ignored that as the wealth of information he found was invaluable, and totally engrossed him.

He read through every scrap of paper, went back to the ritual room he had awoken in, and recovered all of the Necromancer's items. He decided that, for the time being, this room would be just fine to consolidate all of the items he found. He needed a moment to learn, to understand, and then could keep exploring this building. Knowledge was power, and he needed that knowledge right now. After reading everything, he was able to split the data into three distinct, separate categories.

World lore, Soul lore, and then the various spells and other rituals that he couldn't make heads or tails of, which hinted to him that it was meant for another Class, and he would maybe be able to use it if second Classes existed. Still, they were worth holding onto even if they were gibberish right now. He was happy he had asked the name of the world, because he didn't find it in any of the World lore. But, what he did find was the name of his location—Greywatch Fort.

It was located on the edge of the Everfog Forest, and stood as the farthest guardpost between the forest itself and a town called Mistbrook. This was the frontier—or rather, one frontier of a world that never stopped expanding. Most importantly, the Necromancer had chosen Greywatch Fort for a purpose. It had a history of death. In ancient records that the mage had collected and held onto, there was once a vicious plague, and instead of risking people spreading it, everyone was contained within and executed.

Someone in the nearby town had a hand in it, but that scrap of information was ripped off of the parchment. That was why the Necromancer had chosen it. Makes sense to me, Luke thought, that some places that are heavily imbued by Death become great places for Death magic. The Soul lore was the most interesting to Luke, as it spoke of Undead in great detail.

According to the Necromancer's notes, and the bits and pieces Luke was able to cobble together from the other scraps of paper scattered about—the Necromancer wasn't very organized—he learned they came in a few types in ascending power and difficulty to control: Mindless Undead, Echo Dead, and Awakened Dead. A body could be missing some parts and still be raised, but at least half of its component pieces had to be present: Luke couldn't just resurrect a hand to write for him, for instance.

The first type of Undead was simple enough to understand, but the latter two required a deeper dive. Thankfully, the Necromancer's personal journal explained that perfectly, and in rather academic terms. In the case of a Mindless Undead, none of the behaviors and habits remained, and they could only follow relatively simple commands. Echo Dead, however, despite not being people, and not having the soul at all, had traces of who they once were.

They could perform more intricate commands, and fell into behaviors and habits. Last were the Awakened Dead. They were something Luke was very uncomfortable learning about. A corpse, raised, and imbued with enough magic to kick-start a consciousness, but not a soul. Effectively, a person who was not a person. They wouldn't be drawn into the Soul Stream that the deity mentioned to him earlier. Permanently lesser people, Luke thought as he shut that book.

They're quite literally less than human, yet would be able to think, talk, have their own opinions, ideas, and emotions… how would someone even deal with that? It also brought to mind questions about how he got there. He was not an Awakened Dead, as his soul constantly regenerated thanks to Enduring Soul, so he had a soul. He was something else, something different.

Not unique, because the Necromancer had mentioned in his notes that there was a chance to bring back an 'unholy champion', and Luke assumed that he was supposed to be just that—some super powerful type of Echo Dead, maybe. Strong, but not the next level of Awakened. He found an entry that explained the rationale, at least:"The body is but flesh and bone, meat and sinew, blood and viscera. The soul is where the mind lays.

I am on the cusp of my spell's development: one that will sacrifice a soul to create an Echo Dead with all of the prowess and Power Types of its former soul's capabilities, but without the issues of an opinionated Awakened. A middle ground, of sorts." Luke knew that the ritual hadn't worked, and could only reason that somehow his soul was dragged in to replace the body. Returning to the journal entry, he kept reading:"I do not care for the strictures of the Arbiter of Souls. Why should I?

When I die, my soul goes to The Grave Tyrant for its reward. I won't be a person anymore when I am sent to rest and cleansed. Whoever my soul becomes next will suffer for the sins I commit—not I. If my plan works, then I will have set the foundation for a means to avoid death forever. Thus, I care not for the consequences that come with meddling with the soul. This is but one step on my way to lichdom." As Luke finished that entry, words filled his ears and eyes. [Title: Know the Law of Souls] [Quest Completed!] ["The corpse may serve. The echo may answer. The soul is not yours. When a Soul departs the body, the original owner is gone. If an Echo Dead is raised, know this: it is a shadow, not the departed."] [Reward Granted!] [Rank increase: Enduring Soul 3 - Reduce time to regenerate soul by 10 hours {990→ 980 hours to regenerate soul fully}.] [You have leveled up!] [Level 6: Gain +1 Vigor, +1 Tenacity, +1 Free Point] [Please allocate your Free Point now...] Put it into Acuity, he thought. [Confirmed. Would you like to see your full status screen?]"Sure. Then, it's time to explore more of this place." Mentally, he added, I have plenty of information now on the types of Undead, and I know not to meddle with souls. My next step should be focusing on securing wherever I am, searching for any more information about the world, and then seeing what type of equipment or other gear is left behind. I have to set up a solid foundation… good thing food and water aren't an issue I need to worry about. Oh.

How long left until my soul regenerates? There was no status message that showed up related to that, and Luke figured it was because his soul was still fully intact. But, it also meant he really didn't have a clue as to how long he'd spent studying. Still, he took in his heads-up-display eagerly.

Name: Luke Rivers. Class: Gravebound Knight 6 (Tier 0). Vigor: 18 Instinct: 8 Tenacity: 20 Acuity: 17 Essence: 17 Health: 110 Mana: 102 Stamina: 106 Initiative: 25 Focus: 34 Burden: 28 Command: 35 Arts: Corpse Retainer 2, Black Guard 2, Pale Flame Bolt 1. Aspects: Enduring Soul 3, Undead Creature, Melee Familiarity (Blade) 1, Armor Familiarity 1.

Resistances: Blunt (0%), Pierce (0%), Slash (0%), Heat (0%), Cold (25%), Spark (0%), Caustic (0%), Toxin (100%), Force (0%), Holy (-50%), Life (-25%), Death (100%), Soul (10%), Mind (10%), Curse (25%), Void (0%). Equipment: Damaged Scale Mail Armor (fine), Ritual-Scarred Bastard Sword (crude). XP / Threshold: 0 / NA.

Command Limit: 30 / 34 {Mindless Undead x6}